Fond Memories

"Harold," Lillian said, rather nervous. They were in a small side room of the castle overlooking Far Far Away. Her tone was calm, yet disappointing to him. The tea in the king's hand was set gently on the end table. This was not the tone that told him he was being scolded or that she was necessarily disappointed in him, but that she had something she either wanted to confess to him or get off her chest.

After living with the queen for so many years, this is what he'd figured out, and much more about her he couldn't believe he'd missed when he began courting her!

"What is it, Lillian?" Harold asked, looking gently into her eyes, but she broke the gaze gracefully, staring into the fireplace.

This had been bothering her for some time, though she thought it was easy enough to be forgotten. She was proven wrong however, when the thought kept returning to her mind and its persistence was probably due to her photographic memory.

She then set her tea down as well and found the courage to look at her king.

"Do you remember...our first ball?" Lillian asked. Harold's back straightened, and he removed his reading glasses and pushed the book he was about to read aside. His eyes looked right back into hers.

"Of course," he replied, a smile coming to his face as he recalled the marvelous time they'd had. He nearly scoffed the reply as though it were such an obvious answer his queen was asking of him.

"Of course, Lillian. How could I forget? You were wearing that starlight blue dress with the matching shoes I had to find for you because...ah yes, because the store you had reserved them in sold them! Hahaha..."

"And the necklace you got me," Lillian added. "And you told me not to wear any jewelry, as if that didn't make it obvious!" She smiled too, but Harold sensed that wasn't what she had been meaning to tell him.

He waited, tilting his head a little to the side as she fiddled with teacup that was only half full now. She sighed.

"Do you remembered how we danced?" she asked.

"A waltz," Harold replied, and that made her smile more like a happiness was growing back inside of her. He made sure everything was sturdy enough on the end table before he stood up.

Lillian looked up at him in surprise as she watched him straighten his tunic and walk over to her. He held out his right hand to her.

"Harold...I-I didn't mean..." Lillian began, taken aback by his sudden movement.

"Oh come now, Lillian. Dance with me," Harold said, almost as if he were asking it, but it was for her own good. The queen gave in, letting out a small laugh as she stood up, taking his hand.

"I believe it went something like this," Harold spun her slowly near the fireplace, watching her smirk at his actions as she came back to be close to him again.

"Oh Harold," Lillian said as she rested her head on his left shoulder. "I wish we could go back to that night."

"It was a fun time, wasn't it?" Harold replied. "You looked so stunning I couldn't help myself. I wanted to impress you."

"Impress me you did," Lillian agreed. "The way you swung me down so quickly and back up to that song. Oh, I can't even remember the name of it anymore, but I suppose it's just... Oh Harold, I miss those times when I sit there, reading."

Harold halted their slow dance, kissing Lillian on the forehead.

"I do too sometimes," he confessed.

"Then you do this," Lillian said with a smile and they began dancing again.

"It makes you happier," Harold said. Lillian nodded. "What's troubling you, darling?"

Lillian sighed again, wanting to keep the dance up. "Age I suppose. I miss when we were young, attending all those balls your parents used to throw..."

"Lillian, I wouldn't worry about age," Harold said. "It's a number, and that's all it ever will be. You're still my queen. Heh, you've kept me in line this long, I can only hope you're happy now."

"I'm happy, Harold," Lillian said. "I'm lucky to have had the times I have. All the parties, that night we snuck out pretending to be normal folk. I'm happy to be your queen. Time flies so fast though."

"Let it take its course. As long as you're here, I am happy," Harold said. The dance stopped again, and Lillian, for whatever reason, began to cry on his shoulder. He hugged his queen tightly.

She was worried about Death, leaving it all behind: the world, the balls, the throne perhaps...

"It's all right," he told her, burying his face into her yellow hair. "It'll be all right, I promise. We still have many years ahead of us, and I think a ball wouldn't be such a bad idea. Why don't we go to that spring festival this year? Do some dancing and have a fun time?"

"I don't know Harold..."

"I don't want to spend my years worried about the day I die," Harold told her, loosing his grip on her. "I want to spend them with you, whether it's reading in here or out there on the dance floor. And I want you to be happy, like the day I asked you to marry me."

Lillian's smile was felt on the king's shoulder.

"Now that is quite the story," she said, lifting her head from his shoulder. He wiped a tear from her eye.

"I love you so much, Lillian," Harold said, taking her hands into his. The queen sniffled lightly.

"I love you too, Harold," she replied. They went up to their bedroom together and crawled in next to one another.

The king stretched his arm so it wrapped the queen's waist. Then, she turned on him and they ended up face to face. She smiled as they came in close to each other, and for the first time in years, Lillian laid her head on his chest, hearing his heartbeat's vibrance all throughout his body. Her head came up to rest again on his shoulder.

He responded by kissing her on the head, with an arm wrapped around her, and they fell asleep...