It was the next night. The sun was just setting when Gaius noticed, through a window, a girl. She had bright blonde pigtails and yellow dress with what looked like a white apron. Man, she's not half bad-looking, was his first thought. He immediately shook that thought out of his head. I have to stay on track. Just wait 'til she falls asleep then grab her. Wait, that is the princess, right?

The girl flopped down onto the bed and pulled a few curtains to her bed shut. Gaius crept closer to the window and heard her murmuring something. He could only make out a few words: "Stupid… Chrom… Not weak…" He scrunched his eyebrows. Was she angry at the prince?

The girl pulled away some curtains and stared out the window. Gaius moved just in time, or did he? The girl jumped off of her bed and ran to the window, pushing it open. She held her head out, glancing around when she caught sight of Gaius. She tilted her head slightly.

"What are you doing outside my window?" she asked in a very innocent tone.

"Uh, just got lost," Gaius replied quickly.

"You're not going to kidnap me or anything, right?" she laughed.

"Well, actually, it's kinda on my job description to," he said as he scratched the back of his head.

"Oh, that's good. I was scared for minute that-" she stopped talking immediately. Her eyes widened and she pulled her head back inside. She grabbed the nearest thing she could find- her staff- and let out a scream as Gaius jumped in through the window. He took a few steps closer to her.

"Look, princess, I'm not gonna hurt you," He said in a calming voice, getting ever so closer to her. He had her backed into a corner now.

"G-get away from me!" the girl screamed, holding her staff out at him. "Guards! Help-" Her screams were muffled by Gaius who had put his hand over her mouth. He turned her around and grabbed her, picking her up and retreating out the window as fast he could.

Right as he had jumped out the window, the guards burst into the princess's room. They watched as Gaius fled.

"Get him! He has the princess!" the leader of the guards yelled.

An archer ran up to the window and aimed right at Gaius' back. But as the arrow flew from the bow, Gaius jumped down onto the streets. The townsfolk screamed and didn't know exactly what was going on.

...

Minutes later, Gaius, still holding the girl, had escaped into the forest. It was right as he was certain they had gotten away that he put the girl down. She had her arms crossed and glared at the thief.

"Bring me home right now," She demanded.

"No," Gaius responded.

"Bring me home or I'll scream. They're not too far behind. They can still find me."

"No."

"Bring me home right now!" She pouted.

"No."

And it was then that she let out the most bloodcurdling scream in the world. Gaius quickly turned around and put his hand over her mouth, only for her to bite it.

"Ow! That hurt!" Gaius yelled at her. He shook his hand and stared at the girl angrily. There was the sound of running hooves getting closer.

"Oh, look. Here they come. They'll sweep me off my feet and bring me back home."

"Nope!" He exclaimed, running up to her and picking her up again. She thrashed around and tried to get free, but Gaius held onto her tight. He sprinted as fast as he could, dodging trees and rocks and having to jump over a stream or two. The sounds of the horses getting closer and closer only made him go faster.

"Let. Me. GO!" The princess screamed. She repeated it over and over again as Gaius ran. He was getting just a bit annoyed of her. Why did I take this job? he thought, not really paying attention to where he was running anymore or the sounds around him. He just wanted to block the princess's annoying voice out of his head. Why didn't I just break out of jail when I could?

The next second, he noticed blood spilling out of his nose. Oh damn, not now! He jumped behind a tree and put the still thrashing princess down. With one hand he had her pushed against the tree and with the other he held the blood in his nose, trying not to have it spill all over him. The princess began to whack Gaius in the head with her staff.

"Let me go!" She yelled at him once more. As she was about to hit him again with her staff, he whipped his bloody hand up and grabbed it.

"Calm down, Princess," he snarled before letting go of the staff and going back to his nose. "And be quiet."

...

Once the bleeding had stopped, there was no sign of the knights anywhere. The Princess was silent and glaring at him, her staff on the ground. She had her hands around her knees and her hair had fallen out of its regular pigtails. As she noticed Gaius looking back at her, she glanced away.

"Alright, Princess, we have to keep moving," He said as he wiped his face free of blood.

She jumped up and shook her head. "No! It's, uh, too dark…"

He raised his eyebrows. "You're scared of the dark?"

She nodded. "Yes…"

"It will be dark if we stay here or if we keep going."

"Then make a fire."

"No thanks. I have no plans on being found tonight."

"Please?" the princess asked, flashing him puppy eyes.

A/N Okay, if you were wondering at all, this is written in third person limited point of view. I hope you enjoyed the chapter! It's a bit longer than the first one. This chapter was updated quickly. The next few chapters may be a few more days apart. Oh yes, and the romance might come soon. Usually bickering leads to romance... right?

Also, in response to the review I had gotten from Cormag Ravenstaff: Yes, now that I read over it again that part about the money exchange is a bit confusing. I guess I didn't really know how to word it, but it was supposed to mean he would get enough gold to pass by for that amount of months without having to steal anything. He would need to go unnoticed for awhile to stay out of trouble in case he were caught and someone recognized him, somehow possibly linking him to the kidnap. And thank you for the review.

-missxmad