All Shades of Magic

Lovers <3

She was wearing a white dress, halfway down her shins. Her hair was in a bun. She had her crown on, only barely visible from my angle. She was wearing simple high-heel boots and silver jewelry. She looked very pretty. Simple, but gorgeous.

"Hi," I said.

"Hello," she said back. She sounded surprised to find me there. That makes two of us. I thought to myself. She turned to face me properly. "What are you doing here,"

"Getting a breath of air and watching the sunset. You?"

"Pretty much the same," she said. I laughed. "Crabapple?" she offered.

"Sure," I accepted the little fruit. Butterflies started to flutter.

"Funny how history repeats itself, huh?"

"What?"

"Remember the last peace ball," Kimi said. And I remembered. "When we met? This is the same situation. Same crabapple tree. Except now we're older, and you're queen, and everything is- complicated," she laughed half-heartedly.

"Why complicated?"

"Well..." Kimi started. "Its dumb. Whatever,"

"No! Now you have to tell me," I teased. My stomach was churning. Kimi blushed and laughed.

"No!"

"What if I tell you something I've been wanting to tell you? After you tell me your thing?" I asked, a sudden wave of confidence washing over me. If she told me her secret, I could tell her I liked her. Plus I needed to know what was bothering her.

"Ok," Kimi said. She faced me fully and held my hands. I blushed. My heart raced in my chest. "This isn't easy for me to say, ok?" I nodded, looking her straight in the face. She was looking me in the face too. I was nervous, my heart thumped harder.

Kimi paused, and looked to the side. She took a deep breath. She faced me again.

"Valerie... I- I love you Valerie. More than anyone or anything," she said. My heart raced a million miles per hour. My face must be super red. She was. Did i hear her right, she really she...

"You love me?"

"Yes, i do,"

I was speechless. I had been suppressing my emotions, avoiding them. And she liked me back. She loved me too. She looked so beautiful, so nervous.

"I'm so happy to hear that," I gasped. I felt like I was going to cry for some reason. Kimi looked dumbstruck. She laughed.

"What?"

"Kimi, I am so, so, so happy to hear that," I took a deep breath and smiled. "Because I am so in love with you I almost hate myself for it," I laughed. Kimi looked like she had just heard she was queen.

"Really?"

"Yes. Really. So seriously I misewell be Judge Nohl," we both cracked up at this. Then I looked up at her nervously. "Well... what now?" Kimi looked pensive for a minute and then asked.

"Can I kiss you?" she blurted out. The wind was knocked out of me. My heart was practically beating out of my chest. Kimi looked so hopeful. I felt so grateful. i grinned.

"Yes, yes!" I said.

She cupped my face in her hands, slowly moving her arms down to my waist. I put my hands on her neck. Slowly she leaned in, and I closed my eyes. Her lips pressed against mine, soft and yet so passionate. She pulled me closer. I cupped her face. I was a jumble of nerves and excitement. It felt so good to finally hold her like this, to kiss her. To feel her love me. Finally after all these years.