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It took a fair amount of time to get these two talking honestly about their feelings, but mingling a tough soldier with a pampered royal will bring up issues they’ll have to work through *if* they are to stay together. Yes, there will be plenty of romance and drama.
This story was first published at Fanfiction.net on January 2016, where you can still find it. Here you will find the edited version, thanks to the invaluable help of my dear friend and fellow fanficker, Artorias.
Quick note: This fanfic is a romance and is intended for adult readers.
At the Harvest Ball
The air was sweet and warm. Everyone was out celebrating the harvest. At the palace, the Great Hall was overflowing with people from across Eternia. Cheerful music played as partygoers reveled until dawn. The Upper Gardens, right outside the Great Hall, was filled with tents and vendors of all sorts. Most of them sold wine, food, and the finest produce of the season. Every year, the night of the harvest celebrations was when the palace felt like a true public space, rather than just the private dwellings of the royal family and the heads of state.
Teela had found herself a quiet spot on the terrace, looking out into the starry night, lost in her own thoughts.
A tall figure, obscured by a hooded cloak, approached her.
«Hello, Adam,» said Teela without turning around. Adam stood right next to her.
«How did you know it was me?»
«I would recognize you anywhere.»
He smiled at the private joke, since she had been beside him many times without her knowing it, and then he said, «It’s a really good party, isn’t it?»
«Yeah… It is not.»
Until that moment, he hadn’t noticed that she was drunk.
«Look around, Adam. Everyone is having fun,” Teela said. “Everyone but us. You need a disguise so you can be around people without them stepping aside in reverence. And the most stimulating interaction I’ve had so far is with this bottle of wine.»
«You two have been interacting quite a lot,» said Adam.
She rolled her eyes.
«Yes, grandpa…»
He took the bottle from her hands and drank in a fair amount of wine. He’d lost track of how many toasts he had drunk to in the last few hours.
Two guards passed by and saluted Teela on their way to the ballroom. When they were already gone, she mockingly saluted them back.
«I’ve heard them gossip and make inappropriate remarks about my body, but no one ever acts on it. Sometimes I wish they’d forget that I’m Captain Teela. I get lonely.»
This abrupt confession caught Adam off guard. He had never heard Teela say something so intimate.
«We deserve to live a little, don’t you think?» She asked with a playful grin.
Adam swallowed. Was Teela teasing… him?
She didn’t even wait for him to answer, «My body is built for battle, I’ve trained it for hard, long hours… and yet… sometimes it feels pointless. This might be the perfect opportunity for us to find out what else it’s good for. Are you in?»
Adam had a silly expression, eyes and mouth agape in disbelief.
This made her laugh a little.
«Oh, Adam, I’ve seen how you look at my legs!»
He stood still – petrified would be a better way to describe it – which seemed to disappoint Teela. Then, something caught her attention.
«Look, that’s the kind of fun I’m talking about,» she giggled.
Teela pointed at a couple making love in the moonlight, two tiers below, partially hidden by the garden bushes. Adam looked down to the barely distinguishable figures and then back to Teela, not knowing what to say. She leaned her body dangerously over the balcony, to catch a better glimpse. At one point, it seemed she was about to lose balance.
«Careful, now!» Adam said, catching her in his arms and pulling her away from the balcony.
She didn’t fight it. She paused for a moment, then she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him softly, before whispering, «Take me home, Adam. Come with me…»
«Yes, Teela,» he answered, and picked her up in his arms, effortlessly.
As Adam walked towards Teela’s quarters, careful that nobody saw them, he remembered all the times he had fantasized about a moment like this. The circumstances were different every time, but the result was always the same. Somehow, they ended up making love. Only this time it was for real. For a moment, he wondered if she had ever imagined something of the like.
When they arrived at Teela’s quarters, she handed him the key and for the first time he entered her place. Everything was clean and calm. Near the entrance, there was a small receiving area that Teela also used for dining and reading, by the look of it. Beyond, the sleeping chamber had a big bed, one of the few luxuries Teela couldn’t spare.
He laid Teela on the bed and sat next to her. She took away her headdress and all the pins that held her hair up, liberating her long auburn hair over the pillow. Then she smiled at Adam and untied his cloak in a way that sent shivers down his spine.
The promise of their naked bodies under the sheets was overpowering.
Adam sighed deeply, all his lasting feelings for her re-emerged loud and clear. He looked at her for the longest time.
Something was off.
Her eyes were only halfway open, and she looked a bit disoriented.
Teela was not herself. Had he tried to kiss her while she was sober, she would have punched him in the face, for sure.
This was something he wanted beyond doubt, and she said she wanted it too. Yet, it didn’t feel right.
He sat up straight, and Teela protested.
«Let me get you some water,» said Adam.
He walked to the small cabinet used for food storage, close to the entrance. There was a jar filled with water, over the tiny table. Adam noticed there was only one chair.
«She doesn’t expect visitors,» he thought.
He drank a full glass of water, to clear his throat and his mind.
«Adam!» she moaned.
He handed her a glass of water that she drank avidly.
Adam picked up his cloak from the floor, and Teela realized he was leaving.
«Stay…» she begged, in a way that made his heart ache.
«I’ll be back tomorrow,» was the only promise he could make.
He let himself out. Before closing the door behind him, he hesitated and turned around to go back in.
But something stopped him. He knew Teela well, she hated being vulnerable. She was going to be resentful, even furious regardless of whether he stayed or left. At least this way, their bond wouldn’t be irreversibly tainted by the effects of alcohol.