Chapter Seventeen

MS. VILLA

Hiding behind a column Eva held her hand over her mouth to contain her excitement at seeing the revelations of her handywork. The dumbfounded dreamy look on Mr. V's face was worth all the time and effort that she put into dressing Ashe up for the evening. She was already a beautiful person with her moonglow skin and dark hair and exotic features, but adding just the tiniest hints of eyeliner, mascara, and a little color to her lips really brought out her beauty. Though Eva was one to go to the nines and go a tad overboard for all of her projects, Ashe was not a project and preferred to be subtle and Eva played into that. Though she was far too pleased with herself by Mr. V's reaction towards her, Eva felt much more honored that Ashe loved it.

She waited until they had left to peek out from behind the column to see Eito with his arms crossed and his brow raised rather accusatively. "What?" She smirked with a shrug as she descended the stairs.

A cheeky grin crossed his face, those chocolate brown eyes full of knowledge of her habits, as he uncrossed his arms and reached out to her. "What did you do?"

"Whatever do you mean, my sweet Eito?" She purred as she laced her fingers together with his and caressed his cheek with her other hand.

"You are way too happy with yourself," he noted as he brought her hand to his lips and brushed a kiss to her lips. "Like you got away with something you know you shouldn't have."

"You wound me, sir!" She feigned an offended gasp and pressed her hand to her chest.

"Come now, darling." He pulled her closer and looked down at her. "What mischievous deed have you succeeded in?"

"Nothing mischievous at all." She clicked her tongue as she gave a shrug. "I merely assisted Ashe in preparing for her little outing with our employer."

"Most mischievous of all." He tutted with a smirk. "I thought we agreed we wouldn't meddle?"

"Did we?" She blinked her lashes up at him and earned a sigh from him. "I don't recall such things."

"Since your memory seems to fail you this evening, darling," he gently caressed her cheek and pulled her closer, "I shall forgive you this once."

"Only once?" She hummed.

"Perhaps twice," he conceded with a shrug, "however, I do not wish to think of our fellow Hosts this evening, my dear." He tucked a loose strand of magenta hair behind her ear. "We have the whole castle to ourselves and I don't wish to waste a moment of it."

He pressed a quick kiss to her lips before guiding her up the stairs where they would go to their room to enjoy the sparks of romance and intimacy. Eva could hardly wait to hear of the events that would occur this evening for Ashe, but now she wanted to enjoy her own eventful evening.

MR. V

The swirling pool of darkness from the portal ebbed away as they were greeted by the warm summer evening air of Louisiana. Tiana's Palace stood tall and strong in the bricks and all aglow with the lights outlining the entire building next to the pier. Its reflection glistened on the water next to the pier and made the lights look like sparkling gems. As per usual of the best restaurant in all of Louisiana, it was hopping with jazz music flowing out the windows and a long line of people filling out the doors. Mr. V could not help but feel at him, and as he smiled down at Ms. Scatter, he saw that her pretty little brow was furrowed. "Ms. Scatter, is there something the matter?"

"That is a very long line." Her eyes were glued to the crowd of people waiting in line to get inside.

"Oh, there's no need to worry, Scatter." He smiled and pulled out an RSVP card from his pocket. "I already made reservations because I knew that this was going to happen."

Her shoulders fell in relief and a smile of ease returned to her face. "How very smart of you."

"I know better than to try to be a walk-in here, don't tell me you thought I wouldn't have planned ahead?" He chuckled at her as she turned her face away, her cheeks dusting the palest shades of pink. He knew she didn't think so lowly of him, but he couldn't resist the tease, but he would be better since this was supposed to be a nice evening. "But we do need to hurry," He gently pulled her along, "or we'll lose the table."

She trotted along beside him and they walked past the ever-growing crowd in the red velvet ropes to a second and empty line at the front of the doors. A big burly bouncer dressed in a fitted suit stood with his arms crossed. He had just scolded the man in line about needing to be patient. It was only six o'clock and the poor bouncer looked as though he was very done, and he still had to be there for another four hours. He skimmed the crowd of people and when he made eye contact with Mr. V his face brightened. "V!" he bellowed and Ms. Scatter slightly jumped. "What are you doin' here?"

"Mal!" Mr. V held his hands out and they swapped handshakes. "My man, how ya been?"

"Same ole, same ole." He gave a shrug. "You sure picked a night ta come with yer date.'' He gave a wink to Ms. Scatter and she smiled politely. "Got yourself a pretty one, didn't ya?"

"Yes, she is very lovely in both brains and beauty." He gave her hand a quick squeeze to reassure her that everything was all right. "What is going on tonight?"

"Mrs. Tiana has released a new recipe," Mal smiled broadly and wiggled his eyebrows, "and it is selling almost as fast as her beignets."

"Now, brother, can you help a friend out?" He flashed his RSVP card and Mal's smile faltered slightly. "I made a reservation and my table is due soon."

"So it is." He nodded as he looked at the card. "Right then, head in and talk to the greeter. Al is working tonight, so he'll get you in real quick." The smile stayed on his face, but Mr. V could tell that something was wrong by his quick glances. "But hey, you need to be on your best behavior." He laughed nervously, "Mrs. Tiana is on the floor tonight."

Mr. V stiffened and there was no hiding it as he felt Ms. Scatter's glances. He thought he had planned the night carefully to avoid her. Some things just don't go the way you plan though; but it was definitely too late in the came to cancel the plans or change them. He'd just have to bite the bullet and make it through. "I'm always on my best behavior Mal." Mr. V scoffed and tried to play it off. "Who do you think I am?"

"The Shadowman's apprentice." He spoke in a low voice and lost his smile. Although most of the crowd had been fussing and talking, they hushed as soon as they heard Shadowman.

"Not an apprentice anymore, Mal." He chuckled, trying to stay in a light mood. It was too early in the night to turn dark. "Not since Facilier had to go pay his debts."

"So," Mal paled slightly, though he tried to smile, but it shook too much. "you're the Shadowman now?"

"You could say that." Mr. V looked back down at his RSVP card as it suddenly felt like a brick in his hand rather than a piece of cardstock. "Now, are you going to let us in, or are you going to make my beautiful lady here stand longer than necessary?"

"Right." He stepped aside and his smile came back, though it was still rather shaky. "Step right in, Al will get you."

"Thank you, friend." He clapped his hand to Mal's shoulder as they passed and continued right on in. Ms. Scatter looked between them rather curiously, but stuck close to Mr. V.

"What was that all about?" She whispered as they went through the French double doors.

"Well, this is part of my tragic story," He sighed. "Though I worked for Facilier, I kinda switched sides halfway through to make sure Mrs. Tiana got her Happy Ending."

"What about your Happy Ending?" she asked softly, however, he did not respond to her as they approached the greeter.

"Evening, Al." Mr. V flashed a smile and flashed the heavy RSVP card. "How are you my friend?"

"Just fine, V." He smiled politely and glanced at Ms. Scatter. "Whoa man, where did you pick up this classy lady?"

"I don't share any of my secrets, Al." Mr. V smirked, relieved that the attention was slightly away from him for the moment. "You know that."

"Yes, I know," He sighed with a pout. "You should at least take me with ya one day."

Mr. V smiled politely, but his ever-growing appetite was making him hangry, "Maybe."

"You know," He spoke nervously as he picked up two menus, "Mrs. Tiana is here tonight, right?"

"I am aware that she is here tonight." Mr. V nodded his head and gritted his teeth through his smile. "Mal just told me. But I have a dinner reservation that I do not want to miss; also, do me a favor and don't let her know that I'm in tonight."

"Right. . ." Al gave him a confused look but left the greeting table. "Follow me, this way."

Mr. V and Ms. Scatter followed Al through the foyer's tall columns to the vast sparkling and jazzed dining hall. Lush velvety red carpets lined the long pine floors and the décor of green lily pad table clothes and swamp flowers decorated the orange walls nicely. A touch of class, a touch of swamp, and a touch of home, Tiana knew exactly what she wanted when she finally bought this place. A knot formed in his stomach as the lingering feelings that he thought he was well past weighed on his mind. He shouldn't have come tonight. He shouldn't have brought Scatter here; he should have looked a little harder for something rather than taking the easy way out. He internally groaned and prayed Tiana wouldn't find out that he was here for the night.

Al took them to Mr. V's private spot all the way in the back closest to the river front with plenty of windows to look out of. In all actuality Mr. V could get in and out whenever he wanted. His RSVP was a lifetime of immediate entry thanks to his helping Tiana defeat Facilier and helping her get her restaurant. He even had his own private table of his choosing in the far back corner. Occasionally when Tiana was here, he'd get a free meal, though he often tried to avoid the nights she was scheduled on the floor. The boys would warn him if she were on the floor in case he decided he would rather wait in line until she left, or change the night he would come in and dine; tonight being an obvious exception. She wasn't supposed to be here this evening, but someone more than likely called in or she was so excited about her new recipe that she just had to be one the floor to get everyone's opinion on how it tasted; just like she always did. Though, hopefully she didn't walk around shoving a spoon into everyone's mouth asking how it tasted before adding more flavor or heat or both to the pot.

Mr. V and Ms. Scatter sat at their table and she immediately began to skim the menu. Mr. V had already planned on trying the newest thing, get a few appetizers, get ice cream and a to-go bag of beignets at the end and hopefully avoid Tiana to actually pay for his own damn meal. After pretending to skim through the menu he glances at Ms. Scatter. She truly was a vision. He was glad that Varuo gave him the advice of dressing up. He had originally planned on taking her to a relatively nice place back in the Anti-Realm, however, after seeing her dolled up like this, and all the deep research he has been doing trying to dig up her past, he at least owed her the best meal of her entire life. Besides, it would have been a waste to simply not show her off.

"See anythin' you like, Scatter?" He asked not being able to hide his home accent this time around as he sifted through the dinner options.

"I don't see anything that I don't like!" She burst with excitement. It was cute, it was like she had never been to a place like this before; funny since it was hard to impress her.

"I can tell you that everything on the menu is delicious." He chuckled and looked at the wine and cocktail selections. "I've been a regular here long enough to say that I have actually had everything on the menu. Would you like wine this evening?"

She looked up at him with eyes that wanted to say yes, but her pursed lips made her hesitate to be practical. "I really shouldn't. . . "

"Please, Scatter," he smirked at her. "It isn't like we go out and do this often. I think we should celebrate the first rather successful week of the Recruit Program and everything running so smoothly thanks to all of your hard work." He winked at her and she flushed and immediately looked down at her menu. "Besides, Mrs. Tiana has the best wine selection around town."

"Then I'll go with whatever you choose." She hid behind her menu. "I'm still trying to decide what I would like to try."

"Well, don't fret as if this is the only time you're coming," he snorted at her. "If you'd like, I'll let you know the nights I plan on coming out here and you can get all dressed up again and join me."

"Are you serious?" She asked so genuinely and was so surprised. Those big brown eyes seemed so desperate for the right answer.

"Of course." He smiled at her. "I go about once or twice a month. I like to make sure that things run smoothly around here."

"Then I shall be looking forward to it." She beamed before turning her gaze back to her menu. Sophisticated, full of grace, yet rather bashful when it came to socializing; he couldn't help but find it cute. After a few more minutes a lovely waitress with deep brown curls rolled up on her head, gorgeous ebony skin, and red lipstick on her lips in her green uniform suit came by. It was one of Tiana's old friends, Georgia. A bit of a busybody, but she was sweet at heart, but it was nearly impossible to keep gossip from her lips.

"Evening, ya'll I'm Georgia and I'll be your server this evening - " She drawled with a smile, then her brown eyes caught sight of Mr. V and she recognized him immediately. "Well if it isn't Mr. V!" She put her hands on her hips and smirked at him. "What are you doin' here tanight? Ya know Mrs. Tiana is here don'tcha?"

"Yes, Georgia, I know." He sighed and struggled to hide his agitation after being warned for the third time this evening. "However, I'm here on a date this evenin'."

As if she did not see her at first, she looked at Ms. Scatter and gasped in surprise. She gushed. "Why Mr. V, she's gotta be the loveliest thing I have ever seen!"

Ms. Scatter's face burned a soft shade of red as she thanked her shyly, "Thank you."

"Mr. V you sure got yourself a pretty little magnolia here," Georgia grinned, not catching the hinting signs that Scatter was uncomfortable. "Where'd you two meet?"

"We actually work together." He was finding it rather hard to smile. "Now, Georgia, please don't go gawking to Tiana that I'm here."

"Ohhh," she whispered in a hushed voice and winked. "Gotcha. Will do, Mr. V. Is there anything I can get ya'll started with this evenin'?"

"Yes, we'll have the Herbed Brioche with roasted onion dip for an appetizer," He said from his usual order, "with a Roux St. Louis with two waters please."

Scatter spoke up rather shyly, "I'd like a lemon with mine."

"The Herbed Brioche for an appetizer." Georgia listed off the things to double-check that it was correct. "The Roux St. Louis, and two waters, one with lemon. That sounds right?"

"Right as rain, Georgia." He smiled and with a snap of her book, she turned on her heel and went off to put them in their order. "She's going to end up causing me trouble tonight. . ."

Ms. Scatter had set her menu on the table, though it was still in her hands, "Why is that?"

He tried to smile it off, but her brown eyes were piercing. "Nothing to really worry about, Ms. Scatter."

"If it is going to ruin my evening it is." She said very seriously, almost ready to start a fight.

He chuckled, but she would not smile back or drop the topic. "There is a feisty side to you, Scatter."

"Yes, and unless you really want me to cause a scene," Those little fingers grasped the menu a tad too tight for Mr. V's liking and he was worried that he would see the flashes of gold. "I suggest you tell me why everyone has to warn you about Mrs. Tiana."

"I already told you that I helped her get her Happy Ending -" He spoke in a low tone and intertwined his fingers.

"And you've yet to tell me why you did not get yours." She spoke in the same tone and mimicked him.

He inhaled deeply, and thanks to Georgia's speediness and knowing how much Mr. V hated to be kept waiting, especially with his food, she already had the wine, the waters, and the herbed brioche. "The herbed brioche," Georgia intervened by setting the bread in the center of the table. "The waters, one with lemon," She smiled big towards Ms. Scatter as she set the water down. Scatter returned the obligatory smile back but kept her eyes on Mr. V; she wasn't going to drop this. "And the Roux St. Louis."

She poured the glasses and began to walk away with it, when she hesitated and set it on the table. She did not say a word, but with one look at Mr. V she knew she just needed it on the table if he were going to get through the night. "Are ya'll ready to order?" she asked warily and glanced between the two.

"Yes, we are." Ms. Scatter said every so scarily sweetly. "I'll have the Roasted Creole Half Chicken with toasted corn, pecan bread pudding, buttered chard and chicken jus."

"Good choice, madam," she smiled cheerily. "And you, Mr. V?"

"I'll take the new special order that everyone is ranting and raving about." He smiled and handed her his menu. Ms. Scatter did the same, and rather quickly she scurried away without repeating their order; they must have been causing quite a lot of tension. Ms. Scatter immediately took a sip of her wine and almost seemed to relish it. She peered over the rim of the glass at him, "You were saying?"

He mentally groaned knowing that he needed to get this over with sooner rather than later, but the alcohol wasn't strong enough and Tiana's presence didn't make him want to talk much about his past. He took a rather large gulp of the wine before answering; definitely strong enough for this conversation.

"As I'm sure you're aware, Ms. Scatter," he crossed his leg over his knee and leaned on the table. "Recruits get three kinds of Endings, depending on the choices that they made and the outcome of those choices." He listed them off on his fingers and kept his eyes locked with hers. "The Good Ending, which is where the story ends exactly how it was supposed to and the Recruit is free from the clutches of the Villain; The Happy Ending, which is where the Recruit gets the ending he/she wants; and the Bad Ending, which is where the Villain gets their Happy Ending, but the Recruit ends up suffering a little bit for it. . ."

She listened intently with those brown eyes staring back at him giving him her full undivided attention. It was rather cute and distracting, but he knew better than to try to make a comment to distract her from his story. He did not want to see the flash of gold this evening.

"I grew up with Tiana, childhood friends, so to speak," He dragged his hand down the back of his neck as the knot in his throat tightened and he felt rather embarrassed. "Orphan on the streets that got free meals from her daddy on his way home after long shifts at work. I worked with him too before he passed; it was a sad day because he was a good man. . ." His eyes slowly shifted from Scatter's face to the corner of a window as the memories came flooding back like he just relieved them. "After that I found Facilier and became his apprentice; still kept in touch with Tiana whenever I saw her. Always working to get this place.'' He gestured to the whole restaurant. "Her daddy originally wanted it, his dream so to speak, and after he passed it became her dream. . ." He released a heavy sigh and his hand balled into a fist. "She worked her ass off to get it. . ."

The knot in his throat was so tight it dried his mouth and made it difficult to swallow. He took a quick sip of the wine. He hated that it wasn't something stronger, but you don't drink hard liquor with a lady on a date. Especially when the beautiful lady is your employee and coworker; especially when the beautiful lady is too dressed up and too beautiful to see ugly this evening. Vulnerable and weak Mr. V was an ugly sight that did not need to be seen this evening.

"I filled the cans with a bit of extra cash that I made from deals I made with Facilier, just to fill those coffee cans faster so she wouldn't have to work so much; but then she went and kissed the stupid frog and made quite a mess of things." He sighed and scratched the prickling feeling on his chin. "She met Prince Naveen and practically fell in love with him the moment he showed her that she truly mattered and didn't have to work as much as she thought. . . "

He had to take another sip of wine. Had to loosen up some of those old knots that were still twisted with so many things left unspoken. His eyes were dry, his throat was hot, and he suddenly felt starved. He ripped a piece of the brioche and dipped in it the onion dip. Just something to keep his mouth busy and keep him from saying the wrong thing. Ms. Scatter followed his actions and did the same. He savored the bread and dip long enough to soothe the burning before he took another sip of wine and continued. "She opened up to him naturally in ways that I tried to get her too, but it just wasn't meant to be." He sighed again. "I helped them defeat Facilier, I became the next Shadowman, they got married, he got his funds from his parents, she got her restaurant, and she got her Happy Ending. Overall I can say it was a Good Ending for everyone."

"Really?" Scatter grimaced as she plucked another piece of bread and dipped it in the onion dip. "To me it sounds like you seriously got the short end of the stick."

"Well," he heaved another sigh and took more bread. He couldn't shovel food fast enough into his mouth to shut himself up. "When you don't speak up when you know you should, you miss your chance in things."

Her smooth brow wrinkled and furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"Sometimes you just gotta take a risk and be honest with how you feel. . ." He turned his gaze to the lily pad on the table. "When you don't you really miss out on a lot of beautiful things and are left with a lot of regret."

"You must have really loved her. . ." Ms. Scatter whispered. Mr. V turned and looked at her, and she had her French manicure covering her mouth with tears threatening to breach the dams.

"Yeah, I did." He admitted and rested his arms on the table and grabbed his elbows. "But sometimes when you love things, you gotta let them go. If it is meant to be, it'll come back to ya. You can't force something that was never meant to be."

She tilted her head to the side and her earrings dropped to her shoulder. "Can you honestly say that you are happy about it all?"

"I think I can," he smiled wryly and suddenly felt older. "She's happy. She has a family, she has her restaurant, and she is happy. I don't think that there is more that I could ask for."

Ms. Scatter stared at him wide-eyed for a moment before they both silently reached for bread and continued to pick and eat at the appetizer while they waited for their meals to come. Mr. V felt as though he had lifted a burden from his shoulder but tightened those stupid knots in his heart. He was able to admit the truth, but it still hurt. But he was content knowing that she was happy, alive, and well; in the end that is all that truly mattered. The silence continued between them and they both softly listened to the jazz play in the background. It had gone from lively to smoother and Mr. V turned his attention to the river flowing outside. The fireflies were all aglow and dancing in the sway of the music, the tall grass and reeds blew in the wind, and if he strained his ears long enough, he could almost hear the crickets. Though he loved dining here, he really wanted to get outside and breath the fresh air.

"Now I have a Roasted Creole Half Chicken for the lovely lady," her voice sung as she set the plate down and his blood ran cold. "And I have my newest creation of my daddy James's Roasted Pork Tenderloin with white rice and greens on an Andouille Sausage Stew for my favorite customer Valentino."

Mr. V couldn't help it, he had to look at her, it would have been rude otherwise. The flawless skin, that cute dimple in her smile, that curly hair, those playful brown eyes all encompassed in the beauty of his childhood sweetheart. A voice as smooth as honey and determination like a hurricane stood in full glory of her newest 1920's skirt suit with a feather in her hair.

"Mrs. Tiana." He threw on that smile that painted his heart as he looked up into her lovely face. "How nice to see you." He tipped his wine glass to her, but she had her arms crossed and that pouty lip, "Looking lovely as always."

"And it is nice to see you for the first time in three months, Val," she gradually smirked. "Where have you been hidin' away? I feel like you only come when I'm not workin'. You got something against me that I don't know about?"

"Course not, Mrs. Tiana," he chuckled. "Is Naveen here too?"

"No, Naveen is at home with momma," her smile was a little more strained. "Momma fell the other day and hurt her hip, so she's not as up and moving as she wants to be, but I told her she's gotta rest up if she's going to be babysitting her grandchildren."

His eyes widened and his jaw dropped, and he could not help but look at her stomach. He wasn't sure how far along she was, but she didn't really show; then again, the dress could have been hiding the baby bump pretty well. He whispered and that smile that came on her face made her glow. "You're pregnant?"

"Yes, second trimester." She smiled and instinctively placed her hands on her belly. "Only momma, Naveen, and now you two know. If the staff knew they wouldn't let me step foot in my own restaurant!"

"Congratulations." Ms. Scatter did a mini-clap and smiled broadly to draw the attention from him. "This is an exciting time."

"Thank you," Tiana smiled as she looked to Scatter, "Ms. ?"

"Ashe," she smiled and shook hands with Tiana. "Ashe Scatter."

"My, aren't you a pretty thing," Tiana smiled honestly and gave her hand a squeeze. "Looks like you found yourself a keeper, Val."

"We're actually just coworkers." Ms. Scatter smiled politely and rather pointedly. "We work for the same company, and while I was in the area, he told me that I just had to come here before I shipped out tomorrow. He tells me this is the best place in all of New Orleans."

"Well, he is my number one customer." She laughed airily. "Well, I'll leave you to it. And Val, I expect a detailed letter in my mailbox by tomorrow about how my food tasted."

"As always, T." He smiled.

"It was good meeting you, Ms. Ashe. I'm glad to see that someone is actually getting this knucklehead out in the sunshine." Her gaze softened as she looked between them. "It was good to see you too, Valentino." She looked pointedly at Mr. V. "You should come by more often."

"I'll try when I'm not caught up with work. . ." She gave a cute nod before she walked off. Mr. V refused to watch her leave and instead turned to his tenderloin in front of him. He cut into it and took that first bite. It was so delicious, so savory, and so packed full of memories that he tried to forget.

"I can see why you liked her so much." Ms. Scatter spoke in a low tone. "She feels like home when you talk to her. Something about her just draws you to her. . ."

"I think it's her cookin' honestly." Mr. V joked and took another sip of wine.

"No, you and I both know it's something different." Ms. Scatter argued politely. "She's got that light in her that you can't help but be drawn to. "

"Yes, she does." He reluctantly agreed. "But so do you, Ms. Scatter, more than you know."

"Maybe I once did. . ." She murmured as she cut into her chicken. "But that was a long time ago."

They dined quietly together and just let the jazz play softly in the background. When they got close to finishing their glasses, they just topped them off and drank half the bottle before they decided to stop to continue the evening's plans. They finished the delicious meal, did not order ice cream as planned, but most definitely got those beignets to go as well as the bottle, and much to Mr. V's dismay he got the meal on the house. Though Georgia refused to tell him the amount that was spent, he may or may not have used his shadow friends to put the money in the register and Georgia's tip in her book before they left the restaurant and walked the peers.

Ms. Scatter had her arm linked through his as they walked together in step in the same quiet they had in the restaurant. The farther they got from the restaurant, the loud jazz had lulled out and was mere echoes. Though they walked in silence, it was a strange comfortable silence.

"She was lovely," Ms. Scatter spoke up first. "Her cooking was just as well."

"It was probably the cooking that won me over," he laughed and patted his belly.

She snorted as they walked, "The people here are almost sickeningly sweet."

"Yes, they are." He chuckled. "But that's just Southern hospitality."

"They also kept calling me pretty," her nose wrinkled. "I don't think that I have received that many compliments in a single evening."

"Which is such a crying shame," he looked down at her with a genuine smile. "You are the most beautiful woman I have ever seen, and you have a heart of gold to match with a fiery feisty personality to boot. You should know how wonderful you are."

"Compliments were never something I got very often growing up. . ." her grip on his elbow tightened slightly. "Compliments were more insulting and sarcastic or in jest. So, all these people were giving me compliments this evening was . . . Odd."

"Well they're only speaking the truth, Scatter." He tapped his cane and the spiraling purple portal appeared. "You are beautiful, more beautiful than the evening sky full of stars. And I am deathly serious when I say that."

Her eyes glimmered in the moonlight and the dams looked ready to burst with the tears that wanted to fall, but instead she hugged his arm quickly and rested her head on his shoulder. "Thank you."

Author's Note:

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

What all did you think of Mr. V's touch of a backstory? I don't think I'll be writing him a backstory any time soon, but what did you think? Rather sad he wasn't able to get his Happy Ending, huh? Well, maybe things will look up for him. . . Then again maybe they won't; it's still too soon to tell.

Please let me know what you think of the story so far!

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