A/N: Hello fellow readers and writers, welcome to chapter 10 of Turning Pages. I just want to say thank you again to those who have been reading. It means a lot and I truly appreciate it. We have finally reached double-digits chapter and review wise. I think that deserves a round of applause. *claps happily* So, thank you people out there for being awesome and reading as well as reviewing. I enjoy writing so much and it has been a pleasure to share that love with everyone out there in the vast expanse of the internet. In any case, enjoy this chapter guys and girls.
I wake up that morning still sore from my bruises but I ignore them. Today is the day I get to see Vincent and nothing is going to ruin that for me. I dress in a pink dress with a tool skirt that flows from the waist in layers and sweetheart neckline. I do a simple braid in my hair and cover my bruises in makeup. I look in the mirror one last time before heading to the front doors. I walk there happily. I see Aaron waiting for me. He nods to the guard and we walk out into the cold.
The walk is silent. I grow lost in my thoughts but am brought out of them by his voice. "Where did you get that ring, Page?" he asks staring down at it. I realize I had been twisting it around my finger the entire time.
"I found it in one of my jewelry boxes. I've had it forever," I lie. He doesn't need to know everything about me. Aaron simply accepts my explanation and keeps walking. I look down at it and smile to myself. After a few moments we get close enough to the garden so that I can find my way but also so that Aaron has no idea where it is. "This is far enough. Just wait for me here until I return." I say and begin to walk.
"Where is he?" Aaron asks confused.
"He's around. Just wait here, I'll be back soon." I say finally. I keep walking and turning the ring around my chubby finger. I walk until I am faced with a familiar wall of forest. I say the words and my portal is opened. The garden looks as it always has. It's filled with beauty, light and today like many days I know it will be filled with much happiness. I look around and am unsettled by the silence. It's so quiet. I walk through the maze and as I'm walking I jump as I hear laughter ringing through the garden. I rush towards the sound. I find Vincent on the ground gasping desperately for air. He's fallen for the gardens trap. I see the look of shock and panic as he sees me. He reaches his hand out to me as he starts gasping harder and harder unable to take a decent breath. I rush over to kneel next to him.
"Vincent, I'm here. Please shush. Don't do this." I plead but he can't he's too far gone. I see his eyes start to close and his breathing slow. "No, no Vincent don't do this to me." I panic. I feel my eyes starting to water and I do the only thing I can do. I kiss him just as he did for me what seems like a long time ago. I know he's ok when I feel him kiss me back. When we let go I wrap my arms around him and say "You're such an idiot."
"Yeah but I'm your idiot and I'm afraid it's too late to get rid of me now." He says laughing and holding me close. "I missed You Page."
"I missed you too. Dream Vincent wasn't enough," I say letting him go and just staring into his beautiful grey eyes.
"It was the only way I could get to you. Ash came and told me what had happened. I was just going to break in the castle and kidnap you but he convinced me otherwise. He said he would knock me out if he had to because there was no way he giving you a dead boyfriend. You have a good brother Page." He says smiling brightly at me.
"Yeah I do." I say thinking of Ash. It was then that I remember how I had found him. I punch him in the arm and he just stares at me confused. "You're an idiot and therefore you get punched for doing something so stupid," I say firmly.
"In my defense it wasn't completely my fault. I was just upset. I missed you and then I grew some sort of angry/forlorn mixed type of emotion. I'm not even sure how to describe it. I just know I was feeling down because I wanted to see you; for real see you and I mean I didn't even get to purpose to you the way I wanted. It was all making me very depressed and then the garden started working its magic."
"It sounds like it was completely your fault." I say teasing.
"It's only partly my fault the other half is this darn garden that I love for some odd reason and this Court which therefore causes the one girl I love to be torn away from me. Lucky for me she is smart and somehow found a way to break from their icy clutches." He says kissing my cheek. "How did you get here anyway?"
I almost don't want to explain. I know he'll take it the wrong way. "I had to make a deal with Aaron." I almost whisper.
"Page, what did he ask for?" He wonders with a worried expression.
"I owe him nothing. He's taking me to and from you all for nothing. He also promises that I will be safe on these trips and he will tell no one."
Vincent just stares at me a moment before saying "Why is he doing this? What is he getting out of it?" I just shrug. That was a better option than answering. I don't want to know what Vincent would do if he found out the truth. I inflicted enough pain on Aaron as it is. "I won't worry about his motives too much. I'm just glad to have you with me," he says rubbing his finger across my ring. "Page, it's very important that you keep this ring on," he says growing serious. "The ring is how I was able to come and see you in your dreams. I gave it to your brother and he put it on you while you were sleeping. Would I have preferred to put it on you myself? The answer is yes but I couldn't enter the castle since Mab has banned me from coming to see you," he says staring down at it. "I really wanted to purpose to you in person but I didn't know if I would ever get the chance and I didn't want to risk never being able to say it to you. If I had known today would happen I would have waited."
I smile and say "Well I'm here now. Show me how it would have gone." I take off my ring and hand it to him. He looks up at me and smiles. His smile is so unique. You can even see it shining in his eyes. "I have a question though." He nods and I continue to say "What did you trade to get a magical ring that allows you to enter someone's dream?"
He runs a hand through his hair and says "I had to trade with a Cat whom I now owe a favor. He can call in that favor anytime and I don't know what it will be. Don't worry Page, it won't be like our firstborn or anything it's just he may need me to do something for him someday." I punch him in the arm again but harder this time. "Wow I leave you for a few days and you come back to all abusive and violent," he says rubbing his arm.
"You were being reckless. Why would you engage in a deal where he could ask you anything?"
"Because it meant I would get to have you closer to me. That's all I wanted. If I had gone with my first idea I would be dead or worse." He says putting his hand on my cheek.
"I would have slapped you corpse." I say blankly which makes him laugh.
"I love you too Page," he says kissing my cheek. "Anyway, I have necklace with half of the same charm. That's why I'm able to reach you. As long as you keep the ring on I'll always be near you."
"I'd like that. I needed you these past few days," I say taking his hand and giving it a squeeze.
"Well now I'm here and I believe we are supposed to be getting engaged. How much longer do you have until Aaron has to take you back to the castle?"
"As long as I like, he won't go anywhere unless I tell him to." I say confidently.
"Well in that case let the proposal scenario begin," he says as he takes my shoulders and spins me around until I'm dizzy and need to lean on him for support. "Now it's like the past never happened," he whispers in my ear. I wish it were true. He puts his finger under my chin and lifts my head up to look at him. "There's something I wanted to show you, just wait here." He kisses my forehead and then goes off into the maze. I smile and sit on a nearby bench and wait for him. I look down to admire my ring when I remember why it isn't there. It's as if it never happened, I think to myself. He comes back and from the way he stands I see he has something hidden behind him.
"What is it?" I ask excited.
He raises an eyebrow and says "Page, what are you talking about? I don't have anything behind my back."
I laugh and say "Yes you do. It's right here.." I get up and try to grab whatever is behind him but when I look there is nothing there. He holds me close to show me that he has nothing in his hands.
"Told you Page, I have nothing to hide." He says smiling mischievously
"What did you do with the surprise Vincent?"
"I did nothing." He says kissing my forehead. "But like I said, I do have something to show you." He gently takes me by the shoulders and turns me around.
When I do turn see a painting of me sitting on a bench reading. I look beautiful. I know he definitely enhanced some of my features but I still think it's nice that he sees me that way. I'm sitting in the garden on the very bench where the painting now sits. I'm wearing a satin, green, off the shoulder gown. Of course he puts me in his favorite color, I think. I don't mind because he painted me so well in it. My hair is as dark and long as possible and it just blends well with my dark skin. He put a rose behind my ear, my hair over my shoulders and a smile on my face. There is a light shining down on me and on the flowers that cover the maze wall behind me. In my hands I'm holding his book of poetry. It's this detail that brings the biggest smile to my face. It is the most beautiful thing I have ever seen.
"I love it!" I say after staring at for several moments. "I love it so much," I say I as I give him a small kiss. "And I love you. It's wonderful Vincent."
He smiles down at me and says "I'm glad you like it. I had to do it from memory since I didn't have you to pose for me. I just remembered the way you looked the last time I saw you reading. I got a little inspired. Then everything just happened. I decided to make it about us as well." He looks so happy as he stares at his creation. I wish I had something for him, I think. Then it comes into my head. My poem. I'll give him my poem.
I turn and wrap my arms around him. "I have something for you. It's at the castle. I'll bring it to you next time I see you."
He tilts my head up to face him and holds my cheek in his hand and says "Your love is enough."
"Don't be silly. I made it when I was away from you. I want you to see it."
He smiles and says "Alright. I bet it's wonderful."
I nod and then he says "Okay so…next we would go outside the garden. Follow me." He offers me his hand and I take it. We walk for a while to all the places we had been in our time together. My favorite is the fountain. Its water stopped up and just crystalized in place. We sit together like we did upon our last visit with his back against a tree and my back against his chest and his arms around me and the sound of his voice in my ear as he reads to me.
"In the glad springtime when leaves were green,
O merrily the throstle sings
I sought, amid the tangled sheen,
Love whom mine eyes had never seen,
O the glad dove has golden wings
Between the blossoms red and white,
O merrily the throstle sings
My love first came into my sight,
O perfect vision of delight,
O the glad dove has golden wings
The yellow apples glowed like fire,
O merrily the throstle sings
O Love too great for lip or lyre,
Blown rose of love and of desire,
O the glad dove has golden wings
But now with snow the tree is grey,
Ah, sadly now the throstle sings
My love is dead: ah! well-a-day,
See at her silent feet I lay
A dove with broken wings
Ah, Love! ah, Love! that thou wert slain -
Fond Dove, fond Dove return again."
"That was Oscar Wilde?" I ask.
"Yeah, it has a sad ending but up until that I think it's beautiful," he says.
"I don't know; I love it with the ending. I like to think not that she died suddenly from like disease or whatever but that they grew old together and that she just died first. Like the winter is just their old age. Then, it's not so sad. I mean then at least they got to spend a lifetime together. That, I think, is probably the best part of the poem."
"I think I just fell in love with you again." He says holding me tighter.
I laugh and say "I fall more in love with you every day. I'm just spreading my optimism on the subject. That's the only way I'm able to get through anything."
"Page, sing me a song please." He says suddenly.
"Where did that come from? Vincent, I can't sing." I say turning to face him.
"Everyone can sing, Page. Now, the question is whether or not you're any good but I shall be the judge of that." He says grinning.
"Yeah if I was actually going to sing for you but I am not so..." I say.
"Please Page," he says making his eyes go wide like a puppy. He looks so cute.
"Yeah…no," I say turning back around.
"Oh well you leave me no choice," he says stretching his arms out wide.
"Wait! Vincent what are you.." I can't even finishe before he is upon me and I am laughing hysterically. "Hey! I'm ticklish! Please!," I try to croak out as I keep laughing.
"Yeah I know you are. Now, what about that song Page?" he says tickling my sides.
"No! I will never surrender!" I say laughing so hard my stomach hurts.
"Well I guess my fingers and your sides are going to become good friends. Unless of course you want to just say 'Vincent I would be happy to sing you a song'" he says smiling.
I continue to laugh until I say "Fine! I surrender! I surrender!"
He leans down and kisses me. "That's more like it Princess," he says and I punch him the arm. "Still with the violence I see but no matter; I win."
"For now you win. For now, but soon I will have my revenge." I vow to him.
"Oh really Page. Well, I shall anxiously await that day with baited breath but for now, my love, I believe you owe me a song." He says grinning mischievously.
"Fine. As you wish my love." I say dramatically. I run through all the songs I could be good at singing in my head before I finally find one that I like.
"Now I stared at you from across the room
'Till both my eyes were faded
I was in a rush I was out of luck,
Now I'm so glad I waited
You were almost there, almost mine
They say love ain't fair but I'm doing fine
I swear it's you
I swear it's you
I swear it's you that I've waited for
I swear it's you
I swear it you
I swear it's you that my heart beats for
And it ain't gone stop
No it just won't stop"
I go on happily singing him this song. It reminds me of times when I was in the real world and I would sing this in the shower or in the car but I'm happier singing it now. Vincent has become my world. So I sing it with as much emotion as I can. I want to let him know how much I feel with this song.
"You take this hand
You take this heart
Stir my bones from a thousand miles apart
It feels so cold
Without your light its ten shades of winter and I need the sun.
And I swear it's you
I swear you
I swear it's you I waited for
I swear it's you
I swear it's you
I swear it's you that my heart beats for
And it just won't stop
No it just won't stop
It just won't stop
Yeah yeah yeah oh and it just won't stop"
When I finish he just stares at me for a moment and then he smiles. "You sounded great Page!" he exclaims as he kisses my cheek. "It was beautiful," he says as I laugh and thank him. "You're a real show stopper you know that?"
"You flatter me, Vincent." I say laughing and lying down beside him again. "I wish I could stay with you like this."
He wraps his arms around me and says "I do too. Page, we have one last place on our journey."
"Where is it?" I ask curiously.
"Well that's a surprise my darling." He whispers in my ear.
We stand and walk to this new site. It's pleasant just being with him as he holds my hand and we finally just get to talk, not about the craziness around us but actually about us. We get to tease each other, talk about books and tell each other stories and just be there in the moment. It came to the point where I didn't want the walk to end. As long as I was with Vincent I could walk for miles with him. I just wanted to take this moment we had together in the forest of Tir Na Nog and bottle so I could always have it close to my heart. Soon we reach a frozen lake. What once may have been ripples in the water is now solid ice. Vincent takes my hand and leads me onto the ice.
"Vincent, I can't skate." I say already slipping.
He catches me and says "Hold onto me. I won't let you fall." I do hold onto him. Skating with him was like dancing with him. He never let me go and I felt warm all over. He always makes me feel this way. I grow confidence when I finally gain my balance and skate away from him.
I turn until I'm dizzy and then laugh and say "Vincent did you see that? I did it all on my own!" I yell to him like an excited child. He laughs and holds a thumb up to me. I continue to move on my own. I love it as I go faster and the cold air wipes around me filling my lungs with its iciness. It is the most wonderful thing in the world. One of the few things I actually enjoy about being Winter. Soon I feel a pair of hands at my waist and they continue to skate with me. He holds me in his arms for the last part until we come to a stop.
"Page, do you know why I took you on a journey today?" he says finally. I shake my head and he continues. "I felt like we had been through a lot together and before we begin something new we can always look back on where we've been. I mean say one day, and I hope this never happens to us, but one day you and I get into a fight and we both want to leave. I think if we can just go back to where it all began then we'll remember why we love each other. We'll remember a time when we would do anything for each other and then we could just come back here to this spot and remember the moment when we first said we would be each other's forever." He says as he gets down on one knee just like before. He takes my hand and says "Every beginning come from some other beginnings end. Now having seen our past beginnings we get to embark on a new exciting one. Page, there isn't anyone in the whole world I would rather jump into a new beginning with. I feel like I've been waiting my whole lifetime just to meet someone like you and now that we are together, I promise to always be by your side and love you fiercely until the end of my day and into whatever void that end may bring me to. I love you more than I have ever loved anyone in my entire life. Share in this new beginning with me. Page, will you marry me?"
At this point I don't even think I have to answer because he already knows. I smile and say yes. He places the ring on my finger and we kiss. This kiss is deeper and sweeter than any kiss we have shared before. It is long, hard and leaves us both breathless. We pull away but we don't let go of each other. We just hold each other for a while and I stare into his sparkling grey eyes and he stares into my brown ones, both of us perfectly content to be with each other.
"I love you." I say after a while. I say it yet it feels wrong. I feel like now after everything that's happened. 'I love you' doesn't explain the way I feel. 'I love you' being such a common and simple phrase cannot even begin to understand the immense emotion I feel for him. Nothing really could. There are no words for how I feel. The English language and all other languages coming before and after that will never be able to fully encompass what Vincent and I share right here and right now. 'I love you' isn't enough but it is all I have and therefore it is all I can say until my heart can provide another way for me to explain how I feel.
We soon walk back to the garden together. We lay down together in his garden bedroom. It is nice just lying next to the person you love. No words were spoken because none needed to be. I wrapped myself around him and he around me and soon I found myself falling asleep to the beating of his heart, the feel of his fingers through my hair and the sounds of his voice constantly whispering the simple words "I love you Page."
A/N: Hey guys, so that was fluffy. I love fluff personally. I thought why not give Page and Vincent a chapter with just them. I mean they just got engaged they deserve a little time to themselves don't you think. Don't worry I will kick back up the action next chapter, I promise. Anywho, what did you think? I really enjoyed writing this chapter so; I hope you enjoyed reading it. I'd like to give thanks to Oscar Wilde for providing me with the poem in this story: "From Spring Days to Winter (for music)" and I'd like to give credit to One Republic and their song "Won't Stop" I love both of those and I just had to use them. I am still waiting for that magnificent love poem for this story, that contest is still open so please post it in you review or pm me and I will give you credit and it will be in my story for all to enjoy. So please once again..HELP A SISTA OUT! I could really use some help here guys. I suck at poetry. I'm a storyteller for a reason. But I bet there are some great poets out there in fact I bet your all beautiful and smart and totally creative enough to write a poem for little ole me. *cue puppy dog eyes* As you can see I'm begging here. HELP ME! Please! Anywho, I really hope you enjoyed it and chapter 11 will be up soon. Thank you all for sticking it out with me this long. I love you people. Thanks from Maria and Page.