Arthur
After Antonio, Alfred and I had succeeded in catching Edelstein – which was rather easy, after the dragon and the merfolk had appeared and killed half of their crew within a short time, Edelstein had no other options than surrendering. Frankly, the man's stature did not seem to be a strong one; he was no fighter and that was our advantage. The man's face showed every sign of desperation and he had definitely acknowledged his own defeat. His strongest ally was defeated and Edelstein was completely on his own; he had no other choice than giving up.
"Had I only married Lady Van Haegen," Edelstein muttered next to me, clearly caught in his own thoughts; he was probably reflecting on his past and the question "What if?".
Antonio and I had taken a firm hold on the culprit, but after hearing this statement, the brunette admiral – who would officially be one . . . we had won this war after all – stopped his movements.
"What?" He grumbled with a raised brow while glaring at the man in his strong grip. "Did you just say Lady Van Haegen?"
Even I hold great respect for Antonio; his eyes expressing his anger was not a good sign. Edelstein tried to hide his fear with moving his head around to avoid the brunette's fierce eyes. "Y-Yes," he whispered.
"And why should such a beautiful Lady marry you?"
Edelstein lifted his eyebrow; he was a little annoyed by Antonio's inquiry. "Why should I answer such a question?"
"Listen, you little fool!" Antonio suddenly barked – too tired of the fights that his patience had reached its limits. I let go of the hostage as Antonio grabbed him with his hands. He was almost strangling the Duke. "Such a Lady as Lady Van Haegen does not deserve someone like you!"
Edelstein seemed to have noticed that the former pirate was growing angry when the blonde Lady was mentioned. A small smile – which was more a smirk than a simple smile – graced his lips. If he had to endure this imprisonment, he would provoke the former pirate and hit a nerve that would crash his hopes.
"She certainly does not deserve a filthy pirate!"
I have never seen Antonio in rage, until now. Reading the situation, I quickly stopped Antonio from doing something stupid. "Stop it! He is provoking you," I told him, trying to convince him to keep calm. I was aware of the feeling when a man mentioned the woman one liked.
Fortunately the King's guards were approaching us, taking the royal hostage.
Antonio pointed his index finger and middle finger to his eyes before pointing them back to Edelstein. "I will watch you," the green-eyed warned, before the Duke was taken into custody. "Feel free to treat him as he deserves to," Antonio affirmed next to me.
I sighed. Finally, Antonio's nerves were calming down. "Now I knew how you felt when I picked on you by flirting with your mermaid," Antonio confessed, avoiding my sight.
"Y-yes," I mumbled; I was not familiar with those terms he and Alfred had confronted me with. Your mermaid, your fiancée.
The man turned around, his face serious. "It was an honour working with you Admiral Kirkland."
The shock in my face must have caused him to laugh as I witnessed his struggle to not chuckle. I sighted his hand before shaking it, a little embarrassed by this outcome. "The honour was mine."
His smirk returned quickly, "But I will not always address you by your rank, Kirkland."
Of course . . . He would not, that git. His eyes left mine again; he was distracted from something behind me and I could not think of what, before I too, diverted my attention towards the object that had caught his eyes.
It was the Lady who was related with Noah. And she had only been the topic of our conversation seconds ago. Elizabeta and her father had exited her ship along with Noah's older brother, who must have awaited his family.
"You will have to face him," I pointed to the tall blonde, "If you want to court his half-sister."
Antonio grinned. "Oh I have my methods. If you will please excuse me," he said, "I have to convince my future brother in law of my character and intentions, and you better look after your mermaid."
A thought crossed my mind: After we had taken Edelstein to our ship, I had not once tried to contact her. Gilbert had mentioned that she was growing weaker during the fighting.
I quickly laid my hand on the patch she had given us. "Sakura?" I asked and received no answer. The strange – yet pleasant – bound I had felt with her was not present. And at that moment, my heart jumped out of my chest. What if something miserable had occurred?
"Kirkland?"
"Elizabeta! We need to look for Sakura and Gilbert," I informed her and did not bother to try to disguise the fear in my shaking voice.
"O-of course," she replied, before she followed me. I saw that she had problems to keep up with my pace – I was sprinting to the building of which I thought they had observed the battlefield.
My heart broke as I was confronted with the sight of an unconscious Sakura in the arms of the Prince.
"Gilbert!" Elizabeta shouted.
My feet took me to him immediately and as I was told that the mermaid was all right but needed to rest, I cringed. She was not all right; her temperature was too high; her nose was bleeding and she had fainted due to the exhausting task of controlling half of the ocean. If the war had been longer than those few hours, she would have died. I took her from Gilbert, pressing her tighter to my chest. No harm should befall her.
"Make haste, we have to go the sick bay," I ordered but received no answer. Turning around, I noticed that both of them were occupied by looking at each other and I decided to run alone to a doctor that would take care of Sakura – of course I would not let her alone; I would stay by her side until she was fully recovered.
Intuition took me to the sick bay – I had been uncertain about its location before – and I was not the only one who needed a doctor or healer to look at someone I cared for. Several soldiers had been injured during the war. I hoped that the casualties were not high, but at the moment, all my concerns involved a petite dark-haired mermaid that lay unconscious in my arms.
"Admiral Kirkland?"
Once again I perked up my head as I heard my name. It was Toris, who laid in one of the beds; a bandage around his abdomen. Natalya sat on a chair next to him, glaring at the nurse that was giving him painkillers.
"You got hurt?" I asked before Toris noticed Sakura in my arms. "Get a doctor, quickly," he ordered to the female nurse who gladly left him alone. She was probably scared by Natalya's piercing glare – I understood the nurse; even sympathising with her.
After some minutes, an empty bed was found for Sakura and the doctor assured that she was all right; she needed to rest and I was tempted to hit him. I knew it was wrong to assume that other people understood my worries and that they were aware of my way of handling them – which was absolutely wrong; I could barely contain my frustration when my nerves were strained.
"Bloody hell," I murmured, seating myself next to Sakura's bed and grabbing her hand, holding it tightly.
"What an unfamiliar sight," the blonde assassin opined, eyeing me.
"Indeed," I mimicked her look, seeing that she too was holding the General's hand; the man had fallen asleep minutes ago.
Her cheeks coloured immediately and her eyes wandered to the wall. She would ignore me all evening, which I normally would not mind. But not this day. Not when I needed to waste time; I needed to wait for any signs of recovery on Sakura's behalf and could not endure the waiting without distraction. I did not want to be lonely in such a situation. So I continued the conversation.
"Please don't take any offense, but I never thought I would witness this," I muttered, catching her attention again. "That you would find someone you would care for and appreciate it."
My eyes fell on the sleeping man on the bed and Natalya's face did something I had never experienced before: she wore a gentle smile.
"It seems so," she admitted with a light blush as her eyes fell on Sakura, "but I am not the only one."
I chuckled, hiding my grin – and coloured cheeks – behind my hand. "Yes . . . Who would have thought that the two of us would find compassionate and humble persons who are concerned about our well-being," I noted, "The two of us, who do not know anything about social behaviour."
Natalya glared at me but remained silent. She knew I was right, even if my opinion sounded bold. It was still true. The ones we loved were calm and empathising people who had somehow managed to reciprocate our feelings. Although in Natalya's case, Toris was besotted with her from the first moment he had seen her. When I had met him on the island, it was crystal clear that he loved her with all his heart.
Unbelievable. He and Sakura had come into our lives per coincidence. A criminal attempt – abducting a prince – had created new friendships and relations.
"She will fight," Natalya suddenly spoke, "She would not leave you here alone."
It were words of hope; her way of supporting Sakura.
Me in a room with Natalya, talking about positivity . . . A scene I had always thought ridiculous, until this moment. Life can be very humorous; in its own way.
[A/N: I always thought that SpaBel was a cute pairing, but after I read that Parallel Spain fell in love with her (Christmas special 2010, so it is kind of canon) I started shipping it more and more :D. And pirate Spain is sassy again *because he can ~* , he is a little cheeky in this role but I love it :D. Nat an Iggy being bros because their beloved ones are injured. Tragic bounds people. Btw there is only one more chapter which afterwards will be followed by an epilogue :3.]