DISCLAIMER:

I do not own Sym-Bionic Titan. If I did, it would not have been cancelled due to lack of merchandise.

Special thanks to: purpledragon6, the only one who reviewed the last chapter. Thanks also to jahnanahmohammed for the story follow and favorite and to Miss Kitty Chevious for the story follow. All you guys are awesome and should review this chapter!

Hey all! You know, I'm really amazed at this; how happy writing this makes me. Whenever I open up a document to start another chapter, I forget all of my homework…the seventy-five pages I have to read tonight…the test…the other test…the vocab…whoa wait I have to do vocab before fifth period... Better get started on that…

So, this chapter is going to be kind of weird, it'll jump all over the place. Enjoy and review!

Chapter 10

Lance was left sitting in a purple beanie bag chair, the walls constantly changing color to match his confusion.

He didn't know. He just didn't know.

He remained there for about twenty minutes. He registered Amy calling him for dinner, but he still couldn't move. He wasn't really hungry anyway.

A knock on the door. "Lance?" The door cracked open, and Ilana slipped through. "Amy told you I could find you in her room. Dinner's ready." She frowned at the look on his face, concern causing her eyebrows to pull together. "Are you okay? You're not sick, are you?" Ilana quickly crossed the room and moved to put her hand on his forehead.

He caught her hand, back from his reverie. "Uh, no, I'm fine."

Her frown deepened, and she looked at him skeptically. She wasn't sure if she should believe him or not- his face made her feel like she shouldn't.

"Sure", she said to him. "Just come quickly. Dinner will get cold."

Lance's heart was about beating so hard he thought it would burst out of her chest. How had she not noticed that?! Lance thought as he looked around at the walls linked to his emotions. The moment Ilana had walked in, the room had turned pink.

-o-o-o-

Dinner was over, and both Amy and Ilana were silent, their minds elsewhere. Dishwashing wasn't exactly the most attention-requiring activity in the world, and as Lance was upstairs working out and Octus was in his room going through further updates, both of the girls had a lot of room in their minds to think.

While Amy's thoughts were on her brother, Ilana's were on her father. The hologram that Amy had given her with her father had definitely shaken her up. To see him so rattled, so tired… it hurt her.

And there was something else, too. The King had told Ilana that there was a package for her- all she had to do was ask Amy.

With things being as hectic as they were, Ilana hadn't gotten a chance to ask the young girl for her parcel. Sure, they saw each other every day, but either Octus or Lance was always around too. Ilana didn't want Lance to know because he was, well, Lance. He would be worried about her. He was becoming more protective of her. And while Ilana might have enjoyed this a little (she had been worried for a little while that he didn't care), it could also be extremely annoying. He was always fretting over every little thing, and if he found out about the parcel… He knew how much Ilana loved her father, and therefore how big of an impact such a package could make on her. As for Octus…Ilana wasn't sure why she was worried about him. Perhaps she was just being paranoid.

But Ilana knew in her heart that that wasn't the reason. The reason was that she wanted to have something from her father, something from her planet that only she knew about. Something purely hers.

"Are you excited for our first tournament this Saturday?" Amy asked. She had sensed that something was on Ilana's mind.

"Oh, um, yes. I think it will be so much fun!" Ilana had really taken a liking to soccer. She had finally found a group of girls that could relate to her.

The conversation went on for a while, and they developed a rhythm to washing the dishes. Before long, though, the conversation had taken a turn to the topic of Galaluna, and eventually the King.

There was a pause, and Amy waited patiently while Ilana worked up the courage to ask the question: "Did my father send a package for me?"

Amy put down her dish and looked at Ilana. Taking off her gloves, she said, "Yes. I would've given to you sooner, but someone was always around." Amy walked over to where her bag lay, and started searching through it.

"You won't tell Lance, will you?" Ilana asked, her head down. She didn't like keeping secrets, but…she thought she deserved at least one when everyone else seemed to be harboring so many.

"Of course not, don't worry, princess", Amy responded reassuringly. "Believe me, I know how he is. This is your secret to keep. Oh, here it is." Amy pulled out a small box crudely wrapped in dirty brown paper. "Your father told me to tell you that he apologizes about its appearance, but it was the best he could do at the time."

"Oh, that's fine", Ilana breathed, her eyes locked on the package. Taking it from Amy's hands, she started towards the stairs, but then looked back at the dishes guiltily.

Amy laughed, a light sounds that rang like bells. "Don't worry, princess. I'll finish them up. Go."

"Thanks", Ilana said gratefully as she flew up the stars and into her room.

-o-o-o-

Ilana slid a finger in between the tape and the wrapping. Breaking the seal, she removed the brown paper and opened the box. On the very top was a card with a blank cover. Ilana opened the card, and out fluttered four small photos. Picking them up, Ilana examined them and smiled. The first was a picture of Galaluna before the war, with its beautiful rolling fields and orchards bearing fruit and its three moons faded in the light of day with the palace glistening in the background. The second photo brought tears to her eyes as both happiness and agony flooded through her. The faces of about twenty war-ravished warriors with torn and bloody uniforms smiled at her, and they were holding up a small make-shift banner that said, "stay safe princess". She spotted a few familiar faces, including the royal guard and Hobbs, who almost had a kind of smirk on his face, as if to say, "and by this, we mean not to fall down any wells". Ilana laughed- that joke would never get old. She also spotted a small, chubby boy with red hair and glasses that she thought Lance had told her about once. Armin, August? She couldn't remember. Even Baron was there.

The third picture was of her and her father, just a couple of days before the invasion. They had just gotten out of a meeting with Galaluna's top officials, so Ilana was in her best dress and her father in his best suit. He looked so spiffy, remembered Ilana. Turning to the fourth picture, she gasped.

Her mother.

Tears flowed once more down her face as Ilana looked at the picture. Her mother and her father were both young, and both staring down at a tiny bundle wrapped in blankets in her mother's arms. Me, Ilana realized. Her mother had striking blue eyes and blond hair, her complexion fair. Ilana wiped her eyes and moved on to the card.

"My dearest Ilana", read her father's handwriting. "I have enclosed these pictures to remind you of home. The one with your mother is to remind you that you she will always be protecting you, no matter where you go. The one of us I found and thought you'd like- I remembered that you really enjoyed my suit. The one of Galaluna is to let you remember our planet in all of its glory. Finally, the one of the soldiers is to encourage you to keeping fighting your battle just as we are fighting ours.

"There are so many things that I wish to say to you that I just can't fit on this card, so I've only included the most important. I love you. I love you. I love you. Stay safe. Be strong, be brave- but not all the time. Break down every once in a while- it's fine, it's healthy. Heaven knows I have. Go to Amy, or to Octus, or even go to Lance. Remember that we are always thinking about you, and we wish you the best.

"Consider all your options.

"I love you so very much, my princess. Love, Dad."

Ilana 's eyes watered and she whispered, "I love you too, Dad."

She had to admit, though, that last line puzzled her. 'Consider all your options'?

Fishing around inside the box, Ilana found one small object among the packaging paper. Pulling it out, she saw that it was yet another box- a jewelry box. Inside was a small charm bracelet, which the princess remembered it as her mother's. On it were three small charms- heart, body, and mind.

Ilana wept.

-o-o-o-

"One thousand", Lance grunted as he dropped from the bar on his ceiling and started his push-ups. Fifty in, he stood up and pulled off his shirt. Sweat dripped down his six-pack and beaded on his forehead as he resumed his work.

One hundred and fifty push-ups and three hundred crunches later, Lance plopped down on his hard mattress and chugged down some water. He combed his damp hair back as he rummaged through his backpack, resigning the rest of the night to homework. As he sat down at his desk and reviewed the Hundred Days' war, the end of Napoleon's reign, he thought he heard stifled sounds coming from Ilana's room. Worried, he got up to go check on her, but Amy chose that moment to walk in.

"Hey", she said. She had a look on her face like there was something that she knew, an almost non-existent look that would be lost to anyone else but him. Before he could ask, though, she sidetracked him with the Earthlings' war tactics, and before long he sat back down at his desk and forgot about the sounds that had once come from Ilana's room. Once they were done, Lance finished the rest of his homework, showered, and laid down on his bed. Before long he passed out, covers off, hair wet, exhausted by everything that day had thrown at him.

-o-o-o-

Ilana had stifled her sobs after a few minutes. She heard Amy and Lance in his room, and silently thanked her for distracting him. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't get to sleep, and had nothing to do since she had finished all of her homework before dinner. She got ready for bed and lay down under her covers, tears silently streaming across the sides of her face, as her exhaustion slowly pulled her under.

"Oh, be quiet!" Ilana laughed as she sat in the pod headed back to the palace.

"Oh, so you're telling me it's not true?" Her father countered with a sly grin plastered on his face. "Excuse me", he said, pinching his nose in a nasally voice, imitating a condescending Governor of one of the states of Galaluna. "I believe we can't carry out your plan, due to the large level of insecure chimpanzees in our population."

Ilana doubled over in laughter. She had never heard such a ridiculous objection as the Governor had presented today, and the whole room had had a hard time keeping their laughter in while he had turned beet red and started screaming that it was a completely valid reason to not clear up the rivers surrounding the capital city.

The King's deep rumble shook the pod as well, and the two laughed all the way home.

The scene changed.

Suddenly, Ilana was seated at the table in the great hall. Mountains of presents surrounded her, all having been checked by security to ensure their safety, and then carefully wrapped back up. Already she had gotten tons of candy, mounds of stickers, and rows upon rows of cards. The five-year-old Ilana had read every last one, and squealed as a beautiful white pony was led into the hall.

"Happy birthday, darling", her father said, chuckling at the look of complete ecstasy on his young daughter's face. "She's all yours."

Many other scenes flashed in Ilana's mind. Her first ribbon-cutting, the first time she had to rescue a pet from a well, meeting Hobbs, the Harvest Festival…all of her happiest memories of Galaluna flew through her mind.

Ilana woke with a start, panting and upright. She looked at the clock. It was two AM. For the last time that night, the princess cried for her planet.

-o-o-o-

Lance woke and looked at the clock.

Two.

Funny, I thought I broke this habit, thought Lance. A noise came from directly under him- Amy was up, too. He considered going downstairs and having cookies with his little sister like they used to do, but he stopped when he heard the same muffled noise from earlier that night. It came from Ilana's room, and in a second Lance was out of his bed and outside Ilana's room, forgetting that he was only wearing boxers. The sound was definitely coming from the princess' room.

He knocked lightly and cracked the door open. "Ilana?" he whispered as he entered.

He saw her crying and was by her side in a flash.

"What's wrong? Are you hurt? Ilana?" The worry in Lance's voice was heavy as he took her hand. Embarrassed, she tried to stop crying, but seeing the worry in his eyes and the pictures on her desk only made her weep harder.

Which, consequently, made Lance worry even more.

"Heeeey, Ilana, what's the matter?" He could tell that it wasn't anything physical, as she wasn't cradling any part of her body, and as she had tried to stop when he had come in. She shook with her sobs, and the tears streaming down her face sparkled in the moonlight. With his other hand, Lance tried to wipe some away with his thumb, but they were replaced just as quickly.

"Ilana?" he whispered. He was so worried he couldn't stand it. He wanted to go get Amy or Octus, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her.

She turned her face into his shoulder and cried. After a moment's hesitation, he wrapped his arms around her, and she did the same. Some part of her brain registered that he was pretty much naked, dressed only in his boxers. His hard, cold chest became wet with her tears, and his long, wildy-dried hair cascaded over her face as he looked down at her sadly.

She cried into him for a long time. Her father's words rung in her head. Break down every once in a while- it's fine. Heaven knows I have. Go to Amy, or go to Octus, or even go to Lance. Or even Lance…

"Ilana…"

A small whisper by a princess in the night. "I miss home."

Okay, so, this one wasn't nearly as long as the others but I didn't want to keep the pattern I'm developing and have it be three weeks before another update. I thought this one was kind of bittersweet, though definitely not my best, sorry…

During the course of writing this, I got a PM from a story follower. In it were the following suggestions:

-More Lance (which I tried to do a little here)

-Change the wording in chapter three where Lance is carrying Amy in to the house from 'careful not to jostle his load' to something else.

This last one cracked me up. I hadn't even thought of this… what a naughty mind… I apologize to anyone whose reading experience of chapter three was ruined by my poor wording. I fixed it.

I also updated a lot of other chapters, so sorry if you story followers got 'new chapter' alerts…

I ALWAYS try to update ASAP, but I'm only human and have, like, eight hours of homework every night, so… whether it be a day or a month *cough*month*cough* I will try my best.

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