"Oh come on cinder! We haven't been out in a-a-ges" Iko screeched from the other end of the room promptly after charging through the doors.

"Good morning to you as well Iko" Cinder replied dryly going for the calm-and–sophisticated-which-will-probably-fail approach to the situation.

"Good morning?! Oh no it isn't! The word 'good' suggest to me that something right has happened and I certainly wouldn't use THAT adjective to describe the discovery that one of my closest friends has become a socially-inept Grinch!" Iko rambled on, her voice amplified by the escort-droid's speakers. Cinder was, and not for the first time, regretting the decision of upgrading Iko to her present mechanical form.

And so, apparently, were the rest of the people residing in the building. Scarlet and wolf charged in, followed by a sleep deprived Thorne and cress.

"What's happening here?" asked a very worried looking Scarlet. Wolf had poised himself in attack position, ready to pounce at any threat and cress and scarlet had both whipped out their port screens and were in the process of calling backup. In fact, everyone seemed to have followed the emergency protocol exactly… except; where was Thorne? After a quick scan of the room , Cinder located him snoring away ignorantly on a sofa. Typical.

"Stop guys, there is no attack" Cinder said with a resigned sigh. Subsequently everyone relaxed by some degree but Cinder could still see the tension etched into their faces.

"no attack? Well, I believe you are mistaken because I am having one in my heart!" Iko declared dramatically and accentuated by placing one perfectly manicured hand onto her chest and collapsing onto a nearby chair

"honestly Iko, all this just because I cancelled our trip , I mean-" Cinder was abruptly cut off with a collective intake of breath and looking around she was pinned with glares all around her. Gulping, she continued "Ye-e-a-a-h-h, you see I was just about to discuss this with you but…umm" she finished off lamely

" Selene Channary jannali Blackburn, don't you lie to me" Iko warned and Cinder winced at the use of the full name whilst Iko shook her head at her disapprovingly " I just received a comm from the hover unit confirming that our flight has already been cancelled at the last minute and I … how could you Cinder? without telling us?"

"I'm so sorry guys but , I-I can't just leave Luna unsupervised , it's my duty as Queen!" but Cinder's patriotic outburst had only resulted in turning the glares of anger to gazes of pity, and honestly Cinder couldn't decide which one was worse. Cress walked over to Cinder from where she had been trying to wake Thorne up to no avail and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Look Cinder, we all know how hard you are trying to be a good queen to Luna but sometimes you need to take a break, not only for yourself but for the people of Luna too, they need to see that you can trust them not to kill each other when you turn your back!" Cress finished her impassioned speech out of breath and looked at Cinder with pleading eyes, hoping that Cinder would relent.

"Erm , for your information I DO trust them" Cinder defended herself as she slowly edged towards the port screen on her bed showcasing all the CCTV feeds she had put up a couple months ago. Too late. Wolf got there first and dangled the port screen above his head, as Cinder jumped up and tried to swipe for it, but Wolf was a staggering 6 '4" and, well need more be said?

After accepting her defeat, Cinder turned around to a smug looking Cress and an appalled looking Scarlet. The next twenty minutes were spent listening to a lecture about 'public privacy' and the like During this, Cinder made a mental note to remember that when Scarlet is in her righteous moods, not to interrupt her , cos that is just not doing any favours for your health, well-being and general alive-liness. Once Scarlet had finished, Cress looked at Cinder and said in a very stern voice "Now, I expect you to keep this in mind for the future and as for now, I hope you have reconsidered our trip that we had been planning?" Cress finished off with a hopeful tone and started making puppy dog eyes at Cinder, a stark contrast to the earlier part of their conversation. Cinder would have fallen for it too, if she could have, because there was just one more little surprise news that Cinder had yet to give them.

Taking a deep breath Cinder opened her mouth and said "There's something I need to tell you" once she had gotten their attention, she said "I have invited all earthen leaders to come to Luna for a commemorative ball"

…

"You did what?!"