Someone asked on one of my other stories why I was updating so much today and yesterday, so I figured I'd explain it here. The day after tomorrow I'm going to Donegal and our house there has no internet. Two weeks without fanfiction! So, I'm trying to post as much as I can today as I'll be mostly be packing tomorrow, and I'm trying to get at least one new chapter of each story up.

Hope you enjoy! It'll probably be the last for two weeks. Or more if the weather's good - my parents are OBSESSED!

Chapter Three

"Kimiko? Kimiko!" He called to the unconscious girl in his arms, his worry increasing with each time there was no response.

Two figures emerged from the house that was now close enough for Raimundo to make out their faces. They continued to approach and then the woman seemed to recognise him and ran forward. The man not far behind. "Oh, Raimundo! Thank god you're alright." She hesitated, her arms half risen to embrace him. "But, who is this?" Suddenly she gasped in shock. "Antonio, look!"

The man reached the woman's side and his nostrils flared. "It's alright, Carla, it obviously worked. See, we're safe."

Carla relaxed and stepped towards Raimundo again, patting his arm awkwardly as he was still on the pony. "Don't worry, Raimundo, you're okay now."

Raimundo's eyes narrowed in confusion. "I'll just put her in the basement with the others-"

"Dad! No!" Raimundo snapped, pulling Kimiko closer to him. Antonio and Carla stared at him.

"Raimundo," Carla began gently. "She's-"

"I know who she is, mum!" He snapped again. "I know better than either than you. Leave her alone!"

"She-"

"Yes, mum, she's Kimiko Tohomiko, Princess of Pyronia; I know! Can't you just drop it?"

"Raimundo, you know what the Pyronians have done."

"They've done nothing."

"That's not true, you've seen what's been happening-"

"I'm not denying what's happening, dad. I'm saying it's not the Pyronians."

Raimundo's parents exchanged glances before turning their confusion back to Raimundo. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I don't know all of the details and the one who does is currently unconscious, so-" He broke off, eyes narrowing in suspicion. "Hang on, you said something worked, what did you do?"

"It's a gas, it only effects Pyronians." Carla spoke up, eyes flicking between her son and the girl in his arms. "We had some left over from when we lived in Skymond."

Raimundo groaned. "We just broke out of the Pyronian palace dungeons and I assured both her and her father that she would be safe here. I didn't realise I would have to worry about you sending some sort of noxious gas at her!"

"Broke out of dungeons?"

"Why would the Princess of Pyronia help you out of dungeons?"

Raimundo shrugged, dismounting carefully with Kimiko still in his arms. "It was more helping each other out of the dungeons."

"Why was the Princess of Pyronia in her own dungeon?"

"She'd been in there for months."

"But that would mean…since Pyronia began to do those terrible things…" Carla said slowly, turning it over in her head.

"So, it really is someone else? Someone else has taken control of Pyronia without the people knowing?"

"Yes. The Heylin." Raimundo's parents' eyes widened at his statement. "They're smart, I'll give them that. They got the people to co-operate by making them believe that the orders came from a gravely ill Kimiko."

They began to walk towards the house, Raimundo still cradling Kimiko's unconscious form, with his parents on either side of him. "You can put her in your old bedroom, it should wear off in half an hour."

"Thanks mum."

Carla stepped back to move to Antonio's side. "What do we do with the others?"

Raimundo's head snapped round. "These others; a man and a girl around my age? The girl with blonde hair and green eyes, and the man with brown eyes and black hair, only a little taller than me?"

Antonio and Carla exchanged amused glances. "You know them?"

Raimundo nodded. "Kimiko's dad and her best friend Keiko. They were in danger from the Heylin once they discovered Kimiko had escaped, so they came a short while after us in the carriage… How did they get here first?" He trailed off, squinting in confusion.

"I'm really sorry about that, I had no idea…" Antonio apologised for a second time as he led Toshiro and Keiko to the living room of the house.

"It's alright. I thought Raimundo would've gotten here first."

"Would you like some tea? Something to eat?" Called Carla from the kitchen, and the four became immersed in a conversation about the current situation in Pyronia.

Kimiko woke groggily, sitting up tentatively. Raimundo was reclined in a chair next to the bed with his feet on it. "What happened?"

He smiled grimly, sitting up, replacing his feet on the floor and leaning his hands on his knees. "It seems my parents have taken safety precautions against Pyronians after the last few months. A gas that only affects them. I never knew it was there because it didn't affect me." 'Though it explains why the air felt different than before.' He thought to himself and with the look Kimiko sent his way, he was certain she had heard him.

"Where am I?" She asked, glancing around and realising she was in an unfamiliar blue painted room.

"This is my room. Well, when I'm home, anyway." He shrugged. "I travel a lot. Just staying here is too boring, nothing ever happens."

She nodded in understanding, looking at him speculatively. Raimundo began to squirm, so he stood up. "We should get downstairs, my parents are waiting." Kimiko climbed out of the bed and followed Raimundo down the hall. "Your dad and Keiko are here too. How on earth did they manage to get here before us when we left first?" He remarked, shaking his head, as they descended the stairs.

Kimiko giggled. "Because, a certain someone had to keep stopping. The ponies pulled the carriage non-stop. They're built like that – speed and endurance. You just didn't have the endurance." She teased lightly as they entered the living room where the other four were.

"Hey! I think I did pretty well! It was my first time on one of those things!"

"Yes, I suppose you did well, considering." She conceded as they sat at the table, only then noticing that the others had stopped their conversation to watch their bickering with amused looks on their faces.

"What's the plan, Kimiko?" Keiko piped up, looking expectantly at Kimiko.

"Who says I have a plan?" Kimiko held up her hands defensively. "I just broke out of my own dungeon!"

Keiko raised her eyebrows. "I know you, Kimiko. You have a plan. You've probably been thinking it up since day one in that dungeon."

Kimiko sagged in mock defeat. "Fine, fine." She sighed dramatically, prompting Keiko to roll her eyes. "I suppose I have a small idea."

"When she says 'small idea' she means a fully thought out plan – a battle strategy worthy of war, which, I suppose, this sort of is." Keiko stage whispered to Raimundo and his parents. The three laughed and Kimiko pouted, sending all five of them into fits of laughter.

"Do you want to hear it or not?" Kimiko asked sulkily, but if you looked close enough, you could see her eyes dancing with merriment.

They quietened down and Raimundo mused over how good Kimiko was with people. It surely helped when you had to rule a kingdom. "Alright," He sighed, almost as dramatically as Kimiko had. "Have we quietened sufficiently to hear this plan worthy of a war?"

Kimiko stuck her tongue out at him before leaning closer to the table, beginning to explain her plan with the help of hand gestures and drawings in the air with her fire.

A breeze floated through the house and played through the occupants' hair. Raimundo stared as Kimiko's curls, now revealed to be shiny and vibrant after she had the chance to wash it, bounce around her face and shoulders. The wind picked up, almost seeming to echo the fluttering feeling inside of him and continued to play with Kimiko's hair as he wished he could, abandoning the others' hair completely.

Kimiko glanced at Raimundo out of the corner of her eye as she continued explaining her plan. She eyed him speculatively as he stared while the wind played with her hair despite the fact that the original breeze had left and the others' hair was remaining stationary. It was as if the wind was focusing solely on her… 'Hmmm… I wonder…'

I tried not to leave it on a cliffhanger since it's going to be a while before I update again and I'm really sorry if you feel this is too much of one.