AN: Thank you to Cx3 and lettered for being such wonderful betas.

Story description: It surprised him that an android could be so tender.

BLUE: KIKO

The light streaming in from the windows made the walls turn from an icy blue to a powdery pink, then to a warm yellow. Morning was coming. This was Kinney's favorite time of day while on his shift, when the sun—the real sun—finally rose on Luna and made the shadows dance on the walls. Most of Artemisia Palace would still be asleep, but he liked hearing the quiet patter of footsteps along the carpeted corridors as servant girls began to make their morning rounds.

Sometimes he would catch a glimpse of his sister, the queen's lady-in-waiting, and he'd give her a wink. She'd sneak him a peck on the cheek before rushing off. This was one of those mornings and he smiled to himself as Emily's footsteps faded away.

The silence was interrupted by an uneven cadence coming down the hall. Not moving from his statued stance, he strained his eyes to look down the corridor and confirmed what he knew all along. A lean, dark figure was moving towards him, blue braids bouncing with each skip.

Iko halted in front of him. He could see her smile instantly morph into a scowl as she turned to face him.

"How can I assist you—" he paused as if the next words pained him to say, "Madame Counselor?"

Iko crossed her slender arms in front of her and huffed. "I am here to see Cinder. Just like I was here to see her yesterday, and the day before that, and all the days since she has been crowned Queen Selene Channary Jannali Blackburn!"

Kinney gave her a nod, a little too curtly. "Her Majesty is still in her personal chambers and has not informed me she is expecting company."

Iko's color-changing eyes flashed acid green. Gritting her teeth, she pointed a finger at him. "Listen here mister—"

The door behind Kinney cracked open and Cinder poked her head out.

"Cinder! Can you please tell Sir Kinney that I am not just any company. That I am your best friend and most trusted advisor and—"

Cinder smiled at Iko and opened the door wider to let her in. "It's okay Kinney. Iko can come and go as she pleases."

Kinney fisted a hand over his heart and nodded, hiding his scowl.

Iko huffed and stomped into Cinder's room. "That man is insufferable."

She made sure he heard her before closing the door on him.

"You two have to start getting along. I don't think I can do this if the captain of my guard and my most trusted advisor are constantly fighting." Cinder said, flopping back onto her bed.

Iko placed her hands on her hips. "He started it!"

Cinder pressed a hand to her forehead. "I'll talk to him, but you're going to have to make an effort too."

Iko huffed, sinking into a silk-clad armchair. She twirled a braid between her fingers and mumbled to herself. "How can a guy so handsome be such a jerk?!"

Cinder smiled to herself.

The gardens at Artemisia Palace were particularly empty that afternoon. Kinney figured most of the court would be at their own homes or in their rooms in the guest quarters getting ready for the evening's ball. It was the reason the queen and princess were winding their way through the gardens now.

The queen had been incredibly jittery in the week leading up to the ball. It was the first ball she was throwing, an idea she had gotten from her time living in New Beijing, a unity ball to which everyone in Artemisia was invited no matter their station. She even held lotteries for the outer sectors to be personal guests of the queen.

Kinney had suggested that a walk through the gardens might ease her nerves, reminding her that they would be empty aside from servants setting up for the party and that the view of Earth was particularly beautiful from the gardens. Queen Selene had looked at him as though she was momentarily embarrassed, but smiled warmly and nodded.

He knew that the Earthen Emperor would not be coming to the ball that evening, a decision that weighed heavily on the queen. Surprisingly, it was Iko who had put it best, reminding the queen that if this ball were for the people of Luna, then there couldn't be any Earthens in attendance, especially not one of such high ranking as Emperor Kaito.

Kinney let his thoughts linger on that moment, when Iko had held the queen's hand so gently and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. It surprised him that an android could be so tender.

He heard a throat clearing next to him and he snapped to attention. Looking over, he saw Sir Jacin Clay raise an eyebrow at him. Kinney set his jaw and looked forward again. Princess Winter had joined Queen Selene that afternoon, which was why Sir Clay was standing rigidly beside him.

Kinney scanned the gardens once more and was satisfied to see that the servants were beginning to make their way back inside the palace. The garden was deserted aside from their party. The queen and princess were sitting on a nearby bench, deep in conversation. Kinney's eye caught on a flash of blue as he saw Iko softly pull his sister Emily aside.

As the queen's lady-in-waiting, Emily was practically glued to Selene's side. It was another one of the reasons why he was so happy to take on the position of personal guard to the queen. Kinney watched out of the corner of his eye as Iko took Emily's hand and made her hold it up in front of her.

Iko reached into her pocket and pulled out a blue velvet ribbon. Dangling from the ribbon was a sparkling diamond. Emily's eyes widened and Iko smiled.

"It's one of Levana's earrings. Cin—Her Majesty said I could have it and I thought you'd like it." Iko looked almost sheepish. "A friend of mine once gave me a blue ribbon."

Iko tied the ribbon around Emily's delicate wrist and knotted it with a bow. Emily twirled the diamond between her fingers. It glittered in the afternoon sun.

"I thought," said Iko, pulling out another ribbon from her pocket, the twin of Emily's diamond dangling from it, "that we could both wear ours together. Blue … for friendship."

Emily nodded enthusiastically and tied the ribbon around Iko's wrist, exactly like hers.

"Thank you, Iko! You're the best!" Emily practically squealed and pulled Iko into a fierce embrace.

When Emily pulled away, Iko smiled and flipped her braids over her shoulder. "Tell me something I don't know!"

The girls made their way to where the queen and princess sat so that Emily could show Winter her new gift. They all smiled at her, and Kinney couldn't help but smile too.

Kinney could hear the sound of laughter and clinking glasses in the distance. The guests were beginning to arrive at the palace. Scanning his eyes back and forth from corner, to corner, he made sure no one was coming down the hall before he reached up and made sure every hair on his head was in place and that the pins and medals on his guard's uniform were perfectly polished. His fingers tingled as he returned his hand to his side.

He was beginning to feel restless and he didn't know why. His thoughts wandered to the gardens that afternoon, the glimmer in Emily's eyes, the twinkling of the diamond around her wrist, the slender and graceful fingers that tied the blue ribbon …

Snapping out of his thoughts, he heard the familiar uneven steps coming down the corridor. This time, he didn't scowl. The steps fell into an even rhythm as Iko slowly came to a stop in front of him. His breath caught in his chest.

Iko was wearing a powder blue gown, the neckline low and off her shoulders, revealing her slender collarbone and warm, mocha skin. The bodice hugged her body closely, and a diamond studded sash tied at her waist. The dress's skirt clung to her hips and fell down to the floor like water, rippling at her every movement. Her blue braids were piled up into a bun and tucked into her hair was a string of white orchids, their middles blushing pink. Aside from the blue ribbon tied at her wrist, she wore no jewelry, but Kinney didn't think she needed it.

Kinney swallowed, trying to wet his throat which suddenly became too dry.

Iko lowered her eyes and lowered herself into a graceful curtsey. "Sir Kinney, you are looking very dashing this evening."

Kinney waited for the glint of sarcasm to flash across her eyes, but there was none. She looked and sounded completely sincere, and now that he thought about it, maybe she had always been sincere when she told him how handsome he looked—even when he wasn't particularly nice to her. He opened his mouth, not sure what to say, but the door opened behind him and he felt a rush of relief.

He stepped aside to let Queen Selene and Emily pass.

"Cinder! You look amazing!" Iko squealed, rushing over to pull the queen into a hug. "Sorry, sorry! Don't want to mess up your hair."

Iko released the queen and turned to Emily. "And Emily, you look gorgeous!"

Emily blushed and smoothed her hands over her pink dress. Kinney knew that Iko had shared Levana's wardrobe with her before they packaged everything up and sold it to raise money to build schools in the outer sectors. He was baffled when Emily first told him, but now that he thought about it, of course that was something Iko would do. A tingling feeling filled the pit of his stomach.

"You look beautiful, Iko." Emily's voice practically sang. "Doesn't she look beautiful, Liam?" She nudged her brother with her elbow.

"You look beautiful, Madame Counselor." Kinney fisted his hand over his heart. None of the usual edge was in his voice.

Iko smiled, looking almost flustered. She looped her arm around Queen Selene's. "Come on, Cinder. You can't be late for your own ball!"

Cinder and Emily exchanged a knowing glance that was oblivious to both Iko and Kinney before making their way down the corridor.

Kinney followed silently. He caught Iko's eye when she looked back at him. Her eyes were a deep sapphire blue—blue for friendship—but he wondered if it could possibly mean more. Hiding a smile, Iko turned forward again. Kinney adjusted his posture, standing a bit straighter than usual.