Standard Disclaimer: All characters and trademarks property of Square, roll, roll,  I am in no way owner and this is written purely for my own enjoyment and that of others…etc, etc, I am not making a profit…..etc..so on, so forth…Lawsuit SLAVE!!!

Chapter 1, Wha?

            “Opps.  Princess Nadia?  I guess you guys know, huh?”  Marle giggled nervously,  flushed red as she stepped back from Crono, towards the spot where she had vanished a almost a day before.

            <They know who I am…what…will they think?>  her mind was racing behind her blush and laugh.  She had few friends, and she could tell Crono was coming to be one.  And she didn’t want to lose him. 

            “Sorry I deceived you.  But you wouldn’t have let me go with you if you knew who I was, right?”  She looked at Crono, he didn’t know what the answer she wanted to hear was.  She knew, though.  And hoped.

            <All the people I thought were friends, they were because of my title…will..he be the same?>

            He shook his head.
            “That’s what I like about you, Crono!”

            <He…doesn’t care?>

            “Umm…Crono…I…don’t…feel so good….”

 Marle turned to look at the inventor girl who had created the telepod.  She looked rather pale, her face a pasty white. The purple locks which peeked out from underneath her odd helmet were plastered to her forehead with sweat.

            Marle moved forward to help her, but before she could reach the girl, Lucca sank to carpeted floor.

            In a blink of an eye, Crono closed the distance between the two, kneeling next to the fallen girl.

            He quickly lifted her hand, checking the wrist for a pulse.  He tenderly set the hand back on the chest, and looked over at Marle, his concern evident.   

            Marle, for her part, was feeling a brace of emotions as she watched Crono administer to Lucca.  She had a hard time recognizing them…but she had a pretty good idea of what at least one of them was.

            <Nah…couldn’t be…>  She tried to dismiss the thought.

            “ Is she…” She started forward.  Crono shook his head.

            “ No.” his voice held a slight quiver to it.  “She’s gotta pulse,

but…”

“ I’ll get help.” 

Marle rushed down the stairs, barreling passed stunned guards towards the throne room.  She was almost there when she ran into a frog, of all things!  A BIG frog, wearing armor and carrying a broadsword, no less!  She would have stopped to gape, but the thought of Lucca collapsing kept her going.  She burst into the throne room…

***

            “She'll  be alright.  Came down with a sleeping sickness brought upon by exposure to the mystics; it was one of their spells, I imagine.  She should come round in about a month or so.”  The doctor smiled reassuringly at the two sitting in the guest room of the castle, and left them with the girl on the bed.

            “She came to help save me?” 
            Crono nodded at Marle, who turned to face him.  “Thank you, Crono.  For coming  after me.  I didn’t think anybody would, but…thanks.”  She gave him a quick hug, and stepped back, almost surprised at her own actions.

            Crono nodded. 

They stood there for a moment; one of those awkward silences filled the room, the only sound that of the fire as it crackled and burned in the hearth, and Lucca's heavy breathing.

Crono broke it.  “ Would you like to, er…well, you know, get dinner?  I know you’re the Princess and all, but…"

            Marle smiled, and practically dragged him out the door.  "I'm a person first, Crono.  And a Princess second."

****

            "Whew…lot longer hike than I remember it being."  Marle wiped sweat from her brow as they entered the Inn, then tossed her ponytail back over he shoulder.

            Crono nodded as he followed her.  "Yeah.  But it's kinda not really…we did get lost in that fog.  And stumbled into that nest of bellbirds…which reminds me, where did you learn to use a crossbow like that?  It doesn't sound like something a princess would learn at a castle.  That is…if you don't mind me asking." 

            Marle laughed as they sat down at one of the tables.  "Not really.  I'll tell you, provided you stop acting so nervous around me.  Honestly Crono, you'd think a have an armed guard with me waiting to chop off your head the second you make a mistake!"

            "Umm" he stammered.

            "Don't worry, I'll take that as a yes.  I learned how to fire a crossbow from my mother…she started to teach me when I was very young.  She was an expert at shooting from a mount; it was something that she had done in her youth.  She wasn't always a Queen, you know.  But…she died before I turned six.  And well…I just kept at it to remind me of her…you know…"  her face fell slightly. 

            Crono nodded.  "I didn't mean to upset you…sorry."

            Marle shook her head.  "No, it's all right.  Anyway, what is this place?"

            "Truce Inn…I think.  It will be, at least, in a couple hundred years.  From the sign outside, it seems to be some sort of Inn, at least."

            "At the very least, we can get some food here."  Marle looked around, waved a waitress over, and in a short while, food was provided.

***

            "Have you found her yet?"

            The guard shivered before the king's gaze, his smartly shinned boots and crisp blue uniform did nothing to shield him from the kings harsh words.

            "No…your majesty.  We…didn't.  There are reports of her being sited at the fair…a Candy Vendor says she bought some goods from her…and was accompanied by a youth who we have yet to identify."

            There was a long pause.

            "I see."  The King sighed.  "Go…send out more troops.  Please…find her." 

            The guard rose, bowed, and walked out of the thrown room.  The cold, stone halls of Guardia Castle echoed as the throne room door closed.

            "Nadia…please…come back." 

End of Chapter One

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Hmm.  While it's not my first fic, it's the first one I put under this name on-line.  Reviews appreciated, flames extinguished, and flamers shot.  Decepticons, attack!

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"A gun is only as good as the one who holds it."