Wow. It's been a long time since I updated this. I had hit a wall with this story, and so I put it on hiatus. Awhile ago, however, I was having a conversation with toby860 and he brought up a good staple for a fantasy story. So, armed with a fresh idea, I now present the (long overdue) next chapter!

CHAPTER 17

MAYBE NOT SO BAD AFTER ALL

"What in the world were you thinking, Ruby?" Moka scolded the sheepy witch. They were once more in the infirmary, where they had brought Tsukune after he had collapsed. Moka had been frantic until the doctor assured her that the collapse had been from exhaustion rather than something more serious. Now that the immediate danger had passed, however, Moka was venting her anger. "You know Tsukune was weak, and yet you still made him get up! Why?"

"I didn't think he would collapse…" Ruby said in a half-hearted attempt to defend herself. In truth, she was mentally abusing herself up as much as Moka was verbally. She hadn't really known Tsukune all that long, but she had grown rather fond of him, and she was just as upset as Moka was that she was responsible for him getting hurt. Ruby waited until Moka took a breath from her disciplining before speaking up again. "Look, Moka, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt Tsukune-really. I was just worried about you, and I thought since you and Tsukune have this thing going on, he would want to know as well. "

Ruby's apology took Moka off-guard. Great. She thought. Now I'll feel guilty if I keep weeding her out like this. Darn you Ruby for being so good at manipulating people! Moka waved her hand. "Fine. I forgive you. You are dismissed."

Ruby became confused. "But Moka, don't you think I should stay a little lon-"

"You are dismissed, Ruby." Moka repeated in hard tone that left no room for negotiation. Ruby quickly nodded and left the room, not wanting to be on the receiving end of a disobeyed order punishment.

Moka sighed and put her head in her hand as she collapsed into her (now well-worn) chair by Tsukune's bed. When had her life gotten so complicated? A month ago, life had been simple. Now, she was dating her servant that was in the hospital because of her, her old servant was out to kill her, her arch-enemy was living in her castle, and a complete and utter scumbag was proposing to her! Just thinking about it gave Moka a headache. She didn't know where to start on the path to smoothing things out. I guess I should take care of Gin first… She thought. Knowing him, it's going to take multiple rejections to get the 'no' through that thick skull of his. Hmm… Moka's inner musings were cut short by a soft knocking on the door. "Come in."

Moka was surprised when Kurumu, of all people, entered the infirmary. "How's he doing?" Kurumu asked, gesturing to Tsukune. Moka was suspicious; why did she care about Tsukune? "And yes, I am actually concerned about him." Apparently, Kurumu was able to read Moka quite well.

"Why?" Moka asked.

"Well…I like him." Moka's eyes widened and she clenched her fists at Kurumu's confession. Seeing this, Kurumu frantically spoke up once more. "Not like that!" She exclaimed. She sighed. "I mean…he was nice to me. I like that. It's like I was a person, not a princess, you know?" Moka nodded in understanding. Too often, people seemed to treat her as if she wasn't a person. Well, technically, she wasn't, but even monsters treated her as if she wasn't one of them, as if she was better than them, somehow. At first she had been somewhat pleased admittedly; those weaker monsters knew their place! Serves them right! But as she got older, Moka grew more and more lonely. Having Tsukune come along and treat her like she was his friend had felt like a breath of fresh air… maybe that's why she had fallen for him so easily.

"Can I maybe um… sit here? With you?" Kurumu asked. Moka raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Taking that as a good thing, Kurumu sat down in the seat next to Moka and joined her in staring at Tsukune as he slept. "So, er, how did he come to live in the castle?" Kurumu asked, trying to make small talk. Moka snorted.

"That's kind of a long story." She said. Kurumu smiled.

"It's not like I'm going anywhere, right?"

XXXXXXXX

"Hm. That's a pretty interesting story." Kurumu noted when Moka had finished.

"I think so." Moka replied. There was a comfortable silence for a minute or two before Kurumu spoke up again.

"So how was your dinner with Gin?" Moka frowned and narrowed her eyes, and Kurumu giggled. "That bad huh?"

"Ugh. The slime ball proposed to me." Moka said as if she had a bad taste in her mouth. Kurumu gasped.

"No!"

"Yes!"

"Ewww!" Kurumu said, sticking out her tongue. "You said no, right?"

Moka rolled her eyes. "Of course! Who would want to be married to that moron?"

"I know, right!" Kurumu said, erupting into a fit of giggles, followed soon after by Moka. After all the drama that had been happening, it felt so good to just let go and laugh. As their giggles died down, Moka looked at Kurumu.

Maybe she's not all that bad. Moka thought. Moka was about to voice her opinion when there was another knock on the door. "What is it?" Moka asked.

The door opened and a servant entered. He coughed once. "Sorry to intrude on you, your highnesses, but Princess Moka has received a message from Prince FangFang."