Rosamund hummed softly as she rocked Varian in her arms happily, twirling around her bedroom with a smile.
Quirin stood in the doorway quietly as he watched happily. He knew he had gotten so lucky to have a beautiful baby boy with his gorgeous wife.
Rose tucked Varian into his crib before she looked at Quirin. "He's getting so big. It feels like time is flying."
"I know, but he's gonna do great things when he's older. I just know it," Quirin said as he walked over, wrapping his arms around her happily.
"I love you so much, Quirin. You and Varian are my entire world," Rosamund said softly before she pressed a gentle kiss to his lips.
Quirin kissed her back and held her close to him happily. "I love you so much more."
🌟
Varian walked beside his parents nervously as he looked around the street, curiosity sparkling in his little blue eyes.
"Why are we here momma?" Varian asked as he looked up at his mother.
"It's Princess Aquaria's first birthday. We're going to give her a gift and then we can go back home," Rosie said and Quirin chuckled lightly.
"I don't wanna see the princess," Varian replied quietly and Rose laughed.
They kept walking before they saw the queen and the young princess. Varian quickly hid behind his father's leg.
"Ah, Quirin, Rosamund, nice to see you again and who is this?" Queen Arianna asked with a smile as she looked at Varian.
Quirin chuckled lightly and glanced at the young boy. "This is our son, Varian. We normally don't bring him with when we come to the kingdom, but we thought we'd bring him along today."
The princess looked at Varian and waved with a smile. He gave a small smile as he waved a little. She seemed like fun and Varian was no longer afraid. Varian looked up at his mother and she smiled down at her son.
"Well, I'll see you at some other time, your majesty." Quirin smiled at the small princess.
"Oh, and happy birthday, princess," Rose said with a smile before she and Quirin bowed. They both left with Varian, leaving Aqua to watch them go.
Varian looked back at the young girl who was looking at him sadly. He stopped briefly, wanting to go back and give her a hug.
"Come on, Varian. We have to go get a few things," Rose said, leading her son away.
"But, I wanna play," Varian said softly, looking over his shoulder to where the princess had been.
🌟
Varian was clinging to his mother nervously as they stood in the throne room with a bunch of other people.
Aquaria waddled over to Varian, making the young boy look at her curiously.
"Hi!" She waved when she was next to Quirin, Rose, and Varian.
Quirin looked down before looking up at the king and queen, unsure if they knew the princess was away from them. Arianna looked at him with a smile and nodded, letting him know it was okay.
"Why don't you two go play," Rose said and Varian looked at Aqua shyly but nodded.
Quirin watched the two of them run off and he smiled. He knew that those two would be good friends.
"They're so cute together!" Rose gushed as she giggled a little. "Varian's got his first friend!"
Quirin chuckled at his wife's reaction. "Yes, it seems he has found his first friend."
🧪
Varian cried as he clutched Aqua tight, cradling her body in his arms.
"You can't leave me, Aqua. I need you. I can't live without you," he sobbed into her hair.
Carmen had made the call that Aquaria was most likely never going to wake up, but Varian couldn't accept it.
"I can't lose you. I love you more than anything. Please come back to me," Varian begged desperately, afraid to let go of her.
A soft moan came from the princess as her eyes fluttered open.
"V-Varian?" Aqua murmured hoarsely and Varian froze.
"Aquaria?" He pulled back and looked down into her sparkling blue eyes. "Aquaria! Thank the stars!"
Aqua grunted as he practically squeezed the life out of her.
"I was so worried! I thought I lost you!" Tears poured down Varian's cheeks as he looked at her before he pressed a deep kiss to her lips.
Aquaria responded with her arms looping around his neck as she kissed him back.
Varian cupped her cheek, smiling into the kiss. He had kissed her a few times while she was asleep, but it just wasn't the same.
Aquaria pulled back slowly and ran a hand through his hair. "What happened?"
"You went into the Spring of Anita and you've been out for almost a month," Varian answered as he gently moved some hair out of her face, trailing the backs of his fingers along her cheek.
"Oh, I didn't even realize... there was a woman and she was testing me. She kept saying that I wasn't going to make it out unless I proved to be worthy," Aqua remembered the strange dream she had.
"All that matters is that you're okay. We're back in Corona. The king allowed me to bring a bunch of books back so you could be home," Varian explained as he held her close.
"Have you found anything new yet that could help us?" Aqua asked curiously with excitement in her eyes.
"No. I haven't looked at them yet. I didn't want to do anything without you," Varian admitted and she frowned.
"Please don't tell me that you sat by my side the whole time," Aqua said as she caressed his cheek.
"At first I did, but Orion and Cami talked some sense into me. I trained more with Carmen, but I also started voluntarily going to guard training," Varian replied with a smile, pecking her nose.
Aquaria nose scrunched up and Varian thought it was the cutest thing ever.
"I'm glad you've been training. Maybe you and I could do some sword training later," Aqua suggested as she smiled at her boyfriend happily.
"You'll probably have to go easy on me, but that sounds like fun," Varian agreed. "We should probably let everyone know that you're awake. We were all so worried."
"Alright, then let's go," Aqua said as she slipped from his arms.
💧
Aqua hummed softly as she stood in the ocean, happily playing with the water.
She saw a bunch of little turtles coming towards her, but one was having trouble.
The little turtle struggled to get to the sea with his siblings. He did his best, before he was suddenly picked up.
"Here you go, buddy. Go join your family," Aqua said gently as she took the baby over to the seaside.
"Thank you!" The turtle squeaked before slipping into the water.
"You're welcome," Aqua replied with a smile before realizing what just happened. "Wait, what?"
She watched the turtle swim away and she just she shook her head.
It was merely her imagination. The turtle didn't talk to her. That was impossible.
Aqua hummed as she turned to go back to the palace where Varian was still reading in the library.
She went up behind him and hugged him, looking over his shoulder. Ruddiger was curled up in his lap and he smiled when he saw the princess.
"Anything new?" Aqua asked curiously.
"Actually, yeah," Varian replied with a bright smile. "I found Vallestrella. It's another realm. There's a special gateway in the Ever Realm to Vallestrella, but it can only be opened by a jaquin."
"Wow," Aqua breathed as she looked at the book. "That's incredible. I hope we get to see a jaquin."
"That would be so cool!" Varian agreed with excitement as Ruddiger crawled over onto Aqua.
"Got any apples for me?" The raccoon chittered as he tried to get into her satchel.
"Yep! I've got one especially for you," Aqua said, thinking that it was just in her head.
"Awesome! Wait... did you hear me?" Ruddiger got the apple from her bag before looking up at her in shock.
"Wait... i-is this for real?" Aqua stood up straight and Varian looked at her in confusion.
"Aqua? You okay?" Varian asked as he furrowed his brows.
"You can't hear it? He's talking! I-I swear that Ruddiger is talking," Aqua explained shakily.
"What are you talking about? Sweetheart, maybe you need to get some rest. You might just be hallucinating from whatever that spring did to you," Varian said, rubbing her back gently in a soothing manner.
"Maybe you're right," Aqua agreed as she rubbed her head.
"No! No! I'm really talking!" Ruddiger chattered quickly as he scampered down and ran around her legs. "This is so cool!"
"He-he says that he's really talking," Aqua said as she watched Ruddiger.
"Varian was telling me about how his mom was gonna be so happy when she finds out that you two are together," Ruddiger squeaked to Aqua and she hummed.
"He said that you were telling him that your mother is be gonna happy when she finds out that we're together," Aqua relayed and Varian's eyes widened.
"Oh stars, he really is talking to you. How is that even possible?" Varian was so confused, but he believed her now because there was no other way she could've known he was talking to Ruddiger about that while she was outside.
"I don't know. Why would I know?" Aqua was just as confused as he was about this. "Maybe Carmen knows."
"Maybe, but she's not here," Varian replied as he looked at his hands. "Unless we wanna take a trip to Eden."
"Not particularly, but it might be best," Aqua said as Ruddiger clambered up onto her shoulders.
Varian hugged her and sighed softly. "Everything has been so confusing lately. Maybe we can try to figure that one out on our own."
"Are you sure?" Aqua looked up at Varian as she held onto him.
"We can assume that it is from the spring and it's not like a dangerous power you can't control. I think we're okay," Varian replied with a small smile.
"You're right," Aqua agreed and she smiled back.
He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers gently. He caressed her cheek gently when she kissed him back.
"I love you so much," Varian murmured after he pulled away slightly.
"I love you so much more," Aqua whispered back happily as she leaned against his touch.
"We're gonna figure this out together. We can do it. I know we can." Varian rested his forehead against hers gently and smiled at her lovingly. "We're in this together."
"Together," Aqua breathed out as she smiled back at him.
"Now, you should read with me. There's some interesting facts in here," Varian said as he led her back to sit down on his lap. He snuggled his face into her neck and smiled bright, holding her close.
"You know, if you wanted to snuggle you could just say so," Aqua replied with a soft laugh as she snuggled back into his chest.
"Well, I wanna snuggle. Is that okay, m'lady?" Varian said cheekily and she smiled.
"Of course it is, my good sir," Aqua responded, enjoying his warmth that was surrounding her.
Aquaria felt butterflies in her entire body every time he held her, each kiss was as exhilarating as their first, and every smile made her weak in the knees. She loved him so much and felt incredibly lucky that she got spend her life with such an amazing guy.
Varian pressed a gentle kiss to her neck and hummed softly before picking his book back up.
The two continued their research as they snuggled with each in the chair. They loved the time they spent together and even though they weren't really doing anything romantic, but they both felt completely happy to be doing something they loved together. Snuggling and researching.
Every moment was special in its own way. Both of them made each other happy by merely being there.
💧
Aqua hummed as she finished packing her bags.
"Are you ready, sweetheart?" Frederic asked after peeking into her room.
"Yep! Just finished!" She replied as she turned and carried her stuff out of the room.
"Rapunzel, Varian, and Eugene are at the docks. You mother just needs to grab a few more things and we'll be on our way," Fred said as the two made their way down the hall.
"Okay! I'm really excited to go to Arendelle again. Then we get to come back and celebrate the day of thanks next week!" Aqua was bubbling with excitement and joy. She was also really happy that her parents were coming.
"How have your studies been going with Varian?" Fred questioned curiously and Aqua smiled bright.
"Really good actually. The books we got from Carmen have been a huge help. We learned that there are multiple dimensions inside the Ever Realm. There's Vallestrella, an entire spirit world, the Mystic Isles, Elvenmoor, the Realm of the Duendes. There's even a place called Neverland," Aqua explained giddily.
"I believe I have heard of Neverland in a children's tale. Time doesn't move there so no one ever ages," Frederic replied as he remembered the story.
"Yes! And there's actually a way to get there from our realm. There's a portal if you go to the star right of Polaris and straight on till morning. We aren't quite sure what that means though," Aquaria admitted as they waited at the entrance for Arianna.
"I'm here!" The former queen announced as she walked over with a warm smile.
"Then let's be off," Frederic replied and then they went to the docks.