Pairings: Caesar/Ichihime, Charlemagne/Joan, others will be revealed as they come

Interesting Facts: The historical Joan of Arc didn't start having her visions till she was 12. When she went to see the king he wanted to test her to see if she was real and disguised himself as one of his courtiers. She recognized him right away. The king later stated that Joan knew secrets about him that he had voiced only in silent prayer to God. Also her family loved her dearly.

Chapter 4

Caesar awoke to a view he was not expecting. There was a lot of pink and what his head was lying on didn't feel familiar...

"You're awake, Caesar-dono?" came Ichihime's soft voice.

Caesar raised his head and realized what had happened as he gazed at his wife. "I fell asleep?" he sounded a little surprised. He never let his guard down like that when he wasn't in his chambers...

Ichihime nodded. "You haven't been sleeping well, have you?"

"I sleep extremely well when you're with me," Caesar replied with a grin.

Ichihime sighed. "You're not going to give me a straight answer, hm?"

"I speak the truth," Caesar said with a wink. Well, it was partially true. It was a little tough to be beside his beautiful wife in a bed and not do something. Not that he could tell her that though...

Caesar then stood up and retrieved his cloak he had taken off earlier. He then turned to Ichihime. "I have to leave now, but I will try to make it back in time for dinner."

Ichihime nodded. "See you later."

Caesar smiled back and then walked off.

Ichihime watched her husband as he left. Her impression of him had changed in such a short time. When she had accepted his proposal, she never dreamed she would be following him where he went. She always waited for her brother to return, but for some reason she wanted to stay by his side. Her eyes turned to the sky as she mused on these things.

The next day...

All the warriors of Takeda clansmen and Caesar's soldiers were gathered. The war armors were all there with Caesar's giant war armor as the central figure. Caesar, along with Ichihime, was standing on the hand of Quo Vadis as he addressed the troops. The presence of Caesar's new queen definitely boosted morale.

Ichihime gazed at her husband as he gave out his orders. He really was a very charismatic man. The gestures he makes and his words worked together in unison to make a moving speech. He was so unlike her brother. While she thought her brother was charismatic, not everyone agreed. With Caesar, it seemed everyone was awed. He almost seemed unapproachable...

When the speech was over, everyone cheered; they were all fired up to do battle. All the soldiers immediately prepared to move out.

Caesar smiled as he turned to his wife. "I hope you don't mind riding in Quo Vadis with me. It's the safest transportation."

Ichihime shook her head. "Not at all." She guessed that probably wasn't a privilege that was given to just anybody. Caesar held out his hand to her which she accepted.

"Then let us be off."

Ichihime watched as Caesar effortlessly piloted Quo Vadis. It wasn't quite what she had imagined. Instead of looking scary or fierce, he looked elegant. Yes, she had ridden inside before, but she was too nervous to notice anything. She had also thought very negatively of Caesar at the time...

"Ah, what are you thinking about, my dear, Ichihime?" Caesar suddenly inquired; a hint of mischief in his voice.

Ichihime blushed at being caught and immediately looked around. "The insides are not what I imagined it to be," she attempted to cover up.

"Nor how it's piloted?" Caesar chuckled.

Ichihime froze; she was caught. "Uh... how it is piloted is curious. I was just wondering how it was done."

"So that's why you were staring at me so? I thought it may be because you were falling in love with me," Caesar teased.

Ichihime puffed her cheeks. "You take everything how you want it, don't you, Caesar-dono?"

Caesar started laughing at that. "I'm sorry, my dear, you're just too adorable."

Ichihime sighed. Arguing with him was pointless.

At Charlemagne's camp...

Charlemagne and Joan were on a high cliff with telescopes to their eyes. They were watching the movement that was at Caesar's new camp.

"Ah," Charlemagne sounded. "Caesar will be ready soon."

"Oui," Joan confirmed and lowered her telescope. "We shall be able to do battle tonight."

Charlemagne lowered his own telescope and looked down at her. "So, how are our preparations coming?"

Joan dropped to her knees and placed one hand on the ground. "Très bien. The water under this field is very plentiful..."

Visions of raging wind, water, and earth entered her sights. Caesar being swarmed by those elements and bringing out his cannon to retaliate… Then she saw something totally unexpected. She saw a girl in pink fall into the river... Joan opened her eyes and gasped.

Charlemagne frowned. "What is it, ma chérie?"

Joan shook her head. "I'm not sure myself..." She stood up and looked towards Caesar's camp.

At Caesar's camp...

It was night time when the move had completely finished. Caesar and Ichihime were in the main partition where Caesar stayed and gave orders when he wasn't piloting Quo Vadis or sleeping. Their chairs were placed side by side and there was a table before them.

"The tea's ready!" Bianchi exclaimed from Caesar's side.

"Would you like some torta di cioccolata, as well?" Nell asked from Ichihime's side.

Ichihime watched with wide-eyes as Bianchi and Nell set the tea and sweets on the table. Caesar calmly took the tea in the proper Western way, not minding the children at all. Ichihime was a bit surprised at what the twins were doing and the fact that children were present. As soon as their tasks were done they flocked to the princess. She automatically leaned back as she looked from one to the other.

"You really are pretty," Nell stated.

"She has to be the prettiest woman, I've seen," Bianchi added. "I'm jealous!"

"Um..." Ichihime started, but couldn't get any more out. The twins were overwhelming to say the least.

"Have some of the sweets, princess. We made them!" Nell insisted as she leaned closer to the princess.

"They're way better than anything Caesar makes," Bianchi boasted.

"Um..." Ichihime repeated.

"Nell. Bianchi. Give Ichihime some space," Caesar ordered; not even turning away from his tea.

The twins turned to Caesar and pouted. "We were just getting to know her," Bianchi defended.

"Yeah, since someone hadn't introduced us yet," Nell added.

Ichihime blinked at her husband. Just what was he doing with twin children? They couldn't be...

"I won't repeat myself. Don't bother Ichihime," Caesar ordered.

"Fine," the twins both relented and stepped back. But they kept staring at the princess.

Caesar finally looked over and sighed. "They are Nell and Bianchi Tepes; twins who tend to accompany me. Just ignore them, they love causing mischief."

"What relation are they to you, Caesar-dono?" Ichihime inquired; her eyes never leaving the blonde twins.

"None," he replied. "Do eat the sweets, if you like. They did make them, but they aren't poisonous," he reassured.

Ichihime finally turned to the tempting sweets. "I will then." She picked one up and plopped it in her mouth. Her face instantly lit up. "How delicious!"

Nell and Bianchi smiled at each other and giggled. They then ran back up to Ichihime, but didn't get quite as close. "Say, whose do you like better?" Bianchi asked.

"Do tell!" Nell prodded.

Ichihime smiled at them. "Yours are good, but I must say Caesar-dono's cake was better."

"Eh!?" the twins exclaimed together while Caesar smirked. The general was both pleased and proud. The twins then turned to each other to discuss this.

"What did we do wrong?" Bianchi questioned.

"I was sure our skill level had surpassed Caesar's by now," Nell mused.

Caesar chuckled. "You both are good, but you're not that good. It'll take a while longer before you can think of surpassing the teacher."

The twins pouted as they started whispering to each other.

Ichihime raised her hand to her mouth and giggled as she turned to her husband. "You taught them?"

Caesar gave a wry smile. "Yes, in order to have peace."

Ichihime giggled again. The thought of Caesar being constantly pestered for sweets and then teaching them to make sweets was amusing. "I can't imagine it."

"Don't. It was a venture in and of itself," Caesar recalled the mess that was.

Ichihime's giggling intensified. "I'm sorry, I can't help it."

Caesar gave a bemused smile.

"Hey! Caesar made you a cake?" Bianchi asked, suddenly appearing at Ichihime's side with his sister.

"What kind of cake was it?" Nell questioned.

Ichihime jumped a little at their quick movement. "Um... Torta tenerina."

The twins gasped in surprised. "Torta tenerina!?" Bianchi turned to Caesar. "Caesar never makes that!"

"Also Caesar never cooks for anybody," Nell added. "The princess must be special!"

Ichihime blushed and looked down at her lap. For some reason, she was delighted to hear that she was the only one that Caesar cooked for. And a cake he rarely makes at that...

Suddenly, there was the sound of alarm bells. All of them immediately looked up into the night sky where no doubt an intruder was coming. The sounds of a giant war armor could now be heard.

"They're here," Caesar stated as he stood up. Ichihime watched as he took off his cloak and laid it on his chair and got ready to leave.

"Ichihime-sama!" Chacha exclaimed as she and her sisters rushed in.

"Caesar-dono," Ichihime called, which stopped Caesar in his tracks and caused him to turn to her. He gazed at her tenderly as he waited for her to continue. "Be safe."

Caesar gave a gentle smile. "I will." With that he was gone.

Ichihime clasped her hands to her heart. She was confident in Caesar's victory, but she was still worried.

Caesar, in Quo Vadis, met Charlemagne on the battlefield. "You don't waste time, Charlemagne."

Charlemagne smirked. "Neither do you, bon ami."

"Prepare yourself, Lord Caesar," Joan warned.

"Hmph!" Caesar sounded and he briefly closed his eyes. "So you decided to ride with Charlemagne?"

"But of course. It is the best bet to assure our lives, n'est-ce pas?"

"Oh, you come expecting to lose?" Caesar immediately pounced on that opening.

"Not at all," Charlemagne retorted. "It's just insurance. One can never tell what will happen on the battle field."

"Hmph, indeed," Caesar replied and raised the sword of Quo Vadis.

Charlemagne answered by raising his axe. "Let's begin this danse!"

At Caesar's camp...

Ichihime had her hand clasped to her heart as she looked towards where the fight was taking place. She couldn't see much of what was going on, but she could hear it. Oh, how she could hear it. But there was also something else that seemed wrong...

"Ichihime-sama," Chacha said to get the princess's attention.

Ichihime blinked and looked at her lady-in-waiting. All three sisters looked concerned for her. "Yes?"

"Are you alright? Do you want us to take you somewhere else?"

Ichihime shook her head. "I'm fine. I just have a bad feeling..."

All three sisters looked at each other as they became concerned as well.

Suddenly there was the sound of raging water. All of them turned to see the nearby river had turned to violent waves. The water had instantly turned from calm to deadly. The wind then also picked up; turning into violent gusts.

"What's going on!?" Hatsu exclaimed.

Chacha frowned. "Is this an effect of Caesar-sama and Charlemagne's battle?"

Suddenly the ground started rumbling and they all had to work to keep their balance.

"What now!?" Hatsu exclaimed.

Ichihime looked up at them. "Neither Caesar-dono nor Charlemagne have Regalia that controls the earth."

"Then what's happening!?"

Gou looked up. "Is it the dragon?"

Ichihime frowned. "This doesn't feel like it..."

Then things got even worse as the earth started to move and split. The three sisters went one way while Ichihime went another...

"Ichihime-sama!" the sisters yelled, but could not go after her.

Ichihime screamed as she fell down. She could do nothing, but go with the flow of the earth's movements.

In some trees...

Nell and Bianchi were sitting on a branch to survey what was happening. Nell had the telescope to her eye.

"Oh!" Nell exclaimed. "It looks like the princess is in trouble."

"Really!?" Bianchi perked up. "Let me see!" He reached for the telescope, but was pushed back.

"I wonder what Caesar will do," Nell smirked.

At the fight...

Caesar had fired his spear of light, but Charlemagne was able to block it with his lame du glace. But just barely. Caesar charged with his sword, which Charlemagne was able to block just in the nick of time.

"You're just as vicious as ever, Caesar," Charlemagne stated. "Though, strangely enough I sense some change in you."

"Hmph," Caesar sounded; choosing to not comment on that.

They exchanged more blows as the battle raged on with Caesar with an edge throughout. Wind and water raged around them.

Charlemagne turned to Joan. "How is our plan going?"

"Très bien," Joan replied with a smile.

Suddenly the elements picked up and swirled around Caesar even the earth was going against him. He immediately stopped and looked around him.

Joan smirked. "Lord Caesar, there is water all under this field, and thus I can control the earth and water by that."

Caesar turned his attention back on his enemy. "I figured you would do something like this."

"Quoi?" Both Charlemagne and Joan responded.

With an arrogant smile, Caesar made his cannon assemble.

"Joan, make nature rage more!" Charlemagne ordered as he powered up for a special attack of his own.

"Oui!" Joan affirmed. She concentrated all of her energy to do just so. But suddenly she saw a vision of Ichihime. "Halte!" She immediately placed her hand over Charlemagne's to get him to stop.

"Joan!?" Charlemagne exclaimed as he turned his attention to her.

Joan shook her head as her attention went to the river. Her eyes scanned it as she searched for something; rather someone.

The sudden stop in Charlemagne's attack caused Caesar to stop his. He looked at Carolus Magnus before him with curiosity and a bit of confusion. He then heard a feminine scream that drew his attention to the river. "Ichihime!?" he exclaimed.

Ichihime gave another scream as she fell into the river. She tried to swim, but the weight of her clothes pulled her down into the murky depths...

Before Charlemagne could even react Caesar had gotten out of Quo Vadis. The general jumped in after the bride and also disappeared under the violent waters...

A/N: Yeah, don't expect great mecha fights, as I can't really do that, but I will try my best. Also, I got the idea that Caesar taught the twins to make sweets from a fanart I saw. Those twins had to have learned from somewhere and I can only think of Caesar. LOL

French Translations:

n'est-ce pas: isn't it?

danse: dance (obvious, huh?)

très bien: very well

quoi: what

halte: stop (kinda obvious)