Hey guys! As all of you Lunar Chronicles Fans know Winter came out on the tenth earlier this month. Let me tell you, I have been waiting for it for almost a year. When it came out I read it as fast as I could. It took me only a little over a week to finish it. It was amazing! I loved every second of it. It was full of action from beginning to end. There were no boring moments.

Note: This takes place a few months after Winter ends. There will be spoilers! And a lot of them. So if you haven't finished Winter and hate spoilers, please do not read! Go and look for a different fic. Right now.

Ok here we go!

~*~H~*~

Cinder was so relieved, more relieved than she had been in the last year. After she took up her throne and her friends all went back to earth, leaving her alone with Iko, she took a couple months changing the royal court. She instated new laws, allowing androids on Luna, as well as cameras and mirrors. Most were not happy with change but some did not mind.

Once letumosis was extinguished from earth and Thorne and Cress were done with their mission, he started payments for the Rampion and a world tour for cress. She wanted to see mountains and forests and cities and farms and oceans and rivers. He took her wherever she wanted to go.

Scarlet took wolf back to her farm and last she heard they were happy building a life together, harvesting tomatoes and settling down.

Princess Winter got the very first Bioelectricity security chip installed into her nervous system. Jacin was worried when she did not wake as soon as expected after the surgery so he insisted on moving into her room with her to keep her safe. She did not mind. Every day she got better and her visions slowly disappeared. Only in times of extreme stress do the walls occasionally bleed. As her visions leave, Jacin gets happier and, in turn, so does Winter.

Cinder was almost done with the process of turning Luna into a Republic. In a few short weeks, she would be moving back to the Eastern Commonwealth to help Emperor Kai with preparations for the ball. He was still convinced he could get her into dance lessons. Cinder rolled her eyes, the first time in an hour she took her gaze off the paperwork in front of her. It looked like Winter was winning in the polls for the diplomatic representative of Luna. They were convinced that she would be great traveling to earth to convince Earthens that Lunars weren't all that bad.

There were a lot of citizens that wanted to move to earth. Most of them were the families of the returned shells. Once Cinder had them freed, many were old enough to start their own life or didn't have family anymore. Accidents were common in the outer sectors. The young ones that were returned to their parents wanted to start a life on Earth, fearing that their children would be discriminated against, like they have been for the past few decades.

She also had reports to look over of the profits and production rate of the Bioelectrical Security Chip. Audri and Pearl were getting thousands of Univs a month and were expecting their profits to grow very quickly, very soon.

There was a brisk knock on the door of her office. "Enter," she said. The door cracked open and she saw the face of a guard. The new one with long blond hair that almost reminded her of Jacin. Only he didn't have a girl he was madly in love with. He was very serious. She had never seen him smile once.

"Your Majesty." He clasped his fist over his chest and bowed. "I'm sorry for the interruption. There is a girl here. She claims she's your best friend."

"If she's got dark skin and blue hair let her in."

"Are you sure, Your Majesty? She's really weird... And she's a shell."

She heard Iko's voice from the other side of the door. "Close."

"Positive. Let her in." He clasped his fist over his chest and backed out of the door. Iko appeared in the door with a stack of boxes and another stack of paper work under her arm. Cinder hurried to assist her as the stack of boxes started to topple to one side. She took them and set them on the corner of her desk. She noticed that most of them were fancy shoe boxes. And all of them were in her size.

"It's like nobody has ever heard of an escort-droid," Iko said with a tint of annoyance in her robotic voice.

"Well, odds are nobody has. They've kinda been outlawed for the past couple decades." That's when Cinder turned to look at Iko. She was wearing a pair of black, thick-framed glasses. They didn't look terrible on her, just odd. "What are those?" Cinder pointed in Iko's face with her exposed metal hand. She hadn't bothered to cover it because she told the guards she would be doing paper work for a few hours and for once she had the day to herself. No important meetings. No conferences. And no friends to talk to, other than her escort-droid best friend who didn't care weather or not she was a cyborg.

Her fan whirred, processing Cinder's question. "Glasses."

"You're an android. You have perfect vision. What do you need glasses for?"

"I'm bringing back a phase from the Second Era. It's called the Hipster." Cinder looked her up and down. Her blue hair was in a braid, laying over her shoulder and a beanie was on her head, hiding any bangs. She was wearing a shirt with the logo of some band on it. She was also wearing a pair of skinny jeans and sneakers. She did a full turn. Cinder didn't think she looked bad, just out of style. It wasn't the worst thing she had ever tried on.

"How do I look?" she asked eagerly.

"Um... ok. I guess."

Her smile fell. "Just 'ok'? I commed Thorne and he said I looked fabulous."

"You talked to Thorne?"

"Yeah. Cress was there too. They just stopped in Paris to see the Eiffel tower. Oh, and they're going to visit Scarlet and Wolf while they're in France."

"Why didn't you see if I wanted to talk to them. I miss them too, you know."

"Oh. Believe me, I tried. That guard said you were not to be disturbed. And that you wished for some time alone."

"Oh... well, I'll tell the guard that you can visit me any time. You're more important than any stupid paperwork."

"Speaking of paperwork, I've got more for you." She handed Cinder the file that was tucked under her arm.

"Oh, goodie." Cinder laid out the contents of the file on her desk and took a look at it. She soon found a fancy envelope. Inside was an invitation... to the ball in the Eastern Commonwealth. She also saw another piece of paper which looked way less expensive. On it was a note, written in the Emperor's beautiful calligraphy. It read:

Cinder,

I hope you've had the chance to think about taking dancing lessons with me on Earth before the ball. I already have classes scheduled for the day after you arrive in a couple weeks. I can't wait to see you again.

Love, Kai

P.S. Please vid-comm me. I miss the sound of your voice. Anytime is fine.

Cinder smiled. Iko peered over Cinder's shoulder. "Ooh! Please, comm him."

"Iko, I can't right now. I've got work to do." Iko's fan kicked up a notch before she gathered all of the papers and set them aside.

"You need a break anyway." Cinder rolled her eyes as Iko set up a link on Cinder's netscreen.

"Fine. But I need to get back to work as soon as I'm done talking to him."

Soon, Kai's tired face appeared in the dim light of his bedroom. He was squinting against the harsh light of his portscreen but he smiled anyway. "Hey. I haven't seen either of you in a long time."

"Oh my goodness. What time is it in the Commonwealth? I'm so sorry I commed you so late - or early. Whatever. Go back to sleep and comm me when you wake up." Her netlink quickly looked up the time in New Beijing. 3:45 in the morning.

"No. No, its ok. I promise. I was expecting this to happen and I don't care. I miss you."

Her panic subsided. "I miss you, too. And I promise I won't keep you long. You need your sleep."

"Don't worry about it. Nainci and Torin have been taking care of most of the preparations for the ball. For once, I haven't had much to do in the palace. I've been going stir crazy. I needed someone to talk to. Have you heard any from the rest of the crew?" Her memories aboard the Rampion were her favorites. Except well when Sybil Mira and Jacin attacked and Scarlet ended up being kidnapped and Wolf was shot in the chest. She enjoyed her time with her new-found friends. And Kai. Especially Kai.

"I spoke with Thorne and Cress," Iko spoke up. "They're in Paris and are probably visiting Scarlet and Wolf as we speak."

"How are they doing?"

"As far as I know, pretty good. They've settled in at the farm and he still loves tomatoes."

"Good. That's good... I wish you guys were coming sooner. I really miss you."

"I do, too. But I've got a lot of work to do."

"No, you don't." Iko lied smoothly. "If you just finish the stack I brought to you, I think you can leave early. I can handle things while you're gone."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes. And if I need any help, I can ask the thaumaturges."

"Even so, It will take me a couple days to get ready to leave."

"Already done. I have a bag packed for the journey and on a ship which will be ready to leave as soon as tomorrow morning." Cinder smiled.

"You're a life-saver, Iko." She wrapped her arms around the android.

"I know," she said, smugly.

Cinder turned back to Kai. "I'll be there the day after tomorrow. And I'll comm you before I leave."

"That's great." Kai yawned.

"Get some sleep."

"I'll be sure to have the guest wing prepared for you and the rest of the crew. I'll be sure there are no mirrors just for Her Majesty," he chuckled.

"Ugh, I told you not to call me that. I won't be queen for much longer."

He smiled a breathtaking smile. "I'll see you in a couple days. Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you, too. Goodnight." They lingered in silence for a few moments before he disconnected the link.

~*~H~*~

"I think I realized, I'd rather die because I betrayed them, than live because I betrayed you." -Wolf, Scarlet Book 2 of the Lunar Chronicles.

A/N: If you're lucky you might get another chapter tomorrow.