A/N: First, thank you to aan, anas-belonging, Macky, serenityrain2233, SnTAngel-Shizuka-naTenshi, and lifluvanime for your reveiws

Chapter 10: Rush

When morning came to the Fanelian castle, Hitomi was wide-awake. She couldn't get over her conversation with Merle from the previous night. She had to find Hikari and fast. Her stomach knotted at the thought of forever being separated from her daughter.

She pushed away the blankets and tossed her legs over the side of the bed. She would have to take the day one step at a time. First, she needed to get dressed and make herself presentable. Next she needed to find Van and discuss the Hikari issue in more detail. She was very annoyed with the fact he had left that little tidbit about Hikari being the rightful heir to his throne.

What on Earth was he thinking? She wondered. She ran a frustrated hand through her hair and moved onto step two: getting dressed. She quickly noticed her clothes had gone missing and a new set had been laid out on the sofa in her room. She walked over and examined the clothes, curious as to what they had picked out for her to wear. She could only hope that Merle wasn't the one who had chosen her clothing. Short leather dresses weren't her forte.

As luck would have it, her outfit was quite modest. A simple deep green, sleeveless robe that resembled a kimono she had once wore in her youth. She carefully wrapped the silk, white sash around her waist and tied as best she could an Anesan bow. It didn't have the same look as a traditional Anesan bow, but then again, she had only so much fabric to work with.

Now for step three…she told herself, find Van.

Cadel grabbed onto Hikari's wrist and led her out into the empty corridor. "What are you-?" he looked over his shoulder and grinned then put a finger to his lips. Hikari raised a brow, very confused.

He pulled her around a corner and through a hidden passageway. The Asturian castle was full of them and Cadel had them all memorized. He found they came in quite handy, especially when dodging Marla and her simple-minded court.

Hikari, feeling a bit fed up with not being in the know, yanked her hand out of his grasp. "Okay, seriously, where are you taking me?"

Cadel looked deep in thought. He hadn't really decided that yet. All he wanted was to get out of the castle. He could also sense that Hikari wanted to avoid is twin. Not surprising, he thought. "Somewhere," he answered simply.

"Where? Or do you not even know?" Cadel grinned and took hold of her hand. "You don't have any idea?" Hikari sighed and allowed him to pull her along.

"Well, would you rather stay here with Marla? I heard she was hosting her court today."

"C-court?" she asked alarmed.

"Friends. They're all like her. Ditzy, shallow you get the picture." He came to a stop when they came to what appeared to be a dead end. Cadel pressed his ear against the brick wall, closed his eyes and listened carefully. After a few moments he backed away and slowly began to pull at the wall by grabbing a hold onto to a small brick that stuck out. As he pulled, the wall began to move to reveal the outside world.

Cadel stuck his head out of the opening and made sure the coast was clear. "Good…" he breathed. He looked over his shoulder at Hikari, shot her one of his charming grins and gestured for her to follow.

Cadel escorted Hikari around Palas, showing her everything there was to see. He found all her reactions to the sights and people to be quite amusing. Particularly when they had come across a few of the beast-people that inhabited the thriving/bustling city. She had nearly jumped out of her own skin.

He brought their little tour to an end when they had reached the Royal Coliseum. They entered the grand arena and made their way over to the battlegrounds. Cadel scanned the area carefully with his eyes. "Looks like Julianne went home already..."he mumbled under his breath.

"What?" Hikari asked. She had been so entranced by the men sparring in such a graceful manner before her to pay much attention to what Cadel had just said.

"Oh! Nothing!" he laughed nervously. "Julianne sometimes comes her to...watch the Knights of Cali." He half lied. He wasn't sure why he hadn't just told her the truth. What was there to hide really? Hikari wasn't from Gaea, it's not like she would spread rumors or anything of the sort.

"Your highness," One of the knights spoke as he approached the two. He bowed lowly towards Cadel, showing his deepest respect his possible future monarch. "What brings you here today?"

"No particular reason, Kennin." Cadel spoke so casually that it almost confused Hikari. In all the movies, books and plays she had read or seen, royalty tended to speak in a more formal manner, But Cadel, a prince, conversed with everyone the same way she would with her friends. "I'm just showing our guest, Lady Hikari, around Palas. It's her first time here."

Did he just call me "Lady Hikari"? She tried to hide her look of surprise. It sounded so odd, she mused, Lady Hikari...weird...

"Ah, well on behalf of the Knights of Cali," Kennin knelt down on one knee, placed a hand over his heart and bowed his head. "Welcome to Palas, Lady Hikari." Cadel let out a laugh. It always amused him to see Kennin act so proper. Kennin ignored his prince's laughter and stood up, dusting off the pants in the process. "So where abouts are you from, Lady Hikari?"

Her mouth hung open, but no words came forth. She had been warned before hand not to tell others of her true origins. But what was she to say then? Cadel thought quickly and answered for her. "She's from the Nicolette Academy."

"Oh! Well welcome once again, My Lady. It's truly an honor to meet you." he bowed once more and excused himself, leaving the two alone once more.

"Nicolette Academy? What's that?" Hikari asked.

"A prestigious, all girls academy located in the Chessia Mountains. Girls are brought there at a young age and stay until they graduate. Occasionally they're allowed to leave the premises, but only to visit family. The girls who attend the academy are usually of nobility or of aristocratic families.

"My mother tried to send my sisters there. It didn't work out so well. Marla got homesick too much, although I believe she just missed the shopping sprees. Julianne always managed to escape and end up back at home. Any ways, shall we continue?" he held out his arm and waited for Hikari to link arms with him. "There's someone I'd like you to meet."

He led her past some of the knights engaging in sparring with one another. He came to a halt when they had come across the captain of the Knights of Cali: a tall, statuesque figure with long golden locks of hair. Cadel cleared his throat loudly to catch the knight's attention.

The knight sheathed his sword and turned around. "Your highness, why have you left the castle unescorted?" he asked. "Your mother wouldn't be too happy is she knew you were wandering around alone, without any sort of protection."

"Ah, but Sir Allen, I'm technically not alone." Cadel smiled smugly and gently nudged Hikari forward. "I'd like to introduce you to Lady Hikari Kanzaki."

Allen froze. "Kan-Kanzaki? Are…you…."words were beginning to fail him. That name, Kanzaki, he hadn't heard it in years.

"I take it you knew my mother." Hikari stated.

He was in complete and utter shock. Her eyes had the same brilliance as Hitomi's. "Mother? So then you're Hitomi's…."

"Daughter? Yes she is, Sir Allen." Cadel said. He was quite surprised by the normally suave knight. He'd never seen him so caught off guard in his life.

Allen bowed deeply towards Hikari. "You have most certainly inherited your mother's beauty." Hikari found herself blushing profusely at Allen's remark. For an 'older' man, he's not bad looking… she thought to herself. "But how? When…did you get here?"

Hikari thought for a moment, curling a lock of her ebony hair around one of her fingers as she did so. "I suppose…it would have been two nights ago…I don't really know how…it just sort of happened."

Hitomi had wandered around the Fanelian castle, for what seemed like hours, searching for Van. It seemed like no one could find the king. This only further annoyed Hitomi. Was he purposely hiding from her? "Van, where the hell are you?" she wondered aloud.

"You never change." Merle said with a sigh, "Still talking to yourself."

"Have you seen Van?" Hitomi asked, ignoring the cat woman's remark.

"He left the castle early this morning. He said something about looking for Hikari." Hitomi felt a bit of relief. "He said he probably wouldn't be back until sun set."

"Damnit." Hitomi cursed under her breath.

"What?"

"Oh nothing…I just need to talk to him about Hikari. We didn't get much of a chance to last night." She crossed her arms and walked over to the window. She looked up at the sky and sighed quietly. Then a thought hit her hard. "Wait a minute!" She whiled around and looked at merle very confused. "What the hell was he thinking!? He has no idea what Hikari looks like. How the hell can he expect to find her? God he can be such and idiot." She brought a hand to one of her temples and began to message it. "He really hasn't changed much. Still jumping ahead without thinking first."

Merle couldn't help but laugh. It was too true. "Well, how about we get out of the castle for a bit." She suggested. "Unless you want to become a victim of Edric and Irisa's mischief."

Cadel and Hikari stood before the gateway to the castle. Cadel already knew what awaited him inside. His mother scolding him for not only leaving, but he neglected to inform anyone and had left without taking a guard with him.

Hesitantly he entered. He wasn't necessarily afraid of what was to come. He was actually quite use to it. He just wasn't looking forward to hearing the same speech from his mother for the hundredth time.

As they made their way into the main foyer, Cadel was mentally preparing himself. However, the scolding and nagging ambush wouldn't be what greeted him. "Cadel! Hikari! Good, you're back." His mother said while smiling. "Now hurry to your rooms and change. We have a special guest for dinner tonight." And with that said, Millerna hurried away.

"Wha…?" Cadel watched his mother disappear down the hallway. She didn't get mad? Even with having a guest, normally she would have been more angry with him. Something strange was going on.

"You going to be okay?" Hikari asked, waving her hand in front of his stunned looking face. "Hello?"

Cadel snapped back to his senses. "Uh…yea…that was just…odd…" He tried to recompose himself. "C'mon, let's go."

On their way to their rooms Marla ambushed the two. She was shocked and appalled with her brother for escorting their guest around the city while she was clearly not properly dressed. Before either of them could react in any ways, Marla stole Hikari away.

"I do apologize for my brother. He sometimes doesn't know any better."

"Oh, no need to apologize, really." Hikari said nervously.

"Of course I do. He forced you to go out dressed like that." She made a slight gesture to Hikari's school uniform. Such a short skirt…if you can even call it that… "No doubt you were embarrassed."

"Actually-"

"Oh well, what's done is done. Now come, I found the perfect dress for you to wear tonight." Hikari couldn't get a word in. Marla spoke a mile a minute and seemed to have perfected the art of controlling a conversation.

Marla entered her vast closet and emerged just as quickly, dress in hand. "Here we go," she said and handed the dress to one of her handmaidens. "This is Anita and Marie. They will help you get dressed." And with that said, she headed out of her room. "I'll just be in the next room if you need anything."

"I…"Hikari was lost for words. The moment the doors closed began undressing Hikari and dressing her in proper undergarments. Hikari took and instant disliking to the corset. It wasn't just a pain to put on, it was also quite possibly the most uncomfortable thing to wear.

The dress, Hikari had to admit, was beautiful. It was a deep green colour with golden embroidery. The sleeves fitted snug on her arms until they reached her elbows, where they flowed into large bell shaped cuffs. Hikari was most grateful that the dress wasn't like some of the gowns she had seen in the marketplace earlier that day; large and puffy.

As Marie made slight adjustments to the gown, Anita focused on Hikari's hair. She had tried to pull it back tightly, as per Marla's instructions, but Hikari made a fuss to get her to stop. It felt as if Anita was going to rip her hair out. She very reluctantly obliged, knowing that Marla wouldn't be too happy.

As Hikari neared the end of her torture session, Marla entered to see how things were progressing. She was dressed in a similar style gown as Hikari. However hers was lavender in colour and had similar golden embroidery. "Anita, why isn't her hair tied up?" she asked.

"It was too painful." Hikari answered quickly, to save the maid from any sort of blame.

"Oh…well, I guess that will have to do." She walked over to her vanity and picked up a jeweled hair clip. She played with Hikari's hair for a moment before placing the clip in it. "There we go." She said and smiled. "We should hurry, dinner will be ready very shortly and we mustn't make our guest wait too much."

A/N: Sooooooooo sorry for the long wait. Really I am. I had some major writer's block. plus with me being in my final yr in college, it's a hellofalot more stressful