She hasn't been to this part of the palace before; here, the lights are brighter and the people slightly more open. She's taking a detour to her lessons, seeing as she's late. Normally, she is a prompt human being, always there on time. But she had a few glitches in her day. Breakfast itself was not on time; something about a few "minor explosions" in the kitchen. Pah. As if she'd believe THAT. And then her Nanny was sick, down with the flu, which made getting ready a horrible hassle.

Made her way down the hall, hampered by a massive amount of Talons, all heading to something. Caught a glimpse of Ace, which was what SHE still called him, down the hallway. He saw her and grinned. She pretended not to notice.

A few laundry girls stepped aside and held their baskets of clean linen above their heads for the little princess to pass. She's only a toddler, only a five year old, only a girl, really. But she commands respect.

She doesn't like this place. It smells of sweat and grit. She walks quickly, clutches her books to her chest, and tries not to look anyone in the eyes. Finally leaves the light behind and is back in the calm and tranquility of the darkness. Hopes she doesn't stink like the laundry girls.

Opens the classroom door. Her crystal tutor bows and makes no remarks about her timing. She says nothing. Just sits down and flips her textbook open. He pouts for a few moments before pulling over the blackboard and commences to write down chemical compounds of multiple crystals.

She leans back in her chair and pulls in the information.

He begins to talk. "Note the composition of Crystal A is almost identical to the composition of Crystal C, meaning they have similar properties..."

She raises her eyebrows, not her hand. Thinks hand raising is silly, considering there's no one else in the room. He nods at her.

"Can we skip to the lab? I've already read the textbook." She flops her book around before tossing it to the floor. "Elementary material, really. You should talk to the writer. Tell him to expect more from my generation."

He walks over, picks up the book, and shows her the cover. "Princess, I AM the author," he says, rather tartly.

She laughs, a high pitched hiss, and stands. She's not tall, barely reaches his chest, has to crane her neck back to see his face. But her movement is imposing all the same. He sets the book down.

"You need to work on your writing skills. Don't give unnecessary lectures. Too many illustrations, not enough organized sections, the different chapters too hard to differentiate." She strokes the spine of the book. "What are you, some kind of repressed artist who writes textbooks for a living?"

"I...I..." He's at a loss for words.

"Oh, and stop copying from other books; I found at least five plagiarized passages. Probably more, but it was late and I was tired." She smirked. "Now, about that lab..."

"I do NOT plagiarize!" he barked.

"Do, too. And did you just contradict me?" She jumps up on the chair with one fluid movement. She's taller than him, now. Can stare down at him with violet eyes. "Because if you did, then you're fired."

"I didn't...That is to say..." He sighs. "I'm fired."

She jumps back down and presses the textbook into his hands. "Thought so. Have a nice day."

Glides out of the room, leaves him with his mouth open like an extremely ugly fish. She smirks, finds her way to the captain's quarters and sees Ace, leaning against the wall.

"You look happy, today." Falls in next to her, making his strides as small has hers.

"Just fired my crystal tutor, is all. You know, Mr. Copy-pants?" She never bothers learning her teacher's names, just gives them nicknames of her own.

He laughs. "What's that, the third this month?"

"Fourth. Unless you count that little rat that came in and lasted about an hour...I should have saved my breath." She pauses in her walking and looks at him. "That was a good day."

"You are a funny five year old," he says.

"I am NOT," she says, annoyed. "I'm special. Everyone says so." Then she grins. "Although, deep down, they all think I'm barking MAD."

"You? Mad? Never. Now, the man up there is a different story." Ace points at the ceiling with a grimace.

"Oh, you mean father." She waves her hand, as if swatting away the truth. "He's crazy, I admit it. Maybe I have some of his genes, you never know. Hopefully, madness is a recessive allele." Then she pokes him in the chest. "Shouldn't you be training?"

He shrugs. "So? I'm already better than everyone else. Sooner or later, someone's going to have to promote me."

"You know, one day, when I become queen, you can be my right hand man," she says, rather offhandedly. She continues down the hall. He looks a little taken aback.

"Er...O.k." He walks after her, shaken. "Sounds...fun."

"Ha. Can't think of me as a ruler?" She runs her hand along the metal wall, leaves streaks on the surface. "Don't worry, you will. And if you don't want to be the right hand man, you can always be the dumb muscle."

"Excuse...excuse me?" He raises an eyebrow. "Dumb...muscle?"

"If this were a book, you'd be talking a series of dot dot dots." She pauses and glares at him. "You heard me, no need to repeat everything I say. You sound like a broken record machine, playing back my voice several pitches lower."

He sulks and follows her like a tail that's been dragged through the mud. "I am not dumb. Muscle, maybe. Not dumb."

"Whatever you say, Ace. Whatever you say."

"Princess, my name is no longer Ace."

"Well, my name's not 'princess', but you insist on calling me that." She frowns. "I told you to call me Lark. My name is Lark."

He squats down so that she no longer has to arch her neck in that painful looking manner. "Alright. If you call me Dark Ace, I'll call you Lark. At least, until someone hits me for doing so. Is that a deal?" He holds out his gloved hand. She eyes it warily, thinks about the bargain. Reaches out and grips it with her own pale fingers.

"Deal." She eyes him. "Dark Ace. Doesn't suit you, but alright. And no one will hit you for calling me Lark. I wouldn't let them. I'd protect you."

He's touched by her words. She doesn't seem to notice the genuine smile that has found its way onto his pale face. HE doesn't think she does. But she is a perceptive child, and his grin does not go unseen. But one thing she doesn't notice is the urge he has to stand over her, to keep her close. She's got a tough exterior, but once you get past it, inside, she's still a child. Still has a soft heart. He knows she's fragile. If dropped from high enough, her shell would break, and once it's gone, she's defenseless. Unless, of course, he's there for her. Thinks of her as a sister.

He walks her back to her room. Fishes around in his pocket and hands her a new crystal that glows like the sun.

"Nicked it for you. Solaris Stone."

"I don't have one of those!" She takes it and holds it up in triumph. "It's so pretty!"

There. A little piece of her true nature. A little spark of childhood.

"Glad you enjoy it, prince...le...Lark." He gives her a little pat. "I shall see you around then."

"Of course you shall, Dark Ace." Back to her usual self. Walls back up. Heart hidden away. But he knows that she'll smile again. Feels unique because she's graced him with a little bit of her laughter. "Good day."

"Good day, Lark."

Bows. Leaves. Disappears down the hallway.

She puts the crystal away, but not before making a new label for it. And on the bottom of the white strip of paper, she places his initials, so that she won't forget who gave it to her.

OOO

A/N: For clarification, this isn't a pairing, and notice that romance isn't the genre. It's more of a friendship, brother/sister thing. That's all. As before, if it's good, then good. If you think it's pushing some boundaries and should be dimmed down a bit, let me know. And if you want me to keep it going, drop a note. Or just review for the sake of reviewing; I love all feedback.