Complete summary: Princess Naoko knows her father is a horrible ruler, but no one suspected his selfish ways would end in her being kidnapped. Now traveling through her Kingdom Aralon, across wilderness into the enemy country Honrako, Naoko and her servant friend Suki soon learn that their kidnappers, the four bandits of Quentia, might not be so bad after all.
A/N: The bandits are no longer, as Hiromi gains four new knights. Wedding bless ring for Yukio and Suki, and a Princess who despises balls will agree to dance with one man in particular.
Dun Dun Dun! Geez, it seems everyone wants to kill me because Naoko and Ryo aren't together yet. Well, we've come to the end. Enjoy, and ARIGATOU EVERYONE! You have my deepest love, the kind of love only a loyal readers get.
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Arigatou
Chapter Eighteen
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"You wished to see me your majesty?"
"Yes, please come in. I've just completed some work. The war has been ended thankfully."
"That is quite wise of you. Prince Takuya must be furious that you called it off."
"Oh, well," Hiromi chuckled to himself, "Never mind that though. Yesterday morning after you were freed, I sent messengers to the village near by to contact your friends at their lodgings. The messenger was instructed to tell them that you have been freed, and that they can come today to meet you."
"Many thanks, your Lordship." Ryo bowed his head.
Hiromi smiled. "Do not you mean Arigatou? That is all I can get my sister to say whenever she thanks me."
"Arigatou then."
Ryo turned to leave but the Hiromi wasn't done with him. Steeling his face so he maintained a sombre expression, he went on.
"Before you run off with your comrades though, I have been reminded consistently that I am to address a matter to you. It has to do with your occupation."
Ryo's eyebrows raised in surprise. "What of it?
" My sister has informed me that one of your men is to marry her friend Suki. That lady is as much of a friend to me as she is my sister's, and I was told this man was honourable, and he better be for Suki shall have no less, I'll make sure to that."
"The man is Yukio, I bet you know that." Ryo nodded. "I think you liked him though, from what you saw of him on the journey."
"Yes, he seemed pleasant and yet strange. I am told that he is quitting the bandit lifestyle though, to provide properly for his wife, which is why Naoko has stressed upon the fact that he would make a good knight. I couldn't agree more, I'd be delighted to offer him the position."
"Yukio will prove himself a good knight, I'm sure."
"But then my sister went on to press another matter. What of the remaining three bandits? She believes I should be offering all four of you a job as my knights. What do you say to that sir?"
Ryo smirked. "I say I'm not a sir, but a common thief, your highness."
"So you do not want the rank? Because I quite agree with her, all four of you would make the best of knights."
"Oh, that I'm sure of." Ryo's voice emanated confidence.
"Being a knight of Aralon, you will gain respect in society, gain rank and importance, make more money and be more wealthier then before, and be labelled as honourable. What do you say now?"
"I'd say you've got yourself four news knights."
"And the other three men will agree to it?"
"I am certain of it. Mikitao will be in it for the money, more money for more food none the less. Shinji will agree because he loves to have a sense of purpose, which is why he still hangs onto his flute and likes playing for an audience now and then. Yukio will want the honour to bring his soon-to-be wife into good society."
"And why would you want it?"
Ryo smiled. "There's nothing wrong with being of high rank. It's something I strive for."
"Well, then I suppose you are no longer a thief, but a sir now."
"I presume so." Ryo answered and walked over to the door to take his leave.
"Wait sir." Hiromi stopped him.
"Yes King?"
"I just thought I should make something clear first." Hiromi bit back a smile. It would do no good to try and tease and taunt this bandit if he didn't look grave.
Ryo nodded and Hiromi continued in mock seriousness.
"You may become a knight now, which happens to be a respectful enough position to marry a princess, but that doesn't mean you're going to."
Ryo just looked back at the King with a blank look.
"I never planned on marrying a princess. All the royal ladies in the land are quite safe from me."
Hiromi took a moment's glance at Ryo, willing himself to stay icy. "Alright, you may leave now and tell your comrades about my offer, but one more thing old outlaw. Keep your hands to yourself and off my sister, comprehend? Not one finger on her, or I swear—" But Hiromi never finished his statement, because he broke out into a fit of laughter, unable to maintain his little practical joke any longer.
Ryo smirked at the site and left the room.
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All the bandits after little consideration accepted the job. There was not much against it, except for the fact that they would now serve under a king and not be completely free. It did in fact prove to have many advantages though, one of them being that Yukio and Suki got to be married much sooner then they had ever dreamed. Two weeks later, to be exact. With a princess for a pal Suki was able to get everything for her wedding fast, and soon it was all prepared. The bandits had now been commissioned as knights for over a week, and they were receiving more gold for their job then they thought possible. Yukio had saved up enough to buy a cottage type house, just on the boarders of the village. It was pretty big for a cottage too, and both Yukio and Suki thought they might like it for a bit, until the family expanded and they would need a bigger home. By then though, they would surely have enough, what with what the generous king of Aralon was paying.
On Suki's wedding day, everyone made their way down to the lake surrounded one part of the village, where the humble ceremony was to be. Suki was all jitters, and Yukio couldn't stop blurting out random quotes that no one could quite understand. Once the cleric had started the service, everyone was subdued.
After the wedding was the banquet feast, which took place back at the Palace's grand hall that Hiromi had offered for use. The music played on, Suki and Yukio were dancing in their own little dream world, and everything was perfect, Naoko thought, almost everything anyway.
Naoko stood to the side, remembering the last ball or banquet she had been too. This time Akiko wasn't flirting with her brother's servant; she was instead making conversation with Shinji, who didn't seem to mind her.
Mikitao was still sitting at one of the tables, deep into his fourth course, and Kana stood hovering over some of the other servants who were invited on Suki's request. King Hiromi was dancing with some lovely noblewomen, a countess or baroness, Naoko couldn't tell. And where was Ryo? She could not pick him out anywhere. Were she only to look behind her though, she would find him standing by one of the walls watching her watch others.
Eventually Ryo got bored of just standing around, though he rather be at the side of the wall then back into the crowd of people, where the women took one look at him in his knight clothes, and gave him hinting smiles. He walked to where the Princess sat, at this time she herself had just declined another man for a dance.
"You detest balls?" He asked, sitting down.
"I always have."
"As well as dancing?"
"When one doesn't have a person worth dancing with, where is the pleasure?"
"Is a knight worth dancing with?"
"Depends on the knight."
"Am I worth dancing with?"
"Depends on if you ask me or not."
Ryo laughed at that. "Milady, wilt thou dance with me?"
"It'd be my pleasure sir." Naoko smiled.
They both rose from the table and made their way to the middle of the floor on which the dancing was being held.
Ryo took Naoko's hand in his, and put his other hand around her waist. Naoko brought her other hand up to his shoulder and they began to dance.
At first, silence was all that was present and then;
"Naoko, how is our child doing?"
Bewilderment filled her face. "Don't be ridiculous. I'm not pregnant."
"True. But it won't be long before you are."
Ignoring the gleam in his eyes, she informed him with a posh voice. "I don't plan on having children until I have a husband. To do so otherwise would be shameful."
"You will have a husband soon. He's holding your hand as we speak."
"What, you Bandit?" She looked him up and down with a dubious look upon her face.
"I am no bandit. I was one once, but I am a knight now in your brother's service."
"Yes Knight, but a bandit is so much more attractive. A knight works gallantly for his king, but a bandit is a free man, a wild rebel, which is so much more appealing. So that is what I wish to call you, bandit."
"Back to what you were saying about your husband?" Ryo brought her mind back to his intentions.
"Oh yes, as I was saying, I am Princess Naoko of Aralon Kingdom, and I will marry nothing less than that of a noblemen. Most likely a count, duke or some charming Prince. Or an emperor if I ever get lucky enough."
"Are you too good to marry below your status? To take a thief, a rogue, a bandit, for a husband?"
"To be sure, I am much to good for that sort."
Ryo looked at her for a second and smiled, "You are jesting with me again, to get even with me for the teasing I did in the dungeons, aren't you?"
A grin lit up Naoko's serious expression. "So you were just teasing me! You really do love me after all then. Well, I believe our first child shall be a boy, what do you think?"
"I think that if we weren't in a room full of watchful eyes, I would kiss you this moment."
"Then forget watchful eyes and think about yearning lips."
Naoko closed her eyes, and their lips met.
theEnd
A/N: yeah, so okay, do you feel like you were cheated out on their romance? That you wish you could see more kissing, more arguing, more of just them, finally together? Have I mentioned enough times that I wrote a sequel to this? . :D
Before I commit to posting it for sure, here's a little summary I wrote for it. Read it and tell me if I should bother posting the sequel. It's half the length of "Arigatou"(but will be ten chapters), and I wrote it about three months after the first one, so once again it was written roughly two years ago.
Complete summary: Three years after the famous kidnapping of the Princess, Sir Ryo and Sir Yukio come home from a war against Honrako, only to find their wives are missing! It seems the four former bandits, now knights of King Hiromi, have to save the ladies. Only once saved however, Lady Naoko doesn't seem too happy with her husband, who was neglecting her and their two-year-old son prior to the war.
Anyway, seeing as this is the last chapter, I really hope EVERYONE reviews! (Is it too much to hope for? Just say one word, like "good" or "bad", and that'd totally make my day.)
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laurashrub, your review made me laugh for a good hour (chuckles). It was the last line about "EVERYONE" waiting for them to finally "GET TOGETHER" hahaha. Well, I hope you're satisfied, they did. And please don't glare at Hiromi, if you do he'll die just like his father and I need him for the sequel.
like i'd tell you, hey you're one of my earliest reviewers for this story, and without loyal reviewers like you I wouldn't have continued to post it, so you've earned Mr. Darcy, even though he wasn't being sold. This story alas has ended, but there's always the next one.
Narnialover, now your review had me laughing for a good day. I seriously considered deleting my version of chapter 18 and using yours instead, it's both romantic and funny! Anyway, it wasn't hilarious like yours, but I hope you liked the ending.
Traceykiwilee, I'm glad you liked the chapters, it's 18 chapters in total (this one being the last) and don't behead me just yet, I got them together.
Gina, hey this story as well as the sequel are the only fairytale stories I have (I'm actually a Harry Potter ff author mostly). Thanks for the review, I hope you liked this chapter.
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AND LASTELY,
Special thanks to
(LialaSword, Miss SJB, Salvation-ala-mode, Traceykiwilee, het2468, laurashrub, twieveluv, and xravestrobe) who put my story on story alert.
And even more thanks to
(Bingo5, LialaSword, Nadia Marijke, Narnialover, Traceykiwilee, fairybells, het2468, laurashrub, and lishyfish) who put it on favourites, woot! You people have earned my unconditional and complete love (do you realize how hard that is to come by now-a-days?).
-rayko.