Chapter 15

Who knows how long we stayed like that. I think the Prince and I were having completely different reactions to the kiss. I for one, was frozen on the spot, my eyes so wide I wouldn't have been surprised if they fell out of their sockets. Every logical part of my brain was screaming at me as loud as it possibly could, "NOT GOOD! NOT GOOD! ABORT, ABORT, ABORT!" But my body wasn't budging.

Back when I was just a regular teenaged schoolgirl living with my mom, I would sit on my bed and play the games and fantasize about being the Prince's love interest. Hell, what self-respecting fan girl wouldn't? But back then, I didn't have any ties preventing me from loving him. Now, as an Angel, I had laws preventing me from showing him any kind of love other than friendship. If I let him do this, I would definitely be sorry. It was one of the Divine Laws that could not, under any circumstances, be broken, that said Angels cannot love non-angels.

But the thing was, I wasn't the one who was in love. I wasn't the one who was kissing him. It was the Prince who had fallen for me, and he was the one doing the kissing. But like it mattered… it was still a kiss. It was still a physical show of deep affection. Oh, I'd be hearing from the Council for this, I just knew I would. And they weren't gonna be happy, either. Well… maybe, just maybe, if I explained to them that I didn't have feelings for him, that he was the one who had feelings for me, I'd be off the hook. Yes, I'll do that. I'll just tell that that it wasn't my intention and with some luck, they'd understand.

Finally, after what seemed like forever, the prince's lips left mine and he pulled me into another hug.

"I am glad to have you back," he whispered, sounding relieved. Ok, so maybe it wasn't love after all? Maybe it was just relief... Please, oh please let it just be something simple that still qualified as friendship.

Careful not to send him the wrong message, I pulled out of his grasp, ignored his questioning gaze and turned my back to him. My poor brain was still trying to catch up. I lightly touched my lips as if making sure they were still there. We were silent a long time before I could finally make sense of the whole situation.

"…No," I said suddenly, breaking the silence. I heard the Prince shift firm behind me.

"No?" he repeated, confused.

"No. This isn't going to work."

"I don't think I understand." Honestly, I don't think I did either. I shook my head and rounded on him.

"Look, Prince, can't we do this later? Like… when you're not in mortal peril? Like, after we've dealt with the Empress?" He just blinked, but then seemed to agree.

"I suppose you're right. There will be plenty of time after we've met with Kaileena," he agreed. If he hadn't been looking right at me, I would've sunk to the ground in relief. At least now I would have to time to think about this whole thing and come up with a way to let him down… without breaking his heart into little pieces. That was going to be a little hard, especially since this was the first romantic situation I'd ever dealt with.

Kaileena was waiting for us in the Hourglass Chamber. Nothing was said as the Prince and I climbed the stairs and stood next to her in front of the open doors. There was a long silence before the Prince spoke up.

"Time's almost out," he said to Kaileena. "You ready?" the woman in red didn't answer. She only started walking into the throne room to prepare her trap. The Prince and I followed.

Once in the Throne Room, I took a moment to stop and admire the upholstery and sheer size of the room. The prince, however, kept walking forward, determination all over his face. I just watched and couldn't stop myself from smiling as he examined the swords on either side of the throne, picked them up and tossed them aside.

"It doesn't have to be this way, Kaileena!" he exclaimed. Kaileena seemed surprised at first, but then narrowed her eyes and glared at me. I stepped back and put my hands up.

"Don't look at me! I didn't do anything!" I cried, hoping that she won't sand-blast my head off.

"You told him, didn't you!" she demanded, pointing an accusing finger at me. "You told him!"

"I didn't tell him anything! He figured it out all by himself!" I exclaimed in my defense. By this time, the Prince had smashed in the back of the throne, revealing a portal room. Seeing this, I quickly made a mad dash towards the room and followed the Prince inside.

"You cannot run from your fate!" Kaileena yelled after us. I wasn't sure if she was talking to the Prince, or me but considering that the Prince was the one with fate issues, I assumed it was him. She came running in after us, her swords in hand. She quickly lunged at the Prince, but he blocked her attack, then he sent her back into the portal and with one last look of surprise, she disappeared into the future. Or Present. Whatever.

The Prince and I smiled at each other in victory and quickly followed.

I thought heavily about what I was going to say to the Prince when the subject of love came up again, if it came up again. I had a rough idea of what I was going to say… but I didn't know for certain. Hell, I didn't even know if he did love me! I guess I'd just have to say something like "Sorry, Prince, but it just wouldn't work… I mean you're human… I'm not… besides, I prefer our relationship as just plain ol' friends." Or something. Maybe, if I was careful, I could avoid the real truth all together! As a Prince, and heir of the throne of Persia, he would need a wife who knew what the hell she was doing when it came to ruling a country, and he would need a wife who wasn't… well… sterile.

Yes, I finally said it. Now you know my deep, dark secret. As an Angel, I'm pretty much infertile. And I say 'pretty much' because it can still happen, though it was about a trillion to one odds. And considering our crap luck so far, we'd go through our whole lives without even a miscarriage.

Besides, there was no way in shanaynay that I was going to let myself fall in love with Princy. No way. I couldn't... Not ony was it against the law, but I would be getting a confirmation for my... arrangement soon... Besides, I was not going to break the laws and become an outlaw. I'd never be able to live with myself if I did. I'd end up like the Prince, only I'd be running from the Hunter Angels, rather than Dahaka.

Anyways, back to our current situation. It didn't take us long to reach the stage where the final battle would've taken place. If memory serves, it was either a battle against Kaileena, or against the Dahaka, depending of whether or not the Prince had the Water Sword. I'd forgotten which swords were which, so I guess I'd just have to find out for myself who we'd be fighting.

But as the two of us jumped out onto the large platform, not only did I see Kaileena there, but also two others. One was a tall, broad man, dark haired man—no, not a man. An Angel. A Renegade. His wings were black. Strike one…

The second was a much smaller, much younger man, also dark haired. He was standing a little farther away from the group, his arms folded, looking grumpy. He didn't have wings, but there was something eerily familiar about him… Strike two.

The older Angel seemed to be talking about something with Kaileena, and she seemed like she was both interested and skeptical at the same time about whatever the subject was.

The younger one must've heard us when we landed because he looked up, spotted us, and scowled.

"So THERE you are!" he shouted at us, not bothering to hide his aggravation. The older angel and Kaileena stopped their conversation and looked over at him as he stormed over to us. Or rather, over to me. He got a few feet away from me, and then held out his hand demandingly. "I'll be taking my charm back, if you don't mind!" I stared at him, my eyes wide for just a moment, before something clicked in my head. No wonder he seemed familiar! It'd been so long since we last met… he was older now, but I could still recognize him.

"…Mike?"


Kiri: EVIL CLIFFHANGER! OMG!

Naomi: CLIFFHANGER NOTHING! WHAT IS HE DOING HERE?!

Kiri: Mwuhahaha!

Mike: Why do you think I'm here? You have my wings, damn it!

Kiri: ok, enough of that, children. Anyways. Since I love you guys so much, I took the time to pump out another chapter for you. Aren't I nice? Again, no FAQ now, since I REALLY need to get my homework done. And on another note, we're approaching the last chapter, peoples! But fear not, we still have part three to go. So until next chapter, Ciao!