maelie always thought that when love happened for her, it would be in the traditional way, a passionate courtship where love blossomed in a matter of months. instead, she tumbled into a friends-with-benefits relationship with a brooding, definitely unavailable half-elf. time passed, and the pair became entangled in more ways than one, and he didn't become any more available. and then came the day that maelie woke up and found that the relationship that was supposed to be nothing had become something so much more for her. but, unwilling to ruin what they shared, she kept her feelings unspoken and tucked them deep into her own heart.
when he disappeared one day without so much as a word, she thought it might finally be her chance to move on from him. years passed, and she allowed him to fade into memory as she slowly began to imagine that she no longer loved him quite so much, or even at all. she had nearly convinced herself of it when she finally laid eyes on him again and knew that, no matter how many years had gone by, the feelings in her heart had not changed.
old patterns resurfaced, and maelie told herself that she could learn to be content with what they had. and she was, as much as she was capable of. she loved him, but she would rather have some of him than none. she could not stop the part of herself, though, that wondered if this was it, if she had fallen irrevocably in love with a man who would never love her.
one day, though, she woke to a knock on her door, a knock that would change everything for her, for the rest of her life. vanim stood there, roses and poppies in hand, the bouquet tied with a red silk ribbon. the flowers meant everything to her—it wasn't something she thought he'd notice, or remember. that wasn't all he brought her, though; in the other was a picnic fit for a queen with all her favorite foods and a bottle of evermead. and at the bottom of the basket, a journal he said he wanted them to fill together, of all their new adventures.
maelie had never been happier, and she glowed with it as vanim gave her a new experience every day, waking every day to a rose and her love carrying her to what she'd come to think of as their spot for an exquisite picnic followed by more new adventures than she ever dreamed of. to her surprise and delight, he showed both her and the world how much her loved her every day, carrying her like a princess when they went out together, and treating her like she was the only one who mattered to him. her evenings, she spent on his lap, his strong chest against her back as she recorded their adventures into the pages of their journal. time passed, and she soon found the pages shimmering as she finished up the day's entry—and found, to her utter shock and joy, a ring. they were married that very night, just the two of them and the eyes and blessing of sune.
their public wedding celebration was a beautiful affair, and those in attendance claimed that maelie's smile threatened to burst off her face, and that the groom looked at his bride with unadulterated adoration. their first real test didn't come until several years later, when maelie discovered she was with child. vanim told her he needed some time to think, and she told him yes, of course, but as the days dragged on she missed him terribly and grew restless. once a month had passed, though, he returned to her with everything they would need to raise a child, and the keys to a beautiful home where they could raise their family. they always kept the small home they shared, though, returning to it often, and for those moments they were still the only two people in the world.
no matter how many years passed, they always loved each other more than anything else in the world, putting each other above everything and everyone else. the bond and the love they shared was unbreakable, and they would still say every day that they fell in love more and more.
