A soft knock on Clarisse's door brought her out of her sleep. She quickly straightened herself out.

"Come in." Joseph opened the door and walked into her room.

"You slept for quite a long time. Are you feeling better?" He asked kindly.

"Yes. I am feeling much better. What time is it, anyway?" She pushed back her sleeve and looked at her watch.

"It is twelve-forty. You have been asleep for almost five hours. I thought it would be best to wake you so that you would be able to sleep tonight. Would you like some lunch?"

"Not just yet, Joseph. I think I'm going to look around a bit. Would you care to join me?"

"Unfortunately, madam, I have some work to get done."

"That's alright." She smiled at him and nodded as he left her doorway. Clarisse looked herself over in the mirror before heading downstairs to try and familiarize herself with her surroundings. She walked into the office and found Charlotte placing a vase of roses on a small table.

"Oh, Your Majesty." She said as she curtsied, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Er…" She thought whether or not she needed to do anything. "Yes, actually. Will you find me the phone number to Amelia's house?"

"Of course I have it right… here." With a few clicks of a pen on the touch screen of her organizer she had the needed number.

Clarisse was a little nervous when she heard the ringing of the phone, and took a deep breath as Helen answered.

"Hello?"

"Hello. Helen?"

"Yes. This is she? Who, may I ask is calling?"

"This is Clarisse Renaldi." The silence on the other end of the phone made Clarisse think that Helen was not too thrilled that she was calling.

"Oh. Have you arrived in California already?" Clarisse noticed that her tone had changed a bit.

"Yes I have. Earlier today."

"U-huh. You had a safe flight?"

"Yes I did." She really did not want a long drawn out conversation right now, and she could tell that Helen didn't either. "Listen, Helen, I was hoping if Amelia was not busy tomorrow that she could come to the consulate for tea."

"She is not doing anything tomorrow."

"Good. After school, then?"

"Sure. I'll have her come over after school tomorrow. Are you going to tell her everything there, or wait a while?"

"I figure that I shall tell her everything tomorrow, so that she can have the entire length of time before the ball to think about it."

"The Independence Day Ball?"

"Yes it's in a few weeks. I can introduce her to the public then."

Helen sighed. "Alright. That will be… great." She was not very enthusiastic.

"I'll have my assistant give you the address for Amelia." She handed the receiver to Charlotte who introduced herself and gave all the information needed for Amelia to find the consulate. Clarisse sat back in her chair and closed her eyes. Helen was apparently not very fond of her. Although she didn't like that, she couldn't really blame her. Helen, although aware of the consequences of her actions, had not asked to fall in love with the heir to the throne of Genovia. She was not entirely to blame; Philippe was just as responsible for that 'accident' as Rupert had said when he was scolding his son.

"The Princess will be here at three o'clock, ma'am." Charlotte went to check on something in the kitchens, leaving Clarisse with her thoughts once more. Her mind was racing with the events of sixteen years prior, the phone call from Philippe, helping Helen with Princess Lessons, the night she left, and the mess that stayed behind.

"Why should I go see this snobby lady who ignores us?" Mia asked her mother crossly as they climbed the rock wall at her work.

"Mia, she's your fathers mother. Just go talk to her." Helen did not blame her daughter for not wanting to visit her grandmother. It was a rather unexpected visit. Unfortunately, Mia did not know the true reason, and Helens felt it was not her place to tell. "She said you father hoped you two would meet someday."

Mia thought hard for a minute and then decided if her father wanted them to meet, than she should honor one of the few things he ever asked her to do. "Alright. I'll go."

"Your Majesty." Clarisse was pulled back to reality as she saw Joseph standing in front of her desk. "Are you feeling alright?"

"I'm sorry, Joseph, I was just thinking about some things. Have I kept you waiting?"

"No." He looked out the window behind her and gestured, "Have you seen the state of the garden?"

"Yes. It's horrendous!" She exclaimed. "Something will need to be done about it before the ball."

"You are just the right person for that."

"Thank you." There was a moment where the pair sat in silence, not knowing exactly what to say next.

"What kind of things were you thinking of, ma'am?" Joseph asked quetly.

"Well." She began.

"Me?" He teased.

"If that's what you want to believe." He was the only person who she trusted enough to allow this kind of play. If anyone else had asked, she would have been upset at the invasion of privacy. But she knew that Joseph was only trying to get her to smile, not to tell him her secrets.

"I was actually thinking of Philippe. The night he told me that he married Helen and she was pregnant." She grew a bit more solemn after speaking of her son. "And all the events that followed." She sighed quietly and wrung her hands together.

Joseph understood that she still found it hard to speak about Philippe, but he suspected that she was moving towards healing if she mentioned his name aloud.

Clarisse stood up and walked over to Joseph. "I wanted to thank you for all the help and support you have given me for the past two months, Joseph." She placed a hand on his cheek. "It really helps."

Joseph smiled. "It was my pleasure." He covered her hand with his and Clarisse felt a tingling at the sensation of his hand on hers. There it was again, the warm feeling in the pit of her stomach. She pulled her hand away from his face and the feeling vanished. She pondered it later that evening while she was eating supper. She took a bath after and felt all the tense muscles in her shoulders relax. After climbing into bed and turning off the light, she that sleep came easily for the first time in a very long time.

Helen made Mia a snack when they got back from the climbing gym. Her daughter had a very long day, and she believed she deserved a rest.

"I still can't believe I threw up, mom. I made a complete fool of myself."

"It could have been worse."

"Yeah? How?" She asked.

"Well…" Helen thought for a moment, "OK, it was pretty bad."

"You know; this isn't making me feel any better."

"Tomorrow's a new day. It'll be OK."

Mia was fairly skeptical that it would be OK, though. She had always been made fun of ever since Kindergarten, when she was introduced to Lana. They had instantly disliked each other, but always seemed to be pared up together for various group projects, or classes. Lana enjoyed publicly ridiculing Mia, and more recently showing off her boyfriend that she knew Mia liked.

...

When Mia had finished her homework and was readying herself for bed, her mother came into her room.

"This is the address where Clarisse is staying." She said as she handed Mia the slip of paper. "She wants you there directly from school, so no dawdling with friends, OK?"

"Sure."

"It's going to be fine, Mia. You'll see. From what I remember she was… fairly nice."

"Wonderful." Mia climbed into bed and scratched her cat's head.

"Please do not lose that paper tomorrow."

"I'll try not to." Helen smiled and kissed her daughter goodnight.