[b]Roleplay Title: [/b] Hold My Flower [b]Setting:[/b] some day in 1145, before start of rp [b]Characters Involved:[/b] Tytos Nahkti Bellona Valentia Black He had loved her for over one hundred years. He remembered their first meeting. He watched the little blond girl, looking so out of place in her pretty little dress, standing underneath Suneria’s relentless heat to the people of the east. He saw her studying the rocks, her eyes narrowed as she tried to figure out some sort of question, and he approached her out of curiosity. “Why ya looking at that rock?” were the first words he ever spoke to her, and he remembered the way she was startled at his question, as if she had not noticed his presence beforehand. “Because it’s pretty.” Were the first words she ever spoke to him and Tytos perfectly recalled feeling puzzled. It was an ordinary rock. Brown in color and not even a spectacular shade or shape. He had looked at her dumbly but she gave him a patient smile. “I read about rocks like these in mommy’s library. They are rare too!” she had begun to explain, and Tytos noticed that she looked so proud at the mention of the library, as if the thought of books made her the happiest girl in all of Wiz. “They look like nothing special, but…” he remembered her pausing, bending down to grab the rock that had her so entranced before. She pulled out a wand, and Tytos remembered looking at her in awe, for he had been too poor to obtain his own wand and resigned himself to never seeing one up close. “Inside, they’re really beautiful!” and her wand lit up like a sparkler, and her magic cut the rock in half, revealing a shining, blue gem. The girl had grinned and offered him one half of the rock. “My name is Valentia Mancini. We should be friends!” she said with excitement and Tytos had given her a small smile, shyly accepting her token of friendship, and the look of happiness she expressed that day was still as vivid as yesterday’s memory. “Names’ Tytos Nahki. Yeah, friends sounds cool. Nice to meet ya, Valentia.” That meeting changed his life. It was the start of a love that burned, shining brightly and eternally like Zoroastar, and always present no matter where he went. But love takes many forms, and soon his love for his Valentia felt like he was drowning in an ocean of passion that he had no hope of escaping from. He had fallen in love with her, his best friend, but Tytos had known back then that love like his could never be enough for a Mancini. The fact that her father was exactly like him, a poor boy from the village who met the kind Mancini girl by chance, who ended up marrying his love, had given Tytos some small hope but he had always convinced himself that he was not as lucky as him. He no longer ran “what if” scenarios through his mind, but to his embarrassment, when he was younger all Tytos did was fantasize over what could have been and what will never be. He stayed behind while she returned to the city, but she loved him too, in her own way. She would not lose her best friend because of an ocean separating them and Tytos had always looked forward to her letters, and then eventually, her phone calls. She paid for his visits, and allowed him to be there for her throughout their lives. He remembered the blush on her cheeks and the joy in her eyes as she recounted a story of her meeting the prince. He remembered his heart breaking and shouting for joy at the same time when she enthusiastically showed him an engagement ring. He remembered feeling genuinely happy at her wedding, when she changed her name and became queen, a title and life he felt she deserved. He remembered holding her, trying to comfort her after the funerals of her mother and father. He remembered keeping her company in the library, watching her read book after book. He remembered accompanying her to the Elegant Pathway, and smiling at the crystal road, thinking it was a perfect gift for her. He remembered her trying to set up dates for him with women, and misunderstanding his lack of interest, then sending men after him instead. He remembered her throwing a birthday cake at his face, and then laughing at him for the next hour. He remembered her despair over her eldest boy being sent to live away and him trying to soothe her worries. He remembered her tears over discovering an affair her husband had with another girl and hugging her until she stopped crying. He remembered hearing news of her baby’s death and moving across the world in order to help her. He remembered her wishing him good luck when he was assigned his first job as a protector. He remembered talking to her late at night whenever she felt lonely, keeping her company when the king was away for business. He remembered when he finally understood why his heart no longer ached when he saw her with her lover. He remembered their shared birthday parties long ago, back when she was still Valentia and they were silly little kids playing outside underneath the bright, bright sun... He remembered… Breaking out of his trip down memory lane, Tytos glanced down at the object in his hand that had triggered his memories. It was one half of a brown, ordinary looking rock on the outside with a beautiful blue crystal in the inner shell. He smiled. He did not need a ring to show his vow of eternal love; and on her wedding day he had stood beside her, even if it was on the opposite side of what he wished for in his youth, proudly standing in as her wizard of honor. There is more than one type of love, Tytos eventually realized, and he didn’t need to kiss her in order love her. He loved his best friend. Elsewhere, the queen glanced down at the object in her hand and Bellona smiled fondly. It was one half of a brown, ordinary looking rock on the outside with a beautiful blue crystal in the inner shell. Her best friend was someone she could not imagine her life without. His happiness was her happiness. After all these years, he was still staying by her side and supporting her like a true friend. He was the only one she trusted enough not to need a loyalty potion. She loved her best friend. She had loved him for over one hundred years.