Angel of Light: ……….!

Cody: What?

Angel of Light: There's a 5 beside my name…

Cody: So…?

Angel of Light: I didn't put it there. It's not supposed to be there! HOW DID IT GET THERE?!?! *runs around like a maniac*

Cody: *sweat drop* Anyways…You're probably wondering where she's been… She's still not mentally here, but then again, is she ever? She's been refrained from the internet because of the virus. She already got it once, and doesn't want it again.

Angel of Light: The second wave is coming!!!

Cody: ahem…yes. Not aliens, but the virus…anyways, on with the story…

Takeru and Hikari exchanged a quick glance as King Samuel stood up.

"Gather the strongest men, and meet back here. We'll attack it." he ordered.

"Wait!" Hikari interrupted.

The king turned to her, "What is it?"

"Well, there might be no need for that. You see, it really is a long story, which I won't go in to, but we might know them. If it is them, then we shouldn't attack. Let the Prince and I go first."

The King hesitated.

"Please, your majesty. I don't think anyone wants to get hurt here. We need everyone that we have. The dragon will attack if it feels threatened. Then again, the same is true for any creature. Please, let us go first."

With a sigh, King Samuel gave in. "Alright, go. But I'll have my men on alert, just in case."

They both nodded.

The Prince turned to the soldier who had brought the news. "Where did you see them?"

The man pointed just over the hill, and towards a patch of trees.

The Prince nodded. "Come on Hikari, let's go."

Without hesitation, she followed.

The two of them walked towards the trees. Hikari was both excited and nervous. If it was them, then it would be nice to see some old friends, but if it wasn't, it would mean that they could get killed.

Takeru, on the other hand, wasn't so excited. He actually didn't mind the fact that the dragon was there, it wasn't too bad, but it was the others. Actually, it was mostly that one guy, Daisuke. Takeru hadn't liked him from the start, and he wasn't about to start now.

As they neared the edge of the trees, they could see a small, steady stream of smoke rising just above the forest canopy. This made them wonder.

About twenty-five men were following behind them, just in case something were to happen to them. They were all armed and ready.

The Prince and the Princess exchanged one more worried glance as they entered the trees. The other men stayed quietly and tensely at the forest's edge.

They stopped, as they could hear voices through the trees.

"Would you stop taking all the food?! The rest of us have to eat, you know."

Kari broke out with a smile, but didn't move. She couldn't believe how much Miyako had changed since they went careening off the cliff. She was much more open now. She and Takeru both waited a little longer, to see what would happen.

"Well, it's not my problem you guys are slow!" The other, whom was presumably Daisuke, retorted.

"Geez you two. Would you cut it out?" That was most likely Iori.

"Just ignore them, Iori. If things get too rough, ol' sparky over here'l set them strait." When he said 'sparky', he was referring to the dragon.

Takeru peered through the trees, and saw it. The dragon was curled up (as curled up as a dragon can be) on the ground, and looked to be sleeping. The smoke they saw was the smoke that emitted from his nostrils.

The Prince was relieved, yet not excited like the Princess was. He assumed that the others would be joining them, as they looked to have nothing else to do. Unknowingly, he sighed out loud. After doing so, he covered his mouth. Luckily, none of them heard.

Except maybe one. As soon as he sighed, the dragon's head shot up. Maybe it wasn't so asleep. This caught the attention of the others. The dragon stared intently into the trees, right at the spot where the two were hiding.

At first, its tail only twitched a little. The more he stared, the more his tail moved. Finally, the others had to clear out because they didn't want any injuries to occur.

"What's with him?" Ken asked.

"Don't ask me, he must see something." Iori answered back.

The dragon stood up, and a bid smile spread across his face. His tongue hung out of his mouth, and he pounced into the trees, pinning Prince Takeru to the ground.

"Alright, alright already! You found us!" He remarked.

The dragon began to slobber all over his face. It was acting like a big dog. A really big dog.

Hikari started laughing at Takeru.

"Hey! It's not funny!"

She stopped. "You're right. It's not. IT'S HILARIOUS!" with that, she burst out laughing again.

The four others looked at each other. They knew there was someone else in there, but weren't sure as to who it was. Slowly and carefully, they too went onto the forest. As they came to the place, they were astonished. There before them, were the Prince and Princess.

In a burst of joy, Miyako ran over and hugged Hikari, toppling her over.

Surprised, Hikari looked up.

"Miyako!"

"Oh Hikari! I thought you were dead!"

"Well, I'm not. In fact, I've never been better."

The dragon finally let Takeru get off the ground. The Prince stood up, soaked.

Hikari too, stood up after Miyako let go of her. She patted the dragon on the head.

"Good job, he needed a shower."

He shot an annoyed glance at her and swatted at her shoulder, but missed. She stuck out her tongue at him, and he turned away, smiling.

After everything was calmed down, Ken stepped in.

"How are the two of you alive? I mean, we all saw you fall off the cliff, and Takeru, you weren't even conscious. How did you manage to survive?" he asked.

The two looked at each other.

"Well…" the Price started,

"It was nothing short of a miracle." Hikari finished for him.

"Yeah."

Ken only nodded his head, suspecting that there was something that they weren't being told, but left the subject alone for the moment.

"So, what are you guys doing here, anyways?" Iori asked.

"Well, we told you that we were gong to get help for the war, and we did. We're here with the army that's just over there." Hikari pointed.

Takeru noticed that Daisuke hadn't said anything. All he did was stare at the Princess, and something about that made him mad. He added a little on, just to spice things up a little.

"And in fact, there are about thirty men just outside the trees waiting to attack you guys."

He noticed that Daisuke shot him a worried glance. He counted that a victory. Over what, he wasn't too sure, but that was beside the point. He smiled innocently.

"But they won't because we'll tell them that everything is fine." Hikari added.

It was Daisuke's turn to smile.

It seemed that the feelings that the Prince had for Daisuke were mutual. It also seemed that the two had engaged in some sort of unspoken rivalry, over various things. The Princess, being one of them. The only thing was, that the Prince wasn't about to admit that to anyone. He hadn't really even admitted it to himself.

"Just one minute. We'll tell them that everything is alright, and that they can go back."

Takeru walked over to join her. Hikari noticed that Daisuke made a slight move to follow as well.

"I think that it'd be best if we went alone. They might thing that we're hostages." She turned and walked away, with the Prince closely in tow.

"You don't like him, do you." Hikari remarked when they were out of earshot.

"Who?" He asked.

"Oh, come on. You know very well who I'm talking about. Daisuke. You don't like him."

"Why do you say that?"

"Because neither of you said a word to each other, and I noticed before that any words weren't very kindly spoken to one another. And the looks that you gave each other. Do I sense oh, could it be jealously?"

"I don't know what you are talking about. Besides, I talk to you, and that doesn't mean that I like you."

She smiled mischievously, "Oh really? I beg to differ."

The Prince stopped, while she went on ahead. He shook his head, and then continued to follow.

"And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're the smart one, remember? You figure it out."

She made him swallow his own words.

"You're-"

She stopped and looked at him square in the eye. "I'm what?"

"Impossible!"

"I know." she replied, smiling deviously.

He was about to reply, but they neared the edge of the forest. The leader came up to them.

"What are we to do?"

"Go back to sleep, everything's fine. They're going to come out with us, even the dragon, and you're not to attack. They are friends of ours, and won't hurt you. Besides, the lizard has taken a special liking to the Prince." Hikari told them.

Takeru scowled, and the troops left. They turned to inform the others and bring them back.

"I'm going to get you someday."

"Uh huh."

"You don't think I'm serious, do you."

"Nope. And there's nothing that you can do that will get me back. I know all of your tricks and comebacks, and I've made comebacks to those that will leave you speechless. I have complete control over you, whether you like it or not. I can predict you're every move."

He stopped, as did she.

"See? I knew you'd do that."

He looked at her, and smiled. "Did you predict this?"

He leaned in quickly, and pressed his lips to hers.

Needless to say, Hikari was shocked, to put it lightly.

He backed off, but wasn't smiling triumphantly as she had expected. Instead, he was rather nervous.

"Uh…bet you didn't see that one coming, did you." he stuttered, then headed back to where the others were.

"No…I didn't." she whispered softly, but he didn't hear.

Kari stood there for a moment, dazed. She lifted her hand up, and touched her lips. Her mind was spinning, and her emotions were a whirlpool of confusion. After a few minutes, she followed.

When she arrived, he had already told the others that they were to go with them. They were packing their things. The dragon watched intently, standing by Takeru.

Hikari stopped just at the edge of the campsite, not really knowing what to do. She couldn't bring herself to face the Prince, and wasn't sure whether or not he even wanted to see her. She just watched the flames in the fire that had been newly started dance and flicker.

Takeru looked over and noticed her standing there. He wanted to say something, but didn't know what to say. He wasn't sure what she thought of it, and was afraid that she would hate him forever and a day. He now knew why he cared so much.

"Earth to Takeru! Hello, is anyone home?" The Prince snapped out of his trance to see Ken standing in front of him.

"We're leaving."

He nodded.

The group headed back to the site where the army was stationed. Some of them drew back as the dragon neared, but it didn't even take a second glance at them all. When they reached the place where the King was waiting, they stopped.

"I see that it was those whom you thought it was." He remarked.

"Yes, it was." Hikari replied softly. She tried to act as normal as she could.

"Are you gong to introduce them?"

"Oh, yes, of course. This," the Prince said pointing to the girl, "Is Miyako. Beside her is Ken, and the other is Iori. The one just over there is Daisuke. And this is the dragon. He's really quite friendly, actually."

Hikari was amazed, and slightly saddened, at how normal the Prince was acting. It seemed that the kiss had only phased him for the moment, and now he was over it.

"Well, I am King Samuel. It's nice too meet you all. I'd discuss things now, but I am tired and I need my rest, and I'm sure that the rest of you do too. We'll talk in the morning." the King told them.

They nodded. Hikari took her place by the willow tree, and Takeru took his on the other side of the King. Naturally, the dragon curled around him. The others lay on the other side of the beast.

As Hikari lay there, she couldn't sleep. Her mind went over the incident countless times. She couldn't get over the emotional strain that it had caused. She was confused, and slightly hurt. It had been her first kiss. It was nothing liked that which she had dreamed of. It was supposed to be a magical feeling, and she was supposed to want to do it. It wasn't supposed to be forced upon her like that. She almost began to hate the Prince all over again for stealing that from her. But, then again, maybe she did want it. Maybe she had dreamed of that moment for a while, without even realizing it. Maybe, just maybe, she had fallen in love with him.

This brought her to another matter. If she had fallen for him, what was she to do? It was obvious that he didn't feel the same way, or he would be more troubled by what he did. Maybe it was just a spur of the moment thing, something that will fade in her memory. Maybe, she didn't love him. She started to convince herself that she didn't. The only reason she felt this way was because she had spent time with him, and he had kissed her. She would forget it all in the morning, and they would be back to saving her homeland.

~*~

The Prince was having similar problems. He couldn't sleep either, and was bothered by what he had done. It was amazing what one simple kiss could do to a person. He sighed lightly in his sleep, starting at his reflection in the dragon's golden breastplate. Finally, he was able to admit it to himself. He was in love with her, no doubt about it, right? It was the only logical explanation. It would explain all his feelings towards her in the past few weeks that they had been together. It would explain why he had felt that way at that moment. He was mad at himself for doing that, for she probably hated him right now.

'But it's not fair!' he told himself 'It's all her fault! If she weren't so stupid, and misleading…and nice, and beautiful, and…URGH! SHE MAKES ME SO MAD!'

He told himself these things for the remainder of the time that he was awake.

~*~

Unfortunately, the memories and images of the previous night didn't go away, for either of them.

The plans had already been made, and as the Prince had predicted, the others would join them. Also as he had guessed, Daisuke was getting pretty close to the Princess. He noticed that they would talk, about what, he didn't know. All he knew was the he himself couldn't talk to her, as she hated him at the moment. According to the Prince.

The cavalry set off once more. They travelled for a few more days, making a fast pace, only stopping when they had to. Finally, they were within a two days ride from the war zone.

King Samuel stopped the soldiers, and turned to the Prince and Princess.

"We are just within a two days ride from our destination. As stated, you two are staying up here with me to tell your fathers. I'm assuming that that's still alright."

"With all due respect, Sire, I was wondering if I could go ahead of everyone. I'd go by air, on the dragon. I'll fly high enough that they can't hit me, but low enough that they can see me. It would save us more time." The Prince asked.

The King pondered on this for a moment, then agreed. "Alright, that sounds good. It will make things easier for us. We'll most likely arrive a day after you."

"Thank you." The Prince bowed his head, and slid off of Tallow. He looked to the dragon, who was perched on a rock just beside them. The Prince climbed up onto its back, just in front of the base of its wings.

With a great beat of the wings, the dragon lifted into the sky.

"Wait!"

The dragon stopped, and landed again. Takeru looked down to see who it was.

"I-I want to come too!"

Takeru was surprised to see that it was the Princess. This was the first time that she had actually volunteered to go with him. He wanted to fly off, but for some reason, he didn't. He looked at her, and saw the pleading look in her eyes. He thought back to the time in the castle of Asterix. She carried the same look, the same worry for her people. Maybe she didn't hate him as much as he had thought.

Takeru nodded his head. The Princess slid off of Erowin, and climbed on behind him. She hesitated a little when she got closer to him, and didn't know what to do.

"It's alright, but there isn't much to hold on to. If you want to come, you'll have to hang on to me."

She looked around, and saw that he was speaking the truth. Slowly, she placed her arms around him, just above the waist, and held on.

Once more, with a powerful beat of its wings, the dragon was airborne.

"What of your horses?!" The King shouted to them.

"They'll follow!" Takeru yelled back as they rose higher into the sky.

The King shook his head and smiled.

"You know, love can completely change a person." he said to no one in particular.

Daisuke scowled at the comment, but said nothing.

"Alright then, let's go!" the King turned, and charged his horse after the direction that they had gone. With a shout, the cavalry followed.

Angel of Light: Phew! I'm done! Not the story, the chapter. There will probably be either one or two more chapters, depending on how the next chapter unfolds. So, what did you think of it? Was it good? Did it suck? PLEASE TELL ME!!!! Okay…I got that out…anyways, TtFn!