Through Her Eyes
After Chidori had cried herself to sleep in Machiko's arms, she didn't wake up for quite some time. No one knew why. But they all had their suspicions.
The most popular theory was that Chidori was just trying to avoid reality. 'If she stays asleep, its like dying in a sense. She won't have to face the things that have happened to her...'
But Machiko just believed that Chidori needed to rest. Once she slept long enough to feel better, she would wake up. Or so she hoped.
During that whole time, Machiko was reluctant to leave Chidori's side. She wanted to be there when Chidori woke up. The only times that Machiko left were when she absolutely had to, and even then, she was more often than not, forced.
It was on coming back from one of those occasions, when she heard Irisa and Ichi's voices. Kane was also in the room, but was staying silent. Irisa was reading from a book out loud.
"...Sleeping Beauty pricked her finger on the spindel of the spinning wheel, and fell asleep, as foretold. Her Fairy Godmother's then put all the inhabitants of the castle to sleep, only to ever awaken when Sleeping Beauty did...
"Thorns grew around the castle, almost as if preventing anyone to even attempt going near the slumbering maiden. However, a young and valiant prince chose to brave the thorns, to try and reach Sleeping Beauty. He slowly forced his way through, ignoring the cuts from the sharpness. Then he reached the dark fairy who had placed the curse on Sleeping Beauty.
"The fairy turned into a vicious dragon, determined to strike down the Prince. A tumultuous battle ensued between the two, good and evil. But good always triumphs over evil. The fairy fell, leaving a black stain of her evil where she once lay.
"The Prince then opened the castle gates, running up the stairs to the tower where Sleeping Beauty lay prisoner. He opened the door to her chamber, to see that she was still as beautiful as the day she fell asleep. He slowly walked towards her, entranced by her. He carefully sat upon the edge of her bed, and leaned towards her. And with a kiss, she awoke.
"The two lived in their castle, amongst its people, happily ever after."
Machiko had started to cry. "Its her." The others looked shocked, as they saw their Goddess cry. "Machiko-sama...what are you talking about?"
She then looked in the general direction of where Chidori lay asleep. "She's sleeping beauty. Her heart of hearts. The castle is the walls that she's built around it. The thorns are there to protect herself from the things and people that would hurt her..."
As Machiko spoke, Irisa began to cry. Kane just held her close, and tried to calm her down. Ichi looked sadly at Machiko, and spoke in a quiet voice.
"Prince Charming won't come for her, will he? He's too scared to brave the thorns."