Hanasaki Kaoruko

Hanasaki Kaoruko (花咲 薫子) is Hanasaki Tsubomi's grandmother and mother of Hanasaki Youichi in Heartcatch Pretty Cure!. She is a famous botanist and owner of the Flower Shop. When she was young, she was Cure Flower (キュアフラワー), and is chronologically the second known Cure in Heartcatch Pretty Cure! universe.

Kaoruko is considered as wise and kind, and cares deeply for her granddaughter. She is very loving and loves flowers more than anything. It is said that her old speak-pattern was inherited by Tsubomi.

History
In her youth, her maiden name was Godai Kaoruko and was a martial artist. She once lived in the town where Tsubomi used to live before she moved. There's a tournament and she was training in the mountains. Sometimes it was lonely for her and scary until she saw a house and went inside. It was a man named Sora (who is identical in look to Pretty Cure's mysterious guy) who was playing his cello. At first, Kaoruko was shy but he insists her to stay and have lavender tea with him. Kaoruko enjoyed his music and when she was going to leave, Sora gave her a music box, and then she fell in love with him. When the tournament came, she won and became the youngest person to become the champion in the Japan Karate Association. After she won, she studied botany so she could get closer to Sora and soon in the future, they got married.

Kaoruko became Pretty Cure after she met Coupe before the Tree of Hearts when she came there to study it. When not fighting, she used to listen to Sora playing music. It has never been stated when or how long Kaoruko was Pretty Cure, if she had any Cure partner or if she quit because of special reasons. At some point, most likely after she quit being a Cure, she met Cure Moonlight and the fairies Chypre and Coffret.

It was stated that her Pretty Cure Seed shattered after her battle with Dune which resulted in the two sides coming to a draw. She now wears what remains of her seed as a necklace.

When Kaoruko gave birth to her son Hanasaki Youichi, her husband said that they should make a Lavender garden for her. But sooner or later when growing the garden, Sora passed away and went to heaven. Sometimes her fairy Coupe transforms to look like Sora and he does so to make her happy by seeing someone she loved. Youchi grew up and soon married. Then her granddaughter, Tsubomi was born.

Inheritance
Kaoruko is first seen when she waits for Tsubomi and her parents to move into Kibougahana so that they can be closer. She says hello to her granddaughter, not aware that the Tree of Hearts has lost its flowers.

Next time Kaoruko sees Tsubomi is when she finds her passed out in her botanic garden, and takes care of her until she wakes up. She then meets Chypre and Coffret again after a long time, and explains to Tsubomi that she used to be Cure Flower in the past. She is then shocked when the fairies reveal that Tsubomi has been chosen to be with the next Pretty Cure, Cure Blossom. After the surprise, they are attacked by Sasorina and the Desertrian she made out of Kurumi Erika's Heart Flower. Kaoruko supports Cure Blossom throughout the fight, and after Erika is back to normal, she helps Tsubomi to make Erika believe that she passed out by accident and that everything was a dream. After a while, she follows Tsubomi home while explaining to her the duties and qualities Pretty Cure has, encouraging Tsubomi into trying harder being a Pretty Cure.

Kaoruko, as a former Cure, is always available whenever Tsubomi or Erika needs help, and is there to cheer Tsubomi up when Tsubomi wonders why she became a part of Pretty Cure when she is only slowing Erika down.

Other life
While Kaoruko is in her old house in Kamakura town with the girls they discover a picture of Kaoruko and Tsubomi's grandfather Sora. She tells the girls the story of how they fell in love and how he had promised to plant a field of lavender for her where it is her favorite flower. She tells the girls Sora was gone before the field could be planted, but by the end of the episode they discover a field of lavender which makes Kaoruko happy knowing that it will also show the love they shared.

Christmas Wish and Battle
In episode 44 a young girl named Mayuka had lied to her friends, claiming she was friends with the Pretty Cure. Her friends instantly thought she was lying, causing her to make a Christmas wish to meet them. Tsubomi told the young girl to have faith and the Pretty Curee would appear. Tsubomi and the others decide to appear before the children, however as the were ready to transform the fairies arrive telling them a Desertrian is attacking the city and the four girls are left no choice but to leave. Cobraja and Kumojaki enter the Desertrian and quickly defeat the girls, encasing them in giant crystals. Now heading towards the Christmas tree in the botanical gardens, Kaoruko asks Coupe to grant her a wish. As the Desertrian is about to attack the tree and the children, an illusion of Cure Flower appears before them and protects them with a barrier. She quickly gets the upper hand on the Desertrian and frees the other Pretty Cure, who defeat the Desertrian using the Heartcatch Mirage and return the stolen heart flower. All five Cures go to where the children are and the young girl confesses to her friends that she did lie to them because she wanted to be their friends. The other children tell her that they were already friends and she did not have to lie for that to happen. Dune then appears before the Cures causing another battle. He quickly defeats Cure Moonlight, Sunshine and Marine. He then turns his attention to Cure Flower, only for Cure Blossom to stand in the way. He defeats Cure Blossom and enters battle with Cure Flower, who lasts longer, but is eventually defeated. He then takes Kaoruko to the Desert Planet and destroys her heart seed, then makes her witness the destruction of the Heart Tree.

The Final Battle
While the Cures fight there way to Kaoruko, she is being held captive and guarded by to Snackies. During her captivity Sabaku goes to her and she asks him why he never destroyed Cure Moonlight when he had the chance. She proceeds to asking him why did he create Dark Cure to be the opposite of Cure Moonlight stating one is the light and one is the dark. These questions catch Sabaku off guard and he leaves. Shortly after Cure Blossom arrives and with help from Coupe they fight off the snackies and rescue Kaoruko. As the free her from her restraints an image appears showing Cure Moonlight preparing to do battle with Dark Cure and Sabaku. Kaoruko asks Cure Blossom to not allow Cure Moonlight to fight Sabaku but give no reason as to why. Cure Blossom leaves asking Coupe to protect her grandmother.

Cure Flower
"The flower shining in holy light, Cure Flower!" 聖なる光に輝く一輪の花、キュアフラワー！ Seinaru hikari kagayaku ichirin no hana, Kyua Furawaa!

Kaoruko's Christmas wish was to become a Pretty Cure for one more day. While the other Cures were stuck due to an empowered Cobraja and Kumojacky, her wish came true and she was able to stop them and save the rest of the girls.

Attacks
Cure Flower, like the other Cures, can use a Forte Wave but was not shown in the show due to her fighting at a diminished power level. As such, it is unknown what color her Forte Wave is, but it is most likely that it is either "White Forte Wave" or "Pink Forte Wave" like her granddaughter. Her powers are blessed in holy light. Aside for her attacks, she can also use some auxiliary attacks for her battle style:


 * Flower Candle - Cure Flower uses a flower petal and generates a magical circle below the enemy with her flower symbol, which it spins enemies on the ground.


 * Flower Carnival - Cure Flower throws several flower petals onto the enemy and generates a projection of herself, attacking the enemy controlling the Desertrian from the inside.

Relationships
Hanasaki Tsubomi - Kaoruko's granddaughter, Kaoruko looked after Tsubomi when she was younger while her parents would travel away with work. She now is a mentor to Tsubomi, giving her advice about being a Pretty Cure. Despite having been loyal to her duties in the past, Kaoruko loves Tsubomi enough to break the tradition and refuse to fight Cure Blossom and the others, as the previous generation's Pretty Cure testing the next's worth for the Heartcatch Mirage.

Tsukikage Yuri - Kaoruko gives advice to Yuri whenever she is troubled. Yuri used to visit the Botanical Gardens everyday as a child and once chosen to be a Pretty Cure, would appear to have become a pupil to Kaoruko in learning how to fight. Kaoruko knows intimate details of Yuri's past, such as the fate of Cologne, her mother's work and something about her father.

Hanasaki Sora - While Kaoruko trained in the mountains, she met Sora and gained an interest in him and his instrument playing. As time went on, she would listen to him playing when not fighting as Cure Flower. She seems to have moved on after his death, and is fine with Coupe taking Sora's shape.

Dune - 50 years ago, Cure Flower battled Dune several times, in the end resulting in pushing her powers to their maximum. The fight ended in a stale mate, causing Dune to retreat and Cure Flower lose her ability to transform into Cure Flower. It seems like Kaoruko is afraid of Dune, acknowledging his growing powers as a life-threatening danger to the new Pretty Cure.

Etymology
'Hanasaki (花咲): Hana (花) is "flower" while saki (咲) is "bloom". Together, Hanasaki stands for "blooming flower".

Kaoruko (薫子): Kaoru (薫) is for "scent" while ko (子) is "child". Together, Kaoruko stands for "scented child"

Her name means, "blooming flower scented child."

Trivia

 * Kaoruko and Tsubomi are the first Cures to be related by blood, not counting Kiryuu Michiru and Kiryuu Kaoru, who became Cure Bright and Cure Windy during the last battle in Futari wa Pretty Cure Splash Star.
 * According to a story she told, Kaoruko's favorite flower is lavender, which symbolizes promise through love.
 * Although there are few hints of this, Cure Flower may have been the leader of her own team, as well as the only member of her team who still keeps contact with the Heart Tree, while her teammates may have lost their powers or forgotten all about it, hence why they never appear during the series, and why it's said she was able to defeat Dune by herself.
 * Although Kaoruko/Cure Flower is the oldest Cure alive, she is not the first Cure of the Heartcatch universe. That position belongs to Cure Ange, who is said to be the one to create the Pretty Cure Palace and had a hand in forging the Heartcatch Mirage. Kaoruko herself revealed she went through the trial to obtain the Heartcatch Mirage.
 * Kaoruko/Cure Flower fought Dune 50 years ago, that means Cure Flower started to be a Pretty Cure when she was 17 years old like Yuri.

Gallery
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