The day after the wedding, Echo Town returned to its previous tranquility. Nevertheless, Raelyn's big family was still caught up in the "after party", cleaning up the area after yesterday's affair. From time to time, some townspeople came by and helped, and some brought food for them, but mostly it's the family who did the clean-up, as it should be. Klaus helped them out, too, because he felt it was the right thing to do and he knew nobody else besides Raelyn's family in this town, anyway; he had nothing better to do. He was taking the stacked-up chairs to the side together with Nate and Rex when Reine casually approached him, "Come with me for a sec," she said.

Klaus nodded and finished his last round before following Reine. She took him to a quiet corner of the field, heading towards another woman who was sorting out the decorations into a neat row. Klaus remembered her to be the bride's mother. "Gwen," Reine called.

The woman turned around and greeted them with a smile, "So, is this Neil's newest rival? He's been talking with Allen, the most I've seen them chat in a few years."

Reine chuckled. "This is Klaus—" she turned to him, "and Klaus, this is Gwen."

The twin gene sure is strong in this family, Klaus noted inwardly. Perhaps—

"She's why I left my old life behind."

"Wha… why? Did someone attack her?"

"No…" Gwen trailed off.

"Not yet. Someone figured out my first name," Reine explained. "It's only a matter of time before they figured out the rest of it."

"So you decided to leave sooner than too late."

Reine nodded. "The farm was an old property of our family, and this town was a complete run-down, we thought why not?"

"Has anyone ever found out?" Klaus asked carefully. "Anyone… from your past?"

Reine nodded. "Some tracked me down. Knocked on my door at wee hours. Took them to the woods. I wanted to end everything there; them, the Queen… and myself…. I'm sure you'd understand."

For a moment, he remembered Craig. It felt eerily similar; so he nodded grimly at her. "And then he came." Klaus followed Reine's eyes to find Neil, who was taking down one of the stalls. "We've known each other, but you couldn't exactly call us 'friends'. He's very reserved—still is—and I… I guess I kinda gave up hope on things like romance and happy endings. But… he came for me, and now… I can be here helping my sister cleans up after her daughter's wedding. I couldn't hope for anything else."

"Has there been any time that… you're afraid all these good things will end?"

"Every day, but that's all the more reason I have to cherish them." Reine put her hand on his shoulder. "Courage is not when you have no fear. It is when you have fear, but you stand up to it and look up ahead."

As it turned out, Echo Town was not too far away from his own hometown. Luckily, Raelyn agreed to extend their 'vacation' to visit his hometown as well, so Klaus did not waste any time in making all of the necessary arrangements.

One day of a trip on a carriage, and there he was, back to the place he thought he would never see again in his lifetime.

His hometown was slightly bigger than Echo Town, or Oak Tree Town; it was big enough to no expect people to know each other as well beyond their names. However, it seemed that they still remembered his family—or at the very least, his family name. When they checked in to the inn, the innkeeper was stunned when he told him his name. "…Adler?"

"Yes, Adler," Klaus repeated rather hurriedly.

The innkeeper took another look at him before handing him two keys. Klaus grabbed both and gave one to Raelyn. They headed to their rooms, next to each other, and Klaus was about to just go inside when Raelyn gently held his sleeve. He turned around and she smiled, "Good night, Klaus."

It was just a smile, and a simple good night, but somehow it was all that he needed to wash all those bad feelings that he felt earlier away. Without even him realizing it, he smiled back at her. "Good night, love."

That being said, Klaus found it impossible to sleep that night. He quietly left the inn and went out to the empty streets. His mind began to race, was it this empty when those scumbags found their house? Was it this quiet when they broke into the door and made their way in?

When he stood in front of his old house, he began to doubt his reasons for bringing Raelyn here. His doubt only worsened when he stepped into the house and turned on the lantern. All of the furniture was covered in dusty cloth; the bloodstain was left untouched on the carpet as well as the wall; spider webs already took over most of the corners of the house. He could still remember how his days used to pass in this house, but he doubted that Raelyn could see that, with the house being more like a ghost house now.

His heart skipped a beat when he heard the door creaked open. Klaus immediately turned on his heels and raised the lantern. "Who's there?!" He held his breath when Raelyn's small face showed up, looking at him rather worriedly. "Raelyn?"

"I… I heard you walked out from your room. I asked the innkeeper for the Adler's family house."

"Ah, I see…"

He watched as her magenta eyes began to scan her surroundings. Raelyn took a tentative step inside and made her way to a nearby cabinet where some of the old family photos were put. She took one of the frames and dusted it off. She smiled when she saw the picture that was uncovered. It was then he remembered his dream; Raelyn was also there, calling for him.

Klaus took a deep breath; this was not the way that he had imagined it to be, but things rarely went the way he expected them to be with Raelyn—for better or worse.

"Raelyn," he called, trying to sound as calm as possible.

She turned and looked at him, "Yea?"

"Do you remember the day after Craig… when you carried me to the clinic?"

She nodded.

"I… had a dream. I was back here, and my parents were here, even my sister was here. She was this adorable little girl, asking me to stay and play with her. My family went to the dining room, right over there, and sat around the table. Everyone was there, except for me. I was actually thinking of joining them, but then you were there. You stood here, in this room, appearing from the middle of nowhere. In the midst of fireflies, you stood there and called me and told me to call you Raelyn. My mother told me to go back… and when I saw you waiting for me in the clinic, I knew she wanted me to go back to you."

He walked slowly towards her, with his hand reaching into his pocket. He had been carrying it around for quite some time, waiting for the right time, and as ironic as it might sound, he felt that this was it. Right here, in the dusty room of his childhood and the beginning of his nightmare. Right here, in the life he had been torn away from and could barely see himself in anymore.

"After all that happened to me, my family, Iris' family, Nik… I gave up on happiness. I truly believed that I was cursed, that I should not love anyone. And then you came to Oak Tree Town, and somehow I couldn't help but to love you. I tried so hard to deny you, to deny myself from a dream with you… but I failed miserably. Raelyn, when you told me you loved me for what I was, you made me the happiest I could ever remember, and for each day I am reminded of that, my happiness could only grow as well…" Klaus went down on one knee and took out the blue feather, presenting it to her. "…now, would you give me the honor to be your husband?"

Iris enjoyed her morning tea while taking a look at the letters that were sent to her. Some fan mails, a letter from Rex—she couldn't help but to chuckle—and then a telegram from Klaus. She noticed the mark; it was sent from their hometown. Klaus did inform her that he was going to take Raelyn there, but what could possibly happen that Klaus hurried to send word to her?

Overcame by curiosity, Iris opened the message from Klaus first.

Iris,

Words alone are not enough to express my happiness. She agreed to be the Mrs.

46 chapters and here we are... Raelyn is to be Mrs. Klaus Adler!

Stay tuned for the wedding!

Thanks for reading! Tell me what do you guys think about this ^^