Mai made a move toward the open window once she no longer felt the breeze blew her hair backwards.
She was looking out the window and observing the twins chasing after one another. 'I would be sad to see all the children suffer from the Krogs invasion but it is bound to happen.'
"Is she looking at us?" Kiera secretly inquired when her twin accidentally tripped himself on purpose and noticed that Princess Mai's were on them.
Kieran sat up while he nodded his head a "yes" before his twin leaned over and helped her brother up.
"What do you think she's thinking about?" She was asking her twin after helping him back to his feet.
He shrugged his shoulders before he flashed his sister the signal to stay out of sight from the woman in the window.
'I wonder how would they act when they see me as their stepmother? I think it would be a nice fit for them.' Mai dreamily envisions while she brings her hands to the ends of the window and closes it shut.
"She closed the window." Kieran said loud enough for only his sister to hear him.
"Alright then! It's time to go to the East Wing so we can see what she's up to." Kiera issued out the next step to their plans.
Her brother physical nodded his head before the pair made their way inside of the castle without being caught by Mai from the window.
0000
Minato knew that the absence of Natalie could put a serious dent in their security detail for the castle. It did not help that they had a Royal guest plus an Intergalactic Dignitary present, which made it all the more difficult.
Yet, there was something constantly nagging at the back of his head about Princess Mai and the Avatar.
'Not only that but they both have very eccentric attitudes.'
'What are Princess Mai's true intentions on the problems of her kingdom?'
'Why is the Avatar still here when he needs to take care of other planets?'
Then there was the incident where he played referee between Natalie and the Avatar. He had witnessed the Iron Fist in the preliminary stages of her anger, which resulted in the destruction of a boulder.
'She really wanted to harm him but she stayed within her military boundaries and took it out on something else.' He conceives while he enjoys the breeze that the wind offers against his face.
'There is a possibility that she could be non-human.' The blonde reflected back to the encounter when he checked Natalie's fist to see not a single mark on her hand.
Then, there was the time where Natalie picked up the bow and arrow for the very first time. She even claimed to have no prior knowledge of how to wield the weapon. Yet, she handled it as if she had experience with it.
'Natalie could've learned it from when she watched her men, whenever they would have their free time.' The young man considers to himself before his eyes track the people that enter inside or outside of the palace.
'If Sir Rick says she's going to come back then she is! If not by the second day then I will have to visit her captain quarters again.'
The knight did not realize just how dead on he was about his suspicions as to Natalie's location.
'Where did you run off to?' He was wondering before bringing his eyes toward the semi-cloudy day.
0000
"I cannot believe you threw this together for me!" Eva whispers to her husband before someone hands her another bag of diapers.
There was a long line of people that patiently waited for their turn with the king and queen. They happily bestow gifts upon the queen and her soon to be born infants.
"It seems as if the citizens are just as concern for their queen, especially since she's due to bear children soon."
"My father told me they did the same thing for me when I was in my mother's womb so I did it for the twins. Don't you remember?" He reminds his wife before another citizen approaches them with a gift.
"It must've slipped my mind. You know how I get when I'm almost due. I tend to forget some things but this is nice." She easily downplays to her husband question.
"Thank you for the wonderful gift, ma'am. I appreciate that you made this for me." The young woman sincerely thanked the woman, who was her elder by five or so odd years, once a crib was rolled in.
"Well we do need another crib, since we're having three and not two this time." The orange haired male teased her with a smile.
It was the same smile he had on his face once they received the news that she was to give birth to multiple children yet again.
"You're just enjoying this, aren't you?" The pregnant woman asked a rhetorical question to her husband. He simply responded in laughter at his wife's sharp wit.
The raven haired woman with crimson tips graciously accepted the gifts that the people of Noursaia had to offer, which was what she considered a blessing. After all, they did not have to give her any of that stuff.
"If you had this kind of turn out for kids, it just might have topped all of our wedding gifts." The Noursaian stated as he eyed the pile after the last of the line filed out the throne.
"Nope, I think our wedding had more than this but still it was a nice gesture. Thanks, I really needed it." His wife was thanking him while hugging her husband.
"I mean besides the madness that's going on between Natalie, Jordan, Mai and a newly injected Minato, we still have to focus on the real issue at hand. You are going to give birth to three beautiful children." Her husband reminds her of what was really important to him.
"Still, is it wrong for me to be concerned with where Natalie ran off to? I mean I think of her as my daughter sometimes and at other times I consider her as a sister." The queen audibly mumbled against her husband's chest.
Aikka could not help but to admire the compassion and empathy for others that his wife had, which deeply touched him. He brought his hand to the crown of her head and rubbed her head gently.
"That's why everyone wanted to give you something nice because you truly care for others. It's nothing wrong with that " The king assures his wife that he was not mad at her.
"Good. For a minute there, I felt like I was the criminal." She admits her opinion of the situation.
"I would say otherwise, it's more as if you are the heroine of the whole fiasco." Aikka complimented his wife.
0000
'No way! How can they make that move without my permission?!' She demanded before her hand moved from her mouth and onto the mouse.
The Top Priority Mail she had received was a hit that was placed on Princess Mai. There were even two pictures: one being a frontal shot and a side view.
Natalie scrolled down before the information caught her interest, 'She's a fake? What is she?'
"The woman pictured here may call herself Princess Mai and from a neighboring kingdom. However this is not the truth, the woman pictured here is a trained and highly apt spy. She may be gathering information on leaks and cracks in your system. If you see her do not attack but use other non-confrontation tactical strategies."
'I knew Jordan told me about keeping her in my sights but I would've never thought…that she…could do something to harm the Royal Family.' She judged as the nightmare forced her to her feet.
'I need to go back! They're all in trouble!'
'Why did I have to be so stupid and leave them alone with that imposter?!"
When the young woman rounded the table a knock was heard against the door, 'No one should know that I am here except…'
The solider hears the door unlock when panic rushes through her body while she searches around for a decent spot to hide.
"Are you sure they said she was in here?" A figure with a trench coat, a fedora hat, and dark sunglasses asked a similarly dressed figure.
"It seems as if we were fed with false information. It seems as if we're back to square one with this." The voice frustratingly grumbles back.
"Don't you think that we should at least give a once over of the place?" The first voice poses another question.
The two-cloaked figures expeditiously move throughout Natalie's office, often to stop to knock or tap their foot against something to make sure it was not hollow.
The pair shuffled about before one of them stopped at the cabinet with their eyes honed in on the awards that were on display.
"Hold this side, so none of these things will fall over." One of the two instructs the other while the other holds on to the glass.
A soft thud was heard when the person jerked the cabinet hard enough before he paused to look at his counterpart.
"Did you bring the tracker with you?" The individual asked after they moved the cabinet from its original position.
The other lifted the right side of his trench coat up far enough so he could reach for whatever the intended item was asked for.
A gray rectangular device appears in their hand before they push a green button. A small pixilated screen materialized when a circular blue dot blinked on the screen.
They then press the green and black buttons and watch the screen changes once again and a noise was heard.
'We got her…' The were deeming before squatting to the bottom portion of the cabinet and sliding the door to the left.
0000
'...without Natalie, the security seems to slacken up quite a lot.' The thought came from none other than the Avatar, who easily made his way down engraved steps on the side of a mountain.
'That Minato character really irks my nerves…who is he to come in and upset my poor Natalie like that…' Jordan was assuming while proceeding to head down the case of spiraling stairs.
'I wonder why was he coming from Natalie's room?' The young man thought back to his conversation with the blonde after he saw him emerged from her room.
"I guess you can say when you live an active life in politics, you tend to have a lot on your mind. You wouldn't mind if I were to assume that you had similar moments whenever you visit the galaxies under your watch?"
'He wouldn't have assumed that unless he knew the valid reason why I started the conversation with him in the first plac .' He reflects of Minato's answer to his question.
'Yet, he knew exactly what to say when I asked him did he come from her room.'
'Minato isn't just any regular person based off my initial observations of him. It was as if he knew how to get under my skin and then diffuse the situation before it escalated.' The golden figure determined about the man.
"It seems as if I was a little too late for Ms. Natalie. Quite frankly, I don't know where she went. I mean personally knowing Sir Rick, he would more than likely put me in charge of the location process for Natalie."
"Well since you have taken an interest in Ms. Natalie, you wouldn't mind if we ask for your assistance to locate her, would you?"
'He never lied but rather skillfully dodged the answer to my question without any signs of hesitation. That means he has been doing that for a while.'
'And here I thought I was a decent con artist! It looks as if I have met my match.'
The intergalactic dignitary arrived at his intended destination when a gentle breeze blew his golden locks away from his face.
He inhales and exhales before he executes a small stretch that relaxes his muscles all while his eyes were close.
'I swear this place is so relaxing…' Jordan was declaring before slowly opening his eyelids and taking in the entire view of his final destination.
'The Nourasia Priest Water Fountain.' The name of the quarter passes through his head.
He remembered that this is where he saw his best friend and potential lover being given away to his rival for marriage.
Feelings of jealousy were passing right over his head before feeling the emotion of pure happiness, 'Is there such a thing as pure happiness?'
The Avatar knew this was the only place where evil feelings were eradicated on sight and was swapped with the feelings of joy, bliss and sheer delight.
The pool reflected the crescent moon and the sun within its twin peaks. The sight of it mid-afternoon was decent but at twilight and midnight, the image seem to be more gorgeous.
A small stone altar was a little ways down the elevation of the pool with another set of stone steps that lead to the altar.
The young man made his way onto the surface of the water when the sight of his face caught his attention. 'I forgot that I was even in my Avatar form.
When he closed his eyes and opened them again, the sight of his former shell did not seem to be complete polar opposites from his Avatar form.
'This would've been the face that Eva was looking forward to waking up to in every morning.'
'The same face that would be the receiver of her kisses, the arms to hold her even when she doesn't want to, the eyes that would look at her until she returns the same look, and the heart that would continuously pour out love and devotion.'
His hand connected to the water with his image still in his human form.
The golden figure recounts the wondeful times before he lies on his back with evident frustration.
'If it wasn't for me then she wouldn't be living the life she had, no Kiera or Kieran, no big castle, no love for others, no love for yourself and definitely no Aikka.' The intergalactic dignitary concluded before he closed his eyes and drifted off in his thoughts.
2222
Author's Notes:
12.3.16 Major editing revision
06.24.17 Major cleaning edits