Chapter 20
A couple of citizens and tourists were at the park in front of the Louvre hanging out and having a picnic together with friends and family members.
Under a tree, Luka Couffaine sat together with his younger sister Juleka against the trunk sharing cotton candy together and observing the present people in the park.
"Sunday had lots of people picnicking here, then it is today," Mentioned the raven-haired boy.
"It sure is a big difference," Agreed Juleka watching a four-headed family pass in front of them on the path making their way to the end of the park, which led to the Jardins de Tuileries. "Did you actually notice before Alya and Marinette coming from their bakery up to the park as well?"
"I haven't, why?" Asked the brother making Juleka shrug her shoulders.
"I thought you would be interested in talking with her,"
"At the moment I'd rather leave her on her own. If she really needs to talk with me about something I can. I just don't want to force her into a relationship again or anything,"
"You two were perfect for each other. Why didn't it hold?"
"You girls knew something wasn't right with Marinette and so did I,"
"The only thing she said is, that she wasn't ready for love and couldn't handle it. That's the only thing she said,"
"Okay….but you knew, that she was ready before we got together, or was this just through the time we were together? Could this make any sense during our relationship?"
"I don't know," Responded Juleka taking cotton into her mouth, then held it back to Luka, so he could take a bit too. "Alya probably knows more than us,"
"I assume it. They're BFFs after all," Stated Luka making Juleka nod. "Look I better start talking about something else, before I begin to get all emotional about this,"
"Sure, everything,"
"Have you tried anything with Rose yet?" Asked Luka, then Juleka sighed at the question her brother just went and shook her head.
"There's one little problem. I didn't ask her personally, but I've heard it from Rose talking to Gerda," Began the sister. "Apparently Rose's father doesn't really like people in same-gender relationships,"
"She really said that?" Asked Luka curious making Juleka nod.
"She said something around, that many people think like that and her father sadly too. She like most of us respects these relationships, but her father is most likely to be the total opposite,"
"Yeah well I don't think you and Rose will have any problem if you get a step further together, well if you do that first step eventually,"
"Do you think I'm able to do that now?" Asked Juleka a little shocked. "I know her father won't accept it with Rose. Even if we know each other, I'm fearful, that if I ever tell Rose how I really feel, that her father will forbid us even to see each other,"
"Well he can't change your feelings for her or Rose's for you, if she's romantically interested in you, which I believe she is," Assured Luka loud, then Juleka covered Luka's mouth.
"Luka!" Complained the sister making the boy cackle.
"Jul, a little more confidence and positivity wouldn't harm you. You can do that, that's the only way that will help you know, if she likes you as well,"
"You're right," Agreed Juleka, then Luka looked at the time on his smartphone then got up.
"What about we walk together at the carousel?" Suggested Luka earning a nod from the sibling, which got up on her own and followed her brother along the path.
At the other side of the park, Rollan accompanied the Swedish-French Au-pair family to the park near the Louvre and the five citizens approached a round fountain, with chairs all around it with people sitting on it, chilling. Jett pointed at a statue with a lion on it, then ran along with his twin towards it and touched it, followed by the brother.
"I'm first!" Announced Jett happy, then watched the family got closer to the twins.
"That looks like a great spot for us to picnic," Stated Georgette looking at her husband and Rollan, which dropped the basket down, then took from the top a blue towel to extend it over the grass and was helped by the twins' mother.
"I really hope I didn't put you under a lot of pressure because of your homework, Rollan," Commented Arthur. "Did you finish them?"
"Not at all," Responded Rollan. "I've got History and a small part of Algebra to do,"
"We couldn't finish Math as well, dad," Warned Jake making the blonde nod.
"I will help you after we get home. Is that okay?" Asked Arthur making the kids nod, then they sat down to see Rollan look into the basket to get out a paper bag, which was filled with triangle-cut sandwiches.
"In the cooling box, I've got the drinks, the pasta salad, and the corn salad," Mentioned Arthur placing the box beside the statue on top of the towel.
"I listened to your mom's idea and made small sandwich triangles with different ingredients. Salami, Cheese, Ham and…..Egg-sauce?" Counted Rollan opening the bag again making the woman nod.
"Yes Rollan, more or less. It's just cooked egg mixed with quark and a few spices," Explained Georgette. "If you want, you can give it a try," Offered the woman watching Rollan take out a sandwich to look at the thick content the sandwich had.
"Can I have cheese?" Asked Jett watching the mother hand out each of the family members a ceramic plate, then took out from the cooling box the two salads.
"Boys, I've bought pasta salad. You'll get to eat a bit as well," The mother asked making the boys nod, which raised their plates and watched the woman scoop with a soup spoon the pasta into their plate. Rollan opened the other salad Tupperware and offered Arthur the green salad, which he accepted and observed the Spaniard fill his plate a bit.
"If you want you can keep the rest, Rollan. I'm staying with the pasta," Mentioned Arthur's wife making Rollan nod, which dropped the rest on his plate and stored the Tupperware back and watched Arthur offer the raven-haired another sandwich, then Rollan looked down at his plate and back at the bag, then watched Arthur pick a cramp to take out a Salami sandwich to put it down on the plate.
"Come you have to eat as well. You know we want you to feel good with us,"
"I know Sir," Responded Rollan. "I mean….Arthur," Corrected the boy making the man smile.
"I haven't seen all of you a lot the last couple of days. How have you four been?" Questioned the woman.
"We taught Rollan how to play video games," Stated Jett proud, making Jake nod, which looked up at Rollan, that had tried out the egg sandwich and hummed as he liked its taste.
"It's nice you're trying to show Rollan how our modern world works like. At least the amusing part for you,"
"His classmates and Mrs. Mancinelli help him out at the school to deal with tablets and computers. At least enough for him to get back and forth," Mentioned Arthur. "Yesterday Rollan had to review, what he read during history and the tablet had crashed down due to low battery, then we figured out he had accidentally filmed the entire lessons he had been using the tablet and caught the entire chapter he read. He almost made his job easier,"
"Slowly I'm getting the hand out of it. Using the smartphone to send messages and voice calls I have managed already,…...And to call friends," Rollan told holding out his smartphone to point at the green icon, that leads to the phone book. Above the display a banner appeared showing a message from Wayhem, then Rollan clicked on it. "This now here is a message from my friend Wayhem," Explained Rollan showing it to the adult. "He texted me right now if I am interested in going to the cinema….I don't know, what that is, but it sounds interesting,"
"Cinemas are a place, where you sit inside a big room along with other citizens and watch a movie together on a big screen," Explained Arthur making Rollan nod.
"Dad we have all to go to the cinema and see The superhero family 2," Jake warned his father placing his hand on his father's arm.
"Maybe next week, if I got time," Replied Arthur. "Or if Rollan can watch movies on a big screen without any problem you can ask him to come, he sure won't mind it,"
"That would be so cool," Jett answered watching Rollan eat the green salad, then Georgette did a facepalm and began to chuckle.
"Oh mon Dieu, I forgot the salad sauce at home," Mentioned the woman, then placed her hand on Rollan's shoulder. "I'm so sorry,"
"It's fine, I can eat it like this too," Commented Rollan, then Arthur had an idea and scooped out from the pasta salad out a spoon full of noodles and sauce to drop it over Rollan's corn salad. "Oh no that wasn't necessary,"
"There at least you got a little sauce on it," Mentioned the Swedish man making Rollan chuckle.
"Gracias," Answered Rollan, then took a big scoop from the salad to add it into his mouth, then got excited about the taste of the meal and groaned. "Wow, magnifico,"
Georgette chuckled at the boy's lust for food, then watched her sons eat from their plates and looked up at the Spaniard. She smiled and looked at Arthur, which took a bite of one of his ham sandwiches and noticed his wife gazing at him.
"I think Rollan was a good addition to our household. I get the feeling he's like an older brother figure to our boys,"
"Yes. I wasn't expecting the three to bond so quick," Confessed the man looking at his sons eating.
While the trio was eating Rollan felt something pinch his arm, making him groan quietly and he looked down to see Coal jump out of his pants' pocket and went around the statue to look at it.
"Where are you going?" Asked Rollan quiet, then he pointed at the statue making Rollan nod. "Don't stay far. People shouldn't see you,"
"Don't worry," Responded Coal, then walked behind the statue disappearing from Rollan's sight.
Rollan puffed, then looked into the Tupperware with the sandwiches and took out one with salami, then watched Jett touch Rollan's arm and point at Rollan's sandwich.
"Can I have yours?" Asked Jett, then Rollan looked back into the box to only see ham sandwich and cheese sandwich, then he nodded and gave Jett the bread, making the boy smile and embrace the teenager. Rollan smiled and placed his hand behind the boy's back to pet it.
At the entrance of the park, where the Ferris wheel was located Rose came along with Gerda, which observed fascinated the number of guests, that were picnicking in the park.
"Are you sure you want to see the park first?" Questioned Rose looking at the tall girl. "We still have time afterward,"
"I believe until we're back the queue to the wheel will have got shorter. At least I believe so,"
"Not always thought,"
"Well maybe you're right, but now we're here. There's no need to walk back now," Gerda commented. "Do you think we will find someone from our school here?"
"Eventually Juleka and Luka are around. Juleka mentioned, that he was supposed to have band practice, but everyone canceled. Then this option came into his head and she came with him," Rose explained making Gerda nod.
"Alright," Commented Gerda, then she spotted the water fountain with citizens sitting around it and the Norwegian girl pondered about the many fountains she had spotted in the near. "That is the third fountain I spotted today," Commented Gerda making Rose nod.
"There are five around this park," Told the blonde girl. "And that one there is the fourth….oh, oh and there is that lion statue you saw at the poster at the school," Commented Rose making Gerda nod, then she squinted her eyes to spot the Hemming family and saw Rollan getting up to look at the lion statue. Gerda smiled, then nudged Rose on the shoulder to show her Rollan with the foreign family.
"Hey that's Rollan," Commented Rose making Gerda nod, then Rose departed quickly to the water fountain, then looked back to see Gerda stop and look bewildered at the short girl. "Gerda, come on. Let's greet him,"
"And do we need to run?" Asked Gerda walking towards the friend. "He's not gonna leave so fast,"
"Okay. I was a little excited to see him," Rose commented. "Let's take it easy then,"
"Thanks," Commented Gerda, placing her hand on the friend's shoulder and walked around the fountain to approach the Hemming family.
"Good afternoon, Rollan!" Greeted Rose loud, then Rollan stuck his head out from behind the lion statue and recognized the two girls.
"Hey Gerda, hey Rose," Greeted the Spaniard stepping forward to see the two blondes.
"Oh two girls," Commented Georgette curious. "Are they your friends?" Asked the woman looking up at the teenage boy.
"Those are Gerda and Rose," Introduced Rollan getting beside Rose. "Rose here is one of Gerda's new friends at the school. Gerda is the girl I talked about a few times,"
"She was frozen along with him," Commented Arthur making Gerda nod along with Rollan.
"That we both weren't alone at the start was a good thing," Rollan commented, then Rose remembered something and nudged Rollan on the shoulder.
"How exactly did you two get frozen in that lake?" Questioned Rose, then Rollan looked at Gerda, which shrugged her shoulders.
"I have no idea. I remember only being together with Gerda inside a tomb and what happened next….it's just blurry," Responded the Spaniard.
"Wow, it must be terrible to not know, what made you two land there in the water. Whatever it was must have been terrible," Rose mentioned looking at the two older teens, which nodded.
"Whatever happened with you two won't be needed to remember now. You luckily received a second chance to live thanks to a good-hearted citizen. The best thing you have to do now is taking this chance and make the best out of it," Georgette pointed out making the three teens nod.
"She's right," Mentioned Rollan. "Oh, and girls, that's Georgette Hemming. She's a nurse at a hospital, Arthur you have already met, he works at the port…..,"
"Airport," Corrected Arthur making Rollan grin embarrassed.
"Yes, and those two boy are Jett and Jake. Jake is the one wearing the shirt of Sweden," Commented Rollan making Gerda smile interested.
"Oh so this means our countries are neighbors," Commented Gerda. "I'm from Norway,"
"You'll meet in the future more people from different nations. Paris has gotten so multicultural over the years. It's funny," Rose commented, then she heard her smartphone beep and she took it out to see a message from her best friend. "Hey Juleka and Luka are at the Ferris wheel,"
"Luka's here?" Asked Rollan surprised making Rose nod.
"Juleka said they're there at the Ferris wheel," Rose pointed out, then Rollan looked at the wheel to see the people inside the cabins. "They're in a queue waiting for their turn. If you're interested, you can come with us,"
"I'm currently having a picnic with the Hemmings. I think I gotta skip this," Rollan responded, then looked at the family and Arthur smiled and got up to put his hand on Rollan's shoulder.
"Hey if you want you can go with them for a ride," Arthur said. "You've got your phone in case there is something,"
"Are you sure?" Asked Rollan making Arthur nod.
"As long as you finish your homework in time for tomorrow, I'm good,"
"I…." Commented Rollan, then chuckled at the man's response. "Gracias,"
"What are you two waiting for? Let's head back to the others before the queue gets longer," Warned Rose grabbing Rollan and Gerda by their hands, then pulled them along the way.
On top of the lion, statue stood Coal watching the trio run away, then got confused as Rollan left him back.
"Where is he going?" Asked Coal, then he shrugged his shoulders and walked around the statue to admire the lion, then gasped as he saw above the mane of the animal the spirit of the Snow Queen float and watch Gerda's trio ran off. Coal whistled loud calling Snowflake's attention, which looked down to see the fire-themed spirit wave at the spirit, which smiled and landed in front of Coal. Both smiled as they recognize each other, then Coal passed under the belly of the lion and pointed at Rollan making Snowflake gasp, Coal got confused, then Snowflake pointed at Gerda, and Coal got surprised at the spirit's revelation.
Coal pointed at Gerda again making Snowflake nod, then watched the trio head to the Ferris wheel.
Kai and Alfida stood together in a parking looking at a few coaches, that were parked on their spots. Two of them had people storing luggage into the luggage rack, while the rest boarded one by one the large double-deckers.
"Funny how many people are here to leave too," Mentioned Kai making Alfida nod. "I wonder, where they're going,"
Alfida got closer to the vehicles and noticed each of the buses had a small, whiteboard, that had written their destination on it.
"That one is going to Zurich," Read Alfida making Kai nod, which looked at the other ones to see they had different locations to visit.
"Then there's Genoa, Algarve, and Zagreb," Kai continued reading, then heard a coach honking and saw a coach enter into the park and the driver wave at one of the drivers, that stood around the passengers assist during the reloading of the vehicle.
"That could be ours," Mentioned Kai making Alfida nod, which squinted her eyes to see the board on the bus mention the Spanish coast city Barcelona.
"That one came from Spain," Mentioned Alfida making Kai frown.
"Is that where Rollan comes?" Questioned Kai making Alfida shrug her shoulders.
"I have no idea. The last two Spanish coasts my mom has assaulted there were Valencia and Alicante, but which one she has seen Rollan briefly she hasn't told me,"
"Okay,"
"It's funny to think about all this. If my mom hadn't given Rollan that book, he wouldn't have left his spot and none of this had happened or gotten so far,"
"You know as Orm said, I don't know why we're blaming each other or Rollan or your mom for this. None of us knew, what was going to happen," Kai mentioned.
"You're right," Commented Alfida. "And at some point, our family... erm my family moved on without us. What could they have done after seen, we had been frozen and were presumed to be dead? They had no other choice than move on with their lives,"
"And that's what they did,"
"Exactly," Responded Alfida. "We were lucky to have received another chance to live, even Gerda had it and now, when we're all back together we will stay together. Hopefully, we all figure out how to move on and I don't know...see what this life has to offer us," Recounted the raven-haired girl making the boy nod.
"Yeah,"
Another coach arrived, then the two friends read the sign on the vehicle and saw it had come from Paris. The two smiled at each other and watched the one-leveled coach head to the end of the plot, then turn on the reverse lights to slowly drive back to park.
"Uh how long did Klaas say, was the ride again?" Questioned Kai watching Alfida think for short.
"5 hours I think," Responded Alfida. "He spoke also it depended if we catch a lot of traffic or not. Eventually, we would catch some on our way,"
"Okay," Commented Kai, then watched from the latest bus, which arrived from Spain a woman ran out into the arms of a man to share a passionate kiss, making Kai turn a little red and look at Alfida, which per coincidence had spotted the same persons as the boy and copied Kai's face, then turned on her face pink as well. Both embarrassedly avoided to gaze into each other's eyes directly and scrubbed their necks.
"Uh can I ask you something?" Questioned Kai.
"I have to ask you something!" Spoke Alfida at the same moment Kai made her a question.
"Uh…..okay, I guess….go on," The boy replied.
"Do you remember….what you have done as you threw me out of the locomotive?" Asked Alfida making Kai flinch his teeth.
"I didn't mean to do that, Alfida. I mean I did, but…..I just did it to spare your life, but somehow we got tricked by…."
"Not that, silly," Corrected the former pirate girl. "That other thing you did seconds before you threw me out,"
"The…...kiss?" Asked Kai making Alfida nod, then Kai swallowed hard feeling warm suddenly after what the girl mentioned. "I….I did that, cause I thought I was going to die anyway, so…uh….yes,"
Alfida chuckled, then Kai mirrored her response and looked down at his feet a little nervous, not being sure on continuing the conversation or not. Inside his jacket Luta glared at the teenager and nodded, giving a serious look at the boy, which nodded and returned his attention to the girl.
"The kiss….I didn't just kiss you, because of fun or anything. I kissed you because I felt something big inside of me growing for you and that is called love…..You had to know that from me and…..that was the fastest way for me to say," Kai spoke, then looked down at the weasel, which nodded, then he noticed Alfida look down at his jacket, then pull it aside to look at Luta and chuckle.
"You're not dehydrating, girl?" Asked Alfida jokingly, then Kai moved Luta up at his shoulders and gazed at the girl.
"I'm for real, Alfida. I….like you the way my dad likes my mom…..Uhm you know….," Kai said beginning to feel like trash-talking, but Alfida understood him and giggled.
"I know it perfectly," Alfida commented placing her hands on Kai's cheeks to kiss him on the lips, causing him to heat up while widening his eyes in surprise. Luta smiled, then shrieked as Kai pulled her down and placed his arms around the girl to take the lead.
Luta sat up and observed the two making out, afterward began to nibble on her hindleg's paw to have the time pass by.
Rose, Gerda, Luka, Juleka, and Rollan shared a cabin of the Ferris wheel and watched the metropolis from there. Gerda had her arms lying over the railing to observe the many buildings, then glimpsed at Rose, which looked out as well.
"This is really amazing, Rose. Thanks for bringing me here," Thanked the blonde making the short girl nod.
"It is, it is," Commented Rose, then looked at Rollan, which had his elbow over the railing and smiled at the view he had. "Have you ever seen Paris from above? From really, really high, Rollan?" Asked Rose getting Rollan's attention, which replied by shaking his head.
"Not like this," Commented the Spaniard. "It looks amazing. It's the first time I see a place like this,"
"Haven't you seen your home like this ever?" Questioned Rose, making Luka chuckle.
"You know his and Gerda's time didn't have what we have now," Luka stated. "They were no Ferris wheels, airplanes, or helicopters,"
"The only highest place I have ever been at my home was on the roof of my mama's house. I could see the coast and the houses of my town only. After these 120 years, I believe it has changed a lot,"
"Where are you from exactly?" Asked Rose, then Luka took out his smartphone waiting for Rollan's answer.
"Alicante," Responded Rollan.
"I got something," Luka commented and showed Rollan tourism images from the internet to the Spaniard, which widened his eyes and picked the smartphone to look at them, then Rose and Gerda leaned their heads closer to the teenage boy.
"Wow…..I barely recognize it here. Are you sure this is Alicante?" Asked Rollan making Luka nod.
"I wrote Spain behind it," Responded Luka, then Rose swiped images and Gerda dropped her mouth along with Rollan.
"Alicante looks really pretty," Commented Gerda seeing Rollan feel down.
"But it's not the one I grew up in," Rollan commented, making Gerda nod understanding him.
"Well, you missed 120 years. A lot has changed here and there. If you had aged you would have witnessed a couple of changes," Luka commented making Rollan nod.
"Yeah,"
Luka took down the smartphone, then Rose continued to look above the city and Gerda noticed Rollan felt a little tragic about their time, then she placed her hand on Rollan's shoulder.
"You alright?" Questioned the girl making the boy nod.
"Everything is okay. It's just very weird now to get used to how it looks like now,"
"How did Alicante look before? The one you knew?" Asked the Scandinavian girl.
"The last time I remember the road from my house through the entire town be fully covered with square-shaped stones. The houses were mostly light-brown colored, some were browner. The ...avenidas had lots of palm...palmeras on the stree…." Commented Rollan making Gerda chuckle, making Rollan stop and furrow his eyebrows confused.
"I'm sorry, I found it adorable how you said those words in your language," Commented Gerda. "Oh uh... I know this is not the topic right now, but I thought it could interest you. I'm having Spanish lessons at the school,"
"Oh, I heard that from Kim. He said Max is there with Nathaniel," Rollan responded. "How are you doing so far in it?"
"I know some simple words. I have only had one lesson so far. It's only one per week,"
"If you need someone to help you practice, I'm here," Offerd Rollan making Gerda smile.
"I'd love to!" Answered Gerda, then Rose squealed shrieking the inmates of the ride and Rose showed her smartphone with an image on it.
"That's…...the boy from the fragrance advertisements," Commented Rollan approaching to the picture.
"Yeah I know, but you guys know what this is? It's an invitation to a prom! Isn't that great?"
"Yes….what's that?" Asked Rollan.
"An evening, where all the students of the last class attend a sort of party at the school. Except ours will have classes up from the 9th to the 12th grade and it for a good cause," Responded Rose. "There will be food, a competition and we can talk or dance,"
"Some people take their dates there to the prom. Others go alone," Added Juleka.
"That sounds cool," Commented commented Gerda, then a loud growl rang across the city and all citizens looked around to spot behind the Jardins de Tuileries a Tyrannosaurus Rex crashing against a building heading towards the Ferris wheel causing everyone to scream. Rose, Juleka, and Luka embraced each other in fear, as well Gerda and Rollan did the same seeing the large creature walk towards them.
"Wh….what is that?" Asked Gerda, rolling her eyes down at Rollan seeing him search his pockets for anything, then mumbled gibberish words, which Gerda couldn't understand, but guess it was his native language.
"I….." Mumbled Gerda looking down at the Ferris wheel to see Snowflake fly up and spot Gerda in the cabin with her friends, then flew away, making Gerda feel a little insecure and Rollan began to scream along with Rose and Juleka as the T-Rex stumbled with his feet against the wheel, causing it to tremble.
"Ahhhhh!" All guests screamed, then Ladybug appeared from the top of a townhouse and jumped at the face of the predator, kicking him into his eyes, causing him to growl angered by her deed. The guests on the Ferris wheel cheered for the heroine, then watched the predator transform into an eagle, then flew down and Ladybug hung herself on the Ferris wheel with her yo-yo and looked at the guests.
"Hold on for a while. We have to make sure Animan stays away from here," Stated Ladybug, then swung away following the eagle, which flew across the park.
"This is going to take a while," Luka commented making Rose nod, then watched Gerda approach the bars along with Rollan, which accidentally placed his hand on Gerda's hand, making her gasp and look at him surprised. Rollan looked at the girl, then noticed, where he had his hand and removed it away chuckling embarrassed.
"I'm sorry," Apologized the Spaniard, making Gerda snicker and look down at the park spotting Rena Rouge, which came along to assist Ladybug.