Loyal Riptide

Part 2 Chapter 15

       Asa stood in the center of the dressing room with her arms up as the seamstress made some final adjustments to the pale lilac gown she wore. Unlike the last dress she was supposed to wear on her first coronation this dress was better suited to her interests with a neckline parallel to her shoulders dotted with small flowers around the entire neckline around her shoulders. There were three layers to the skirt of the gown with each layer having a darker shade of lilac than the one before with the third layer being the darkest.

Each layer along the hem of each skirt had sewn on the same type of flower on the neckline but between each flower little shinning pearls were embellished into the fabric. Instead of gloves that went up to her elbows she personally requested that she only wore small floral bracelets to match the dress along with lilac heels that weren't too tall. The seamstress stepped back to admire her work giving Asa a silent permission to bring her arms down to her sides.

"Nice to see that you won't run away on me again, your majesty." The seamstress joked, taking off the waist band she wore with all her sewing needles, pins and string setting it down on the nearby vanity. "At least I hope you're not going to run away." She chuckled before leaving the room and Hizashi making her entrance.

"You look beautiful." She said simply, admiring Asa with her sparkling red eyes. Asa studied herself in the floor length mirror that was beside her and she indeed did look beautiful. Gone was the whiny little girl not wanting the title she was born into having and gone was the hormonal teenager trying so desperately to forget about her past. What she saw in the mirror was a mature woman about to live out her birth right as queen to the kingdom she now so deeply cares about. 

"Yep." She sighed deeply and slowly before going behind the dressing room screen to change. It has been a whole week since everyone was exhausted on the beach at West Gate and it has been a week since she has talked to any of her friends. Once she finished changing into a light shirt with a vest and long pants with knee high boots she faced Hizashi. Hizashi wasn't wearing her usual work attire which left Asa to raise her eyebrows with Hizashi seeming to catch onto her look.

"Today's my last day working for you, Asa." She explained, clamping her hands in front of her, "Dorian had asked me to live with him at West Gate and I agreed. But we plan on visiting a lot!" Asa glanced down on the floor before glancing back up into her friend's eyes. "I knew this was going to happen eventually, but I hope you and Dorian enjoy each other's company." She said with a slight smile. "It's just everything is happening so fast now and I am scared about what we all have going away like that." She explained, fighting down a pain lingering in her throat. Hizashi smiled and walked up to Asa wrapping her arms around her tightly.

"And we'll always have that. It isn't going away like that." She responded with a slight sniff Asa figured she was fighting back tears as well. Asa wrapped her arms around Hizashi and rested her chin on her friend's shoulder, "I just wish Yoko and my mother were here to see this." 

Hizashi moved her head a tiny bit to get a better look at Asa. "They are still here just not the way you were hoping they will be." She replied this time tears slowly drifting down her cheeks which only made Asa tear up, too. They heard a knock on the window and they left each other's protective arms to see who was at the window making that sound to see Kaiyu squatting on the window beam right outside the window.

"Not going to tell me that my boyfriends here?" Asa mocked leaving Hizashi to roll her eyes but smile. "Please. Why would I try to piss off Sirene now?" She replied slapping Asa on the back. Asa walked up to the window and opened it coming face to face with Kaiyu. "I always wondered how you climbed up to this window." She told him, climbing through the open window and joining Kaiyu on the beam. "Once you realize how high you can truly dive out of the water you can do amazing things. Hey, were you crying?" He explained and pointed at her puffy face from indeed crying. "What, no shut up." She replied before jumping from the ledge and diving into the lake three stories below.