Elizabeta carefully tucked her dress under her folded legs as she let out a small sigh, watching the dust float through the air over the stacks of photo albums like fairy dust. She carefully swept her long brown hair over her shoulder and leaned down over the photo album open on her lap to see the pictures more clearly. Rubbing her thumb over one of the many old pictures she smiled softly. It was a picture of Gilbert, with Roderich at his side of course. Gilbert had an arm carelessly strung over Roderich's shoulder, a happy grin on his face. Roderich was looking at him with surprise, like Gilbert had suddenly just snapped the picture. Underneath it, he had a look of fond exasperation. They had always been like that.
She flipped the page, revealing more miscellaneous pictures of the two of them. It had been a while since she had looked through these, memories of old shenanigans and quarrels coming back. There was a picture of a sachertorte, probably made by Roderich. The picture next to it showed another surprise picture of Austria in a flowery apron Elizabeta remembered owning. In fact, as Elizabeta flipped through the album, there seemed to be a period of just Roderich and Gilbert fooling around and snapping photos. About half of them looked like they were taken by Gilbert, as they looked like they were spur of the moment pictures, pictures of moments he wanted to keep forever. Roderich's pictures were more careful and serene, including the one he must have took of Gilbert and Gilbird, with Gilbert tenderly petting Gilbird on the head. There were a few random ones she wasn't sure who took, but most of them were easy to recognize. She giggled as she came across a close up picture of a tiny Gilbird sitting on a sleeping Gilbert. Drool stuck to his check and Elizabeta could imagine him snoring away.
Then she came upon one that couldn't have been either of them. It was a picture of the two of them, again, but the angle of the camera was farther away, and neither of the subjects in the picture seemed to know what was happening. They were sitting at a dining table, probably eating breakfast judging by the open window that showed the morning sky, not completely blue but one that still held a promise for a beautiful day. The sunlight streaming outside managed to catch the soft features of both Roderich and Gilbert, making Roderich's chocolate brown hair stand out even more against his pale skin. They looked happy, and the picture gave her a warm feeling just looking at it. It looked so complete, with the two of them laughing softly at some joke. They were like two opposites, but instead of clashing (well, not too much), they managed to balance each other out, bold and soft, light and dark. It was like two pieces of a puzzle. They just seemed to click and form a more complete picture together. Despite all their bickering, Roderich and Gilbert were like a picturesque scene from a fairy tale. Hopefully, they would have their happy ending soon.
Soon.
Although it wasn't looking very soon because was that a crash she just heard down stairs? It was only Roderich downstairs and he was always very careful with her dishware so that must have meant…
"GILBERT!" she roared (honestly, it was like a magnet that always drew one to the other), and grabbing her frying pan she had abandoned near the entrance of the attic, she tore down the stairs. (If he broke her favorite teacup he would be as broken as the smashed china, Elizabeta would make sure of that.)
Maybe they could their happy ending later. After Elizabeta dealt with Gilbert.