Title: Candid
Summary: Seravi wondered why Dorothy is taking too long to come down. Following her in the old library, he learns a secret that Dorothy has been keeping from him.
Candid
"Dorothy?"
Seravi opened the door of the old library carefully, not wanting to disturb the witch, and yet curious as to what she might be doing.
"Dorothy...?" he called again. She seemed to be oblivious of his presence.
He saw her standing in front of the fireplace, staring at the framed photograph hung above it. It was a photo of Shiine, Riiya and Chacha building a sand castle, if he remembered right. He'd seen that photograph a few times; he even has a copy of it, and so he didn't spare it a glance.
But what caught his curiosity was Dorothy's expression while staring at the frame. She looked peaceful, as if caught up in a memory of something she holds dear.
And this is why he broke his stare at her, to look at the photo—and realized that the photo had been replaced.
It was no longer a photo of the children. Placed on the same frame was a picture of him and her, taken during her tenth birthday.
A candid shot.
He had surprised her with a bouquet of flowers—in different shades of old rose and purple, her favorites—and a kiss on her cheeks.
A friend of his took that picture, and he was delighted that Dorothy's blush was caught so beautifully. He claimed that it was the best picture of all, and sent her that copy, but she claimed that she resented it and had thrown it.
For many years, he believed that she really did throw it away. But now it seems that she actually kept it. He is definitely glad.
To his surprise, she raised her hand to hold their photo, touching his face. Her lips formed a shy, and yet partly amused smile.
He smiled.
It is nice to know that despite her seemingly resentful attitude towards him, there are moments like these when she sees the memory of him fondly.
"Seravi…" she whispered, still dreamy.
Thinking that she was calling him, he answered, "Yes, Dorothy?"
She gasped, only then realizing his presence. A faint blush, and the soft gush of her whisking her wand, and soon enough the photo was replaced; once again it holds the photo of Shiine, Riiya and Chacha.
Now Seravi understood why Shiine had once described the photo frame "charmed". Dorothy was using magic to conceal a secret, using the children's photo as a mere front; for she is still uneasy with fact that she likes their old photo enough to frame it.
He did not feel insulted anyhow. He just felt happy with the fact that the feeling is mutual. Maybe it's a huge leap, to think that her fondness with an old photograph of them means fondness to him, but he can't help see it that way.
Dorothy will always be Dorothy, and even if her pride keeps her from realizing that she too likes him deep inside, Seravi finds it in his heart to be patient with her.
Someday, Dorothy will come to terms with her feelings.
He can wait.
For now, he had to appease her and make sure she's not angry with him for sneaking up on her.
"Ahh, sorry. I didn't mean to startle you. The kids were looking for you. They're wondering what took you so long to come down," he hastily explained, hoping that he doesn't look like he knew something.
"Oh." She looked at him suspiciously. "You didn't see anything did you?"
"Huh?" he asked, feigning innocence. "I saw nothing. I just came in..."
"Good, good. I was just… just…" she tried to come up with some reason for staying too long upstairs, but found none.
He decided to help her out. "You were just looking at the children's photographs… and got a little caught up. That's easy to understand. I do that to, sometimes, when I see Chacha's baby pictures."
"Yeah, right," she agreed, relieved to think that he didn't see anything. "I was just thinking of our outing today and the previous ones..." she said blankly. And then, with a tougher tone, "Now, what are we waiting for? They're waiting aren't they? Let's go."
Seravi smiled and let her drag him out.
Dorothy will always be Dorothy. She won't be Dorothy if she's not like that.
Whatever.
What matters is that she will be his Dorothy, someday.
Thank you for reading!
For Eternity is a collection of Seravi x Dorothy one-shots. Here's Candid, the first story for this collection, I hope you like it.
