Ariella wasn’t quite sure how long she’d laid there, staring up at the blank ceiling as though it were the most interesting thing in the world. In reality, the ceiling was of no interest to her, but it was a blank canvas on which her mind could relive her memories of this morning and her imagination could pain new ones. The right or wrong of the matter was of little concern to her in the moment, so she let her mind go where it would.<br/><br/>The minutes that had passed by felt like an eternity to her as she laid there unmoving, until she heard a sound on the balcony. She immediately popped up, seemingly snapping from her daydreams back to reality. Her heart beat a little faster, her initial response to the sound being that there was a threat, perhaps someone come to harm her, which put her instantly on alert.<br/><br/>The likelihood of that, however, seemed rather low, and if that were the case, it was better to have a clear head, so she banished her fears and stood up. As she did, though, the sound of music reached her ears. “Huh?” she blinked, obviously surprised. Of all the things she had imagined happening, this was not on the list.<br/><br/>Quirking a brow curiously, she headed for the balcony door, pushing it open and taking in a breath of the fresh air. The music sounded… familiar. That wasn’t possible though, was it? She didn’t wait to find out, rushing across the balcony and leaning over the edge just enough to look down below, to the source of the music.<br/><br/>It<span style="font-style: italic">was</span>him. But how had he found her? And why? She was a little taken aback, to be sure, yet she couldn’t help the grin that spread across her face. She had not expected to see him again so soon. Confused though she might be, she wasn’t really in the mood to complain. Instead, she rested her arms on the edge of the balcony, both to watch him and to listen to the song he played—a popular one that she had heard many times, and yet somehow at this particular moment, it sounded both more beautiful and more tragic than it ever had before.<br/><br/>She briefly wondered what exactly she was going to do now. What did he want her to do? What was his goal here? What did she want to do? She didn’t know the answers to any of these questions, even as the song came to a close.<br/><br/>A light smile lingered on her lips as he finished the song, bringing her closer to the moment when she would be forced to make her decision. “You know, when I said we might meet again someday, I didn’t really expect it to be so soon,” she mused, a light and playful smile on her face. She was partially stalling, until she could make up her mind, but it was true. “Not that I’m complaining, though,” she added, although this time much lighter, too light for any normal human to have heard.<br/><br/>She then took a deep breath, biting her lip lightly—not enough to draw blood—and standing up straight, deciding to go with her instinct, even if her mind told her it was the wrong choice. “You can come up, if you want,” she offered, perhaps against her better judgement. She then gestured towards the side of balcony where vines grew up the side of the exterior brick walls of the castle.<br/><br/>She chose to ignore the part of herself that told her this was a bad idea, that it was a dangerous game she was playing, that she might get hurt, that it could never be anything real. Even if all of that was true, even if this wasn’t something she would normally be inclined to do, just this once, she would do what she wanted to do, consequences be damned. She would probably regret it later, but that was for her future self to work out. For now, she would only worry about the present.