The morning rays brightly shone on the kingdom of Noursaia, as it would any other morning.
Aikka was listening to his wife irritably groaning from waking up from her slumber.
"Good morning." He happily greets her with a kiss on the forehead and rests the side of his face on her stomach.
"Well it seems as if they had a good night sleep too," The orange haired male joked with his wife, which earned a small smile from her.
"Good morning to you too." Eva returned the greeting once she shifted to get back comfortable.
"Do you think you're able to walk the twins to their lessons today?" The young man queried since he knew the closer she got to her due date the harder it would be for her to move around.
"Nope. Can we just stay in bed today? I don't feel like moving at all." She drowsily mutters when she releases a tired sigh.
The Noursaian resumed his original position when he felt his wife's head pressed onto his chest. "Someone is going to have to take them or they would be upset."
"I got someone in mind." The raven haired with crimson tips coyly replies when the person's image surfaces to the forefront of her mind.
0000
"Are you two ready to go?" Natalie popped the question to the twins after they dressed themselves for their lessons with Master Canaan.
"Where's our mommy?" Kiera grills her about mother's location since she was the only one there to take them today.
'How can I answer this?' "Your mommy has been carrying around your siblings in her stomach for a while so she just needs her rest." She responds in the best way as possible.
"Hey, Kieran, mommy is still sleeping so Ms. Andros is going to take us today." She then relays to her brother, who emerges from the closet.
"We're finished." Kieran answered Natalie's first question before the trio made their way towards the front entrance.
Meanwhile...
Princess Mai peeked her head around the corner to see the same man who was with Natalie from last night.
'If it is for me to have Aikka to myself than I will do it.' She assured while she gathered her resolve and strolled toward the taller male.
"Uh, excuse me," Mai taps his tall shoulder and waits till he looks at her.
"Yes, what is it princess?" Minato politely asked the smaller female, who had approached him just a couple of seconds ago.
"I was wondering if Natalie was alright? She seemed visibly upset last night and I wanted to see if she was okay." She inquired about Natalie's plight.
"You got that right! I've never seen that woman so mad before in my life! But she's doing just fine."
"Is she a friend of yours, Princess?" He probes because he developes a feeling that something was off with the woman that stands next to him.
The princess nodded her head a yes, "I have taken to her as one, and it seems as if she has done the same thing for me."
"Good morning Minato!" The Noursaian suddenly overheard some children shouts before the twins swarmed at the blonde man's legs.
"Good morning Prince Kieran and Princess Kiera, where are you two off to?" The young man was curious as to where the twins were going with Natalie.
"Natalie taking us to Master Canaan! Do you want to join us?" Kiera requests to the older and taller man, who glances up to see their escort head towards them.
"Is that fine with you Ms. Andros?" Minato kindly pops the question to her when he notes that she wears her hair in a ponytail, which shows her radiant green eyes.
"Good morning Princess Mai and Minato, it isn't my decision if you want him to come with us that is." She properly greets the two of them with the latter part being in a nonchalant tone.
The twins rejoiced in the fact that she permitted him to travel with them, "Princess Mai, I promise when I come back I will take you to the park."
"You two have fun!" She faked being happy and waved the four of them off.
"What happened, did it work?" The Avatar demanded once he approached her from his concealed hiding place.
"Look at it for yourself. It should answer your question." The princess answered with a haughty tone when she pointed to the four of them trekked down to the front gate.
'It seems that I will have to bring out all the stops for this Minato character.' Jordan concludes before he disappears back in the castle.
0000
For some odd reason Natalie kept her distance away from Minato, especially after what occurred last night between them. Her feelings were extremely discombobulated.
Their entire conversation replayed through her head once she realized that her father had a point. 'I did warm up to Minato pretty quickly…'
"What pretty flowers!" Kiera cheerfully comments at the sight of the garden.
She broke her hold around Minato's hand and ran over to a yellow flower with six outer petals that surrounded a cup shaped petal, which reminded her of a trumpet.
"Princess Kiera, do you know the name of that flower?" He inquires once he heads over to her.
The little girl shook her head in a 'no' fashion. "They are rarely known for their real name, Narcissus, but you may know them as Daffodils." He answers his own question.
"Daffodils?" The older woman was asking herself the question that the princess was wanting to ask when the blonde was nodding his head a yes.
"There's a legend where this young man, Narcissus, became so obsessed with his own reflection that when he kneeled to look in the pool of water, he fell in and drowned to his death."
"...but there is another version where he was dying of thirst."
"As he was sitting at the edge of the pool, he ends up looking at his reflection before expiring." The taller male divulges to them a little piece of history from that one flower.
'Why would he tell those stories that could give them nightmares?!' Natalie was wanting to throw another red flag from him crossing the boundaries.
"That's so sad. I hope that all of the people in our kingdom receive food, right Kiera?" She heard Kieran's statement since it was something that she would have not thought would come from him.
"People deserve to eat and drink even if they are poor." Kiera issued her own statement.
"Here I have one for you," The young man leaned over passed the Daffodils, then picked up another flower that had multiple white petals with a yellow center and slid it in the girl's hair.
"Minato, what's this flower called?" The prince curiously queried. The captain discovered that she was midly interested in about the flower's name as well.
"Its name is Bellis perennis but is known as the Daisy. It means innocence." Minato easily supplies an answer to his question. He carefully secures the flower in the princess head.
"Ms. Natalie, these are for you." Her green eyes peeked down to see the boy picked three daisies and held them up for her. "Why thank you Prince Kieran. They're beautiful!"
"Come on you two! We don't want you two to be late for your lessons, now do we?" Natalie reminds the twins of their initial destination.
"Ms. Andros is right. Master Canaan would probably have my head if he knew I was the reason why I made you two late." The blonde broke the twins attention away from the various bloomed flowers.
"How do you know so much about flowers?" She enquiringly picked at his brains when the twins walked in front of them.
"When you are an apprentice to someone who thinks flowers is a way to a woman's heart then you'll pick up on a couple of things." The young man reminisces with no signs of hesitation or shame about his knowledge.
"Personally, I found it a little weird that you know about flowers. But if you like them then I'm not entitled to say anything." The raven haired woman admits before she faces the kids and their actions.
The captain listened to her conrade chuckled to himself from what she told him about his interest in flowers, "Trust me, you aren't the only one who had similar thoughts after I told them."
After a couple of minutes of roaming through the marketplace, the traveling four was finding themselves in the front portion of Master Canaan's home and training area.
"So it seems as if the queen must be near her due date since you had to walk them here…Minato?" Master Canaan assumed when he saw the two soldiers in his front yard.
The two were exchanging a friendly hug before separating from each other, "So you must be in for a mission, I'm glad you could stop by and visit."
"You were my first master after all."
"Ms. Natalie here told me that she was going to take the prince and the princess to you so I had to tag and see you." Minato replies.
"I see you still have your good sense of manners. Would you mind staying for some tea while the children work on their warm ups?" Canaan demands of him.
"We're actually quite busy but I am sure…we can stay for just a cup of tea. After all, I heard that you brew the most relaxing teas in Noursaia." Natalie cuts him off mid sentence because the walk here slightly drained her.
"Ah Ms. Natalie, I've heard some good things about you after the last time you came to drop the twins off for their lessons. Is it really that rough on you?" He shifts his attention on to the woman.
"You can say something like that…more or less because of pain in the neck." She muttered the last part to herself.
"What are we waiting for then?" The older Noursaian spoke before he served as their guide and made their way into the home.
0000
"Aikka," Eva called her husband's name from her now upright position, "Yes Eva, what is it?"
"What do we know about Natalie?" She asked out of the blue, which caught Aikka off-guard.
"Why do you ask this? You can't trust Natalie with our kids?" He was probing while wondering where his wife's thoughts were leading her to suspect Natalie.
"I'm just curious. She doesn't share too much of her past with us. For your last question…without a doubt I trust her." She challenged slightly offended at the question.
"Maybe because it's probably something she doesn't want to talk about with us. I don't blame her." Aikka suggests to his wife.
"Is she really Rick's biological daughter?" The question that was in the back of her head was brought forth.
Aikka shrugs his shoulders, "If he claims that is his daughter then I believe him but since you are so curious why don't you ask him yourself?"
Eva shifted on the bed when the weight of her heavy belly caught her off-guard, "Yeah, as soon as I can get me some wheels then we can go."
0000
"Ah, this brings back some good memories." Minato mumbled after he took a seat where they were able to see the little children warm up with stretches.
"It should. Nothing has changed much except for some minor alterations to the house."
"Other than that, it pretty much remains the same." Canaan made known when he brought three hot cups of tea on a brown circular dish.
"So Master Canaan, exactly what is it that you teach?" Natalie questions once he places a cup in front of her then Minato and last for him.
"Archery, fencing, and basic survival skills." He replies after he blows on his cup of tea to cool it down.
"It's one of the more popular things to learn amongst the people here. I'm more than certain that some of your men know about archery in your ranks." The older male explains while he takes a small sip of his drink.
'Now that he mentions it, I did see some of them with a bow and an arrow.' She recollected an incident where her men settled a wager with bows and arrows.
"Archery can be used to improve one's ability to hone in on a single point. It's teachings can include: quickly disabling an enemy and learning to not waste ammunition, especially when they aren't hitting anything."
"It really is quite the useful skill to have as a warrior." The blonde's statement brought her out of her current thoughts once he sipped the tea.
'Improves one's ability to focus, huh?' The young woman muses when she peers down at her cup before she brings it to her lips to drink.
"Is it to your fancy?" The Noursaian questions once he notes her initial reaction to the tea, "It's actually quite good, thank you."
"I know this question may be a little stupid but did you teach King Aikka as well?" The raven haired woman inquired about the king's teacher. She always wondered exactly where he gained his knowledge and love for Archery from.
"Yes, I did. I taught him along with a much younger and hostile Minato at the time." Canaan reveals, which earns him stares from his companion because she could not imagine him being hostile.
"You were hostile?" The captain probed out of disbelief, which brought a small smile on Minato's face, "I say I was more of a rule breaker."
"It's good to see that I was able to instill some discipline in him or he would have never came across Namikaze." His teacher mentioned the other master that Minato referred to from earlier with the flowers.
Natalie was sipping her tea till it was halfway when a thought was surfacing to her head, "Master Canaan...I would like to ask a favor of you."
"Sure what is it, Ms. Natalie?" He posed when she took another sip of her tea.
"I would like to….
2222
Author's Notes:
11.30.16 Major editing revision
06.24.17 major editing cleaning