Hey everyone, these few next chapters will have guest apperance of my very first OC, Reine Kreiss (now Forrester) and her sister Gwen Kreiss (now Rosencrantz), and of course some of our beloved characters from ANB! Hope you guys will enjoy this!

Raelyn gazed at the view laid out before her. The grass, the dirt road… she took a deep breath—yes, this was the corner of her childhood. Back then, she would never have guessed that the world could be wider than this; but, now that she knew better, she could not be happier now that she came back. She put her luggage down and stretched her back, the satisfying cracking sound when she did that told her enough of how long the journey was. It was all worth it, though.

"Lynn!"

Her face brightened up and she dashed forward to hug Rex. "Rex!"

Her brother warmly hugged her, messed with her hair a bit, before looking up to her companion. "Klaus, you made it, too!"

Klaus picked up the luggage Raelyn left on the ground and smiled. "I don't think I'm the person you're waiting for the most."

There was a beat—almost unnoticeable—of silence before Rex grinned, rather nervously in Raelyn's opinion, and said: "Of course, I miss my baby sister more than I miss you. Otherwise, you're not her sugar daddy but mine!"

Raelyn struck Rex's rib with her elbow. "Stop with the sugar daddy jokes!"

Meanwhile, Klaus laughed easily. "You do have the taste for older people, I see."

Rex joined the laughter. "I guess it runs in the family."

This time, the veiled suggestion did not miss Raelyn. She had never heard of Rex dating, or at least seeing, anyone—but why the reference to his love life? And why it was Klaus, from all people, who made such reference, when she had no idea about it? Raelyn turned around and looked at the two men. "Is there anything you guys wanna tell me?"

"Tell you what, Raelyn?" Klaus asked back good-naturedly. "This town smells fresh and relaxing, that's one."

"Smell? Are you really talking about how this town smells? Gosh, you're just like her!"

"I'm a perfumer. Naturally, my nose is my sharpest sense."

The conversation then somehow turned into Klaus' most recent work. It just so happened that Klaus received a large commission for his crafts, and Rex was happy to know all about it. Raelyn knew that they were just trying to avoid her question, which slightly irked her—but she knew she would know whatever they were hiding from her sooner or later.

After Klaus checked in to the inn and dropped his luggage there, the three of them headed to the farmhouse. Along the way, Raelyn was filled with a mixture of excitement, anticipation, as well as nervousness. She was thrilled to go home, but she couldn't deny that she was rather worried about how the rest of her family would react towards Klaus. Nate wouldn't be likely to give Klaus a hard time if Klaus could get along well with both his siblings, and her mother was rather easy-going in terms of her social sphere, but her father… he could be something else.

Well, she was going to know how it went soon enough.

Everyone was out to the farm when they arrived. Her parents were tending to the animals, while Nate was watering the sprouts on their field. Nevertheless, when they noticed their arrival, the three of them dropped whatever they were doing and headed for where they were.

"Lynn!" her mother called. She was the first to arrive, hugging her tightly. Her gaze then fell towards Klaus; she studied him for a moment before extending her hand and smiled. "You must be Klaus."

Klaus took her mother's hand. "Pleased to be your acquaintance, Mrs. Forrester."

"Shush, Reine is fine!" she told him. She then introduced Klaus to the two men standing to her sides. "I heard you've met Rex, this is my eldest and his twin, Nate, and this is my husband, Neil."

Neil and Nate each shook Klaus' hand in silence, something that was totally expected from them. Raelyn noticed that her father did not let his eyes wander away too far from Klaus, however, and if Klaus felt the intensity of that gaze, he seemed to bear it just fine for the time being.

"Come on in and have some tea," Reine said, gesturing towards the house.

They all settled down around the dining table. Reine and Raelyn headed towards the kitchen to prepare the tea. Behind her back, Raelyn could hear Rex's voice asking some superficial, common questions to Klaus, which was answered in good nature by the raven-haired man. Raelyn knew that it was Rex's attempt to get Nate and Neil talking to Klaus—unless you really knew the two of them personally, their gaze could be very intimidating—but since Raelyn only heard Rex and Klaus' voices so far, the strategy seemed to be not very effective.

"He has kind eyes," Reine told her as they waited for the water. "I can understand why you chose to endure and wait for him."

Raelyn knew her mother always assessed someone from the 'feel' of their eyes. Seeing that Reine seemed to like Klaus' eyes relieved her. Nevertheless, Raelyn knew that it was hardly something to be celebrated about. "You don't really know him yet, Mom."

"True, which is why I plan to get to know him before Ana's wedding."

Reine took off the small tower she had been wearing around her neck and tucked it into her pocket. Just as they were about to put the cups and teapot on the tray, Raelyn heard Klaus' voice, loud and clear:

"Queen…?"

Raelyn swore her heart skipped a beat. The cup Reine was holding fell onto the floor, shattering to pieces. A moment later Raelyn heard the harsh sound of the chair being dragged and her father finally broke his silence:

"Who the hell are you?!"

Raelyn and Reine turned around to find Neil grabbing Klaus by his collar, pulling him up from his chair. Rex and Nate held Neil's arm to prevent him from doing anything harsher than grabbing Klaus' collar. From the corner of her eyes, Raelyn saw her mother touched the back of her neck. Raelyn was familiar with what was etched there; a small, golden tattoo of a crown. It was much like Klaus' own wolf tattoo; the crown tattoo served as her signature as what they called the 'Queen'—or so she heard.

"Dad!" Raelyn called out, rushing towards the dining room. "I can explain!"

"The only way he knew that name is by being in that world!" Neil retorted. He turned back to face Klaus and jerked him up more. "I swore if you tried to take advantage of my daughter—"

"DAD!"

Raelyn's yell forced Neil to turn his attention back at her. "I know who he is," she told him. "I know he was just like Mom."

"Are you telling me you knowingly bring an ex-gangster into this house?" Neil asked. "Are you telling me you want to spend your life with an ex-gangster?"

Raelyn couldn't believe her father's reaction. She glared at him, tears threatening to burst out at any moment. "Yes. And I thought you, from all people, would be able to understand."

She took a deep breath and did the one thing she thought made most sense at that moment: she ran.

Before she knew it, her legs brought her to the waterfall. She panted and decided to take a breather here. She had just caught her breath when she heard footsteps of someone else and smelled the scent of her father.

"Lynn."

She turned to find Neil, out of breath, slowly approaching her. "Can I sit next to you?"

Raelyn folded her legs and hugged them close, but did nothing to prevent Neil from sitting next to her. They sat on the edge of the cliff, facing the raging waterfall. "How did you find out?" he asked carefully.

"He told me."

Neil gave her a 'I-don't-believe-you' side glance, and after some seconds of resisting, Raelyn gave up: "We kinda ran into a situation—everything ended up well, though," she added quickly.

"Before or after you date him?"

"Before. He told me that his past was one of the reasons why he was reluctant to date me."

"As he should be."

"Dad!"

"I know how dangerous it is to be involved with an ex-gangster, sweetheart," Neil interjected her calmly. "Even after you stop being one, from time to time, the remnants of that life will come back and haunt you, especially if you had gone as far as your mother. It'll be hard on him—and whoever chooses to stay by his side. As your family grows, the fear will just grow—because the more people you care for. Even now, there are nights I couldn't sleep thinking what if I can't protect your mother, Nate, Rex or you from her past. From all my children, I don't want you to live in that kind of fear the most."

"Because I'm a girl?"

"Because you're my precious baby girl. You always will be."

Raelyn couldn't deny the warmth that seeped into her heart when she heard the old nickname her father used to call her by. She thought it would get old, especially after her father didn't really use as she grew up it in favor of 'Lynn' just like the rest of her family, but hearing it after long felt good.

"Still… I thought you could see it from my perspective," she confessed.

"The thrill of being with a bad boy? It will get old—even dangerous later on."

"Goddess, Klaus, bad boy?" Raelyn forced herself not to laugh. "You saw him, I'd never guessed he's an ex-gangster until he told me! I… I fell for him before I knew, and after I knew… my feelings don't change."

"Feelings will change," Neil insisted. "The only way to stay is—"

"To choose to love, I remember."

Neil nodded. "So, are you really telling me you choose him?"

Raelyn looked at her father and nodded. They just looked at each other, Raelyn never wavering in her resolve, until Neil sighed and scratched his head. "You're just as stubborn as your mom."

She smiled triumphantly. "I know you would understand, Dad."

"Oh, don't think this is over for him, yet," Neil told her. "You're so wrong to think so, sweetheart."

Yes, Reine is the Queen: the legendary gangster who taught Klaus how to fight.

Seems like Klaus and Raelyn are more related than they think they are... what a small world.

What is Neil planning to do to Klaus?

Stay tuned to find out!

Thanks for reading! Please rate and review ^^