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Gustave's hair shined golden in the light, but it was nothing compared to how the lanterns lit up his eyes, and Verso was captivated, completely unable to look away from him. To make matters worse, Gustave was smiling at him in a way that told him he knew what was going to come next, and he had to stop it, because. Because Gustave's a Prince. He's the lost Prince, and he needed to make sure he got Gustave back to his family, back to the Kingdom that had missed him for his entire life. The best thing he could do for him, for all of them, was to bring him home.
Where he belonged.
Far from the wreck of a life that Verso built for himself.
"Verso?"
Verso shook himself and turned to Gustave, offering a smile as Gustave stood, rocking their boat a little as he came to sit beside him. He didn't tremble at the press of their shoulders together, but it was a close thing. When Gustave took his hand, Verso had to fight to snatch it back, especially when he turned his hand over so his palm faced the sky and so Gustave could trace over his calluses.
"This has been the perfect day," Gustave said, his voice soft. "More than I ever could have imagined."
Verso breathed out shakily, thinking of the crown stuffed in his bag, the realization that he'd had about Gustave, and the reality that faced them in the near future about how he could never, ever have what he wanted. "I'm glad. I wanted you to have the best day. You deserved that."
Gustave settled against Verso and tangled their fingers together. "And what do you deserve, Monsieur Dessendre, of the endless faces and talents. What do you deserve?"
Verso looked up at the lanterns that were fading away into the sky.
He deserved to rot in a prison, far, far from the Prince, so he could never hurt him again. Where he could spend the rest of his life remembering how the lantern light shone in Gustave's eyes and hair, and how strong his hands were from his tinkering in the workshop at the top of the tower.
"Nothing this beautiful," Verso said softly, his breath catching as Gustave squeezed his hand, his heart leaping up and into his throat. "Gustave, you need to-"
"Verso," Gustave interrupted. "You, I know there's something. Mother keeps secrets from me, too. I'm used to knowing what they look like on a person."
Verso clenched his eyes shut and squeezed Gustave's fingertips in return. "I'm..." he breathed out roughly. "I'm not taking you back to your Mother, Gustave. You're trapped there, and you deserve so much more, you deserve the world, your dream of being an inventor, your dreams of helping people, of protecting them, keeping them safe."
Gustave pulled his hand away and frowned. "I'm safe there."
Verso opened his eyes and looked at Gustave, the distrust on his face. "You're not. You were taken from your real home, a long time ago." He gestured to the castle behind them. "You're the missing Prince, Gustave. You always have been, and I... I have to take you home."
Gustave jerked back from Verso. "You don't know what you're talking about!"
Verso reached out for the oars, starting to row them back to the dock, pulling quickly. He could see figures on the other beach that had clearly been waiting for him, waiting for them, and he rowed faster, and thankfully Gustave had enough self-preservation not to try to take the oars from him. "I do, as a matter of fact. More than you do. I am going to get you somewhere safe, and then I'm..."
"You're what?" Gustave snapped. "Why are you deciding what is best for me? Weren't you the one who told me I needed to make my own decisions and not just listen to what other people told me?"
Verso winced. "Yes, Gustave, of course. And I meant it-"
"Then why are you doing this to me? Why are you telling me I can't go home?!"
"Because you're trapped there! Your Mother has trapped you there!" Verso yelled, watching as the volume of his shout was enough to shock Gustave into going still. He pulled into the docks, tugged Gustave out of the boat, and began to drag Gustave toward the castle, through the celebrations, past the food stalls, past the dancing, past all of it. He had to get Gustave to the castle, he had to. He would be safe there.
"Verso, stop, stop!" Gustave pulled at Verso's hand. "Let go of me!"
Verso released Gustave in an instant and turned to look at the mural up and behind them both, that was lit by a collection of lanterns. He took a shaky breath and gestured to it. "Look at that, Gustave. A baby, with a missing left arm, and brown hair that shines golden in the sun. With brown eyes that are warmer than the sun itself."
Gustave stared at the image of the baby, and reached out to touch the arm that he'd made for himself, stroking his fingertips over it. "I... what...?"
"You were kidnapped as a baby," Verso said, reaching into the bag, his fingertips closing around the circlet before he stopped. If he gave it to Gustave, they would think he was the one who stole it. "Tell them... tell them what you told me. About what you remember. The song you know how to sing. They'll they'll realize. Just like I did."
Gustave turned to look at Verso and frowned at him. "Verso, where... where are you going?"
Verso straightened his shoulders and smiled sadly at Gustave. "I wish things had been different, Gustave. I wish that your Mother had... had-" he cut himself off. "I wish I had been enough for her that she hadn't needed to steal you." He fingered the shock of white hair near his face and tucked it away. "But I wasn't enough. I was never enough, and now, she needs to know that you're gone now. That you're safe, and she can't hurt you anymore."
Gustave stared at Verso's back as he hurried away, reaching out after him, even as guards threw open the doors and charged out of the castle. "Verso!" Verso was already down the stairs, and melting into the crowd, and Gustave couldn't see him anymore. "Verso!"
--
Verso got out of the city as fast as he could, well-aware that he was being followed, and that his Mother, the woman who had kidnapped Gustave and used the power in his blood for her own gain was following him. Her pale and sunken face stared at him and his heart ached as her fingers extended into claws.
"Hello, Mother," Verso said softly as those claws dug into his arms and yanked him forward.
Verso closed his eyes and thought of the shine of Gustave's eyes and what it might have been like to kiss him, just once, as darkness swallowed him and his mother pulled him far away from the shore they'd been standing on. This was what he deserved, what he'd been running from, for far too long, all he could do now was surrender to it. Come home. Be the son his mother had always wanted, and had been chasing ever since he had left.
--
Verso woke to the sight of weak sunlight hitting his face and a dusty room with bars on the window. He curled up and looked around the now-empty room. All of the evidence of Gustave, of his workshop, of the light and life he had brought to the tower had been wiped away. All of it destroyed by his mother standing in the corner of the room, staring at him impatiently, her hands curved into claws against the wood.
"There you are," she said, relieved. "You took far too long to wake up, Verso."
Verso pushed himself upright and exhaled roughly, staring at her as he forced himself into a sitting position. "I'm back," he announced, spreading his arms. "Do what you want with me. I won't stop you."
She laughed, her head falling back. "Do you think it's that easy, Verso? After how long and how far you ran? We'd chased you for months, you know. Trying to find you. Imagine our shock and surprise when we started seeing you everywhere on Wanted advertisements."
Verso sighed, because it didn't matter, now. He was home, and he would never be able to leave again. "It doesn't matter. You have me here. You won't let me go again. Finish what you started." He watched her step away from the desk, her fingers extending.
"He was never quite as good a replica for you as I could have wanted," she admitted, her voice soft. "He was good, he was bright, but he did not..." she licked her lips. "He did not have your edge, and you were always such a good and obedient boy." She stroked her fingertips along his hair, along the white streak. "And now you have at last returned to your mother."
Verso stared up at her, trembling, his hands shaking as he breathed out roughly. "I did. I, I came back. So stay away from Gustave, and I'll never try to run away from you, ever again." He felt the faint ripple of power echo around the room and all of her attention was brought to bear in a single moment. "I promise."
She laughed, her hair dancing around her as she spun, once, and returned to the fire. "As though you would be able to. I have learned your tricks, and Gustave's. You will never escape now, even with plans from your friends. I have hidden the tower far and away from where any might find it, so even if you had imagined someone coming to find you, no one could." Her eyes twinkled. "Only someone who knows the tower where the tower is could find the tower again."
"Like me!" Gustave snarled.
Verso's eyes went to the window, but abruptly the bars fell away as though they had never been there and bright sunlight from outside flooded into the Tower, making his Mother flinch away from it. He stared at Gustave in horror, the way his hair shone, and the way his eyes had the faintest lines of gold around it. Gustave had properly stepped into his bloodline. If his mother got her hands on him...
"Gustave, no, you have to run, you have to-"
"What's this..."
Verso looked over at his Mother, who had stopped shrinking away from the sunlight and had turned to Gustave, her eyes widening at the power that was near-visibly pouring off of him, his arm lit up with the same gold as his hair. "Gustave, get out, you can't!"
Verso barely had enough time to act as his mother lunged forward, her hands claws, dripping paint that faded to dust before it touched the ground. She was fading, she needed a Source and she needed it now. He stepped in front of her claws and felt them sink into his chest, gasping weakly as he stared into his Mother's horrified eyes. Everything burned, and she stumbled back from him, the claws disappearing a moment later.
"No, no, Verso! No!"
Verso crashed to his knees and pressed his hand over his heart where he could feel the blood that was steadily coating his shirt and let it coat his hand fully and pointed it at his mother, tears gathering in his eyes. "You have..." he sucked in a breath, but his chest was on fire and it ached so badly that he could barely remain upright against the pain. "Broken your sworn vow. You have hurt me, as only you can. Suffer... suffer all of the injuries you forced me to survive for the past century and... and begone!"
Verso watched her whole body crumple, falling down and contorting in itself, her scream echoing in the tower as he sank to the ground, curling up in a ball around the wounds in his chest. Is this how dying felt? Normally he would have been healing by now, and the wounds would have closed.
"Verso!!" Gustave shouted, racing for him, carefully, carefully lifting Verso's head into his lap. "Verso! No, you can't, what did you-"
"It's okay," Verso soothed, reaching up to touch Gustave's hand, where it was pressed to the wound in his chest. "It's... it's okay, Gustave. This... this is a fitting end for me. The one I deserve."
"No!" Gustave snarled, tears gathering in his eyes. "You, you don't deserve this. No matter what you were doing, or what you did, you don't deserve this, Verso!" He leaned down and carefully combed Verso's hair out of his face. "You didn't deserve what she did to you, how she hurt you, and, and you deserved to have a chance to find your own life, your dream."
Verso smiled weakly at Gustave. "So do you. You have it now." He took another half-breath, his whole body screaming in pain, his eyelids so heavy that he could barely keep them open as he continued to stare at Gustave. "Endless dreams, inventions, and possibilities." Verso coughed, wetly, and bit down a hiss of pain. "Even trains."
"Verso!" Gustave shouted, and he watched Verso try to say his name once more before his whole body went limp, all at once. He pressed his hand tighter to Verso's chest and stared around the room, frantically, but his workshop was gone. There was nothing...
A small jingle caught his attention and Gustave stared at the Lumina Converter that had fallen out of Verso's pocket. Frantically, Gustave grabbed it, wrapped his hand around it and took a deep, shuddering breath. "Bring him back to me," he ordered. "This is my wish. You promised me a wish, just one. Bring him back to me. That's all I want. That's all I want, please, please bring him back to me."
Gustave shattered the Lumina Converter in his palm and watched golden light in the shape of a large flower grow out of his hand, and Gustave, through his tears, turned and shoved it against Verso's chest, clenching his eyes shut. "Bring him back!"
Light flooded the room, making it blindingly bright, before all at once, it was gone.
Gustave waited.
And waited.
Verso's chest remained still under his hand and tears began to streak down his cheeks.
"Please," he whispered. "Please. I've never asked for anything. Please, bring him back. I wanted my happily ever after with him. Please. Take whatever you have to from me. Just bring him back."
Gustave watched his hand start to glow, even as he hummed, softly, the song that he'd always hummed around camp, that Verso had been sick of hearing, but had still always hummed along with. Their song. He closed his eyes and dug his fingers into Verso's chest.
Verso's chest rose sharply with an inhale and Gustave looked down at him, and watched Verso's eyes blink open, slowly, shocked, staring up at him. "Gustave?"
"Verso!"
Verso slowly, carefully, sat up and pressed his hand to his chest and looked at Gustave, because there was no more blood, no more wound, no more... no more anything. He turned to look at Gustave, at the tears running down his cheeks, and stared at him, and the broken pieces of the Lumina Converter on the floor. "You... your wish, Gustave..."
Gustave smiled weakly and reached out to take Verso's cheeks in his palms. "Without you there, the wish didn't mean anything," he growled, brushing Verso's tears away. "Do you understand?"
"Gustave, I wasn't-"
Gustave silenced Verso with a kiss, pressing him back and against the pale wood of the floor, kissing him until Verso kissed him back, and they had to break apart for air, both of them panting softly, their cheeks still wet. "Shut up," he snarled. "Don't you ever, ever leave me behind, Verso! Ever again! Or next time I won't come after you!"
Verso stared at Gustave and started to laugh, weakly. "Yes you would, wouldn't you?"
Gustave glared at Verso. "Yes, because that's what you do when you love someone! Even if he is being stubborn and awful and does not listen!"
Verso's breath caught, and he stared up at Gustave. "Love...?"
"Yes!" Gustave said, shaking Verso, still glaring at him. "Why do you think I am so angry with you!" He leaned down and kissed Verso again, and then again, burrowing into his arms, unable to let go of him. "I am so angry with you."
"I love you too," Verso said, stunned, pressing his face to Gustave's still shining hair, wrapping his arms around him, clinging tight. "That's why I couldn't... I couldn't let her take you again. I couldn't let her do to you what she'd done to me. I couldn't let that happen to you."
Gustave nodded against Verso's neck, nuzzling into him. "It's why I had to come after you. I realized. What you'd said. What it meant. Who she was." He shivered and looked at the cape that was on the floor. "She's gone forever?"
Verso nodded once. "She was never allowed to cause me physical harm. It broke her core oath. She lost her immortality in that moment." He let out a sigh of relief. "And I lost mine, in turn." He carefully helped Gustave sit up and looked around the room with a shudder. "Can... can we leave, Gustave?" The last thing he wanted was to linger in a tower that he'd been trapped in for decades.
"Yes," Gustave said, leading Verso to the rope that was hanging from the hook outside the window, carefully sliding down it first, waiting for Verso to follow him before they made their way back to where his horse was waiting, and the guards that were charging into the clearing after him. He reached out for Verso's hand and held on tight, meeting Verso's eyes with a nod.
"Your Majesty, that's-"
"I know precisely who this is, his name is Verso Dessendre, he's the man I love, and he will be coming back to the Palace to meet my parents," Gustave said, looking across all of them. "He also saved my life from what would have been certain death, and that deserves to be celebrated."
Verso carefully got on the horse that was presented for him and was glad that Gustave rode with him, all of the way back to the Kingdom, through the crowds that were still celebrating the return of the Crown Prince. The sun was still shining in Gustave's hair and now he knew what Gustave's lips tasted like.
When they finally reached the palace and dismounted, Verso stepped up to Gustave and wrapped his hands around Gustave's cheeks, stroking along the line of his beard. "I have wanted to kiss you," he whispered. "Since the very first moment you smiled at me in the sunshine. And every moment since then, and a thousand more."
Gustave reached out and pulled Verso down for a kiss, a slow, teasing one. "I know," he whispered. "Now you need not hold back. I want every kiss you denied me, and then at least two more for recompense for being made to wait for them."
Verso tipped his head back and laughed. So this was happily ever after, huh?
He could get used to it.