I had a dream with Cress in it once...it was nice.

Winter's Melting: Part Ten

This is the first time Winter is in her backyard meadow that just starts the border of the forest. She crouches down with her floral skirt billowing out at her feet as she picks a multitude of colorful flowers for the many vases she will set up inside in every room - except Cinder's since she doesn't want anything floral in there. Winter hums to herself, keeping rhythm with the light breeze.

Looking ahead of her, she sees a shadow coming from someone approaching her. Thinking it's only Cinder or Levana, she continues humming and picking flowers. Then she notices that the shadow stops and it belongs to someone who is bigger than Cinder and Levana. Winter feels her body shiver and tense up so she stops humming and pulls her hand back from the flower she wants to pick.

Winter turns around to see who's there but the sun hits her eyes and she screams. Taken by surprise, the other person screams too as he falls to the ground. When he attempts to sit up, Winter takes another look at who it is, this time blocking the sun from her eyes with the bouquet of flowers she picked. She calms down once she sees her blond boy in his cadet uniform.

"Jacin?" Winter questions. She knows that it's him but she just needs to make sure that it's really him.

"Hey, Trouble," Jacin greets with a smug smile coming from the corner of his mouth.

Winter screams for joy as she throws her flowers in the air and lunges over to him on the ground. She forces him to stay down on the ground. Winter takes his face in her hands and starts kissing him all over his face at it starts to rain flowers all around them. Jacin doesn't mind the kisses because it's the flowers that bother him. Winter hugs him fiercely, crushing Jacin's face against her chest.

"Winter," Jacin pants, "can't breathe."

Winter couldn't hear him and doesn't seem to care. She is so happy that she rocks back and forth with her boyfriend in her arms. And suddenly, he doesn't seem to care either.

-o-

Cinder walks down the stairs with her damp hair from the shower tied up in a ponytail. It drips on the back of her shirt but she finds it cooling. She sees Levana looking out the window that shows the vast backyard. Cinder finds it strange that Levana would be looking out the window, but when she notices the glass of wine in her hands she realizes that Levana intoxicated while looking at nature makes more sense. Cinder approaches Levana to see what she's looking at and they both look out at Winter and Jacin lying far out in the flowerbeds together. Cinder is surprised to see Jacin there since she couldn't get in touch with him herself, but seeing Levana standing beside her, she realizes how it makes sense.

"You called Jacin?" Cinder asks in shock. "I can't believe that you of all people beat me to it."

Levana snickers, unintentionally sounding cynical but that's just how she naturally is. "You're surprised? Jacin is the only one able to control Winter's outbursts and cries of blood."

"Well, yeah!" Cinder exclaims since the obvious wasn't exactly seen by Levana. "I didn't think you cared about me or Winter."

Levana sighs. "She is my stepdaughter and you are my niece. I'm supposed to take care of you even if I wasn't forced to which I felt as if I was since Evret and Channary's last words were to take care of the both of you. Then again, a part of me felt as if I needed to out of the slim goodness in my heart. If I never cared or even had a conscious, I would've abandoned you both after your parents died."

Levana casually sips her wine.

Cinder is speechless, absolutely left without words for a moment. "I thought you were keeping us to maintain your perfect and polished politician status."

"That too, but I was a counsellor to the former president of Luna and now I'm on Mayor Rikan's council. I am a perfect and polished politician all on my own. This maternal look just expands my greatness."

Cinder can't argue with that. "Thank you, Levana."

Levana looks at Cinder with the corner of her eye before fully turning to face her. Her eyes soften a little and maybe the corner of her mouth twitched, which is the closest Cinder will get to ever seeing Levana genuinely smile at her.

-o-

Winter and Jacin continue lying in the meadow, talking about the good days in Artemisia and what happened rather than the catastrophe that led up to Commonwealth. She plays with the buttons on his fancy and professional uniform as he keeps his head rested on her curls which he calls the best pillow ever.

"How do we keep in touch now?" Jacin asks. "The Academy is as strict as it is with curfew, use of personal cellular devices, and now we have a three hour time difference to factor in."

"We can write letters," Winter suggests.

Jacin groans. "I hate writing letters so much but you're my exception."

"You better send me some pictures."

"I will most certainly not."

Winter starts to laugh. "Send me some selfies for my photo album."

"Nope." Jacin turns onto his side to look at her. "If you happen to get one, it fell in the envelope by accident."

Winter smiles. "Sure it did." Then her smile fades a little. "When do you go?"

"My flight is in a few hours. I wasn't supposed to come because of school but Levana can be persuasive when she wants to be and without even batting a lash."

Winter gasps. "Levana called you?"

"She called my dad, but yeah she called." Jacin notices Winter's stunned expression which makes him on the verge of laughing. "I know, I'm shocked too."

Winter laughs sweetly. "I'll talk to her later. Have Cinder of Levana give you the address because I still don't know it."

"I will. I'll start my first letter on the plane ride back since they never offer good movies or snacks."

Winter looks into her eyes and smirks as she puts some flowers in his hair. Despite how much he hates flowers in his hair, Jacin has given up on shaking them off since Winter is in an endless meadow of flowers.

He kisses her cheek. "Nothing will ever come between us, Winter. You are the most precious thing in my life."

-o-

"You called Jacin?" Winter asks Levana later in the day.

The sun has set and Winter just returned from the airport after dropping off Jacin to catch his flight back to Luna. Levana stands in her office, looking over some paperwork, not expecting Winter to show up.

"Isn't that the question of the day," Levana states, filing away her work. "Don't tell me that you're surprised as well?"

"Of course I am," Winter responds. "And you actually took it out of your will to convince his dad to let him come."

Levana scoffs. "You make it sound as if it was a difficult chore to get Jacin. His father might be a stubborn old general but I have my own glamorous tricks, as do you."

Levana tilts Winter's face up so that she's looking at her. She traces the scars of Winter's face carefully. Winter's spine shivers a little as Levana examines her face. Levana lets go of Winter's face and lets her be.

"Thank you, Levana," Winter says.

"Anytime, dear stepdaughter," Levana responds. "You know what to do about your problems now, don't you?"

"Not talk to you about them?"

"Precisely."

Winter grins before leaving Levana in her office. If there's anything Winter knows about her stepmother it's that she always knows how to solve problems even if she claims that she doesn't succumb to emotions.

Well, that ends the first story arc. Which character do you think will be the title for the next arc?