To Love, Once Again

Following after Lucien into the kitchen, Sera was met with excited clapping from Grandma Rosie, who covers the pot with a lid and lowers the heat on the stove, bringing the soup inside to a simmer.

"Welcome back, Sera!" The kindest, most loveliest woman Sera had ever met, Grandma Rosie was a short, grey-haired woman, with a heart large enough to mother each child in the orphanage. It had been Grandma Rosie's dearest wish to open up an orphanage, and her and her husband had done the best they could with their home in the slums, taking care of the children in need. Grandma Rosie had never been able to have a child of her own, so she poured that love onto the orphans treating each one like her own. It was her who'd chosen to make a home in the worst part of town, using the funds Grandpa Robin had earned over the course of his career to provide food and shelter. An honest woman, it had taken a lot of cajoling on Sera's part to get Grandma Rosie to call her by name, instead of addressing her as Lady Sera.

Grandma Rosie envelops her in a big, comforting hug, smelling like the bread that she loved to bake. While Grandpa Robin was standoffish and silent, Grandma Rosie was always the shoulder willing to be cried on.

"Hello, Grandma Rosie" Lucien greets the sweet old lady as well, who waves her spoon at him in response.

"Hello, Sir Lucien!" Lucien seems used to the woman's enthusiasm, bowing his head and moving to the corner of the kitchen.

Pulling his glasses out of his shirt pocket, he puts them on, reaching for something on the table before him. The light glances off the sharp blade of a kitchen knife, sized for regular human hands and looking like a small butter knife when held by Lucien.

The memory of what Lucien had just done with the daggers in the castle before was still fresh in Sera's mind. Were there enemies here?

"Lucien, that knife-"

"It's all right." Grandma Rosie interjects, patting her hand.

With a rough scratching noise as a short wooden stool drags itself over the floor, Lucien begins to peel the potatoes in a large tub on the floor, with such precision and speed that the the potato in his hand was almost instantly shed of its skin the moment he grasped it in his hand.

"Oh" This was a new side to Lucien Sera had never seen before. With that dangerous aura that Lucien exudes alone, he could cut someone to pieces, but when he held something as simple as a paring knife? One would think he was about to use if for some new and improved for of torture, not use it for peeling potatoes.

Sera felt foolish for ever thinking that something dangerous was going to happen.

"Don't worry, I was surprised too when he first did that" Grandma Rosie. "He's a man like my husband. He speaks with his actions, doesn't he?" Nodding, she continues

"I don't know where you met this man, but he's a real catch!" She pauses in her stirring and Grandma Rosie winks at Sera beside her.

"Though men like him and my husband seem almost emotionless at times, I think it makes them better lovers," Eyes curving to match her wide smile, Grandma Rosie knows exactly what she's doing, making Sera blush

"They don't express as much, but when they do-" She continues with a dreamy look in her eyes, only to be interrupted by Sera.

"Yes, I know" Sera can feel her ears turning bright red with the direction their conversation was going in.

"Let's just say their depth of emotion, is completely different" Was Grandma Rosie saying this, knowing what it sounded like to Sera? With the way her eyes were dancing with laughter, it seemed she did know exactly what she was doing.

While Lucien works on the large mountain of brown potatoes that dwindle and build themselves into another mound of peeled, clean potatoes, Grandma Rosie looks at Sera.

"Now, tell me how you've been doing! I thought you'd died, from the way this gloomy man showed up, saying he had to fulfill a promise to you" Nodding at Lucien who doesn't seem to hear what they're saying, Grandma Rosie thinks back to the dark day. She'd prayed for safe travels for Sera, wherever she was, when she heard the news. With the many children she watched over, sudden partings was something she was used to, sadly. The many years spent as an orphanage mother had taught her to mourn and move on.

"I'm not sure, but it's a long story-"

The two women chat up a storm with each other, catching up with each other while Grandma Rosie continues dishing up food in big bowls, Sera stepping in and helping out with bringing extra bowls and wiping spills on the table.

Sera tells Grandma Rosie about her family, and her graduation from school. Only Grandpa Robin knew Sera's identity as Queen, though he didn't care. Grandma Robin only knew Sera as a noblewoman with a kind heart. Due to her poor upbringing, Grandma Rosie wouldn't know the specifics of how a noblewoman lived. Though she felt bad about doing it, Sera changes the story to match the misconception, like switching out going back to her world to 'visiting her relatives in a far away country'. They didn't have universities here in Thornmere, so Sera replaces it with the generic 'school'. It was better this way. Lying to Grandma Rosie wasn't good, but it was better than losing her friendship once she found out her former identity as Queen.
Grandma Rosie loved hearing about the royals and reading up on the latest news in the paper. If she found out who Sera used to be...she would go crazy trying to bow and scrape, showing her reverence.

"It's so good to see you here, Sera. Most of the children you know have left already, busy with their new apprenticeships and jobs, you know."

When Sera accidentally gets some red tomato sauce on the hem of her pink dress, and Grandma Rosie swoops in, taking her by the hand.

Motioning with her chin to a wooden stool, "Now, sit down right there. We don't want your pretty dress to get dirty, and I can handle this much."

Grandma Rosie's got a lot of strength for a little old lady, picking up the tray that has large bowls of soup and vegetables to carry out to the counter for the children to eat.

"I've got to get this food out on the counter, but wait for me here, and we can catch up some more when I come back." And she's gone, out the door in a flurry of motion.

Setting down the small paring knife onto the table, Lucien stands up, wipes his hands clean, and puts his glasses back in his shirt pocket. The large mound of potatoes were done, much quicker than if Sera had done it.

"I didn't know you could peel potatoes like that" Sera looks at the potatoes, with every black spot and green shoot removed to leave only pure yellow, skinned potatoes.

"It's one of my many skills." Lucien says with a straight face. That makes Sera burst out with a short giggle of laughter.

"Good training for your swordplay, I guess?" she asks while laughing. He hadn't meant to make her laugh, but Lucien would take it anyway. It was so good to see her happy and smiling, knowing that it came from him. Lucien wanted to keep her laughing. Her bright, cheery laughter brought warmth into his heart, and made his face melt under her light.

In all seriousness, he replies, nodding, "Yes, I was thinking to use it as a method of training for my men."

Sera's peals of musical laughter rings out as she imagines it.

Burly men, sitting down on stools with tiny paring knives in their hands. Their eyes furrowed, focused with intensity on peeling potatoes, one after another, while Lucien watches over them with his arms crossed, making sure they peeled the potatoes in proper form.

The atmosphere between them is relaxed, comfortable with an affection between them. This affection, blooming with the happiness sprouting in each of their hearts.

Suddenly, Sera's laughter stops, her eyes widening.

Eyes fixed on him, Sera was mesmerized watching Lucien's face transform from his usual frown into a soft smile. It was a smile that extended from deep within his eyes and lit up his whole features, highlighting his handsomeness. Usually, the heavy, sharp aura of ferocity that he would constantly emit served to overshadow the beauty of his perfect countenance. Yet, with the smile that shined like the sun, dispersing the gloom of a cloudy day, it was beautiful.

Beautiful, was the only word to describe Lucien.

Tip toeing up, she touches his cheek, seeing the dimple there that's finally revealed itself to her after 5 years of separation. It's been a long while since she'd last seen his smile, and the adorable dimple that came with it. Sera hadn't realized how much she'd missed it until she saw it now.

"I like it when you smile" Offering up a sweet smile, Sera looks up at him from under her lashes.

Lucien touches his face, and disconcerted to feel the smile on his own lips. So his face could still make this expression. It was all because of Sera. Thanks to her, the monotonous black and white tones of his world had morphed into vibrant, beaming colors. For her, he would try to smile more.

Grasping her hand on his cheek, Lucien nods.

Their faces were close to each other now, their breaths mingling as they leaned in, drawn into each others eyes. Their eyes reflected each other, a sweetness surrounding them.

"You hadn't told me what that promise was, yet." Sera whispers.

Lucien puts a hand on her waist, softly holding her there, close to him.

"Do you remember those nights under the stars?" He asks, thumb rubbing over her cheek.

Sera remembered. At the end of the Great War, Lucien and Sera traveled with the army to head back to the capital. Each night, Lucien would steal her away to a secluded spot he'd find in the woods, in the grasslands, or atop a mountain. Each night, they would stare at the scattered stars and trade stories about the shapes they saw, outlining the winking constellations for each other with outstretched fingers into the inky black sky.

Lucien could never forget each moment he spent with Sera. Though he hadn't cared much for stars, he'd learned to appreciate creating beauty out of nothing, the fantasies that Sera would come up with wide eyes that glimmered in excitement.

"Yes, I remember.."

It was one of the dreams that used to haunt Sera, in her bed at home with her parents, where she should be happy to be. The memories were twisted into nightmares there, where she would be counting the bright-white stars that were so much closer in the other world than it was on Earth with Lucien. One moment, he would be lying next to her, their baby babbling in between them, on top of the cloak that separated them from the prickly grass. The next, it would all disappear, the ground and sky above her turning black, swallowing her whole as the stars flew at her with a murderous intent. It hurt, each time she turned to point out an especially bright star, only to see Lucien, gone, her baby, gone.

Recalling the exact words Sera had spoken, Lucien reaches forward and plays with the strands of hair that had fallen out of her braid.

He could remember Sera's voice, sounding desolate, lost, as she closed her outstretched fist that reached for the night sky, lying next to each other on the soft cloak.

"You know, in my world, the beautiful, shining stars we're seeing so far away...they've been dead for a long time. What we're seeing,...it's only the remnants of the light these stars left behind."

Hearing the sadness in her voice, Lucien had worriedly turned on his side to look at Sera, cupping her cheek. Her eyes were still fixed on the shimmering, moving blanket of stars above them, moving with leisure across the night sky.

"This world is so vastly different from my own. What if I was already dead, and none of this was real?"

With tears brimming in her eyes, Sera had turned to Lucien.

"Would you be a figment of my imagination?"

Lucien thought the tears that fell from her eyes then were more precious, more shining that any star he'd seen.

"Am I really here, in this moment, with you?" The words that fell from her mouth had been culminating in her heart for a long time. From the moment that truck hit her and brought her here, it was a looming worry that grew with each morning she woke up here. It would whisper over her happiness with every kiss from Lucien, every moment he held her in his arms. This was one of her greatest fears, of waking up one day, and knowing that this was all a dream. It was better to get back to reality, where her parents were waiting for her.

"Even if none of this was real....

Sera can hear her own voice in her mind, repeating the words she'd said that day. It overlaps with Lucien's own voice, speaking it out loud.

"I wish... my existence here leaves a mark on this world."

In the small orphanage kitchen, a large red-haired warrior holds a smaller petite woman in his arms, carefully, like she was made of glass. The woman, in turn, gazes up at him with a starry look in her eyes, as if discovering who he was, again, for the first time.

Looking down, "I did say that, didn't I?" Sera replies.