Selene's crutches clacked against the cold, hard tiles of the hospital. According to what she overheard while the doctors thought she was sleeping, Winter was being treated in room 677. Selene limped uneasily through the hall, ducking behind a corner as a doctor walked past. Her heart was beating fast in her chest, and she didn't know why. She wasn't afraid that she would be caught out of bed. She wasn't afraid that the doctors were lying about Winter's condition.

So what was she afraid of?

Selene rounded a corner and spotted 677. She clacked over to the door, holding her right crutch under her arm as she reached out and pushed a button on a panel next to the door. It hissed open, and Selene quickly pushed herself inside.

Selene exhaled, relieved, and turned toward the bed, freezing when she saw a figure seated in a chair next to Winter's bedside. Prince Kaito stared at her with his mouth unhinged slightly, with a very stupid expression on his face. Selene averted her eyes.

"Prince Kaito." She acknowledged him.

"U-Um-"

"What?"

"A-Aren't you supposed to be resting? Before the surgery?"

Selene glanced at Winter's sleeping face, her black ringlets splayed out across the pillow. She looked so peaceful. Not at all like she'd been in a spaceship crash just the day before. The only sign that she wasn't just taking a well-deserved nap was the UV cords coming out of her arm and the steady pulse being tracked on a large monitor on the wall. Selene swallowed. Hard.

"I-I..." Before Selene knew it, a tear squeezed itself out of the corner of her eye and ran down her cheek. She hastily wiped it away with her remaining hand. This was wrong. This was so wrong. She couldn't possibly be crying in front of the prince of the Eastern Commonwealth. She was showing every side of herself that she hadn't wanted to show them. From the entire time she was queen, she had her hands full proving to everyone that she wasn't just a stupid teenage girl who made her decisions off of immature whims. She was a strong queen. She was a strong person.

But then why was she crying? After sixteen whole years of not shedding a single tear about her situation, why was she doing it now? And why did she have to be weak in front of the prince of the Commonwealth?

Another tear released itself. "I-I just wanted to... see Winter."

Kaito was silent. Selene refused to look at him.

"You seem to really care about this Winter."

"She-She's my only friend. For my entire life. She was the only person always there for me, no matter what."

They lapsed into an awkward silence. Kai scratched his neck, glancing up at the time on the corner of the heart-tracking monitor. There was a question he'd been wanting to ask Selene for a long time. This was the perfect opportunity. Kai took a deep breath and steeled himself.

"C-Can I ask you a question? It's... I hope you won't think it's too personal."

"Go ahead."

Kai looked down at his hands. "U-um, well, I heard a lot about glamours that Lunars can make, to alter their appearance and stuff. But cameras and video comms are immune to the glamours, and you video-commed us and sent a picture of yourself for a bio page. So I guess I'm wondering why you don't use a glamour. I mean, not like I think you need one or anything, you're so beautiful, you don't need one, of course-" Kai broke into a deep blush. Did he just say he thought she was beautiful? To her face?

Selene shifted in her post, standing on the other side of Winter's bed as Kai. "You want to know why my appearance has been consistent, because I don't wear a glamour?"

Kai blushed again. "Y-Yeah."

Selene twisted her lip between her teeth. "I don't think I've ever really considered that. I've never really used a glamour. I guess, once I became queen, I just wanted to prove to my people that I... am who I am, I guess. Nothing more, nothing less. I'm not fake, and I don't want to try to win their love or adoration with beauty that isn't really mine. I want to be an admirable queen for my deeds, not my looks."

Kai bit his lip and before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "I think you're an admirable queen. For your deeds."

Selene started, looking at Kai. "You think so?"

Kai nodded. He was surprised at how vulnerable Selene looked at that moment. Her blue hospital gown hung off her slender frame, and her fine brown hair hung in a ponytail down her back. Her tear streaked cheeks and surprised expression made her look... so young. She was only sixteen, Kai reminded himself when the thought surprised him. Two years younger than him. But her perpetually regal presence and demanding personality made her seem older and more mature than she probably was. But she was just a teenager. Just a teenage girl who was forced into being queen by a lifetime of social pressure and diplomacy lessons. He couldn't fairly say that she seemed as though she didn't like it; he could just tell she had never considered anything else. It was always being queen. Her destiny. Her unavoidable fate. He knew what it was like to have suffocating expectations that you were expected to live up to. She was a lot better at handling them then he thought he would, though.

"Prince Kaito..."

Kai glanced down at his feet. "Kai. Please call me Kai."

Selene attempted a smile, but it fell short.

"K-Kai. Huh."

ー

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long! I haven't had lots of time for writing recently.