Disclaimer: Same as Chapter One!



Chapter Seven

"Dark Chocolate"

By Magic



Hawke grumbled as she walked down the streets. I can't believe they actually talked me into doing this. I'm going to have welts! If this hurts when I rip it off....I'm going to kill them both. She glanced up to see Frost beaming brightly with a cheesy grin. She turned to her left and saw that Orion had the same look on his face as well. They're both dead.

Katriina nudged Hawke's shoulder and nodded towards the men on the sides of the street. They were all watching as the group of five slowly walked down the paved road. Katriina moved her head so she could speak directly into Hawke's ear, "I don't think we girls are the problem...." she glanced up at the guys, "They walk like princes."

The brunette nodded and complied with her own plan. Lifting her knee up above her hips, she rammed her foot right into Frost's. "You're walking like a prince. Lower your head."

Frost's ice eyes glowed with anger, but he lowered his head a bit. Over to their left, Orion had gotten somewhat of the same treatment from the two girls next to him. "What's with hurtin' the Prin-" Orion was cut off as Katriina's foot slammed into his shin. "Oh, uh....stop playing so ruff you gir--"BAM," guys."

Hawke slowly shook her head and forced herself not to laugh. And they were worried about us being caught as females. Ha. She continued on her way down the street, taking in her surroundings. The town was defiantly geared towards a male population; that could easily be seen by the fact that there were no women walking around on the streets and most of the buildings were either weapon shops or some sort of a dirty, run down looking bar. I didn't think places like this still existed...

She came to a quick stop as she ran head long into a door. Frost had entered before her and she had suspected that he would at least keep the door open for a little longer. She shook her head to clear the daze out of it and realized she was standing alone out in the street. That's it...the prince is goin' down! Hawke entered the building in a huff.

The others stood at the counter of the small store in a sort of semi-circle fashion. Hawke joined them as well, but not before she rammed her leg into Frost's ankle. "Bastard!" She grumbled to him as she stepped to the right of him.

Frost, who had been talking to the elderly man behind the desk, stopped short, bit his lip, but then continued speaking,"-uh, yeah. We're going to need supplies for traveling."

"Supplies we've got sonny," the kindly old man gave them all a warm smile. "May I ask to where you will be traveling?"

"Actually, we'd like to know that as well...have any maps?" Frost added with as little care as he could.

The old man nodded again and grabbed a rolled up map from behind him. "Here's the best one in the place. In the house and on me for the beautiful ladies."

All the girls' backs stiffened but the old man just chuckled.

"Don't worry. I wont be goin' and tellin' no one about you three. As far as I'm concerned you earned your right to get in here by just jumping in a pile of mud!" He let out a raspy cough and went around the store, pointing out odds and ends to them. "Just pick what you want and bring it up to the till."

The boys nodded and sent the girls to pick out their supplies.

"We'd also like to buy some mood of transportation," Orion told the man as the black prince bit into a juicy apple.

"Well, we've got some chocobos out back if you'd like to buy some of them, but we only have three and you can't take them out until tomorrow. It's their feeding time now and if you attempt to get 'em away from that stack of greens, you're going to get yerself killed, my lad," the old man began ringing up what the girls were bringing back to the counter.

"We'll take them all," Frost told the man after he walked over to the window to look out at the three chocobos grazing in the pen behind the store.

The man nodded and added the price of the three to the bill which seemed to be getting larger and larger by the second. Hawke and Katriina came up to the counter carrying hand fulls of something wrapped in silver foil.

"What is all of this?!" Orion asked in shock. "You girls couldn't eat all of this in a year!"

Hawke and Katriina glanced at each other and grinned. "You wanna bet!" The two yelled in sync.

"Well...I uh...what...what the hell is all that stuff?"

"Chocolate!!" The two girls' faces brimmed with happiness as they gazed into their armfuls.

"We can't buy all of that!" Orion blurted out.

"He's lying you know," Katriina told Hawke as she turned to face the other chocolate addict. "I had Yung Xing go through his small purse over there and he has enough to buy a city made of chocolate if he wants to."

Orion's face fell and he became quite flabbergasted. "You had that little--stupid----ball of fur go through my money bag?! Fugthd der wanngsjk wulipy--" Orion's voice refused to make audible noises as his anger rose. It reached it's peak as Yung Xing hopped quickly out of the pack he was wearing carrying a couple of gold coins. The monkey sat on his head and pulled at his ebony hair for a bit before jumping to Katriina's shoulder and chittering away in a laughing manner at the prince.

The girls were just about the burst into laughter when a scream erupted from by the window.

"Get it away!" A very girly Frost's voice screamed as the prince leaped over the counter and hid behind the old man who was chuckling without control.

The others blinked.

A small chirp came from over in the corner that Frost had been standing. Little yellow wings and ball of fluff with ice blue eyes could be seen looking at the group as a baby chocobo tottered over the group. It hopped up onto the counter top and gazed at Frost lovingly.

"Kweeeee!"

"It seems like the little one has found it's new master." The old man stopped his chuckling for a bit, but a wide smile still spread across his face. "I took him in a week ago when I found him outside the city without his mother. He never took a great liking to me though...but it looks like he enjoys you, young man."

Frost came out of his hiding place and glared the young chocobo right in the eye. "I am not your mother!"

"KweeeEE!" The baby's squeal got louder as he leaned forward and bit Frost's nose.

Hawke's eyebrows rose and she walked forward to the little baby. "I like him!"

A jealous growl erupted from her backpack as SageJames stuck his fox head out of her sac and licked her on the face.

"Yes, yes. Of course I like you better James."

Katriina came up next to Hawke and stroked the young bird. "You think he could bite Orion too?" Orion was still speaking nonsense as he stood in the middle of the store, hands laden with the chocolate the girls had picked out.

The silver prince was still rubbing his nose as the old man handed Frost some greens. "That baby wont leave you for the rest of your life, unless you treat him unkindly. You're stuck with him from here on in. They grow up quite fast so by the end of this year you should be able to ride him, depending on whether or not you train him like that." The store owner started packing up the food. "You want that chocolate?" He inquired as he glanced at Orion.

"YES!" The two girls exclaimed and they grabbed the morsels and put them on the counter top with vigor. Yung Xing did a little triumphant dance on Katriina's shoulder.



*******



"I can't believe we just bought six hundred gil worth of chocolate..." Orion sighed as he carried the many bags into their hotel room.

"Kwee!" Responded the small ball of fluff as it pounced on Frost who was attempting to take a nap on the bed.

"Oof!" Frost grumbled as he picked up the small bird. "That wasn't very nice!" He set the bird down on his brother's head and lay back down once more.

"Kwe?" The bird said as it's face appeared in front of Orion's as it peered down at him from up top.

"There is a bird....on my head...."

"No shit Sherlock!" Katriina exclaimed as she set the last of the bags down on the floor. Hawke and the purple haired girl pounced on the chocolate which filled six of the eight bags they had filled with supplies. "Ooo! Yummy stuff!" She exclaimed as she unwrapped a small piece and popped it into her head.

"Mmmm!" Hawke was perfectly satisfied with her selection as well. "Slightly crunchy with a great milk chocolate flavor!"

As the two girls were busy rolling around on the floor, Orion was busy attempting to pack away their supplies. "You know, you girls had better stop screaming like...girls...or you're going to get caught."

"Ughmmm!" Katriina had popped another piece into her mouth as she flopped down onto one of the beds.

"We can't shut up! It's chocolaaaaaaaaaate!" Hawke screamed as she grabbed another piece.

Kayra, who had been silent for most of the day, just looked at the two and laughed, but she too also had to grab a piece and munch down on the great flavor.

"It's too bad they didn't have any turtles..." Hawke commented as she stuffed a piece of chocolate into the pair of Frost's pants she was wearing.

Katriina and Yung Xing sat up straight on the bed and gazed down at the brunette. "Turtles..."They both cooed; Yung Xing's voice sounding as human as he could make it.

Orion took this distraction to attempt to grab a couple of pieces from their bags. The girls caught the movement only too late as the prince popped one into his mouth and chucked one at his brother. "Here! Catch Frost!"

The other prince sat up in his bed and made ready to catch the chunk, when a flying ball of fur hurled through the air. The small fox caught the chocolate in his mouth and landed with a thunk in Frost's arms. It's eyes turned to the prince and gazed at him.

Frost felt a small shiver running through his body as his eyes met the fox's. He promptly dropped the fox on the floor and lay back down for a second time. "Stupid animal."

"KWEEE!" The chocobo dive-bombed on the prince's head. He was jealous of SageJames and wanted to play.

"AH!" Frost screamed as he rolled out of the bed and onto the hard floor.

"Oh isn't that just sooo sweet?" Hawke cooed as SageJames leapt into her arms again.

Katriina looked up from the bag of chocolate she was digging in and commented, "He needs a name, don't you think?"

"I already named him," Frost declared as he sat up and got out of bed. He had given up on sleeping.

The girls looked at each other and raised their eyebrows.

"His name is Ice," Frost told them all as he put his shoes on.

The two girls exchanged glances with raised eyebrows.

"Leave it to a prince to name something after himself." Hawke grumbled, but she quickly put away her bad mood by stuffing another piece into her mouth. "Choc-o-le-to!"

Frost's figure could be seen in the light of the doorway as he made ready to leave. "I'm going now."

"What?!" Orion cried, his mouth filled with chocolate. He was sucker for the sweet taste as well. "You can't just leave! What if someone actually does see you? You yourself said that we shouldn't go outside too much because--"

The silver haired prince rammed another piece of chocolate in his brother's mouth. "I'm going now," he said cooly and he promptly left the room.

"That boy needs a babysitter," Katriina commented from over on her bed. "Hawke, go follow him and make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Why me?!" Hawek asked, flabbergasted.

"Because he already hates you with a vengence," Katriina winked at her.

Hawke blinked. "He's going to kill me. He obviously wanted to be alone to think."

"Men don't think, dear," Katriina pointed out. "Do what you will."

Five seconds later. "Whatever. I'll do it as long as you save half of those chocolates for me."

"Deal."

Hawke hefted herself off the floor and swiftly followed the hallway out into the main lounge where she caught up with Frost. "Greetings."

"What are you doing here?" Frost inquired as she ran up to him. "You're going to get caught if you keep skipping like that."

Hawke stopped and started walking next to him. He glanced at her out of the side of his eye, then swiftly looked back forward.

"Though there is something we could to if you don't want to worry about getting caught."

"Do I even want to know?" Hawke spat, remembering the duct tape that was still wrapped around her chest.

"Here." He moved her to sit in a chair. "Just sit right there."

Hawke looked up at him perplexed as he ran into the hotel's store to the side. She had thought he was going to kill her for following him, but instead he was actually being generally nicer than he ever had to her. "Men are nut cases," Hawke told herself with a confused sigh.

Several minutes later, Frost emerged with a bag. "Here." He pulled her quickly out of the hotel and into the small alley to the side of it. "Change into this."

"In an alley?! With you here?! NUT CASE!"

"I'll make sure no one comes in."

"You peak and I will rip your eyes out and grind them with a cheese grater." Hawke roughly grabbed the bag from him and hid in the darkness of the shadows.

Frost scoffed and declared, "You wouldn't have to because I would already blinded by the sight."

"Ha.Ha.Ha. Very funny man. You make me giggle immensely, your highness," Hawke spat back, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "I'm coming out now...and if you laugh I will beat you with a stick."

She emerged wearing a simple blue dress with short sleeves. A few laces with white string were at the top near the neck, but other than that it was completely plain as it went slightly past her legs. Frost glanced towards her and stared for awhile.

"It matches your eyes," he commented softly.

Hawke felt a shiver run down her back. She chucked the bag with her old man clothes at his head. "Don't look at me like that." She quickly walked out of the alley. "So I have to pretend to be your slave now?"

Frost gleamed. "Doesn't it just fit? Little town no one bowing down to the big pr--"

Hawke's hand clamped down on his mouth. "You watch it or you're going to get caught."

He removed her hand with his and began to walk down the street lit by all the shop lights. "Come along, Nancy."

"My name is not Nancy."

"It is now."

"But I don't like that name!"

He looked over his shoulder as she walked behind him, trying to catch up. "Can't you walk any faster? You look like a combat girl with those boots on."

Hawke stuck her tongue out at him maturely. "I will never remove these boots."

She caught up with him and the walked down the cobble stone side walk at the same pace.

"Never?"

"Well, I suppose I do when I shower...but they are water proof, so I don't when I swim."

"You sleep in those?" Frost asked, as his eyebrow raised a bit..

"Yes, as a matter of fact."

"So you mean you're saying," Frost turned to face her,"that you don't remove those even when you...ya know."

Hawke blinked and stood there in complete confusion for a second before she understood what he was asking. "What I do during 'ya know' is NONE of your business!" She whapped him over the back of her head. "You need to get your mind out of the gutter."

"I'm a guy. That isn't possible." He turned and began walking again.

Hawke grumbled alongside him. "Oh yeah," she said a bit later, "your hair probably sparkles during ya know."

"I can make it sparkle whenever I want to. But you're right, it's immensely glittery at that time."

"AHH!" Hawke covered her ears. "That is more than enough! You can stop it now! Too much info! Ugh! Scarred for life!"

"Oh, the poor innocent child is scarred by the thought of sex." Frost laughed with his head back as he kept walking.

"I'm only sixteen...I'm supposed to be innocent. And it's not like that thought of sex per se did it to me....it was the thought of you and sex put together which makes the bile in my stomach want to jump up to my throat."

"Court gossip always said I was the best," Frost smirked as he turned to see her reaction.

"Okay. Now the bile in my throat wants to be released through my mouth."

"Oh come on, you know you want to see my naked ass."

Hawke blanched. This just wasn't like the normal Frost, prince-like behavior. "You know? I really don't want a man whore that the whole court system of ladies has had. Thanks, but no."

Frost's face got serious. "For your information, there is no one that has ever 'had me'. You just can't get through life at a palace without there being rumors. I'm perfectly clean."

"Yeah, well I'm sure you've kissed every girl there."

They had reached a bridge over the river that ran through the small towns. Lights reflected off the water and danced around in the current. Frost leaned on the cement rail and gazed down into the water.

"I've only kissed one girl, and that one girl only." His voice had become completely serious.

Hawke realized who he was talking about and leaned over the bar next to him. "Ti'anya?"

The silver haired prince slowly turned towards her. "How in the world did you find out?"

"The maids at the palace talked as they bathed me...not that I wanted them to bathe me...I can do that myself." Hawke told him, not turning to meet his eyes. "She was the girl you went to when you died."

Frost nodded slowly.

"Did I do the right thing in bringing you back?" Hawke had been wondering that for awhile. Frost had seemed so happy being there with her.

He paused to think for a moment then said,"There are other things that I need to do before I die."

Silence enveloped the two as they sat there. Hawke felt really strange, but she didn't want to just leave him hear like this. "Hey--"

"Today is the anniversary of her death."

Hawke was slightly taken back by the whole thing and just gazed at him with an awkward expression. "So...that's why you wanted to go out for a walk."

The prince slowly nodded.

"You know...it's not good to hold all that inside of you like this." Hawke wanted to help for some reason and she stood up on her soap box and let her mouth run away with her. "It has been a year. I'm sure she wouldn't want you to still be moping around. She would want you to be starting to forget and get over--"

"You can't forget about love!" Frost screamed at her, his face contorted in anger.

Hawke's emotions went straight for defensive. "After awhile you have to move on! If you don't just let go you wont ever--"

"What would you know about love?!" He stood up and walked straight at her. Hawke felt like she was being suffocated by his presence and took a couple steps back.

"I--"

"You are an orphan! You've never had anyone in your life! No one to love and no one to love you back! You know NOTHING about love!! No one cares enough to even teach you about it!!" Frost blew up as his anger peaked.

Hawke went slightly white. Her fists clenched her new blue dress tightly, causing wrinkles to move up and down the fabric. Her mouth lay open slightly as she tried to think of something to say.

There was nothing to say.

The two stood there starring at each other for awhile. Hawke's mind was everywhere but there though. She felt as if she was fading from the face of the Earth, and maybe that was what Frost wanted. How could he hate her so much as to say that to her? She closed her mouth, and then her eyes. Turning on her heels she spun around and began to walk off the other side of the bridge.

Tears welled up in her eyes when she opened them and gazed at the stone ground. "Don't you dare, Hawke." She let go of her dress. "Never let that emotion show," she ordered herself as she continued down the sidewalk, never glancing back to see what Frost was doing and making herself believe that she didn't care.

She didn't really come back to the world until it began raining. The wet drops of water splashed on her face as she ducked under the overhanging roof to get out of it. She covered her arms with her hands and sat down on her heels as she crouched near the side of the house. "I don't care."

She stared at the rain falling into the growing puddles on the streets.

"I don't care."

The rain got harder; she was beginning to get soaked.

"I don't care." Her voice was now nothing but a whisper.

"Well, if you don't lady, neither do I." A voice said from her left. Hawke's head snapped towards the voice and she looked the handsome man up and down. Then something snapped into place in her memory.

"You're that one--" She leapt up from where she was sitting and tried to run, but she was met with a couple of garbage cans and being the complete klutz that she was, she fell over then and onto the road.

"Yes...the man you blasted back at the castle," the young man walked slowly towards her.

"You shot Frost in the head...."

"Completely accidental. I was supposed to get them alive," he told her as he grabbed her wrist roughly. "But that doesn't matter now. I've got you to use. Ultimecia will be quite happy with me after you bring me what I'm after."

"What the hell are you after?" Hawke asked as she jumped to her feet again and kicked him in the stomach. The soldier didn't even flinch and he just grabbed her other hand. She promptly kneed him in the groin, but that didn't get any reaction out of him either.

"I'm after those two princes that got away. And you're the perfect way for me to get at them," he told her.

He doesn't know who I really am, Hawke thought with a slight sigh of relief. If he knew that she was the one to save the world, she would probably have been shot on the spot. The fact that he was after the guys made everything just a little better.

"No...don't scream, or I'll make you pay later," he pulled her through the street.

"Oooo. I'm so scared. You know what? You're just wasting your time. The guys wouldn't come after me if their life depended on it." Hawke was hoping he would be stupider than he looked, but unfortunately, her luck just wasn't with her that night.

The man laughed a bit and continued to pull her roughly around towards the back of some old, shabby looking building.

"Your house?" Hawke asked, insults welling in her mind to throw at the guy.

He turned towards her and smiled slightly. "Welcome to the rented house of Daldera, mi'lady. Hope you enjoy your stay." He leaned forward and licked her neck slightly. "I know that I will."

Oh shit! I'm in some deep trouble, Hawke thought frantically as she was pulled through the door and into the darkness of the room. "Don't touch me."

"Oh. You don't like men touching you? But you're such a pretty little thing." His eyes gleamed evilly in the flashes of brief light that came through the broken window. He slowly approached Hawke who was busy trying to think a way out of this situation, but wasn't finding anything very good to do at the moment.

Inches from her Daldera came before Hawke felt something strange well up inside of her; white light filled her vision and soon black was all that she could see.



A/N: Yeah. Ok. So that took me a flipping eternity to write! Sorry! Heh. Schools almost out so now I should almost have time to do as much writing as I'd like...of course this all depends on whether my inspiration doesn't die....O.o....oh well! We'll hope for the best! I'll write again soon...me promise! Toodles-*Magic*