/WITH NIDA/
Nida sighed again as she hung up her phone. She turned to the butterflies fluttering around her.
"Would some of you go and watch over him? I worry, you know?" The butterflies flickered, and a few flew off. Nida waved them off, thanking them before heading back to bed. Leila, Saasa, and Aladdin were all asleep by the time she returned, so she just climbed into bed, worrying about what might happen in the next few days.
She slept, but she didn't dream.
/THE NEXT DAY/
Nida sat with Aladdin in her lap, her breasts resting on the top of his head-not that Aladdin minded- as they watched the caravan group determine their next route. She didn't really know what was going on, since she was busy speaking to Badr and some of the other spirits.
"I was thinking about it last night, Badr-chan, but I've been having weird dreams lately."
"Oh? What are those dreams about, little angel?"
"Well, I'm talking to a boy who is slightly older than me, who isn't Suzu, and this boy was trying to keep me from going somewhere… Somewhere that was dangerous that he was going to. He told me it was because…" Nida trailed off, embarrassed.
"Go on sweetie, what happened?" Badr coaxed. Nida squeezed Aladdin a little closer to her, to which he responded by patting her arm.
"Badr, the boy in my dream told me he loved me. Too much to stay away. And he…" She paused, biting her lower lip.
"He kissed me."
/ALADDIN/
As he sat in Nida-nee's lap, her large, soft breasts on his head, he noticed a few of the bird-like butterfly things flittering around him and Nida-nee. Mostly around Nida-nee, though, so he figured they must be talking to her. He felt Nida tense and squeeze him tight, so he patted her arm as a small sign of comfort and started paying more attention to the scene in front of him.
A couple low-life bandits had come up to the caravan, revealing a secret that they all could have gone without knowing.
The thief that pretended to be dying in the desert to trick and steal from various caravans, the one Saasa told him about before, turned out to be the one person no one expected.
It was Leila.
Saasa was horrified, and the caravan leader stated that she was no longer trustworthy. But Aladdin knew something was off.
Leila loved the caravan and its members, especially Saasa. She wouldn't do anything to hurt them, especially not on purpose.
As if she sensed a problem, Nida finally snapped out of her daze, and whacked Leila on the back of the head.
"Last night, didn't you tell us that you owed your life to them? Aren't they your precious family?!" She shouted. Leila turned to her, anger and tears clear on her face.
"They aren't family! I wasn't born in the caravan like the rest of them! I'm just an outsider!" Nida grabbed Leila by her top.
"You think that's the definition of family?! 'Being born into it'?! BULLSHIT!" She threw Leila to the ground. Aladdin, though shocked at the difference in Nida's attitude, stood by with a worried expression, watching. Nida's posture slackened slightly, as she looked off into the distance.
"'Family' is the people who feed you, clothe you, and shelter you. 'Family' stays by you when things go wrong. 'Family' embraces your flaws and comforts you when you're sad. You're happy together, angry together, and sad together. Sure, there will be fights, but when you make up, the bond between you will be stronger. Family has nothing to do with where you were born. Because 'family' is the people who you love, and the people who love you back, unconditionally." She turned back to Leila. "Do you love the caravan, Leila?" The tears in Leila's eyes fell hot and hard.
"Y-YES!" She wailed. Nida crouched down and pulled Leila into a hug.
"Then what are you still doing here? Let's go to your family." Leila nodded, wiping her face with her sleeve. Aladdin smiled, but then turned serious.
"We're going to have to be fast. They're headed toward bandit territory, right? Let's go! Nida ran to her mattress and pulled out a strange looking stick with an odd pattern on it.
'Louisville Slugger'
Those bandits were in for some damage from the hell storm that is Nerida Aberdeen. Nida pointed her Louisville slugger in a random direction.
"Let us go forth and rescue the damsels! SEIZE THE DAY!" and she charged.
"Nida-nee, it's this way!" Aladdin called. Nida spun around and charged into the direction Aladdin was pointing.
"Seize the day!" Aladdin shook his head at his silly nee-san, as he pulled out Ugo.
"Let's go, Ugo!" And he blew into the flute.
/SUZU/
Suzu awoke to the chirping of birds. He slid out of bed, eyes still closed, and walked over to the window. He opened his eyes slowly and looked out the window, expecting to see the bustling beach town he and Nida had grown accustomed to. Instead, though, he saw a large garden filled with flowers and fruit trees.
His face deadpanned.
"The fuck…" He stepped backwards, tripping on his own feet and falling onto his backside. He stood up, brushed himself off, and began to think.
"Okay, let's see…" He began to pace. "I got home, couldn't find Nida, found her missing, then a storm went through my house, I ended up in this weird place, and am now employed by a royal family as a doctor. This makes so much sense… I remember now. Okay. Panic mode off." He stopped pacing and looked around the bedroom, stopping when he saw the wardrobe. He looked down, remembering that he wore the current robe all day the day before, and walked over to it. Inside were beautiful silk robes made for only those of high standing.
Females of high standing. He cursed. He was a guy. Admittedly, he knew he was pretty, but he still would like at least a pair of pants.
"But I don't want to wear this one, it's dirty." He sighed, feeling dejected as he pulled a lovely blue qipao out of the wardrobe. It was ankle length, had silver accents and sheer black sleeves. At least it was modest. He slid off the robe and placed it on the bed, noticing a bowl full of warm water and a cloth. He picked up the cloth and wrung it out, wiping the dirt, sweat, and grime off of his body. When he felt he was clean enough, he slid on the qipao. He remembered seeing a vanity with a mirror, so he walked over to it to look at his reflection. What he saw made him cringe.
The whites of his eyes were bloodshot, his hair stuck up at odd angles, and he had dark circles and bags under his eyes.
"Ugh, I look like a mess." He groaned, sitting down and grabbing the brush off of the vanity to try and tame the rat's nest he called hair. Once he was sure that he was as good as he was going to look, he stood, pulling on a pair of black shoes, and made his way out the door. He stopped short, turning back to the bed where the animals slept.
"Come on, lazy fur-children! It's time to explore!" Not an inch of movement. Suzu sighed, closing his eyes.
"Breakfast." He opened his eyes to find that the pets were no longer in the bed. He felt hot air on his leg and looked down. Momo was standing there, tail wagging a mile a minute, waiting for her breakfast. With Sebastian riding on her back. He sighed again.
"Why did I know that was going to work? Meh, come on." The odd trio skipped down the corridor, searching for the kitchens. Momo paused mid step, sticking her nose in the air. With an excited yip, she rushed past Suzu, who in turn followed the new leader. She skidded to a stop in front of a pair of large, wooden doors. Cherry, from the look and feel. Suzu opened the door and peeked inside. It seemed that despite it being early morning, no one was awake to prepare anything. Suzu was the lone human in the kitchen. He grinned as his brown eyes twinkled.
God help us all.
I'm sorry it's so late, everyone. And so short. I've been busy with internship this semester, and haven't really had time to sit down and write. This is my last semester, and I need to do well to graduate. That means pass my classes and complete 180 hours of internship up until the last week of April. (I'm already done about 25 hours right now).
For notes; Someone in comments mentioned that Nida is having a better time than Suzu. It really isn't that surprising, if you think about it. Nida's personality is so go-with-the-flow chill that she really doesn't seem to care. But physically, it's hard on her, because she's physically weak. Plus, she's out in a desert doing lots of walking in the heat, and while she's used to the sand because she lives in a beach town, she's also used to the ocean to cool her off.
Suzu, on the other hand, has been brought to the palace after being mistaken for Judar, interrogated by the sexy prince Kouen, and welcomed into the palace of weirdos for getting a kink out of the first prince's neck. Now he is a doctor at the palace, where he has luxuries Nida doesn't have at the moment. But he's having a harder time mentally, because he is much more logical than Nida. And while the Kappa issue really did happen, dimension hopping has only ever been a science fiction phenomenon, and he's not quite sure how to take it, despite the company of the handsome prince.
Basically, they're both having their own ups and downs, and it's going to go downhill before they reach the trampoline at the bottom.
Anyway, I'll get the next chapter out when I can, but it might take a while. I'm really sorry.