My Way To You 52 Date

"Ariana, you can't change everything to your liking. I can see what your thinking and the answer is no. You need to be able to accept things as they are and move on." Zachary said as he placed a rea.s.suring hand onto her shoulder. Ariana looked up at his face and was ready to burst into tears. "Edlyn has come up with an idea." Mrs. Abela said causing Ariana and Zachary to look at her. "If it's not too much trouble why not come to our house for lunch and tea?"

Ariana's eyes started to sparkle as she brought her hands up in pray and turned to her uncle. Zachary started to sweat, it would mean going into another n.o.ble's home. He finally got over his own trauma at home but going into someone else's house was a whole other story. "I'm sorry but no. We can possibly trouble you at your own home, especially on short notice." He said politely but Ariana kept her sparkling gaze as she silently pleaded. "It's no trouble at all... I mean my sister just arrived this morning and is staying with us for a few days and Edlyn begged to come here because she's never been formally invited out. So going back would help us greatly."

Zachary could feel the heaviness of Mrs. Abela's words, landing on him like boulders. Ariana's selfishness caused so much trouble for the people around her that she just had to impose on others even more. "Mrs. Abela, if that is the case then we must let you be on your way. We can not keep you here besides my great nephew was born this morning and I have yet to hold him."

Ariana dropped her hands and narrowed her gaze. "Not my fault." She said bitterly. "Well not all of us can be in the room while Rin was birthing!" He spat back as a noticeable vein started to pop out from his left cheek. Ariana turned her head and gave a small curtsy to the ladies. "I'm sorry, I selfishly dragged you out today. Maybe we can meet up another day and have tea." Edlyn dropped her gaze and started to play with the tips of her fingers, pouting as they didn't get the message.

"I apologise, I should have explained myself a bit more instead of being so round about, it's my fault." Mrs. Abela said with an awkward smile. "You see my sister is an art teacher. Edlyn thought that if you bought the stationary and brought to our house, she would know how to decorate your materials." Ariana's eyes lit up again. "Please uncle! Can we go, h.e.l.l can I go! I was really scared about the uniform fitting and this is my way out! Please, please, please!" Ariana begged with giant puppy dog eyes that it momentarily muddled his thoughts. He mindlessly nodded in agreement causing Ariana and Edlyn to start jumping up and down in excitement.

They quickly picked matching black hardcover books, feathered pens, pencils, erasers and pouches. Paid and climbed into the Abela's carriage while their carriage followed behind. By the time Zachary came to his senses they had already arrived to Abela Manor. As the approached, Ariana was caught holding her breath, she couldn't believe her eyea. "Edlyn! Your home! It looks like it's in the middle of a secret garden! How magical!" She signed and voiced. Mrs. Abela's eyes widened and Edlyn flushed a deep shade of red.

"That is very kind of you to say." Edlyn signed back and Mrs. Abela beamed. "Yes, Edlyn has put a lot of effort in cultivating the garden around our Manor." Mrs Abela signed with pride. The carriage stopped and they all stepped out of the carriage. Zachary looked around and could feel his anxiety melt away. "Yes this place is magical... serene enough to make you forget about your worries." Zachary said as his eyes lingered on the scenery. "That's why I love coming here." A silver bell like voice echoed from with in the garden.

"Honestly Faye, we can't see you." Mrs. Abela sighed and a lovely, crystal clear laugh could be heard around them. Suddenly a woman appeared from a vivid pink, flowering bush. With a giant smile she dusted off her skirt. "The weigela bush was so inspiring that I couldn't help myself." The woman laughed. She was absolutely stunning, she was pet.i.te in build, had tied up her long, golden brown hair up into a ponytail, she had rich magenta eyes that were round and innocent looking while her pink, slightly plump likes made her seem like a temptress.

Zachary stood there with his mouth hanging and eyes wide with shook. Ariana started to grin as she watched her uncle's reaction while Faye completely clueless, wiped more paint onto her fair skin with the back of her hand. "Faye, you got paint on your forehead." Mrs. Abela groaned. "Here?" She asked as she smudged it more. "No, it's worse now." Mrs. Abela said as she crossed her arms across her chest. "Now?" Faye asked as she smeared more paint down towards her right eyelid. Ariana nudged her uncle. "What?" He asked in a daze causing Ariana to roll her eyes.

Ariana reached for Zachary's top pocket on his dark gray vest and pulled out a red satin handkerchief. She waved it before his confused face, he wasn't getting the message and Ariana mouthed the words. "Help her." His eyes sparked with excitement and he grabbed the handkerchief from her hand. "Please allow me to help you." Zachary said as he happily approached Faye. While Faye sensed something new and took a defensive step back, making Zachary stop in his tracks. Faye looked around Zachary and made eye contact with her sister and niece.

Ariana quickly signed what she thought to Edlyn and Mrs Abela and they quickly started to give Faye their thumb's up. Faye nodded her head and walked up to Zachary. She pointed her small, round face upwards and closed her eyes. "If you could." She said in a quiet voice that Zachary was almost certain he imagined it. But none the less he took the opportunity to wipe the paint from her delicate face. "Will you be joining us Mister?" She said slowly, allowing her pink lips to form every word. "Z-zach-zachary Drake." He stuttered as he turned a bright shade of red.

"Will you be joining us for lunch?" She asked as she batted her long eyelashes. Zachary turned a brighter shade of red, Ariana and Edlyn had to step in. Ariana grabbed Zachary's arm and secretly pinched his under arm, waking him up from his daydream while Edlyn signed her explanation. "Oh so your here to grab a free meal." She said nonchalantly as she turned to Zachary. "No! No! No! For the love of all good in the world no! I didn't even want to come here!"

Ariana facepalmed herself and Edlyn tried her best not to laugh but her body shaking gave her away. "So... you were dragged here against your will?! How awful! We should send you back right away!" Zachary paled and brought his hands up in defense. "No! I mean, it's fine now. I was dreading coming here but when we got here things got better." Faye placed a gentle hand onto Zachary's chest and looked into his eyes. "How did they get better Z-zach-zachary?" Zachary face suddenly flushed and he dropped his gaze to the hand laying on his chest.

The back of her hand was covered in green paint, it was also fair and small. Zachary gulped hard causing his Adam's apple to bob up and down. He reached for the hand and grabbed it. He then brought it his lips and placed a gentle kiss against her knuckles. "You appearing from an enchanted garden made it worth it." He said in one breath that it would have been a miracle if Faye even heard him. Zachary felt a small tug and he brought his gaze to Faye. Ariana and Edlyn were hugging eachother as they laughed their hearts out while Mrs. Abela rushed to catch her sister.

Zachary completely dumbfounded was still holding onto Faye's hand as she fainted backwards, face glowing red. "Now you done it!" Ariana laughed as Edlyn tried her best to sign. "What is she saying?!" Zachary shouted as he held Faye suspended in the air. Mrs. Abela finally had a grasp on her sister and asked Zachary to let go of Faye's hand. "You kissed her hand and got her pregnant! Now you have to marry her!" Ariana laughed. Zachary turned ghostly white and started to open and close his mouth like a fish out of water.

Mrs. Abela barely held her composure as she looked at Zachary. "My sister has always kept the idea in her head that if there ever was a man that could kiss her paint soaked hands she would marry him on the spot... I can tell you she is old enough to know that hand kissing does not lead to pregnancy." Mrs. Abela snorted the last part before she broke out laughing with the girls. "Congratulations uncle, I will properly inform grandmother that you are engaged!" Ariana beamed from ear to ear, her face was flushed from all the laughing.

Zachary couldn't help but smile back at Ariana before turning his gaze towards Faye and shrugged. "I have good taste."

....

Ariana couldn't help but have a good time with Edlyn and her family. Zachary stayed by Faye's side until she regained consciousness while Ariana and Edlyn personalized their school supplies with paint. It seemed Faye and Zachary talked to one another and found that they had lots of things in common.

It was getting close to dinner time, Ariana and Edlyn did not want to separate but she needed to go back home to report to her grandmother about her day. "Thank you sweetie for the lovely lunch and tea." Mrs. Abela said as she hugged Ariana. "Your welcome! Don't worry I promise to come over again and share another recipe with your chef." Edlyn was bouncing on her tip toes, waiting for her goodbye hug. When her mother let go of Ariana she jumped onto her and hugged her with all her might. When they parted Edlyn quickly brought up her hands. "We didn't get our uniforms fitted yet, so can you come out again in two days?"

Ariana froze for a second. She didn't tell them about the church and was afraid to have her back seen. She subconsciously brought her hand up to her left shoulder and squeezed. "Can I come tomorrow... I was supposed to tell you something but... I couldn't do it..." She said pitifully that Mr. and Mrs. Abela sensed something off. "Faye why don't you go great the Drakes. I think Ariana would like to spend the night with us." Mrs. Abela said as Mr. Abel placed a protective arm around his wife.

"Uncle, please can I stay a little longer?" Ariana asked as she started to wring the front of her dress. Zachary hesitated for a bit then looked at Faye. "I should introduce the woman I would like to court to my family." He said with a sigh. "But I can't let her spend the night... I will give you two hours at most. Use that time don't start making dinner for everyone instead and try to spend more time here." Zachary said with a warning tone. Ariana broke out into a cold sweat, she cursed herself internally for being seen through by her uncle. She brought her face up and looked him in the eyes. "I will start talking now."

Zachary nodded his head and grabbed her bags. "After you Faye." He said as he opened the door to the carriage. In they went and the Abelas watched as the carriage disappeared while Ariana couldn't stopped her heart from pounding in between hear ears. "Let's go inside." Mrs. Abela said as she collected the girls. Ariana didn't budge, she stayed glued to the ground. She brought her pale face upwards, her eyes shaking with fear and she swallowed back saliva. "I approached Edlyn for two reasons." She started to say and she could see the colour drain from everyone's faces.

Before anyone could say anything Ariana kept going. "The first was mostly out of warning the second for my own selfish reason. I can't keep this from you because it's not fair." She started to say as her eyes started to brim with tears. The Abelas grabbed Edlyn and encased her within their protective arms as they created distance between them and Ariana. "Was Faye part of your plan?!" Mrs. Abela shouted as her face turned a deep red from anger. "No! I would never use a person!" Ariana desperately shouted back but she couldn't stop herself from feeling hurt from the disdainful looks Mr. and Mrs. Abela were showing her.

"Please it's not what you think!" She pleaded but the Abelas were ready to drag Edlyn back in. "It was to warn you that the church may come after Edlyn!" She shouted as loud as she could causing the family to stop in their tracks. "What did you say?" Mrs. Abela whispered with such fear that Ariana had to call up all her courage to continue. "At our exam, Edlyn was surrounded and loved by the pixies... I found out that there is a spy for the church in the faculty. If they could see magical creatures and spotted Edlyn... they could have told Lord Romanoff."

Mr. Abela released Edlyn and walked up to Ariana. He grabbed her by the shoulders and started to shake her. "How do we know your telling the truth? Why would the church want Edlyn?!" He shouted but Ariana waited until he calmed down. "You saw it right? When I appeared out of nowhere... I know you heard voices, my mom said she could at least hear mine." Ariana said pitifully, waiting for them to come to their own conclusions.

After a moment Ariana bit the bullet. "Lord Romanoff is after me because of my linage. I will never be like my mother, she was loved by the spirits and I know I will never be." Ariana said as she raised her face. "Lady Zula?" Mr. Abela said as he released Ariana. She shook her head no and brought up her hands. "My biological mother is Evelyn Goodfello, better known as the jewel eyed priestess." Mr. Abela took a step back, stumbled and landed on his rump. While Mrs. Abela dropped to her knees and paled drastically. "There is no way, absolutely no way." She mumbled but Edlyn stepped around her mother and stood tall before Ariana.

"Your first reason is stupid, explain your second! I could careless if someone is after me, I'm broken and useless. I want to know why you selfishly came after me! Why did you spend so much time with me and my family? Was it just to cause a disturbance in our lives?! What could possibly motivate you to push yourself in! Tell me!" She signed as her face distorted with anger and pain.

Ariana bit her bottom lip and started to blush slightly. She brought up her hands and in a soft voice she communicated her second reason. "I wanted to be friends..." The answer dumbfounded the family. "Friends?! Friends?! How can you think after all our family found out we could allow a friends.h.i.+p... I mean this is impossible.... I can't believe this situation... I can't even... put words." Mrs. Abela said but Mr. Abela was the first to get off the ground. He dusted himself off, walked over to his wife and extended a hand. "Honey, this is something to be decided between the girls." He said gently. Mrs. Abela looked up and took her husband's hand.

"Your right, we must not interfere. Regardless of what is decided, we must not interfere." She looked at the girls one last time before she followed Mr. Abela back into the house. "So you selfishly thought you could do all this?" Edlyn signed as Ariana took a step forward. "I thought I needed to try! My family supported me telling the truth and it's the only right thing to do!" Ariana signed back. "You could have said this all in the beginning! I wouldn't have spent my entire time worrying and feeling unease because some weirdo decided that we should spend the day together!"

Ariana's jaw dropped and she picked up the speed of her hand movements. "Weirdo! I enjoyed myself today and was so scared to tell the truth that I was ready to cling to your ankles and beg for your forgiveness! Forget it now! I'm glad I told you and your family the truth!" Edlyn smiled evilly and tossed back her hair. "Good we agree then today's anxiety was completely pointless." Ariana narrowed her gaze. "Yes I agree." Edlyn took another step closer as half her face became dark. "Good, there is only one thing left then." Ariana dropped her hands and patiently waited for Edlyn to give her final blow. She would walk home after Edlyn said her piece.

"Are you going to be my best friend or life long friend? Spots are filling fast." Ariana couldn't hold back her tears and the strength in her legs disappeared. "Can't I be both?! I want to be both!" She cried. Edlyn walked closer to Ariana and dropped beside her. She grabbed her hand and started to write in the inside of her palm with her index finger. "Of course."