Aware

Pascal lay awoke staring at the shadows that danced on the trees in front of her without seeing. All around her the sounds of night carried on but she was too occupied with her own thoughts to take notice of them. Her and Richard had long since left the cave and were camping in the forest overnight until morning. Currently her back was turned to him while she lay in her pallet. The fire burned warmly behind her gently wrapping her in heat.

'Richard kissed me.' She said in her mind. Between the time they had exited the cave and the time she lay staring at the trees she could have sworn she'd said it more time than she could count. Though she solved some of the most complex problems easily she seemed to be having trouble wrapping her head around that fact. The mere thought of it made her head all wonky to the point where she just couldn't function normally.

Thinking back to the kiss she felt her cheeks burn. It hadn't lasted a long time but she clearly remembered what it felt like. It was warm and soft. She used her hands to rub her hot cheeks. It wasn't a familiar feeling since she rarely got embarrassed. After the kiss she was so shocked that she couldn't speak. That also rarely happened since she always had something to say. There was a moment of silence between them afterwards but then they both picked up as if nothing happened. She collected her eleth crystals and they had made their way out of the cave in silence. She wondered what he was thinking about the whole thing.

Realizing that her thoughts were keeping her wide awoke when she should be sleeping she closed her eyes and tried to clear her mind. It took time but she finally succeeded and fell asleep.

The next morning they both cleaned and packed up their camping supplies. With a night between them Pascal felt maybe she probably misunderstood the whole thing though she couldn't figure out why Richard would ever kiss her. She didn't know the answer but she didn't want to ask him either which was unusual for her because she never had a problem asking any kind of questions before. Pushing it out of her mind she gathered her things and followed Richard through the forest. To dispel the silence she launched into what she was going to do with the eleth crystals. She figured it would keep her busy since Richard hadn't said anything about yesterday.

When the conversation quieted for a while Richard took a deep breath. "Pascal?"

"Yeah?" she asked wondering why her heart beat faster at his serious tone. She felt she knew where this was going and she really didn't want him to say it.

"I feel I need to apologize to you." He began.

"Oh? Don't worry your head about it Richard. It was a mistake, yeah?" she forced a bright smile. "I won't tell anyone, it'll be between me and you."

Richard paused walking so she stopped behind him short of bumping into him. He turned around and looked at her. His thin blond brows knitted together in a frown before he spoke. "No, that's not the reason why I wanted to apologize."

"It's not?" she said confused.

"No. I wanted to apologize because I didn't explain myself. I wasn't sure what I wanted to say so I waited when I shouldn't have. The kiss was not accidental. I kissed you because I hold romantic feelings for you although I do think I should have told you first." He finished.

Pascal's face felt hot just as it did the night before. "Oh…"

Richard watched her for a moment before speaking. "You don't have to respond to these feelings but I wanted you to be aware of them." he gave a light smile before turning away. "We should probably pick up our pace if we want to make it back by nightfall."

"R-Right…" she could only muster up a one word response because she was too shocked for much more. 'It was on purpose…' she said to herself. She looked to Richard's back as he walked ahead of her. She was sure she wouldn't be able to act the same in front of him. She wasn't sure what to do in this situation. It wasn't the first time that she was confessed to but when Hubert did it she did feel like she did now. The question was why Richard was different than Hubert. She contemplated that as they made their way back to the village.

When the two arrived back at the village Taizen awaited them with an anxious expression.

"King Richard I'm glad you've arrived back. A messenger from Barona just arrived with a letter to you from the castle."

Richard took the paper in Taizen's hand and looked over it. "It seems my presence is needed back in Barona. Thank you for bringing this message to me and for your great hospitality Taizen."

"It was my pleasure King Richard. I would be honored if you would visit us again in your leisure time. I will look forward to it." He bent in a respectful bow.

"I assure you I will. Until then you must take care of yourself." Richard turned to look back at Pascal. "I apologize Pascal but I have to go back now."

"No problem. Is everything okay there?" she asked curiously.

"Yes, there is nothing to worry about. There are some affairs I need to see to." A light frown creased his brow momentarily. "I'm sorry we couldn't stay longer."

"S'okay. I got what I came here for. Besides I have to get home to take a looky at this stuff. I'm totally gonna be busy for a while. We can head back since you need to go."

Richard nodded though to Pascal it seemed he wasn't satisfied with something. Before she could ask he gave a quick nod and turned to make preparations to travel back through the forest. With everything settled they quickly gathered their things and begin their journey back to Barona.

The return to where they were dropped off was less eventful than before to which Pascal was thankful. She was sure Richard couldn't take another beating like before since he was still injured. To make sure they didn't run into any trouble the forest guardians escorted them back to the forest exit. Exiting the forest a Turtlez Transport awaited them with a royal guard.

"Looks like this is where we're gonna separate." She said to Richard's back. She was sorta glad they were parting ways for a while. 'I definitely need some time to mull this one over.' She thought to herself.

Richard turned to look at her for a moment before speaking. "Do be careful in your travels Pascal. You're always welcome in Barona and I'd be happy to hear about the progress you make in your research."

"Sure I'll keep you updated. It's totally going to be great!" she said truly starting to feel the excitement of a new discovery.

After their goodbye's Pascal traveled on her way back to the Amarcian Enclave intent on burying herself in her research. Richard had never been so attentive to her. At least she didn't think so. It made her feel awkward and clumsy something very out of the ordinary for her.

Richard arrived back in Barona and headed straight to his office. He knew he was a king and his duties had to be taken care of. He had never had a problem with doing it because he loved taking care of the people of Windor. Only now was he feeling a bit put out because of being called and it had much to do with wanting to stay longer with Pascal. He knew early on that he wouldn't be able to stay long but he didn't feel very rational at the moment.

By the time he reached his office he was ready to handle whatever needed to be done. There were preparations for an upcoming ball for good relations between the three countries in process. They were currently stalled and needed his signature before it was too late so it was quite imperative for him to come back. Resigned to that fact, he began looking through the papers.

When he was finished he sat back gently in his chair to relax his injured back. His thoughts wandered to his actions in the cave the night he and Pascal found the eleth crystals. It was not his intention to kiss her so suddenly but his feelings got the best of him in that moment. He knew he should probably be worried about what his actions could do but he was too happy about Pascal now being conscious of him and his feelings for her. He wasn't sure when or if he should tell Hubert about his desire to pursue a relationship. He originally wanted them to be together but along the way his feelings changed. He knew it was a betrayal but he couldn't help how he felt. Although he only made a move after he knew that Pascal didn't feel that way for Hubert he was positive it didn't matter in this situation.

Releasing a pent up sigh he decided it might not be best to think about this subject for now. It was a difficult situation that caused him great stress. He truly did value his friends after all that had happened. He rose from the chair and proceeded with preparations to welcome the president of Strahta and the Chancellor of Fendel.

AN: It's been waaay too long since I updated. I do hope someone is still reading this. I ran into a serious writer's block on where I wanted to take the story so the result was a shorter chapter than usual that took forever for me to put out. Forgive me. As always I accept all feedback as long as it's constructive. I won't make any promises on when the next chapter will be ready but I will try for it not to be so long away.

R&R please!

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