Eva realized, upon her arrival at the front entrance, that her husband, Rick and surprisingly Jordan were already there.

'I wonder why Jordan is here?' She weighed to herself as she felt the wheelchair rolled to a slow stop.

The sight of two mysteriously cloaked figures slowly drew closer, caught their attention and alerted everyone to be on their guard.

"It's good to see everyone again. I found Natalie." Minato's voice suddenly spoke from underneath one of the cloak figures. He eventually removed the hood of the cloak from over his head.

The other cloak figure did not immediately move to remove their hood, "Natalie, you're in the company of family and friends…except for one person."

'If Queen Eva says so…' She thought to herself when she reached and grasped the hem of the cloak's hood.

"Hey there...long time no see." Natalie merrily jokes after she removes the hood from her face.

'Is Queen Eva about to cry?' The young woman inwardly posed to herself. Her green eyes observes the queen's eyes scrunch up with her hands across her mouth.

"You know what young lady, you had me so worried about you! Don't try something like that ever again!" Eva's motherly side was evident in her statement towards her.

The solider instantly hugged Queen Eva around the neck and was delighted once she returned the action, "Thank you for worrying about me. I will try not to do it again."

"It's good to see that you're still well, Natalie." Aikka offers his own form of condolences for the woman.

Her father was quiet as always before he suddenly encloses her in a hug and ruffles her neatly comb hair. "I just combed that."

A small smile was evident on his face when he speaks to her, "You know you have responsibilities now so you can't be doing your personal vacation like you usually do."

His daughter merely nods her head in agreement and utters, "I will."

Before Natalie could even reach Jordan where an argument ensures to happen between them, Eva decides to speak up, "Aikka, I think it's time we make our announcement."

He nods his head to show that the timing was right, which earns the question, "What is it that you want to tell us?"

Her crimson eyes stare at her husband first then the group and discloses, "As you all know, I am very close to my due date. For some reason, a lot of bad things seem to lurk around me during that time."

"So Aikka and I decided that Kiera and Kieran along with these three currently in my stomach should have godparents."

The group that surrounds the king and queen abruptly exchange glances of confusion amongst each other.

"Minato and Natalie, we would like for you to be their godparents. Would you accept that duty for us?" The Noursaian pops the question in a polite tone.

'This isn't good!'

'Wow…'

'Yay, Minato and Natalie are my second parents!'

'I'm about to cry.'

The shock was still fresh in their minds since no one moved after the question was asked.

"I understand if you need some time to think about it but do try and give us a answer as soon as possible." The orange haired male mentions,

"I would gladly accept the responsibilities. You two have been nothing but compassionate and truly kind to me. It is the least I could do for you two." Minato announces his acceptance of the godparent role.

"I will gladly do the same. I am honored that you would chose me to look after them incase something may ever happen to you two."

Rick closely studied his daughter and Minato ever since they arrived. He could sense something had changed between the pair. However, he did have a feeling that it was for the best.

'I see those two have finally grown up. I should contact Namikaze and inform him of their growth.'

Jordan could not fathom that he was being completely ignored by Eva, Aikka, Rick and even Natalie of all people.

His eyes honed in on the blonde man, name Minato, who arrived a couple of days ago and flipped the whole castle upside down.

'If he wasn't here then Natalie would be mine…' The Avatar irritably assumes to himself. He watches everyone disperse in his or her own separate ways.

He notes that Rick, Aikka and Minato went one way while Natalie rolled Eva down the opposite way with the twins on each side.

'Divide and Conquer…' He was declaring while walking down the path with Rick, Aikka and Minato to see what they were planning.

0000

"Don't you just enjoy the fresh morning breeze?" Eva cheerfully poos the question to Natalie upon their arrival at the courtyard.

The solider quietly appericates the gentle breeze, which her ponytail catches a hold of the wind and blows along with it.

"Yeah...it feels amazing…" She dazingly replies with a small smile on her face.

The queen sharply glances up at the raven haired woman after she closely listens to the tone in her voice, "Are you sure you're entirely back, Natalie?"

Her green eyes peer down at her majesty and claims, "I guarantee you, I'm one hundred percent back."

The sudden loud disruptions of the twins provided the captain a much needed break from Eva's interrogation.

'She has that look in her eyes…' She promptly registers to herself since she had those exact same eyes at a certain time in her life.

"Hey Natalie," The pregnant woman called out to her while her sights remained on her children so no harm would come to them or inflicted upon themselves.

"Yes, Queen Eva?" The younger woman dutifully responses to her question without any hesitation so she would not look too suspicious.

"I've been wondering about this for the longest…how long have you known Minato?" She seriously quizzes about their relationship.

"I have known him ever since he was eight years old. So I guess I would say, I've known Minato…going on twelve years now." Natalie recalls the years of their friendship.

"Why didn't you say that you knew him previously?" Eva inquisitively questions. She was surprised at just how long the woman knew the blonde companion.

The solider merely shrugs her shoulders and simply remarks, "I wasn't talking to him for a while. I thought that he was unimportant to mention to you."

The queen was wide eyed at the moment when she alleges, "So you two weren't on good terms…eh?"

"That's why you were so hostile towards him when you saw him again. It's all starting to make sense now!"

"What's making sense to you now, Queen Eva?" The captain picks at her brains, which earns a smile then laughter.

"I should've known that if I looked too hard at it then it would pass me by!" Eva jaws more to herself than to her companion.

'Has Eva gone mad?' She was wondering before circling around to the front of the queen.

"Yes…yes…I can see it in your eyes now! My dear Natalie…" The raven haired woman with crimson tips audibly mutters to her once she clasps her cheeks within her hands.

"You are…in love…with Minato…" Eva proclaims in a climatic finish once she notes Natalie's cheeks now were a tint of red.

"Oh don't worry…I was in your shoes at some point of time in my life! I was conflicted with my feelings toward Aikka. It's all there...in your eyes!" She declares in a motherly tone.

The raven haired beauty ultimately withdraws from the queen's grasp as she questions, "So how did I do with my crazied insanity?"

Her green eyes issues the pregnant woman a weird expression when she explains, "I can't have people think that I have lost my sanity, now can I?"

"Now as I said earlier, you are in love with Minato. Blink once for yes and blink twice for no?" Eva was instructing before witnessing Natalie's desperate attempt to hold her eyes wide open.

The queen simply laughs at her actions. "I will let you off the hook today but I think you should go see Rick."

"Why is that?" She inquistively challenges about hher majesty's request for her to meet her father.

"He's your dad. I'm more than certain that you had him worried."

"Besides, I can handle the kids on my own." She explained her reason why she suggested that option.

The captain nods her head to show that she agrees with the queen's proposition. "One more thing before I forget…"

"You just gave me a reason to throw a ball…now go see your dad." Eva implied and then shooed her off as if she was one of her children.

0000

"If you don't mind Aikka, I will have to borrow Minato for a couple of minutes. I need to conduct his debriefing." Rick was interjecting after discussing subject matters pertaining with the castle.

"I understand."

"I do have to spend some time with my wife and kids. I will see you two later then." He offers his response before he travels to the courtyard.

Minato strolls alongside Rick, who voices, "I see you've once again managed to locate Natalie when no one else could."

"Is that the reason...why you put me in charge of that because you knew that I would be able to find her?" The blonde inquires on his reasons ad to why he sent him.

"If I were to answer your question with this answer…because you won't give up, then would you accept that as my reason?"

The young man knew all too well that Rick was quite the string puller when he needed to be that is unless it caused harm to those who he cared for.

"I can tell there's something else on your mind…care to speak it?" The raven haired male asks his companion.

"There's one thing that does concern me. Did I ever tell you what happened when we were at Master Canaan's home?" The knight picks his brain.

The older man briefly pauses in his tracks, "No, I wasn't properly informed. Did something happen that day?"

"Not anything worth fretting over. But what I'm speaking of is what Natalie was demonstrating for us…" The younger of the two hints.

"What did she show you? Is it anything related to that program?" His superior wonders what he starts to get at.

"With her first time picking up a bow, she was managing to land an extremely difficult shot for someone who has been practicing their archery for a while."

"Not only that, but the incident where I observed Natalie punched a boulder with her bare hand and broke it into pieces without a scratch on her fist." Minato enlightens him.

"I don't ever recall Natalie taking up archery class nor being able to break a boulder with her bare hands." Rick recalls.

"I am afraid so…" He adds in.

"When she arrives, I will ask her about those events. Besides, I'm just happy that my daughter is home." Natalie's father opines.

"As do all parents who care for their children. May I ask have you received any word from my master, Namikaze?" The blonde redirects the conversation to his second master.

"Ah, he hasn't written me a new letter yet but I have a gut feeling that he's still alive. Why do you ask of him now?" He inquires about Minato's reason.

"Just a concern that's all. Well then, I will take to my quarters so I can take a nap. I haven't had any decent sleeping hours in the last twenty-four hours." The young man informs his superior of where he could find him.

His sights notices that they just arrive at the entrance of his office before he sends his subordinate off.

'There's something there now…between those two.' Rick was thinking to himself before passing the threshold of his door.

0000

'I can't believe Queen Eva would accuse me of…such a thing!' Natalie says to herself while she vendures toward her father's office.

'Just because I have known Minato for a long time doesn't mean I have to have feelings for the guy!' She was inwardly presuming when the sounds of someone whistling was catching her attention.

The source of the whistle was none other than the person in her thoughts veered around the corner, "Long time no see stranger."

"You just saw me a couple of minutes ago…" The raven haired woman expresses in a tone of resentment while she avoids his intense stare.

'That's weird…she isn't looking me in the face. I wonder what's wrong with her?' Minato wondered before he realized what direction she headed in.

"Are you heading to see Rick?" He curiously quizzes since that was the only thing down the hallway there to keep her interest.

The young woman felt her cheeks flushed red after she recalled what Queen Eva told her a couple of minutes ago.

'If I can look him in his face then there is no way that…' The solider considers before she releases a deep breath and wills herself to look at the blonde.

"Is there something on my face?" Her old friend nervously needles after he notes the odd expression present on her face.

'I can't do it.' "No, I need to talk to him since I already put him through enough drama and the same for you."

"Oh no, it's a pleasure to always try and find you." The young man sincerely responds to her comment, which in turn causes her face to turn a bright red.

The captain opted to just push passed him before too much was revealed.

2222

Author's Note:

12.10.16 Major editing revision

06.26.17 Major cleaning edits