A/N: Our heroes are off the ship, but they should not rest easy. There is yet more danger ahead!! What do I mean by that? Read on....

Chapter Four: Out of the Frying Pan…

Treize was the first to wake up to the sound of the water lapping against the sides of the lifeboat they had escaped in. the first thing that greeted his eyes was the morning sky, a bright summer sun beating down on them. It was a beautiful morning. The sky was a vibrant blue and there didn't seem to be a single cloud. He rose, stretching out his arms and looking around, seeing nothing but water. They had been adrift ever since they escaped from the ship last night and almost immediately upon hitting the water, Lillia fell asleep, much to his chagrin; he had to row almost the whole night before he fell asleep too.

He then turned an eye to Lillia, still fast asleep. She looked so beautiful when she was asleep. The morning light made her light brown hair shine with a brilliant glow, almost blinding him. Her face looked so gentle and calm, like all the adventures and tight situations and numerous close shaves they have had together never bothered her in the slightest. He couldn't help but smiled at how peaceful she looked. Even in a time of peril and uncertainty, she maintained her beauty. Treize then looked up to the sky, trying to see God beyond the sky, wondering whether this had been divine intervention. Maybe this whole adventure was intended. In the past, he looked on things like this as a nuisance, serving only to interrupt his moments with her, but he realized during his days in school that all those tough situations they too often got caught in had brought them together. It was because of what had happened to both of them that made them feel the way they do. They always depended on the other, and helped each other whenever it got tough. Perhaps this was God interceding again, and bringing them closer. Perhaps everything that had been tossed their way truly was intended. He smiled and chuckled as he saw a bird cross the sky, flying to a part of the world unknown to him. He wondered what kind of life that bird led, what sort of existence it occupied in this life, and mused if it had a loved one and a family to care for.

Fly on, little bird. Wherever you are going, I hope you get there, and find what you are looking for.

He brought his gaze back down to his sleeping companion and gently tapped her shoulder.

"Lillia…"

No answer came from her. Treize tapped her again.

"Lillia, wake up. We have to start rowing."

"Mmm…Treize…"

"C'mon, Lillia. You can't sleep all day you know."

"Just five more minutes please…"

Treize gave her a slight tap on the head, hard enough to wake her up but soft enough not to hurt her. Lillia's bronze eyes fluttered open and met Treize's brown.

"Why'd you have to wake me, Treize? I was having a nice dream too."

"If we want to get to Bolse, we have to keep rowing."

Lillia sighed and grabbed an oar as did Treize and they started rowing. As they did, with the lapping of the water against the wood of their oars, Treize thought now might be a good time to talk to her, and perhaps even open up to her a little more.

"Say, Lillia, what were you dreaming about?" Lillia blushed at the question

"Um…it's nothing really important…"

"You sure about that? I'm certain it must be at least somewhat interesting."

"N-no, Treize. It wasn't really all that interesting anyway…" Lillia assured him, laughing nervously. Her mind was screaming at her:

You idiot! Why the heck did you say that?!

"Treize, how long do you think it will take before we reach Bolse?"

"If we go by this boat alone, probably by this evening. If a plane picks us up, in less than a few hours."

"Do you even know in what direction Bolse is?"

"I studied in geography class that it is the port in Sou-Beil furthest to the north. And according to my compass…" He then looked at his compass that he had in a pouch in his utility belt. "…we're heading north."

"Do you always carry a compass with you?" Lillia asked with an eyebrow raised.

"Do you have to ask?" Lillia chuckled and shook her head.

"You always come prepared."

Lillia then looked up in the sky, the bright and hot summer sun beating down on them and reflecting in the ocean, glittering in their eyes. They started rowing northwards to Bolse, wasting away many hours with watching the monotonous sea, floating along alone and solitary on that soft and peaceful main, a smooth and graceful surface of glass, each of them knowing not of what the Goddess of Fate had in store for the two adventurers in the next minute. Both tried to find something to look at to pass time but there was nothing, only the eternal roll of the waves against the hull of their little vessel carrying them in their exodus across the river to the west. Both tried to find words for each other and tried to express their thoughts, their fears, their reservations and deepest regrets but the words did not come. There was only the silence, the river, and their rowing. It was almost as if there was nothing that could be said. How could one talk about anything other than their present status at a time like this? In each mind, a silent war raged.

I have to tell her.

I have to tell him.

I need to tell her.

I need to tell him.

Why is this happening to us? Why does this always happen to us? Why is it that something always interferes just when we are about to say the words, just when we are having the most perfect moment that anyone could ask for, something gets in our way?

Can it be that God doesn't want me to be with Lillia? Have I been pursuing a mistake all this time? Is God just testing us and our faith in each other?

After rowing for more than four hours, both their thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of a propeller from not too far away. Lillia looked up from her rowing and saw in the sky something yellow.

"Hey, Treize…"

"Yes, Lillia?"

"Look up in the sky. What is that?"

Treize looked up and saw something yellow circling them in their small boat floating across the river. The yellow blob in the sky started to get nearer and nearer as it circled them. Treize looked hard and squinted his eyes in the sunlight as the yellow thing came down closer and closer. Slowly it began to take shape in front of him. It was a very small single propeller yellow seaplane. The call sign was written on its sides in black lettering in Bezelese: CN3251. In his head, he was cheering seeing this as the reprieve he needed, they needed. Now they could get to Bolse in no time flat, apprehend the smugglers and get back to their vacation. He smiled and turned to Lillia jubilantly expressing the news that deserved rejoice.

"It's a plane! Lillia, it's a plane!!"

At that revelation, Lillia's eyes widened and her mouth turned into a large smile and laughed. She stood up tall in the boat and almost lost her balance before Treize pulled her back down. They then waved to the plane as it circled above them around and around in the sky, shouting up to it to make the pilot hear.

"HEY! HERE WE ARE!"

"LOOK! DOWN HERE! WE SENT THE MESSAGES!!"

"LAND OVER HERE!!! OVER HERE!"

The seaplane banked to the left and now dropping altitude, coming from the north and heading straight at them. Treize instantly sensed something amiss and looked at the plane heading towards them in suspicion.

"He's coming in awful fast for a landing…"

"Not fast enough for me!!" Lillia said happily waving to the pilot in the cockpit of the plane as it came straight at them.

The seaplane was now so low it was almost skimming the water, and still heading straight for the boat. Treize then knew what was happening and pulled Lillia down onto the floor of the boat by her shoulder as the seaplane passed over the boat and climbed into the sky behind them. Lillia immediately got up and looked back at the plane as it regained altitude and was preparing to do a U-turn. She was rightfully angry and red in the face.

"Hey! Watch where you're flying!!"

No sooner had she spoken those words did the plane do a U-turn and was now diving down at them from the south. Lillia shook her fist at the plane and threw all sorts of insults at the pilot for his reckless flying.

"He's coming back!"

"You lunatic! You flying pirate!!"

Treize looked closely at the seaplane as it flew directly at them and could see that on the plane's nose there was a small machine gun. His eyes widened and without a moment's hesitation turned to Lillia and yelled to her just as the machine gun opened up,

"LILLIA, JUMP!"

Both promptly jumped into the water off to their left and in so doing capsized the boat and turned it upside down. The pilot of the seaplane fired the machine gun which threw small splashes into the air and then cast a large string of bullet holes through the hull of the upturned boat practically turning it into Swiss cheese as it flew over and climbed into the air. The pilot, a tall thin mustachioed man of about 22, then picked up the radio receiver on the control panel and called out to base.

"CN3251 to headquarters: I found L and T. I think they've had it. Over." A gruff deep voice answered over the intercom.

"You think?! You are not paid to think! You better be sure! Check the area! Over."

The pilot looked down at the boat he had riddled with bullet holes and banked to the left, circling around it the way a vulture would circle a dead carcass.

"Any sign of life there, CN3251? Over."

"No sir. None. Request permission to return to base. Over."

"Permission denied. I must be sure. Land the seaplane and confirm. Over."

"Roger. CN3251 out."

He dropped altitude and made a landing on the water, pulling up to the right of the shot up overturned lifeboat. He stopped the engine and waited until the propeller slowed down to a complete stop, all the while circling and watching the lifeboat carefully. However there were still no signs of life to be found. It was dead quiet with the only sound being the lapping of river water on the sides of the boat and the seaplane. The pilot opened up the cockpit door and stepped out onto the platform on one of the wings. He looked around. There was nothing nor did he expect there to be anything. He produced a Luger pistol from a holster around his belt and fired three shots at the boat, blasting three more holes. No response of any sort came from under the boat or around. Satisfied, the pilot put the pistol back in his pocket and prepared to board the plane again.

"Good enough for me. Looks like Lillia and Treize have finally met their match."

Then a voice from somewhere to his right said, in a commanding tone,

"All right, mister! Up with your hands, and no funny business!"

He turned around to see his target, Treize, wearing his black leather jacket which was now soaking wet, clinging to one of the supports on the wings and holding an FN model 1910 pistol in his hand, aiming right at the pilot's heart. Taken by surprise, he held up his hands in the air while trying to maintain his balance on the seaplane. Treize looked and saw the pistol tucked away in the holster on the pilot's belt. He knew it was best to disarm the pilot so there wouldn't be any more problems from him.

"Drop your gun! Into the water!"

The pilot took out his gun and then threw it into the river. At that, Lillia emerged from under the lifeboat, her light brown hair clinging to her body and a large smile running from ear to ear.

"Good work, Treize!"

"Thanks, Lillia," Treize said as he got up onto the platform. "Into the plane, mister."

With his hands behind his head, the pilot climbed into the plane as Treize helped Lillia up onto the platform. Lillia tied the pilot's hands together with twine and made him sit to the rear of the plane. Treize then sat in the pilot's seat and then heard a gruff voice call over the intercom.

"Headquarters calling CN3251. Come in, CN3251. Report on status of targets. Over."

"Should we answer?" Lillia asked. Treize smiled.

"I got the perfect answer for them."

"Headquarters calling CN3251. Come in. Over." Treize picked up the radio receiver and spoke.

"CN3251 here. Over."

"Did you check? Are they dead? Over." Treize looked to his companion with a mischievous smile and then gave his message.

"Mission accomplished. Over and out!"

Lillia and Treize then laughed together as Treize switched on the engine and opened the throttle. The propeller started up and the seaplane began to move forward, slowly at first as Treize tried to turn it in the direction of north, towards Bolse. Once it faced north, Treize opened the throttle wide and the seaplane accelerated. Treize then pulled up on the yoke in front of him as Lillia grasped tightly on his seat, knowing they were going to take off in a few short minutes.

"Hang on!"

The plane slowly crept up and lifted off the surface of the water, and climbed into the bright midmorning sky, the river water getting farther and farther below them. Soon they were more than 500 feet in the air. At that altitude, the seaplane leveled out and they flew straight on through the bright blue skies towards the north.

"Imagine the look on Steiner's face when he sees the welcoming committee we've set up for him in Bolse," Treize said to Lillia, not looking away from the window.

"As long as I get to pound his face in for locking us up in the hold! By the way, are you sure we're on the right course for Bolse?"

"We're heading north aren't we? That's where we need to go."

As they traveled across the river, the skies grew darker and darker the further north they went. Treize looked and saw that there were dark clouds up ahead, right in their path to Bolse. They both immediately knew that the journey to Bolse was going to be rough. Then a flash of lightning and a crash of thunder made them almost jump through the roof. Treize then turned to Lillia worriedly.

"Looks like we're in for a rough ride."

They flew into the dark clouds, immediately encountering turbulence that shook the whole plane. Lillia's fingernails cut into the fabric of the pilot's seat, her feet frozen to the floor with fear. A bolt of lightning flashed in front of them, blinding them. Treize tried to shield his eyes with one arm but almost lost his control of the plane as it swerved from side to side which combined with the turbulence of the storm, made it feel to them that the plane would be shook apart. Lillia tried to keep herself from being tossed about in the plane. Treize soon regained control of the plane and brought it level with the horizon, or as level as he could tell from the grey clouds. Rain now began to fall against the window, slowly at first before quickly becoming heavy. Treize turned on the wipers to help them see, but the rain came down hard and thick, making it almost impossible to see.

While they were preoccupied with the storm, the pilot had started to undo his bonds. Lillia had tied up the twine badly and made it easy for him to break. Now that his hands were free, he looked to the two young people manning his plane, his plane, and then averted his eyes to a wine bottle lying near one of the doors. He then saw a way to complete his mission. He got up and grabbed the wine bottle, slowly creeping up behind the two teenagers. Lillia then sensed something, like another presence. Of course she knew there was the pilot besides them, but he was tied up. Just to check, she turned her head.

She saw the mustachioed pilot raise a bottle high before swiftly bringing it down, hitting her on the temple and knocking her out instantly. She was thrown against the wall of the plane with a bang causing Treize to look back and see his friend down on the ground unconscious.

"LILLIA!!"

"You're next!!"

With that, the bottle came down on Treize's shaggy ebony black-haired head, knocking him out cold. The pilot dragged his unconscious body off the pilot's seat and placed him on the opposite side of the plane, with Lillia still down for the count behind his seat. He sat down and immediately picked up the radio receiver, calling out to headquarters.

"CN3251 to headquarters. Encountering bad weather south of Bolse, but have accomplished objectives. Bringing in L and T. Over."

"Good work, CN3251. We'll meet you in Bolse soon. Out."

The pilot immediately turned to the task of navigating through the thunderstorm and continuing towards Bolse. His leveling with the horizon was good. He was maintaining an altitude of some 650 feet. His bearings were good. He checked the fuel gauge; it was running low. He would not make it to port if he didn't get through the thunderstorm. It would be too risky to open the throttle any wider and lose more fuel. They would continue at the pace they were at until they reached a port to refuel, and get his reward. He had been given a reward of 2,500 Bezelmarks for the job and an extra 1,000 Bezelmarks if he brought them dead. They weren't exactly dead per se, but they would be soon anyway. Besides, 2,500 Bezelmarks was better than nothing.

Lillia slowly opened her eyes and found herself lying on the floor of the plane. The last thing she remembered was how the pilot had hit her in the head with a bottle. She looked and saw that Treize had been knocked unconscious as well, leaning against the wall with his head hung down and strands of black hair hanging in his face. She felt a sudden rise in rage and anger that this pilot had dared knocked out not just her but the closest friend she had in this world.

How dare he! How dare he knock us both out! How dare he knock Treize out!!!

She quickly found the bottle that had been the pilot's weapon and grabbed it by the neck, slowly getting up and facing the pilot who was concentrated on what little he could see in front of him. He then turned and saw Lillia holding the wine bottle with strong and menacing catlike bronze eyes.

"Hit a woman with a bottle, will you?!"

With those words, she landed a punch straight to his jaw, along with another to his face, knocking him against the wall. She then raised the bottle up over her head.

"THIS IS FOR TREIZE!"

With that, she brought it down and broke it over his head, knocking him out cold and splashing red wine everywhere. Lillia then dragged the pilot off his seat and set him quickly down to the rear of the plane and went back to the pilot seat, taking the yoke of the plane and trying to get her bearings. The first thing that struck her was the fuel gauge. The red arrow pointed near E on the gauge, which meant bad news for the both of them.

"According to that gauge, we don't have much gas. Let's just hope the plane can get us out of the storm."

Why am I talking to myself?! I would normally be talking to Treize, but why am I talking to him when I know he can't hear me?

Lillia looked to Treize and saw that he was still very much down for the count. He looked peaceful like that. Ebony black hair hung in his gentle face. His mouth was slightly open, showing some white teeth. If she didn't know any better, she would say he was sleeping. She smiled at the sight of her friend, and then felt that strange churning feeling again in her heart again. Why does her heart always turn when she saw him or talked to him? She had been feeling this way ever since after the train incident. Since the events of that day, she had a change of heart and not a day passed by when she didn't think of him. Even in school, she constantly chose him for in-class activities, projects, and they went to the same clubs. During their first semester at school together, things had changed between them. They had grown closer. They still never called themselves boyfriend-girlfriend, and Lillia would usually punch someone or something whenever anyone suggested it. But still…

Maybe…maybe…maybe…

Maybe having a boyfriend isn't such a bad thing after all.

She took her eyes away from Treize and looked back on the fuel gauge. It was now lower than before and very close to the red E on the gauge. Her feelings gave way to fear as her bronze eyes widened and she gasped. She then turned and shouted to Treize's unconscious body.

"Treize, wake up!"

Treize did not move or say a word.

"Treize! Wake up! We're in for some more trouble!"

Still nothing. Not one word from his lips. Not one movement. Not even a twitch.

Then she heard the dreadful sound. The engine started to sputter and the propeller started to slow down. The plane glided silently for a short while as Lillia switched her view between the still propeller and Treize, still unconscious.

"Treize! We're out of gas!"

She looked and saw they had passed through the storm safely and were starting to come out of the clouds, but they were heading towards an open green field, with no buildings in sight. The seaplane was now losing altitude fast, and she tried pulling hard on the yoke to keep the nose of the plane up. Gravity was winning over her in this battle as the nose would not stay up and the plane was heading into a nosedive. She felt her life flash before her eyes as the plane dove down out of the cloudy skies and to the green fields below them. This can't be happening! Was this really happening? This can't be happening! Why now?! Why now at this point in her life, when there was still so much left in this world she had yet to discover?!

Does everything really end here?!?! Does my life end at only 16 years?! There are so many things left I want to ask! There are so many things I want to say to him! I still haven't told him! I still need to tell him that…that I…!!!

"WHY IS THIS HAPPENING?!?!"

"L…Lillia…w…what…what's going on? Ow, my head. What hit me?"

Lillia darted her eyes and saw her friend slowly coming to, rubbing his black-haired head.

"Treize, the plane's out of gas! Help me pull the nose up before we hit like a bomb!"

Treize got up to his feet and rushed over to Lillia, gripping the yoke and pulling hard on it, trying to pull up as the plane rocketed down towards the ground. Finally, both finding the strength together in their hearts, they pulled hard on the yoke, bringing up the nose just before they made contact with the earth.

The plane bounced off the ground and flipped over onto its back in the air before bouncing off the ground again, causing it to spin 15 feet in midair, tossing everyone inside around like ragdolls before they made contact with the ground, sliding hard along the ground, flipping over again before coming to a stop and the engine bursting into flames. Lillia found that the plane was flipped over on its back, leaving the inside upside down. Seeing that the engine was on fire, she broke the door open and, dragging Treize with her, headed out of the plane and into the open green fields outside. Lillia then knelt down next to him and saw that he was badly bruised from being tossed around inside the plane. She placed one hand on his smooth cheek, her bronze eyes glistening.

"Please don't be dead…please…please Treize…don't be dead…"

Treize moaned and stirred. Lillia smiled in relief as Treize came to and looked up at her.

"Lillia…are we alive?"

"Yes, very much alive."

Treize stood up and looked at the yellow seaplane, now a burning wreck. Then he remembered about the pilot they had knocked out. Treize got up to his feet and ran into the plane without so much as a word of why. He quickly searched the inside of the plane and found the pilot, still unconscious. He dragged him out of the plane and laid him out a little ways from the burning wreckage. Lillia scowled.

"What did you do that for, you idiot!? That rogue wouldn't have risked his neck for either of us!"

"But we're not rogues, Lillia. And besides, we might get a little more information about what's going on if we take him with us."

"Maybe your right," she said sighing.

She then focused her attention on her surroundings. They had landed in the middle of a great open field with lush green grass, surrounded on some parts by evergreen forests. The fields lay on low rolling hills that extended north and west of them. There wasn't any sign of a house or any sign of civilization. More bad news for the both of them; it would be difficult now to get to Bolse quickly.

"Where are we, Treize?"

"I don't know, but it sure doesn't look like Bolse."

"How did we end up here?" Lillia asked, bewildered and confused.

"The storm must have blown us off course and we just landed in a field when the gas gave out. Looks like we still have quite a ways to go."

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," Lillia said wearily shaking her head, sending her brown hair into dancing. "We can't make it to Bolse now!" Just then Treize remembered something and his eyes brightened.

"Wait, maybe we can! There's a canteen of water in the plane!"

Treize ran back to the overturned plane, its engine an inferno, leaving Lillia stupefied and her eyes wide with disbelief at his apparent recklessness.

"NO TREIZE! STAY OUT OF THAT BONFIRE!!"

He went inside and just as quickly came back out holding up a canteen in a sling, pointing to it with a bright smile on his face.

"At least we'll have a little water."

"TREIZE! GET AWAY FROM THAT PLANE BEFORE IT BLOWS UP LIKE A FIRECRACKER!!!"

BOOM!

She spoke too soon. The engine exploded in a yellow ball of flames which blew the seaplane apart and threw Treize forward and straight into the lush green grass-covered earth, landing face down in it. Lillia gasped in terror and ran to Treize, fearing the worst had befallen her beloved friend, one of the few people she knew she could trust with her life. He can't be dead! He can't be!!! He couldn't die! Not now, when there was still so much that she wanted to say to him!!

"TREEEEIIIIIIIZZZZEEEEE!!!!"

She knelt down by his side and nudged him, desperate to see him alive, on the brink of tears in the face of the possible death of her dearest and closest friend.

"Treize, please tell me you're all right…"

Treize lifted up his head, now with dirt on his cheeks and a blade of grass stuck in his hair and smiled at Lillia, lifting up the canteen.

"Never even spilled the water."

Lillia smiled wide and placed her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. Treize just chuckled lightly and Lillia whispered in his ear.

"Treize, promise me you'll never make me worry like that again. I can't risk losing you now after everything we have been through together."

"I promise, Lillia. I won't give up on you. Not ever."

"Thank you…"

Treize stood up on his feet and slung the canteen over his shoulder and turned to Lillia, looking into her bright bronze eyes with his brown, glinting now with a determination to finish the business that had been set before them. This time, nothing would stop them from bringing the criminals who had put them through this and more to justice.

"We better get going before night falls," Treize said firmly.

Lillia nodded and Treize then turned her head to the right to view the pilot and wake him up but what he saw made him gasp.

The pilot had disappeared without a trace.

"Lillia! The pilot! He's gone!!"

Lillia looked and saw that Treize was right; no trace of the pilot was to be found anywhere. She then turned back to Treize with uncertain bronze eyes.

"We have to look for him!"

"We better forget about that pilot and head for the coast. Bolse should still be north of us."

"But Treize what if he—" Treize then addressed her sternly.

"Lillia! If we try and look for him we'll just waste more time, time that could be spent getting us to the port to meet with the police! Don't you want those smugglers to be brought to justice?"

"Of course I do."

"Then we can't waste time with the pilot. This is more important right now."

Lillia looked down at her dirty shoes realizing that he was right and it was better to do what he said. They turned away from the plane and started to head what they thought was north. From now on, there was no turning back.

A/N: Our two little heroes just have the worst of luck, don't they? Out of one bad situation and into another. Then again, it's to be expected of those two lol. Anyway, next time, our friends run into yet MORE trouble in The Horseman. Who is the horseman? You'll just have to wait and see. ;-P Read and review as always.