Title: I wonder
Authors Note: This story is for Lighting's Halo who asked for the idea: I imagine when Gabe was in school he was quite inquisitive. What if his class went to the castle on a field trip and he just happened to find the painting of the princesses and their grandparents. What might he be thinking as he looked upon Elena? Hope you like it and of course leave reviews!
He wondered if she would have liked him- as if they would have meet by chance.
Gabe let his head slide off the palm of his right hand before waking up a bit again. In front of him sat paperwork on the culture of Isleworth and Avalor's trade agreement with them. Sometimes he wondered why he agreed to be Elena's regent. Then stopped to remember that he wanted what was best for everyone. Luisa and Francisco, they wanted to stop working on the council. They wanted to spend time with their family and not so involved in politics. Elena wanted Esteban to live his dreams and travel. Naomi is her royal advisor and he would be the one to do it.
Then a pair of soft hands covered his eyes as he grinned to know it was Elena. Her arms wrapped around his from the back as he smiled at her soft touch. His loose pajama top was tugged at a little as he flipped another paper over. This studying was going to kill him.
"Are you okay?" asked Elena kissing his shoulder and then up to his neck before wrapping her arms around him. "Come to bed." He smiled as he put his hand on her growing tummy. He looked over his paperwork on the culture of Isleworth as he just wanted to go to bed.
"Okay," he said not really wanting to stay up past eleven anyway, much less midnight. Scratching his head, he turned and got ready for bed. He kept his robe ready for him to grab when he was done. Then grabbed the candle to help light the way. His candle light up a portrait of the family pre-Shuriki as he remembered seeing it before.
"Are you okay?" she asked as he had paused. There was that little spark that he ignited some kind of memory in him. He had seen that somewhere before…
"Yea, when did this portrait get here?" he asked curious it was in a different spot if he recalled correctly. Then made a mental note to get one done with the baby when she or he was old enough. Maybe in another couple of years or so.
At this Elena looked at it and then back at him. "It's always been in the library, haven't you seen it before?" she asked confused. As far as she knew Gabe hadn't really been in the castle before getting his job here. But he had seen it before long before now or sometime within the last four years or so. He had even forgot as Gabe remember that infamous field trip.
Then he looked at her with a smile. "Have I ever told you about the time I've been here before?"
It had been a short day at school due to the oncoming field trip. Just this brief overview before actually leaving as he colored in a piece of art on his loose paper. It looked like a picture of a girl with brown hair and a sunny smile. A pretty girl that seemed to pop into his head for no apparent reason. He wasn't sure who she was but inspiration seemed to strike. Guess it was the perks of being related to tia Dolores, he thought jokingly. An artist gets their muse from somewhere.
"Senor Nunez can you tell the class who was ruler before King Raul and Queen Lucia?" asked Senorita Mercado as he was snapped out of his day dream. Um, rulers before Raul and Lucia, right. Around him the other students stopped to stare.
"King Juan Victor and Queen Gabriella," he said sitting up straight with a smile. Although, he bet their family called them by shortened versions of their names.
The teacher nodded in his direction. "Right, very good Gabriel." With that he flushed proud of his correct answer. He wasn't the smartest kid in his class, that went to Anna Salas, but he tried usually coming in second. Behind him he could hear a few kids taunting him.
"What a goody goody," said a girl named Esmerelda.
"Want to do my homework Nunez?" teased Charro in a mocking tone before sticking his tongue out at him. It was almost a regular occurrence from those two.
Their teacher gave them a look before returning to her speech. No talking about the former rulers, not to be too loud, and to stay with the group. The usual lecture, he thought, coloring in her dress with his pink colored pencils. Coloring and sketching was something he would do to keep himself busy a bit before leaving. The whole reason for the question about the former rulers was to make sure everyone knew their name to specifically not bring it up.
Shut up and be quiet he scolded himself. Esmerelda and Charro would have to stop sooner or later, maybe he could get lucky before they left. Everyone lined up at the door to go to the palace. It was a field trip and for some reason they were going to visit the castle. Probably trying to recruit us to work for them after they graduate, he thought dryly. Never the less the carriage came and now they were outside of the palace walls. This was kind of cool…
He took a moment to look at the castle in all of its splendor. Gabe could picture his grandfather marveling on about the architecture that graced the palace. Wrought iron was in some places and brick made up the castle. It looked like an awesome place and had a great view.
Then a warm hand took his own. Right, partners, he thought as he flushed as Sarita Pineda smiled at him. Gabe had to admit that she was a pretty girl and wondered what it would be like to go on a date with her. Then again… The girl in his picture… They walked into the castle as he tried to keep himself from shouting at how neat it was.
A tall man with gray hair and a stern look on his face meet with them.
"I am Senor Donzel Andres," he said as he looked over the group of twelve-year-olds. Gabe just looked at the tall castle looking at all of the stone and glass that made up the castle. He wondered what it would be like to live here.
Everyone around him ohhed and awed as he heard Esmerelda say that she hoped to see Queen Shuriki. At this he only rolled his eyes wondering if she knew. He knew what really happened all those years ago as he hoped the others did. His mother had been home and his dad out playing an olaball game. Blanca could rely the entire story as she had heard about it as soon as it happened.
They were shown what the castle looked like on the ground floor. The bed chamber were off limits and up the stairs for the most part. The tour was also supposed to end in the stables with a horseback riding experience. At this he only restrained himself from rolling his eyes. Gabe had an uncle that owned a rancho, horseback riding was easy for him as he wanted to look around the castle more. Explore every nook and cranny wanting to learn more about this place. What it would be like to live here or even to just visit for longer than a few measly hours.
There were a few rooms that were blocked off, he noticed. One of them looked to be a music room, he noticed trying to peek into the room before Sarita pulled him away. It looked like it wasn't touched for decades.
The rest of the tour continued with the kitchens, the ballroom, the door of the treasury, throne room, and pharmacy. After touring the inside, they headed outside of the castle. There they would visit the stables, gatehouse, armory, gardens, and a few other places he had noted. Before going out there the last place they would visit would be the library. In the middle of the tour he started to wonder why they were even here. Wouldn't Queen Shuriki be nervous about them breaking something? Or if people were spying on her? Or was this some kind of way to show off?
Straying a bit away from the group, he wandered to a different area of the library. One that he heard low voices from.
"Esteban, what did I tell you about tours?" hissed the woman who he only guessed was Queen Shuriki.
"Not to, but it sounded like a good idea," said who had to be Esteban. "You get to show off your stuff and remind them just how inferior you are. Especially when they go back to their parents."
Hearing that Gabe held back a laugh, he had figured as much. Then paused to listen to the rest of the conversation. His mother told him to never spy but this was just interesting, especially since he didn't have his partner next to him.
"This is a way of telling the people that you have complete control. Telling their children what they can and can't do-"
At this he didn't want to hear any more of their reasoning to be having a bunch of seventh graders visiting their castle. Instead, he headed toward the back of the library where some of the books looked like they were really old. That didn't seem to interest him all too much though, it was the stained glass that looked pretty in designs of flowers.
Then stopped as he held his breath for a moment. Gabe heard his classmates from the front of the library and toward the middle. In front of him was an oil painting of a family. The former queen and king and their daughters to what he assumed was grandparents. Someone must still care about them, he thought, to have it still hanging despite Queen Shuriki.
What shocked him was the princess as he scrambled for his drawing. The princess, Elena, he thought as he looked at his drawing. It looked like her. A lot like her actually. Gabe thought he was just drawing a random girl to keep his hands busy. Instead, it was the princess. She even had a pink dress on like he had in his drawing.
It was like he had a connection to her, he realized. Not a big one or probably not even significant. The fact that he randomly started to draw the princess was an interesting thought. Gabe took a minute to stare at her with a small smile. She was very pretty, he thought, as she seemed to be just as lively on canvas as he imagined she would be in real life. Princess Elena, even her name was beautiful.
He wondered what she would have been like. Lively and probably had her dad and guards trying to keep up with her. Smart, she would have to be to be a queen. Probably really close to her sister…
The flowers she had in her hair was kind he would pick for his mother when he was younger. That shade of pink on her dress was the same as the kind he would pick out for Veronica to wear. That is when he was allowed to help pick out clothes for his two-year-old cousin. Was that really coincidental or was someone telling him something? He blinked and wanted to reach out and touch it. Although you really shouldn't touch that kind of painting, he remembered tia Dolores saying. And it really shouldn't be a window but that didn't seem to matter here.
Shaking a little he only shook that feeling off. It probably was nothing as he stepped toward it. No real reason to get worked up. Still, he wondered.
He gasped as he heard footsteps and tried to find a place to hide quickly. The curtains, he thought, getting behind them. He had to hide somewhere since the footsteps didn't exactly match with the sound of any of his classmates. Gabe stood still as Esteban stopped to look at the painting of the family. He sighed as he bit his bottom lip.
"I am so sorry this happened tia Lucia, tio Raul," said Esteban. Oh, he thought, Esteban was still grieving for his family after so long. He looked really upset wiping a tear that seemed to leak from his eyes. "Elena and Isabel. I wish there was something that I could do."
He stopped short before touching the painting and walking off away from the kids. So there had to be a back way out of here he thought as Queen Shuriki had to be gone. Good thing too, because if she saw that painting she would have been furious.
When he was gone Gabe looked in the direction of what he assumed was the only family left. A cousin perhaps. Then he looked back at the painting. Elena's face smiled back at him as if she had a secret to tell him. That was the same look on his face whenever he tried to get out of olaball games.
He wondered if she would have liked him- as if they would have meet by chance. That would have been weird to think about as she would have been older than him. He imagined Elena's rule to be a peaceful one unlike Shuriki's. Maybe she would even have a child his age.
Then he thought back to the weird connections. The same flowers, the same pink color, and then drawing her. Maybe the world was telling him something as he glanced out the window at guard training. Despite admiring the guards from afar, he wouldn't want to join Shuriki's guard, she seemed too power hungry or just like a mean boss. If the princess ever came back…
That's what he would do. If the princess ever came back, as if it was possible, he would join her guard. Even in some watch tower it would be a fun job. To work with her would be fun. Maybe even singing and dancing around, she could teach him a few steps. That was wishful thinking he thought as he smiled at the painting again.
"I would love to meet you," he said to it. "Even if it doesn't last more than five minutes."
Was it wrong to start day dreaming already? He would put himself back in time for about forty years and imagining just saying hi. Or even being there when she came back although he knew his dad wouldn't allow that. Realistic or not who knew what would happen when she came back. He just wanted to be a part of it.
"Gabe," whispered a voice from behind him as he saw Sarita next to him. With that he had to laugh a little, didn't the name Sarita mean princess? That had to be a coincidence especially since he considered asking her out on a date. Coincidence or connection, it didn't matter as he had to go back to the real world. Maybe keep an eye out for more he thought jokingly.
"I'm coming," he said looking at it once more. This time noting little things to add to his drawing.
Together both of them walked back to the group to head to the outside of the castle. Maybe someday he thought. Before Queen Shuriki or Esteban could catch him, he looked back at where the painting was on the wall and smiled.
"And I did better than Charro on the horseback riding. He fell off and landed in the mud," he said with a chuckle. That was for trying to get to him. "Then Esmerelda got caught trying to primp inside a favorite mirror."
At this Elena laughed a little as Gabe recounted several stories after the big one where he had seen the picture before. This also included a story with Sarita fainting inside the chapel for some reason and he had woken her up. Elena seemed so captivate as they had moved to a small couch to sit on.
"I don't think it was a coincidence," said Elena as she leaned her head on his chest. "You were drawn to come here and there was a connection of some kind. I mean you came to work here and meet me didn't you?"
"Maybe," he said burying his face in her hair.
"Naomi told me something like that happened to her," she said, "but I never asked Mateo."
"And what did Naomi say?" he asked playing with the buttons on her nightgown. Although she was in his favorite nightgown that didn't seem to matter.
Elena giggled at the light gentle touch. "She said that she would see a girl that would look like me on her travels. Like a random face in the crowd, although Naomi might have said that to butter me up to lighten up on the cravings load."
He laughed as everyone had been catering to her in some way. Naomi got to make all of the strange cravings for her. The others were pretty much scattered though. Gabe got some of the night time pleasures done for her.
"She might have," he said. "And I thought I was crazy for thinking that. Although I did have a random dream about you a year later."
"And what did I do?" she asked eyes sparkling.
"Not really sure since that was also the same dream that I won an olaball game. I was terrible then," he said playing with a loose thread from her gown.
"And then I made you better," she said as they grew quiet. It was nice when it was quiet, just the two of them there in the library. "We should probably get some sleep now."
With that he lifted her up as she put her arms around his neck. "Next time I'm walking," she said seriously but liked it when he carried her. Her skin soft against his as they headed toward the bed chamber.