Truly, Madly, Deeply

I had napped, the long trip and surprise companionship draining me.

When I awoke, I found myself alone, save a red bloom lying on his pillow beside me.

Too, there was a note, one that had a clover drawn upon it. I dressed and combed my hair, finding that when I did so, a piece of my hair was.. missing; cut away, luckily in an inconspicuous place at the back of my head.

I made my way down to the front desk, showing the note to a man who seemed to know me by way of Kain. He sent me down the street to a clothier, where a sign of a clover hung at the entrance. It was she who beckoned me in introducing me to a beautiful set of green robes, which I changed into. Quite an escape from the normal shade of brown I insist on wearing so that I am not seen. Upon the breast of the robes was another note, this time with a heart drawn on it. Another clue, or simply an I love you heart. I wasn’t sure, but when I saw the sign above the Smithy, I knew he had turned this into a game of hide and seek. I poked my head in the door, another recognizing me. This man gave me a box. Within the box was another piece of parchment, two trees crossed in an X and a golden key.

It was the music that attracted me at first, but when I tried to enter I was stopped by another woman. "Ahh Tal my lady.. are you hear fer the ball? Oh.. madame you can not go in without

a mask.. AH!I have just the thing..” The key was taken from my box and put on a thong, then placed around my neck. Too, she gave me mask, which I was instructed to put on.

I have never been to a masquerade before and I was amazed, not realizing there were so many hues in a color spectrum as there were shades of gowns. The men were equally debonair, all wearing masks as well. Somewhere under one of those masks I was sure I would find my Kain.

It took some time to wade through the sea of people, but finally I found him, his mask tied with a braid of auburn hair. My hair.

We danced until I could no longer stand, then sought the solitude of a small garden to eat. He complimented me, he kissed me, but what touched my heart the most was his smile. I true smile, one made just for me. "How handsome you are when you do that curl thing with your lips. You should do it more often."

"Curling thing? Ah! I had an itch.."

"I was thinking of buying a small villa here.. so we could spend my away time here instead of being held up in the Valerian house. We could be a real family."

A real family. Wasn’t that something I had wanted all along? I would have loved to have a villa here, or even a tent.

The villa was magnificent. They key was taken from my neck to open the door. He even carried me over the threshold to what I assumed was the master bedroom.

A set of white larl furs and a bottle of wine had been left to a well stocked fireplace. "So every woman at the dance has a villa at the end of their key? How fashionable."

"To my most beautiful companion.."

I had often dreamed of this very thing. A beautiful house in which I could live with my children and my companion. Tonight was the time for fairy tales to come to fruitation, and I knew that I would remember it for as long as I lived.

My perfect day. If all others could by only half as nice.