Finding Hapiness with the kids

Gerald found himself caught up in the energy of the moment as she taught him the dance. The world seemed to become a blur of music and color twirling around him, with her smiling face at its center. In spite of himself, he couldn't help but have fun, and as the performers cheered and clapped, he danced until he lost all sense of where they were or what they were doing. There was just him and her, and being with her made him feel happy.

When it finally stopped they were face-to-face, pressed tightly against one another, her hands holding his. Gerald blushed heavily as he breathed. She looked up at him with her beautiful green eyes. Her pupils were dilated, her cheeks were blushing, her lips were aflush. Even at her worst she was very pretty, but at that moment, she was irresistibly beautiful. She shone like a polished stone. The smile on her face was one of unabashed affection. He could see his reflection in her eyes, and realized that he was smiling back at her the same way.

Catching himself, Gerald backed off and thanked her sincerely. She looked a little disappointed for the moment to end, but thanked him in return. They said their goodbyes to the performers, and continued on their way.

When they got to the orphanage, the kids shoved Gerald aside and ran over to play with Cadbury. The frightened chicken ran for her life as the children chased her about, spreading panicked feathers everywhere. The children looked healthier than before. Their eyes were not so sunken, their skin not so pallid, and they had begun to develop a nice healthy layer of chub. They seemed more like normal kids now.

Cha'Rolette wasn't as nervous around them as she had been, but she still didn't seem quite certain of what to do with them. That is, until Gerald shoved a picture book in her hand, and invited her to do story time for the night. Gerald watched her with a little grin on his face from the back of the room. She was unsure at first, but the kids were so riveted as she read that she quickly got into it. She began using her ta'atu to make the illustrations come alive in their minds, and the kids' ooed and awwed as if it was the best thing ever.

By the end of the story, she was completely into it, creating a fully-rendered animation of the hero fighting the dragon to save the princess. Cadbury squawked in terror and hid herself underneath a sofa. The kids screamed in delight as the dragon swooped around in the air above them, snapping its jaws. They cheered like mad as the good faeries enchanted the prince's sword and he threw it, piercing the dragon. And when the prince kissed sleeping beauty to wake her up, the girls squeed, while the boys stuck out their tongues in disgust.

"All right everyone," Priestess M'Quagta said as she waddled in. "Time to go wash up for supper."

The children groaned as they reluctantly got up, dragging their feet as they walked away. Erumub stopped and came up to Cha'Rolette. "Thank you for reading us the story, you do it a lot better than that Dyson guy."

"Well, thank you," she said. "I enjoyed it."

Erumub leaned forward and hugged her. It was so sudden it caught her off guard. She looked like she wanted to run away. Then, slowly, she stopped resisting. Her eyes softened, and she hugged him back. She closed her eyes and a thousand years weight seemed to lift off of her. When she opened her eyes again, she couldn't stop smiling, and as Erumub ran off to wash up, her smile lingered.

"Thank you for coming," Gerald said as he walked up and sat down beside her.

Having him see her grin like an idiot made her self-conscious. She looked down and tried to hide it, but then decided not to, and simply looked back up at him. "These kids are amazing," she marveled. "They don't have anything, and yet they still find a way to be happy."

"They do have something," Gerald corrected. "They have you."

She looked at him meaningfully.

"...for tonight anyway."

Cha'Rolette looked down bashfully. "Me, huh?"

"How do you feel now?" he asked.

She looked up, and some of the weight returned to her. "Better", she admitted. "Thank you for bringing me here."

Cha'Rolette looked away, as if she was struggling with something, then gave in and leaned over onto his shoulder. Normally he would have objected, but this time it was different. There was no ulterior motive, no manipulation. Right now she wasn't a duchess, she was just a girl, and so he let her lean on him. For several minutes they sat there together in comfortable silence while the children ate in the background. In a world of constant streaming noise, they found a tiny bubble of stillness, and neither of them wanted to break the spell, for fear that it might never return.

"It only takes one," she said to herself.

"Hm?"

She shook her head. "Something my father always says. It has taken the Ssykes family a thousand generations of blood and sweat to get what we have. It takes only one to lose it all."

"That's the weight you carry, isn't it?"

She nodded.

"You won't be that weak link," he assured.

"Of course I won't," she kidded in a playful voice. "I am a Duchess, after all."

"Really? I hadn't noticed."

"Oh, whatever." She threw her weight into his shoulder.

"Maybe you should mention it more often. You know? Then people would be aware that you are a duchess."

She sent him a mental raspberry, and they both chuckled together. When they stopped, their eyes found each other. Gerald could feel his heart beating inside his chest, and she was blushing again.

Something was changing inside of her. He could feel it. Something wonderful was growing within them, like a delicate plant breaking through the hard soil to take its place in the sunlight. A light that was growing brighter, and it made her radiant, like in his vision.

He wanted nothing more than to reach out and embrace her. To bring her close and feel her warmth against him. In his heart he began to suspect that Zurra had ruined him. He had felt the touch of a woman's lips, and now he craved to experience it again. His whole body ached for it, but he kept his hands at his sides.

She leaned in a little closer to him. "Gerald... I..."

The floor flew open and a pink copy of Cha'Rolette stood there, fuming. The ends of her ta'atu were scorched, and her pink clothes were torn and burnt. "You didn't tell me she had combat training tonight too," Zurra yelled.

Thuquan stepped in behind her, looking fiercely betrayed. "Madam Ssykes," he said sternly.

Cha'Rolette looked like her heart had just frozen. She stood up in terror, her ta'atu trembling. Then she assumed the position Gerald had seen her take in her father's presence. She stood straight, eyes looking a thousand yards away, arms at her sides, her face an expressionless mask.

Thuquan came and knelt on one knee before her, eyes lowered. "Duchess, my family has been indentured to the Ssykes for over a hundred cycles. Generations of my fathers and uncles have lived and died to keep each heir to the Ssykes line safe. I have a most serious duty, and tonight I nearly failed you. I nearly failed my family, I nearly failed my race. You know what would happen to me and family if something had happened to you. You know what he would do if your father found out what you did tonight."

She looked like she was about to cry.

Gerald stepped up. "It wasn't her fault, I was..."

Thuquan silenced him with a glance. "I wasn't talking to you." He turned back to Cha'Rolette, but kept his eyes lowered. She was trembling. "Duchess, I cannot perform my duties if you will not cooperate."

"Please..." she begged.

He looked up. "Please?"

"Please don't tell my father, I..."

Thuquan raised his hand. "I won't..."

Cha'Rolette was relieved. She was so scared she had forgotten to breathe. "Oh, thank goodness."

"...if you tell me why you did it."

She took a moment to catch her breath, then nodded.

While Zurra flopped down on a worn couch and returned to her adult form, Thuquan gently escorted Cha'Rolette over to a corner. The children all looked on from a distance as the two of them spoke.

After listening to her explanation, Thuquan asked her a serious question. "Madam Ssykes, you could have any man you want," he whispered. "Why do you spend so much time focused on this one?"

She narrowed her voice to project only to him. "Because..." she said quietly, "in a world where everyone bows, there is nothing rarer than the one who will not bend."

Thuquan indicated that he understood.

"I trust that this will never happen again," Thuquan said threateningly as he turned to Gerald.

"No promises," Gerald joked nervously.

At the bodyguard's humorless expression, Gerald retreated. "Sorry," he said sheepishly.

"Not this time, you're not, but you will be the next."

The air bent around them, and then Cha'Rolette and her keeper were gone.