Is It Love

Where had Sinbad gone? She didn't know. The question nagged at her for the rest of the night, though if you asked her she wouldn't admit it. She told herself he had gone back to the girls, but she didn't want to think about that. Instead she had tried to distract herself by talking to Thomas and the group. Eventually though, the question became too much to take, so she left early to go and try and find him. She never did. In the end all she had done was walked herself into exhaustion, and instead she had gone back to her room for a sleep.

A few days later she ate breakfast with Thomas in the gardens. Neither one of them spoke about what he had said that night. Hakuei wasn't ready to discuss it. So neither of them brought it up, and they had a lovely, peaceful breakfast.

At least, that's how Hakuei hoped the day would go.

It wasn't till after they finished their meals till he brought it up. "Were you uncomfortable with what I said that night?" Is it that obvious? Hakuei blushed as soon as the words were spoken, almost dropping the cup she was picking up. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable."

"I-I know. Don't worry, you didn't make me uncomfortable." Lies. Even Thomas wasn't convinced at that.

"I was just trying to be honest. And if I were to continue with that…I really thought that you felt the same way to." Oh no, he wasn't doing this. What was she supposed to say? Give him the 'you're a great guy' speech? She didn't even know half of that speech! How was telling someone they were a great guy supposed to help anyway? It just said, 'hey, you're great, but not my kind of great. Sorry!'

"Look, Thomas, it's not that I don't like you. It's just…I don't really know how I feel now. We were barely adults." Thomas's head fell, and Hakuei wished that she could take it back, even if it was true. She never wanted to hurt him. But wasn't it worse to lead him on? Even if saying it was hard, it was the right thing to do.

"You used to," he mumbled. Looking up with more energy he tried again. "You used to like me. Back then, when we were engaged." Hakuei blushed thinking back to that time. Yes, she had. There was no denying that. The two of them had always been together, laughing or talking about the most random things they could think of. It had been Hakuei's first crush, (which was kind of sad, considering how old she was at the time) and she had assumed it would be her last. In her culture they try to make sure she didn't have a relationship outside if her marriage, so she never expected anything else. Back then she thought she would always feel the same way about him…but now…

"Thomas, it's been so long. We've both become really different. I'm not saying I don't feel the same way about you, but its' really unlikely, after all this time." Okay, that might have been a lie. It was always possible to still like someone after a long time away from them, but she wasn't sure the way she had felt about him had been strong enough. She wasn't sure if she was ready to tell him that. "Besides, it wouldn't work even if I did like you. I'm only supposed to be with people my country arrange for it. Whether I like it or not, that's how it works." That sounded good. He couldn't argue with that.

Nope. He could. "If I ask for your country for your hand than we could." Had he actually suggested MARRIAGE? After all this time? Yes, that was the only way she was allowed to be in a relationship according to her countries rules, but that didn't mean she was ready to go that far.

"Thomas, before you go and do anything like that, maybe we should just spend some time thinking about it. It's only been a few days that we've seen each other since all those years ago. You shouldn't make a decision like that so…so drastically." Thomas thought about it for a moment, but then he nodded, and Hakuei felt relieved. At least she had fixed that problem.

"Alright. As long as that…is the only thing that's holding you back." Hakuei frowned at the pause in his voice. He seemed hesitant to say something.

"What would be holding me back?" Thomas hesitated, debating whether he should say what he was thinking. But Hakuei looked very stubborn, and he knew he couldn't get away without explaining it to her.

"I mean…I wasn't sure, it was just a theory but…I thought that perhaps you were taken by King Sinbad." Hakuei almost dropped the cup in her hand.

"WHAT?" Thomas jumped back at the anger in her voice. She didn't even acknowledge his fear, leaving herself to stew in her anger. With SINBAD? He thought that? Why on earth would he think that I had fallen for him? We don't even get along on a regular day basis! He flirts with girls without a care. He's NOTHING like someone I would ever fall for! "Why on earth would you think that? I hardly even LIKE him!"

"I-I'm sorry," Thomas stuttered, trying to edge away from her anger and shock. "It was just a theory! I wasn't sure, I guessed it after the party!" The PARTY? That should have been the last place that he would have thought that she liked him. She was trying to get away from him that night, and the rest of the night he continued to avoid her. How could anyone mistake avoidance for having feelings for someone?

"Why? What could possibly have made you think that?" he shuddered and the cold air surrounding her, but at least she didn't look angry with him. Perhaps he would get out of this alive. If he was lucky. And very fast.

"Well, the two of you…just acted like it. There were only subtle things, so I could have easily misinterpreted them." Hakuei waited. "I…I guess it was when you went to get him. I mean, you looked so annoyed when you saw him with all those girls. He does that all the time, so most people are used to it, but you just looked so mad, so I thought…" he trailed off, allowing her to connect the details. Her being annoyed at him when he…no, she was always annoyed at that! Of course, she never really knew why, but it couldn't possibly be because she was jealous! That was ridiculous!

"And when the two of us were talking, I noticed Sinbad kept glancing over to check on us once in a while. At first I thought he wanted to make sure I was enjoying the party, but then he was never smiling, and he's usually such a smiling guy." She was surprised at that. He really had been checking up on her? She thought the girls had just been teasing him. He really trusted her so little? That was to most reasonable explanation that Thomas didn't seem to match together. "And then, at the party he left as soon as I said I liked you, and you kept glancing in the direction he had gone." That did NOT mean she had feelings for him! Perhaps Thomas needed to get into reality more. It sounded like he was a bit of a dreamer, that theory was completely absurd.

"Well don't even think about that. Sin-King Sinbad and I don't even get along. Besides, my sister fell for him! Considering how different I am from my sister, do you really think we could fall for the same man?"

"Um…you have a lot of sisters…"

"Kougyoku."

"…Oh." Thomas decided it was best not to tell her that, when it came to her sisters, Kougyoku seemed the most similar to her.

"Trust me Thomas. No matter what happened, King Sinbad is just too different. I hardly know anything about him, and I don't think I want to. There is no chance that I would ever fall for him."

….

"Give me back the bat!"

"Nuh-uh! Its mine, go get your own!"

"But that one is the cool one!" at the sound of pounding footsteps Hakuei new the drill. Holding her papers close to her chest she moved to the side of the hallway, allowing Hinahoho's children to run screaming past her, arguing over what looked like a baseball bat except it had two pointed spikes sticking out on each side. Two kids ran screaming to chase the third boy who was in the lead, carrying the bat while yelling back at them arguments. The usual stuff, including, 'it's mine,' and 'you're just a tattletale,' and a newer one, 'you big bully!' As they left they brought a rush of wind with them and Hakuei staggered not to drop her papers.

The stack of papers were some that Yamu had asked her to bring to Jafar in his office. Apparently they were the reports on the quality of the shield surrounding Sindria. Over the last few months there had been a lot more break-ins from the southern creatures, more than what they should have had. They weren't sure if there was something wrong with the shield or if it was just a coincidence, so Yamu had spent the last few days trying to figure it out. Hakuei promised not to read them as she brought them over, with the explanation being 'I want to talk to Jafar and Sin about it before I tell anyone else.' Well that wasn't ominous. It left a lot of unanswered questions in her head, but she kept her promise. For the mean time at least, she didn't look.

That didn't mean she was going to get them to Jafar on time. She was supposed to have handed them to him half an hour ago, but was continually stalled on her trip. Hinahoho's kids running around, Sharkkon flirting with one of the girls in her path, Drakkon bringing a troop of trainees through and even Masrur when he accidentally knocked a pillar down in her path. Please don't let him be impatient for these files, she begged as she tried to hurry along. Holding the papers in place and running at the same time wasn't an easy task. A few times she had to stop and run back to get some she had dropped.

"Why is all of these things happening today," she questioned. She wanted to hurry so she could get back to Thomas. He wasn't sure when he was leaving, and she wanted to enjoy the time she had with him. The last few days had been great, but she doubted it would last much longer. Rushing through the hallways she dodged oncoming servants and soldiers. If it wasn't for her shoes she would have slipped on the shiny floor, just cleaned yesterday. Speeding, she ran past one of her friends who was carrying a basket of sheets. The woman smiled at her as she ran.

"Where you off to Lady Hakuei?" Hakuei slowed down so she could turn and smile. Hakuei liked her. She talked to her like a friend even if she wasn't supposed to.

"I have to give these files to General Jafar."

"Just watch where you are going okay?" with a smile she laughed and waved to her.

"Don't worry, I am!" the women nodded and waved to her as well. At the goodbye Hakuei turned and started speeding up again.

Running straight into someone's chest.

"Oof!" the impact startled her so much that she would have fallen if it weren't for the two arms that reached out and grabbed her by the shoulders. It took all her concentration to try and focus on the papers in her arms, making sure they didn't fall while the man in front of her kept her on balance. Once the two of them were set up straight again Hakuei bowed a bit as an apology. "Sorry about that. I wasn't paying attention," But then she looked up to see just who she had run into. King Sinbad towered over her, watching her cautiously.

Snap. She had the worst luck.

"King Sinbad…" she started hesitantly. "Um…I'm sorry for running into you."

"Ah, don't worry about it," he told her, putting on a charming smile. "If you running into me is what it takes to see you, I'll take it." right away Hakuei's smile was gone. Him trying to see her? He was kidding right? Sin was the one who had been avoiding her! Over the last few days, ever since the dinner she hadn't been able to find Sinbad anywhere. Whether his office, or his library, even in his room in the morning, she couldn't find him. Not that she was looking of course. It was for business!

"I could say the same thing about you. Where have you been the last few days?" Sinbad looked surprised a bit, feigning innocence. Or perhaps it was really innocence. With him she could never tell.

"Me? I've just been visiting some of my citizens. A few of the local girls wanted me to…come visit." Ugh. Of course they had. "What about you? Where have you been?"

"Hanging out with Thomas." This time it was Sinbad's smile that fell. Reveeeeeeenge.

"Oh."

"Mhm. Well, I need to get these files over to Jafar about the shield, so if you don't mind,"

"I'll walk with you," Sinbad interrupted her. "If they are about the shield I'm guessing they are something that I should see as well, right?" Darn it! She opened her mouth to protest, but couldn't think of an argument. "Good. Then we'll walk." Before she could protest Sinbad turned around and started in the direction that she was going, stopping to make sure she was following. For a moment she stood there, trying to think of some kind of argument. Maybe she could fake a seizure. Unlikely.

Without a way out, she slowly trudged along to follow Sinbad, much slower than the speed she was going before. When she slowed down Sinbad slowed as well so the two of them could walk together. She didn't see why. They didn't speak for most of the walk. Both of them walked in silence, the only sound the people around them. Hakuei didn't speak because she didn't want to talk to him. She was still annoyed at him for the dinner a few days ago, not to mention how he had been spending his weekend. As for him, she wasn't sure why he didn't talk. How could she? It seemed like she never knew what he was thinking.

After a bit, Sinbad started the conversation again. "So…you've been spending your time with Thomas huh?" she raised an eyebrow but didn't turn to him.

"Yup." Silence…

"…you shouldn't." there it was.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she glared at him, though he hardly seemed to notice it. He gave her a quick shrug, showing that he really didn't care. It was so convincing, she almost bought it.

"Just take it from me. You'll just be leading the poor guy on, making him think he has a chance with you. It's cruel really, deceiving him like that." Hakuei turned and stared incredulously at him. SHE was the deceiving one? SHE was the cruel one? Again he didn't react to the stare, which made her even angrier.

Ignoring the fact that she was starting to stomp she spoke back to him in a somewhat controlled voice, "well for you information we talked about it and-hey, what makes you think I don't like him? I never told you!" Sinbad's eyes flashed to hers, and this time she could see the bit of anger in his.

"Do you?"

"Maybe," she huffed just to annoy him. "It's none of your business either way."

Sinbad shook his head, turning back to the path in front of them. "If you ask me, he's not the right guy for you. Too naïve if you ask Me." That made her angry. Probably because it was Sinbad saying it.

"Thomas is a perfectly fine man. He's polite, kind, loyal,"

"Naïve." Sinbad finished. Her fingers twitched in annoyance.

"Fine. Yes, he's Naive. But so what? It's refreshing, having someone around who hasn't seen the same things that I have. He doesn't make me worry about those things, doesn't force me to talk about them,"

"You know what," Sinbad yelled, shocking Hakuei into silence. It was his first outburst of the day. Probably not his last. Once she concentrated on his face, she saw that he didn't look as impassive as he normally did during their conversations. The anger on his face was showing, his teeth clenched and eyes wild in the light. "You keep saying all these wonderful things about this-this BOY, but all I'm hearing is you saying just how little he understands and accepts you." That made Hakuei pull back to the conversation.

"Accepts me? He accepts me, why wouldn't he?"

"Oh, so is him 'accepting' you the reason you've been trying even harder to hide all of your scars?" consciously Hakuei tugged on the sleeve of her dress. "And him not forcing you to talk about stuff? That's not good Hakuei, sometimes you need to face your problems if you want to cure them! All he's doing is help you hide from them like a coward! He doesn't understand what you've been through. And because of that he wouldn't accept you!"

"He understands me just fine!" Hakuei shouted back at him.

"Does he understand why you get so scared when you're up so high? Can he understand how scared you get when you go to battle, and how to deal with it? Could he help you feel better after you've just been through a dungeon? Does he know how to-how to help you go back to sleep after you've had another dream about Isnan hurting you when you were younger?" Hakuei's breath caught in her throat. He knew about the nightmares? Sinbad continued as if nothing was wrong. "No, he doesn't and he wouldn't be able to. Even if you told him about it, if you tried to explain to him everything, would he be willing to listen? Would he try to help you when you were in pain?"

"I don't need anyone's help!" she shouted again, her rage boiling up inside of her. "I can handle my own problems!"

"It's impossible for someone to handle everything on their own!" Sinbad yelled back. "Everyone has to be vulnerable once in a while. Everyone needs someone they can admit their fears and regrets to. Isn't that supposed to be someone you love? Aren't you supposed to be able to admit how you truly feel and expect support and acceptance from that person?" at his words it was Hakuei's turn to laugh incredulously.

"Are you joking? You're going to lecture me about love? You?" this time Sinbad raised an eyebrow at her.

"Yes me. What's the problem with it?" Hakuei just laughed sarcastically, leaning back with her arms crossed in front of her chest. It finally was starting to feel like she was in control of something.

"You-you don't know anything about it! You've never been in love! What give you the right to lecture me about something that you know absolutely nothing about?" For a moment he looked actually startled. Like he hadn't really been expecting that.

"What made you think that?"

"Are you kidding?" Hakuei shook his head at him. "You are with girls all the time. Every party I see you around them. If you loved someone, how do you think they would feel seeing you with all of them? At least Thomas can be loyal, you on the other hand are never satisfied!"

His jaw clenched, tight. He held back from saying something, something that Hakuei guessed that she should have heard. Instead he said something else, with less force than he had before. "How am I not loyal? Ask Jafar, Masrur-"

"To them, you can," Hakuei waved away. "But in a relationship? You could not be in a relationship, because you can't ever love someone long enough to stay with them for more than a few weeks! You flirt and date girls all the time, but can you even imagine loving one of them? Is there anyone that you would even try living with for the rest of your life, being with her and ONLY her? Would you help her through all her nightmares, through all her fears? Is there anyone, out of all of the hundreds of girls that you have met in your journeys, has there ever been one that you would want to learn everything about and still love her through all of it?" As she was saying this, she was surprised to see his eyes soften with sadness. He didn't look angry anymore, he looked hurt. But she was too angry to care.

"…You really shouldn't talk about things you don't know about." Hakuei was absolutely furious at that point, wanting to get to the point of this issue, and END it. He really was a snake. Trying to slither his way out of everything, even something that was probably so small to him. How dare he. He didn't care about her one bit, did he? Wouldn't even give her a simple answer, ever. She had thought before that they might have been able to be friends. Perhaps she was the one being naïve.

"Something that I don't know anything about? I know more about it than you do. I know what it's like to have your heart broken, to actually love someone who didn't love you back. Have you ever felt that? Actually loving someone who didn't feel the same way?"

"Trust me Hakuei,"

"Don't call me that."

He didn't acknowledge her complaint. "I know what it's like to love someone who won't be with you." His voice held so much depth, that she almost wanted to shut up. No, no she wouldn't fall for his tricks. He was acting, just like he did before.

"I can't believe that. If you really loved someone, you wouldn't be doing this to her by flirting with all these girls."

"If I could be with her instead of all of them, I would do it in a heartbeat." She huffed angrily.

"Then why don't you?"

"I can't." Hakuei shook her head, refusing to let anything he said sink in. He always lied to her before, why would he tell her the truth then? He did whatever it took to make it sound like he was the good one. The innocent one.

"That is hard for me to believe. If you ever loved someone, how could you do this to her by being with all them? Don't you know how much this would hurt her, seeing you like that? You being charming is fine, that's part of your nature, but your dating all of them without any emotional connection. She would feel awful seeing that you with all of them. With them all around you, at every stupid party, how would she feel?" Sinbad opened his mouth to say something, but paused. Then, to her anger, a sly smile appeared on his face.

"Why princess," he slurred, sneaky and cunning, not even trying to hide it. "It almost sounds like you're jealous." Hakuei recoiled at the shock of being accused of the same thing twice in one day. And it being completely WRONG!

"Jealous? Why on earth would I be jealous? What you do is none of my business. I was just trying to prove you a liar." Sinbad chuckled, all his anger gone and her steaming up inside of her.

"Well you were doing a very bad job at it. But I find it very flattering that the first princess would think of me like that," he teased, knowing full well how angry she was becoming. She didn't bother to hide it. Her face was red, her teeth were grinding together, her hands were clenched, and she was giving him the mother of all glares. If he was normal, he would have backed off. But he wasn't. he was Sinbad, and he seemed to LOVE teasing her.

"Let's get one thing straight here King Sinbad. I will NEVER think of you like that."

He just smirked. "Never say never princess."

"Never! You're cruel, a liar, a flirt, nothing like someone I would like! Thomas is! I mean, I turned him down when he asked for my hand, but that was because it has been so long-"

Oops.

"Thomas PROPOSED to you?" Sinbad's jaw had dropped open, and his eyes had gone wide. Hakuei gulped audibly, and her face blushed from embarrassment instead of anger. She hadn't meant to say that. It was personal between her and Thomas, and he'd only suggested it carelessly. She hadn't meant to make it sound like he had been proposing.

"N-no, he was just suggesting it when we were talking."

"What did you say?" he interrupted, making her glare at him.

"I don't think that is any of your business!" His golden eyes glowed in anger, and a bit of worry.

"Right, cause it's none of my business if you go off marrying some random boy that you don't love just so that you can have a way to run away and avoid all of your problems! What did you say?"

"He's not a boy, and I'm not running away from my problems! It's none of your business!"

"I command you to tell me!" Darn it!

"I told him that we should take some time to think about it," she replied automatically, cursing herself and the bracelet. Sinbad's eyes became as wide as plates, looking more surprised than she had ever seen him in her few months on the small country.

"That's not a no." Hakuei huffed.

"How very observant of you."

"Were you CONSIDERING saying yes?" In reality, she hadn't been. He had been completely irrational bringing up something like that after all that time, and only having seen each other for a few days. Of course SINBAD didn't have to know that.

"Maybe. I don't know." Finally it looked like she was getting under his nerves for once. Sinbad glared at her and his voice rose a few octaves.

"What do you mean, 'I don't know?' you want to marry HIM? Why on earth would you want to marry him?"

"Why not? He's a perfectly fine man!"

"Not for you he isn't," Sinbad argued back.

"And who would be huh? You?" Sinbad glared at her, but didn't give her an answer. The two of them stayed there, frozen in their anger. They might have stayed that way the whole day, if it wasn't for their interruption.

Jafar had found them. "Um…your majesty?" both of them swirled around to see the advisor, standing there in surprise. He looked shocked at what he had just seen, and both of them panicked wondering just how long he had been standing there. Luckily for them, he didn't acknowledge it. "I…Um…The papers?" Hakuei, seeing her way out, dove for it immediately.

"Here." She pushed the papers into him, making him stumble a bit. She felt bad for that. It wasn't Jafar she was mad at. Spinning around she allowed herself one last glare at Sinbad. "How about next time you need to deliver some of these to your king, you ask one of the girls that he was visiting to bring it to him." Sinbad didn't respond, and she didn't stick around for him to get the chance. In a huff she turned and stormed away. As Hakuei left with steam shooting out of her ears, she overheard Jafar speaking to Sinbad.

"Visited a few local girls? Why do you lie to her about that?"

"What do you mean?"

"We both know that you weren't with any of the girls this week."

Hey guys. Next weeks chapter might come late. Sorry, and I hope you enjoyed this one!