Icy Highness | Yuzuru Hanyu

80.

They eventually found a decent date, mere months away, to get married.

Athena was a bit shocked by how quickly things moved on from there.

In just a few weeks, a designer was assigned to her and they started working on custom-made dresses for the ceremony and reception. The venue wasn't hard to figure out, her father had decided that the palace was perfect for the reception and a cathedral was almost immediately assigned for the ceremony.

She wasn't a devoted Catholic, Athena always considered herself non-religious, but when you're a princess in a Catholic-dominant country, you were expected to marry as one.

It bothered her that no one even stopped to consider that these weren't Yuzuru's beliefs either, but when she had that conversation with him, he was very calm about the whole thing.

"I know we have to do this like they tell us to and I don't mind going through it either. The Catholic beliefs aren't as different from how I feel about marriage, so it is ok."

"But I feel like it is disrespectful to you."

"Will you go through a Shinto ceremony if I ask you to?"

"Of course."

"It's the same, my love. I don't mind."

"If you're sure..."

Everything was a bit overwhelming, especially when she was away from him.

He had told her that Yumi was a bit disappointed that she couldn't help with all the preparations and Athena felt bad instantly.

None of this was ideal, and far from what her younger self had dreamed about so many times.

Being a royal was more about sacrifices than most people thought. And sacrificing her dream wedding was one of them.

Well, Athena thought that love was also a sacrifice she had to make and yet, she met Yuzu and was getting married to him.

Maybe things would be alright in the end but she wasn't looking that forward for their supposed special day.

And when she was back in Japan for the People's Award and back in Yuzuru's arms, it was hard to keep that inside her head.

The skater had known almost as soon as he saw her that there was something wrong.

Athena always wore her heart on her sleeve and any time she felt depressed would be obvious to those that knew her well enough.

He ignored it for a while, but when it became obvious that she wasn't getting any better, he had to approach the subject.

"Princess... What's wrong? I thought you would be happy to be here."

She felt bad for worrying him but as she cuddled further into his warmth, Athena felt better immediately.

"It's not you, Yuzu. It's just all the wedding planning driving me a bit crazy."

"How bad has it been? We haven't spoken too much about it."

"My mother is doing her best for things to go wrong and I'm starting to hate the idea of getting married. Then I feel bad because you don't deserve me to have these thoughts."

"My love... You overthink too much. You have to tell me these things. Everything will be okay, I promise."

"but... Aren't you mad?"

"Thea... You're under a lot of pressure. I know you don't mean marrying me but rather the whole planning process."

"Yeah"

"How about this... After this is all over, we have a small ceremony, just us. Maybe this way we can make good memories of this whole process."

"That... I like that... Maybe we can invite your parents. Not mine, that would be a mess."

"Sure. Now can we just enjoy that we are together again?" he asked with a smile and a kiss on her forehead.

"yes. Sorry, I haven't been the best girlfriend."

"shh, you are the perfect girlfriend and fiancee. The best I could ever ask for."

"Don't lie, Hanyu."

"you would see right through my lies, why would I? It's the truth. I'm thankful for every day I get by your side, my princess."

"such a sappy romantic."

"You love it"

"I do, I love you and all of your sappiness."

🌸

Time in Japan was once again very short, especially after Yuzuru managed to forget about all of the troubles at home.

It was short-lived because as soon as she was back at the palace, every worry came back.

Her mother had somehow decided that they needed to change florists and catering, firing the previous staff before even getting substitutes.

The result? Finding others available was another headache, one that Athena had to solve.

It just seemed like whenever she got back home there was something else to fix and it was never easy.

The only thing keeping her somewhat sane was the knowledge that this would all be over soon and that it would all be worth it in the end.

Her father was also doing his best to help, but he had too many responsibilities to worry himself with.

Slowly but surely, every single thing was settled, and eventually, all she had to worry about was getting herself and Yuzuru on that altar.

Well, there was still the small detail of their honeymoon, but they could figure that out eventually by themselves, without any external interference.

A week before the scheduled date, Athena was proudly still standing despite all of the plots thrown against the wedding.
Yuzuru was set to arrive on that day and she couldn't wait for the date to arrive.

Even if this wasn't how she wanted to do things, it was now her goal to make the day as special as possible.

This was their moment and no one else's.