Chapter 9:

Fine raced down the hall after Shade and Aiko. When she reached the dining room door, she was about to enter when Aiko suddenly turned around and slammed the door shut, thus hitting Fine's nose.

"Ow!" She shouted, rubbing her nose tenderly. At least nothing was broken.

She tried the door. It was locked. She banged on it with her fists and called, "Let me in, Aiko!" And when all else failed, she just put her ear to it and listened as best as she could.

"Mother, Father…" She heard Aiko begin. "This…is my boyfriend!"

Fine guessed she was probably gesturing to Shade at the moment. Her own heart just seemed to stop.

Some kind of glass shattered in the room, and then everything was silent. You could've heard a pin drop.

Why isn't Shade saying anything? Fine thought.

Finally she heard Shade's voice saying (and sounding all panicky), "NO! I mean, I'm not her boyfriend! I—I don't even know her! No offense, I mean everyone should know who the princess is—it's just…I guess…I don't. Um…"

Wow. She'd never heard Shade this flustered before.

The king spoke, "Aiko, what is the meaning of this?" His voice sounded gruff.

~Shade's POV~

Even though I would never do this to a girl, I seriously wanted to kick this princess for saying I was her boyfriend!

Aiko said, "Well, let's just say it was 'love at first sight.'" But he's my boyfriend, and there's nothing changing that!"

The king slammed his hand onto the table. A spoon flew across the room. Aiko finally released my arm.

"What about Kin? He's your rightful fiancé! I will not have a daughter who cheats on her own fiancé!" The king was so angry his face was red.

I for one couldn't believe Aiko was cheating on her real boyfriend. Then I remembered who Kin was and why I was here in the first place. But as I suspected, Aiko didn't know a thing.

"Kin? Who's Kin?"

The king's face returned to its normal color, replaced by a look of confusion when he saw the sincerity of Aiko's face. She really didn't know who he was. I huffed under my breath.

The queen put her hand on the king's arm and whispered into his ear. He looked at her for a moment and then nodded. "Aiko, go back to your room. We'll talk to you later." Then he looked at me. "I'm sorry for any trouble my daughter has caused you. You may rest in the castle for a while. I'll send someone to prepare you a room."

"Thank you," I said. Then I quickly backed out of the room, closing the door behind me.

"Ow…"

I turned around. Fine was flat against the wall and rubbing her nose. Uh-oh. I must've slammed the door in her face.

~Fine's POV~

Ouchie, ouch, ouch!

It's like this door has a grudge against me…or my nose, for that matter.

I looked up to see Aiko, but instead I found Shade, looking worriedly at me.

"Oh, Shade! I'm alright, really!" I tried to laugh, but I think it came out more like a choke.

I cleared my throat and began again. "So…what happened to Aiko?"

"I don't know," He said. "She's still in there, probably arguing with her parents."

The doors swung open again and Aiko stalked out. Shade grabbed me and pulled me aside before my nose was hurt for the third time. Aiko walked right past us with a clear look of annoyance on her face. When she noticed Shade holding my arm, she walked faster down the hall. A few moments later, we heard another door slam shut.

"Well, let's go out into the garden," I said. When Shade didn't move, I pulled on his sleeve and dragged him out.

"So," I started nervously while plopping onto a bench, "what are you doing here anyway?" I wanted to hit myself on the head. That sounded way too harsh.

Shade's face showed no emotion. "I came here to take you back."

I felt my face heating up. Calm down! It's not like he just said he likes me! "Oh…that's great! Um…how did you get here, though? Aki said there was only one route, and that's through the Star."

Now his face darkened. What did I say wrong this time?

"You know. Through the mirror."

"Oh…" (Like that helped). "Uh…so, what's with Aiko saying you're her boyfriend?"

"You heard?"

"Well, I didn't exactly hear directly, but then Aiko was like dragging you along or something and she slammed the door in my face so I kinda had no choice but to eavesdrop…" Gosh, I was talking way too fast all of a sudden. I fidgeted in my seat. Shade just kept staring at me. He was making me way nervous.

"It was a misunderstanding. I came from the Image Dimension, and I met Kin there. He said he was Aiko's fiancé, but that a witch erased her memory of him. So I need to—I mean, and that's also why you don't remember that boy that took you here. Now can we get going? I want to be back on the Wonder Planet soon."

I gaped at him. All these years I had a spell cast over me? And Aiko, too? I found it hard to believe. The Image Dimension? Was that the place I fell into when I passed through the mirror in my bedroom? But then I said the worst thing that could be said at the moment.

"I remember him."

Shade narrowed his eyes. "Who?"

"Akihiko. We were just talking and I suddenly remembered who he was. I mean, Aki and I were talking."

"So?"

I flinched. That had to be the most intimidating "so" I'd ever heard. I quickly tried to change the subject.

"Does that mean I met Aiko before, too? It's just that I don't recall it, right?"

"Yeah."

"…That's nice."

All of a sudden trumpets blared. It totally shattered the peace and quiet Shade and I were sitting in. I almost fell off the bench.

The messenger came up to us and declared, "Princess Fine, you are required now to have your fitting for your wedding dress."

A sinking feeling immediately placed itself in my stomach. I didn't dare to look at Shade. But he doesn't like you! What's there to worry about?

Abruptly, Shade stood up beside me. He grabbed my elbow and started pulling me toward the castle. "That's it. We're going home now. You can't stay here another second."

I really had no reason to object, so I followed him…until I heard Aki's voice behind me. Then I turned around slowly and tried to block Shade so Aki would stop glaring at him.

"Oh, hi! We were just taking a little break…This is Shade, by the way, from my planet. To tell you the truth, he came to get me home, if that's ok with you…" I could never seem to end my sentences properly these days.

To my horror, Aki walked up, pushed me aside, and faced Shade, who was glaring back at him.

Aki said (in a very disturbing, low voice), "You are not taking her home. I don't care who you are, but Fine is my princess."

I blushed. Silently, I tried to gesture to him to stop it.

And then Shade said, "No, she's not staying here because she's my—my friend." I think my heart broke here. "She should have the right to choose who she wants to marry, shouldn't she?"

My face turned a fire engine red. Rein would probably die if two boys were fighting over her, but I didn't like this at all. (Okay, I have to admit, it's kinda cool if you've never been liked that way your whole life, but this wasn't how it was supposed to go!)

I looked around. Where was that messenger?

Aki pulled me to his side. Shade pulled me back. Believe me, this actually went on a few times, with some threatening comments in-between.

Finally I screamed, "Stop it!" Then I didn't know what else to say, so I ran back into the castle, leaving the boys in the dust.

I accidentally bumped into the messenger from before. Oh, so he shows up now? He pushed me into a big room with sewing machines and fabric strewn everywhere. Standing on a little round podium, seamstresses ran back and forth taking my measurements and making the wedding dress.

Wait a minute…the wedding dress?

I hopped off the podium and made a run for it. All the seamstresses ran after me calling, "Princess! Princess!" They sure were persistent. In a way, they reminded of Camelot and Lulu.

Aiko was just turning the corner when I crashed into her. We both toppled to the floor. She took one look at the chasing seamstresses and pulled me into an open room with her. I listened at the door. The thundering group ran past. I turned to Aiko.

She was studying me closely. "I've heard you and your sister are the most un-princess-like princesses in the whole planet."

I laughed nervously. "That's true."

"But don't even think about seducing Shade."

Now I stopped laughing and stared at her disbelievingly. "What? I'm not seducing Shade! I'm not seducing anybody! I was flown here against my will!" (I said a silent "sorry" to Aki.)

"That's not the point! The point is Shade is mine!"

"No, Aiko! You don't know what you're saying! Shade told me just now that he met Kin in the Image Dimension. Kin is your real fiancé! We've both had a spell cast over us so I didn't remember anybody here, and you don't remember Kin!"

Aiko stared blankly at me for a minute. I hoped she was trying to remember. Then she said in an unconvincing voice, "That's ridiculous! Really, really ridiculous! How can I have a spell cast over me and not even know it? I'm the Snow Princess, for goodness' sake!"

"It's true," I said, coming up with an idea, "and I can prove it!"

I grabbed Aiko's wrist and led her into the hall.

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