Love and Misadventure

Juliette was still clinging to Levi when the rest of the team came running over, and despite being uncomfortable in front of Henry, he knew better than to let her go. She was shaking so badly that Levi was afraid she would pass out. Henry came to check on her first, then saw the mummy.

"It fell out of the wall on top of her," Levi explained. "She's okay, just startled."

"Poor thing," Henry said. "She's always been afraid of these things."

"Oh please, it's just a bag of dust," Royce said, rolling her eyes. "Take her aside if she needs to cry."

"N-no," Juliette suddenly said, letting go of Levi to look at Royce. "I'm not crying."

"Captain Fuller, you don't need to concern yourself with this," Levi said, stepping in front of Juliette.

Henry approached the corpse, using a gloved hand to gently lean her back against a stable wall. It was only then that Levi noticed the crown on top of her head. It was a solid gold circlet of flowers, with glittering sapphires adorning each one. The thing was probably worth more than everything in the temple combined.

"The crown of Arisha," Henry said breathlessly. "I can't believe it's still intact."

"Seems like she wasn't ready to give it up if she made them put her in a common wall rather than an extravagant tomb," Levi said. "She wanted to stay hidden."

"And she did a damn good job of it, I'd say," Henry agreed. "Captain Fuller, please have the team stabilize this tomb and make sure her royal highness is comfortable and safe. I think we've had enough excitement for one day, and we should continue this tomorrow."

"We should take the crown," Royce said. "It's important."

"No, leave it on her for now," Henry instructed. "We don't know how delicate it is."

Royce reluctantly followed them back to where the rope was and they climbed back up, but Levi caught him looking back at Queen Arisha. Or more specifically, her crown.

The rest of the day was spent having the crew stabilize the tomb below and light it up with lanterns so they could spent their remaining time exploring it. Juliette didn't sit with them at supper, so Levi fixed her a plate and took it over to where she was sitting away from everyone. She gave him a weak smile as he sat down and handed her the plate.

"You very nearly missed out on stale bed and slimy gruel," he said.

"I miss real food," she sighed.

"How are you doing?" he asked.

"I'm okay," she said. "I guess I didn't prepare myself for corpses falling out of the wall."

"None of us did," Levi chuckled. "You were shaking a lot, I just want to make sure you're not feeling sick."

"So are you playing nurse, now?" she teased.

"I owe it to you," he said.

"I'll be okay," Juliette promised him. "Maybe some nightmares about walking skeletons, but I'll get over it."

They sat there shyly for a little bit, and he noticed her scoot a little closer to him.

"I'm not trying to be a whiny baby," Juliette said with a frown. "I guess I just want to prove that I'm not a waste of time and space. And I don't want to sit around and think about my frills and curls all day."

"You're not a waste of time and space," Levi told her. "I'd probably be paralyzed by now if it weren't for you. And you're well-read. I'd never have found the tomb if you didn't help me with those translations and point out that the channel was probably a pool in the past."

"There was a boy," she said sheepishly. "Grant Norton. I thought he liked me, and it turned out he just liked my father's money. He wanted me to sit there like a sparkly ornament on a Christmas tree."

"Well, that's awfully stupid of him," Levi said. "He'd miss out on all the great things you have to say."

"He wouldn't have understood it anyways," she shrugged. "He didn't want to understand it."

"Well, I do."

She looked up at Levi with shiny eyes, like she was about to start shedding tears. He cracked a smile and wiped one from her cheek.

"You remember when I said there was someone who was angry with me for taking this job?" he asked her.

"Yeah. Beck?"

"Rebecca," he said. "While I was still a student, her brother was a friend of mine. He moved to the coast, and she sort of started sticking close to me. I thought she liked me, too. She kept pestering me about marriage, and eventually I proposed. Then I took this job with your dad instead of the position with the guaranteed money, and she threw the ring back in my face. Told me I wouldn't amount to anything."

"Did you love her?" Juliette asked.

"I thought I did," Levi admitted. "Now that I think of it, I think I loved the idea that there was any girl out there that might want to be with me. So when she left me and said those things, it hit a little heavy."

"She's wrong," Juliette insisted. "You're going to do so many wonderful things in your life. Lots of girls will like you and want to be with you."

"I like you," he blurted unexpectedly.

She stared at him with wide eyes, but he was just as surprised about what he had said as she was.

"You... do?" she squeaked.

"If I'm going to be honest, I was almost going to kiss you in that tomb," he admitted. "Before we were, uh, interrupted. Now I'm wondering if it was a good thing. I didn't want to make you uncomfortable. And I know you have no reason to like me. I've never been kind to you."

"Yes," she stammered. "I mean, no. I mean, I'm not uncomfortable. You won't have made me uncomfortable."

For a moment she seemed like she was going to throw herself at him, but then some boisterous laughter reminded them that they weren't alone. They couldn't be getting too cozy in front of her father. Unless Levi wanted to be sealed up in the tomb in Queen Arisha's place. Juliette reluctantly leaned back, and Levi gave her hand a light squeeze with a smile.

"We can talk about it again," he told her. "It's just... a bad time to do so. With everyone right behind us."

"You're probably right," she said quietly.

"If you need anything, I'm going to be going over my notes in my tent," he told her. "Your father is here to help you, but if there's anything I can do just come get me. Seriously."

"Okay. Thanks, Levi."

"Of course."

He glanced over at the others to make sure they weren't looking as he stood up. While they were looking away, he bent down and kissed Juliette's forehead before walking to his tent for the night.