Everlasting Love
Chapter 3: The First Step
The next morning, Julia was getting up when she could be certain that there was someone behind her. She slowly turned around to see that it was Julien. "Good morning, Julia." Julien smiled. Caught by surprise, Julia backed up a bit before calming down.
"Hey, Julien. I didn't know that you were there." Julia said. Julien smiled to see that Julia was up. "What are you doing here?" Julia asked as she dusted herself off. Julien had a bit of thought to himself, and then sighed. Julia figured that he must have still been upset about what happened yesterday.
"Julien, I'm really sorry about what happened yesterday. I just thought that I might be able to help you and..." Before Julia could continue, Julien cut her off. "Julia, I'm really the one who should be apologizing." Julien said. Julia was caught off guard by this.
"Why?" she asked, confused. "Well, I was a bit harsh towards you when you came here. I guess I was still a bit upset over what had happened to my wife. Whatever it was, I didn't mean to act like that to you, Julia. I'm sorry." Julien explained. Julia was surprised at first, but then she smiled.
"It's okay, Julien. I can never stay mad at anyone for long." Julia responded. Julien smiled upon hearing this; he felt really happy to know that Julia understood and she wasn't upset with him. But, he suddenly had an idea.
"To make up for my behaviour yesterday, why don't I show you around this place since you didn't get to see it?" Julien asked. Julia was surprised by this proposal. "You don't need to do that, Julien." Julia said.
"I know, but I want to. I wasn't very nice to you and I want to make up for it." Julien explained. Julia had a bit of thought to herself, and then she smiled. She didn't see anything wrong with Julien doing that for her; in fact, she actually liked the idea.
"That's really nice of you, Julien. Thank you." Julia smiled. Julien smiled, upon hearing that Julia liked his suggestion. "I just want to make you feel welcome here." he explained. With this, he headed off while Julia followed him close behind.
As Julien was explaining the things around the Lemur Habitat to her, Julia didn't seem to be listening to him; she was looking at the jumping castle nearby. Julien didn't notice that Julia wasn't following him until he turned around. "Julia, where did you go?" he asked, looking around.
"I'm over here, Julien!" Julia called. Julien turned to see that she was on the jumping castle. "What are you doing?" Julien asked, running over to see this. He figured that Julia would be paying attention to him, but that didn't seem to be the case right now.
"I'm just having a bit of fun. Would you like to join in, Julien?" Julia asked as she was happily bouncing. It didn't take very long for a smile to come to Julien, because he immediately followed in a few seconds. He smiled as he watched Julia on; he had no idea that she was enjoying herself as much as he was. No one he knew was willing to do things with him; at least, no one else here.
"Julien, watch this!" Julia called. Julien watched that as Julia bounced down, she sent herself flying up into the air and landed safely on the ground. She happily looked over at him to see that he was staring at her, impressed.
"That is amazing! Where did you learn that, Julia?" Julien asked as he got off to head over to Julia. "I learned to do tricks like that back at my old home. We had a jumping castle out the back and I would practise every day." Julia explained. Julien smiled, impressed. "I guess that there's more to Julia than I expected." he said to himself.
That night, Julien came over to Julia who was relaxing. She looked up to see him and smiled. "So Julia, how did you enjoy today?" Julien asked, as he sat down next to Julia. "It was a lot of fun. I didn't think that you could be such a fun person, Julien." Julia explained. Julien smiled; that let him know that Julia really enjoyed herself.
"Well, fun is kind of a first priority for me." Julien responded. Julia was surprised, but she felt glad because that meant that Julien could really have such a fun time. Julien quickly remembered something. "I wanted to give you this earlier, Julia." Julien said, and showed Julia a small headband he made himself. Surprised, Julia accepted it and looked at it in surprise.
"What's this?" she asked. "That's my welcoming gift to you. Do you like it, Julia?" Julien asked. Julia tried it on and smiled; it actually looked beautiful on her. "I love it. Thank you, Julien." Julia responded, and she hugged Julien. Julien was amazed; he had no idea that Julia would be this happy. After she let him go, Julia brushed herself off.
"Why did you do that, Julia?" Julien asked, surprised. "I'm not sure. I guess I wanted to." Julia responded. Julien could see that Julia was really going to like it here. "I'll see you tomorrow morning." Julien said.
"Okay. Good night, Julien." Julia smiled as she watched Julien head off. With this, she went to sleep clearly really happy with how today had gone. Julien smiled as he watched Julia asleep; he felt so glad that he could make her feel welcome.
"I think I'm really going to come to like her." Julien said to himself.
