No Need
There were tears in Rue's eyes as her little hand gripped Mytho's tightly, and the man standing before them shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but only grown-ups can register to compete for the golden apple. You'll just have to wait a few years." He waved her off with the back of his hand to talk to the adult couple behind them in line.
Sniffling, Rue turned around and tugged Mytho's hand, and hunched over, he followed her blindly.
"We don't need a golden apple," she said matter-of-factly, bitterly. "We can have our own dance."
"Okay."
Rue led him outside the festival grounds, finding their special tree where they spent much of their time together. He carefully held her up while she positioned herself into a beginner's arabesque, wavering, wobbling.
He lifted her when she told him to, steadied her as she spun, and sat still when she wanted to lean on him against the tree.
"See," she explained when they were done. "We don't need an apple. You just need to love me."
"Sure."
"Say that you love me, just say it, okay?"
"I love you."
The words warmed her, calmed her, and she wrapped her arms about herself as if to keep them close.
Years and years later, Rue suddenly recalled the event as she braided together a crown of flowers. They were sitting in a field of said flowers, their backs against a tree—it wasn't the same spot they had when they were young, but it they managed to grow fond of it all the same.
She laughed lightly to herself as she placed the crown atop Mytho's head. He smiled back at her, taking her hand to lightly press his lips to her knuckles. "I'm curious to know what lifted your spirits so suddenly."
"We never did win an apple," she said lightly, touching a finger to his lips playfully.
"Ah. But you were right back then; we didn't need one."
Her eyes fell slightly as she shifted to lean back against him, sighing. "But I was also wrong."
'You just need to love me,' she had said. But she had been too afraid to confess her own love.
They were quiet for some minutes, before Mytho broke the silence.
"I love you."
Rue blinked and turned to Mytho, who was smiling down to her. It never failed to send warmth to her heart, to hear him confess his love all of his own volition and without her order. And he must have known that, so aware of that, it must have been why he said it so out of the blue.
It was the same with her; she knew he enjoyed hearing those same words. So she said them aloud, resting her head on his shoulders.
