Okay people!
You have spoken. The winning vote goes to CINDER! I wouldn't have minded writing either POV, but it is a democracy so... And I also have a problem. Usually when I read a book, a character's eye colour is the most important defining feature for me but in the case of Cinder, Marissa Meyer seems to have never described her eye colour. I know that the book never says because I have read both Cinder and Scarlet at least ten times to ready myself for writing this fanfic. Most Lunar chronicles fanfic usually describes her eyes as either green and brown so I'm not sure... They are kinda contradictory. Also, I was thinking of doing some kind of Christmas themed chapter on Cinder and Kai, but I don't know if the Eastern Commonwealth even celebrates it anymore. What do you think? Anyway, enough of me blabbing.
Enjoy!
Kai was right in front of her. For a moment, Cinder wondered if he was a mirage, a vision conceived as a by-product of her own delusions and fantasies. To make sure, Cinder blinked. Unlike when she usually used glamour, there was no telltale orange light flashing at the corner of her vision. He stood frozen, just as startled as she was. Trembling, Cinder let Ginger drop to the ground.
Wolf gave her an apologetic look. "Sorry, I didn't have time to comm you."
She was heating up in an accelerated rate, her breaths coming in uneven gasps. Wolf nudged her as she stood stock-still, staring at Kai. "Your glamour is wavering," he murmured. "Control yourself." Cinder squeezed her eyes shut and concentrated, but Kai's presence was scattering her brain cells. He's here. He's here. He's here, her brain chanted. INCREASING LEVELS OF NERVOUSNESS AND APPREHENSION. COOLING PROCEDURES IMMOBILIZED. SYSTEMS OVERHEATING. BREATHING EXCERCISES RECOMEMMENDED. ONE...TWO...THREE... Her glamour was working against her.
Cinder gulped in oxygen. A headache was pulsing behind her eyes and she pressed her hands to her face. "Cinder, are you alright? Cinder..." Someone seemed to be saying. Kai? Ginger?
"Is it one of your panic attacks again?" Wolf asked worriedly, but it was as if he was saying everything through a sheen of water. Blurred and indistinct. Ginger felt her forehead with a small hand and hissed, pulling back.
"Too hot, she's overheating." Cinder swayed, and opened her eyes. The snow reflected the sun's rays almost blinding her in its intensity. The ground was swinging like a pendulum and Wolf, Ginger and Kai all blurred together into one big blob. She swayed again and would have fallen if it weren't for Wolf who caught her. Bundling her up, he jerked his head for the others to follow. Wolf led them to the safety of the alley Cinder had left them just an hour before. Kai reached for her, his face etched in concern but Wolf whisked her away.
"You can't touch her yet. She's too hot, and you're not exactly helping her by being here," he snapped. He laid her down gently, against a tower of crates and stood up. "Cinder is my first priority. She is my queen and millions of her people are relying on her to stay strong, to lead our people on the right paths. We had wanted to surprise her with this vacation to get her to unwind in a place that she's familiar with but you are holding her back." Kai threw his hands up in the air.
"I know she's important. It's not like I'm going to endanger her or anything. I have no idea why she just collapsed when she saw me. She-"
"You want to know why?" Wolf snarled. "She can't focus when you are around. You are the only thing she sees. The only star in her orbit. When she loses concentration and gets nervous, the queen gets panic attacks spanning from her glamour. Cinder might be powerful but-"
"And she is right here," Cinder said groaning and holding her head. They paused and looked down. There was a pile of muddy slush where Cinder had rested her metal hand. Ginger hugged the slender queen around the waist as she stood up. She braced a hand on the crates as she tested her wobbly legs. Cinder gave a sigh of relief when she didn't crumple back down. "It was merely a small one, Wolf. They won't kill me." Wincing, she rubbed her temples. "And my headache is almost gone." Wolf tapped his foot rapidly, a nervous tic.
"Should I call Cress and Scarlet? And that wasn't small. It was one of your biggest ones yet. Maybe-" Cinder shook her head.
"They will only worry. His Majesty just startled me, that's all. It's fine, Wolf. You can go back to the hotel. I will follow after I clear things up with Ka- I mean His Majesty, here. I'll be back by six as promised. " Wolf shook his head.
"What if you get another one of those?" he demanded. "Who'll take care of you?"
Kai glared at her guard. "I will."
Wolf snorted and began to protest again but Cinder cut him off.
"I will be absolutely fine. I have to show Ginger around anyway. She will know to comm you if there is anything amiss." Ginger gazed up at her father with her bright, luminous eyes, pleading.
"Please, Daddy? I want to go with Aunty Cinder." She twined her short arms around Cinder's waist. "I'll watch her, promise!"
Wolf sighed. "Fine, but no later than six," he grumbled.
"Yay!" Ginger sang. "Thank you, Daddy!" Casting another glower at Kai, Wolf bent to kiss Ginger goodbye.
"Be good for Cinder, okay?" Ginger grinned mischievously and waved bye. Wolf stalked off. Probably to relay these series of events to Scarlet. Cinder cringed. She was not looking forward to the lecture that would certainly await her when she got home.
When it became impossible to avoid him any longer, Cinder turned slowly. Kai was staring at her open-mouthed, eyes dazed. He stretched a hand toward Cinder and took her in slowly, from the top of her earmuffs, down her face, tracing every contour, every angle. Kai's soft fingers brushed her cheekbone, swiping at a loose strand of glossy hair. He frowned and tucking the offending item behind her ear. Kai's hands travelled lower, his thumb stroking the stuttering pulse at her neck. Cinder gave a quivering sigh and involuntarily leaned into his touch, lashes fluttering closed, momentarily forgetting herself and the line she had used to hold herself at bay for so long. Kai's arms wrapped around her waist pressing her close. He buried his face into her hair and breathed deeply. She let herself melt into him. Closing the space between their bodies, just to feel him again. The hug lasted a long time.
"Aunty Cinder?" Ginger squeaked, after a too long moment. Kai shoved her away from him so fast that Cinder nearly smashed against the alley wall. He ran his fingers through his hair and gripped the ends, eyes wide and more than a bit furious.
"You glamoured me, again?" His voice shook, trembling with all the things he wanted to say but knew he couldn't. Cinder blinked, head spinning. How had it come to this? Ginger spun on him.
"She wasn't glamouring you," she declared heatedly on Cinder's behalf. "You were the one who was taking advantage of her weakness so soon after her panic attack! If she were glamouring you, I would have been able to feel and see it as well." Kai glared at her.
"She's your aunt. Of course you would take her side."
"I do not lie!" Ginger stomped her foot, slush splashing up and onto Cinder's coat. The water droplets darkened the emerald green wool.
"Please!" Cinder shouted. "Stop! Please!" She clutched her head, which was now pounding like an anvil, and sank down to the ground. Cinder drew her legs up to her chest to conserve warmth and shivered. "Please," she said again, realizing how loud she was earlier. "Can we just stay silent for a while?"
Ginger, dismayed, crouched down beside her. "Sorry, Aunty." Cinder didn't look up to see what Kai would do. When Cinder regained control of herself, she stood up slowly to see Kai looking at her silently, condemning her with a single glance.
"Ginger is telling the truth," Cinder said testily, "if I had glamoured you, that's what Ginger would have seen as well, or at least she would have been affected. I had stopped my glamour as soon as the attack started." She tried for a smile."It's hard to use bioelectricity when you are sick from using it too much."
"Using it too much?" Kai said scathingly. "Isn't that great." Cinder met his gaze without shame.
"I don't walk the streets of New Beijing without protection, Your Majesty. After the Blackcrest fiasco, it wouldn't have been the best idea to show my face. My glamour may attract... attention, but it also diverts the focal point away from me. In a way, it just makes it easier for people to see me, then forget that I am here. It doesn't work for people who know to look for me. The reason you saw me was probably because you were looking for me in the first place." Cinder stepped toward him.
"Don't blame me for using my glamour when you have never seen the full extent of my powers. And you probably never will since you are already so disgusted with me for displaying such a minor bit of it. I am so sorry for intruding on your country. I am sure it will never happen again." Cinder swept past him. "Ginger, come."
Kai snatched her wrist and held it. Her skin immediately warmed where he had touched it. They eyes met fully for the second time that day. His voice was a husky rumble as he said, "So you weren't controlling me five minutes ago?" Cinder's eyes flashed.
"I would never, ever do that to you," she spat. "I'm sorry you don't believe me. Ginger and I will not bother you again." Cinder turned to go but his next words stopped her.
"I never said I didn't believe you," Kai paused. "I was just surprised. I understand why you felt the need to use it and I don't blame you. Well, maybe a little, but I can't help myself. You run a country as well, you should know more than anyone how it feels when there is a person you have thought of as an enemy since forever, who tries to threaten your citizens. It's hard to break stereotypes like that."
"Are you quite done?" Cinder asked. She trained her gaze on the graffiti strewn alley wall and fought to keep her breaths even. She inhaled sharply, trying not to let those insensitive words sear into her memory. It didn't work. Cinder tried not to snarl her next words. "You think of me as the enemy? And you're trying to justify why you think me as an enemy? I'm sorry but friendship doesn't work like that." Kai spun her around before she could march away.
He chewed on his lip. "Sorry, I implied the wrong thing. I just meant-"
"I know what you meant. You wanted to say that Lunars have been untrustworthy and evil beings for all time, so there's no reason to think that I am different from the rest of them. There's no reason that Ginger would be different. Well, news flash, I'm Lunar too, so you are just lumping me in with Levana and the others. How is that fair? All the things I have done for both the Earthen Union and Luna. They meant nothing?" Cinder's eyes burned, but remained dry. Kai softened and grabbed her hands, metal and all, and squeezed gently.
"Everything you have done was the right thing. You did everything right. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have judged you for using your glamour when I didn't even know why." Cinder stared down at their clasped hands. Kai let go, embarrassed. "I would hate for us to end this on such a bad note. Please," he held his breath, "can I buy you a drink or better yet, go out to lunch with me? You still owe me a date and I want to explain some things." Cinder paused, processing his words then raised an eyebrow. Kai flushed, his cheeks going pink. "As friends of course."
"Of course," Cinder murmured. She looked down at Ginger. "What do you think? Shall we go to lunch with His Majesty here?" Ginger gave her a slow grin.
"I think we should. It will be quite interesting, don't you think?" Cinder grimaced at her.
"Yeah, if we manage to avoid tearing each other's throats out," she muttered.
Kai wanted to slap himself. What was wrong with him? First, he had stood frozen like an utter fool as Cinder made her appearance, then right after she got sick he accused her of glamouring him, which she apparently, had not. And as a finale to his idiocy, he had to offend the Queen of Luna by demanding that she leave and proclaiming that she was an enemy of the Eastern Commonwealth. He was never this bold with his mouth. He was supposed to be a politician, a mediator. Kai always thought before he used his mouth. In fact, the most important part of being in a position of power was the ability to use his brain. But with Cinder here, it felt like he could be himself without all that idle chatter used when he had engagements with the other world leaders. When Cinder was there, her eyes saw through everything. She saw right into the inexperienced little boy inside a man's body who tried to do his best even when everything was going wrong, even when everyone thought he was wrong. Cinder was the only one to know him, see the real him through all the protective walls he had built up against the rest of the world.
Cinder's glacial eyes swept over him, indignant anger shadowing her face. Please say yes, he pleaded silently, let me make it up to you. Cinder schooled her features into a blank, expressionless palette. She looked down at Carrot. "What do you think? Shall we go to lunch with His Majesty here?" Carrot grinned easily and flicked her gaze past Cinder to Kai.
"I think we should. It will be quite interesting, don't you think?" Cinder pressed her lips into a thin line and regarded him coolly.
"Fine." She took Ginger's hand and proceed to the mouth of the alleyway. Cinder held her chin high, with a regal tilt to her head. Kai felt a slight blooming pain near the base of his chest. This Cinder was not the old Cinder he knew. This queen will never be his Cinder. She will never turn back into that naive, stuttering mechanic he had fallen in love with so many years ago. But at the same time, she still was the same. Queen Selene had retained her old sarcastic humour, sharp wit and unselfish manner of living her life to serve others.
She had filled out a bit over the years, not the awkward, lanky girl mechanic, but into a svelte beauty and willowy grace. And though she still had her cyborg limbs, they were as a part of her as her quirky temperament. She walked as if she were afraid of no one. And with that knowledge, Cinder floated as much as she walked. So much was her confidence that it made people believe that she could do anything, conquer anyone. And Kai was jealous. Because she was perfect. Not physically or even emotionally perfect, but perfect in all the ways that mattered. And wherever she went, Cinder would attract fans, followers, and eventually a guy that would love her, cherish her for being her. The question was whether he would get to be that guy.
Kai's point of view was a bonus. Hope I didn't disappoint with this chapter. Reviewers have been asking me to reply in the views and comments, but I am not sure how. A lot of you guys don't actually have accounts on Fanfiction so I have no way of contacting you. Ummm... or maybe I just don't know how. Because if you have an account there should be a 'reply URL' in the email that notifies me of your reviews.
But it doesn't matter, you guys are all awesome and I appreciate you taking your time to write out one for me. *gives each of you a hug* Love you all! And keep it up.
Until the next chapter!
-Silverleaf