The bright beam of sunlight rays rudely wakes Natalie up. She desperately attempts to cover her face with her blanket but it did not solve the problem.
'Since I can't fall asleep anymore…the least I can do is wake up.' The raven haired woman judges while she haphazardly lies underneath the blanket.
The soldier removes the blanket from over her face and raises her upper torso while the cover pools in her lap.
The young woman directs her sights to the right and spots the bottle of aspirins that she was suppose to give to her father last night.
'Speaking of last night…what was up with that conversation between Jordan and I?' She silently contemplates before she mentally reflects on the events from last night.
'I remember talking to dad because he was getting a late night snack and then he was asking me for a bottle of aspirins.'
'Once he left…it was just Jordan and I in the room with each other. He asked how I felt before he claimed that he knew my secret.'
The woman releases a groan, 'I don't have time for this! I need to go and confront Minato today.'
The captain's thought shifts gear from the perturb golden man to the hyperactive blond man she known for years.
'I know for sure that once I get this done, I can go about my life.' Natalie gains her resolve before she exits from her bed.
0000
The sound of the earliest riser, birds, begin to tweet their precious little morning melodies that keeps them busy as they fulfill their daily responsibilities.
Minato was already up and about since he just wrapped up his morning exercises that added the extra "umph" that he needed this morning.
'Looks like it will be another beautiful day in Noursaia.' He thought as his eyes captured the essence of Noursaia from his vantage point.
The blonde's eyes fell on the statue that sat in the middle of the park as a memory from his past begin to resurface.
Three teenage girls had approached Natalie, who sat on one of the benches that surrounded the statue.
"So where's your friend Natalie?" The leader of the group probes to the her, who merely rotates her head in their direction.
"Who are you talking about Misao?" The raven haired girl coyly addresses the young girl by her proper name.
The green eyed teen squints her eyes because of the bright rays from the sun.
The girl, whose name Misao, rolls her eyes with her arms across her chest before she responds, "Don't play dumb with me Natalie! He's the boy with the blonde hair that follows you around like a lost little puppy."
"Oh...you mean Minato?" Natalie easily identifies the person who Misao refers to through her descriptions.
"Is that his name?" The girl on her left speaks up with excitement, "Minato, huh?"
The girl that stands on Misao's right gushes with a wide smile present on her face, "What a wonderful name?"
"So are you or are you not going to tell us where Minato is?" The blue haired girl firmly demands as she shifts her weight to her right foot.
"Why does it matter to you? He doesn't go for girls of your nature." The raven haired young girl boldly implies once she stares down all three girls in front of her.
"...and what exactly is that supposed to mean Natalie?" Misao asks for clarification of her statement.
The green eyed teen rises to her feet, stretches her sore muscles, and jaws, "Misao, I am in no mood to be playing today. Besides, I have to get back home since I have to complete an errand for my dad."
"I know you know where he is…so stop trying to hog him all to yourself and tell us where he is?" The blue haired girl pesters Natalie for the answer to her question.
"...or what Misao? You're going to run back to your daddy and make me do it?" She calmly threatens the girl with a normal expression.
"Oh, I know something that's so much better. Girls back me up on this one." Misao whispers to her friends.
They closely watch the raven haired girl turns away from the group.
The green eyed teen casually ventures down the busy street full of vendors, "Natalie dear before you go...I just want to thank you for being such a wonderful participant."
"By the way..." The blue haired teen interjects. Natalie feels a set of hands force her body to work against gravity.
"...have a nice trip." Misao comments with a mischievous smirk presents on her face before her and the girls left her all to herself.
'Those girls had bullied Natalie just to get to me.' 'I still feel bad that I was the source for her spraining her ankle that day.'
The obisidian eyed knight releases a sigh before he opens his eyes were close and unfolds his arms from in front of his chest.
'It's a new day not to dwell on the past but rather look forward to the future.'
0000
"It feels really good to be able to move around." Eva happily declares with a wide grin present on her face.
She decided that on this particular morning, she planned to at least walk to the kitchen without the aid of the wheelchair.
"Are you sure you want to do this sweetheart?" Aikka conveys concern as his arms were around her in case she might have an unfortunate stumble, slip, or trip.
The raven head with crimson tips sneer at her husband's question, "At least you aren't carrying the mother of all loads."
"Valid point." He agrees with his wife. Relief was slow to wash over him once he spots the doors of the dining hall swing open.
"You're almost there!" The orange haired male anxiously proclaims, which prompts her to stare in his direction for the second time this morning.
"What is it now?" Aikka questions after he studies the expression present on his wife's face.
"You haven't been this excited since the first time you saw the twins take their first steps." The pregnant woman vividly recalls the fond memory with a smile on her face.
His tense muscles soon slacks up a little once he feels his heartstrings pull after he listens to her comment.
The Noursaian steps closer to his wife before he drops a kiss on her lips, breaks away and rests his forehead against hers.
No words were immediately exchange between the two, except for the sound of nature around them.
That is until Aikka's stomach suddenly grumbles from not being full, which earns an even wider smile to appear across Eva's face.
He reaches down until he could feel one of her hands within his before he slowly continues to lead them toward the dining hall.
0000
Natalie was the very first person to arrive inside of the dining hall only to discover that it was relatively empty, except for the servants that tediously prepare the table.
She releases a sigh of relief when she overhears the door of the dining hall open and close.
"Good morning Ms. Natalie," The raven haired woman listens as two voices politely greet her once they enter inside of the room.
The two familiar voices prompt a genuine smile to materialize on the young woman's face before she retorts, "Good morning to you too, Prince Kieran and Princess Kiera."
The twins were always a guaranteed highlight ever since the captain officially arrived at the Nourasia Royal Family castle.
Her green eyes carefully watch the pair draw closer to her before they halt at her feet. Kiera leans forward and whispers "So have you told Minato yet?"
The older woman raises an eyebrow at the little girl's question and remarks, "That's none of your business young lady."
"Oh come on…we pretty much figured it out. So please tell us?" She begs to the soldier in front of her.
Natalie silently admitted the twins were quite persistent whenever they wanted information about something that peaked their interest.
'I guess this issue between Minato and I is probably an action film for them.' She inwardly conceives that follows up with a sigh.
Before the raven haired woman could even answer, the subject of their conversation ambles inside of the dining hall with his hands in his pockets and whistles a joyful tone.
The twins acknowledge that as their cue to remove themselves from the potential lovebird conversation.
"Good morning, everyone." Minato politely greets them upon his arrival in the dining hall.
"Good morning!" Everyone, except for the older woman, returns the greeting which causes him to open his eyes.
"Is there something wrong, Natalie?" He needles.
The young woman did not immediately provide a response to his question instead she shifts to a much more uncomfortable position.
"You know you don't have to be so stiff around me. We can talk about this after breakfast." The blonde suggests, which causes her to ease up a little.
"Ah man…" Kiera grumbles while her twin simply shakes his head, "What are we going to do with them Kieran?"
"I don't know Kiera. They can't keep going on like this!" Kieran adamantly proclaims while she nods her head in an up and down fashion.
"Operation: GMANT is now underway!" She suddenly mentions with her right arm out in front of her before she feels her brother's hand on top of hers.
"Operations are a go! First phase is alone time." He reveals as they face the future couple with smirks on their face.
Yet before they could even initiate the plan, the sight of their parents and their special guest arrive inside of the dining hall along with Rick.
0000
The dining hall eventually became the central location where everyone would gather, especially if you wanted to select the best choice from the chef once the king and queen arrived.
"It's good to see everyone up and about this morning." Aikka politely greets the entire group before they were able to take a seat.
"Same to you too, my king." "A blessing," "As to you too," were some of the responses that he receives from the group.
"Natalie..." Eva unexpectedly yells the raven-haired woman's name because she stands near her father and on the far end way from Minato.
"Yes, Queen Eva?" "What is it that I can do?" Natalie dutifully demands to her superior officer in a tone of a solider rather than a close friend.
"Eh?!" The older woman unknowingly shrieks as she closely focuses in on her unexpected shift in her approach toward her.
The queen reaches out, secures her elbow within her grasps, and whispers, "We're going to the kitchen."
'Where does Eva/mom think she's going with Natalie?' The thought instantly circulates through the ones that were already concern about the soldier's sake.
"Why do you have such a strong grip?" The captain inqusitively challenged while easily being tugged along by the very pregnant queen in to the kitchen.
"Ah my lady, what are you doing in here?! Your food was just on the way out!" The chef exclaims with an expression of shock present on his face.
"There's something that is very important that needs to be handled immediately." Eva calmly explains to the chef, who seems more than willingly to overlook this one infraction.
"Natalie, what's wrong with you?!" She quickly fires out to the woman in front of her.
"Why does everyone keep asking me that? I'm fine."
Her crimson eyes tediously scan over the young woman's appearance and instantly notes that there were some details that stand out clear as day to her.
'She's not getting enough sleep with those black rings around her eyes,'
'Wrinkles are starting to crease her smooth skin, and she has the nerve to claim that she's alright.'
'Nonsense!'
"I won't even go in to details about all of the telltale signs I see that are visible! But exactly when are you going to tell Minato?" The queen questions her.
Her green eyes tool and exasperate, "Is that why you dragged me in the kitchen? Just because you wanted to know about my situation with Minato?"
"Natalie, it's about time you stop acting naïve about this! He clearly is in…"
"Don't you say!" She hastily interrupts her as she places both of her hands against her ears.
"Natalie!" Eva declares before she feels something wet against the smoothness of her skin. "I'm not listening! La la la…"
"Natalie! Seriously, it isn't about Minato…I think…"
2222
Author's Note:
12.12.16 Major editing revision
06.27.17 Major cleaning edits