"Kokoro?"
Kokoro peeled her cheek off Baron's back and straightened a little. "Yes?" she squeaked.
"I'm having trouble breathing."
Her hands immediately fell away and her face became flushed. "I'm sorry!" she cried.
He inhaled deeply. "It's all right, but... we're going to have to switch places."
"What?" she shouted, leaning back and staring at his backside. "How do you propose we do that?"
"I have good balance." He tilted his head back and grinned somewhat wickedly. "I am a cat after all."
Kokoro shook her head. "That doesn't answer my question Baron!"
He ignored her as he stood up and carefully sidestepped her body. He seated himself behind her and lightly placed a hand on her waist, his fingers wrapped around his cane while the other clutched the brim of his hat.
Kokoro was about to protest more when she realized that the fairies were fast approaching. She wrapped her fingers in Toto's feathers and was silent while Baron glanced behind them periodically, keeping the fairies at bay with his cane and Toto's excellent flying skills.
No one was paying attention to the trees ahead. Baron and Toto were busy trying to keep the guard fairies back. Kokoro was busy trying to keep from screaming out of sheer terror.
Kokoro saw a sparkle of red heading straight for them. "Toto, look out!" she cried, pointing in front of them.
"Huh?" Toto and Baron turned around just as Toto's wing clipped the fairy.
Kokoro and Toto screamed, and Baron grit his teeth. While Toto careened between the branches, trying to avoid the trees and the guard fairies, but also trying to balance himself out, Kokoro and Baron grabbed the fairy Toto had crashed.
When they pulled him on, Kokoro brushed the fairy's hair away so she see his face. The first thing she noticed was that he was very handsome; the next thing was that he resembled Queen Esmeralda in an uncanny way. He had dark brown hair with vibrant red highlights and sparkly red wings, and he was dressed in a red tunic with a burgundy shirt and breeches. But what she noticed most were his scarlet irises, which were staring up at her in a mixture of pain and confusion.
"Ugh, what happened?" he groaned, rubbing the back of his head.
Kokoro gave him a sheepish smile. "We weren't paying attention, and you crashed into my friend's wing. We're really, really sorry."
The man grimaced as he tried to sit up. "It's all right. No hard feelings. But..." His eyes drifted between their faces. "Who are you?"
"Well, I'm Kokoro, and this is Baron," she gestured at the cat behind her, "and the crow is Toto. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yes, well, I have a goose egg on the back of my head, but I'll make it." He smiled, then winced. "Do I know you? Or, a better question would be, should I know you?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so. We're not exactly popular in the Fairy Kingdom."
The fairy shook his head. "No, are you sure? I thought I knew all, or at least most, of the fairies in my kingdom."
Kokoro's jaw dropped. "Y-Y-Your kingdom?" she stammered.
He shrugged. "Well, not quite. But it will be as soon as my mother relinquishes her crown to me."
Baron unexpectedly joined in the conversation. "What did you say your name was?" he asked suddenly.
The fairy looked surprised, but he answered, "Prince Aidan, son of Queen Esmeralda of the—"
Both Kokoro and Baron's eyes widened and Kokoro lifted a shaking finger. "Y-You mean… you're my fiancé?"
Prince Aidan's eyebrows disappeared beneath his bangs and his scarlet eyes stared at her in shock. "Fiancé? I don't even know you!" He looked between the two of them. "What is going on here?"
While Kokoro was still reeling from the shock of meeting her husband-to-be, Baron quickly explained the situation to the also-shocked Fairy Prince. "Long story short, your mother kidnapped Miss Kokoro because she found a stone that doesn't belong to her, and now she is engaged to you," he said.
Prince Aidan nodded in understanding before he stood up. Kokoro started to ask what he was doing, but he strolled right past her and paused on Toto's tail feathers. He held up his hand, palm outward, and shouted, "By the order of the Fairy Prince, I command you to stop!"
Almost instantly, the guards halted and hovered in the air. Prince Aidan turned around and walked back, a proud smile plastered on his face. He knelt down beside Kokoro and said, "Do you mind if we land? We can further discuss your problem there."
She nodded, her cheeks flushed. "Wow, you're cool," she mumbled as Toto carefully landed on a tree branch. Baron and Prince Aidan both climbed off and offered their hands to Kokoro. As Kokoro continuing asking if Prince Aidan was sure he was all right, Baron straightened his hat and glanced behind them.
"Not to be a wet blanket," he said, "but now may not be the time to be getting too comfortable."
Everyone turned to look back the way they had come. Flying toward them was another group of fairies, but this time none of them were armed.
But what made Kokoro's heart pound and all the color drain out of her cheeks was the fact that they were being lead by a woman with long brown hair and glittering red wings. And she did not look pleased.
~*~