"Greetings King Lao and Queen Noi," Rick properly greets the former king and queen first upon their entrance in the temporary nursery room for the newborns.
"I should've known that our boy would have the best of the best to guard the little ones." King Lao asserts with a confident smile present on his face.
"Have the little ones seen them yet?" Queen Noi curiously inquires about her oldest grandchildren to Rick.
"I'm not quite sure myself. I was just recently ordered to stand here once Irene was finally born." He dutifully supplies an answer to the question.
"Irene, huh?" Noi repeats the name that both her son and daughter-in-law bestow on one of the three babies.
"She already sounds like a fighter just like her mother." Lao quips before him and his wife pass by Rick and enter inside of the nursery room.
He casts his gaze in the direction of his two responsibilities when he senses that there is something different between the two.
'They're usually at each other throats about now.' The older man inwardly presumes from past experiences about the two in front of him.
"Good job, you two. I can see that your mission was clearly a success." The bespectacled man congratulates the two on a job well done.
A goofy smirk stretches across Minato's face while Natalie remains placid as always when the blonde speaks up, "These hoverboards are amazing! Can we keep them?!"
"Not after that stunt you pulled before we reached King Lao and Queen Noi."
"You almost killed yourself from your recklessness." She mentions, which erases the happy expression on his face.
He quickly faces her and alleges, "You're still going to hold that over my head?"
"What part of you almost killed yourself from your recklessness, don't you understand?" The raven haired woman colorlessly reminds him of her statement.
Rick quirks an eyebrow at the couple in front of them since their conversation seems to be rather quite docile.
He deeply exhales and interrupts the banter to inform them, "I will need them back because they're prototypes."
"Aw man!" The young man irritably gripes while he digs inside of his pocket, produces the disk, and hands it off to his superior officer.
"Besides, Natalie you still have a mission to complete."
"It seems as if the princess's mode of transportation has finally arrived." Her father dutifully reminds her of her mission.
The captain nods her head at her father before she departs from the pair while she thinks to herself, 'I almost forgot that she was still here.'
Rick noticed that Minato's eyes lingered on his daughter a little longer than usual, which prompted him to probe, "Care to explain what happened between the two of you?"
Once again the goofy smirk stretches across his face while he nervously chuckles and scratches the back of his head with one of his hands.
"Well…she finally admitted that she has feelings for me."
"Although, it was in her usual roundabout manner." The male admits with a blush of embarrassment on his face.
The older man remains mute for a few seconds before he breaks the silence to say, "It took you long enough."
A joyful expression materializes on his face once he hears Rick's acceptance of him to court his daughter. "Oh yeah!"
"It's about time for us to have a meeting so be prepared." He mysteriously hints, which causes the happy blonde to cease his childish action.
"Will the Avatar's case be tried while we are there?"
"If so, please enlighten my master before he hears it from someone else mouth?" Minato solemnly inquires about the allegations that the Avatar charges him with.
"According to the due process for the Knights of the Round, an individual of Jordan or rather I should say the Avatar status, has the right to present the case to the Round." Rick recites the due process law for those of Intergalactic Rank, such as Jordan, that wants to formally charge a Knight of the Round.
An expression of defeat displays on Minato's face until he listens to Rick's further insight of the future of his case. "However, due to some personal witness of the degradation that Jordan has exhibited with the acquisition of his title then I highly doubt the ingrate would effectively utilize his power."
"I would strongly advise you to avoid any further physical confrontation with the Avatar as much as possible."
"If he approaches, you make sure you are in a very public location with a lot of potential witnesses." He honestly advises his pupil.
A sigh of relief escapes his mouth prior to his consent to the advice, "I will try my best, sir."
"You should go reveal the good news of you and Natalie to two of your biggest supporters." The raven haired man suggests.
"I will thank you." The taller of the two agrees to the idea before he bows away from his superior officer and takes his leave.
'I just hope we can keep with the peace for a little while longer.' He prays.
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Jordan purposely ambled over in the direction of the front castle, where he was politely greeted by none other than Princess Mai.
'It's about time that you left. Your alliance with the Trogs has yielded no result in the destruction of Aikka.' He inwardly states in a tone of disappointment.
"Can I assume that you've come to see me off, Avatar?" Mai curiously asks once he approaches her after she flags him down.
"I wanted to wish you safe travels on your journey back to your homeland." The young man politely states.
"Noursaia is my homeland. My family just reign over a different territory."
"Nevertheless, it's quite refreshing to be able to visit your place of birth from time to time." She reveals to him a little more about her background.
Her statement seemed to strike a chord within him, which led him to wonder when was the last time he visited Earth.
"Do you go to visit your homeland often, Avatar? I know you miss your friends dearly." The princess curiously needles while she closely studies his facial expression.
'I miss my friends dearly…pft! My beloved is in love with another man and produced his heirs! Like hell I would just up and leave.'
"You're right about that but space travel depletes a massive amount of energy so it will be a while for me to make that kind of trip back to Earth." The golden figure honestly discloses.
"So you are just a mere human being after all?" She shockingly alleges after she processes what he just tells her.
His face contorts to display irritation at her question before he harshly criticizes her, "I'm well aware of the notion that you extraterrestrials feel that human beings are inferior compare to your superior intellect because of your biological makeup."
Princess Mai was slightly taken aback by his criticism, which prompted her to peacefully counter, "I didn't present that accusation. I'm just surprised."
"I thought that the Avatar is supposed to genuinely reflect a universal position instead of an objective one."
"Yet, I can sense hatred and disdain from an individual in a well regarded position, who is supposed to advocate for cohesion among all races, human beings included."
"Nothing less from an extremely cultured princess, Mai." A familiar feminine voice promptly interrupts their conversation.
"Natalie?!" He startlingly calls out the name of the woman that advances toward the pair.
"However, you cannot expect this one's ego to accept the principles of what it truly means to embody the Avatar."
"The Avatar is to bridge the gap between the races, to promote peace, and encourage the positive pursuit of knowledge about other life forms." She explains as she rests one of her hands on her hips while the other remains at her side.
"Yet, this pathetic excuse of an Avatar wants to selfishly acquire people and things that do not rightfully belong to him."
"He will even go to the extremes of pushing an individual in to a mental breakdown in order to warp their sense of justice to fit his own." The raven haired woman personally renders her opinion about the man in front him.
"How quick we are to throw stones in glass houses now, Princess Mai?" He rudely reminds her that he knows of her secret.
The solider faces the princess and cuts the intergalactic dignitary off when she recites, "On behalf of the Royal Family and the Royal Guard, we greatly appreciate your presence and your loyalties to us."
"We would love to have you back to attend our annual Dance of the Flowers as a representative for your territory."
"The pleasure is all mine, Miss Natalie. It will be the utmost honor to attend Noursaia legendary Dance of the Flowers." She consents to the invitation to the famous dance in Noursaia.
Her green eyes watched as Princess Mai was helped inside of the carriage while her luggage was placed on top of the vehicle.
The captain patiently waits until the carriage advances forward and disappears from her sight before she returns back inside of the castle.
"Do you really hate me that much?" The golden figure nosily probes about her feelings toward him.
The young woman briefly halts in the middle of her stride, faces him, and asserts, "I don't hate you."
"If I did, you would constantly plague my thoughts on the numerous ways I could possibly end your life."
"The proper word to use is do I really detest you that much? Plus the answer to that question is as plain as day, so I have no need to speak any further about the situation."
'You can detest me all you want to but I will have what really belongs to me very soon.'
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Minato eventually located the twins lazily sprawled out on their backs against the lush green grass of their designated play area.
"Oi, what are you two doing?" He teasingly inquires, which prompts Kiera to sit up first and faces his direction.
"Minato, where have you been?" She curiously poses as she drowsily rubs the sleep out of her eyes with the side of her hands.
The blonde carefully thrusts the wrought iron fence forward, passes through the entrance, and draws closer to the twins.
The young man casually settles in right next to Kiera, who then lays her head on his thigh since she is still a little sleepy.
"I was worried about you. Kieran felt the exact same way about Natalie." The young girl softly mutters to him as he gently rubs her head.
A genuine smile surfaces on the male's face after he listens to her comment, "I will tell you about it once you wake up from your nap."
"That will be too long of a wait." The princess sleepily mutters before she redirects their conversation, "Did you see Aiden, Aeolus and Irene?"
"I came to see my favorite two first before I visit the other three." The knight affirms as he peers down at her.
"More like you came to see me instead of Kieran."
"He's jealous of you because he thinks you will take Natalie away from him." The chestnut haired child reveals as she shifts to get comfortable and now rests on her back.
His obsidian eyes peek over in the direction of the next in line for the throne and wonders, 'Natalie would blush from embarrassment if she heard what Kiera just told me about Kieran's feelings toward her.'
"Minato," Kiera whispers his name as her hands interlace with each other and settles on the top portion of her stomach.
"What is it Princess Kiera?" The knight poses once his sights land back on the little girl that rests her head on top of his left thigh.
A blush then surfaces on her cheeks when she wonders out loud, "Do you think I'm pretty?"
"No, I think you are a beautiful girl that will make some lucky guy happy to have you as his wife." Minato honestly expresses his opinion about Princess Kiera.
A few giggles escape her mouth right before Kiera murmurs, "Minato thinks I'm beautiful."
"Can that lucky guy be you, Minato?" The princess happily suggests with a wide smile present on her face.
He was slightly taken aback by the question while he gently brushed a stray strand of her hair out of the way of her eyes.
"We will see." The blonde remarks as he tries to hold in his laughter at how mature Kiera is about the subject of love.
"Just what are we going to do with these lovestruck godchildren of others, Natalie?" The young man hastily mutters more to himself than to the children.
An individual ambles inside of the play area without so much as a sound from them.
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Author's Note:
12.13.16 Major editing revision
04.10.17 Minor editing revision