Elissa Heliore put down the glass of whiskey she had been holding, setting it down on the table. She was in her own quarters, a quaint little room next to Princess Selene's. It was less lavishly furnished (although she knew she could call for a servant to bring whatever she wanted to "jazz" up the already cozy space. The walls deviated from the standard Commonwealth red and gold, and it was instead a light mint color that Elissa rather enjoyed. The bed was not canopied liked Selene's was; it was a simple white bed with a cherry wood headboard that occupied the middle of the room. There were windows on two sides and a fire crackling in the fireplace, along with a large desk (that was already cluttered with papers from the complicated treaties and alliances and peace notes that had been written and given to secure such a visit from the Lunar monarchy). When Elissa had first moved in, she had noticed a little round table that had been pushed to the side, and instead of letting it gather dust, she moved it in front of the window, and pulled a chair over so that she might watch the beautiful sun set during the hours she had to spare.

All in all, it was a very nice room. But it wasn't home.

Glancing back at the glass of alcohol, Elissa pushed the frosty cup and the bottle to the edge of the small table and perched herself onto the chair facing the window. She stared at the golden sun peeking through the trees, and wondered to herself why her own people didn't enjoy things like the sunset. Granted, it had been her first time witnessing such a thing, but then again, it was her first time on Earth. Luna had an almost tropical climate, with temperatures just hot enough and just cold enough. Luna was utopian beautiful, but Earth was the stuff of starry-eyed romantics who dreamed about simultaneously living life on the edge and living their own love story. Simply put, Earth was beautiful in a way that Luna could never be.

But Elissa had another concern- she was afraid that in the same way she was captivated, Selene would be whisked away by the Eartherns as well. It was a slightly overimagined fear, but one to consider nevertheless. Elissa had seen the way that Selene looked at Kai and Kai looked at Selene. It was a look she knew too well.

"Ah!" Elissa felt a pain shooting up her lower abdomen. Gripping her midsection, she attempted to raise herself out of the chair, before she crashed down again. Trying not to scream, Elissa tried once more to rise from the seat, and plowed into the seat harder than she had before. The chair had no cushion, and Elissa felt her entire body aching. Elissa leaned back into the back of the wooden chair.

"Damn," she hissed.

"Thaumaturge?" Elissa heard the door to her room swing open. Elissa struggled to turn, before she heard the same footsteps rush to her, and she became face-to-face with features she was already very accustomed to."Aiden, what are you doing here?"

Aiden Acer was a handsome man in his late twenties, with a sharp, pronounced stubbled jaw. He had kind hazel eyes, with a dash of neatly parted blonde-brown hair. He was the head of the intermost team of palace guards, the guards that protected the royal family.

"Team was sweeping the princess's room next door. Heard you yell. You're not exactly quiet, you know." Aiden's eyes crinkled into a smile. Elissa let out a breath. "About that..." She lifted her arms out to him. "Can you help me up? I'm not- I'm not feeling too well."

Aiden's smile faded, and he leaned in closer. "Is it because of-"

Elissa pursed her lips together. "Just help me to the bed, okay?"

Aiden nodded, and he swept Elissa up into his arms, laughing at her slightly startled expression. Setting her down on the bed, he sat down next to her, the combined weight causing the bed to sink down. Elissa pressed her hand into the mattress, trying to find a solid surface again.

The sharp pain in her lower abdomen had spread, and Elissa breathed shallowly as she felt her lungs being set on fire when Aiden wrapped his arms around her waist and gently pushed her back onto the center of the bed. She clutched him this time, and Aiden noticed, wrapping his arms more securely around her waist.

"Elissa, don't stall me this time." Aiden positioned himself so that his face was just a few inches away from hers. "Is this because of-"

"-don't say it, Aiden. Anyone could be listening." Elissa breathed out shallowly again. "But yes."

Aiden's eyebrows crinkled together. "Eliss, maybe you shouldn't be doing this, what if you get hurt?"

"Don't you think I know that? I can do this." Elissa looked up at him. "I can handle it. I just don't want Selene or even Jacin to get hurt here. Who knows what could happen?"

Aiden opened his mouth, then closed it. It was silent for a moment, an hour, Elissa couldn't tell. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips against Elissa's. Elissa lifted her arms, wrapping them around Aiden's neck, and kissing him back with as much strength she could muster (which, considering the condition she was already in, did not amount to much). When they broke apart, Aiden rested his forehead on hers and released a breath. "I just don't want you to get hurt. Stars knows what we would do without you bossing everyone around."

Elissa would have slapped him under normal circumstances, but she was too tired and sapped of energy to, so she simply managed a weak smile. "You'd probably fall into chaos without me."

"I love you," Aiden said suddenly. "I love you, Elissa Aeliana Heliore. I love you, and if I have to spend one more second pretending like I don't, or if I have to spend one more second trying to ignore the fact that you could very well get hurt on this trip, I swear I might explode."

"Aiden, you know I have to do this." Elissa broke away from their embrace, straightening up and looking at Aiden. "I need to keep Selene safe, I need to... I need to keep the peace. I need to give a better world to all of the children and their children and those children's children. I want to give those people a safer world than the one we live in right now." She paused. "And I love you too, Aiden. Don't doubt that I do. I always have."

Aiden was about to respond when something beeped, and he reached for his pager. "They need me outside," he tells her. She nods. "Go, Aiden. I'll be fine."

Aiden looked uneasy at leaving her alone, but Elissa patted him. "Just go, Aiden."

"I'll see you soon," he promised. He gives her one last peck on the lips before he gently lied her down on the bed. Elissa was so tired she couldn't even manage to turn her head as the door closed.

Elissa presses her hand on the bed again, falling onto her back again. Groaning in frustration, she sinks back into her covers. Laying a hand on her midsection, she whispered," You better be worth this."

Sooo... Haven't updated in a while, I'm so sorry. I was just trying to enjoy my summer vacation.

Most of you probably know what Elissa's "come down" with, but I wasn't exactly sure of the timing before now. You can probably figure that she's cutting it a little bit close. But hey, that's just me.

This was a chapter that's going to be important in the long run. I was going to put it off until later, but I was sick of writing another Kai/Selene garden scene, so I decided to write an Elissa one. I know some of you don't like her, but hopefully this turned your mind around a little bit.