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In the forest far north of the Royal Castle in the kingdom of Katolis, high up the mountain range that makes up the natural border with the kingdom of Duren, stands a small cottage in the shade of the pine trees. It’s far removed from anyone and anything that isn’t the trees, the birds or the butterflies that flock around the purple mountain flowers in the tall grass, with a singular path leading to it off the main road through the mountains. It’s quiet and serene, all Claudia really needs these days.
It’s the last day of summer and the sun is warming the forest ground, thick and soft with fallen pine needles, as Claudia walks over it. She can feel the sweltering heat even through her thin, cotton dress and keeps to the shadows under the trees, fidgeting with the strap of her bag where it presses down on her shoulder. When she lifts it up, the fabric of her dress sticks to her skin. Claudia has only lived in this part of the kingdom for a year, but the climb over the small path that meanders up the mountain feels as familiar as the damp castle hallways she once called home.
Green eyes glide over the scenery around her. To her left, Claudia can see the slope of the mountain reach impossible heights, and to the right she sees a small stream of water flow down to the valley. It’s almost dried up by now, but Claudia knows that once winter has come and gone, the thaw will bring a fresh supply of the crystalline water that she, alongside the animals of the forest, uses.
The path evens out again and bends around a gigantic rock, before leading her through a collection of similar, smaller ones. Pine trees grow here too, in the spaces between and on the rocks, wherever their roots can find ground to burrow in. Claudia thinks about the theory she has formed on these stones, tall as castle walls and overgrown with moss and tiny flowers. Once, in the extensive library in the castle, she read about a time impossibly long ago, when Katolis was a sea and the movements of the earth below shifted to create a delta. That delta must’ve been where the mountain range resides now, with the rocks having spread far and wide on this side of the range like the tiny pebbles, transported by the water in the creek below.
The path disappears between the large sandstones, but Claudia isn’t lost at all as her hand traces the mossy side of one, fingers finding the ridge she and Soren made when they found this place the first time around. She doubts she even needs it to find her way anymore, but some habits die hard. Claudia follows the direction it leads her in until she finds the traces of a path again, behind a handful of trees.
Soon enough, the little cottage Claudia calls home these days comes into sight. It’s simple, a singular space that holds a tiny kitchen, a bed, a chair and a dresser buried under Claudia’s possessions, but it’s hers and hers alone. It’s built out of the same pine wood that surrounds it, sturdy dark wood that keeps the heat out in summer and in, in winter. Next to the cottage is Claudia’s herb garden, filled with the little projects she works on, different plants each season. A small smile settles on her face as the warm rays of the sun hit her, briefly. She’s home.
Claudia lifts her bag off her shoulder and pushes open the door to her house, ready to start on—
The thought dies quickly and silently when she sees who is sitting on her bed. The bag slips from her hands and maybe she hears a couple of eggs break, but the sound doesn’t register.
“Rayla!” Claudia gasps softly, as she stares at the girl who she’s had to miss this last month. “You’re back!”
“Surprise,” the Moonshadow Elf says with a complacent grin. “Miss me?” Claudia doesn’t know how fast she can make it to the other side of the cottage, throwing her arms around Rayla as she pulls her close and revels in all the things she’s had to miss: her warmth, her smell, her hands, soothingly rubbing her back and finding their way up to her neck.
“A lot,” Claudia murmurs into her shoulder. They stay like that for as long as they both need to—Claudia doesn’t keep count, choosing to focus instead on how Rayla feels as she’s pressed against her. And she thinks this every time, but the thought still repeats itself in her head: this time I’m never letting go.
She doesn’t, immediately linking their hands together as she pulls back. “So what happened?” Claudia asks. “I thought you would be arriving at sundown.” Rayla shrugs, still grinning.
“Just couldn’t wait to see you again, I guess,” she answers, and just for that Claudia has to kiss her again. (And again, and another time for all the days she couldn’t.)
“I’m so glad you’re back early,” Claudia says, tucking a few strands of brilliant white hair behind Rayla’s pointed ear. “But…I didn’t finish my surprise, yet.”
“Surprise?” Rayla asks and her eyes gain a twinkle.
“You would’ve been very surprised if you hadn’t surprised me first,” Claudia answers with a smile. “But this is good, too. You can help me make it.” She rises from the crouch she’d been in ever since she’d flung her arms around Rayla and pulls the other girl up from the bed by their joined hands. With some hesitation, Claudia lets one hand go and grabs her bag from the floor.
“The surprise?” Rayla asks again, before snorting as she watches Claudia struggle to get all her groceries out of the bag with a single hand. “Here, let me help you.” Claudia whines a little at lost contact as Rayla lets go of her hand to help her unpack. “Milk, butter, eggs—” Rayla checks inside the carton. “—two haven’t survived the trip, I’m afraid.” Claudia winces.
“Ouch.” With a grimace, Rayla hands her the carton and Claudia starts fishing out the shards of shell and bits of yoke, and throws them out the kitchen window. “Okay,” she says once that’s done. “Now I need you to leave again.” The shock on Rayla’s face would make her feel bad for the girl, if it wasn’t also so funny. “Don’t worry, babe,” Claudia murmurs as she steps close, disregarding the bits of egg clinging to her fingers, and resumes her hold on Rayla’s hands. “Only for how long it takes you to go get us some fresh strawberries from the garden.” And there it is again, the easy smile and the soft look Claudia knows she’ll get when she touches Rayla softly and gives her her sweetest smile.
“Of course,” Rayla says, before leaning in to kiss her again. Claudia’s heart immediately jumps up and she feels her cheeks get hot. It’s ridiculous really, when this must be about their 100th date. “Be right back,” Rayla murmurs.
“Don’t be too quick,” Claudia murmurs back, pressing another chaste kiss to her girlfriend’s lips before she steps outside. Then, she gets out flower from one of her rackety cupboards and mixes it in a bowl with the milk, two eggs and a pinch of salt, before pouring a spoonful of the mixture into a frying pan. Just like magic, Claudia thinks with a grin as the butter and batter sizzle in the pan.
Of course Rayla comes back when Claudia hasn’t even made her way halfway through the batter, way too soon but with an impressive amount of strawberries in her arms. Claudia doesn’t mind in the slightest—the smell of the pancakes surely ruined any element of surprise she might have had, and it’s actually way more fun this way. She flips a pancake in the air skillfully and lets Rayla attempt the same; that’s one pancake that’ll make it’s way to the garden, a small feast for the birds of the forest. Rayla steals a pancake fresh out of the pan, eating sneaky bites with a strawberry and some sugar, but feeding Claudia little bits too. (Claudia turning her head too quickly, getting sugar on her face. Rayla kissing it clean.)
When the bowl is finally empty, only three pancakes remain and both girls are too full to even think about eating another one.
“Hey,” Rayla whispers in her ear, from where she’s tucked into Claudia’s side on the bed, an arm slung over her stomach.
“Hm?”
“I love you.” Her breath catches and Claudia slowly opens her eyes. The wooden ceiling is painted orange with the light of the setting sun, like a true summer evening.
She glances at it as she replies: “What was that for?” She feels Rayla’s shrug more than she sees it, in her peripheral vision.
“Just wanted to say it, I guess,” Rayla answers. “Why…did I surprise you?” Claudia smiles and tightens the arm that’s holding the elf.
“Not at all.” She pauses, then realizes there’s no reason to. A lazy smile spreads over her face. “I love you too.”