Previously on LW:

After finding her mom, meeting fairies, and deflecting an attack by outlanders on the fairy village, Hailey has finally returned home. Her grandfather was less than happy about her little unplanned-and-not-entirely-safe trip, and asked her to come to his office to talk. However, this goes better than Hailey expected. Although the king does scold her about a few things, he also expresses his pride and fondness for his granddaughter.

Chapter 35

I left my grandpa's office feeling lighter than I had been all day and with a warm feeling in my chest. I returned to my room, feeling a sudden urge to write to my dad. If I remembered correctly, the mailman who went to the human world every week would be going tomorrow.

I sat at my desk and took out a pen and paper. I wrote about the trip, minimizing the dangers and forgetting to mention I had left without permission, but also about everyday life, missing him, and hoping to come back home soon. As I finished it and put my pen down to look for an envelope, someone knocked at my door.

"Come on in!"

"Princess," Ellie, a castle worker and one of my teachers, greeted me, "I'm really glad to see you again. I just wanted to drop by to say hi—and also check that you knew dinner was in twenty minutes."

"What?" I jumped up. "Is it a public dinner? Will there be any officials? What should I wear? Who will be there?"

Ellie laughed, fluttering her pale pink wings.

"Don't worry, just a few diplomats, including one from the area near the Petraz forest. She only sent a messenger earlier today, so this whole dinner is kind of last minute."

"Shouldn't she," I opened my wardrobe, "I don't know, be dealing with the fairies instead of coming down here?"

"She's here for one of two reasons. Either, one, she wants to complain that the king's ambassadors operated in her region without her knowledge, and because she has more expertise it would make more sense to tell her, blah, blah, blah..." She waved her hand dismissively. "Or, two, she wants to thank the king's emissaries for their good work. Though I'm guessing she'll start with the first one, then admit the second one."

"And what should I do, if that's the case?" I pulled out a flowy green top—I still hadn't figured out if it was a shirt or a dress—and black leggings. I had little fashion sense, but even I could tell this would be a better alternative to the ripped jeans I currently wore.

"If she addresses you directly, be courteous, of course. Otherwise, let His Highness handle it. I don't know if he has publicized the fact that his own granddaughter led the mission, but he won't want to confirm that you went on a rogue mission and solved tensions with our neighbors mainly by inadvertence."

"Not entirely true. Autumn knew what she was doing."

"Yeah, but she won't be there. Also, you've already worn that outfit in the presence of at least two of today's officials before."

"So? If I don't remember, there's no way they will—unless they're weirdly obsessed with me, in which case they should feel bad, not me."

Ellie laughed. "Sure. Anyway, I'll let you get dressed. But hurry up!"

"Yes, Mam! And thanks for dropping by Ellie!"

As she closed the door, I realized I had already fallen back into my familiar routine. It wasn't unpleasant, but it still felt strange.

Dinner was fine, but a bit boring. I would rather have eaten alone with my grandfather. Left mostly alone with my thoughts, I found myself missing Aiden more than ever. In the past, he had volunteered as a waiter several times just to get the chance to come up to my table and make silly faces when he thought other people weren't looking. He had almost been banned from waitressing, but the king had intervened in his favor. I knew my grandpa well enough to know he found his antics hilarious, even if he couldn't admit it.

After dinner, I walked back to my room and found Chase was waiting for me by the door.

"Well, hello, Commander. This is a surprise; I thought you would still be doing handstands at this time," I teased.

"Nah, I graduated to cartwheels, and after that they let me go. Can I come in? You complain about your boring evening, and I'll do the same for mine."

"What did they make you do?" I opened my door and let him in.

"Clean the armory, but that's such a standard punishment it's never that dirty anymore. Then, clean the dishes. That one was painful. Were you seated next to anyone interesting today?"

I rolled my eyes. "Minister of taxes or whatever. But the delegate from Peraz was here; she did most of the talking."

"And?"

"I didn't listen too closely. Ellie had already told me what she'd say anyway—except she fit it into two sentences, not a thirty-minute speech."

"Fun. But, hey, about Peraz..."

"Yeah?"

"Look, I know you thought I was babying you sometimes..."

"Well, you kind of were." I raised an eyebrow.

"Because we were in an unexplored and dangerous forest!"

"Chase. Name one time during the trip when I was seriously hurt."

"Fine, there wasn't one."

"See, no need to worry."

"But if something had happened to you, and I hadn't been there to stop it..."

"Chase." I held his face in my hands. His cheeks prickled from the three-day beard he had grown during our time in the forest. It made him look older. "It's not your job to be my babysitter. Plus, I can take care of myself."

"I know." He sighed. "I do know you can take care of yourself. And what I wanted to tell you is that I'm sorry if I made you feel like I didn't believe in you, because I do."

"Thank you." I kissed him. "But that's not all, is it? You're still worried about something."

He went to sit on the floor, on my pillows. I joined him, and he draped his arm around my shoulders.

"When I first met you," he started, looking outside my window as he spoke, "you were more... hesitant, I guess. You still had a lot to learn about our world, and I could teach you all that. There was stuff I could do to be useful to you. But now... I feel like you don't really need me anymore."

"That's stupid! Of course I need you."

"I don't know, Hailey. I mean, sometimes I feel like I'm holding you back." I frowned, but he continued, "I'm worried, and I tell you to be careful, and then you do the thing anyway, and, well, you succeed. I mean, being in the army is the only thing I'm good at, but you... There are so many things you could do."

"Chase," I interrupted, "are you trying to break up with me?"

"What? No!"

"Good. I was afraid I'd have to punch you. I couldn't do half of the things I do without you. Sometimes, it's because I feel like I have to prove you wrong, I admit it. Actually, more than some times, if I'm being honest. But often, it's also because I know you're beside me to help out if I need. I don't want to be with you because of your 'usefulness'. I want to be with you because I like you, okay?"

He leaned down and kissed me.

"Oh, and there are still a bunch of things you could teach me," I said when we pulled away.

"Like what?"

"Sword fighting!"

"Hailey," he grinned, "you would hate sword fighting."

"No, I wouldn't!"

"You don't like tennis because swinging too hard makes your wrist hurts."

"Only when my opponent hits the ball too hard."

"I hate to be the one to tell you this, but you're stubborn."

"First of all, how dare you?" I rested my head on his shoulder.

"And second of all?" He rested his head on mine.

"I like how you look with a beard, but it makes your cheeks scratchy, so I can't decide if I like you better with or without one. Are you going to keep it?"

"Nah. Army regulations. Bree already got annoying about it."

"Okay. Also, I just decided I liked you better with a beard."

He poked me in the ribs, making me squirm. I was too ticklish; it was unfair.

"Stop that. Oh, and Chase? Random, but how long did you give Aiden again?"

"A year. But technically, it's already been two days, Peraz is far away, and setting up for an expedition like this takes time, so he actually has eleven months minus two days to come back. I will ask the fairies for new regularly though, if they have some." He noticed I was smiling, and said, "What? Like you said. I know you two can take care of yourselves, but occasionally you still need me to be here, ready to help out."

"Don't worry. He'll be safe. He's a great archer, and he has Zarasa. Even I could survive in the forest if I had Zarasa with me. We might have to bump the deadline down to ten months and a half if we miss the idiot too much, though."

"Done. And Autumn's the reasonable one, so if she gets worried for any reason, we leave immediately."

"Right." I stifled a smile. "I will be sure to let her know then."

"Don't make fun of me." He tickled my side.

I squealed and pushed him away just as a knock sounded at the door. My grandpa opened it.

"Can I ask why the second in command of my Junior Troops is staying so late in my granddaughter's room?"

"He was tickling me, that traitor," I answered.

Chase got up to leave, and I gave him a kiss goodbye.

"Good night, Cupcake."

"Is that a pet name or are you calling me short?"

"Not telling." He chuckled as he left.

I turned to my grandpa, trying to hide the stupid smile on my face. "Did you want something?"

"Not really. I just came to say good night. Oh, and I couldn't help but notice you really enjoyed yourself at dinner. I could tell you were in your element with all these political conversations. Maybe from now on you could lead these dinners for me?"

My face must have been the definition of horror, because he was unable to keep a straight face.

"Or maybe not." He laughed. "And I had such high hopes, too."

I made a face. "Grandpa, never become a comedian."

"Too late, it's already in my retirement plan. Oh, but I do have another offer that might interest you more. It'll make you miss several of these dinners, though."

"Grandpa, seriously, just tell me!" I groaned. He enjoyed leaving me hanging way too much.

"Maybe you'd like to be my representative?"

"Your representative?" I repeated, unsure what it meant.

"You'd be attending events on my behalf, like ceremonies, festivals, or inaugurations, and occasionally solving problems between different communities. It's a tough job. You'd have to travel all around the kingdom, meet new people, be acquainted with new customs... Oh, and I promised Edwin I'd find work experience for his niece, so if you accept you'd have to take Autumn with you. Also, you'll probably need to pick someone from my military to be with you at all time, for your safety—say that second in command, for example. He seems reliable enough."

"Seriously?" If I was traveling around with some of my best friends, I could stomach as many boring officials as needed. It would be a small price to pay for what sounded more like a vacation than actual work.

"Well, if you don't want to..."

"No! I mean, I do want to! Thank you!" I jumped up to hug him. "Although next time, if you could say it straight away I'd appreciate it too."

"Why? That's half of the fun. But I'm glad you like the idea. You have a week to rest, then you're leaving for the coast."

I grinned. "You're the best."

"I might have to send you back to the forest, too. And if you stumbled upon your funny friend, that would just be a bonus. Everyone here besides Edwin is incredibly boring."

"You have me," I supplied.

"I know what I said. Now go tell Chase, I know you're dying to."

I ignored his jab, but reminded him, "Won't the barracks be closed for the night?"

He smiled. "I won't say I asked for Chase to be allowed out for the night, because that would be a blatant misuse of power, but maybe you should go check, just in case."

"Thanks, Grandpa! I love you!"

"What can I say? You're my favorite granddaughter. Now go before I change my mind."

"I'm your only granddaughter," I reminded him.

I opened my windows and spread my wings. My feathers fluttered in the wind. Somewhere to the South, my father was home, in the land of my childhood. Somewhere to the North, my mother watched over a magical forest. But I—I was just where I needed to be.

The End.

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And thus ends Lost Wings!
I have to admit this feels kind of weird. Thanks for sticking with me until the end, I really hope you enjoyed following Hailey's adventure! (And if you did and would like to give this chapter a vote, I would very much appreciate it!)

Some of you were asking about a sequel (especially since Aiden's new adventure is left pretty vague), but I still haven't made up my mind about that. I guess it depends on the demand for it, but I also kind of want to use the time I usually dedicated to LW to work on another project. Anyway, I'll keep you posted.

I wish everyone a good Christmas/end of the year. You guys are great.

MLB998