An clasped his hand tightly around Mikoto's. They were both standing there blushing like fools in love, but he felt it suited them. Her hand felt like it fit better in his than ever before.

Mikoto squeezed his hand before abruptly turning towards the exit, "Shall we go tell Lysander and Arete?"

"I don't think your giving me much choice." An didn't bother hiding his laugh as he was pulled along.

"Nope." Mikoto turned her head towards him with a huge grin on her face.

As Mikoto passed through the shelves to the door she never let go of his hand. It was nearing the dinner hour so Elias was going to close the library soon. Everyone seem to know this given how empty it was. They strode forward almost in their own little world. However right as they reached the door a voice came from the desk.

"Lovebirds really living up to that nickname huh?" Elias said without looking up from the book he was reading.

Immediately An and Mikoto dropped their hands and turned more red. Mikoto cleared her throat, "You already knew about it."

"Most of the castle has the picture by now." Penelope's voice suddenly came from behind Elias's, leaning back in her chair to pop into view.

"Surely it can't be that bad." An winced.

"Then you have no idea how quickly gossip spreads." Penelope said before taking a drink from a mug next to Elias's.

"Especially when there's a good story to go with it. Like a mysterious man saved from death by a kind woman and he later saved her life." Elias tacked on drinking from his own mug.

It was times like this that reminded An they were indeed brother and sister. They looked nothing alike, but they certainly shared the same cutting tongue.

Mikoto looked like she wanted to object, but the two had only stated facts. Before either of them could think of a remark the library doors opened.

"So you were in here. We wondered when we walked into the dining room and you weren't there." Arete walked in followed by Lysander who had Azura against his shoulder.

"We wanted to make sure neither of you forgot dinner. Though surely Elias would have kicked you out of here before then." Lysander said while patting Azura on the back.

"You know me well, Your Majesty." Elias raised his mug and dipped his head. The formal title somehow losing the formality just coming from his mouth.

Mikoto subtly reached down and lightly squeezed An's hand. Her eyes looking at his in question. Was this as good a time as any to tell them? Mikoto had been dragging them to find Lysander and Arete. They should be the first to know. However, An couldn't deny he wanted to tell Elias and Penelope next. To make sure they heard the words from his mouth rather than gossip. An nodded slightly to Mikoto and smiled before squeezing her hand back.

"Oh it looks like the lovebirds have upgraded to silent communication." Elias said with a snort, though the warmth in his eyes betrayed his real thoughts.

Both Mikoto and An turned red and left out an awkward laugh.

"While everyone's here there's something we'd like to talk about." Mikoto started.

"You're not pregnant are you?" Arete raised her eyebrow with a smirk on her face.

"No" Mikoto said placing her hands on her hips-whatever else she was going to say cut off.

"Please like An would have the guts to lay a hand on her besides holding hands." Penelope let out a bark of a laugh.

An fought down his embarrassment. Maybe telling them all at once wasn't the best idea.

"What was it you wanted to tell us." Lysander asked, bouncing Azura who was starting to get fussy.

Mikoto reached down and grabbed An's hand, meeting his gaze-his hood still never put up after their conversation. An smiled at her as the warmth in his chest spread through his body. No pretending their feelings were less than they thought. They were going to move forward into the future together.

Mikoto turned back to everyone else, "We've decided to get married."

"Congratulations, I'm happy for you." Lysander said one arm out to hug them, his good arm still holding Azura.

"Congrats," Arete walked up to give Mikoto a hug, "About time you two decided to make each other happy."

"So who asked who?" Penelope stood from her chair and walked around the desk.

"I asked her." An dared to stand closer to Mikoto to rest his hand around her waist. Even if it was embarrassing, he couldn't deny it was nice to have her so close.

Penelope clicked her tongue and sighed while Elias raised his mug in the air with a smug smile on his face.

"I guess this means I win the pool." Elias said reaching into a drawer in his desk and pulling out what was clearly a bag of gold coins.

Penelope looked at An and raised a hand in question, "So now you finally grow a spine? I thought for sure Mikoto was going to have to ask you."

"Wait a minute, back up." Mikoto blinked and shook her head, "What did Elias mean by 'pool'? Were you betting on our relationship?"

"We weren't." Penelope gestured between herself and Elias, "We all were."

An turned to Lysander and Arete who rather than refuting this claim merely shrugged their shoulders before he turned back to Penelope, "So you were betting on if we would get engaged?"

"No." Penelope said, "We were betting on who asked and when."

"It started after you two came back to the capital. I had under a month An asking." Elias said, clinking some gold in the bag together.

"I had under a month Mikoto asking." Penelope crossed her arms over her chest.

"Lysander and I went in together with between one and two months with An asking." Arete said taking Azura from Lysander.

"Shame he was just a day off." Lysander rolled his tired shoulder.

"I think Amie had one to two months with Mikoto asking. Theo and Katsuo had three to six months. Katsuo on An and Theo on Mikoto." Elias started listing people on his fingers.

"And Delia said, if I remember correctly," Penelope's gazed drifted in recall, "'It's going to take them more than six months, so we don't we just prepare the whole wedding and surprise them with it.'"

An's jaw dropped.

"So just pick a date whenever you're ready. Between the lot of us we've actually started most of the preparations." Penelope waved her hand as if dismissing an insect.

An could feel Mikoto lean further against him, probably due to confusion more than romantic feelings. "I'm not even sure what to say." she said.

"How about let's go eat dinner?" Arete said bouncing Azura.

"Yes, let's." Mikoto sighed with a smile, pulling An along with her.

The rest of the day past in a blur after the library discussion. Dinner had been casual discussion, but as soon as the meal ended the conversation changed to making plans and what needed to be done. At some point Amie, Katsuo, and Delia must have gone to check about the pool because they showed up to offer their congratulations as well. It was clear that this was not going to be a well kept secret. Even a few hours later some people were already giving them looks around the palace. By late evening both their brains were swimming.

An let out a sigh and sat on the edge of Mikoto's bed. The two finally found a moment alone to talk but the only privacy found in Mikoto's room. Mikoto sat in a chair by her vanity and let her hair down. She tried to focus on running the brush through her hair, smoothing out all the worries like her mother had shown her so long ago. Though somehow it didn't feel as effective as normal. An cleared his throat and pointed to draw her hand. She was holding the brush backwards. Mikoto ignored the pink she knew dusting her cheeks and flipped the brush around. Finally feeling like she was smoothing away the chaos of the day.

"I knew today was going to be hectic, but I'm not sure I was expecting this much." An took a deep breath.

"Everyone is quite a bit to handle." Mikoto laughed putting the brush aside and sitting next to An.

An reached down and took her hand in his, "Do you think we're rushing this? I don't want to push this at a pace that makes you uncomfortable, and everyone seems to have it in their heads for this all to be wrapped up within 2-3 months maybe even sooner."

"I think I'm supposed to be asking you that question." Mikoto poked his shoulder with her free hand, "You're the one making more adjustments."

"I'm fine, though I will admit I thought weddings took longer to plan."

"In this case it sounds like they have been doing a lot of planning already. Though I'm sure the current situation made everyone want to speed things up."

Mikoto continued to focus on their joined hands. Neither of them wanted to say it. The idea that at any given point their world could shatter. It was certainly a good reason to try to rush a wedding.

"Though I suppose Arete probably already had a fair bit of groundwork done." Mikoto pressed herself closer to An.

"What do you mean?" An's eyebrows furrowed.

"I was supposed to be married long ago. I'm sure Arete's been thinking about this for a long time."

An didn't say anything. Merely sat in the quiet between them.

Mikoto leaned up a pressed a kiss to his cheek, wishing some of his worries away. She stood to move in front of him to make sure he looked her in the eye, "While everything that happened was tragic, I can say at least one good thing came from all of it. While I would have been content with Cyril, I think I will be genuinely happy with you. We might be rushing things, but I'm comfortable like this. So let's whether our storms together alright?"

An smiled so gently that Mikoto could almost feel her heart melting. He stood and pressed his lips to hers. She was starting to get used to these warm kisses. Moments of softness in this crazy world where nothing else seemed to matter.

Their lips parted and An pressed his forehead to hers, "It's a promise."

Mikoto sighed and closed her eyes.

All to soon, the moment was over. An pulled away and started to walk to the door, "I should probably go. It would be unfortunate if any unscrupulous rumors were to start."

Mikoto wanted to say something. That she didn't mind rumors and would have rather enjoyed the moment longer. However, that would have been unfair to An. Instead she smiled and caught up to him with one last peck on the cheek, "See you tomorrow."

"And the days after that." An said with a smile before flipping up his hood.

Arete scanned through the paperwork still scattering over the desk she was currently shared with Lysander. Their duties had become one in the same at this point so it didn't matter who saw to what. Or at least it wouldn't matter if Lysander could maintain an organizational system to save his life. Arete let out a frustrated huff, tempted to just throw all the paper into the air and organize it from scratch. She grabbed paper after paper trying to sort as she went looking for the blasted estimated budget form. Then there was a knock at the door. Arete quickly shoved the papers into anything resembling neat piles.

"Come in." she called smoothing her hair and straightening her dress front.

Penelope entered the room and bowed, "Your Majesty."

"Hello, what is it you need Penelope? I find it hard to believe you would come without a purpose." Arete stood to move to the front.

"I'd like to say I'm coming entirely for good new reasons, but that would be incorrect." Penelope stood and crossed her arms over her chest.

"Starting with the good news?" Arete motioned for Penelope to sit.

"Wedding outfits. Chloe has finished most of the work now, but she needs An and Mikoto to finish the last pieces. I think they should go to meet her at Isalka."

"Wouldn't it be just as easy for Chloe to come down here to the Gyges then and drop off the outfits at the same time?"

"That's where the concerning new comes in."

Arete met Penelope's gaze and waited for her to continue.

"Lately I've been hearing stories from that region. Stories about wildlife disappearing-even some people. Mysterious grooves in the ground like someone walked by dragging a weapon. Places where sound just disappears."

"So the question is if we have to evacuate the region or not." Arete said before puling her map out to clearly see the area.

"The problem is that Lake Natna is in the same area." Penelope placed her finger over the large blue body of water on the map, "That lake has always teemed with some sort of otherworldly power. Letting it fall without knowing what danger may come from it sounds like a terrible idea."

Arete sighed, "It's not like we have a lot of choice in areas we have to abandon."

"But we can always give it a fight. Or set up some sort of protection around the lake even if it disappears."

Arete looked down at map on the desk before fishing through a drawer, "Though considering your personal ties to the area it's hard to account for any bias."

"While my children may be there now, they can always return to me." Penelope said looking out the window without meeting Arete's gaze.

Arete scanned the map on last time. Eyes resting firmly on Lake Natna. A lake that dwelled outside of Anankos's barrier, but reflected some of the power of his realm. A location that no one but the royal family knew, was connected to the network of springs that fed together and provided travel to and from Anankos's mountain with use of his song.

"Very well. Take Mikoto and An so they can finish their wedding outfits at the same time. As for people Katsuo, Amie, and Delia will have to suffice. It's maybe a couple weeks journey mounted and we can't afford to put all of the best soldier together. Delia will have to learn more compact item management skills since you should travel light. " Arete said writing out the order on paper.

"Thank you, Your Majesty." Penelope bowed.

Arete stamped the document and handed it to Penelope, "Although I do find it interesting that you always seem to come in here when I am the one working and not Lysander."

Penelope took the form and smirked, "It seems to go much faster that way."

"Then off with you, you'll officially generated a lot of paperwork for me to document orders, supplies, etc." Arete flicked her wrists to motion Penelope to the door.

Penelope bowed one last time before reaching the door. Her hand paused on the handle and she turned her neck to look back and Arete again, "Don't worry, I will bring them all back alive."

"I didn't say I was worried." Arete said without looking up.

"You didn't have to." Penelope said before walking out the door and letting it close behind her.

AN: Don't have much to say this time. As always thanks for reading and all the feedback. Glad I was able to get this chapter out within a month rather than 2.