AN: Hello everyone! Thank you for being patient as I took a small break before typing up the very last chapter for my very first ongoing fic. It was a lot of fun, thank you all for joining me on this fun adventure! A huge thank you to Pasdechat on tumblr for beta reading my story and to all the amazing artists who contributed their own fanarts and the authors who even wrote their own fanfics! It's made me happier than you might ever know.

Thank you again, and I hope you all enjoy this last fun adventure to The Knight and the Maiden :)

"Alright, let's go over everything." Umi's voice is loud as she looks over her unraveled scroll. "We have the tent?"

"Check!" Rin says, poking the bundled up fabric as she places it into a compartment of the carriage with the help of Honoka.

"Our food supplies?"

"All packed up and accounted for, we just need the Hanayo seal of approval." Honoka grins as she looks over to the brunette, who reads her own list as she looks over the packed up goods.

"Perfect. Are all our horses prepared?"

"Four of them are here and ready, Maki-chan and Nico-chan will be bringing the others once they're finished gearing them up." Rin confirms with a grin. "Kayo-chin and her majesty's are pulling the carriage, yours and Nozomi-chan's are going to be following behind the carriage with the extra's that don't fit, and everyone else will be traveling on their own horses!"

"Perfect. And the necessities?" Umi smiles a bit as she looks over her packing handiwork on the carriage, quickly nodding and rolling up her scroll. "Taken care of perfectly."

"Do we have the Queen's belongings all packed up?" Honoka asks and Umi nods.

"That was the first thing I took care of. Her special pillow and clothes are all packed inside the compartments of the carriage, as well as a few things to keep her busy should she find herself bored in the carriage."

"I guess all we need to do is make sure we're all prepared ourselves." Rin, Honoka and Umi look over to their captain, her cape replaced with a fancy travel cloak. Underneath she wears her shimmering light blue armour and she smiles warmly towards her three squad members.

"Good morning Captain!" The three of them greet.

"Morning girls." Eli replies. "I can see you three have been working hard. Are you all dressed and ready?"

"We are indeed, Captain." Umi confirms with a smile. "I'm surprised to see you're wearing your cloak already. You do realize it's going to be a warm day today."

"I'll be taking the cloak off when we hit the road." Eli says with a small smile. "Is everyone present?"

"Just about." Umi responds. "We're waiting on her Majesty and your wife."

Eli nods as Hanayo makes a loud declaration about the food and all the cooking utensils being present and having her approval. Two castle staff members carefully lift the heavy trunk and its contents onto the back of the carriage, squeezing it tightly next to the tent and all the tools the knights would need for their journey.

The girls were preparing themselves for the very first cross country tour Kotori would be taking to see her kingdom. The summer solstice festival came and went and with it Kotori declared she would spend her summer visiting the villages of Otonokizaka with her knights and doing some sight seeing. Her mother would be filling in for all her duties while she was away on vacation and the only guards Kotori intends to bring are her knights of the round table as well as her advisors. It's the first of the many adventures Kotori wants to experience with her friends and everyone's full of excitement as the time to leave for the first village is almost upon them.

Maki approaches with two horses, fully packed and ready for their summer long journey. Not far behind her Nico approaches with the final three, an excited smile on her face.

"Morning Captain! We just finished preparing your horse!" She announces happily. "Took longer than expected because someone kept trying to eat my hair." She shoots a small glare towards the dark brown horse, who in turn attempts to nip at Nico's closest twin tail. Eli laughs.

"Yeah, he does that from time to time." The Captain walks over, stripping herself of her cloak and stroking the horse's nose gently before taking the reins from Nico. "Thank you, Nico."

"If we're all ready, I'd like to send Rin to inform her majesty that we'll be departing as soon as she arrives." Umi says as she approaches Eli. The blonde nods in agreement.

"Please do." Umi smiles before giving the other girl her final instructions and watching her dash off towards the castle.

Eli watches as Nico brings Honoka her horse while Maki keeps a hold on Rin's for when she returns.

Excitement laces the air around the group as the time to depart creeps closer and closer. Eli's quite excited to see the other towns and villages that are a part of the Otonokizaka kingdom, but the thing she looks forward to most would be during their final stop of their tour, where they would rest for a couple of days in her home village. Where her family would be and where she could introduce Nozomi to them. Just the thought fills Eli with so much eagerness that she could be mistaken for a little kid.

"One last thing, Captain." Eli's drawn away from the thoughts of Alisa and Nozomi's first interaction by Umi's voice and she turns her full attention to the navy haired girl.

"Our travel plans have us heading towards the grand river first, but there were recently reports of bandits causing havoc around the river. Will we be safe?"

"Already taken care of." Eli says with a smile. "I got a report last night. There were one or two of the bandits that escaped arrest, but Akira and her girls took care of the rest. Should we run across the stragglers, we'll be able to take care of them."

Umi sighs in relief and smiles.

"I'm glad to hear that. I wouldn't forgive myself if we knowingly went into bandit areas and something bad happened to her majesty."

Eli puts a gentle hand on Umi's shoulder, giving the knight a reassuring smile.

"That won't happen while we're around. You can count on that."

Umi gives Eli a warm smile before glancing over to the castle entrance, seeing the door being pushed open by an excited Rin.

"Her Majesty is on her way!" She announces, hopping down the steps before walking over to Maki and her geared up steed.

"Perfect." Eli grins. "Alright everyone! Make any final preparations you need, this is the last call before we head out!"

The squad begins going over their horses, double checking to see if all of their necessities for the trip were present and accounted for while Umi and Hanayo triple check the carriage. Maki looks over her horse to Nico, observing her tightening the saddle straps on Kuro. The tall black horse shakes his head a bit, keeping as still as possible as Nico contently finishes her travel preparations.

"Have you got everything, Nico-chan?" Maki asks. Nico looks over everything once more before turning to her and nodding.

"Everything and then some." She grins and Maki frowns.

"There's a reason we were asked to bring only the necessities." The red haired girl says in a dead panned voice.

"You'll be thanking me later when your boots are soaked and you want nothing but a pair of dry socks." Nico replies, petting Kuro as Maki rolls her eyes.

"I packed plenty of those too."

"Yeah, but I packed more." Nico retorts with a proud smirk. Maki resists the urge to sigh.

"You're a handful sometimes."

"I thought you would have known that by now." A new voice says, causing Maki and Nico to jump a bit in surprise. Their attention is brought over to Nozomi, who grins cheekily at them with a raven perched on her arm.

"There you are! Where the hell have you been? I thought you were supposed to help Maki and I with the horses." Nico's voice has an accusing tone to it as she frowns, putting a hand on her hip and giving Nozomi a slight glare.

"I was until her majesty and her mother requested my assistance." Nozomi replies, still grinning as she strokes the ravens feathers.

"Oh." Nico deflates a bit, letting her hand fall to her side. "Doing what?"

"We wrote and sent out letters to each town and village that will be expecting the Queen's visit. Since we'll be spending the whole Summer touring the country, we tried to give the townsfolk time estimates for when we might arrive."

Maki can't help but smile a bit, glancing between her partner and the purple haired advisor with mild curiosity.

"So we really will be gone all Summer long?" She asks, the excitement creeping into her voice.

"Looks like it." Nozomi answers "I suspect we'll return just before the Queen's birthday. Maybe even right on the date. Who knows!"

The sound of Nozomi's laugh not only causes the bird on her arm to squawk, but also alerts the the blonde haired Captain of her presence. Eli's quick to lead her horse over to the trio with a tiny smile on her face. The sound of her approach doesn't go unnoticed by the three of them, and Nozomi flashes Eli a small smile as the blonde leans in, pecking her lips lightly against Nozomi's.

"How'd it go?" She asks, pulling away to stroke the raven that stands perched on Nozomi's arm with an unamused look.

"Very well. All that's left is for her Majesty to arrive and for me to let this bird be free to send the final letter." She laughs again as the black bird tilts its head and stares at Nozomi expectantly.

Nico and Maki share a smile and the sound of Kotori's voice is heard by their traveling party.

"Hello everyone! Did I keep you waiting long!?" The ash haired girl descends the steps, beaming widely and dressed in a simple travel appropriate gown, a cloak draped over her arms.

"Not at all, your majesty." Umi replies quickly, stepping over to the royal. "We've prepared the carriage nicely for you and made sure all the gifts and your necessities are packed up nicely. We're ready to begin the journey when you are."

"Perfect!" Kotori beams, stepping over to the carriage with a small skip to her step. "Nozomi-chan! You can send the raven out whenever you're ready, then head over to our carriage!"

"With pleasure, your majesty!"

Nozomi strokes the birds feathers one last time before stepping away from the geared up horses. Eli watches with fondness as Nozomi whispers its final destination to it before holding her arm out and sending the raven off with a smile. Eli turns towards her squad, noticing the growing amounts of staff that venture out of the castle to see the group off. Even Kotori's mother stands not too far away, a tiny smile on her lips.

"Looks like we're finally ready." Eli says more to herself than anyone else.

She watches Honoka open the carriage door for Kotori with a goofy grin on her face. Kotori smiles lovingly at her before looking to Hanayo and sharing another smile with the brunette. With the raven sent off, Nozomi heads over towards the carriage, purposely bumping her arm gently against Nico with a small laugh as she makes her way over to where the Queen waits. She follows both Kotori and Hanayo into the large space, thanking Honoka politely as the ginger haired girl shuts the door carefully behind them. Eli smiles fondly before clearing her throat, gaining the attention of the girls near her before speaking in a loud and clear voice.

"Alright everyone, this is it!" She begins, her squad turning and paying full attention to her as the crowd of castle workers become silent. "Mount your horses and get ready to depart."

"Yes Captain!" The enthusiastic and happy voices of her squad mingle together as each of them begin to climb onto their horses,with the exception of Umi, who pulls herself into the front of Kotori's carriage and gathering the reins.

Eli's the final one to climb upon her horse, adjusting her posture and turning to look at the staff and their home. Her squad waits patiently for her and Kotori slides the screen of the carriage door open, her and the girls she sits with silently waiting for Eli's departing speech to begin. The blonde takes in a short breath before speaking in a louder voice.

"The Queen's Otonokizaka tour will be a long journey, and my squad and I will ensure that her safety is our top priority. If all goes as planned, we'll be back to the castle in mid September, before the season is over!"

There's a small bit of applause from the staff and Eli turns towards the gates with a firm gaze. With very little prompting, Eli encourages her horse to move forward and begin stepping towards the gate. Her squad prepares to follow, Maki and Nico not too far behind her. With a flick of her wrist, Umi lightly smacks the reins against the painted and spotted horses pulling the carriage and they begin a slow walk following the three ahead of them. Bringing up the rear, behind the buckskin and blue roan horses carrying extra supplies are Honoka and Rin, bright smiles on their faces as they wave towards their coworkers and friends. Kotori peaks her face out the open window of the carriage with a happy smile as she faces her castle staff.

"Take care everyone! We'll be back when the journey is over!" Kotori chirps, waving out the window to them as they waved in return.

"We'll be waiting, your highness!" A maid calls from the sides.

"The kitchen won't feel the same without you, but we look forward to your return Koizumi-san!" Chef Minami says with a wide smile as she waves.

"Don't forget to take care of yourselves, Honoka-chan, Umi-chan! Her majesty won't forgive you if you don't!" Fumiko grins near the gate entrance. Umi doesn't stop her smile as she nods towards her as thanks.

"Rest whenever you can, Rin-chan! You too Maki-chan and Nico-chan!" Mika calls down afterwards, smiling at the knights as they walk past.

"The same goes to you Captain!" Hideko adds with a laugh. "But with Nozomi-chan there, I'm sure that won't happen."

Eli chuckles a bit as she brings her horse to a stop just at the foot of the gate. She gives one final glance behind her, confirming that her squad was in position. With everyone giving waiting glances towards her, Eli says the final words she needs to for their journey to begin.

"Mika! Open the gate please!"

And without another word, the gate slowly creaks itself open as Mika brings it upward. Eli takes a moment to glance out at the open streets and soon she encourages her horse forward, heading through the castle walls and taking the first steps of the long adventure ahead of them. She encourages her horse to trot forward and before long the nine of them are at the edge of the castle town, the castle they call home in the distance with Eli leading them towards the first village.

The first day of traveling brings them a great distance away from the castle town. With no inn in sight and everyone weary from the distance they have already traveled, Eli decides it's the perfect time for them to set up camp and relax until morning. Setting up the camp doesn't take too long, especially when her majesty insists they all share the giant tent meant for only her. Umi had protested greatly, not wanting to intrude on the Queen's private quarters, convinced it was shameless for a whole group of knights to sleep within the same area as the Queen.

But when Kotori asks Umi to please reconsider it and explains how happy she would be if she could share her nice, big cozy tent with her friends, Umi really has no other choice than to agree with the royal.

Everyone works together to set it up, making it a very quick and easy process. Now the nine of them are getting ready for their first out of castle meal, Nico and Hanayo being the master chefs on the medium sized open fire that Rin graciously started for them after getting the tent up. Kotori sits on the food trunk not too far away, watching everyone go about doing everything with a frown.

"Your majesty, is something the matter?" Kotori looks up to see Maki standing not too far from her, equipment discarded aside from the sword on her belt. The ash haired girl gives Maki a small smile and shrugs.

"Not exactly?" She admits, watching as Maki silently waits for her to continue. "I just feel a little silly, not being able to help any of you with our camp set up or even the cooking. It doesn't feel right seeing all my friends work while I idly wait by myself for all of you to be finished."

Maki can see why that would bother their Queen. It only takes her a quick moment of thinking before a small idea pops into her mind.

"We have the tent all set up and the nightly watch plan made out, but nobody has decided where they'll sleep yet, your Majesty." The redhead says as she watches Honoka and Umi putter around the large tent. "I uh.. am in charge of setting up the beds tonight so.."

Maki doesn't need to say another word as the Queen smiles brightly, standing up and taking Maki's wrist excitedly into her hand before leading her to the tent.

"It'd be my pleasure to guide you Ma-ki-chan~" She chirps in a sing song voice.

The two of them reach the tent and Maki opens it up for her, letting Kotori step in first before meeting the curious gazes of Umi and Honoka with mild embarrassment.

"T-The Queen wants to help out so I offered to let her plan how we'll sleep." she explains, twirling a piece of her hair. When Kotori calls for her she drops her hand, excusing herself away from Honoka and Umi as the two of them smile at her.

Not too far away Eli, Nozomi, and Rin spend their time making sure the horses are taken care of as well as stacking the gear in even piles for easy gathering the following day. Nozomi and Eli listen intently to Rin as she tells the story of the first time she and Hanayo camped outside back at their home town and the surprising amount of knowledge both she and her brown haired friend had when it came to sleeping in the wilderness.

"I'm a bit surprised." Eli admits a bit sheepishly. "I never would have imagined you were an outdoors expert, Rin."

The ginger haired girl grins at her playfully.

"Kotori-chan may be the Queen of Otonokizaka, but I'm the Queen of the wilderness!" Rin declares with a small laugh. "There wasn't a place I didn't explore as a kid. Poor Kayo-chin was dragged lots of places with me and got in a lot of trouble with me, but she also saved me from doing something stupid a lot too."

Nozomi laughs lightly as she places the last saddle on the ground, looking at Rin with a tiny smile.

"What made you want to become a knight instead of an explorer?" She asks curiously. Rin doesn't even hesitate with her reply as she brushes the back of the horse gently.

"It was my dream!" She flashes the violet haired girl a tiny grin as she pats the horse once her brushing is finished. "When I was a kid, one of the most exciting things to happen in the town was when the knights would visit to inquire about issues or when they were scouting new recruits. We had our local guards of course, but they're nothing compared to knights from the castle. Our little town is full of families happy to stay there and get their farms to grow and many families would pass their farms on to their children and their children's children and so on. But not me."

Eli and Nozomi continue paying full attention to Rin as she continues to smile at them and relay her story.

"I had always wanted to leave home one day. There was nothing for me there since my older sister would be getting the family farm and my older brother planned to become a fisherman. If I stayed there I'd just end up working for my sister and staying at home doing nothing! The only thing worth staying back home for was Kayo-chin. But Kayo-chin didn't want me to stay home. She wanted me to be happy and do what I wanted to do most."

"I didn't really know becoming a knight would be what I wanted until the first time I saw them in action. There was a rogue bull charging through town and nobody could stop this thing. It was huge and so so angry! Kayo-chin and I were terrified! It kept charging and just when we thought somebody was finally gonna get hurt, a knight stepped in and protected the lady! They just swooped in, grabbed the lady, and the bull couldn't stop before it got its horns trapped in the side of a house!"

There's a twinkle to Rin's eyes that causes Nozomi and Eli to smile happily with her, and Rin's laugh fills the small area as she rubs the back of her neck a bit sheepishly.

"Ever since it was all I could think about. I worked really hard to make myself fit enough and once I was of age, Kayo-chin and I traveled to the castle town. It was really hard because I didn't want to say goodbye, but then she met Kotori-chan and things worked out in our favour."

When Nico's voice shouts that dinner will be ready soon, it pulls the trio away from the small story telling. Nozomi reaches out and ruffles Rins hair affectionately, earning a surprised "nya!" from the girl. Eli laughs lightly as Nozomi smiles warmly at her.

"You've achieved your dreams, Rin-chan. Thank you for sharing the story with us."

Rin laughs a bit, pushing herself away from the older girl and winking mischievously.

"I'm still living my dreams Nozomi-chan! And I plan to for the rest of my life! You guys better do it too, my dreams wouldn't be complete without you guys there!"

She does a small skip and bounds off towards the others, yelling Hanayo's name in her excitement as she makes her way towards the fire. Eli and Nozomi follow after double checking all the horses were tied securely and comfortable, greeting the whole group as they made makeshift seats around the fire. The two decide to pitch in and help out with the final preparations needed and before long everyone is sitting comfortably, eating and chatting about the great time they had made in just one day.

With very little prompting, Rin and Honoka began their usual dinner stories. Their conversation starts out as fun adventures the two of them had when they were children, Umi and Hanayo cutting in to add small facts they forgot to describe or important details they missed along the way. Somehow their storytelling evolved into confessing the scariest things that happened to one another, and inviting the rest of the girls to join in on the storytelling.

"Mine was scary, but also a very good thing." Kotori says, looking at Umi and Honoka with a grin. "Because it's how I met Honoka-chan and Umi-chan."

"Hehe, are you sure it wasn't that time we accidentally woke Umi-chan after sleeping for only an hour after late night guard duty?" Honoka jokes, earning a glare from their navy haired lover as the squad laughs.

"Honestly Honoka, if that's the scariest thing that's happened to you than I question what you find terrifying." Umi takes a sip of her water, not bothering to look towards the ginger haired girl.

"It sounds silly but sometimes it's the silly things that scare us most!" Hanayo speaks, her laughter dying down as a small smile rests on her features. "The scariest thing that's ever happened to Rin-chan and I was when her family's alpaca's escaped into town."

Rin nods quickly in agreement.

"It's true!" She confirms, her eyes deadly serious. "Not even the castle break-in's are as terrifying as when they got loose. I'm so glad I had Kayo-chin and her animal calming talents, if she wasn't there I'd be dead!"

"From loose alpacas?" Nico raises her eyebrows in amusement at Rin.

"That or my parents!" She holds a hand dramatically around her neck. "Pop's would've been after my head if I didn't get them back!"

"I-I don't think he would have been that upset Rin-chan," the young brunette stutters, her smile still on her face "But it really was scary."

"I'd find protecting the castle scarier than that." Maki remarks, placing her eating utensils down.

"Eh? Are you saying nothing scared you until you became a knight Maki-chan!?" Rin asks, her eyes wide in awe as she looks at her red haired friend. Maki blushes and shakes her head.

"N-no. There were plenty of things that scared me as a kid. Just nothing as scary as what we do when we protect the castle."

"I agree with Maki." Umi adds in. "While there were a lot of things that scared me when I was younger too, none of those compare to the things we've faced protecting the castle and Kotori. Wouldn't you agree, Captain?"

Everyone's attention is on Eli and she blinks, taking a moment to think before slowly nodding.

"I do agree to a point, though I've never felt as much fear protecting the castle as I have with other things."

"Oh yeah~? What kind of things are those Captain~?" Honoka asks in a knowing voice, as if she has an idea of what might've scared Eli more than protecting the castle. Rin laughs and covers her mouth as Nico glares at the two of them.

"Hey. What did I say about those jokes?" Both Rin and Honoka look at each other like they remembered something important. Eli pinches the bridge of her nose as Maki quirks an eyebrow at Nico.

"What jokes?" She asks, tilting her head curiously.

"You know. The jokes!" Nico looks at Maki in slight exasperation, and the small frown on the red heads face deepens as she struggles to remember what Nico's referring to.

"Hmm, now I'm curious too." Nico tenses a bit as Nozomi speaks, the violet haired girl smiling in a curious manner as she looks at her twin tailed friend. "What kind of jokes were they, Nicocchi?"

Nico sighs, knowing she can't be secretive about them any longer.

"Well, April came along and you still weren't back and not long before those two idiots figured out you and Eli c-con... consummated your marriage. Which you know I mean that was sort of obvious it'd be dumb to think you both wouldn't do that eventually and-"

"Yes yes, Nozomi and I are intimate, just get to the main part." Eli interrupts Nico with a furious blush on her face, unable to look at any of them. Nozomi resists the urge to laugh at Eli's embarrassment as Nico continues.

"A-anyway, The day Eli marked it as nine months of you being gone, we uh, we thought it might be funny to tease her a bit. She was doing a lot better since you left and well to be fair it was mostly Honoka's idea-"

"Hey!"

"-So we jokingly asked Eli if the reason you were gone so long was because maybe you had a baby."

There's an awkward silence following Nico's statement and Maki blushes, all the memories coming back to her from that time. Most of the group expects Nozomi to laugh but when seconds pass with no noise, they look to her curiously and find a large blush dusting her cheeks. Eli and Nico freeze while Rin gapes, the rest of the group suddenly falling silent as Nozomi stays quiet.

"Nozomi..." Umi begins hesitantly "Are you saying you...?" and Nozomi shakes her head furiously.

"No! No it's not that it's just.." she laughs awkwardly, looking to Eli. "It's coincidental. Fate really was cruel to Elichi and I."

Nobody says a word as they wait for Nozomi to elaborate.

"I guess you could consider this one of the scariest things to happen to me." She begins, bringing everyone back to the scary story topic. "When A-Rise and I were busy with the kingdom, I hadn't been keeping track of anything with my body. I didn't even realized I hadn't bled until October, right around Elichi's birthday actually."

Eli's heart beat pounds in her chest. Even if Nozomi had already shared the basic details with her before, it was something that made her heart race regardless. When the girls had made the jokes months before, she was able to keep her cool up until Nico got her alone and then she began to panic. Afraid Nozomi truly was pregnant and the kind of situations she was going through all on her own without Eli there to help and support her through it all. Nico reassured her that if Nozomi was pregnant, Eli would've known because Nozomi would never keep something like that to herself. Eli never gave it a second thought after, but with the way this conversation was going Eli began to second guess herself.

"How does something like that even happen?" Maki asks in the small silence.

"Well Maki-chan, when two people love each other very very much they-"

"Nozomi!" Umi and Maki both interrupt her sentence and she laughs, her blush lessening and the tension from the air clearing just a little bit.

"We had the best healers come and we kept it between ourselves. The kingdom didn't know about my marriage or the finer details of my life back in Otonokizaka, if they found out I was with child it would've been quite the spectacle."

Nozomi places a hand on her abdomen absentmindedly, sighing quietly as she concludes her story.

"They confirmed there was no baby, and it was all the stress I had been under taking its toll on me. I was still scared, considering I still hadn't bled but it did hurt a little. While ideally I would have liked to discover it here with Elichi and you all, a little bit of me was excited for it, but with the healers confirming I wasn't it did sting to think about losing something I thought I might have had."

The group remains quiet, taking in Nozomi's story. Eli takes Nozomi's hand in her own and squeezes it comfortingly. The blonde knew if she were there to experience that, her feelings would have been the exact same as Nozomi's. Kotori looks at her advisor with soft eyes, a hint of understanding in them as the rest keep to themselves. After a short moment, Honoka speaks quietly in an apologetic tone.

"I'm really sorry about the jokes, Eli-chan, Nozomi-chan." She apologizes sincerely. "We honestly thought it would be something that would cheer Eli-chan up while you were gone but.."

Nozomi laughs again, and the genuine happiness in her laugh relieves the small group.

"You don't need to apologize. I didn't tell anybody except Elichi and Nicocchi after I returned. Though they seemed to have forgotten to inform me about the little jokes." She eyes the both of them carefully and Nico turns away from her gaze as Eli sputters.

"T-that's not true, I told you about how I got scared you were but-" She rubs the back of her neck shyly. "I-I was too embarrassed to admit it was from their jokes."

The group laughs again, and the atmosphere returns to the cheery excited one it had been when they began their story tellings. Nozomi looks to her twin tailed friend, encouraging her to bring up one of her scarier childhood memories. Dinner continues just like that, everyone sharing memories of scary times in their life and laughing with one another at the silliness of some of the tales.

When dinner is finished, Umi and Maki are sent to rest for a bit so they wouldn't be exhausted during their shift of the night watch, leaving everyone else to tidy up the leftover food and spend the evening doing whatever they felt like. Rin and Nico decide to give Hanayo a small sword lesson while Eli and Nozomi take a bit of time to themselves, sitting not too far away from the group practicing with swords. Kotori and Honoka sit by the fire, monitoring it and reading a book together as the sun lowers more and more in the sky and the end of their first day of traveling draws to a close.

Eli stirs under her covers, her eyes slowly opening and taking in the very dim lighting of the tent. She sighs relieved, glad the girls outside were keeping the fire lit as well as they could. Even if it was only a tiny bit of light, it was better than none for the older girl. She turns onto her side, gazing over to the others sleeping soundly.

Kotori is right in the center between Honoka and Hanayo, with Rin snoring softly next to the brunette. Eli squints, finding that Umi and Maki have exited the tent to take the second half of the night watch. This would mean that Nozomi and Nico would be coming to bed soon.

Sure enough the tent flaps pull back as quietly as possible and in stumble Nico and Nozomi. Nico carefully placing her gear down near the entrance and mumbling a good night to her violet haired friend. The black haired girl doesn't bother untying her ribbons as she plops down next to Rin ungracefully, pulling the covers that Maki had been under over her and cuddling in the warmth that lingers there. Eli's eyes look for Nozomi again and she's surprised when her voice quietly speaks from her other side.

"Elichi, you're still awake?"

Eli rolls herself over, tired blue eyes looking over to the violet haired girl who quietly stands next to her. She smiles as Nozomi discards her equipment, placing it gently onto the ground next to Eli's. Once she's finished Eli pulls back the covers and welcomes Nozomi under the warm, cozy blankets with a satisfied hum.

"Not still awake. Just woke up." She sighs contently when Nozomi slips into her arms, a small chuckle coming from her as she snuggles closer to the sleepy blonde.

"It wouldn't have been because of me, would it?" she asks curiously, reaching down and pulling the blankets over them more.

"No, ended up just waking up." She smiles, placing a small kiss on top of Nozomi's head. "In good time too. Now I get to fall asleep looking at your beautiful face."

Nozomi chuckles again tiredly, sleep coming for her quickly now that she was tucked in.

"Aren't you the charmer~?"

Eli snuggles closer to Nozomi, peppering kisses from the top of her head down to her nose and lips. Nozomi's laughs are feathery and contagious and Eli laughs quietly with her. In no time Nozomi is asleep and the knight watches fondly as her lover's breathing evens out carefully, her lips parted and the hint of a smile on her face. Eli places one last kiss on top of the violet hair she loves so much before closing her eyes and letting sleep take her again for the second time that night.

"Here we are everyone! The first village is in sight!" Eli announces.

Rin excitedly brings her horse to the front, a broad grin on her face as she surveys the area.

"KAYO-CHIN! WE'RE ALMOST THERE!" She shouts excitedly back to her best friend, who sits in the driver's spot of the carriage with a warm smile.

"I see it Rin-chan!" She replies. She glances behind her and knocks on the viewing window and Honoka opens it up with a bright smile.

"Are we there, Hanayo-chan!?" She asks.

"Almost Honoka-chan! Have her majesty look out to her left!" The brunette instructs.

There's a moment of silence before a happy yell comes from inside and Hanayo laughs to herself as the carriage screen slides open.

"ALPACAS!" Kotori shouts in glee. "LOOK AT THEM ALL HONOKA-CHAN!"

"OOOH!" Honoka replies with just as much enthusiasm as they look out to a field with a small herd of fluffy beasts, who look over at the path they trek down curiously.

There are a few chuckles from the squad and they begin to slow their horses down as the entrance to the village gets closer and closer. With permission from Eli, Rin encourages her horse to trot ahead, excitedly entering her small hometown before the rest of them. The sound of her horse attracts the attention of a few curious villagers and Rin pulls her steed to a stop at the center, turning and waiting a bit impatiently for the rest of the group to catch up.

Once the carriage makes its stop at the center square, everyone riding their horses dismounts. More and more villagers gather to see what the commotion is about, soft whispers about the knights and carriage traveling from one person to another. Rin and Nico pull out their horns, waiting patiently for the cue from Eli. Umi takes her place at the carriage door and Eli stands on the other side, nodding to Rin and Nico.

They both inhale deeply before blowing loudly into their horns, attracting the full attention of everyone around them. The lower the horns carefully and Eli speaks in a loud and clear voice.

"Announcing the arrival of her majesty, Minami Kotori!"

Umi opens the door and Kotori steps out of the carriage, a warm smile on her face as she faces the villagers. There's a small gasp from different members of the audience as they gaze upon the royal with curiosity and wonder.

"Y-Your majesty!" An older man says, quickly taking off his hat and bowing. "We've only just received the letter about your arrival, please excuse us for being unprepared for your visit!"

Kotori smiles a bit more as she steps further from the carriage, keeping her eyes on the older gentleman. A small squeak comes from Rin, who does her best to keep her excitement contained as the Queen talks with the villager.

"Raise your head, kind sir." Kotori begins. "We've been a lot faster than we expected, it's quite alright that you're a bit unprepared."

The man smiles thankfully at her and holds his hat between his calloused fingers, glancing towards her knights.

"My name is Hoshizora Satoshi. We do have a place for you and your guards to spend the night. If you're alright with spending it at my own home I would be happy to house you all." He says in a content voice.

"That would be lovely!" Kotori says, her eyes twinkling as she turns to her squad with her bright smile. "Would that be alright with you, Captain?"

Eli doesn't hesitate to nod.

"It would be perfect, your majesty." She replies.

"Ah, and you said your name was Hoshizora?!" Kotori's eyes sparkle even more as the older gentleman nods.

"Y-yes, that's right your majesty." He says with a bit of surprise. Kotori turns to one of her ginger haired knights, holding back a laugh as she can see Rin fighting back the urge to interrupt their conversation.

"Rin-chan! Is this your father?!" Kotori asks excitedly. Rin nods, a bright grin forming on her face and the older man looks over to her with wide eyes.

"Rin?! That's you?!" The smile on his face is everything and more and Rin laughs a bit, walking over to Kotori and her father with a bright grin.

"It's me Pops!" She flashes him a catlike grin and the older man laughs, reaching out and ruffling his daughter's hair affectionately.

"Look at you! You got taller!" He turns to the villagers with excitement in his eyes.

"Everyone! It's Rin! Look at our village rascal, all grown up and protecting our Queen!"

There are a few laughs from the small crowd as Rin grins, rubbing the back of her neck and laughing.

"It really is something right?!" She says excitedly. "Wait til you all see Kayo-chin again! She's more important than I am! She's one of the Queen's advisors now!"

"R-Rin-chan!" Hanayo squeaks and attracts the attention of the rest of the group. She blushes as everyone's eyes fall to her and Rin's father's smile matches the one his daughter wears.

"Our little animal whisperer too! Get over here Hanayo-chan!" He laughs, waving his arm for her to come over.

Hanao doesn't hesitate to move forward and is pulled into a hug from the other man, who gives her a tight squeeze before letting go and putting his arms around the two of them.

"You two have made us really proud, you know that?!" He says happily, turning his attention from them to the Queen. "We don't have a lot of special things going on here, but knowing two children from our tiny little town work important jobs for our Queen and her kingdom every single day couldn't make us any happier!"

"Aww, Pops! You're embarrassing us!" Rin laughs a hint of red dusting her cheeks, hugging her father back with one arm and beaming.

"Y-you really are too kind, Hoshizora-san." Hanayo smiles at the man who is basically a second father to her.

"It really is a treat to see you both." He says warmly, turning back to the Queen. "Thank you and your staff for taking care of our girls. Though they probably do take care of themselves and each other as well."

"The pleasure is ours, Hoshizora-san!" Kotori says with a warm smile. "Hanayo-chan, you have my permission to take the rest of the day off if you would like. Captain, would it be alright if we let Rin-chan have a bit of the day off as well?"

"Of course, your Majesty." Eli smiles towards Rin before looking to her squad. "Everyone else, let's ensure the Queen's first visit is a good one."

"Yes Captain!" The girls reply in unison, smiles on their faces. Rin's father turns to them, letting go of Hanayo and his daughter.

"I will lead you all to my home! It's only a short walk down the path, please follow me and we'll get you all settled comfortably there!"

The group follows the older man as he talks animatedly to Kotori about the village and the things they do there. Despite it being a very tiny farming community, everyone works hard to produce the goods that they are capable of making and Kotori is intrigued to learn just how important the alpacas they raise are. Rin and Hanayo add in their own little quips and comments and the rest of the squad patiently listens to the facts and stories.

Once they reach the Hoshizora residence, the group meets Rin's older sister and mother, both spitting images of her aside from their longer, darker hair. The squad immediately gets to work storing their gear in safe spots and unpacking the carriage while Rin and Hanayo offer to give Kotori a small tour of the Hoshizora and Koizumi farms. Kotori doesn't hesitate to say yes and the two younger girls along with Rin's elder sister lead her on a grand tour.

Rin's Father and Mother stay with the squad, helping them unload all their goods and guiding them on where they can let the carriage and their horses rest. It takes no time at all with the older couple contributing and they finish in good time.

"Captain, may I have a moment?" Rin's mother asks curiously, glancing over the rest of the squad as they rest.

"Not at all, Hoshizora-san." Eli says with a kind smile. "How can I help you?"

Bright yellow eyes scan the group again before she looks back to Eli, a motherly smile on her face.

"Could you direct me to Sonada Umi and Nishikino Maki? I'd like to personally thank them for all the work they've done to help Rin-chan become the knight she is. She speaks very fondly of both of them in her letters." There's a sheepish hint to her voice and Eli chuckles lightly.

"Of course. Sonoda Umi is the knight over there, with the long blue hair." Eli directs her to Umi, who is in a deep conversation with Rin's father. "And Nishikino Maki is the red haired girl there." Eli then directs her towards Maki, who listens to something Nico says with a small smile playing on her lips.

"I see! Thank you very much Captain!" The dark orange haired woman grins before making her way over to Maki first and introducing herself.

Eli watches fondly as the woman takes Maki's hand, shaking it excitedly before pulling her into an abrupt hug. The surprise on Maki's face is priceless and Eli laughs at the scene along with Nico. There's a small nudge to her left and she glances over to see Nozomi, a tiny grin on her own face from seeing the scene as well.

"You can really tell this is Rin-chan's family, can't you?" She asks amused and Eli nods.

"Definitely." She agrees, watching Rin's mom move from Maki to Umi. The two of them laugh as the same thing happens to the navy haired girl, who is utterly speechless and unable to form a coherent response as Rin's mother thanks her too.

Kotori, Hanayo and Rin return shortly after and with everything done, the group sets out to have a tour of the small village before spending the evening with the Hoshizoras and the Koizumis, who join them all for a fun filled dinner that feels just like the ones they have back home at the castle.

"Geeze, it's hot today." Rin whines, stretching her stiff arms.

"I'll say." Honoka grumbles, "I can't believe how sunburnt I am. The sun is unforgiving.."

The ginger haired girl rubs her reddened cheeks in discomfort, frowning form the light sting that lingers in the wake of her fingers.

They'd been on the road for a couple weeks now, mid July creeping up on them quicker than expected. The day before they had stopped at one other village, spending the day and meeting the people who lived there. It was a quaint little place, and everyone enjoyed the resting time they got to spend there.

Umi reaches through the pack on her saddle, frowning towards Honoka as she does.

"You wouldn't have this problem if you applied the sun block ointment from the apothecary regularly throughout the day." Umi scolds, bringing out the jar with the aloe rub. "Luckily we knew this might happen. Come over here, I'll help you apply this one."

"Fiiine." Honoka whines, sluggishly stepping over to the navy haired girl. She eyes Rin and Maki carefully before staring at Umi, a small frown appearing on her face. "Hey, you guys are out in the sun just as much as I am, how come you're not as red as me?!"

"Because we put on the ointment periodically through the day." Umi sighs, rubbing the lotion on Honoka's very burnt nose, causing her to wince slightly. "I told you, if you did the same you wouldn't be burnt. You'd be tanned like the rest of us."

"Well, except Nico and Nozomi." Rin says sympathetically, looking over to the two who suffer the same, sunburnt fate Honoka does. They watch as Eli holds another jar of aloe rub towards them, an amused smirk on her tanned face as Nico and Nozomi quietly thank her and apply it to their own burnt skin.

"Ehh, I guess living near the mountains all your life affects the amount of sun block you use, huh?" Honoka asks, closing her eyes as Umi rubs the last of the lotion on her face.

"Definitely so." Umi agrees, closing the jar. "There. We'll apply more before we leave and when we stop for the night, you'll be doing it again."

"Okaaaay." Honoka drawls. The other three join them and despite the fact that she matches Honoka shade for shade, Nozomi laughs.

"Looks like we're the tomato trio." She says with a playful smile. "We better be careful. Maki-chan might mistake us for real tomatoes and try to eat us. While that's not really a problem for Nicocchi, we certainly don't want to be-AH!"

Nozomi's joke is instantly cut off by Nico's fingers pulling at her very, very burnt cheeks. Honoka laughs and Nozomi forces herself away from Nico's grip, rubbing the sore spots gently. She grins despite the pain she now feels and Nico frowns at her.

"Not funny." Is all she says before making her way to the nice shady area near the horses.

Nozomi, Eli and Honoka share a laugh before following her, choosing to stay out of the sun with her rather than let their burns get worse. Eli pauses her steps, frowning as the feeling of being watched comes to her. She frowns more, glancing around to see what her squad is up to.

To her far left near the carriage Hanayo and Kotori are resting, Maki joining them and starting a small conversation. Rin and Umi are leading the horses that pull the carriage to the river, allowing them to have a good long drink as they two talk one another. The other three now sit in the shade, Nico's voice being background noise as Eli continues to scan the area around them.

There's a handful of trees and shrubs surrounding them, making for perfect hiding and ambush spots for anybody trying to creep up on them. Eli narrows her eyes, quickly stepping over to her saddle and pulling out the map that was folded neatly inside the satchel attached to it. She scans over the map and the trail she had been drawing to document how far they were on their journey. She quickly determines the distance the group made since their departure that morning and she frowns, seeing a tiny 'x' marking a warning right near the area they currently were resting.

"Of course." She mumbles to herself.

Without wanting to panic her squad and give whoever watches them clues that she figured it out, Eli folds the map and walks over to the three resting near the carriage. The feeling of being watched begins to grow more evident and she keeps a hand near the hilt of her sword, preparing herself for whatever is to come.

"Pardon my interruption, your majesty." the Captain says in a formal tone, her voice quiet but level. "I know we've just begun to rest, but I believe it would be in our best intentions if we made this as quick as possible."

The unsaid things are heard loud and clear and everyone stands, not needing any further instructions. Maki makes her way to the river first to where Umi and Rin are while Kotori and Hanayo slowly take in Eli's silent instructions.

"I guess we'll be heading a bit further, Hanayo-chan." The Queen says in a calm voice. Hanayo nods in agreement.

"I-it would appear so K-Kotori-chan." Hanayo can't help her stutters as she stands up, opening the carriage door carefully. "H-here, let's wait inside the carriage."

Eli glances over to the trio near the river and watches as Maki fills the two in on Eli's suspicions. Umi gives instructions to Rin and the ginger haired girl immediately makes her way to the pack horses, discarding them of the weight they carry so they could pull the carriage while the other two are able to have a break. Maki takes the horses Umi and Rin had been tending to, leading them back to the carriage and tying them to the back end tightly.

"Maki, stay near the carriage." Eli instructs firmly.

"Yes Captain." Maki replies, stepping in front of the door. Her hand rests near her sword, ready to draw it at any point in time. Eli quickly moves from the carriage to the tree the remaining three girls rested under.

"I'm sorry everyone, we'll be leaving as soon as the horses are ready." Eli says quietly, reaching her hand out to Nozomi. The violet haired girl frowns a bit, hesitantly taking hold of Eli's hand and pulling herself from the ground.

"Is something the matter?" Nozomi asks, Nico and Honoka standing up.

"Nothing major." Eli fibs slightly, giving Nozomi's hand a tiny reassuring squeeze. "Head for the carriage, alright? Nico, you go with her."

"Yes Captain." Nico takes Nozomi's free hand, pulling her away from Eli. The violet haired girl frowns but willingly follows Nico, her eyes scanning the area around them to find whatever it was that is spooking Eli.

Maki steps to the side for Nico and Nozomi and without saying anything, Nico opens the carriage for her. Nozomi hesitates, placing her hand on her own sword but Nico shakes her head. The violet haired girl bites her lower lip before obediently climbing inside, sitting across from a nervous Hanayo and a calm Kotori. The raven haired girl shuts the door firmly behind her, locking eyes with Maki for a short moment before moving to the front of the carriage, ready to help Rin with getting the horses in their harnesses.

Umi approaches Eli and Honoka, a serious expression on her face and her bow in hand and a quiver of arrows on her shoulder.

"The sooner we get out of here the better." She says lowly.

"Is it an enemy?" Honoka asks, looking between Eli and Umi. Eli's eyes look around the area, a frown deepening on her face.

"Possibly. We've decided to rest right around where the bandits may be hiding." Eli murmurs. "The lingering bandits are probably waiting for the right moment to str-"

"CAPTAIN, LOOK OUT!" Honoka shouts, shoving Eli out of the way as an arrow zooms past the three of them, sinking into the tree with a loud 'thunk.'

Without even blinking Umi draws her bow, grabbing an arrow and aiming directly from the direction the enemy's came from. Honoka unsheathes her sword and Eli steadies herself, pulling her own out and preparing herself for the oncoming attack.

"NICO! RIN! GET THAT CARRIAGE OUT OF HERE, NOW!" She barks.

But the commotion from the arrow and shouting causes the horses to spook and before Rin can even fit the second harness onto the horse it shrieks loudly, forcing the ginger haired girl to step back as it dashes forward and away. Nico curses as the horse runs out of sight and immediately turns to find Rin doing her best to keep the first horse calm.

"IT'S NO GOOD, THE HORSES ARE TOO SCARED!" Nico shouts the reply as Rin's attempts to calm the large mammal begin to work.

Eli and Honoka are left dodging arrows and protecting Umi from the hidden enemy. Eli's eyes darken at Nico's declaration as she quickly puts together plan b. As she successfully dodges a third arrow, she shouts the plan for her squad to hear.

"FALL BACK. TOP PRIORITY IS PROTECTING HER MAJESTY! DO NOT LET ANYBODY NEAR THAT CARRIAGE!"

Umi lets another arrow loose towards the bushes, and a pained shout is the only thing they hear. Satisfied by the sound, the trio take it as their moment to dash towards the carriage. Maki and Nico stand on one side of the carriage, protecting the door the princess sits closest to while Rin protects the other side. Honoka sprints around to the other side, her eyes scanning to see where any potential enemies may appear from.

Umi pulls herself to a higher spot on the carriage, settling herself carefully on the roof. She prepares her bow with another arrow, keeping it low and scanning around with her keen eyes. Despite the dangers the higher and open spot will put her in, the navy haired girl would be able to see exactly where the enemies hide. She looks over to where the arrows came from earlier and frowns seeing the unknown villain treating their wound swiftly.

"Captain! The shrubs, they're preparing for another strike!" Umi readies her bow until a shout from Honoka forces her to pause.

"TWO COMING FROM THIS END!" The blue eyed girl says. Umi disregards the other archer and swivels around swiftly, loosing her arrow and piercing one of them directly in the shoulder.

The bandit shouts loudly and falls back, no attempt to get up being made as their friend continues to dash towards Honoka and Rin. The ginger girls prepare themselves and once the enemy is only feet away, Rin makes the first strike. Metal grinds against metal and the cries of more bandits can be heard. Umi looks to the other side of the carriage and pales as the sight of five more bandits appear.

"HONOKA! OTHER SIDE!" She shouts, aiming an arrow to the bushes where the archer prepares to loose another one of their own arrows.

Umi is quick and merciless when she lets this arrow fly, watching it pierce the bandit in the chest. She watches them collapse to the ground, unmoving and lifeless. The navy haired girl exhales slowly, lowering her bow and watching her comrades.

Eli is the first to strike at an oncoming bandit, nothing but anger reflecting off those icy blue irises. Nico is the second to make contact with a bandit, and more sounds of metal against metal echo around the area. Maki keeps herself planted by the carriage door, not daring to stray from it in the off chance that a bandit slips past her comrades and goes directly for their Queen. Honoka's as fast as ever and successfully takes out the first bandit she comes to, striking them in the shoulder with her sword.

They fall to the ground, dropping their weapon and crying out in pain. Honoka doesn't hesitate to kick the weapon away powerfully, watching it skid across the dirt ground . Umi prepares another arrow, watching her squad mates carefully. Two are on Eli while another heads towards Honoka, who defends herself as they charge at her. Nico seems to be fine for now, carefully blocking and striking at her own enemy. The navy haired girl frowns, trying to get a better shot at the two Eli fends off, but with their fast movements it's too dangerous for her to aim towards them.

With careful movements Umi climbs down from the carriage, peering inside to check on the three girls. Hanayo has moved from her spot next to Kotori, nervously sobbing into Nozomi as the older girl holds and comforts her, whispering quiet reassuring words that the everyone would be alright. Kotori appears to be calm but the fear in her eyes is evident. Umi silently hopes this scuffle ends as quickly as possible. She hops down to the ground and looks at Maki.

"Go!" She says, unsheathing her sword. "Rin and I will take care of the carriage, help out the other three!"

Maki doesn't need to be told twice as she dashes into battle, heading straight for the second bandit that Eli fights against.

"Captain, your left!" Maki shouts, and without even voicing a reply Eli ducks, the enemy missing her completely and stumbling over their feet.

Maki's sword quickly collides with theirs and soon she too is engaged in a fight against the bandits. Swords clashing against swords echo around the knights, the bandits losing confidence as each of them show no signs of exhaustion throughout the battles. A shout from Rin's side followed by a pained groan signals her battle is over, and Umi mentally thanks every higher being for Rin's victory.

The next to go down is Honoka's opponent, who loses their footing and collapses from the strength of Honoka's strike. She easily disarms them, sending their weapon quite the distance from them with another swift kick of her leg. Umi's spirits brighten and she's filled with pride at the fact Honoka has improved so much that she took out two of the enemies. Her eyes turn to the remaining three matches, worriedly watching as Nico's opponent towers over her.

The worry doesn't last long as the three matches immediately come to an end. Nico's height made for a perfect opening as she uses her handle of her sword to forcefully jab into her opponent's abdomen, winding them completely and knocking them off their feet. Maki is next, disarming the person in front of her with little force and knocking them roughly to the ground. It all ends with Eli kicking the bandit she faces off of their feet, surprising them as they land ungracefully onto their rear.

With swords pointed at their throats, the small group quickly surrenders. Eli doesn't need to voice her command as Umi walks over to the first bandit Honoka took out, who currently lay clutching their useless shoulder. She carefully binds their hands together, ignoring the visible wince they give as she tightens the rope around their wrists. Rin appears from the other side with the two opponents she and Umi took out, wrists tied and weapons missing. She guards the injured bandit and the ones she arrested as Umi moves on to the next.

Before long the group forces themselves to backtrack, all alive criminals tied and walking in a line between Eli and Umi, who keep close eyes on them. Maki and Honoka ride on either side of the carriage as Nico sits in the driver's spot, Kuro taking the place of the horse that went missing. The ginger haired girl sits next to Nico with a smile on her face despite all the earlier commotion and keeping an eye open for her horse.

They return to the village by nightfall, the criminals being escorted to a holding cell while their group is given a place to stay at their inn for another night. Rin is offered a horse from one of the villagers but she declines, hopeful about finding her own horse in the next couple days. The girls have a short celebration amongst themselves for successfully fighting off all the bandits and keeping Kotori safe. There's a moment where Hanayo gets teary from recalling the incident and it's Kotori and Rin that initiate the giant, comforting group hug. It's a nice ending to an eventful day for them all.

The group is back on track in no time, and after three days of walking and searching, Rin's horse is found safe and sound on a farm with a kind elderly couple. To thank them for their kindness, Kotori gives them a hefty amount of gold, apologizing for the fact they cannot stay and help them with their daily farm chores like she wants to. The couple is grateful for the offer anyway and see's them off with happy smiles and loud thank you shouts.

When nighttime comes and every decides to turn in, it's Nico and Maki who are scheduled for the first shift of the night watch. Maki piles more firewood into the flames as everyone makes their way into the tent, doing their best to not disturb Eli and Honoka, who turned in earlier that evening so they would be able to wake up and do the second half of the night shift.

"Thank you for your hard work, Maki-chan, Nico-chan." Kotori says with a sleepy smile. "We'll see you in the morning."

"Sleep good, your Majesty" Maki replies.

"We'll keep you all safe." Nico adds with a smile.

"I have full confidence in you two." the royal laughs before stepping into the tent. Nozomi follows not far after, giving a sleepy wave to the two of them.

"See you in the morning, Nicocchi, Maki-chan. No frisky business while you're on duty~" Nozomi laughs at the glares she earns from the both of them before following Kotori inside the tent.

"That Nozomi.." Nico shakes her head, sitting herself down on a chair near the tent. Maki takes the seat next to her wordlessly, humming a bit as she does.

The red haired girl waits until everyone in the tent is settled, and once silence overtakes them she doesn't hesitate to reach out for Nico's hand, shyly taking it into her own and looking away with a small blush. Nico laughs lightly, squeezing Maki's hand before intertwining their fingers.

"So forward Maki-chan~" She teases. "Didn't Nozomi just say no frisky business?" There's a teasing glint in her eyes and Maki frowns.

"T-that's not..! Nico-chan!" Maki's face is a light pink as Nico laughs quietly, purposely pulling Maki and her chair closer.

"Geeze, you're too easy to tease. No wonder Nozomi doesn't hesitate to go for us, you get flustered so easily." The raven haired girl tilts her head upwards and Maki turns to her, a tiny frown on her face.

"I'll get used to it eventually!" Maki retorts. Nico laughs lightly as she continues to stare upward and Maki's gazes softens as she watches Nico.

This is nice. Nico's here, and she's stargazing. Two of Maki's favourite things, and yet she can't turn her eyes away from the black haired girl she loves so much. Right there, in the dim light of the fire and underneath the everlasting blanket of stars, Nico truly looks her greatest. There is no sign of fear or worry on her face, only happiness and love. Maki could feel her heart beat increase and found it hard to believe that there's still moments like this where she would fall deeper and deeper in love with the other girl.

"You know, it kinda sucks that we know so little about the stars." Nico observes as she stares up at the sky, illuminated by thousands of bright specks of light yet still so dark. "Once an astronomer was passing through Akiba's castle town and Nozomi and I took a trip out of the castle to see him. He didn't mind sharing everything that he knew about the stars with us. It wasn't a lot, but it was pretty neat."

"I can imagine" Maki remarks, her thumb stroking Nico's knuckles as she keeps her gaze focused on her dark haired partner. "There used to be someone who studied the stars in Otonokizaka too. She never called herself an astronomer, but she knew more than anyone else in town did about the stars. She passed away before I became a knight, but I would go listen to her star facts often."

Nico brings her gaze from the stars to Maki, giving her a small smile as she tilts her head.

"What kind of things did you learn?" She asks curiously, ruby irises focusing on Maki.

Maki takes a moment to remember all the tiny facts she learnt and begins by pointing her free hand up to the sky.

"The star right over there is the North star."

There's a tiny smile on the red haired girl's face as she begins telling Nico every little thing she knows about this specific star and what other astronomers and story tellers theorized about it. It isn't very detailed but that doesn't stop Nico's smile from growing as she watches Maki get excited and delve into another star fact, this time about a cluster astronomers call Ursa Minor.

Maki doesn't realize Nico's staring at her with a wide smile until she spares a glance towards her, pausing her conversation and feeling her ears burn a dark shade of red.

"W-what?" She asks. Nico shakes her head, laughing lightly.

"Nothing. It's really cute how happy you are right now. I don't think there's a single star out there that can match how bright you shine when you're happy."

Maki's face turns a completely darker shade of red and Nico doesn't hold back her laughter as the redhead takes a moment to bury her face into her hands, unable to respond to Nico's cute and very cheesy comment.

The end of July comes and goes, along with the first couple weeks of August. It's hot as ever, but everything is going better than scheduled. The visit at the second last village was short and sweet, and the town welcomed Kotori by having a large feast to celebrate the occasion. The group had a lot of fun singing, dancing and sharing a meal with the small group of villagers and when it was time to say goodbye the next day, everyone was well rested, full, and excited for the last stop of their summer long journey: Eli's home town.

The forest was still a day's journey away, but the group was making good time, especially since today was cloudier, protecting them from the harsh sun rays that would be beating down on them otherwise. Nozomi and Honoka share the carriage with Kotori, the two of them being the ones on the second half of the night watch the night before. Eli and Umi travel behind the group today, while Rin and Hanayo sit on the carriage with Hanayo being in control of the reins as Maki walks her horse not too far away from them on Hanayo's other side. Nico leads the way as they all focus on the road ahead of her while Rin relays the nights exciting events before she and Maki crawled into bed.

"I'm telling you Kayo-chin, this owl was HUGE. It had to be as big as at least seven ravens! Maki was there, she can vouch for me!"

"Owls are pretty big birds Rin-chan." She says with a small giggle. "I'm glad you got to see such a big one though. It must have been a very wise one that's lived a very long time."

"That or it was just a monster!" Rin exclaims, lifting her hands in excitement as Maki and Hanayo laugh lightly.

The sounds of a galloping horse in the distance catches their attention and the three of them abruptly stop laughing as Nico holds her hand up, informing Hanayo to slow the carriage down. The brunette does as requested and pulls on the reins lightly, causing the horses to go from a slow walk to a short stop. Maki encourages Santa to step forward so they are level with Nico, squinting her eyes.

"Is that a traveler?" She asks and Nico shrugs.

"I can't make out the form well, but it looks like they're heading this way." She comments.

Honoka peers her head out the carriage window, squinting her eyes to see why they may have stopped. Eli and Umi quickly ride around the carriage, their horses swiftly coming to the front and stopping right next to the black and red haired girls. Eli and Umi's sharp eyes catch the finer details as the rider gets closer and closer to them, and the hands that rest on the hilts of their swords relax as the bulge of armour is noticed.

"They might be a knight." Eli determines. "They've got armour on underneath their cloak."

Nozomi peers out the other window, a confused look on her face.

"The Queen would like to know if we're stopping here for a rest." She says hesitantly, the mood obviously not the type for a break. Rin turns and shakes her head, voice low as she whispers the reply to Nozomi.

"There's someone riding towards us. The Captain says it might be another knight, so we could be stopping."

Nozomi nods and pulls her head back inside, relaying the information to Kotori.

The mysterious rider gets closer and closer, more details about their clothing becoming clearer as they do. As they get nearer, it's Umi who recognizes the soft white of the travel cloak and she blinks as she voices a guess on who it might be.

"A-rise?"

The five who watch as the knight gets closer look at Umi questioningly but sure enough, the exact cloaks the belong to the elite knight force of Akiba is crystal clear as the rider slows their horse down the moment they are only feet away from the group. Her charcoal black stallion huffing as his rider brings him to a slow walk and an eventual stop. Eli and Umi let their hands fall away from their weapons as the rider lifts her hand up, pulling down the hood of her cloak and smiling fondly towards the group.

"Captain Toudou?" Eli asks bewildered as Erena nods.

"It's good to see you again, Captain Ayase."

The gang makes their way out of the path, moving the carriage to the side of the road and setting up a few supplies to have a small break as they talk with the Akiba Captain.

"What brings you out here?" Nozomi asks once she gets the chance, sitting herself down Erena.

"Just a small mission." The Captain replies. "Her majesty hoped her letter would catch you before your Summer asventure began, but when we received a reply from the previous Queen Minami, her majesty deployed me out to meet up with you all."

"How did you even know where we might be?" Umi asks with a frown. "There's no way this was just coincidence."

Erena laughs as she digs through her satchel, pulling out the reply letter as well as a map and a list of travel details.

"I came prepared. The Queen's mother included a list of the journey details, as well as time estimates. The map says you would be traveling along the border before heading to this village in the forest, so I just waited it out at a village along our border until the right time, then set out to find you all."

Umi's face shows how impressed she is by the finer details and Kotori laughs lightly before facing the Akiba knight.

"How can we help you, Captain?" She asks with a warm smile.

Erena puts away the the other parchments before digging around her satchel again. She pulls out a small, folded up piece of parchment gingerly.

"I have a delivery." She replies, holding the folded paper out towards Nico.

"Huh?" Nico blinks surprised. "For… me?"

"For you, Yazawa Nico." Erena confirms, her smile never leaving her face.

Nico hesitantly reaches out, taking the folded paper from Erena. She isn't sure if she should unfold it and read its contents until Maki gives her a small nudge.

"Captain Toudou came all this way just to give you that. You should read it." She encourages. Nico looks from the parchment to Maki, before glancing back to Erena.

"What- What's it about?" She asks nervously.

"You'll have to see for yourself, Yazawa." Erena says. She's still smiling, which proves to be a good sign to the raven haired girl.

Nico slowly unfolds the parchment, carefully holding it in her hands as if the thing would turn to dust if she wasn't delicate with it. She reads the first line and all delicacy is gone as her fingers grip the parchment tightly, a large crinkling sound being made and her eyes welling up with tears. Rin and Honoka sit up more excitedly and Nozomi gets a worried gaze, looking over to Erena seriously.

"Erena, what is it?"

Erena gives Nozomi a softer smile.

"We found them." Is all she says.

Nozomi's eyes light up and she turns excitedly to Nico, whose eyes are still very watery as a slow smile forms on her lips. She hugs the letter to her chest tightly, a couple tears falling as she holds it like it's the most important thing in the world.

"They're alive." She whispers, and the group finally makes the connection.

"Nico-chan!" Kotori exclaims, a wide smile on her face. "Is it your siblings?!"

"Y-yeah!" Nico's voice cracks and she wipes her eyes with one of her hands. "It is! It's a letter from my little sister, Kokoro!"

"What's it say?!" Rin asks ecstatically, leaning forward. "Is it okay if we know?!"

Nico laughs and her voice is raw, full of many mingling emotions as she nods.

"Y-yeah! I'll read it!" She sniffles a bit, unable to stop smiling. Maki's eyes soften at her happy lover, knowing nothing could make this trip better than the moment they were all witnessing.

Nico takes a moment to gather herself and leans against Maki comfortably. Maki doesn't protest, enjoying the press of Nico against her as she clears her throat. The raven haired girl pulls the parchment away from her chest and begins reading.

"Dear Sis," Nico's voice cracks again and she laughs once more, wiping at her eyes again as more tears began to form.

"Nico Nii! You made it! I'm so happy that I cried and cried! I'm so glad you're okay. Queen Tsubasa offered to send a letter from me to you. I hope you get it soon!"

"There are so many things I want to say and tell you. There are so many things I want to ask you too. Maybe we could become pen pals now?! Haha, just kidding. That would be hard since you don't know where we live now."

"Queen Tsubasa says I should tell you what happened after you and Nozomi-chan escaped, but first I have to tell you that Kokoa and Kotarou love you and miss you. They're watching me write this right now! (They cried a lot too but Kotarou would deny it if you ever asked.) But anyways..."

"It was.. It was really tough Nico Nii. Mama was shouting a lot, and I woke up Kokoa and Kotarou because we were worried you both got caught. I snuck out to the stable to make sure Kuro was gone, but that's when I saw the guards grab Mama. I almost ran to get her until I heard somebody shout 'Burn them out!'. That's when I went to grab Kokoa and Kotarou instead."

There's a heavy atmosphere as the gang listens to these parts. Eli's hand finds its way to Nozomi's, linking their fingers and giving a reassuring squeeze as she's reminded of one of the worst nights of her life. Nico leans into Maki more and the redhead slips her arm around her, a faint blush staining her cheeks as she presses a tiny kiss to the top of Nico's head, not caring that their friends see the public display of affection. Nico takes a short breath before continuing to read the letter.

"We didn't take anything but the clothes on our backs. They soon came towards the stable and tore it apart. We were hiding behind it, but no guards thought to look or check if there was anyone there. There was a shout to somebody saying that there was nobody around and once most of them were gone, we made our way towards the town as quickly as we could. We wanted to get help, but nobody was awake and we didn't want the guards coming after us too."

Kotori sniffles and Umi takes her hand gingerly as Honoka lets Kotori's head rest on her shoulder. Hanayo and Rin listen intently, not knowing how much longer the hard parts of this story might last.

"That's when we met Maria." A tiny smile grows on Nico's face as she continues reading. "Maria is a traveling entertainer. She dances and sings along with her friends Himeno, Nagi, and Yuka. They travel all around Akiba and other countries, performing fun dances and neat tricks with music and a really fun caravan! Maria had heard the commotion with the guards and Mama as they were returning to the castle. Mama had been shouting our names over and over, begging and pleading for somebody to go save us."

"I told Maria about what happened and after that, she offered to take us in. We were really scared, and since we didn't have a home to go back to and only each other, we decided to go with her."

"Ever since, it's been a lot of fun learning how to perform. Kokoa and I are incredible dancers, and it might be hard to believe but Kotarou can really sing!"

Nico laughs a bit out loud at that fact and Nozomi doesn't hide her own teary smile.

"That's where we've been this whole time. We stayed low and traveled a lot. We even went over the mountain to where Maria's home country is! But we missed when Nozomi-chan came back into power because of that."

"By the time we came back to Akiba, Nozomi-chan and Queen Tsubasa were on their way to Otonokizaka, so we traveled to the smaller villages to do our performances and came back to the castle town later. We performed for Queen Tsubasa and she knew right away who we were!"

"I guess that part isn't hard to imagine though, since I look just like you now Sis. I'm sixteen now, so many people at the castle think that I'm you too. It's what I'm most proud about after my dancing."

"We really miss you Nico Nii. We're so glad you're okay and that you're happy in Otonokizaka. There isn't much more space to fit anything else, but I hope Otonokizaka continues to be good to you and that one day, we can see each other again. We'll call it a Kokoro promise, okay?!"

"We'll be excitingly waiting until then." Nico smiles more, folding the paper up and saying the concluding line. "Love, Kokoro."

She turns to Erena, giving her a sincere smile and bowing her head.

"Thank you, Erena." She lifts her head, the smile never faltering and taking the long haired girl by surprise. "Thank you so much."

"It was my pleasure." The Captain says in a softer voice. "Their caravan travels all over, but I'm sure they will be back in the castle town before they leave the country again. If you'd like, I can stay the night with your camp and deliver a letter from you to them before they continue their journey."

Before Nico can say anything, Kotori turns excitedly to Hanayo, who shoots up from her seat.

"Hanayo-chan!"

"Got it!"

The brunette dashes to the carriage, stepping inside of it and burying through some supplies. She emerges from it, blank parchments in one hand and a quill and some ink and the other. Eli smiles a bit, catching on to their idea and turning to Kotori.

"Shall we rest here for the night then, your Majesty? It's early, but we'll leave earlier in the morning to make up for it."

"Absolutely Captain." Kotori replies. "Let's begin getting camp set up! Oh, except Nico-chan. She has letters to write~."

Wordlessly, everyone stands and begins camp preparations, aside from Nico. Erena joins in on the camp set up while Nico brainstorms the things she wants to say to her beloved siblings. She sighs lightly, staring at the quill before smiling.

"Might as well just tell them how I feel." she says out loud to herself. Not far out of earshot are Nozomi and Maki, and the two share a smile with each other as they hear Nico voice out the first sentence of her letters.

"Dear Kokoro..."

The following day they all bid farewell to Erena, seeing her off on her journey back to Akiba with bright smiles. They wish her a safe travel home and Nico makes sure to shout her thanks one last time before Erena is far out of sight. The black haired girls spirits are high despite being up earlier than the normal wake up time and Nozomi takes the opportunity to try and tease her.

"We have a new morning person it seems~" The violet haired girl jokes as Nico climbs onto Kuro.

"Hah, you wish!" Nico retorts. "But even being up this early can't dampen my mood. Finding out my siblings are alive, nothing is better!"

Nozomi laughs lightly as she climbs onto her own horse, patting it gently.

"I couldn't agree more Nicocchi. It really is the greatest news." Nozomi smiles towards her friend and they share a small laugh.

Nico's eyes catch a glimpse of Eli's blonde hair as she talks with Umi and Maki, discussing the plans of today's travel breaks and how far she wanted them to get within the day. She waits patiently for them to break apart before smiling cheekily and saying loud enough for the blonde to hear her.

"You know, all the commotion with my siblings has probably excited the Captain." She doesn't hide her smirk as Nozomi looks at her curiously. "We are going to be seeing her sister soon, and she's probably dying to meet you Nozomi."

Nozomi blushes lightly and Eli laughs, catching their attention. The two of them look over to her as she mounts her own horse, balancing herself atop it and nodding in agreement with Nico.

"Knowing Alisa, she's probably been waiting at the Forest Inn since the announcement reached the village." Nico laughs and Honoka overhears the conversation, grinning a bit and watching Umi tiredly enter the carriage.

"She'll be excited to see Umi-chan again too I bet~ She adored her in the fall." Honoka snickers a bit as she remembers the overly excited young adult during her stay at the castle last fall.

"If Umi-chan wasn't resting in the carriage, she'd disagree with that." Hanayo says with a small smile as she takes her seat at the front of the carriage, Rin climbing up excitedly next to her.

"Agreed." Nico says with a grin. "Though let's face it, Nozomi's going to be the one she's all over this time."

There are a few laughs and nods of agreement as Nozomi blushes a bit more, smiling lightly as the group begins to move out on the pathway, Eli and Nozomi leading the way with Honoka and Nico at the rear end of the carriage. Maki and Umi rest inside the carriage with Kotori as the journey to the final village in Otonokizaka draws nearer.

They take a break only once, allowing Maki and Umi to rest enough to get back to traveling on horseback. Hanayo decides to take a break from driving to rest with Kotori inside the carriage and Rin takes her spot in the driver's seat. Maki rides at the back with Nico while Honoka joins Umi, Nozomi and Eli at the front.

Their excitement to reach the final village grows as the scenery begins to change from wide open fields with occasional clusters of trees to large groups of foliage and shrubs scattered from place to place. Eli sighs contently as she's hit with a bit of nostalgia from the day she left her town, the scenery going from the tall trees and shrubs to the open fields that eventually lead to the castle. She observes her squad as their horses continued the trek down the pathway, content to see that everyone looks as ready for her village as she does.

The hours fly by and eventually the large forest comes into view. Eli's expression softens as they continue down the familiar dirt path that leads to her childhood home. The edge of the forest stretches on for miles and at the mouth of the woods lays a very large log cabin, covered by the shade of the trees but impossible to miss. The blonde turns to her squad, beaming widely and calling out to everyone.

"The Inn is in sight! We'll be there in no time!" She calls out loudly.

Honoka and Rin cheer, followed by a slightly delayed and faint Nico. Nozomi and Umi chuckle softly as Eli turns her head forward again, tapping her heels into the side of her horse to increase his speed. Her squad follows suit, the horses going from a walk to a trot. Hanayo and Kotori both open the carriage windows, peering out and down the path with bright eyes as they see the giant forest and its inn ahead of them.

"We're almost there!" Kotori says giddily, poking her head back inside the carriage to make sure she's prepared for meeting the innkeepers.

Before they know it, everyone is pulling their horses to a stop directly in front of the inn. Umi and Eli dismount their horses with care, petting them lightly before handing them off to Rin, who takes both of their reins carefully from the higher ranked knights. The rest of the girls dismount their own horses as Hanayo exits the carriage, smoothing out her clothes.

"Umi and I will be arranging our check in." Eli announces. "Just stay put everyone, when we come back we'll take care of the horses and carriage."

"Alright Captain!" Kotori beams, happy to be out of her carriage.

The two enter the inn, shutting the door carefully behind them. Nico and Maki walk their horses around the carriage, meeting up with the rest who stand still patiently waiting. Nico steps over to Nozomi, nudging her playfully and shooting her a small grin, to which Nozomi returns with her own tiny smile. They begin to converse as they wait for the other two to return.

The inn door suddenly slams open and out rushes a blonde haired girl with two very curly pigtails, looking excitedly around until her eyes come in contact with Kotori. The knights look over to find Umi appearing beside her and in only a few steps the both of them have reached Kotori.

"Your majesty, this is the Innkeeper, Ayumi Tori." Umi gestures to the blonde, who curtsies immediately.

"It's a pleasure to finally meet you, your majesty. We've been expecting you!" She greets in a chipper voice.

While Kotori distracts herself with the villager, Umi gives the squad the go to to begin unpacking the horses and the essentials from the carriage. Rin and Hanayo waste no time in gathering the horses while the rest head straight towards the carriage. Nozomi moves to help out until a hand wraps around her wrist. She stops and turns, surprised to find Eli holding onto her gently with that crooked smile she loves so much.

"Sorry Nozomi, I need to borrow you for a moment." She apologizes. Nozomi smiles reassuringly, telling Eli it's alright with no words.

The blonde pulls Nozomi towards the inn, an excited bounce to her step as they get closer. Nozomi quirks her eyebrow as she smiles more, enjoying how Eli freely shows how giddy she is.

"Excited, Elichi?" Nozomi asks amused. Eli laughs lightly, a light tint to her cheeks.

"Of course." She smiles at the violet haired girl before opening the door to the inn. "There's someone here that I'd really like you to meet."

Nozomi doesn't get the chance to say anything more as she's pulled into the inn, letting Eli guide her as her eyes adjust to the dimmer lighting. There's a small gasp of delight and Nozomi's eyes find their way to a new face. Her eyes widen ever so slightly as the girl steps closer, the same blue eyes that match Eli's boring into her.

Alisa stands only a few inches shorter than Eli, but the resemblance between the two of them is uncanny. Her hair falls down below her shoulders, long and a lighter shade of blonde than Eli's but very well kept. Her eyes shimmer as she stares at Nozomi and she hesitates to take another step forward until Eli pulls Nozomi a step closer to her. The younger Ayase's blue eyes scan over Nozomi once, twice, before she smiles even wider. Nozomi can't contain her own as it crawls onto her features. The Ayase sisters are too cute for their own good, she muses as Eli begins to speak.

"Alisa, I'd like you to meet Nozomi. My best friend and the love of my life." There's pride in Eli's voice as Nozomi laughs lightly, blushing at the use of the endearment Eli turns her attention to Nozomi, her smile widening as she introduces her sister for the first time.

"And Nozomi, this is Alisa. My little sister."

"You're amazing little sister you mean~" Alisa's voice is much higher and playful sounding as she corrects. Nozomi laughs a bit more, growing more and more fond of the other girl the longer they stand there.

The violet haired girl wants to speak first but Alisa cuts her off as she grabs ahold of Nozomi's hands in her own, squeezing them lightly and staring directly into Nozomi's eyes.

"I'm so glad I finally get to meet you, Nozomi!"

Nozomi finds a lot of comfort as she stares at Alisa and returns the light squeeze.

"As am I, Alisa." She replies, her nerves gone. "It's a pleasure to meet you!"

"The pleasure's all mine!" the younger girl exclaims with a laugh, lowering their hands. "Now I finally have a face to put with your name! Eli's descriptions really don't do you justice, even if they were cheesily accurate."

Nozomi eyes Eli with a teasing smirk as the older blonde blushes, laughing in embarrassment. The blonde didn't mind the teasing, it was wonderful to see that her baby sister and the love of her life get along so easily during their first meeting. It was amusing to think that merely moments earlier, there were nervous feelings about if they would get along with one another.

"Listen, I promised Tori-san I'd help out with the rooming arrangements for the Queen and everyone else, but you two are having dinner with me!" Alisa flashes them a grin before dashing to the door, calling out to the inn keeper to let her know she was ready to assist.

Nozomi and Eli laugh lightly, the two sharing a small smile before making their way outside to the others.

The village itself is incredible. Alisa gives them all the grand tour of the place, showing them the attractions such as their market and the woodcutters. Eli would make small remarks here and there, adding to things Alisa had pointed out or brought up. The squad is quite interested in the little things like the protective barn almost everyone had to keep their horses safe as well as the intricate chicken coops that keeps their poultry safe from predators that lurk in the woods. Alisa even shares a story with the group about a time when Eli found a fox kit caught in the wiring of their chicken coop and secretly kept it inside their house.

After the tour and story tellings are over, Kotori spends time with some of the villagers, listening to their stories and answering any questions she can. She gives the squad permission to have some time to themselves, and they all disperse in pairs. Honoka and Umi join Kotori as she talks with the townsfolk while Hanayo and Rin decide to walk around the village with Nico and Maki not too far behind them. Eli leads Nozomi towards the outside of the village, their hands fitting perfectly together as the blonde begins her own special tour for her lover.

When morning comes the squad rises early, surprised to find the townsfolk up awake and Alisa smiling widely at them. Eli looks questioningly towards her little sister, who laughs at the gaze.

"We don't have a gift to present to you your Majesty, so as a small token of our thanks, we've packed up your carriage with all your equipment, stocked you up with as much food as we could and have prepared all your horses for your final journey back home." She answers the unsaid question with a smile. "Not that we want to see you go, but we know the Queen needs to be back at her castle eventually."

Kotori laughs a bit as she walks over to Alisa, looking at the younger girl with warm eyes and a kind smile.

"Thank you for your assistance, Alisa-chan, everyone..!" There is no greater expression than the joy on Kotori's face as she continues speaking. "There could be nothing that I'd have enjoyed more than spending the last of my adventure here in your cozy woodland home. It was the perfect place for our final town visit, and I'm sure that my advisors, the Captain and her squad fully agree."

The squad stays silent, smiling while Kotori talks to the townsfolk. She wraps it up quickly and formally, as a proper Queen should. When Kotori turns to Eli, the blonde nods, turning to her squad and giving them their instructions.

"If there are any last minute things you need to do, now would be a good time." She says to them. "We leave in ten minutes!"

"Yes Captain!" Her squad replies in unison.

Everyone makes themselves busy before their last send off. Eli watches Hanayo lead Kotori to the villagers to talk one last time with them as Honoka and Umi make their way to the carriage to make sure Kotori's possessions are packed safely. Rin, Nico, and Maki are examining the horses, talking with each other to make sure everyone's gear is there and the horses are ready to go. Her gaze finally leads to the missing person, who was having a final conversation with her sister in law.

Eli watches fondly as Alisa and Nozomi laugh together, no doubt sharing another quirky fact or memory about herself with each other. There's a small moment of nothing between them before they share a hug. The Captain smiles happily, enjoying watching the moment as they pull away, Nozomi taking hold of Alisa's hands and saying something quietly to her. Eli takes this as her cue to say farewell to her sister, walking over and making herself known to the two of them.

With their goodbyes said and everyone prepared, Hanayo and Honoka follow Kotori inside the carriage as Umi takes the seat on the drivers spot. Nico, Maki, and Rin lead the way this time while Nozomi and Eli cover the rear. When Eli gives them the go ahead, Maki leads the way and the nine girls begin their departure out of the village and down the forest path.

The sun beams brightly through the breaks in the trees above, tendrils of light cascading beautifully through the forest as the cicadas sing their sunny day song. The walk is quiet and calm as the group enjoys the sounds of the forest around them. The soothing atmosphere makes for a perfect final moment, and Eli knows later this moment might bring a lot of nostalgia for them all.

"Can you believe our journey is done so soon?" Eli glances to her right at Nozomi, who gazes at her with a fond smile.

"Not at all." Eli responds. "Time went by really fast huh? We spent practically two months on the road and yet it feels like we left the castle town yesterday."

Nozomi hums in agreement.

"Time really flies when you're having fun." She says in amusement.

"It really was fun." The blonde sighs contently. There's a tiny pause before she looks ahead at the carriage. "What was your favourite part?"

Nozomi contemplates the question and smiles.

"If I can't say everything as an answer, then I'll stick with the surprise from Erena." Nozomi says fondly. "That letter for Nicocchi was the best surprise."

Eli glances to Nozomi again, nodding in agreement with her.

"I think so too."

The two fall silent and Eli brings her horse closer to Nozomi's. The two send loving gazes each other's way and wordlessly reach for their hands, grasping onto the other lightly. Eli gives it a gentle squeeze as the sounds of birds calling to one another echo around them.

"What do you think will happen next?" Nozomi asks curiously, gazing in front of them. Eli thinks about it and answers with the first thing that comes to mind.

"We'll get home, fall back into our daily routines and.." She pauses, waiting for Nozomi to look at her before giving her a tiny grin. "The rest is what we make of it."

Nozomi giggles lightly, contemplating Eli's answer and nodding in agreement with it.

"I can't wait." She says with a tiny hint of excitement.

The two of them face forward again, the group passing through a rather large gap of light between the tree's on the pathway. Eli continues to smile as she thinks about the castle and all the adventures that await them and with that all in mind, she voices her reply to Nozomi.

"I can't either."

The End