(Please enjoy this chapter specially written for StormyKnight777. Also, try and spot the foreshadowing!)
"Hi!" a little voice said, tugging at Grizin's clothes.
Grizin turned to see one of the village's newest additions. She was only three at the time. He, himself was four hundred and forty-two. Still pretty young by dragon standards, but not so young. His hair was short, easy to manage. He carried himself with an expression of tightness. He tried to make himself as unapproachable as possible. Because of what happened all those years ago, he hated humans. He despised them, so much so that his whole attitude had changed. He was no longer that bright, friendly child that Fabeldyr had known. Now, he was bitter and rough. He snapped at people who got in his way and was generally regarded as the village's cranky old man, despite his young age.
"What?" Grizin demanded, scowling.
"I'm Cece!" the girl told him, smiling brightly. She had orangy-red hair pulled into pigtails and freckles all across her pale face. Her orange eyes were bright and full of wonder, the same color as his father's eyes.
"So?" Grizin snapped.
"Wanna be my friend?" Cece asked.
"No," Grizin told her, walking off.
"But you're alone!" Cece said, following him.
"And? I like being alone," Grizin replied. Why was this annoying little girl following him so much?
"No one likes being alone, silly!" Cece replied with a giggle, having to run to keep up with him. "I don't!"
"Well you aren't me," Grizin snapped. "I don't want to be followed by a little brat like you."
Cece frowned and grabbed onto Grizin's tunic. "But. . .but I don't wanna be alone," she told him, sounding close to tears.
Grizin stopped and sighed, closing his eyes. "Where is your mother?"
"I dunno," Cece replied, not letting go of his tunic. "I got lost. . ."
"Why did you leave your mother?" Grizin demanded.
"I wanted to say hi to you!"
"And then you followed me. . .so you got lost, great," Grizin grumbled. "Come on, let's go find your mother so you can leave me alone."
"Yay! More time with new friend!" Cece replied, bouncing up and down on her heels. "What's your name?"
"Why does it matter?" Grizin asked, very much annoyed.
"Because you're my friend now!"
"I never said I was your friend."
"But I wanna be friends. . ."
"Don't start crying!"
"But-but-I wanna be friends and you don't!"
Grizin sighed through his nostrils, trying very hard not to yell at the tiny Cece. It was very difficult.
"Cymbeline!" a woman said, rushing up to them. She had the same hair and eyes as Cece, but she was slightly tanner and without freckles. "There you are! How many times have I told you not to go running off on your own!"
"Hello, Mardell," Grizin told the woman. "Is this yours?"
"Yes, thank you for keeping an eye on her, Grizin," Mardell Tanith replied, scooping up the little girl. "Was she too much trouble? She didn't bother you too much, did she?"
"No, but you did get here just in time," Grizin told her.
"Mommy! I made a new friend!" Cece told Mardell, all thoughts of crying gone from her mind.
"I see that," Mardell told Cece. "Did he tell you his name?"
Cece shook her head. "No, but you said it! His name is Grizin! I wanna call him Grizzy!"
Grizin's eye twitched. "How. . .interesting. Excuse me, I have to go."
With that, Grizin turned and left. That little girl got on his nerves. . . Why did she have to come up to him? Ugh.
Once Grizin had left, Mardell sighed as she held Cece. "Cymbeline. . . You can't just wander off like that, understand?"
"But I made a friend!" Cece protested.
"I saw that, but Grizin isn't a very nice guy," Mardell told her daughter. "He doesn't like people."
"I want him to like me," Cece stated firmly.
"I know, but-"
"I want him to like me!"
Mardell sighed. "Fine."
"Yay!" Cece replied with a giggle.
---
A couple years had passed. Grizin had not been able to escape the little Tanith girl who called him "Grizzy" like she wasn't afraid of him. He learned to tolerate it. Now, she was five years old and almost always by his side. She had softened him a bit, at least around her.
"Grizzy! Grizzy! Up!" Cece said one day.
Grizin sighed upon hearing his miniature, orange-haired shadow. He could never have a moment alone, could he? Not as long as she was awake. He turned to see Cece, her pigtailed hair longer, reaching her shoulders in small fiery orange waves.
"Hello, Cecelia," Grizin told her, having since learned that her name was Cecelia. Technically, it was Cymbeline, but no one called her that. He refused to call her Cece.
"I'm Cece!" Cecelia told Grizin. "Pick me uuup!"
"Fine," Grizin replied, scooping the child up. Secretly, he was starting to like her. Cecelia wasn't all that annoying after all. However, he couldn't let her know that. It would ruin the fun.
Cecelia giggled. "I'm so tall!"
"You are," Grizin told her, trying not to smile. "You're very tall."
"Yeah! Mommy says I'm getting big," Cecelia told Grizin.
"You are, it's getting to the point where I can't pick you up," Grizin told Cecelia. "You're getting very heavy."
"You're super strong!" Cecelia said excitedly. She patted the top of his head. "You should get long hair like me! It's too short."
"What's wrong with my hair?" Grizin asked, slightly offended. He raised a hand to his head, where his hair was only an inch or so long at most.
"You'd look pretty with long hair," Cecelia stated. "Your short hair is weird."
Grizin sighed. Okay, now it was starting to get annoying. "It's easy to manage. I like it. I won't grow it out simply because you don't."
Cecelia pouted, patting his head, this time keeping her hand there. "I don't like it, it's weird on you."
"Well I like it, and that's what matters," Grizin told Cecelia. "Your opinion holds no value when it comes to my hairstyle."
Cecelia tilted her head in confusion. "What does that mean?"
"It means I don't care what you think," Grizin told the little girl in his arms.
Cecelia pouted. "But I'm your friend! You should!"
"You're also five," Grizin pointed out. "And you think that I would look good in pale pink, so I don't think so."
"But you would! It would go pretty with your long hair!" Cecelia retorted.
Grizin sighed. Sometimes he wondered why he liked this child.
---
A few more years had passed. At eight years old, Cecelia had forgone her pigtails to let her hair just fall down her back like a waterfall made of fire. Still exceptionally cute, her freckles were beginning to fade. A visitor was coming to the village. Bao Ciang had seen fit to leave her cave up in the mountains to visit the village. She had heard of a new child, but hadn't found the time to come down for several years.
"Mommy, Mommy, who's that?" Cecelia asked Mardell when Bao appeared, her black hair pulled back into a tight bun.
"That is Bao," Mardell explained. "She is the oldest dragon here."
"Wow, even older than Sonya?" Cecelia asked.
"Yes, Cymbeline, even older than Sonya," Mardell told her daughter.
"Wow!" Cecelia replied, her eyes wide with wonderment. "That's really old!"
"Am I old, Child?" Bao asked as she reached Cecelia. "I was under the impression that there were still beings much older than I."
"Bao, this is my daughter," Mardell told the elder dragon. "Her name is-"
"Cece! I'm Cece!" Cecelia told Bao with a huge grin. "My best friend is Grizzy!"
"Grizzy?" Bao asked Mardell, confusion flitting across her face.
"Grizin," Mardell answered.
"Ah," Bao replied, turning back to Cecelia. "Well, Cece. I'm sure Grizin makes a wonderful friend, he was a delightful child before certain events took place."
"What happened?" Cecelia asked.
"Nothing you need to worry about, Cece," Bao told her.
"Is Grizzy okay?" Cece asked.
"Grizin will be just fine," Bao promised, ruffling the child's hair.
---
Cecelia Tanith was no longer a child. She had reached adulthood, according to the dragons. Twenty years old and gorgeous, with soft orange eyes and hair that fell to her waist in soft waves. She favored dresses that left her midriff mostly open and her orange dragon boots that she had worn ever since she was a child. She always managed to match a short jacket that she held open with whatever she was wearing at the time and a golden choker necklace. She seemed to get much male attention, but she was hopelessly clueless towards it. Many things had changed since she was three with pigtails and had first met Grizin Orsona, but their friendship had not, although it was about to.
Grizin, however, had not changed a bit. He could not pretend to not notice how his friend had changed. He wasn't completely cold towards her anymore, but that wasn't because of anything particular, she had just softened him up enough so that he wasn't cold to her. He was still cold towards the rest of Fabeldyr, of course. They had no business getting close to him, so why should he be soft and warm to them? It's not even like they cared, anyways.
"Hi Grizzy!" Cecelia said, patting Grizin on the top of his head.
"Cecelia, aren't you too old to call me that?" Grizin asked.
"Nope," Cecelia replied, grinning brightly. She was bouncing on the balls of her feet.
"Won't you ever stand still?" Grizin inquired, annoyed.
"Nope," Cecelia stated, her grin turning into a smirk.
"What are you smirking at?"
"This," Cecelia replied, promptly standing on her toes and kissing Grizin on the lips. When she pulled away, she turned and walked away, grinning hugely.
Grizin just stood there, utterly shocked. Had Cecelia just kissed him? He stood there with his mouth open, just watching Cecelia walk away. Why had she done that? Surely there was no feasible reason for her to do such a thing. He had been kind to her, sure, but that was by the loosest definition of the word. Why would she kiss him when he had not done the slightest thing to deserve it? When he had done nothing to warrant any sort of affection from her?
Cecelia, on the other hand, was walking away with a huge grin on her face. She had done it! She had kissed the man she had loved. She hadn't felt this way about Grizin Orsona for long, but it had been long enough to make her sure that she did love him. The man she had looked up to as a child was something more than just that now. He was perfect in her eyes. While the village saw him as cold, aloof, and unapproachable, she knew the truth. Underneath the cold, hard exterior was a warm, gentle man. A man who saw the beauty in the world and wasn't afraid to act on what he saw.
"Oh, hi Sonya!" Cecelia said when she came across the short woman.
"Why did you just kiss Grizin?" Sonya asked Cecelia.
"Because Grizzy is nice!" Cecelia told Sonya. "And I like him. People do tend to kiss the ones they love."
"Yes, but Grizin isn't typically one that others like. What made you like him?" Sonya asked curiously.
Cecelia shrugged. "He's just great, I guess. I know that I love him, he's perfect for me."
"Just be careful with him, alright?" Sonya asked. "He's an interesting person, even if you have made him open up some."
"I know," Cecelia told Sonya. "But I get the feeling I can help with him."
---
Several years passed. Cecelia and Grizin had been an official couple for fifty years now, but they hadn't gotten married. Not yet, anyways. They were living together and were having a lot of fun just being a couple. Grizin, however, felt that it was necessary to take the next step. Cecelia had succeeded in opening him up more and he found that he truly didn't mind it. He loved her and he didn't mind if all of Fabeldyr knew.
The months passed as they planned. The entire village was invited, which was, of course, Cecelia's idea. Cecelia had the perfect dress picked out, one that she would look beautiful in and was sure to make Grizin happy. Finally, it was the day that the two would say their "I do's."
Grizin was waiting at the end of the aisle for her. He watched as Cecelia started to come down in her gorgeous white dress. She was the most beautiful woman in the entire world to him, nothing else seemed to matter in that moment. There was just her.
As Cecelia approached him, the wedding truly began. Soon, it was time for the vows.
"Grizzy," Cecelia began, taking his hands. "I love you. I think some part of me always has, even when I was three and meeting the guy who didn't want anyone to go near him. You've always been kind to me, even if you were trying not to be. You weren't fooling me, I know you liked me. I couldn't imagine spending the next few thousand years with anyone else. When I came up to you and kissed you fifty years ago, that was the start of the best years of my life. I'm so happy that I get to spend them with you.
"I promise. I promise to love you and be with you, not let you forget that there are good things in this world. I promise to try and make you happy the best that I can, to share with you what I think you'll find happiness in. I promise to take care of you when you get sick or angry or upset, to try and make sure that you always get better. I promise to cherish you and everything you do. I promise to cook for you whenever I can because I just love to cook, plus you enjoy my cooking. Most importantly, I promise to never let you experience loneliness ever again. I will always remain by your side to help you and love you."
It was Grizin's turn now. He squeezed Cecelia's hands. "Cece. . .before I met you, I was never interested in other people. They only annoyed me. Hell, you even annoyed me when we met, but that changed. The tiny annoying toddler that came up to me became so much more than that-a young woman who I grew to cherish more than anything else. I never thought about marriage or children or even love before you came into my life. As annoying as you were when that happened, you grew on me. More than anyone else, you grew on me.
"I promise to take care of you. I promise to keep you safe and protect you from any threat that should come to Fabeldyr, to give up my life if I have to. I promise to make sure that if you get sick, to take care of you. To make sure you recover, stay a beautiful woman. I promise to always be there for you no matter what, to help you through any problem you face. I promise to love you, to never let you get sad. I promise to try my best to make you laugh, to bake for you whenever you wish, and to keep you protected."
The two of them kissed, sealing their marriage together. It was only a beginning to a long and beautiful story.