Chapter 5

Jocu and his brothers were currently running as fast as they could. The knights were after them and so were the girls! But the girls had the knights help! They took a shortcut and ran out right in front of the brothers!

"Get back here!" Rachel called, now running and cutting off Jocu, Jape, and Blithe.

"Stop right there, you guys," Sasha said, now cutting off Jest, Vivo, Jovi, and Amio. Lilac was still being held by the knights, even though she struggled to get free!

"Let me go!" She pleaded, now struggling more.

"Sorry, kiddo. No can do," Optimo, the captain smiled. "We can't let you all leave."

"Exactly! We need you all to be in on this," Sasha said, now nodding to the captain, who smirked under his helmet. He soon began tickling Lilac and a few of his knights joined in!

Before any of the brothers could protest, they too were being tickled to pieces!

"AHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH STAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHP!" Jocu belted out, now feeling Rachel tickle behind his ears.

"Tickle, tickle, tickle!" She giggled, now tickling him more. She then had a knight help her tickle him as she turned and began tickling Blithe on his abs!

"GAH! NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!" Blithe laughed out!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE! NOAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAA!" Jape screamed to the heavens as a knight got his knees! "I CAHAHAHAHAHMMAND YOU TO STAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAP!"

"Sorry, Jape, but for the next few minutes, they are going to help us," Rachel smiled, now tickling him more.

"PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!" Amio laughed hard, now feeling Sasha blowing raspberries in his stomach.

"Oh, ho, ho…I've got your tickle spot, huh?" Sasha giggled, now turning and having a knight help her as she turned to tickle Jest, who was trying hard to hold it in! But she tickled under his chin and he broke.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHA! Sahahahahahahahasha, you naughty female, cut it out!" He laughed and chuckled, now bouncing her to get off him since she was sitting on his waist.

"Naughty female?! I'll show you naughty!" Sasha smirked deviously, now tickling up and around his neck too, making his deep laughter ring out loud and proud. Sasha then turned and motioned for the knights to get Vivo and Amio too!

"BLAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH VIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHIHVO! HEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHEHELP!" Amio laughed out, now feeling the knights squeeze his calves.

"PLEAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I CAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAN'T!" Vivo laughed out, now feeling a knight tickle in between his toes.

After a few moments, the girls and the knights stopped and the brothers recovered in less than a minute. They then stood up and received nothing but love and hugs from the girls.

"Listen to us…we are family." Rachel soothed, now gently running her hand over Jocu's ears, the other hand gently tickling Jape on his chin, and then turning to nuzzle Blithe.

"Girls…we are sorry it caused you a lot of pain…but…," Jocu started.

"No buts!" Rachel said, somewhat sternly. "Love has no limits."

And with that, she reached up and kissed him on the cheek. He then turned and the two placed their foreheads against each others and they looked into each others' eyes.

"Jocu…I promise that no matter what. We will not forget you all and we want you all to always be a part of our world," Rachel said, now gently placing her hands on his warm face.

"And we want you to promise that no matter what, you all will never leave us. We know that you all typically disappear when young ones begin to grow up, but we never want you all to go. NEVER!" Sasha said, now placing her forehead against Vivo's.

The brothers were silent a moment and Jocu then placed a gentle, clawed hand over Rachel's heart and motioned for Sasha to come over. As she did, both girls placed their forehead gently against his and he placed a hand also over Sasha's heart. His green eyes then glowed white as his brothers all placed their clawed hands over Jocu's. Their eyes glowed white too. But the girls were not frightened; they knew whatever it was was going to be spectacular.

"We make a promise…to always be there to never leave your side." They all said simultaneously.

"You have the word of Jocu," Jocu said.

"You have the word of Jovi," Jovi replied.

"You have the word of Vivo," Vivo said.

"You have the word of Jape," Jape responded softly.

"You have the word of Jest," Jest said.

"You have the word of Blithe," Blithe replied.

"And you have the word of Amio!" Amio said, a smile in his voice.

At that moment, a deep voice range through the trees and they knew the king was present even though they couldn't currently see him.

"The promise has been made; so let it be written and so let it be done." Lauhin said, now placing his hands over his sons' hands and the girls felt a shock of happiness and joy spread through them! It felt like a happy electricity! Within a second, they all let go and sat up.

"We have never made a formal promise like that to a human before," Vivo said in shock. "Usually we never have gotten close enough to humans for a promise like that."

"But your bond is much deeper than simply friends and family. Your bond reaches the very core of your soul. So much so that you all would not be happy without each other," King Lauhin smiled gently.

"But how? Humans have not cared this deeply about our kind before," Jest asked.

"We are not just any humans, Jest." Rachel said, now smiling and coming forward. "We are the kind that want to be with our loved ones forever, not just for a season."

"From the moment we met you guys, we knew that you all were meant to be with us forever," Sasha grinned.

"And don't take this lightly, guys. We don't do this with everyone. But there was something special about you all." Rachel smiled.

"As are you. You all are very special to us too. We would be miserable without you." Vivo said, now feeling Sasha hug him tightly.

"Will that bond and promise keep us together forever?" Rachel asked hopefully.

"Yes it will, young one. For you see, our kind does disappear when children become too old. But you and your sister are some of the few that I have allowed my sons to see past adulthood." King Lauhin smiled. "Now come, it is getting late. We should send you to your home."

"Please…," Rachel started, now gently touching his arm.

"What is it, young one?" he asked.

"Can we stay here tonight?" Sasha smiled gently.

"We just want to be near you all." Rachel smiled shyly. Jocu smiled and pulled Lilac over to them too.

"I would be delighted if all three of you stayed with us tonight. And it appears to me that someone here needs more tickles," Jocu smirked at Lilac.

"Oh, she wasn't forgotten. She was actually next!" Rachel giggled, now pouncing on Lilac with Sasha! Soon the young girl was in stitches and she could barely breathe! The brothers laughed as the girls tickled the younger girl more! They were definitely becoming masters of tickling themselves! After a few moments, they finally let her go.

"W-What was that for?" She giggled, now trying to get that feeling out.

"Just a way to greet you and let you know that you are a part of us," Sasha smiled.

"We would not have remembered that fast without your help. We would have remembered eventually, but it would have taken longer," Rachel smiled, now helping her up.

"Well, I'm glad I could help. I just wanted everyone to be ok in the end," Lilac smiled.

"And we are. Now come…it's time for some refreshments and sleep. It's been a long day," Jocu grinned, now bending down for Rachel and Sasha to climb on. As they did, Lilac climbed on Jest and they headed back to the castle. It was wonderful to be heading back to a wonderful and safe haven and a place that the girls could always call home. Love and laughter would forever ring in these girls' lives because they had the promise of their dear and wonderful guardian brothers and king. Life has never been sweeter for them.


guestsurprise's words: Hope you all enjoyed this story! It was a blast to write!

To guestsurprise: It was a blast to read! :) Great job, Amiga! :)

To everyone else: Please leave guestsurprise a review, but no flames!

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