Farewell, Princess

[cadenza]

Syana listened to him again, before closing her eyes and just nodding. He was right, that was obvious and she just wrapped her arms around him, leaning up and pressing her chin to his shoulder.
When he spoke about Syo, her green eyes widened a little and she slowly leaned back. "Syo... Likes me?" she asked awkwardly, blinking. She gazed to the side, green eyes narrowed as she thought but then shook her head. Her face with the smile as she tried to keep herself calm and collected.
"It doesn't matter to me if you kill people or are a bad person, you'll always be in my heart and be really close to me." she spoke softly, her green eyes filled with serenity; showing she was indeed telling the truth.

"Saving me the hardship of who to be with?" She asked, eyes wide before nodding and looking to the side and closing her eyes. "I see..." She shrugged off any opposing thoughts. Maddox was right on somethings, the thought saddened her and made her tummy feel upset.
She pressed a hand onto her stomach, as the feeling sickened her tummy.

"The kiss was nice..." She admitted, blushing still before looking up at him and tilting her head a little. "Without your mask, you look really good..." She said softly, awkwardly before gripping her hands into fists. Looking towards the floor after.

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox sighed a bit at the fact that she did not seem to realize that Syo liked her, "he does," he man confirmed, giving his head a nod, he pet her head gently, listening as she explained that she didn't care what he had done or whom he had killed, because he was close to her. A soft sigh left him, as he was uncertain of what exactly to say to this.

"Aye, Syana. There will come a day when you will have to choose which man you wish to stand by for the rest of your life..." He softly told her, wondering if she understood what he was speaking off, "you know. As a boyfriend, and then furthermore a husband, when the time comes... It would not be an easy decision for you to make, I know," he exhaled softly once more at this.

As she spoke up once more about the kiss, he smiled a bit to himself, slipping a hand onto the side of her face, his thumb resting under her chin as he smirked a little deviously, "why thank you," he whispered, then leaned in a bit to rub his nose gently against hers, "and you look as cute as ever," he whispered, leaning in to softly press his lips to hers.

[cadenza]

Syana listened to him tell her about relationships, watching him and examining his expression as he told her about relationships and how one day she'll have to choose and nodded a little, but as she parted her lips to reply a little; her eyes widened and her green eyes glistened as a tear rolled down her cheek. His lips pressed to hers caught her completely off guard and she fought the urge to wrap her arms around his neck, knowing the fact the kiss would finish soon. She pressed her hands to his back and just smiled slightly; returning the kiss and smiled a little.

Syana slowly closed her eyes, her body melting a little as she leaned against him and just held back the whimpering that ruffled around with her throat. He was warm, it felt nice against her body and she pressed her hand to his. Why wasn't she able to fight the kiss he was giving her. Syana's heart raced violently in her chest causing her to blush more and she eventually nodded a little.

Mokona, deciding to just not fight back sat down on a barrel and thought, watching the two kiss before smirking. "Maddox, have you ever had a relationship before?" he asked. "Or are we cradle snatching now?"

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox smirked against her lips, his fingers slowly running through her hair, feeling her hand being place over his, he eventually broken the kiss, though rest his forehead against hers, requiring him to bend over a little awkwardly in doing so. He opened his mouth to speak, but after hearing Mokona speak he seemed to come to his senses, slowly up righting himself.

"I have, yes, but I harbored no feelings for those women," he pointed out, licking his lips a little, as he could still faintly taste her on them, " am ashamed to admit it, but there were merely relationships in which both parties were seeking pleasure, a physical connection rather than an emotional one," he replied, raising a hand to his face and adjusting his eye patch a little.

"It goes without saying that what I desired was not one of those things, but both of them with Syana," he pointed out, sure this was get a rise out of the round ball of fur.

[cadenza]

Mokona listened to him explain and just laugh. "So, if you're joining the dark side and becoming an assassin once again; you're going to resort back to the old you and that means if you ever get set to do those kind of things with Syana - you would." he pointed out, eyes narrowed with a smile on his face. "By then, I'm sure Syo would be her guard and wouldn't allow that."

Syana enjoyed Maddox's cuddle, when he broke the kiss she looked into his eye before blinking when Mokona began to talk. She shifted her gaze towards Mokona and frowned a little, folding her arms. "Mokona..." She slowly stated, moving towards him and a smile. Not quite understanding what Maddox had meant when he told Mokona his reply. Syana just couldn't help but shake her head. "I wouldn't mind even if it was his job." She stated obliviously and covered Mokona's mouth with her hand, wrapping her other arm around his stomach.

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox snorted a bit at the rabbit, shaking his head some. "Foolish creature, do not talk about me like you understand me," he warned, bringing his hands to rest a little on his hips as he continued to shake his head, "even I have standards," he huffed, feeling a strong desire to punt the rabbit like a soccer ball as he did so.

"I would never hurt Syana, much less attempt to take her life - no matter how much money was involved," he confidently responded, his green eye sliding shut for a moment as he wondered what exactly the rabbit had against him.

[cadenza]

Syana watched the two bicker before laughing, pressing her finger to her lips and giggling softly.
Within a few seconds, Mokona was grabbed by a little girl who looked really scruffy.
She had two brown eyes and long brown hair. She looked around eight and judging by her appearance she had been crying.
Mokona squirmed in fear, thinking he was going to be taking away from Syana until he noticed the girl was sniffling.
Sighing, he hesitantly looked around at the girl and blinked his eyes.

Syana looked around to Maddox, checking to see if he was still there before walking over to the young girl.
She held Mokona away from Syana and she had her eyes narrowed, clearly indicating to the girl that she didn't want Syana to take her teddy away from her.
As Syana held her hands out for Mokona, the girl shook her head.
"Mine!" she stated loudly towards Syana.

Syana slowly leaned backwards, not bothering to say anything before frowning. "Are you lost?" she eventually asked the young girl. "Where's your mother and father?"
The girl looked at her, tears forming but she kept a brave face.
"They let go of my hand in the supermarket and walked off." she stated abruptly. "I ran away after some lady came to take me with her."

Syana frowned, the girl made it seem that her parents didn't want her but Syana knew that she had probably lost then. She shifted her gaze towards Maddox, clearly hoping he knew how to solve this.

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox snickered a little as Mokona was stolen by a little girl, thinking it very fitting that the rabbit be stolen away as a bit of karma for always being such a jerk to him. He didn't feel bad for the rabbit at all, but he did notice that the girl looked a little unkempt. Was she homeless or something?

Syana approached her, and she refused to hand over Mokona (which was fine with him). He would have been content to allow the girl to run off with the gluttonous bunny, but she soon informed them that she was lost, and Syana was looking to him for answers.

With a bit of a sigh, he walked a few feet ahead of his luggage, lowering himself into a crouching position a couple of feet in front of the girl, so that he would not seem so threatening to her, before speaking to her, a kind smile having appeared over his face.

It might have seemed a bit strange, but he was rather used to having to deal with people, children in particular, in such a manner, due to the days when he had pretended to be a 'white knight,' a valiant knight whom loved the people, protected them, and greeted them with kindness and compassion - which was largely an act, of course.

"My name is Maddox, what is yours?" He politely asked, his expression strangely soft. "Do you remember where your parents said they were going? If you do not know the way, perhaps we can lead you there," he smiled once more, extending a hand, which was curled into a fist, he opened his fingers in one quick movement, causing a few bubbles to flow forth lazily, a simple parlor trick in hopes of putting the child at ease.

[cadenza]

The little girl stared at Maddox, slightly intimidated and almost willing to give him the rabbit before suddenly the kindness of his smile made her smile a little and blush.
"Ruby." She stated slightly, keeping a tight grip on Mokona. "My name is Ruby."

Mokona moved in her arms, slightly irritated. "That's nice and all, but please let me go RUBY." He stated firmly, bluntly as he squirmed and had little effect against the girl. She had him pinned to her.

Syana walked slowly over as the bubbles appeared in Maddox's hand, Ruby clearly watching them with wide and amazed eyes. She smiled, a calm expression on her face and she couldn't help but shift her gaze towards Maddox.

"mama and papa both left me, they never said anything and they promised me a teddy. They just ran away when I was looking at some strawberries." Ruby frowned, sniffling a little but just stared at Maddox's hands a little while longer, keeping one arm around Maddox she poked the bubble and blinked when it didn't pop

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox continued to smile gently, pleased that the little girl had responded rather well to his presence. He noticed that she was smiling and blushing, meaning he at least had her attention. "That's a very pretty name," he commented, his green eye only about half open as he remained crouched before her, "I bet your parents called you that because you are a precious gem to them," he suggested, allowing his eye to close for a moment.

As it reopened, a few more bubbles floated from his hand, which he then offered to the little girl whom was so enthralled with his magic. "How about we head back to where you were looking at the strawberries?" He suggested, casting a glance towards Syana for a moment (as he pretty much ignored Mokona), "if we start there, I am sure that we will find your parents soon enough," he gently coaxed, his voice much softer than usual.

"I bet they are looking for you right now, Ruby. We should find them, I bet they are really worried about you," he told her, his hand still offered to her and his hand outstretched for her to take.

[cadenza]

Ruby stared hesitantly at Maddox's hand, her brown eyes flickering with worry for a few seconds before taking it.
She shifted her gaze towards Syana before back to Mokona and then shook her head, holding Mokona tighter to her body and a small smile crept awkwardly up her pale lips.
"I don't remember my way back..." she admitted.
"I ran and ran, bumped into some people who talked like thish " She put on a bit of a drunk tone to her voice. "They asked me where my parents were and they smelt really funny and weird and there was glass all around them..." She looked upwards before onward.
"I don't remember my way back"
-
Syana listened to her, the story seeming familiar to that of when she had traveled from home and bumped into some people exactly like how Ruby had explained, except they didn't ask where her parents were and rather why were her clothes still on. Mokona came and scared them off shortly after and Syana fled. She had seen her father drunk before, but he wasn't as drunk as them and was rather happy and loving. As she shifted her gaze to Maddox, she just couldn't help but smile. He looked like a father and daughter with Ruby.

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox smiled encouragingly at her as she took his hand without further prompting, and with this, believing that she would no longer be frightened of him, he stood to his full height once more, though his voice and expression remained gentle and soft as he spoke to her once more, "how about we head in the direction you came from, and see if we can find something you recognize?" He suggested, pausing a moment to look at all of his luggage.

His free hand extended, and a large, protective bubble formed around his belongings to keep any passersby from stealing it. With this done, he looked to Syana, whom he noted was smiling at him, and gave a bit of a nod to her.

"Alright, lets go," he said, and with this began to walk (albeit at a slow pace, since her legs were much shorter than his and he had to take shorter strides in order to keep himself from dragging the girl along. The girl had not given many hints about where she had come from, but she had mentioned it was crowded, and she had gotten distracted by fresh strawberries, which likely meant she had been somewhere in the marketplace.

With this in mind, he cast a glance towards the girl, Ruby, and offered her a bit of a reassuring smile. He looked at ease, but his keen ears were listening carefully, thinking that the parents were likely shouting the girl's name somewhere as they searched for her.

[cadenza]

Ruby glanced around as she tried to figure out where she was, before long she shied behind Maddox slightly as they walked past the drunk people.

Syana followed after them she gazed around the area before looking onward where shops were laid out in hut like visions with no walls.
Syana couldn't help but seem confused and amazed how the shops changed to stalls in a line.

Ruby shifted her brown gaze around, her brown eyes looking through the area before suddenly she heard people talking to police with a worried expression.
"I think that's them over there..." she murmured hesitantly, keeping a tight grip on Mokona and causing him to squirm in a slight pain.

[Maddox Aquila]

Maddox came to a halt as the girl spoke up, saying that she believed she saw her parents. The girl still seemed a little uncertain and upset, so he offered her a smile once more, "come along then, Ruby, they seemed to be pretty worried about you. Lets not keep them waiting," he said, still holding onto her hand as he began to lead her along once more, heading directly for the people that were talking to the police officer, he brought the girl to them.

"Pardon my intrusion," he spoke up, bowing his head a little to them, "but if you are searching for a child, I believe I found her," he politely pointed out, and with this, his free hand indicated to the girl that was at his side.

[cadenza]

"Ee-yesa. That'sa her!" The woman sobbed towards Maddox, running over and wrapping her arms tightly around Ruby's back, picking her up and holding her close. "Ruby! My little bambola!"
She cuddled up against Ruby tightly, the small girl sobbing in her arms and nodding.
"Mama, papa. I'm so sorry!"
Her father walked over with a rather apologetic look on his face.
"We went to get Ruby her teddy, but we didn't realize she had stayed at the strawberries. When we came back to find her, she had vanished." he explained.

Syana smiled, leaning against Maddox and closing her eyes as she wrapped her arms around his, Mokona managing to squirm free from the embrace and ran towards Syana, leaping onto her shoulder and staying close. "Syana!"