Chapter 26: Goodbye to the King
The land of Athens was always a joyful, peaceful place to live in. However, one day 12 years ago, all of that changed. The Spartan rulers grew so angry and jealous of the happiness in Athens that they declared war against the great land. Their warriors fell to the Athenian warriors, and all seemed right again in the land. Little did anyone know, one Spartan man managed to get into the castle and take the greatest treasure from the land of Athens: the great Queen. The heartless young man killed her in cold blood in jealously, but he made mistake of having the Queen's 6 year old daughter watch the gruesome event unfold. To his dismay, the young princess slashed him across the chest with a dagger located by the throne for protection, leaving him with a scar and memories of that night. One day, the man will return to make another attempt at getting what he wants.
Kyoko finishes doing the narration that Director Konoe asked her to do it and cutting her break short knowing they would finish filming late so there wouldn't be any time left for them to do the narration afterwards also its better if the narration had Kyoko still with energy then later when she would be tired.
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"Ok everyone, we only have one scene left for the night." Director Konoe says, happy that everything was going so smoothly, "Kyoko-kun, Hizuri-san, and Kijima-kun get to your positions."
The three get onto the set and into their places, ready to do the scene. All the actors were getting tired from the constant filming from morning 'till night.
"Action!" Director Konoe yells from his chair.
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King Kano was sitting like he normally does in his throne, but looks to his side to his daughter who was perched in her own throne, "Anysia, look more like a princess and less like an angry child."
Anysia sighs and rolls her eyes as she sits straight with her legs crossed and hands on her lap, "Is this better Father?" She asks with attitude.
This angered the King, and he was about to yell at his daughter but before he got the chance to, a man enters the throne room.
Sen walks into the room and bows to the King and Princess. "Good morning your highnesses."
"Good morning Sen, what brings the leader of the Athenian warriors to us today?" King Kano asked, glancing down to the bowing warrior.
"Well your highness, we are planning to train the warriors so we are better prepared if war is declared. However, I would like to request the assistance of your sweet warrior, Princess Anysia." Sen looks up to the two in their thrones.
Anysia smirks at Sen's request, not giving her father a chance to speak before she did, "I accept your request, Sen." She says as she feels her father's eyes on her now.
King Kano looks at his daughter, "Are you sure about this my dear Anysia? It can be dangerous."
Anysia giggles, "Father, I didn't get my title as the warrior princess by staying in the safety of the castle, I got it by protecting our land from those that wanted to destroy us."
The King sighs knowing his daughter was completely right; that she truly was very skilled as a warrior and that was the reason for her title that others fear, "Very well. Sen, you may have my daughter to assist you with training the warriors."
Sen bows again, "Thank you your highnesses. I will hope to see you at the stadium later, my lady." He looks up at Anysia's smiling face which could brighten a whole room before he walks out of the throne room.
King Kano looks at his daughter once again after Sen leaves, "Anysia, are you sure about this? Some warriors don't take lightly to a woman teaching them something that men should know."
Anysia smirks, "That's why I have my daggers Father, if any of those warriors disrespect me they will learn their place...and you know I will father." She giggles as she gets up off her throne and walks out of the room.
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"Cut!!" Director Konoe yells for the last time that night.
Kuu gets off the stage to join Kyoko and Kijima on the sidelines, waiting for the verdict from the Director about if the scene was ok.
"That is a wrap, the scene was perfect." Director Konoe says then looks at Kuu, "Thank you for your hard work Hizuri-san, it was a pleasure having you in this film."
"The pleasure is all mine Konoe-san, thank you." Kuu says with a smile on his face.
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Everyone took a few minutes to talk with Kuu for the last time, as the filming for his scenes was completely done and he'd be leaving after everyone said their good byes; mainly Marasame who was still very happy that he got to work with the great Hizuri Kuu. All the Actors/Actresses go back to their own personal dressing rooms to change out of their costumes, which the make-up artists would take to have them cleaned and ready for when they move to the area of the on-location shoots will be shot in a few days.
About 10 minutes has passed and Kuu and Ren were waiting for Kyoko as Yashiro had to leave early to deal with some personal matters and to fix Ren's schedule due to the move for this movie. The 2 were starting to wonder why the young woman wasn't out yet, as it was odd for her to take this long.
"Tsuruga-san, could you go check to see if she is coming?" Kuu asked Ren, seeing that he was a little more curious about her whereabouts then he was.
"Sure, Hizuri-san." Ren says before he disappears down the hall toward the dressing rooms; stopping outside of the last door which was Kyoko's dressing room. He takes a deep breath before pushing the door open, scared that she would still be in there changing.
When Ren opens the door, he sees the girl on the couch fast asleep with her bag in hand and he smiles, "Even asleep she's the most beautiful and precious thing in this world...my world..." he thought to himself as he makes his way to Kyoko and scoops her into his arms. He was expecting for her to wake up and squirm out of his arms, but he was caught off guard when the girl moves herself closes to his body and says in a sleepy whisper, "Thank you, Ren."
Ren smiles down to the young woman in his arms and takes her out of the room; heading back down towards his father at the end of the hall. he had a smile on his face resembling that of a kid's who had just won the prize he always wanted.
"So she fell asleep in her dressing room?" Kuu looks at the sleeping angel in his son's strong arms.
"Yes, she worked very hard today...She could only do so much without overexerting herself." Ren looks down at his princess in his arms who moved slightly to move her hand on his chest. The action sent a warm spark right into his heart that was filled to the top with her; in his world, she was the only one he could see, the only one who mattered.
Kuu smiles at the two in front of him, "Well, then you should take her home...Don't you have an interview with her in 2 days?" Kuu asked, knowing he couldn't see it live as he'd be back in LA; but he would definitely watch it online as he would want to see his son and daughter together in an interview.
"Yes we do, and I agree I should take her home...Good night Hizuri-san, "Ren says bowing his head to his father before walking out.
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Ren leaves the studio and gently puts his precious princess into the passenger seat of his car, buckling her in before he goes around to get into the car himself, driving toward their condo complex.
"I finally have her where I want her; by my side...we are much closer than we use to be before that horrible event, I hope that this filming for 'Love and War' brings us much closer." He thought to himself as he drives home, counting the days until they will be leaving to where the filming will be. This may eventually begin to lead them closer to finishing the movie, as well as vacation time and the increase of possibilities for their friendship to be even more, as well as more alone time from watchful eyes; Ren hoped this may eventually turn to them having the relationship he wanted with her.
Once he parked in the underground parking, he gets out and takes his princess into his arms once again. Again, Kyoko puts her hand on his chest; this brought a smile back to his face, loving her touch. He takes her to the top floor where both of their condos were, but since he had no access to her condo and didn't want to go through her bag to find her keys as it was disrespectful, he just opens his condo door. He managed with some difficulty as he has Kyoko in his arms, but once inside he takes his beautiful princess to the guest bedroom and gently puts her into bed.
"I can't keep my eyes off her, she is my princess and one day I will claim you as mine forever, once you are mine I will work on my courage to tell you my secret but even when that day comes, I won't let you run from me." Ren thought to himself as he then gives Kyoko a kiss on the forehead like he always does, and Kyoko's only reaction was a warm smile in her sleep. Then, he goes to his room to have a peaceful night's sleep with dreams of the princess in the other room.
