The Windflower Chronicles is being written as part of Elenaomi Week! This story, and all the other stories featured in this work, are part of an anthology. While some can be considered in the same continuity, they're not strictly connected or even sequential.
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Day 4 - A Date In Avalor - "Ventura"
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The main square of Avalor City was bustling with activity. There were thousands of people, so many things to do, and a myriad of sights and sounds in all directions.
And right in the middle of it all was the queen of Avalor herself, Elena Castillo Flores... accompanied by her chancellor and lover, Naomi Turner. The two were holding hands as they walked together in the midst of all the fun, as signs hanging above and posted all around proclaimed this day the Ventura Festival, Avalor's annual celebration of good fortune.
"It's so nice to get out of the palace and enjoy the day together," said Elena, smiling and looking at her girlfriend, whose blonde hair shined in the mid-afternoon sun. "Guess this is one of our first real dates, huh?"
Naomi smiled and nodded, looking around at the many booths and attractions that had been set up. The Ventura Festival's theme was luck and good fortune, and so many of the booths featured games of chance in which various prizes could be won. The stakes weren't very high, and children who played the games were allowed to play them for free, while adults had to pay only one small silver coin. Elena wanted everyone who attended to have a good time, and so far, things seemed to be going quite well on that front.
"Nothing better than a festival to bring out the good spirit in everyone," Naomi replied, leaning on Elena's shoulder. "There sure are a lot of people though..."
"Well, I know somewhere private we can go if you want to get away," said Elena with a smirk. Naomi shook her head, tightening her grip on Elena's hand and planting a soft kiss on her cheek. "It's okay, I just hope we don't get interrupted too much."
Elena and Naomi had already been approached by several festival-goers and well-wishers, and while they both appreciated the love and admiration of their people, they were trying to enjoy each other's company as well, and being constantly interrupted did make that a bit more difficult. Fortunately, the interruptions had slowed down as the day wore on, and the two were now mostly free to enjoy the festival at their leisure. Naomi walked over to a booth that featured a large wheel decorated brightly with colors and numbers, each number corresponding to a different prize. Most of the prizes were small trinkets of little value, but the grand prize was a large plush jaquin, and Elena's eyes had lit up when the two passed the booth earlier.
"It's still there, doesn't look like anyone's won it yet," said Naomi. "Elena, I'm going to win you that jaquin!"
"I don't know, Naomi, the chances of winning are pretty low..."
"No, it's all right, there's a trick to this game," said Naomi, handing a silver coin to the booth operator. "You've just got to know how hard to spin the wheel."
Elena smiled, seeing how eager Naomi was to win the prize for her. She honestly didn't want the plush jaquin all that much, and if she truly did want one, she could easily commission it from the royal dollmaker. However, it was the thought that counted, and she loved seeing Naomi take the role of her "hero", even in small stakes matters such as this.
"All right Naomi, let's see what you've got!" Elena said cheerfully, trying to encourage her. Naomi gripped the wheel and gave it a nice hard spin. It went around several times, as Naomi's eyes were focused on the small, shiny gold sliver of the wheel marked with a "1" that would indicate that she'd won the grand prize. The wheel went around and around and around, and Naomi watched excitedly, just knowing that she was about to win that jaquin for Elena.
"I got it, Elena, it's gonna land on the gold, I can feel it!"
The wheel began to slow. Naomi and Elena both watched, their eyes glimmering as the wheel slowed down even further. Finally, it stopped.
The wheel landed on a large green sliver marked "28", nowhere near the gold. Naomi's shoulders slumped. The booth operator handed her a small green marble.
"Well, it's kind of a pretty marble," said Elena, patting her girlfriend on the shoulder.
"Here," said Naomi, sighing in disappointment as she handed the marble to Elena. Elena simply reached over and clasped Naomi's hand around the marble, looking into her eyes.
"You keep it," replied Elena. "And don't worry about winning me anything... it's a nice jaquin doll but you know there are lots of people here who'll enjoy it even more."
"I know," said Naomi, her own smile returning. "It's no big deal, I just... I just like doing nice stuff for you, even if it's not really big in the grand scheme of things. You've done so much for me, and it makes me feel nice to return the favor."
Elena blushed and pulled Naomi into a hug, while Naomi just stood and let Elena hug her, one hand clasping the marble, the other hand resting at her side. She loved to feel Elena pressed against her... she smelled so good and she was always so warm and soft, any hug from Elena cheered Naomi right up no matter how sad or disappointed she'd been before. As the two parted from the embrace, Naomi pocketed the marble and turned back toward the booth.
"I know it's not a big deal, but I'm gonna win you that jaquin!" said Naomi, reaching into her coin purse for another silver coin. As she did, Elena suddenly grabbed her by the arm. "Whoa!"
"Naomi, wait, look!"
Elena pointed to a small stage that had been erected in the center of the festival. On the stage was a curtain covering what appeared to be a small box, and as Elena pulled Naomi closer, the two could see a crowd gathering around it.
"What's that?" asked Naomi, as Elena gently led her toward the stage.
"They're about to reveal Rodrigo Ventura's lost treasure!" said Elena. "It was just found a few weeks ago, buried deep within the ocean! One of my first acts after becoming queen was to commission an expedition to find it, and they found it!"
"Uh, I know who Rodrigo Ventura is, you told me at the last festival, but what's his lost treasure?"
Elena then explained to Naomi how Rodrigo Ventura, whose stroke of luck in discovering the spirit artifact that had saved Avalor from destruction 300 years ago led to the creation of the Ventura Festival, had also discovered a great treasure sometime after.
"Ventura sailed out to find treasures to bring back to Avalor to help the kingdom get back on its feet after nearly being destroyed by the great disaster. He found a beautiful golden plate, so valuable that it could have been sold to pay for repairing all the destruction... but on the way back to the palace to give it to the royal family, his crew betrayed him, and the ship and the treasure sunk to the bottom of the sea."
"Surprised it didn't happen again with the new crew," said Naomi with a smirk. "You should've sent me to find it."
"You were too busy with your chancellor duties, and besides, the Avaloran Royal Guard is the most trustworthy in the kingdom. I sent Antonia and Ixlan to lead the expedition."
"Good call, nobody would dare mess with them," said Naomi. "Anyway, it sounds like a pretty cool treasure, but what are you going to do with it after the festival?"
"Well... Avalor's a lot better off now, and the plate doesn't have the same value it used to, but it's still a cherished artifact of our kingdom's history. I want to have it on display for a period of time so that everyone in the kingdom can see it, and I'd also like to have Isabel run some tests on it. After that, I'd like to do with it what the royal family 300 years ago would have done. Sell it off to a collector, and use the money to help the disadvantaged people of Avalor... maybe send some aid to Pezandri as part of the deal we made with them."
"Good call," said Naomi. "Treasures are nice, but helping people is always better."
The two made their way to the front of the crowd surrounding the stage, as Gabe and Antonia flanked the concealed display case.
"Hi, Gabe!" Naomi shouted, calling out to the general of Avalor's royal guard. "Stuck on box guarding duty, huh?"
"This is a nice break from the festival, I'm not just here guarding this box!" he replied. "Anyway, I see you and Elena are having a good time... did you win her any prizes at the booths?"
"Oh, that's a low blow," Naomi groaned, putting her hands on her hips.
"So I take it you didn't then?" he replied, smiling playfully.
"At least I'm not babysitting!" Naomi shouted back.
"Okay you two, chill out, this is supposed to be a fun day," said Elena, who then looked over at Antonia. "You having fun?"
"I am, but Ixlan's really not good with these games of chance," replied Antonia with a laugh. "She keeps saying that they're unfair and that someone's skill should determine how they do, not random luck."
"Maybe your luck will improve later?" asked Elena, shrugging her shoulders.
"That, or Ixlan will start smashing the booths," Antonia said with a roll of her eyes.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Avalor," said Esteban, the festival's master of ceremonies, as he took the stage and walked up to the box. "For the first time in 300 years, Rodrigo Ventura's lost treasure is about to be revealed! A beautiful, shiny golden plate, pulled from the bottom of the deepest ocean in all the Everrealm!"
Esteban grabbed the curtain, and Elena began shaking with anticipation. Naomi was much less excited, but held onto Elena's arm just the same, hoping her girlfriend wouldn't start shrieking and cheering like a little girl after the plate was revealed.
"Citizens of Avalor, I give you... the lost treasure of Rodrigo Ventura!" shouted Esteban, pulling the curtain away. The glass display case was unveiled, and inside... was nothing. The crowd gasped. "What? Surely it's not THAT beautiful- oh, my goodness! It's gone!"
"What?!" shouted Elena, seeing at the same time that everyone else did that the lost treasure had completely vanished and that the glass display case was empty. "But... how?"
"That's impossible, the plate was inside the case when we covered it up and brought it on stage, I saw it myself," said Gabe, looking around the stage in confusion.
"I saw it too, it was right there, and really pretty too," added Antonia.
"Then someone must have gotten up here and took it before the reveal, but who, and how?" asked Naomi.
"I'll start investigating right away!" said Elena.
"Elena, there's no need for that, the Royal Guard will handle it," replied Gabe.
"That's right," said Antonia. "The entire Royal Guard will scour Avalor City. We'll leave no stone unturned until the plate is found."
"But-" Elena objected, before Naomi took her hands and looked into her eyes, trying to reassure her.
"Let Gabe and the guard handle it, and we'll just... go back to enjoying the festival," said Naomi. "We don't get a lot of chances to just relax, and the Royal Guard's on top of this, so you don't have to worry."
"But that treasure meant so much to everyone, it was going to help people!" protested Elena, as Naomi tried to calm her down.
"And it's going to be okay," replied Naomi. "It's just a golden plate. A really valuable, pretty golden plate, but just a golden plate regardless."
"Naomi's right, we'll take care of this," said Gabe. "You and Naomi go enjoy the festival... c'mon, Elena, you deserve this."
Elena sighed. She didn't like letting other people handle her problems. She was the queen, and she was supposed to take care of everything... all of Avalor was counting on her. But she also knew that this was the Royal Guard's jurisdiction, and that Gabe was the best in the kingdom at solving mysteries and stopping thieves. Gabe was right, the royal guard needed to handle this. She'd be the first to find out that the treasure had been found, and in the meantime, she and Naomi needed to enjoy the day together.
"Well, okay... but let me know as soon as you learn anything," said Elena.
"Of course, your majesty," Gabe replied.
"Now come on, let's go! I can keep trying to win you that jaquin. Or... we can do something else?"
Elena looked around until she saw a vendor serving shaved ice nearby. Sweets always helped to calm her nerves, and she definitely needed her nerves calmed at the moment.
"Let's go get some shaved ice over there, okay Naomi?"
Naomi nodded and the two walked over to the vendor's booth.
"Your majesty, it's great to see you at the festival!" said the vendor, a bubbly young woman just slightly younger than the queen and her date.
"Of course!" said Elena, trying to keep a cheerful demeanor about the whole situation, even as she began looking around for any signs of the thief. "One shaved ice for me, and one for Naomi here."
"Certainly!"
The vendor began to scoop the shaved ice out of its container, and as she started squirting flavored syrup on the treat, Naomi tried her best to lighten the mood.
"Oooh, that looks so good, I bet it'll really hit the spot on such a hot day!"
Elena nodded, and a smile started to cross her face. The vendor handed over the treats, and as Elena started to lick, and the sweet taste of the syrup hit her tongue, she indeed began to forget about the thief from before.
"See, Elena?" asked Naomi, licking her own ice treat. "Nothing like a nice sweet dessert to make all your worries go away, huh?"
"I heard about the treasure being stolen," said the vendor as she took her payment from Elena. "It's a real shame, you know?"
"Quiet!" snapped Naomi, glaring at the vendor. She could hear Elena groan next to her, and her shoulders slumped in frustration.
"Can you imagine, the lost treasure of Rodrigo Ventura being stolen right out from under the Royal Guard's nose?" the vendor continued absent-mindedly, ignorant of Naomi's rising anger and Elena's growing sadness. "Everyone in Avalor was looking forward to seeing it, only for it to be stolen just like-"
Naomi reached forward and pressed her hand tightly against the vendor's mouth, rudely shushing her.
"You are making the queen very sad!" said Naomi through gritted teeth.
"I think we should go see how Gabe is doing," said Elena.
"It's been five minutes!" shouted Naomi.
"I know, I just wanna go check on him," said Elena, turning and walking back to find the first Royal Guard soldier she could. Naomi sighed again, lowering her hand from the vendor's mouth and trudging after her girlfriend. "Hey, any progress on finding that thief?"
The guard shook his head.
"No, your majesty, but we're searching as hard as we can!"
"Well... search harder!" said Elena, her voice starting to rise.
"Of... of course!" said the guard, giving a nervous salute and jogging away.
"Elena!" said Naomi. "Don't give him such a hard time, he's looking as hard as he can, just like all the other guards! I told you, you need to calm down and enjoy the festival... let's go play some more games and enjoy the day, all right?"
Elena sighed and nodded, already feeling guilty for hassling the guard. She knew Naomi was right, she just couldn't shake her worries about the thief from the back of her mind. Part of her almost believed the theft to be her fault... maybe she should've been watching the plate from the beginning, maybe she should've assigned more guards to watch it. Since she blamed herself, she also shouldered the responsibility for finding it, or at least she believed she did. Naomi's words calmed her down somewhat, but she couldn't shake her worries, and she hoped her girlfriend would understand that.
"I'm trying to, it's just... it's hard to calm down and enjoy myself when there's such a big problem to solve. I'm so used to solving problems and helping people that I feel selfish for having a good time when other people aren't."
"Hey," said Naomi. "It's okay. You're a good person, that's why you feel that way. You put others before yourself, that's why I love you so much. But you don't have to do that all the time... you deserve to enjoy yourself too, and you know you've earned it, so why not just take one day and let someone else handle this problem for a change, all right?"
Elena nodded, and Naomi leaned up and kissed her on the lips. The quick smooch definitely helped soothe Elena's troubled mind, and she allowed Naomi to lead her to another game booth featuring a card picking game with a box of Avaloran chocolate as the grand prize. Elena didn't win, but she had a good time playing, and soon, the two were hitting up every booth in the square, paying little attention to the guards' search for the treasure thief.
"So in this game, you drop a chip onto a board full of pegs, and whichever slot it drops into at the bottom, you win that prize?" asked Elena, as she and Naomi stood at one of the most popular booths at the festival.
"That's right!" said the operator.
"Well, the best prize is in the center, so the obvious strategy is to drop the chip from the center," said Naomi. She took her chip and dropped it, and it fell down the board, hitting several pegs along the way and being knocked further and further toward the left side of the board. "Wait, no, how?"
The chip landed in the side slot, marked "0". Naomi sighed and stepped aside to let Elena play.
"Clearly, dropping it from the side is best," said Elena, smiling and dropping her chip in at the very right side of the board. The chip went left a few times, but toward the bottom it veered sharply back to the right, and into the right side's "0" slot. "Hey!"
"This game is dumb and I can't imagine how anyone would like it," said Naomi, taking Elena's hand.
"Yeah, I'm not a fan either," replied Elena, walking away from the booth with Naomi. A few seconds later, the two heard a massive cheer go up from the booth, as a young boy's chip landed in the centermost slot, landing him the best prize. "I think that game might be rigged."
Despite Naomi and Elena's failure at yet another game of chance, they were still having a really fun time, and Elena had pretty much forgotten about the thief from before. Even though they hadn't won any major prizes, they were together, and happy, and just enjoying their day, not a single worry on either of their minds. As the afternoon began to wind down, they made their way to a vista overlooking the port, a less crowded area of the city where they could get away from the festival and all the hustle and bustle. They were clad in some slightly tacky costume pieces that they'd bought a short time before, with Naomi wearing a hat that was a replica of Rodrigo Ventura's captain's hat, and Elena wearing an elaborate necklace decorated with feathers and glass jewels. They looked a bit silly in their souvenirs, but they didn't care... it just helped them to laugh whenever they got a good look at each other. They looked out over the port, leaning on each other and holding hands as a gentle breeze blew past, thinking about all the fun they'd had and hoping their next date would be just as enjoyable.
"I had a great time today, Naomi," said Elena, nuzzling her cheek against her girlfriend's. "We're terrible at those games though."
"Yeah, I think maybe we just have lousy luck," Naomi replied.
"That's not true," said Elena. "I'm the luckiest person in the world right now."
Naomi looked at Elena and snickered, half-touched by the sweetness of what she'd said and half-amused by how cheesy it was. She turned and kissed Elena's cheek again, leaning up against her even more.
"If anyone's the lucky one, it's me," said Naomi. "Girl from the port meets the crown princess, who somehow falls for her despite being just about the plainest girl in all the kingdom..."
"And the bravest," said Elena. "And the sweetest, and the prettiest..."
"Stop, stop, stop..." said Naomi, giggling harder and harder the more Elena sweet talked her, before finally deciding to shut her up with a firm kiss on the lips. Elena continued her sweet talk, despite being muffled by Naomi's lips, and Naomi began giggling, before pulling Elena in close, holding her tight, and embracing her passionately, even as onlookers began to stare at them. "Mmm... Elena, you're too much!"
"Just thanking you for keeping me from ruining the whole day by worrying about that thief," said Elena, her forehead still pressed to Naomi's.
"I thought you'd forgotten about the thief," replied Naomi.
"I didn't forget," said Elena. "But... I wanted to make the day special for you, so I decided to trust Gabe and the others so we could have a good time."
"Well, we did have a good time."
"Yeah, we did..." said Elena, still smiling. She hadn't heard from Gabe or the guards all day, but she still trusted them to catch the thief and retrieve the plate, and instead of fretting about it further, she started to kiss her girlfriend again. "Mmmm..."
Out of the corner of her eye, Naomi noticed some movement near one of the piers. She didn't bring attention to it, but Elena could see her eye drifting, and looked in the same direction. Down at one of the piers was a man wearing a cloak that looked far too heavy for the warm weather, darting his eyes back and forth and swiftly moving toward a boat that was docked nearby.
The thief! thought Elena, and broke off the kiss. Before Naomi could say anything, the queen had leapt from the balcony, down to the street below.
"Elena!" shouted Naomi, watching her girlfriend make what had to be at least a two story jump. Fortunately, Elena was unharmed, and quickly ran off in the direction that she'd seen the suspected thief. You've gotta be kidding me!
Despite her worries about the height of the jump, Naomi leapt after Elena, and fortunately was also unharmed, not losing a step as she ran to catch up. The man, who was walking along the dock toward the pier leading to his boat, could see Elena running after him, and let out an exclamation of surprise. He looked toward his boat, but realizing that he wouldn't have enough time to reach it and that the pier was a dead end, instead darted toward the row of warehouses lining the dock, knowing that it would be easier to lose his pursuers inside one of them. Elena ran after him, and Naomi followed, and the two dashed into the building in hopes of catching up to the fleeing man before he was able to get away.
"I'm Queen Elena Castillo Flores, and I order you to stop!" shouted Elena as she hustled after the man. The fleeing man proved surprisingly agile, leaping over a stack of boxes before kicking them over to block Elena's path. Elena leapt over one of the boxes, but tripped into the next, and fell hard to the ground just as Naomi ran in. "Nnnngh!"
"Elena, are you okay?" shouted Naomi, extending a hand to help her girlfriend up.
"I'm fine, Naomi, keep chasing him, we can't lose him!"
As Naomi helped Elena to her feet, the thief escaped out the back door of the warehouse. The two quickly chased after him, but by the time they got outside, they no longer had him in their sights... the area behind the warehouses was a mess of cargo, netting, and heavy equipment, and it was easy for anyone to hide, especially a thief who had plenty of experience with such things.
"Dammit!" Elena cursed, something she rarely did, and something that surprised Naomi, who tried to comfort her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Where did he go, how could I let him escape?"
"Elena, none of this is your fault-"
"Of course it is! I'm supposed to protect everybody, I'm supposed to make sure Avalor is safe... I can't even catch one thief, and now he's going to take the treasure that was supposed to make everybody happy..."
Naomi began to scan the area, looking around toward the buildings surrounding the crowded lot. There was no other escape besides those buildings, and the thief hadn't had time to reach them, and none of the doors had budged. He was still here, hiding... and Naomi was going to find him, if only to make Elena happy again.
"Elena, I've got an idea. You just watch the doors, I'll start searching. If he goes for one of the doors, call out to me and I'll catch him, got it?"
Elena nodded, but she was unsure... what if she missed him? What if Naomi got hurt?
"Naomi, be careful... he might be armed."
"Yeah, well, so am I," said Naomi, smiling and holding her lasso. "Now just stay there and I'll flush him out."
Naomi began combing the area, looking behind and inside every box she could, while also listening for any noise that might indicate the thief's movements. As she did, Elena kept a close watch on all the doors, determined not to let the thief slip out of her sight again. She worried for Naomi, worried that at any moment, the thief might lunge out and hurt her... she knew Naomi could handle herself, but still, everyone in Avalor was her responsibility... she was the queen, after all.
Naomi, I know you don't want me to worry... and I know you worry about me the same way. You don't like to show it, but every time I put myself in danger, I can see the fear in your eyes. I wish I knew how to hide it like you do... you stay so calm, and I freak out. I guess I feel like I have the whole kingdom on my shoulders, but you share the same responsibilities as me, and it seems like I'm the one you're focused on the most. I guess I should be flattered, but...
A shift in a stack of boxes drew Naomi's attention, and she walked over to the stack, which wobbled slightly and then stopped. She leaned over and checked behind the boxes, lasso at the ready... not seeing the box dangling above her head had begun to move as a rope suspending the netting holding the box in place was being cut nearby. Naomi turned and saw the thief, now holding a knife and cutting the last strands of the rope, but before she could lunge after him, the box above her head fell.
Naomi gasped.
"NAOMI!" screamed Elena, having already sprung into action, diverting her attention from the nearby door. Elena dived into her friend, pushing her out of the way just as the box came down, shattering into wooden splinters and nearly burying the two in hundreds of pounds of large fish. The two lay on the ground in a heap together, shaken but unharmed, as the thief dashed for one of the exits. "Are... are you okay?"
"Yeah," groaned Naomi, realizing how close she'd come to being seriously hurt, or worse. "Thanks, Elena..."
"The thief... he's getting away...!" said Elena, starting to clamber to her feet. Naomi reached for her lasso, but it was tangled around both her legs and Elena's, and before she could warn her friend about it, Elena tripped and fell. "Unnngh! No!"
The thief laughed before lunging for the door. Naomi tried to untangle the lasso from herself and her friend, but even if she was able to, he'd already be out the door and well on his way to his boat, too late for either of them to stop. Naomi sighed, then felt a small lump in the side of her leg.
Huh...? She reached inside her pocket and pulled out the green marble she'd won earlier that day. "...no, he's not!"
Naomi remembered her days as a young girl shooting marbles in Norberg, and hoped that she still had some of her old skills as she lined up what she knew would be her only shot to stop the thief's escape and save the golden plate. She waited for him to reach for the doorknob, then took aim at his right foot as it came back down toward the ground. The marble flew and landed right next to the thief's foot, rolling under it. As he came down, his foot landed on the marble, which forced him backward with a loud cry, flying up into the air and falling onto his back. Before he could stand up, Naomi and Elena were both standing over him, looking down sternly. He didn't bother reaching for his knife... he knew he'd been caught.
"You're under arrest," said Elena, smiling for the first time since she and Naomi had broken off their kiss at the overlook.
The thief was then wrapped up in Naomi's lasso, and the golden plate, concealed inside his cloak, was confiscated. The royal guard was called, and the thief was taken into custody, while Elena held the plate carefully in her hands, allowing herself and Naomi to get a nice look at it now that it was safe and sound again.
"Nice shooting, Naomi," said Elena.
"Eh, I got lucky," replied Naomi, shrugging her shoulders.
"We've been chasing him around the city all day," said Gabe, a sheepish look on his face as he looked at Elena and Naomi. "Sorry we weren't able to bring him in."
"He almost slipped out of our grasp too," said Elena. "It's like Naomi said, we just got lucky."
Elena then turned to the guard she'd scolded earlier.
"I'm sorry I gave you such a hard time," said Elena, placing her hand on the guard's shoulder. "I'll try not to make such a big deal out of things in the future..."
"No worries, your majesty," replied the guard.
"How did the thief manage to take the plate in the first place?" asked Naomi.
"We had our eyes on the treasure, but not the platform," said Antonia. "He slid under there early in the morning, waiting for the plate to be brought out. Once it was, all he had to do was reach up, grab it, and then slide out again while no one was looking. We should've been more thorough in our inspection... I spent too much time worrying about Ixlan's behavior to double check the platform."
"It's okay, Antonia, I spent a lot of time worrying about things myself today," said Elena, looking over at Naomi. "Fortunately, I had someone with me to remind me what really matters... and in the end, we still caught the thief."
"Yeah, I'm still not really impressed by this thing," said Naomi, looking at the plate as she held it up to her face. "Just looks like a big shiny piece of gold to me."
"Speak for yourself, I plan to place a very high bid on it once it comes up for auction a few months from now," said Dona Paloma, fanning herself as she walked by. "It'll be the perfect item to lure in shoppers to my stores, I expect it to pay for itself within a year."
"Again, I don't see what's so impressive about a shiny dinner plate, but I'm glad it's safe," said Naomi.
"And I'm glad you're safe," said Elena, holding Naomi close. Naomi smiled and blushed, remembering that Elena had saved her from getting badly hurt before.
"Thanks to you," said Naomi. "You saved me, and I saved the plate... so I guess in a way, you saved us both!"
"You're way more important than that plate, and I almost forgot that today," said Elena, taking Naomi's hand. "...do you want to walk with me? The festival's almost over."
Naomi nodded, and as the Royal Guard took the plate back from her for safe keeping, she and Elena began walking together, hand in hand, back toward the city square. They'd been through quite the little adventure, but their date wasn't over yet, and they hoped that they could spend a much calmer night together now that the plate had been returned.
"Naomi, I was thinking about earlier... why I'm always more worried about things than you are."
"Hmm?"
"Well, I think the reason might be because... and don't take this the wrong way, but... I've got the whole kingdom to worry about, and most of the time, you only get really worried when I'm in danger. I'm not saying you don't care about the kingdom, it's just... maybe taking on all that responsibility is why I'm always freaking out?"
Naomi smiled and shook her head softly.
"It's not that I don't care about the kingdom just as much as I care about you... I am the chancellor, after all. It's just... you spend so much time worrying about everyone... and helping everyone, and giving so much of yourself for everyone, that sometimes you forget to look out for yourself, you know? So that's why I spend more time worrying about you than about the kingdom. Avalor's got you, and you're strong enough to protect everyone... but someone's got to look out for you, and that's what I'm here for. I guess the reason I'm not always freaking out about you the way you sometimes freak out about Avalor is that... I know you can take care of yourself, usually... I have faith in you, Elena. So... whenever I worry, I just remember how strong and smart you are, and it usually calms me down. Usually."
The two stopped walking, and Elena turned to face Naomi, starting to realize why Naomi was always so calm. She held Naomi's hands in hers, and raised them up to her lips, kissing them softly.
"You're just as strong and smart as I am," said Elena. "Maybe even smarter."
"No way I'm smarter than you... maybe I have a slightly better intuition, but you're way better at thinking things through."
"Today I just sort of leapt after that guy," said Elena. Naomi replied with a snicker, and looked into Elena's eyes, her affection clearly visible.
"Sometimes it's best to just go with your gut," said Naomi.
"Like the first time I did this?" Elena replied, leaning in and kissing Naomi passionately. Naomi returned the kiss, reaching up and running her hands through Elena's hair for a moment before the two parted.
"Yeah," said Naomi, smiling. "Like that."
"Next time something like that happens with the thief, I'll try not to worry so much," said Elena, continuing to hold Naomi's hands in hers, and looking into her eyes as if to make a promise. "I'll let the guard handle it, I'll only get involved if I absolutely have to. I'll try not to take on so much of everyone's burden..."
"And I'll keep watching your back, like I always do," replied Naomi. "You can trust me to let you know if you need to jump in."
"Thanks, Naomi... I can trust you with anything."
The two kissed again, a quick smooch on the lips before returning to their walk, the sun setting behind the square as the festival continued down the road. It seemed that they couldn't even enjoy a date without being thrust into an adventure, but sometimes, the adventure was the date... and they knew there'd be many more to come.