This story was done in collaboration between me and Jriddle41 (Sodormatchmaker on DeviantART), and we both own the OCs that are used in the story. Credit to author AaronCottrell97 for a few ideas and character suggestions (especially the duel layout for the story). Everything else belongs to their respective owners:

Thomas and Friends (c) Hit Entertainment and Mattel

The Railway Series (c) Rev Wilbert Awdry

Yu-Gi-Oh! (c) Konami

Song used in Intro and Outro (c) Unknown

Entire chapter was written by AaronCottrell97

NOTE: This scene takes place LONG ago, namely during the time Anakin and Anastasia were both still alive.

WARNING: This story is rated M for sexual content and nudity. Reader discretion is completely advised.

Title: Ladies in Waiting

As with most countries in the Duel Monsters spirit world, including the real world back in the older days, the King and Queen - Anastasia's parents - hired ladies-in-waiting to serve the royal family. A female personal assistant attending on a royal woman or a high-ranking noblewoman. Although these women may not have received compensation for the service she rendered, a lady-in-waiting was considered more of a courtier or companion to her mistress than a servant.

Anastasia and her Mother both had their own lady-in-waiting. The Queen's lady was a dirty blonde-haired woman who was close to the Queen's age (40~44) and named Joan, while Anastasia's lady was a black-haired woman a few years older (20 to be exact) than the princess and named Esther. Their duties included proficiency in the etiquette, languages, and dances prevalent at court, secretarial tasks, reading correspondence to her mistress and writing on her behalf, wardrobe care, supervision of servants, keeping her mistress abreast of activities and personages at court, and discreetly relaying messages upon command.

The Queen and princess were both kind and fair women and treated their ladies-in-waiting with kindness and respect, regardless of their differing social ranking and viewed them both as their close companions rather than mere servants... unlike the King. The two ladies-in-waiting knew their mistresses better than most people, as they knew some of their deepest secrets. But not all secrets had been directly shared in strict confidence... As they would soon learn of...

One infamous night, Joan and Esther were both retiring for the night. Earlier on, the other kingdom's prince, who was due to marry Anastasia, had attempted to rape the princess and take her virginity out of a jealous rage, only to be stopped and nearly beaten to death by Anakin, Anastasia's bodyguard. The battle between Anakin and the selfish prince, however, left the former severely scarred on his chest and the side of his face, and he was currently being tended to by Anastasia in his own room since Anastasia's room was damaged in the scuffle. Because of this, Anastasia had to spend the night there with the wounded Anakin while her room was being repaired. Esther had, of course, been asked to provide her mistress with the appropriate sleeping attire, which she had ready for Anastasia as soon as the princess had brought Anakin to his bedroom, where Anakin hadn't slept in years since he was appointed Anastasia's bodyguard, but the King nor Queen knew that. Joan and Esther, however, had been quick to realize that Anakin had been sleeping in Anastasia's bed with her ever since then.

As Joan and Esther approached Anakin's room, they could hear some faint moaning sounds from the room. They sounded distinctively feminine. As they came closer, the feminine moans became louder and they could also hear more manly moaning and panting. There were only two people who could be in there... The two ladies uneasily leaned closer against the wall and listened closely to the moaning and some discussion.

"Oh... Oh! Ahhh... That feels...wonderful!" The moans seemed to belong to a familiar princess.

"Ugh... Anastasia, can we stop now? I'm... I'm hurting all over..." The second voice (who wasn't moaning nearly as much) belonged to a familiar young man.

"Shh, don't stop, Ani... I want this night to be unforgettable for the both of us..." The first voice (female) insisted.

As the moans continued, both Joan and Esther knew exactly what was going on... Anakin and Anastasia were making love. Quickly, and as quietly as they could, Joan and Esther moved away from the door and down the hallway until they couldn't hear the sounds of lovemaking. Both ladies were rather shocked by their discovery. Anastasia, princess of the kingdom, arranged to marry the perverted, manchild-like prince of another kingdom, was having sexual intercourse with a mere soldier, a commoner, outside of wedlock. Just mere hours ago she had been almost robbed of her virginity because of near rape, only for her to willingly throw it away just as quickly afterwards and go against the royal law by making love to a mere soldier, her own bodyguard who had just been critically injured in the wake of fulfilling his main duty; protecting her at all costs. Joan, the older of the two ladies-in-waiting, seemed to recover first, and quickly issued an order to the younger Esther...

"Not a word. Keep it dark." The dirty blonde-haired woman insisted.

Esther wanted to object, seeing as her mistress had gone against traditions. Esther and Joan both had recognized beforehand that Anakin was clearly in love with Anastasia, and Anastasia had noticeable feelings for him as well, which only became more apparent once she had been forced in an arranged marriage. Anakin was devilishly handsome, while Anastasia was angelically beautiful. Joan and Esther could tell that there was already an attraction and lust between Anakin and Anastasia just through each of their attractive bodies. It was impossible for such physical attraction to not exist between them, since they both had such ideal sexually attractive bodies that most men and women could only dream of having naturally. With how much time Anakin and Anastasia spent together and how close they were, the lust for each other's bodies was only natural as they grew older (into adulthood), especially when they've slept together in the same bed for so many years...

Anastasia was wise for her age, but even she was not immune to succumbing to her emotions, so it was clear that in her gratitude towards Anakin for saving her, she had succumbed to her sexual desires for him and gave herself to him completely. It was the consequences of this act that terrified both Joan and Esther. If the King were to discover what had happened, he would immediately have Anakin executed for violating Anastasia, taking her virginity, and possibly impregnating her, as well as the fact that he made love to her when she was already arranged to be married, and Anastasia would most likely be thrown into the dungeons for her treachery.

The other thing that terrified them was how Anakin would react if they had been ratted out. Anakin was immensely powerful for his age, but his emotions were also very unstable, and if pushed too far, he could be become an extremely dangerous weapon of mass destruction, as he had clearly demonstrated earlier that night by coming within an inch of killing off the perverted prince with just his bare hands alone. If Anakin was pushed to that extent again, the damage he would cause could perhaps be of catastrophic proportions.

With all that in mind, Esther agreed to keep quiet about the whole thing...

(later...)

A week had passed since Anakin and Anastasia made love... Joan and Esther both had still not spoken of the incident with anybody. On that day, Anakin was due to join the King and his army for another battle, and neither he nor Anastasia were happy about it, because it meant that they would be away from each other. After they confessed their love for each other and had sex, the two of them had never been happier together. Even so, they tried to keep their new relationship as much of a secret as possible. But when they were alone, the new lovers were very passionate with each other.

Since they became a couple, they had made love a second time. They even snuck out of the castle and went to their old hideout in the forest. Inside the cabin, Anastasia was giving Anakin a massage to help him feel better, which they had done several times in the past. This time, however, things took a much drastic turn, as they were no longer close friends... This time, now that the two of them were in a sexual relationship, they found the massage to be arousing. They tried to hold back their arousal, but just one kiss was all it took for both of them to get lost in their love and desires. Compared to their first time, their second time making love was much more loving, passionate, AND much longer than normal... Anastasia's legs hurt like hell afterwards, but she didn't really care about the details. Anakin did his best to help ease the pain between Anastasia's legs, but he didn't regret being rough with her; she loved it, after all.

Now though, they were walking through the castle hallways, discussing Anakin's time with the kingdom's other soldiers in their coming battle.

"Another pointless battle I'm forced to partake in... Away from you, where I can't protect you..." sighed Anakin.

Ever since the prince had attempted to rape her, as well as the fact that they were now a couple, Anakin had become more protective of Anastasia than ever before.

"You know, I can't have a knight protecting me ALL the time, Ani." Anastasia pointed out.

"I'm gonna miss you, Anastasia."

"I know you will." The princess nodded understandingly, becoming quite sad herself. "I wish we could just stay here together... But so long as you're our kingdom's greatest soldier, you'll always be forced onto the battlefield by orders of my Father, the King. We each have jobs to do, and right now, protecting me isn't yours."

"No. It's more of a hobby." replied Anakin, as he put his arm around Anastasia's waist and led her over to the corner out of sight.

With no one else around, Anakin pulled his beautiful princess close to his chest. Anastasia wrapped her arms around Anakin's neck, while he wrapped both his arms around her waist.

"I love you."

Anastasia smiled. "I love you, too."

They leaned in for a passionate kiss. They were both used to being separated due to battles in the past, but this was the first it was happening since they became a couple, so naturally they were more upset and concerned about this upcoming battle, so they tried to savor this kiss for as long as they could. They both just hoped that Anakin would return safely like he always did.

"Princess Anastasia..." Anakin and Anastasia opened their eyes in surprise when they heard somebody addressing them, but they were more surprised that they had been caught kissing in public. They pulled away each others lips and turned to find Esther standing in front of them. "...the Queen wishes to see you, m'Lady."

"We were just-" Anakin tried to say, before Anastasia silenced him.

"Esther understands discretion, Anakin."

"Perhaps better than you." suggested Esther.

"Right... we'll talk when I get back." said Anakin, before he left the hallway to join the rest of the troops in the courtyard outside.

Anastasia was sad to see her lover go, but she had other matters to attend to. With Anakin away, responsibility for protecting Anastasia rested on Esther. As she and Esther made their way to the throne room, Esther noticed that Anastasia was worried about something.

"You're worried about Sir Anakin, aren't you?" she asked.

"When aren't I?" retorted Anastasia, but not in a rude tone.

"Sir Anakin has never failed this kingdom in any war, this upcoming battle shall be no exception." comforted Esther. "He will return."

Anastasia always considered Esther more as a friend rather than a servant, but she was still touchy about the fact that Esther had caught her and Anakin making out and ruining their private moment - even if it was by accident. It may not have been the brightest idea to kiss in an area where anybody could walk by, but she was still most annoyed about it. It was moments like where Anastasia wouldn't hesitate to assert her authority over her lady-in-waiting.

"Esther... you saw nothing happen between Anakin and I." she instructed. "Am I clear?"

Ester nodded. "Of course, m'lady... Crystal clear."

(later...)

That evening, Esther met up with Joan and told her about how she had seen Anakin and Anastasia kissing. Further evidence that the two of them had secretly begun a relationship since they had made love that night.

"Our lady is many things. But subtle, she is not. Sir Anakin even less so... You know, perhaps that's why they get along so well." said Esther. "As her lady-in-waiting, sometimes protecting her also means protecting her secrets."

"I know. It just seems...ill-advised." Joan replied doubtfully, well aware of the risks that this secret relationship carried.

"Our lady allows herself so few moments of happiness." asked Esther, as she placed her hand on her older friend's shoulder. "How can we begrudge her this?"

Joan knew full well that the black-haired young woman was right. Anastasia was happier with Anakin than she had ever been before. If she were to be forced away from him because of her forced engagement to the perverted prince - who didn't even love her to begin with, and who simply wanted her for perfect, goddess tier body all for himself and even attempted to rape her out of jealousy - she would be completely heartbroken, even more so if anyone else discovered that she and Anakin had begun a forbidden relationship. Losing Anakin would destroy Anastasia... In the end, however, Joan and Esther both wanted their princess to be happy, and she deserved it.

"I...suppose you're correct." sighed Joan at last. "All we can do is hope that it won't end badly."

Those were the key words; 'hope'.

End Scene