"The First Kiss"
Milo awoke from his peaceful slumber, but did not open his eyes immediately. He enjoyed basking in the pleasantness of the queen's chamber for a few minutes before getting up to start the day. He had always been one to wake up a few minutes before his alarm clock went off, and his life in Atlantis had not changed this habit one bit. He knew that the queen's assistant, as the official title was called, would be by in less than ten minutes.
Before opening his eyes, Milo allowed his other senses to take in the rest of the room. He heard the gentle trickling of a fountain that ran along the walls of the chamber, just below the wide windows that let in the night air. Having a pretty moderate climate within their "air bubble" beneath the ocean floor, and with no sky to change the weather, life was pretty comfortable once you got used to it. The soft, silk sheets of the bed lay over his body, covering him from his chest to just above his ankles. He stretched and flexed his long, knobby toes to get blood flowing to his legs. To his right, he felt Kida's warm, athletic body next to his. She was lying on her left side, with her right hand laying gently on his stomach and her head nestled on his right shoulder. Her left arm was folded in front of her, with the fingers of her hand folded neatly together. Her soft white hair tickled him where her head lay, but he did not want to try to scratch, lest he wake her.
Slowly, carefully, he opened his eyes to look at her, as if expecting that she might have awakened and was staring at him. The blue tattoos that adorned her forehead and both of her cheeks would have been seen as exotic and unladylike in the Western world which he had left behind, but in Atlantean society, they were marks of maturity, accomplishment, and wisdom. To Milo, they just made her look even more beautiful, even if that was not their true purpose. Even with the tattoos, Kida always seemed so soft, delicate, and feminine while she was asleep, so unlike the fierce warrior queen that she was while she was awake. Milo loved to see both sides of her, and he reveled in the fact that her soft, weak side was for him alone to see. Very much unlike himself, Milo knew that his Kida preferred to sleep and dream as long as she could. My Kida, he thought once more as he wrapped his arm, that she was sleeping on, around her waist.
The scent of the strange blue and purple surya flowers wafted to Milo's nose from the planters that lined the room, just below the running streams of water. They had been put in yesterday, to replace the white lily-like flowers that the gardener called megos-the blooming of these different flowers were how Atlanteans marked the passing of years, and, before their banishment, the passing of seasons. The lining up of Atlantean seasons with Western seasons wasn't exact, but Milo had determined that the surya flowers marked late spring/early summer. Having observed this pattern, Milo was coming up to ten years since he had come to the city with the crew of the Ulysses.
Milo gave off a deep sigh, as the most vivid (and most violent) of the memories floated to the surface of his mind. The guilt over the death of Kida's father, King Kashekim, had been a strong, but short lived, feeling.
Milo gave off a sigh, and Kida stirred, but did not awaken. Milo stared at the ceiling of the bedchamber, trying to make out the details of the intricate carvings that had been crafted there eons ago. He could make out the man-sized carvings of the leviathan and the kraken, guardians of the city, but he had difficulty seeing the doll sized carvings of people, meant to represent the creators and caretakers of the beasts. His glasses were sitting on the carved stone nightstand that was placed next to the bed, on his side. He recalled his first nights with Kida in this room, and how she told him both historical tales and folk tales of the Atlanteans, the story of their origins, their heroes, and their myths. She used the carvings on the ceiling as illustrations, as her parents had done for her way back when she was a child.
Milo put his free hand around his crystal, which always hung off of his neck. It had been King Kashekim's, and had been given to the linguist to save Princess Kida. The item did its job in keeping him young, but it apparently had no effect on Milo's bad eyesight. Milo didn't mind-his glasses were still in perfect working condition, and his prescription hadn't changed at all in his time down in Atlantis. That, and it was his last connection to his old life, his old world. While living in Atlantis with Kida was the best thing that could have happened to Milo James Thatch, there were times he grew a little homesick. He figured that the crystal kept his eyesight from getting worse, as his body had stopped aging altogether.
Milo's thoughts went to the celebration of their victory over Rourke, which began the day after the intense battle and the volcanic explosion that almost wiped the city out. Everyone was having a great time, and the whole city was wrapped up in revelry. Musicians and dancers had taken to the streets to create an impromptu parade, and revelers put Milo and his friends on the back of the long dormant but now operational Atlantean vehicles. The parade ended at the palace, where cooks from all over the city had prepared a bountiful feast of Atlantis' best dishes, made from the game hunted and the produce gathered from in and around the city. The entire celebration was a joyous blur, spread over a week's worth of time. However, one specific memory stuck out in Milo's mind.
On the night of the third day of the celebration, amidst all of the chaos, Milo finally got the chance to ask Kida for a private moment. She accepted, taking his hand and leading him to a small private garden that only she and a few other people in the palace knew about.
"What is it, Milo? You know we don't have much time, there will be people looking for us." Kida said softly, as if afraid that someone might overhear them.
"I'll be quick, I promise!" Milo said nervously, considering that he was bringing up a sensitive subject. He gulped, then began slowly. "Kida, I am so sorry, about everything. About bringing Rourke here; about getting your father killed; about almost getting you killed; hell, I almost killed everyone in the city because I was too wrapped up in my own little world to see…"
"Stop, Milo Thatch!" Kida said sternly.
He obeyed.
"I sense you have much guilt in your heart. It's not good for your body." Kida continued. "Even with the Heart sleeping beneath the city, my father was in a lot of pain. He knew that his time had come-and even with the power of the crystal, he refused to use it on himself. Besides, it was Rourke who struck him, not you. That man is the one with my father's blood on his hands."
Milo gave off a sigh of both relief and nervousness. He had one other thing to do, to tell the princess. He took the necklace with the king's crystal off, and held it out to Kida with his right hand.
"Your father gave me this, to help me save you, and I-I think that you should have it because…"
Before Milo could finish his sentence, Kida held her hands up, refusing the crystal.
"No!" she said, almost sounding angry.
Milo flinched back, thinking that he may have severely offended Kida with his offering. Despite being an expert at the ancient and "dead" language of Atlantean, Milo was unfamiliar with a lot of their customs. Heck, he and his friends had only been there less than a week.
"I'm sorry, Milo." Kida said, her expression of anger fading into one of sadness. "It's not right for me to have the crystal, especially if my father gave it to you before he died."
Milo pressed his lips together, and rubbed the back of his neck with his left hand. He looked down at the ground, as a few tears began to well up in his eyes. Memories of the death of his grandfather had flooded back to him.
"When an Atlantean passes into death, their crystal is preserved for a time on their family's shrine-every household has one in their garden." Kida began to explain. "When the next child is born, then the baby is given the crystal. It represents the love and the life that the last person held within them. Most of the elders say that taking on of someone's crystal bestows his or her most dominant qualities and their luck upon the new wearer. Of course, if a child is born and there is no crystal waiting for them on the family shrine, then the family embarks on a ceremony into the crystal caverns to mine a new one for the child. It's a rare occurrence, but a joyous one. The child is now believed to be a tabula rasa, free to make their own choices and follow their own destiny…"
"Ah, a blank slate." Milo commented.
"I'm sorry, I'm probably boring you with all of this, I am rambling on matters not pertaining to our discussion…"
"No, no, no…this is really interesting! I mean, I should learn this stuff if I'm going to stay here and be with you…" Milo paused suddenly, his eyes growing wide. "But! Only if you want me to be with you! Only if you want me to stay! I mean, I can stay and not be with you, that's perfectly fine…"
Kida smiled that disarming smile of hers. Now she sighed. "Of course I want you here. And I want you to stay here, if you want…please don't go, you and I both know that I can't follow you to the surface."
Milo knew Kida's statement to be true. Her people needed her now more than ever. They needed him now more than ever, if they were to survive. The two stood in silence for several minutes, then Kida spoke.
"By giving you his crystal, my father welcomed you into his city, and into his family." Kida pointed to the Heart of Atlantis, high above the city. It could now be seen from nearly everywhere in the city. "You are now an Atlantean, and a part of the royal clan."
Milo raised his eyebrows. "Really?"
"Of course, Scholar. But I must tell you that the others will see you as a child until you learn our ways and complete the tasks of passage to adulthood. But do not worry, you will learn quickly, I know it."
Kida moved closer to Milo and pecked him on the lips. She placed her hands around Milo's hand which held the king's crystal. She took it from him and placed it around his neck. Milo stood there in a daze as she did this. A moment later, after his brain had fully processed the moment, Milo looked her in her gorgeous blue eyes. He couldn't hold back any longer. With surprisingly smooth movement, Milo put his hands on Kida's shoulders and gave her a much more passionate kiss. The action surprised both of them, but Kida found that she liked it.
Unbeknownst to Milo, it was Kida's first romantic kiss, and her first kiss from a man who was not her father. In Atlantean culture, there is a big difference between giving a kiss and receiving a kiss. She had given out kisses before, mostly out of friendship and respect. Another rule of Atlantean culture is that one does not kiss a royal, even with their permission-one waits for the royal give you a kiss. Kida knew Milo didn't know this, nor did she care. She was just glad that they were alone. Even if he was the savior of the city, she wasn't sure how well the people would take his forwardness.
Kida leaned into the kiss, and Milo wrapped his arms around her waist. She wrapped her arms, which had been resting on his shoulders, around his neck. She figured that they could stay hidden from the rest of the celebration for a few more minutes.
A rapid knocking sounded on the bedroom door, and Kida began to stir. Milo wished that the attendant would go away.
Kida opened her eyes, and smiled at Milo. He returned the smile.
"Good morning, Milo." she said, as the knocking sounded on the door again.
"Good morning, Kida."
Kida got up from the bed and pulled her blue night robe from off the rack that stood on her side of the bed. After covering her nude body, she called to the attendant.
"You may enter."
A girl, physically no older than fourteen, entered. Her long white hair had been pulled back in a intricate braid, and she wore a lavender colored tunic tied off with a brown belt.
"Good morning, your majesties." she said. "Breakfast is ready, and the city council is ready to meet with you afterwards. Will you be requiring assistance for dressing?"
"Thank you, Nanal. No, I will not. Please leave us to let us get ready."
Nanal bowed and exited the room, closing the door behind her.
Kida looked at Milo and gave him one of her mischievous smiles.
Either Kida wanted something from him right then and there, or she was hiding something from him and couldn't wait to show him.
Author's Note: This started off as a single one-shot, then evolved into something larger, just like every other writing project I do. -_-;
Anyway, this chapter is the first of a series of one-shots, framed by "a day in the life" of the rulers of Atlantis. Each chapter will reveal a significant event/memory in the relationship between Milo and Kida. I will try to keep it in chronological order, but if not, I'll let you know in the artist's comments.
Ratings wise, this will go no higher than T unless divine inspiration strikes me. XD