Namiko ran through the halls of the detention center to get to the holding area where Isaiah had been for the last eight hours, and his head popped up as soon as the door opened. He caught her just as she jumped into his arms, lifting her off of the ground in a hug.

"I'm so sorry mama. I missed you so much." Was the first thing he said to her. Since they'd started dating six months ago, they had yet to spend this much time apart not including when they were asleep. He didn't realize just how long eight hours truly was.

"I missed you too baby. Are you alright? Did they hurt you?" She held his face to look over it and see if he had any bruises or marks.

"No. I'm good. You good? Where Naia at?" She noticed that his voice was much raspier than usual; a sign of how tired he was.

"Sleeping with Nonna. I didn't want to wake her." Namiko wiped away the tears from her face that was puffy and red from all the crying she'd been doing.

"Isaiah.." her voice then cracked, and she didn't have to say anything else for the expression on his face to completely soften in guilt.

"I feel like I keep messing up with you. I'm sorry Nami." He mumbled, upset with himself.

"Oh, love. That's alright. We're fine—we are, I promise. Ok? We're fine. I'm not upset with you. Don't be sad please." She wrapped her arms around his neck, letting him rest his head on her shoulder.

In fact, she was so proud of him. No one had ever defended her like he had, and she didn't even have to ask him to step in last night. He just knew he needed to. She appreciated him so much for caring about her and their daughter, Naia, to the point where he took justice into his own hands after realizing that Namiko was uncomfortable and unable to do so herself.

She wasn't upset in the slightest—at least, not with him. At their circumstances, a bit, but definitely not with him.

"Queen Namiko..we must go now." Mark announced his presence in a quiet tone at the doorway, and Namiko nodded while wiping her tears away again.

"I'm leaving with you or you just came to see me?" Isaiah asked her.

"No baby, you're leaving. We have to meet with the board of government now; but you don't have to stay here anymore." Namiko assured him, and he nodded as well, placing her down on her feet so that she could lead the way.

"Did I get you in trouble Nami?" He asked next.

"Don't worry about that Isaiah. I'm fine." She spoke softly, but Isaiah couldn't help it. He was always worried about her.

And Namiko was indeed 'in trouble'. She wouldn't tell him that though.

Every newspaper, website, and broadcast channel was filled with monstrous rumors about what happened at First Castle last night. Almost every camera crew that was there was able to get some very incriminating footage, too. Namiko had never read so many rude comments about herself and her family. That was one of the main reasons why she'd been crying.

Every comment was negative. There were millions of them and she couldn't find a single positive one.

Most of them were severely crucifying her decision to stay still and allowing Isaiah to beat who the kingdom thought was an innocent reporter black and blue right in front of her and Princess Naia—which, that did happen but Kenji was far from innocent, so she felt it was justified. Would she have done that? No. Was she glad that someone else had finally done it? Yes.

She did feel bad for inciting violence, though. Namiko had never even killed a bug—knowingly—in all of her 23 years of life. So she was definitely a bit distraught from how unrelentingly violent Isaiah was and how fast his anger allowed him to take that route, but that was another thing she wouldn't tell him.

He scared her to the point of tears last night. His sudden anger was always a shock to her, but again, with their circumstances—she couldn't blame him. She was thankful for what he did even if she didn't agree with the extent of punishment he decided to hand out.

"I just need to use the restroom really quick." Namiko excused herself from the Prime Minister, Angela, and Isaiah. The unusually silent carriage ride from the detention center to the Kingdom's council building had her stomach turning.

As soon as she made it to the restroom, she squatted in front of the toilet and allowed her lunch from the previous day to spill into the toilet. She hadn't ate much so eventually it became nothing but bile and burned as it spewed from her mouth.

Tears stung her eyes, her face became a few shades lighter and her nose began to burn as well just as she felt a familiar hand gather her hair up to get it out of her face. When she was done, Isaiah used tissue to wipe her mouth off as much as possible before following her over to the row of sinks.

"I'm fine." Namiko tried to assure him, seeing how concerned he was from the expression he held.

"You not baby. And that's okay." He told her, causing her bottom lip to begin quivering before she quietly sobbed to herself. Isaiah turned her around and held her against his chest, letting her get her tears out.

"I'm so—oh my god.. I don't know what to do." Namiko said through her cries as she rubbed the necklace around her neck.

"Talk to me Namiko. I can't help if I don't know what you thinking 'bout mama." Isaiah spoke quietly to her, but all she did was sniff in response.

"Nothing I just—nothing. I'm fine." She said again, shaking her head as she reached into her crossbody Chanel bag to grab the mini pack of wipes she kept inside. After cleaning her mouth out with one, she popped a piece of gum in her mouth and washed her hands.

"I'm just nervous, that's all. I've never been in this position before.. in 'trouble', I mean. I'm scared." She walked into his arms again, laying her head against his chest. She wished her father would send her a sign. She could really use some of his guidance right now.

"I'm sorry for putting you here, but look at me," He tilted her head up, staring into her red eyes. "Just be honest wit' 'em, and whatever happens, happens. I'm with you no matter what, aight? I always got you Namiko. You know that."

She stood on the tip of her toes to give him a kiss, and she smiled against his mouth at how he had no problem kissing her even though she was just throwing up a few moments ago. This man was madly in love with her.

"Thank you. I do know that. I love you so much Isaiah."

"I love you more. I 'preciate you for sticking with me. If they wanna send me back to that hotel though, let 'em. I done did time before. I just get to do it comfortably now." He slid in a joke to make her feel better, and he knew it worked when she tossed her head back with a laugh.

Within a few minutes or so, the two of them walked in and sat at a table on the opposite side of three other people; two women and one man. The only others in the room were two of the most known news crews in the kingdom. Isaiah was actually taken aback because when 'board of council' was mentioned, he assumed it would be at least ten people.

It slipped his mind that San Senova was a monarch kingdom, which meant that everything went through Namiko and she was the highest rank of power in the entire kingdom. That also meant that she was completely exempt from the law, and she wasn't allowed to be the topic of any civil or criminal proceedings—so Isaiah knew that they were here to discuss what would happen to him.

"Queen Namiko," Everyone in the room stood up and bowed at the sight of her, and she raised her hand a bit to tell them it was ok to be as they were.

"They said that you asked them to be here." Mark gestured to the people holding cameras, and Namiko nodded her head, placing her folded hands in her lap. She hoped what she was about to tell them was the right thing to do.

Before she could speak, what she thought was a moth flew in front of her, but when it landed on her crystal necklace she saw that it was actually a monarch butterfly. The fact that it landed on the necklace gifted to her by her father and it was known as the monarch butterfly—since Namiko was a monarch as well—she figured that was her father's way of letting her know that he was there with her, just like she'd prayed for in the restroom.

It made her tear up because she realized that meant she indeed was making the right decision even though it would be the hardest one she would ever make.

"It's fine." Namiko stopped Angela before she could shoo the butterfly away.

"You all can go ahead and start." She said to both the camera crews and the board of council while wiping her tears away.

"This is the board of council meeting with Queen Namiko and Prince Consort Isaiah of San Senova, with several witnesses present. This meeting is being live streamed and broadcasted all over the kingdom, for the record. We have Queen Namiko's permission to begin, and Councilwoman Alison will be our spokesperson." The only man on the other side of the table spoke into a microphone that was positioned in front of him before sliding it over to Alison.

"Queen Namiko, we are here today to discuss what happened at First Castle last night and the actions made by both you and Isaiah Brewster. For the record, could you please state whether or not you exonerated Isaiah Brewster on all criminal charges made against him in the near death beating of Kenji Akh before he could go before a jury and before consulting with the Prime Minister." Alison spoke.

"I did."

"What was your reasoning, with all due respect, Queen Namiko?"

"Almost four years ago, Kenji raped me in my own bedroom after creating a plan with my mother to remove me as the next heir to San Senova. She wanted me to have a son who would become King of San Senova. A few weeks ago, my mother told me that she'd been in talks with Kenji again and that he would like to have a DNA test done on my daughter to prove that she was his." Namiko started, being completely honest with the audience of over half a million people watching on the news.

"I've been confiding in my boyfriend about how scared I was that my baby would have to be raised by a rapist. When Kenji approached us last night, he spoke on my unborn child that I'm currently pregnant with; Isaiah's biological child. Since justice had yet to be served from my rape due to my own fears, my boyfriend handled it for me. That's why I exonerated him."

"Queen Namiko, are you saying that Princess Naia was created from unwilling insemination, and that Kenji is her biological father?" Alison asked.

"Yes. I fell pregnant as the aftermath of rape."

"Months ago you stated that Grand Duchess Kamila was being rehabilitated. Is it true that she's been in the detention center?"

"Yes. My mother sent my daughter to the United States and told me that she'd passed away. That's why I traveled there in January; to get her back. I imprisoned her out of anger, but after learning of her true intentions, I realized she was a danger and sentenced her to solitary confinement indefinitely." Namiko quickly reached up to wipe away a tear that escaped.

"I want to apologize to the kingdom for not being completely honest when I first introduced my daughter and my boyfriend. I was afraid and embarrassed about what happened to me. Now that I've been truthful.." She paused and looked up at the ceiling for a moment to regather.

"I feel that it is in my family's best interest to abdicate the throne and pass my royal duties to the Prime Minister, Mark." She said, causing everyone's mouths to drop in surprise. That had only happened four times in the last thousand years.

Isaiah wondered why in the hell she hadn't told him about this. He knew that she was doing it for him but he knew how much this kingdom meant to her. He would put up with whatever made her happy; there was no reason for her to give up her crown.

"Queen Nam—," Mark started, only to be cut off by him.

"When my father was alive, he would always tell me that family was more important than his 'job'—that if it came down to it, he would always choose me. I've been telling Mark and my mother that same thing the last few weeks; if it ever came down to it, I choose my family."

"I realize now that even after twenty years of training for the position of power that I'm currently in, I'm not ready. I can't devote all of my time to the kingdom, I can't prioritize this kingdom over my family; I could never in a million years put them at number two in my life. I can't. I choose them..and it's with zero hesitation."

"San Senova needs a leader who will put them first. A good leader who genuinely cares and believes in the future of San Senova—and there's no one alive that fits that role better than Mark. This will be implemented effective immediately."

Technically, Namiko couldn't actually step down from the throne. She could pass her duties to someone else but she would be the Queen of San Senova until her death, and then it automatically went to her eldest child. Regardless, passing off her duties was a big deal.

This meant that Mark was officially the highest rank—second to Namiko, of course, but he now had her permission to be the ruler of San Senova.

"I love you very much, Namiko. Why wouldn't you talk to me about this?" Ignoring the cameras, Mark wrapped Namiko up in an appreciative hug with tears in his eyes.

"Because I knew you'd talk me out of it. This is good for the kingdom. They will do well under you." She smiled up at him, wiping away her own tears. All he could do was sigh and give her another hug. He really loved her as if she was his daughter. He was so proud of her and this selfless act.

Namiko opened her eyes when the glass door to the shower opened and let in a cold gust of air as Isaiah stepped underneath the water with her. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and she placed her hands over his that went to rest on her now easily noticed baby bump.

"I love you Nami. You know that?" His voice rasped.

"Yes. I love you more Isaiah. Do you know that?" She returned the question.

"I'm serious Namiko." He said, and she turned around to look at him with a smile on her face. It slowly faded away when she noticed he wasn't smiling back at her.

"Have I upset you? What's the matter?" A small frown replaced her expression.

"Nah baby. I'm just—thankful.. what you did today couldn't have been easy for you. I know how much it means to you to live up to who your dad was. I feel like I came between th—,"

"Will you just be quiet for once, Zay?" She used his nickname to show how serious she was. She never called him Zay.

"You didn't come between anything. My father may have been the best King I knew—and the only, actually, now that I think about it.." She accidentally distracted herself, then shook her head to make herself focus again.

"But he was an even better father and just a good person in general. That's what I'm living up to. I'm a good person and what I did for you and Naia today is proof that I'm a good mom, too. I'm just like him. He would've been proud of me for doing what I did, and he would've applauded you for what you did last night. Maybe a bit afraid, but still." She chuckled with a shrug of her shoulders.

"You crazy as fuck. I'm so glad you put up with me Nami. You all I need in this life." He tilted her head back for a kiss, and her smile faded away again as she returned the passionate kiss.

"You always know just what to say, man.. make me change my whole thought process. I don't know how I ever made it without you. Yo' dad raised you well mama. He really would be proud of you—for all you've done. Not just what you did today. I'm proud of you." His words made her tear up for the millionth time today.

"I would do whatever for you Namiko; give you whatever."

"My Nonna asked me just a week before I met you if I'd want to raise my kids in the Royal life. I told her we didn't have a choice, I had to.. but I do have a choice. And my answer is no. I don't want my babies in the spotlight like I was, like we are—where people could make the wrong perceptions of them or try to control them, you know?"

"So, if you really will give me whatever, then the thing I want is to go back to the states where our babies can be normal. And I can be normal again; that's when I was the happiest. I don't want to live in the castle anymore, or even in San Senova. I want to go back." Namiko reached up to wipe her face, tired of crying. She was surprised her tear ducts hadn't dried up.

"Yeah? Out of all things, that's what you want? You couldn't ask me to build you a universe or somethin'? You just wanna go back to funky ass New York? Shittin' me?" He smiled down at her, and Namiko burst out laughing while throwing her arms around him in a hug.










Time jump comingggg. Hashtag feeling like Shamar xoxo