Author Notes: Hello again, everyone! Here's the next chapter for this lovely couple so enjoy :)

- Story Start -

A few days later, King Soo-Won tried to slip out of Hiryuu Castle again. This time, he wasn't as fortunate. General Joo-Doh was extra vigilant and managed to catch him red handed. He even scolded Soo-Won for not informing anyone and insisted on accompanying him on his errand, whatever it may be.

Confronted with that familiar scowl, Soo-Won just offered a sunny smile and a gracious nod. They set out for Kuuto City together and no further mention was made of sneakiness or the need for escorts.

Joo-Doh really should have known better.

They reached the city without incident and made their way past a row of tea shops and then Soo-Won stopped at the entrance to an alley.

"This is far enough, General Joo-Doh," he said. "You may wait for me here."

Joo-Doh took one look at the dark alley and bristled.

"You can't be serious, Your Majesty," he hissed. "This looks like a dangerous place. I or someone trustworthy must accompany you at all times!"

"You are most trustworthy indeed," Soo-Won agreed, "but so are my friends in there. I will be fine."

"Who are they anyway?"

"Eh... people I have known for many years?"

When Joo-Doh's eyes narrowed, Soo-Won sighed.

"I will come out in exactly one hour's time," he said in a firmer tone. "If I don't, you have my permission to come and get me."

He waited until Joo-Doh gave a reluctant nod before smiling approvingly at him and stepping inside the alley.

Joo-Doh had to resist the instinctive urge to follow. Instead, he permitted himself the luxury of crossing his arms again and deepening his scowl.

"What's the point of me accompanying him then?" He grumbled only to blink when Soo-Won stopped to look over his shoulder, aqua eyes twinkling again.

"May I remind you, General, that it was your decision to follow me here?"

Grinding his teeth together, Joo-Doh glared at Soo-Won's back and almost jaunty walk. A muffled chuckle made him swing around to see a few amused glances directed his way. He must look ridiculous, standing here like this! He was the Sky Tribe's General, not a low level lackey with nothing better to do but stand here and wait for his master!

Still, he didn't want to leave the King alone. Just in case.

Looking around, he saw a couple of tea shops still open for business and strode to the nearest one, intending to get a table with a good view of the alley. It was mid afternoon so only one table was occupied.

As soon as he entered, the three females sitting there looked up and his stride almost faltered. One of them had large, deep blue eyes set in a heart shaped face, framed by long, blue black hair. The daughter of the Water Tribe General, An Lili.

Right now, those eyes looked annoyed and that rosebud mouth had a mutinous twist to it. Then Lili blinked and her eyes widened in surprised recognition.

"General Joo-Doh."

"Good afternoon, Lady Lili," he replied with a polite nod.

One look at her face and he was instantly reminded of their meeting at Hiryuu Castle a few days ago. The conversation he had overheard between her and that idiot Geun-Tae, Soo-Won's request to escort her out, Lili tripping and how he had grabbed her arm to arrest her fall, and her grabbing his hand with both of hers.

And that embarrassing thing he had blurted out, about how small her hands were compared to his. His face felt hot and he was thankful the light was behind him.

"Please join us," Lili invited, gesturing to the empty chair beside her.

"No, thank you," Joo-Doh began.

"Oh, I insist."

"Ah..." Joo-Doh was here to keep an eye on both the time and that dark alley, not make pleasant conversation with a pretty lady. Not that he was an expert on making small talk with anyone.

"Just for a few minutes?" Lili asked, this time offering him a dazzling smile.

Joo-Doh blinked. Then again, it would look awkward sitting by himself and just staring at that alley for the next sixty minutes, wouldn't it?

"Thank you," he accepted and took the offered chair.

"Wonderful! I'll order something."

"I'm not hungry-" Joo-Doh began.

"But I am." Lili brushed off his protest with another smile.

"Lady Lili, didn't you just eat a whole plate of-"

"I'm still hungry!"

As Lili turned around to look for the waitress, Joo-Doh noted the resigned looks between her two bodyguards and frowned to himself.

Had she seen him with the King earlier?

Was she waiting for him too?

Was she expecting him to eat everything she ordered?

After ordering another pot of tea and three (three?!) types of sweet pastries, Lili turned back to Joo-Doh.

"These are my bodyguards, Ayura and Tetora. I'm sure you've met them before."

"Yes, at Kushibi Fort," Joo-Doh replied, exchanging nods with them. They were both skilled fighters.

"So, what are you three doing in town?" He asked and winced a bit, hoping it didn't sound like an interrogation. "I mean, I thought you'd already returned home."

Lili sighed, her smile vanishing.

"My father insisted that I thank Lor - uh, the King in person first," she admitted. "I met him that day, as you know, but didn't get a chance to tell him that."

Well, that was surprising since she had apparently followed him back to Hiryuu Castle.

"But didn't you-"

"Ah, our food's arrived!" Lili interrupted as the waitress placed a fresh pot of tea, a plate of dango, another of mochi and a third of ohagi on the table before going off.

Joo-Doh glared at the sweets, daring them to come any closer to him. A cup of steaming tea was placed before him, followed by the plate of dango.

"Please try this, it's really good."

"I'm not hungry."

Lili gave him another winning smile.

"Just one?" She wheedled.

"I don't have a sweet tooth."

"Oh, but you need to keep up your strength," Lili said. "You know, feed those big muscles of yours?"

Ayura choked on her tea, Tetora giggled and Joo-Doh sighed.

He really had no idea how to converse with one pretty lady, let alone three. And he had a feeling that adding sweets to the mix would just make it worse.

- o -

By the time the hour drew to a close, Joo-Doh knew he was both right and wrong. The sweets didn't help, but he didn't need to talk much either. He also drew several conclusions about himself.

The first one was that if he didn't care for sweets before, then he absolutely detested them now. He had lost count of how many he had eaten, but the three plates were empty and he wouldn't need dinner tonight. Or breakfast tomorrow either.

The second one was that if he was shy about chatting with pretty ladies before, then he was... well, still shy about it. Unless they were An Lili because if it weren't for her chatty nature, endless supply of anecdotes and ready smiles, he would have bolted from the teashop by now. Or gone to the next one. Or just glared down at the table until it burst into flames. She was General Joon-Gi's daughter, but she didn't care for formal speech or put on affected manners like the other noble females he had met. It was... refreshing.

The third one was that he... he wouldn't mind seeing her again. There, he had admitted it, if only to himself. Too bad she had fallen for Geun-Tae instead, of all people. What on earth (pun not intended) was there to like about that loudmouthed idiot?!

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Joo-Doh was surprised to find that fifty minutes had already gone by. He drained his teacup and shook his head when Ayura reached for the teapot.

"I need to leave soon," he said and looked around for the waitress to settle the bill.

"Ayura will take care of it," Lili said quickly.

When Joo-Doh opened his mouth to protest, she gave a little laugh.

"It's fine. I ordered too much anyway, so I'm grateful you helped me to keep my waistline."

"At the detriment of my own?" Joo-Doh asked in a dry tone.

To his surprise, she laughed - actually laughed - at that, her eyes twinkling. Smiling in bemusement, he didn't see the meaningful looks her bodyguards exchanged behind her back.

"I take it His Majesty will be finishing his meeting soon?" Lili asked.

Joo-Doh nodded. Of course the three of them would have seen him and the King earlier.

"I can let him know that you wish to thank him," he offered.

"Thank you, but that's not necessary," Lili replied.

"Why not? Isn't that why you're here?"

"Because once I do, I wouldn't have any reason left to remain in Kuuto City," Lili answered.

"You should accept General Joo-Doh's offer, Lady Lili," Tetora urged. "General Joon-Gi must be missing you already."

"And I wouldn't be able to have tea with handsome generals either," Lili continued, still in that same demure tone with a smile tugging at her lips.

Joo-Doh almost made the mistake of looking over his shoulder before he realised she meant him. His face felt hot again, a fact not helped by Ayura and Tetora staring at him like he had grown two horns, and then turning to stare at Lili as if she had gotten two of Kouka's generals mixed up.

Hah! As if anyone could mistake him for that ill-mannered, ponytailed man!

"I have to go," he said abruptly and stood up, suppressing a groan at how full his stomach felt. "Thank you for the tea." He wasn't going to thank her for the sweets.

"You are most welcome, General Joo-Doh," Lili said, using formal speech for once. Then she tipped her head to the side and grinned. "You should smile more often, you know."

"Why is that?" Joo-Doh demanded. If this was in any way related to that-

"Because..." Lili hesitated and Joo-Doh was surprised to see her looking a bit discomfited. "You look much nicer when you do."

Joo-Doh stared at her. Did that mean he was usually grouchy?

"No, just too serious."

Joo-Doh blinked and realised he had spoken his thoughts out loud. Lili was smiling while Ayura and Tetora were staring at him again with their eyebrows disappearing into their hair.

"Thank you for the tea," he muttered, executing a jerky bow before leaving the teashop.

- o -

"Aha, here I am, General Joo-Doh, safe and sound as promised," Soo-Won said he walked out of the alley. "My apologies for making you wait a whole hour."

"It's fine. We can leave now."

They walked out of the city without talking, Joo-Doh grateful for both the exercise and the silence.

"Although you weren't really standing there all the time, were you?"

Joo-Doh stopped walking.

"The teashops around there are famous for their sweets," Soo-Won went on. "And there's the slightest hint of green tea and red bean paste on your breath."

"I..."

Soo-Won gave a merry laugh.

"That Lady Lili is a determined young woman, isn't she?"

"I am more concerned about your unaccompanied visits to the city, Your Majesty," Joo-Doh said, abruptly changing the subject.

"Oh, not this again. I am perfectly capable of-"

"You're the King of Kouka Kingdom!" Joo-Doh hissed. "You shouldn't be gallivanting off by yourself anywhere!"

The resulting argument - as familiar and pointless as it was - was something he needed to ground himself after an unsettling hour in Lady Lili's company.

She had the biggest eyes of the most exquisite blue he had ever seen, not to mention the prettiest smiles. She was also lively, curious and spoke what was on her mind, sometimes without thinking. She was...fun to be with.

But he wasn't her type. Although if her type was someone like Geun-Tae, then perhaps it was better that he wasn't. He refused to admit he still suffered a pang whenever he recalled how she had inadvertently compared him to those brutal Sei soldiers last week when he saved her from a fall. He may have caused his fair share of deaths and injuries in battles, but he had never laid a hand on a woman, much less in anger.

Then again, why should he care what she thought?

It wasn't like she would ever give him a second look, right?

"General Joo-Doh, you really need to smile more. You would look a lot more approachable then."

Joo-Doh squinted suspiciously at Soo-Won, but he was looking straight ahead and smiling as if he didn't have a care in the world. Sighing, he resigned himself to the fact that Soo-Won was a step ahead of him, like he always was.

- Story End -

A/N: Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you enjoyed it, would love to hear from you :)