Ever After
Chapter One : Will You?
The night was quiet. The night was the night that Claude was going to ask Rena Lanford to marry him. Communications between Expel and Earth had begun, so Rena could visit her mother if she felt like it, and so Claude persuaded her to come live with him in Tokyo, the capital of the Earth.
Rena had been out getting some groceries for dinner when Claude decided it was time. The door to the small, one bedroom apartment opened.
At first, Rena had been reluctant to live in such a small living space with only one bedroom. They had been living together for six months, and things had been going great.
----
Six Months Earlier
It had been nearly a year after the fall of Indalecio and the destruction of Energy Nede. Claude had been living in Expel with Rena.
"Rena, I want to go back to Earth,"
Claude explained.
"Claude..." Rena was speechless.
"Rena, I think the soldiers in the Earth Federation have
been looking for me since my father's death. I've been seeing
strange lights in the sky that don't look natural. They know I'm
here, so I might as well go with them."
"But--" Rena was interrupted.
"No buts, Rena. I want you to come with me. I may be able to
persuade the Earth Federation to open communication with Expel,
so if you want, you may come back here," Claude said.
"Oh...Claude...I...I'll go with you," Rena agreed.
----
Present
"Tadaima [I'm home]!" Rena yelled as
she put the groceries down on the table of the apartment.
"Hello, Rena! I made some tea. I want to talk to you,"
Claude told her.
"Oh, about what?" Rena asked.
"Something..." he said with a sly grin as he gave her a
cup of tea and sat down at the wet bar [in case anyone is
wondering, if you enter the apartment, you come right into the
kitchen, where the kitchen table is sitting next to the wet bar.
Next to the kitchen is the living room, a bathroom by the living
room and then the bedroom which is connected to both the bathroom
and living room].
"Oh? Go ahead..." Rena told Claude.
"Okay, I'll be right back..." Claude said as he ran to
the bedroom.
"Dammit," he muttered. Claude had hidden the ring and now couldn't remember where he had hidden it. "Aha!"
He ran back to the kitche, hiding the ring behind
his back. He got down on one knee, and opened the box. Rena
gasped.
"Rena Lanford, will you do me the great honor of becoming my
wife?"
"Oh my God, did he just do what I think he did?" Rena
asked herself. "Ah...I...yes, I will marry you..."
Rena jumped off the high bar stool and landed in
Claude's arms as he slipped the ring on her finger.
"Rena...I love you."
"I love you too, Claude."