Love is such a strange and complex emotion. It can be felt for anyone, at any time, anyplace. You never foresee it. Falling in love can happen so quickly, and there is nothing you can do about it. It can happen over the course of time, or all at once.
Love is still such a confusing topic for young Opal. She looks at her parents, and can tell even at her age how in love they are. But then she looks at her Aunt Rapunzel and Uncle Eugene, who are also so obviously in love, yet their relationship is completely different than her parents' relationship. How can something that most everyone feels at some point in their life be so different in different people?
Lately, Opal has been having to spend a lot of time with Aunt Rapunzel. She loves getting to have all the one-on-one attention from the Queen, and hear all her stories about her past adventures. Rapunzel is her favorite person in the world (besides her parents, of course), and because she is queen and has so many royal duties Opal felt as if she didn't get enough time with her.
But now Rapunzel has been teaching Opal all about courtly life and royalty, for the young girl has been chosen to be the future queen of Corona.
"Hey Little Gem, you know what time it is."
Opal's thoughts are interrupted by her father, Varian, entering her room. She glances out the window, and realizes that the sun has vanished beyond the horizon. But to her dismay, the sky is darkened with thick clouds, making it impossible to see the beautiful moon she knows is just behind them.
"Bedtime already?" She whines with a cute little pout.
"Yep," Varian replies, pulling back the covers on her bed and gesturing for her to crawl in. "Let's get you settled in for the night."
"But where's Mommy?" Opal asks, climbing into bed. "She's usually here to tuck me in, too."
"Your mom has a later shift tonight," Varian replies. "She's here in the castle somewhere, doing what guards do." He offers her a kind smile as he tucks her into her blanket snuggly and gives her a kiss on her forehead. "Goodnight, Opal."
"Wait!" She protests before he can exit. "Can you tell me a story first?"
"You're always asking for stories," Varian chuckles. "But you know it's time for you to get some sleep."
"But Luna wants to hear one too!" Opal adds as her pet albino fox rushes into the room and hops onto the bed with her.
Varian shakes his head. "You need your rest so that you can continue your studies tomorrow."
"Pleeeeaaaase?" Opal says, making sure to give her father the perfect puppy-dog eyes and wide smile that always melt his heart.
"Ohhh... Okay," Varian reluctantly caves in. He just can't resist those big, sweet eyes! It's a problem of his that Cassandra never ceases to tease him about.
"Yay!" Opal exclaims, clapping her hands excitedly as Varian sits at the edge of her bed.
"So, what kind of story do you wanna hear tonight?" Varian asks.
"I want to hear about how you and Mommy fell in love," Opal replies without hesitation.
"Oh, wow. Really?" Varian says. "That's actually a pretty long story, Opal."
"I don't mind," Opal says, causing Varian to smirk. "Aunt Raps told me how she and Uncle Eugene fell in love."
"You might still be a bit too young for this story, Little Ge—"
"I'm not, Daddy, I promise!" Opal insists. "I wanna know! Was it love at first sight?"
Varian sighs. "Well, um... No, not at all. It's actually something that took a while to happen."
Intrigued, Opal wiggles farther down into her bed, snuggling Luna closer and listening with rapt attention.
"Okay, where to begin...?" Varian rubs the back of his neck. "Now, I'm going to warn you. Not everything in this story is happy and fun. In fact, it starts off pretty sad. And has some sad stuff in the middle... and kind of ends on a sad note, too."
Opal's eyes widen, but she is still resolved in her determination to hear this story. "I'm ready."
Varian clears his throat and takes in a deep breath. "The day your mother decided to leave Corona was one of the saddest days of my life. But sadder still, was the day she finally returned..."