I've Been Dreaming

I've Been Dreaming (Royalty AU One-Shot for Kacchako Week)

"Stop wrinkling your dress, Ochako! You don't want to look messy when they get here, do you?," her mother gently corrected her as they waited in the entry hall.

Ochako let go of the skirts she had clenched in her tiny fists, shaking her head vehemently.

She couldn't help it! She was beyond excited!

Today was the day she would finally be meeting her would-be betrothed!

She had seen her parents exchanging correspondence regularly with the neighboring kingdom for the past few months now.

It had been worrying at first, leaving her wondering if they might be feuding and about to go to war. Their expressions always seemed so serious when the letters arrived and they would make her leave the room whenever they discussed them.

Then, a few weeks ago, her mother had called her into her parlor while she worked on her embroidery.

"Ochako, sweetie, I have something very important to talk to you about," the queen had said, beckoning her eight year old daughter to come sit in the chair to her right.

Being the dutiful daughter she was, Ochako had obliged and taken the seat next to her mother, watching as she poked her needle through the fabric in her embroidery hoop, a beautiful image of a rabbit beginning to appear.

"Do you know how your father and I came to be married?" she had asked, eyes going back to her work.

Ochako had tilted her head, putting a finger to her chin in thought.

"You... met and fell in love and got married?" she hazarded a guess.

A light, airy chuckle had come from her mother and she pouted her lips, figuring she'd been wrong. But that was how all the fairy tales had said it happened. How could that not be right?

"Your father and I," her mother had explained, "were arranged to be married. Do you know what that means?"

Ochako had just shaken her head at that, not wanting to be wrong again.

"It means we didn't choose each other. Our marriage was decided when we were children to unify our kingdoms and keep the peace."

Ochako wondered about that. How could you marry someone you weren't in love with?

But at the same time, her parents seemed content. They looked at each other with great affection and would often hold hands when near the other. They hadn't chosen their marriage but they were by no means unhappy with it.

"I see," she'd said to her mother, blinking her wide eyes at her as she wondered why she was being told this right now.

"Do you know why I'm telling you this, Ochako?" the queen asked kindly.

Ochako shook her head again.

Her mother had given her a warm smile, pausing her work to look over at her daughter.

"It's because we've selected a betrothed for you, darling," she'd informed her, setting the design she'd been working on down on the table to her left, "Our neighbors to the north have a son about your age and they would like to arrange a meeting between you two so you can meet your new fiance."

Ochako's eyes had widened and glittered with excitement. Her mother seemed to be very pleased with this arrangement so she knew she should be too.

Since that day, Ochako had been dreaming of meeting her future husband and how they might grow close and fall in love. She dreamed of how her wedding dress would look on her, how handsome her husband might be, and what he'd say when he looked down at her, pushing back the veil covering her face.