Right before sunrise, Gabriel awoke and saw Anna still sleeping. He didn't want to wake her and decided to dress her himself. As soon as that was done, he got dressed himself then carried his fiance' down the stairs and outside. Carl was waiting with a horse and carriage. Gabriel raised his eyebrow. "I thought it would be easier if she slept in a carriage instead of upright on a horse." The friar explained.
"Thanks, Old Friend."
"My pleasure. Get in. It's a long ride to the docks."
The larger man obliged and got in the carriage with Anna. He layed her down on top of him in a comfortable position and Carl took off. The movement of the carriage woke her up. "Where are we?" She asked sleepily.
"We're in a carriage on our way to the docks. We go by sea since it's the fastest way to travel. But it's a long ride to the docks. Like three hours. So just go back to sleep. I'll wake you up when we get there."
Anna nodded and fell asleep a minute later.
Three hours later they were at the docks. Gabriel shook his angel slightly. "Anna, Love, wake up. We're here."
She opened her eyes. "What?"
"We're here. You'll like this. Trust me."
She nodded and got off of him. "Where are w..." She started to ask as they got out, but was cut off at the beautiful sight in front of her. She turned to look at him. "Is this the...the...the..." She couldn't get the last word out as she was overwhelmed.
"Sea?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"Yes, it is the sea. The Adriatic Sea."
She hugged him tight. "I can't believe you remembered. Thank you SO much for letting me see this. I LOVE it."
"You only deserve the best, Sweetheart. In fact, when we get back, why don't we get some swimsuits and we can start coming down to the beach like once a week?"
"I would LOVE that. YES. Lets do it."
"Van Helsing! Anna! Time to go!" Carl called from the boat.
Van Helsing yelled back. "Coming, Carl!"
He took Anna's hand and they walked onto the boat. "Welcome aboard, Mr. Van Helsing. Who's the lovely lady?"
"This is Anna Valerious. Gypsy Princess of Transylvania. And also my fiance'."
"Welcome aboard, Princess."
"This is Captain Lowe. He's the one that brought us here." Gabriel said to Anna.
"Nice to meet you, Captain." She greeted politely and walked off.
"How'd you fall in love with such a woman in three days? I thought you were only sent to protect her."
"I was, but something just clicked and we fell in love. I bought the ring in the middle of the night the second night. The reason we're engaged now is because she caught me playing with it last night and she took it from me desperate to see what it was. So it just kind of happened. I didn't even really ask. She just said yes and asked me to put the ring on her finger."
"Not as romantic as you would've liked, huh?"
"No. Unfortunately. But it doesn't matter. She said yes and that's what counts."
"VERY true, My Friend. Very true. Why don't you show her around and I'll get the chef to start up some brunch."
"Good idea." The captain left and Gabriel found Anna leaning over the side taking in the scene and the smell of the saltwater. "What do you think, My Love?"
She turned to face him a second before looking back out at the sea. "I LOVE it. I can't believe Papa never brought me here. It's so wonderful."
"Not as wonderful as you, My Darling Anna."
She smiled at him and he kissed her forehead. "I can't wait to see where you come from now. I bet it's beautiful too."
"Maybe at first, but it's not all that. Trust me, Hunny."
Two days later, they were in Vatican City at the church. Anna looked at it in aw. "Wow."
"What do you think?"
"It's HUGE!"
"The Pope himself lives here."
"Really?! Can I meet him?"
Gabriel laughed. "Sure. Why not?"
She squealed and ran to the door. He ran after her as Carl went to his lab. "Time for me to meet the head honcho of this order and give him a piece of MY mind."
"Quiet first." He said and she nodded as he opened the door. They walked in and to the confessional.
Cardinal Jinette opened the window. "Welcome back..." He was cut off at seeing Anna standing there pissed off. She had her arms crossed across her chest and she was slightly leaning back looking like she was about to explode. "Princess Anna. What are you doing here?"
"I'm here because YOU are about to take my fiance' away from me! He's MINE! He deserves a LIFE! A life with ME and a family! THAT man, is HERO! A LIFESAVER to my country to ME! You CAN'T have him! I am NOT a woman to be messed with! He's moving in with me and we are getting MARRIED! Don't you DARE tell me that he's not allowed because it's his 'JOB' to be here! To serve you and this DAMNED church! He is moving in with me and he will be king! NO ONE takes that away from me! NO ONE! I lost my entire family and I won't lose him too! I LOVE him! And HE loves ME!"
"Whoa! Calm down, Princess." The Cardinal said.
"Don't you DARE! Don't you FUCKING DARE! That man deserves better than this!"
"Princess Anna, just calm down and listen to me." She stopped yelling and screaming and started to tear up. "Whoa! Don't cry."
She cried. "HOW could you do this?! He needs me. I need him!"
Cardinal Jinette just looked at her. "Princess..."
"DON'T! I love him and he loves me. I lost my entire family. Everyone I ever cared about and loved. Now I have a new love. And that's Van Helsing. PLEASE don't take him from me." She pleaded. "PLEASE don't." She repeated crying harder.
Gabriel was standing outside the confessional door listening. When he heard Anna crying even harder, he opened it up and pulled her into an embrace of comfort. She hugged him tight like he'd disappear if she let go and cried into his chest. The Cardinal looked at him and the way he stood there with the Princess. Gabriel was rubbing her back and kissed the top of her head. "Shhhhhh. Shhhhhhhhhh. It's ok, Anna. I'm here. I'm here." He whispered in her ear.
The Cardinal heard and looked at Anna as her crying started to slow and she was left sobbing instead. The old man sighed watching this exchange. Gabriel kissed her cheek then pulled her head away so he could kiss her lips instead. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed back with lots of passion. She pulled away ten seconds later and just looked at him. "I love you SO much."
"I love you too, Anna." He replied kissing her again softly this time.
She hugged him again like the first time and just stood there unmoving.
Cardinal Jinette sighed again then spoke up. "Go." The couple pulled apart to look at him and he repeated. "GO. Before I change my mind."
Anna hugged her fiance' again and he picked her up taking her out to the horses and sat her down. He got on in front and rode to the docks. Anna held onto him and squeezed him in a hug from behind. "I can't believe I actually got what I wanted. Besides meeting The Pope, but that's ok. I got the most important thing. Now lets go home." Anna said to him.
