The Alchemists

Finland quickly bought a ticket to France. Since this was for her personal business, she refused when Lauriel offered to buy her a plane ticket. Because she was trying to buy last minute tickets, the ticket price for economy class was almost as expensive as business class, so Finland was finally forced to buy a business class ticket and spend nearly 4000 dollars.

But the thought of seeing Jean, and the hope that his memory could be recovered, was worth all the money she had to spent.

"Please catch up with me as soon as possible..." pleaded Finland when Lauriel and Aleksis drove her to the airport the next morning.

"Don't worry. Next week everything will be OK. We will go to Singapore as soon as I finish my work here," Lauriel said soothingly. Finland kissed Aleksis one last time before the girl entered the airport check security and rushed to board her flight.

Finland felt calm leaving Aleksis with Lauriel. When she boarded the plane she already missed them. She could not wait for the two to catch up with her in Singapore.

"All right, Princess, now we go to Belem and sail for a while... Uncle Rory has to meet with an old friend." Lauriel said, leading Aleksis back to the car park.

As usual, they attracted the attention of so many people. In addition to their good-looking faces and unique eye colors, both of them were wearing matching khaki clothes today. They truly looked like a very cool dynamic duo adventurers.

***

When Finland landed at the Charles De Gaulle airport, Finland suddenly felt her chest heavy. It had almost been three years since the shooting and she never returned to Paris after the incident. This city left so many bitter and sweet memories for her.

It was already October and the autumn was quite cold in Paris. Finland, who only brought thin clothing from Brazil, quickly reminded herself to go out and buy sweaters and coats after she checked in at the hotel.

She subconsciously gave the Nobel Hotel address to the taxi driver and she was only aware of what happened when she arrived at the lobby. She just remembered that she was at Caspar's hotel when the manager on duty recognized her.

"Good afternoon, Madam. Did you only carry one bag?" The manager on duty asked respectfully. Because Finland did not reply, he politely took her handbag and guided her towards the elevator. "Master and Madam must be so busy that you both never came back."

His words surprised Finland, but she still subconsciously followed the manager into the elevator. They went up to the top floor, to the penthouse. After placing Finland's bag on the table, the manager on duty excused himself out.

"As always, you can call down if you need anything," he said before leaving.

Finland stood still for a few moments, then she realized that the penthouse had not changed at all. Even though they only stayed in this penthouse for a few days, this place held a lot of memories she shared with Caspar, and apparently Caspar had never been back since.

She saw that her clothes were still hanging neatly in the walk-in closet, and there were many expensive coats Caspar had bought for her. She didn't need to shop anymore.

After flying for so many hours, her body felt very tired. Added with several years' worth of stress, finally Finland could not stand it anymore. Finally alone, she curled up on the bed and sobbed.

For the past few years, Aleksis was always beside her, so she did not dare cry. She could only withstand all her sadness, alone. Now, since Aleksis was with Lauriel, finally for the first time in two years Finland could cry until her tears ran out.

***

Jean was memorizing the script for his next scene that would be shot this afternoon. He was currently working on an interesting movie about World War 2 and the shooting was done in Normandy.

He returned to work two weeks ago because he did not get any news about Finland's whereabouts. He was quite worried about her fate. There's no way a human could just disappear, right? He was afraid that something bad had happened to the girl.

"Hi Jean, want some coffee? I brought extra for you," Lily De Vries, his co-star in the movie, opened the trailer door after knocking twice. She handed a cup of coffee to Jean who was reading the script and sat next to him. "Today more women came claiming to be your best friend. Huh... those women would do anything so they can meet you."

"Hmm..." Jean nodded tiredly. Since the press conference, a lot of women had called his manager to try to meet him. All of them claimed to be Finland. After meeting dozens of impostors, he finally gave up hope and didn't expect to see Finland again.

"But at least this one isn't as brutal as the previous girls. She was polite, and she gave you a present." Lily pulled a box out of her coat pocket, "This music box is so beautiful. If you don't like it, just give it to me ..."

Jean accepted the music box with a frown. He opened it and softly the tune of La Vien Rose started playing. He was taken aback. This music box felt very familiar.

"Where is the person who gave you this music box?" he asked quickly.

"I met her at the gate. She had been waiting for hours, she said, and no one would let her in. So, when she saw me walking towards the set, she stopped me and politely asked me to deliver this gift to you." Lily looked at Jean in surprise. "Why?"

Jean immediately ran out of the trailer looking for Finland.

This music box felt very familiar. Surely the person who came was the Finland whom he was looking for...

Instantly his chest swirled with tension and excitement. She was here…