Act 2, Scene 3

After ballet (or, in my case, singing) practice, J-F offered to show me around Paris, which I gladly accepted.

"Has it changed much since the last time I was here?" I asked as we wandered through the market. To me it was the same hustles and bustle of salesmen shouting out discounts and middle-ages women trying to bargain with them.

"A few things are different, but most are the same," J-F replied. "I have become more powerful, and I own more land."

"Surely you have girls falling over themselves for you," I commented casually, glancing towards him.

"Of course. How could they resist this?" J-F gestured at himself with a smirk.

"I admit you look less like a mug than last time." I grinned.

J-F frowned and looked indignant. "What's that supposed to mean?"

I laughed. "Nothing. It was a compliment!"

"Good looks can only get you so far, Cat," he said teasingly. "You really need to work on your charisma. Me, for example, I've got it down-pat. How else do you think I became the king of thieves?"

"By being born into the royal-thief family?"

"Ah, but I could have been overthrown at any time …"

We chatted away the afternoon, and I felt disappointed when the sun began to set and we had to go back. J-F walked me to the front of the building where I was staying.

"Thank you, J-F, I had a great time today." I smiled at him.

"Anything for my princess," he murmured, and I felt my heart skip a beat. I leant up and kissed him on the cheek, which for some reason I felt shy about doing, even though it was the French way for greetings and good-byes.

J-F tilted his head down and placed a soft kiss on the corner of my lips. Blood rushed to my head and my heart thudded in my chest.

"Sweet dreams," he whispered, and walked away. I stood there in the growing darkness, breathless, until a lady walked past and gave me a very odd look.

I fell asleep with a smile on my lips.


The next day, we had a day off from ballet practice. I went over to J-F's 'palace' with Rabbie. Pedro and Jenny had decided to go and watch a piano performance.

Marie and Annette greeted us cheerfully and called for J-F. I blushed when I saw him emerge, his hair tousled and shirtless. The girls giggled and mock-swooned at the sight of his bare body. I hadn't realized, but besides being a lot more handsome, he had obtained admirable chiseled muscles. My face turned crimson, clashing with my hair, and I forced myself to look away.

"Put a shirt on," I muttered.

J-F laughed. "But the view is good, non?"

"Gorgeous," gushed Marie.

"Stop teasing us!" Annette tittered.

"I'm trying to keep my breakfast down, thank you very much," Rabbie rolled his eyes.

I ignored him, and with a shrug J-F did as I asked.

"So, what are you planning to do today?" Marie asked us. "Annette and I are off to work in a moment."

"J-F, you promised to teach me some street-fighting moves," Rabbie reminded him.

"That I did," J-F said. "Shall we start this morning? Cat, you can watch if you'd like."

I agreed, but I barely sat down when J-F stripped his shirt off again and asked Rabbie to do the same. I shot to my feet and bolted after Marie and Annette, throwing a stuttering excuse over my shoulder as I left. I could hear J-F's laughter behind me.

I caught up with the girls and helped them pick some pockets. At lunch, we took a break and treated ourselves to some fresh baguettes and cheese, which were delicious. They planned to continue working afterwards, but I went back to my room and read until Rabbie came back.

"That was awesome!" he exclaimed to me, his hair and body damp from sweat. "I can't wait to show Syd. Maybe he'll let me in the ring! Oh, by the way, J-F wants you to meet him outside at 8pm tonight."

"Even if he does, I would never," I said. "Hang on, what? Why?

Rabbie only shrugged. "He didn't say."

I grew more and more restless as 8pm drew closer. I paced back and forth in our room, which drove Rabbie crazy.

"For the last time, would you stop that?" he gritted his teeth.

"What should I wear? Did he say where he was taking me?"

"No."

"But what if it's something like the ball Syd took us to? Should I wear that purple dress that I brought?"

"No."

"But how do you know? He didn't tell you, did he?"

"No."

"What if it's like a da-" I stopped in mid-sentence. Date, I was about to say. I had a sinking feeling that was what I was hoping for…hoping for J-F to ask me on a date. When the hell had this happened? When had I started having feelings for him? I groaned.

"Whatever you're thinking, my answer is probably a no," Rabbie said.

"Mine too," I muttered. "No, no, no." I collapsed onto my bed face down, and remained so for a good few minutes.


Eventually, I decided to go with a simple teal blue dress, with a woolen shawl in case it got chilly. J-F was waiting for me outside like he said, and his face broke into a smile when he saw me.

"You look beautiful, Cat," he said. He was wearing pants and a jacket, and I felt glad for not dressing up.

"Thank you. Where are we going?" I walked beside him, and his hand took mine. I felt like I had swallowed live butterflies, and they were fluttering around inside me.

"You'll see. I don't want to ruin the surprise," he said.

We walked to a tall building, and J-F lead us around the side to a side door. We went up a long flight of stairs, until we got to a door leading outside. J-F gestured for me to go first, and I stepped out onto the roof with a gasp. The view was incredible – I felt like I could see all of France from there. Not many houses had lights on, but the moon was incredibly bright and I could see all the cobbled streets, the empty marketplace, the faint glow of alit lamp posts.

"Wow," I breathed.

"This is my kingdom," J-F chuckled. "Pretty amazing, huh?" He watched me take in the sight for a while, and then he cleared a spot in the middle of the roof and lay down.

I made to kneel down, but J-F stopped me. He took off his jacket and spread it next to him. "There. You shouldn't dirty your pretty dress."

It was something that Syd would do, but while Syd was something like a big brother to me, J-F was completely different. I smiled and beside him.

I gasped again when I saw the cloudless sky. It was peppered with bright silver stars, which shone clearly down at us.

"It's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen," I whispered.

"I disagree," J-F said softly. I turned my head to look at him questioningly. "Your eyes put them to shame." I was thankful for the shadow of the night, because my face felt aflame. Unfortunately J-F probably felt the heat, because our faces were only inches apart. I noticed faint dimples on his cheeks that I hadn't seen before. My breath hitched and my heart was in my throat; I wanted nothing more than to close the gap in between us. I tiled my head up and J-F moved closer, and our lips met halfway. My eyes fluttered shut. The kiss was slow but sensual; his lips were soft and he tasted of fresh mint. J-F ran his fingers through my hair, and I rested my hands on his chest, pressing my body against his.

When we finally broke away for air, J-F was breathing heavily and my heart was racing. I giggled nervously and he gave me a lopsided grin. "Encore?"

I laughed.


Ahhh! Cat/J-F moments, finally! I hope you enjoyed, please tell me what you think!