Yay for the final chapter! This was so much fun to write, and I hope that you all like it. Thank you all for the reviews I really appreciate them!
As Yuuri walked the castle halls, he noticed that Wolfram had been missing more and more frequently the last few days. It seemed that whenever Yuuri felt like seeing him, he was nowhere to be found. The king had already asked Conrad and Gunter if they had seen him today, but if they had, they didn't reveal it. Yuuri was beginning to wonder if he had somehow upset the blond again. It really wouldn't have surprised him if Wolfram had overreacted about something and decided to ignore him, but normally when Wolfram was upset everyone knew about it.
Yuuri decided to head to Wolfram's room to see if he had shut himself in, when he heard a noise to his left. He turned to look down the same hallway that he had seen Wolfram hiding something in the week before. He started to call out to the blond, then didn't.
He crept closer to the room and noticed that it was shut, someone was rummaging around inside. Suddenly there was a sound of breaking glass and a panicked gasp.
"Oh no! Damn it! Great… there is no way to fix this one either. Organizing this place is taking too long, and I keep breaking things…" Wolfram's voice was muffled, but pretty easy for Yuuri to understand. The blond started sweeping up the pieces of a vase he had knocked off of a table. He had been working on organizing his creations for the last three days, and it was very nearly done. Yuuri pressed his ear against the door and listened for anything else the blond may say. There was silence for a while, but then Wolfram started singing to himself.
Yuuri blinked, never having thought that the blond was the type to sing, but the stubborn prince wasn't half bad. He couldn't understand any of the words since the song was obviously in the Mazoku language.
"Guess there are a lot of things I don't know about Wolfram. I didn't know he could paint even though his works are all over the castle, he has tons of battle scars that I never noticed even though we have taken tons of baths together, and now he can sing…I really am oblivious." Yuuri sat down in front of the door and listened to the blond sing.
"Maybe I should take some time to get to know him…" Yuuri whispered to himself, letting his eyelids close. It wasn't long before sleep took hold of the young king.
"That's enough for today; I should be able to finish up tomorrow if I work most of the day." Wolfram nodded to himself and dusted off his hands. He walked over to the door and opened it, Yuuri fell backwards into the room and Wolfram jumped up in surprise. Yuuri woke with a start, and stared up at the angry blond.
"Yuuri! What the hell are you doing here?" Wolfram inquired. Yuuri laughed nervously and sputtered out an excuse.
"Uhm…I was just passing by and I heard you singing, I sat down to listen and I fell asleep." Wolfram turned several shades of red.
"You could hear me?"
"Yeah…" Yuuri said standing up to face Wolfram, then blinked as he noticed what room he had fallen into.
"Is this your art studio?" Yuuri asked. Wolfram gasped, obviously realizing that Yuuri had just learned about his secret room. He had to get Yuuri out of there and quick. Wolfram grabbed Yuuri's shoulders and tried to push him back saying,
"Yes, now get out! Don't look at anything!" Yuuri, too curious for his own good, ducked under Wolfram's grasp and walked into the room as the blonde fell forward a few steps before whipping around to yell at him.
"Yuuri! I said get out!"
"But Wolfram, I want to see this. Wow is that lady Cecilie?"
Damnit! I didn't want you to see it yet! I said I would show it to you the day you fell in love with me! This isn't how it was supposd to happen! Too late now…I guess I have no choice.
"Yeah, I painted that a few years ago, there is one for everyone in the castle."
"Really? You painted everyone?"
"Yes."
"Even me?"
"Yuuri you saw yours a week ago remember?"
"Oh yeah…"
"Well, I did paint one more of you. One you didn't pose for." Wolfram mused to himself. Yuuri blinked and faced the blond.
"Really? Where is it?" Yuuri questioned, Wolfram rolled his eyes.
"You were staring up at it when you tumbled into the room." Yuuri gawked for a second, and then looked up above Wolfram's head, sure enough; there was a painting above the doorframe. The gold encrusted frame held a portrait of Yuuri dreaming contentedly in his bed, curled up with the blankets to his chin.
"That looks just like me! When did you paint this?"
"About two years ago…" Wolfram said in a distant voice.
"Why did you paint me sleeping?"
"Because I had never painted a sleeping person before, and because you look most happy around me when you are asleep." Wolfram answered honestly. This struck Yuuri hard. I only look happy around him when I am asleep?
"It's really good Wolfram, You could do this professionally." Yuuri changed the subject, Wolfram nodded.
"I do, in my spare time; I paint sceneries and other things to sell to vendors. It doesn't pay much, but a little extra money now and then is worth it."
"Oh, Why are you so good at everything?" Yuuri asked, Wolfram blinked.
"Good at everything?"
"Yeah, you can paint, you can use magic, you are a masterful swordsman, you sing, you can run around the castle hundreds of times without breaking a sweat, and you saved my life at least a dozen times. You are good at everything."
"Not everything Yuuri. There is still one thing that I have yet to accomplish."
"What's that?" Yuuri asked. Wolfram blinked, not wanting to have said that out loud.
"N-nothing, just forget I said anything." Yuuri eyed him warily, but let it drop.
"Well, I guess I've finally shown it to you huh? I've showned you more than anyone has ever seen about me. My fondest memories reside here; I try to paint them all so I never forget." Wolfram said mostly to himself, pretending to be occupied with a small sculpture of a dragon that looked vaguely familiar to Yuuri.
That's right; he said that this place held his fondest memories…his family, the castle… Yuuri looked up at the painting of him again. Fondest memories…my happiness while sleeping…really? That is a fond memory? But I sleep that way every night, why would he have to worry about forgetting that?
Suddenly it occurred to him. He still thinks that I will leave him. That he will end up alone…I guess I mean a lot to him, well, I know I mean a lot to him. He tells me all the time, but I guess I never realized just how much before now.
"I think you should get rid of it." Yuuri concluded.
"Get rid of what?"
"The painting of me,"
Wolfram looked confused.
"Why?"
"I sleep like that every night; you don't need that as a memory." Wolfram looked mildly upset.
"Don't go acting like you have the intention of staying with me forever Yuuri, I know that you never wanted to be engaged. I want to remember you even after you decide to leave me." Yuuri blinked, hurt slightly by the words.
"Who said that I was going to leave you?"
"You aren't?"
"I wasn't planning on it. I mean, it's weird being engaged to a guy and all, but I've kinda gotten used to it. I never really noticed how much you care about me until I saw this. You tell me all the time that you love me, but it never really sunk in until I realized that you've feared me leaving you for two years now. I swear it to you now that that will never happen."
Yuuri walked over to Wolfram and took the Pochi statuette from his hands. He placed it on the table, and looked into the emerald orbs that were always so full of love, love that belonged to no one else but Yuuri, love that he had always had access to, but had never taken. Yuuri wasn't oblivious to it anymore, and he would take as much as he could get, for as long as he could get it.
Wolfram had been trying so hard to hold back his tears, but as Yuuri embraced him, he let them fall. They stayed that way for a while, just glad to be holding on to something so special. This was a memory neither would ever forget.
Yuuri backed up and smiled, Wolfram returned the gesture.
"What do you know…I was right," Wolfram said with a chuckle as he took Yuuri's hand and pulled him out of the room. The blond locked the door as Yuuri donned a confused look.
"Right about what?" Yuuri questioned.
"Nothing." Wolfram said, smiling to himself as they walked back towards their room. Wolfram had been correct earlier that week when Yuuri had heard him fall. This day, the day that he had shown Yuuri the room of his fondest memories, had been the day that Yuuri had fallen in love with him.
Ok, so I know that I did not include a kiss in this last chapter of My Fondest Memories, but I just couldn't see it fitting in. So for all you die hard Yuuram fans, I threw this last little snibbit on the end. ^^
That night they had shared their first kiss, and that was another moment that would never be forgotten. One, because it had been so special… and two, because Annisuna had just come up with a new invention called Mr. Instant Painting, which looked suspiciously like an instant camera from earth that Yuuri had lost a few months earlier, and passed out the picture to everyone in the castle, and several people throughout the kingdom. Their relationship had already gone public, so Yuuri couldn't think of a better time to renew his proposal and begin the wedding plans.
Yay for happy endings! Thank you to all my loyal fans! I'm glad to finally finish this one, even though it was so much fun to write. If anyone has any ideas or starts that you would like me to consider, feel free to let me know in a PM. I have some ideas for my Subtle Inspirations piece and will be starting on those next. Review please! I really enjoy hearing what you all think. So if you could just click the button and drop a few words I would love you forever!
