They were planning to leave the next day heading for the League, planning to pass through many other cities in the meantime. Salazar invited Cynosaura to his room in the small apartment they had stayed in those weeks. “Close your eyes and not open them until I tell you! It's a surprise!” he said making her sit on his bed. “Oh I love surprises darling! I wonder what you plotted behind my back" commented excitedly her with a smirk. He took out from the closet the dress he had sewn and hung it in front of her. He had worked at a good pace day and night, taking advantage of the fact that they were finally stopped in a fixed place for some time. “Now you can watch” said enthusiastically. She didn’t need to be told twice and did so. She gasped as she jumped out of bed and approached to see better every detail of the dress.
The dress was gorgeous and princely looking, the wide skirt was decorated with drapes of jacquard silk while the bodice was embellished with organza flowers and sequins. To complete the look Salazar had also made a showy headpiece and long satin gloves. "You really did all of this for me?" she asked, her eyes sparkling with joy. "Well you often told me how you would have liked a dress worthy of your mega evolution and then I couldn’t wait to try your gift." he sighed happily "I missed very much using the sewing machine, and it was some time that I wanted to work on a dress so elaborate.” He gave a little grin. “You like it, don’t you?” “I love it!” She said hugging the dress and twirling happily around the room. "It’s much better than what I had in mind! You are so talented, tootsie!" said glomping him. Salazar hugged back smiling and shaking his head “is not anything special, really... it's the least after all you did for me...” “Well, I say it's phenomenal because I decided so." She winked and gave another look to the dress “I look forward to see other creations from you sweetheart."
"To tell the truth I tried to sew something for me too..." he said, blushing slightly and pointing to a dress hidden behind the door. “But I'm afraid it's too flashy for me to wear." "Oh, see! I want to see!" Cynosaura said bouncing and snatching the cloth to examine it. "What are you talking about? Is beautiful!" Salazar swallowed. "But don’t you find it a bit exaggerated..? That collar…” “I find it perfect for you. What are you waiting for? I want to see you in it!" she chirped throwing it in his arms. "Now…? But it's late, we should pack up our stuff to be ready to leave early…” tried to mumble Salazar. "Nonsense! I don’t want to hear excuses! Go get changed immediately! And of course don’t forget your lovely new boots! I'm sure they will look great with that outfit.” She shoved him toward the bathroom with eyes that gleamed with passion “I want to see the makeover happening like in the best movies! From sad little Ducklett to a majestic Swanna!” Salazar sighed and went to change, he knew he couldn’t refuse, and it had been him that offered her the idea in the end.
When he came out the bathroom Cynosaura walked around him, examining him like a real expert. "You're divine! I knew that you had great potential from the first moment I saw you. There is only another small detail to fix ..." she said letting down his hair, making them fall on his shoulders. "You have such a beautiful head of hair, it’s a pity that you've always keep them tied, right?" "Yeah if you say so..." he said, blushing and looking at the ground. “I say so.” Cynosaura said, raising his face and fixing the hair, smiling. “And I’m hardly wrong. You’re really adorable, Salazar ...” She tilted her head, with a pensive expression. “You know, I just realized that you never told your last name, dear.” “That would be because I don’t have one. My father disowned me, and he would never permit me to still use his surname. And I want to respect his decision” he said, hugging himself with a sad look.
"Oh. I'm sorry. I mean it, I didn’t want to bring bad memories back.. Poor dear...” She said with a guilty expression. "But you cannot stay without a surname!” Said Cynosaura, hugging him gently from behind. "Tell me darling, what is your mother's maiden name?" “Her surname was Astor.” he muttered. “Salazar Astor! I like it! It sounds nice don’t you think?”
She gently took his hand and led him in front of the mirror. "Can you see? You’re no longer the same person. You’ve changed, because you started to decide who you want to be, and not who you have to be to make others happy.” Cynosaura smiled softly and looked at his image in the mirror. "How do you feel? How does it feel to see the real you, Salazar Astor?"
He began to tremble, shaking in sobs. "It’s scary. I'm terrified that people won’t like me for who I am, and maybe they would be right. But if I had done what I had to, at least my father would have finally loved me.” And so he began to cry harder, hiding his face in his hands. "That’s not true. That’s not love. Love is acceptance and respect, not something that can be imposed. Believe me, you would have been very unhappy if you had made that choice. You have to be yourself Salazar.”
Salazar still sobbed and shook his head. “Another person told me that already... and I've failed him.” “Then this time you’re not going to fail. I'm sure. As long as you’re happy, what does it matter what other people think anyway? and in any case...” she said taking away Salazar’s hands from his face and wiping his eyes. “It’s impossible that people won’t like you. You cannot hide being the wonderful person you are. You must leave all the bad stuff behind and start living again. I already told you, crying and brooding won’t change things anyway. You have to look to the future" she squeezed his hands with a beaming smile. “Just think about all the things that you could do in this new life!"
Salazar glanced once in the mirror again. Cynosaura was right, he wasn’t the same person anymore.. And he would not ever been it anymore. Too much had happened in those months. His previous life hadn’t worked out, but maybe that was an opportunity to start over... he just had to live on and find out.
So he wiped away the tears and took a long breath, calming down and smiling slightly "I will try. I promise." Somewhat he felt a little better, as if he had taken a weight off, which didn’t allowed him to be able to live peacefully. Now he would have been able to do so, but he'd never forget the past experience, nor his parents. After all they were his family, and for him that would have never changed.
“Thank you Cynosaura, you're the best friend I ever had. How could I possibly repay you for all this?” “You don’t have to thank me, I just want to see you happy” she said, squeezing him in another hug that pulled off all the air from him. “I'll make you happy even if that would mean hover around you for your entire life!” he finally broke free from the grasp of the embrace and smiled. “And now it’s better if I go. I'm sure we’ll visit many interesting places again starting from tomorrow.” Salazar nodded happily, and she headed for the door but turned again at the last minute. “Actually.. There would be something you could do for me… just for once, I'd love to put makeup on you! Oh I'm sure you would look wonderful, cutiepie!” Salazar smiled nervously. “and I guess I have no choice about it, it’s that right?" she simply smirked and took out her trousse.
When they left Nimbasa city the next morning, Salazar did wear his new outfit, and was complimented by everyone, even if they remained puzzled by the dark streaked eyes. No matter how many times he had washed his face, the makeup didn’t have completely disappeared. He had even ripped some of his eyelashes trying to remove the fake ones. Behind him, Cynosaura was laughing up her sleeve.
