Two weeks later

Morannocky had just come from a game of Soul Calibur III with Braig and had been defeated nine times consecutively. Although Braig had good sportsmanship about it, Morannocky was fuming mad. He couldn't understand how Braig, who had never played the game before in his life, had used Maxi and Zasalamel to defeat him when he had used Siegfried, Kilik, and Nightmare: all of which he had used and had never been defeated. To keep himself from exploding, he went out into the palace gardens to pray and hopefully calm down.

It was a warm July evening and the moon was full and high in the sky, as bright as Morannocky had ever seen it. As a result, he noticed something amazing and beautiful happening. The night cereuses were beginning to bloom into their single night life. As the most beautiful flower in the world, they shyly but surely emitted their seraphic aroma into the garden as their delicate white petals opened up. Morannocky smiled and held a large, soft blossom between his hands. He leaned in and inhaled the scent heavily. It helped calm him a bit. All around him, the cactuses were releasing their single-night blooms until the entire garden was dappled with their beauty and the cool wind was perfumed.

He heard a slight rustling in the plant about twenty feet away. It was followed but a soft, but sharp cry of pain and more rustling. Morannocky cautiously, but quickly stepped towards the disturbance of the peace. He pulled back the heavy, wide leaves of a paopu tree to reveal a girl about the age of ten. She was writhing against the sparse thorns of the cactus vine bearing the celestial flowers. The shaking of her trying to free her skin plagued by the plant's snare cause the thin petals from the blossoms to fly everywhere. "Hello?" Morannocky called.

The girl's eyes jerked up towards his, terrified and wide with guilt. Morannocky gasped. They were such a pure blue, that in the bright moonlight, they were silvery. Her brown hair was pulled back into two braided pigtails behind her head and tied with small green ribbons to match her jaded green shirt. That was now torn at the sleeves from the thorns and even thin and a few thick lines of red showed beneath the cloth as a result of the floral fangs. After simply gazing at Morannocky for a minute, she turned violently and struggled to tear herself through the vines, back the way she had come.

"Whoa! Don't do that! You'll scratch yourself even more!" he called and dove into the flowers after her. He managed to catch her hand, but her strength had pulled him fully into the vines. "Ow! Will you stop it! I'm not trying to hurt you!"

"Let me go!" the girl protested and refused to cease in pulling.

"Will you please chillax!" Morannocky snorted. With that, the girl stopped struggling and she turned to him.

"Did you just say chillax?" she asked, turning slowly.

"Yes, I did. The most you struggle in the cereuses, the more you get tangled," Morannocky said. He gently tugged her arm. "Come out this way, it's safer."

He led her carefully, helping her to pick thorns from her arms as they walked. In the end, they managed to get out of the flowers, but only after receiving many more scratches. The girl's arms were covered in them as well as her feet and calves for she had been wearing capris. Turning to her, he gripped her shoulders. "Now, what are you doing here? You're not supposed to be in here!"

"I saw that those white flowers were blooming and I wanted to pick one," the girl said honestly. Morannocky sighed and rubbed his eyes.

"Do you have any idea where you are?" Morannocky prodded, eyes wide with shock.

"Yeah, this is the palace gardens, right?" the girl guessed.

"Yes! King Ansem doesn't like trespassers you know!" Morannocky said. The girl defiantly crossed her arms.

"Then what are you doing here?"

"Oh hush! I live in the palace, Ms. Smartypants!"

"HEY!" shouted a deep voice. Morannocky cringed as he heard the clanking of armor rushing down the path in the gardens.

He leaned in towards the girl quickly and whispered, "Play along if you want to live."

Two guards came rushing down the path, gunblades poised for attack. When they saw the young prince, they lowered their guard, but the first guard's gaze was sharply fixed on the blue-eyed girl covered in cereus scratches. He pointed his gunblade briefly at the girl. "Who is she?"

"Oh, she's my friend. We were just playing together," Morannocky lied. The guard's eyes narrowed.

"What's her name, Master Morannocky?" the guard pressed, sheathing his blade.

"Erm…"

"My name's Jade, sir," the girl said softly. She elbowed the prince in the ribs. "Morannocky here's been using my nickname, Sahara, so much that he's nearly forgotten my real name."

"Then why haven't I seen you around the palace at all, Ms. Jade?" the guard questioned.

"We met on the beach and this is the first time she's been in the palace," Morannocky lied again.

"And she looks like she just ran through the cereuses," the guard said.

"I told her not to come in that way, but she was afraid the gate guards would send her away," Morannocky lied yet another. The guard didn't seem fully convinced. His hazel eye shifted between the two children.

"You two wait here with Mr. Urzul. I'll be back."

While he was gone, Jade leaned over to Morannocky and whispered, "You just lied three times, dude."

"You lied once! We both sinned so hush before you get us into even more trouble!"

The guard who left come back twenty minutes later…with the king. Morannocky froze at the sight of his father. Ansem seemed a bit tired, but not to tired to deal with the two mischievous children. He stopped before them. He wore a long black coat hemmed in gold and crimson and black pants. His arms were crossed and golden eyes questioning. His gaze was first to Morannocky to break any lies that Morannocky might be conjugating in his head.

"I heard a suspicious tale from Captain Jackson that apparently came from you two," he said slowly. His amber gaze turned slowly to Jade who, not being used to such powerful glares, nearly crumbled beneath its intensity. She soon found herself bowing her head. "Who might you be, young one?" Ansem asked softly. He didn't want to be too harsh seeing the girl was young.

"Jade, sir," Jade answered softly in a terrified voice.

Ansem knelt down to her eye level and slowly lifted her chin with the crook of his finger. He could tell by the immense guilt and terror in her sky blue eyes that she was sorry for whatever she had done. He gazed down past the bleeding scratches to her hand which was tightly clenched around a bunch of cereus petals. "I take it that you like my night blooming cereuses?" he asked softly. Jade immediately hid the petals behind her back. "You don't have to try and hide them, Jade. I already know that you tried to take one." Slowly, the girl dropped the petals.

"I'm so sorry, Master!" Jade cried and stepped back. "Please don't throw me in jail!"

Ansem chuckled which eventually turned into a good, hearty laugh. "Throw you in jail? Don't be absurd, little one, why would I do that?" He smiled and bent over. "I won't do such a thing, but know this, dear one. Stealing and trespassing are bad things to do and they hurt people when you do them. I hope this teaches you a lesson to ask instead of trying to take what you want without asking," he explained and gestured toward her many scratches.

"Oh…yeah…ow," Jade uttered. Ansem chuckled briefly and then turned to his son. Morannocky was attempting to give his father his most innocent puppy eyes, but it was a futile effort. Those puppy eyes only worked on the king when Morannocky was three.

"Morannocky, I will deal with you privately, but defending Jade didn't mean you had to lie. I wouldn't have been as angry had you simply told the truth, my son," Ansem said.

"I'm sorry, father," Morannocky said. He looked up, his eyes now begging rather than trying to look cute. "Will you forgive me?"

"Yes," the king said and turned back to the young girl, "as I do you. Now what do you say we get those scratches cleaned up and you get you home?"

"I suppose," Jade said in a small voice.

Morannocky and Jade hit it off immediately and talked nonstop while Claudia carefully cleaned both of them up. Jade felt embarrassed to have the queen cleaning her wounds after she had just tried to steal from her garden. The queen knew what had happened but talked to her as if nothing at all had happened. In fact, as they were waiting for Jade's father to arrive, Claudia served her a glass of pink lemonade.

"So you're his Majesty's son?" Jade asked, swinging her freshly bandaged legs over the edge of a chair on a balcony. Morannocky grinned and scratched the back of his head.

"Yeah…that's my dad," he snickered. Jade's face was perfectly straight and serious.

"You don't look anything like him," she said honestly, shaking her head.

"I was adopted by him."

"I was adopted too."

"By who?"

"Silas Astrum. He works part time for the University's astronomy department and then volunteers at the Healing Hands Hospital."

"Silas Astrum as in the Silas Astrum world renowned as Moon Darkened Wolf?"

"Yes, but he hates it when people call him by those names. He'd rather not remember his days as a SOLDIER."

"Jade," came a smooth, gentle voice from behind. The girl cringed at the sound of her father. She turned slowly. Silas stood there with his coat draped over his arm and motorcycle keys clenched in his hand. Jade could tell he was embarrassed and upset, but not angry. She knew there would be a spanking when she got home and she cringed at that thought.

"Hey dad…" she uttered and got to her feet. She slowly walked over to him. "I'm sorry."

"I know…I hope this scared you out of repeating this," Silas said sternly. He looked up at Morannocky. "I'll see you later, Prince Morannocky."

"Bye Mr. Astrum, bye Jade!" Morannocky called and waved. The two walked off slowly.

As he watched them go, smiling at the friend he had just gained, he heard his father's deep voice, "Morannocky!"