Work Text:
I can’t believe it.
Emma looked at the ring on her left finger. The band was made of rose gold, two citrine gems the same shade as Leon’s eyes on either side of the winking diamond. The ring was warm, dazzling brightly under the rays of the sun—a piece of Leon in gem form.
She never expected to get a ring—engaged, yes, but without the traditional jewels of a bride-to-be. Leon was a man of experience (no, not Jin’s, ahem, experience). With Leon, the ordinary felt extraordinary, with life meant to be thoroughly enjoyed. His dates reflected that zeal for activity: rousing dancing dates in local taverns; mingling with crowds of people at town festivals hand-in-hand; inhaling the smell of aged paper together in unexplored bookstores. And while those dates often resulted in presents—books, roses, the occasional hat pin—Leon had never gifted Emma jewelry. There was a reason for that.
For a man so eloquent and in tune with others, Leon was practically mute when it came to himself. He rarely volunteered stories of his early childhood to Emma. When he did, the tales had the same themes of drudgery, resignation, and fear. Prominent in them was a foreman who delighted in “motivating” slaves by beating them with hands covered in rings that were more like brass knuckles. The foreman wore a chained necklace adorned with different rings, each shaped with various points and sharp edges to inflict maximum damage.
“Don’t look at me like that,” Leon had said, when he first spoke of the foreman to Emma. Her eyes had become watery, her heart breaking at the cruelty he had experienced so young. Leon knew Emma was imagining the awful pain as if it were her own. He made his voice distant and eerily calm, as if telling someone else’s story. “That just the way that it was.” He was fine, perfectly fine, those dark days behind him, he insisted.
Unresolved trauma manifests in profoundly strange ways. Leon’s penchant for falling asleep while reading was well known—a quirk to an otherwise charismatic prince. The pressure to play his royal role was so great that reading other fictional characters overwhelmed him. Most of the princes carried keys to various palace rooms on a chain. Leon carried individual keys in his pockets; the sound of jangling keys reminded him of the manacles he had been locked into at night.
But jewelry was Leon’s biggest trigger. At the first palace party as an acknowledged couple, Emma had worn a red pendant necklace. When Leon saw Emma he froze, eyes widening. An image of Emma weighed down by chains on her neck and wrists, the foreman’s cruel laugh echoing in his mind, enveloped Leon. The relief from Leon was palpable when Emma, with profound insight, removed the pendant from her neck.
“I’m here Leon,” Emma whispered to him. “We have each other. Nothing and no one will change that.” She smiled and held Leon’s hand. Her words of encouragement were a beacon of hope, a lifeline to the slave boy that still resided in him.
Leon took Emma’s necklace and buried it in his pants pocket. He flashed a bright smile and claimed Emma was beautiful enough to not need such baubles. They were pretty words, but Emma was not fooled.
From that day onward, Emma wore no jewelry until her engagement.
…
“If you stare at that ring any longer, I might start getting jealous.” A rumbling purr tickled Emma’s ear, interrupting her thoughts. Laughing, Leon pressed a kiss to the top of Emma’s head. His arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
Emma turned in Leon’s arms so that she was facing him. She wiggled her ringed finger. “A-are you sure you’re ok with this? This ring’s not going to trigger—“
Leon put a finger to Emma’s lips, his heart squeezing gently at her concern.
“Yes. Like you said before, we have each other. This ring represents that. And much, much more.” Leon removed his finger and stroked her cheek.
“With you, I can face anything. Past or present. I want the world to see that.” He lifted her hand and kissed her ring. “With you, I am capable of anything.” Leon tilted his head and leaned down, his breath ghosting her lips.
“With you, I’m free.”