After Happily Ever After

Thress

Lilliana stepped back and hunched a bit, stretching her arms out before her, her palms facing her tall father. "You are not cutting my hair," she said, "Don't even think about it."

Thorne, her father, placed his hands on his hips, his head tilted to the side. "Are we really doing this again, Lils?" Lilliana only stared back. She couldn't risk it. Not again. Her father raised an eyebrow. "Well? Are we?"

Lilliana sighed with a shrug. She stood up straight, her hands at her sides, and walked over to the blue sofa. "Yes," she replied simply, too concentrated on trying to actually get up onto the sofa to give him the explanation. Finally, she sat down. With her hands folded neatly on her lap, and her hair spread out all over the seating object, she finally took a deep breath and began her long explanation. "Well, daddy, you know Michelle?" she started, her voice small but sophisticated. Thorne nodded, a slight trace of amusement on his grin. "Well," she continued, "it just so happens that Chelle and me started a contest."

"A contest?" her father repeated.

She nodded happily with a smile, a smile that was missing a canine. "Mhm. And I have to have the longest hair, or else I'll loose and Chelle will want to kick me out of a hover the next time we are in one together."

Carswell Thorne stared at his daughter for a second, then laughed and set the scissors down. "Fine. Besides, I think I would have ruined your hair. Last time I cut someone's hair, I cut it unevenly." He paused. "Then again, I was blind at that point..."

The door to the family's library opened and Lilliana smiled. "Hi mom!"

Cress smiled back and tucked a strand of medium-length blonde hair behind her ear. She walked to Carswell, who put an arm around her shoulder and held her close. Lilliana had always thought her parents looked adorable together, one tall and one short. She still did.

Her mother looked up at her husband and said, "I was comming Cinder."

Lilliana's eyes widened. Her head turned to the right where a calendar was being projected onto the wall. She smiled again, knowing what the call had been about. "The ball!" she shrieked.

Cress nodded and Carswell stepped away, going to kneel in front of the sofa. He looked at Lilliana. "How would you like to go to a ball as an early birthday present? I mean, you are turning double digits this year."

Lilliana sprung to her feet and wrapped her arms tightly around her father's neck. "Yes! Thank you!" She let go and hugged her mom, who was only about an inch taller than her. She ran out of the room. "I'll be in my room!" she yelled.

The white door slid open and she stepped into the pastel-pink walled room, with a galaxy ceiling. Across one wall were the many different things she had painted in her free time, since she had a thing for art. Across another wall were the words 'The Flower and the Thorn.' In the third wall were the many memories she had in electronic picture frames, pictures zooming by.

She hurried to the window and placed her elbows on the windowsill, her face cupped in her palms. It was a full Earth, her favorite. In just two days she would be there, with her other favorite adults. It wasn't like she didn't see them very often, because she did, since her mom was the royal computer specialist that worked for the Lunar government and her dad was a captain for the Lunar military. She had just always seen the Emperor and Empress as second parents, and was always excited to see them.

Lilliana turned around and looked at herself in the mirror. Her freckled face looked back at her, her light blue eyes twinkling. She grabbed a brush and started to untangle her messy hair, which was down to her knees, since she hadn't cut it in three years. There were knots everywhere, eventually getting the brush stuck in her hair. Lilliana sighed and sat down on the floor in defeat.

Maybe finding appropriate attire was more important than her hair, which she had begun to think was actually a bird's nest. Lilliana stood back up and walked to her closet, which opened when the sensor sensed her presence. The clothes rack spun, all of her garments zooming by slowly. A light blue dress caught her eye. It had been a gift of her grandmother, her dad's mom, from her last birthday. Surely it would still fit, given the fact she hadn't grown much in that year.

Lilliana smiled and walked away. She went back to the window and smiled, before jumping onto her purple bed and turning on the netscreen. One of her favorite second era shows was on, and she cranked the volume up, comfortably lying down and watching the past.