Minato purposely was holding his breath while cautiously inching away from the twins' bedroom door.
He knew that Natalie would eventually succumb to her curious nature and head toward the door.
The raven haired woman arrives at the twins' door, sticks her head through the crack of the door and peers left and right.
'It was just my imagination…' The soldier inwardly assumes before she removes her head from inside of the room.
After a couple of seconds pass, the young man eases from his position only to return to an alert stance oncd he realizes that Natalie heads toward him.
'Crap.'
Her pupils suddenly produces a three by three grid that rapidly scans every object present in the court.
The young woman frantically rubs her eyes out of sheer irritation and frustration.
'What's the point of having this power when I don't even know how to control my anger?'
His obisidan eyes observe his childhood friend, who rubs her eyes oncd she veers in the direction of the dining hall.
'I wonder where she's going?' The blonde ponders to himself when he suddenly feels his heart leap for joy after he recalls what Natalie reveals to the twins.
'So she was upset that I failed to tell her that I had gain my knighthood.' Minato inwardly concludes.
Meanwhile in the dining hall…
Rick was placing small food items on to his plate before realizing that he was no longer alone in the dining hall.
Jordan, or the Avatar, wore a rather unreadable facial expression on his face, which was pretty standard for someone in his position.
The raven haired male was secretly wanting to wring his neck, leaving him out to dry, and fending for himself against rabid forest wolves for the way he has been a pest to his daughter.
"Natalie?!" The older man shockingly inquired toward Natalie once she made her way toward where he stood at the table.
"What are you still doing up at this late of an hour?" She teasingly asks before she notices the plate of food that in his hand.
The bespectacled man cuts his eyes toward his dependent and retorts, "I could ask you the same thing, young lady?"
"If you most want to know so badly, I was simply getting me a snack." Her father informs and shows her exactly what was on his place.
"A late night one?" The raven haired woman clarified as it earned a nod from him.
He then explains why he needs the late night snack, "Aspirins can only get me so far with all of this drama in this castle."
"You know I still have a whole bottle left inside of my room." The soldier mentions to her father about the spare bottle that is in her bedroom.
The raven haired man lifts one of his eyebrows at the young woman in front of her, "The problem is that I'm running through mine like gummy bears."
Natalie casually leans in closer to him, winks at hm, and proclaims, "I gotcha dad."
"Welp, I'm off to bed then." The bespectacled man remarks after he faces the dining hall exit.
She then wishes him a "Good night dad".
"Alright then…good night dear." Rick leans in and places a kiss on top of her forehead without hesitation.
Her green eyes watch as her father exits the hall with the food in tow, which leaves her alone with Jordan.
He simply peers to his right only to see her green eyes roll her eyes before she follows in her father's footsteps.
'See how your so-called plan worked out so far?' The Avatar's consciousness points out a flaw to his plan.
'Shut up! This is only the start of it.' The golden entity speedily quells his inner voice.
Jordan merely stuffs his face with some food.
"How are you feeling now Natalie?" Natalie overhears him poses an inquiry before she makes her exit from the dining hall.
Her sights merely narrow in on him when she registers that he was in his human shell rather than his normally bright golden form.
"The same as your jaw is. I hope he broke it." The raven haired woman harshly claims while she folds her arms over her chest region.
"My jaw feels perfectly fine. Thanks for asking since I thought you didn't care about me." The intergalatic dignitary responds to her statement.
The solider opts to ignore his statement and travels back to her room so she could hand her father the bottle of aspirins he requested.
"By the way…I know your little secret." The young man says loud enough for only the captain to hear him.
'How does he know…' Natalie was thinking while storming out of the dining hall without stopping to face the idiot himself.
Meanwhile...
Minato removes his body from the hidden location and ventures in the direction of the dining hall.
"Minato? What are you doing up this late?!" A masculine voice curiously demands to him until he eventually realizes that it was none other than Rick.
The blonde halts in the middle of his stride to supply an answer, "I was just going to see what the dining hall had leftover from today to snack on."
The older male just directly stared at the knight's face before he cracked a smile, "Same here, aspirins weren't doing the trick so I thought...how about food?"
The younger of the two stifles his laughter since his excuse was legitimate enough to get him pass his superior.
"You might want to hurry up. There are other people in there as well." The raven haired male advises, which causes his concern to rise to high alert.
"I should. Thanks." His subordinate says before he launches off in a sprint down the hallway at an expeditious speed.
At the exact same time...
Natalie releases a heavy sigh since she was able to finally tackle one of the things that were on her list to confront with her own will power.
A sudden breeze blows through her, which causes her to pause in the middle of her stride toward her bedroom.
'I wonder what that could have been?' The raven haired woman inwardly wonders to herself before she stifles a yawn with her free hand.
'Oh well...I've handled enough business for the night.'
0000
Jordan hears the sound of the dining hall's door open before the sight of a blonde male graces his sights.
'Just great, not him again…' The pair unknowingly share similar thoughts about one another after they come face to face with each other.
A tense and awkward silence develops between the two men until Minato breaks the silence first with a question, "Have you seen Natalie?"
"No, I haven't." The Avatar easily lies to the him with a straight poker face.
The solider flashes him an odd expression before he proceeds to interrogate him, "Why are you so interested in Natalie? She clearly doesn't like you."
The golden entity merely studies the man, named Minato, face and quips, "It shouldn't matter how I feel about her."
"Are you not even confident in your own ability to seal the deal with her?"
"I will take that as your personal opinion rather than a statement." The knight retorts to the claim.
The intergalatic dignitary calmly poses a few questions of his own to him, "Then why are you so concerned about my presence around Natalie?"
"I thought they taught you in knighthood how to be respectful to people in a superior position than your own?"
He grinds his teeth, squeezes his hands in to a fist, and counters, "You have no right to speak on things that are unfamiliar to you, especially a respectable practice such as knighthood."
"The same goes for you, whenever you talk about my feelings for Natalie." The golden figure defends his opinion, which prompts the blonde to raise an eyebrow at the man.
"If there's nothing left to say, I shall retire to my quarters then." Jordan comments with finality in his tone.
The knight simply steps aside, which easily permits him to exit from the dining hall.
Much to the Avatar's chagrin, there were no further interruptions or distractions from a rather jealous Minato.
'Humph, he hasn't seen anything yet.' The golden entity inwardly proclaims as a wide smile stretches across his face.
He about faces to the now empty hallway when multiple thoughts about his unintentional confrontation with the intergalactic dignitary left him on high alert.
'I guess I will have to wait to see where his plan for Natalie goes in the morning?' The blonde concludes before he heads off to bed.
0000
Morning routinely rolls around for the kingdom of Noursaia, as its citizens automatically wake to complete their daily morning routines before they head off to work.
In the castle, it was rather eerily quiet for such a typically rambunctious and energetic behavior that often occurs inside of its innermost walls.
The twins did not follow the usual pattern of the castle's vibes instead they were quite anxious for the next move.
"Do you think our little pep talk with Natalie worked?" Kiera curiously poses to her other half with a smirk present on her face.
He shrugs his shoulders before he answers, "Who knows? Maybe breakfast will tell us something?"
"Still…don't you think that Minato and Natalie would make such a beautiful couple?" She happily gushes once she finally places both of her feet on the floor's surface.
"I say that they're suited for each other." The boy passes his own remarks about the couple's appearance.
Her sights sternly gaze at her twin before she abruptly clears her throat, "Are you saying that just because you have a crush on Natalie?"
This caused her twin to brightly blush a slight pink colored, "I knew it! It's okay to be a little jealous of Minato. Besides, she's too old for you anyway."
The prince simply folds his arms across his chest, rotates away from his twin, and releases a small huff.
"Ah come on party pooper, let's go see the lovebirds in action." The girl redirects the subject of their conversation.
He eventually drops his arms before he utters a simple "Fine,".
On the other end of the castle,
The king and queen awake to one another in each other's arms with wide smiles on their faces.
"Good morning, my love." Aikka lovingly greets his wife with a kiss on her forehead. He watches her lazily rubs her eyes with the side of her hands.
A slight groan escapes Eva's mouth before she returns a similar greeting to her husband.
The orange haired man immediately spots where her other hand rests and covers it with his own.
"You know I have a feeling about today." The raven haired with crimson tips sleepily discloses, which instantly captures her husband's attention.
His eyes carefully studied his wife appearance and noted that she developed dark rings around her eyes.
More than likely due to the lack of sleep because of the active babies in her swollen belly.
"I think...that these three may be ready to enter this world." The young woman unexpectedly predicts while she gently rubs her stomach with her hand.
The Noursaian nods his head to demonstrate that he understands and agrees with her prediction.
'She said the exact same thing before she gave birth to Kieran and Kiera.'
The woman releases a heavy breath before she declares, "I'm so ready for them to pop right out of me!"
A wide smile automatically appears on the young male's face, which prompts the raven haired with crimson tips to roll her eyes at the smile her husband flashes at her.
"Uhm no…you aren't getting me pregnant again until I feel like it." The queen firmly decrees with her eyes close so she would not fall prey to his hypnotic smile.
"Ah come on…you know that I want a big family." Aikka mentions with the same smile present on his face before he pinches the top of one of her earlobe.
"Ouch!" She shouts as it causes her eyes to open to see her husband in front of her with a wide smile on his face.
"So what do you say, Eva? Are you ready to be knocked up again?" The orange haired male poses in a sweet tone toward his wife.
Eva did not immediately answers but responds with a "Fine,".
2222
Author's Note:
12.12.16 Major editing revision
06.27.17 Major cleaning edits