day 7 - journey of us

(in which cinder finds her new favourite part of the palace and kai is glad his efforts were worth it)


Cinder often finds the palace strange.

She normally doesn't like losing her way because the fancy formal decorations can be almost uncomfortable but when she gets lost on her way to the library, she stumbles across something surprisingly nice: a corridor filled with photographs. More specifically, photographs of her and Kai.

They look different in the first few, younger and stiffer, but as she moves along the corridor, their smiles become more genuine and the awkwardness between them vanishes. They're mostly candid shots she doesn't quite remember: the two of them sharing a sideways look, asleep whilst leaning on each other, walking with their hands connected, countless little moments filled with peace.

"Cinder?"

She turns to find Kai grinning sheepishly at her. He hesitantly rubs the back of his neck before walking over to stand with her in front of the latest photos, some of which are actually in various rooms of the palace.

"Where did you get all of these?" she asks, taking his hand so he doesn't nervously run it through his hair and mess it up.

Kai shrugs. "It's tradition to have a corridor showing the journey of the royal family... of us."

That doesn't really answer her question but she doesn't mind. "You should have shown me this place sooner, it's really nice."

"Do you honestly think so?" Kai asks hopefully, which suggests he'd put a lot of effort into this and it means a lot to him.

Cinder smiles. "I love it. I love you."


A/N: i know these were all very short and probably not quite what the prompts wanted but i had fun and i'm happy i completed the whole of kaider week so if anyone happens to be reading, i hope you enjoyed !