Love Lost and Found {Mianite/Sparksize} - ON HOLD ↹

-=+Chapter Thirteen: Window II+=-

     Soft knocking on her doors stirred Freya from her sleep, far before the sun would've reached the point where it shone through the window in her reading nook and into her eyes. She faintly heard the opening and closing of her doors, and the corner of her bed shift as someone sat down.

     "Freya?" The Princess groaned in response, turning into a squeak of protest when the blankets were ripped from her bed. Green eyes snapped open to meet others.

     "Ender! Why'd you do that?" Ender dismissed her friend's glower, moving off the bed to put the sheets into a large laundry hamper near the door and nearly tripping on a stack of books in the process. She shrugged, raising her hands in surrender after she dropped the sheets.

     "Hey, don't shoot the messenger. Your parents wanted you to be up earlier in preparation for Helgrind's arrival." Regardless, Freya grabbed one of her nearby pillows and threw it rather aggressively at her best friend.

     "Messager," she huffed, "how are you a messenger when you agreed to wake me up? There was no message, just cruelty!" Feigning unconsciousness with her hand resting on her forehead, Freya fell backwards into her pillows. Ender giggled, soundlessly grabbing a throw pillow from a nearby chair. Before Freya could ponder what her friend was doing in response, a plush pillow came down on her face, causing her to shriek.

     "ENDER!" Grabbing a weapon of her own, the two girls launched into a small war of their own, pillows flying and girlish screams echoing around the large bedroom. Thankfully no pillows broke, and the air remained feather-less. The two dashed back and forth across the room, chasing each other with deadly yet humorous glints in their eyes. The soft knock lost on their ears, the Freya and Ender froze in the midst of the chaos when the door squeaked open.

     One hand on the outer door handle, Allen popped in the room with a small smile present on his face. "Are you two alright? I heard screaming." Freya waed her hand, dismissing the notion of danger and simultaneously brushing a loose hair away from her face.

     "We're fine, thank you."

     "Alright. Keep yelling if you need anything. Though, I'm sure Ender can take care of you." He closed the door behind him, leaving the room in silence. Freya glanced over, seeing her best friend with her hands over her visibly bright red face. She lightly hit Ender with a pillow, which the other didn't respond to.

     "Oh, come on Ender. It's been years since Allen came to the palace, and you're still inept at even talking to him." If it were possible, Ender curled into herself even further, falling back into the disturbed heap of pillows somehow still on the bed.

     "He said I could take care of you. He complimented me." Her voice was muffled by her hands, words only audible to her best friend. Had someone been standing even two metres away, they'd have missed it. Had Ender not already been laying down, Freya would have pushed her over.

     "Well, you ought to do something soon. I've seen him talking to the chef apprentice- Emily, was her name?" She watched with satisfaction the instant response received, Ender sitting straight up and peeking through her fingers.

     "What should I do?" Thinking for a minute, Freya sat beside Ender while biting her lip. The two sat in silence, despite the fact that Freya was expected downstairs and fully ready for the day ten minutes ago at the least.

     "Oh! I know! Slip him a note sometime today, and during my engagement party tonight you can sneak out and meet him! Go to the docks, it's such a nice place in Dagrun!"

     "I guess-" The door slammed open, and a red-faced chief of staff stormed in.

-=\+/=-

     The distant sound of music drifted from the palace, reaching through the city and winding its way to the docks, where Ender stood. Overhead, the moon was just about in the middle of the sky, midnight, but she feared no monsters as she knew that there were guards stationed both outside and inside the city, with some on the walls. She was safe.

     Biting her lip as she waited, Ender fidgeted with her single party dress, a deep crimson with run-off elbow length sleeves, a white lace overlayed corset top, and white swirling details running down and around the skirt. The rose in her hair dug slightly into her skin, and her white flats had a small underlying layer of dirt, a result of her having to duck into the courtyard gardens as a guard went by. She had a tiny scratch on her cheek from having to press herself against a stone wall, but otherwise Ender's party escape had gone relatively well. All she had to do was wait.

     Gentle footsteps echoed on the wooden docks from behind her, and she spun around to see Allen standing on the wharf in front of her. He was in a jet black suit, with a slightly unbuttoned dress shirt and an untied tie hanging around his shoulders. Allen smiled, taking a few more steps closer.

     "So it was you, hm?" Ender's breath shook as she exhaled her withheld breath, clasping her hands together in front of her. 'More ladylike,' Freya had said as she had departed.

     "A-Are you surprised?" Ender internally cursed herself for stuttering, but there was a small part in the back of her mind that was squealing, praising herself for saying anything at all. There had been so many scenarios that ran through her head during the day that ran negatively, usually with her opening her mouth with no words able to come out.

     He rubbed the back of his neck. "Of course. I kinda thought you preferred to avoid me." She blushed scarlet. Of course he'd think that; she'd stutter and run off the second he entered the same room as her. Allen cleared his throat, his own face tinged. "Not that I'm disappointed, though."

     "Really?" Ender could feel a smile break onto her face, and the nervousness rolling around her heart dispelled.

     "Well, yeah. You're a wonderful girl, and your note was really thoughtful." Ender took a pace forward, her step being larger than she anticipated, and the two were nose to nose. Their breath mingled and billowed into the cold air, the waves lapping and splashing at their feet.

     "Then... you wouldn't mind if I-" Beating her to the point, Allen ducked his head down to her uplifted face, and their lips connected. If people could melt, then Ender would be a puddle on the wooden docks. The duo stood there, enjoying each other's kiss, the docks turning into a small spot of bliss.

     Until an approaching wave they neglected to see collided with the pier, sending a wave of salt water washing over them.   

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A/N - (Insert insane amount of apologies I put at the end of every chapter but am in too much of a rush to do right now. Especially since this took so long, as per usual.) Quick reminder in case anyone forgot: the windows are MEANT to be short, since they're excerpts. ........ Ok now I've been sitting here for like 2 minutes and I can't think of anything to say that doesn't start with 'I'm sorry' or something similar. 

So... enjoy that! Had to add the last line; couldn't resist. <3 -Pure