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As fast as a Sterling aircraft could fly, it would still take some hours to arrive at Chicken Island. Sitting quietly in the two front seats was its pilot, the Prince of Stern, and his passenger, the beautiful girl Cola. They departed from Superpower Country not long ago in a rush to save Chicken Island from a Shadow Assassin taunting Seven into returning to the island with the promise of slaughtering everyone there. Although, the Prince made sure his audience in the underground city's hospital knew he was simply proving his Sterling technology could easily best a Xuanwu elite in a one on one fight.
That was definitely all his boast was. Taking a small glance over at the small girl seated next to him, he told himself she wasn't a factor, that he was simply bringing her home. Except he knew he was lying to himself for his pride's sake. It had become much more complicated than that.
“You look like you have something you wanna say, Four Eyes.”
They rarely exchanged words during their previous flights together, so her voice took his attention immediately. But he tried to act like he hadn't been sneaking glances in her direction since taking off.
“It's nothing.”
Cola huffed. “Then stop looking at me. This is like, the eighth time.”
He bristled at being caught. “You're imagining things. I have to keep a close eye on the instrument panel.”
It was a childish deflection, and she wasn't falling for it.
“Whatever helps you sleep better at night, I guess.”
Silence filled the cabin again, along with a molasses thick air of tension. Cola slumped in her seat, crossing her arms and turning her gaze away from him. The Prince readjusted his glasses as he also turned his gaze opposite to hers. Guilt twisted inside him as the memory of his arm cannon blast nearly obliterating Cola just the other day flashed in his mind yet again. No matter how much it wasn't his intent, his greatest mistake still happened. And even if she was seemingly recovered now thanks to the Black Jade Healing Paste, he couldn't just forget the near fatal pain he caused, or forget learning the fact that Stern's experiments on her as a baby left her with decreased healing capabilities.
“I'm sorry.”
Keeping her eyes toward the airship's window, Cola stared at the passing clouds as she spoke.
“For what? Staring at me and then lying about it?”
The Prince looked at her once more. “No, not that. Well, if you require an apology for it, then yes, that too. But I'm referring to... What I did to you in Superpower Country.”
Cola sat up straight again, finally meeting his gaze. “There's nothing to be sorry about. You didn't do it on purpose.”
“I did not. Still, what I had done prior led to that miserable chain of events unfolding. It's inexcusable. I should have had better control of my actions. You could have been...”
The word 'killed' died in his throat.
Regardless, she didn't need to hear the rest.
“Shoulda, coulda, woulda, blah blah blah. I'm fine now, so don't stress yourself out.”
Even though he should've expected a flippant response, the Prince was slightly stunned. If he hadn't known better, he'd otherwise assume she was being dismissive. But really, Cola was just earnestly blunt, without malice. Charming, usually.
“Anyway, as soon as I know my mom's okay, we're gonna show that assassin guy what we're made of, right?” Cola tilted her head at him coyly with a smirk tugging at her lips.
Frowning deeper, the Prince shook his head once. “No. I'll be dropping you off to stay with your mother. She needs you more than me.”
Her heart sank. Agitation instantly flared in Cola's expression.
“Pfft, and who decides that? You? Get real, Four Eyes. I'm part of this mission whether you like it or not.”
“And I'm not taking a gamble on your life, even on the very slim chance he overwhelms me.”
“You can't be serious.”
He knew he had no right to order her after what he had done. But he was going to stay firm on his decision. Presented with an option to prevent harm to Cola, it made the most sense to take the opportunity just in case the man that called for Seven to return was genuinely deadly. Pompous as he might be, and confident as he was in his combat skills, the Prince of Stern wasn't going to mess up. Not again.
“I am. I'll finish the threat alone.”
“Chicken Island is my home, so I'm going to help protect it!” she exclaimed, glaring at him. “In fact, you can just let me take care of that evil man on my own. You have nothing to do with this, you just want to make sure your precious energy stone is extracted before people from Xuanwu conquer the island!”
That accusation cut through the Prince like Seven's blade had once done to him some weeks ago. He couldn't deny the energy stone was still extremely important to acquire for his agenda. But it wasn't easy to admit that its importance had been placed a little lower now that he had something else worth fighting for. Or rather, someone.
“Believe what you want,” he replied with a mild bitterness on his tongue, “That's not my reason for doing this.”
“Oh right, I heard you say something about proving Stern's superiority over Xuanwu, or whatever. Like that's any better.”
Gritting his teeth, the Prince debated just telling her exactly how he felt. Wanting to make up for his recent error to assuage the guilt was one reason. Another piece of him buried in the deepest part of his heart was screaming at the young man to be honest about those messier emotions. Unfortunately, opening his heart wouldn't come that easily just yet. He wasn't even sure if he was fully capable. But he could make a small effort. He owed her some sort of humanity after keeping his distance this long.
“Saving your home is the only true apology I can offer you...” his voice came out low but tender, “It's just that saving it is useless if something happens to you that... can't be undone.”
“If you really want to apologize to me, then you can start by not treating me like a helpless child,” Cola said with poorly disguised scorn. “Now let's make a plan.”
Her tone struck a chord. Ignoring his plea did, too. Frustration and raw vulnerability finally bubbled to the surface together. Perhaps he was plenty capable, after all.
“I'm not treating you like a child! I just can't bear to see you gravely injured again!”
She flinched at his sharp increase in volume. Rarely was his cadence anything but calm or even. It was so sudden Cola barely processed his words at first. Once they settled into her brain, she realized she must have had quite the shocked expression on her face as he shamefully turned away from it.
Cola had been content to leave what happened in Superpower Country alone for the time being. Not just the Prince's accident in the fight against Seven and the other superpower kids, either. The more she learned concerning Stern's unethical practices towards innocent people, the more she resented her origins from the technologically advanced country. Yet she couldn't bring herself to hate everything about Stern.
Staring at the Prince, she thought back to their meeting before visiting Superpower Country. He had been explaining something about a new extractor that could safely remove the island's energy stone supply. At the time she was more focused on forcing him to fly her to the place her superpower half originated from. Now the memory made Cola's heart ache with the echoes of her callous words she just hurled at him regarding his intentions.
Softer than usual, she finally replied. “Seven didn't try to stop me from leaving with you back to Chicken Island even though it's dangerous right now, and I know that idiot wants to protect me, too. So if he believes in us being okay enough to take care of the problem while he recovers, then I'm not going to sweat it.”
Silence was his response as he kept his gaze fixed on the steering controls. Cola pouted, examining the Prince's side profile across from her. All she could think to do was reach out and use her superpower just to make him react. As she leaned over in an attempt, however, he firmly caught her wrist without so much as a glance.
“That wouldn't be wise while I'm piloting.”
“I thought you had it set to auto-pilot.”
“...”
Their gazes met. He tentatively loosened his grasp, and she returned the arm to her side. Cola found herself a little annoyed she couldn't see his eyes through the glasses' sharp glare in this lighting. But she eventually smiled, knowing he couldn't fully hide behind them with what she had to say next.
“Listen carefully, cos I'm only saying this once: I trust you, Mr. Four Eyes.”
He didn't need to be caught in her paralysis ability to stiffen as though he had. Heart hammering fast, the Prince was utterly disarmed, and as usual, at Cola's mercy.
“So you should scope out the enemy first, see if he's really that big of a threat,” she continued, smirking at the open-mouthed expression she put on his face. “I can hang back and bail you out at the right time, should you need me to. I won't actually get involved until we know what we're dealing with. Sound fair?”
Fair wasn't the word he would use, but it was abundantly clear that Cola wasn't going to let him ditch her at Chicken Island's reinforced shelter for her own good or his peace of mind. Much like being paralyzed by her troublesome ability, hearing her say those words was just too powerful for him to resist pushing back. Lowering his gaze, she could actually see his bright blue eyes through the lens now. She refused to look away as he studied her, as if memorizing every detail. Anyone else might have made the young girl uncomfortable or annoyed with the intensity of his stare, but for some reason, she could make an exception for him. However, her patience had its limits.
“Well?”
Pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose was enough to cast another obscuring glare on its lens and Cola could see her smug face reflected on them.
“It's still not ideal,” he said simply, and saw her smirk wane. “But I also don't expect to need your backup. Whatever happens, you're free to make your own decisions. Knowing perfectly well what you're capable of... I trust you, too.”
Cola never expected him to turn her own words back on her. Even less expected was the abruptly blatant respect and willingness for autonomy despite his stated fear for her fragile life moments ago. Maybe he just didn't want to fight with her. Or maybe, deep down beneath his large ego he knew her superpower might be an asset he couldn't afford to not use if they both wanted to survive this upcoming adversary. Whatever the reasoning, she was grateful to not be pushed aside like a burden.
Then again, as strangely protective as he'd been since spending time together–a concept equally as strange now that she thought about it–the Prince never truly forced her into doing anything against her will. If he was a man hellbent on making choices for her, Cola would've been locked up in Stern the day he revealed her past.
“Great, then it's settled,” she replied once she was sure her composure had no cracks, “This guy won't even know what hit him! Heh heh heh!”
It was subtle, but the Prince caught the slightest falter of Cola's expression just before she spoke. Refocusing on the airship's steering panel, he felt some form of indescribable relief wash over him. But he wasn't ready to confront what that emotion's meaning truly was. There would be another, better day to do so. He had to believe that.