The following morning, Kori allowed her eyes to flutter before they opened fully. She softly smiled at the stray beams of light that trickled through her bedroom window and over her face. She stretched her arms above her head and slowly sat up.

Her k'anabra wolf, Silkie, jumped up onto her bed and licked her cheek. The Princess giggled and ran her hand through her pet's fluffy fur.

"Good morning, my little bumgorf," She cooed, rubbing Silkie's face playfully.

Silkie made a small noise of approval as Kori continued to stroke the adorable little wolf. She smiled and shook her head at her pet. Silkie was such a sucker for a scratch behind the ear.

Suddenly, the sound of the cannons blasted through the air and Kori was immediately on alert. She gently moved Silkie and threw back her covers. She hurried over to the window and her eyes widened at the sight before her.

"It cannot be..." She whispered to herself as she felt a knot in her stomach,

It was a bloodbath outside. Another battle had already started and from the looks of things, the Tamaranian soldiers were not winning. Kori squeezed her eyes shut as she witnessed bloodshed and barbaric murder methods. She gritted her teeth and pounded her fist against the wall.

Kori turned away and quickly dressed herself in her armour before grabbing her sword from the end of her bed. She tied the sword to her waist as she sprinted out of her room and down the stairs. She angrily shoved the large double doors of the throne room open, knowing that everyone would be in there.

In response to her outburst, Kori earned instant attention from every soul within the room. Her mother and father glanced at her, utterly shocked by her abrupt entrance whereas Ryan smirked. He had been waiting for his sister to make an appearance.

Dick openly smiled at the way she had marched into the room. He was enchanted by her warrior attitude and how important her people were to her, both civilians and soldiers.

"Father... What are you doing!?" She asked, heatedly,

Myand'r sighed, "We are trying to think of a battle strategy, my daughter."

Kori stepped closer to the king, "I have one. Attack."

"Koriand'r-"

"No! Our men are dying out there!" She paused and held a fist to her chest, "They need our help father or they will be overpowered."

Ryan wandered over to Kori and confidently rested a hand on her shoulder. He nodded to her and turned to King Myand'r, "Father, Koriand'r is right. If we do not do something soon, this battle will be over and the results will not be in our favour."

The King looked over at Superman and Batman, "Friends, I know you are uncomfortable with the idea of war but... Will you aid us?" He hoped,

"This is war Myand'r. We understand and we will help." Batman stated with Superman nodding in agreement,

"Let us march then! Ryand'r, take the East with Nightwing and Koriand'r. Superman and Batman; we will take the West." Myand'r commanded, picking up his weapon.

"Our main target for today... It is Haruzu?" Kori confirmed, earning a short nod from her father.

Suddenly, everyone began marching and rushing out onto the battlefield to help the soldiers who were desperately trying to repel the opposing Citadel soldiers. Nightwing watched Kori closely. He knew that she was fully capable of holding her own during a fight but he couldn't help but worry about her safety. The Citadel soldiers were vicious as he had already seen firsthand.

Nightwing watched the royal siblings. They practically mirrored each other's movements; the two of them unsheathed their swords simultaneously before dodging jabs from individual soldiers.

Dick shook his head and remembered that he was on the battlefield too and he needed to pay attention to his surroundings. He grabbed his electric tonfas and brought them up to defend himself as several soldiers came running at him. He jabbed one of them and watched the soldier shake as the electric currents erupted through his nerves. Dick felt slightly cruel especially as he had it on the highest electrical setting but he knew that death was usually the outcome of soldiers fighting. That is exactly what he had to act like; a soldier.

He continued to do the same electrical technique with the following two soldiers and he watched them as they fell upon the dusty plains. Dick glanced over in Ryan's direction and saw that he wasn't struggling at all. The Prince truly was built for war and he applied himself wonderfully. Ryan was probably one of the best fighters that Dick had ever met, alongside Kori and King Myand'r.

Nightwing's mind wandered to the thought of Kori and he scanned the area for her. His heart began to pound immensely as he couldn't locate her. He gripped his weapons tighter and gritted his teeth, hoping for Kori to make an appearance.

Suddenly, his prayers were answered.

Kori was doing her best to fight off approximately 5 soldiers. Dick gulped and immediately jumped to her aid. He knocked them out of the way and struck them with a jolt of electricity to ensure that they stayed down. After noticing that four of the five had been defeated, Dick heard a small scream that caught his attention.

Kori's hands shook as she held her sword firmly. She had never been backed into a corner like this. She literally couldn't move and fear was seeping through her. The soldier before her raised his sword above his head, confidently. Kori's eyes widened before she shut them tightly and pressed her back against the rocky cliff behind her as the weapon was thrust downwards.

The Princess yelped out as she accepted that she was about to die. She waited for the searing impact that a sword would cause but it never came.

After a moment, she opened her eyes and looked ahead. Kori felt herself relax and a small smile tugged at her lips. She faced Dick's back as he stopped the sword with his staff. He was literally between Kori and the thing that would kill her. For a moment, Kori couldn't believe that he was willing to jump in front of her like that to save her life but then she realised that she would do the exact same if the roles were reversed.

Dick growled and kicked the soldier in the chest, sending him crashing onto the ground. He moved out of the way and Kori regained her confidence and she proved it as she plunged her sword through the soldier's chest.

The two of them took a minute to get their breath back. Kori leaned against the rock wall and exhaled deeply. She watched Dick as he stepped closer to her and pushed some of her hair behind her ear,

"Are you okay, Kor?" He whispered,

Kori could barely form words so she just nodded to him. He flashed her a smile and kissed her cheek before he sprinted off in Ryan's direction.

The Princess felt so overwhelmed by what Dick had done for her. She knew that she had fallen completely in love with the masked hero and she wanted to show him that, like he had by jumping in front of her to save her life. Kori felt her cheeks heat up and an inevitable smile appear on her face as she thought about her secret relationship with Dick. She had such deep feelings for him and they were causing her to have a racing heartbeat just by thinking about him.

Kori shook her head and realised that she had to keep moving if she wanted them to win today's battle. She tightened her grip on her sword and dashed off to take down more enemies.

Dick quietly wandered through the dimly lit hallways as he journeyed to reach Kori's bedroom. Following the early evening's victory, everyone had retired to their own rooms to clean themselves up and get some rest. He hadn't seen Kori since they were on the battlefield and he missed her. He also wanted to make sure that she was alright and that she had not encountered any injuries during the brutal battle.

It was now roughly 2am and he knew that most of the kingdom was asleep but he could only hope that Kori was still awake.

He approached her large double doors and cleared his throat whilst quickly fixing his hair. Although Dick had been in a secret relationship with Kori for just over a week, he still liked to make sure that he looked presentable for her considering she always looked immaculate.

Dick lightly knocked on her door and scanned the hallway to make sure that no one was around. It wouldn't look too good if he was caught sneaking around with the Princess at such a late hour.

After a moment passed, one of the large doors opened to reveal the beautiful girl who Dick had become infatuated with over the past few weeks.

Kori silently moved her finger to her lips as a signal to be quiet. Dick grinned but nodded and stepped into her room. Kori closed the door behind him and locked it so that nobody could just walk in.

She was no longer dressed in her armour. Now, she was dressed in a delicate dark green bra-like garment that had a thin set of chains attached to the underneath. On her bottom half, she wore dark green briefs with a light green, mesh skirt wrapped around her waist. Her hair was down and it cascaded over her petite shoulders.

"Did I wake you?" Dick asked quietly,

"No... I was waiting up to see if you would visit." She replied, turning away from the doors.

Dick allowed his eyes to travel over her perfect form, "You look beautiful, Kori." He complimented.

Kori bowed her head slightly and giggled, "Thank you, Richard."

Dick walked over to her and grabbed her waist suddenly. He pulled her closer to him and pressed his lips to hers as if he was desperate to have her. His fingers got lost in her mess of auburn hair as he pulled her even closer to his body.

After a couple of minutes of passionate kissing, Kori pulled away from Dick and breathed unevenly. She raised an eyebrow at him but no words were needed for her obvious question.

"Sorry..." Dick breathed, "I... I just missed you..."

Kori tilted her head to the side and softly smiled at how sweet Dick was, "Fear not. I missed you also," She giggled,

"Are you okay? After the battle, I was worried that you might have been injured or-"

"I am perfectly fine, Richard,"

Kori stepped back from him and spun around to prove her point of having no visible injuries.

Dick smirked, "Well, I can see that now..." He whispered, pulling her close to him once more. Kori giggled as he nuzzled her neck and caused them to fall onto her large violet bed, with Kori on top of him.

The Princess stared at the boy beneath her and smiled gently, "I wished to thank you..."
Dick chuckled, "For what?"

"Today on the battlefield; you saved me from being killed by the soldier,"

"Kori, you don't need to thank me. I'd do it again in a heartbeat."

She softly smiled and leaned down. She attached her lips to Dick's and slowly moved her hips against him. It only took a minute for Dick to understand what activity she was trying to initiate. He was hesitant to accept her apparent offer as he assumed she felt like she had to due to him saving her in battle.

He rested his hands on her waist to still her for a moment. He broke their kiss and looked up at her as she lightly panted.

"Kori... You aren't indebted to me... You don't have to thank me this way." He told her, brushing his fingers against her stomach.

Kori smiled down at him lovingly, "I only wish to do this to partly thank you for today... Truthfully, I wish to participate in the act more than you could believe."

Dick brushed her hair behind her ear and timidly smiled back at her, "Trust me, I want to do this with you so much... As long as you're okay with it, Kori... I'll gladly do this with you tonight."

Kori giggled and brushed her nose against his, "Good," She murmured,

He grinned and held her close to his body so much that he could feel the heat radiating from her golden skin. As they kissed, Kori's hair fell around them like a soft auburn curtain and Dick could smell her exotic strawberry scent. He ran a hand through her hair and pulled away from her lips, "I love you, Kori." He blurted, fearing for a moment that she would react negatively. However, Kori gently touched his cheek with her fingertips and smiled, "I love you also, Richard..." She breathed,

"Thank God." Dick sighed, earning a little giggle from the Princess.

The fire flickered and wavered as the wood continued to burn within the fireplace of Kori's bedroom. She and Dick were lying on the floor in front of the controlled fire with a green blanket covering them. They leaned on their sides whilst Kori rested her back against Dick's chest. Her eyes felt heavy and she was extremely close to falling soundly asleep. Dick sighed in content and softly ran his fingers up and down her forearm, earning approving little murmurs from the girl.

"I should go, Kor..." He whispered,

Kori slowly nodded, "I know... As much as I do not want you to leave..." She responded,

"I know but... They would kill me if they found me like this with the Princess... The engaged Princess..."

Kori giggled as Dick pulled her even closer to him,

"Tsk, tsk, Koriand'r... I feel like I've corrupted you..."

Kori smiled and stared at the fire as Dick softly kissed her neck, "No, you have merely shown me the difference between following duties and following my own heart... Far from corruption, believe me."

Dick cleared his throat and shifted so that he was sitting on his knees, looking down at Kori. She smirked up at him whilst he chuckled and picked her up by her waist. Kori wrapped her legs around his waist and leaned her head against his shoulder as he carried her across the room.

When he reached her bed, he placed Kori upon it and brought the covers over her. For a brief moment, he felt slightly self conscious about being stark naked in front of her but then he remembered why it wouldn't matter.

Kori idly watched Dick as he located his clothing and began to dress himself. Her eyes were getting heavier with each passing minute and she knew that she'd end up falling asleep soon.

After placing his mask back on his face, Dick wandered over to Kori and kneeled down to match her level. She leaned forward and tenderly kissed him whilst raking her fingers through his ebony hair.

"I'll see you in the morning, beautiful," Dick said in a hushed tone,

Kori nodded, "I love you,"

Dick grinned, "I love you too,"

She lightly laughed, causing Dick to raise an eyebrow at her,

"What is it?"

"Nothing... It is just... I never truly believed that I could actually fall in love with someone so quickly and yet... Here I am..."

Dick smiled at her and softly kissed her forehead before he stood up straight and wandered out of the room, quietly closing the door behind him. Kori snuggled against her pillow and fell asleep with a sincere smile of happiness on her face...