Cinder was walking briskly throughout the streets of Artemisia. Her hands were swaying at her sides, which was thankfully hiding her shaking. At least, she hopes it is. She's been shaking ever since Kai has ever so casually waltzed into her life again. Obviously, she was going to have to encounter him again at some point. They're both rulers, so it was inevitable. But did it have to be now?

"Cinder?" Kai asked from only slightly behind her. She pretended not to hear him, and pretended not to see all the Lunars staring at her as she walked by, making her self conscious. Ruby may be only a child, but her flaming red hair has got to stand out from everything else at this part of the city. Could she have gotten this far without anyone noticing?

This made her angry at herself. She should have made sure the guards were all around the perimeter to make sure no child could leave without a chaperone. Now Scarlet and Wolf's daughter has gone missing, and there's no one to blame but herself. How can she be so careless? She has practically left everything to Cress, and she's has been working more than any one of them.

Not to mention that she's had to put up with Cinder and Thorne getting married.

Cinder flinched at the sudden pang of guilt that stabbed her in the heart. She's neglected Cress so she wouldn't ever feel guilty herself, but now she realized that she's also been neglecting Cress's talent on how well she can take care of so many things at once. She's gotten more mature over the past six years when they met, but she's still a genius, who's shy yet somehow knows what to do in any situation.

"Cinder, I know what you're thinking, and you have to stop," Kai said more firmly, stopping on the street and grabbing her arm so she was forced to turn around and face him. His face expressed concern. She couldn't tell whether it was for Ruby's safety, or for the more obvious reason.

She blinked the tear away as she stared at the man who she met when she was a sixteen year old mechanic in his own country. He was only a prince back then. Now, he has been an emperor for years, so sophisticated and strong. They've loved each other throughout the fight that they went through together. She saved him from Levana, has kissed him numerous times, and… pushed him away to help Thorne. She wanted to stop everything now and apologize for everything. Apologize for hurting him, apologize for marrying someone else, apologize for making him believe that she does love Thorne that way. Apologize for lying to him. Oh, she so wanted to confess that Thorne and her feel nothing like the way that Kai and her do. She wants to tell him that she wants him to be in Thorne's shoes, so they can live happily ever after together.

But she can't do it.

She pushed the thought away like all the other times she laid in her bed alone. Now is not the time to talk, or even think, about this. Ruby is out there somewhere, and she won't rest until she returns. This was her fault, after all.

Even though her thoughts should be on searching for Ruby, she continued thinking about the most stressful situation she's had that didn't involve killing. This was all practically a star forsaken drama, and she couldn't stand it.

'I'm doing this for Thorne, I'm doing this for Thorne…' she thought to herself to distract her from the undying guilt that she thought she stuffed away that had recently returned.

She thought she got over it… she thought she got over him. But apparently she couldn't. She was still in love with Emperor Kaito of the Eastern Commonwealth.

No, no. She can't think about that. Thorne needs this, and she can't betray him. The consequences would not be good.

"Kai, I'm fine. Please, we have to look for Ruby," she said. She tried to turn away to continue walking, but Kai only held on tighter. Not tight enough to hurt her, but enough to make sure that she understood that he's not going to keep walking.

Stars, she can't do this. She can't try to get over him if he so obviously still had feelings for her. This was what she dreaded for three years; they would run into each other and their feelings will come back to them in a violent wave, yet they couldn't be together. Because of the person she least expected to get in the way.

Kai pressed his lips into a thin line, and ran a hand through his hair with his free hand. After what seemed like forever, he let her go.

"You're right, I'm sorry. I just wanted to make sure you were alright. Right now just isn't the time."

Cinder flinched at her shattered heart that fell into her stomach. She wanted to make amends so badly, to tell him that she really does still love him more than she loves herself. It would be so easy. She could hand the responsibilities to Winter and Jacin, who would take her place as she ran away with Kai back to the Eastern Commonwealth together. It's what she wanted.

She stopped herself before she could even say anything. Cinder isn't going to leave Thorne alone. They made an agreement together, and they would stick to it. For his sake.

She hesitated to see if Kai had anymore to say. When he didn't speak, she turned back and continue walking, hearing his distinct footsteps close behind.

She liked the sound of his footsteps. They sounded determined, strong, and intelligent. Even though he had no idea around Artemisia, his steps made him sound like he knew where they were going.

Good grief, she's gone from never speaking to him for six years, to observing the way his footsteps sound? She seems like a crazy stalker fangirl that watches her favorite celebrity use the bathroom.

She laughed silently at this, because it was kind of true. Not the bathroom, but she always pays close attention to all news articles and interviews about him. They may not give out a lot, but they spent a lot of time together as teenagers. She knows how to interpret his words and make them reveal what he's like nowadays.

"What's so funny? Was I not able to cover up this cowlick before we left?" Kai asked, placing a hand on the back of his head.

Cinder turned to look behind him, and sure enough, he had a cowlick at the upper part of his head. She laughed even harder, trying to mat it down with her hand, ignoring how soft his hair is.

"Nope, not even close. I can't believe I didn't notice," she said, smiling.

Kai chuckled, too. "Do you think the rest of the Earthen Union leaders noticed?" he asked, his face turning pink.

She thought for a while, but then remembered something.

"Near the end, remember how everyone suddenly got quiet after you turned around to look at the door when a bunch of maids started scurrying outside the conference room?"

At the sudden realization, Kai groaned and put his heads in his hands. "What a perfect way to prove to them that I'm responsible," he said, looking back up and smiling at her.

Her heart fluttered at the smile she hadn't seen in such a long time. She's surprised at how much she missed that smile.

Cinder looked around at the vendors, until she spotted what she was looking for.

"Come on," she said, smiling even wider as she led him to a vendor with a bunch of colorful hats.

"Seriously? These will attract even more attention to my head than the cowlick itself," he said, observing all sorts of hats that differed in all shapes, sizes, and colors.

"Well, that's exactly what we like on Luna!" the chirpy vendor announced, curtsying to her and Kai. They smiled back, still looking at the hats.

"Which one do you like?" Cinder asked, picking up a bright purple sun hat with an orange frog sitting on the rim.

"Hm…" Kai looked at the hats, his eyebrows furrowed. Cinder laughed at that. At the same time, her eye caught on something hidden under a neon yellow bowler hat.

"Here!" she exclaimed, picking up the hat and placing it on his head. She laughed at the sight.

She had chosen a sparkly pink cowboy hat that had a fuchsia flower in the center. It shimmered so brightly, she thought it should belong in New Vegas.

"Do you like it?" she asked, smiling at the blushing Kai as he looked in the mirror that the vendor gave him.

"I love it! You picking it for me makes it even better," he says, looking back at her, genuinely smiling.

Cinder wanted to cry tears of joy. She wanted to kiss him so badly, but that would be a stupid decision. But at least now, they're starting to become more comfortable around each other.

"How much?" Cinder asked, the vendor.

The old lady shook her head and smiled. "No need to worry about that today. Kind of like as a thank you gift for being yourselves," she said kindly and in admiration. "You see so many people nowadays being someone they're not, and doing something they don't want to do. It's so great to see that at least two people get along so well without worrying about what others do."

Cinder smiled, but felt her smile twitch a little bit. The woman was praising them for being themselves and doing things they want to do, when Cinder is actually doing the exact opposite. Today may be different, but she'll be marrying Thorne… something that she doesn't want to do. Not that Thorne isn't a great guy, but… oh stars, Kai.

"Thank you, we really appreciate it," Kai said, smiling warmly at the vendor as they walked away.

For the rest of the morning to the afternoon, they looked for Ruby, but also talked while in the progress. They didn't talk about anything important, really. Just what their lives have been like, how Winter's mental health has recovered and is practically completely well- except her lively and dreamy imagination has never changed, and they're favorite celebrities. Other than that, it seems like nothing has changed between them. Sure, they can legally drink now, but that's besides the point.

After so much time being outside and looking for Ruby, they were commed by Scarlet, saying that they had found her. They started walking back in silence.

A few minutes passed by, and she realized that they had walked a long way away from the palace. She bit her lip, arguing with herself whether she should bring it up, or let it go.

They weren't worried about Ruby now, so what does she have to lose?

"I know you and Cress have been through a lot, even after the war," she started, stuttering on the last word. Kai stayed silent, and she thought this was her cue to continue.

"I know you guys have had to go through the hardest thing ever for the past three years, and it's completely mine and Thorne's fault. And I know that this is not enough, but…"

She stopped walking, and Kai stopped with her, who turned so he was facing directly in front of her. She thought he was going to look blank and expressionless, but instead, he looked scared. Like he was scared what was going to come out of her mouth next.

Hopefully the next thing out of her mouth isn't vomit.

"... I'm sorry. For everything that I put you through, especially you, Kai. I know Thorne already told Cress, and that still didn't make her feel any better, but I need you to know that I still love you. I love you more than anything else in the stars above. And I really, really have no idea where my speech is going, but I just have to say that, no matter what I do, my heart does belong to you and always will."

Her eyes closed halfway through her confession, and she waited for something, anything, to come out of his mouth.

Silence.

She opened up one eye, and she saw him just staring at her, mouth open. He was looking at her in shock, like that was the last thing he expected Cinder to do.

Oh stars, maybe she took all his actions as the wrong idea, and just confessed to him even though he didn't like her back? Maybe he was just trying to be friendly, and wasn't even interested in her in the first place?

She turned a beet red. "You know, I just realized that you may not even feel the same, so if you don't then just ignore everything I-"

She was interrupted by a kiss on the cheek with the lips that she thought she had forgotten. Yet they felt so familiar, and so satisfying, like every other time they had kissed.

Kai pulled away, leaving Cinder to be the one with her mouth open. He chuckled, and Cinder had forgotten how to move her jaw.

"Honestly, I didn't expect you to be the one to admit. I was still trying to find the courage, but it looks like you beat me. And you obviously hid it much more well than I did," he said, smirking.

"But, since you already did it anyway, now's a good time to tell you that I still love you, too," he said, taking her hand in his. "And I completely understand."

He let go of her hand and walked alongside her in silence again. She smiled at how ridiculous it all must've looked, with Kai being in a sparkly pink cowboy hat and all. Did this really just happen?

Yes it did, and the only way how she knew it really happened was because now she felt a sudden weight lifted off her heart. She told him that she still loves him even after six years, and he loved her back.

However, Cinder knew that she had just put the weight from her heart and set it onto his. She ignored the fact that even though he was smiling, his eyes were filled with hurt and sadness from the truth that they can't be together.

Author's Note- Sorry that the chapter is pretty short, but I wanted to update on the story as soon as possible for the people who wanted me to continue the story :) Thank you everyone for all the support, and please don't forget to leave me reviews! The more reviews the more I'm more motivated to try to keep improving on this XD. Thanks guys! (P.S. I didn't take a lot of time editing this, so I apologize for any grammar errors or spelling.)