It was night time and the moon is shining so brightly in the sky along with thousands of stars, lighting a very spacious room. Plushies, toys, pillows, and books are scattered everywhere. The children are already asleep in a fancy looking bed.
On a window seat, Bubblegum was sitting with her head resting in her arms as she stared blankly at the moon. She seemed lost in thought, not noticing anything.
"Can't sleep?"
Surprised, she suddenly jolted up and looked at him, but was relieved to find that it was only Airi.
"Airi..."
"Thinking about Kin?" he asked
She frowned in his question. "Airi, instead of worrying about others, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself?"
Airi shrugged and sat beside her and gazed at the sky. "Kishi said it himself. Just ran away..." he pondered. "What he said made me think, perhaps it's best than to force yourself, and it's also easier."
She wasn't really delighted, but she just sighed and turned to look through the window.
"This place is beautiful, isn't it?"
Bubblegum glanced at him from the corner of her eyes, before looking back and told him.
"Is that what you think?"
"Isn't it?"
"Well...not exactly. It's too big, even for us..."
"If that's how you think I can't blame you." he said. "This place is pretty big; I can't deny that. Though, it made me feel safe, feel at home, and perhaps warmer than back at the mansion. I don't know why, but I like it here better."
"Do you like Kishi and Kira?" She asked him
Airi nodded. "Yes, I do like them."
Bubblegum sighed again as she laughed at herself. "Seriously, it took me years to get you to notice me, yet here they are, making you fond of them without even trying."
"I'm the one who made the effort to approach them." Airi reminded her.
"Yes, yes, I know. But...it's unfair..." she bit her lip, and Airi turned to stare at her.
"How is it so?"
"I dunno, I can't explain."
Sighing, Airi said to her. "They were a lot like you"
Bubblegum looked at him in bewilderment. She also somehow understood that the "you" he was pertaining to was plural.
"They were...really nice." He began. "They were so weird at some point. I don't understand that back then, but the more I spend time with them, the more I understand." Placing his hand on his chin, he continued. "They're just like the most of us, they try their best to smile and have fun while they can, and when they can't, they change into someone entirely different. But what I admire them for the most, their reliance for each other and their absolute faith is...something I can't do. They trust everyone despite knowing that they're all lying, they don't care as long as they would be allowed to be together. Even when they are far apart, they trust that one day, they will be reunited again, and when they do, they'll make sure that they would be strong enough to protect each other, so they can never be torn apart ever again."
He chuckled. "naïve, don't you think? But that's what they are. And they're honest about it. Just like you, they will be facing the time when they have to make a choice. It's their responsibility, and they may be able to run away from that now, but they can't run away from it forever. Still, despite knowing that, they still do it anyway. As for why, it's because they believe in each other, they believe in all those promises they made."
"I was scared when I first saw it, one that I shouldn't be able to see"
"What do you mean? What did you see?" Bubblegum asked him.
"Chains" He simply replied, making Bubblegum even more confused.
"I'm sure your aware of it, the Sacred Vows. It was known as a curse, a curse that is carried by many. All the Sacred Royals was cursed with this. As a result, they were highly forbidden to recklessly make promises that they can't fulfill. However, I don't know how I saw it, but, perhaps it's because they were bound with so many chains. Not just their commitment for each other, but also for how many promises they made in all that time the spent together. So many that it was scary. Yet they didn't even seem to care. It's like they're as confident that they would fulfill all those promises in spite of its quantity. That's one thing I can't do."
"They were beyond pitiful..."
Bubblegum sighed as she chuckled, unsure of what to make of. "How ironic, I thought you just said that you admire them, but now you're saying that they're pitiful?"
"It is because they are." He told her.
"Oh? How so?"
He turned to look back at the sky, watching the stars as they glimmered. "They're pitiful, because they're just like you and me, like us."
What he said struck her that she involuntarily glanced at the sleeping twins, who are sleeping comfily and soundly beside each other with their hand locked together.
"...They are way too naïve. Were all naïve. I never realized that till I lost my world." He thought deeply as he recalls his past memories. "Like us, they depend on each other, they act as if they'd be ruined if the other suddenly disappears. Aren't you and Kin like that back then? Unfortunately, they're lot worse. Our elders may not tell us everything, but despite all the things they haven't told us, we all know, that they can't stay like that forever, not just whatever fate or curse our elders hid from us, but also because of their own responsibilities."
"One day, when they grow up, they had to shoulder everything on their own without any assistance from the elders. And...what if something bad happened to Uncle Meijin? Then, wouldn't they be forced to make that same decision that you did back then? They are not only Enchanted Palace's prince and princess; they were also the only heirs of the Darkrose family. Whatever will happen in the future is not in our hands, they can't retaliate against Clover. They will have to suffer if Clover so desired."
Bubblegum bowed her head down thinking about it. Airi somehow reminded her of the tragedy in her past that lead her to resent the Sacred Empires. But because she suffered so much, she doesn't want others to feel the same pain that she once suffered to.
"Sugar...can you notice, how worse they are..." She didn't reply to him any more and just remained quiet. "...As I spent time with them, I noticed one thing. They grew up not knowing what it feels like to be sincerely loved. They grew up, clinging into the only love that they received from each other. As such, the importance of the other to is just as much. I can only imagine what it felt like to realized what it feels like to be resented and rejected by everyone around me. It must have been really weakening. Yet they manage to gain strength just by relying solely on one person..."
"It was amazing that they were able to do it, but it was highly risky. Just like you and me, we trusted and gave everything we got for the person that was so dear to us. Just like me, I depended on mom and dad only because I was scared of my own self. But when they were gone, it felt so terrible. I felt like my heart would burst form the pain" He said as he clutched his chest. "But...how worse could it be to lose someone that was literally your world. Someone that you believed in that would raise you if you fall, depended on, someone...that you treated and known as much as yourself, someone you loved so dearly more than yourself, someone that you think as your other half, a person that is your world, who you believed to be the very same person as you are..."
He smiled bitterly. "It must've felt so miserable. Oh, how painful could it be? I'm not sure I could live. But if I can't die? I wouldn't know what to do. Gaining all that strength, be the powerfullest and stand at the peak to protect your world, yet...to no avail, can't still protect. If I would be them, someone needs to kill me, or I would end the world. Things might be better for them now, yet nothing changed" As he said that, he laughed in a rather sinister way.
It was unpleasant but Bubblegum pay no heed to him. She knew as much as him how they loved each other. It was so bare that anyone would be able to see it. The way they look at each other, the way they speak to each other, the way they care, it was so loving and gentle. They were secretly over protective, yet they resist their over possessiveness because they respect each other truly.