A few weeks had passed since Mason had gifted Ana the violin and (after a brief argument) she had been able to convince him that it could never be considered an actual prank. He had been annoyed at first, teasingly telling her that she was just upset she wouldn't be able to one-up him, before finally agreeing.

So now he actually had to prank her this time; although he wouldn't be able to until she returned.

It was the beginning of Thanksgiving break and Ana was on a flight to travel back home during the holiday. And whilst her kingdom didn't actually celebrate Thanksgiving itself, it gave the princess an excuse to see her family.

She had left rather abruptly - barely having time to tell her roommates - before she was forced to depart to make the flight. Her parents had offered to send one of their private planes to retrieve her but she refused, well aware that it would draw unnecessary attention to herself.

She was roughly five hours into the flight when her phone suddenly made a sound she wasn't familiar with. Her eyebrows furrowed at the noise, unlocking her phone and realizing she had gotten a notification from her email.

"That's strange," Ana muttered to herself before remembering that she was in a public place. She turned to the person sitting next to her, giving them a polite smile when she noticed them staring.

She returned her focus to her phone, biting her lip as she tapped on the message. She rarely ever got emails from anyone who wasn't a teacher, and she certainly didn't recognize the display name. It only had two letters; MC.

"Hopefully you bought the stupidly fucking expensive wifi on the plane. If not, ignore this."

Ana giggled at the subject title, feeling herself beginning to smile as she realized who it was. She relaxed back against her seat, adjusting so she could read it more comfortably.

"Some planes don't allow texts and shit so sorry for the weird email lmfao. But I got the text you sent, could've woken me up tho

You didn't really say goodbye :/ "

Ana processed the message for a moment, eventually deciding she was going to mess with her roommate a bit before actually responding to anything he said.

"I'm sorry, who is this?" She sent the message before setting her phone down and reaching for her notebook and pencil. It was one of her favorite journals, leather bound and handmade; she used it for practically everything. And she was currently using it as a pastime on the plane, sketching whoever or whatever came to her mind.

Her phone went off again and she cringed as she realized how loud it was. She quickly silenced it after setting down the pencil on her lap before opening the email.

"Your favorite roommate ;)"

Ana couldn't help it, she snorted. "Carly?? Le gasp!"

She returned to her drawing, noticing that she had been sketching the outline of a person; it looked oddly familiar to her. She shrugged to herself and began drawing once more.

She remembered the conversation with Mason after a while of adding more details to the face, grinning as she saw the new notification.

" . . . guess again -_- "

"Josh- you have an email?"

"Haha you think you're so fucking funny *eyeroll* "

"I- did you just type out the word eyeroll . . ? Are you 40???"

Ana might have not been very well versed in the world of social media and texting in general, but even she knew that was a weird thing to do.

She sighed and glanced back at her mediocre sketch, freezing as she finally recognized who it was. She had been drawing for roughly an hour now, periodically checking her phone to respond to Mason every now and then.

She hadn't yet put together who exactly was being featured in her journal, but she could definitely see the resemblance now.

It was Mason.

She thought it was strange for a moment (to be thinking of a man who was in a completely different country by now) before attributing it to the fact that they had been talking whilst she was working on it. She must have been unconsciously thinking about his face as she created the facial characteristics, resulting in it looking like him.

"Am I going insane or did you not use le gasp??? Also I hardly look fucking 40 lol"

"Le gasp is actually funny though. Also hmmmm . . . says you."

"You're annoying"

"Ooohh, you want to kiss me so bad right now."

Ana had only said it as a joke, but when it took more than ten minutes for him to respond, she felt kind of bad. She was his roommate after all, it could very well make him uncomfortable. But just as she was about to send another email, he finally responded.

"x_x"

~~~

Two guards pulled open the entrance doors upon seeing the eldest princess walk up the steps leading to the castle. "Your highness," they both bowed as she entered the foyer.

She walked further into the castle, her sleek heels (that she had changed into on the drive over) echoing on the marble floor. She sighed softly with relief from being home before turning the corner and stopping short at the sight of the royal family standing in front of her.

"Anastasia," the queen stepped forward as Ana entered the room, hands outstretched towards the princess. Ana grinned as she practically ran to her mother, engulfing the queen in her arms with excitement. "Hello, my dear," she laughed.

Ana stepped back after a moment, "It's wonderful to be back."

She was suddenly pulled away from her mother and turned to see Lili staring at her with a glare. "Stop hogging Ana, mom," she groaned.

"Calm down," the elder princess laughed. "I just got here and you're already complaining." She tugged her younger sister into a hug, squeezing her tightly and making her giggle softly.

When she stepped back away from Lili, she noticed the younger girl giving her a pointed look. Ana knew exactly what she wanted. "I'll tell you later," she whispered with a wink. Ana glanced behind her to see her other family members and couldn't help but notice the crown prince glowering at her form.

She resisted the urge to roll her eyes and fully turned back around to face the king. "Hello father," she slid her arms around his waist, tentatively resting her head against him. "I missed you," she buried her face into his chest.

"I thought I had been forgotten about," he joked as she felt a warm hand lay atop her back. He then began rubbing her back gently, soothing movements that made Ana's eyes start watering.

They had been on relatively good terms before she left, but she had been able to tell that he was still slightly upset about her leaving. Luckily - throughout her time away - their parents had frequently called her for safety's sake and their relationship had been repaired over the phone. Even so, she was still worried that he might be upset with her even after making amends.

She sniffled, the noise causing the king to pause his movements. "We all missed you too," he said gently.

Ana heard a scoff from beside her and rolled her eyes as she recognized her brother, Jeremy's, voice. "Not all of us." It was said so softly, she was sure that it was meant for her ears only. And a quick scan of the people surrounding her confirmed that she had indeed been the only one close enough to understand him.

She adjusted her head to face her brother, grinning at him and causing his smirk to fall. "That sounds like a you problem," she mouthed to him and watched as his jaw quite literally dropped. She giggled softly at the utter look of shock on his face.

Apparently all the arguing with Mason did turn out to be a good thing after all. Ana made a mental note to thank him later.

She sighed and looked back up at the king, who was staring at her with furrowed eyebrows. "We do need to talk about what's going on though."

"John," the queen interrupted, "Must we discuss this now? She just got back and is clearly already emotional and in much need of some sleep."

"It's fine mother," Ana smiled gently at her. And it really was fine. She had been expecting this and had already mentally prepared herself for the conversation. "I know we do."

~~~