I'm soo sorry this took so long. Did you start to worry already? :P I was just busy and inspirationless on top of that for a long while. But here it is, the new chapter! I hope you all like it! And I'll promise I won't take a half year to upload the next chapter again ;)

As always, this chapter was beta'd by Aerle and Thérèse.

Chapter 13: A whole new world

I looked at the gardens, scanning them for guards. There were still more than the first time I went to visit the palace, but I suspected there had been even more the first days after my escape last week. There were three guards standing near the palace, and three patrolling around the surrounding wall I was currently sitting on. It was a good thing they didn't look up.

I followed them with my eyes for a while, calculating the best moment to jump down. When two of the three wall-guards decided to have a short chat, I saw my chance, and as soon as I hit the ground, I ran towards a big tree. I pressed my back against it and held my breath to listen for any sign someone had noticed me. I heard the hushed talking of the guards stop, I heard a few footsteps, but then the footsteps went back to where they came from and the talking continued again.

I let out the breath I was holding and made my way through the rest of the garden. Somehow, they hadn't deemed it necessary to put a guard underneath the princess's chamber, because apparently, burglars only got in through doors. Or whatever reason they had to only stand watch near the doors. I got up to Vivi's balcony pretty easily. The glass doors weren't covered by curtains this time, and I could spot Vivi sitting on her sofa, reading a book. I softly knocked on the glass.

She immediately looked up, looked around as if to check there was no one else in her room, and then smiled. She opened the door to let me in. "You made it."

"Of course I made it," I answered. I too checked the room to see if there wasn't anyone – or any certain blond – inside. Unfortunately, the room was empty.

I paced up and down, not able to sit still, partly because I was in the same building as Marco again, and partly because of what I was planning to do next with Vivi. "So, are you ready for some adventure?"

Vivi looked curiously and a little unsure at me. "I… think we have had plenty of adventure last time. Remember, when you got caught, and I had to beg Marco to break you out?" She sat down again. "After which I had guards around me almost every possible moment of the day for at least five days? The only moment they did not follow me was when I went into the bathroom."

I stopped pacing and looked down, feeling a little guilty. It was my fault she got into trouble. "I'm sorry," I said. "You're right… I should probably leave, I don't want to make things worse for you."

I had already turned around to face the balcony again, when she grabbed my arm. "That was not what I was saying. At all." She pulled me back and forced me to sit on her sofa. "I was just saying that 'adventure' sounds a little dangerous to me, and that maybe we should be a bit more careful." She looked me in the eyes. "Besides, you really should not worry about me. Being followed around by a few more guards is not that much of a change. If they catch you again, well, with all the crimes you have already committed, I would not be surprised if they would execute you."

I laughed short, and humorless. "I'm not afraid of death."

"That doesn't mean you do not prefer to live," she reacted. "Right?"

I shrugged. She probably had a point. "Maybe." I jumped up again. "But it does mean I'm not going to avoid adventure." I looked daringly at her, trying to challenge her a bit. If she didn't want to do this, it would mean just another boring day inside the palace. So I had to try to get her to agree with me. "You wanted to see the city, right?"

Again she had that look on her face as if she was afraid of what I was going to say next. "Of course, but I know that's not really possible right now… is it?"

A big smirk grew on my face. "Well, since you have met me, and I'm pretty smart… Today is your lucky day!"

"Wow, Ace, I have to interrupt you there," Vivi said with an earnest expression on her face. "I am sorry to break it to you, but hiding behind a wall-carpet, where your legs still sick out from underneath it, is not a smart thing to do."

I looked quasi-angry at her, but couldn't help but chuckle. "Everyone has their weaker moments. And even though that might not have been one of my brighter moments, it did give me an idea."

Vivi sighed, showing how little confidence she had in me. Well, I would just have to prove her wrong.

"Let me just show you." I walked towards the door that connected her room to the hallway and was about to open it, when Vivi threw herself against the door.

"Are you mad?!" she said in a hushed tone. "Were you just going to walk into the hallway like that?"

I realized that I had indeed planned on doing that and that it was, again, not my smartest move. "Will there be someone on watch on the other side of the door?"

"There could be! I don't know, sometimes there is, sometimes there isn't." She pushed me back and urged me to stand behind the door so I wouldn't be visible when it opened. "Marco was on duty and visited me a few minutes before you arrived, but they seem to check up on me at least every hour now."

I cursed to myself. If I had only been here a few minutes earlier, I would have seen Marco. I could have talked to him, I could have even touched him maybe, and if Vivi hadn't been there we could even have kissed… maybe. Probably not. Marco didn't like me back, I had to remind myself over and over again. Still, I couldn't help but daydream about what could have happened in a perfect world. What if he did like me, and just didn't show it because he was a professional guard and I was a criminal? Yeah, maybe he did like–

"Ace?" Vivi waved a hand in front of my face. She stood in front of the open door. I hadn't even noticed her opening it and checking if there was anyone on watch. Which apparently there wasn't, or she wouldn't be talking so openly to me.

I felt my cheeks become red, embarrassed that she caught me daydreaming about one of her servants. I coughed. "Yeah? No one there?" I said as if nothing had happened.

Vivi chuckled. "Coast is clear. What did you want to do?"

"Right." I recovered and tried to push the image of Marco out of my head for a second. I walked into the hallway, towards the carpet I had hidden behind a week earlier. I grabbed the fabric and gave it a good pull. I tried to ignore the soft ripping sound I heard when the carpet came down; I didn't immediately see any damage, so it couldn't be that bad.

"What are you doing?" Vivi asked in shock.

"You'll see," I answered mysteriously. I wasn't even sure it would work out, but I thought it should be possible. The only risk was accidentally setting the carpet on fire, but I just had to make sure that wouldn't happen.

I walked back into the room with the carpet over my shoulder, closed the door behind me, and opened the balcony doors as far as possible. I spread the carpet out on the floor, in such a way that half of it lay on the balcony, and made sure the curtains were out of the way.

I sat down on the carpet and patted the still empty place beside me. "Come sit with me, there's room for two."

Vivi still didn't seem to trust my plan, if I read her confused and slightly scared face correctly, but she sat down on the carpet nevertheless. "What–?"

I pressed my finger against my lips in a hushing manner to silence her. "Are you comfortable?"

"I… guess. The sofa would be more comfortable though."

She looked surprised when I took her hand into mine and laid my other hand on the carpet. I closed my eyes and concentrated. I let the tiniest flames warm up the little bit of air between the carpet and the floor. It was important that they'd only warm up the air and not lit the fabric on fire. After a few seconds I felt the carpet rising up from the floor and I opened my eyes to look at Vivi.

She looked at me surprised, but with a twinkle in her eyes. "Ace… We cannot… can we?"

"The guards won't check the sky, right?" I answered.

"I guess so…" she said, and I could see from her face that she really hoped we could do this. It made me smile. "At least not as long as they think I'm inside my room. But if they notice I'm missing, they'll probably immediately send Pell out to look for me."

"Oh yeah, that guy, I remember him," I muttered, thinking back to the time I met Vivi in that back alley and was still planning to kidnap her. I had no doubt they would see flying away with her on a carpet as kidnapping too. "Well, we'll make it a short trip then. You said they check up on you every hour right?" So maybe when we came back, Marco would be there.

"Yes." She smiled. "Alright, let's do it!"

I reached into my bag and took out a brown headscarf I picked up on my way to the palace. "Here, use this to cover your hair. Blue hair stands out way too much." I gave it to her, and while she put it over her head, I let the carpet rise a little higher. "Hold on," was all the warning I gave her before I flew the carpet out of room, over the gardens, towards the city.

Vivi smiled as she looked down. "Wow… this reminds me of when I was little, when Pell secretly took me for a fly over the city."

"He did?" I asked surprised. I thought she never got out of the palace.

"Yes, before rules became stricter and I really couldn't go out anymore. But I was young back then and I don't remember very much of it anymore." She sighed happily. "This really is a whole new world. Thank you, Ace."

I wasn't sure how I had to react to the princess thanking me. I wasn't used to anyone thanking me for anything, let alone royalty – even though I barely saw her as that anymore. I coughed uncomfortable. "It's fine… Where do you wanna go?"

"The place where a princess would never come!" she said enthusiastically.

My thoughts immediately went to the black market place. "I don't think that's a good idea." If someone there would discover she was the princess, I wasn't sure if I could bring her back home safely.

She pouted. "Why not?"

"Too dangerous," I answered curtly. I was prepared to take her to a lot of places, but really not there.

"Alright, take me to your favorite coffee house then."

I chuckled. She had taken the effort of remembering the stories I told her. "Okay, but I'm not taking you to that coffee house, if that's what you were hoping for."

She smiled. "That's alright."

I guided the carpet towards a roof that was close by a coffee house I had been to once. They had better coffee than at Dadan's, but they didn't give me one on the house, so I'd never been there more than once. Coffee was just a little harder to steal, especially when you had already done it before and they knew your face. But it was such a long time ago, they had probably forgotten me already.

"You won't happen to have some money on you, do you?" I asked Vivi while I helped her off the carpet.

She shook her head. "No, I don't need money inside the palace, so I don't carry it with me."

I rolled up the carpet and threw it over my shoulder. I wouldn't take the risk of it being gone when we returned. "That's okay, we'll think of something."

We had to walk only two streets towards the coffee house, but I had never walked through two streets any slower. Vivi pointed at almost everything and asked thousand and one questions before we reached the coffee place. I tried to be patient, but I also realized we didn't have a lot of time to spend.

Even when we entered the coffee house, Vivi looked everywhere and nowhere at the same time. Which resulted in her bumping into a waitress, who fortunately only carried an empty coffee cup. Still, she didn't seem to take it lightly.

"Can't you watch where you're going?!" she yelled even before she had turned around to face us. But when she saw Vivi, she looked surprised for a second, and her face softened. "Oh, it's okay. I wasn't looking either," the girl spoke. Her hair was covered by a veil as well, but not in the same way as Vivi's, and a few strands of orange hair peeked out of it. I understood why she covered it. Orange was a very unusual hair color in these parts as well.

She smiled at Vivi, ignoring me completely. "If I'd been looking I would have definitely noticed you. Let me get you a coffee on the house to make it up to you."

The waitress walked towards the bar, and Vivi followed her. "That is very kind of you!" Vivi smiled at me. "The people in this city are so nice."

I scoffed. "Nah, you've just met the right person, apparently." Still, the waitress confused me a bit. She obviously didn't work here the last time I went here, if getting one on the house was so easy.

We sat down at the bar and watched the waitress, who was apparently also a barista, make a special coffee.

"The most special coffee we have, for the most special girl that walked in here for a while," she said. "I'm Nami, by the way."

"V–" Fortunately Vivi stopped before she'd pronounced her name. That would have been a pretty stupid move to tell a stranger she was the princess, even though I wasn't really sure if the barista didn't already know about that, judging by the way she treated Vivi.

"Thank you," Vivi said instead, smiling at Nami.

Then Nami turned towards me, the smile falling from her face immediately. "How can I help you? You'll have to pay, of course."

Was she kidding me? "I'm with her," I explained, hoping she hadn't noticed this and it would change her mind about me having to pay.

Nami's eyes narrowed and she took a step closer to me. "With her? Or accompanying her?"

"Which one will get me a coffee on the house as well?" I asked innocently. Though she scared me a bit. She looked as if she could eat me alive.

Nami leaned on the bar so her mouth came close to my ear and she could talk quietly. "Neither. I'm just trying to figure out if she's single."

For a moment I looked stunned at her. Then I snorted. "I'm accompanying her. But you should forget about it. There are so many reasons why you don't stand a chance."

Nami scoffed. "We'll see about that." She returned to her place before Vivi. "Oh, and you're not getting any coffee at all, because you don't carry any money with you."

"How'd you know?" I asked surprised.

She smiled mysteriously. "I've got an eye for that sort of thing."

That was the last thing she said to me. The rest of the time she only seemed to have eyes for Vivi, and talked away with her. It seemed she didn't realize she was talking to the princess after all, she was just hitting on her.

I let them chat for a while, my thought soon drifting off to my own person of interest. I actually wanted to go back to the palace and look for Marco. Because I wasn't planning on dropping Vivi off and leaving without even having seen Marco. My visit wouldn't be a success if I didn't see him. Vivi was a really nice person, and I almost began to see her as a friend even, but I had to be honest with myself. I didn't come all the way to the palace just for Vivi.

So, as soon as Vivi had finished her coffee, I placed my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. "We should go. We've been here for quite some time already, and you don't want to get in trouble, do you?"

"Trouble?" Nami asked curiously, but this time I decided to ignore her.

Vivi looked sad, but nodded. "Yes, you are right. Thank you for the coffee," she said to Nami. "It was really delicious."

"Of course." Nami smiled at her. "Will I see you again?"

Vivi looked hopeful at me, and then smiled back at Nami. "I really hope so."

We left the coffee house and I took Vivi's hand to guide her back to the rooftop where we had landed on. I didn't want to take the risk that she'd wander off, or would stop everywhere to ask things or to talk to people. We had to hurry back or someone at the palace might find out she was gone.

When we were on the carpet and up in the air, she smiled again. "She's a really nice girl, that Nami. I think we could become friends, if I would get the chance to get out of the palace more often."

I looked at her honest face, not planning to go along with that innocence. "You are aware that she was flirting with you, right?"

Vivi's eyes widened, after which she chuckled nervously, her cheeks slightly red. "What? No. No, she was just being nice. She's a girl."

I laughed, because I heard myself from not too long ago talking. "Yeah, well, gay people exist." I chuckled some more. It still felt weird that I had to include myself in that group of 'gay people'.

"Yes, but… she's not… We were just…" Vivi tried to find the right words.

"Anyway, I took you out to see the city, not to make friends in it. I can't always be your taxi," I broke off her dream. "I'm fine showing you around a few times, but that's it. I won't come by every week just to pick you up and drop you off at your girlfriend." Then I realized something. "Unless… you pay me for it." That would be the closest thing to a real job I'd ever had.

"She's not my…" Vivi began, fiddling with a strand of hair that had escaped her headscarf. "I wouldn't mind paying you."

She caught me by surprise with that answer. "Really?" But I didn't gave her time to change her mind. "Okay, deal. Then we'll just have to make sure nobody sees us, or they'll shoot me out of the sky before I can even reach you next time."

Vivi smiled at me, probably not caring much for the dangers anymore, just happy at the prospect of getting out of the palace some more.

We soon reached the white walls of the palace again. The doors to Vivi's balcony were still wide open, and we flew back in with one swift movement. The carpet landed a little abrupt on the floor, at the feet of a displeased looking blond servant. My heart skipped several beats when I saw Marco standing there with his arms crossed in front of his chest.

Vivi immediately stood up and stepped off the carpet. "Oh, hi, Marco." She sounded a little embarrassed that he caught her sneaking out.

I smiled at him, trying my most seductive smile, but I was sure I just looked like an idiot. "Hey there." But then an idea hit me, and my smile turned into a grin. "Want to go for a ride?"

TBC~!

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