I've been late, coming out with these. I'm so bad at this, haha. I do hope you're enjoying these, so far. Here is the next prompt for the Valentine's Week event:

Tuesday, February 10th: Confession OR Unrequited/Misunderstanding

Pairing: Maria/Leon

Heeeerewego!

"Grandma, tell us another story!"

"I want to hear a love story!"

An elderly woman smiled over from her bed at her two young grandchildren, both with green hair, just like their mother, just like she used to have in her youth.

"A love story? Are you sure you want to hear that, Graham? There might be kissing involved!"

"I-I'm sure," her grandson squirmed, slightly embarrassed. His younger sister squealed with delight, tugging at the old woman's skirt.

"Grandma, tell us about your first love!"

The elder woman was taken aback, slightly. She hadn't thought about him in such a long time. She used to think about him all the time when she was younger. She had never met a man quite like him, even her late husband didn't hold her heart quite like he did.

And it was funny, how memory could be. She often forgot things from her childhood or even three days ago, but she remembered him perfectly. She remembered it all like it was just yesterday.

"Let's see..." she mustered up a great bit of strength in order to sit up. "I knew this boy once, back in my youth.

"He was beautiful... and of course, he knew it. He was very mischievous, really. Always pulling pranks, and messing with people. But he had a soft side, too.

I cried so much, back then. My mother had left that year, you see, and I was having a hard time coping without her. And this boy who often teased me had started being kind to me.

"The first time he saw me crying, He swore to me that he would find my mother and bring her back. Of course, a week later, his parents had dragged him back from the forest. He was punished severely, but he promised me he'd keep trying.

"The second time he saw me crying was a few years later. I had given up on my mother ever coming back, by then. It was my birthday, I think. And my father was so busy working that he completely forgot about it. Well, this time, he decided he was going to throw me a party to cheer me up. He convinced his mother to bake me a cake, and he had saved up and bought me a present. ...Unfortunately, the cake had coconut in it, and I was allergic to coconut. I had my birthday party in the clinic. It was probably the best birthday I had ever had.

"The third time he saw me cry, I had just gotten rejected. Believe it or not, it was your grandfather who rejected me! I cried, waiting for the boy to come to my rescue again. Sure enough, he did.

'You know, you cry a lot,' he had told me. 'I'll do anything you ask, as long as you stop crying.'

Of course, by then I was already quite smitten with that boy. So I asked him to marry me, and he said that he would.

From that day, we had grown even closer. And you know what happened? I stopped crying. Because he was always there to make me smile.

"There came a time, however, where it had to come to an end. This young man had grown noble, you see. Always the big hero, this one. He...

He left me. He left all of us. And I didn't see him after that."

The old woman looked over at her two charges. Sure enough, they were fast asleep and had probably been that way since the beginning of her story. She took this as her opportunity to escape for a few moments.

Standing up slowly, she made her way out of bed and past the kingdom's gates.

The walk wasn't too far, and her old bones were thankful for that. The kingdom's guard had kept the pathway lit and protected at all times of the night.

The old woman eventually made her way to the large stone tower, erected by the proud Dragon Priests before her time. This tower had long since been forgotten, the order of the Dragon Priests having disbanded so long ago, leaving not a soul at the tower save for the old woman and a young footsoldier.

"Ah...Lady Maria. I haven't seen you down here in a while...shouldn't you be in bed?"

Maria smiled at the young guard wearily. "I just needed a moment...do you think you could excuse me?"

"Of course." Turning hesitantly, the soldier left Maria alone with the ancient stones.

She let out a deep sigh, looking up at all of the text on the large wall. Most of it in the common tongue, except for the two names up top.

"I haven't visited in a long time, I've been angry," she laughed, finally at peace. "I kept my promise for as long as I could...I guess I should have expected you not to keep yours. You were such a trickster, Leon."

She stood there, looking up at their names they had carved into the wall. To her, that was all that was left of their time together. "I never stopped loving you, you know. Maybe I was a silly little girl, but you were the one that got away."

The wind made her shiver. It was so cold. "I'm not long for this world. I feel strangely at peace, knowing that. I wonder if that's how you felt before you left."

She turned to walk away, feeling tired after her excursion. After a few steps forward, she stopped. "I knew, you know. That you didn't love me that way... but it's alright. I married a wonderful man. So I want you to be happy, too, when you wake up.

I...wrote something for you. I figured I'd tell you in person, but I wrote it down for you, in case you weren't listening."

A tear rolled down her cheek, as she turned around one last time before heading back home. "Goodbye, Leon. I hope you find your happiness one day, too."

I'M NOT TOO SURE HOW THIS ONE TURNED OUT BECAUSE IT WAS REALLYTRICKY TO WRITE ABOUT A CHARACTER WE ONLY HEARD A LITTLE BIT ABOUT. I hope I fleshed it out a bit, because I really loved their story. It was so bittersweet. And now Onwards to day 4!