Part One – White Sands

I'm jolted awake as I feel something wet drop onto my face, opening my eyes I see a smiling face looking down at me past two globes covered in dripping wet black fabric. Her golden eyes filled with mirth and her red hair looking soaked as she asks, "Did you enjoy your nap?"

Rolling slightly onto my side I grab her by her hips and pull her onto me as I tease, "I think it's a crime to disturb an Emperor when he's sleeping."

She laughs and kisses my chest before adjusting her legs to straddle my hips as she sits up on my lap, dragging her nails down my chest as she says in a voice that's not hers, "Cristiano!"

A moment later I feel something shoving my shoulder before I hear my mother's voice from beside me call my name again, "Cristiano, wake up!"

Suddenly my world goes black and I feel myself sit up as my eyes open and I see I'm in a ground car, beside me is my mother Vittorio Veneto, an amused smirk on her face as she takes a handkerchief and dabs my cheek and asks, "Good dream?" I look around a bit and out the window as I see rows and rows of people on the sides of the street. With a nod as my mind catches up with my body, my mother playfully scolds me, "You can dream about your honeymoon after you've had the wedding and the coronation."

I sigh and adjust the jacket of the tuxedo I was in with a red, white, and green sash running across my body as I say, "I know, but can you blame me for wanting to skip ahead to a week or two on a white sandy beach with just Zara and no pressures of anything?"

My mother laughs and shakes her head as she says, "Not at all. But I think it's a little naive to think that the pressures of being the Emperor are not going to follow you there."

Leaning my head back against the seat I groan out, "Yeah." Pausing to look out the window again I muse, "If someone had told me a year ago, I was the grandson of the Emperor of the Sardegna Empire, let alone that I would be being crowned as the Emperor of it in a year, I would've laughed them out of the room."

My mother reaches over in the car to rub my shoulder as she says, "Just think, this time tomorrow, printing presses are going to start up putting your likeness on our money, school children will start to see your face in their classrooms, and women all over the empire are going to be comparing their men to you."

"Not helping." I say as I fold my arms across my chest.

She laughs and changes the subject, "Anyway, are you ready for your first state dinner tonight? I hear the President of the Eagle Union is bringing the woman he's been seeing."

"No, but I don't have a choice in that, speaking of that; do you know anything about her?" I ask as I adjust how I'm in my chair.

She reaches over and picks up a bag she had with her and takes out a datapad and starts to scroll it and stops as she says, "Huh, I would've thought they would've arrived via plane."

I lean over with my head tilting to the side as I ask, "How are they arriving?"

She turns the datapad over as she says, "The pass has already been approved for a battleship class kansen to dock in Taranto for three days," she pauses and turns it back around to look at the name as she adds, "BB-56 Washington, do you know her?"

I run the name over in my mind before shaking my head as I say, "Not off the top of my head, I served with the South Dakota class sisters though."

My mother shrugs and puts the datapad away as she says, "I'm sure it's nothing."

"I hope so." I sigh out.

A moment later I hear a tap on the armored glass that kept this part of the car separate from the front, rolling down the armored window, I see Angelo twist his massive frame around and say to me, "Five minutes before we arrive."

I smile at him and nod as I say, "Thanks Angelo, are you doing okay?"

He nods at me as he says, "It only took me six months to get used to the job Sir."

Before I can say anything I see that he rolls the window back up, as it locks into place I can't help but feel like my life is being locked into place along with it.

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After I had spoken my oath to the people of the Empire, I sat back in the throne that had been set up, regal regalia all around me, and I watched as Zara carried my crown in her hands, her green gown hugging her in both a regal and alluring way. She walked around me to stand to my left while my mother walked to stand to my right; the two of them with gloved hands slowly lowered the crown onto my head as a priest spoke something in Latin that I had no understanding of. When the priest finishes speaking, out of the corner of my eyes I see both my mother and Zara step back just as nobles and senate members start to clap, I guess this must be over now.

Once everyone had filed out of the room, Zara moved and sat across my lap, resting her head on my shoulder as she said, "One down, one to go."

I place one hand around her back and rest my hand on her outward-facing him while my other hand rests on that first hand and I ask, "Got your dress all picked out for the dinner tonight?"

She laughs and says, "I was just going to show up nude and see what would happen."

From behind me, I hear my mother cough before she says, "And only you Zara could pull that off."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence Vittorio." Zara starts to say before my mother cuts her off and says, "Mamma, is fine."

I see Zara roll that word around in her brain a little, I understood why, she is kansen after all; being born isn't how they come into this world after all. After a moment Zara corrects herself, "Mamma. But we need to get going to get changed for the dinner after all," she pauses to pick at my shirt buttons before adding, "I don't think showing up dressed like this would be a good idea, what if you spill something on this?"

My mother sighs as she says, "Can you two at least wait till the wedding night?"

Zara rolls her golden eyes before getting off of me as she says, "You know full well we are past that."

"I do, but I trust you two are at least being careful for now." My mother says as she folds her arms under her bust and smiles at Zara.

Zara waves a hand dismissively as she starts to head out of the chamber and says, "Yes, yes."

Getting out of the throne my mother pulls me into a tight hug and rubs my back as she says, "I'm so proud of you."

I rub her back and respond, "Thanks Mamma, I don't think I could've made it this far without you in my corner."

Leaning back from the embrace she smiles at me and whispers quietly, "I was just teasing Zara before, I'd be more than happy to be a Nonna tomorrow."

I sigh and hang my head, shaking it slowly from side to side as I say, "Can I have at least one day, where I'm not being asked to knock up Zara?"

My mother laughs again as she lets go of me before linking arms with me as we start walking to the car and she says, "I know, I know, but the wedding is fast approaching after all, besides this is fun."

"For you." I lightly tease back.

She leans her head against my shoulder and smiles as she says, "Your father and grandfather would be so proud of you."

I nod and look up at the paintings of the emperors and princes over the archway leading out of the chamber and I sigh out, "I'm going to try and do right by them, Mamma, I really will."

"I know you will." She says as we leave the chamber at last.

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I had managed to sneak into the ball that was being held in my honor unnoticed and unannounced so far, looking around I spot someone that looks extremely out of place here. Hell if I were, to be honest about it, I think she felt out of place because of the form-fitting silver dress she had on that was almost the same shade as her short hair. Going by what I know about kansen I would assume that's what she is, I make my way over, taking a glass of champagne off of a tray as I approach and take up a spot next to her against the wall and ask, "Looks like you're having fun."

She gives me a sideways look before saying, "Your English is pretty good for a pasta boy."

I smirk and laugh a little as I retort, "Yours is pretty decent too, for a hotdog stuffer."

She laughs a little and says to me, "Washington, and you are?"

"Christian Harrison." I say extending a hand to her, she takes and shakes it before adding, "A name like that, and I's swear you're not from this Empire."

With a shrug, I decide to see just how far I can push this and I answer, "I grew up in Norfolk Virginia, actually."

"Huh, so what got you out here in the land of pasta and pizza?" she asks me.

I shake my head and laugh as I say, "A series of complicated and unusual events that would take too long to explain tonight."

Washington shifts how she's standing, folding her left arm under her bust as she sips her drink and sighs, "I can get behind that, so what do you want to bet this new Emperor is someone that has never done an honest day's work his entire life?"

Sipping from my drink I ask, "What are you offering?"

"A dance with a kansen." She says.

Sipping my drink again, I ask her, "Just how many kansen do you think are here tonight?"

Washington starts to scan the crowd before she says, "I count at least five."

"Oh?" I ask trying to sound surprised.

"Yeah, me, Littorio Veneto, Vittorio Veneto, Zara, and Pola." She says and drinks more before asking, "Do you think this new Emperor is putting kansen around him just so he has pretty ladies to claw at all day?"

I laugh and shake my head as I say, "I very much doubt that."

She shrugs and says, "You're probably right, I bet he's too stupid to know what he's doing."

With another shrug, I say, "I think he has some idea but is probably a little overwhelmed by everything that's going on right now."

"Naw, I bet he loves every second of this, being the center of attention." Washington says finishing her drink.

Shaking my head from side to side as I counter, "No, I heard he was plucked out of obscurity and a life of mediocrity before being shoved into this role."

"Doubt it, no one is that lucky, he's born to it." She says frowning before adding, "fairy tale endings don't work for regular humans."

I was about to say something with a tall man in a very nice suit started to approach and I recognized him immediately, President Tillman of the Eagle Union. His greying hear in stark contrast to the normal black of it, the weathering around his green eyes seemed much more pronounced in person compared to when I saw him on the campaign trail two years ago. He had a massive smile on his face as he called out, "Washington! Fantastic work, you managed to find and catch His Imperial Majesty for me."

I looked at Washington, sipping my drink as I saw the color in her cheeks drain and her blue eyes going wide. Smirking at her I say to her, "Oh don't feel bad, if I had told you who I was, I don't think you would've been so honest."

Her cheeks go bright red and she starts to trip over her own tongue, "I…I… I…"

With a laugh, I reach over and pat her on the shoulder as I tell her, "Really, I appreciate the honesty."

Once the President was within arms reach of me he extended a hand and said, "Allow me to introduce myself, President Tillman of the Eagle Union."

I shake his hand as I respond, "I'm well aware of who you are, I voted for you two years ago." He took on a puzzled look forcing me to explain, "Before I came home to the Empire and before I knew who I was, I grew up in the Eagle Union, I served in the Eagle Union fleet's Atlantic command as a Captain."

He blinks his green eyes at me a few times and asks, "Did I ever visit that base?"

"Once, during your campaign, you said you'd fight for Kansen rights, how is that coming along?" I ask, knowing full well it's gotten nowhere.

He frowns a little as he says, "Sadly, nowhere at the moment."

I look out over the crowd and spot Zara starting to make her way over, so I say to him, "That's too bad, you really should make some headway on that, I'm sure Washington would appreciate it."

Before he can say anything Zara comes over and takes away my drink as she smiles and starts to sip from it and asks with her accent in English, "Cristiano, what have I walked into?"

Placing a hand on the small of her back I answer, "Just exchanging pleasantries, my love." I pause and look to President Tillman as I continue, "Allow me to introduce my fiancée, the heavy cruiser Zara of Regia Marina."

Zara extends a hand to the President and he kisses it before saying to her, "President Tillman of the Eagle Union." He pauses and looks at Washington as he adds, "Allow me to introduce my escort for the evening, the North Carolina class battleship Washington of the Eagle Union."

Washington for her part looked extremely flustered as she gave a little curtsy and said, "Your Imperial Majesty."

Zara looked at me and smiled as she said, "Come, my love, you have an official introduction to make before we all head for dinner."

"Lead the way." I say to her, turning my attention to the President as I say, "I will be happy to discuss state matters after dinner if you wish."

"Of course, Your Imperial Majesty." He says as I follow Zara to a side exit and around to the rear of the hall for my first official introduction as Emperor.

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Once I got back to the winter palace and up to the residence I flopped onto my back and stretched out on the bed as I watched Zara take out her earrings and put them away in the jewelry box as she said to me, "Hard to believe in a month from now we are going to be on a sandy beach enjoying the sun."

I smile as she reaches behind her to unzip her long green dress and starts to take it off carefully with her back to me as I say, "I had a really nice dream about that today."

"Oh?" she asks while twisting slightly to look at me over her shoulder as she enters the closet to put away the dress.

With a smile on my face, I close my eyes and recall it as I say to her, "Yeah, it was just the two of us out at a white sandy beach, you had just gone for a swim in that black bikini of yours and you had come over to wake me up."

Zara laughs as she comes out of the closet and lifts her bust slightly before letting it fall back down as she teases out, "And just how did I wake you up?"

Sitting up slightly I say to her in a teasing tone, "In a way that only you could."

Zara climbs onto the bed and pushes me onto my back slightly as she whispers in my ear, "I'm sure I can figure out how I did such a thing."

"I'm sure you can." I whisper back before kissing her.

Letting my right hand start to wander her lower back and tug at the waistband of her underwear she breaks the kiss and taps the end of my nose as she says, "Not tonight, things are in process."

"Ah." I say with a sigh.

Zara snuggles in beside me, resting an arm across my chest as she says, "It's not all bad, it only lasts a few days."

"I know, I know." I say before biting my lower lip to add, "But can I ask you an honest question?"

"Of course you can." She says to me as she laces her left hand through my left hand.

"Do you even want to be a mother, or is it something you are going to do because it'll be expected of you?" I ask, I was honestly worried about the answer.

Zara is quiet for a moment; I can tell she's thinking hard about the answer before she says to me, "If it was anyone but you before now, I would've said no, not at all. But," she pauses to look me in the eyes as she adds, "for you, I'll happily do it."

With a smile on my face, I unlace my left hand from hers and lift her chin slightly to kiss her again before I say, "I love you."

Zara smiles back at me as she teases, "I love you too, but I'm still not giving it up tonight."

I can't help but give off a bit of raucous laughter at the response as I say to her, "I wasn't even trying!"

Zara winks at me as her left-hand heads south under my underwear as she purrs out into my ear, "Good."

XXXX

When I awake the next morning I hear a pounding on my bedroom door, just before my aunt calls out, "Cristiano! Stop playing hide the AP shell and get out here!"

I run a hand down my face and look around to see that Zara must've gotten up early and left for the day already. Getting out of bed and throwing on a housecoat and grabbing my phone I see I have a text message from Zara, tilting my head to the side I open it and see a rather lewd image from last night over her in a compromised position with the text bellowing saying, 'You were right, photos can be fun.'

I smile and slip it into my pocket and step out into the main room of the residence, looking around I see three kansen gathered, my Aunt Littorio, my mother Vittorio, and my mom, Yorktown. Looking at the three of them I ask, "What's going on? When did you get here Mom?"

I see my mother look a little frustrated that I called Yorktown Mom, I knew it bothered her, but she had gotten better about it at least. Yorktown rubs her left arm and looks off to the side as she says, "Your Imperial Majesty, I am here to make a personal request for asylum directly to you."

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A/N: Welcome back to my readers to the final installment of "The Italian" trilogy, I'm not 100% sure on the number of chapters for this one yet, but I hope you'll stick around for it.