Clusters of roses. Or, as close as roses as you can get in a foreign planet. Pink, yellow, red. He had pricked his skin several times climbing through. The small, thin gashes on his face made it evident, but he didn't care. How come something so beautiful had to be so painful at the same time?
It was going to rain soon; he could smell it. Gray clouds were drifting in tufts, scattered across the sky like slow moving marbles. The air seemed denser than usual as well, but he didn't mind. It felt good.
Taruru entered the mansion's gates, fingering the sprouting leaves that popped out from the sides. After looking over his reflection from a clear window, he knocked his knuckles against the door.
It creaked open, and a balding Keronian popped his head out.
"Ah, Mister Taruru," the butler said tiredly. "I didn't think we were expecting you."
"You guys weren't," the blue private responded slowly. "I just had the day off today and I thought that, you know, I come and say hi to Karara?"
The butler hesitated over this, and Taruru slightly dropped his shoulders in protest.
"C'mon! I've been her friend since we were kids; I can't drop by and see her every once in a while?"
"Well, it's not that, it's more like-"
"No! Absolutely not!"
Something shattered.
The man looked exasperated. "...Perhaps you can snap some sense into her, then. None of us were able to."
Taruru perked a quizzical brow to him. "What do you mean?"
"Just... come in. We'll show you."
Taruru shrugged and followed the aging butler inside, looking around the mansion as he did so. It was so strange; everything was as exactly as he remembered it. Sure, he had visited time and time again, but even before, when he had first come inside these "palace walls", as he would call it, it was exactly the same. Every vase was in position, every frame was tucked carefully on the wall.
Another crash broke him from his thoughts.
"Is that Karara?" he asked dubiously.
The man nodded soberly.
"Why?"
"Another arranged marriage proposal. This time her father is insistent."
"Ah." That answered everything. She tended to be a bit... well, animated when she disagreed with an idea. He sighed, a goofy grin on his face. Just like her. It was almost assuring to see that she hadn't much changed.
"Ms. Karara, you have a visitor."
The green Keronian, her eyes dotted with tears, jumped, a lamp over her head in a beginning toss. "Taruru?"
"Hi," he waved, smiling widely. "Miss me?"
Karara pouted, putting the lamp down. "It was about time you came and saw me!"
Taruru held up his hands defensively. "Hey, hey! I was busy! I've been sending you emails and letters from time to time, though, right?"
The girl sniffed slightly. "Yeah, I guess."
The light blue Keronian glanced over his shoulder, relaxing when he saw that the butler had left them alone, and walked up to her. "Hey. What's going on?"
"Daddy wants me to get married again," she whined. "Why?"
"Well," Taruru mused, looking around himself. "Maybe 'cuz you still live with him?"
"Funny," she retorted dryly.
"Any luck marrying off Chiroro?"
"He wants me to get married first, 'cuz, you know, I'm the oldest." Karara glared out the window.
Taruru would never say this aloud, but he thought she made the cutest face when she was angry. It was impossible for her to have a fight with him, because he would only grin at her screams and protests. There have been times when the two got into genuine arguments, yes, but he always apologized, even if it was her fault- and she would too.
After watching her for a moment, he glanced at one of her many little dolls against the drawer and hummed, "You know what I think?"
"What."
"I think we should go out and have some ice cream."
Karara rubbed her eyes. "I like ice cream."
"What are we waiting for, then?"
He certainly wasn't expecting this. Hadn't he been invited just a few hours ago to come and play? Why was she hiding? "What's going on? Hide and Go Seek?" "No!" the younger sister said in weak exasperation. "I...I don't know!" Her eyes doubled in water and she began sobbing into her hands. "Please, Taruru. Please, just help us."
"Taruru!" Young Chiroro was panic-stricken. Tears streaked down her face in worry. "We can't find Karara." She grabbed his hand. "You have to help us!"
"If I didn't know better," Taruru snickered after Karara licked her strawberry-flavored ice cream, "I'd think we were a couple, looking at us right now."
"Don't be a creep, Taruru," Karara muttered.
"Hey, it's just a thought!" He laughed. "You don't think we look good together?"
"Maybe I do, but you don't."
"Ouch!"
She smiled a little at this before going back to her ice cream.
"Did you get to see what the guy looks like?" Taruru asked, leaning against his seat.
"I did."
"And?"
Karara crumpled her face at the thought. "Not my type."
"He could be rich, good-looking and kind and he still wouldn't be your type," Taruru quipped. He examined his chocolate chip-blueberry-raspberry-licorice flavored combo before taking a contemplative lick. "What is your type?"
Truthfully, he was a little afraid of the answer, but he wanted to know. Needed to know, actually. He stared at Karara, watching her carefully consider and formulate her response.
He was disappointed when all he got was a shrug.
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just waiting for the right guy, that's all," she said dismissively.
"Hm."
"Daddy says this is the last straw, though."
"Oh?" Taruru looked back up at her. "So he's putting his foot down with this marriage."
"Yes," Karara said flatly.
"I'm not sure who to feel bad for; you or your future husband."
"Shut up!" Karara giggled, her eyes twinkling. "I'm sure I could talk him out of it, but..."
She fell silent.
Taruru scratched his nonexistent nose. "Maybe... you should... marry me?"
These words caught her off guard. She snapped her head toward Taruru, her eyes widening slightly in confusion. He looked away, really embarrassed. It had started out as a joke, but as he finished the question, he found himself ending it on a very strong note. He was surprised he had even asked it in the first place.
"Ignore me-"
"No, that's a great idea!"
"Wait. What?"
Karara had that look in her eye.
Uh, oh.
"What?" Taruru repeated, slower. He wasn't sure he liked the expression she was giving him- it almost looked like she wanted to eat him somehow.
"Marry me! Or at least, pretend to," Karara added to be clear. "That way daddy could finally leave me alone."
The light blue Keronian continued to blink leisurely at her, carefully processing the information. Wait. Did she just seriously consider-? No, no. He relaxed a little. "Another scheme, Karara?"
"Oh, c'mon!" she whined slightly. "It'll be like old times! And this will be the last big favor I ever ask of you! I promise!"
Taruru uncomfortably turned his ice cream cone in his hands, watching it slide down against the rim before dripping down and splattering against his fingers.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked her finally, raising the bottom of his eye slightly. "I mean... what would be the point of marrying me? Just to get your dad to stop pressuring you to find a husband?"
"Oh, it won't be real," Karara told him dismissively. "We could move into our own place with the money daddy will give me, you could stay with your platoon, and I could do whatever I want. Everyone's happy, see?"
He bit his lower lip. "Uh, here's the thing, Karara. What'll happen if you like, I don't know, find a guy who's actually interested in you that you like?"
"Well," Karara shrugged again."Like I said before, it won't be real. But I guess if we want to really pull it off for my dad, we could actually sign documents and have a wedding- oh, Taruru! Let's do that! For fun! It'll be like when we played dress-up and pretend!"
"Documents the real thing though, right? That still didn't answer my-"
"But that's what divorces are for, aren't they?" Karara's eyes grew wide with excitement, and she had her usual glowing and glittering trademark around her. "Oh, please, Taruru! Please oh please oh please~! I'm afraid that one of these days daddy will just force me to have the marriage before we could do anything about it! And what about my true love? He's still waiting for me out there! I can't just get married to the wrong guy! Please, Taruru, you have to help me."
"Uh..." Taruru wasn't very smart, but even he saw a whole bunch of potential flaws to this plan. However, seeing the pleading look on her face melted any doubts that were beginning to take seed in his brain. He gave her a cocky smile. "Sure. Why not. It'll be a cool story to tell the Lieutenant, too."
"Oh, yay!" Karara squealed, lunging forward and giving Taruru an affectionate squeeze. "I knew you would do it! Thank you, thank you, thank you! Watch, it'll be sooo much fun! And plus, it could probably teach me how to be a housewife. Like playing house over again!"
"Though I won't be the dog this time," Taruru reminded her cheerfully. While he was glad he was able to make her happy, singular thoughts kept bubbling up and resurfacing into his brain.
And a rather... confusing question kept appearing, as well, though he didn't know why.
What about me?
Is clasping one into your hand worth the pain?
So beautiful, so sharp.
To Be Continued
Author's Note: So yeah, Johnny's here. Writing another story I probably won't finish. Again. Sorry guys, lack of inspiration.
And plus, I actually learned to really love this couple to the point where it's now in my list of top five favorite pairings. I think it's because it's so underrated; you can have a whole bunch of drama and comedy with these guys and it could be excused because, you know, they're teenagers, so I think it'll be an interesting story to write about. Who knows, I might actually finish it XD
I also apologize if it feels rushed. I didn't mean to. Let's just hope that it slows down the next couple of chapters. Man, I can't wait to write this out XD