MARIA:
It has been 3 months since I saved the valley. All has been well and right. The two families have forgotten their pride at last, and were joined together as one. Well, not yet anyway. Uncle's and Loveday's wedding is still a month away, but close enough. There is much to do. We are all very busy preparing. Everyone is doing their best to make this a great wedding, even Robin. Speaking of Robin, we have begun to grow very close. After the moon pearls incident, we started to talk every now and then. But presently, we have made it a habit to meet up every day. I never knew it could be this easy to talk to someone. We get along pretty well, except for an occasional fight over how arrogant he can is proof of how often the De Noirs have been over at Moonacre. Yes, to help with wedding preparations, but mostly to have an afternoon tea, or we'd all have a feast together. The De Noirs are not the only ones who have been visiting, we, the Maryweathers, have been to the De noirs castle many times too, for the same reasons. In fact, we are having a feast with them right now.
"Maria."
"Hmm? Yes?" I look over to Robin, who is sitting beside me, on the long wooden table.
"What are you doing? You've been spacing out for the last 5 minutes. Frankly, it was starting to creep me out. You weren't blinking!"
"Shut up! I was just thinking, okay." I yell at him while laughing.
"Thinking about what?" He asks with a smirk.
"None of your business."
"Anything concerning you is my business."
I look over at him questionably, but he's already gone back to eating. Wierdo. Tink tink tink! I look up to see Robin's father, Coeur De Noir, standing and holding a wine glass.
"I'd like to make a toast. To the Maryweathers and De Noirs. To the first Moon Princess and this land. And to Maria… who was above pride and saved us all." I feel everyone's eyes burning in my skin as I blush.
"Cheers!" we all yell.
By the end of the feast I was exhausted. Everyone was talking amongst each other, but my eyelids felt very heavy all of a sudden. I guess all of the work on the wedding was finally catching up to me. Loveday and I had stayed up countless nights planning where everyone would be at specific times of the day, and who would be attending, what kind of flowers would be there, what color of decor. It was a lot to think about, with so many possibilities. I'm about to close my eyes, when I almost fall off my chair. I reach for the table just in time. Looking up in embarrassment, I notice that no one saw me. I look over to Robin, who, was staring at me. Turning away, I blush. Did he see that? Only one way to find out.
"Robin?" I ask cautiously.
"Hmm?"
"D-did you see that?"
"See what?" I look at him only to find him smirking. He saw.
"N-never mind." I say with embarrassment as I turn away, my cheeks turning even more pink. No, I'm sure it's a deep red by now. I await the teasing and laughter, but… nothing comes. I turn to look at him when, suddenly, I feel a hand on my shoulder. Before I can look up, the hand pulls me to a body. I look up only to find that it was Robin!
"W-what are you doing!?" I scream, trying to pull away.
"I've noticed that you've been pushing yourself too hard to help with the wedding. Don't forget, not too long ago you jumped off a cliff. You're still recovering. Be sure to be aware of your condition!" Robin scolds me. I flinch at how harsh his tone is.
"For now you can use my shoulder to rest. I don't want you to fall to the floor like you almost did." Robin continues.
"B-but, what if the others see!?" I ask.
"No one's looking. They're all too busy talking." Robin says flatly. "All you need to worry about is getting some rest." I try to protest, but Robin was right. Maybe I have been pushing myself too hard. I'm strangely comfortable here. As my thoughts drift, my eyes close slowly. I fall asleep with the scent of Robin fluttering around me.
Robin
Maria was being so careless lately. She was pushing herself too hard trying to make the wedding perfect. She had just jumped off a cliff to save the whole valley 3 months ago, for God's sake! She was a girl and needed to take better care of herself.
It was a bit odd at how much mine and Maria's relationship had changed, and in such a short time! When we had first met, I had been trying to kill and kidnap her. We hated each other! But now, she was practically my best friend. We never got tired of each other, and could talk for hours. I look over to her just to see her stumbling, as she had almost fallen off her chair. This! This is what I was talking about! She obviously wasn't getting enough sleep.
"Robin?" Maria asks.
"Hmmm?" I grumble.
"D-did you see that?" Did I see that? Of course I saw that!
"See what?" I decided to play along. She saw my smirk and her cheeks turned red. If Maria fell asleep again she would probably fall to the floor this time. So, I pulled her close so she could use my shoulder. At least this way she'll be able to get some sleep while not hurting herself. She looked flustered as she tried to pull away and resist, but I wouldn't have it. My grip tightened on her to make sure she wouldn't be free. After giving her a good scolding about her health she almost looked hurt. I immediately felt bad afterwards, and decided to make it up to her later, after she had gotten a good night's rest. And I was right of course. She fell asleep right away. I smiled at the sleeping Maria.
Turns out, that I must've fallen asleep as well, because next thing I know, Loveday was waking the two of us up. "Up you two!" Loveday said. I resisted a bit before fully awakening.
"Maria my dear, it's time for us to return to Moonacre." Maria gave a hasty nod, seeing that she wasn't fully awake yet.
"Bye little brother. I shall see you tomorrow." Loveday said as she gave me a hug.
"Bye Robin!" Maria shouted. She then came to give me a quick hug–which shocked me. She must still be half asleep. We waved our goodbyes and watched them leave in the carriage. I went upstairs and plopped myself onto my bed. Not even changing into my night clothes, I fell asleep.
––Well, here it is! Hope you guys like it so far!––