Forlorn

A word by the Author
As I come to the near end of my summer vacation, I begin to write and voice out the things that I should do and well.. I guess I just needed to get some Maeve x Hopper feels out of my system (and some other feelings too). So well.. enjoy! (Please mind you that I have yet to edit this, so I may.. edit it more for some grammatical reasons).

Ship
Maeve Le Fay x Hopper Croakington II

The Story
Maeve gasped as she awoke to the sound of the balcony doors opening in her room. Maeve walked to the door to close it to only then feel the gentle embrace of calm wind. Maeve stepped out into the balcony overlooking the gardens in the school. Maeve didn’t understand how and why the doors opened to such a gentle breeze but she breathed in the peace of the night. The night briars were up and though as not many people noticed, the beauty of the briar flowers were. They weren’t very clear to the naked eye but Maeve’s trained eyes picked them up very easily. The camouflaged flowers blossomed as the briars grew to protect the school. There was beauty that came along the thorny briars which was enchanting every time Maeve watched the briars grow closely.

A sudden urge for her to go to the gardens grew in her. Maeve knew that being outside of her dorm room after curfew was wrong but she just needed to break that rule just once. Maeve began sprinting through the shadows, blending with them as to not get caught; her bare feet slamming down onto the lush and carpeted floor. She ran down the grand staircase leading from the dorms to the ground level where the door to the gardens were and grasped the door handle and twisted it. The familiar embrace of the wind, tickled her skin yet again and when her bare feet had touched the grass, a sense of reassurance washed over her. Maeve then sat on a stone bench under an old willow, one of many in the garden, and began to think some of the problems in her life out; trying to find the answers and courage to solve them.

First, was the conflict of her destiny. “DO you want to be the next Morgan Le Fay?” ,“Are you even attractive enough to seduce a man?”, “Do you have it in you to betray Avalon and steal Excalibur?”, “Are you going to follow your destiny or write your own? Am I a Royal and a Rebel?” questions whirled around her mind as she held her head in her hands. Maeve was conflicted about following her destiny and the life ahead of her. After all her mother had done for her, to keep her safe and loved and to be appropriate for the destiny ahead of her. Years and years of training, potions, spells, sword stealing, and plant care, lady etiquette, how to look attractive and proper, etc. , etc. Maeve was scared, so afraid of the life ahead. She’s read of the things her mother had done, vile and lewd acts, never settling down and find somebody to love. Maeve wanted the exact opposite of what was ahead. She wanted peace and stability, not hopping around from man to man as if she were some harlot.

All this education and studies for her down the drain in exchange for a life that may be miserable for her. All these feelings felt like a burden to her, as if she were Atlas and her entire world rested upon her own shoulders. Maeve couldn’t stand the thought of what she was destined for and was terrified of it as well that she began to cry. The conflict of being a royal or a rebel bothered her. It made her question things that weren’t supposed to be. Her frustrations with the conflict merely piled up on her as she avoided the arguments and pushed both ideas away. Now that she had begun to think about it, her fear and frustration had been piling up for quite a while now and now that she had some time to reflect and evaluate it, she couldn’t help but cry. Her tears continued flowing letting go of everything that troubled her but one thing.

Her own romantic feelings frustrated her. She never permitted herself for love and all that nonsense for her destiny required such. She thought about the reasons why she had feelings for not one but two guys. “Yeah, that must be Le Fay blood flowing in me influencing my heart.” She shrugged, finally breaking the countless sobs prior to that. She liked him a lot but was never sure if it were True Love as she knew things weren’t reciprocated by him. She loved the way he acted different from the other princes and how adorkable he would get whenever he tried wooing girls. How poetic he could be when he was a frog and how he could actually pull off khakis. She loved his smile and his failed attempts of wooing and tenacity when pursuing a girl. She adored everything about him but she never had it in her to even mention it to anybody else.

“Why must I act so strong when I was always vulnerable?” she cried putting her head in her hands yet again.

“Excuse me, fair maiden but why are you weeping?” a silky and familiar voice had asked her. She looked around and under her bench to see the frog prince himself sitting there. “Hopper?” she said as she picked up her amphibious friend. “It is I, alluring Maeve. Why are you so forlorn? “ he asked as he hopped up to the bench where Maeve was sitting. Maeve then wiped her tears away and said “Oh nothing, Hopper… just things that I’d like to keep to myself. You know, um… destiny….choice… you get the idea.” Maeve did not add any part of the most recent thing she was crying about. It was too embarrassing to say especially in some situation like this, something that seems right out of the pages of Maeve’s favorite books.

“Do you need someone to talk to? You seem really distressed. Sometimes, it’s good to say things from your heart that need to be released, trust me, I know.” Said Hopper in a more casual tone. It was odd for him to speak like this to Maeve. Yes they had the usual conversation here and there in their shared classes about random topics like the teacher or the lesson of the week, shallow topics and the like, but never had he shown any interest in her own well-being nor shared any of his. “Don’t worry, dude. I’m gonna be okay….. Just needed to vent out.. so, why are you here, frog form and all?” Maeve said in a more light-hearted tone and turning the subject to him as to not let him press for any more questions about her.

“I had been writing a poem in my human form as I watched the briar blossoms grow then I had gotten my wordings wrong and well, I was trapped here outside as I had not the height that could reach the door handle .I had decided to take my place under this bench and sleep until the day when somebody would enter the garden. I was in slumber when I had awoken to your weeps.” Hopper explained adding the poetic tone he, in his frog form, would always posses.

“Well, sorry for waking you up, Hopper but I can help you out and carry you to your dorm room or something..” Maeve had offered finding the situation to be overly weird. “Perhaps you can help me return to my human state. I must get one blossom to bring with me to my chambers.” He pleaded. “I guess.. I could help you with that.” She replied as she walked over to the briars and plucked a flower out of the wall and gave it to Hopper and walked towards the door and opened it for Hopper. Hopper hopped along and stopped by the door where Maeve was. “My greatest thanks are with you, Maeve, but may I ask one more thing?” Hopper asked.

“Could you please help me turn back into my human form? You see, my room is at the highest tower and well, I’ll probably reach it there by the time it’s lunch if I stay like this. “ he added slightly embarrassed since he wouldn’t usually ask a girl to help him turn into a human, girls would usually just give him one out of nowhere whenever he was in that form. Maeve looked surprised as if she swallowed a toad. Had he not been a good acquaintance and in that particular situation, Maeve would have definitely denied the favor. She was afraid of doing it since it would kindle that spark in her ,only to conflict her more but she also wanted to do it, allow herself the pleasure of a moment that seemed to have flown right out of some fairytale in which she never would be a part of. She hesitated as she gave a quick nod and picked him up, gave him one last look, a Le Fay expression she never knew she had it in her, and gave him a quick peck on the lips as he turned back into his human form and she stepped back. He looked dazed for a bit but then regained his composure and looked at Maeve and said “Thanks Maeve and maybe to reply the favor..” he leaned down and kissed her on the cheek, a slight blush in his cheeks as he looked as awkward as ever. “Heh, Thanks.” Maeve said as she touched the spot where his lips brushed against her skin, her eyes gaining a sudden interest in the grass below her feet.

“Well, uh, what did you know! Look at the time; I think I have to be going now. Um.. Argh.. Ah.. Bye Maeve!” he said sprinting with the briar blossom in his hand. Maeve stood there alone, leaning against the door as she tried recuperating herself from that somewhat magical experience. Maeve had then decided to walk back to her stone bench and sit there yet again, evaluating what had just happened. He fears were confirmed. A spark did ignite in her that both terrified her and intrigued her. The past inhibitions began coming back to her again as she recalled what had happened. Her destiny. Her choice. Her Alliance. Her Heart. Her troubles began to come back one by one as they refused to be forgotten. Maeve wanted to cry again but she felt emotionally drained. She then just stood up and began walking back up to her room, her head swirling around the events and emotions of that night.