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That settled it, Cherri was definitely in love with her knight. She’d been able to brush it off as coincidence when she found herself staring at them a little longer than the other knights when they happened upon each other around the castle. She’d been able to blame adrenaline for the rush of hot, fluttery feelings when they’d kissed her hand in the tunnel. She’d been able to call it curiosity when she found herself wanting to know more and more about the woman behind the shiny armor and stoic expression. But now she knew their name, and everything was spiraling out of control.
Apo Kuna. She’d been hesitant to say it at first, to strip away that last bit of invisible armor that separated them into their positions of princess and knight, but in the end she’d accepted Cherri’s request, saying the name like a secret bared to light.
Apo was pretty, that much was obvious to anyone with working eyes, but there was more to it than that. She wasn’t just a pretty knight Cherri saw around the castle sometimes anymore, not after all the time they’d spent together, not after everything she’d learned about them.
For example, she was terrified of bugs. Cherri found that out when Apo woke up to a large spider in her bed one morning and shrieked in fear, falling off her bed in her scramble to get away from it. Now sprawled on the floor, she struggled to regain her shattered composure even as a now also awake Cherri doubled over laughing.
She also had a massive sweet tooth, but always protested when Cherri tried to get her anything sweet, though the look of joy on her face breaking through her stoic exterior when she inevitably gave in was always worth the back and forth.
She also hummed to herself sometimes when she thought no one was listening, some old lullaby that Cherri didn’t recognize. They wondered if she still knew the words. If so, maybe she’d sing it for them someday. That thought made her stomach flutter with butterflies. Could Apo sing? Her humming sounded pretty, so maybe. She’d like to find out. She’d like to lay in the grass with her head in Apo’s lap and listen to her sing a quiet song just for them…
“My La- er, Cherri? Are you okay? You’re glowing again.” Apo gently tapped her shoulder to get her attention, gesturing at the golden light pulsing under her skin.
She was in fact glowing, and the air around her felt noticeably warmer too. Damn it, not again! Cherri really needed to get better control over their magic. That or her thoughts, but she doubted that was happening anytime soon when the subject of those thoughts was always with them.
“Uh, yeah. I’m fine.”
“Are you sure? This has been happening a lot.” Apo noticed, she cared. Sure that was her job, it probably didn’t mean anything, but it made Cherri feel warm inside nonetheless. The glow got slightly brighter.
“I promise, I’m fine. I’m still working on controlling my magic, sometimes it slips out.”
“Alright, if you’re sure.”
God, she was so doomed.
—
Apo was doomed from the moment she told Cherri her name. The way she smiled up at them unlocked something in Apo’s heart that they’d thought they’d stamped out a long time ago. Just like that she was thirteen again, holding a cherry blossom gently in her hands and wondering about the fluttery, slightly nauseating feeling in her stomach that she got whenever the princess looked in her direction.
She’d squashed those feelings quickly once she’d found out what they were, even if the princess noticed she existed and somehow felt the same, it would be impossible for it to lead anywhere. Apo was a knight of the palace, she had been since they’d taken her in when she was small. She had nothing to her name besides what the palace gave her, and no matter how kind his majesty the king may have been, that was a fact that couldn’t be overlooked. So it was better she just stamp out those feelings now before they could cause her any more heartbreak.
But all it took was one smile for the dam of denial and duty to break down completely. Because it never really went away, did it? That fluttering in her stomach when Cherri looked at her, that wonderful and terrifying mix of joy and sorrowful longing at the thought of being by the princess’s side as her knight forever and always. And when she was just the princess, something glorious and unattainable for Apo to guard, they could bear the knowledge that that was all they could ever be.
But now she wasn’t just the princess, she was Cherri Firewolf. They were fascinated by fabrics and the way they fit together, and wanted to properly learn how to sew someday. She liked to draw, but got embarrassed if Apo asked to see anything she made. She caught bugs that got into their house and released them outside, though never without a lighthearted jab at how funny it was that a big brave knight was scared of something so small. She was more than just a title, she had dreams and hobbies and a personality all her own. They were a person, and Apo loved them more than she could possibly describe.
She was still smiling, gentle and warm and human. Whatever happened, however their story ended, Apo hoped she could keep making Cherri smile like that.