"Then don't say anything." Shun smiled at her.
He kissed her and she was quick to respond. Finally, they broke apart and Fabia smiled up at him. Shun's breath caught in his throat. She had reverted back to Neathian form while they were kissing, and she looked...incredible.
Her green eyes sparkled like some indescribable gem-like the most beautiful emerald ever, a million times over. Her skin was soft and a beautiful shade of purple...
"Shun? Are you okay?" Fabia looked up at him, concerned.
"Huh? Oh, sorry." He blushed, realizing that he had been staring at her. "No, I'm fine." He told her.
"Oh, good. Because I wanted to give you this." Fabia held out a simple ring, but one with a jewel Shun didn't even recognize, cut so perfectly that one couldn't help but stare at it. "This ring was my father's. It will protect you from death. He-he didn't wear it that day."
Shun knew what day she was talking about. The day. The day when Fabia's life changed forever, when her attackers murdered her parents right in front of her.
He slipped it on, knowing how much trust she must have in him to give one of the last items that connected her to her parents.
"F-Fabia...I-I don't know what to say." Shun said.
"Don't say anything..." All of a sudden, Fabia yawned and snuggled into him.
Watching her sleep peacefully, Shun smiled, happy to know that she was okay. Shun carefully laid her down on the bed, and covered her with the thick comforter.
On a sudden impulse, he bent down and kissed her forehead, and she smiled in her sleep. He nodded to Aranaut, and turned off the light.
"Good night, Aranaut."
"Good night, Shun. Sleep well."
Shun crawled into bed, exhausted, and slept very peacefully and deeply. Until..."Shun!"
"What?" Shun asked, somewhat irritably.
"I-I failed her." Aranaut came into the room, looking terrible.
"What!" Shun bolted upright, knocking a picture frame of him and Fabia to the floor. As he stared at the broken glass, Shun felt his heart go into overtime.
"I-I failed her...again." Aranaut kept mumbling to himself.
"Aranaut, what happened?" Shun asked quietly, trying not to frighten the Bakugan. Shun had had several experiences with wounded animals, and he found that humans and Bakugan tended to react the same way-biting and scratching when they were cornered.
"I-I-They-Fabia-gone-failure-bad-stupid..." Aranaut couldn't seem to stop it.
"Aranaut, ssshhh! It's okay. Calm down. Take a deep breath, okay?" Shun carefully walked toward the Bakugan and carried him into the dining hall, where all the Brawlers, Commander Elright, and Linus were sitting, laughing and talking and eating breakfast.
"Uh, guys?" Shun cleared his throat. Immediately all of the Brawlers stood up and came to say good morning.
"Morning, buddy!" Dan shouted loudly.
"Ummmm, can someone help me here?" Shun opened his hand, and all the Brawlers saw Aranaut sitting there, just mumbling to himself over and over again.
"Aranaut, what's wrong?" Asked Drago.
"I-Fabia-taken-gone-failed-bad-Jin-gone..." Aranaut mumbled.
"Huh?" Dan said.
"He looks like he's in shock!" Ren said, surprised. The Castle Knight Bakugan never seemed to be scared or surprised, let alone a mumbling mess.
"Ssshhhh, what's wrong, Aranaut? Calm down, it's okay. You can tell us. We won't hurt you." Drago went up to the Bakugan and tried to calm him down.
"F-F-Fabia! Gone! Gundalians! Take! Failure!" Aranaut shouted, startling the Pyrus Bakugan, then curled up in ball form as tight as he could.
"Fabia? Fabia!" Shouted Shun. He began running to her hospital room as fast her could, Aranaut tucked into his pocket.
When he got there, all that remained of the bed where she had been sleeping was a couple of scorched blankets and twisted metal casings. In the midst of all that, a piece of paper with writing on it floated in the midst of a green bubble.
Shun sank to his knees. "She's...gone.", he whispered, shocked.
"What happened?" Commander Elright ran into the room, the rest of the Brawlers on his heels.
"Shun! You okay, buddy?" Dan shook him roughly, and Shun snapped out of it, shaking his head.
"They-they took her." He whispered.
"What's this?" Elright had discovered the bubble. He cautiously reached inside of the bubble, taking the piece of paper out so fast one would think his hand was on fire. Immediately, the bubble disappeared.
'Dear Brawlers,
I took your precious Princess Fabia. Poor girl didn't know what hit her. I've always wanted to know what the inside of a Neathian looks like! If you want her back...well, you're going to have to give me Dan and Drago, Shun and Hawktor, and Commander Elright. Oh, and the Queen must publicly admit that the Gundalians will win the war. Have fun! You have one month to decide, or your little Princess turns into a science experiment!
-Kazarina.'
Commander Elright read, his voice shaking. "Queen Serena is not going to be happy."
"Well, neither am I!" yelled Shun.
They all looked at Shun-even Aranaut, who came out of his ball form to look at Shun and backed away from him, bumping into Hawktor. The usually stone-silent, polite, modest, and strong ninja they knew was nowhere to be found. In his place was a furious, upset and very dangerous beast.
"Dude, chill out. You can't help her if you can't help yourself." Dan told him, being very careful to say it calmly.
"I-I-Okay. I'm sorry." Shun took a deep breath and stood up, Dan steadying him. "I'm sorry, Aranaut."
Without a word, the Haos Bakugan closed himself up again, and flew towards Shun.
"Aranaut, please come out. We need your help! We won't hurt you, we just want to talk!" Shouted Hawktor. The two Bakugan had become good friends since Fabia and Shun were paired together so often.
The Bakugan had flown off to let the humans and Neathians talk; now it was their turn to help. They needed to find Aranaut, and get the full story out of him. It was obvious that he was terrified, and therefore could be dangerous. They didn't really think Aranaut would try to hurt them, but he was a powerful Bakugan and so they tried not to corner him.
"Aranaut!" Shouted Drago. "We need to know what happened!"
After searching all over the Royal Palace, the Bakugan were about to give up when Awkwimos had an idea. "Hey, if I was scared, I would go somewhere I knew really well. Maybe Aranaut's in Fabia's room!"
"Let's go, then." Said Coredom.
When they came in, the lights were on. There was no sign of Aranaut, however. The five Bakugan flew around the room, trying to find him.
Finally, Hawktor decided to check next to Fabia's bed, where there was several pictures and a couple of small jewelry boxes. Next to a picture of Fabia, Jin, and him, they found Aranaut, curled up tightly.
"Aranaut?" Hawktor said softly, trying not to scare him any more.
"W-What? F-Fabia-gone-no-failed-failure." Muttered the frightened Bakugan. He slowly uncurled himself until he faced Hawktor and Drago, who had flown down, after motioning to the others to stay where they were, and not crowd Aranaut.
"No...You're not a failure. It wasn't your fault she was captured." At the word 'captured', Aranaut blanched and started to fly towards the door, but was blocked by Coredom and Linehalt.
"I-I need to talk t-to S-S-Shun..." Said Aranaut shakily. Flanked by Linehalt and Hawktor, the Haos Bakugan slowly flew towards the dining hall.
The Brawlers were talking when Aranaut came in.
"Sh-Shun! I need to talk to you." Said Aranaut.
"Okay." Shun replied.
The rest of the Brawlers and Bakugan except Hawtor left them alone.
"Aranaut-Are you okay?" Shun asked carefully, not wanting to scare off Aranaut.
"I-am fine. The-the Princess. I-I-I failed her, again. I-need to save her. Can you...help me?" The Bakugan choked out.
Shun nearly did a spit-take. The proud Castle Knight Bakugan, asking for...help? That just blew his mind. Aranaut was humble, but he hated asking for help-much like the Princess.
Hawktor quite literally dropped out of the air, but regained flight millimeters above the ground.
"Of course, Aranaut! I love Fabia more than anything, and I was going to leave tonight, without the rest of the Brawlers knowing, but I would be happy to have you along."
"It is my great honor to serve as your temporary guard." Aranaut said, bowing to both Shun and Hawktor.
"The honor is all mine." Shun smiled.
All three's heads bent together as they started to make out the finer details of their rescue mission.
That night, three shadows slipped out of the Royal Palace, using the transporter room, by way of knockout gas, effectively silencing the guards who guarded the room.
As the three shadows approached Emperor Barodius's castle, the largest one knocked out a guard and put on his suit, placing the Bakugan into the helmet.
One guard approached Shun just as he was suited up, causing him to jump, then immediately salute.
The guard nodded, and went on his way.
"Phew. That was close." Muttered Shun.
"What'd you say, scumbag?" The guard had heard him mutter to himself.
"I-Me? I said, 'Hail Emperor Barodius!'" Shun quickly said.
"Oh. Okay. Go on your way, soldier." The guard said.
"Yes, sir!" Shun saluted, then walked off, trying not to run.
Shun: EmberAmberFirdaus would like to thank you for reading this.
Fabia: She would also like to acknowledge Pooch2010 for her continued support and helping ideas!
Me: Yes, she would! Thank you so much! And, also, if you like the story, PLEASE REVIEW! It's the only way I can know whether or not to keep posting chapters and stories! Thank you!