(A/N: I'm sorry. I know this took a really long time, but this was finals week, and I've been busy with exams and projects. I know it's not as long as most chapters either, but I don't like to leave my readers hanging and I wanted to update as soon as possible. So, here's the next chapter, enjoy it.)

Disclaimer: I own nothing

Chapter 6: The Date Begins

Thump, thump, thump! Nausicaä couldn't figure out why her heart was pounding so much. Perhaps it was because she was going on her first date. Being a princess didn't exactly give her that many opportunities for boys to ask her out. It was only natural that she should be nervous.

'Geez, it's just one date!' she scolded herself. It's not like we're getting married or anything.'

But then the image of her in a wedding dress standing by Ved appeared in her mind. The thought made her blush. She shook her head to clear the image. It didn't go away, but it did change. This time it was Asbel she was standing by. She blushed even harder.

"I'm becoming a romantic." She murmured. "All these thoughts are entering my mind." She crossed her arms, thinking. "Hmm, maybe it has something to do with the prophecy coming to pass." She sighed. "That's so unfair. It takes away the fun out of it."

She walked by a mirror and stopped to check her appearance. So far she had done that in every object that had a reflection that she had past. She wondered why she was so concerned with the way she looked. It had never really bothered her before. She had natural beauty, so there was no need for all that makeup and other stuff.

Suddenly she felt somewhat frustrated. Why was she getting so bent out of shape about this? She had no reason to be something she wasn't. If Ved was indeed the one she was going to end up with, then she wanted him to love her for who she was.

"Ok, here we go." She said.

She knocked on the giant door to Ved's enormous airship. She waited several seconds, but nothing happened. It was then that she spotted a buzzer on the side. She suddenly felt foolish.

"Of course, they wouldn't hear a little knock. Come on, Nausicaä, snap out of it. This isn't you."

She lightly slapped her cheeks and took a deep breath, feeling a little more like the old Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind.

"Alright, second attempt."

She pressed the button, and heard the buzzer go off. A small panel opened up to reveal a small screen. The image of what looked like one of Ved's guards appeared on it.

"Ah, Princess Nausicaä, glad you could come." Came his voice over the intercom. "Prince Ved has been expecting you. One moment and we'll open the door."

Nausicaä stepped back as the massive metal door, or perhaps gate was a better word, began to open. Two of the guards came out to great her, bowing as she passed. The guard she had spoken to over the intercom welcomed her once she was inside.

"It is an honor to have you here, Princess." He said.

"Nausicaä, please."

The guard nodded. "As you wish. Please follow me and I shall escort you to his majesty. And please reframe from wandering off; it can be very easy to get lost in here if you don't know the way."

Nausicaä chuckled. "I can believe that. Why do you travel so big?"

The guard shook his head. "It is not my place to say. If his highness wishes to tell you, then he will do so."

Nausicaä cocked her head to the side. "O…k…" She wondered what the big deal was. She only wanted to know why they traveled so big; it wasn't a personal question.

They walked in silence after that until the guard brought her to a large red door with four guards outside it. They each bowed to Nausicaä.

The guard that had led her knocked on the door. "Sire, Princess Nausicaä is here."

"Send her in." was the reply they received.

The guard stepped aside. "Enjoy your day, Princess."

"Uh, thank you."

The door opened and Nausicaä went inside. The room was three times as big as her own and had a very rich atmosphere. Nausicaä was surprised to say the least.

'Wow, all this just for travel.'

"Enjoying the view?" Startled, Nausicaä turned in the direction Ved's voice came from. He was sitting by a desk, watching her with interest. He gave her one of his dazzling smiles. "How do you like my suite?"

Nausicaä nodded. "It suits you. You sure go all out with everything."

"It's my home away from home." Ved explained. "Truthfully though, my servants designed it for me. I would have been equally as satisfied with staying at an inn. But no, they want to make sure everything is perfect."

"Is that why you're flying in such a large ship?"

"Partly. Why do you ask?"

"Oh." She glanced at the door, remembering what the guard had told her about Ved being the one to tell her why he traveled so big, and she wondered if she would be invading his privacy. "Well, I asked one of your guards what the need for such a big ship was for, and he said that it was up to you to tell me or not."

Ved was silent for a moment, but then he burst out laughing. "Oh, don't worry about those guys. They're far too stuck up and serious. They think that if the set one toe out of line that I'll send them to the dungeons. So they don't do anything without permission." He frowned. "It's a little annoying really. Just because I'm royalty doesn't mean I have to think for them." He gave her a smile. "Sorry, I'm getting off topic. You see, the reason for such a large ship was because if we are indeed the ones in the legend, we might end up traveling all over the world. Therefore, we'll have everything we'll need."

"Oh." Nausicaä replied, not sure how she felt about that. It seemed like Ved was assuming or expecting too much.

Ved seemed to guess what she was thinking. "Don't worry, I have no expectations. This is more of a 'just in case' scenario. So," he stood up, "shall we begin our day together?" He looked around. "Or would you like a tour first."

Nausicaä smiled. "A tour sounds nice. I'd like to see what this place is like."

Ved nodded. "As you wish. Though you may find may find most of it to be rather boring. It's mostly just rooms for the guards and guests, the armory, kitchens, the lab, the-"

"Lab?" Nausicaä repeated. "You have a lab here?"

Ved blinked. "Why yes. We've been trying to find out why the toxic spores are poisonous to us, and how to cure the disease caused by the toxic jungle."

Nausicaä jumped at the opportunity. "It's the soil." she told him.

Ved looked confused, not sure what she meant. "Excuse me?"

Nausicaä nodded. "I've been doing the same research. I found out that it's not the spores that are poisonous, but the soil. The spores just absorb the poison from the soil. If you grow them with uncontaminated dirt and water, they'll be just regular plants, completely harmless."

Ved looked shocked. "You're serious? And you figured this out on your own?" Nausicaä nodded. "Incredible. I'll have to report this to my scientists. You truly are an amazing woman, Nausicaä. Perhaps now we will be able to find a cure for the jungle's disease."

The already blushing Nausicaä blushed even more. "Um, I found that out too. Now I'm trying to find a way to prevent the disease from affecting anyone to begin with."

Again, Ved stared at her in disbelief. He finally found his voice. "I can truly see how you're the one to guide the prophesized one. But we shall leave such matters for another time. Today is just for the two of us to enjoy." He held out his hand. "Shall we?"

Nausicaä hesitated. For some reason, she felt that if she took this next step, things that will be beyond her control would begin to take place.

She pushed these thoughts aside and took his hand.

(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)

Lord Yupa circled around the Kalvandir ship for the fifth time. Or perhaps it was the sixth. He couldn't remember; a sign that his age was beginning to affect him.

"Nonsense." He told himself. "I've still got a few decades in me left."

He reached the front of the ship and began walking around it again. Nausicaä was in there somewhere, and that was making him anxious. He didn't know why, but instinct was kicking in, and he always trusted his gut.

A small pressure on his leg made him look down, and Lord Yupa saw Teto rubbing up against him.

"Ah, Teto." He picked up the fox-squirrel. "I thought Nausicaä had given you to Mito to watch."

"She did!" Mito came running over to Lord Yupa, quite out of breath. "Sorry, he got away when I wasn't looking, the little rascal."

Lord Yupa chuckled. "Not to worry, all is well. But you should be more careful. Nausicaä won't be too happy with you if you lose him."

Mito gave the sword master a nervous smile. "Yeah, I know. I'll be more careful." He looked up at the Kalvandir airship. "So, what are you doing here?" He received no reply. "Worried about Nausicaä?"

"Always." Lord Yupa replied. "She is like my own daughter, and I promised her father long ago that I would take care of her if anything happened to him."

Mito gave him a suspicious look. "Then why did you leave after King Jhil died?"

Lord Yupa sighed. "I had my reasons. Though I wanted to be there for Nausicaä, I knew that I had to leave to discover the true meaning of the prophecy."

Mito nodded. "So you came back because the second part of the prophecy is coming to pass. And if the Kalvandir prince is involved…"

Lord Yupa nodded. "I will not let Nausicaä be taken away by someone who simply claims they are the prophesized one. I want to be sure. There are people in the world that will try to take advantage of what Nausicaä is. Who knows how many false prophesized ones we will run into before the true one comes."

Mito continued to nod along with what Lord Yupa was saying, agreeing completely. "That is something that deeply concerns me as well. I'm just glad that the princess is so smart. She can take care of herself."

"Yes," Lord Yupa agreed, "she has proved herself to be very dependable, but that doesn't mean I still don't worry about her."

"I too worry for the princess, but you know that she will just do what she wants anyway. After all, we still can't prevent her from running off to the toxic jungle."

"Yes." Said Lord Yupa, talking in barely a whisper. "However, that was when it concerned only Nausicaä. Now a second person has entered the picture. On top of that, the Kalvandirs are convinced that their prince is the prophesized one. If it turns out that he's not, who knows what they'll do. They may react violently to our disbelief."

Mito looked worried. "They're not like the Tolmekians, are they?"

Lord Yupa shook his head. "No, they're peaceful, for the most part. However, they do have unquenchable thirst for knowledge."

"But that's a good thing, right?"

"Is it?" Lord Yupa gave him a very serious look. "Perhaps they believe that they are doing the right thing. They want to improve the world. But too much progress too quickly can have negative results. They may do something they'll regret later." He sighed. "There are some things that humans are not meant to get involved in."

Mito nodded in understanding. "I guess you're right. How many people believed they were doing the right thing when they tried to burn down the toxic jungle."

"Not only that," Lord Yupa added, "but there is also the matter of the Giant Warriors. Know one truly knows where they came from; although Asbel has some sort of idea. Did humanity comes across something they couldn't handle, did we create something we weren't ready for?"

"Alright, you've made your point." Mito sighed. "So what do we do?"

Lord Yupa crossed his arms. "We can only watch and wait. Make sure that any suitors that Nausicaä receives are not just after the power of the prophesized one, or are not people that merely believe they are the one in the legend."

Mito looked up at the large airship. "Do you think Prince Ved is using Nausicaä or is merely someone who thinks he's the prophesized one?"

Lord Yupa followed Mito's gaze. "Truthfully, I don't know. That will be up to Nausicaä to figure out. I can only do so much for her. Protect her, search for answers, guide her, teach her, but in the end, it is up to her to figure it out."

(A/N: Ha, ha, Lord Yupa's concern gives you something to think about. And what is happening between Nausicaä and Ved. Should I make them kiss? And how's Asbel taking things? What will he do if he finds out they kissed? These next few chapters are really going to be a lot of fun, so stay tuned.)