Vanessa's childhood and her years in Vesuvia before the plague

Chapter thirteen

Lucio walked into Vanessa's room and sat next to her in bed. "Hey how are you feeling?" Lucio asked.
"I feel okayish, I mainly feel drained" Vanessa answered.
"Yeah you will do for a bit" Lucio said reaching out to hold Vanessa's hand.
"Why did you come to see me?" Vanessa asked.
"Oh well I wanted to check up on you and..." Lucio remarked while pondering with excitement.
"And?" Vanessa questioned.
"It's snowing outside!" Lucio announced happily with his arms in the air.
Frowning with puzzlement, Vanessa mumbled "What is 'snow'?". Shocked by the mermaid's unawareness of the magical existence of snow, Lucio exuberantly rushed out of the room- only to return with a bowl full of snow.
"Here touch this!" Lucio exclaimed while handing the bowl to Vanessa. Hesitantly, Vanessa pinched the white flakes in curiosity- watching it disintegrate in her hand.
Gasping with pleasure in her eyes, Vanessa relished "This is amazing! I've never seen something like this before!". With glee glistening in his silver eyes, Lucio approached the window beside her bed.
"Well I guess it's your lucky day!" Lucio chimed before pulling the curtain to unveil a mesmerizing winter wonderland: layers of snow covering the palace gardens.
Eyes agape in astonishment, Vanessa shrieked in exuberance.
"Do you want to go outside and see?" Lucio proposed while Vanessa eagerly nodded.
"Ok I'll be outside whilst you get dressed" Lucio said leaving the room.
Vanessa got up and got dressed in warm clothes before leaving the room and heading to the garden with Lucio.

Once outside in the garden, Vanessa shivered slightly due to the cold.
"Are you cold?" Lucio asked, going to take his cape off.
"Yeah I am a bit cold" Vanessa said.
"Here take my cape" Lucio said, wrapping it around her shoulders and clasping it.
"Thanks Lucio," Vanessa said, walking out into the garden,staring in awe at the snow.
Lucio walked out with her as well. He bent down and made a snowball before throwing it at Vanessa's back playfully.
She turned around and asked "what was that?"
"Oh it was nothing," Lucio said, trying not to laugh at Vanessa's innocence.
"It can't be nothing,you're trying not to laugh" Vanessa said, still confused about what Lucio did.
Unable to hold his laughter in, Lucio cackled "I can't believe you don't know this! It's called a snowball fight."
"What's that?" Vanessa asked with curiosity.
"It's a game where you make snowballs" Lucio explained while making a snowball, "once you've made a snowball, throw it at someone" he said, throwing it at her.
Vanessa staggered backwards from the impact. With intrigue and adrenaline, it wasn't long until Vanessa began to hurdle numerous balls of snow at Lucio.
"Wow for a beginner you're really good at this" Lucio said.
"Thanks Lucio" Vanessa said
"You're welcome, Vanessa," Lucio said, walking over to her and holding her hand.

They walked around the garden until they got to a tree. Looking over the scenery around them, Lucio couldn't help but feel the timing was right- everything felt so serene and angelic with the snow glowing under the azure above.
Still distracted by the snow, Vanessa suddenly felt Lucio's hand caressing her cheek. Surprisingly it was still warm and gentle despite the harshness of the conditions.
Slightly startled by his touch, Vanessa nevertheless didn't stop him and asked, "What's wrong Lucio?".
Gazing at her with admiration, Lucio whispered "I've been waiting for this moment for quite a while now. I think it's finally time,".
Her heart fluttering in her chest, Vanessa questioned "What do you mean it's finally time? Are you feeling unwell or-". Unexpectedly, she felt a soft kiss being planted on her cheek by Lucio- leaving her speechless.
Caressing her hands, Lucio remarked with emotion, " The thing is Vanessa, I had this whole speech I was going to prepare for you that explained everything into words. But in Lucio style- I forgot! No matter how many words I say to you- it will never change the way I feel about you,". Edging closer to the awestruck Vanessa, Lucio continued with a loving grin, " Ever since you set foot into this palace, I was expecting some old exotic fish from the sea however it turned out to be something so much more beautiful. You are incredible, rare, sassy, kind, wonderful...the best thing that's ever happened to me! You see Vanessa, I've never felt this way for nobody before. I mean what can I say, I have a selfish heart! But since I saw you, I began to wonder how long you'd been in my mind for but then I realised-ever since I first thought of you... you've never left,". Gradually, Lucio began to softly grasp her face with his hands while his thumbs caressed her cheeks, " I love you Vanessa... with all my heart,".
"I-I love you too, Lucio," Vanessa said smiling happily.
Mistletoe suddenly appeared above them. Vanessa looked up at it and asked "what's that?".
Lucio looked up and replied "it's mistletoe, the tradition behind it is that if two people stand under, it they have to kiss"
"Oh right" Vanessa said standing on her toes to kiss his cheek.

In the tree above them was Nadia and Portia holding a string with the mistletoe on it.
"I see he has finally confessed," Portia said to Naida.
"Yeah I'm surprised he did I thought he was going to pussy out the last second in true Lucio style" Nadia said putting an arm around her.