DISCLAIMER: I do not own PD and/or its characters, credit for those go to Meg Cabot and Disney. I am only responsible for the following storyline.
The Ending To It All
Prologue:
J
I sit here at my desk acting as if I'm deep in thought over a diplomatic solution, when in fact it is you on my mind. After last night, it is all mind can focus on. The look in your eyes as I tried to explain to you...well it did more than just hurt. The hurt I can take, it is the pain that you feel that I cannot bare. I have put much thought into our relationship, as you had asked. In fact, it is all I can think of. Somewhere along the way I fell deeply in love with you. I'm not sure when or how, or even when I realized it. I just know I am. You are right, it is time for me think of myself for once, and I do want to marry you. I dream of being able to love you freely. However, I cannot give you the answer you want...not right now love. I need just a little more time. Amelia is so close to being wed and crowned now. It is her time now to be in the spotlight. I cannot take that away from her. It tears at me to be in this position, but if I must choose, I have to put myself last again. It is not you I am putting last, please understand that. You are in my heart and mind always, and I want a relationship with you, even if that means it must be in secret. My love, the love you give me is indeed returned, and I cannot bring myself to tell you this in person, for I feel the hurt in your eyes will no doubtedly be too much for me to bare again. I know you have given me time, and more time, more time than even I know. It weighs heavily that I have to ask you for more. Just a little more. Please take all the time you need to think on this. If you cannot wait for me, then I understand. However, I will be waiting every night in my suite for you, from now until forever, to give you the love that I can until we may be wed.
C
Queen Mia read the letter one last time. She sat on her grandmother's bed, tears forming in her eyes as she remembered the woman who made her Queen. The rooms were just as they were ten years ago, just as she left them. Mia could never bring herself to allow the removal of her grandmother's things. It was just too painful. Some day, she always said, she would. But not right now. Something had been left unfinished, and leaving her things was the only way Mia felt she could help fulfill the void. Mia stood, and walked slowly around the suite, picking up small unsignificant items placed throughout the room. They all told something of Clarisse, whether of her taste in art, or her pride in her work or family. Mia ran her hand across the desk she so often saw her grandmother working at during the night. The smooth wood now covered in a layer of dust, however Mia refused anyone to clean in here. There was something in here that made Mia want it left alone. Still, she could not figure what it was. She folded the letter, placing it back on the desk, just as her grandmother had left it all those years ago. There it had been left for Charlotte to deliver to him that afternoon. She wiped her tears and left.
Just down the same corridor, another room was left untouched as well. It had been untouched now for over seventeen years. That room as well contained personal belongings that Mia felt must stay put. It had been quite awhile since she had been in the room, she remembered the last time while unlocking the heavy door. The room still smelt of him, or maybe it was just her memory playing tricks. His leather jacket was hung on the chair by the window, dust collected turned it a pale gray. The bed was still left unmade, and the picture of her grandmother was still on his nightstand. Mia could still remember his smile, and his over-protective ways, and in some way she still felt his presence about the palace even now. Although he was gone, she still felt so secure there. Taking the napkin from her pocket, she wiped her eyes once again, and turned to leave.
"Mia?" Nicholas asked. "You've been in those rooms?" She walked into his arms, wanting to let out more tears, but trying her hardest not to.
"Yeah, I just felt I had to. After last night, it was just something I had to do." Mia took his hand and they sat together.
"Are you going to tell her? Nic asked, pressing the matter to his unsure wife.
"I think so, I think she's old enough now. Will you help me?"
"Of course."
"Elizabeth?" Mia and Nic wondered in their daughter's suite, looking for the twelve year-old.
"I'm here," she piped, laying across her bed, enveloped in her most recent novel.
"You're reading again? You are just like your great grandmother Clarisse." Mia proudly revealed that fact to her daughter.
"So you've told me, like over and over." Mia and Nic smiled at each other, listening to the girl who was just a baby last year, or so it seemed.
"Your mother wants to talk to you about her, Elizabeth. Do you have a few minutes. I think it might help you understand a few things that go on around here." Nic sat next to her on her bed.
"Okay, shoot." Mia sat next to them, willing the right words to come.
"Remember when I told you about your grandmother Clarisse, about how she was the one who helped me become a Princess, and then Queen? You know, the whole story right from the beginning." Mia asked.
"Sure."
"Well, there's a story, actually it's a love story, that I didn't tell you. Grandma Clarisse and Joe were in love with each other. I mean they were really in love, a deep, passionate love, Elizabeth, if you can understand that."
"Like you and dad?"
"Yeah," Nic winked to Mia.
"A few days before Joe was killed, he had asked grandma to marry him. Grandma took some time to think about it, and the night before Joe died, well grandma had turned him down. It wasn't that she wasn't in love with him, it was just that she didn't think it was the right time. See, I was getting ready to be crowned Queen then, and grandma Clarisse thought that it would interfere with my life. She wanted me to be settled before she thought about herself. If you knew her, you would understand. She was always putting others first, that's what made her such a great Queen. I didn't know it until later, but Joe had loved her for years, and had asked before, and grandma had, of course, turned him down. This time, the following morning, she wrote him a beautiful letter, explaining that she didn't want to turn him down, but that she needed more time. I guess it was her way of asking for a long engagement. Well, the letter never reached Joe. Grandma was informed of his death only minutes after she wrote it. Joe died thinking that grandma Clarisse would never marry him, maybe even that she didn't love him as much as she really did. It was a beautiful letter, she said she'd wait for him forever, reguardless if he chose to wait for her anymore or not. After Joe died, well, grandma just fell apart. She was never the same again. She had always been so lively and full of spirit. Even after you were born, she just could not come to terms with his death. I think in the end, it was her broken heart that killed her, not the cancer. Grandma had always been a fighter, and the doctor himself said that she should recover from it and be fine." Mia was crying now, tears rolling fast down her cheeks. She had to stop to take a breath.
"They were in love, so that's why you're not cleaning out their rooms?" Elizabeth pondered the question.
"Well, yes." Nic cut in, trying to help Mia.
"I'm okay Nic, I can finish. Elizabeth, I know this may sound strange, but something tells me not to. It's like there's something unfinished there, and until I figure out what I need to do or else give up on it, I'm not going to have them cleaned."
"The maids say there both haunted, you know. I believe it, too. I don't think you could get anyone to go in them," she stated, matter-of-factly.
"Well, I can't say anything to that one. I've heard noises myself, but no, I'm not afraid, and neither should you be."
"It's too bad that Joe didn't get her letter. Do you think he would have waited for her?"
"Oh yes, dear one. I know he would have. He would have waited forever too." Mia reached out to hold onto Nic's hand, grasping the one she had waited for.
"Goodnight sweetheart."
"Goodnight."
"Nic, I'll be there in a minute, I just have something to do real quick." Mia let go of his hand, reassuring him with her nod. When he had left, she made her way back to her grandmother's suite. Something Elizabeth had said earlier had made sense. There was something that Mia could do, and it felt like the right thing to do. So now she slipped into the suite, again pulling out the letter. This time she didn't put it back. She headed out the door. "I'll make sure he gets this tonight. Goodnight grandma." She closed the doors.
Once more unlocking the door, she opened it enough to slip through, flicking on the light. Mia walked over to his bed, gently laying the letter on his pillow. She smoothed it over, making sure it laid flat. Satisfied, she turned to leave. A gentle cool wind blew past her as she reached the door, and she turned to scan the room once more, inhaling the man she so adored. Her eyes fell back on the bed. It was gone. The pillow was empty, the bed, the floor, all showed no signs of the letter. It should have shocked her, made her go search for it, but it didn't. She had known, somehow, to expect something like this. She flicked out the light. "Goodnight Joe, but somehow I know you're with grandma now." Mia smiled, as still more tears came. She shut the door, knowing it would soon be time to clean them both. Yes, it was time.
This is not my usual happy ending, it's just something that came to me, so I had to write it. Grab a tissue and dry your eyes, there are more coming that have happy endings!
-Laura