DISCLAIMER:

I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it would still be on, and not cancelled due to lack of merchandise.

Hey, guys! This is my first fanfic, so be honest- I know it's not perfect (hardly anything is), but I do appreciate feedback! New character will be introduced later in the story, and it will kind of flip everything around. Not sure how many chapters this will be, but when I end up ending it, I promise to end it with some sort of closure (because I hate it when other people don't). Let me know about any grammatical errors, I'll try and fix them. Enjoi!

Chapter One

He couldn't believe she was making him do this.

"Come on, Lance!" called Ilana, a fair distance ahead of him and standing in front of…

Oh, no. No way in hell was he going in there. It was every guy's worst nightmare to be dragged into… Aldo. The dreaded shoe store that every man tried to avoid. How could he have let this happen? He should have realized where this was going…

"Laaaance!" Ilana called once more. "C'mooooon! Stop being such a slowpoke!"

Sighing, Lance walked toward the prison of shoes in which he would be stuck in for the next hour. Once Ilana was in 'shopping mode', there was no stopping her. As she started browsing over the shoes, he sat down sullenly on one of the cushioned (yet still uncomfortable) chairs.

Ilana picked up a shoe and turned to Lance. She frowned. "Stop being such a sourpuss, Lance. It's not that bad. And is there any way you could make you face just a little bit more pleasant?"

Lance looked up, slightly irritated. "Hey, this is my shoe-shopping face. You know I hate this. It's torture. So, if you absolutely insist on going shoe shopping, then you have to deal wi-" Lance stopped short, gaping at the-the- thing in Ilana's hand. Could it even be called a shoe? Lance wasn't sure. It looked more like some kind of torture device to him. With heels six inches high, a pattern of snakeskin and leather, spikes all over it, and an exposed toe so pointed that it could be used to stab someone, it was the only piece of clothing Lance had ever seen that scared him. He knew these Earthlings were weird, but their sense of style was…was…

Lance just looked at her. "Please tell me you're not serious."

"Huh?" Ilana looked momentarily confused, then remembered the shoe in her hand. "Oh!" She exclaimed, perking up and examining the shoe further. "Don't you just love it?! I think it's totally fab!"

Lance just shook his head, hoping his horrified expression conveyed his message. "No. Absolutely not."

Ilana's face fell, and she started to put the shoe back on the shelf. Damn, he thought. I've gotta stop doing that. He hated to see her disappointed, and the fact that he was usually the cause of her disappointment didn't exactly help his conscience. "No, no", he said quickly. "That's not what I meant. I mean, it's absolutely not totally fab, it's…extremely fab!" Lance cringed, not sure which emotion was stronger- the guilt from lying to her or the embarrassment of his lame attempt to cheer her up. Fortunately for him, Ilana always believed the best of people (which made him even more guilty), and wasn't very good at detecting lies.

Her face lit up once more. "Really?! I thought for sure you wouldn't like it." She narrowed her eyes at him. "Are you sure you really like them?"

Lance put his hands up in a surrender gesture and put on his best puppy dog eyes. "Hey, I wouldn't buy 'em, but I'm sure they'll look… fab on you. Why don't you try them on?"

Her smile returned, Ilana called over a clerk and asked for the…shoes… in her size. When Lance heard her shoe size, he was slightly surprised. "You're a women's five?"

"Yeah", Ilana said. She looked at him. "Why?"

Lance shrugged. "I dunno. Sounds kinda small". Ilana's cheeks turned a light shade of rose and she glanced at her feet. For crying out loud, how did he always manage to say exactly the wrong thing? He tried to correct his blunder. "Then again, it's not like I know about women's shoe sizes." Ilana giggled, and Lance felt slightly better. He tried again. "And I'm sure they're very-" Lance stopped, mentally kicking himself. What was he thinking? He couldn't say that, especially not to the princess!

Ilana looked at him curiously. "Very what?" Lance flushed a deep red and looked away. Man, he was out of it today. "Lance?" Ilana asked gently, bending over to look at him. His heart started beating wildly as he took her in, so hard he was sure she could hear it. Her lips were slightly flush, her hair glowing softly. They smelled of… what were they called? Lemons… and oranges, too. Her shirt shifted slightly down, and- no. No, Lance. Look back up. Her eyes sparkled in the dim lighting, and his face was reflected back at him.

He closed his mouth.

It would be so easy right now, just to take her face in his hands, to lean in and- wait, what was he thinking? This was Ilana. This was the princess of Galaluna he was thinking abo ki- his guilt kept him from completing the thought.

"Ummm…nothing", he said. Ilana looked at him, slightly sad. He knew that look; it was the look that was an apology- an apology for nothing she had done wrong. He sighed, already mentally kicking himself for what he was about to say. This was not appropriate.

"Pretty", he mumbled. Ilana turned away from the box the clerk had just brought back. "I'm sorry?" Lance tried to regulate his breathing. He sighed again. "I'm sure they're very pretty".

Ilana flushed once more, a mirror of Lance's own face. He looked down, and in doing so realized she had tried on the shoes. Before he could stop himself: "And I was right."

For about the fifth time that day, Lance felt like slapping himself. He was hopeless. If possible, both of them got even more red. "Thank you", she mumbled, always showing proper etiquette, no matter how awkward the situation. A true princess.

She changed the subject from her feet to the shoes on them (it was easier to think of them as shoes with feet in them). "Do you like them?" Lance couldn't understand why this simple question elevated his heartbeat back up to about 200. She wasn't asking him, just the only person in the store she knew. It wasn't that she valued his opinion, exactly. Not in that way… so then why did he become so jumpy whenever she asked him a question?

"I'll admit, you actually manage to make them look good." And it was true. Her feet were so delicate, you would think the shoes would look like monsters eating them. But, somehow, they didn't. The spikes seemed softer, the toe more rounded, the snakeskin blended in with the leather and together they matched her skin tone. Somewhere in his brain, he realized he was starting to think like a girl, but he didn't really care. Ilana was overjoyed by his response.

"You really think so?! Me, too!" Lance did, however, frown a bit when a thought came to him. Naturally, the emotion radar in Ilana's head went off and, when noticing the frown, copied it. "What's wrong? They don't look good after all, do they?" She slumped back down into the chair again.

"No, no, no!" Lance assured. "They really do look great. It's just…are they comfortable?" Ilana smiled, and stood up.

And, naturally, fell face-first toward the shelf jutting out from the wall.

"Ilana!" Lance automatically put himself between her and the shelf just in time, despite the fact that he had been behind her when she fell. She fell into his chest. It must feel hard to her, he thought.

He wrapped his arms around her. "Are you okay?" He asked. She looked up, obviously embarrassed. "Yeah," she mumbled, looking up at him. "Thank you. Are you all right?"

He laughed, and she looked down again. Dammit. "Of course I'm fine, Ilana. I'm a soldier, not a teddy bear."

She poked him in his abs and smiled. "Well, you're definitely not as plush as one." He laughed. That was when he realized he was still holding her, and the whole store was watching them. The Lunis family was a major source of gossip in Sherman, so naturally everyone knew (or, rather, thought) that Lance and Ilana were related. It must have looked pretty strange to them, and the fact that it would even look strange, Lance realized, was bad. The King had sent Lance there to protect Ilana, not to…uhm.

Ilana must have noticed the store looking at them, too, because she straightened herself. Lance released her from his arms, but for some reason, he didn't want to. He just wanted to keep holding her. Lance blinked hard.

He cleared his throat. "So, uh, are you getting them?"

"Yeah, I think so, just let me try and learn to walk again", Ilana joked, and Lance, despite his previous strict mental scolding, allowed for a small smile.

The rest of the time in the shoe store was spent with Ilana walking in baby steps, Lance right next to her. Every once in a while she would fall, and Lance would catch her. She would giggle, and Lance would straighten her, sometimes resisting a smirk, and sometimes a smile. He was never cold toward her, though; he had learned that a while ago, and tried not to do so anymore. She eventually learned to walk in them, and as they walked out of Aldo with the shoes in the bag, Lance couldn't help but wonder: "When are you ever going to wear those?"

Ilana looked at him like he was a child who had just asked and obvious question. Lance wasn't sure whether he felt insulted or amused. The look only lasted for a second, though; her manners had kicked in and she put on a polite smile, the one reserved for strangers. This made him sad.

"Why, to school, of course", Ilana answered, and Lance looked at her quizzically. "And how are you going to be able to shuffle to class in time with those things on?"

Ilana shrugged. "I'll learn." Lance put on a stern face, and it took everything he had not to turn it into a joke by wagging a finger at her. "Promise me you won't try to walk in those without me there. Or without wearing protective gear. And don't even think about stairs in those."

Ilana sighed and made a pouty face. "You spoil all the fun." Ah, man. Lance looked at her. "Oh, so I'm the fun stealer? That's rich, coming from someone whose idea of entertainment is going shoe shopping." Lance tensed slightly, afraid he had gone too far, but his joke was received well. Ilana laughed and mock-punched him as they strolled out of the mall and into Lance's car, and each was lost in their own happy thoughts on the way back to the house.

Ta-da! What do you think?! Please comment, it'll really help updating speed. Unfortunately, I cannot promise to update on a regular basis, because high school is hectic, and finals start Wednesday (but also tomorrow). I have a feeling this series will turn out to be more romantic-y than fight-y. Uh, yeah. comment, and have a good day! :)