A Phoenix's Heart

Chapter 4: First Date

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          Fuegoloen and Estella sneaked out of the party through the garden with Salamander flying them to a nearby town. The view of the streets of the capital from above was quiet and peaceful. After landing Salamander, Fuegoleon escorted Estella to one of his favorite 24-hour breakfast diners. The diner was unusually empty with the two being one of the few customers.. He ordered four orders of strawberry-lemon crepes, three omelets, two stacks of strawberry pancakes, a side of bacon and sausage, and unlimited refills of strawberry mango juice for the two of them.

         "Do you enjoy being home?" questioned Fuegoleon, nervously shifting in his seat.

         "Yeah. I've come to visit the capital a few times in the past 15 years but it wasn't the same since I was in hiding," lamented Estella. "It's nice to be able to be Estella again and not Nova. I really missed everyone."

         "It's nice to have you back too," professed Fuegoleon.

         Blushing at his comment, hid her face behind her hair as the waiter delivered their food. She began scarfing down her omelet and drowning her pancakes and maple syrup. The two mostly ate in silence until there was nothing left but some of the delicious-looking crepes.

         "I'm assuming you haven't eaten all day. I know how long and exhausting preparing for these balls could be sometimes," commented Fuegoleon.

         "Yeah. I haven't eaten since breakfast. If I knew how much work goes into getting dressed up to go to these balls, I never would have wanted to go to one when I was younger."

         "So what about me do you want to learn? What do you think is important to learn before we take the next step?" quizzed Fuegoleon intertwining his hands with Estella from across the table.

         Estella pulls a piece of paper out from the pocket of her dress. "I talked about that with one of my apprentices, Winter, when she started dating. I helped her make a list of questions to ask boys when she would go out on dates, so I have a list of questions to ask. Mine is a bit more mature and specific than hers but I feel like it applies."

         "Oh really!" blurted Fuegoleon. "Am I allowed to ask you the questions too? Can I see the paper?" Estella nodded yes to him. He shifted his chair closer to her so they were sitting side by side with the paper shared between them.

         "Are you close to your family?" asked Estella.

         "Have I given you the impression that I'm not?"

         "No, but a lot of things can change over 15 years, and besides you destroyed half of your house because you got into a petty argument about politics with your sister when you were 13."

         "That fight was not my fault!" defended Fuegoleon. "All siblings fight. That doesn't mean we don't love each other. I love my family. I'm decently close with our cousins. Nozel especially. I heard Leo and Mimosa refer to us as Frenemies. What about you?"

         "Me and Julius get along decently well. He's overprotective tho. It's one of the reasons I joined the Border Guard and not the Magic Knights," confessed Estella. "He likes to spoil me a lot. He's the one who bought two of the stores I own and manage. We used to sneak off and look for interesting magic together. Then there's my aunt from my mother's side. She's fabulous. Julius had finally convinced her to move it to our estate a few years back. She has no experience using magic to fight but she taught me how to create and repair magic items. I have never been very close to the Novachrono side of my family but I know they're all great and we get along fairly well. Next question! What's your favorite season?"