3: An Unconventional Happy Ending.

Chapter 11: Reunited.

That night, Seb has the best sleep he's had in months. He's not wracked with sorrow and pain anymore. In the morning, he practically jumps out of bed, gets dressed quickly then heads down to the marketplace. It's only around nine thirty in the morning and the central marketplace is already bustling. There's an artisans crafts fayre visiting for the next few days, so he has a look around for an artisanal jeweller.
After about ten minutes of browsing, he finds a promising looking stall and homes in on it.

He scans the stall for a ring, he already has one of Hadriana's old rings so he can compare sizes, she left it behind when she left before so he kept it as a memento on a gold chain around his neck. He finds a beautifully crafted Sadrian designed silver ring with a big, oval brilliant cut violet coloured stone, with three smaller clear stones embedded on each shoulders of the ring next to the violet stone. He picks it up and compares it in size, it's a little smaller, but the ring he has was worn on her middle finger. He asks the jeweller.
"Excuse me sir? How much is this ring? And may I ask what the stone is called?"

The jeweller smiles warmly.
"That stone, sir is called an amethyst. It glimmers a pure deep violet purple in the light, it is shouldered with six little white diamonds... And it is seventy five gold."
He loves the sound of that, it reminds him of the deep violet of her eyes.
"That sounds perfect, thank you."
He hands over the money and the jeweller puts the ring into a little blue silk pouch. Seb smiles as he takes it and puts it in his waistcoat pocket, he practically skips back up the road. He makes his way to the little street where the pretty cottages are, he walks past Eleanora's house and carries on for another minute until he sees the cottage with a green door with the number twenty four on it, he sees the little white rose bushes too. It's around ten in the morning now.

He walks up to one of the bushes and picks one of the roses, narrowly avoiding being pricked by a thorn. He removes the thorns on the rose's stalk then knocks on the door. He waits impatiently for about half a minute. Hadriana answers the door in her long blue satin night dress, when he sees her again, pleasant memories come flooding back to him, memories he'd tried so hard to forget.
He doesn't even say a word, he takes two steps over the threshold takes her face in his hands and kisses her warmly, deeply as if she'd never been away from him. He then breaks away a little and places the rose in her very dark, coffee brown.
She smiles beautifully with both relief and nostalgia as he slides his arms around her waist.
"Good morning to you too, Sebastian."
He looks a little sheepish as he strokes her hair.
"Eheh, sorry... I couldn't help myself... Gods you're a beautiful sight..."
She reaches up and touches his cheeks.
"Ah damn it, I have missed you, so much... And thank you... You are quite a beautiful sight too."

He quickly kisses her again.
"Hah, thanks, I've missed you too... I don't think you even realise just how much. Come on, let's sit down. I need to talk to you."
She closes the door and they walk in.
"Alright, nothing bad I hope?"
He shakes his head in an almost excited manner.
"Quite the opposite actually... Besides, would I have just greeted you in that manner if it were bad?"
She sweeps some hair behind her ear and grins with satisfaction, she very much likes getting what she wants.
"I suppose not..."

They walk over to the dining table and sit down next to each other. He takes her hand in his.
"So, I spoke to Aerin last night after I spoke with you..."
She looks very hopeful now.
"And? What did she say?"
He smiles beautifully as he squeezes her hand.
"She actually told me to come back to you, Hadriana... She didn't take the news how I expected, I expected her to get annoyed or jealous or something but instead, she was gracious and wise about the whole thing... Saying that coming back to you is the right thing to do..."

She still questions it though, not really able to believe it herself.
"Well... I will say I did not expect that either... Do you believe it is the right thing to do?"
He nods firmly.
"I do, which is why I'm here now... She said that she had watched me with Sera and seeing how good I was with her, that she could tell that I wanted the same thing and I think she was right... She felt bad that she couldn't give me that, she's sterile you see, she was born that way... But honestly, it lifted a weight from my shoulders that I didn't even know I was carrying... She went on to say that someone who is good for me isn't necessarily right for me, meaning herself... She then said that the person who is right for me, meaning you, might not necessarily be good for me but only time will tell. You are right for me Hadriana because no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't forget you or stop loving you... She saw this too and we mutually and amicably ended things last night."
She has an almost teary smile on her face.
"Really? Oh my, I feel a bit bad now... What a wise and wonderful woman though, I can understand why you were with her... That and she is indeed stunning..."