Sunlit Moon (Varian x OC. Complete! [sequel cancelled for now.])

Way of the Willow/ Queen for a day

"Daddy!" A 4 year old Artemis cried as she stretched her arms out for the man who was just walking out on them.

"Hector, please...be safe. Piercing yellow eyes stared back at his wife and daughter, he spared the little Artemis a sympathetic look before walking away for good. A year later, they packed up what little they had, her mom tucking what remained of her husband's things into a box before loading a cart and leaving behind the kingdom that had been home.

"Artemis, what are you doing holed up in your room?"

"It's the day he left..." Delilah gave her daughter a sympathetic look as she sat on the bed, "Hey, that had nothing to do with you. Your father just made his choice."

"Do you think he ever loved us?" Delilah's heart sank, she had hoped to avoid this conversation.

"Your father adored you, Artemis, but you were too little to remember all the thing you did together." The blonde leaned into the woman's shoulder as gentle fingers ran through her hair.

"He used to take you to the Castle sometimes, when he had guard detail for King Edmund, even the king adored you, often telling your father he wished he had had another child after having to give up his son. And the two of you would always come back smiling and laughing, and you'd tell me stories about your day in the castle or whatever adventure your dad had set up for you." The brunette woman smiled, her eyes crinkling in the corners.

"The day he left was hard for all of us...but it wasn't because he didn't love us, he loved us so much, he loved you, too much to let you get hurt." Brown eyes bore into Artemis blue and gold ones, "what aren't you telling me?"

"Your father left to protect you Artemis, and we left the Dark Kingdom so you could have a normal life. Our choices were for the best, and I hope you understand that."

"I know...I just wish..."

"That we could have been a family?" the teen nodded, "Oh sweetheart, Family doesn't always mean blood. And for what it's worth, we were a very happy family." Delilah kissed the top of her daughter's head.

"Go get some fresh air, it will help clear your head." Artemis nodded, turning her head to the window, peering over the edge and down below, it was a nice enough day out, smiling she grabbed her satchel and climbed down the ladder, walking out the door.

--

"Hey, Artemis." She smiled, turning to look at Varian, "What are you doing this deep into the woods?" she plucked a root to observe it, seeing if it was the right one, "Gathering some herbs...Wanted to make the queen some hand made teas. Her birthday is coming up."

"Home made tea?"

"Rapunzel told me her mom is a fan of floral teas, so I wanted to try and make some...think you could help me out a bit with drying the ingredients?" The young Alchemist grinned, "I'm sure I could." He knelt down next to her with a goofy smile, it had been a week since the incident with Herz de Sonne's book and things between the teens were going smoothly.

"Do you think this mint is too strong?" The dark-haired boy shook his head and so she tucked it into her bag along with some chamomile flowers and wild Betony. Varian watched her for a few more moments as she rifled through another plant.

"There it is!" startled, Varian toppled backwards, "I finally found some Lemon verbena." Standing and picking up her shoes she offered the boy a hand, which he took.

"Come on, let's find a sunny window to dry these out on."

--

"Happy birthday!" Rapunzel had invited the teens to celebrate with them, so Artemis had made a mad dash to crush the plants down last night, making a sample batch of each ingredient to see how the mixtures she made had tasted, the only one she didn't like was the Betony, it tasted too medicinal, which she supposed was the point.