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Once upon a time, very many years ago, the Sun king and queen of the heavenly court had a baby boy. He was very loved by the king and queen because he was their first son, but unfortunately, he was not as brilliant and shiny as they were. His shine was considered dull, even.
The Sun king and queen decided to give their dull son a task. He would guard the world while they slept. His soft shine would not disturb the world's sleep, but it would be enough of a reminder that the heavenly court was there watching over them.
The moon prince, named Izuku by his loving parents, was indeed quite dull looking. His body emanated a soft glow, not enough to illuminate a room like the Sun king's shine did. His hair was like grass and his cheeks had small stars peppered all over. He had been born with long ears like those of a rabbit, the same color as his grass-like hair.
Very dull indeed!
He was so dull sometimes the commoners of earth did not even remember he was there!
"Is this prince shining over us at night necessary?" The common folk would say. "The heavenly court really must be bored!"
"He's so ugly!" They would say. "The shine makes me want to close my windows at night! So useless!"
This all made poor dull Moon prince Izuku very sad!
It wasn't his fault his light was so dim! He didn't choose this!
Despite being so dull and shining so dimly, the moon prince Izuku was still a kind and soft prince. He loved to go down to earth and spend time with his friends, the animals and the flowers.
Common folk did not want to be near the moon prince. They walked away whenever they saw the dim light in the middle of the flower fields. Though the prince looked happy and content petting a small animal, being friends with the flowers, he was so ugly to look at, and they didn't want to see him.
This made the prince very sad. Was he so horrid to look at that people ran away at the sight of him?
One day, after yet another villager turned around and left hastily as soon as he saw him, the moon prince sat among the flowers and wept openly as the sun began to set.
A bright pink hibiscus flower stirred, no doubt awakened by the moon prince's cries. She extended her petals gently and looked up at the prince.
"What is wrong, kind prince? Why do you cry?"
"I don't like being the moon!" He cried, wiping his tears with his flowing green sleeves. "I wish I was a star or a flower like you! The stars and the flowers are pretty!"
Prince Izuku looked at the sky, the stars glinted as they danced with each other and giggled. Their golden robes made them look like floating fairies in the night sky. The Moon prince sniffled, not tearing his gaze from them.
"If I were a star, even the smallest, at least someone would look at me; but I'm only the moon and no one likes me. The villagers say I'm ugly. Stars are beautiful. Women wish they looked like them, and men fight to steal them from the night sky and make them their brides."
The poor Hibiscus flower looked forlornly at the prince. He looked down at her. She had large eyes that looked sadly at Izuku. No doubt she felt sorry for him.
"What is your name, Hibiscus flower?"
The little flower turned a bit more pink.
"I am Ochaco the Hibiscus flower!"
Izuku smiled sadly at the little flower.
"If only I could be a pretty flower like you, Ochaco, and grow in a garden where the beautiful women of the earth come, no doubt they would put me in their hair and praise my fragrance and beauty."
Ochaco frowned. She didn't like that! The ladies of the village ripped her sisters away and made them die! That would be a horrible life for the prince!
"Or, if I could even grow in the wilderness where no one could see, surely the birds would come and sing sweet songs to me. But I am only the moon and no one worships me. The commoners call me ugly. I wish I were beautiful."
The stars seemed to notice Izuku looking at them, and they smiled coldly at the moon prince. They had to be courteous to the Sun king's son, but they all thought the prince was dull and didn't like him.
"We are not to blame." One of the stars dared to say. A twinkling thing with blond hair. Starlight came out of her two hair buns. "We stars do what we have to do. We work twinkling all night!"
"Yeah! We can't help you, Moon prince. We just do our job." Another star with flowing white hair added. They shook their golden sleeves in annoyance and turned around to keep shining.
Another star looked kindly at him, a gentle looking one with soft green eyes, similar to those of the prince. This star smiled at him, but didn't say much and quietly left with another star of bright red hair and eyes. This other star was amazingly gentle to the green eyed star as they twinkled away.
Izuku envied them.
In a nearby shrub, a white camellia family bloomed. They were all pure white, except for the littlest one, that looked like it had been splashed with red paint.
This particular little camellia also looked at the prince.
"We also can't help you. We cannot move from here. Flowers like us live and die here unless we're picked by ladies."
"Nobody likes that!" One of the pure white camellias said, some of the edges of the petals on that one looked like they had been ripped off, probably by caterpillars trying to find a good meal. "We die when they do that."
"Yes, yes!" Ochaco noded. "We only know the villagers that come and go."
"We also know the gardener that cares for us." A nearby gladiolus of bright blue petals said. This made Izuku's ears perk up. "He takes care of all of us, and gave us our names. Maybe you can talk to him? Maybe he will like you."
Izuku thought about it. During the day, he didn't do anything, so he could come down to the garden and meet this nice gardener.
He thanked his new friends, and a little less sad, he went back to faintly shining in the night sky.
***
The next day, when his heavenly father was brightly shining in the sky, Izuku went back to the garden.
The half white, half red little camellia yawned and lazily extended a pair of leaves like arms. It tilted to the side looking at the Moon Prince.
"Are you looking for something, Your Highness?" the camellia asked, startling Izuku. "My bad."
"It's not your fault. The gladiolus yesterday mentioned the gardener. Do you know where I can find him?"
"He comes by here every morning, he should be here by now. You can wait here with me."
Izuku and the little camellia waited together. This little camellia's name was Shouto, he mentioned that his oldest brother was eaten constantly by a specific little caterpillar and that his other brother was pure white and his sister had very tiny splashes of red. He said their father was a big, proud, red camellia that was quite disappointed they didn't all look like him. Shouto was quite observant but had outlandish theories about the family of squirrels on a nearby tree.
Finally all of the flowers around them seemed to perk up. Someone nearby was speaking to them, and Izuku's ears also perked up. He could clearly see a person watering a few of the flowers with a little watering can. Izuku hid behind a tree, Shouto called after him but it was too late. Izuku had seen this person, watering the flowers. His face was radiant, his hair like rays of sunlight, his eyes like scorching fire. He had to hide away.
Izuku was shy. If this person thought he was also plain and ugly, if he didn't like his freckles or his rabbit ears, he'd be more sad than he'd ever been!
But what else would he think? Someone with a face and hair that shone like the light of the heavenly sun king himself. Of course he'd think Izuku is plain and simple with his soft glow.
That day, Izuku followed the gardener from afar, admiring him as he talked to the flowers like they were old friends. He bickered with the red rose Eijiro and the funny sunflower Denki. The skeleton flower Toru showed off her transparent petals against the sunlight and he praised how they caught the light in vibrant colors.
He was loved by the flowers, and from what Izuku could see, even some curious animals came to him to be fed.
The gardener wasn't exactly gentle. He treated the flowers like they were a bunch of friends he really didn't like, and the animals like they were unruly children he didn't want to look after. There was, however, a certain fondness in the way he berated Shouto, complaining that they weren't and would never be friends despite the little camellia's insistence. There was no real anger behind his threats to pluck Denki and rip all his petals off, he yelled at the rabbits, but still held them carefully and let them chew on his sleeves.
Izuku didn't show himself to the gardener that day. He followed from afar, and when he knew where the gardener lived, he returned to the heavenly palace, completely smitten by the human gardener.
That night, Izuku saw the cottage where the gardener lived and moved through the night sky until he was close to the cottage. Then he mustered all his courage and shone as brightly as he could.
Which wasn't much if I am quite honest.
The moonlight bathed the cottage with dainty silver, and Izuku was so busy shining with all his might he didn't notice the door to the cottage had opened and out walked the gardener.
Art by @U37Len
He opened his eyes as he heard a yelp. The gardener was sitting in shock outside the cottage and looked at him, wide eyed and surprised.
Izuku was so busy shining as hard as he could for the gardener he didn't realize he was the size of... Well, the moon.
"Are you the heavenly moon prince?" The gardener asked, still visibly shaken.
Izuku nodded sheepishly, then slowly dimmed his glow and became the size of a human, shocking the gardener even more.
"My apologies. I didn't realize how big I was getting."
"No, no! Don't apologize!" The gardener says. "You were shining a lot there, you woke me up! I thought it was daylight!"
"You really think so? Was I very bright?" The prince asked. The gardener nodded.
"I never lie. It was so bright I thought it was already tomorrow!"
Izuku blushed and looked away shyly. The gardener stood up and walked over to him slowly.
"So... What's the heavenly moon prince doing here, shining over my house? You're lucky you didn't wake my mother, the hag would have yelled at you, heavenly prince title be damned."
Izuku fidgeted where he was standing, biting his lip and looking around nervously as he toyed with the sleeves of his robes.
"I saw you in the garden today..." He mumbled. "The way you treated the flowers and the animals..."
"Wait, talk louder. I'm not about to talk to a mumbling mess, prince or no."
"You are kind! You are good to the flowers and the animals!" Izuku cried, startling the gardener. "I thought... I thought someone like you might love me."
The gardener looked at the moon prince for a moment, then tilted his head.
"Hah?"
"You see... I'm very plain and very ugly... And so nobody loves me."
"Now wait a moment–"
"If somebody loved me, I'm sure I would be happy! If I were happy maybe I could shine brighter!"
"Wait just a moment! You think you're ugly?"
"I wish you'd come with me, then my face would be as beautiful as yours! Then people wouldn't say I'm plain and ugly!"
The gardener looked at Izuku with a frown. The prince thought he probably made the gardener angry with his words. The gardener clicked his tongue and looked away.
"People don't need to be beautiful to be loved, they just need to be good. If you are good to others, you will become beautiful."
"O-oh!"
"But I don't think you need it, prince. You are already very pretty. People who called you plain are idiots, they're the ugly ones and they don't deserve your time."
"Do... Do you really think that?"
"Damn right! You got these big eyes! And your freckles are like stars! Did you see you shone so brightly you woke me up? All you gotta do is believe in yourself."
"Thank you." Izuku smiled, his cheeks turning a soft red. "You are so very kind. I'm sure even the worst people in the world only have to see you to love you."
The gardener made a dismissive hand gesture and laughed.
"Now you're just saying things!"
"No! Really! You've been the only kind person I have ever met! I really wish you came with me."
"To the heavenly court? I couldn't, no."
"Why not?"
"Well first of all, I'm not a heavenly person, and second of all, I can't go anywhere with just anyone, I don't even know your name!"
Izuku wanted to kick himself. Of course the handsome gardener wouldn't want to go anywhere with him! He didn't even introduce himself! He shrunk a little more and the gardener laughed.
"I'm messing with you, moon prince! Everyone knows the heavenly moon prince Izuku." Izuku blushed, suddenly even more shy because the handsome gardener knew his name.
"... But I don't know your name." He mumbled. "Please tell me your name."
"Katsuki." The gardener said softly. "My name is Katsuki."
"Katsuki..." The prince repeated. Like it was sacred, like it was a name he wasn't really allowed to say. "Pleased to meet you, Katsuki."
Since it was very late, Izuku allowed Katsuki to go back to rest. He returned to the sky forlornly, looking at the quiet little cottage every now and then.
And from that day on, the heavenly moon prince came to the mortal realm to visit the gardener.
They would speak of everything and nothing at night until Katsuki had to go to sleep (he was a very early sleeper and an even earlier riser) and sometimes Izuku would accompany the gardener to do his daily chores.
The more time they spent together, the more Izuku wanted to be with him for eternity. He was deeply in love with the kind gardener.
One morning, when the gardener had just finished taking care of the flowers, and they sat together on the green grass, shoulder to shoulder, Izuku turned to him slowly.
"Come with me to the heavenly court." He said gently, taking Katsuki by surprise. He was so surprised the little rabbit he was petting on his lap startled and ran away. "Marry me and live with me."
"You... You really mean it?"
"Yes. We'll become one, I'll be as beautiful as you, because I'll be happy by your side. Like I am right now."
Izuku laid his head on Katsuki's shoulder, his soft ears brushed and tickled Katsuki's neck gently, and he laughed.
"Am I at least allowed to think about it?"
"Of course! You can say goodbye to anyone you want to too!"
"Won't I be able to see anyone of my family again?"
"Whenever you want, but you will be mine, and I will be yours."
Katsuki looked up at the fluffy clouds. He could look at them up close in the heavenly court, he guessed. And it wouldn't be so bad if he was with the pretty moon prince.
"I will think about it." He said.
Izuku smiled and closed his eyes, the soft wind ruffled his hair.
The gardener didn't think he needed him to be beautiful.
***
"Hey hag..." Katsuki called his mother from outside the kitchen. The woman turned around holding a wooden spoon, ready to throw it at him.
"How many times do I have to tell you—?" She stopped abruptly. Her son looked quite serious so she put the spoon down. "What is troubling you?"
"If I wanted to marry... would you stop me?"
"Of course not! I will be incredibly happy!" Katsuki seemed to relax, his mother went to him and hugged him. "You deserve to be loved as much as anyone else, whoever you choose to marry will be welcomed with open arms into our family."
"If I decided to go with the moon prince and live with him forever, would you let me?" he asked when his mother let him go. She looked at him and then laughed.
"Sure, son! You go and do whatever you want to do!" She let go completely and went back to the kitchen, still laughing, not putting much thought to what her son was saying.
But he had already made up his mind. That night, he looked out his window and could clearly see from afar as the heavenly moon prince shone gently in the sky. He then moved to pack as many things as he could and quietly left the house, looking at the sleeping figures of his parents one last time before walking out of the cottage.
He walked out and looked at the sky, waiting for the heavenly moon prince to notice he was out there. When Izuku finally looked at him, he smiled excitedly and gently descended from the sky to go to Katsuki.
"Did you wait long for me to see you?" Izuku asked, smiling at him. Katsuki took his hands on his own and shook his head. Izuku noticed the bag that Katsuki had over his shoulder and his ears perked up with curiosity. "What's in that bag?"
"I made my choice. I'll go with you."
"To the heavenly court?" Izuku asked, his face changing and becoming brighter. Katsuki smiled down at him. How could others think he was dull when his feelings shone so brightly? Katsuki nodded, and Izuku smiled and his shine became stronger. "You'll really go with me?"
"I'll go anywhere you want to go."
Izuku happily hugged him. They held each other for a long while under the shine of the stars, and then left to the heavenly court, where Izuku was more than happy to show every single member of the heavenly court that he was loved by the most beautiful person in the world.
Katsuki almost faints in the presence of the heavenly sun king, and the heavenly sun queen giggled and mentioned that Katsuki and the heavenly sun king actually had similar golden hair.
The king and queen were more than happy to give them their blessing, and they married the very next day.
No one was brighter and happier that day in the heavenly court than the moon prince. The heavenly court had never seen him shine like that.
It was indeed beautiful.
***
"Did you hear? The son of the Bakugos disappeared!" A farmer told a fisherman in the market a few days later.
"I heard! His parents have been looking for him everywhere! It's like he was swallowed by the earth!"
"I wonder what happened to him."
"I heard he had been hanging about with that dull heavenly moon prince. Maybe he knows something."
"Do you think the moon prince kidnapped him? Those heavenly royals are always taking maidens! Who knows what they do to them!"
"Poor Katsuki!"
These rumors came to the garden, and a little camellia had to scoff at those rumors. A pink hibiscus flower turned her petals to the little half white and half red camellia.
"What are you scoffing about, Shouto?" The pink hibiscus asked.
"Humans are silly. Katsuki went with prince Izuku, to marry him, because he asked him very often."
"Do you think so?" A red rose from a nearby bush asked.
"Of course! The prince was smitten with him, and they walked together all the time."
"In that case." The pink hibiscus looked up at the sky as it changed colors to announce that night was coming. "I hope they are happy."
That same night, the moon shone brighter than before, and some villagers did admire it, saying it looked quite round and bright. They in fact believed it looked prettier than before.
What they did not know is that now the moon shines brighter because it rides a silver chariot pulled by pure white heavenly bunnies, with the person that loves him the most, and believed he was beautiful from the start.