"There is not one little blade of grass, there is no color in this world that is not intended to make men rejoice." - John Calvin

Thanks to prinzenhasserin for the beta!

Elend Venture held up a map of the Dominances, studying the locations of the cities and noting where population was dense versus sparse. It was the kind of document that, in his younger days, he would have found a fascinating resource for envisioning democratic government beyond Luthadel. How many elected officials would be necessary to have a council that was representative, yet not unwieldy? What would be the best way to balance the interests of the skaa versus those of nobles? Were the Terris people entitled to some particular quota?

"You'll outgrow such fancies," his father had scolded him. "Give it time."

In a sense, he'd been right, though surely not in the way that either of them could have imagined. The map was no longer of much use. But it had not been Elend's youthful idealism that had given way; rather, the world itself had changed around him before he had let himself lose sight of his vision.

He was shaken from his reminiscence by his wife's arrival. Vin was wearing a plain gray shirt and pants, an outfit that looked all the more stark against the still-surreal colors of the ground and sky outside of his window, and rolled her eyes playfully at the pile of papers on his desk. "Don't tell me you're transcribing."

"Can't a man look at maps?" he mock-protested, turning to her with a smile.

"A man can do as he wishes," said Vin. "Some would say a king has better things to do than study, when his people need him."

Elend set the map down. "But what do you say?"

"I say, if you've faced death without fear and came out alive, you've won the right to do what you want. Even stare at maps."

"Well," he said, "there might be a few things more beautiful than some old parchment."

He took Vin in his arms and bent to kiss her, and she eagerly responded in kind. In his embrace, she was, if not restful, at least still. He silently admitted that one of the unexpected benefits of becoming a strong Mistborn, and the world not about to end, was her not seeming like she had to protect him every waking moment.

Maybe only every other moment.

"I notice," he said, once she'd let him go, "you didn't say that I'm no king."

"You know how I feel, and I'll say it as often as I have to. You're a good man. You made, you will make, a good king. Just because we're no longer at war doesn't mean the city, the world doesn't need a leader that the people can trust." That I can trust, she seemed to add. How many people could say they'd earned Vin's faith?

Cautiously, Elend replied, "I think Captain Demoux may run for assembly here. The Church of the Survivor favors him." Vin scowled. Maybe that hadn't been a ringing endorsement. "And I think he will genuinely favor policies that help the skaa."

"We've seen how well your assemblies work."

"That was in wartime," Elend pointed out. "This is different."

"Overthrowing the Lord Ruler felt like the end of a war. We saw how that turned out."

"Do you feel like we're starting another fight now? Really feel like it?"

Vin paused for a moment, letting her intuition guide her. "No."

Elend nodded. Some days it was hard to believe that the world outside could be real, but Vin's calm acceptance of the bright sky and verdant plants made it easier to trust. "And Spook is trying to get Beldre to run for the North," he babbled on, "or wherever Urteau's gotten to now, she can't be worse than her brother—"

"Elend," Vin said, with an exasperated smile.

"Sorry."

"Spar with me?"

"It's the middle of the day!"

"And?"

"I thought you preferred to practice at night."

Vin looked down for a moment before answering. "I was used to the mists," she finally said.

"It's all right to miss them," said Elend.

Vin shook her head. "There's a lot about my life that's changed. I don't need to go back to the way things used to be." She reached for the ear where she'd once worn her earring, lost in the battle to contain Ruin.

"Well, I suppose if someone's coming for me I won't be able to delay them for a more aesthetically pleasing time of evening," Elend said, and Vin actually laughed instead of shuddering at his gallows humor.

He reached into the desk and counted out two dozen coins. "Half for you?"

She accepted them calmly, another change of pace from the old Vin. Coins were just tools, he had tried to tell her. Many people used them to purchase useful goods; some had the chance to trade them for luxuries; and if they could use them to practice, that was their good luck.

Outside, the half-familiar streets of Luthadel seemed to run the wrong way. After the city's displacement, all the shadows fell on new walls. Already many merchants were flocking to towns on the rivers that had sprung up in the rebirth, and with the canal being of little use, nobles spoke seriously of constructing a new center of government elsewhere. One more reason Elend wanted someone else in charge to make those decisions, someone with fewer legends and more popular support surrounding them.

But while the sun was a blazing yellow, it was still the sun. He scattered a pair of his coins on the ground, then Pushed off them, taking to the air. He tossed a third out to his side and swooped to change direction, cursing himself for not seeing where it landed.

Vin clearly had made no such errors; she nimbly maneuvered across a row of houses, using his coins as well as her own, then Pulled them away before he could follow.

Elend Pushed a coin at her, but she landed on the roof of a nearby house—pewter-laden reflexes or just agile practice? He closed in, and she took off, shooting another coin at him for good measure.

Back and forth they danced. Passers-by may have gathered below, but Elend took no notice. He was used to being on display, in war and in peace. He could not be sure whether Vin felt the same comfort, but he allowed himself no time to wonder; whatever her uncertainty, she would think nothing of taking advantage of his distraction in the fray.

Though he outweighed her and propelled every shot with extra force, she manipulated the supply of coins with deft experience as they skidded over abandoned workshops and silent tenements. At last, he got the jump on her and, diverting her attention with his last flurry of coins, Pushed off a coin in the street to join her on the rooftop where she waited, grasping her from behind.

After being momentarily startled, she exhaled and turned to face him. "You may be bold for a noble, but if you want to have your way with me, it may be more comfortable in bed."

Elend couldn't help himself, laughing. "Well fought indeed," he said, then stepped away.

"Home, then?" said Vin, gently guiding herself down to the street. "But perhaps it might be better to walk."

Elend followed after her. The storefronts that were still occupied bore witness to the smaller changes that had preceded the immense ones: skaa and half-skaa took up rows of crowded shops, and their prices changed too fast to follow. Some were victims of inflation, others simply an urge to set bargains.

When they returned to their room, Elend exhaled, but Vin seemed to stare beyond him, towards the brilliant golden sun and the intermittent grass that had sprouted out the window. "What is it?" he asked. "If you do want to come to bed, you know all you have to do is ask."

Even in the middle of the day. The world surely was changing! He stopped himself before adding a mental Lord Ruler! They would need to find other names to curse by.

Well, perhaps not. He didn't really want to think about Sazed when he was swearing.

"It's nothing," said Vin. "It's just...atium made us armies by ourselves. Of course I'd never have wasted it on a fight like this, but it's strange knowing it's gone."

"Hum," Elend said. "We used atium to see the future, didn't we?"

"Of course."

"Well, I suppose the future is here to see now."

The yellow sun continued to shine its light through the window. Beyond the city, green trees took root in new fields and rose towards the waiting sky.

"Very wise," said Vin. "Now come to bed before those maps make you sneeze."

Elend eagerly stripped off his robe, and Vin closed the drapes on the blue sky.