Let me tell you a story;
Once upon a time, in Paris, in the beginning of the 21st century. Kids were playing on the street while their parents worked or cleaned or cooked or maybe sat outside reading a book or painted. It was just a normal sunny day in Paris. In the corner between two buildings sat man, he wore a blue cape and red trousers, his face was partly hided by the shadow from the buildings but you could see a soft smile playing on his lips. Suddenly one of the kids walked up to the man, she was young, only six or seven years old.
"Excuse me sir, why are you just sitting here?" she asked a little shyly.
The man smiled, it had been years since someone called him ´sir`.
"I find it peaceful to watch people hurrying through their lives, and this corner right here is perfect for that, also I love roses" He smiled and nodded to the bush with big beautiful roses next to him.
"So it´s like you´re watching over us all here" the little girl said and giggled.
The man nodded and as the rest of the kids walked over to them to see who the little girl was talking to he looked up at them and nodded.
"Say kids, would you like to hear a story?" he asked.
That immediately made them all nod and sit down in front of him, they were all from five to fifteen years old, but all kids love stories.
So the man talked, and the kids listened. They forgot about the football and the games they should play as they listened to his voice.
And he talked, with the sound of the river Seine in the background. He told them about war and peace, sun and rain, great victories but also huge lost. He told them stories about death and life, friends and enemies, happy endings and sad. But most of all he told them about love, about a man that searched for love but never found it, a man that learned; in real life there are no happy endings, a man that never lived "happily ever after".
"You see kids this man was not a human, neither was he an animal. He was a nation; France, the country of love" And that was how the man begun his story…
War, war and death and fighting. Endless war.
That was what France felt, his beloved country was shattered to pieces of its true greatness. The country of love saw nothing else than death.
And it seemed like no matter what they did, the enemy was stronger.
England.
France sighed as he looked out of his window, all he saw was empty streets. No kids were playing on the streets of this town. In war will even the laugh of children be silenced. And it was all Englands fault, for almost a hundred years had they been fighting, yes, small times of peace but not many.
The king was week, unable to take care of his country in a proper way, the rest of the royalties were fighting with each other, who should lead the country until the royal children were able to take over.
"I could tell you about all the wars, and all the fighting. But it´s not for children ears, instead I will skip to when hope came to the country"
It was the year 1429, everything seemed dark. But just when France started to look like it would fall in the hands of England, something happened.
Someone happened.
France, and the person France, I´ll call him by his human name, Francis.
Francis was deeply worried, the British had the city Orleans in siege and if they got control over the city it could mean the end of France.
That was when Jeanne appeared. She came out of nowhere, a simple girl from a simple family. But she said she could hear the voices of the angels and they had told her what to do.
So Jeanne got to meet the heir of France, Karl, and also Francis. What she said to them is not to be heard by anyone else but after their meeting Francis had a little hope.
This woman, golden hair, clear blue eyes, yes she looked like one of the angels she said she could hear. But it was something about her, something special, like she had a light inside her that gave her a shine no one could ignore.
Francis didn't have to hear her talk long before he decided to make her the leader of the army that was supposed to oust the British from Orleans. The day before Jeanne should ride with the army to Orleans Francis found her, praying in a little church.
"Tell me, my lady, have the angles you hear touched you and given you their beauty?" Francis asked as he stood behind her.
Jeanne turned around and when she smiled Francis was stunned by her beauty.
"I´m not a lady, my lord, just a simple girl, and you flatter me far too much with your words, I think I will leave them unanswered"
"Is that so, my lady" Francis nodded and held up a red rose to her "It may not be of gold nor to any use for you but I ask you to carry this with you in your coming war"
Jeanne took the flower from Francis hand and carefully held it between two of her fingers, as if it would break like glass if she touched it more.
"If that is what you wish, then so will I do" she smiled even more and attached the rose to her clothes.
Nothing was said between them until Francis took her hand and lead her out of the church to the moonlight outside. He bowed to her and kissed her hand.
"May I have a dance with you, my lady?" he said.
Not waiting for her answer he simply took her other hand and started dancing. She followed his lead, her feet dancing over the ground like they were flying.
"No music is playing tonight" she whispered to Francis as they danced "Yet you are dancing like you could hear it"
A shadow of sadness was seen in Francis face as he answered. "No music is playing the night before a war. But yes, with you it´s like I can hear it"
"To hear music where none is played, that is truly something special" She smiled to him.
They dance under the moon, through the bushes of roses, through the night. But you can´t run from reality any long.
"I´m sorry my lord, but tomorrow is a big day and I fear I must go now" Jeanne whispered and stopped.
Francis stopped as well and nodded. "I understand, and I wish I could follow you. But I can´t, someone has to stay here. But…" he said and softly kissed her lips. "I ask you, when you come back Jeanne d´Arc, come to me because I will be here waiting for you"
Jeanne nodded and kissed Francis once again before she walked away, leaving him alone in the moonlight among the roses.
"Have the gods finally started smiling to us again?" he whispered and looked up at the moon.
And then Francis waited, of course he had thousands of duties, he had to lead armies, not personally but he was the one sending them information and news. Yet he had no news about Jeanne or how it went with Orleans.
A few days later the news he had been waiting for arrived, Jeanne had succeeded! Orleans was freed from the British and so was Patay and a few other cities.
There was no reason to wait, with those cities freed they would be able to crown the heir of France, Karl VII. And with a proper king France would have much bigger chances.
It was in Reims, the evening after Karl VII´s coronation, where Francis met Jeanne again. He was resting underneath a tree not so far from the house where they were staying when she appeared behind him.
"So here you are my Lord" she whispered and sat down next to him.
He smiled but didn't answer immediately, instead he turned his head and looked at her. Her hair was shorter now, she had cut it to look more like a boy, but she was as beautiful as ever. The moonlight giving her face a mysterious glow.
"Here I am, and my lady I suppose I now should congratulate you, so I will, congratulations, you did what no one thought was possible, you are the reason France now has a proper king and for that I also thank you" he finally answered. To him it meant so much more, because since he was the nation France he could feel it. He could feel the emptiness in a country without king, he could feel the happiness when the people got hope, and he could feel how thankful the ground itself was to this woman for a what she had done. Indeed it was like the angels had touched her.
"I´ve done what I should, my only wish now is to return home" She answered and nodded. "But lets not speak about leaving, the night is young and I feel that once again this country of love has hope" then she carefully leaned forward and kissed Francis.
He closed his eyes smiling a little before he answered her kiss, her lips tasted like strawberries and roses and sunlight and everything that was beautiful in this world. For the moment they kissed Francis forgot everything that was bad and lost himself in this feeling that he knew was love.
Yes, he knew, and he had known it from the second he saw her, he loved her.
Eventually they ended the kiss, staying close to each other, their noses almost touching. Her eyes were the bluest blue and looked like they were shining when she smiled.
"My lord" she whispered after a few moments of silence "I don't know what this feeling is, because never have I felt it before but it fills me with joy"
"Please call me Francis, and I think I know what you mean because I feel like the angels are singing tonight, never have I been so happy before" he answered and once again kissed her.
But the morning always comes and you have to wake up from your dreams. Far too soon rised the sun and Francis and Jeanne had to leave each other for now.
"But I see you this evening again my dear Francis" she said before she walked away.
To that Francis could answer nothing but nod and then also he left.
But the evening did not come as they wished it would. The king had decided that Jeanne was a far too could leader in war to lose, and he asked her to lead the army that would take back Paris from the British. Even if Jeanne only wished to go home, he was the king and she wanted to help her country. So she accepted.
"Why Jeanne? You said you didn't want to fight anymore" was what Francis whispered to her when they once again sat under that tree and she told him what she would do.
"But sometimes we have to do things we don't want to, because it is what is right" she said trying to calm him down.
"But…" he sighed, she was right and he was not the one to tell her what she should do.
"I ride to Paris as the leader of an army, and I know we will win this war Francis, I can feel it. And remember I know now my dear, I love you" she lightly kissed him once again before she walked away.
"Oh Jeanne I love you too" he whispered after her "And we will end this war… but at what price?"
Thanks for reading, next chapter will be up soon, reviews and comments are very appreciated ^^