Chapter 10

Both turned their heads to where that voice came from, and boy, were they shocked.

"What do you want, old coot?" Said Albel, the first to recover.

"A-Albel, you shouldn't say that! Have respect for the elders!" Shouted Lieber, shocked that he called the old man "old coot".

"Oh it's alright, Lieber. No harm done to me." The old man said, smiling.

"Well, if it's alright, may I know who you are?" Asked Lieber, wondering if he had heard their conversation and knew everything about them.

"Why yes, of course. I am Woltar, captain of the storm brigade, and also Albel's caretaker." Said Woltar.

"Ah, yes! Count Woltar of the Storm Brigade! I have heard of you before!" Said Lieber, happily.

Woltar laughed a little. "Yes, I suppose you have. Well, I am quite surprised," Said Woltar, "Albel has finally found a woman? And Zelpher, of all women?"

"What's wrong with Nel, old coot?" Said Albel, angry.

"I'm not saying there's something wrong with Zelpher," Said Woltar, amused, "I am wondering why you picked her, after all, you never felt anything towards women before and this woman seems to have hit you right on the spot." Woltar said, chuckling.

"Shut up old man!" Albel shouted. He got angry and went off to his room. He didn't want to keep her waiting, after all. Just thinking of Nel made him calm down.

Woltar chuckled some more. "Well, this is good news," Said Woltar as he and Lieber watched Albel stomp away.

"Why is that, Sir?" Asked Lieber curiously.

"I have been waiting for so long to see the woman who would one day break his shell. And I'm quite happy that it would be the Nel Zelpher.

"Ah. I see. Well, we must congratulate him, then." Said Lieber, smiling.

"Haven't you already congratulated him?" Woltar asked.

"Oh no, I was congratulating him about something else. About what a good competitor he was." Said Lieber.

"Ah yes, the 'war' between you and Albel to get Miss Zelpher, I see, I see." Woltar said chuckling.

"H-How did you know about that?" Said Lieber astonished.

"I have been watching you both men since day 1." Woltar said.

"Oh……well, then you should know all that has happened I suppose." Said Lieber, a bit embarrassed.

"Oh, yes. It was quite….amusing." Woltar said.

Lieber had a nervous laugh. "Entertaining I see."

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Nel headed to the Audience Chamber to meet the queen. (I need your imagination for this, please.)

She wore the beautiful red dress. Matching earrings, the right colour of lipstick, a light shade of red or pink. She also had a nice necklace, which was simple but beautiful. She also wore a nice bracelet that matched her necklace. She only wore lipstick because she did not like too much makeup on her face.

As she walked towards her queen, the queen said, "Lady Nel, you look beautiful. Please do not kneel before me, I do not want your dress to be ruined." The queen said with a pretty smile on her face. She also wore a beautiful dress, that really suited her.

"Very well, your majesty. And thank you for your compliment on me, I don't deserve such a compliment as that." Nel said, looking down. If she did not kneel, she would just bow her head.

"Lady Nel, I know your father will be happy to see you as beautiful as this." The queen said, stepping down towards Nel, and looking at her kindly.

Nel was really happy. She had tears rolling down her face. She really was happy of the queen telling her about how her father would be happy to see her. She quickly wiped her tears away.

"I suggest you go, Lady Nel. I know someone is waiting for you." Said the queen.

Nel was a bit surprised. The queen knew she was going with Albel? How?

Nel had a surprised look on her face, and the queen knew that she wanted to know how the queen knew. She chuckled. "I do not know who you are going with, Lady Nel. I did not even know that you had someone to go with you to this ball." Said the queen.

Nel blushed a faint crimson. Well, the queen wouldn't mind if its Albel, right.

"Thank you your majesty. Perhaps I would go now." Said Nel, smiling. She bowed to her majesty, and walked away.

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Albel decided to go meet Fayt and co. first. He will wait for Nel while he's there.

"Hey, Albel." Said Fayt, Sophia standing next to him.

Mirage and Cliff were also partners. It's a miracle the huge oaf actually got to ask her out. He was thinking as Cliff and Mirage said their greetings to him. Not long after, Nel came. Albel saw her and thought how beautiful she was. (Seems weird….it's so unalbelish..)

Cliff whistled a bit. "Well, look who's here. Hey Nel." Said Cliff.

"I prefer you not whistling like that, Cliff." Nel said, a bit annoyed.

"Sca-ree." Said Cliff, while Mirage just chuckled/giggled.

"So, Nel, are you alone or something?" Asked Mirage.

"Oh no, I came here with….Albel." She said, smiling.

Everyone was shocked, well, except Mirage.

"What, fools! Is it wrong for her to come with me?" Albel asked in his usual way, while Nel blushed.

"N-No, nothing's wrong, Albel, nothings wrong." Said Fayt.

Sophia, not wanting to have some kind of problem between them, asked Fayt, "Fayt, let's….go dance." She said smiling.

"Oh sure, Sophia." He said with a smile, too, but a kinder look in his eyes.

"Hey Mirage, wanna go dance, too?" Cliff asked, being the way he is, he had to ask like that, right?

"Sure, Cliff. I hope you dance well enough." Mirage said, chuckling, as he dragged her away, and Nel and Albel heard him saying "Hey I know how to dance!" as they walked to take a spot.

The only people left were Nel and Albel. Maria, Lieber and Marietta didn't come yet as they weren't ready yet.

"So….." Said Nel, not knowing what to talk about.

"Humph. Don't think I'm going to act all nice to you in front of these people." Said Albel.

"Yeah, Albel, you're going to act nice to me later." Said Nel, with a confident face.

"What makes you so sure of that?" Said Albel, looking away from her, like a child.

Nel giggled. "You look cute when you do that, Albel." She said. She didn't care if anyone knew what she was doing to Albel. She loved him, he loved her.

Albel blushed. "Bah. Let's just go dance, fool." He said.

"Well, at least you asked, even though it was not the way I expected it to be." Nel said, smiling.

"Fine. Would you like to dance with me, Nel? Happy?" He said, trying to please her.

"Yes. I would love to." Nel said as they went towards the dance floor.

It was a ball, so music would be those type of music required for a ball. Albel wasn't a bad dancer, though, Cliff was worse. Every time he accidentally steps on Mirage's feet, she would punch him on the face, making everyone shocked except Fayt, Sophia, Nel and Albel. They continued dancing, and after 2 songs, a slow song came. A few people stopped dancing to get a break, but Cliff, Mirage, Fayt, Sophia, Nel and Albel didn't stop.

Nel was a bit shy to slow dance with him. But she put her hands around his neck and he put his arms around her waist, and slowly danced along.

"You look beautiful today, Nel." Albel whispered to Nel.

"Thank you. You look handsome today." Nel said, and in turn made Albel blush.

They continued dancing, not knowing what else to say. Around the corner, Lieber, Marietta and Woltar were talking.

"Well, Albel has found his perfect match." Said Lieber.

"And so have you." Said Woltar, making Lieber and Marietta blush.

"Shouldn't you go dance right now? Go have fun while you still can." Said Woltar, smiling.

"But, sir…" Said Lieber, wondering if it was ok for Woltar, actually.

"Don't worry about me. I have to go the king, after all." He said.

"Very well, then, Sir. Have a good time." Lieber said as he held out his hand to Marietta, and she gladly took it, and they both went towards the dance floor.

Woltar smiled and went towards the king.

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"Albel, I think I'm a bit tired. I want to go and sit for a while." Said Nel, looking a bit dizzy.

"Sure, Nel." He said and they went to their places.

As Nel sat down, the queen announced that she was thankful for everything that the Aquarians and Glyphians have done for them and hoped for all the best. Everyone applauded and some went back to dancing.

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Nel and Albel decided to dance one last song and go back because Nel felt she would be really tired after another dance.

They said they would go back first to Fayt and the others, and Lieber explained everything to Nel about what had happened between him and Albel. Nel did not feel any anger at all, since it was the past, but was kind of freaked out that he liked her.

Nel and Albel walked back to Nel's room. "Albel, you want to come in for a while?"

"O-Ok." He said blushing a while. (Naughty Albel…..tch tch tch….)

"Come in then." She said, opening the door.

Albel came in and looked at her back. She was showing her back to him so that was all he could see.

"Albel—" Nel couldn't finish her sentence, because she got kissed on the lips.

She couldn't pull away anyway. She let him explore her mouth, moaning. He then trailed kisses down to her neck, and up to her ear. She loved him, and couldn't part from him. Neither could he.

They broke apart, only for air. They both had smiles on their faces, having the look of love written on them.

"Well, Albel, I guess I have to change right now." Said Nel.

"Oh. Go ahead. I'll be waiting." Said Albel.

Nel giggled. "I won't take long. But wouldn't you want to change?" Asked Nel.

"Oh ok." Albel said as he walked towards the cupboard of Nel's room and opened it.

"W-What are you doing, Albel?" Said Nel as he took out something familiar. His clothes. "Y-Your clothes….how did it get there?" Asked Nel, shocked.

"I put it in your cupboard and somewhere you wouldn't look for." Albel said, shrugging.

"Oh…..ok." Said Nel, as she took her own clothes out of the cupboard.

Nel entered the bathroom first, and soon came out wearing her new set of clothes. Soon after, Albel went in to change. Nel was tired then.

Nel yawned after Albel came out. "I'm tired, Albel. I'm going to sleep."

Albel didn't know what to do. Would he sleep with her or go back to his room. Then he saw Nel looking at him, and asked, "So then I should go back to my room."

"No Albel. Do you…..want to join me in bed?" Asked Nel, shy.

Albel had a small tint of red on his cheeks. "S-Sure." He said, and he crawled in with her.

Nel was damn happy. She snuggled closer to Albel as he put his arms around her waist. They slept peacefully for the rest of the night.

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Lieber and Marietta were still dancing, even though Marietta was a bit exhausted. "Hey, Lieber? Can we go now? I'm really tired."

"Sorry. Yeah, of course we can go." Said Lieber. "You can go first, I have to talk to Sir Woltar for a while."

"Oh. Ok, don't take too long…" Said Marietta as she yawned.

Lieber found this cute. Why didn't he realize her beauty earlier? He's really stupid.

"Sir Woltar, I need to ask, what are you going to do about Albel and Nel now?" Asked Lieber, politely.

"Oh, well I know that from now on, they would be meeting each other, I think, secretly," Woltar said, and continued. "Let them be. I would some day make and arranged marriage of him and Miss Zelpher." Finished Woltar, chuckling.

"Ah. I see. I will be waiting for that day, then. Good night, sir. My partner is waiting." Said Lieber, as he left.

Woltar felt Lieber was a really nice and polite man. He would never forget Fayt and his friends. They truly are great.

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Author's notes : Was this good enough? I don't know……Hey once I'm finished with this story, I was thinking if there should be a sequel to this…..would anyone agree? I mean it's not really interesting, is it? Well, please update!