My Long Lost Mate

"Here, your dress," Luke handed me the blue dress that we previously bought, gently pushing me to the bathroom to hurry and prepare myself, "Go and amaze me with your beauty like you always do."

As I knew that he meant what he said, I didn't retort back and took the dress from his hands. I would usually tell him to stop talking nonsense, but now I realized that he really thinks of me as such. I've never thought the same, but maybe I should. Who else will like me if not me myself? And Luke, I suppose. 

It seemed that all his sweet nothings were finally getting into me, and I have grown accustomed to them. It felt nice hearing such words. 

I went inside the bathroom, closing the door behind me. Slipping off my nightwear, I raised the blue dress in front of me to have a look at it. Such a beautiful dress, would it fit me well? Though I have chosen the most simple of all, it still looked too exquisite for me. 

There would surely be a lot of people in the ball, right? I didn't like the idea of going to a crowded place and would rather stay inside my room, but I have no other choice. If I said that I didn't want to go, Luke would surely follow. I didn't want to cause problems for both Kiel and Luke just because of my selfishness. 

What would people think when they see me standing beside Luke? I think it was the first time that he had ever attended the ball with someone else after all these years. I stared at my reflection in the mirror, seeing me with knitted brows and a downturned mouth. As if wanting to wake myself up, I slapped both of my cheeks and quickly put on a smile on my face. I have to look my best so that Luke wouldn't be embarrassed bringing me along with him. 

The dress hugged all the lines on my body perfectly, falling gracefully down to my ankles. The woman that I saw in the mirror was no longer the one that I have always seen in my memories, a woman so young and broken—but a woman like a spring flower, blooming and full of life.

Now I realized why women liked to wear gorgeous dresses. Making themselves pretty with dresses and jewelry was a weapon for them to use when they head into a battlefield in the judgemental society. It was as if all the laces and ribbons were their swords and knives.

For men, there were many ways for them to achieve recognition. But for women, beauty was the only way—or should I say, the easiest way. 

Adorned in this dress, could I compare to all the beauty out there? I was scared of the judgment of others. Not scared for myself, but for the man standing beside me. I didn't want to drag him down because I knew just how perfect he was in others' eyes. 

I held my head up, trying to mask my nervousness with a hint of confidence that I had strenuously mustered. I took a deep breath to calm my senses and walked out of the bathroom with a firm stride.

Walking out of the bathroom, I had placed a smile upon my face. It was a smile that I prepared to use for the rest of the evening, but the smile quickly diminished when I saw a man in all his nȧkėd glory. 

"Oh, heavens! I-I'm sorry!" I quickly turned my back, using both of my hands to cover my eyes. "Why are you changing here?!"

"Where else am I supposed to change when you are using the bathroom?" said the man with almost no sign of embarrassment after being caught nȧkėd. 

"You should have waited for me to finish and use the bathroom!"

"I did wait for you, but you took too long," he explained, "And when I decided to change here, you came out. So whose fault is it?"

"Is... is it mine?" I stuttered.

He laughed at my question but said no more words to answer until I felt his warm breath on the nape of my neck, "It is." 

I jumped at the sudden proximity with the man and went two steps forward, still not daring to turn my back. "Are you clothed?" 

"I am," he answered, turning my body around to face him. When I turned around, I saw the man still in his bȧrė torso, with only his lower part well covered.

"No, you are not!" I shouted, turning my head to the side and shutting my eyes closed. I knew that he was a werewolf and he was used to going around nȧkėd, but did he not have any shame? I mean, other people would probably run out of the door after being seen nȧkėd but him—instead of running away, he chased the people who saw him! 

"I was the one who was seen nȧkėd, but why are you the one who is red?" he asked, using his palms to cup my warm cheeks. 

"E-exactly," I nodded, slowly opening my eyes, "Why am I the one who is embarrassed and not you?" 

"Me?" he tilted his head, a smirk forming on his face, "Why do I have to be embarrassed?" 

Ah, the man was simply too proud of himself to feel embarrassed about the situation. I should have known that I was wasting my energy thinking about whether or not he would feel embarrassed by taking me with him to the ball. I now realized that it was a useless thought. The man could even bring a monkey alongside him and still feel proud about it. 

In some ways, this relieved me but at the same time annoyed me. 

"...put on your shirt," I demanded. 

He laughed it off but listen to my words, walking back to the bed where he left his shirt. In the meantime, I took a comb from the dresser and fixed my hair a bit. I let my hair loose, allowing it to fall to my ċhėst. Taking one last look at the mirror, I put on a smile. 

"Rabbit, help me," he called, handing me his tie. He had his collar upwards, being very clear that he wanted me to tie his tie. 

"You want me to tie this?" I asked, receiving a hum in response. "But I don't know how to do it." 

He beckoned for me to walk closer, placing the tie around his neck. "I'll teach you," he said before demonstrating how to tie a tie, repeating it two times for me to remember all the steps. It seemed that he could tie a tie perfectly, so why did he need my help? 

As if it was not obvious to see, I said, "It's done."

Following my words, the man smiled and untied his tie before handing it to me. "Tie it for me," he said, bending his body lower so that I wouldn't have to raise my hands too high. I frowned at his request but still comply anyway as it was not a hard thing to do.

I was sure that I followed all the steps that Luke showed me before, but why did it not look the same? Mine looked weird and crooked. I took it off over and over again, wanting to make a perfect tie that I couldn't seem to make. 

"This tie is a little weird," I said, frowning. "Maybe you should tie it yourself." 

"No," he grabbed my hands, not allowing me to let go of the tie, "I want you to tie it for me. It's different if I tie it myself." 

"It's different because mine looks weird," I huffed, but tried to tie it one more time. 

"No, it's different because yours is special," he corrected, smiling, "I want you to tie it for me every day. I don't care if it's crooked."

This time, the tie looked a little better than the previous ones but still didn't lose its weirdness. When I tried to take it off again, Luke stopped me and said, "It's fine, it's perfect." He patted my head gently and smiled lovingly, "Thank you."

"Are you sure it's fine?" I asked, staring at the tie on his neck. Even to me, it looked weird. I suppose I have to learn harder if he wanted me to tie it for him every day. 

"It is perfectly fine, rabbit," he said, touching the tie and waving it to me, "It is now my favorite tie."

He put on his suit and took a glance at the mirror, tidying himself for one last time before heading to the ball. "Come, we have a ball to attend," he said, offering his hand.

But before I took his hand on mine, he added, "Oh, I almost forgot to say this," his fingers then went to my hair, touching the ends of it before kissing it with his lips, "You look stunning."