Chapter Text
"There!" Alva was kneeling on the floor, wrapping a scarf around the little boy's neck. The rest of the children had just left the building, running about in the streets that were now tinted a rosy colour, throwing snowballs at each other in the schoolyard, shouting and playing loudly. "You're all warm and ready to go." She pulled the child's hat back slightly so it wasn't covering his eyes.
"So there won't be school next week?"
Alva rolled her eyes, this must be the tenth time she confirmed this today. "Yes, Kristoff. There won't be school next week."
"But why?!"
"Because," she took a deep breath, "I have a friend coming to visit next week."
Also because she decided Jesper was right; she needed a break. Desperately.
Kristoff nodded, looking at the ground forlornly.
"Off you go now." Alva guided him to the door with a pat on his back before his sad looks could change her mind. She stood and turned to face the stairs. The thought of her bed waiting for her at the top was so inviting. She was ready to flop down on it and doze off.
"Miss Alva?" Kristoff called.
Alva shut her eyes and held back a groan. If he asks her about next week again! She loved her students, but there were moments when they tested her patience.
"Ye-e-es, Kristoff?" She said through her teeth.
"Um, I found this by the door." The little boy said hesitantly, holding up an enveloped letter to his teacher.
"Oh." Alva's frustration faded. "Thank you."
"Bye Miss Alva!" he cried, skittering past her.
Alva looked outside, scanning the passerbys. She flipped the envelope over in her hands. It didn't have a stamp or anything addressed on it. It wasn't delivered by a postman, then. Alva closed the door and slumped against it with a tired sigh. She opened the envelope to find a small stalk of bright blue flowers and a letter. She unfolded the paper and read it:
Dear Alva,
I am writing this letter because I wanted to remind you of something you once told me: "It would be pretty stupid to leave this place now."
The children love you. Klaus loves you. Everyone loves you.
Alva's eyes wandered over a few blotched out and crossed off lines that followed before she read the next line.
I love you.
If that doesn't change your mind, and I don't expect it to, all I ask is that you don't forget us. I know I won't forget you.
Yours,
Jesper
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Last night, Jesper thought he had nothing to lose. Today, he came to the realisation that he did.
His dignity. Or at least whatever's left of it.
Since the moment he slipped his letter underneath the school's door as inconspicuously as possible, after having checked the area for any signs of sarcastic ferrymen, he thought this was a bad idea. When she finds out that he knows her secrets, she might assume he had been reading her mail. Alva is a strong woman with strong arms which she wouldn't hesitate to use, he knew that for a fact. Jesper gulped. Maybe he should head back and retrieve it. Say he delivered it to the wrong address or something. Yes, that's what he'll do. The faster he goes, the less the chances are of her having read it.
Jesper raced back towards the school, gasping for breath as he slipped past the semi-constructed church. He could feel his heart pounding to the tips of his ears. "Please don't let her see it! Please don't let her see it!"
"You idiot!"
She saw it. Jesper halted and gasped loudly. Alva was heading towards him, his letter and flowers in her hand.
"Alva! Let me explain!" Jesper raised his shaking hands in front of his face defensively, backing away and tripping over his own feet before landing on his back, knocking himself flat onto the ground.
Alva grabbed him by the collar of his coat. Jesper squeezed his eyes shut. There was no escape now. He braced himself for a broken nose, or a broken back, or some combination of the sort.
He was met with a gentle kiss instead.
Jesper opened his eyes. Alva stood there with a warm smile. A million questions raced through his mind.
For Alva, this week couldn't possibly get any better.
First, she receives a letter from Sister Noelle who was not only her teacher, but the mother she never had, telling her that she's coming to visit Smeernsburg to meet this postman she wouldn't stop writing about. Alva was so excited and was quick to send a reply confirming the date and time of the ferry's arrival. She had told Sister Noelle everything. How Klaus and Jesper brought joy and peace to this place she so desperately wanted to leave for five years. How Jesper had rekindled her dream when children unexpectedly showed up to school one day asking her to teach them.
And now, this letter.
She looked back at it and the stalk of flowers curiously. What exactly did this idiot mean about her forgetting him? Why did his words imply she was leaving?
"What did you expect?" She asked, genuinely intrigued. "Of course I love you."
A rush of heat shot through Jesper's cheeks. Did he hear bells ringing?
"Well, I guess that's why they call it a red letter!" Mogens remarked, standing by the now-church-bell.