Shadgirl2: Hey, everyone! Midna Azusa finally got another chapter ready for me!

Midna: Yeah. Updates for this story should speed up again soon.

Shadgirl2: So, now that that's out of the way, enjoy the latest chapter!

Disclaimer: We don't own Yugioh GX.

Elise's POV

When I walked through my front door that evening, I stopped and looked around, stunned, with a hand on my cheek. In addition to the vacuuming that I had asked Jaden to do, the furniture had been dusted, the curtains were cleaner than they had been, the walls and windows looked as though they had been washed...looking around, I couldn't find a single thing in the entrance hall or the living room that hadn't been cleaned!

When I took a look around the living room, that was where I found Jaden. He was lying on the couch as if he had just collapsed there in exhaustion. One of his arms was dangling over the side as he slept. I smiled, then put down my bag before heading into the kitchen, where the counters were shining, the cupboards organized, the floor mopped, and everything else virtually spotless. I made dinner for myself, then decided I should make something for Jaden on the off chance he woke up before morning. I doubted he'd had any dinner that night, considering how busy he seemed to have been all day.

As I sat at the dining room table eating my dinner, I couldn't have been any more proud of that boy if I were his own mother. Looks like somebody's been busy. Great work today, Jaden. Now rest up. Tomorrow's another day.

Once I finished eating, I made a couple of cheeseburgers for Jaden, wrapped them up in aluminum foil, and placed them in the microwave. Then I headed upstairs to bed.

Jaden's POV

I was lying under a cherry tree on top of a hill just outside of town. It was a beautiful day; the sun was shining bright overhead, a gentle breeze rustling the grass and brushing it up against me. It was so peaceful out there, not like it was at home, and I was just about to fall asleep and take a nap (until somebody found me, most likely her) when a burst of flames appeared above my head to my left. I caught rocks appearing around the same time from the right, a cold wind blew from down by my left foot, and lightning struck the ground at my right foot.

"Huh?"

I sat up, finding myself surrounded by four guys. One was a big guy with a sideways baseball cap. Another had purple hair. There was a guy wearing a winter hat. And the last had red hair and yellow shades. All four of them had these wicked grins on their faces and were snickering some.

"Who are you guys?" I asked, knowing I wouldn't like the answer. "What do you want?"

"Aw, come on now, kid," the guy in the snow hat said. "Isn't it obvious? What do you think we want?"

"Tch..." Of course. Of all the days for me to leave town altogether. There wasn't anyone there who could help me deal with these guys! So I activated my duel disk, hoping I could take on all four of them.

Three of them grabbed me by the arms, though, before I could even try using it.

"Hey!" I protested, struggling in vain against their grip.

The three pulled me to my feet, and the guy with the snow hat—the only one who wasn't holding onto me—said, "You're coming with us! Then, in the name of the Light of Truth, you'll be joining our team as the Monarch of Wind! Bet you're excited, huh?" He smirked.

The four of them teleported away in the same manner they had appeared, taking me with them. Then I woke up with a gasp.

I pushed myself up slightly, saying, "Th-that was..."

I wasn't under a cherry tree, and those four guys weren't anywhere to be found. I was on Elise's couch in her living room. It was dark outside, and the lights were off. Since I was pretty sure I hadn't turned them off, I figured Elise must have been home by then. I glanced at the coffee table beside me and saw a note.

"Guess Elise is home. And asleep... How long have I been sleeping?"

Since there wasn't a clock in the living room, I headed into the kitchen. The digital clock on the microwave told me it was 2:06.

I stared for a second before saying, "Wow. Yeah, I...I should go back to bed..."

"Kuri kuri?" I heard.

Half-heartedly, I looked around, but I knew I wouldn't see anything. I sighed, then turned on the kitchen light and went back to read the note Elise had left. It said that there were a couple of cheeseburgers in the microwave for me, not that I was entirely sure what a cheeseburger was, but I was hungry enough to find out. I was picturing a couple of buns with, like, a slab of cheese in the middle.

Boy, was I ever wrong!

I opened the microwave, unwrapped one of the packages, and found a sandwich inside that had a beef patty, a slice of cheese, pickles, onions, lettuce, ketchup, and mustard. Why was that called a cheeseburger? The cheese was just a thin slice! Well, whatever. It didn't really matter, anyway, because I was hungry enough to eat them both. So I took them both to the living room, turning out the kitchen light as I left, put the sandwiches on the coffee table, and sat down to eat.

Cheeseburgers turned out to be really good. Though I still didn't have a clue why they were called cheeseburgers.

While I was eating, I heard the whoosh of flames and the sound of crumbling rocks as the entrance hall lit up. The light was dim enough that I figured it had come from the kitchen. The sounds were familiar enough that I put on my duel disk and activated it.

Crap.

Sure enough, I heard a familiar voice whisper, "Shh. Quiet, Honomaru. Do you want to wake everyone up?"

"Sorry. But a flaming entrance can only get so quiet," he whispered back.

"Well, whatever. Looks like the coast's clear, anyway. It's real late. They're bound to be sleeping by now."

I can't even sleep with these guys after me! I realized, annoyed.

I saw their shadows coming my way. As they headed for the living room, Honomaru said, "Right. Then all we've gotta do is sneak in and—"

He cut himself off when he and Iwamaru walked into the living room and saw me sitting on the couch, my duel disk already set to go. They just stared at me for a moment.

"Uh..." Iwamaru said, sweating.

Real intelligent answer, dude. "Tempest!" I cried as I got to my feet, slapping down a card for one of my fusion monsters.

My blue-clad hero with green and white wings appeared, ready to duke it out with these two creeps!

"N-now, hold on, kid!" Iwamaru stammered, backing up with his hands raised in a gesture of harmlessness. Like I was gonna fall for that! "Can't we talk about this?"

"Y-yeah! All we wanna do's take you to our boss so that you can become one of us! Is that so bad?"

Well, considering I didn't want to become a kidnapper who could teleport and couldn't take no for an answer, I only had one thing to say to them. "You kidnapped me! Yes, it's that bad! Leave me alone already!"

Tempest was all set to attack, even if I didn't give the command. I loved how monsters came to life when summoned outside of a duel. It made it so much easier to deal with these guys. Sure, I had no allies to help, but I could fix that by just slapping a card down on my duel disk.

"Aw, come on. W-we don't have to fight. What about messing up this fine house?"

"Y-yeah," Honomaru agreed. "If we were to fight in here, it would be disastrous! And I don't think your caretaker would appreciate that, now, would she?"

The real reason they were doing this was written all over their pale, sweat-soaked faces. They didn't want me to attack again. And they weren't activating their own duel disks because they knew I'd attack them if they tried. But Honomaru's comment about my caretaker gave me an idea to get them out of there without attacking.

"I don't think she'd appreciate you guys busting in here and kidnapping me, either!" I yelled as loud as I could. "But that hasn't stopped you from trying!"

"Shh!" Honomaru hissed. "Quiet down! What are you—"

"Jaden!?" Elise called, and I smiled triumphantly. "Was that you!?" I heard footsteps upstairs as she ran down.

"Gwah! Curse you!" Honomaru spat as Iwamaru teleported away. "Don't think this is over. We'll be back, and you will join our team!"

With that threat—which was totally not going to happen—he disappeared in a burst of flames. Just as the flames faded, Elise ran in, turning on the light.

"Jaden. You alright?" she asked anxiously. She was holding a can of pepper spray, too. "Was it those thugs again?"

"Yeah. But they're gone now."

She walked over and wrapped me in a hug. "Oh, Jaden. You okay? They didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, they didn't," I told her, wanting to ease her worries. "I'm fine."

"Should I call the police and tell them about this new attempt and break-in?" she asked, letting go of me and making a beeline for the phone.

"What good will that do?" I asked, thinking of what Asuka had said earlier. "It's like they're some sort of gang. Asuka said there's probably nothing the police can do, anyway."

Elise stopped and turned back to me. "Oh, Jaden. It's okay. We'll think of some way to stop them."

I didn't answer. I honestly wasn't sure how we were going to stop a bunch of guys who could teleport and were as determined as those four. Nothing short of murder came to mind.

"It would help if we knew why they were after you, though. Can you remember anything? Anything at all that might be useful to us?"

I hesitated, not really wanting to tell her—though, as usual, I couldn't remember why. At the time, I figured I just didn't want to admit to her that I was a useless, runaway prince. But, finally I told her, "I...think I might be the prince of Neospace..."

Her eyes widened, and she raised her hand to her cheek the way she always did when she was shocked. "What!? Y-you mean..."

"I remember getting ambushed while I was taking a nap under a tree outside of town," I told her, trying to salvage my reputation. "I...needed a break. I was planning on going back. But they showed up, and..."

She just stared at me, and this nagging feeling told me that this was the real reason I hadn't wanted to tell her. Still, it didn't make a lot of sense to me. Of course she'd be shocked to hear someone who's living with her say he thinks he's a prince! Why should that matter?

"Th-that reminds me. You've got a meeting with the king on Friday."

"...Let's hope he can get to the bottom of this one...because this is getting weird..."

I looked away.

She didn't say a word for another moment, still in shock. Finally, she said, "We should get to bed. Tomorrow's another day." Then she walked out, heading back upstairs.

"Yeah..." I said, and I followed, turning out the light as I left.

The note she left me the next day was kind of weird: "Have fun today! There's food in the fridge for you, and I'll be home at 9. But don't let your guard down! Those guys are still out there. Better safe than sorry, right? ;)"

No, it wasn't the winking face that was weird. I was getting used to her emoticons on the notes. What was weird was that was all the note said. There wasn't anything else—no list of chores, not even vacuuming or dishes.

I stared at the note for a minute. "Well, that's weird..."

Since I felt lazy enough as it was after my conversation with Misawa, Asuka, and Manjoume the day before, I did vacuum and do the dishes, at least.

Around noon, I heard an angry mob yelling Sho's name some distance away, and someone started pounding on the door.

"Aniki!" Sho cried. "Open up! Hurry before they—"

He cut off abruptly, his voice being replaced by loud noises and someone yelling, "Come here!"

Considering this sounded really bad, I ran to the door and threw it open, only to find a group of teenagers holding Sho down and beating the tar out of him. The funny thing was they were all wearing identical charred clothing—all the boys had the same pants and jackets, and the girls had the same skirts and tops. There was soot covering parts of them, and some had minor burns.

So, pretty much, a bunch of barbecued high school kids were beating up Sho. Kind of comical, in a way, but I still had to stop it.

"Hey! Get off him!" I yelled, pushing people aside as I made my way to Sho. "What the hell is wrong with you guys!?"

"What the hell's wrong with him!?" one boy retorted, pointing at Sho in accusation. "You know what he did to me this morning?"

"What?" I asked, curious. Maybe this would tell me why they were all fried. Now that I could see him, Sho looked about the same as they did.

"He blew up my science experiment! And not just that, either! This bonehead blew up the whole science lab, too!"

He blew up the science lab!? I... How the hell was I supposed to defend that!?

"I didn't mean to, Aniki! Honest!" Sho said.

Okay. That made it easier to defend. But I still wanted to know one thing. "H-how did he do that?"

"'Cause he's stupid," said a girl who either had soot covering all of her hair or actually had dark hair. "He put alcohol in a mix of hydrogen peroxide and chromic acid."*

I might not have known what chromic acid was or which of those two things it wasn't supposed to mix with, but, apparently, that kind of mixture could cause explosions.

"How was I to know that was such a dangerous mix!?"

"Simple!" said a different boy. "You should've been paying attention in class!"

The others all gathered around again, yelling at Sho and ready to keep pounding on him. I had to get this under control, and quick.

"Okay, okay!" I said. "But he already said it was an accident, right? So why are you beating him up?"

"'Cause he got us 'beat up!' Right, guys!?" another girl said.

They all answered with nods or "right!"

"You see!? Now move aside! He needs some bruises!" a boy said, shoving right past me. The others followed, charging at Sho again.

"Aw, come on, guys. Can't we talk about this?" Sho asked in a small voice. He was curled into a ball with his hands over his head.

I pushed through and blocked them again. "Hold on! How does that make this right!? Who the heck raised you guys to act like this!?"

The same boy shoved me out of the way, sending me flying. "I said move it! We've got some payback to attend to!" He cracked his knuckles menacingly.

I started getting to my feet, but two of the other boys grabbed my arms, pulling me up and holding me back. The rest of the Charbroiled Mob went after Sho again like a swarm of hornets.

"Aniki! Help me!"

I growled, pulling away from my captors, then activated my duel disk. "Flame Wingman! (Atk 2100) Wildedge! (Atk 2600) Get out here! It's time for some crowd control!" I called, throwing down two cards. As they were fusion monsters, their material monsters were now considered to be in the graveyard.

Flame Wingman appeared, along with Wildedge, the dark-skinned hero with golden armor and a two-handed sword.

The mob stopped, turning to me. Most of them sweat, and I knew then that they weren't duelists. Sho was trembling, hiding behind his hands.

"Back. Off. Now," I growled.

The majority did, but about five of them stood their ground, including the boy who had shoved me.

"No way," he said. "I came to get some revenge, and that's just what I'm gonna do!"

He pulled out a duel disk and slipped it on, along with the other four.

"I summon Horus, the Black Flame Dragon LV8!" (Atk 3000)

"Perfect Machine King!" (Atk 2700) another boy called.

"Simorgh, Bird of Divinity!" (Atk 2700) called a girl.

"Doom Dozer!" (Atk 2800) the last of the boys summoned.

"Guardian Angel Joan!" (Atk 2800) the other girl summoned, and I nearly laughed out loud at the fact that she was using a guardian angel and beating up on someone for making a mistake.

"Attack!" the five commanded, and their monsters all attacked as one.

I just smirked, not even phased. So what if all of their monsters were stronger than my own? I just tossed Sparkman down and pulled a spell card.

"I activate Polymerization to fuse Sparkman and Flame Wingman! Come on out, Shining Flare Wingman!" (Atk 2500)

Sure, my glowing white hero didn't seem like much. But his attack power skyrocketed when his effect kicked in—he gained 300 points for all the Heroes in my grave: Burstinatrix, Avian, Flame Wingman, Sparkman, Baldedge, and Wildheart. That left him with a grand total of 4300 attack points.

The five with the Duel Monsters stopped their attacks, looking stunned and nervous. Seeing that I had them beat, I couldn't resist the urge to give them an angry lecture.

"You guys aren't duelists! You've got no right to attack Sho for making a mistake! What kind of monsters are you!? What, you never made mistakes before?"

"Uh, well, he kinda blew up our school, so..." the boy with Horus started. Funny how running into a stronger monster made him lose all his nerve.

"So!? Does beating him up make you any better!?" Without waiting for an answer, I finished, "I don't think so!"

"Yeah, well..." said the girl with Joan. Then she growled when she couldn't find a defense for her behavior. "Whatever! Keep him! It's obvious you're into losers anyway." She called back her monster and said, "Come on, guys! Let's get out of here!"

She stormed off, and the rest of the mob followed, some whispering threats to Sho as they left.

As they walked off, I counted, wondering if there were usually only about fifteen people in a class. Maybe the others were in the hospital. Oh, good grief! Yeah, I was just gonna stop thinking about the whole lab explosion thing.

Sho uncurled slightly, looked around, then sat up on the ground when he realized they were all gone. "Thanks, Aniki. I knew you'd stop those guys," he told me. In a mutter, he added, "Well, for now, at least." Then he sighed, looking down.

As if I hadn't already been mad. Those guys were gonna try that again!? Who the hell raised those maniacs!?

"If they try that again, I want names," I said. "And addresses. They're not getting away with acting like this!"

"Aniki, you don't get it, do you? Didn't you catch that news documentary about bullying in this town? I was in it, you know."

The way he said it, it was like that was an excuse for those creeps to beat him up whenever they had a bad day. Science lab exploded? Beat up on Sho. Failed a test? Beat up on Sho. Going through puberty? Beat up on Sho.

"Yeah, I know," I told him. "But that still doesn't mean they should be allowed to treat you this way!"

He looked down, and I was worried for a second that he was going to say it was a legal requirement. Like you could go to jail or get fined if you didn't pound Sho at least once a week. "Yeah. I know..." he said instead, which was somewhat of a relief.

"Did I just see what I think I saw?" a female voice asked from behind me.

If I hadn't been so on-edge, I would have known that voice. As it was, I stepped in front of Sho defensively on impulse, turning as I did so. The girl behind me was a familiar blond.

"Oh. Asuka," I said. But I didn't relax. After all, she was wearing the same uniform, even if it wasn't burnt. And she didn't exactly have a history of compassion.

"Did you really just do that, Jaden?" she asked, walking over. "Did you really just stand up for Sho?"

"Well, somebody had to, and I wasn't about to let them beat him up right outside my door!"

She closed her eyes, grinning. "Well, that's an interesting twist. Nobody else around here cares." I relaxed slightly at that, figuring she wasn't going to pound on anyone. She opened her eyes and gave me a serious look, asking, "Why do you? He's not from your—"

I cut her off before she could finish that, as if by instinct. I knew what she was going to say: "kingdom." And, for some reason, I didn't want her to say it in front of Sho. Just like I hadn't wanted to tell Elise. "Yeah, well, that doesn't mean they should be doing that. Not all of us just stand around and watch, you know."

"Uh, Aniki..." Sho said, sweating. "They sell tickets sometimes..."

My eyes widened in horror, and I looked down to where he was still sitting. "W-what!?"

"Yeah. I was about to point that out," Asuka said. "See, like with any fighting entertainment, the masses eat it up like a box of chocolates. It's fun to watch the different methods some people use."

While she said that, it didn't sound like she was interested. This gave me a slight ray of hope that maybe she was nicer to other people and there was just something about me that grated on her.

When I managed to absorb that horror, I said, "Uh-huh, yeah, okay. So, basically, everyone in this town's a barbarian? Except, from the sound of things, you, at least."

She shrugged. "I prefer staying out of it. It's not my problem, after all. I don't know the kid all that well. Why bother getting involved?"

And that, right there, crushed all hopes that I had that she might be different. She was exactly how I suspected—an accomplice by apathy.

"By staying out of it, you're just as bad as they are," I told her.

"No, I'm not. I'm just—"

"Just standing by when someone's being bullied doesn't do anything to help them. It's like you're just leaving the victim at the mercy of his attackers. So you'd also just stand by if you were positive that your neighbor was abusing his wife or kid? Just because you don't know them?"

She balled her hands into fists and glared at me, apparently insulted. I knew right then that this was about to get really heated on both our parts.

Asuka's POV

"I never said that!" I protested, furious that he would imply such a thing. "I said—"

"That you don't get involved with Sho's problem because you don't know him," Jaden cut me off. "But wouldn't that same thing apply to child abuse? You don't know the kid, so you stay out of it, right?"

That caught me off guard. It made sense, and I wasn't sure what to say for a minute. But he was making me look bad, so I started, "Th-this is different! The whole—"

"The whole town loves it?" he cut me off again, looking angry himself. "Well, what if the whole town liked beating you up! Then what would you say about it!?"

I started, my eyes wide. There wasn't any way I could win this one. He was right, and there wasn't anything I could say against it.

"I-I—" I cut myself off. Because, really, what could I possibly say? That I would be okay with Sho acting like me if the tables were turned? If I were the one being tormented every day?

Jaden turned to Sho and said, "You need to move, Sho. You live in a town of monsters, and the few humans here don't have hearts."

"Huh!?" Sho started. "B-but I—"

Oh, that was it! I wasn't going to just stand there and let him talk about me like that! I got up in his face, glaring at him fiercely. "And what's that supposed to mean!? That we should all face up to the angry mobs, the way you did!? We're not all crazy!"

He glared right back at me, not even phased by my anger, which was uncommon. Most people were afraid of me when I got mad."We're not all cowards, either!" he countered. "I couldn't live with myself if I just stood by and let that happen! One of these days, they're gonna kill him! And nobody but me seems to care!"

I thought about how rough they often got with Sho: the broken bones, blood, and everything they always did. Jaden was making sense. I hated him for it because he was making me feel terrible for standing by and letting that happen all the time.

I growled at him. "Oh, I can't wait til you go back to your kingdom!" I told him, annoyed. "Clearly you're a—"

Sho cut me off this time. "Wait, what? What's she talking about, Aniki?"

Jaden's POV

Great. She'd said the "K" word in front of Sho. Really, why did that bug me so much, though?

"I'm from Neospace," I said, leaving out the bit she suspected—I still wasn't sure it was true. Or maybe it would be more accurate to say I was in denial. I mean, there was a chance that wasn't the case, right? "And, when I find my way back there, I think you should go, too," I told him.

"Oh...okay... But I—"

"Oh, he's from Neosapce, alright," Asuka pouted, crossing her arms. Muttering, she added, "And he's gonna lead it into the ground someday. Hmph."

I wanted to strangle her for that.

Sho looked totally lost. "Lead it into the ground? Aniki, what's she—"

"We don't know that for a fact, Asuka. We still don't know who I really am."

"No. I'm pretty sure we do. You fight like a warrior, ride like nobility, duel like a champion, and defend every poor unfortunate soul you see. Clearly you're a—"

"Asuka!" I cut her off.

"A what? Aniki, what's going on?" Sho asked, looking between the two of us.

"It's nothing," I told him. "Just speculation."

"Yeah, whatever," Asuka said. "Point is, you can't save everyone, Jaden. There are just some battles you should learn to let go. And trust me. Saving Sho? It's one of them, so why don't you wise up and worry about your own problems. They're bigger than his, anyway, all things considered."

I glared at her again. Really, what did she take me for? "I'm not abandoning my friend, Asuka! I'll take on the whole town if I have to!" I told her, a fire burning in my eyes.

She closed her eyes and shook her head, grinning. "Heh. You're crazy, but be my guest. If you wanna die and lead your kingdom to ruin that way, that's fine by me. Do as you want. I'm done arguing with you. Clearly it's getting us nowhere, so I guess I'll just see you around." She started walking off, then stopped, turning back with a...caring and proud look on her face. "Nice job taking care of those guys, though." Then she headed back to her house.

I stood there, just completely lost. First she was arguing with me about how she was smart and I was stupid (even though the truth was I was caring and she wasn't), then she was suddenly all caring and proud of me for doing something she thought was stupid and pointless? What was wrong with that girl?

"Aniki. What was that about?" Sho asked, finally getting to his feet. "First she's yelling at you, then she..."

I shrugged, just as lost as could be. "I don't know. She's always like that. First day I met her, she was friendly enough, but the next time we talked, she was a jerk. I think she's bipolar or something."

He was quiet a moment before starting, "And that other thing she said... Why would you lead—"

"It's nothing," I cut him off.

"B-but she sounded so—"

"She's just got a theory about who I am."

"Y-you mean that stuff about you being P-Prince Ju—"

"Maybe," I stressed.

"S-so, you mean, you're really a—"

His wide-eyed expression, the excitement all over his face, was starting to give me an idea of why I wouldn't want him knowing—I mean, thinking—that I was a prince. Because I wasn't. I couldn't be!

"It's just her theory! I don't know if I am!"

"Oh... But wouldn't it be cool if you were!? I mean, we could hang out in the castle all day, ride in limos or private jets or even a horse-drawn carriage, eat fancy snacks and lunches, and—"

The more he talked, the more excited he got. His eyes were bright, he was leaning in...and he was tugging at my memories, showing me why I wouldn't want people to know. And making it harder to tell myself that it wasn't true.

"So, what, would you be treating me different if I was?" I asked.

He stopped in the middle of his rant. "I, uh..." He sweat.

I closed my eyes and said, "I hope I'm not a prince. That would make it real hard to know who my real friends are since everyone would be in a hurry to get on my good side."

"Sorry," Sho said. When I looked, his head was down, and he seemed like he was feeling guilty. "Guess that was pretty selfish of me, wasn't it?"

"It's fine, Sho," I told him. "Don't worry about it. Why don't you come inside?"

His head still low, he said, "I, uh, had somewhere to go after school today, Aniki. But we can hang out tomorrow, if you'd like!"

"Oh," I said. "Okay. See ya!"

"Yeah. See ya." He turned and walked off, his head still low.

I watched him go, wondering what that was about. Maybe he had detention for blowing up the science lab. Maybe he was grounded. Maybe he couldn't hang out with me with a clean conscience after finding out that I might be a prince and acting that way. Maybe he was uncomfortable about the thought of being around a prince. Maybe he liked the idea of me being a prince and hated to think that it might not be true.

...Ugh, how did this turn into me thinking he was freaking out over the prince thing!?

"...I hope that had nothing to do with me..." I said to myself. Then I headed back inside.

Nothing else happened all day. Elise came home around 9:45 (which made her almost an hour late, for the guy who had been starting to worry), dragging in so much stuff that it looked like she'd just broke the bank. She had bags of very expensive-looking clothes, plush pillows, a fancy bed set...and did I mention the clothes were my size?

"Elise? What's that stuff for?" I asked.

"Oh, hi, Jaden," she said, dragging the bed set across the floor.

I stared at her a moment, a bad feeling creeping into my gut as I remembered that her note hadn't had any chores on it. "You didn't answer my question."

"Oh, I'm just trying to make things a bit more comfortable for you," she said, dragging her expensive acquisitions toward the stairs. "You know, just in case you're really—"

Really a prince, I finished in my head. "That's what I was afraid of," I said. The way I was feeling just then...it was familiar, and I hated it. Here she was treating me differently after I said I might be the prince of Neospace. And, worse, this feeling felt familiar! This feeling of distrust. Hurt.

"I'm just trying to help jog your memory some," she told me. "That's what nurses do. Help their patients recover. So? Red, lavender, or blue bedsheets? Which do you prefer?" She asked, holding up three silk bedspreads.

I blinked, feeling worse by the second. "Well, you've jogged my memory a bit, for sure," I told her. "I remember that I hate this treatment. It makes it hard to...well, yeah." I looked away, thinking I couldn't trust anyone. Which made me feel worse because that thought came with a couple of images of people I couldn't trust—a couple of girls with purple hair. Though I got the feeling that the reason wasn't the same with both of them.

Elise put the stupid stuff down, looking concerned. "Jaden? Is something wrong? I thought most princes were used to living like this? Why is it so wrong?"

"How much money did you spend on all this junk? I'm not moving in, you know."

"They're rentals, dear. I could never afford to actually keep any of this stuff! They'll be gone when you are, trust me. So?" She reached into another bag and pulled out two fancy bars of soap. "Honey or lilac?"

I just stared at her for a moment, feeling like I'd been kicked in the gut or slapped in the face. Yeah. A slap in the face by reality. I wasn't ever going to find someone who didn't care about my title, my status. With that in mind, I ran upstairs to the room she'd given me, not even caring that my thoughts were a sign that I was remembering something—if this was what my life was like, I didn't want to remember!

Elise's POV

"Jaden!" I called after him. "Wait a minute!" I heard a door slam upstairs, and I knew he'd just locked himself in his room. "Darn. A bit too much of a jog, I guess. Now what?"

I thought about what to do for the rest of the night, simply because everything I tried to get him out of his room failed.

Over the next couple of hours, I kept making different things for him to eat, trying to get him to eat something. I started with some goose, as the wealthier people at work had always said that they rather liked it. However, that set him off like a bomb. He didn't open the door, but he yelled loud enough to wake the dead, telling me to leave him alone and get that "crap" away from him. So I tried some steak. That set him off nearly as badly. Next I tried a club sandwich, having realized that he hated the fact that I was offering him expensive foods, like what a prince would eat. The reaction wasn't nearly so explosive this time, but he still wouldn't eat it. I tried sushi next, with the same result.

As I knocked on his door for the final time that night before going to bed myself, I had just a bologna and cheese sandwich, and I hoped he would at least eat that. I hated that he was so upset, and I was hoping that I could make him feel better if I just offered him something simple.

"Go away!" he said again.

Well, so far, this was going about as well as the last four attempts.

"Come on, Jaden," I called. "Please eat something. I've got a simple cheese and meat sandwich out here for you this time! There's nothing fancy or special about it at all! Won't you please open up? Pretty please?"

"I'm not hungry!" he said, just as he had the last four times.

"But, Jaden! It's not—"

"I said I'm not hungry!"

I sighed, thinking I would make a terrible mother. I couldn't handle Jaden at all. I just didn't know what to do with him! Hopefully he would come around in the morning...

"Fine," I said through the door. "Have it your way. I'll just leave it in the refrigerator, like I did the others. If you change your mind, you know where to look!"

He didn't answer at all this time. I sighed, giving up. After all, you can lead a horse to water, but you can't make him drink. Or, in this case, you can offer food to a moody teenager, but you can't make him eat. So, considering I was fighting a losing battle, I decided I'd just give him some space. Hopefully that would help. With any luck, I'd get this caregiver thing right...eventually.

"Well, I'm heading for bed! See you in the morning, okay?"

Again he didn't answer. Clearly I wasn't going to make him feel any better that night, so I would just have to hope that he heard me and move on. Knowing my luck, he was just ignoring me because he was upset with me. What a mistake I had made!

"Don't forget, we've got an appointment with King Reginald tomorrow, too! So you better be up and ready by at least 3, okay?"

He still didn't answer.

"Well, good night anyway," I told him, walking off.

Yes. I would make a terrible mother.

*Chromic acid and alcohol should never be mixed, as they are explosive together. Yay, chemistry!