She ran as fast as her legs could carry her. Smoke and fire filled her lungs as she jumped over a log. Ash stuck to her tear stained face as she remembered the events that just occurred. Her family was dead. Murdered by a family that she thought was once close to hers. She would never see her friend again. She could hear hooves hitting the ground as she trudged through the forest. She couldn't get the image of finding her mother's body as well as her aunt's and cousins's the next day, out of her head. Dead. All of them are gone forever. She was all alone. A servant had packed her up and attempted to help her escape but they were now dead as well.

"I know she's here! She couldn't have gone far."

"I won't worry about her. She's a child and has no weapons. She won't survive in this forest at night. Too many creatures, like wolves and bears. They will do the work for us."

"Boss said that all the Cavendishs need to be killed. I just want to make sure the job is finished."

They were close. She held her breath as she could hear the snorting of the horse close to her hiding spot behind the tree. She buried her face into her teddy bear as the snorting and hooves got closer. She heard the sound of a blade being pulled out of its sheath. Soon, there was nothing but silence. No birds or leaves crunching. She opened her eyes to peer behind the tree and see the two men following her dead on the forest floor. A woman with lilac hair stood over their bodies. She wiped the blood off her sword on their capes.

"Come on out Diana. I know you are there. Let's go."

"Who are you?"

"I'm a friend. I am here to save you."

Diana steered the horse down the familiar brick road back home. She could hear the jiggling of the gold coins in her pouch. Diana wasn't a vain person, but hearing the sounds of coins signaled that she had completed a job well done and brought honor to her guild. Ever since her family had been killed when she was ten, she had been taken in by the famous Luna Nova assassins and raised by them. She had them to thank for her training and for saving her life. She entered the gates that lead into what has been her home for the last 15 years. Now at twenty-five, she was considered the best of the Luna Nova assassins. The Dragon is what they called her, for her wisdom and strength. They also called her that based on the ring they had found her with.

"Come on Beatrix. Let's go home and get some food. You even earned yourself some carrots."

Diana led her horse through the crowd, weaving through them. One sound caught her attention. She soon came up to a small makeshift stage with a single performer on it. She wore a big witch's hat and a purple cape as someone played an instrument off to the side.

"Welcome to the world of magic!"

The performer waved her cape and a box appeared on the stage. Diana smiled as the crowd cheered and clapped. She hadn't seen a magic show since Shiny Chariot came to her home as a birthday present from the Kagaris.

"Welcome to the world of magic!," The magician stood before two girls as they clapped. "Thank you. Thank you. You are too kind."

"Chariot, can you do another trick? It's my best friend's birthday," A small girl with short brown hair sat next to Diana. Diana giggled when the magician performed another trick, this time it was making a bird appear from her hat. Chariot soon left, and the brunette quickly pounded on the birthday girl.

"What did you think Diana? Wasn't Shiny Chariot amazing?" "She was Akko. Thank you."

"Anything for my best friend!"

Akko threw her arms around Diana in a hug as they giggled.

Diana felt her jaw clench as she thought of her past. Atsuko Kagari was her best friend back then. They were inseparable and spent every minute with each other when their families met. Diana had even married her in a pretend world when she heard the news that Akko was going to marry Andrew. She thought it would prevent her from marrying him. That changed when the older Kagaris murdered her family. She spent years imagining revenge against the family, and even participated in the assassination of several prominent members of the family. She watched the performer for a bit before the show was concluded. The performer held out a hat towards the crowd.

"Every piece of gold helps the orphans," The performer shouted out.

Diana walked by and dropped a few gold coins into the hat. The performer thanked her as she continued on her way.

The Luna Nova guild lay close to the castle with a large area for the horses. Diana handed her saddle off to the stable boy and watched Beatrix join the others. She opened the wooden door to watch her adopted family inside. A grizzled man was wrestling a big pink haired woman. They were cheered on by several other members.

"Come on Arcas. You can't let Jazzy beat you. If you did, I'd say you have gotten old!" "Amanda, shut your mouth! I'll show you who's an old man."

"I would have to agree with O'Neill for once."

All heads turned to Diana. Jasminka took the moment to slam his hand onto the table. "Ha. Old man. We can't call him the Bear anymore. He's just the old man now." "That's it Amanda. I'll show you who's old," Arcas got up to tackle Amanda.

"Arcas, calm down. The last time you two fought, you destroyed three tables," A woman with red hair tied in a ponytail came out. Arcas looked like a small child getting reprimanded by a parent.

"Sorry Hannah."

Diana chuckled before making her way to the office. She found Samatha Babcock working the books. "Hello Diana. How was the job?"

"Easy, as always. Here's the portion of the commission."

Diana placed five pieces of gold onto the table. Samatha scooped them up and set them into the chest next to her. Diana walked out to see that the group had settled up around the room. A purple haired woman sat in the back, various plants and vial contents were being thrown into a caldron. The fiery redhead had taken her place next to Hannah, unabashedly flirting with her. The old man sat by himself, nursing a mug of mead. Diana decided to join him.

"Looks like you got beat bad there Bear."

"Only cause you stood there and insulted me. I thought we were friends, Dia." He feigned a broken heart. She slapped his muscular arm.

"Only cause you have done the same to me."

Arcas was a tall, muscular man with short spiked white hair and white stubble. The most notable feature was the cross-like scar that started on the bridge of his nose and the points ended under his eyes and on the tip of his nose to his forehead. He let loose a loud belly laugh.

"Come. Eat and drink with your old buddy and tell me how everything went."

The room was rambunctious till they all heard loud horns outside their door. Every assassins' hands went straight to their daggers. The door opened, only for King Andrew Hanbridge and two of his guards to walk in.

"I am here to speak to Finnelan," He commanded.

Anne Finnelan, the master of the Luna Nova assassins, came out from behind the counter.

"What do we owe the pleasure of your visit, my majesty?"

"Let us go somewhere private, and ask to have your best assassin join us," Andrew paused as he said the word assassin. Diana got up and followed the two to the back room.

"So, how may we be of service to you, your majesty?"

"I have come to hire one of your assassins. Preferably, the assassin known as the Dragon."

"What job would you like her to complete?"

Diana stood off to the side, watching as Anne sat down in her chair. The king sat down as well.

"I wish to hire her as a bodyguard. For my wife." That caught Diana's attention.

"We are a guild of assassins. Not bodyguards."

"Then that makes you the perfect candidate for the job. I want a bodyguard to protect my wife and our unborn child from..unsavory attempts on her life for the entire nine months. I also have a second task for the job. My wife has given me a girl. For my kingdom to continue, I need a male heir. If this next child is not a male heir, then the assassin here will kill her. I only need her alive till the baby is born. This job does come with a hefty amount of gold and I will provide a free board."

King Andrew threw two large bags of gold coins onto the table. Diana knew Samatha probably could smell the gold from the treasure room.

"What about your children? We have a rule on that."

"'tis of no matter for me. Take them and raise them as assassins for all I care."

"When would you like her to start?"

"Immediately."

He left as promptly as he had arrived. Diana stood there for a bit before sighing. She was going to have to face an old childhood friend. One she hadn't seen in over fifteen years.

"Hey Akko?" Diana asked her friend one day.

"Yeah Diana?"

"I hear you are going to be married to Andrew when you get of age."

"Yes, my parents had it set up the day I was born."

"You can't marry him," Diana stomped her foot.

"Why not?"

"Because we are best friends. I will not lose my friend. I say we get married. I don't care what my parents say. If we marry, it will prevent you from marrying him."

"Diana," Akko was silent before breaking into a huge smile. "Let's do it."

They had a mock ceremony with Akko's stuffed animals as their witnesses and Diana's bear as their priest. They giggled as Diana pretended to speak as the bear. Diana gave her friend a ring her mother had given to her while Akko gave her hers.

"Keep this ring. I want you to have it."

The wedding between Andrew Hanbridge and Atsuko Kagari was a huge political affair, a major bridge for both the Hanbridge and the Kagari families . They had been married for four years and were now expecting another child. The first one was a girl. Diana didn't care though. She was finally close to her goal after so many years. She wondered if Akko knew about the assassination plotted against her parents's life and wondered if Akko would even recognize her. Diana actually pondered what her old friend looked like now. The queen was usually confined to the castle, rarely coming out and no one had really seen her. Many speak of her being gorgeous. Diana laughed. There was no way that the goofy, clumsy Akko could grow out of that. Diana stared at the ring, bearing the symbol of a dragon in the center, in her hand. Despite the ties to the family that killed hers, it was still a sentimental object that she couldn't get rid of. A memory of an old friend. She stuffed it in her pocket as she waited for the king and queen. She could hear them arguing in the other room. Diana kept to the shadows with her hood up, obscuring her face.

"Andrew, I don't need a bodyguard."

"Sorry Atsuko. I wasn't asking for your permission. You have had too many attempts made on your life. We can't risk any more. Your life is important." Diana clenched her jaw. Akko hated being called Atsuko unless it was by her parents.

"My life is only important because of the baby."

"Atsuko, do not argue with me. I have hired a bodyguard. They will stay with you in your room and protect you until the baby arrives."

"Right. Then what happens after that."

"Atsuko."

Andrew stormed off, the door swinging open. Diana took that as her cue to move. She walked into the room and shut the door behind her. She stopped when she spotted Akko. Her mouth went dry and she licked her lips to moisture them. Akko was a goofy child with a short bob of brown hair that she had cut to defy her mother's wishes. Now, she had long brown hair that cascaded down her back and her baby fat was gone, replaced with an angular face with bangs that were passed to the left side of her forehead. The graceless duckling had turned into a beautiful swan. Bright ruby eyes landed on her.

"You must be the bodyguard Andrew mentioned. Listen, I don't care what my husband says. I don't need protection."

Diana removed her hood, letting her platinum-teal hair fall out its bun. She could hear Akko gasp. "Diana, is that you? I thought you were dead."

Diana could feel the anger rising in her. She was looking at a member of the family that murdered hers in cold blood. How easy it would be to wrap her fingers around Akko's neck and watch the light leave her eyes. She stopped when she spotted a little girl hugging Akko's leg. She was a carbon copy of Akko, right down to the bright red eyes. She was so stunned by the small child that she failed to notice that Akko moved and was slightly touching her face. She snapped her head to look at Akko. The brunette had cupped her face with both hands, almost as if to make sure Diana was actually before her. A thumb brushed against the large scar on her right cheek.

"What are you doing?"

"Making sure you are actually here with me. Mom and dad told me you were dead. I thought I lost my best friend. How? Why are you here after all these years? Diana, I thought I had lost you forever."

Akko hugged her and proceeded to rub her face into the crock Of Diana's neck as she cried. Diana shook as anger bubbled up in her chest. Akko was playing innocent and was crying crocodile tears. She knew what happened to her family. Diana pushed her away from her body.

"I am not here to befriend you again, Atsuko. Don't think it will be like the old days where we had sleepovers and played pretend. This is the real world and I am your bodyguard. Not your friend. I'm only here for a job and payment."

Diana walked away as Akko could only stand there in shock.

"Lotte, I don't know what happened to her. She's not the Diana that I knew. I was told she had been killed by an assassin guild along with her whole family but now she's here, alive but so, so different." Akko was pacing back and forth with her daughter in her arms. She was attempting to calm her daughter down after hearing her fighting with Andrew. Meiko hated hearing them fight and would rather sleep in Akko's bed when it occurred, which was almost a common occurrence.

"Didn't you say it's been fifteen years since you have seen her last?" Akko nodded. "Akko, people change over time. You were children when you last saw her. She's supposedly a dead person. Akko, you don't know what might have happened to her. Also, it's not unusual for people to change over time."

"I wish it was. She is so distant and cold. I hate it."Akko sighed before kissing Meiko on her forehead. "Sweetie, let's get you into bed. It's late and way past your bedtime."

Meiko made a grabbing motion to her mother.

"Honey no. You have to learn to sleep in your bed. Okay fine. Let's get you ready."

Akko stayed up that night, deep in thought. It was just her and Meiko. Diana was over in the other room sound asleep. Andrew had demanded that Diana would stay as close to Akko as possible which meant she was as close as she could but remained distant. She didn't understand why Diana had changed that much.

"Atsuko, there is something we have to tell you," Akko's father had pulled her off to the side to talk to her. "Diana Cavendish is dead."

"What! No. That can't be true. It can't! Diana was my best friend. She promised we would be friends forever."

"I know my little cherry blossom, I know. But we can't change the past, we can only look forward to the future. Which holds the marriage between you and Andrew. Do you understand? You can mourn Diana later, but now is the time to meet your future husband."

Akko felt the tears sting her eyes as she was pushed to greet Andrew. She later cried on her bed, clutching her bear and the ring Diana had given her for their wedding.

Akko stared at the ring in her hand. She had made it into a necklace to always have Diana close to her heart. Now Diana was closer than ever but seemed so far from reach at the same time. This new Diana scared her. There is something so cold and calculating in those ocean blue eyes. She prayed to her deities that some part of the Diana she used to know, was still alive somehow. She sighed as she felt a tear escape her eyes. Meiko curled closer to her as she softly cried out.

"Shh. It's okay honey. Nothing will hurt you. Mommy is right here."

Akko looked to the door that led to Diana's room. She got up and slid through the open door. She watched Diana jump up out of the bed with a dagger drawn.

"Atsuko. Dammit. What the hell are you doing? I could have killed you. Go back to bed."

"Not until we talk. How are you alive? I heard the entire Cavendish family was killed by assassins.

"I'm alive because I was lucky. Not like my poor mother. Now, that's all I will say on the subject. Go back to bed."

"No. I want to hear everything about you. We were friends once."

"Once. A long time ago. But that was when we were little. Time has changed us. You are married, with a child and another on the way." Diana pointed to her stomach. "I'm just a bodyguard for hire... though I'm not even that." Diana whispered that last part.

"Diana, please I need to hear your side! I spent most of my days mourning your death and thinking I forever lost my best friend only to find out she survived. Why didn't you come to my family? We would have protected you. I was led to believe Diana Cavendish was dead."

"Diana Cavendish is dead. I'm just Diana the Dragon. Don't think we can ever be friends again. Good night, your majesty."

Diana pushed Akko out the door. Akko looked forlorn at Diana before crawling into bed with Meiko and tugged her daughter close to her.

"Hey Akko?"

"Yes Diana."

"Promise me we will be friends forever." "I promise."

Diana drove the dagger further in the wooden post of her bed. She was pissed. Akko was acting so innocent about her family's death. She knew. She had to have known. The older Kagaris would have told her the truth on why her family was dead. Her family wouldn't have protected her. They would have executed her on the spot if she had approached them for help. If it wasn't for Croix, she would have died

in that forest. She gripped her hair as she breathed through her nose. She thought about her family. She thought about the way she found her mother's body with a dagger in her heart. She thought about her aunt and cousins. How she had barely escaped from the burning manor. Watching the servant that saved her die, killed by an arrow. She remembered taking the reins of the horse before she fell off and ran through the forest, remembered hearing the assassins on her tail and how they died at Croix's hand. How Croix reached her hand out and took her back to Luna Nova. When her breathing returned to normal, she turned her head to watch the moonlight pouring on her bed. They loved watching the stars when they were younger. She once dreamt of a world where they both could be happy together. Now, their childhood was gone. Diana laid back down to hear the soft gentle crying of the occupant in the next room. She rolled over on her side and bit her lip as she too tried not to cry. All that training and discipline that almost flew out the window due to those memories being dug up. She made one single vow on a star.

"I'll kill her, mother. As revenge for your unjust death. The Kagari family will soon know what it's like to lose a family member."

Diana smiled. She could wait. She was patient. It was only nine months. As long as she kept her due-diligence, she would be rewarded with not only a huge pay day but her long awaited revenge. Diana closed her eyes finally. Thoughts of how she would seek out her revenge came to her mind that night.