DISCLAIMER:
I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it wouldn't have been cancelled due to lack of merchandise.
Hey guys! For those of you that already know my stories, this isn't an Ilanca. It's a favor for a friend instead. It's a collection of important events in the life of Ilana and Kaden. Who is Kaden, you ask? You'll see… Anyway, please read, review, and enjoy!
Ilana stood up from planting her perennials and wiped her brow. She smiled as she looked down the drive of the school, now lined with flowers. She wished Lance had come, but he had been his usual negative self and said that anything the clean-up crew did to spruce up around the school would just be cancelled out come Monday, when all the destructive teenagers returned. Besides, Ilana thought with a smile, he's on a date with Kristen. Of course, he had denied it. With a blush, he had claimed that they were 'just hanging out'. But Ilana knew better, and she was happy for him. He deserved to be happy.
She turned to go ask her advisor what else she could do…
And bumped into one of the most handsome young men she had ever seen.
He was about the same height and build as Lance, but unlike the corporal he had blond hair and blue eyes. She stood there, slightly speechless. "Whoops, sorry", he laughed, a light, rich sound. Ilana confusedly felt her heart flutter in her chest. What is this?...
She managed to get her act together. "Um, oh, no, it was my fault!" She was totally flustered, and for some reason she kept looking down. In all her years, in all her travels, she had never come across anything such as this.
He stuck out his hand. "I'm Kaden. Nice to meet you."
Ilana managed to smile and look up. "My name's Ilana. I haven't seen you around here."
"I just moved here from California", he explained. "I'll be starting school Monday, but I thought this would be a great way to get to know the campus first." He smiled appreciatively as he surveyed her flowers. "You did a nice job here."
Ilana felt her blush return. "Th-Thanks… Guys don't usually come to volunteer here, they just think it's useless."
"Well, that's stupid," Kaden said bluntly. Ilana looked up at him in surprise. "There's nothing useless about trying to clean up the environment."
Ilana's eyes sparkled. "I know! I don't care what everyone else says, but this is both fun and good for the Earth."
Kaden smiled. "Hey, I was just about to go unload some saplings from that truck over there, you want to help me plant them?" Ilana grinned.
-o-o-o-
Ilana yawned as she sat down at her seat for History. Lance had come home late last night, and she had drilled him on every detail of his night with Kristen. She had never seen him so happy. Happy, of course, being a small, almost non-existent smile and eyes in space. It also didn't help that her mind was so occupied last night thinking about Kaden, so she hadn't gotten much sleep.
Speak of the devil.
"Class, it seems we have a new student", her history teacher announced in his usual monotone. "Mr. Kaden Monterone." Ilana's head snapped up. Her teacher turned to the board and said to Kaden, "You can take that empty seat back there next to Ms. Lunis." Ilana's heart about burst out of her chest.
As Kaden walked towards Ilana, she could hear the other girls swooning over him. She felt an uncommon anger swell up inside of her, worsening her confusion. It wasn't like he was hers… but for some odd reason she felt like she wanted him to be.
"Hey", he smiled as he sat down next to her.
"Hi, Kaden" she replied as he unloaded his backpack. The other girls continued to flutter. She leaned in closer and whispered as a joke, "I think those girls are staring at you."
He looked directly at her and smiled. "Eh, they're not my type." His eyes twinkled with a hidden message.
Ilana's heart rate skyrocketed.
-o-o-o-
The next couple of weeks were the best Ilana had known.
The Mutradi had been diminishing lately, and had almost stopped completely. Octus had received a message that Galaluna was starting to make a comeback. And Lance was officially going out with Kristen- they were boyfriend-girlfriend, though neither were much for the titles.
Ilana and Kaden had grown very close as friends, and almost as something more… Ilana kept waiting, hoping, wishing. They were so much alike, both caring about the environment, both loving to read, and so many other little things that only made Ilana fall for him even more. Before they knew it, they weren't just friends- they were best friends.
Kaden had taken to walking Ilana home from school, so they could have a little privacy from her protectors. Once she had even fallen right into him during doge ball (on accident). She had hoped he would kiss her, but he had, uh…um… yeah.
Kaden had also grown fairly close with Lance and Newton, since they hung around Ilana so much. Both of them had come to him before for help of some kind, and he had been more than willing. He knew it would come in handy to get on their good sides, seeing how they never seemed to leaver Ilana's side.
Overall, she was pretty happy.
-o-o-o-
Kaden took off running.
Panting, he clambered into his car, shoved his keys into the ignition, and stepped on the gas. Typically, he wasn't one to drive so recklessly. But, then again, Ilana kind of killed his common sense. All he had heard was that she was hurt and in the hospital. No one knew what had happened, but neither Lance nor Newton had been in class today, either. He had thought it suspicious, especially when he had heard the rumors about their previous disappearance. He figured, though, that Ilana would've at least said good-bye first.
Stopped at a red light, Kaden growled with frustration. His phone rang, and he hit the 'accept button'. Lance's voice came in his Bluetooth (in California, they can't talk on the phone without a Bluetooth or using speaker). "Hey, Kaden?" Lance sounded like a wreck. But then, his sister was in the hospital, and everyone (especially Kaden) knew how protective he was of her. "I figured you should know-"
"Yeah, I'm about five minutes away right now. What room?" On the inside Kaden was begging him not to say the ER.
Kaden could feel Lance nod over the phone, as if he weren't surprised. "B2". Kaden let out his breath, and slammed on the gas pedal as the light turned green. He burned out for a second, then sped off. Hearing this over the phone, Lance said with amusement, "You know, the hospital's pretty crowded. You really don't need to make them add another resident. Besides, Ilana would never forgive either of us if you ended up in the hospital on your way to see her."
Kaden grunted and hung up the phone. Usually he was more polite, but he really wasn't in the mood right now.
-o-o-o-
He burst into the room to find a weak-looking Ilana lying on her bed, eyes closed. Kaden's heart dropped through the floor. "Ilana…" he ran to her side. She pried her eyes open. "Kade-"
The problem is, you can't really talk when a boy is kissing you.
Her eyes grew wide, then closed as she melted against him. He put his hands on either side of her face, cradling her head, as he pulled away and demanded: "Are you alright?"
"Why did you stop kissing me?" she demanded.
He laughed incredulously. "I suppose you are. What happened?"
She looked away. It's not like she could just tell him, "Oh, well, I'm an alien, and there are these monsters called the Mutraddi that keep trying to kill me, because I'm the princess of another planet, and I turn into a robot with Lance and Octus and we're Titan and it caught me off guard so I broke my leg."
Yeah, right.
He could tell that she didn't really want to talk about it. "Okay, okay. You don't have to tell me. That's fine. I'm just glad you're alright." He took her hand and looked at her tenderly.
And Lance chose that moment to walk in and see them like that.
One second. Two seconds. Three seconds passed as Lance stood there, shocked. And then it finally came.
"WHAT THE HELL?!" He screeched, running towards Kaden. Before Ilana could protest to either of them, Kaden somehow had flipped Lance onto the ground and had his arm pinned behind his back with no effort at all. Which astonished the both of them.
"What…? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!" Lance demanded, more furious than ever. He was a trained Galalunian corporal, and he just got flipped by an Earth-loving book-reading surfing punk from Cali.
Kaden shrugged. "When I was little, kids would always tease me for hanging out around the girls and doing 'girly things', so I learned martial arts and they left me alone." That made sense to Lance, but he was still furious. Not so much about the flipping thing, but about the holding-hands thing. As if it wasn't enough for one day to fail his duty to protect the princess in combat, now he was failing to protect her from a boy. Some protector he was.
"Boys, stop that this in…stant", she slumped back down on her pillow, stars dancing before her eyes. Kaden jumped off of Lance and to her side. "Ilana!" he turned to Lance. "Get a nurse!" Lance hated being told what to do, but he dashed out of the room anyway.
Once Ilana was revived and fine, Lance demanded an explanation. Ilana blushed, but Kaden spoke as calmly and effortlessly as ever, while Ilana watched him with adoring eyes (which Lance noticed). "What's there to explain? What would you say if I asked you 'what's going on with you and Kristen'? It's pretty obvious, right? You like each other." He looked at Ilana and smiled. "We like each other. I think we have for a while, but I was too chicken to move until this happened, and I realized how much she meant to me."
Lance scrutinized them for a moment and sighed. Newton sat in the corner quietly, observing everything. "Fine", the corporal said resignedly. "I suppose if she has to like anyone, you're better than anyone else I know."
Kaden laughed. "Good to know I have your approval."
Lance narrowed his eyes. "You don't." Ilana sucked in her breath. "There are some things that you don't understand- that you can't understand- about why I protect Ilana as much as I do. You might never know, or you might find out fairly quickly. You don't have my approval- yet. But you don't have my denial." He eyed them both dejectedly. "I don't think that my approval would've made any difference, though."
They both shook their heads and laughed as Lance collapsed exhaustedly into a chair. They waited until her two protectors had gone to the cafeteria to kiss again.
"So, are we going out now?" Ilana whispered when she was able to break away.
"Hmmm… does this answer your question?" he asked as he pressed his lips against hers with increased passion.
It did.
-o-o-o-
The next two years were phenomenal.
They were all so happy. The Mutradi attacks had stopped completely, Galaluna was recovering, and life on Earth was full of passion. Lance and Kristen couldn't be separated- Ilana and Kaden did everything together- and Octus had found a way to magnify his human programs so greatly that he actually was able to become a human, and could activate his robot self with a watch nearly identical to Lance's and Ilana's armors. He was able to love Kimmy the way that she deserved to be loved. But a deadline was looming…
Graduation was approaching.
There was only two months left to make the college decisions. Who would've thought that they would actually prefer to stay in high school?
After a great deal of research, they all decided to go to Illinois University- it was really their only choice. Ilana, Newton, and Lance couldn't be separated, and they couldn't be separated from Kaden, Kimmy, and Kristen (lol the three k's) respectively. Besides, IU had a fair enough range of subjects- Ilana could get her teaching credentials and study art, Newton could study physics (namesake alert), Lance could study law enforcement (though he would later switch to medicine), Kaden could take an internship and study to become an English professor, Kimmy had decided (much to everyone's astonishment) to become a civil engineer, and Kristen had realized her (rather unusual) dream to become a real estate agent. Lance teased her constantly about her having to wear a suit, but supported her nonetheless. In the end, they all graduated- first from high school, and then from college. Each couple managed to graduate in the same year- first was Ilana and Kaden, then Lance and Kristen, and finally out dragged an exhausted Newton and Kimmy. But they all made it.
-o-o-o-
Things had gotten pretty serious among the couples.
Once they all got out of college, each pair had started to live together. Marriage was starting to cross all of their minds, and the old Titan trio realized that there was something that couldn't be kept a secret much longer. So, they called a sort of "council meeting".
Kristen, Kaden, and Kimmy all looked at each other as they sat on the couch of Octus and Kimmy's house. "Anyone know what this is about?" Asked Kristen. She had changed, along with Lance, during the course of college. Both of them had become a little more social and outgoing, and quite a bit less dark. Much more functional, for sure.
"I think…" Kimmy's logical mind set to work. "Well, they called all of us here, so that means that there's something they need to tell us about all of them. They've only held a few secrets as a trio, and they all seemed to be linked to one secret, so… yeah, they're probably going to tell us that 'root secret'." Kristen and Kaden stared at her, amused smiles on their faces. She was really a smart woman, and Newton had brought out the side of her that loved to learn.
It made sense, though. That group secret. It had them all wondering, until the trio walked through the door, their faces wary. The K's looked among themselves. This secret must really be big.
And it was.
"We need to tell you something," Ilana announced.
"We've gathered that," Kristen said with amusement.
"We… aren't from here." Lance jumped right into it.
"Yeah, we know. You guys told us a while ago that you moved here from Canada, that you guys are runaway orphans, and none of you are actually biologically related," Kimmy recalled. Lance rubbed the back of his neck with a slight blush. The story had served its purpose for the time, but right now it just sounded like a runaway Mark Twain story.
"This is going to sound really absurd", Ilana warned. The three on the couch looked at her expectantly. She sighed. "Just… promise you'll let us finish."
They all nodded.
Newton made the announcement. "When we say we're not from here, we mean we're not from Earth. We're from Galaluna, a warring planet about 10 light-years away that connects to Earth through a wormhole we call the rift gate."
Silence. Then, much to the Titan trio's surprise…
Laughter.
They were all cracking up, tears coming down their faces. Ilana was startled, and Lance started to get angry. "We're not lying! We're serious!"
"I know, honey, I know", reassured a hysterical Kristen. She calmed down a little. "Really, we do. That's why we're laughing. Because we were all worked up about some big secret, and here you tell us all something that we already know."
Ilana, Lance, and Newton just sat there, dumbstruck. "You…knew?" Ilana whispered in complete bewilderment.
"Yeah, we figured it out when the aliens stopped coming, Titan stopped forming, Newton had less 'bathroom breaks' and you guys disappeared for no reason less," Kaden explained. They were all composed now, and he continued, his blue eyes twinkling with good humor. "Kimmy really helped us piece it all together, but it was pretty obvious once we saw it. I mean, really, even if you guys were from Canada- heck, if you were from the middle of Africa- there are just some things that you can't not know if you're from Earth- like what a mall is", Kaden said, eyeing Ilana.
So, the rest of the 'confession' actually became an explanation of how the three K's figured it out within four months of meeting each other. The Titan trio was naturally upset- they thought they had been so discreet- but eventually it turned into a session on Galaluna. Newton said he had received a message from Galaluna that, within about a decade, maybe less, it would be safe for the princess to return.
"Princess?" Kaden asked with confusion. He froze as he realized they meant Ilana. He turned to her in astonishment and started to kneel.
"Kaden!" Ilana protested with a flush, but he took her hand and kissed it. "I always knew you were a princess, but I thought you were just my princess – not a whole planet's!" He joked. She smiled and gave him a kiss.
"Okay, wait a second… Newton, honey, how exactly can you receive these messages from Galaluna?" Kimmy asked the nerdy boy (who had lost a significant deal of weight in college- he was now almost as thin as Lance and Kaden.
The Titan trio became totally silent. "Uh, well, honey…" He began to explain to her.
Kimmy sighed. "Oh, enough with the drama, Newton. I had my fill of that at Sherman High. Just spit it out."
"I was a robot."
She reeled. "Okay, I'll admit, I wasn't expecting that…wait, was?"
He explained, and she shook her head in astonishment. "Well, that actually makes a lot more sense. As long as you're human now."
He knocked on his chest to prove there wasn't a clang. "100%."
Kristen turned expectantly to Lance. "So, what's your secret?"
He looked at her as if it was even more dramatic than Newton's and Ilana's combined, and then said: "I'm a moody boy of a dead scientist who has teamwork and anger issues, so I could only be promoted to a corporal in the military."
She smiled and punched his arm. "Best story of them all."
They all laughed. "So," Kaden asked curiously, "why tell us this now?"
"Well", Ilana answered with a smile, "we figured you should be able to love us for who we are, with our past and our present."
And they did.
-o-o-o-
Ilana gasped.
It was so beautiful.
Upon graduating, and after the 'we already know you're aliens and this is nothing new' incident, Kaden had taken her home to meet his parents. Once that was over with, he had driven her blindfolded down to the ocean, guided her past the rocks and barnacles (she had squealed so adorably at the touch of seaweed), and removed her blindfold to a view of a beautiful ocean sunset. The oceans were different on Galaluna.
"It's… It's… amazing", she breathed, just looking at it.
"Don't stare at the sun," joked Kaden.
"How could you leave this for Illinois?" she asked in astonishment.
"You were there", he said simply, wrapping his arm around her waist. She grinned and leaned up on his toes to kiss him. These Earthlings sure were strange.
They walked along the sandbar for a little while, picking up shells. They came across an oyster. "You know, sometimes, you'll find a pearl in one", he told her.
"Really?" she asked excitedly, and he nodded. She pried open the large oyster…
To find a ring box in it.
"Wha…?" she asked as she opened it. Her heart stopped.
A diamond ring. Perfect for her, it was simple and yet elegant, a medium-sized diamond ring surrounded by silver. She looked at it in amazement as it fit perfectly on her finger.
"Ilana…" she turned to see Kaden on his knee.
Oh. My. God.
"Will you be my queen?"
She started crying, and flung herself into the arms of her new fiancé.
"Ilana Monterone."
And that was how she said yes.
-o-o-o-
Tears glistened on Ilana's eyes as she admired her new ring in the light of passing streetlamps. Even Lance would think it was beautiful. She froze.
Lance.
Of course, she knew he would be happy for her- them. But she couldn't help feeling nervous. It was a pretty big step…
Kaden noticed her tension. "Hey", he said softly, "what's wrong?" On the inside, he was hoping with all his heart that she wasn't already getting cold feet. Maybe he had moved too soon..? But she had seemed so happy, so eager…
"I'm- I suppose I'm just thinking about how Lance will react to this", Ilana admitted quietly.
To her surprise, Kaden laughed. "Well, if that's all."
She looked at him, puzzled. "'If that's all'? Kaden, you know how Lance is."
"Which is why I already cleared it with him", Kaden said simply. Ilana stared at him in astonishment. "You see", Kaden explained, "I'm not sure how it is on Galaluna, but here on Earth it's tradition for a boy to ask for the blessing of the father of the girl he wants to marry. Since that wasn't really an option, with your father leading the growing Galalunian resistance and reconstruction and all that, I did the closest thing- Lance. He's not exactly like a father to you, but he's definitely as protective and claims as much as a right to you as a father."
Ilana started laughing, and Kaden looked at her quizzically. "I bet this wasn't the conversation you planned on having with your fiancé", she joked. "Since your dad is an alien fighting a war, I asked your not-brother that happens to be a corporal."
He laughed. "Yeah, well… I must admit, he wasn't shocked. I think if I can recall, he said something along the lines of: 'well, you'll have to ask her father for permission when we return, but by then it'll probably be too late, so I'll give you the authority that I have in his name to marry her'." Kaden suddenly looked fidgety. "I must admit, though, meeting your father- that would make me nervous enough even if he wasn't the king of a foreign planet."
Ilana laughed. "Don't worry, honey. He couldn't have picked a better heir."
And right then that realization hit them hard. Kaden was now a prince, the male heir to the Galalunian throne. He gulped, but then relaxed and smiled at his future wife. "As long as I have you to rule with, my Queen."
-o-o-o-
Kristen sighed and leaned against the doorway of their new house.
Who would've thought, with her being a real estate agent and all, that it would've taken so long for her to find a decent place for her and Lance to live? It had been absolutely exhausting.
He came up behind her. "Honey? Come on, you're the one who picked it out from the beginning. You'll love it, and imagine how great it'll look once we get some furniture moved in." He sounded nervous for some reason, and Kristen suddenly felt guilty for making him worry.
"You're right", she said, and entered her new house. She turned into the living room and found a small object in the middle of the living room.
"Ew," she said. She could've sworn that she had had this place checked out for vermin.
"What?" Lance asked, and she turned to see him sweating bullets.
"Sheesh, Lance, calm down. It's just a dead rat, I'll throw it away." Before she turned, she almost thought she saw a smile flicker across his face. Well, he's played practical jokes before, she thought as she walked towards the creature.
But her eyesight had never been very good. It wasn't a rat at all.
It was a ring box.
She gasped and picked it up. She opened it, and sure enough…
It was beautiful. As she slipped the diamond ring on, she admired it- it wasn't like others at all. Fairly small, with black diamonds on four corners and gold swirled throughout the silver ring. Suddenly, she was turned around to face Lance.
"Kristen-" he was cut off by her low swipe. Suddenly he was on the ground… on his knee.
"You can't stand- you do it kneeling, you idiot", she laughed through her tears.
Lance smiled. "Your form… it's exactly right. Will you marry me?"
She threw her arms around him. "Yes," she whispered in his ear, and he swung her around. They were already kissing by the time he set her back down, in that new house full of possibilities.
-o-o-o-
Kimmy sighed in satisfaction as she admired the new tunnel aquarium she had designed for the local zoo. It had taken blood, sweat and tears (mostly tears [of the interns she kept yelling at]) to build it according to all the safety procedures and designs, but she had finally finished it. Newton walked up beside her. "I'm so proud of you", he whispered in her ear, making her spine tingle.
"Thanks", she whispered back and kissed him.
"You", he said once they were done, "I remember how you used to hate math."
Kimmy laughed. "The reason I fell in love with you was because I wanted you to re-do my test, and you wouldn't do it! No matter how much I griped, you insisted on teaching me."
"No matter how much…" he leaned in closer, "you danced to that ridiculous song."
She slapped him on the arm and laughed again. After a while she whispered jokingly, "I was pretty good at that, though."
He chuckled. "Yeah, you were." She grinned and kissed him again.
When she looked back at the wall of the aquarium, she saw some divers descending. "Oh, that'll be cool, they're feeding the fish." A lot of people had showed up for the grand opening, and Kimmy wanted everything to just right… and everything had turned out perfectly. She thought it couldn't get any better…
Until she saw the divers unroll the waterproof banner reading…'turn around'?
The crowd became silent, and Kimmy turned…
"Kimmy", said Newton on one knee. "Will you ma-"
"YES!" she laughed as she flew into his arms.
The crowd laughed and cheered.
-o-o-o-
It wasn't a triple wedding. It was a double wedding with Ilana and Kaden and Lance and Kristen, with Newton and Kimmy right after. The reason for this follows:
Lance and Ilana were obviously close, and Lance and Newton each wanted the other to be his best man, while Ilana and Kristen wanted to be each other's bridesmaids, and Kaden wanted his best man to be his old best friend, Triton. Once everything was tied together, the weddings came.
For their vows, each couple was different. Kaden and Ilana promised how no matter what happened, they would stay with the responsibility that came from the union (because they would later rule Galaluna – but the majority of those attending the wedding didn't know that). Lance and Kristen talked about how the other made them open up and see the beauty, not just the darkness, that came from love and how it illuminated the world. Newton and Kimmy marveled on the simple truth of how opposites attract- in more ways than one (nerdy vs cheerleader, human vs robot [in the beginning, at least]).
The honeymoons were wonderful. Ilana and Kaden took a trip to a small island off of Paris, where the sea was beautiful and they could have some privacy… to love each other (wink, wink- Kaden and Ilana had both been traditional in their ways to do this before now, and even Lance had been a gentleman and insisted. Newton, too- which Kimmy had kind of had a problem with in the beginning, but that only made it so much better in the end, now that he was finally and officially hers). Lance and Kristen took a trip to China, where they both relaxed in serenity and studied their love of martial arts. Newton and Kimmy drove across America, starting at New York and ending in San Francisco. They all loved each other… so much.
And it was wonderful.
-o-o-o-
Newton couldn't believe it.
They could go home. To Galaluna.
He called Lance and Ilana. They were astounded. They went home to tell their spouses, and they couldn't believe it, either… they were about to visit an alien planet. Because of course the old Titan trio longed to return to their home planet, and they wanted to be with them. Besides, according to the message, they could come back at any time.
-o-o-o-
Kaden twisted his hair nervously, an adorable trait that Ilana loved about him.
She took his hand. "Don't worry, honey. He'll love you."
He laughed. "I hope so. We'll be rather out of luck if he doesn't."
And then he exited the rift gate and saw his first glimpse of Galaluna. It was so beautiful, and it had recovered quickly- but not entirely- from the war. So, these were the people he would someday rule… after learning their laws and customs. And to think that he was done with school once he had graduated college. Funny how life throws a curveball at you like that. What he didn't know… was that Newton had forgotten to tell the King that any of them had gotten married- at all.
-o-o-o-
Ilana exited the pod, and upon seeing her father, ran straight into his arms, where they remained for a while, crying and laughing. "You look like your mother. I've missed you so much", he told her.
"Me too, daddy." It didn't matter that she was twenty- six – he was still her daddy.
Out of the pod also came Lance, Kristen, and Kimmy, and finally a determined Newton pushing out an extremely nervous Kaden, who proceeded to hide behind the old robot.
The King separated himself from her. "My, you've grown… and you, too, Lance. What a handsome young man you've become. Women will swarm you now!" his laugh bellowed.
Lance smiled good-naturedly. "I should hope not."
The King stopped laughing, puzzled. "But, why…?" then he noticed Kristen hanging on his arm, stifling a laugh.
The King burst out in laughter once more, and moved to slap Lance on the back. "Congratulations, boy!" The corporal smiled, and Kristen bowed. "Oh, no, my lady, stand- you're Lance's wife, after all!" Kristen rose and smiled. "What is your name, young lady?"
"Kristen, your majesty."
"Kristen", the King mused. "What a beautiful name." Suddenly, he seemed to notice that there was not a robot present… He looked at Lance with pained eyes, fearing the worst had come on their journey. "Lance, where's Octus?"
And, to his great surprise, a human man answered. "Right here, sire."
The King looked at him in shock. "But, what…?"
"I was able to de-activate my programming and turn it into a watch, like Lance and Ilana's armors. I'm human now…" he paused. "And Kimmy's husband."
Suddenly, the King noticed the attractive young redhead latched to his side. He smiled. "Well, I certainly didn't expect that. Good for you."
Ilana looked at him with a smile. He froze.
He had just realized there was one boy left (Kaden had come out from behind Newton when the King was talking to Kristen). And as both Lance and Octus- sorry, Newton were married…
He turned slowly to his daughter. "Is there something you would like to tell me?" He just about had a heart attack when he saw the ring on her finger. That particular symbol was pretty universal.
"Sir," came a voice from behind him. The King turned to find the remaining young boy kneeling, head bowed. "My name is Kaden, and I realize that this is a little late, and that this probably isn't the best way to do this, but…" Kaden took a breath. "I love your daughter more than anything in on Ea- in the universe, and I ask for your daughter's hand in marriage and your blessing."
The King scrutinized Kaden. "It must have taken a whole lot of courage to ask a king if you could marry his daughter."
Kaden nodded.
The King turned to Ilana. "Do you love him?"
"More than anything, daddy."
He chuckled. "Then my opinion wouldn't do much, anyway. I give you my blessing."
Ilana squealed with delight and ran into Kaden's arms. He picked her up and spun her, and the King looked on with a smile at his not-so-young daughter anymore, her new husband, and his new heir.
-o-o-o-
"Shhhh", she whispered with a smile to her dad. Ilana knew he was excited, as were she and Kaden, but… Nicole needed sleep. Her daughter needed sleep.
Ilana could still remember how each and every one of them had reacted.
She had told Kaden first, of course. He had smiled broadly and picked her up and spun her carefully, and then kissed her passionately. Lance had been dumbstruck, and then so happy for her that even Ilana couldn't have anticipated it- and his euphoria only grew when she asked him and Newton to be Nicole's uncles (and, of course, Kimmy and Kristen to be the aunts). Her father… had laughed his booming laughter, tears coming out of his eyes. He was going to be a grandfather.
By the time Nicole had arrived, Lance and Kristen and Newton and Kimmy all had at leat one of their own- Newton and Kimmy had had triplets, Nick, Lacey, and Jeremy, and Lance and Kristen had had a daughter, Grace.
Kaden was holding her son, Brian, and she was holding Nicole. And she couldn't be happier, surrounded by the people she loved.
-o-o-o-
Forty years had passed.
The King, unfortunately, had passed away, but there were so many new things to celebrate about- Galaluna had been fully restored, Earth and Galaluna now knew of each other and were on peaceful terms, and transportation between the two was easily possible- and the Titan trio and their spouses all had…
Grandchildren.
Lance and Kristen had three, Newton and Kimmy had ten (they were quite a handful), and Ilana and Kaden had five, and Nicole was pregnant… again. With her last, she swore jokingly- four would be quite enough. Brian had two, and both he and his wife were happy with just that.
Life was perfect.
Ilana and Kaden had passed down rule to Brian, being the eldest (though only by two minutes), which was fine since Nicole didn't really want that responsibility anyway. She was too much of a free spirit.
Newton and Kimmy oversaw much of the re-design and architecture of the reconstruction of Galaluna, and Lance and Kristen had headed the Royal Guard for a long period of time. Ilana and Kaden had brought a period of peace and prosperity, and everyone did what they loved. Ilana and Kaden were even able to continue teaching.
Often, Ilana and Kaden would marvel at the string of events that brought them there. If Kaden and Ilana had never bumped into each other that day, they might have never really gotten to know each other. They said that volunteering was giving back. Look at how much volunteering had given back to them.
The Monterones now sat on the porch of the Galalunian castle, overlooking the ocean. Their hands intertwined, they gave each other a kiss before the sun sank below the horizon.
All was well.
WHOA 15 pages in Word! And I thought this was short haha! Well, Happy Easter! I think this turned out all right. Please please pleeeaaasssee review! Six hours of my life to write this. Two minutes of yours to review. Please! Have a good day