Page 42 of I Dated a Holiday Hero
He took the cocoa, lifted her, and set her down so he had enough room to curl around her. She laughed as one of his dark-red locks slid over her shoulder, but their heartbeats synced again. It felt so right that she sniffled a little, and he grabbed the hot cocoa, finding the one with the most marshmallows and giving it to her.
She grinned. “You remembered.”
“You like things sweet enough to hurt my teeth.”
She sipped at the sweet sludge at the top of the drink before she put it down and turned in his arms. “So, do you think this hurts your teeth?”
She slid her arms around his neck and kissed him. He smiled, and they continued the kiss while the sun blazed on the cool day. It wasn’t back the way it was, but they had the chance to build something on the rubble of their past.
Cloud had given them the new foundation.
* * * *
From her office inthe Z-Corp building, she called her employer. “Hey, Zera. We are good. They wanted to be together, wanted to comfort each other, and now they are spending the day cuddling together.”
She rubbed the side of her belly where her son was kicking up a storm.
“So, they are both in the present?”
“In the present and planning a future together. It is so sweet.”
“Why aren’t you more involved in her life?”
“She needed to go her way, and I had to go mine. I still love her, if that is what you are asking.”
Zera murmured, “I wondered, considering the cost.”
“Ah, it is particularly taxing to do what I did today. I had to pull both of them in together and hold them in the same moments. That isn’t easy.” She didn’t mention that she was saving for an education fund.
“Have you been watching the international requests?”
“No, I was busy today.”
“Well, just as you left, the prefect got an admittance request for a dream master. They don’t generally leave their library.”
“How peculiar. I didn’t know they knew how to read a map.”
Zera huffed. “Cloud, do you know why a dream master would be in Aksalla?”
“Nope. Ask them. The last one I knew should be married and tied down by now. I mean, if he’s into that sort of thing.”
Zera frowned. “Do they get married?”
“Oh, sure. Ancient bloodlines and all that crap. No deviation from the plan is tolerated.” She continued making session notes from her visit with her sister and Worro.
“Sounds unpleasant. Have you been to the library?”
“Yes. I went when I was a teen.”
“When did you leave?”
“Six years ago.”
“Have you visited recently?” Zera was driving right toward the very obvious secret.
“Yes, about seven months ago. It was a friend’s wedding, so I was there to celebrate.”
“How hard did you celebrate?”
