![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Summary: The alliance between Radiant Garden and Destiny Islands is new, and still tenuous. To try and strengthen those ties, as a "show of good faith", it has been promised that Kairi, princess of Radiant Garden, will marry someone from Destiny Islands. Since the islands don't have a royal family, they have instead sent five eligible suitors, in the hopes that one of them will make for a peaceful match.
Day 23 of AU-gust: Arranged Marriage
I confess that I'm not entirely happy with this one. I love a good arranged marriage AU, but I love them best as slow burns, and the fic-a-day format isn't terribly conducive to that. So my thought was to try for a more lighthearted take on the trope, which turned into the sort of high-stakes faux "The Bachelorette"/sort-of reverse-harem type story. But I still just couldn't fit it into a oneshot, so this is really just kind of an intro to a fic that needs a lot more work, haha.
If you're interested, I put some notes at the end about where I would want the fic to go after this, since I don't think it's likely I'll actually write it. But never say never; I might rewrite it into something that looks a little more like I was envisioning.
“As a show of good faith,” her father said, “Princess Kairi of Radiant Garden has agreed that she will marry a citizen from Destiny Islands. We hope that this union will help to guarantee a future of friendly relations between our nations.”
Kairi forced her smile to stay in place. She had agreed, but it also hadn’t really been a choice. Her refusal could have been seen as the kingdom not respecting the island nation, and could have drastically complicated the tentative alliance. She couldn’t be responsible for that.
The man serving as representative of Destiny Islands stepped forward and gave a deep bow. “We appreciate the honor that the princess shows us. As Destiny Islands does not have an equivalent to your royal family with which to make a match, we have selected five eligible suitors for her hand. It is our hope that she will find among them a partnership that complements her gracious nature.”
Smoothly said, she thought. She kept the smile in place and gave a gentle curtsey.
She supposed that in absence of rank as a deciding factor, this was a fair way to do it. Could even appreciate it, really, since it gave her a bit of unanticipated leeway. If there were a terrible clash in personality, at least she had additional options that weren’t likely to cause offense.
The representative of the Islands could have just chosen for her, and found a reason to justify the choice, no matter how horrible. She pushed the thought away. Their relations were not fraught or antagonistic; this was simply a bid to keep them that way. It was in their mutual best interests for this to work out peaceably.
She would need to meet and speak with each of these five suitors, of course. And perhaps she could have one of her staff do some investigative work to make sure she was aware of any important background information. Then she could spend some time with each of them, and hopefully one would be a match she could be happy with. That was all she needed; she wasn’t looking for grand fairy tale romance. Just someone she could be friends with, who cared for their nation’s continued peace and wellbeing, and could bring themselves to care for Radiant Garden the same way.
The suitors had not been present at the announcement, so the first time she saw them was at dinner. They were seated with the rest of the ambassadorial party, not near enough for her to converse with, probably so that no one could claim that there was favoritism toward one suitor or another.
The five of them were seated together, four men and one woman. A taller man, muscular and tan, with shortish coppery red hair. A blond, smaller than the redhead, but also athletic. A young woman, with chestnut colored hair that flipped out over her shoulders. A young-looking man with wildly messy spiked brown hair and bright blue eyes. Another taller man with silver hair.
She suppressed a sigh; she wanted to at least find out how her would-be suitors felt about this. Was it a contest, where they were actually trying to “win?” Or did they feel the same way she did, that it wasn’t necessarily what they wanted, but something they would do to help ensure peace? Or—stars forbid—were any of them here against their will?
Formal introductions were scheduled for the following day, and Kairi would definitely have to plan some questions to ask them.
It felt uncomfortably like an interview, the way she set up the room. She was at one side of a table with a space for the suitor to sit at the other side. She didn’t want something softer or more intimate, though. She wanted this part to be businesslike.
The first to come in was the tall redhead, who introduced himself as Wakka.
“What is your profession on Destiny Islands?”
“I’m a blitzball player and a personal trainer in the offseason.”
When she admitted that she didn’t know what blitzball was, he launched into a very technical explanation of the game. She wasn’t sure she understood it any better after the explanation.
“You’ll have to come see me play,” he said.
“I would like that,” she said. And she genuinely meant it. If it was something important to Destiny Islands, which it sounded like it was, then she should learn about it.
“How were you selected to be one of the suitors?”
“They asked me. They said I had cultural value, being a star player and all. But I am glad to be here,” he stressed.
“What are you hoping for out of this arrangement?” she asked delicately.
“We all want the alliance to work, yeah?”
Next was the blond, whose name was Tidus.
He was also a blitzball player.
“Is that what everyone on Destiny Islands does?” Kairi asked. That hadn’t actually been one of her questions, but…
Tidus laughed, “No. I mean, it’s a popular sport, but not everyone plays it.”
“How were you selected to be here?”
“I wanted to come. They came to talk to the team, and Wakka is the captain, so I know they wanted him. But he shouldn’t get all the fun, right?”
She smiled. Maybe it was flirting. She was trying to minimize that for right now, but it was kind of nice.
“And what are you hoping for the outcome of all of this?”
He shrugged. “I know that Destiny Islands is my home. I know that I want it to be safe, and if I can help this alliance, I want to.”
The woman’s name was Selphie.
She was not a professional blitzball player, though she said she did sometimes play for fun. Instead, she was an event planner.
“How were you selected for this?” Kairi asked.
“Oh, I volunteered,” said Selphie. “The chance to see a new place, meet new people, including a princess? Sounded amazing. I want to see Radiant Garden, and if you wind up liking me, then I’ll be happy to be a connection between it and Destiny Islands.”
“So is that what you want this all to end with?”
“Of course. You seem nice.”
“So do you,” Kairi said with a smile.
The messy-haired young man was named Sora, and he was the first of the Destiny Islanders who did not play blitzball.
He was a student, and admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure what he hoped to study. That seemed like it made him an odd candidate for a suitor, but Kairi sort of liked that.
“So how did you wind up one of the suitors? And what do you want to happen?”
“I wanted to be here,” he said. “I love Destiny Islands. I think you could love it, too.”
The last of her suitors was Riku. He looked much more serious, which made the “interview” format feel more genuine.
Before she could even ask him anything about himself, he leaned forward, and in a low voice asked, “Are you okay?”
She blinked, caught off-guard. “Yes?”
“You aren’t being made to do this against your will?”
Ironic, since that was what she had been most concerned about. But she was hoping for honesty from them, so she wanted to offer the same. “I am not doing this against my will. It is in some ways an obligation, but not one I’m unhappy about.”
“Are you being pressured into that?”
“Are you?” she asked. “Is that what you’re trying to tell me?”
Riku shook his head. “Of course not. I’m here because I asked to be.”
“Why?” His questions had thrown off her own.
His eyes darted to the side. “I feel like I had to be. My family… there’s no such thing as royalty on the islands, not like you. But my family is well-off and well-regarded. I might be the most suited to it.”
It sounded like he felt responsible. “You want to take care of the Islands?” she guessed.
He frowned, but slowly nodded.
“That’s what everyone else said, too. Destiny Islands must be an amazing place, that so many people are here because they want to make sure I see its worth, to protect the alliance.”
“And you’re okay with the fact that marriage to you is part of it?”
“By being here, you’re saying the same, aren’t you? That you would marry me, if that was the best way to ensure this alliance stays strong?” Kairi shrugged. “You want to protect Destiny Islands. I want to take care of Radiant Garden.”
His smile was slight, as he said, “Then I believe we’ll find a way to make it work.”
Kairi retired to her rooms to consider what she’d found out. It was a bit of a relief that no one had fallen over themselves to profess their undying love for her.
It seemed like everyone viewed it as something like a business transaction. So at least they were all on the same page.
A few notes on where I think the fic would go:
-Kairi would start to spend time with everyone individually.
-Wakka would be eliminated fairly early, when he confesses that he "has a girl at home" (Lulu)
-Riku would get a little weird about Sora, insisting to Kairi that Sora wasn't supposed to be there
-Riku is primarily there because he believes he has to protect Kairi, still not sure he believes that she's really okay with everything. (This may have something to do with some sort destiny he believes he has?) He knows that he's trustworthy and has good intentions, and won't do anything to hurt her. Plus he does feel some sense of responsibility for the islands.
-Selphie and Kairi would decide fairly early that they don't especially want to marry, but that Selphie will totally be Kairi's backup plan if nothing else works out, and Kairi will absolutely hire Selphie to help relations between the two countries.
-Tidus will probably fall for Yuna, another Radiant Garden citizen, despite the fact he's supposed to be courting Kairi (in a weird near-inversion of their FFX roles re: arranged marriages)
-Kairi spends more time with both Sora and Riku, narrowing it down to the two of them that she most enjoys being with
-Turns out, Riku and Sora had a relationship, but Riku feels like he *has* to be the one to marry Kairi, because he finds only himself and Sora trustworthy enough for it, and he doesn't want Sora to do anything out of obligation.
-There's a day where Sora spontaneously takes Kairi to see his house and meet his mom, but... oh no! Riku is there! But Kairi insists that he spend the day with them, instead of giving them space, and... oh no! All three of them get along really well, too!
-Riku gives Kairi a book about marriage customs on Destiny Islands, which includes information about marriages between more than two people. He *may* have *subtly* marked those pages in the hopes she'd read about them.
-Happy OT3 ending.
