Ashes of Cinder

15

Peeling your eyes opened, you found yourself in a dark room. You pulled yourself up and swung your legs over the edge of the soft bed and realized that your fever wasn't there anymore. The heat was gone, the headaches faded, and you weren't shivering. A figure among the shadows shifted and caught your attention; it was Blaise. Seeing him, you could remember what had happened and where you were now. The memory of you racing down to the toy shop and taking in some medicine flooded back into your mind.

The feeling of something on your skin made you look down to your body. Neatly patched up with bandaids were your arms and legs. After falling onto cement ground, you had scratched yourself, but Blaise must've taken care of the small wounds while you were asleep.

Turning to face the young man, you could make out the small smile that was on his face. "How long was I out for?" you asked him, breaking the silence.

"An hour," he responded, leaving you flabbergasted. An hour?! You had expected it to be much longer than that... you didn't know fever medicine could work that fast. Maybe you were just lucky? "Are you feeling better, miss [Y/N]?"

You mutely nodded at him. "Thank you everything. You let me rest here, gave medicine, and even patched up my wounds. I apologize for the trouble I caused you."

He brushed it off. "It was no trouble at all."

Feet touching the cold floor, you pulled yourself up and stood up. Taking a deep breath, the corners of your eyes crinkled at how clear your mind and body felt. It was good — almost too good to be true. Blaise gestured you to follow him and so you did, out of the room and down an unknown hallway. He went to unlock a door and when the two of you passed through it, you had returned to the actual toy shop.

Walking to the back of the store, he opened another door and stepped out into the sunlight. Blinking furiously at the brightness, for you have not been used to it yet, you slowly entered the outside world too. When your vision returned, you could see that the two of you were standing on a field. Just a few hundred meters away were woods that seemed familiar. Was it perhaps the same woods where you first spoken to this young man with the top hat?

Green eyes bored into you, so you turned to face him. His head nodding towards the direction of the densely rooted trees, he shot you a smile with unknown twinkling in his orbs. "I think a breather would do us both well. What do you say? Shall we take a little stroll into these woods?"

The idea of it seemed fun and you were going to get in trouble with your stepmother anyway... you could just seize this chance and leave your future you to deal with the problems. Nodding in agreement, you took the arm he held out to you. Your fingers brushing against the dark, soft material of his long coat, you walked side by side with him.

You wondered if the two of you looked like a couple like this... and whether you looked good with him.

"What did I tell you about overworking yourself?" he said, breaking the silence that were filled by the chirping of birds above. Though his voice was firm, there was a teasing undertone.

"You're right," you sighed. Stepping into the woods, the trees created a cool shade that blocked the relentless sun from beating upon you two. Leaves blowing with the wind and falling down to the ground in a grace-like dance, they laid on the ground, waiting to be crumpled by the feet of trespassers. The crunch underneath you was a satisfying sound to your ears and it reminded you of how much you enjoyed this season.

Blaise clicked his tongue in disappointment. "If only you listened."

"You're also not my mother though," you retorted, squinting at him. Tightening your grasp on his arm, he let out a yelp. To that, you snickered and shrugged. Your eyes drifting downwards to the ground, they slowly grew solemn. "I have no choice, but to overwork."