It was late November, three weeks before Prince Emerson's birthday, when I went to my favourite bookstore in search of new reads. The door to the shop opened as I was near the back shelves. I was usually the only customer near closing time, but a random visitor so late was not unheard of near the winter holidays, so I thought nothing of it. I never saw who came in— the closest I got to seeing them was when they breezed behind me as I bent down to better see the books on a bottom shelf.

*****

        The next week, I was in the bookstore again, at a table in my well-loved corner, bolstered with my favourite novel and a cup of tea, when the bell chimed above the door, a slight swirl of snow entering alongside the visitor. As usual, I didn't pay the customer any attention, and continued to lose myself in the world of fantasy as I sipped my tea.

        It's not a surprise that I nearly fell out of my chair when someone sitting across from me cleared their throat, notifying me of their presence.

        "...Athena?"

        I looked up, thanking the Lord that I had set my tea down already.

        I never expected to find him sitting across from me in my adopted sanctuary.

        "Emerson?!" I asked incredulously, "What...? I mean, what are you...?" Emerson only laughed.

        "It's been a while, Athena. How are you?" I closed my book shakily, still rattled from the fright he gave me. I could not believe that he was actually sitting across from me for the first time in twelve years.

        "Why are you here, Emerson? You...," I began, "You haven't come in before. I haven't seen you in here, at least." He sat back in his seat the slighted bit— still maintaining appropriate table manners— as he raised an eyebrow.

        "You come here often?"

        "Well, yeah."

        The corner of Emerson's mouth fell a little, "Then how come I didn't see you last week when I popped in?"

        "You 'popped in'? You were—? Why were you—?" I huffed, crossing my arms, unsure of how to deal with this situation, "You're avoiding the question, Emerson."

        He ran a hand through his hair, sighing in defeat, "Is it so bad that I wanted to see you again after all this time? It's been so long. We were six when I last saw you. Your mother wouldn't even allow a letter to get through to you, so I've heard from cousins of yours; which explains why I never received a response..."

        "She what?"

        "You didn't know?" Emerson asked, a mixture of shock and sheepishness written all over his face.

        "How would I know? All I know is that my mom kept me under lock and key after I last saw you."

        "Did you even get out?" He frowned as he reached forward and picked up my book, his gaze sweeping over the cover. "Did you do anything but study? I know how controlling your mother is."

        "What is this all about?" I sigh, ignoring his questions, "Why now?"

        "Allow me to get a cup of tea, first," he said, winking as he stood and gravitated to the owner's makeshift noshery by the cash register.

        Five minutes, two coffee cakes (he insisted on buying one for each of us), and a cup of tea later, the prince and I, finally reunited, sat in awkward silence.

        Emerson cleared his throat, attempting to signal the beginning of his explanation.

        "The first thing is that I missed my best friend. You're harder to track down than you think." I stared into my now cold cup of tea, my cheeks reddening. "It's been, what?" he continued, "Twelve years, almost, since we last spent time together. Trust me, I tried as hard as my little six year old self could to convince your mother to let us continue to spend time together, but she wouldn't have any of it. Honestly, though, what got into her? She never acted like that before! You'd think she thought I was the plague or something, which is preposterous!" His rambling earned a half-smile from me. "What? What did I say?"

        "You're rambling, Your Highness," I said, struggling not to giggle at the enthusiasm that hadn't been in my life for so long.

        "Your Highness?" Emerson asked, momentarily surprised, having not expected the formalities from me, "Well, you referring to me like that almost requires more rambling from myself to compensate!" His words tore away at the last of my willpower, and I dissolved into giggles. "There we go! Finally, a true smile! And laughter as an added bonus!" Emerson joked, winking as he grinned.

        I rolled my eyes as my laughter quieted, "You were explaining your spontaneous visit?"

        "Oh! Right!" Emerson leaned forward, blue eyes shining, "So, I have had a lull in formal duties— thank goodness for that— and I decided to explore, maybe run into one of your cousins and find out what you were up to, so I could avoid asking your mother. Anyways, I ended up drifting from bookstore to bookstore, and found this to be one of my favourites. And, of all people, I find you here."

        "It's the closest bookstore to my home," I argued lightly, "Of course I'm here."

        Emerson simply laughed, waving my comment off. "Really, though," he continued, "As I said, I wanted to get to know you again. You were my best friend. And I want that to be true again." The heat rose to my cheeks at his words in the blink of an eye.

        "People will talk if they see you with me," I noted, "There's hardly a week that goes by without you in an article in the papers."

        "Well..." Emerson said, a new, sly grin making its way onto his face, "Would that decision be a bad thing? Apart from your mother finding out if you agree, of course."

        "One question," I say, holding up my hand, "You keep saying the same thing instead of explaining." He tensed, and I wasn't entirely sure if it was because I caught onto something, or if it was something else. "So why is that? If you missed me so much, why wait so long? Why? And now, of all times?"

        Emerson leaned on the table, putting his head in his hands before running them through his hair again. "Athena..."

        I said nothing. The entire situation— granted, I couldn't help but be happy to see him again— was so suspicious, and I was automatically on guard.

        "I just..." he sighed, avoiding eye contact, "Can we talk somewhere private?"

        I stared at him in shock for a few moments. "This is as private as things are going to get," I mumbled, "Even the owner has gone into the back room. No one's around."

        Emerson fidgeted in his chair, disregarding his manners. "It's just that..." he says, "You will probably despise me..."

        "Well," I glanced out the store window at the bustling crowd, "You best do it now, before reconnecting with me. What has you so worked up?"

*****

        "You what?!" I gasped. Emerson groaned and slumped back into his chair. "Emerson Alexander Naru, how dare you?! Why didn't you tell me?!" He winced at my use of his full name.

        "What else would you expect me to do, Athena?" he spat back, "I didn't have much of a choice!"

        "You did have a choice." I huffed, staring him down, "And you could have at least done the adult thing, and told me a good while ago, and you should have talked to me before you made such a... a... rash decision!"

        "It's too late now. What's done is done."

        "Oh, and how do you plan to go about all of this?" Emerson didn't say anything. "Thought so," I muttered, "You haven't the slightest inkling of a plan, do you?"

        "I'm doing the best I can, Athena," he said, the frustration clearly reflected in his voice, and I immediately felt bad for snapping at him like I did. I had no right to go about criticizing what he did— even though what he did would change everything. He was the prince.

        "I know," I conceded, "But if you knew about this for so long, you should have reconnected with me a long time ago.