Months later the inspections were near completion. Zen noticed Obi had been quite out of it most of time. He asked to speak to him privately on the ship to figure out what was going on. Zen figured this had to do with Sonya being in Lyrias.
"You have feelings for Sonya don't you?" Zen asked straight to the point. Obi was a little surprised by this even though he asked the same question before. Last time he answered with his typical I wonder response, but this time he figured that it was best to be honest with his Master.
"Yes I like her" He responded. Zen was surprised that Obi actually gave him an actual answer. However, he knew for a fact that Obi didn't just like Sonya. The way he was behaving, he was in love with her.
"It's more than that isn't it? Sonya told me awhile ago that she was surprised to still see you working in the castle and how you like to nimbly go with the flow. So tell me, is Sonya what's keeping you in the castle?" His master questioned. Obi was silent. That basically confirmed his theory. "If you want to go to Lyrias it's fine. I won't stop you. In fact I'm surprised you haven't left already" Zen told him.
"She doesn't want me to go. I know her, the second I show up in Lyrias, she'll just be mad at me" Obi responded.
"Obi I also know Sonya. She wouldn't send a message like that if she didn't want you to go to Lyrias. I'll admit, she has moments where she's stubborn, but she means well. At first she begged me not to send you. However, she's clearly had a change of heart. Personally I don't understand why myself." Zen mentioned.
"She sure has changed since I first met her. I'm not sure how I feel about it. When I met her, I had just finished a job and my right arm was badly injured. I was leaning up on a tree trying to lay low and then she approached me. She told me she was an herbalist and asked to look at my arm. At first I refused, but she insisted." Obi told his master.
"She definitely sounds like Shirayuki" Zen commented.
"Yeah I think that's what drew me to the Miss in the first place. They almost share the same personality. It's as if they were twins separated at birth" Obi commented with a slight chuckle.
"It's actually weird not having those two in the castle. Granted, this isn't the first time Sonya has been away for such a long time. However, for some reason I always feel a little lonely without her" Zen mentioned.
"Master, I thought you loved Mistress" Obi commented.
"I do. It's just that...I've always looked up to Sonya as an older sister. I went to her every time I had an issue with my brother or if I needed advice in general plus she never really gave me special treatment because I was a prince. In fact, the only time she would refer to me by my title was in the presence of Izana or other high ranked officials." Zen mentioned. "Anyways you should go to Lyrias. I think it would be good for you and Sonya. Plus if anything happens, it would benefit Sonya to have a knight she can trust close by" he then stated with a smirk. Obi was confused by this.
"Knight? but Master I thought I was just your messenger?" Obi questioned confused.
"Well you'll still be relaying messages but from now on you're my immediate knight" Zen declared. "After all you protect others as if you are one" he then commented. This made Obi remember something Sonya told him previously.
"I know. You're more like a knight in my opinion "Sonya said with a smile. Obi was taken back by that.
"You...You think of me as a knight? " He questioned still surprised by her statement. She nodded her head.
"Of course. I wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for you always being there to protect me" She told him.
"I guess you have a point Master, but I would like to postpone my trip" Obi requested. "It's nothing personal I just don't want to go at the moment" he continued as he explained his reasoning.
"Fine then, just let me know when you want to end your postponement" Zen told him. Obi nodded then walked away. Meanwhile back in Lyrias Sonya, Shirayuki, and Ryuu sat down at a cafe for dinner.
"It seems as if Obi isn't coming" Ryuu commented. "I really thought he would too" he added.
"Ah well he is Zen's aide too after all" Sonya commented in response.
"True. You do have a point" Ryuu noted. "Though he tends to appear when you least expect him to so who knows" he continued.
"Yeah that's true. Sometimes Mitsuhide too when he looks for him" Shirayuki chimed in. Sonya giggled just thinking about it. "What do you think Sonya? You think Obi will come to Lyrias?" Shirayuki then asked. Sonya shrugged her shoulders.
"It's possible, but I think he's busy at the moment. Izana dumped a bunch of work on Zen so he could use all the help he could get" Sonya mentioned.
"It gets pretty lonely without him" Ryuu admitted.
"Little Ryuu are you trying to tell us that you miss Obi?" Sonya questionably teased causing Ryuu to blush in embarrassment. Both Sonya and Shirayuki giggled in response. "It's okay, I think all of us kinda miss him" she then commented.
"Especially since you're in love with him Miss Sonya" Ryuu noted causing Sonya to do a spit take of her wine.
"I'm sorry what?" She squealed.
"Am I wrong? That's what I overheard your friends say" Ryuu questioned.
"No, I have no romantic feelings towards Obi" Sonya clarified. She then excused herself from the table saying she had some work to take care of. However, she went to the fort to the knights training grounds and swung her sword around. She did this for quite a while before taking a break. She plunged her sword into the ground and took a deep breath.
"Obi I know I told you I didn't want you to come to Lyrias. But, now I don't know if I have the strength to do this without you" she uttered with tears threatening to fall. "We've been apart for 8 years previously and I handled that rather well. However, this time it's only been a few months and I feel myself emotionally falling apart" she continued. "I wish you were here so you can tell me that everything's gonna be okay and that I'm just overreacting" she went on as she sobbed. She eventually decided to call it a night and go to bed hoping soon Obi would visit.