Never to laugh freely

He stood some distance away from Aria's bed and watched the two of them, a smile slowly creeping onto his face.

He really liked seeing the two of them happy. So effortlessly happy. And it only seemed to happen when they were together. It was like they were sisters, who found their safe havens in each other.

Both Aria and Helen were never ones to laugh freely. Helen always had a polite smile plastered on her face, but anyone who looked closely enough could tell that she suffered through a lot alone. Helen had started to slowly open up to him about her troubles. Due to her, Jacob had a fair idea about what life was like for royalty children. About how each and every action they took was being scrutinized and judged, and how high the expectations from them were. Thanks to it, he had started to understand Helen, and even Joseph a little better.

Aria, on the other hand, was still as close-lipped as could be about her problems. She was one to put on a brave front most of the times, like nothing could ever shake or break her, but in the many years that Jacob had known her, he had often seen the bravado crack open. It would only be for a few seconds, and was always when Aria thought no one was looking, but anyone who saw her during this time could tell how broken she really was.

Jacob shook his head to push away the negative thoughts as he walked forward to meet them. "Oh my god!! That did not happen!" he heard Aria exclaim as he walked within earshot. Jacob shook his head, these two had become too addicted to gossip, it couldn't be healthy.

Jacob couldn't wait for Aria to be discharged and return back to the academy. She would become busy catching up on all the classes she had missed, and would probably lose interest in gossip. And with no one to listen to her, Helen would start gossiping less too. Or so he hoped.

"Hey girls! How are you today Aria?" Jacob spoke, walking up to them and placing a hand on the back of Helen's chair, cutting them mid-gossip. Both of the girls knew how much Jacob hated gossip, so they tried not to do it in front of him. "Hey Jacob." Helen replied. Aria also chimed in with a smile, "I'm great. How was class?"

"Oh you know, the usual. Stuff bouncing from the top of my head." Jacob chuckled as he pulled out a chair and sat beside Helen. Aria chuckled upon hearing this, she was about to offer to help him when Helen spoke up, "Hey Jacob! Guess what?" "Miss Anhao finally decided to remove Aria's bandages." she added, looking excited. Jacob's face beamed upon hearing this and he turned to look at Aria with excitement and curiosity on his face.

Aria realized with a start that she had forgotten all about the scars on her hands up till then. Even when Jacob had entered, she hadn't felt a need to hide them behind her back or under the covers, probably because they were not the first place his eyes landed on.

But now, when Helen had mentioned her bandages, Jacob's eyes obviously strayed first to her biceps and forearms, now free from bandages.