Title: we just walk on by (we just keep on dreaming)
Ship: Cutty/Sakura Uta
Fandom: You and Idol Pretty Cure
Word Count: 2,105
Rating: T
Warnings: Choose Not to Warn
Tags: Not Canon Compliant, Fluff and Angst, Bittersweet, Age Difference, Size Difference, Height Difference, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Hand Holding, Getting Together
The Heart Tree was ailing.
Anyone with eyes could see it. It had lost its former glory, the eternity of its pink petals and the health of its slender trunk. The lustre of its bark had dulled and greyed, the empty limbs wilted inwards.
Tanakan adjusted his glasses and sighed, “Are you sure you are making the correct decision, Cuttin?”
A cold wind blew. It shook the foliage of the trees around them as the last of the magical power in the area charged up for just one more trip. They were waiting on the goodbyes of the girls and one last indecision on Cuttin’s behalf.
He had erred too long, thinking too hard but even now. Cuttin looked disappointed with himself: torn between two choices. His eyes glanced back and forth, between Tanaka and the other fairies then back to Uta and the other human girls. He knew where he belonged but he couldn’t help himself. He nodded.
“I’m certain, tin.” Cuttin replied. Determination to stay by his choice gleamed in his blue eyes.
It was a tough choice, to stay or to go.
He had begun to make amends on Kirakiland during their previous visit. They were welcomed back with open arms and kindhearted smiles. Even though they had helped the destruction of the kingdom. Even though he and Zakkurin had caused trouble with their selfishness and mean streak respectively, they were still considered a friend in their home realm. It was wonderful.
That redemption had felt immaculate. It brought him to tears all over again to say no to that. That, too, felt selfish. Funnily enough. But no. Cuttin was certain. He wanted to stay behind in the human world.
“Queen Pikarine warned however…” Tanaka spoke up.
“I know she did, tin.” Cuttin told him. “I am willing to face that consequence, tin.”
Uta stepped forward. Her hand curled inwards to her scarf. She buried herself into its fluffy fabric guiltily.
“Pl-Please don’t sacrifice your future on my behalf…” Uta interjected. “I’m worried that’s exactly what you are doing, Cuttin.”
Cuttin floated backwards. He nuzzled against Uta’s face. She was stricken with grief because she was the anchor that was keeping him in this foreign port of the human world. Her cheeks were crinkly with tears that had frosted over. This winter seemed like it was going to last for forever and a day. She was chilled by it and Cuttin’s indecision.
“I know what I’m doing, tin.” Cuttin assured her.
Uta wasn’t quite sure what to believe.
Purirun and Meroron had said their goodbyes. They had shed their tears. It was almost time to go and they had made what good that they could of this short amount of time before the Heart Tree’s connection to Kirakiland finally dissipated. There had been fun and games, singing their final songs, and of course plenty of octopus shaped sausages to go around but now that it was here…
It felt like it was entirely different. It was cold and terse. Bittersweet at best.
They had saved the world but to what ends if it was just going to part them and then, poor Cuttin…
Cuttin smiled and patted Uta’s head. His paw was soft and fuzzy. He changed into his other form as Cutty in a puff of blue smoke and glitter. It made Uta’s nose twitch.
“Just a moment please, Tanaka.” Cutty requested politely.
Tanaka nodded.
He and Uta escorted themselves elsewhere.
They walked down the path slightly, turned their backs on the group. Cutty, in particular, engulfed Uta’s vision and shielded her from possible interaction or intervention from her friends as all she could see was Cutty and his big shoulders, his big smile.
Uta steeled herself. This was her and Cutty’s big goodbye and yet, Cutty met her in defiance with most peculiar gentleness to his expression. It was so loving. Caring. He touched her face again: caressed her cheek, held her chin, had her look at him when she could hardly bring herself to do it as her eyes watered.
“It would be my honour to stay here with you, Uta, in this world of splendour and light.” Cutty assured her. “It is my decision and my decision only. This is my final word. If you will have me.”
“B-But everyone says if you stay behind, you’ll lose your-”
“And that is a sacrifice I am willing to make if it means I can stay near to you.” Cutty told her. “Your music, your kindness, your light: it brought me out of the dark and restored my Kira Kira. I want you to have it all, that would make me happier than keeping it all to myself.”
He chuckled mildly and tilted his head. A smile pricked on Uta’s lips.
“For once in your life…” Uta complained. She pawed at her face to get rid of her tears and in a vain effort to cheer herself up, too. “The one time when it would be okay for you to be selfish and greedy.”
“I want to be selfless.” Cutty said. “But is it really selfless if I’m breaking my friends’ hearts?”
“Ah…” Uta mumbled.
With that, they had come to their conclusion. Cutty would stay behind. That was his will. His mind would not be changed. They returned to the group.
Zakkurin hovered, “M-Make good choices, big guy, rin!”
“Of course.” Cutty replied. He saluted his compatriot.
Zakkurin nodded. There were tears in his eyes but he was being brave.
Tanaka checked his watch, “It's time.” he said.
He then poofed into his other form as Tanakhan in a cloud of sparkly, orange haze. He adjusted his glasses again in front of his fuzzy face and he ushered the younglings closer. Purirun and Meroron glanced over their shoulders and waved goodbye before joining him and Zakkurin in front of the peach.
Cutty stood tall. Stalwart. His upper lip couldn’t have been stiffer than if he tried. He placed his arm over Uta’s shoulder and hugged her from the side. She appreciated the token of strength in Cutty’s gesture and waved goodbye to their friends.
They watched as the magical peach generated energy. There were streaks of light and strips of pocket dimensions on display in quick flashes of light hue pink and green. They were collected up by it and sucked inside. The peach grew three sizes and then poof.
It disappeared into a slip stream of time and space.
It seemed unfathomable that something could be here and then so far away. Especially for Cutty. The peach was the last symbol, and his last method, of going home to where he originated and ergo, belonged. His expression gave nothing away, his jowls unmoving and his mouth a thin line, as he stared ahead into the nothingness of the park.
The wintry skies and its dark clouds. The bare limbed trees. The cold. It was silent as they all said their goodbyes internally.
Nana broke composure first. Kokoro hugged her from the side and Nana curled into her hug. She cried and Kokoro was strong for her. It was hard for her to say goodbye to both Meroron and Zakkurin at once but she had done so well up until now.
For them all to just disappear into thin air… It was a lot to take in. A blink of an eye and they were gone. All that was left was the hollow sound of so high up on the cliffside park. The wind that whistled and now how Nana cried. Oh, it broke their hearts.
The cold and the near silence suffocated them. Uta trembled where she stood. Her mind raced with all the memories and feelings that were now being left behind as she, and the other girls, officially graduated from being You and Idol Pretty Cure.
It wore on Uta until she couldn’t take it anymore. Her knees knocked and her heart broke at the sight of her friends in grief.
“I… I need some air.” Uta announced. Her voice pierced the air like Cupid’s arrow.
“Would you like me to come with you…?” Cutty asked.
Uta nodded. She chewed her lip and she furrowed her brow. Cutty understood. This was Uta being selfish.
His arm slipped down and he held her hand. They walked off together, down the path of the park, over its white and slate cobblestones and past the treeline. This place would look magnificent in spring but first.
They had to endure the last of winter.
With every step they took, the further they were from the past and magic, it seemed. A glance and Uta couldn’t help but notice: Cutty’s ears had rounded from where they had once been pointed like an elf’s or, well, fairy’s. She swallowed a sob nervously. There was no going back on this decision now.
Thus, curiously, with every step they took, the closer they were to the future and what it could hold. The melancholy and the joy of it all.
“What are you going to do now?” Uta asked.
“Support you, of course.” Cutty said.
Uta chuckled a sardonic chuckle. If she didn’t know any better, she would think that she was being told she would be taken care of in more than just a fanboy’s way. It made her nose wrinkle.
“I mean it.” Cutty said. “I will do right by you. I will support you in every way I can. So, the better question is: what are you going to do now?”
Uta’s mouth dried but there was a sparkle in her red eyes which betrayed her, “I have a dream.” she confessed.
“Oh?” Cutty intoned brightly.
“I told it to Kaito first, sorry,” Uta said, “I told him I want to see him again because I realised: I admire him as a mentor. I want to meet him again on a grand stage as an idol equivalent to his own status. That’s what I realised… My dream is to keep connecting people…”
“That is a wonderful dream, Uta.” Cutty replied like a saint.
“Thank you, Cutty,” Uta smiled and her mirth was contagious, her breath expelled as a mist as she cuddled into the side of Cutty’s stocky body, “your support means the world to me. You’ll always be my number one, my very first…”
Her voice trailed off and Cutty’s heart skipped a beat.
“You're not worried…?” Cutty asked and his mouth remained agape even as he failed to finish his sentence.
He tilted his head so he could see her better. Her hand, so small and delicate, was encased in the thick mitt of his large hand. He paused, then squeezed Uta’s hand for comfort.
“Is that something you worry about?” Uta asked.
Cutty nodded grimly.
He was the type to worry about something so small such as the length of his nails on his hand as he offered it to be shaken at a meet and greet. Of course he would be worried that people would talk, that scandal would arise. Just look at them, and particularly him.
Their relationship wasn’t exactly that of the pristine idol and her biggest supporter. Cutty was older than her. Wider than her and uglier than her. Her former enemy. It would be more bizarre if he didn’t raise an eyebrow or two in his steadfast support of Uta as it transformed and went beyond a platonic admiration to this.
“Well, I won’t worry,” Uta said, “I want to be an idol on my own terms, in my way that only I, as Sakura Uta, can be so… We’ll just have to keep walking like this, holding hands, and dreaming…”
“Thank you, Uta.” Cutty replied.
He squeezed her hand again and Uta’s other hand reached across. She placed it on his warm chest and she sighed contentedly. On her exhale, it naturally turned into a song and Cutty’s ears were blessed by her earnest lyrics and dulcet melody. This, to him, was bliss: absolutely worth the price of admission of becoming human.
With their agreement made mutual, together, they looked up and winter didn’t seem so dreadful all of a sudden.
The skies opened up to a miraculous, azure blue and the grass greened at the edge of the path. Fragile new growth on the branches of trees leaves buffeted in the wind that blew. The sun came out from behind the grey clouds that once blocked it and illuminated the human world beneath its warm gaze.
Spring would soon be here and with it, their future would arrive just as swiftly, just as dazzlingly with the blossoming of cherry blossom trees.
