Chapter 4- Remembering

The sun was suddenly blocked by a dark shadow, a dust storm. The earth team was trapped in the Arrow III, trying to escape from the almost certain death. Eva tried to keep her team alive and found a temple to rest in. The dust settled down, covering the planet. As far as Eva knew, they were the only survivors. Even Aikka… Aikka was dead. She would never see him again, and it was her fault all of this had happened. Oban was gone, replaced by some sand covered planet of doom and destruction. Then, a shadow appeared, but not another dust storm. Eva jumped up, the hope welling up unbearably within her. She ran to the top of the temple, where G'dar had landed. She almost cried with joy, but then she saw that G'dar had no rider, Prince Aikka was nowhere to be seen. G'dar moved, revealing an unconscious Nourasian. Prince Aikka. Eva ran forward, the hope returning. She held the prince in her arms, hoping for everything to be okay. The prince would be fine, that is all she could think to herself. If she allowed one bit of doubt into her head, she wasn't sure she could handle it. Her worry over him consumed her, and she was lost in that world. Her prince was going to be okay. Herprince…

A streak of light from the newly opened curtains suddenly woke Eva from her dream. She opened her eyes to catch a fleeting glimpse of the maid shutting the door on her way out. Eva yawned and sat up, trying to remember what she had been dreaming about. Then the memories came back. That fateful day, when Jordan sacrificed himself, when she wasn't sure she would ever see Aikka again. She clutched her sheets closer to herself, unconsciously thinking they would make everything all right, that these memories would just be a dream, and nothing more. The pain of that day still hurt, and never seemed to diminish. Eva wanted things to turn out like a fairy tale. She had wanted Jordan to have survived, and to never have loved her, so they just could have been partners and friends. She wanted her father to have been the perfect father, and to never have abandoned her when she was five. And she wanted Aikka… What did she want Aikka to be? She loved being friends with him, but why did it seem like that wasn't enough? He was a very special person to her, a very special friend, but was that all? Sometimes, when she was around him or thinking of him, some weird feeling would emerge. The feeling wasn't bad, but it hurt sometimes, especially when she hadn't talked to Aikka in a long time. Eva didn't know what would cause this feeling of unrest. It made her act on crazy impulses, like when she kissed him last night. Albeit it was only on his cheek, it was not something she would have done if she had thought about it. Had she wanted too? Of course, but she would have been far too scared of rejection to actually do it. That was why she more or less ran away from him afterward. She didn't want to see the look on his face. It made her nervous just thinking about seeing him now. The worst part about the whole experience was that she liked it. She wanted to kiss him again, and maybe not just the cheek this time.

A knock on the door interrupted Eva's thoughts.

"Lady Eva, are you decent? I have come to help you dress, for the prince has requested that you eat breakfast with him in the garden this morning." Eva's maid hurried in, closing the door behind her. She hadn't even waited for Eva's answer to her question.

"Umm…what should I wear?" Eva still wasn't sure if the fancy dress she had worn last night was an everyday dress, or just one for special occasions.

"Don't worry about that, that is my job. I will assist you in preparing."

"Thanks. Then, what am I wearing?"

"How does this look?" The maid held up a dress that was a deep crimson, similar to the color in Eva's hair. It was not as elaborate as the white dress from last night, but still very pretty. The designs were embroidered in black this time, so they stood out more. The maid dressed Eva in the outfit, and then proceeded to do her hair. Instead of the bun like last night, Eva's hair was just brushed until it was soft and smooth, and hung loosely around her shoulders, rather than looking spiky and stiff. No makeup was applied to Eva at all. Eva looked in the mirror, again surprised that the reflection did not resemble the awkward teen she was accustomed too, but rather a beautiful young woman.

Eva walked down to the gardens, after the maid reminded her where it was, and saw Prince Aikka waiting for her at a small white table in the corner of the garden, right next to the white flowers of purity. She blushed, remembering her actions last night. Steadily, she walked forward, trying to act like the princess she looked.

"Good morning, Prince Aikka." Eva used her formal tone to greet her friend, hoping that her formalness would somehow even out her forwardness last night.

Aikka looked up at her words, he hadn't noticed her approach. He had been lost in thought, about last night. The question he kept asking himself was why did that kiss on the cheek affect him so greatly? He prided himself in keeping his emotions in check, but last night, he couldn't describe any of the emotions he felt. They were so new, so different, and so alien. They had hurt, but felt good, they made him feel safe, and yet lost, and he had felt warm, but still, he had shivers. He was just left confused, watching Eva walk away, a hand on his cheek.

"Good morning, Eva." Aikka gave her a deep nod, all the while wondering why she had decided to become so formal all of the sudden. He couldn't remember the last time she had used his title. Her lack of formalness was one of the reasons he became so interested in her in the first place. If she had shown the proper respect he was used to that first time they met, Aikka doubted he would have ever talked to her again. Now, all of the sudden, she had become polite. Where on Nourasia did that come from? "Eva, would you care to join me for breakfast? We have prepared some earth food just for you. An English muffin with strawberry jam, scrambled eggs, and a weird mush called oatmeal."

Eva burst out laughing. It felt good to finally get past the awkward post-kiss stage. Although, it was only a friendly kiss on the cheek, she reminded herself. Aikka looked confused at her sudden outburst.

"Sorry," Eva said as she began to control her laughter. "It just seems so weird to talk to someone who doesn't know what oatmeal is. And the look on your face when you said it!" Her controlled laughter burst out again, making Aikka smile. So much for acting like a princess, Eva thought.

"I'm glad you find this so amusing," Aikka said, still smiling. "You didn't even get to see the look on our cook's face when I told him how to make it. Even the serving girls were disgusted. It was quite comical."

"Thanks, Aikka. It was really nice of you to go through all this trouble just for me. I guess you weren't lying when you said Nourasians are well known for their hospitality."

"It was no trouble at all. Of course I wouldn't lie to you about that Eva." Inside, Aikka was savoring the absence of his title. He liked it better when she talked to him as she would a friend, rather than royalty. Is that all you want to be, friends? Aikka mentally silenced the voice in his head. He couldn't think about that right now, it was too confusing. Before he met Eva, everything had been so simple. He knew that he wanted to rule the kingdom alone because every girl he met was the same: they had no personality and only cared about money and jewels. Aikka didn't want to fall in love, and never thought he would. But then Eva came along, and everything changed. Wait a minute… did I just say that I fell in love with Eva? Am I in love with her? Why did this have to happen now? It's too soon. I don't understand any of this, how do I get any answers? This isn't just something I can go ask my parents about. I'm so screwed up right now. Back to the real world, come on. "Eva, would you please sit down? Your legs must be killing you by now."

Eva laughed and sat down. Taking a big bite of the English muffin, she sighed in satisfaction. "This is even better than at home."

"Really? The cooks had no idea what they were doing to start out with, so I am glad that they did so well." Aikka took a spoonful of a chunky looking blue soup and popped it in his mouth.

"What is that?" Eva clearly looked disgusted.

"It is a grout root stew. Would you like some?"

"Will it kill me if I try any?"

Aikka laughed, "No, I assure you. It is quite tasty."

"All right, if you say so. I'll let you know that if I die you are paying for the funeral." This comment earned another laugh from him. Aikka scooped up another spoonful and, placing his hand under it to catch any spills, guided it into Eva's mouth. Her face lit up in shock. This grout root stew was good, but it reminded her of something she ate on earth. It tasted like…. she burst out laughing again.

"Are you okay, Eva?" Aikka looked at her strangely.

"Yes, I'm fine. Do you know what this tastes like?"

"Grout root?" Aikka raised his eyebrows.

"Besides that. Here, try this oat meal." Eva shoveled some oatmeal onto her spoon and popped it into Aikka's mouth before he had fully understood what she was going to do. He immediately burst out laughing.

"This tastes exactly like grout root. I would never have guessed, they look so different. I guess the cooks don't have to go through any more special preparations for you; we can just have grout root stew."

"I'm glad that I already found a new food that I enjoy so much. I am having so much fun here."

Aikka's face immediately became more serious. "I am glad you are enjoying Nourasia so much. I am truly sorry that you had to wait so long to come."

"Don't worry about it. I'm here now, that is what matters."

"I am really happy that you could come, Eva. It has been a long time since Oban. Many things have changed."

Eva and Aikka proceeded to talk about Nourasia's defeat of the Crogs, Earth's communication with other planets, and similar things. They began to talk about their old friends from Alwas and Oban.

"Have you seen Rush lately?" Aikka asked.

"Actually, I haven't. I haven't seen anyone from back then."

"He is now married, has five children, and owns a very large portion of his specie's money."

"Are you kidding? That great! Rush deserves it." Eva was glad to hear that her friend was doing well.

"Even Super Racer is doing better. His newest wife is a seamstress, so she made him a new outfit, that doesn't clash as much." They both laughed at this, remembering the stupid costume that guy wore every day.

"I am delighted that all of our friends are doing so well. Even Jordan ended up better than before." As Eva said this, her voice cracked and tears welled up in her eyes.

Aikka couldn't stand to see Eva in such pain. He stood up and walked around the table to Eva. Eva stood up and fell into his open arms. He held her like that for a long time, as her tears turned to sobs and she shook in his arms. For every sob she made, he held her tighter, hoping to ease her pain. He murmured, "It is going to be okay. You will be fine. Everything is okay, Eva."

After a while, her sobs died down and she pulled away from him, wiping her nose and trying to clean herself up. Aikka gave her an encouraging smile and gave her a handkerchief from his robe pocket. He knew how much it hurt for her to think about her partner.

"You liked him a lot, didn't you?" Aikka couldn't help but feel jealous. Jordan had gotten to spend a lot of time with Eva on Alwas and Oban.

"He was my partner, of course I liked him." Eva looked down at the table, avoiding Aikka's eyes. "But he like me more, he loved me. Right before he jumped into The Creator's magic, he told me that. I know I never loved him, and I never would have. It just makes me feel worse that he sacrificed himself for me like that, and I didn't even love him."

Aikka was ecstatic, but he was trained well enough not to show it. So Eva didn't like Jordan like that. But it still hurts her to think about him. He was her partner after all. "Hey, its okay. Jordan understands. He knew that you guys could never be together. He just wanted you to know. There is nothing wrong with not loving him."

Eva smiled at Aikka. "You know, you sound much older than last time we saw each other."

"And I've gotten a lot stronger, too." Aikka playfully flexed his biceps.

His diversion worked, Eva laughed. They were both thankful to move onto a lighter subject. They talked more about the customs of each other's cultures. That subject reminded Aikka about her birthday presents.

"Have you opened your presents yet?"

"Actually, to tell the truth, I kind of forgot in all the excitement. Would you like to help? I would need someone to explain what everything is to me."

"It would be my honor to assist you in your unwrapping." Aikka extended an arm to escort Eva. She took it and they walked off to the large ballroom where all the presents were still situated.