"So that's where you've been hiding?!" A familiar voice verbalizes, which causes her to hit her head against the wall due to the sudden surprise.
'God that hurts…' Natalie inwardly grunts to herself once she completely exits from the secret passageway.
A pair of obsidian eyes were watching her gently rubbing the top of her head to soothe the painful throbbing sensation.
"So you're telling me that, you ran away from your duties at the castle just to play hide and go seek?" He gravely challenged once she rose to her feet and dusted herself off.
She did not expect for someone to find her this quickly since she still had a day left before she would returned. The more important question at the moment is, why did it have to be him to find her first.
"I was going to come back tomorrow once I had my head in the right place. I'm more than certain you wouldn't care since I so called abandoned my mission." The raven haired woman alleges before she shuffles to her desk.
"It seemed as if you cleaned up too. Even your trashcan is full...and here I thought you weren't the domestic type of girl." The blonde was teasing her not unaware that he was really irritating her.
The woman frequently rubbed her temples due to fact she endured a lot within the twenty-four hours. All she wanted to do was lie down so she could process everything that happened.
"...and if I remember correctly, you were always the type that easily knew how to get under people's skin. Yet, it seems as if you've gotten better at it." The raven haired woman retorted while she leaned against her chair.
The male could not help but laugh at how sincere she was, "Rick had a feeling that you were going to come back within a three day period but we couldn't wait for that long."
Her green eyes stared at him confused and queried, "What do you mean we couldn't wait?"
His sights peered up at her and reads the serious expression on her face. "We noted that there were some strange things going on within the kingdom."
"We had to ramp up the security around the castle. However, we couldn't execute that due to someone that took an undisclosed vacation because of their personal vendetta against an Intergalactic Official."
"I know how you personally hate when I mention your rank but when you were gone, what if the enemy discovered that this place leader was vacant? They would've gained an advantage on us."
The captain angrily slammed her fist on top of the desk, which resulted in yet another dent on the surface, "You don't know anything about me!"
The knight was slightly taking aback by her reaction. 'It's just like that time with the boulder…no marks on her hand or any visible signs of pain.'
"Have you ever had someone unwillingly invading your mind, hm?"
"How about images, you thought you safely tucked away, resurfaced as if they were nothing but bubbles of oxygen you need in order to breath underwater?"
"Or witnessing the place, you came to know and love as your home, burning before your very eyes with a fleeting sense of hope that everyone made it out safe and sound."
"Then you receive news that they took a long extended vacation and that you will reside with other young kids instead. So you desperately cling to hope and constantly pray that your parents would return to you."
"Next, you're falsely promised a reunion with your parents if you go to this institution. Instead, they run a battery of tests on you as if you aren't a human."
"Then being forced to live each and every day with the small sense of hope that you'll live to see the next day. So until you can compare your life to mine, I don't care what you say about me!"
Minato realized that Natalie was on the verge of tears when she spieled to him about her past. At one point, she could no longer contain it all in and tiredlessly collapsed to her knees in tears.
"I hate being me! I hate having this life! I hate having these abilities! I hate the Avatar! I hate what he stands for!" She repeatedly punched the ground with every statement while tears of anger and frustration streamed down her face.
The blonde swiftly rises to his feet, circles behind the desk, secures her elbow in his grasp in order to stop herself from the assault on the ground.
"Let me go!" The young woman was angrily exclaiming while breaking down in to more sobs. She tried to yank her arm free from his tight grip.
The captain vocally releases a scream of agony, which prompts him to drop to her level so he could prevent her from any more harm to herself in her current state.
"It's alright." The man calmly says her while he reaches out and secures her within his grasp.
The raven haired woman viscously punched, clawed and attempted to pry herself away from him but he persistently maintained his grip on her.
He suddenly feels her body relaxes as she gives one final try before she weeps against Minato's chest. "You have a loving father who is very concerned about you. You have others who deeply worry about your safety. You have those who you lead that care about you."
"Remember what I told you when we were younger...that I would protect you. That was why I came looking for you." The knight reminded her once her hysteria subsided.
The woman was calming down while the blonde was constantly rubbing her head and her back in a soothing manner.
The young man hears her sniffing, "...and you looked at me as if I couldn't do it at all. So you said you would be the one to protect me. I don't know if you remember it but I remember it clear as day."
"Do you remember when your dad forced us to conduct our own training with each other? You didn't like having me intrude on your training but you were adamant in defeating me three times." Minato recollects.
"Oh, I got a better one! Do you remember when we were running the errands my master force me to go on? You remember what that old woman said when we bought some lettuce from her…she thought we were boyfriend and girlfriend." He recollects to himself.
"I remember when we had that party and I found out that you weren't much of a socializing person."
"So you escaped to the rooftop and permitted me to join you. You started to point out constellations that I didn't even know of and your face lit up with so much joy." The blonde divulged before her grip tightened on his shirt.
"That…was when…I accepted you…as a friend." Natalie was muttering before releasing her grip on his shirt.
"Well it's good to know that I wasn't talking to myself. I thought I was going crazy for a minute." The young man jokes while he laughs at himself.
"You have a nice laugh." She suddenly mentions after she feels the vibrations echo throughout his chest with a smile on her face.
"I missed Rick, King Aikka and Queen Eva, Prince Kieran and Princess Kiera…" The raven haired woman unexpectedly paused as her grip tightened on his shirt again.
The knight knew she was being sincere and did not want her to push herself too hard after her emotional breakdown.
"It's alright...you don't have to tell me. I am grateful that you told me what you had on your chest." The male conveys his gratitude after he hears her pause.
Minato felt her ease up once again in his arms before she nodded her head in a 'no' fashion. "My only concern I had before I went through with my plan is that...I would let you down the most."
"Since you love your job so much, I didn't want you to gain the reputation of having a solider that you could not change."
'Was that part of the reason why she left from the castle?' He was ruminating after processing what she was saying to him.
"Not to mention, that the other bothersome person there only increased my desire to make this decision to take a break."
"How about if you are going to take a break let someone know before you go storming off? You had me really worried!"
Her green eyes peeks up at him after she hears what he says as he tries to recover, "What I mean is…we were really worried about you."
She just settles her head against his chest and relishes the sound of his rhythmic heart beat. It had sort of a sense of peace and calming effect. "We have to go back tonight."
"Not yet, I still have one more day before I can go back to the castle." The raven haired wonan reveals to him with a grave look on her face.
"Then do you want me to stay with you or do you want me to go?" The man curiously requests after he checks the time on the digital clock that sits on top of Natalie's desk.
The captain nodded her head up and down in a 'yes' manner against his chest.
"Alright then, we will leave first thing tomorrow morning. I am sure that everyone will be waiting for you then." The young man affirms her before he transports her over to the couch.
"Minato…" Her voice was really soft when she calls for him.
"Yes, what is it?" The knight asks while she leisurely settles her head on his right thigh.
"Thank you." Natalie sincerely thanks him right before she closes her eyes and drowsily drifts off in a sleep mode.
Minato simply wears a wide smile on his face as he softly brushes a stray strand of her hair way from her face.
'I wonder will you act the same in the morning?' He curiously poses to himself before he falls off asleep.
0000
Aikka carted his wife inside of their quarters, stopped at the side of the bed and helped her on to the bed.
"Didn't the doctor say I have a couple of weeks from now before they arrive?" Eva needles after he carefully sets her legs up on the bed.
He then casually pushed the wheelchair off somewhere nearby incase his wife may need to move around.
"Yes…did your water break or something?" "Do you feel any discomfort right now?"
"No…no, I am just trying to count down the days before I give birth to three more kids." She calmly asserts to her slightly frantic husband.
"Just let me know if you feel something, alright?" The Noursaian fretfully demands while he rounds the bed and slides in on his side.
"I know worry wart! I am just saying…oh I have chosen three other names for the babies." His wife suddenly reveals to him.
The orange haired male leaned over and placed his hand on her very swollen stomach, "So are you going to tell me the names of my future children again?"
"Why of course I am dear," The pregnant woman teases him first, "I also choose Aidan, Irene and Aeolus. Do you like those names?"
Her crimson eyes swore she saw her husband become starry eyed after she revealed the other names she had thought about.
"Aidan, Irene, Kieran, Kiera and Aeolus. Each initial of my name A…I…K…K…A. I think I am going to cry."
The young woman visibly rolls her eyes at her husband but could not help but admire how he lights up about their kids. 'Too bad I don't share that same feeling…'
"I heard that having multiple births back to back could be dangerous on a woman's body." Her husband stated with a serious expression on his face.
Her sights land on her husband with a glare in her eyes, "Are you suggesting that you were considering getting me pregnant again once I recovered from giving birth to these three in my stomach?"
Aikka emits a nervous chuckle under his wife intense stare. He could feel himself grow smaller under her glare, "I mean it was a suggestion."
The queen released a sigh of relief before she propped her back against their bedpost, a now favorite position she executed whenever she was near her due date.
"Aikka, are you listening to me?" Eva demands with seriousness in her tone.
"Yes, what is it dear?" The king responses with a question as he could only take a wild guess at what her answer might be.
"Like I told you before, we can have more kids but we need to take care of the ones we already have and the ones on the way." She gave him her honest opinion on the expansion their family.
"So you're saying that you are willing to have more kids?" Aikka was querying while showing his hard headness whenever she would agree to his terms.
She tugs on his cheeks and alleges, "You weren't listening to me, were you?!"
"Ouch that really did hurt…" He was complaining while rubbing his now sore cheeks from Eva's vice grip.
Her crimson eyes cast over at her husband once again, "We have to raise the ones coming and the two that are already here."
"...and then can we have…don't even say what you are about to say again or I will be forced to pinch your cheeks again." His wife immediately cuts him off.
The young woman learned that he had the tendency to repeat things whenever he did not pay any attention.
Her sights observed her husband face light up like a kid in a candy store and could never stay mad at him for long.
"Sorry…" Her hubsand was sounding like a little child apologizing for what they did wrong for the problem even though they were cause on their own terms.
She was staring at him with a straight face before trying to stop herself from laughing at the look her grown husband was giving her.
"Yay! I got a smile out of you!" The orange haired male was playfully joking along with his wife, who was laughing so hard that she was on the verge of crying tears.
The Noursaian wiped a tear from her eye before it could even fall down, "Well then how about we call it a night? I am sleepy after all."
"Good night Eva." Aikka leans over, kisses her forehead and then her swollen stomach.
"Good night Aikka." Eva returned the kiss but instead she kissed his swollen cheeks.
0000
Jordan retraced his steps back to the castle before the moon could reach its peak in the sky.
'Where are you?' He muses over before he enters inside of the castle and shuffles around through the corridors as if he searches for someone.
His golden eyes silently counted the doors before he arrived at this one in particular that caught his eyes.
A couple of soft rasps against the door sent whoever was behind the door to draw closer to it and slightly opens it up.
"Can I come in?" The Avatar politely inquires to the person, who opens the door in front of him.
They simply widened the door just enough so that he could easily enter inside of their room.
2222
Author's Note:
12.10.16 Major editing revision
06.25.17 Major cleaning edits