Alina sets her mirror back down on the table as delicately as she can. Flawed as it is, at the very least it doesn't crack any further. The smile steals its way back onto her lips, and she stands. 

As she rises her skirts ripple down her legs like rain in a dozen bright, shimmering colors. It was Freesia's idea to use untreated silks; when she took up her crown as Queen, the rains would wash away the excess dyes and carry them down to the crowd below where they'd pool and fill the glass benches with all manner of new colors and light. But Alina's not thinking about that right now. Even her own coronation is a distant spark of the back of her mind compared with the beautiful smile of Rita von Catabas. 

Alina moves with effortless grace across the space between them. Her hand reaches out toward Rita's and, just when she sees her lover's hand move to close around hers, she lifts it up and touches Rita's chin instead. That blush is the most beautiful, perfect thing in the universe.

"And I love you, my light."

Her gloves are satin, so they feel extra nice as they stroke the underside of Rita's chin. Alina smiles, and her eyes become deep green pools of love for a certain special someone to drown in. She leans in close and her mouth is filled with the warm sensation of purring as Princess Alina Cascade shares her final kiss with the most beautiful, precious, perfect, handsome, brave, and loyal cat in the entirety of Hyperborea. The smell is warmer than sunshine. The feeling is softer than fresh down. The taste, sweeter than Askaian wine. It's a moment that stretches on into forever, unfolding past the pleasantries of the afternoon and into a night that neither of them will ever forget. It crosses between kingdoms and over years, summer and winter and winter and summer, from the banks of the mighty Whitherwend to the misty spray of the waterfall atop Big Hill. The laughter of children echoes out through memories and into the future, where everything is brighter and safer than she would have ever dared dream--

"Do you [i]mind,[/i] Your Majesty?"

Alina opens her eyes again and follows the finger impatiently tap-tapping on her shoulder to Freesia's half-glaring, half-smiling face. She flashes her sister a guilty grin and lets her hand drop down to entwine her fingers with Rita's. 

"Sorry, sorry. We got a little carried away."

"Uhuh," uh oh, there's a Roc's worth of storm in Freesia's eyes right now, "But you're done now. Right? Are you finally ready to stop messing around?"

"Are you kidding me?" Alina laughs, "Never! What did you think I was keeping you and Jess around for?"

"Lina!!"

"I'm kidding, Free! You know I'm kidding. I promise I'm taking this very seriously. And I'm... I'm ready. To be Queen."

She squeezes Rita's hand in hers and takes a deep, nervous breath. Her eyes go darting around the room, hunting for approval. Beating down years' worth of instinct to look for the signs that somebody was still secretly mad at her and always would be. But there's nothing in this room except love, and pride, and a sense of excitement for the future.

Princess Alina Cascade manages a weak smile as she dabs away the tears in her eyes. And with one last squeeze of Rita's hand, she takes the first of many steps toward her new life.