"Terry you've been staring out that window for hours!" King Eric called, "I brought my strawberry puffs! Come have one!"

King Terrance broke his eyes away from the golden sun's luminescence just above the trees in the warm, fiery sky. Eric was gesturing to his silver plate animatedly. "Ah, I'm sorry," Terry apologized with a terse smile.

He shook his head before continuing, "I've been waiting all these years to see him and now I only have to wait a few hours. I want to be ready," he told Eric, pacing away slightly, "but I just... can't help but feel guilty. I can only imagine how angry Travis will be with me." Weariness and stress had aged his face. His smile lines blended in with his wrinkles and his curly white hair had become somewhat more unruly. He turned to Eric, who was gleefully pouring himself a drink, "He deserves better than me."

"Now Terry that isn't true! You're going to be a great father! I know my sugar pea likes you. Besides, I'm sure that even if he were mad, he'd forgive you no problem," Eric chugged the wine glass in one sip.

Terry, though he expressed quite a bit of concern seeing the wine disappear so rapidly, nodded in appreciation. "I guess you're right. Thank you," he lacked certainty in his voice.

Terry glued his eyes back to the window once more. The pinks of the sunset reflected into the room.  He saw the image of his beloved wife walking into their bedroom in her favorite pink gown, son in her arms. "I want what's best for him. Ariana would too," he lamented.

He turned around. "But I know my boy is strong. He's endured a hard life this long and our kingdoms will prosper with him as a ruler," Terry smiled, life returning to his eyes and a wash of pride pouring over him.

Eric chuckled, "That's the spirit!" He wrapped his arm around Terry's shoulder, "Travis and Katelyn ruling together. I can't believe my baby girl is all grown up," he began to tear up, "but our people deserve a good queen like her after all this time."

The statement caught in Terry's mind. It truly had been years since the passing of his wife and even more since Eric's had left. Time fled so quickly. One moment they were together on the balcony and the blessings of gratitude all he could think about. Now he stood alone. But perhaps that wouldn't be for much longer. "They really do."

Eric beamed but wasn't entirely satisfied just yet, "I think you still need some convincin'," He adjusted his crown in preparation. Terry quickly interjected, "Ah no, it's alright really," but inspiration struck Eric and no other words were getting in as he boasted, "I know what'll cheer you up."

A black-haired, red-attired man with a guitar strung around his shoulder swiftly passed the doorway. He took long strides, clearly rushing. His hand fidgeted with the thin strings and wooden body of the instrument as he tapped a little tune. "Ay, you! You're the Lycan's boy, right? Play me some cords!" called Eric.

"Me?" the man halted at Eric's voice. He pointed at himself in disbelief. He glimpsed in the direction he was heading and then back at the king. "Uh, okay," he began to strum the strings gently. His uncertain eyes were glued onto the kings with a small, terrified smile.

"FAaAAAMILYYY!" sang Eric ever so passionately.

"Oh Irene," Terry mumbled, suppressing a laugh.

Eric swayed him and Terry back and forth, "FAMILYYYY! I LOVE THEM AND THEY LOVE ME!!! MEEEE!" He sang off-key and out of sync with the man who frantically tried to match the wildly changing pace. "I AM STRONG! I CAN PUNCH! I CAN MAKE THE GREATEST LuUuUunch!" Eric shoved a strawberry puff, a small pink-frosted pastry, into his mouth. Muffled, he belted, "FAMILYYYYY!"

Terry and the guitar man made eye contact. They hesitantly clapped to Eric's bow. "Thank you," Eric placed his hand on his chest. "Now doesn't a good song just get your spirits up?"

"Absolutely. Thank you," Terry smiled. It was with pain, but still genuine. Eric was right, he needed the laugh. Terry turned to the man whose black eyes were wide and whispered a quick but sincere thank you before politely dismissing him.

"Well, now that that's settled, I'm going to go find Katelyn," Eric told Terry, pride swirling in his puffed-out chest. He dropped a strawberry puff in Terry's hand and then bounced contently to the door.

"The fairest lady of them all, Princess Katelyn!" announced Liochant's now more-matured voice from afar.

"NEVER announce me like that again!"

"Sounds like my Sugar Pea! Let me go see what she's up too," Eric slipped through the doorway and disappeared down the hall.

Terry nodded and turned his gaze back towards the window, this time imagining the good future he and Travis could have.

Eric hurried down the steps and out of the castle. He rammed into the large brown doors, causing them to explode apart. Katelyn was mounted on her horse, speeding down the brick paths. Her hair was tousled from the wind and her cloak and hat were splattered with mud. "Katelyn!" He called several times. His voice was almost entirely drowned out by the crowd and clopping of horse hooves.

Katelyn caught her father out of the corner of her eye. She swerved around the street and raced up to meet him, only stopping a mere seconds before a collision. Stroking the light hair of her horse, she simply said, "Hi Dad."

"Katelyn you need to get ready! You're goin' to meet your future husband tonight and you have to look your best," Eric insisted.

Katelyn scoffed, "If a man or woman cannot love me like this, then they don't deserve me. Besides, I already found someone I'm interested in," she grinned proudly. "Those suitors you got were gross so I decided to find someone on my own. He's cute and I charmed him better than any of those guys could ever dream of doing."

"Suitors? Katelyn, I never found suitors! Who is hittin' on my daughter— Wait a secon' you already met Travis?! When? Why didn't I know about this?" Eric shrieked.

"You don't need to know everything, Dad," Katelyn rolled her eyes. She hopped off of her horse and took her father's hands in hers, "Besides you wouldn't know him. I met him once upon a dream," She began to waltz with her father, practically carrying him down the street with her strength, and singing Travis' melody in energetic la's. She laughed hysterically at herself.

"Katelyn! Stop— wait! We need to talk!"

Katelyn dropped her father back on to the ground and sighed, "You're no fun. And before you ask again, no it wasn't Travis."

Eric stuttered, "B-but you said!"

Katelyn smiled, "I said I met someone I'm interested in," she replied, "He was some dorky peasant boy and he was sweet." She blushed.

Eric flipped out like a fish out of water, "PeAsanT?!" He cried, his voice cracking. "Katelyn you can't marry a peasant! You're a princess! You need to marry royalty! Think about the kingdom! You've got to be kiddin' me and it's not funny!"

"I'm not kidding," Enamored, Katelyn braided the hair of her horse, who seemed to be enjoying the interaction. "Stop living in the past dad! I can love anyone I want."

"Of course you can Sugar Pea but you can't just give up the throne! Wait! Where are you going?" Eric cried.

"To find the boy I'm more likely to marry than some creep," Katelyn hopped back up onto her horse and waved goodbye. She tore off once more down the streets with the call of, "Bye Dad! Love you!" and a playful chuckle. Eric tried his best to keep up with her but to no avail. She vanished out of the gates and into the forest.

Eric buried his forehead in his palm. He stopped to catch his breath. "Oh my Irene, what am I gonna tell Terry? This'll kill him!" He sulked back toward the castle in defeat. How on earth would he start? "Sorry, my daughter decided she's going to run off with some peasant in the woods instead of your son!" No way.

Yet, he had such little time.  Eric stopped and lifted his head up to the sky to gaze at the orange glow. Perhaps honesty was the only way to go, he decided and lumbered on.

From a window in the forest, Travis also gazed despondently at the sky. His face was wet with the few final tears that streaked down it. He hugged his knees into his chest and huddled in a blanket. Stress seemed to triple his weight, anchoring him onto his bed.

There was a light knock at his door. Travis did not respond. Fury pulsed through his veins as he shivered with anger. But, as the door creaked open and Zane stepped inside, Travis knew he could not bring himself to hate any of his guardians.

Zane clicked the door closed behind him. He leaned against the wall with the clothes folded in his arms. "Hey," he started unnaturally. "Look, you know I'm not great at this whole parenting thing but I wanted to first apologize."

"I'm fine," Travis mumbled. He eyed Zane over his shoulder, keeping the rest of his body still.

Zane smiled and looked off into nowhere, "Yeah, that's what I told my mom when my heart got broken too. But you've already handled it better than I did."

Travis' eyes narrowed, "How long ago was that?"

Zane sputtered in offense, "Not that long ago! I'm not that old!"

Travis laughed quietly to himself, "Ahuh."

Zane shrugged it off, "My point is, I know it hurts. A lot. All I wanted to do was run off with Nana— I mean this girl— and live a simple, happy life with her. I miss her every single day but I have a job to do and I have to fulfill that. Just like you do," he paused, studying Travis' expression. He searched for the next words thoughtfully, "But even with all of these changes in your life, there's no one saying you won't find happiness."

Travis unbunched himself. He attempted to mask the effect of the words on him. He turned to Zane awaiting reassurance he did not know if he would receive.

"That being said," Zane continued, "You still have years before you have to get married, which is a big deal, I know. But tonight you don't have to worry about that. Tonight you get to see your dad who's wanted nothing but to spend time with you for the past sixteen years and I can promise you that he's going to be over the moon when he sees you again," Zane promised sincerely. The warm dusk light shone on his freckled face.

Travis returned with a small smirk. He looked askance at the bed with the small wings of happiness fluttering once more in his stomach.

Zane added finally, "And no matter what, I can promise you me, Garroth, and Vylad are still going to be here for you, even if we all can be dumb and insensitive sometimes. You'll be safe, and you're loved more than you know."

Travis nodded slowly. The tension in the air eased.

Zane let out a sigh of relief. "Now, we're supposed to go soon. Are you going to be okay with leaving?"

With an expression of unsteady determination, Travis replied, "No, I'm not ready but... I'll go."

"You're strong, Travis," Zane told him, pride enlivening his face. He dropped off the outfit and stepped outside of the room. "We'll wait for you downstairs," he pushed the door shut.

Travis pulled himself up off of the bed. He wiped his tears away and took one last scan of his room from the fraying curtains speckled with unmatching patches, to the splintering bookshelves he'd spent hours escaping into other worlds by. He stared at the way he himself tied it all together in the mirror. Home.

Then there was the nonconforming, unfamiliar attire that stood out against it all. It intruded on his life, ruined everything, but also promised change. Good change. "Maybe they'll let me visit," he whispered to himself.

He got dressed as if he'd worn those clothes every morning, biting his tongue and blinking away the fear in his eyes. The buttons, the softness and quality of the cloth, he pretended they were natural despite how they tugged on his emotions. He trudged forward even though his feet dragged like they were bound to weights. He refused to turn around or to stop or to cry.

His eyes focused on the door handle and he turned it before he could change his mind. The room and every memory, treasure, and anything else it held inside were behind him. He walked down the stairs and into the living room where Garroth, Zane, and Vylad were standing. He slipped on the dark cloak and boots they handed him and stepped outside into the deep trees.