{Hush}
Noin felt much better when she woke. Zechs did, too. He surely looked much better, and his eyes were no longer clouded with pain. And though Noin was happy to see this, she also noticed that they were turning into the cold blue eyes of the soldier in Une's office, not the human being Noin had befriended. He was a lost prince. Noin smiled at this thought. It seemed too much like a fairy tale if she pictured it in her head. But when she looked around her, she faced the harsh realization that this hardly was anything you could compare to fairy tales, which always had happy endings.
She didn't know how this would end, and in the back of her mind were the horrible thoughts of what could happen. How it could go wrong, their fail- safe plan.
A glance at the tiny window told her that Nikolas would be there soon. He would lead them down a maze of halls, and then the small army of soldiers would carefully sneak them down the halls and out of their prison cell. They would meet one, which would lead them to another, who would lead them to another, and another, until they emerged into daylight once again.
Zechs was looking at the window, too. Well, he really wasn't looking at it. He was more looking beyond it, into the past, or maybe the future. Noin wondered what he was thinking about. Someday she wanted to get to know him better, understand the deep hideaways of his complex soul. She sighed and stood, then walked to a wall and leaned against it. Anticipation pulsated through her veins.
He looked over at her. He almost looked small, sitting on the unsteady bed in such an awkward position. Almost like a child. Then his gaze shifted to the door, which opened only a few seconds later, and the silent figure beyond it gestured for them to follow him. Noin took a step forward, Zechs stood, and then they began.
