Happily Ever After (The Lunar Chronicles story continuation)

Chapter 1: The Announcement

"Sometimes, I wonder how vast and large the Universe is. I mean, there are other planets and galaxies, but how big is it really? How many planets and how many galaxies are there? How big is a galaxy even? This is one of those things that we're told. We are told that the Universe is endless and so big, that we can't even fathom it." Kai said. His voice traced of to some other place.
He had an arm around Cider. They lay on the cold ground looking up at the stars with only their body heat to warm each other. Cinder didn't know how long they had been away from the festivities at Scarlet and Wolf's wedding. Technically, she had a clock on her netscreen, but she didnt really want to know. Time stood still, they had no surroundings. In that moment, only she, Kai and the stars existed.
A sound came from the brushes behind them. The scattering of the branches made both Cinder and Kai turn around. A movement.
They instantly thought about the same thing. Reporters. Press. Cinder had thought that they were alone. She had hoped that for once, she could be together with Kai without someone interfering. Cinder was still not used to the clicking of the cameras or the endless questions. There was no press on Luna. Newspapers were not used during Levana's rule. News was spread anonymously by the word of the people. People had been too afraid to contradict Levana, to say something that she didn't like, to be forced to gauge their own eyes out or slit their own throats. Cinder had tried to encourage free speech, but it was a slow process. Fear leaves scars in the minds of people, it stays longer in the subconscious than one would imagine.
"Who's there?" Kai asked with an impatient tone.
"I told you to be quiet!" Said a familiar voice.
"Iko?"
"Well, you shouldn't have pushed me then."
"Thorne?" Asked Cinder.
Out of the bush crawled Iko, followed by Thorne, followed by every other guest at the party, even Émilie
Cinder looked at everyone one by one. "Are you guys eavesdropping or something?"
Iko's lip twitched and avoided eye contact, "no, of course not."
Most androids were equipped with facials expressions in order to make them seem more human and realistic, but they could choose not to. Iko had the tendency to overreact, especially when she was lying, even though she could choose not to. Cinder knew Iko well enough to know that this was one of those times.
"We just wanted to make sure that you two hadn't been attacked by those stupid reporters." Said Scarlet, who still wore her gorgeous wedding dress and looked more beautiful than ever.
"What we should be asking," said Thorne, "is: Why are the two lovebirds so nervous? Any juicy secrets you'd like to share?"
Thorne was right. Cinders muscles were tensed, her jaw clenched and a tinge of fear had crept into her eyes. Before Thorne had said anything, she had ignored it, but there was something. She was scared, but that was stupid. These were her friends, the people she had lived side by side with, laughed with, the ones who had joined her crusade, even when she was just a cyborg lunar fugitive and far from being a princess, let alone being a queen, they were the people that had kept her sane, the ones who had helped her overthrow Levana, her friends, her dearest and only friends.
Kai looked at Cinder and smiled at her. So warm and comforting, she relaxed. He scratched the back of his head as he turned his head, facing the rampion crew. "Well, we kinda... you know... got engaged."
"YOU GOT ENGAGED?" Iko exclaimed. "Where is your ring? When is the wedding? What flavour will the wedding cake be? Oh, we have to do so much!"
Cinder almost drowned in her questions. "Iko, calm down, we got engaged like five minutes ago." Cinders hands made a calming gesture, something she would come to regret. The ring sat on her finger.
Iko's hands lunged forward and grabbed Cinder's right hand. "Show me!"
Cinder's looked up at the sky, "Stars above. Iko, can we do this another time? We're kind of still in the middle of one wedding and you're already caught up in the next."
Cinder looked hopelessly at the others. They had been standing like statues, not interfering with anything.
Kai was the one to break the silence. "Maybe we should get back to the party? We might not be many people in total, but we only have one shot at this secret wedding."
With that said, they all made their way back. Kai reached for Cinders fingers and they walked hand in hand.

Music was playing and people had started dancing again. Everyone was exhausted, but one tends to forget that while having fun. Cinder needed a break. Thorne had asked Cinder for a dance, but she refused him due to sheer exhaustion, so now Thorne and Kai were dancing together in the distance while they argued about who had to do the pirouette.
Cinder sat on a small bench when she saw Émilie approaching.
She smiled. "Hey"
"Hi" Cinder smiled back at her. She had never really talked much to Émilie. Sure, they were on friendly terms and all, but there had never really been a right time for talking. Émilie had met Cinder and Thorne when they were still fugitives, they'd nearly given her a heart attack in France. They'd spoken shortly since then, so she was probably no longer terrified of her.
She sat down beside Cinder. "I just wanted to congratulate you on your engagement."
"Thank you." Cinder had no idea what one was supposed to say. A thank you was the right thing to do, right? She tried to think what Scarlet and Wolf had done when they had made their  she was the only girl in the entire Commonwealth who didn't share the feeling.
"I guess that happens when you're the only attractive guy in politics worldwide."
The conversation was drawing to an end, but Cinder still wanted to, needed to ask her a burning question. "Were you scared of Thorne and me before we met for the first time?"
She blinked a few times, which didn't surprise Cinder. For Émilie the question had come out of the blue. "What?"
"I'm sorry, the question was a bit random, but I was just wondering. You saw everything from the outside. I know you were terrified when we were at the farm, you had every right to be, but were you scared of me before you met me and after you met me? It's because not everyone in the Commonwealth is going to like this proposal, actually, many are going to be completely against me, a lunar, on their throne. Fear leaves scars, and just want to know if they disapprove of me because I scared them or something or if they think that I'll be too much like Levana or maybe just that people fear the unknown and find comfort in familiar surroundings."
Émilie seemed to consider this for a moment. "I wasn't scared before I met you. The possibility of coming across you two was so small. In the moment at the farm I was afraid, yes. Then again, people don't usually relax in the company of the two people they are told are the galaxy's two most wanted criminals. Afterwards, things went back to normal. I wouldn't say I was scared to death, but I wasn't really comfortable either. Things went back to being normal, but there was always a tinge of fear in the air towards Levana, and she was getting closer, too close."
Cinder nodded and sat in silence for a moment. She didn't say anything to that, but had gotten her answer.
In the corner of her eye, Cinder saw that Kai and Thorne were still dancing together. It couldn't still be their first song. Then, Cinder saw something that she couldn't even have dreamt about. Kai spun around, creating a perfect pirouette. She couldn't believe her eyes. The emperor of the Commonwealth, a whole country, was dancing pirouettes at a secret wedding, because a former criminal told him to.
The emperor. Her emperor. He was going to be hers, and she his, for all eternity. They had spent so much time apart, but now, they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. She was going to be the empress of the Commonwealth.