eldia

31 | the lost princess

"You've been out here for hours." Jean says as he stands beside you.

You look up from where you sit, fresh blades of evergreen grass sprouted out from around you. "Since 6am. What time is it now?"

He looks down at his watch. "2pm."

You look back down at your progress around you. "I didn't even realize it's been that long. Feels like just a few minutes."

He raises an eyebrow. "Seriously?" He then takes a seat on the plush grass beside you. "It sounds like it would be exhausting."

You tilt your head as you wiggle your fingers that rested on the ground. "Sometimes. Depends on how I'm feeling."

"And how are you feeling?" He asks.

You meet his eyes. "I feel..." You struggle to put the emotion into words. You weren't quite sure how to explain it. You were feeling a little bit of everything.

His amber eyes only made it harder to search for the word. When you looked at him, your brain could only focus on the way he looked right back at you.

You sigh and turn back to the ground as you shut your eyes and try to regain stability. "Maybe you should leave."

"Oh, am I distracting you?" He teases.

"Yes, actually." You laugh. "Ember may be small but it can't all be done in one day."

He moves a strand of hair from your face, his fingertips swiftly passing your cheeks. "You've been doing this for three days now."

He then looks out into the distance. "You've done a lot so far. The grass is almost fully grown, the trees don't look like twigs anymore and even the air feels cleaner."

"I'm not finished." You remind him. "When I said I was going to heal Ember, I didn't just mean the country itself. I meant the people too."

"I know." He sighs as he rests his arms behind him so he can sit comfortably. "I just don't want you to overwork yourself."

You lift your hands from the ground, the gentle vibrations coming to an end. You shift your body to face him. "Okay, you have ten minutes."

"I need more than ten minutes." He smiles as he kisses you. You kiss him back and feel your shoulders fall as you do. It was the first time you two had kissed in what felt like months.

His hands rested on both sides of your jaw as his thumbs trace your lips. "But I'll take whatever I can get."

You can't help but smile at his smooth remarks. He was back to the old Jean again. "You're in a good mood."

"I'm amazed by you." He responds as he throws his arm toward the scenery. "This place looked like complete shit and now look at it. You've completely turned it around in just three days. All by yourself."

Your brows melt as your buttery eyes soften. "I'm sorry, Jean. For everything. I've been busy these past few days so I haven't had a chance to be alone with you like this."

"Why are you apologizing?" He asks. "Nothing that happened was your fault."

"I'm talking about the way I treated you when you arrived here." You correct. "I basically brushed you aside, treated you as if you weren't there. I was so blinded by hatred that I didn't think about anyone else. I'm sorry."

He turns away from you, recalling how mortifying it felt to feel like a pesky fly annoying you for the past week. Not to mention the fact that you hugged Phoenix the moment you saw him but told Jean to leave the second you saw him. Talk about a stab to the chest.