Kai was only a few feet from Cinder's door, and he heard what words escaped her lips. He came to a halt and his sorrow was destroyed by pure joy. She loves me. The fact repeated in his mind countless times as he returned to his chambers. She loves me. Kai strode to his bed and pulled the covers over his body. Now, all he had to do was wait until the morning. When he and Cinder could spent time together. When he could tell her he heard what she said. When he could try to convince her to keep in touch with him even after she went back to Luna.

Kai loved Cinder. She loved him. The only problem was if Levana found out, she would force a wedding alliance between Luna and Earth. That was not the part he was afraid of anymore. If this took place before, or on the day of his coronation, Levana would control both planets. If he and Cinder were to ever be happy together, Levana could not be in rein.

.................

"No, no, no, no, no, no." Cress scrolled through the criminal files from the Eastern Commonwealth. All of the convicts were either too strong, dangerous, or just too creepy. She already looked at all of the civilian records in the E.C. palace area, which was a waste of time. None of those people would help the poor princess.

Cress was excited to have a chance that someone would come save her from this death trap. But she wanted to pick the right person the first time. As to not have to repeat the process, and possibly alert the lunar queen of Cinder's plan to save the prince and princess from a potential wedding or engagement.

At first, Cress was terrified that someone had traced her chip back to her. Then, Cinder spoke in such a calm and reassuring tone that she wouldn't have expected from her. She was in a nightdress with an android the last (and first) time she saw her. Cress thought she was some sort of crazy woman. Cinder was actually a kind person who was willing to defy Queen Levana to save two planets. That would take a lot of nerve and guts. Or this girl was crazier than the queen herself.

After Cress had began to search for a suitable person to aid then in their plans, she began to research the princess. If there was anyone who had motive to go against the queen, it was her. There had been an accident on Luna that caused the princess to have to be placed in a stasis chamber for six years. After that, the parts of her body that where gone where replaced with cyborg attachments. For the rest of her life she would be ridiculed for her being cyborg. All thanks to the probable suspect of causing the accident, her aunt. Cress thought that the princess must be ecstatic that the prince cared for her.

Cress's search for an appropriate pilot was not going very well. She had narrowed it down to people who actually had a ship and those who's crimes were not that bad. As she read the descriptions, she found one that was for theft, high profile theft, and robbery. Not once in the file did it say this convict harmed anyone on their ... trips.

She clicked the link for their full process report and found this person's name. Carswell Thorne. He had brown hair that was medium length and eyes that seemed to be part of the oceans of Earth. His ship was a Rampion model, which was able to withstand the threats of space. As she read through the file, she began to question this man. He was kicked from the American Republic's military. He stole the ship that he 'owned' and had hidden it somewhere. But what disturbed her the most was what she found under 'relations'. There were dozens of names, and ninety-nine percent of them were those of women. He was the kind of man that dated around for fun. Not for love, not for someone to be with. Just to have fun and be the heart-breaker when he's done.

What an idiot. How does he live with himself? If only that man knew what it was like to be isolated from the world around him. If only he knew how Cress felt. Then maybe he'd have more respect for love and its wonders. He might feel bad for the women he wronged. He'd know what it's like to have a life without affection. To know you'll never be loved because you've never met anyone who could. Or anyone for that matter.

Cress pondered on whether or not to chose this man to aid them in their plans. He was a healthy man with several skills that could come in handy on the way. But his relations to women made her feel uneasy. He could try to harm the princess or .... she decided not to finish that thought. But Cress recalled that one of Selene's cyborg parts was equipped with several self defense mechanisms. If he tried to hurt her, he'd be in for a metallic surprise.

"I guess you're going to help Cinder save the world, Mr. Thorne."

.................

Cinder woke up from the black abyss that took over her mind once she had fallen asleep. As she began to switch her day and night clothes, the device she made yesterday's screen sprawled a message. Incoming comm request. Thank the stars.

Cinder shook the grogginess from her body and dragged herself to the android shell. "Accept comm request." The screen fizzed with colors as it changed back rounds. With every passing second, the screen looked more and more like the room Cinder saw yesterday. "Hello?"

"Cinder! Hi! It took awhile, but I found the perfect person for the job." Her face was a canvas of gladness and excitement.

"That's great." One step closer to saving the world. Her mind also let another idea resurface. One step closer to leaving Kai. Her heart sank stories. At least I'll save him from Levana. "Who is it?"

"It's a convict in the E.C. prison. His name is Carswell Thorne. He has a spaceship and nothing to lose. So I think he might want to accept your offer. That is, if you make an offer to him ..." She seemed to let off some of her positive energy at the mention of his name. What did this man do that bugged her?

"Is something off about him? Or do you just not like him?"

"He ... uh. Well, when I looked at his 'relations' section. I learned ... that he ... is a very ... oh stars how do I put this?" She took in a deep breath and slowly released it. "He likes to be with women. Lots of women to be more precise. When I saw that section, I saw at least a hundred female names and none of them were relatives. He dates around all the time and does ... things with his dates."

"Oh." This may be a problem. "So he's that kind of guy." What Cress was trying to say is that he dates around for other reasons than to find someone to care about. "Well if he thinks he can do that with the princess, he'll be in for a treat. I bet she'd cut him up with the blade she has in her hand."

"That's what I thought. So, he's in cell block 7 on level 5. If you think that he's good enough for the task, then go break him out."

"Well, I'll be with the princess when she goes to get him. She can use her glamour to hide us and Mr. Thorne in-everyone's-side once we get him. I'll also be on the ship when they go to get you. To protect the princess of course."

"Great. But have you told the princess about this plan yet?"

"Yes. I met up with her after our talk. She is 100% on board with the plan. After all, it will save the man she loves from her aunt. Why wouldn't she want to do it?"

"Okay then. Did you tell the prince?"

"No." Kai would despise her after this all took place. "We want to use him as a witness to the 'kidnapping'. If we did tell him, Levana would know instantly. I'm told Prince Kaito is not the best at concealing his emotions."

"I guess that's the best we can do then." Cress sank in her seat. "So I'll talk to you again after you've broken the convict out of jail. Okay, Cinder."

"Yep. I'll comm you a little after he's out. Bye." Her heart was gaining pounds as she thought about having to leave Kai. He said that he loved her last night after pulling her out of a night terror. He himself looked so fragile and shaken that he might break into a million shards. Yet he put his own problems aside to help her.

The door swung wide and in came a blue haired android. "Good. You're not in here with a copper eyed royal," she joked.

"Stop. Just stop right there. Never bring that up again."

"You know I'm going to bring that up for the rest of your life."

"Not if your chip is destroyed before then."

"You wouldn't dare!" she barked.

"Maybe I would. I'm a heartless lunar royal that has been tortured her entire life. Who knows what I'm capable of?"

"Touche my metallic sister," she added. "Has Cress found anyone yet?"

"Yeah. I just finished talking to her. Some guy named Carswell Thorne."

"Oh I've heard of him. He's pulled off several heists in the E.C. He stole a ship once. Ugh, I'd hate to have a ship for a body." It was almost funny the way Iko shook at the thought of having such a large exterior. "Also, I came to remind you that you don't want to miss breakfast today. Unless you want to have another aggressive conversation with your horrible aunt."

"Thanks, Iko." So this bot can help me remember things on my agenda. "I'll be there in a minute."

Iko promptly exited the room and Selene did her best to make herself presentable. Thanks to her cyborg hand, she was able to tighten the loose ends of her dress on her own. The dress she chose was light blue with thick straps to hug her shoulders. There was a slight poof to the bottom half, but she could live with that. She slid her glove back on to cover her metal hand.

For her shoes, she picked a pair of heels that was nearly see through. The heel itself was made with a metal rod and the arch was a metal sheet. It was symbolic to her. And stood as a silent protest to Levana that was clear to her. Whenever she wore these shoes, she felt like her cyborg foot would fall off. But that was unlikely, since she was the one who attached it.

Once her hair was up in the ponytail style Cinder preferred, she left her room for the dining hall. She wasn't that hungry, but she hadn't eaten since lunch yesterday. All she had was an apple and a glass of water. She was never hungry anymore, probably because she was busy thinking of a way to save the world from her aunt.

...............

Kai, once again, sat at the dining table, alone with Levana. He hoped that Cinder would show this time, and not leave him to make small talk with her aunt. He sat in his chair and ate his breakfast while he store at where the princess should be sitting. He pleaded for her to still feel the same way she did the night before in his mind. That she wasn't just in a fog because of her nightmare. If she was, or she just pitied him for his night terror, his mind would snap.

An eternity passed before an angelic figure stepped into the room. Her blue dress perfectly complimented her skin tone. And the way the straps clung to the edges of her frame expressed her beauty even more so than normal.

She gracefully planted herself in the seat across from him. Her gaze never met his, sadly. The three sat in limbo before the queen piped up. "Well, it's nice that you decided to show up this morning, Selene."

"Or course, my Queen. When you addressed my absence yesterday, it was clear you wanted me to attend today. So I followed your implied orders," her voice was plain and blunt. An unfeeling scrap of sound compared to the tone she usually spoke in.

"It's a pleasure to know that you take heed to my words, young princess," her aunt commented dryly. "Do you have anything planned for today to run off and do?"

Cinder opened her mouth to respond, by closed it and looked down to the floor. "No, my Queen. I have no previous engagements for today."

"Good. Then you can spend more time with the prince." She turned her gaze over to him. An icicle the size of a cane replaced his spine. "You wouldn't mind accompanying my niece today, would you?"

"Of course not, Queen Levana. It would be a pleasure."

"Wonderful. After breakfast, you two can do whatever it is you want to as to pass time." Levana then abandoned her seat and left the to of them be.

"So," Kai slurred casually. "Anything new?"

"No," she said weakly.

Kai continued to stare at her as she faced the floor. He had the inability to take his eyes off her glowing form. After another agonizing silence, he couldn't wait any longer for her to confess. "I heard what you said after I left." Cinder's head snapped up with wide eyes. "I was a little surprised at first."

"Oh, you heard that?" for some reason, she didn't blush even though she was clearly embarrassed. "Uh ... well I. Um," she let out a nervous laugh. Her gaze tilted back to the ground. Seconds later, she shot up from her chair and began to sprint to the doors. Kai lifted himself from his chair to tail her.

She ran through the palace with great speed for a girl in heels. It was also odd that she seemed to know her way around the place for the short time she'd been here.

Kai ran in her wake for what felt like hours before she entered the garden and became confused. But she only stopped for a fraction of time before sprinting again. She was just out of his reach as they ran around the exotic plants for who knows how long.

Finally, he lunged for her and caught her hand.