"There she is dad!" The sound of her son's voice catches Eva's attention once she rolls herself inside of of the dining hall.
"Where did you roll off to that quickly?" Aikka curiously poses toward his wife as he aids her to the table.
"Let's just say that I had to handle some business but you know how I am?" She replies in a nonchalant manner. She managed to wave off any doubts her husband had held.
He nods his head to show that he agreed with his wife and teases, "Whenever there is a place you need to be, you will get there on your own."
The red haired woman wore a smile small after she heard her husband's statement. "...but you see now I have a wonderful husband I can rely on now."
"You got that right." The chestnut haired man places a quick kiss on her lips while their children simply turn their heads in an opposite direction.
'Ew…cooties!' The twins simultaneously thought with a expression of playful disgust on their face.
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Jordan casually strides in the direction of Rick's office while his hand attempts to nurse his sore jaw.
He reluctantly admitted that Minato's reaction slightly caught him off guard since he initially focused in on Natalie.
'All of this could've been avoided if you never would have acted like a jerk in the first place.' His consciousness belittles him.
Jordan simply ignores the voice that currently distracts him during his thoughts to swiftly enact his revenge against the blonde twit, name Minato.
'You're just jealous of him because he has relationship with Natalie while you two probably will never have one.' The inner voice curtly retorts.
Jordan briefly halts in the middle of his stride to gently rub his temples since his consciousness constantly replays what occur earlier today.
'Look here you are either with me or against me.' He mentally asserts to the small voice in his head.
'If you choose the first choice then we can have our revenge. However, if it is the other option then I will simply erase you from my mind.' He provides an ultimatum to the inner voice.
The inner voice bluntly counters with, 'You are quite the pathetic child, Jordan!'
'As long as you have these emotions then you can never get rid of me! Whenever you gaze in to Natalie's eyes and that guilty sensation bubbles up? That's me at work!'
'So don't you ever develop the audacity to threaten me ever again in your lifetime, understood?' His consciousness fiercely rants at its owner.
Jordan simply tuned out the voice in his head as if he skipped over a song that he dislike.
'Ah here we go…' He deems upon his arrival in front of Rick's office.
'...just the person to report to about this little incident.' Jordan inwardly considers to himself after he knocks on the door.
"Come in," The masculine voice loudly voices from behind the door while he confirms the person's access.
Jordan frantically fights down the smile that desperately wants to inch its way onto his face.
He crosses the threshold of the office door when the masculine voice inquiries, "Hey there Jordan, is there something wrong? after he studies the present expression on his face.
Jordan instantly recognizes right then and there that he could safely bank on Rick's inquisitive nature to be able to pick up his vibes.
He promptly clears his throat before he supplies an answer to the man's question in a solemn tone.
"It's about Minato…"
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The tone Minato used when he said, "There is something that I need to tell you…" almost sounded as if he had a confession.
He continuously maintains his eye contact with Natalie when he voices, "I know I should've told you this earlier..."
"But I was a stupid knucklehead and I didn't know any better at the time."
She unknowingly held her breath since he referred to memories back in their shared past as children.
"I never wanted our friendship to be on hold for twelve years! That's an awfully long time." The blonde verbally states with a shake of his head.
The raven haired woman could no longer direct her gaze toward the young man in front of her.
So her green eyes divert her gaze elsewhere when she gently claims, "It was but it is something I don't regret though..."
"...and I have no time to regret anything." The young woman firmly remarks while she sternly glares at him with fierce determination in her eyes.
The male inaudibly releases a sigh not sure if it was out of frustration or relief. Yet, he pushed forward if not he would never know what could happen next.
"I don't either but the reason why we lost contact was because I had to figure out whether or not things were true." He speaks up again.
She soon grew irritated at the content of their conversation when she probed, "Why are we here right now, Minato?"
"You have yet to tell me why you dragged me here. What are these things that you had to find out were true?"
'Stubborn as always.' The blonde mentally deems before he warns her, "I don't want you to hate me or freak out after I tell you this."
"Look, if you don't get to the point then I find this conversation totally pointless and stupid. I will have to leave!" The raven haired woman harshly threatens him with the hope that she will be able to quickly extract whatever it is he wants to tell her.
The captain suddenly feels the obsidian eyed knight's grip around her hand tighten as if he did not want to let her go. "I like you a lot Natalie."
"Ever since the first time we crossed swords, I knew that you were different from other girls."
"You thoroughly refused to allow yourself to be a Damsel in Distress and trained day in and day out to improve your craft. You have this stubborn and mean streak about you yet from time to time you show a much gentler side to you."
"You constantly denied others help but you graciously accepted mine whenever I would offer it. I was utterly torn on whether or not I loved you as you or as a fellow warrior with a similar goal as mine or even as a close friend."
"It took me twelve long freaking years to just figure that out!"
All of a sudden, the oxygen abruptly escaped from her lungs after she listened to his confession.
'Is that what has been bothering him?'
Her heart felt as if it was about to burst out of her chest and land in the palm of Minato's hands.
However, her levelheadedness swiftly creates a fear that lurks through the cervices of her consciousness and slowly crept through her body.
The raven haired woman really did not know whether or not to confess similar feelings to him or turn around and for once in her entire life flee with her tail between her legs.
The young man already knew that once he confessed to the woman that her mental reaction would be similar to if he were to shove her in the deepest part of the ocean with no safety harness to help her stay afloat.
She would constantly struggle in attempt to navigate her way through dark uncharted waters.
The blonde felt her hand slowly slip from within his grip, which instantly alerted him to become fully aware of their surroundings coupled with her emotions.
'I completely scared her out of her comfort zone.' The knight mentally concluded.
Minato notes the fearful expression that neither shift or alter to show either content or denial.
He inwardly assume to himself, 'She's going to reject my feelings.'
Precious seconds seem to tick, tick and tick away until it feels as if someone suck the life right out of the blonde's body until he hears the magical words of, "I feel the same way," or "I do too."
Natalie personally did not know what to say or what to do. It was all just so unfamiliar to her and whenever she was not in control of a situation, she would ultimately act humane and flee.
His obsidian eyes instantly spot her shifts one of her feet in the direction he literally just drags her from.
Minato already knew from experience that that was the early sign that raven haired woman was about to break out in to a mad sprint away from him.
"Before you take off..." He speaks up, which halts her in her motion, "...if I made you feel uncomfortable in any way, I sincerely apologize."
It was at that exact moment did the young woman undergo an outer body experience as it felt as if someone else occupied her body.
Natalie silently agrees with her natural body movement as she steps a couple of feet back before she sprints away from him.
'I figured that would happened.' The blonde reluctantly predicts as he watches her retreat down the farther end of the hallway.
For some strange reason, the young man soon finds himself in pursuit in order to make sure that she would be okay and not attempt to run away once again.
"Minato," A stern masculine voice addresses him by his name, which prompts him to slow his run down to a walk before he reaches a standstill position.
Minato idly rotated his head to face whoever it was that said his name in a certain fashion that instantly deemed this person as a figure of authority.
He came face to face with none other than his adviser with disappointment apparent on his face despite his eyes being conceal behind dark tinted black sunglasses.
"I need to talk to you now." Rick proclaims in a solemn voice right before he signals for the blonde male to follow him.
The obsidian eyed knight was rarely addressed in that tone unless one of two things: he was caught doing other things then what was required of him or he was in some serious trouble.
Minato silently swore to himself that he caught a flick of golden light around a nearby corner before he notices a wide smile of satisfaction on Jordan, the Avatar, face.
'That arrogant bastard…'
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Eva genuinely appreciates the guests' presence at dinner, which consists of her intermediate family.
Kiera and Kieran, her precious twins, animatedly recalled the events from earlier that they spectated at their training.
However in the back of her mind, she was wondering what was taking Minato so long to simply confess his deepest feelings for someone that he truly cares about.
'Even if she were to outright deny his feelings, they could at least come to dinner...' The queen frustratingly regarded as she stabbed her fork in the meat.
'He said that Jordan interrupted them before he could even admit his feelings for her.' The raven haired haired with crimson tips reflects after she recollects her conversation with Minato from earlier.
'Could he have done something to her?' The pregnant woman promptly queries once she lays her fork on the side of her plate.
The woman was all too familiar with how Jordan operated whenever he desperately wanted something that he cannot have.
'If Jordan did anything to that girl…I will never be able to forgive him as an Avatar but more importantly as a close friend.' The queen solemnly claims once thoughts about the Avatar's character comes in to play.
For now, she simply has to hone in on first and foremost her important duties: being a mother to her children as well as a loving and devoted wife to her husband.
'I just hope that however it goes down, they can still remain friends even though it maybe hard for Minato since his feelings are so strong.'
Aikka technically notes that his wife was in the midst of a brief mental intermission while Kieran and Kiera merrily discuss about the rest of their day.
'I wonder what's wrong? She's usually never this quiet at dinner.' He inquisitively ponders over his wife's strange behavior at the dinner table.
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Minato hastily follows behind Rick the entire time until he crosses over the threshold of the raven-haired man's office.
"Have a seat." His voice remains stern while he points his index finger toward one of the two chairs.
The blonde already knew that there would be no usual run of the mill jokes and playful exchange of banters between the two.
This was typical behavior right before critical information or updates on missions he was assigned to were disclosed and discussed.
However, this time it was an official disciplinary meeting.
His obsidian eyes visibly identify a tape recorder present on the desk once he occupies his seat.
Rick tediously shifted some papers from on top of his desk until he located the appropriate papers that was required for this specific kind of meeting.
The young man knew that the meeting would not officially begin until his commanding officer pressed start on the tape recorder.
The older man would verbally issues his official title, gravely states the name of the accuser, his official position and finally reveals the allegations before he issues a set of inquires.
"Shall we begin?" His superior sharply demands more in the tone of an order rather than a question.
He then presses the red Record button after the knight advances his head forward to confirm his participation.
The male rigidly maintained his demeanor and disposition throughout the entire process since he assumed that whatever he did was justified.
"This is Sir Rick, Head Knight of the Knights of the Round, Captain of the Royal Family Guards, and Lead Enforcer for the Royal Family Security Taskforce."
"The accuser is the Intergalactic Ambassador, the Avatar, is accusing Sir Minato, a Knight of the Round, of Battery and numerous death threats." Rick run downs the introduction for the case file.
"So where did this incident take place?" He promptly begins his interrogation.
"A couple of minutes ago in the middle courtyard, a couple of feet away from the dining hall." Minato calmly supplies his response to the question.
"...and this was only between you and the Avatar correct?" The superior officer inquisitively probes this time he shifts his arms until they rest on the desk.
"Yes, the physical aspect did." The blonde politely corrects as he maintains eye contact on his superior while his hands rest against the armrest.
"Define the physical aspect." The raven haired male deliberately stated since he needed clarification on what actually was exchanged between the two.
"I threw a jab that landed square on his jaw." The knight clearly explains the physical portion.
The young man felt a quiet sense of pride after he hit someone that was considered untouchable.
'Now I know exactly how Natalie felt when she punched that boulder a couple of days back.'
"Are there any other people involved in the incident?"
"Is there anyone else who could possibly serve as a witness for the confrontation?"
"Care to explain what happened to cause this confrontation?"
'Now I wish that I would have never stopped her.'
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Author's Note:
04.25.17 Major editing revisions
06.26.17 Major cleaning edits