Yes! I finally got this out. I know I should be working on some other story I've started and not finished... I'm so bad, I know!! But I swear, I will get those done, and this one, too!! Anywho, I didn't get any suggestions for couples, so probably a bunch of you are going to kill me when you read this chapter, but that's your deal. Sorry!
To all the people who reviewed the last chapter, including Silver Horizon, m I k A t O, Insomniac Cat, insane-chick, and BlueWolf. Thanks! ^-^ Please read and review!
..::--*--::..
"One cannot weep for the entire world. It is beyond human strength. One must choose." - Jean Anouilh
..::-- Willow, Chapter Three : Revelations --::..
Takeru awoke and looked around the room he was in. It didn't look like his bedchamber. He couldn't see the twin swords on the wall from his father or his violet curtains. In fact, this room looked like a girl's.
TK's eye's shot wide open and he looked down at his lap. There was Hikari, sleeping soundly, curled up under the think quilt with her head lying gently on his legs. His hand was intertwined with hers and he sighed as he watched her sleep.
*Man, if Matt or Tai come in here, we're both screwed.*
He knew he shouldn't have been in her room, but there was no way he was going to leave her in that freezing attic. They had spent the night talking over what the picture in the dusty, almost empty book could be. For hours, until the pale gray of dawn crept over the sky, he had been with his most beautiful friend. Then he had carried her down here to her room and passed out from the sleep deprivation.
As she stirred lightly, Takeru smiled to himself. She was so stunning; he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Hikari Yagami... he would give up all he had for her.
Her eyes fluttered open and for a confused moment, she sated at TK. But, her features softened and she smiled, squeezing his hand affectionally.
"Good morning. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" she asked, her sleepiness evident in her words.
"Exhaustion," he answered simply.
Hikari smirked and sat up slowly. She blinked a few times from sleep and turned around to face Takeru. "Thank you, Takeru. I know you had other things to do... like training or something, this morning. I shouldn't have been so selfish and kept you here."
TK looked in shock at her. "You weren't selfish! I stayed here because I couldn't just sit there and watch you freeze. If you got sick again... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. You're too important to this world, Kari, and I care too much about you to give you up..." he trailed off, realizing what he just said.
"What?"
"Um... nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." He giggled nervously and then got up off of the bed. "Well, I better be going and let you change and go to breakfast... maybe there's some toast or something left. You never know with Tai and Matt's stomachs."
Hikari laughed and Takeru sighed.
*That was close.*
..::--*--::..
"Something's wrong. Something other than Jun. He hasn't talked since yesterday!" Tai whispered harshly to Mimi. "I don't know what it is."
The two friends watched on as Yamato brushed down his favorite mare, Starlight, and gently pulled the bridle on her. Then they gazed on silently as he pulled himself up bareback and rode into the dense Odaiba forest.
"You know what it looks like?" Mimi asked him.
"No, what?"
"It looks like he's fallen in love."
Tai looked in confusion at the girl. "How would you know?"
"He's distracted... he doesn't talk to us about it... he's gone out into the forest three times in the last three days... that's probably where she lives." Mimi faced Tai and smiled. "He's probably trying to figure out what to do about Jun. She's going to be here tomorrow."
Tai stared down at the ground, a sudden realization in his mind. "If you know so much about falling in love, how do you know if you're in love or not?" he asked quietly.
"Well, I guess if you think about the person all day and night, if you feel complete when you're around them, if you feel like your world's going to fall apart when they're not there, you can't wait to be alone with them, you thin they are the most wonderful and beautiful thing ever." She paused, looking at him. "Why Taichi?"
He looked up and gazed at her graceful figure, leaning against the sturdy tree. Her hair fell in cascading waves around her striking face, full of confusion. He took two steps towards her so he was only a few inches from her.
"Taichi..."
"Don't... don't call me that," he said huskily.
"Why not? That is your name," she replied.
"Because I can't... I can't think of you just as a friend if you call me that. Just call me Tai, like everyone else," he said, looking into her beautiful eyes.
"Taichi... you're scaring me. What's wrong? You look like you're going to break down." She slipped her hand into his, trying to comfort him, oblivious to the obvious.
Tai just looked at her, a thousand and one scenarios running through his mind. After a few tense moments, he took his hand out of her grasp and put it gently on her cheek.
"Meems, I'm so sorry," he whispered and then pressed his lips gently on hers.
Overcome with shock, Mimi just stood there, her eyes closed and Tai's lips on hers, holding his hand on her cheek. Then after a second of him kissing her, and to Tai's surprise, she began kissing him back, pressing her lips harder on his. She opened her mouth to him, letting him explore and feel.
Very slowly, not wanting this moment to end, Tai broke the kiss. He stared into Mimi's eyes, wondering what caused her to do that, but smiled when he saw her grin.
"Took you long enough," she whispered, kissing him again.
..::--*--::..
After riding aimlessly through the forest with Starlight, the Prince looked across an all too familiar clearing and saw that tree... the home of the Princess. Carefully, he got off of her back and let her graze about, her bridle lying on the grass.
"Thank you, my friend. Let's see if this goes according to plan." Matt walked silently and cautiously up to the royal willow, hoping to hear the voice of the faerie. He walked closer and closer to the tree, stopping suddenly.
Yet again, Yamato heard another voice in the 'room' the willow's branches made. This time, it was a small boy's, no older than twelve, he'd guessed. Tiptoeing quietly, he came closer to the drape of white glittering leaves and branches, listening to the conversation.
"...they are right, Sora. You have a wonderful voice, perfect for the princess of Mendai. I can see why Koushiro and Jyou hate to see you leave the city so often. We never see you anymore, your majesty," the boy was saying. He was articulate for someone his age.
"Iori, flattery will get you nowhere. You know as well as I do that I have to be here. It is my job as guardian of this area." Matt heard her sigh, then continue. "If only that Prince Ishida wouldn't be so difficult..." Matt didn't hear the rest. He was to busy talking to himself.
*Did she say I was difficult?! No one talks about me that way, especially when I'm listening!!* Matt stopped himself right before he pulled the branches away. *Calm down, Matt. It'll be okay. She's just... uneducated. Let's say that.*
He leaned into the tree's thin limbs and eavesdropped once more on the conversation. "...must go, Princess. I will see you later, at the banquet in the Hall," the young boy, Iori, said.
"Goodbye, my little Cody, I will see you there!" Sora said, calling after him even though he hadn't gone anywhere.
Matt decided that this was the best time as any to go in. He took a deep breath, put his hand on his sword hilt (just in case) and moved the branches, expecting to see the two people. He stopped suddenly and stared.
Nobody was there.
He was sure they had to be somewhere. He looked all around the area, then went back outside the tree and looked around the clearing. Still no sign of the boy or Sora.
"Well, shit!" he cursed as he walked back into the shade of the willow and sat down on the lowest branch.
"That's not a nice word," a female voice chuckled from behind him. Matt stood up and whirled around, only to see the faerie that had overtaken his dreams.
"You!" he breathed, gasping to himself. She smiled and sat down.
"Of course it is. You were expecting someone else?" she giggled, the wind chime sound echoing in Yamato's mind. His mind clouded up once more, just as the night before, of images of her and her voice ringing in his heart. He shook his head and looked at the girl.
"Well, so nice to see you again," he said, it sounding more sarcastic than he meant it to. "Princess."
"Oh, so you believe me now? What a pleasant surprise." She looked carefully at him, analyzing his reaction. But, he stayed cool and calm, knowing exactly how to get what he wanted out of her.
"Yes, yes. I have decided to be more open minded to things like that. Maybe you didn't come from around here... down the valley, maybe? Or north, there are many small kingdoms I don't know of... you could be a princess there..."
Sora looked at him in disbelief. Was she really hearing correctly? Did he just say he was more open minded? Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
"Yes, I come from a kingdom called Mendai. My mother is queen there. My father... is dead." She looked down at the ground, not wanting to remember that horrible night. "But anyway, about you, hmm, Prince Yamato? What is happening in the beautiful kingdom of Odaiba?"
*It was all right! She is trying to get information out of me. She's not going to be that hard to get to bend...* "Princess, I still do not know your name. You are to me only Princess Takenouchi. If we are to talk as friends, I wish you would call me Matt... and your name..."
"Sora. Sora Takenouchi." Yamato almost lost his cool. It sounded even more beautiful coming from her lips. *Concentrate!* He took a couple steps forward and stood in front of the branch and the princess.
"Sora. That's so much better. A beautiful name, really. Beautiful..." he trailed off, staring into her crimson eyes as he stood in front of her. Why was this happening? This had never happened to him before! It's supposed to be the other way around. The girl was supposed to fall head over heels for him... this wasn't normal. What was it about her? There was something about her... not her magick or her ancestry or even her race... it was something else about her and her manner that attracted him to her so much.
"Yoo-hoo! Anyone alive in there?" Sora asked as she waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Matt... you're scaring people."
Matt blinked and shook his head. *I... I can't do this. This isn't right.* He stared at Sora, his ice cold eyes unforgiving. "I'm sorry, Sora. I have to... I have to go. Princess Motymia," he shuddered momentarily, "is supposed to be here tomorrow. I have to... prepare for her arrival." He turned quickly and walked towards the branches.
"Don't you mean Jun?" Sora asked quietly, almost as if she was jealous.
"Hell no!" Matt snapped. He turned around and faced the shocked faerie. "I'm sorry, it's just that... I can't stand her."
"So why are you marrying her?"
"How do you...?" he asked, looked at her quizzically.
"I have my sources." she smiled and stood up on the branch. "Why would you get engaged to someone you can't stand?"
"Hey, it wasn't my idea. My father thinks that it's time I settled down and started a family and trained for the day I am to be king." Matt asked himself why he was telling this to someone he barely knew. But then again, she was everything he thought about.
"I wonder why Gennai... oops." She started, but finished as soon as she heard herself.
"Gennai? Sir Gennai?! That's your source, isn't he?" Matt thought quickly, everything snapping into place. This wasn't just a coincidence. Gennai and Sora planned this all out.
"That's why he had me read that book... that's why he told me about faeries... what was the plan, Sora? Why would you want a prince like myself to find out about your little world? Why would you let a secret that has been kept for centuries 'slip' now? Why me and why now?" Matt stared at the princess, waiting for an answer.
"Damn it." Sora sat down and fiddled with a necklace hanging on her neck. Yamato squinted to see it: a simple silver oval shaped locket on a simple silver chain. "I knew that you'd figure it all out sooner or later." She motioned for him to site down and Yamato hesitated... but only for a second. "Let me explain."
"Obviously, you know that I am Princess Sora Takenouchi of the faerie kingdom Mendai. Gennai is my loyal friend, and the highest member of our royal council. They handle all of the important decisions and the laws that all faeries have to abide by that deal with humans. He had to beg for years to let him leave and settle himself in the human kingdom. He is the only faerie who is not bound but still has his magick."
Matt nodded, urging her to continue. He stayed silent, knowing that this wasn't easy for her to say.
"There's a legend that has been passed down from generation to generation in faerie folklore." She motioned for him to follow her, and she jumped up to a branch, and down to another, behind the tree from where they had been. She lifted a veil-like moss off of the bark and revealed an elaborate story carved into the wood. She waved her hand in front of it, telling him to read it.
-Chosen to live, Chosen to die.-
-Chosen to save both worlds from the evil.-
-The twelve will come from mortal and not,-
-From the real and the magickal.-
-Twelve Chosen Children,-
-Twelve Chosen Partners.-
-Together, they shall win over the dark,-
-Courage, the fierce,-
-Friendship, the cold,-
-Love, the beautiful,-
-Knowledge, the clever,-
-Reliability, the strong,-
-Sincerity, the sweet,-
-Hope, the protector,-
-Light, the angel,-
-Kindness, the unknowing.-
-The three others, double the crests:-
-Friendship and Courage, brave and kind,-
-Sincerity and Love, charming and zealous,-
-Knowledge and Reliability, wise and trusting.-
-Together, the Children and the Partners,-
-Shall vanquish both worlds from the evil.-
-And united,-
-They will forever be.-
-Prince of Friendship and-
-Princess of Love,-
-One of mortal, one of magick.-
-Together they shall rule.-
Yamato read with fascination and then looked up at the Princess sitting on a branch above him. "What does it mean?"
"We don't know. That's what we want to figure out. Every faerie in our world can feel the dark presence, slowly overcoming the land. But none of us can tell what it is." She sighed and sat on a branch nearest to Matt. "That's why we wanted you to find out about us. Since a lot of this has to do with the mortal world, we had to find someone we could use to get information. And because of this quick move by the Motymias, we decided that the best person for that would be you. You have access to places that Gennai does not."
Yamato turned away from her, staring up into the vast branches of the willow. "So, you're telling me that there's no other reason why I found about all of this other than you wanted information," he asked coldly.
Sora looked down at her feet. "Yes. I'm sorry, Matt, if I could change it I would. It's just that...."
"Stop." Matt cut her off. "You can't help what your royal duty has you do, just like I can't help that I have to marry Jun. I will help you. I'll see all that I can find out."
Sora looked up at him, surprised. But his back was still turned towards her and she couldn't reach any farther to get him to turn around. "Thank you, Matt. I can't believe you will do this for someone you just met."
*Neither can I.* "All I ask in return is that you be able to answer all of my questions. Not now, but later, I'm sure I'll have plenty." He turned around, his face cold as ice, but his eyes telling a different story.
"Definitely!" Sora smiled and then looked him in the eyes seriously. "Soon, Gennai will contact you with information, as soon as I get it from Koushiro. Thank you so much, Yamato. This would be so much more difficult without your promise of help."
"Who's Koushiro?" he asked, before he thought about it. *Damn it, now she's probably going to talk for ages about him...*
"Our professor, if you want to call him that. He's the genius of the faerie world." She said quickly and simply. "Thank you, though. You don't know how much this means to me..."
*Stop! Stop looking so beautiful...* "It's nothing," he muttered as he walked out of there, leaving a stunned look on the faerie Princess's face.
*Please don't do anything to make me fall in love with you,* he begged her silently as he found Starlight's bridle and slipped it gently on her nose. *Please.*
He slid gently onto the mare's back and rode off into the afternoon sun, preparing himself for the torture that would begin that next day. He shuddered at the thought, his spine trembling with unknown fear.
Jun Motymia.
..::--*--::..
always,
*lily-angel*
To all the people who reviewed the last chapter, including Silver Horizon, m I k A t O, Insomniac Cat, insane-chick, and BlueWolf. Thanks! ^-^ Please read and review!
..::--*--::..
"One cannot weep for the entire world. It is beyond human strength. One must choose." - Jean Anouilh
..::-- Willow, Chapter Three : Revelations --::..
Takeru awoke and looked around the room he was in. It didn't look like his bedchamber. He couldn't see the twin swords on the wall from his father or his violet curtains. In fact, this room looked like a girl's.
TK's eye's shot wide open and he looked down at his lap. There was Hikari, sleeping soundly, curled up under the think quilt with her head lying gently on his legs. His hand was intertwined with hers and he sighed as he watched her sleep.
*Man, if Matt or Tai come in here, we're both screwed.*
He knew he shouldn't have been in her room, but there was no way he was going to leave her in that freezing attic. They had spent the night talking over what the picture in the dusty, almost empty book could be. For hours, until the pale gray of dawn crept over the sky, he had been with his most beautiful friend. Then he had carried her down here to her room and passed out from the sleep deprivation.
As she stirred lightly, Takeru smiled to himself. She was so stunning; he couldn't keep his eyes off of her. Hikari Yagami... he would give up all he had for her.
Her eyes fluttered open and for a confused moment, she sated at TK. But, her features softened and she smiled, squeezing his hand affectionally.
"Good morning. To what do I owe this pleasant surprise?" she asked, her sleepiness evident in her words.
"Exhaustion," he answered simply.
Hikari smirked and sat up slowly. She blinked a few times from sleep and turned around to face Takeru. "Thank you, Takeru. I know you had other things to do... like training or something, this morning. I shouldn't have been so selfish and kept you here."
TK looked in shock at her. "You weren't selfish! I stayed here because I couldn't just sit there and watch you freeze. If you got sick again... I wouldn't be able to forgive myself. You're too important to this world, Kari, and I care too much about you to give you up..." he trailed off, realizing what he just said.
"What?"
"Um... nothing. It's nothing. Don't worry about it." He giggled nervously and then got up off of the bed. "Well, I better be going and let you change and go to breakfast... maybe there's some toast or something left. You never know with Tai and Matt's stomachs."
Hikari laughed and Takeru sighed.
*That was close.*
..::--*--::..
"Something's wrong. Something other than Jun. He hasn't talked since yesterday!" Tai whispered harshly to Mimi. "I don't know what it is."
The two friends watched on as Yamato brushed down his favorite mare, Starlight, and gently pulled the bridle on her. Then they gazed on silently as he pulled himself up bareback and rode into the dense Odaiba forest.
"You know what it looks like?" Mimi asked him.
"No, what?"
"It looks like he's fallen in love."
Tai looked in confusion at the girl. "How would you know?"
"He's distracted... he doesn't talk to us about it... he's gone out into the forest three times in the last three days... that's probably where she lives." Mimi faced Tai and smiled. "He's probably trying to figure out what to do about Jun. She's going to be here tomorrow."
Tai stared down at the ground, a sudden realization in his mind. "If you know so much about falling in love, how do you know if you're in love or not?" he asked quietly.
"Well, I guess if you think about the person all day and night, if you feel complete when you're around them, if you feel like your world's going to fall apart when they're not there, you can't wait to be alone with them, you thin they are the most wonderful and beautiful thing ever." She paused, looking at him. "Why Taichi?"
He looked up and gazed at her graceful figure, leaning against the sturdy tree. Her hair fell in cascading waves around her striking face, full of confusion. He took two steps towards her so he was only a few inches from her.
"Taichi..."
"Don't... don't call me that," he said huskily.
"Why not? That is your name," she replied.
"Because I can't... I can't think of you just as a friend if you call me that. Just call me Tai, like everyone else," he said, looking into her beautiful eyes.
"Taichi... you're scaring me. What's wrong? You look like you're going to break down." She slipped her hand into his, trying to comfort him, oblivious to the obvious.
Tai just looked at her, a thousand and one scenarios running through his mind. After a few tense moments, he took his hand out of her grasp and put it gently on her cheek.
"Meems, I'm so sorry," he whispered and then pressed his lips gently on hers.
Overcome with shock, Mimi just stood there, her eyes closed and Tai's lips on hers, holding his hand on her cheek. Then after a second of him kissing her, and to Tai's surprise, she began kissing him back, pressing her lips harder on his. She opened her mouth to him, letting him explore and feel.
Very slowly, not wanting this moment to end, Tai broke the kiss. He stared into Mimi's eyes, wondering what caused her to do that, but smiled when he saw her grin.
"Took you long enough," she whispered, kissing him again.
..::--*--::..
After riding aimlessly through the forest with Starlight, the Prince looked across an all too familiar clearing and saw that tree... the home of the Princess. Carefully, he got off of her back and let her graze about, her bridle lying on the grass.
"Thank you, my friend. Let's see if this goes according to plan." Matt walked silently and cautiously up to the royal willow, hoping to hear the voice of the faerie. He walked closer and closer to the tree, stopping suddenly.
Yet again, Yamato heard another voice in the 'room' the willow's branches made. This time, it was a small boy's, no older than twelve, he'd guessed. Tiptoeing quietly, he came closer to the drape of white glittering leaves and branches, listening to the conversation.
"...they are right, Sora. You have a wonderful voice, perfect for the princess of Mendai. I can see why Koushiro and Jyou hate to see you leave the city so often. We never see you anymore, your majesty," the boy was saying. He was articulate for someone his age.
"Iori, flattery will get you nowhere. You know as well as I do that I have to be here. It is my job as guardian of this area." Matt heard her sigh, then continue. "If only that Prince Ishida wouldn't be so difficult..." Matt didn't hear the rest. He was to busy talking to himself.
*Did she say I was difficult?! No one talks about me that way, especially when I'm listening!!* Matt stopped himself right before he pulled the branches away. *Calm down, Matt. It'll be okay. She's just... uneducated. Let's say that.*
He leaned into the tree's thin limbs and eavesdropped once more on the conversation. "...must go, Princess. I will see you later, at the banquet in the Hall," the young boy, Iori, said.
"Goodbye, my little Cody, I will see you there!" Sora said, calling after him even though he hadn't gone anywhere.
Matt decided that this was the best time as any to go in. He took a deep breath, put his hand on his sword hilt (just in case) and moved the branches, expecting to see the two people. He stopped suddenly and stared.
Nobody was there.
He was sure they had to be somewhere. He looked all around the area, then went back outside the tree and looked around the clearing. Still no sign of the boy or Sora.
"Well, shit!" he cursed as he walked back into the shade of the willow and sat down on the lowest branch.
"That's not a nice word," a female voice chuckled from behind him. Matt stood up and whirled around, only to see the faerie that had overtaken his dreams.
"You!" he breathed, gasping to himself. She smiled and sat down.
"Of course it is. You were expecting someone else?" she giggled, the wind chime sound echoing in Yamato's mind. His mind clouded up once more, just as the night before, of images of her and her voice ringing in his heart. He shook his head and looked at the girl.
"Well, so nice to see you again," he said, it sounding more sarcastic than he meant it to. "Princess."
"Oh, so you believe me now? What a pleasant surprise." She looked carefully at him, analyzing his reaction. But, he stayed cool and calm, knowing exactly how to get what he wanted out of her.
"Yes, yes. I have decided to be more open minded to things like that. Maybe you didn't come from around here... down the valley, maybe? Or north, there are many small kingdoms I don't know of... you could be a princess there..."
Sora looked at him in disbelief. Was she really hearing correctly? Did he just say he was more open minded? Maybe this wouldn't be so hard after all.
"Yes, I come from a kingdom called Mendai. My mother is queen there. My father... is dead." She looked down at the ground, not wanting to remember that horrible night. "But anyway, about you, hmm, Prince Yamato? What is happening in the beautiful kingdom of Odaiba?"
*It was all right! She is trying to get information out of me. She's not going to be that hard to get to bend...* "Princess, I still do not know your name. You are to me only Princess Takenouchi. If we are to talk as friends, I wish you would call me Matt... and your name..."
"Sora. Sora Takenouchi." Yamato almost lost his cool. It sounded even more beautiful coming from her lips. *Concentrate!* He took a couple steps forward and stood in front of the branch and the princess.
"Sora. That's so much better. A beautiful name, really. Beautiful..." he trailed off, staring into her crimson eyes as he stood in front of her. Why was this happening? This had never happened to him before! It's supposed to be the other way around. The girl was supposed to fall head over heels for him... this wasn't normal. What was it about her? There was something about her... not her magick or her ancestry or even her race... it was something else about her and her manner that attracted him to her so much.
"Yoo-hoo! Anyone alive in there?" Sora asked as she waved a hand in front of his eyes. "Matt... you're scaring people."
Matt blinked and shook his head. *I... I can't do this. This isn't right.* He stared at Sora, his ice cold eyes unforgiving. "I'm sorry, Sora. I have to... I have to go. Princess Motymia," he shuddered momentarily, "is supposed to be here tomorrow. I have to... prepare for her arrival." He turned quickly and walked towards the branches.
"Don't you mean Jun?" Sora asked quietly, almost as if she was jealous.
"Hell no!" Matt snapped. He turned around and faced the shocked faerie. "I'm sorry, it's just that... I can't stand her."
"So why are you marrying her?"
"How do you...?" he asked, looked at her quizzically.
"I have my sources." she smiled and stood up on the branch. "Why would you get engaged to someone you can't stand?"
"Hey, it wasn't my idea. My father thinks that it's time I settled down and started a family and trained for the day I am to be king." Matt asked himself why he was telling this to someone he barely knew. But then again, she was everything he thought about.
"I wonder why Gennai... oops." She started, but finished as soon as she heard herself.
"Gennai? Sir Gennai?! That's your source, isn't he?" Matt thought quickly, everything snapping into place. This wasn't just a coincidence. Gennai and Sora planned this all out.
"That's why he had me read that book... that's why he told me about faeries... what was the plan, Sora? Why would you want a prince like myself to find out about your little world? Why would you let a secret that has been kept for centuries 'slip' now? Why me and why now?" Matt stared at the princess, waiting for an answer.
"Damn it." Sora sat down and fiddled with a necklace hanging on her neck. Yamato squinted to see it: a simple silver oval shaped locket on a simple silver chain. "I knew that you'd figure it all out sooner or later." She motioned for him to site down and Yamato hesitated... but only for a second. "Let me explain."
"Obviously, you know that I am Princess Sora Takenouchi of the faerie kingdom Mendai. Gennai is my loyal friend, and the highest member of our royal council. They handle all of the important decisions and the laws that all faeries have to abide by that deal with humans. He had to beg for years to let him leave and settle himself in the human kingdom. He is the only faerie who is not bound but still has his magick."
Matt nodded, urging her to continue. He stayed silent, knowing that this wasn't easy for her to say.
"There's a legend that has been passed down from generation to generation in faerie folklore." She motioned for him to follow her, and she jumped up to a branch, and down to another, behind the tree from where they had been. She lifted a veil-like moss off of the bark and revealed an elaborate story carved into the wood. She waved her hand in front of it, telling him to read it.
-Chosen to live, Chosen to die.-
-Chosen to save both worlds from the evil.-
-The twelve will come from mortal and not,-
-From the real and the magickal.-
-Twelve Chosen Children,-
-Twelve Chosen Partners.-
-Together, they shall win over the dark,-
-Courage, the fierce,-
-Friendship, the cold,-
-Love, the beautiful,-
-Knowledge, the clever,-
-Reliability, the strong,-
-Sincerity, the sweet,-
-Hope, the protector,-
-Light, the angel,-
-Kindness, the unknowing.-
-The three others, double the crests:-
-Friendship and Courage, brave and kind,-
-Sincerity and Love, charming and zealous,-
-Knowledge and Reliability, wise and trusting.-
-Together, the Children and the Partners,-
-Shall vanquish both worlds from the evil.-
-And united,-
-They will forever be.-
-Prince of Friendship and-
-Princess of Love,-
-One of mortal, one of magick.-
-Together they shall rule.-
Yamato read with fascination and then looked up at the Princess sitting on a branch above him. "What does it mean?"
"We don't know. That's what we want to figure out. Every faerie in our world can feel the dark presence, slowly overcoming the land. But none of us can tell what it is." She sighed and sat on a branch nearest to Matt. "That's why we wanted you to find out about us. Since a lot of this has to do with the mortal world, we had to find someone we could use to get information. And because of this quick move by the Motymias, we decided that the best person for that would be you. You have access to places that Gennai does not."
Yamato turned away from her, staring up into the vast branches of the willow. "So, you're telling me that there's no other reason why I found about all of this other than you wanted information," he asked coldly.
Sora looked down at her feet. "Yes. I'm sorry, Matt, if I could change it I would. It's just that...."
"Stop." Matt cut her off. "You can't help what your royal duty has you do, just like I can't help that I have to marry Jun. I will help you. I'll see all that I can find out."
Sora looked up at him, surprised. But his back was still turned towards her and she couldn't reach any farther to get him to turn around. "Thank you, Matt. I can't believe you will do this for someone you just met."
*Neither can I.* "All I ask in return is that you be able to answer all of my questions. Not now, but later, I'm sure I'll have plenty." He turned around, his face cold as ice, but his eyes telling a different story.
"Definitely!" Sora smiled and then looked him in the eyes seriously. "Soon, Gennai will contact you with information, as soon as I get it from Koushiro. Thank you so much, Yamato. This would be so much more difficult without your promise of help."
"Who's Koushiro?" he asked, before he thought about it. *Damn it, now she's probably going to talk for ages about him...*
"Our professor, if you want to call him that. He's the genius of the faerie world." She said quickly and simply. "Thank you, though. You don't know how much this means to me..."
*Stop! Stop looking so beautiful...* "It's nothing," he muttered as he walked out of there, leaving a stunned look on the faerie Princess's face.
*Please don't do anything to make me fall in love with you,* he begged her silently as he found Starlight's bridle and slipped it gently on her nose. *Please.*
He slid gently onto the mare's back and rode off into the afternoon sun, preparing himself for the torture that would begin that next day. He shuddered at the thought, his spine trembling with unknown fear.
Jun Motymia.
..::--*--::..
always,
*lily-angel*