And the wind began to blow
And all the trees began to bend
And the world, in its cold way
Started coming alive

The next morning came with a light drizzle falling from the sky, but that didn't stop her one bit from going out again. Her mother said not a word about her going out again, but silently encouraged it. If only she had known what her daughter was up to. It made Kanaya slightly uneasy.

Even so, she met him in front of The Saw and Tooth. Even with the streets muddy, they took the stroll that was promised to her the previous day through the village. This time she let him do the majority of the talking, and he certainly had a lot to say.

She learned about his older brother who was more like a dad to him that was a playwright. It was because of him that he had the job that he had now, and he told her that he secretly hated it, despite the money and the perks that came with it.

"Don't get me wrong, the king is a great and powerful man, but he's a bit of a jerkass," he confided to her. He afterwards would say that it felt safe to say that to her, regardless of the fact she was a Prospitian. "King Sollux is a bit buddy-buddy with my brother, so I guess I could be a little more grateful," she stifled a laugh at that remark, wondering if anyone at her castle felt that way about her.

When it was brought up if she did anything for a living, she told him that she was a seamstress. It wasn't a complete lie, since she did design and sew the majority of the things that she wore, so she didn't feel too bad about it. Well, not until she realized how great she had it. She was a princess. She got everything handed to her without any questions and there was Dirk, a man who worked for his living and had to keep quiet about his opinions unless he told someone of the opposite kingdom. And even then there are spies.

She felt selfish for even being next to this man.

That feeling didn't stop her from seeing him every day for the rest of time they were both in that village.

They spent their remaining time in Saw and Tooth, talking back and forth about anything and everything. They talked about her books and sewing, and he talked about his puppet building and how he wanted the two kingdoms to come together as one. She felt the same, but she also knew the likelihood of that actually happening was slim to none.

They could dream though, couldn't they?

"You're feeling more chipper than usually, Kanaya," Kanaya's mother, Porrim, said a few days after they returned to their home in the heart of Prospit. They were the only two in the library, reading together in a content silence. Kanaya was reading a history book of sorts about Derse in hopes of understanding her new found crush more, whilst Porrim read one of her unmarked books that were written in a language only she and Kanaya understood. Of course, Porrim knew it exceptionally more so than her child for she had studied it more than Kanaya.

Kanaya only gave a knowing smile to her mother at her remark and continued to read a bit more before she asked to be excused. "What for?" was her mothers' quick reply. Porrim was always sharper than her daughter. "I need to write a few letters, mother," That too was a lie (She was getting rather used to doing that now), but her mother waved her off, but not without watching her every step until she opened the lard wooden doors that led into the expansive corridor.

Kanaya walked with a skip in her step to her bedroom that doubled as her personal study. When she reached the jade green doors, she glanced around her to see if anyone was around. There was nothing to be paranoid of, since no one knew of her secret. That was exactly what she was afraid of, though.

She entered her room, quietly closed the doors, and walked straight to her made bed, reaching underneath the mattress to pull out a small, leather knapsack. She held it close to her chest and quickly walked over to her desk that was littered in an assortment of paper, pens, and a few toys she had as a child.

She opened the sack and dumped it onto her desk. Inside was a scrap of paper that had an address written in clean, precise writing, a wooden figurine that vaguely resembled her, and a hair pin that was in the shape of a feather. Those were the things that she had left of Dirk; things that he gave to her during the two weeks that they had known each other.

She picked up the small scrap of paper with both of her hands and smiled ridiculously to herself, but then stopped. She was a princess. Princesses didn't act like love-struck fools.

Conceivably she was an exception to that unspoken rule, for she continued to smile as she looked at the words that were intended for only her.

"Kanaya," Dirk had said the last night that they were together, laying side by side in the dew covered grass watching the stars disappear as the sun started to show itself from behind the trees. She turned her head to him, her hair falling over her forehead. She didn't have to say anything to him "Would it be alright if I wrote you?" he had asked her, his voice completely calm. She twisted her head again to look back up at the sky that had hues of pink and purple. Before giving a direct answer, she lightly squeezed the hand that was intertwined with her own. "I was wondering when you were going to ask."

She was joking with him, of course, but that didn't stop him from leaning over so fast to place a small kiss where her hair was falling over her forehead. It happened so fast she didn't realize her head was spinning from it until he too squeezed her hand with the smallest of chuckles escaping from his mouth.

That event that transpired only a few days ago still sat fresh in her mind as she continued to admire Dirk's handwriting. It was much different than how she expected it to be. Where her own writing was curvy and consistent, his was sharp and showed her that he was enigmatic. That was a quality that she could love in any person.

Placing the piece of paper to the side, she picked up the wooden figurine that he had carved for her as they sat in the pub together. She sat quietly reading her book as she sat beside him on the bar. Every once in a while he would ask her to read out loud, even though he had never read the book before and even though there was no way that he could keep up with the story, she read to him anyway. Kanaya suspected it was because the blonde-haired man enjoyed the sound of her voice.

At a later date Kanaya would find out she was correct.

Running her fingers over the smooth lines etched into the wood, she place it on top of the scrap of paper.

The last thing that had fallen out of the bag was the hair clip. There wasn't much significance behind it other than the fact that there had been a vendor out that was selling them, and it caught her eye. It gleamed jade flakes that were placed over the silver feather, mixed with what looked to be tiny orange diamonds. She found it lovely how the colours corresponded. But since she was playing the role of a woman that lived in the village, there was no way she could waltz up and buy it without the chance of blowing her cover, so she looked away.

But Kanaya looking over it didn't escape Dirk's eye.

He took her by her hand and walked over to where the man had set up shop and bought it for her, despite her protests. "Every princess deserves something nice," was his only argument. For a moment she thought that she was caught, but the smile that spread over his face reassured her that her secret was still safe. For then, anyway.

He placed it in her hair, standing back to tell her "It looks lovely when you wear it, Kanaya." His words sent a chill down her spine. She did her best to channel it somehow and she did succeed by giving him one of her biggest smiles. "Well of course, I'm a princess aren't I?"

The double meaning of her words was only caught by her. Because of that, Dirk gave a small laugh, leading her through the village.

She knew that a memory like that was one that she would probably remember for the rest of her life, however long that would be. She put the clip into her hair, admiring herself in the hand mirror that she dug up from underneath the piles of paper. One day she would sort out everything, but today was not that day.

Today was the day that she was going to write her first letter to Dirk Strider.

Dearest Dirk,

It's only been a few days since I last saw you, although it feels like it's been over a year...

(A/N: short chapter because I have other fics to work on, and i felt like this was an appropriate cliffhanger. and yes all of you will get to see the letter than she wrote to him, and his reply. but i refuse to say when ;).

the more that i write this, the more that i feel like its going to turn into a very long fic and i dont know how thats gonna turn out bu go.

This story is also on AO3 now if anyone wants to read it there, but it will always be a chapter behind hahahah.

The song at the top is Woke Up New by The Mountain Goats. I hope you guys liked this, and if you dont mind leave me some feedback v_v xoxoxo)