Moonflower- A Lunar Chronicles Fanfiction

Chapter 32

The Rampion landed on the New Beijing Palace front lawn just after dawn in the Commonwealth.
It was probably the first time the ship had ever landed on the landing pad properly without taking out a few trees.
Despite the early hour it seemed like the entirety of the empire was on the lawn, closing in on the ship. Everyone was desperate for a glimpse at the returned empress and princess, but no one was more desperate than the emperor himself.
Cynthia heard her dad before she saw him
"Out of my way," he called, forgoing all diplomacy and manners. People in front of him jumped aside, parting in a line that lead straight to the Rampion newcomers.
Cynthia's father looked up right at her mother, and suddenly she felt like she was intruding on something.
"Cinder," her father breathed. All of him apparently still hadn't believed his wife was coming home. "I tried to tell the guards that I should be able to stand right next to the landing pad because I am the emperor I should be able to see my family first, but they insisted I stand back in case the ship missed the pad. Of course I had complete faith in Leo and his landing skills. He's an academy trained pilot for star's sake..." The emperor was rambling as he approached them, but the empress closed the distance and silenced him with a kiss.
It didn't take long for Kai to relax and wrap his arms around Cinder. The crowd sighed, Cynthia included. It seemed this would be just another story in the book of her parent's fairytale. When they broke apart they stayed linked. Cynthia's father clutched her mother's hand for dear life as if it was the only thing anchoring him to reality. Her mother on the other hand finally looked relaxed and years of worry seemed to melt of her face in seconds. Yes, definitely a fairytale.
Rikan pushed through the crowd next grinning from ear to ear. "Mom!" He cried, bolting into her arms. Cameras clicked, Cynthia finally noticing them, but she couldn't even find it in herself to care.
The reunions continued after that. All of the former Rampion crew and their children came and hugs were shared. Leo tried to shake the emperor's hand, but got a fatherly bear hug instead. Captain Thorne wept into Cinder's shoulder while she patted his back and tried very hard not to roll her eyes. Solstice and Fitz came to hug Cynthia, and she was so happy to see her friends again that she cried a little too. She didn't want the moment to end, but she knew it had to.
"Dad," she began when things had started to settle down. "We have a lot of work to do."
His smile faded, his eyes in pain. "You're right Thia. Where do we start?"
"What do you mean?" She asked. "You're the emperor."
Her father wrapped an arm around her shoulder, hugging her to his side. "Thia, you've grown up to be even better than the intelligent, brave, and beautiful young lady I hoped I was raising. I believe that you're the best ruler to handle this job."
Cynthia swallowed but nodded. Compared to everything that had just happened, suddenly being empress seemed like the least of her worries.
"All right everyone," she started, calling on the greatest heroes she knew. "This is how we're going to take down Thaumaturge Nyx." 
-----
It was so weird for Cynthia to just lie in her bed in her room of her palace in her kingdom on her planet. After all the uncertainty and danger of the past couple of days it didn't feel right to be at home trying to sleep. After her constant struggles among her friends and family, it was overwhelmingly eerie to be alone.
Cynthia tossed and turned for several hours. It was no use. Her body would not rest. She wondered if it ever would again.
Instead of trying to debate this in her head in a cavernous room in the dark, the princess rang for some tea and sat on her couch with her port, browsing the feeds for what she could have missed. By the time the tea came she had found nothing new. Only reports of her and her mom's disappearance and then that they were now returned home safe. She supposed she should have been glad there were no stories of mutated letumosis outbreaks or lunar soldier attacks yet, but it only left a bad taste in her mouth. It still felt like the calm before the storm. Worry was consuming her.
All her emotions were building up inside her, and her veins started to spark beneath her skin. She needed some air.
The princess slipped on a robe and shoes and made her way downstairs to the gardens. The last time she'd been here she'd left Rikan, and it had been afternoon. Now it was night, and Luna was full and imposing even from thousands of miles away. The stars seemed so much further away from down there, but there was something relaxing in the gentle sway of the cherry blossoms and the smooth pitter patter of the koi pond fountain. The crackling inside her faded.
That was when she spotted someone else in the garden. His light hair standing out against the night in the moonlight as he sat on a bench looking . Leo hadn't noticed her yet, but she walked over to where he was sitting.
"I couldn't sleep either," he said without turning around. "That whole bioelectricty thing gets to be too much when I'm wound up."
Cynthia plopped down on the bench next to him. "How'd you know it was me?"
He shrugged. "Training. That and I swear you make every room you walk into at
least fifty percent brighter."
She leaned her head against his shoulder. He wrapped an arm around her. "This isn't really a room."
"Then the stars are shining brighter to compensate."
They sat there for a while, the pilot and the princess who used to be best friends and now were so much more. They looked at the moon, their biggest adversary. Cynthia only hoped her plan would work. The fate of the world was in their hands, and stars, Leo wasn't even eighteen yet.
"My dad proposed to my mom on this bench," Leo said breaking the silence. He cracked a smile despite the hour and the stakes and the terrible odds. "I don't think we're there yet."
Cynthia laughed and curled her legs up on the bench, leaning into him more. She closed her eyes, finally relaxed enough to be sleepy. For now, she was happy with where they were.
-----
High above inside the palace, the original Rampion crew poured over Cynthia's plans which Iko and Cinder had taken mental notes of while she had explained all morning. While their children slept they were testing all possible scenarios they could think of. These were their children's lives at stake, and they had to be ready for anything.
Cinder looked at the clock. 2:15. They should really all go to bed if they wanted to be ready for everything that was coming tomorrow.
Kai was falling asleep in his chair. It was obvious he hadn't gotten much of it for the past few days. Cinder was about to get up and drag him to their room so he could get at least a couple hours of sleep in tonight, but Thorne waved her over to his spot by the window.
It was a clear night and the moon shined like a spotlight on the gardens and two figures sitting on a bench facing it.
"You know," Thorne said with a playful wink at her. "Royals have always had a thing for Thorne men."
Cinder punched him in the arm with her metal hand. Hard.

A/N: This was a really fun chapter for me to write. I've been wanting to do a couple of these lines for a long time and I finally got my chance! I hope you guys liked reading it as much as I enjoyed reading it.

In other news the sequel to this book I was planning, Moonchild, I don't think is going to happen any more. I had a plan for what I wanted to happen, but I didn't follow that track. I like this one better anyway. That being said I think Moonflower is almost over, probably no more than five chapters or so. Who knows what I'll write after this! I've been working on this story for almost a year and a half now and I'm actually really excited that I'm so close to actually finishing it. Thanks for going on this journey with me, and I hope you'll stick with me in what I write for TLC next!

As always, thank you from the bottom of my heart for reading.
Love,
Theresa