The Princess and The Angel

By Katsumi Tonicha

\\..Chapter Two: Nanashi..//

So, Nanashi, do you know where you come from?" Bethany asked, leading her fallen guest through the courtyard where he made his arrival.

"No," Nanashi replied softly, gazing at the multitudes of flowers. "I'm sorry, Princess."

"Don't be. It's all right."

Nanashi sighed. He looked down at the white robes he was in, and then looked over at Bethany's day clothes. They were more simpler than her royal gowns, but not by too much. He compared the outfits, considering how his differed from the outfits of others he had met thus far. The previous night, Bethany had come in to check on him with a friend of hers, Nobleman Quatre Raberba Winner. He raised an eyebrow once he figured out how weird he must look to those around him.

Seeing this, Bethany blushed. "We couldn't find anything else to fit you, what with your wings."

"Oh."

Silence overtook the two, until Bethany spoke up. "They really are gorgeous."

Nanashi looked at her blankly. "What is gorgeous, Princess?"

Bethany laughed. "Your wings! What else?"

"Oh. Thank you."

At that moment, a man with long silky blond hair ran up. He bowed in the presence of the princess slightly, then straightened in an obvious hurry. "Your Highness," he said in a deep, slightly hoarse voice, "dragons on the rise. There are four of them arriving from the direction of Marita City."

The princess's eyes instantly darkened. "Gather the others, Milliardo. I'll get on Dear and be there in a second. Tell Kat to stay."

"Yes, ma'am." Milliardo hurried out in the direction he had arrived, and Bethany turned to Nanashi.

"Go back to the palace, all right? You'll be safe there." She smiled. "I'll leave Kat with you. If anything does happen, she'll take care of it."

"Okay, Princess," Nanashi replied and walked back through the path and into the castle.

@-------

"I warned him!!" Catherine screamed through tears. "I told him to be more careful!"

"I'm sorry," Gabriella whispered, tears falling off her cheeks and into the Looking Pool she and Catherine were diligently bent over.

Catherine whacked her. "It's all your fault Triton fell!! You have to go get him back!!"

"But, but," Gabriella stuttered, "but he looks so happy!"

"He doesn't even know who he is! Go talk to Edymion. You have to get his permission to go down to Earth and get Triton back!"

"But-"

"No buts!" Catherine barked. "Go! Now!"

Gabriella lowered her head, defeated. "Yes, ma'am, Catherine. I'll go see him now."

@-------

"Princess Bethany, stay here with Seer! We're going ahead," Milliardo told his princess while motioning toward the great white horse with wings, Seer.

"I will, Milliardo. Just try to ward them off. We won't win without a full force here. And I don't want to get caught up in the middle of another war."

"Do we stand a chance? Like a snowball's chance in hell," Wufei muttered, pulling on the reins of his black horse, Nataku, to get it to rise into the air.

Bethany shot him a look. He frowned back, obviously not happy with the current situation. Bethany looked over the rest of her Royal Guard- Milliardo Peacecraft, Lucretzia Noin, Lady Une, Treize Khushrenada, Sally Po, and Wufei Chang. "Good luck. Now go!"

The group bowed, or in Wufei's case, made his winged horse lower its head. "Yes, Your Highness." They then took off on their own flying horse.

@-------

"Dragons! Why do you come? I thought we settled a treaty!" Treize called, drawing his sword from its sheathe.

"Treaty?" the huge black-and-red dragon up front rumbled. "There is no treaty. This is originally our land, and it shall continue to be. Either you humans move away by the next new moon, or we shall kill you. All of you. That is our treaty."

"Never has such an injustice been said forth! We shall never obey your orders!" Wufei screeched at the dragon.

"Our kingdom shall not step down. But we are willing to share the land with you," Lady Une reasoned, turning her horse, Holy One, back around.

"No. Our way, or nothing. Now good-bye, poor fates. The next new moon, else." The huge dragon turned. "Otrain! Selice! Let us leave."

The two other dragons flew after the larger one, murmuring, "Yes, Lord Draco," between them.

"Damn dragons!" Wufei spat to their backs.

"Watch it, Wufei. You don't want to make them mad," Sally advised. She had been left out, keeping a watchful eye over Bethany.

"Come along, my guard. Back to the palace."

@-------

"I can't believe this!" Kat exclaimed, drawing her sword and slashing. "I'll be this is your fault, Angel!"

"My fault?! How?" Nanashi screeched, backed against a wall, his huge wings flared. Kat etBaugett, a member of the Correnterra Appointed Royal Guard, had a huge sword and was slashing madly at small winged lizards, which she called Dragchibis, or Mini-Dragons.

"There's an old myth that fallen angels are a bad omen! Don't you read?" Kat sliced away at another.

"If I did, I forgot how to," Nanashi replied simply.

"Oh yeah," she slashed the last one in half, sheathed her sword and turned to face Nanashi, hands on hips and a cynical expression on her face. "You have amnesia."

"I have- what? What's amnesia?"

"Oh, Lord... I pray for Princess Bethany..."

@-------

"Father?"

"Hu?" Father Maxwell lifted his head form his desk where he had been reading.

"What are you doing?" Hilde Maxwell, his wife, walked in.

"Reading," he replied.

"Reading what?" Trying to get a straight answer from Duo was like pulling the horn off one of the princess's horses. Impossible.

"The Holy Scripture."

As stated.

"Details."

"Nothing particular. Did you know that ancient priests led their men into battle?"

"Duo... are you considering helping out in our war with the dragons?"

Duo turned crimson. "Ah, yeah, a little..."

"Duo, no. N. O. You need to just stay here. You'll be doing more good by praying for the soldiers, not fighting with them."

"Your discouraging."

"It's only the truth. Anyway," Hilde walked back towards the door, "dinner is ready.

Duo was instantly happy again. "Dinner! Yah!"

@-------

"What?! How dare they!" Wufei screeched.

"Ssh, quiet," Sally reprimanded him.

"I can't understand why Dragchibis would be sent here after Nanashi. He's just-" Treize began.

"An angel!! Don't you read myths?" Kat interrupted with her unmistakable heavy French accent. "Angels verses demons. Who wins? Angels. What type of dragons are we fighting? Demon dragons. And what, oh remind me WHAT is Nanashi? An ANGEL. We have an angel on our side. Don't tell me the dragons are smarter than you!! They are afraid we are going to use him against them! But what they don't know is that they are just wasting their time since Nanashi didn't even know what an angel WAS until Princess Bethany told him! Speaking of which, constantly sending their people to the castle is, sooner or later," Kat continued, "will be trouble for the princess and her guest."

"So one way or another, the princess is in trouble," Lucretzia summed up.

"And it's our sworn duty to protect the princess," Milliardo agreed.

"Against all injustice!" Wufei added sharply.

"And to keep peace in the kingdom," Lady Une reminded.

"All ways possible," Treize said.

"Even if it means our lives are to be put on the line," Sally responded.

"And to prove who is smarter!" Kat put her two cents in.

"All for one," Milliardo began.

"One for all!" the rest finished.

After a minute of silence and staring, Kat spoke up. "That was corny."

"I agree."

"Completely."

"Ignorance on our part."

"We're doing it again."

"I know."

"INJUSTICE!"

"Oh, shut-up."

@-------

"More tea, please, Pagan," Bethany asked. She was at dinner with a few friends while her father was away. Namely, Miss Relena Peacecraft (Milliardo Peacecraft's sister), her fiancee Nobleman Heero Yuy (he was a new member of the Guild of Knights), Nobleman Quatre Raberba Winner, and Miss Dorothy Catalonia (who spent the lots of her time flirting with Mr. Winner, who, might one say, flirted right back). And, of course, Nanashi.

"Wow," Relena muttered under her breath. She was still in shock over Nanashi's huge wings. She had heard things of the angel from Quatre, but he never mentioned that he was a total knockout...

Heero threw his napkin down. "I'm sorry," he stated, "but I don't like this. It just doesn't feel right. AND," he added when he saw Quatre's mouth open to object, "I don't like him getting all of Relena's attention! That is supposed to be my job."

"Oh, Heero, you are so sweet! All the more reasons I love you and want..."

"You always say something like that. Both of you," Dorothy sighed out.

"Why do you think that, Heero?" Quatre asked, looking at his friend.

Heero pried Relena's arms off his neck. "Just how odd it seems that the Dragchibis attacked the castle and the war flared up, all upon his arrival. I think that he's a bad omen."

"It's only coincidence," Dorothy reasoned.

"Of course it is! Now stop being so rude," Bethany barked.

"My, my, Princess Bethany. Awfully defensive of him, aren't we?" Dorothy teased softly, at which both Bethany and Nanashi turned crimson. He got the joke.

"He's my guest," Bethany replied in a dejected tone of voice.

"Sorry for the inconvenience," Nanashi muttered.

"I still don't like it," Heero muttered into Relena's arm(which was wrapped around his head, much to his displeasure).

@-------

"This is your room for now. Sorry we had to move you, but my father is coming back in a few days, and if he saw you in one of the master guest rooms, he'd throw a fit, and I figured it would only be nice of me to give you a few days to settle back in." Bethany smiled. "So just make yourself at home."

"Thank you, Princess," he replied, sitting down on the bed and rubbing at his left wing.

"Are you okay?" she asked, concern filling her voice.

"It's been sore, but it got really bad today when I flared my wings at the arrival of the Dragchibis. It may be broken; I don't know. But don't put yourself through any trouble. I'll be okay.

"Oh, nonsense! Why didn't you say anything at first?"

"I didn't want to trouble you; you were already being so kind to me."

Bethany let out an sigh. It was so hard to get annoyed with him. He was only trying to be kind. But sometimes... "Well, can you sleep on it?" Nanashi nodded. "Okay then. I'll have it taken care of in the morning. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Princess," he told her as she left. "Goodnight... Bethany..."

@-------

To be continued...

@-------