Young Ilana gazed out of her window, watching the hovercrafts of the kingdom soar by. It was a beautiful sight: the sunset shining over the hills, and thousands of people all doing their part in the Galalunian circle of life.

Ilana turned around and smiled at her father, the king. "It is a wonderful view, but every morning I must wake up and see the military academy through my window," she said to him. The Galalunian Military Academy, known as GMA for short, was the place where young warriors trained, hopefully to become members of the Elite, or even part of the Royal Guard. Although it sounded like an honor, the Academy itself was a miserable place, at least from what Ilana could tell by looking through her window at its dreary walls.

"What ever happened to that boy who was going to receive the Medal of Honor last week? You know… Mr. Lunis's son?" Ilana asked her father, folding her hands on front of her and crossing her legs on the bed. "His name was Lance," she recalled.

"Lance was sent to jail because of an incident with the Manus armor," the King said, sitting down next to Ilana and putting an arm around her.

Ilana's eyes widened and her mouth dropped open. "That's terrible!" she exclaimed. "Why, he's only a boy! The same age as me!"

"Do not worry, my little princess," the King said, smiling at Ilana's reaction. She was always concerned about morals and right and wrong. She definitely took after her mother, the Queen. "Lance is no longer in jail, and he is safe back at the Academy. However, it may take a long time for the teachers there to acknowledge his repent and offer him the Medal of Honor again."

There was a silence where Ilana looked out the window at the Military Academy again. She frowned, and turned back to her father.

"I want to visit him," Ilana said simply.

"Arthur, wait up!" young Lance called to his pudgy, freckled friend. Ever since Lance had used the Manus armor without permission, Arthur had been trying to stay away from him, as if just being around him would cause bad luck.

"Stay away from me!" Arthur mumbled, his eyes shimmering with fear. He hurried over to another table and sat down, poking his spaghetti.

Lance's face drooped, and he sat down at a different table. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Baron, his cruel rival. Ever since the Manus incident, Baron and Lance had been warned to stay well away from each other, and both of them knew that they would be punished if anybody saw them even talking to each other. Lance frowned and stabbed his spaghetti. So what if he'd been in the Academy for over a year now, he still hated it. Well, not exactly everything, Lance thought to himself. He enjoyed the lessons: battling was a hidden talent of his that he would have never discovered if he hadn't come here in the first place. If his dad hadn't died.

Lance shoveled down his food and stalked off to his room, lying down on the bed and letting out a huge sigh. He had accepted the fact by now that his father wasn't coming back. Who knows where the prototype rift gate had sent him: at any rate, his chances of returning seemed impossibly slim.

Lance pulled out a staff from his dresser and held it out in front of him, gripping it tightly with two hands. Nothing better to take his mind off of the past than a little bit of battle training. Lance had only begun to twirl the staff when he heard a knocking at his door.

Lance set the bottom of the staff to the floor and looked up. "Come in," he said, not taking his hand off of the staff. If this was Baron trying to attack him again, Lance would be ready for it.

To his surprise, it was not Baron who opened the door: it was the King of Galaluna himself.

Lance's eyes widened and he kneeled, laying the staff down in front of him. "Your Majesty," he said reverently.

"Rise, young child," the King said, satisfied to see that Lance had finally acquired some respect for royalty. "My daughter asked to see you," he told Lance, stepping aside to reveal Ilana, who had been peeking out from behind him.

Ilana smiled shyly and nodded at Lance. "Salutations," she said, stepping up to him. "I've heard a lot about you recently."

Lance's face went red, and he averted his eyes from her face. Now even the princess knew about how he had been sent to jail. She probably hates me! Lance thought to himself, and he turned away from her.

Ilana suddenly realized her mistake, and ran up to Lance. "Oh, I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to insult you!" she said to him.

"No, it's okay," Lance said.

There was a silence as they both looked away from each other, not wanting to be the first one to start a conversation. Ilana was struggling to remember why she had even wanted to see Lance in the first place. She had convinced herself that it was because she wanted to provide him with sympathy, but she felt like sympathy wasn't going to do much for him.

"Lance, maybe you can show Ilana some of the facilities here," the King suggested walking up and placing a hand on the young boy's shoulder. "Yes, sir," Lance said. "Come on, Ilana, I can show you the Anti-Gravity station," he said, holding out his hand to her.

Ilana smiled, took his hand, and then together they walked out of Lance's room and into the hall.

The King smiled, and then looked around Lance's room. Kneeling down and examining Lance's bedside table, he pulled out the bottom drawer, taking out a picture of Lance's father.

"Edward," the King said, sighing.

"Betcha can't catch me!" Ilana giggled, soaring through the air in the Anti-Gravity Station.

Ilana kicked off and twirled with ease, clearly enjoying herself. It was obvious to Lance that she was a natural. But not better than him, of course. Lance couldn't believe that he was actually here, with the princess. He'd only seen her a few times before, and had always though of her as snooty and stuck-up, a stereotypical royal brat. But Ilana wasn't like those stereotypical princesses. Not at all.

"Oh yeah?" Lance asked. He shot up and tackled Ilana in mid-air sending them both spinning and laughing through the air.

But suddenly Ilana's joyful expression disappeared. Lance followed Ilana's gaze, turning around to see…

"Baron," Lance muttered through gritted teeth. Why does he always have to be here to spoil the day? Lance wondered to himself.

"Hello, Lance," Baron said, spitting out Lance's name with contempt.

"Where are your cronies?" Lance asked, pushing Ilana behind him and floating up into the air so that he could look down on Baron.

Baron smirked, as if it didn't bother him one bit that his usual thugs weren't accompanying him today. He and Lance both knew that Baron was better at handling Anti-Gravity.

"Stop!" Ilana said, floating up in front of Lance and folding her arms confidently. "You will not hurt Lance. That's a Royal Command."

Baron's face went pale at the sight of the princess, and he lowered his head respectfully.

"Princess, I had no idea that it was you behind Lance, I assumed it was some other student. Why, if I'd known you were here-" Baron said, his voice switching seamlessly from arrogant bully to angelic child.

"Whether or not you knew I was here doesn't matter. As an aspiring member of the Elite, you should know better," Ilana reprimanded Baron.

"Yes, princess," Baron muttered, and with that, he turned and floated out of the Anti-Gravity Station.

"Thanks for helping me," Lance said, ashamed to admit that he'd needed help from the princess. It was supposed to be the other way around! He was supposed to assist her!

"Don't mention it," Ilana said, letting go of Lance's hand. "Well, I guess I'd better get back to my father now," she said, "or else he might order a search party for me." Ilana smiled at the thought, then, with a wave of her hand, she floated down and out of the Anti-Gravity Station.

Lance floated alone in the middle of the room, staring at the door where Ilana had left.

"We'll meet again," he whispered, as if speaking to Ilana. "And when we do, I'll get a chance to save you, not the other way around."

So, that's it: my first fanfic here. Please give me constructive criticism, I'm here to improve my writing skills by getting reviews from other writers. Of course, compliments are always accepted as well ;-).

Chapter 2 will contain more action, so be prepared!