AN: In which I make my stunning comeback! lol, it's probably been a year or two since I wrote for this fandom... but what can I say, Seeu-kun was my first love :) Oh my freaking gosh, okay, this is your only warning—this fic is unbearably sappy. I would probably hate it, if I wasn't the one who wrote it xD ...(looks around ninja-like)... Please don't hate it? Hee.

(A quick note to Leeayre, my wonderful beta, just in case you're reading this in a state of indignant shock: No, I'm not dead, just... lazy. I haven't answered anyone else's emails either, trust me. And also, preoccupied. And not fully unpacked, even though I came home like a week and a half ago. And so on. Argh, I'm sorry! I'll get back to you soon, really! -weeps-)

A Modest Proposal

There are woods, a short distance from town, that Kaguya loves to visit. She is worried, living in the town, that someone will recognize us—but we must live there if we want food, since neither of us exactly knows much about farming. I suggested we live together to lessen expenses, but for some reason she found this inappropriate—but we are still neighbors, and I accompany her when she goes to the woods to keep her safe. She is much happier here; she can be herself.

As is her habit, Kaguya babbles like a stream. I wouldn't go so far as to say that I've grown used to this, but at least I can find it... tolerable. "I wish I had a camera," she comments, as if I'm supposed to know what that is. "This would just be a perfect picture—see?" Casually, she takes my elbow and pulls me next to her. I have to bend down a bit to see things as she does.

There is one huge old tree directly in front of us, standing a bit apart from the others with sunlight pouring through its leaves. The branches of the tree behind us come down on either side, creating a leafy green frame. Kaguya makes a square in front of her face with her index fingers and thumbs and says "Click!"

I arch an eyebrow at her, but only say, "It is very pretty." She rolls her eyes.

"Oi. Yes, it's 'very pretty'," she says sarcastically, but there is a grin in her voice. Then, to my surprise, she falls silent, and for a little while she seems content to just stand there, leaning against my shoulder.

"I think," I eventually say, choosing my words with care, "that we should get married."

She stares blankly up at me for such a long moment that it is very shocking when she suddenly lets out a shriek. "WHAAAAT! But, but we've only—I mean, we've just started-" Her face is so red that I fancy, if she didn't pause to take a deep breath and let it all out, she might've exploded. "Why?" she finally asks, plaintively.

I can't understand her reaction at all, but she is very excitable sometimes. I cock my head to the side, struggling for words and failing. "Well, I should have an heir," I finally try; she squawks. "This world is certainly not perfect, but I think that it may finally be safe enough, at least for now, to bring a child into..." I lean closer, looking directly into her eyes, to make sure I have her full attention. "And you are the only one I want to touch me. There can be no one else." And I frown, because it somehow seems like that wasn't exactly what I wanted to say, but I just can't put it into words.

It is the strangest thing, but I could swear that it was the frown that won her over. She searches my eyes once I've said all I can, and I frown, and she grins, and then she bends up on tip-toes to answer me with an open-mouthed kiss. Even this kind of touching makes me so weak that I can barely stand it, and I don't think I'm quite ready for a child yet—but soon.

Seeu is not very good with words, especially for a prince. If he was, he might describe to her how she looked in the forest—part earth goddess, part elfin princess, a spirit of summer and freedom—or relate to her from his point of view how she saved him. A long life without much company has left him without the words, but luckily his princess is deceptively perceptive.

Fin