Happily Ever After (The Lunar Chronicles story continuation)

Chapter 6: Anatomy

"Wasn't that a wonderful wedding?" Winter asked Jacin, who was helping her unpack her things. He was always ready to help her. He hadn't left her side since the war, not once. Despite her protests, he had insisted on protecting her. Jacin had finally started his studies to fulfil his dreams and become a doctor. He had taken a job to guard the new members of the government, so that he would be able to pay for the studies. This also meant he had plenty of time to be around Winter and the former palace, which had been transformed into the parliament building of Artemisia.
Winter, who had lived there her entire life had been allowed to stay there. No one had touched her room. She knew that it was unusual, but was grateful for it.
She had been one of the first to be elected into the new government since Selene dissolved the monarchy, but had soon become an ambassador instead. Some had immediately opposed her being in the government, accused her of being deluded and had claimed that someone so crazy would never be fit to go into politics. Luckily, it had helped to get a bio-electrical micro-implant. This was what the device, that Cinder had implanted as a child, had come to be called. Now, many just called it 'the Implant' in common speech. It had been possible to recreate the implant within weeks, and Winter had been the first volunteer to have it implanted, despite Jacin's objections. The device worked within mere days, and it turned out that her lunar sickness quickly decreased. However, doctors told her she would never fully heal. Winter didn't see this as a problem in any way, she liked being the way she was.
It had taken only three months before the Implant had been ready to be sold on the market, and Winter had become the one to make the political arrangements for it. Apparently, she had been the best candidate for it, this was mostly due to Winter's position in the government. Her title had changed a few times as the government had to settle and change things around once in a while to figure out how it was best to run things, but her job description always had something to do with the relationship between Earth and Luna.
The job included having to strike a bargain with Lihn Audri, the patent holder of the Implant, which was the main reason her cousin Selene had refused to do anything relating to the Implant. Winter didn't hate Lihn Audri, but they weren't friends either. She didn't see the point of argueing with her. Winter just didn't listen when she was giving her usual self-obsessed comments. Some experts had managed to convince Audri, that since it was expensive to create the implant, people wouldn't be able to afford it if she set the price too high, and she would be able to make much more money if she lowered the price. Many more people would be able to buy the device.
After Winter had gotten the Implant, all her friends had had the device implanted as well. Jacin, Wolf, Scarlet, Kai and Thorne never wanted their mind manipulated again and had been among the first to get it, together with Selene, who had, like Winter, decided that she didn't need her so-called gift and had gotten the devide reinstalled. Winter knew how much it meant for Jacin to get it.
Migration had been legalised between Earth and Luna. Winter and her cousin Selene had worked together with the six Earthen leaders to achieve this. To smoothen transition, anyone migrating from one planet to the other was obliged to have the Implant installed, much to the joy of Lihn Audri and her daughter. This was to avoid complications, mainly unexplainable crime.
"All done" Jacin said as they unpacked the last item from the suitcase.
"Do you want me to help you unpack?" Winter asked Jacin in her usual tone.
"No, Winter, I'm fine." He took her hand and sqeezed it gently.
"Oh, do you have to study? I can help you with that too." Winter said overly excited. "Do you need to name body parts? You can use my arm if you want. This is my arm and here's my elbow and.." Winter pointed at every part of her arm, which she knew the name of.
Jacin smiled, "Winter, you will not have to be functioning as a dummy as I will not be studying anatomy today."
"Oh, okay. Maybe tomorrow?" Jacin always did so much for her, Winter was desperate to return the favour.
"Whenever I have to study anatomy, I will gladly accept your help."
This made Winter smile. She liked smiling, but she couldn't stop if she wanted to.
Winter had already promised Jacin a job here in the parliament building. They didn't have a medic yet, but a building full of important people needs a good doctor, and Winter imagined that Jacin would be the best of them all. That way, Jacin would also always be close to her. She doubted if Jacin actually believed she would manage to find him a job, but she had managed until now, hadn't she?
Winter saw that she needed to change the subject if she wanted the soon-to-leave Jacin to stay a little while longer. "When are you going to talk to your parents?"
Jacin hadn't talked to his parents for years. They'd been separated when he'd become a guard for Levana. Jacin's father, who had also been a guard and the best friend of Winter's father had been transferred to one of the outer sectors. Levana had threatened to kill them multiple times to the point when Jacin for sure thought they were dead. Jacin had looked for them after the war and found out that they were still alive, but had never talked to them.
Jacin looked at the floorboards of the room. "I don't know, it's a very hectic time right now, and I don't want to drag them into a chaos."
"What chaos?"
"Well... You know."
Winter had absolutely no clue what he was talking about, but decided not to inquire further.

Jacin stormed out of Winter's room. He tried to do it calmly, but ended up sprinting down the hallway, turned around the corner. He leaned against the wall, saw that no one was watching him and sank down to the ground. Hunched down with his chin to his knees, he thought about the last time he had spoken to his parents, only a few weeks ago. He had lied to Winter, told her that he hadn't visited them yet. Jacin had gone there, his parents had been thrilled, but then they had asked him to move to their little village. He wanted to, stars above he really wanted to catch up and make up for lost time, but moving meant leaving the former palace. He hated the former palace and the memories it represented, it didn't matter that it was now a parliament building, but how could he ever leave, how could he leave Winter behind?