Sigh, where to start? Life can be brutal sometimes. When you think you have the motivation and time to start again life either gives you an amazing opportunity or a suckerpunch. Sadly both have happened. To my friend, California, Arizona, and Nevada was amazing with you. As well as the days you spent with me in Norway. Denmark it was nice to finally visit you again even though the reason was all but happy. To the family I've lost RIP, I will always remember and love you. You truly meant the world to me 3

"No, but we talked about it, and talking whenever we could, but you know Skype isn't the same as being able to be with each other. Plus, he has some family obligations he has to fulfil, so he's quite busy with them. On the bright side, mom was talking about seeing if she could get some time off from work this summer, and visit Etrea."

"That sounds lovely, and I'm sure the two of you will find time. I remember from when I was young, summer seemed endless."

"Thank you, I guess I'm just waiting on him to call me, but it won't be for a few hours anyways," I sighed before Felicia wrapped an arm around my shoulder.

"I'll leave you alone for now, but let me know if you want to talk all right?"

"Thank you, I appreciate it," I stated bringing my legs up to my chest, wrapping my arms around them as Felicia walked back inside the house.

Troy's POV

The car was moving swiftly along the highway in the police escort that had been provided. Ted was in the front passenger seat, while the head of security Lee, was behind the wheel. Mom and dad were in the car in front of us as the journey took us closer and closer towards home. Nearing the front gates, I could already see the group of vulturous journalists gathered, waiting for a carcass they could pick apart.

Unfortunately, that would be me.

As the fleet of cars passed it was unavoidable to hear the clicks of their camera and their shouts towards the fleet of cars. It was at times like this I was grateful that mom had packed a change of clothes that was more suitable than what I was wearing when I had left Albuquerque.

Coming to a stop, Ted got out of the car, looking around before opening my door. As soon as my feet hit the ground, the clicking sound coming from the cameras seemed to intensify. Seeing my parents already at the bottom of the steps, facing the journalists, I walked over towards them before I turned, giving the media a small wave. It was brief but it seemed to have given them what they wanted. Proof that I was back. Proof that I hadn't abandoned my family and the royal duties, even though, I had thought about it…

Following my parents up the stone steps, we soon shut the noise out with the large wooden door closing behind us. "Will you be all right Troy?" mom wondered turning towards me.

"I will be fine, I know you and dad have that meeting to attend," I stated as mom gave me a soft smile.

"Thank you, Troy, I'll check on you when we are finished. You should try and drink some tea, and get plenty of rest."

"I will," I assured her as she gave me one last smile, before we went our separate ways.

Heading in the direction of my bedroom, I was really looking forward to the idea of crawling into bed and staying there. Opening the door, I took a second to stop and look around. Everything was as I remembered it from Christmas. It was all maliciously cleaned, and looked spotless. It was unsettling in a way, because I had been so used to doing all of this by myself, and most of the time I didn't have enough time. Closing the door behind me I crawled into bed, staring up at the ceiling. Yet again everything had changed from the last time I had laid in this bed. I had turned 18, and everyone's expectations of me had increased. My own family but also the people expected me to step up. I had known it all along but it hadn't become a reality until now, and I didn't know how to feel about it… It was almost bittersweet returning home. Of course, I was happy to see my family, friends and Domino again, but so much had changed. Before I left, I thought I had been able to live a fairly normal life, but Albuquerque showed me what a truly normal life as a 'nobody' was. Word got out eventually, but still, it was impossible to compare it to the attention I had here in Etrea. They were to completely different lives, and upon returning home my two different lives would slowly but surely start blurring together, because the information on where I had been for the past nine months would get out. Even by returning to Albuquerque, I wouldn't allow myself to live the life I had known.

Sitting up, I kicked off my shoes before pulling off my jacket. Grabbing my phone from inside the pocket, I flung the jacket somewhere on the ground before opening my phone. Not knowing if it was a good time to call her or not, I opened Skype and sent her a text that I had arrived safely.

Laying on the bed, I felt exhaustion hit me, and before I knew it, I drifted off into a blissful sleep.

Poking her head into the living room Maria saw her daughter sitting on the couch, a book in her hand. "Mija, will you help make dinner?"

Looking up at her mom, Gabriella gave her a soft smile. "Sure."

Following her into the kitchen she already saw Mary and Felicia there grabbing vegetables from the fridge, and started chopping them.

"We saw you had some laid out so we thought we should pitch in," Felicia stated giving Maria a smile.

"Thank you, now let's teach Gabriella our old family recipes."

"That should be the last batch," Felicia state placing a basket of tortillas in the middle of the table.

Gabriella sunk back in her chair with a small groan, "oh I don't know how much I'll be able to eat."

"Oh, but you have to try the mango salsa with them," Mary gushed creating one for herself.

"All right, if you insist," Gabriella caved in as Maria chuckled, and Mary handed her the salsa.

Taking a bite of the, Gabriella closed her eyes in delight, "oh this is too good to miss out on."

Mary took the napkin off her lap looking at the other around the table, "See I told you, now I don't know about you guys but I am looking forwards to dessert."

"I don't think I can handle any dessert today, dinner was too good," Gabriella stated as Maria chuckled.

"The dough only just finished so there is no harm in waiting," mom suggested as both Mary and Felica nodded in agreement.

"I think that would be a wonderful idea," Felicia stated, before Maria rose from the table collecting some of the empty dishes to bring back to the kitchen. Gabriella collected the plates from everyone following her mom into the kitchen, as Felicia and Mary were discussing something about the dessert.

"I know it's on your mind so you're excused if you want to give him a call. I'm sure he must have landed by now?"

"Yeah, he landed when we sat down to eat," Gabriella admitted sheepishly.

"I'll bring some dessert up once it's ready," Maria promised as Gabriella smiled.

"Thank you, mom," Gabriella stated giving Maria a quick hug before dashing upstairs to her room.

Gabriella's POV

Closing the bedroom door behind me, I saw my phone placed on my nightstand. Not seeing any messages from Troy, I grabbed my laptop and booted it up. Opening Skype, I saw I had a message from him sent about an hour and a half ago. Typing a reply, I quickly got a notification stating he was active.

I was expecting him to type some sort of reply, but instead a call came through.

"Hi Brie," his raspy voice greeted me as soon as I had accepted the call, his bright smile following.

"Hi Wildcat, give me one moment," I stated grabbing my comforted and pillow before opening the French doors and stepping out on the balcony. Getting comfy under the blanket I placed the laptop on my lap.

"There, how are you? Sorry I didn't see your message earlier; I was helping mom and my aunts make dinner."

"Don't feel bad, I fell asleep shortly after. I just woke up," he shared, wrapping his hands around a mug that he had in front of him.

"So how was the flight, and how are you feeling?" I questioned, as he didn't look much better than when I had last seen him this morning. His face was still rather pale, and his eyes looked dull as if it was missing the spark he usually had.

He gave me a weak smile, before taking a sip of the mug. "The flight was okay," he stopped as his voice was breaking. "I definitely feel worse than when I left Albuquerque." Troy stopped talking again as he turned away, a cough interrupting him. "I tried sleeping, but I kept getting woken by the cough."

"I wish there was something I could do to help. The only thing that comes to mind, is to take it easy, rest, and drink plenty of fluids. Tea with honey have always helped me," I advised him.

"Thank you, yeah, I just brewed a fresh cup before you called. So, what have been up to since this morning?"

"Not much… I slept in and stayed in bed for most of the day until my mom took my aunts grocery shopping. When they returned both of them were all over me wanting to know why I didn't come down for breakfast, why I wasn't home last night, and so on…" I sighed deeply, letting my shoulders slump down.

"I know they care, and only ask those questions out of a place of love, but it's a lot… Aunt Felicia came out on the back porch and we spoke for a bit which was helpful. I told her about our goodbye, and that I guess I was feeling a bit down…"

There was a moment of silence between the two of us as I gathered my thoughts.

"I knew this day was coming, where you couldn't stay and had to go back, but it always felt like a lifetime away until… well until you were suddenly leaving."

"I'm sorry to hear that Brie, I didn't know it would be that tough…"

"Don't feel bad Wildcat, it's just part of the uncertainty of the future too. Not knowing when we would see each other again, not knowing where I go to school in the fall either is tough. I just wish I knew if I could come visit you at one point this summer. Even if it was just for a couple of days…" I finished with a small sigh.

"I would love for that to happen Brie. Of course, if you are all right with flying all the way here. I know it's not your favourite thing."

"If it means seeing you of course. I have done it once already. Besides I would probably need to fly sooner rather than later, because of college."

"When I know more about what's happening here, we could talk again and maybe find a week where I'm free?" Troy proposed as I smiled.

"I'd like that. For now, I just have to wrap my mind around the fact that you're not living down the street anymore but rather around the world… Flying out for a couple of days might be a bit too ambitious."

"Don't say that Brie. I know it's a long flight…" Troy stopped abruptly, taking a sip of his tea, "but we will make it work. Even though there is this distance between us we have Skype, and we could still be able to fly out and see each other during school holidays."

"That makes me feel better. I just hadn't really thought too much about what would happen when we both started university. From what you've told me it seems like Christmas and Summer will be our best bet. Maybe spring if we're lucky with Spring break and the flower blossom festival alignes."

As I said this, I had a sinking feeling in my gut.

I was torn.

On one hand, I wanted to tell him I had been accepted to RCE, but at the same time, I was conflicted. When I applied, I thought it was what I wanted, but as I stood here now with the answers, I thought I wanted and the opportunities I wished for I was doubting if it was right after all. Did I wish for it to be with Troy or was this shift something I wanted?

Law school was my dream but I had envisioned myself studying US law. If I did decide to accept the offer from RCE I would be studying international law which was a whole other territory, which I had known when I had applied. Now as I actually had to make a choice and commit it was harder.

I had already turned down Stanford.

"Life's complicated…" Troy stated and my attention focused on him again. "Ever since I turned eighteen everyone is expecting me to become more involved here too, and take on more responsibilities. A year ago that wouldn't have been a problem, but now it only means less time to talk to you and everyone else back home…"

I stopped and looked at him as it dawned on me what he had said. "Troy…" I stated softly, "is that really how you feel?"

"I don't know…" his voice broke, probably from his cold I guessed, but I wasn't entirely sure. "I haven't really had time to wrap my head around the move. My real home will always be here in Iwaki, but at the same time, I built such a different life in Albuquerque. I guess I don't know who I'm supposed to be…"

"Be yourself, Troy. You will always be Troy the prince to most people, but Albuquerque gave you the opportunity to truly be yourself, and discover a whole different aspect of your life. You did return to Etrea different than when you left, but embrace it because it's still you."

"Thank you, Brie, it means a lot to me."

"I'm glad Troy, so what are you up to for the break, are going to hang around all summer convincing people you're back?"

"Something like that yeah," he chuckled. "People expect me to publicly appear at one point, sooner rather than later. There is state visits happening, but I don't know the details or how involved they expect me to be. Mom and dad headed straight for the meeting as soon as we got back, but I have a feeling it might be a busy summer."

"They are still in their meeting?"

Troy nodded as he took another sip of his tea. "I haven't seen any press releases yet," Troy muttered picking up his phone typing something, before scrolling.

"No, doesn't look like it, but seems like I already made the news," he stated with a small chuckle turning the phone so I could see the screen. It was clearly a zoomed-in picture of Troy in front of the castle along with his mom and dad.

"Wait that's you! What does the article say?" I asked curiously as I could see a smile forming on his lips.

"It's very short, and mostly full of fluff but here goes; His Royal Highness Prince Troy were spotted in Etrea this morning along with his parents Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Lucille, and His Royal Highness Crown Prince Jack. The royal family have not made a statement regarding HRH Prince Troy's whereabouts since he was last spotted in Etrea during Christmas. If he has permanently returned to Etrea remains and see, as we know he is supposed to enrol at Royal College of Etrea in Saint Germains this September. More details follow as we receive them!"

"Spotted in December, would that be the picture in that gossip magazine Ted showed on the way back?"

"Yeah, that would be the one," Troy confirmed with a nod of his head, before coughing. "You haven't heard anything else because of that?"

"No nothing."

"Good," he stated, his voice turning more and more into a whisper. "The last thing I would want is for this to backfire on you, I'll be able to handle it."

"Yeah, it seems like we got lucky, but thankfully we don't have to worry about that now," I assured him, before I heard a soft knock on my door. Turning my head, I saw mom enter with a plate and a bowl.

"I brought this in case you wanted," she stated placing them beside me.

"Thanks mom," I smiled before she turned to leave again.

"Dinner?" Troy questioned as I grabbed a churro dipping it in the chocolate.

"No, we just finished before I called you, this is dessert. Churros dipped in chocolate," I explained to him before taking a bite.

"Sounds good, is it somewhat like doughnuts?"

"Mmmm not really, they are both fried but a churro is harder and crunchier, and it's also dipped in a mix of sugar and cinnamon."

"That sounds delicious. Another good reason to come back…"

It sounded like he had more to say but his voice disappeared mid-sentence. "Get some rest Troy, we can talk more when you feel better," I told him, yet I didn't really want to hang up. I just knew it was for the best at this point.

"Thank you, Brie," he whispered to me giving me a grateful smile. "Love you."

"Love you too Wildcat, talk soon," I said before we ended the call.

As the image of him disappeared I was left with the blank Skype background. I had serious decisions to make and I had about three weeks to do so.

When I applied to RCE I was so sure it was what I wanted. I still had the same feeling deep within, but now that I had officially declined Stanford's offer it all felt more real. It was a scary feeling.

Thank you to everyone who has followed me and the story throughout the years. You mean the world to me, and I appreciate all the love and support you have given me.

Updates are coming!

- FreeFlyingWriter