Part Two

Mitsuko could only guess what had just occurred, when Yuri and Marie both came downstairs with glowing faces (and with Yuri's hands still firmly over Eimi's eyes).

"Gomen, girls. I forgot to warn you about that." Mitsuko said, and got an almost deadpan look from Yuri for an answer, as she released the now very confused Eimi from her grasp (Marie, on the other hand, was still dazed by what she had seen).

"Understatement of the century, Mama." Yuri muttered, yet sighed in relief when she saw that her mother had just returned from a shopping trip, and had bought some clothes for Kail, while she had been at it. But again that feeling of foreboding came over her; the clothes of this time were vastly different from what Kail had been used to…..how difficult would it be to teach him how to even get dressed?

"This is gonna be fun……" Yuri groused, as she and her mother returned upstairs with the clothing; dreading the lesson Kail was about to learn about modern-day clothes.

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Kail smiled as Yuri returned to the room, with another woman right behind her.

"It's good to see you've woken up. My daughter has been quite worried about you." The woman beside Yuri said, calmly; her gentle smile surprising Kail, to no end.

"Since she'd stayed by my side as I slept, I will have to agree." Kail replied; chuckling when Yuri gave both him and her mother an unreadable look about those comments.

"Do you feel up to getting dressed? I went ahead and bought you some clothes, while I was out earlier. I hope they fit." Mitsuko said, as she handed Kail the aforementioned clothes; smiling as he curiously looked them over.

"Such odd materials……Are all clothes made like this, in this place?" Kail asked.

"Pretty much…..But if you think those are strange, then I think you would have really been confused by the 'Seventies and 'Eighties……" Yuri's mother commented, jokingly, and was rewarded with a blank look from the displaced king for her efforts.

"Mama, you're confusing him……" Yuri sighed, and then stepped forward and pointed each article of clothing out to him, "Okay, here's your underwear, socks, blue jeans and sweatshirt. Put everything on in that order, and you'll be good to go."

"Where are we going?" Kail asked, still sounding bewildered by what he'd just been told. At this, Yuri's face lit up in an eager smile.

"There's lots of places we can go!" Yuri replied, enthusiastically; her response getting at least a warm smile from Kail.

"Then show me this world you had come from, Yuri." Kail said, as he then stood (this time being a little more careful not to flash her or her mother) and began getting dressed.

"Well, before you two head out, have some breakfast first." Mitsuko said, firmly, "Yuri-chan, come and help me, will you?"

"Sure! Be right there!" Yuri replied, as she hurried after her mother, but not before giving Kail slight smile over her shoulder as she went. She got a bemused smirk from the Hittite king, as a response. Even though things were strange to him, so far he seemed to be taking everything in stride.

"But what else is waiting for me out there?" Kail wondered, as he put on the clothes that had been brought to him; his thoughts drifting to what kind of chaos had been caused by his disappearance…..and hoping that Nakia wasn't plotting anything else that would prevent him from returning home.

"Well, in any event, it won't do me any good to worry about it, now. Now, I can only enjoy this borrowed time I have with Yuri….." Kail mused, as he quickly finished dressing, and hurried out of the room.

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The scent that hung around the kitchen was a welcome one, as Yuri and Marie helped their mother prepare breakfast.

"Something smells quite good. What sort of dish are you making?" Kail's voice asked, prompting them to turn around, and see that he was standing there watching them.

"Um……scrambled eggs, bacon, pancakes and a few other breakfast dishes. Are you hungry?" Marie asked, shyly.

"Very much so." Kail replied, warmly.

"Then, by all means, have a seat! You are royalty, after all. It would be rude to make you stand and wait there!" Mitsuko chirped; her pleasant personality a vast contrast to Nakia's icy and hateful one.

"Amazing how Mama has taken Kail under her wing like this, but Tou-san will be another story……" Yuri thought, as she watched Kail have a seat at the dining room table; guessing that he was thinking the same thing, when he heard the front door open, and her father came in from work.

"I'm home!" a man's voice called, as its' owner entered the house and set his briefcase down.

"Tou-san!" Marie and Eimi replied, as they rushed to greet their father, with Yuri right behind them. Kail could only guess just what went through the older man's mind, when he spotted his missing daughter with the other two; smiling wistfully when he heard the sobs of the man from his seat.

"I can only hope that nothing of this nature ever happens to me……but I also hope that I'll be able to be honest with myself like this man, if it did." Kail mused, as he watched the overjoyed father rush into the room with all three of his daughters at his side.

"So this is the young man who had brought you home, then, Yuri-chan?" the older man asked, as he looked warmly at Kail (even though his eyes still looked a little teary).

"Yes." Kail replied.

"Then you have my gratitude. We've all been so worried…..So, my daughters tell me you're from the Middle East. Is that true?" the man asked, curiously. Kail nodded.

"And then some……" Yuri thought, with an abashed smile, as she took her seat at the table beside Kail; getting a slightly confused glance from him, in response to this.

"He is." Yuri said, looking up when her mother brought the food to the table, and silently thanking her for her perfect timing; the arrival of the food cutting the round of questioning short, for the time being.

"Let's just hope we can get out of the house before it resumes!" Yuri mused, giggling softly when she saw Kail's expression upon seeing the different foods that Mitsuko had placed on the table, and just how big of a learning curve the young king had ahead of him, in this world of hers'……but she was going to make the most of her time with him, since she wasn't sure just how long he would remain with her till duty called him back to his own place…..and time.

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Before he could even blink twice, Kail suddenly found himself walking down the street with a very enthusiastic Yuri leading him by the hand. Even though he was still very confused by what he was seeing around him, he could tell that Yuri was eager to explain as much as she could about this world she had been born into.

"This place seems just as mysterious to me, as mine must have been to her……Structures made of metal and glass? Wagons that have no horses? Very strange……" Kail thought, as he took in all around him with wide-eyed wonder. And the buildings were just the beginning…..All around him, people were also going about their daily lives; some of them seeming so bizarre and otherworldly to the displaced king, that he wasn't even sure he could trust his eyes anymore. Their clothes were either brightly colored, or drab and dark…..and sometimes even their hair was different colors!

"It seems your mother had been right…..The clothes and people of your homeland are very strange to me!" Kail muttered, making certain that none of the people he was talking about heard him, as they walked along. At this, Yuri could only give him an abashed smile.

"Well, Kail, as much as I hate to say this, you really haven't seen anything yet! C'mon! I'll show you what I mean!" Yuri replied, then started leading him by the hand towards the shopping district. Kail's 'crash course' in modern day life was just about to begin…..

Author's Note!

Very short chapter, compared to the first, I know, but I could use some ideas! What do you think Yuri and Kail should encounter in the shopping district? What sorts of misadventures should they end up having before they come out? Please let me know! Any ideas will be very helpful, at this point! Thanks!

Gemini14