Lizzie was not excited for today.

Today was the big meeting, where all the twelve empires gathered to discuss economy, diplomacy, recent events, etc. It was usually very boring, and once Jimmy even fell asleep during it.

But today was a little different. Since both the queen and king of Mezalea passed away of old age not too long ago, their son Joel would attended the meeting for the first time. It’ll be fun to see a new face, so the meeting was going to be a little more interesting before.

This year the meeting was held in the Cod Empire. Rumour has it that Jimmy, the Codfather had to built a whole new building to fit all the necessaries for the meeting, and honestly Lizzie didn’t doubt that. It sounds just like something her little brother would do.

Jimmy had reached out to her and asked if she could come over and help organising the meeting. He said it was because he wanted to impress Scott, his crush, which seemed like a legitimate reason to Lizzie. So as she good big sister she was, she accepted.

And that’s why she was making her way to the Cod Empire, in the middle of the night, ten whole hours before the actual meeting. She decided that she would swim instead of using her elytra, since she now was a fish and hadn’t done that in a while.

No drowneds attacked her, and she got onto the shore of the Cod Empire without any damages. Jimmy was waiting for her, nervously fiddling with his hands.

“Oh Lizzie, thank Aeor you’re here!” Jimmy exclaimed once he saw her.

“Of course, anything for my little brother,” Lizzie chuckled and pulled him into a tight hug.

“Anyway, I need help so badly,” Jimmy told her. “It’s true that I built a whole building for this, but I need help with a lot of things! Decoration, placement, food, basically everything.”

Lizzie replied with a simple nod. She noticed that quite some things needed to be fixed, so they better get started.

---

After a while of choosing decorations, putting together something to snack on and just chatting with Jimmy, all that was left was decided who would sit next to who.

“This part is more complicated than you would think. Diplomacy is the main part in this, so someone with a hot temper usually sits next to people in their alliance so the chances of them igniting a fight, or worse, a war decrease. More calm people are put next to their enemies, in case they let go of their grudges and become friends,” Lizzie taught Jimmy, who were acting as she told a thrilling bedtime story. “A long time ago, before you were born, the meeting was the cause to was today in known as the cod war. I’m surprised you didn’t know that actually, you play such a big part in that war.”

After hours of discussion, they finally had a seating plan. Jimmy would of course sit next to Scott, and with Gem on the other side. Lizzie had volunteered to sit next to Joel, and Pix would be on his other side.

It was safe to say that she was a little nervous to meet Joel for the first time, but she was mostly confident.

---

The meeting was right about to start and every ruler was there, except from king Joel. She was worried that something had happened to him since everybody always arrived in time, but maybe he just was the type of person that’s late for everything.

A person not suitable for being a king.

The rulers were patiently waiting for five minutes, not saying a word. The meeting could only start when everyone was there.

Finally Joel rushed into the building, apologising sincerely for being late. His hair was messy and his clothes dirty.

Lizzie wasn’t sure if she’d ever had a worse first impression of someone.

He sat down next to her, leaning back into the chair. But as soon as his back touched it, he winced and pulled back.

She frowned at his odd behaviour, but didn’t think much about it as the meeting began.

It went on for what felt like forever. Lizzie just wanted to leave, but she knew she had stay and discuss all the matters on the server. Joel fell asleep twice, but immediately woke up when is back hit the chair. There was definitely something wrong with his back.

The meeting finally ended and she just want to go home, but she knew she had to politely chat and say goodbye to the others.

“Can I leave yet?” Joel groaned, mostly to himself, but Lizzie heard it nonetheless.

“I’m sorry, but according to the traditions you may not leave yet,” Lizzie informed him. “I am aware that this was your first meeting, and I want to thank you for your presence. It is appreciated.”

“Thank you, Ocean Queen. It has been a pleasure to discuss the happenings on the server recently. I cannot wait for the next meeting,” Joel said, sarcasm basically dripping off his voice. It was there and then Lizzie asked the question that would brighten up the future for her and Joel.

“Does your back hurt?” she blurted out.

“Yeah, my elytra broke so that’s why I was late. How did you know?” he asked curiously.

“You made it really obvious. Do you want me to check it for you?” Lizzie offered.

“Nah, I’ll pass. I do me,” he declined.

“Fine, but I’ll visit your empire later either way,” she declared. “Prepare for a guest, whether you like it or not.”

“You also have an attitude,” he stated. “I like it. Sure, come whenever you want.”

---

“And that, my children, is how me and your father met!” Lizzie announced.

“Boooooring,” one of the children said. It was a teenager girl, with long brown hair, a slightly rounder face and brown eyes. She was the oldest of the three children.

“I’d actually say that’s rather interesting,” the second child said. They had short pink hair and were slightly younger than the girl.

“I love hearing about mommy and daddy,” the third child said. He had brown hair with a link stroke, and was by far the youngest.

“Can I go and meet my friends now?” the girl asked her parents.

“Yeah, have fun,” Joel said with an amused tone. “Just be back within the next 24 hours.”

“Don’t listen to your dad young lady, you will be back here before 11 PM, do you hear me?” Lizzie demanded.

“Yes mom, I will,” she sighed and went to grab her shoes.

“Mommy, daddy, can we watch Toy Story? I really want to see Woody ? Jimmy) again,” the youngest asked happily.

They agreed and the family sat down in the sofa. The girl also joined them, explaining that one of her friends has gotten a cold and that they would meet tomorrow instead.

Lizzie smiled when she watched the intro of Toy Story for the 47th time. This was her husband. Her children. Her family.

Her happily ever after.

---

Let’s pretend like it’s not August for me, and that this was right on time.

Anyway, it’s 1:30 PM and I really wanna sleep.