A boy of five ran towards the house, tracking little footsteps through the snow. This was his first Christmas away from his Papa, and he missed him fiercely.
It was quiet where grandpa and grandma lived, and he got his Mama all to himself. Crown princes did not complain, he reminded himself. Mama missed Papa too, and she would be sad if she knew he was sad, so he had to be a big soldier and keep Mama smiling. He held onto the little snowman he made for her, his breath puffing out in white.
“Zain!” His mother called again.
“Coming!”
Dashing up to the verdana, he quickly kicked the snow off his boots.
“Look Mama, I made this for you!” Zain held up his gift for her to see.
“Oh did you? Aren’t you the sweetest.” She beamed at him, ruffling his hair. “Why don’t we put Mr. Snowman in the freezer, and that way, he’ll stay nice and cold?”
“Yea!”
“Let’s hurry. We don’t want to miss Papa.”
Storing away Mr. Snowman, Zain and his mother sat in a cozy tatami room where the TV streamed the festivities from Sanctis. Zain looked at his mother’s face. It was a look she had whenever she saw Papa’s image. Even as a child, the look made his heart hurt. Looking around to make sure there was no one else watching, Zain climbed into his mother’s lap.
“Oh! Zain. What are you doing?”
Zain shook his head and squeezed his mother’s hand. He had grown too tall to do this, but he didn’t think his mother cared. He tucked his knees to his chin, and smiled when his mother hugged him close.
“Zain. Zain?” The sweetest voice called him from his reverie.
“Hm?”
“Are you alright?”
“Yes, just thinking.”
She slipped her hand in his lacing their fingers together. She didn’t pressed. It was simple to follow his gaze until it landed on their son, playing in the snow with the other palace children.
“He’s already so grown.”
“Time passes fast with children,” she murmured, laying her head on his shoulder.
“It does doesn’t it?
“Shall get call him in?” she offered.
“No let him play some more. He only gets to be a child once.” His wife squeezed his hand tightly.
His son was now the same age he had been when his world had turned on its head. He hadn’t known then that his first carefree Christmas in Oriens would be the last he would have with his mother. Christmas had been her favorite holiday. If only she could see what he had made for himself now. Would she be proud of him?
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To truly see him, even though he was just a little boy, as the person he was. She held his hand, which encased his own with all its entirety.
Even as a child, he understood that he had some healthy competition for her affections.
Between his older brother, and their butler Yu, he was clearly handicapped in both age and experience. He didn’t even begin to imagine the amount of history the three had, which was probably longer than his existence.
But he firmly believed that she was fated to be with the person who loved her the most. Because as long as she was happy, he would be too. After all, a princess deserves nothing less.
He remembers the day she left, he sobbed in his room for hours. But he always knew, that he would see her again.
Years passed, and the others had moved on. His brother married a woman of noble birth. Yu had married one of the young women who ran the coffee shop. But he could never quite forget her, he nearly drove himself to insanity thinking of her. He even began to believe that she was merely a dream, something his imagination had created out of loneliness.
It was only when he was of age did he see her, she was ten years older than him, but she still looked every bit as vibrant as she had in his dreams.
The water pail she held in her hands, dropped to the floor with a clang the moment she saw him. A smile spread across his face, as he inched closer to her with every step. Until he kneeled down at her feet, and held her hand, his finally encompassing hers. His lips as soft as flower petals as he pressed them against soft skin.
