~~~~~Ch 2~~~~

It would be five days before they saw each other again.

"Happy birthday Daiki!" Miyu yelled, meeting him at the small lake. She held out a purple box with dark blue ribbon around it.

"Thank you. You didn't have to get me anything." He said taking the present sitting down with it.

Miyu sat next to him grinning. "Open it! Open it!"

Daiki smiled at her, removing the top slowly. Once there was a small gap, a tiny slender white ferret like creature with a small silver horn on top of its head, with large brown eyes ran up Daiki's arm and nuzzled his neck.

"It's a feretto (ferret in Japanese)!" He smiles petting its head. He took Miyu into his arms and held her. "I'll call her Soi Fon." The furry squealed.

(Little creature on her head)

"I'm glad you like her." Miyu giggled. "I'm sorry but I can't stay too long. I have to get ready for my birthday and then a trip to Rong Diam." She sighed standing. "But I'll come here on my birthday though, just to see you again."

"I'll be here. And thank you." Daiki said.

Miyu's birthday came and she returned to the lake to find that Daiki was nowhere to be found. Sad, she turned and met her escort back at her palace.

With a heavy heart, Miyu and a small army of ten soldiers, her adviser who happened to be her very close friend and caption of her fleet, made their way to Rong Diam.

Once there, Miyu, her caption and four of her best soldiers are shown into the throne room of the Emperor. Miyu sat in the middle, her capon to her left and the soldiers behind them. They all where kneeling in respect to the emperor, who was not there.

"Please forgive the Emperor's absence. He has just received the full responsibilities of emperor and he has been running away lately." The man with brown hair in the corner said.

"Daiki?" Miyu looked around, thinking she heard him.

"Is there a problem, Sire?" The caption, who wore no armor but only a cloak and a strange mask, whispered.

"No, Rave. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." She whispered back. "It couldn't have been his voice." She thought to herself.

"Ah! Here he is!" The brown haired man said.

The Emperor entered the room, taking a seat in the only chair. He wore a cloth around his mouth, and a hat to match, to protect him from the sand surrounding the village

He sighed, obviously not wanting to be there. He took off his head piece showing his ivory hair.

"Daiki! You never told me you were the Emperor!" Miyu smiled

Daiki sighed again, giving a week smile. "Yeah… I know…" His tone shifted from annoyed to professional. "This is Zakquia." He gestured to the man in the corner.

Looking up to her friend on the throne, Miyu turned a little to look at her own caption. "This is Rave, Sir."

After an uncomfortably long silence, Daiki said to Zakquia, "you are dismissed." Then he turned to Miyu. "Empress Miyu, will you and Rave please follow me?" He stood.

"Sire, I cannot leave my post. I must accompany you." Zakquia persisted.

Turning back to the man, Daiki said calmly said back to him, "I don't need an escort. Go, you are dismissed.

"But, Sire!"

"That's and order!" Daiki snapped. Zakquia stood back, following orders. Daiki then turned back to Miyu. "Follow me please."

He led them into the back room. There, they sat low table, Daiki at the head, then a man with short blue-gray hair entered, sitting to the right of Daiki.

Daiki gestured to him. "This is Benwai. He is my head Caption." The man bowed slightly. Daiki said to Benwai, "This is Miyu and Rave."

Rave looked right into Benwai's eyes and said, "Surrender to us. This war is not needed."

Not shaken, Benwai commented back. "It is needed. Echizen attacked us saying that we had killed the royal family, when we did no such thing."

"I saw the crest of the Rong Diam on the men that left the village when I returned." Miyu intervened.

"Those where just scouts that my father sent to report on the attack." Daiki pointed out.

"Oh, I didn't know that scouts where there, and it must have been coincidental that their quivers were empty and blood on their swords." She spat.

"We did not attack Echizen." Benwai restated.

"But I saw! Rong Diam was attacking my home because you knew that we were too powerful for you to take on when my father wasn't sick. I saw the crest, I saw the flames, and I saw Rong Diam attack Echizen!" She said, angrily.

"You saw it, yes. But think about it. Who are the citizens going to believe? The imagination of an 8 year old recently traumatized girl, or the actions of 500 men on an innocent village?" The opposing caption said calmly, but strongly.

"Are you saying I made it up?" She questioned.

"Maybe I am, maybe I'm not."

"Settle down, please." Daiki pleaded.

Turning to him, Miyu said, "What do you think happened?"

Sighing, Daiki said, "They were only scouts, not soldiers. Your country attacked ours."

"Are you not going to surrender to us?" Rave asked.

"We will not." Daiki spoke back.

Miyu stood, angrily. "Then we have nothing to discuss."

"Miyu, wait." Daiki pleaded, but she left with Rave following her.