above and beyond

Chapter 9

Though there is the hope that Gloria will be able to get close to Leon before the night of the ball, it does not seem likely that that will happen. For the most part, she either spends her time helping Sonia with her research, or with Hop, steadily learning the proper steps that she will need to know to not make a fool of herself on the night of the ball. Leon, on the other hand, is often so busy that she hardly gets to see him, even in passing.

When she does get to see him, he will talk to her as much as she can, and she is at least glad that he always seems happy to see her, and does not seem to mind having her as a guest. But none of this can really be considered budding romance, or at least she does not think it can. She hopes that he is starting to notice her a bit more, but she can't shake the feeling that she is not doing much to win him over.

"You're doing fine!" Hop says, whenever she expresses her concern. "I wish I could do more about getting Lee to spend time with you, but in the meantime, it seems really promising! You should know that he doesn't spare much attention for others outside of his royal duties. I mean, besides our family and Sonia, and she barely counts since we've known her for so long that she might as well be family."

But I'm still living with your family , Gloria argues. It's not like he can avoid me, so why would I be any different?

"You just are different, that's all there is to it. You're not a part of the family, at least, you're still so new and all," says Hop. "I don't mean to say that you're not a part of the family because you're not welcome, or anything like that. But it's definitely different, and Leon would have to see you differently!"

She wants to argue again and say that Hop is just making this up as he goes along, but he is doing his best to support her, and even if he is making it up, he is at least trying to keep her from losing hope. And, anyway, he knows Leon better than she does, and he knows how much is at stake here. If he insists that she is doing fine and that she shouldn't worry so much, then perhaps it would do her some good to listen to him and take what he says at face value.

~X~

In the time that she does spend with Leon, their conversations are often brief, as he asks her about how she is adjusting, what she has been doing, if she is feeling alright, and if she has remembered anything. Gloria tries to dodge the last two topics as much as she can, because she still feels bad about lying to him about mysteriously washing up without her memories.

She does not have amnesia, nor any amnesia-inducing injuries for him to worry about, and so she hates having to lie about those things. It felt so good to be able to tell the truth about herself to Hop that she wishes she could do the same with Leon, but then she would ruin everything. She just felt like she and Hop grew so much closer once he knew the real her, and feels as though she and Leon could grow closer as well, if only he really knew her.

But that is not a possibility right now, so she simply dodges the topic where she can, preferring instead to tell Leon about her experiences and how exciting everything is for her. Just like Hop, he is amazed by how easily impressed she is by everything, saying, "It's like you're seeing the world for the very first time. Or, I guess it really is like that for you, huh?"

She knows that he only means because of her supposed amnesia, but she simply smiles and writes, That's pretty much true. Everything feels so new to me, and it's all been very exciting.

"Well, you've had a good tour guide, that's for sure," he says with a grin. "Hop is a good kid, you couldn't ask for a better friend than him. He doesn't get the chance to meet a lot of people his own age, so this has been good for him. You've met Sonia, right?"

When Gloria nods, Leon says, "Her family has always been close to the royal family, so I was lucky to have a friend like her growing up. Hop mostly had to tag along with us, since there wasn't anyone close to his age. It's nice now, getting to see how close the two of you have become."

For some reason, Gloria finds herself blushing at his words, even though his praise was not necessarily directed at her. In fact, it can hardly be called praise at all, and yet she finds herself getting flustered by Leon all the same. Being with him typically has this effect on her, so she supposes that it is nothing out of the ordinary.

~X~

Though conversations like that are rare, getting to spend time with Hop often makes up for it, even as her concerns about meeting the deadline grow. Being with Hop helps ease her worries quite a bit, because even when he is not reassuring her that everything is going to be fine, he still helps her with whatever he can, and when they take breaks to explore town some more together, she has so much fun that she can forget her worries for a little while.

Gloria is happiest when she is with Hop, happier than she has ever been before, and she tells herself that it is just because she has never had a friend like this before. She has never been this close or connected to anyone in her life, and that is more than enough reason to be so happy just to be able to spend time with him.

But still there are times that she wishes she didn't have a deadline and that things could stay like this, when her worries about Leon are more worries about not getting to stay here than worries about him never falling in love with her. Leon steadily becomes more of a goal to her as her thoughts focus more on Hop, and she does not want to think about what that could possibly mean for her.

There is nothing in the rules of the spell to suggest that she is not allowed to fall in love with someone else, but she worries about how that might affect things nonetheless. She came here because of Leon, and her goal is to get Leon to fall in love with her, so that the two of them can live happily ever after.

Hop is just supposed to be her friend and her ally, helping her along on the journey. And she still definitely feels the initial connection to Leon that drew her here, so she knows that her feelings for him have not gone away. Whatever she might be feeling for Hop, she tells herself that it is just gratitude for all that he continues to do for her.