Parallel Marriages“Princesses Naminé and Kairi,” the guard alerted the girls. They looked up. “Here are Princes Roxas and Sora of Yususa. I assume you have been informed of the plans?”
“Yes sir,” Naminé replied quietly.
“I’d hope so,” Kairi added.
“Enough Kairi,” Naminé chided softly. Kairi stuck out her tongue childishly.
The guard chuckled. “May I leave the ladies with they’re husbands-to-be?” he asked.
“Yes sir, we shall be fine,” Naminé said.
Prince Roxas’s eyes fell on Naminé. He thought, with her pale blonde hair, wide lavender eyes and petite figure, that she was quite easily the most gorgeous woman he had ever seen. “Damn, Sora’s lucky,” he thought to himself.
“Ahem, we haven’t actually been told which one each of us is marrying who...” Kairi trailed. “Have you?” she asked the Princes.
“They didn’t tell you who you’re marrying? Yikes!” exclaimed Sora.
Roxas rolled his eyes at his brother. “I am to marry Princess Kairi, my brother is to marry Princess Naminé,” he informed the girls.
“...Oh.” said Naminé.
“Well, c’mon everyone! Let’s go and all get to know each other!” Kairi exclaimed happily.
Kairi led everyone to the kitchens. “I’m hungry!” was her not very good excuse when they all raised their eyebrows at her. “Riku, can we get some food down here?”
A silver haired teenager appeared. “Of course Princess,” he said.
“Don’t call me-” Kairi tried to say, but Sora cut her off.
“Riku! Oh my god! You’re alive! How’d you end up here?” Sora exclaimed.
“I escaped from the kidnappers, and ran to this castle, just because it was the closest building. The guards shot the kidnappers, and saved my life. So, I’m working as a servant here, to repay my debt.” Riku explained.
“He insisted,” Kairi added. “I have no idea why.”
“I felt I needed to,” he said with a shrug. “Plus, who wouldn’t jump at the chance to serve you?” thought Riku. “Hey, one thing no-one’s told me. Who’s marrying who?”
“I’m marrying Naminé,” Sora said.
“Oh... I personally thought you had more in common with Kairi but oh well,” Riku said.
Then there was a crash.
“RIKURIKURIKURIKU DID THE PRINCES ARRIVE YET HUH WHO’S MARRYING WHO DO YOU KNOW YET?” a girl in yellow with medium brown hair came running through the doors, and knocked some pots down. Riku, Kairi and Naminé sighed. Roxas and Sora stared.
“Have you gotten into the sugar again Selphie?” Naminé asked.
Selphie looked sheepish. “Maybe...”
“Can we imprison her?” Kairi asked jokingly.
“No,” replied Riku.
“Dammit.”
“Is someone gonna my question?” Selphie grinned.
“...I’m marrying Sora,” replied Naminé.
Yet another person entered the kitchens, a woman in peachy-pink with long blonde hair, mainly kept up in a bun, except for two strands she left loose. “I heard a crash, and some shouting. I assume Selphie’s here?” the blonde spotted the hyper one who had knocked over the pots.
“What do you think Quistis? She’s right here,” Kairi informed.
“Be nice,” Naminé reprimanded.
“Ah well. Anyway, I still haven’t found out who’s marrying who. Can you tell me...?” asked Quistis.
“Why does no-one know this here? It was spread to EVERYONE in our castle, yet, here, not even the Princesses themselves knew! Why is that? Huh? They’re keeping things from you? WHY? It’s not like it’d cause any harm- Ouch!” Sora ranted. Roxas hit him.
Naminé rolled her eyes. “Roxas is marrying Kairi and Sora is marrying me,” Naminé informed. They were all getting a bit tired of telling people this, plus it didn’t make Naminé feel very good for reasons she didn’t know. “Could you be... Falling in love with Roxas?” she dismissed the thought immediately. She had never permitted herself to fall in love, simply because she knew she would get an arranged marriage to whoever from a very young age, so she would not let herself fall in love until she got a husband, then make herself fall in love with him.
***
A few days later the four Princes and Princesses had to to a ceremony, so their maids were preparing the girls.
Naminé’s maids were all very calm people, so they worked in harmony. Lenna, a Princess of one of two fallen Twin countries, who was taking asylum in the Palace as a servant, was choosing out shoes with Garnet (or Dagger, her nickname, or even Sarah, her real name, but she got mad when anyone called her that), a girl who had always believed herself a princess, but when was fifteen it was revealed she was completely unrelated to the King and Queen of the kingdom she came from, and was dumped in another Kingdom, Kairi’s and Naminé’s, ruled by Queen Lonne and King Nay, to work as servant.
Dresses Naminé could wear were being selected by Yuna, a woman of mixed heritage and a victim of racial discrimination, neither her family of Al Bhed nor her family of Humes, so becoming a servant was her only option for a home (Naminé always felt incredibly sorry for her), and Terra, a mysterious woman who had recollection of her life before becoming a servant.
Her hair was being worked on by Ashe, the princess of the Twin country of Lenna’s country, who had rather the same story as to how she ended up here, and Tifa, a person who used to be a normal citizen of another country, but was mistaken for the princess of that country, her best friend was killed, she was kidnapped, but then it was revealed she wasn’t Princess Lenne, the kidnappers wanted to kill her, but one of Kairi’s maids, a hyper ninja named Yuffie, freed her.
And lastly, Naminé’s make-up was being applied by Quistis, who was orphaned when very young and taken in by the palace. She was incredibly smart, but no-one seemed to have realised this, not even Quistis herself.
Eventually, her apparel was ready. She was dressed it a long slender white dress with billowy sleeves and a trail, simple white shoes with a heel of about 1 centimetre, Quistis had applied periwinkle eyeshadow and pale pink lipstick, and her hair had been styled into a large plait at the back, with two smaller strands at the front also having been fashioned into plaits.
“One more thing,” said Tifa, grabbing a ribbon and trying it around Naminé’s main plait. “Voila.”
Quistis tilted her head to the side. “It looks a your best friend’s hair in that photo you showed us...”
Tifa sighed sadly, and took out the photo. It was of her and Aeris, just lazing around and talking about things she didn’t remember (“Most likely Cloud,” she thought with a smile). “That was my inspiration. I hope you don’t mind miss,” Tifa informed them, not really expecting Naminé to mind.
“No. Not at all Tifa, I know how much you miss her,” Naminé smiled. “I don’t really think I could ever be that mad at any of you seven anyway.”
Kairi’s maids were rather different.
Krile, an ex-servant of Lenna (back when she was princess), was working on the shoes with Eiko, who had been a servant for Kairi all her six years and was technically Garnet’s half-sister, but neither of them knew that. They were both squabbling over whether to give Kairi these strappy pink high heels, or these purple ballet slippers. Kairi didn’t know which one she liked best, so Eiko and Krile continued their squabbling.
Rikku was Yuna’s little cousin, and an Al Bhed. She was also the only person who ever welcomed Yuna in the family. She wanted the Al Bhed side of the family to take Yuna in, but they refused. She got on her high horse about it and just stuck with Yuna, therefore leaving her family behind. She was trying to pick out one of Kairi’s many dresses with Relm, a brilliant artist and friend of Terra who was given by her parents as servant two years ago so they could get the money they desperately needed. They kept bringing out dresses, being interested, then deciding against them, then reconsidering and putting them in a “maybe” pile on Kairi’s bed.
Penelo, a dancer and entertainer (a lot of guests had thought that “entertainer” meant “prostitute”. A lot of guests got slapped), who befriended Ashe before being a servant, as they came from the same Kingdom and Penelo was curious one day about what it was like at the palace was like, so she sneaked in and met the rather lonely Ashe. She became Ashe’s first friend, as Ashe was never as close to her servants as Kairi and Naminé were and they were everyone she knew basically. Penelo helped Ashe escape when their Kingdom was conquered and took asylum with her, and she was Kairi’s maid who was basically sticking different hair pins and flowers into her cropped hair (there isn’t much you can do with hair as short as hers). Yuffie was a ninja, and always wanted to guard, but because she was female no-one had given her half a chance, so she worked as a normal maid and protected the palace secretly. She was helping Penelo with Kairi’s hair, yet nothing productive was really coming of it.
And, last of all, Selphie, a girl who had been orphaned along with Quistis, was doing Kairi’s makeup (which, contrary to popular belief she was rather good at and didn’t colour Kairi’s face purple).
Eventually, everyone agreed on things, Kairi ended up in a sleeveless lavender gown that rather... poofed out at the waist. The purple ballet slippers were chosen, and Kairi slipped them on, and Selphie had applied lilac on the lid, but switched to pink in the highlight (between the top of the eye socket and the eyebrow). Eventually, they left Kairi’s hair alone (“All that fuss for nothing,” grumbled Penelo).
“Ta-da!!!” called Rikku. “Oui muug ysywehk, Bnehlacc Kairi!”
“...Come again?” Kairi asked. She had never actually gotten round to learning Al Bhed; no-one had, which often proved to be a bit of a pain.
Rikku rolled her eyes. “I said; ‘You look amazing Princess Kairi!’”
“Thanks Rikku! Well, I better get myself to that parade now, haven’t I?” Kairi said.
“Yup! Be sure to tell us all about it when you get back!” said Selphie.
***
“Hey! Kairi and Naminé!” Sora called as the girl strolled onto the float where they all stood for the festival thing.
“Hello Sora,” Naminé greeted him with a curtsey. “And Roxas,” she added with a small... blush? She instantly shook the thought out of her head as she stood up.
Kairi curtseyed too. “Hi guys,” she said with a smile.
“Hi Kairi, and Naminé,” Roxas said to the Princesses with a smile that made Naminé feel like swooning all over him; for a moment. “What? No Naminé! Say it with me now; you. Aren’t. In. Love. With. Roxas,” she chastised herself.
“Anyway guys, we’ve gotta get to this festival thing in honour of a betrothals. So, let’s go?” Sora said, offering Kairi his arm with a flirtatious wink. She giggled and took it, and they walked on in front of Roxas and Namine.
“He so likes her,” Roxas mumbled.
“But your the one marrying her, aren’t you Prince Roxas?” Naminé said small-ly. “Still, I understand how he’d fall for her, she’s smart, funny, very pretty, very kind, and bring a smile to anyone’s face,” Naminé mused. “You’re lucky you’re marrying her Roxas.”
Roxas shrugged. “I think I’d rather have you, Naminé,” he sort-of flirted.
Naminé turned bright red. “W-well, thank-you,” she stuttered, before sighing and taking Roxas’s hand. “Let’s go catch up with our siblings, no?”
“Sure,” agreed Roxas.
The parade part of the festival was in full swing; confetti? Check. Marching Band? Check. Extremely patriotic songs? Check. Over-extravagant float? Check. Etcetera, etcetera.
“Wow, people put a lot of effort into this all,” said Sora in compliment.
“Yes, yes they did. Why they’re so excited about the marriages is beyond my comprehension but people are dumb and illogical like that,” Kairi explained, still gripping his arm.
Sora laughed. “You make me smile Kairi... I like that about you. I like a lot about you actually,” he winked. Kairi turned bright red.
“Oh just KISS THE GIRL Sora!” Roxas exclaimed.
“Wha- um- n-n- huh? Er, eek umm-- Just... Shut up Roxas,” Sora babbled.
Roxas sniggered.
Kairi smiled, reached up and planted a small kiss on Sora’s cheek. Then it was Sora’s turn to go bright red.
“These two give me cavities, I swear,” Roxas whispered into Naminé’s ear. She giggled.
“Me too. You have toothpaste on you?”
“Nah,” he responded. “Besides, we also don’t have any toothbrushes,” Roxas smiled. Naminé felt like turning into a pile of gloop. Coloured green and indigo. Can’t miss that.
The music paused. The float stopped. The confetti stopped floating down. The people were quiet. Etcetera, etcetera.
The Queen took the podium. ”Hello subject, we are gathered here today to celebrate the marriages of our dear princesses; my daughters, and announce just who is marrying who,” Queen Lonne smiled at the crowd, “Now over to the Princesses themselves for the announcement,” she smiled some more, and stepped down.
Naminé and Kairi walked to the podium themselves, and as rehearsed, Naminé spoke first.
“I shall be marrying Prince Sora, and as such will go to live in his Kingdom as wife to the heir to the throne,” she explained, heart breaking as the crowd cheered, because just then she realised: She was in love with Roxas.
Naminé stepped down and waited for the cheering to decease. After what felt like an eternity, Kairi took her place. “And I, as you may have guessed, will marry Prince Roxas and stay here as your heir,” she finished as the cheering erupted again and Naminé felt like sobbing.
***
The night before the weddings, Naminé buried her head in her pillow and reflected on everything. She was totally in love with Roxas, but marrying his brother. Not only that, but Sora, her fiancée, had admitted to her that he was in love with her sister, Kairi. Also, their friend and servant Riku had always been in love with Kairi and Naminé always knew it. This. Was. Getting. Ridiculous.
Naminé heard a knock on the door, and when she answered, it was in fact Kairi, crying her eyes out (though doing it quietly). “N-Naminé...” she stuttered towards her sister, sounding completely crushed.
Naminé put her arms around her sister in comforting embrace. “Wow... This is very well goodbye sister...” she mused. “What’s wrong?”
“I-I,” Kairi hiccuped, trying to stop her tears and failing miserably. “I love Sora,” she flat out admitted. “And he marrying you...”
Naminé accepted this. “He loves you too you know... He told me...” she comforted her sister, on the verge of tears herself.
Kairi nodded. “Oh... You know, Roxas loves you. He told me...” she informed Naminé.
Naminé finally burst out in tears. “I love him too,” she confessed.
Kairi gave a humourless laugh. “This is ridiculous. We’ve fallen in love with each other’s fiancées. It certainly would suck for some else in love with any of us.”
Naminé nodded. “Poor Riku,” she mumbled by accident. Unfortunately, Kairi heard.
“Riku? What does Riku have to do with it?” Kairi asked, quizzical.
Naminé realised what she had said, and bit her lip. “Look, he may just kill me for telling you this, but... Riku’s in love with you,” Naminé sighed. “Riku’s always been in love with you.”
Kairi gasped at this news. “Was anyone planning on telling me this?”
Naminé shook her head. “No.”
Kairi sighed. “Well... What do we do about our fiancées?” Kairi asked wincing and pulling away.
Naminé shrugged. “I guess... We have to marry them. We can’t run away, if we do we leave two countries without heirs,” she sighed. “Just... Tell Roxas I love him. And write.”
Kairi gave a sad smile. “Yeah. I will. But you must do the same, and tell Sora about me and him.”
Naminé just nodded.
***
The day of the wedding, Naminé caught Roxas’s eye. She was very unsure about this all. She tried to smile at him, but failed.
Seeing this, Roxas led the gowned up Naminé to a little place where they kept make-up, so they could be alone.
He sighed at her. “Naminé...”
Then he kissed her. Naminé began to cry as he did this, but kissed him back. When they pulled apart, she almost fell into his arms. “I love you.”
“I love you too.”
She looked at him squarely, though sadly. “You do love me.”
“I do.”