Quick chapter, but sweet. Enjoy.

Anduin awoke refreshed for the first time since his father died. At first he thought the previous night had only been an amazing dream, but then he looked over to the opposite side of his bed and Kia was there, sleeping soundly.

He smiled as he watched his best friend as she slept. She was on her stomach, her arms above her head, tucked under her pillow. The sheet had fall down to her waist, leaving her back bare. Her blue/green skin made a sharp contrast to the white sheets.

He reached over, moving a stray strand of her hair out of her face. Her sleeping face was peaceful and relaxed. Anduin wanted nothing more than to run his hand down the soft skin of her bare back, but he also didn't want to wake her. This moment was too good to risk ruining it just yet. The view was breathtaking.

For years, he had never thought of Kia as anything more than his best friend. When she arrived on Pandaria, he began to see more. She was beautiful, of course, he had noticed that fact when he was just a youth. Their time camping together in the jungle allowed him to see other things about her. How her movements were fluid and dance like. How her voice held an almost chime quality when she was excited. How soft her skin was when he caught her by the arm, preventing her from falling into the river.

Now, it all made sense.

Kia began to stir, breaking the king from his musings. Moments later, her eyes opened, glowing slightly in the dim of the not quite fully risen sun. She smiled at him and this time he didn't resist the urge to slide in closer to her, running his hand down her back. Kia rolled onto her side, not the least bit shy about her lack of clothing.

"Good morning. Did you sleep at all?" She asked, propping her head up under her arm.

Anduin nodded. "Better than I have in days. I haven't been awake for very long. I was enjoying the view too much to disturb you."

"Good. I must admit, I slept quite well myself." She said, stifling a yawn. "You looked deep in thought when I opened my eyes. Care to share what you were thinking?"

Anduin leaned heavily on his side, his head resting on his arm mimicking Kia, leaving his other arm free to continue running his hand lightly over her arm.

"I was thinking how beautiful you are." He replied.

Kia narrowed her eyes at him.

"I also figured something out. Something I've been trying to sort out for weeks."

Kia waited patiently for Anduin to continue.

"Over the last few months, father and Jaina have been introducing me to possible wives. They said I needed to get betrothed, but they didn't want me to feel pressured to marry the wrong woman. I must have met two dozen of them, but I dismissed all of them. I mean, they were all nice enough and pretty enough. Some were intelligent or strong. All of them exemplary in some way, but I couldn't see myself married to any of them. I couldn't figure out why."

"But now you know?" Kia asked.

Anduin nodded. "They weren't you. I realize now that each and every one of them I was subconsciously comparing to you. None of them measured up. My heart already belongs to you."

Kia sighed sadly, looking away from Anduin by rolling onto her back. As much as she loved the him, and she did with all her heart, she couldn't be with him on any formal level. "Anduin, I don't know…"

"Don't say we can't be together because you're not human. You're the daughter of the leader of the night elves. You're just as much noble blood as any of those other women. Not to mention, the people of Stormwind already love you."

Kia sat up, pulling the sheet up around herself and hugging her knees. "I don't want to cause any trouble for you. You should be with a human woman."

Anduin chuckled. "This might be the only time you'll ever hear me say these words, but I'm the king and I can do what I want."

This comment not only made Kia smile, but she couldn't help but chuckle. She snuggled back down next to Anduin, resting her head on her chest. "Very well, Your Majesty, you're the king and you can do what you want, but can we at least keep whatever this is to ourselves for a little while? I want to figure out what exactly we're doing and enjoy it a little before anyone else knows. You know people will talk."

Anduin knew exactly what Kia meant. Even though his father was gone and Jaina had left in anger about his decision not to fight the horde out of revenge, there would still be others around him who would not be pleased if Anduin chose Kia as his wife. Everyone loved her, of course, it was almost impossible not to, but the simple fact remained that she was only half human and that would matter to some people.

"We can keep this to ourselves. I'm not ready to share you yet, anyway." He held her tighter, eventually falling back asleep.

To Be Continued...