Treasured

Chapter VI: The Great Escape

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Disclaimer: What would make you think I'd own it now?

A/N: D: KUDOS TO THE PEOPLE THAT GOT MY GENDER RIGHT.

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Love Hurts, but sometimes it's a good hurt.

- "Love Hurts" by Incubus

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Natsuki's hands trembled. Shaky hands gripped tightly at the raised gun whose barrel pointed bluntly at the podium and at the executioner. The dreadful sound of clashing metal that rang out moments ago still resonated painfully through the clearing before fading as the execution sword spun uncontrollably in the air, then landed on the ground below the wooden platform.

All that was left now was the disbelief and silence of the crowd.

Natsuki couldn't even believe what she had just done yet for some reason, a wave of soothing relief washed over her body as she gave a little sigh.

Mai had made her realize that letting a villain live is a lot better than condemning an innocent… and perhaps- Mai was trying to tell her that Shizuru was actually Mashiro. The girl was going to have to gamble with her life, her country, and take the risk.

The fiery-headed girl stood a few paces back, but her frustrated scowl soon turned into one of a relieved, and annoyed smile.

In the distance, the Duke of Artai raised a quizzical eyebrow, yet his expression did not faze. Instead, the boy merely smirked and chuckled. "A simple 'I Object!' would have sufficed." Nagi glanced as his captive whose expression was impossible to decipher. Her eyes remained emotionless, yet somehow Nagi knew that Shizuru felt ecstatic. How lucky for this pirate to be saved in the nick of time by that doubtful Ice Queen.

"I object!" followed Natsuki's immediate reply. There was no hesitation this time. Her eyes were glazed with rage as her teeth grinded together. "I never authorized the execution!" The woman clad in a long, royal blue coat made her way down towards the middle of the stadium where the podium stood erect.

"Since when were you ever granted the power to veto my laws?" Nagi asked, amused by his wife's sudden determination- or rather, change of mind.

Ignoring his remark, Natsuki proceeded to march towards the podium but was stopped mid way when a bullet whizzed down to ricochet a few centimeters away from her foot. The girl's eyes snapped up to meet Nagi's pleased grin as he readied the gunners- Natsuki's own subordinates- beside him to get ready for another attack. The gunman that positioned themselves with rifles seemed uneasy, and unsure of their actions. "Resistance against the nation, and treason-"

"I am not defying anything!" the girl sneered. "I want this woman to be put under investigation! I have been informed that she could be Mashiro-hime! The one that is currently governing the South could be an imposter!" Natsuki's voice was loud and clear, but her fists shook. A strange mixture of self-disbelief and confusion gripped tightly at her heart, desperately trying to stop her from spewing any more nonsense about Shizuru possibly being the South's princess… but her heart had won.

A series of collective gasps rose amongst the civilians and Artailka that have come to witness the execution of a famous pirate.

"I request- no I demand that this woman is put under heavy surveillance."

A sigh issued from the Duke. His eyes were closed and his arm, still raised, notified Natsuki of his hostile intentions. "No can do. The law is set in stone. Men- ready yourselves. We must not let those who oppose get in the way of righteous justice no matter who they are."

Natsuki clenched her teeth together. How can he do this to her? After forcefully ripping her away from her beloved country with threats, the little bastard decides to kill her off with Mashiro? Not only could this impose war against the North but the South as well… A two front battle against the entire world, Nagi must be out of his mind. Then again, Artai's military strength might be able to outdo both the South and the North. Moreover, Artai is situated between both continents thus rendering communication between the North and South impossible.

The soldiers gave the Duke uncertain side-glances, guns still raised to the shoulder level yet remaining idle, awaiting to be fired. Clear orders were necessary; ambiguous demands were no good. Nagi would particularly have to say 'shoot her' to make them oblige…

"Natsuki-taichou!" A man clad in a soldier-like uniform jumped off his seat beside Nagi and rushed towards the commotion below. "What are you doing? Please don't do anything rash!" He unsheathed his sword and turned around to face Nagi again. "Your highness! Natsuki-san is merely confused at the moment! Please carry on with the execution and do not let her faze you."

"Out of the way Masashi Takeda!" Natsuki growled as she pushed passed him. Her eyes were now locked with Shizuru's as both of them silently stared at each other, unable to break away. The trust in the pirate's eyes was enough to convince Natsuki that she was making the right choice.

Nagi motioned for another shot to be fired but none came. Annoyed, the Duke looked to his side only to find one of the gunman pointing his own gun at Nagi. This had set off a chain reaction.

At least all the Artailkan soldiers were now pointing their weapons at the rebellious mutineer in order to stop him from firing and killing off their leader. Everything froze in place and everyone stayed in their respective positions, awaiting for the rebel's next move. The tension increased dramatically amongst everyone. The civilians were even too afraid to move or utter a scream.

"Ah, it's an honour to meet you Duke Nagi del Artai," said the man whose gun barrel pointed at Nagi's forehead. "I bet you didn't really expect this. It's a shame we are meeting under these terrible conditions." A handsome face was revealed as the man lowered his hood. The dark, luscious hair and toned body that did justice to the Artailka's uniform did wonders to the crowd as some Artai soldiers even lowered their weapons slightly, caught off guard. Reito smiled triumphantly. "Natsuki-sama!" The man suddenly addressed himself to the lady below, though his eyes remained glued to Nagi. "Please make a getaway now!"

Nagi's eyes narrowed.

The gunwoman looked up confusingly but immediately proceeded as she was told. Quickly closing the leftover distance with a sprint, Natsuki managed to jump up on the podium skillfully.

Shizuru was already standing, free of her binds much to the dark-haired girl's surprise. It seemed that she could've escaped at any given time- the reason she stayed was probably for Natsuki. Though before the gunner could go any further, an explosion shook the ground. Both women quickly look up to see a cloud of smoke where Nagi and Reito previously used to be. The cloud of smoke spread itself and expanded at an amazing speed which soon engulfed the entire clearing.

Natsuki growled to herself. This was another of Nagi's new weaponry developed just a few weeks ago, and it worked like a wonder. She had witnessed its abilities just last week too; it was able to expand itself fairly quickly, but today was different. The science department must've tweaked it considerably and made it faster. Though one thing for sure, there was a weakness to it as well: the smoke screen did not last very long. Natsuki didn't know whether they had fixed that defect too, but at this point, she couldn't assume. One mistake meant death.

Amidst all the chaos and battle that broke out and took place within the area, the gunner immediately yelled out for the pirate. "Oi! Can you hear me? Where are you Shizuru?" It felt strange yelling out a new name as if she had been familiar with for years on end, yet it had this nice ring to it. "Answer me-" a finger gently pressed on her lips interrupting Natsuki cutting her mid-sentence as a familiar presence loomed close. Relief washed over Natsuki after confirming Shizuru's silhouette through the thick smoke.

The mist around them was started to disperse just as quickly as it had settled hence confirming its imperfection. The dark-haired woman felt the warm hand on her lips move away and in a quick flash, bullets that she had not noticed were deflected and cut in halves by a twisting sword she had seen before. Its long, snake-like body separated into segments of the once-straight golden blade and held together by cables rippled in the air gracefully and retracted into its original form at once. Dull clinks of the remnants bullets fell to the wooden floor

Eyes a little wide with astonishment, Natsuki looked to the right which consequently answered her questions. The captain Mai of the high division stood there, clutching her chakrams as well as Shizuru's weapons whose sheaths were empty. It seemed Mai had been wanting to help them all along.

Distracted, the gunner didn't notice a threatening presence nearby.

"Natsuki! Watch out!"

It was only when Mai's shouted her name that Natsuki turned around to look. A large blade came forth swiftly, aiming right for the girl's heart but a forceful yank on her uniform was enough to send her tumbling back.

Ignoring the insignificant pain of her fall, the General looked up. Her eyes froze on the scene above her. The blade that was previously aiming for her vital was gleaming with blood as a puddle of dark crimson liquid stained the wooden planks beneath.

Malicious eyes soon turned into ones of horror. Tomoe who had been the one wielding the sword destined to pierce Natsuki's heart gasped as she watched her beloved pirate captain stagger unsteadily while clutching the deep cut at her side. "Sh-Shizuru-sama!"

"Shizuru-taichou!"

"Shizuru!"

Screams rang out through the clearing as time slowed. Natsuki kicked up and caught the pirate who slowly sunk to the wooden floor beneath her. She cradled the light body of the wounded pirate. Her breathing slowed as her heart became weaker under Natsuki's touch. Even the woman's skin, already pale with elegance was drained further of colour.

Then… time had seemed to calm to a sudden halt. Everyone in the distance became a vague, muffled crowd.

"Why?" The dark-haired girl whispered, disbelieving eyes wide, mesmerized by gentle crimson orbs. "Why do you go through such lengths… for me?"

The blue fabric of Natsuki's coat became darker as it slowly soaked the blood of the pirate's wound while the material on Shizuru's own shirt glistened with red.

"A promise is a promise." Came the soft response of the woman, who's breathe became ragged. Her free hand gently caressed Natsuki's as a weak but beautiful smile graced Shizuru's lips. "A good friend should know better than leaving her most precious… -comrade to a power-hungry man."

Gritting her own teeth together, the gunner refused to let this end like this. Not after all the trouble Shizuru went through to get inside Natsuki's thick skull. How foolish she had been. If only she had realized everything sooner, then all of this could have been inevitable.

A piercing scream rang out behind Natsuki. Tomoe's enraged figure charged forward towards the leader of the gunner division once more, determined to slice her head cleanly off her shoulders this time. "How dare you touch my Shizuru-sama with your filthy hands!"

Natsuki could feel the body she held onto tense up at the danger that impended but the gunner held her down. Her own rage that started to boil beneath her skin itself started to become too much to bear, and that Tomoe she oh-so-hated right now would certainly not be enough to stop her from exploding. Without even realizing her actions, Natsuki's arm had already been raised with her guns and a single shot of her weapon had disarmed the girl.

Her eyes narrowed into a murderous glare, no longer focusing on anything but Tomoe. Natsuki felt herself rise as well, but all her senses were no longer paying attention to the world around her. To her surprise, and amusement, Tomoe's face turned into one of a frightened child. She had even stumbled upon her own two feet and fell roughly on her behind. Scrambling quickly back on all fours, the girl desperately tried to get away from Natsuki. The gunner wondered why for a split-second but the anger she felt overruled any other sensation.

Within seconds, Natsuki felt herself ready to kill her prey. Her fingers slowly pulled on the trigger as the monotonous death-like clicking of the gun prepared to fire.

Her eyes clouded- or had Nagi released another smoke bomb? She didn't know- nor did she care at this point. This girl was going to die an no one could stop it... no one could stop her now... her muscles twitched for release, and a rush of adrenalin and power surged over her body. No one could stop her... not anyone but... but...

A warm body suddenly pressed against hers on her back, almost instantly melting away all her rage. She felt herself a little weighed down by the slumping body that was in no doubt a lot of pain. Natsuki could even feel a warm liquid soak through her own clothes.

Shizuru's arm pulled down on Natsuki's sleeve. The gun no longer pointed at Tomoe who almost passed out of fear. "Natsuki," Shizuru whispered in her weak voice. "We have to escape now." Natsuki could feel Shizuru lose further control of her legs, almost giving in. She spun immediately and gently held the pirate. Shizuru's ragged breath became slower as her blood created but a larger stain beneath their feet.

The black-haired girl nodded, mouth dry from the stress and anger she had previously felt, she picked the pirate up in one movement and started towards the exit. Mai, who busily fought her own troop followed suit along with the pirates that had come to aid their captain. Covering the ex-general and ex-wife of the Duke, Mai planned on escaping with them after her obvious treason…

But little did everyone know that Nagi had ordered his men to stop pursuit once Natsuki easily made it out of the stadium.

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A/N: I know you're all about to have my head for taking so damn long, and coming up with such a short chapter after the long wait. Well I'll defend myself even if I know you all don't like excuses as much as me. First of all- exams. If I want to become something my parents will appreciate, then I have to work hard- not that I got great grades anyway. Second of all, GRADUATION AND PROM!! PARTY PARTY! WHOOO! Yeah. Hehe partied for a long time too…

Anyways, no preview for this time, terribly sorry but since it's summer I'm hoping to come up with the next chapter much sooner.

Please review, chances are they're really gonna make me go faster this time 'cause I need motivation. When a fanfic goes for this long, I tend to slow down D: Love you all you reviewers.