Title: No Longer Lost
She ran as fast and as far as she could, not caring if she got lost.
She knew she wouldn't be gone long.
She knew he would come running. It was his job.
Nothing's more important than the job. She tried to convince her self, curling up at the foot of a tree. But it was a hopeless cause.
When my world was in trouble, my dad staid, when I just ran like a coward! I left him to die!
No! Even if you did try to stay, he would have forced you to go! Her sensible side argued with her. Tired of this battle in her head, she snuggled up against the tree, closing her eyes, letting the tears fall to the ground.
She heard footsteps. She knew it was him. Who else would be out in the forest at this time of night?
Lance ran towards her.
"Princess! You know you can't just go and run like that! What if a Mutraddi was hiding around here! He could have gone off and captured you! While we're so far away from civilization!" Lance almost yelled.
Ilana didn't reply, just sank in even deeper, as if trying to avoid what he was saying.
"You're father ordered me to protect you, no matter what, and you're not making it any easier by running away like this. Now will you tell me what's wrong?" He said, quieting down, seeing that she was crying.
He sat down next to her as she began to explain.
"I left him. I, his only daughter, left him to fend off the Mutraddi for himself. How could I do that? How could I just leave my father like that?" She looked up at him with a pained look on her face.
He didn't know how to react to that. One part of him wanted to hold her and tell her everything would be okay, but the corporal part of him held this all back.
Hesitantly, he placed his hand on her shoulder. "Listen, princess, I know you feel bad, but running away from your problems aren't going to solve any of them."
She looked up at him in almost a pleading look. "How can I solve these problems if I'm down here, and my father's up there!" She almost yelled at him, standing up and walking away from him.
"Wait! You're father was the one who sent us down here! Even if you had tried to stay, he would have made you go. Do there's no use beating yourself up over it." Lance replied, his voice getting softer as he went on.
"If you keep on dwelling on what you should have done, you're going to miss everything that goes on in your life." He said, gently placing his hand on her shoulder again.
To his surprise, Ilana quickly turned around and pulled him into a hug.
Lance froze, then slowly hugged Ilana back. I need to stop! My orders are to protect the princess, not show affection to her! His mind argued. Yet, he didn't let go.
Somewhere inside him, he had had feelings for her the whole time, which was what drove him to protect her so fiercely. He hated to see her hurt. But, the corporal in him had been pushing them down.
Slowly, Lance pulled away from the hug, just enough so that Ilana was able to look at him.
"Listen, I'll try to set up a way to contact Gala- Luna. We'll find out if you're dad is okay. Just stop trying to beat yourself up over it." Lance said, looking into her hazel eyes, brimming with tears. Only these were tears of joy, instead of sorrow.
She didn't say anything, but only hugged Lance even harder.
Lance pulled away and said, "We better set up a place to sleep for the night. There is no way we can make it back home in this darkness."
Ilana agreed with him, and started setting up a place where they could sleep, right underneath the tree.
After Ilana finished, they tried to go to sleep. Pretty soon, the wind started blowing, and Ilana was shivering like she had a cold.
Instinctively, Lance wrapped his arms around her, pulling her closer to him. He mumbled something about keeping warm. She didn't seem to mind, just snuggled into him and fell asleep.
It was a while, however, before Lance fell asleep. He watched Ilana as she was sleeping. She seemed so peaceful, not wrapped up in guilt about what she had done.
Lance sighed, placing his chin on top of Ilana's head. Soon, he too, was asleep.
They woke up some hours later, the sun shining down on them.
Ilana blushed, seeing that Lance was still asleep, and was still holding her. She seemed content, however, to just lie there in his arms, one of the only places she felt really safe.
Lance woke up not long after Ilana did, surprised she was still in his arms. He tightened his grip, not knowing she was already awake.
Ilana tilted her head up to look him in the eyes.
" We should probably be going back, Octus will be wondering were we went." She said, lowering her eyes again.
"Nah, Octus can wait." Lance said, holding her a little closer.
Ilana and Lance struggled to sit up against the tree, a bit stiff from sleeping on the ground.
As Ilana was trying to sit up, her lips gently brushed up against Lance's. Not a lot, just barely enough to know it happened. But he felt it, and they both went bright red in the face.
"I'm so sorry," Ilana began, but Lance cut her off, kissing her on the lips, gently. She was, after all, still under his protection.
Ilana wrapped her arms around his neck, closing the gap between them a little more.
Only seconds later, they broke the kiss, looking into each other's eyes.
"We should probably be heading back." Lance said, getting up and offering her his hand.
Ilana took his hand, stood up, and they started walking back. Neither of them realized that they were still holding hands the whole time.
I will protect you… Lance thought, No matter what.
With you, Ilana was thinking, I will never be lost.