While an evil prince was seated upon his new throne, watching as his master-plan was unfolding before him and smirking and laughing at the results, the beautiful princess was worlds away from her duty and all that, enjoying the beautiful and bright day with a wonderful friend, who was slowly becoming more and more than just a friend as the day continued.

Flora twirled the handle to her pink and green polka-dot umbrella, which helped block the bright sunrays from her face. She glanced across the sweet poet who returned her smile with so much warmth as he continued to row their canoe.

She felt like a character from her favorite romance books and movies, having the time of her life with the man responsible for making the whole day wonderful and beautiful.

Making her feel wonderful and beautiful.

All her life the only thing she ever wanted was freedom from being a princess. To be free from her duties, from lessons, meetings with lords and ladies, luncheons with merchants who needed her and her father's input on their merchandise, and just have one day to herself where she could do whatever she wanted. That was all she ever wanted and was the only thing her father, who'd give her the universe itself if it could put a smile to her, wouldn't allow, despite all the begging she's done.

She remembered, when she was little, she and Musa would stay up late at nights whenever they could, talking and planning about making that wish come true. Most of the plans consist of Musa being the distraction, screaming at the top of her lungs or using her musical ability, while Flora would make a quick getaway. The second Flora was far away enough for anyone to find her; Musa would cease the distraction and run like hell, despite the stares that would follow her. Once she'd caught up with Flora, the girls would ran far from the castle and finally have some fun.

As brilliant as the plans were, and the girls were always on the verge of trying them out, Flora always would chicken out at the last second because of two reasons: 1). The plan would only work if she were truly alone, which is practically never and 2). Helping the princess escape could get Musa into a lot of trouble. Sure, the girl has been in trouble more times than Flora could count, but those problems were always resolved because, beside the sisterly-bond in the girls' friendship, the king saw her as an adopted, lovable daughter he cared deeply about. But for something as big as helping a princess escape from her own castle, Musa possibly wouldn't just get punished. She could lose her job, get transferred to another castle, in another planet, and Flora would never see her again.

She thought that freedom dream finally died after some many years of wishing and it never happening. And yet, here she was, years later, finally out of the castle walls and living out that dream.

But instead of sharing the freedom with Musa, she was with Helia.

When they spent the whole night traveling from one planet to the next, seeing all the wonderful sights and having endless fun, they came to Magix and spent the peaceful morning, snuggling and sometimes kissing on their picnic blanket while watching the gorgeous sunset.

She half-expected that the fun was over and it was time to go back home. She was halfway toward Helia's levi-bike before he grabbed her hand to pull her back to him, smiled at her confused expression, and said the fun wasn't over just yet.

Hand-in-hand, smiling and sometime chuckling whenever they caught each other's eyes, they continued exploring-only this time staying in Magix and seeing everything.

They grabbed tasty cinnamon buns and hot chocolate toppled with whipped cream and cinnamon at a quite, well-known bakery famous for its' treats. Helia bought art supplies from a nearby art store for a project. They went to a charming bear workshop store for kids and tweens alike, where Helia created her the cutest stuffed animal: an adorable, soft pink kitten with the green eyes that were almost her exact same shade, the softest fur she ever felt that was smooth and rich like the softest velvet, and a cute flower headband. After the workshop, they explored more and more places, tried different foods in nearly all the restaurants and cafes the city had to offer, and giving more fun in one day than they had all their lives.

Later in the afternoon, just as leaving a diner where they had veggie burgers and spilt a basket of fries, with Flora snuggling to her stuffed kitty, which she decided to name Coco, there one place Helia really wanted to show her. They walked miles and miles till they reached of Magix and were in an abandoned neighborhood. All the small houses lined up next to each other on both sides and run down, all painted in dark and depressing colors and in desperate need of repair and the silence were so quiet it was painfully eerie and running chills up Flora's spine.

Helia, on the other hand, was completely unfazed. But then again, she could only guess he's been here more than once and gotten used to it, the rundown setting and heavy silence. He calmly took her hand and led her down the dead-end, making a right turn in a dark alley.

What greeted them inside the alley were crates. Over dozens of them, some big, some small. Some empty while others were filled with junk.

"What is this place?" Helia refused to give an answer, but offered a smile and an arm she gladly accepted and walked inside the alley.

At the end of the alley were several small crates made into some-sort of bed with a small baby blanket and newspaper-stuffed garbage bags used as pillows.

"This is my home," Flora tore her eyes away from the crate-like bed and turned to Helia. Only, he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at the bed with dazedness in his eyes, like he was living through memories. "Was my home."

"This is where you used to live?" Flora asked, not knowing what else to say. She knew Helia didn't have a lot of money, so she didn't expect him to live in a huge mansion or a penthouse apartment in a five-star hotel. But she always thought the place he used to live before he came to work for her father would be a small apartment or even a room at the affordable motel. She never would have thought it would be a poorly handmade bed, in such a neighborhood.

Easily reading her face like an open book and knowing exactly what was going through her head, Helia took no offense and smiled gently at her. Her reaction was the same as Musa and Timmy when he showed them his old home, with both of them shocked and unsure what to say for a few moments. "It's quite alright, Your Highness. When I showed Musa and Timmy, they were pretty much shocked and had the same reactions."

"You said you came to Magix right after the widower your parents…um, uh….gave you to died, right?" When he nodded, she continued further with her question. "You were also still a little boy, right?" Another nod and she went further. "Then, why didn't you go to an orphanage?"

Helia let out a small, sad chuckle at her question, not at all surprised at it, and didn't look at her directly as he answered it. "That's the same question Saladin asked me when he first met a small, very scrawny little boy coming to this neighborhood, late at night and using the blanket as a umbrella to protect me from the rain. And the same one Timmy asked me when I showed them my home while Musa was too shocked to speak," Deeply taking in a breath and letting it out slowly, he continued. "As soon as I was released from my duties, an orphanage was the first thing that came to mind, and then left a second later. If I went there, sure, I'd get food, a roof over my head, and clothes, but that was the last place I ever wanted to go."

"How come?"

"Because seeing those kids repeatedly entering and sometimes-if they're lucky- leaving would be something I'd rather not see," he answered. "Especially seeing them getting adopted by new parents while the rest of us would either wait for that to happen or when we're old enough to live. Whichever comes first."

Although it was painful to consider, Flora could see where Helia was going with that point. She couldn't being in that position because it was so sad and tears threatened to fall. To be so young and feel so unwanted….that was something no child should ever feel.

Holding Coco securely in one arm, Flora kneeled down to the ground and studied the baby blanket. Despite the moth-eaten moles and spider-weds, it honestly was a beautiful blanket. Soft-looking like cotton, the edges detailed with shimmering gold thread, its' color the most beautiful shade of the baby blue, and had the most adorable baby teddy bear sew onto the bottom of it. The teddy bear was a shade darker than the blanket, wore a black beret on its' head, held a paint-set in one hand and a brush in the other, clearly an artist in the making.

"So cute." She muttered so quietly, she was sure Helia couldn't hear her. Surprisingly, though, he could and squatted down beside her.

For a while, both of them were silent, the princess thinking about what his life was like, the servant thinking about memories. Memories before he came to Linepa he hasn't thought about in the longest time, some that were good while most were ones he'd be all too happy to forget. Most of those horrible memories mostly had to do with his parents.

"This was my baby blanket my mother, Juliana, made herself while she was pregnant. She knew she was having a boy, thus the color blue," he said, and Flora paid attention to every word as he went on. "She always told me, when she'd tuck me into bed and stroke my hair, she always knew her little boy was going to be an amazing from the moment she felt me kick." He lightly brushed his finger against the bear artist, remembering when he was little and needed the blanket to get him through tough situations, all he had to do was look at the bear and felt a bit better. "Father told me she was just a crazy woman, but she always seemed to assure me it was true."

Flora studied Helia's features, wondering what his parents might have looked like. She could picture his father as a very handsome man with midnight hair and chisel features. As for the mother, a beautiful woman with dark hair, possibly long, and alluring eyes just like her son's.

"I still remember the day I was traded to Miss Grayson, the woman who needed a servant to care for her," he told her. "It was raining so hard that day. The water was up past our knees. And we've been walking for long hours. I remember being so tired and cold, but knew better than to complain. It was after awhile, I started to notice we weren't going back to the Circus train where the others were. Finally, after walking for such a long time, we came to this enormous mansion,"

He paused with his story for a moment, and then turned to her, wondering if he should continue. After watching her nod, he carried on.

"This old and plump woman, dressed entirely in black, with the dirtiest blond hair I've ever seen came out and walked toward us. I remember being so scared of her, because, besides her appearance, I could tell there was something cold and dark about her. I could tell she's been watching us for a while, because she kept those cold, black eyes on hers on me the entire time while she made the deal with my parents. She told them she'd give them a loaf of bread for exchange I stayed with her to be her servant. I almost expected, praying actually, my parents wouldn't consider it. But the next thing I knew, I was being shoved into this tiny, cell-room in a dark basement with only my blanket. I looked out the window and saw my parents running in the rain while eating their bread. They had big smiles on their faces and I could hear them laughing, despite the loud roar of the heavy rain, looking so happy like they've been rid of a huge burden. They didn't even once turn back. Which is probably a thing since I was sobbing so much, wondering what it is I could have done that would make them hate them so much."

Flora didn't know which was more painful: the story itself or the flat, dead tone Helia was using as he told his story. Both were so sad and horrible, it was tie. But she did know what happened to him had the worst, saddest story she ever heard.

What kind of parents actually gives up their own child for…for…something so insignificant and petty like a loaf of bread? She heard plenty of reasons why a child would be given up: parents too young, too poor to feed the kid, abusive and/or neglectful, dealing with drug or alcoholic problems, etc. But never has she heard something as low like giving them away for bread.

It was so wrong, there's no word in the entire dictionary that could properly describe it.

Helia was no longer looking at her. Instead, he was looking at the blanket, his finger brushing gently against the baby blanket. His face almost seemed like a mask, because of its' unreadable, cool expression. But, as she leaned, she saw in those dead, flat eyes there were some tears he was trying to hold in.

Poor baby, she thought sadly. She wished she had something-anything-warm and comforting she could say to make him feel better, though she really doubt there was really anything that could, but couldn't think of anything. So she settled with the best next thing she could think of.

She wrapped her arms slowly around him and brought him close to her. Although he didn't move or resisted, Flora still felt a stiff tension in his body and only hoped he wasn't one of those boy stereotypes who acted all tough but showed no emotion. She settled his head onto her lap, settled her kitten beside her, and dropped small and gentle kisses on his neck while her soft, gentle fingers tenderly rubbed his head.

Helia was stiff for a moment or two, unsure how to respond with her gesture, but the comfort seeped through and he allowed himself to not only feel it but to lose himself in it.

He has received comfort before in his life. For example, in his early years with his parents, his mother would hold onto him tight, as if she was afraid he'd disappear from thin air, though that seemed to be more for her benefit than his, because it seemed she only needed someone to hold like a teddy bear when things went sour. He received real, genuine hugs and praise from Saladin, who never failed to make him feel good, actually good about himself. From Musa, it was being goofy during a foul time and being her goofy-self, which never failed to make him smile despite the fact he honestly wished he couldn't. From Timmy, were silly nut unknown facts the brainic knew would make him either cringe from disgust or have him laughing.

But there was something completely different about this comfort: possibly because of the person who was giving him the comfort. The princess soothing him with her gentle hands and her warm, soft lips kissing him on the neck over and over was one of the best comforts he ever received.

Neither of them knew exactly how long time passed. Could it have been a few seconds, minutes, maybe even an full hour or so. But time seemed so meaningless and unimportant as they were in their position, him feeling her sweet breath tickling his neck, she feeling the way his body was respond to her touch and her body responding to his warmth.

Lord himself knew it was so peaceful and sweet; Helia didn't want it to end. However, noticing the sun slowly coming to sunset, he knew time was unfortunately moving too fast and there was still so much he wanted to do with Flora. He slowly pulled always her, but held her in his arms and kept her close, and smiled at her in pure gratitude.

He dropped a kiss on her forehead, before properly dropping a kiss on her lips, meaning for the kiss to be brief, but letting his lips linger there for awhile after tasting her sweetness.

"Thank you, Your Highness," she was blushing bright red as he pulled away from her but was smiling at her blushing, sheepish face. "It was much..needed and comforting."

"The pleasure is all mine." Her blush became redder soon after she said; realizing how a sentence meant to be innocent can appear not as so in another sense.

Trying to redeem herself, she quickly added, "What I mean is I'm only returning the favor. After all, you comforted me when I needed it."

Helia smiled as he gently brushed back loose strands of her hair, tucking it behind her ear and looking into her eyes. The simplest of gestures yet somehow made such a huge impact on her. Her body was tingling with a buzz with his hand touching her and her heart was beating loudly from the closeness, leaving very little room between them, breathing in his minty breath as it caressed her face.

She closed her eyes in anticipation and parted her lips. He then swiftly pecked her on the forehead, deliberately teasing her, and quickly running before she had the chance to open her eyes.

"I'll get you for that!" She giggled, getting up from the ground, grabbing Coco, and running after him, leaving the baby blanket and the darkness of Helia's past far behind them.

After catching him around the neighborhood, she ended the chase by jumping onto his back and sending them both to the ground, both of them laughing as they looked into each other eyes.

Flora wasn't sure why, but time seemed to be going faster than she anticipated. Soon it'd be coming to an end and she wasn't sure what she was going to do afterward when it's all over. But Helia, easily, reading her expressions, assured her that there was still one last thing he wanted to do before the day was over.

By the excited gleam in his eyes, she was anxious to know, but just like she was anxious to know where he was taking her before. And just like the last time, Helia refused to give away an answer and did something different: he tied a blind-fold around her eyes, scooped her up in his arms, and told her it was going to be a big surprise.

Being in his arms and listening to the calming beat of his heart lulled her into a deep sleep, which soon became broken as she was seated onto something solid and heard the sound of running water.

"Are we on a boat?" He gave no answer, and, though she was blinded by the blind-fold, she could tell he was smiling a bit. "We are, aren't we?"

"I seem to have forgotten you're much more observant than I give you credit for."

By the time she finally was allowed to take off the blind-fold, she was speechless as she looked around her surroundings before she turned around to a smiling Helia.

They were on a small island, surrounded by crystal clear, brilliantly blue water she just wanted to taste or take a swim in. The tall, paradise-like palm trees were tall just as those from her planet and the branches way easily from the breeze, the high rocks almost as tall as Helia were standing between sand and sea and looked more than comfortable enough to sit down with their smooth texture, and the sweet air perfumed with salty sea.

It was breathtaking, May be a little simple and small, but breathtaking nevertheless, which was what she loved the most about it. "It's beautiful."

Helia wrapped one arm around her, bringing her close as he looked around the familiar island before meeting her eyes again. "While I was working odd jobs in Magix, there was this nice fisherman's wife who let me use of the boats in exchange for catching some fish for her. Whenever I used one of the boats, I sailed around for nearly hours before coming here. Quiet, peaceful, isolated, it become my home away from home."

It was almost the exact same way Flora thought about her mother's rose gardens. "What is it you'd do here?" she asked.

Shrugging, he answered. "Paint, sketch, relax. It was paradise to me. Sometimes I'd feel like I was on Gilligan's island, only in reserve."

"Why reserve?"

"Well, unlike Gilligan and his friends, I was never desperate to leave this place. In fact, had it my way, I'd stay here forever. But I will admit, I sometimes get knocked around the head."

"You did?"

"Yep," he nodded. "Unlike Gilligan, I wouldn't get knocked around by the Skipper and his hat. Instead, I'd get on the head with a coconut."

"A coc…" Flora tried finishing that sentence, but ended up laughing as the image of Helia walking around the island, a coconut suddenly falling onto his head, and him looking daze for a moment, with a silly but dizzying smile on his face, before collapsing onto the ground popped into her head.

"Ha, ha," Helia rolled his eyes half-heartedly, a hint of a smile on his face. "Very funny."

"Well, it's true."

"You do realize you're making me wanna throw you into the water."

Her laughter immediately ceased by that. "I think not."

"Really? And why may I ask would be that?" Helia arched his eyebrow, watching the graceful being walk slowly toward him, her hands folded behind her back, smiling innocently.

"Simple," she shrugged, the smile still in tact. Pointing to herself, she said "I am the Princess of Linphea." Then directing that pointing finger towards him, she continued "You are a faithful, doting servant. The only thing you should be throwing me into is your devotion to me."

"Well, forgive my rude ignorance, my lady," he bowed low before her, so formal and poised it amazed her no one else could see her as a gentleman. He gotten down on one knee and kissed her hand. "Better?"

"Much better." She nodded, approving.

To congratulate him on a job well-done, Flora bent over to kiss him on the head. Then quickly Helia stood up while she was still bent over and draped her over his shoulders, laughing at her protest cries and her legs that were kicking wildly.

"Helia, put me down this-" Her protest was cut off as Helia ran them into the ocean and jumped into the water.

Shock ran through her like a jolt as her skin made contact with the freezing water, thinking she was going to freeze to death. Slowly, though, the water became slightly less colder and more bearable till she was completely warm in it. She opened her eyes to see she was deep under, her mind at peace.

When he turned around, Helia was standing right behind her, nearly scaring her half to death. Without hesitance, he placed his hand behind her neck and brought their lips together in a sweet, delicious kiss she melted into and never wanted to end. But before she could really enjoy it, Helia pulled away from her too soon, winked at her, and swam up to the surface. Flora followed his lead, quickly taking in gulps of air.

"You…you...you…" She tried thinking of the best insult to say to him, but when she couldn't think of anything she did the next best thing: splashing big waves at him, making sure to get some water into his open mouth and nose till he was no longer laughing and choking on the water, waving his hands frantically in surrender.

"Okay, okay, okay! I give, I give, I give!" He was now much wetter than before, but he was still smiling. "I am so, ever sorry, my lady. Was that wrong of me?"

To answer that question, she gave him another splash that was big enough to nearly drown him.

Before she could splash him a third time, Helia grabbed her arms and pulled her with him underwater.

An hour of dunking each other into the water, splashing, and diving under to explore the undersea, they were weary and come back to shore. Helia slipped off his soaking shoes and Flora followed his suit, surprised by the soft and warm sand squishing between her toes.

They explored the rest of the island, playing games such as hide and seek, tag, and race games, then climbed the tallest trees and saw the entire view and ocean stretching out for thousands of miles. Then, when they were through exploring, they ate an early dinner with the things Helia bought from the stores: two ginger-crisp salads that treated so good, vegetarian burgers that were so amazing they put shames to the others she ever tasted before in her life, including the ones made by her famous cook, and twelve-dozen chocolate cupcakes. After that, they ended their day with sitting on one of the high rocks, Flora seated upon his lap and their arms wrapped around one another, and watched the sun finally set, leaving behind different shades of orange and pink in its' wake.

"Beautiful." Flora breathed, snuggling closer to Helia.

"Very," he agreed. Only he wasn't looking at the breathtaking sunset, but at the breathtaking creature in his arms. "Very, truly."

Flora looked up at him, their eyes, their eyes connecting, smiled ay him, and peeked his cheek.

Today really was one of the most perfect days of her life. It was perfect, too perfect, which was why she was too sad to see it ending.

"I don't want to go back." She murmured.

She what? Helia thought for a moment his ears were playing tricks on him. But when he looked down at the princess's face, he saw her face was unreadable.

"I don't want to go back." She repeated, sounding surer.

"But you must!"

"Why?"

"Because you're the princess."

Flora opened her mouth to protest, but soon closed it when she realized she had nothing to debate against that. She was a princess, whether she liked it or not, and the duty to her people came first before her.

Before this would have been more than enough to bring her back into reality and go back to that. The old her definitely would have done that, without hesitance or question. But things were different now and she was tired, dead tired and angry.

All of her life she's been putting the needs of her people and her father's wishes before herself. It was all she ever known and she was sick of it. Besides there was nothing waiting for at home except guarded walls holding her as a prisoner forever, a marriage proposal from a revolting prince, and facing banishment from her own home if she refused the proposal.

"Seventeen years I've been like a prisoner in my own home," Flora told Helia. "And I'm sick of it. Now that I finally known what it's like to have actual freedom, I can't go back to the way things were."

"Then what are going to do if you don't go back?" Helia asked.

That caught her off guard for a moment, till the answer hit her. "Well…I guess we could live here."

"We?" He couldn't resist smiling at that.

Flora nodded, as if that was already obvious and there was no other way to have it.
"Of course you, me, Musa, and Timmy."

"The fours of us?"

"Of course," she nodded. "We can live here by the sea and go to Magix whenever we want to."

"And build ourselves a beach us here." Helia said. "But what about your father?"

"My father…he can always remarry. Find himself a lady and have another heir."

Helia asked Flora if she really was sure about that and she answered yes, even though he wasn't that convinced anymore than he was. It's been seventeen years since her mother died and the king was still in mourning as if it was yesterday, obviously still in love with her. There was more than just doubt he'd even look at another lady, much less marry one. In fact, it was entirely unbelievable.

"I still want to stay," Flora said. She cupped Helia's face in her hands, caressing his cheeks. "And I want you to stay with me."

"Princess, I-" She silenced him by placing her fingers on his lips. With her being so close, he thought she was going to kiss him again, so he smiled before puckering his lips and waiting for the kiss. Only it never came.

Confused, he opened his eyes and watched Flora take her hand away from her cheek, along with her fingers on his lips, and pull away from him. The more she was pulling away, the colder than air was suddenly getting till it felt like it a blizzard wasn't too far their way.

"Princess." He reached for her, but only got himself thrown off the rock, crashing hard onto his back.

By the time he looked up again, he nearly jumped back in fear. Flora was standing high on the high rock, arms stretched out, her head slightly tilted as if she was listening to something, and her eyes slowly opened, the greens bigger and less normal-like than before and glowed brightly.

"Flora!" He got off his feet and ran to her, only to get knocked off his feet and slam his back into the tree.

Wind gathered around her, as if she was in the heart of a tornado, quickly picking up speed as the day was quickly becoming darker like nighttime was approaching. He had to shield his face from the sand, rocks, and water fling at him, but still kept his eyes on her.

Her eyes were so green, so big; they no longer resemble anything of normalcy. Instead that looked like they were not of this planet, this universe, not even this dimension. Her caramel hair whipped along her hair, but still she stood like a statue as the wind kept growing stronger and stronger till he was half-sure the island itself was going to be blown away.

"Flora!" He yelled, but didn't get a respond. Not that he expected it anyway.

She slowly blinked her unnaturally green eyes once and the storm quickly went away as it came, then fall off the rock with a heap.

"FLORA!" He gathered her in his arms, brushing her hair away from her face and seeing her unfocused eyes looking up at the sky.

"My father. Musa. Mirta," Tears rushed to her eyes as she murmured that name. "My people."

"Hush, love, hush," He shushed, helping her sit up. "What wrong? What happened?"

"Nature…" she murmured, trembling cold and wrapping her arms around herself to keep warm. "Nature spoken to me. The voice of Nature spoken to me."

"And what did it say?"

She finally looked at him, but when she did the tears she was holding it streamed down her face like heavy rain. "My kingdom, my home, and my people are under attack. And being destroyed as we speak."