It early in the afternoon on April 28, 2011.
For the months prior to April 29th, 2011, news around the world had been buzzing about the upcoming Royal Wedding, the marriage between His Royal Highness Prince William of Wales and Miss Catherine "Kate" Middleton. It wasn't just some wedding on the other side of the world, at least not to one ten year old girl in Destiny City. It was a wonderful fairy tale that she wanted to unfold before her very eyes.
Unfortunately, there were a few problems with her goal. First of all she didn't want to find out the whole thing was a lie, that he wasn't really a prince and that the wedding was a sham. She had felt that burn once already and although the wound was closing thanks to her meeting with Sailor Pollux, otherwise known as Mr. Poutyface, there was still that unconscious caution. Second, the wedding was on the other side of the world! How on Earth would she be able to see it when she was living in Destiny City and not England?
She couldn't deny the man was a prince given his birth, but what of his nature? To the child, a prince wasn't just a title given to male children born into a royal bloodline, but something you earned! Ainsley knew very little about this and she worried she would find herself unfolding a tale about a fake prince who would do nothing but hurt princesses just like Endymion had. The child sighed and shook her head, thinking about Mr. Poutyface. She had no reason to believe Prince William of Wales was nothing less than his title and in fact, given Ainsley's vision on the subject, he was more than just that. A prince was a wonderful man who would be looked up to by many, rode on a beautiful white horse, protected those who cannot protect themselves and loved his princess wholeheartedly. With that, any doubts that may have lingered in her head for even a moment were quickly washed away as she began to consider her options.
She looked around her room until she found her backpack sitting in Constantine Cyprian's fluffy arms. Her notepad was there, and if she was quick she would be able to write down all her options and then pick the best! With hope, the child scurried over to the backpack, unsnapped it and dug around inside until she pulled out her notepad and with it a pencil.
"Hm..." she said as she walked back over to the table and sat down, tapping the pencil against the surface of the notepad as she set it down on the table. She had to think of how she was going to do this! The child carefully thought about it, writing down the ideas as they came to her.
- Go to England
The child sighed, circling "Go to England" with her pencil a couple dozen times as she stared down at it happily, even continuing to draw a couple stars and hearts around the circle. It was her only idea and certainly the best! How else would she be able to see the wedding if she wasn't there? Now she had to figure out how to get to England! She looked below "Go to England" and then continued to make a new list below it for ways of travel.
- Plane
Boat
Car
Train
Bus
Big Kitty
The child looked over this list and after giggling, she carefully crossed out "Car". She certainly couldn't drive across the ocean in a car, not even bothering to factor in just how long it would take to drive that distance even if there was only land in the path. After "Car", Ainsley also crossed out "Bus". It only made sense to do so, they were both the same class of land traveling vehicle. She had gotten rid of two of her options so quickly and before she knew it she was staring at her list once again.
- Plane
Boat
Car
Train
Bus
Big Kitty
She hadn't been on a boat since the time her mother was forced to take her with her to a yacht party, but from what the child could remember: boats were pretty slow moving. Her eyes glanced to the clock, and then she quickly made a strike though "Boat" from the list. There was no way the boat would get her there on time! This left her with Plane, Train and Big Kitty and almost as immediately as she crossed off "Boat", she crossed off "Train" as well. If she remembered correctly train tracks did not go over the ocean and that certainly wouldn't get her to England. This left her with just two options:
- Plane
Big Kitty
Both options seemed like a good idea! A plane would be fast and she knew it could get there and riding on top of Big Kitty would be the safest of them all, but didn't cats usually not like water? Last time Ainsley had seen her Big Kitty they were in a rather hot, land situated and fiery place. There certainly wasn't any vast area of water, not like that very colourful dream after that. A dream where there was a very unhappy Big Kitty, avoiding the water. It seemed the child had decided on how to get there, but now she just needed to get a plane ticket! It wouldn't be the first time the child had been on a plane, but it would be the first time she'd ever gotten a ticket for one. Just how much did they cost? How would she get one? Did she have enough money to get her there and back? The child hadn't even considered that April 29th was tomorrow, and that it was a Friday. Would Cora want to go with her? Could cats even go on planes? There were so many questions and so little time! The child's eyes shot to the clock, noticing the time was now 2:23 PM.
"Oh no!" The child gasped, jumping out of her chair and scurrying over to her white trunk and the piggybank inside of it. She opened the trunk carefully and then removed the piggyback out of it. She would have to see how much money she had saved up! Would it be enough? She hoped it would, not even considering that it would be impossible for the child to even get to England in time for the wedding, regardless of how much money she had. In the end, Ainsley didn't have much money in her piggybank, which wasn't very surprising. It was a piggybank, typically used to carry loose change. All of her actual money was safely kept away in a bank account that was completely out of mind at the moment.
She sighed, putting her money back into the piggyback and then the bank back into the white trunk before she sat down on top of it with her legs swinging in the air. What was she going to do? She just had to see the wedding! Perhaps she just needed a snack to boost her brain power! That must be it. The child hopped off the trunk with new hope and hurried down the hall, and then down the stairs and to the kitchen at the bottom of them. She stepped in, but paused before she went anywhere in particular. Her eyes looked around, and she wondered just what was going to be a good afternoon snack. Her feet no longer frozen on the floor, she moved over to the fridge and carefully opened it so she didn't fall backwards. She passed through the items in the fridge, nearly gagging when her eyes fell on the brussels sprouts. Oh, she hoped Bell wasn't making those!
There was a gleam of hope in the back of the fridge though, an individual cup of strawberry yogurt! Ainsley smiled, reaching in and grabbing it before closing the fridge once again. After she took the wrapped off the top of the yogurt and grabbed a spoon from the drawer, the child scurried out of the kitchen with a happy mouthful of yogurt. She didn't go straight back up to her room though. Instead she went into the living room to investigate a noise on the television. The child gasped, the spoon in her mouth nearly falling out. It was talking about the royal wedding! Her attention immediately shot towards the television as she listened intently. There was a way to watch the wedding live? This was a wonderful world to live in! Just how though? The child's eyes stared at the television as a web page address scrolled across the screen along with a corresponding time.
"Aaaah, that's so late!" She exclaimed outward.
"No! I can do it!"
She was the senshi of sleep, she could definitely stay up all night to watch a wedding in another timezone! Now all she had to do was wait for the time to pass. It was difficult though, the time seemed to pass so slowly as she finished off her yogurt. It was a shame she wasn't the senshi of time, it would be wonderful to just pass a number of hours in the blink of an eye! The child was so excited that she didn't even think she would be able to pass the day normally.
It went by so slowly.
So very slowly.
She was practically counting the minutes until bedtime when she quietly went up stairs and prepared for bed. Although she didn't plan on actually going to bed, the child took her bath, trying to stretch the time out for as long as possible. It was nice, and after the bath she brushed her teeth and washed her face before getting into her pajamas. She dried her hair off and then stumbled into bed with her brush where she would slowly brush her hair until it was knot free. By the time she was completely done and ready for bed it was already 9:00 PM and time for bed. However, the child didn't go straight to bed. Instead she pulled out a laptop she rarely used, except for on occasion to e-mail her parents status reports that she never got replies back from, and took it up to bed with her.
She wasn't very computer savvy but the child knew the basics. Most importantly, she knew the website that the wedding would be broadcast on. She didn't go on the computer right away though, wanting to carefully preserve the battery until the festivities would begin. Once again, it seemed like the time was frozen and more than once had Ainsley fallen asleep and woken up in a panic thinking she had missed the wedding only to find out a mere couple minutes had passed. Much to the child's dismay, this continued to happen until the very minute the wedding began and the child turned the computer on. From that moment on, the child's attention was wide away and glued to the glowing screen in the dark. Was this healthy? Ainsley wasn't really caring at the moment. There was only one thing currently on her mind and that was: A prince is getting married!
She watched everything with constant squeals and glee as the night got later and later and the wedding progressed further and further. She almost felt as if she was there and no longer did the time seem to pass by like frozen water but more like a rapid river. She couldn't get enough time now! Just how cruel was that? Before she knew it the child was watching as the beautiful bride was walking down the isle and crying as the prince and his princess completed their vows. Even though the wedding was over, the child watched contently as the newly married couple rode back to the palace, admiring as the bride smiled and waved to the adoring public. She felt as if she was standing on the very street watching, even waving back as if they could see her.
There was plenty of commentary to keep her watching as the live video stream progressed, and it wasn't until the very end with kiss between the prince and his bride on the balcony of the Buckingham Palace with their family did the child finally find herself dozing off, falling into a deep sleep. She had managed to watch the wedding and now it would be time to face the world of dreams once again. It had been quiet compared to the days in February but that wouldn't stop the festivities in her dream. A ball was taking place and a young lady dressed in a beautiful gown that seemed to sparkle with the very stars in the sky was there with a smile. She even had her own prince to accompany her to the dance floor so they would dance until her alarm would wake her up for school that Friday morning.
