Once Upon a Summer Day, by Meriland 25 a.k.a. Maria
A. /N. - Hello Ladies s and Gentlemen! This is my first Tudor fic, but I couldn't resist giving Princess Mary and Duke Phillip a happier ending for. And, if the middle Ages weren't conductor to this story, I thought, maybe they would be luckier in. Please forgive any mistakes you find, English is not my mother language.
"What are you reading?"
Mariah lifted her eyes from her book to look at Phillip. It was recess on the most prestigious and costly high school of England, the sky was high in the summer sky and classes had just ended for the week. During the time since the arrival of the German exchange student, Phillip Bavari and Mariah Castella- Rosington had become all but inseparable. They had also informally declared as their own the little bit of grass under the old oak's shade in the outskirts of the schools perimeter. As a response she lifted the cover to let him see and scooted a bit to the side to let him share her blanket, a present from her dearly departed mother that she reserved for this quiet afternoons, usually spending reading alone. Phillip had changed thing. For the most part, it had been for the better, or so her heart told her. Her mind, however, was another thing.
"Shakespeare's sonnets?"Phillip said "May I?" Some people would have found his curiosity too bold, but his genuine interest in her as a person and not just as a daughter of her father, and so a quick way to his good graces, was important to her, and warmed her once frigid heart. Apparently it also warmed her cheeks, because his smile widened just so, like it always did when he ,made her blush, smile, laugh, splutter and generally lost control over her polite-but-distant façade she used like a second skin, but that he broke without even trying, by seeing right to the person underneath it. It was both amazing and unsettling.
Quickly she passed hi her book if only to distract him. It resulted, and for a time they were in comfortable silence, or as close Phillip could be while reading. It was endearing how he mumbled words under his breath and played with the corners of the pages, something that she wouldn't have tolerated from anyone else, except maybe Bessie.
She was happy for a reprise from the problems and drama of life, and thankful by the calm Phillip always brought with him. It was incredible how quickly and how strongly he had wormed his way into his affection. It scared and made her wonder dangerous thoughts, and if there was something Maria Rosington didn't like, it was yo be unsure of something. She was so focused in her reflection that she only realised the object of her thoughts had stopped in a particular page when he started reading, in that accepted English that most people disliked, but she actually enjoyed. All thoughts of questioning her feeling left her body, as did her breath, when she heard what he was reading.
Sonnet 18
William Shakespeare
Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date.
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed.
But thy eternal summer shall not fade
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st;
Nor shall death brag thou wand'rest in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.
It was her favorite poem- the one she enjoyed the most as a child , and had made her daydream countless times of future loves , happily ever afters and fairy princesses. When she still believed in romance and her parents were the real Romeo and Juliet, only with a fairytale worthy ending. Now, far too many reality checks later, and an ocean away from her birth country, she had found her very own Prince Charming in the form of a German exchange student with an accent and the most wonderful blue eyes.
Suddenly she was keenly aware of how close they were, and began noticing things about him she hadn't noticed before of the handsome line of his jaw, the sooty color of his hair and eyebrows, and the way those mesmerizing orbs seamlessly warmed her completely. Finally, she looked at his lips- never had she ever been so enthralled by someone's mouth. But since she was fascinated by all of him, it really shouldn't be that surprising. And truly, his eyes were her favorite feature of his, and she really shouldn't be looking at his lips, even though she really wanted to kiss him-she had never wanted to kiss anyone before, what if he didn't want to kiss her too, what was she even thinking…but his eyes were smiling, crinkling at the sides just so, and suddenly she had no doubts, because it was Phillip, Phillip who made her smile, who was there for her when everything became too much, Phillip who was her truest friend and so much more. Her Phillip.
His lips were soft and the kiss was short but tender. Mariah had always thought all that foolishness about fireworks going on during a kiss, and in a way it was, because her happiness in that moment was as deep as the sea and as bright as the sun ,and she couldn't help falling in love with him a bit more in that moment.
Slowly he lowered the book, and only when he whipped a tear from a cheek did Mariah realise she was softly crying. She looked into his eyes, the eyes that had become so dear to her in such a small amount of time, and the worry and affection in them was so real, it only made her cry all the more, and fall in love with him a bit more in that moment.
"You are crying." How could she ever doubt him, doubt the love in his voice and that dedication on his eyes? She was smiling and laughing and crying and laughing- they were in love, in friendship and in respect- how could the world be such a happy place? After so much pain, how was it possible for someone to love so deeply, so wholly, and to be loved just as much in return? She had to tell him, but she could hardly utter a world. In any case. The only thing that left her lips- how they tingled!-, was Gods honest truth.
"Only because I am so happy." Now he too was smiling- not just his eyes, all of his face, all of his soul the same happiness that consumed her clear to her as glass. How well they knew each other!
For a while they stood there, under the shade of an old oak in a prestigious school, smiling at each other. In time, Phillip spoke – bless him and his gift to always know how to say the right thing in the right time.
"Would you like for me kiss you again?" Laughing she nodded, and again they kissed, and again, and again, smiling together all the while.
After all, poetry and fairytales were all very well and good, but sometimes, reality was could be better.
A. /N. - Please write a review, it is easy and they brighten my day! Constructive criticism is of course more than welcome. Have a nice day you all! Maria