To Love, Once Again

"Leo go fwirst!"

Slippers slap against the wood floor as Leo pitter-patters out of the bedroom taking advantage the door that Bea had opened.

"Leo wait-!" Sera tries to chase after him but he was too quick for her. She could already hear his small thumps as he jumps down the stairs, one at a time.

"My Queen!"

Bea's hands shake as she hurriedly unclasps the jar of ointment and softly dabs the medicine over Sera's cheek.

It had bloomed a dark purple on her cheekbone after a night of sleep. Leo hadn't noticed it before in the dark of the night. Not wanting to worry the young boy, Sera had made sure her hair had hidden the mark on her cheek.

Luckily when she woke up the injured part of her cheek had been hidden by the pillow she rested her head on. And the bedroom with the curtains drawn also provided the perfect camouflage to hide it from her son.

Sera didn't know how long she could hide the mark, but she would try. If only there was makeup here, like the ones in her old world, she wished. Some color-corrector and concealer would go a long way in hiding the mark.

"Is he outside?" Patting her hair down to make sure it wasn't too messy, Sera asked Bea.

Bea nods her head in a frantic motion. "Yes my Queen. He-"

Smack!

Bea smacks herself in the forehead.

"Oh no! I left him outside!"

--------

Knock-Knock.

Taking a deep breath, Lucien adjusts his grip to make sure the bouquet of flowers was still beautifully arranged in his hand. It still looked small in his hands, even after he'd woken up earlier to ask the Royal gardener to add more flowers, and keep adding more, until time had run out. Under his arm, he carried a long wooden box. That was his back-up plan.

Was it the look on his face?

Icaros had taken one look at him and laughed this morning, which prompted Lucien to put the King's Guard on an all-vegetable training menu for the day. Sera had told him that some people in her world believed that vegetables were a much better source of vetameens, proteens, and iron? That had opened up a whole new conversation between the two which left Lucien more confused than he was before. Everyone in Thornmere knew that meat was the best for gaining strength. It was taking the strength and mana of the animals and making it your own. And iron? He'd scratched his head at the concept of vegetables containing cold metals but Sera had giggled and said it was good for blood.

No matter. Lucien had thought it the perfect punishment for when Icaros irked him. And he still didn't know what sort of expression he was making to cause Icaros to laugh like that. His face looked the same in the mirror, albeit more proper after he'd cleaned himself up some.

Everyone in the castle had given him a wide berth in the hallways on the way to Leo's cottage this morning. Walking with back ramrod straight and an aura that belied his intense concentration, the servants whispered to each other. Many thought their King was headed to a highly sensitive and important meeting of some sort.
For Lucien, it was. Since it would be his first official meeting with his son in 5 years.Would his son even want to meet him? What if his son started crying when Lucien appeared before him? Sera would be sad to see their son cry.
And so his thoughts circled around in his head.

It didn't help that the moment Bea had answered the door with a wide smile on her face, she'd seen him, then slammed the door shut.

Why was Bea surprised now of all times?

When Sera was gone, Bea was one of the few who were still willing to serve him, albeit begrudgingly. He knew her thoughts, that her true loyalty lay with her Queen, so by obeying the King, she was serving her Queen. She would follow his orders to the letter, extremely proper, but still, tense like every other servant in the castle. He could still remember the blank face and wary look in her eyes which she thought was hidden from him. But Lucien knew. He could always tell when the servant's looked at him with tight gazes; like he was a murderer that could snap at any moment. No matter how deeply they thought they could bury it, he could feel it with his instincts. But she'd never so improperly slammed the door in his face.

With Sera back, this servant was becoming much bolder. Back to the personality she'd had when she'd accompanied her mistress during the Great War.

Some things were returning to the way they once were, while other things improved.

Lucien's broken clock was finally beginning to tick again.

The door slowly opens, and Lucien's eyes soften as he expects to see Sera standing there, waiting for him. Seeing no one standing in front of him, Lucien freezes for a moment in surprise. But he could sense a small presence standing lower than him, and his surprise disappears as soon as it came.

Wide, inquisitive eyes stare up at him, dressed in a mini-version of the outfit similar to his own usual casual wear. The child doesn't say anything, only blinking awed eyes at his father. But the awe fades with another blink.

There was a long pause as the little boy with the same red hair as him eyes him. Lucien stares at him back, not sure what to do. There was some wariness in his son's gaze, small brows furrowed and cautious before the biggest man he'd ever seen in his life. Caution, yes, but no fear in the boy's gaze. That made Lucien proud. Most children would cry at the sight of him but not his son.

"Good morning." Getting on one knee to bring his eye level down to the young boy's, Lucien extends his large palm for a handshake.

"Leo, didn't I say you should wait for me??" Sera calls out with a light laugh and lifts her skirts to rush down the stairs.

"Good morning, Lucien. I hope you slept well" The tightened muscles at the corners of Lucien's mouth relaxes when he sees her.

"Not as well as when you're sleeping with me." Sera blushes when she hears Lucien say that with a straight face. And in front of their son and Bea too! Shameless, this man was!

Lucien had his hair trimmed neatly and set. His rough beard, which had grown shorter and shorter as the days passed upon Sera's return, was now gone. One could say he looked like the King Lucien from before, during the days of his marriage to Queen Sera. Except there was a wildness about him still there, from He was wearing a similar outfit to what he'd worn when taking Sera to the orphanage.

It was refreshing to see Lucien out of his usual royal garb of fine tunics and uniforms here in the castle. With a sword sheathed on his belt and with finely shined leather boots, he looked like a dashing pirate ready to take her away.

Except for the look on his face. His brows were tightly furrowed and lips pressed together. From his face alone one would think he was headed to the battlefield again.

"Gwood morning. Nu. Nu. Nuice to meet yew."

Leo holds out his hand in a man's handshake, like the guards would do when they greeted each other to switch out.

His eyes were watering from where he'd bit his tongue. But Leo was a big boy. Taking a deep breath, he'd ignored the throbbing pain and finished his greeting.

Sera swallows the giggle that tickles in her throat.

Lucien bends down on one knee and shakes his tiny son's hand with all seriousness.

"Good morning to you. I am pleased to meet you as well."

Sera's eyebrows rose at the exchange between father and son. As the stilted handshake between the small child and large fighter of a man awkwardly continues, both turn and stare at Sera.

What a surreal sight. It was like looking at Lucien and his mini-me in their similar outfits. Sera coughs to hide her chuckle.

The boy continues to shake his hand up and down, continuing his stare-off with Lucien. Once Lucien lets go though, he was quicker than a rabbit, jumping up and hiding behind the closest person, Bea, and her skirts.

From behind Bea, her small son peers at Lucien, craning his neck up when Lucien stands up and extends to his full height.

Was it bad to think that even upset, her son looked too adorable? Sera hides her smile as she says in a coaxing manner to Leo's small back.

"Honey, that won't work. He's not a bad man," she glances back up at Lucien when she says this, mouthing 'usually' up to him.

"and he's your father too. Why don't you give him a chance?"

Leo thought all men not wearing a knight's armor was bad. After his experience with Dorne, all men who came to his Mama and tried to speak to his Mama were bad men. The guards were alright. None of them bothered his Mama when she walked by them. And their armor and swords were very cool.

"Leo doesn't need a fwather. Only Mama and Bea!"

Lucien's brows lower. Anyone else looking at him might think he was displeased. But Sera could see the slight hurt swirling in his eyes, hidden beneath the automatic fierce gaze that Lucien usually wore like a shield to cover his emotions.

Oh no. Sera was hoping Leo wouldn't repeat that in front of Lucien. She'd been hoping for a smooth family reunion, but now it was clear that wasn't going to happen. Instead of hoping, she would need to work to somehow fit the pieces of this family together. It was her fault in the end, since she'd abandoned the two of them. She'd chosen her parents and old world, and the consequences of that action were now portrayed before her.

Clapping her hands, she picks up Leo, feeling the comforting weight of her baby on her hip, "Let's go have some breakfast then! I've asked the maids to take the morning off so we could have some private time to get to know each other better" She speaks brightly to clear the stilted atmosphere.

This was the first time Leo was meeting his father since he'd been a newly-born infant. It was unrealistic of her to think that the father and son meeting would go swimmingly.