[fleabittengray]

I hate it when dudes try to chase me, but I love it when you try to save me

This girl is gonna be the death of me, the three year old thought to herself, shaking her head as she chased after her personal servant and best friend, their light laughter filtering out into the inky solitude of the night. It was mid-winter and the kingdom was dark, cold, and dreary but the Princess could care less about that. As she chased after Pumpkin, watching the other three year old dance off across a thick blanket of snow, she felt her heart fill with just warmth and joy. They had been friends for half a year now, six months. Kiwi had turned the peasant girl into her own personal servant, taking her everywhere with her, showing her places that Pumpkin never would have seen had it not been for Kiwi. The two girls were always together. No one thought anything of it. Hell, her parents were just glad the Princess had finally made a friend, found someone she could get along with for extended periods of time. And it was true. Kiwi and Pumpkin were two peas in a pod. Pumpkin was an introvert, Kiwi's opposite, so soft and kind and gentle. She had a kind, nurturing soul - soft-spoken, intelligent, eager to please. She was sweet, shy, and so, so beautiful. Kiwi had had one of her other servants weave red roses into the buckskin's mane and tail, matching the roses that were woven into Kiwi's hair. Pumpkin had been stunned. Servants were never allowed to wear flowers in their hair. No one but the upper class and royalty wore flowers in their hair. It had sparked quite a fight with Kiwi and her father, the King, but Kiwi had demanded that Pumpkin be able to keep her flowers. And what the Princess wanted, the Princess got. The other servants were jealous of Pumpkin. While most of the servants were always dirty, their legs caked with mud, their hair tangled, Pumpkin always looked beautiful. Kiwi made sure of it. It was not uncommon for the girls to bathe together, though as Kiwi's personal servant, no one thought anything of it. Not even Kiwi. Her personal servant before Pumpkin had done to same thing.

"You gotta keep up, Princess!" came the teasing, cooed words from the buckskin and Kiwi snorted, unable to help her lips from curling into a smile as she laughed and charged after the fading figure on the horizon. "Are you calling me slow?" she called out, laughter in her voice, and her only reply from her friend was more giggles. Kiwi felt warmth spread through her once more, her heart fluttering in her chest but she passed that off as just her body getting tired from their running. The girls had no set destination in mind, not really. They just wanted to get away. Her father had started talking about about finding Kiwi a Prince to be wed to in the next coming months or year. Kiwi, like always, refused to meet with any of the neighboring Kingdom's Princes. She didn't want to be married off to some brute that she didn't even know. She wasn't interested in any of them. No Prince in any Kingdom had ever caught her eye. Not even any of the Lords of her own Kingdom had caught her eye. She wasn't interested in them, in those brutish beasts that fought and fucked and saw women as the weaker sex and not their equal. Kiwi would have no part of it! This was all she wanted, running free with her best friend, cold winds unable to stop the warm feeling from spreading through her. Moonlight speckled the snow around them, dappling their pelts in silver. This... This felt right. It felt like home. She would much rather be running through the night with her best friend than sleeping beside from dumb Prince for the rest of her life. Even if it meant she never became Queen of any Kingdom. At least she would be Queen of her own freedom.

Overhead, a snowy owl flapped its wings and flew off towards the treeline in the distance. Kiwi glanced up at the stark white bird, feeling a calmness fill her as she sighed, nares flaring, before focusing on Pumpkin again. The other mare was slowing down, her gallop becoming a lope, and then a trot, before she was walking, panting, sides heaving, a smile on her face and her eyes twinkling as Kiwi slowed and approached the other girl. Her heart fluttered again, butterflies erupting in her belly as she reached out to touch her maw against Pumpkin's shoulder. The buckskin turned her head towards the wild bay, grinning. "You are pretty slow..." she said, words interrupted by pants, and Kiwi scoffed, feigning offense as she shoved the girl gently with her nose. "Oh, please. You're the own that got tired!" she teased back, panting as well. Seconds ticked by, the two girls standing there, breath fogging up before their lips as the frigid atmosphere wrapped around them, unable to penetrate their own little bubble of warmth and happiness. They were all alone out here. It would take hours for anyone to even notice they were missing... They could just leave. Run away together. Start a whole new life together. Kiwi gulped, suddenly realizing just how alone they were, just looking at each other as they caught their breath. Pumpkin's eyes were so soft, twinkling brighter than any star in the sky could ever possibly hope to shine. Kiwi found herself looking into those eyes, falling into them, the butterflies in her gut swirling until she felt always dizzy, gazing into those depths. She wanted to look into them forever. She never wanted to look away. She wanted to wake up to those eyes every morning, to fall asleep to them every night. She imagined a life where she would be Queen, with Pumpkin beside her, together, the two of them ruling over the Kingdom.

She was still looking into Pumpkin's eyes when she broke the delicate silence that had started to embrace them, blocking out the rest of the world. Not even the wind stirred as the soft, honest words fell from Kiwi's lips before she could stop them, before she had even processed them herself. "I love you." Had she really just said that? Kiwi blinked, seeming startled, before her green eyes widened, mouth agape, staring at her friend, her best friend, her whole entire world. She waited for Pumpkin to voice her disgust, to to laugh at her, to spit at her feet. But... she was just looking right back at her, her eyes somehow going even softer than before. But she wasn't saying anything. Just looking at her. Kiwi gulped, ears laying back shyly, anxiousness making her want to look away but Pumpkin's eyes held her captive. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, Pumpkin finally spoke. "I love you too, you big goofball. I have for awhile." The words were teasing, but her tone was so warm, so welcoming. So honest. The Princess giggled, breathless, and then reached out to press her maw against Pumpkin's, her anxiousness leaving her just as quickly as it had come. "Yeah, well..." the Princess trailed off, stuttering, a big smile stretched across her lips. "If I'm a goofball, that just means you're in love with a goofball." It felt so weird and good to say those words. In love. They were in love. Kiwi knew they could never tell anyone. It would have to be a secret. She knew that, one day, despite how hard she fought against it, she would have to marry a Prince and rule a Kingdom with him, have little princes and princesses with him, but she would never love him. She would always love Pumpkin, would always remember this moonlit moment in the snow, just the two of them in their own little snowy kingdoom. Here, they were both Queens. Here, there was no one to tear them apart.

If only it could stay this way forever...

OOC: Kiwi + 1340 words 

[❅ Icy Dragon ✩]

Points Awarded

30,000 - Complete Entry
20,000 - Multiple Characters
3,000 - 500 Word Bonus
4,000 - 800 Word Bonus
5,000 - 1,000 Word Bonus
+ 1 Raffle Ticket

Total: 62,000