Hugfia: The One That Got Away

Chapter 13

Sofia shook her head. She had a mission to complete. "I can't leave yet, I must catch the thieves!"

Hugo let out an exasperated sigh. "You don't need to catch the thieves, they're not that bad."

"What do you mean? They're thieves! You're a thief!"

"I'm just temporarily joining them while I stay in hiding. Trust me, they have good intentions, although they have a bad way of going about it. They steal from the rich and give to the poor."

Of course, the legend of Robin Hood. They originally lived in the Mystic Isles, but Sofia assumed that they had somehow escaped into the forests of Enchancia.

She looked at Hugo, in his dark brown mottled clothes that covered him head to toe. "Are you going to keep hiding forever?"

Hugo wasn't expecting that question. He looked away from her and up at the sky, as if the answer was written among the stars. "I won't hide forever, but I'm not ready yet."

"Is it true? Is it true what happened all those years ago? That your brother had unpaid debts and evil men killed him?"

Hugo's face turned grief-stricken and Sofia immediately regretted asking, but then he replied, "Yes, he signed a bad deal and he paid his life for it."

"What happened after...?"

"I left after Axel's advisor told me to."

"Why did Axel sign the deal?"

"His advisor persuaded him to do it,"

"And the advisor has currently taken over your kingdom,"

Hugo's face paled, "I'm an idiot."

"No you're not, you didn't know. We can still get your kingdom back."

Hugo shook his head. "It's too late, that place is unsavable. The village is in shambles and most people have left to neighboring kingdoms. No one wants a cowardly king who ran away when they needed him most. I failed my people."

"No, once they know what actually happened, they'll forgive you. I promise. I'll work with you to get your people back."

"Princess Sofia," began Hugo. Sofia tried to ignore the pang in her heart when he addressed her by her formal title. As if all the years between them could be reduced to a formal acquaintanceship. Hugo continued, "Please, live your own life, enjoy your marriage. Be the Queen of Freezenberg. Don't worry about my problems." He then added with finality, "You should get going, it's late."

"Please, I don't want you to leave again."

His eyes darkened and he turned and started walking away.

"You know I want you," Sofia began to sing. "It's not a secret I try to hide, 

[...]

What if we rewrite the stars?

Say you were made to be mine?

Nothing could keep us apart,

You'd be the one I was meant to find--"

When Sofia had started signing, Hugo had paused in his tracks. He interrupted her angelic voice with a smooth baritone, "You think it's easy... You think I don't want to run to you,

But there are mountains 

And there are doors that we can't walk through..."

They sang together under the pale moonlight, their voices intertwining and harmonizing melodiously. They were staring at each other with such a burning intensity Sofia couldn't look away.

But suddenly Hugo did. He continued quietly,

"You know I want you, 

It's not a secret I try to hide

But I can't have you

We're bound to break and my hands are tied.

(-"Rewrite the Stars" from The Greatest Showman, Zac Efron & Zendaya)

With that final line, he pulled his hood over his head and retreated into the dark foliage.