Hah, thought this was a yaoi fic featuring Ranma and an amorous prince?
Think again!  I typed up a total of 4 paragraphs to a satisfying
conclusion of chapter 3.  Skip to the end if you've read this piece too
many times...

Chapter 3

    Makoto blinked as he rubbed his eyes, his gaze settling 
on the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen.  

    "So how's the head?  I never knew that a head hitting a 
table could make that much noise," his companion 
commented wryly.  Makoto felt thoughts that he never truly 
experienced, desires that seemed so contrary to his norm 
that he shivered slightly.

    He couldn't deny the feeling of excitement.  He nodded, 
his muscles tense, trying to prevent a sly grin from 
surfacing on his face.

    "Well, hopefully the entire day of rest helped you."  
Makoto sat up in his bed, staring around, the glimmer of 
sunlight filtering in through the windows.  Indeed, he had 
been unconscious for awhile.

    Absolute terror.  Those two words described Makoto as 
he sought asylum in the library.  He had been constantly on 
edge that entire afternoon thinking about her.  She, like a 
gemstone that sparkled in that special way whenever he 
saw her, like a magnet that drew in a piece of metal, had 
that magical way about her that made him feel dizzy, 
almost lovesick with desire.

    He didn't like it.  No, he absolutely hated it.  Every time 
he looked, such thoughts entered his mind, acts of 
depravity that he would have never ever done, until now.

    Makoto Mizuhara was going to snap, soon.

    Unable to cope with his inability to confront her, he 
comforted himself with other, base means.  With a soft 
sigh, Makoto looked down at his wet hands, halfway stuck 
between being disgusted with himself or amazed.

    Masturbation had never been an option for him.  He had 
never had an urge so strong that he needed to relieve 
himself.  But now, he was so filled with lust that he didn't 
hesitate to start the cycle all over as he imagined, as he 
pretended that his hand was really her, her body...

    A minor wave of ecstasy washed over him as a liberal 
amount of jism splashed over his hand. His dripping fingers 
paralysed with numbness, his face flushed with guilt, 
cursed himself for being of such weak mind, as well as 
ruining a perfectly good tome.

* * *

    Fatora sighed as she peered through the tiny hole in the 
wall, watching Makoto had definitely been a stimulating 
experience.  Consumed with her love and desire, she failed 
to see anything wrong with Makoto's rather new behavior.

    Alielle let out a sighed as she sat down on the barrel she 
used to look through the peephole.  "Fatora, why just don't 
you give him a little privacy...  Maybe he's thinking 
about..."

    Fatora grinned slightly as she watched Makoto carefully 
put back the book with the soaked page.  "Me?  Of course 
he's thinking of me!  I'm a Princess of Roshtaria, nothing 
else could possibly compare to my beauty!"  It took a bit of 
effort for Fatora to suppress the hearty laugh that was dying 
to come out.

    "I don't know.  Maybe he's thinking about..."  There was 
a pause, as Alielle, her angelic face marred by a jealous 
scowl, thought of someone.  "Maybe he's thinking about 
Nanami...  You know how self conscious she is.  He'll 
never bed her until the day they get married."

    A look of fear momentarily blinked through Fatora's 
otherwise overconfident expression.  "Nanami?  And what 
gave you that idea?  She couldn't possible compare to my 
beauty!"  Fatora glanced downwards, her face turning from 
confident, to unsure, to the pits.

    She absentmindedly cupped her breasts with her hands 
and hefted them around a bit.  She had remembered 
brushing up against Nanami once, and for a girl who was 
all prim and proper, she had the body of a sexpot.  'Damn!  
Her breasts are bigger!'

    "Fatora?"  Alielle asked, a trickle of drool slowly 
forming at the corner of her mouth.

    But the Roshtarian princess didn't listen, her next move 
to place her hands on her hips.  Immediately she winced as 
her hands pressed against bone.  'And she's a lot fuller than 
me,' lamented Fatora silently as she remembered Nanami's 
perfectly luscious hips.

    Fury wasn't quite the right word to describe her reaction.  
Instead, she slumped down, not caring to watch anymore.  
She was depressed, crushed, defeated.

    In that brief moment, the princess seemed to have lost all 
her energy, very distressing to Alielle to say the least, as 
watching the princess feel herself, was a stimulating 
experience.

* * *

    Nervousness has a way of disorientating a man, 
confusing him to the point that he does not know when the 
situation has changed, his mind totally focused on one 
thing, the single object that causes his pain.

    Makoto was that focused that he initially didn't notice it 
when a certain person sat down next to him.

    "Makoto?"  He jerked when he heard that voice, his 
evidence soaked hand thrust into some convenient hiding 
spot, smack dab between his legs.  Fortunately, or rather 
unfortunately, his companion didn't seem to notice, yet.

    His lips quivered as he did his best to cover himself up.  
The Gods must have been on his side as his shirt was more 
than long enough to hide his embarrassing erection.  "Oh hi 
Nanami!"  Strangely enough, his voice came out somewhat 
squeaky.

    Nanami eyed Makoto strangely.  "You haven't been 
making out with Afura again?"  Makoto vigorously shook 
his head.

    "Then you haven't been doing anything bad?"   Makoto 
shook his head vigorously again.  "Then why are you so 
worried?"  Soft gentle hands kneed his shoulders.  "You're 
extremely tense.  I can feel it in your shoulders."

    Feeling Nanami's hands gentle squeeze and release him, 
Makoto shivered slightly as he felt a certain part of his 
body spring free from the shadows.  The expression on 
Nanami's face was quite interesting to say the least.

    "Makoto!"  Fiercely gripping Makoto's neck and 
thrashing him about, Nanami handled the situation in a 
rational way.  "You pervert!  What were you doing here?  
Who were you thinking about?"

* * *

    "Pass the plate," ordered an irate Fatora as she had 
sought to end her anxiety by stuffing herself.  Who knows, 
perhaps a little fat on her was actually a good thing, as it 
would make her look a bit fuller.

    Alielle was concerned as she handed the plate loaded 
with greasy, heart attack inducing food to Fatora.  "Now 
Fatora, you know how bad it is to be eating this stuff..." the 
girl started.

    Neither had a chance to continue as an irate Nanami, 
who was carefully wiping her hands clean, barged into the 
kitchen.  "And why did he have to touch my hands!  Ugh, I 
can't even wipe this stuff completely off!"

    Alielle looked up at Nanami with interest.  "So what 
happened?"  Looking eagerly at Nanami in a way that made 
the older girl cautious.

    She merely snapped back.  "Nothing happened!"  With 
that tone of voice, there was no mistaking it.  Something 
had happened, something big.

    A smile surfaced on Alielle's face as she momentarily 
forgot about the groveling princess.  "So what?"  Nanami 
recoiled backwards slightly as she didn't know what to 
think was on Alielle's mind at the moment, the young 
woman slowly leaning towards her.

    "Well, it's obvious that something happened..."  Nanami 
immediately started blushing as she thought about Makoto, 
his expression of helplessness and his unveiling.  It was a 
pretty strange thought to have.

    Watching the blood rush to Nanami's face, the 
unabashful Alielle was even more driven to find out what 
happened.  "Come on, come on!  Tell me, what happened?  
I know something happened!" 

    Nanami seemed furious as she tried to explain.  In truth 
it was more like embarrassment rather than anger.  "Well, 
Makoto, he..."  She broke off as she did not really wanted 
to talk about that particular, thing.

    "What about Makoto?" asked Alielle, slowly, displeased 
with the fact that Fatora was now paying attention.

    "Well, he..."

    Princess Fatora dropped her plate and got closer.  "And 
what did he do?"  The urgency in her voice was most 
distressing to Alielle, who was about ready to get fed up 
with Makoto this and Makoto that.  She just wanted 
everything to be back to normal.

    "He touched me," said Nanami.

    Today was just not Fatora's day.  First she was depressed 
to the point of gorging herself.  Secondly, Makoto was just 
jerking off blissfully instead of pleasuring her.  Thirdly, he 
was probably in love with Nanami, and not her.

    Alielle giggled as she wanted to know more.  "Where did 
he touch you?  Here?"  Nanami recoiled as she felt a hand 
pinch her breast.  "How about here?  Or here?"

    A loud scream echoed throughout the palace.

* * * 

    The brisk wind tore at Makoto's hair, but he didn't care.  
Right now, he was already preoccupied, his mind thinking 
of other thoughts.
    
    It seemed that his previous encounter with Nanami 
served only to further his desires, and before while he 
through of Her, now he was unable to think of anything 
except Her.  She was different from the others.  She had 
that extra quality that made Makoto tingle as he thought 
about her.

    With a sigh, he slumped down as he thought of his entire 
life, always having pure, unadulterated thoughts.  Even a 
few days ago, he would have sweared never having such 
longings for a woman.  But now, he couldn't.

    He wanted to touch a woman badly.  He wanted to touch 
Her, for a brief moment merging to be one with Her.  He let 
out a pent up sigh, his body slowly deflating as he didn't 
know what to do.

    His resistance to his innermost desires and self control 
was eroding away, ever so slowly.

* * *

    "Fatora...  Please listen to me!" cried Alielle as she 
watched Fatora literally throw her entire wardrobe out of 
the window.  

    Fatora growled as she sent a diamond studded dress out 
the window.  "Maybe it's the way Nanami dresses," she 
muttered.  "Maybe it's the way Afura dresses."

    "I don't think a change of clothing is going to make a 
difference," Alielle said quite softly.  Perhaps a little bit too 
soft, as Fatora did not cease in her mission to achieve a 
new look.

    "Of course it'll work, I'm sure of it!" cried out Fatora as 
she finally finished pulling her entire princessly wardrobe 
out of the closet and onto the ground.  "Now all we need to 
do is have a brand new set of clothing made."

    Glancing at the huge mound that was just sitting in the 
middle of the spacious room, Alielle shook her head as she 
thought of all the labor needed creating an entire new set of 
clothing for Princess Fatora.

    "Princess Fatora," said a soft voice.  A seamstress walked 
into the room with a bundle of clothing in her hands, which 
she left on the bed.  "Your new clothes are ready."  The 
terrified woman left without another word, her timid, rapid 
steps audible.

    Fatora walked naked out of the closet.  "Say Alielle, 
what do you think is appropriate?"  She grabbed from the 
top of the pile, taking a thin, white blouse, one that a prim 
and proper girl would wear.

    She held the blouse against her body, and glanced down 
at herself.  It didn't suit her at all, as it was too 
conservative.  With a sigh, she tossed it to the side, and sat 
on the bed forceful enough to make her attributes jiggle 
ever so slightly.

    Alielle rubbed her legs together as she watched her 
lover.  "Fatora, I think you're perfect the way you are," she 
moaned as she zeroed in on Fatora's milky-white body.

    The princess didn't seem to listen as she dug through the 
pile of clothing.  So intent she was that she failed to feel 
tiny, delicate hands caressing her.

    It wasn't until Fatora felt something touch her nether 
regions, that she realized Alielle was feeling her.  Alielle 
let out a sigh of contentment as she hugged Fatora and 
gently fingered her princess.

* * *

    Pert breasts.  Perfect breasts, not too large and not too 
small, trembling, constantly taunting through the tight 
dress.

    Normally, when Makoto usually met a person of the 
opposite gender, he would be careful enough not to gawk at 
the various intriguing landmarks on her body, instead 
focusing on her face.  Right now, he was looking 
downwards at a slight angle at the captivating sight of a 
woman's breasts.

    "Oh hi, Makoto!" exclaimed Shayla as she tried hard to 
find a reason to be prowling around.  She couldn't find one.  
Of course, if it were Afura, she'd have a reason.  Afura 
always one better than herself.  Afura always calm and 
composed.  Afura always...

    Shayla mentally forced herself to stop before she risk 
doing some violent deed.  Of course, she was too late.  She 
heard someone gagging and looking about, she found 
Makoto clawing at her arm, which had wound itself around 
his neck.

    "I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Shayla as she let go, allowing 
Makoto's limp body to collapse to his knees.

* * *

    "Alielle!  What are you doing?" asked Fatora, as she 
pushed her ex-lover to the side.  Whatever Alielle had on 
her mind, the princess decided that she didn't want a part of 
it at all.  

    The release of sexual tension for Alielle was 
invigorating.  She held onto the princess tightly and 
doubled her efforts.  "You know what I'm doing," she 
whispered as she resumed.  Her fingers gently slid in and 
out of her princess, her lips kissing Fatora down her neck.

    Fatora's mind was lost as she tried to fight off Alielle, but 
the little girl seemed to possess a hidden strength.  She 
tried to move away, but all that it brought on was more 
intense stimulation as Alielle sped up, her arm moving 
back and forth, her fingers pumping in and out.

    "No," moaned Fatora as she thought about Makoto and 
the irony in the situation.  Before, she would have given 
anything to be treated like this, by a woman.  But now, all 
she hoped for was Makoto.  All she wanted was Makoto.

    Alielle giggled as she felt Fatora buck as the orgasm 
rippled through her body.  "But you keep on telling me 
yes."  Fatora, winded and exhausted, felt herself lie back on 
the bed, Alielle kneeling in front of her, carefully stripping.

    Brushing back a few strands of purple hair, Alielle 
smiled at Fatora, who was still breathing heavily.  "Don't 
worry Fatora, I'll pleasure you more than any man ever 
will."  With sex-starved eyes, the girl kneeled forwards 
burying her face between Fatora's legs. 

* * *

    Makoto landed on the ground roughly, his head 
smacking into the hard, cold stone tiles on the ground.  
Shayla shook in fear as he laid still, unmoving, seemingly 
dead to the world.

    Seeing that her shaking of Makoto brought minimal 
response, she picked him up like a sack of rice, his body 
slung over her shoulder, and ran for help. (1)

* * *

    Fatora sighed as she felt Alielle play with her hair.  "Why 
did you have to do that?" she asked, almost reluctantly.

    "Because you weren't the Princess I love," said Alielle, as 
she shifted in position, mashing a breast against the back of 
Fatora's neck.  "You were to preoccupied with," there was a 
slight pause before she said, "him," her voice slightly 
venomous.

    The Princess shook her head.  "Preoccupied?  Me?" she 
laughed as she denied that for the past few days all she 
could think of was Makoto.  But denial never works, and 
the laugh soon died away.  "You're right," she whispered.

    The princess sighed in frustration.  "I don't know how I 
can make Makoto notice me.  Do I have to act more 
proper?  Be more polite?  Do I have to dress more 
formally?"  These and a formidable list of questions were 
all on Fatora's mind.

    Fatora shivered as she felt wet hands touch her cheek.  
"Fatora, you're never going to make Makoto love you, no 
matter what you do."  Alielle's normally warm voice was 
suddenly chilling, biting down to her core.

    The princess shivered as she felt the cool slick trail 
Alielle's finger left on her cheek.  "He's never going to love 
you unless you are yourself.  Stop trying to be Nanami or 
Afura or Shayla, because it's just not you."

    Confusion entered Fatora's mind as she tried to 
understand why Alielle would be giving her advice.  
Usually, it was just Alielle running around, all playful and 
without a serious thought in her cute head.

    "And why are you telling me this?" the princess asked, 
shivering as she felt a hand cup her breast.  Unconsciously, 
she pushed the hand away.

    A sad smile, a few tears, as Alielle finally gave in to the 
inevitable.  Pushing Fatora off her, she grabbed her 
clothing, hastily dressed, and left the room, leaving behind 
a confused princess.

* * *

    Shayla sighed.  Sometimes she didn't like it when she 
lost control of herself.  Just a while ago, she had nearly 
strangled Makoto to death while thinking about Afura.  It 
was distressing, especially since Makoto would be the last 
person she would ever hurt, but every time she thought 
about Afura.  How perfect Afura was.  How Afura was 
better than her.  How Afura got to lay Makoto first!  How 
Afura.

    She managed to stop herself, and as her rage subsided, 
she noticed the nasty grooves she had forced into the walls 
with her bare hands.  Not only that, she felt the front of her 
dress somewhat getting wet, and looking down, she found 
Alielle.

    The little girl seemed to be somewhat distressed over 
something and was crying her heart out into Shayla.  It 
wasn't a pleasant feeling watching a normally cheerful 
person in such a wrecked state.  In addition, it wasn't a 
good feeling wearing wet clothes.  

    Alielle pulled away, her cheerful face wearing such a 
depressed expression.  It was a strange new look to Alielle.  
"I'm sorry Shayla, but have you seen Makoto?  I really 
need to tell him something."

    "He's in his room, resting," said Shayla without a second 
thought.

* * *

    "Makoto!" cried a weak voice.  Through the misty haze, 
the voice wavered, struggling to penetrate the heavy fog 
that surrounded Makoto.  The voice was so familiar for 
Makoto, so intimate, but as hard as he tried, he couldn't 
recognize it.  Blindly he stumbled through the floating 
darkness, half-tripping over obstructions, nearly breaking 
his toes, trying his best to zero in on the voice.

    The weak but enchanting voice called out again.  
"Makoto!  Where are you?" this time, from a different 
direction.  How he wanted to meet this person, her voice so 
able to grab him like a magnet and draw him towards her, 
but as hard as he tried, he couldn't navigate at all through 
the mist that surrounded him.

    Something was preventing him from meeting her.

* * *

    Makoto whimpered as he laid in bed, perhaps having a 
nightmare.  Whatever it was, it allowed Alielle to enter the 
room without waking him.  She carefully walked across the 
stone floor, her feet making gentle pat-pat sounds as she 
slowly approached him.  Her face, now was completely 
devoid of her cheerful self, completely consumed with 
jealousy and envy.

    Climbing onto the bed, Alielle kneeled staring at 
Makoto's head.  He was turned away from her, but his slim 
neck was in view.  She reached for it, seeking to grasp it 
and to pummel Makoto, to show him who truly deserved 
Fatora's love.

    Before she could even begin to try, Makoto tossed and 
jerked, turning his head so Alielle could see his face.  The 
sight of Fatora's face was more than enough to make her 
pull her hands back momentarily, as she would never harm 
Fatora or bear any ill-will to her.

    But she reminded herself that this was Makoto, and she 
grabbed his neck.  As she squeezed, she was  surprised that 
he didn't put up a fight at all, and the whole situation felt 
uncomfortable for her.  She felt a tear land on her hand, 
and was surprised that it was Makoto, crying.

    It struck something in her heart, something much 
stronger than all the jealousy she was capable of.  And with 
a sigh, she turned away and tried to leave, knowing that this 
was not the right way to win Fatora's love.

    "Alielle?"  Makoto sat up, and prayed that it wasn't true, 
that the shadowy girl he saw wasn't Alielle.

    "Yes Makoto?"  Alielle asked.  From the small amount 
of light, leaking in from the door, she could see Makoto, 
his face which was sad, suddenly become terrified in a 
way.  Makoto didn't have the benefit of the light, and he 
was somewhat blinded by the light that framed Alielle's 
face rather perfectly.

    The realization hit Makoto.  His pulse started racing, 
thinking about the first time he had encountered Alielle.  It 
was a stimulating experience, when he thought back about 
it.  He tried as best to say something, but in such proximity, 
his intelligence was lowered to that of primordial sludge, 
and he blushed.

    He stammered around, unsure.  Alielle gazed at him, 
reminded of Fatora.  "Fa." she would have said Fatora, 
but she stopped herself.  "Makoto, why were you crying?"

    Makoto shrugged his shoulders, as there was no trace of 
the dream left in his memory.  He didn't recall one detail at 
all.  In fact, he didn't no he was crying until he felt a tiny 
tear slide down his face.  Immediately embarrassed, he 
wiped it away with his sleeve, and looked away from 
Alielle, ashamed.

    This was certainly a strange behavior for Makoto, as 
Alielle could remember how relatively open he was with 
her.  But now, this was different.  "Makoto, what's 
wrong?"  Alielle however, did not waste an opportunity to 
take a snipe at him.  "I mean, everything seems to be going 
your way, Fatora loves you.  Shayla would kill for you, 
Afura won't stop talking about you, Nanami."

    As she spoke, her hands got tighter and tighter, balling 
up into fists.  Makoto looked away.  "They don't really 
mean anything to me," he said quietly.  "It was all because 
of the drugs that Princess Rune gave us that makes them 
behave that way."  Little did Makoto know that he was still 
under effects of Dr. Stalubaugh's random concoction.

    He sat up in bed and looked timidly in Alielle's 
direction, almost smelling her sweet scent.  His heart 
pounded with anticipation, ignoring the troubled look on 
her face, his palms leaked perspiration.  Makoto was just 
on edge, looking at Alielle.

    "Really," said Alielle.  "So you are saying that despite 
how much Fatora is willing to sacrifice for you, you will 
not return her the favor!"  The sudden burst of anger from 
Alielle forced Makoto to recoil backwards.

    "But!" cried Makoto.

    Alielle cried out as her hand connected with the side of 
his face.  "You worthless man!"  Although her blow was 
not that heavy, most of the impact was emotional.  She 
watched Makoto reel back, hurt.  Although she didn't want 
to admit it, she didn't like being this mean.

    "I'm so sorry!" exclaimed Makoto.  "I'll never touch 
Fatora!  Honest, I will never."

    Alielle eyed Makoto strangely.  It seemed that this 
situation was constantly getting weirder and weirder.

    "I won't!  I swear!  I'll be faithful to you!"  Alielle 
stopped right there, her hand vacilitating slightly as she 
reviewed his words.  Judging from what Makoto had just 
said, she was pretty sure that he had the hots for her.  He 
practically cried as he embraced her.  "I love you!  I've 
always meant to tell you!  I love you!"

     Alielle didn't know what to say as she felt Makoto 
hugging her in a forceful, yet gentle way.  It was definitely 
a different feeling she had when she was with Fatora.  
Makoto made her feel like a special person, someone he 
would worship, which was a totally new feeling for her.

    She relaxed a bit as she awkwardly lowered her hand. (2)

* * *

    Alielle laid still in that bed for the entire night, her mind 
somewhat at a loss over what to feel. She heard Makoto, 
his gentle breathing tickling the back of her neck, her arm 
around her.  It was just too confusing for her.  She still 
loved Fatora, with all her heart was capable of, and now, 
there was Makoto loving her the same way she loved 
Fatora, just a lot less physical.

    A single turn and a glance at his calm face was more 
than enough to disturb her the slightest.  He looked just like 
the princess.  He was willing to love her back, the same 
way she would treat her lover.  Shaking her head, she 
muttered something under her breath as she let herself 
relax and fall asleep.

    No sooner has she settled into comfortable sleep, Alielle 
felt and intense pain as Makoto had seemingly held her 
tight to his body.  She tried to break free, but Makoto's iron 
grip prevented her from moving.  She tried to shake him 
away, when she heard him whisper something into her ear, 
in a half sob.

    Was it indignation?  Anger over the truth?  Alielle felt 
anger burn from within, but she successfully restrained the 
desire to slap Makoto.  He was most definitely toying with 
her, making her heart go through the same rollercoaster 
that was her love life with Fatora.  But she just couldn't 
bring herself to hit him.

    He seemed vulnerable, so sad, and yet comforted by her 
presence.  With a reluctant sigh, Alielle relaxed, and forced 
herself to sleep. (3)


    Screams, many of them.  

    And as usual, the various servants merely dismissed it as 
unimportant.  Life there was just filled with way too many 
surprises that all were quite desensitized.

    Shayla stared at the rather indecent scene before her, and 
her heart literally crumbled into dust.  Who would have 
ever thought, Makoto sleeping with Alielle, willingly.  
Shayla's response had been quite controlled, as all she did 
was scream.  But Fatora's response, was a nightmare.

    "Alielle!  How could you!"  Fatora on the verge of tears 
was quite an interesting sight for most.  Of course, Alielle 
reacted sharply.

    She tried to scramble out of bed, but it was impossible as 
Makoto was sleeping ever so peacefully with his arms 
around her, a rather incriminating position.  "Fatora, I can 
explain!"  The thought of having driven her lover to tears 
was more than enough to unsettle her.  But her words had 
no effect as the princess left without a word, most likely to 
seek sanctuary in her chambers where she could cry 
without being seen.

    Fatora ran and ran, her heart literally split in two, as she 
had been betrayed by her own best friend.  She cried.

* * *

    "Are you alright?" asked Makoto as he placed a cool 
cloth on Alielle's cheek.  Today had established many 
firsts.  She had felt sympathetic enough for a guy that she 
actually slept with him.  She had angered Fatora for the 
first time ever.  And she had been slapped by at least 3 
girls.

    She flinched slightly as she felt the coldness sting her 
red, burning cheeks.  The source of all her troubles sat next 
to her, but somehow, she didn't feel any malice towards 
him, his concerned face more than adequately wiping away 
all her malevolent wishes.  In a way, she did like it when 
someone gave her that extra special attention.

    But she still couldn't wipe out the image of Fatora 
crying.  As long as Alielle had known Fatora, the Princess 
had never shed a single tear over anything.  The Princess 
had deigned herself hardy and incapable of feeling any 
sadness.  She sighed and slumped down.

    "What's wrong?" asked Makoto nervously.

    "I disappointed Fatora.  I've never seen her cry before 
over anything," Alielle lamented, almost crying herself.  
"Of all the people in the world, I never want to see her hurt 
like that."

    He smiled slightly.  "You, always worrying about others.  
Just don't worry yourself to death."

    Alielle shot a glance at Makoto.  There was one big 
things she didn't like about his new attitude.  Everything 
didn't matter the slightest to him.  She was willing to bet if 
Fujisawa ran through the room with his clothes afire, 
Makoto wouldn't have noticed him.

    Makoto looked puzzled.  "And I wonder why she 
overreacted like that this morning."  That was it for Alielle.  
She could stand Makoto being nice to her.  She could stand 
Makoto focusing on her most of the time.  She could stand 
Makoto being a spineless wimp.  What she could not stand, 
was Makoto so blinded by love that he didn't pay the 
slightest attention to Princess Fatora's needs.

    She growled as she straddled him and shook him, 
somewhat violently.  "Understand this Makoto!  How can 
you be so blind?  Fatora is in love with you, madly in love 
with you, and all that you've managed to do is sleep with 
EVERY OTHER girl with the exception of HER!  And 
since I'm HER BEST FRIEND, I should be DOING 
SOMETHING to help her!  GOT IT?"

    Makoto felt his head smack against the bench a few 
times, making his vision fill up with many white spots.  But 
that was the least of his worries.

    Alielle had the mind to give Makoto a big thrashing and 
perhaps knock some sense into him, when she noticed that 
his face was slowly turning red and that something hard 
was pressing against her.  She let go of Makoto, allowing 
his head to land one final time on the bench.

    "Makoto, what's wrong with you!" she nearly exclaimed.

    "I can't help it if you keep on doing that to me!" Makoto 
retorted, somewhat disappointed that Alielle had stopped.  
The experience had been quite stimulating for him.  She 
felt Makoto squirm under her, not a bad feeling at all.

    But even before the thought occurred to her, she relieved 
the moment, seeing Fatora actually run away to cry 
somewhere in private.  Alielle leaned closed to Makoto and 
grabbed his throat.  "Makoto, I like you.  You know why I 
like you?"  She didn't even give him the time to respond.  
"I like you because you are a very sensitive person.  Now 
show that sensitivity."

    She got off of him and pushed him away, while making 
her ultimatum.  "And if a certain princess isn't happy soon, 
I won't love you.  How about that?"

* * *

    Makoto sighed as he stood in front of the ominous door 
to Princess Fatora's chambers.  It had been quite some time 
since he was last in here, and the experience wasn't good 
for him, to say the least.  It had been down right terrible.  
Never before had he been so abused, mistreated, and felt so 
violated.

    How Alielle managed to see anything in the princess was 
a mystery to him.  Taking a deep breath and balling up his 
fear, he knocked, his hand making a tiny rattling sound that 
probably only the cockroaches could hear.  The door 
opened ever so slightly, allowing Makoto a crack-width 
view of the dark room.

    Carefully, he pushed the door and walked in, taking 
pains to close the door behind him.  "Princess Fatora?  
Princess Fatora?"  He took one step.

    "Get out!" cried someone from behind him, and he felt a 
heavy blow to the base of his neck, knocking him out 
instantly.

* * *

    Elsewhere, everyone glanced at the two empty places, 
Makoto's and Fatora's.  "Has anyone seen Makoto?" asked 
Shayla, somewhat surprised that Alielle was calmly staring 
at her dinner.  She had expected if two people were to be 
missing from the table, it would either be Miz and 
Fujisawa, or Makoto and Alielle.

    Fujisawa's stomach growled as he stared at the food 
before him.  Never before had he been that hungry, but then 
again.  Considering that he hadn't eaten for the past few 
days, instead indulging in other activities, he felt that the 
need to eat was rather important, although he wanted to 
finish as soon as possible so he could return to more 
pleasurable tasks.  Watching Miz fidget in her seat was 
quite stimulating.

    Afura sighed forlornly as she glanced at Makoto's usual 
seat.  Either he got lost in the library again, or was doing 
something with Fatora.  She mentally scratched off the 
second option, as she knew that Makoto was quite terrified 
of the princess.

    Rune sat as patient as ever, waiting for her sister.  
Considering how her sister usually had quite an athletic 
schedule, she was usually extremely hungry by dinner.

* * *

    Makoto moaned as he opened his eyes, but his vision 
was quite hazy.  The sudden invasion of light was most 
disconcerting, so he turned away, briefly enjoying the soft 
bed he was on.  Of course, everything had to be a bad 
nightmare.  Sleeping around with all those women, having 
the hots for Alielle!  Hell, not even Princess Rune would 
have ever conceivably had sex with him.  It was all 
definitely a terrible dream of his exhausted mind.

    That was it.  He was most sure of it.

    "So how are you feeling?  I'm sorry I had to hit you like 
that,"  said a voice near him.

    He sat up immediately, almost knocking heads with 
another person, a Princess Fatora.  Makoto's face flushed 
as soon as he realized that perhaps it wasn't all a bad 
dream.  It was a terrible living nightmare.

    He simply screamed.(4)


        

Notes
(1) Definitely not a good practice...  If you are First-aid 
certified, you know you have to protect a person from 
shock and minimize body movement as it might aggravate 
the wound ;)  For example, if Makoto had broken his neck, 
the mere act of moving him without proper support would 
have disconnected the spinal cord, destroying all autonomic 
reflexes, causing the heart and lungs to cease operating and 
death will result...

Think of first aid as making the person as comfortable as 
possible until the cavalry arrives ;)

(2) Waaaahhhhh!  The melodrama!  The gratuitous sex! 
*sniffle*  I always love a lemon without any plot other than 
to see how many times.  *sniff*

(3) Awwwwww..  Alielle's not going to get some. :P  
Well it could have been worse.  I had been thinking of a 
Shayla-Afura scene.  one in which Shayla for once beats 
Afura at something. wahahahahaahah!

(4) Darn it, had to cheat on this.  Hmmm guess who's next 
in line for action.  Ah. but that's chapter 4, which won't 
be coming for a while.  Too bad, ne?