RedBalloon

Private

Before Alicia even grabbed her shoulders, Juliette could sense something has off. The cloud of emotions around her head turned a dark gray, so dark that she could barely see her face. As she was flung to the ground, she put her hands out behind her and caught herself. “Alicia!” She shouted, but was taken aback by the screech.
What was happening was something she hoped she wouldn’t have to deal with. She saw Alicia’s eyes shift colors and she gulped. “What are you going?” She quickly asked, she wanted to avoid conflict if she could.

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Knowing her face was away from Alicia, she mouthed the words “I’ll see you soon” to Jake. At the sound of the beep, she looked up at the machine and quickly took her hands off of Jake. The tears swelled up in her eyes were now spilling down her cheeks as she covered her mouth. Quickly, she got off the bed to return to Alicia.
Without a second thought, she wrapped her arms around the other woman, muttering, “I’m so sorry.”

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Juliette sighed, continuing to smile at him. “You’ll be ok soon,” she told him. “Oh I almost forgot.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a small, metal sword. It was the size of a toothpick but had a nice weight to it. She placed it in his hand and curled his fingers around it.
“The Queen knighted you herself, she sends you her best wishes,” Juliette cooed to him. Her silhouette was growing brighter, almost to the point where she was the only thing he could see. “So now, you are Sir Jake.”
If Jake looked closely, he might’ve been able to see huge white wings that sprouted from Juliette’s back, outlined in gold.

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Juliette looked down at Jake and gave him a smile. “Bonjour, cadet frère,” she greeted, moving her hand from Alicia’s arm to smooth back his hair. “How are you feeling?” She knew he was close to passing because to her, and even to Jake, her holy glow was coming through and highlighting her figure with the brightest spot being her head.

Private

Before Jake was admitted to the hospital, Juliette had left for her trip to London. But as soon as she got the news the he was too sick and would probably not make it, she rushed back to America as quick as she could.

Juliette pushed past a nurse trying to stop her from entering the Jake’s room, insisting that she knew the family. She managed to duck underneath the nurse’s arm and enter the room, only for gasp and cover her hands with her mouth. Looking at the state the boy was in, no wonder she had been feeling terrible for the past couple of days.

Juliette quietly stepped over to Alicia’s side, gently touching her arm. “I made it as quick as I could,” she murmured, staring down at the slumbering boy. No matter how times she had done this, it never got easier. She could even feel tears start to swell in her eyes.

Private

"Of course I'll bring something back for you, cadet frère," Juliette giggled, retracting her eyes from Alicia and patting his head. "And they have more than tea. They have crumpets and knights. Maybe I can get you knighted, I do know the Queen after all." Most all of her attention was on the younger boy, similar to whenever she was around kids, she was adoring and possibly too distracting by them. What could she say, she loved kids of all shapes and sizes.

Suddenly, her phone started to ring. Juliette gave an exasperated sigh and pulled it out of her coat's pocket. "Oui?" She answered. The voice on the other end was quick but not frantic, almost even stern. The woman looked annoyed as she stuck out her tongue while the other end kept talking. "D'accord, je vous verrai bientôt." She hung up, seemingly before whoever was talking was fully finished. "It seems some urgent business has popped up," she sighed again.

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Juliette laughed at his question. She adored his innocence for the modeling business, especially the type of modeling she did from time to time. "I have a shoot in London, but I don't leave for another couple of weeks," she told him with a grin. "I'm taking a little break until then." The break was more related to future events that were going to happen then for herself. Juliette glanced towards Alicia, and without having to be her, she could see how she was feeling. I mean like literally see her feelings, like a cloud of powdered paint floating around the person's head.

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In Juliette’s line of occupation, other than being a model, it involved taking the pain of the person she protects and put it upon herself. Of course, she had endured a lot worse and barely batted an eye at weight upon her shoulders. She was supposed to be the relief in that person’s life, and that person was Jake. “Of course I came to visit,” she cooed. “I love seeing you two.” As she passed by Alicia, she lightly grazed her hand over her shoulder, then proceeded to sit by Jake on his bed. The way she moved was almost effortless, beyond graceful, like a cloud drifting in the wind.

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Juliette happily followed Alicia to Jake’s room. The feeling of love from the boy washed over her, both from herself and from the connection she had to him. “Ah!” She praised at Jake’s French. “Bonsoir, cadet frère. Ça va?” Compared to her regular speech, she spoke much slower so that the boy had a better chance at understanding her native accent.

Private

Nothing faltered on her face, but on the inside Juliette was uneasy. She couldn’t tell Alicia nor will she ever what was going to happen when Jake passed. All the time she spent into building their relationship would be for not. Instead, she smiled gently at her. “Of course, I’ll always be here for you,” she told her. At mention of Jake, she perked up and nodded. She seemed to adore the kid and had an unnaturally strong bond with him.