PENUMBRA // Tamaki Amajiki x Reader Royal AU

Chapter 21

That afternoon, when I went back to the prince and examined the blueberries hopefully, they were gone! Excitedly I rushed Tamaki for the story but he told me he threw them out the window because he couldn't bare to look at them. This appeared to be a new problem that had arisen. We were further away from the goal than I first thought. The main problem at hand was not trying to get him to eat food it was actually being around it. 

So that's why for the next week, every time I came to visit him I did not once bring up the topic of food but I left some on his windowsill for him to choose what to do with. He threw it out of the window every time, but at least he was potentially getting used to being around it.

On the seventh day, I opted for a new strategy; strongly smelling food, fresh out of the oven, stolen from someplace or another. Who could resist the smell of warm cooking?

"Why do you keep doing that?" Tamaki was stood by his new window, no food on the sill. I feigned ignorance, "Doing what?"

"Putting food here... I don't want it...please." So clearly he had not been getting used to it. "...but I feel bad for wasting it..."

After putting the fresh food down, we moved to his bed, where we sat most days for the past week, speaking while I sat at the foot and he at the head. "Y/N... how do you... get here everyday?"

I was mildly surprised by his question, I thought he would have asked me something similar long before, "You are only asking me this now?"

"I'm sorry."

"No, no it is okay," something nagged at me in the back of my mind every time he apologised for no reason, "I use sorcery to move my body from my starting point to the tower, it is called teleportation."

"Can you do that... with other people... at the same time as you?"

"I can... where is this going, Tamaki?"

He became fidgety and seemed uncomfortable suddenly, "If-if it's not t-too much... to ask for... could you... t-take me to the gardens?" He clenched his eyes and fists shut as if he was scared of my reaction.

"Um, Tamaki you know the whole kingdom is out to get me right?" Surely he did not think I could be out in the open like that, "...I cannot go out into the gardens, however I could teleport you down there on your own though that would be incredibly suspicious and are you not supposed to be locked up in here?"

Tamaki bowed his head and lowered his voice, "You're right, it was a stupid idea... I'm sorry."

Fearing him withdrawing into himself and having another episode I hastily contemplated a solution, "Hang on, I think I know what to do. If I teleport- wait a minute why do you even want to go to the gardens?"

For a minute he remained silent and I worried that all was lost or I had pried where I should not have, "My apologies, I should not have as-

"I want to clean up the food I spilled... maybe... maybe I... maybe I could..." There was a significant pause before a ghost of a smile crawled onto his face, "I used to love the gardens, it's been years since I've been down there..."

"So that is why you are always staring outside?" For some reason I felt quite warm after he told me this, quite happy and hopeful, "It is the one place you find solace in your life, through your memories."

The prince nodded. "Well, today is your lucky day, Tamaki, I think I can get you and me both down there safely and securely." Seeing him almost happy gave me a certain thrill about this endeavor and I stood up using overly dramatic hand gestures to emphasise my point.

"I will sense for any life forms in the gardens then when the coast is clear I shall teleport us both to the bottom of the tower where I can see clearly." I had to pause for breath, "Once down there, I will cast an illusion over a sizeable area of the gardens to make it look like all is normal, then as long as no one walks through it, there is no one anywhere in the castle who could see us."

Through my overzealous explaining, I had not noticed that Tamaki was now staring at me with an odd expression. "What is it?" He continued to stare, eyes filled with more life than I had ever seen him possess, it was an incredible sight and it could only mean one thing - progress.

"Y-you, you're amazing..." Tamaki's faint smile was still present, "Can you really do all that? N-not that I'm doubting you... or anything... sorry."

I ignored the last bit and relished in his wonder, "Of course I can, that is all child's play. Have I not told you I am the most powerful sorceress? I can do much greater things than that, pull off even trickier heists with worse odds and higher stakes."

"You did tell me that but I thought it was in anger... You don't need to worry about anyone coming close, no one goes into the gardens, they didn't even before..." Just for a moment his face fell but he pulled himself back into the moment, "Are you... going to start?"

When I woke up that day I had never expected my day would turn out that way, never thinking that it would mark a significant development. Suddenly I forgot all about trying to get him to eat and only cared about how well we had done and even if there was no physical progress, the emotional progress was much more important - at least for now.

"Hang on, if we are going outside, I know no one will see us but would you not prefer to wear some proper clothes instead of that nightwear you are always in?" I examined the oversized shirt and trousers I constantly found him in, it made me wonder why he did not smell peculiar. "I could give you something more princely to wear, or if you preferred comfort, something... lower class."

Tamaki studied his own attire before answering, "Is it wrong of me... to go out like this? I'm sorry... If it's not too much to ask for... t-then please could I wear something...comfortable."

"Of course." With a flick of the wrist his nightwear transformed into a tighter fitting shirt and trousers with a small belt and some brown boots. "Not the most recent fashion, but a decent set of clothes nonetheless." As I presumed, he was overly grateful and felt he did not deserve it.

Executing the plan as I stated, we ended up in the gardens and everything went smoothly - I expected no less. It was no wonder Tamaki loved them, they were beautiful especially on a sunny day. Never had I seen such green blades of grass cushioning my feet, or such delicate flowers on thick bushes. To a young child it would all seem so larger-than-life and fantastical.

We found the scattered food dispersed in different areas near the bottom of the tower, though the original blueberries were turning mouldy so I insisted he left them to let nature take its course. Magicking in my hands the bowl I ate porridge from on my second day here, I hoped they would not miss it or get suspicious. We put the food in the bowl and migrated to a nearby bench carved out of stone with intricate patterns etched into it.

"No one can really see us at all?" He traced the patterns, "So we could be doing anything and no one would know?"

"Well we could be doing anything in your tower and no one would know, but yes unless there is someone I did not sense hiding in that bush over there, then no one can see us." Not wanting to ruin a happy day, I sent the food back where it came from, choosing not to prompt him about it, or force him into something he did not want to do, just enjoying the moment.