Okay, I have stupidly deleted the fifth chapter. This isn't the first time I did something that stupid as it has happened in another story of mine. =_= Hopefully I can retype that one out soon, since for some reason did not save a copy of it. Here's the next chapter anyways. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I own none of these characters

Chapter 6: Unexpected

"…What do we do with her?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"Just throw her in a cell until our demands are met."

Marina could hear several voices she didn't recognize around her. Slowly, she opened her eyes to find herself in a brightly lit room.

'Where…where am I…?' Marina said to herself hazily.

Her sight was still fogged from having them closed for so long and had a hard time deciphering the things around her.

Several shadows fell over her, though the light prevented her from identifying the strangers.

"Look, you guys woke up the little lady with all your obnoxious voices!"

"If anyone is obnoxious, it's you, Den."

"Che, now that's just cold, Hyubie."

"Don't call me that!"

"Kids, break it up already."

Marina knew she wasn't in the Star Kingdom palace, since she did not recognize any of the voices.

As her eyes adjusted to the light, she was able to make out the figures that were surrounding her.

The first figure she was able to identify was a human boy with choppy brown hair. He wore an unreadable, nearly blank, expression and had noticeably thick eyebrows.

Beside him was a humanoid black panther-like Guardian with a gruff and intimidating appearance. The third stranger was a human male with short but wild blond hair and wore a cocky grin.

Marina then glanced to the fourth person and immediately recognized him as someone she met, but couldn't quite figure out who exactly.

Her thoughts were interrupted however when the Guardian yanked her up by back of her shirt, lifting her off the ground.

When Marina tried to move, she realized she couldn't. She glanced down and saw that her arms and legs were bound by rope.

"Looks like we have no choice but to keep her in the prison cell," the Guardian said. "She'll be troublesome otherwise."

The other three nodded solemnly before turning around to attend to their duties.

As Marina watched them go, a memory suddenly flashed in her mind. A small child was being led away by the hand by his father out of the palace, out of the kingdom. The child had his head down while his shoulders sagged. A couple tears escaped from the child's eyes and hit the ground before him.

"Hubert!" Marina cried as the said warrior suddenly halted. "It's you…isn't it?"

The other warriors stopped and glanced over at the blue-haired, bespectacled male, who glanced slightly over to the side.

"Don't you remember me? It's me, Marina! We used to play with each other in the village along with Black Star and As-"

"No," Hubert said rather coldly, his glasses flashing before continuing on his way. "I don't know who you are referring to."

"Ouch!"

"I apologize your highness, but please try to refrain from moving so much." Estelle said while gently placing her hand over Sakura's injured arm.

A little after Sakura had been buried by the white Guardian, several knights had come from Tomoyo's beckoning. They had quickly dug her out of the rubble and hurried her back to the palace for medical attention. Luckily, her life was not in danger, but had suffered several broken bones.

A green light shone brightly from the gem that was imbedded in her bracelet. The light glow slowly dimmed soon afterwards, seemingly being absorbed into Sakura's body. Sakura felt a tremendous relief wash over her, taking her wounds with it. Estelle's shoulders sagged in exhaustion while taking a couple deep breaths.

Healing artes were definitely a necessity, especially during a war. They allowed healing in mere moments with just a flash of light. Sakura never really understood how they worked, but this fact didn't make them any less amazing. However, the use of artes drains quite a bit of energy from the user so that they must be used sparingly. Especially healing artes, which requires more energy than regular artes, leaving the user almost completely drained.

"Thank you." Sakura said with a grateful smile.

Estelle smiled in return and shook her head before patting Sakura on the head. "I'm just glad you're okay. You're lucky that the knights found you and Silver before it was too late. Now, just get some rest."

"Ah-!" Sakura said as Estelle made her way towards the door. "Please, don't tell Roderich-sensei or my brother about this."

The novice nurse just smiled before closing the door behind her, causing a cloud of doom to loom over Sakura. She knew that Estelle would have to tell them considering her injuries. And no doubt that yet another attack from Moon kingdom could go unnoticed.

Sakura let out a small sigh remembering the attack. She had been absolutely careless and now Marina had been taken hostage by the enemy. Tears formed at the edges of her eyelids before pulling her legs to her chest. Marina was gone because she couldn't fight…she couldn't do anything. Her brother had even sent Silver to keep an eye on her because he knew she wouldn't be able to defend herself.

A stray tear rolled down her cheek, which was quickly wiped away. All she could do was watch as her friends got hurt, unable to help them.

That's when a thought struck her. She was through being the damsel in distress or the helpless standby. As quietly possible, Sakura slowly opened the door to her room and tiptoed out, making sure no one was around to see her.

She quickly darted down the hall but when she rounded the corner, she slammed into something hard and metallic.

The impact sent her falling to the ground as she let out a squeak of pain.

"Ah! Sorry your highness!"

Sakura looked up to see a gunmetal-colored steel suit of armor standing in front of her.

"Alphonse-chan?" Sakura said in surprise looking up at her childhood friend before she heard someone come up behind her.

"Can't sit still to save your life, can you?" a boy with messy blonde-brown hair and narrow brown eyes said.

He wore a sarcastic smirk and had his hands shoved in his pockets causing Alphonse to sigh.

"Brother, at least try and act nicer towards her highness."

"It's okay, I'm used to Hiro-chan's rude remarks." Sakura said with a sweatdrop as Alphonse politely helped her back up to her feet.

Hiro and Alphonse were fraternal twins with Hiro being a couple hours older than Alphonse. Their voices sound exactly the same, however you can always tell who is talking due to their different tones. Alphonse always talks with a polite tone while Hiro has a bit of bitterness and sarcasm to his. For some odd reason, Alphonse world always wear a suit of armor no matter where or what he was doing.

Sakura couldn't even remember the last time she saw his actual face. Unlike Hiro, Alphonse had short dirty blond hair but shared his brother's brown eyes. Whenever she asked him about it, Alphonse would always give her a weak and nervous excuse. However the thing that confused her the most was the great height difference between the two. Alphonse stood nearly three feet over Hiro, which he passed off as an early growth spurt.

"Where do you think you were running off to in such a hurry?" Hiro asked as Alponse added, "And aren't you supposed to be resting?"

Sakura didn't respond at first as the two exchanged confused glances. She desperately tried to think of a reasonable explanation that wouldn't conjure any suspicions.

"Ah!" Sakura said suddenly getting an idea, causing the twins to flinch. "I'm actually looking for your cousin. I wanted to ask her a question."

Hiro and Alphonse's cousin, Elizabeta was actually not blood related to them in anyway but was adopted by their uncle after she lost her parents during the war. However, she acts like a big sister to them, having watched over them since they were little.

"Huh? You're looking for Lizzie? That's a first," Hiro said folding his arms, eyeing Sakura curiously. "What do you need to ask her about that's so important anyways?"

"Uh…" Sakura said while furiously wracking her brain for yet another excuse. A picture of a very angry Roderich suddenly crossed her mind, causing her to inwardly cringe. "I need help with how to deal with Roderich-sensei when he's overly stressed and angry. And she's the only one who is able to calm him down in those situations. If I don't find her soon, Roderich-sensei is going to murder me for what happened!"

Alphonse lightly chuckled as Hiro let out a sigh of defeat while running a hand through his hair.

Though Roderich was very calm and composed most of the time, making him mad absolutely terrified her, especially when he was not in a good mood to begin with. Black Star was usually the one on the receiving end of Roderich's wrath, though he deserved it most of the time. Sakura remembered how Black Star had attempted to steal Roderich's music sheets. However, the boy was much too loud and Roderich had violently put an end to the boy's heist.

Elizabeta is a good friend of Roderich's and the only one who can calm the bespectacled man down when he was in a bad mood. Sakura can tell they have a mutual understanding of one another, having known each other since they were kids. Roderich himself actually lacked in the friend department and was only close to a chosen few.

Tomoyo had explained to her that Roderich seemed to have trust issues, which explained why he would play the piano rather than socializing with others. Sakura was surprised by this information, as she never would have suspected her mentor of such.

Despite this, Elizabeta somehow was able to overcome his distrust towards others, if not completely, and be closer to him than anyone else. Not that Roderich or Elizabeta would ever admit to it.

"Yeah, that guy really needs to take a hint or something." Hiro said exasperatedly.

"Hoe?" Sakura said with a quizzical expression.

Hiro merely waved a hand at her. "Nevermind. Anyways, unfortunately for you, she's probably with specs, cleaning his already spotless office."

Marina let out a cry as she was thrown into a cell, the sound the iron bars slamming together rung in her ears soon after.

She looked up to see the humanoid panther-like Guardian stare at her for a moment before making its way towards the exit.

Just as the Guardian was about to leave, three figures appeared at the doorway. The Guardian dipped its head in respect, allowing the three to pass by.

When they reached Marina's cell, Marina realized it was the Moon Kingdom prince. She also recognized the boy beside him as the one she fought at the Lhant mansion along with the blue, dog-like Guardian.

"What do you want with me?" Marina demanded.

Syaoran didn't answer and stared down at her with a cold and unfeeling gaze.

Marina shrank back slightly before gulping, wondering what was going to happen to her now that she was a prisoner.

"You will remain our prisoner until our demands are met. You will not be harmed as long as you abide by our rules, I promise you that." Syaoran said.

"What do you have in mind?" Marina asked slowly.

Syaoran turned to Lucario who bowed and took a step forward. "Star Kingdom will surrender its territory in the South as well as the North to Moon Kingdom,"

Marina glared at the Guardian defiantly, unable to believe that Moon Kingdom would even think that Star Kingdom would give up all that territory.

"That demand is just plain outrageous! There's no way we'll just give up all that land we've gained over the years without a fight!"

The prince let out a grunt of annoyance before walking away. "Well, then it seems you will be here for a while, won't it?"

Lucario let out a huff before following after the prince.

Once the two exited the prison, Kenta let out an exhausted sigh before pulling up a chair up to the wall across from Marina's cell.

He leaned back against the wall and placed his arms behind his head before closing his eyes. From the looks of it, Marina figured that the boy must have been appointed as her warden.

She sent him a heated glare, though the boy seemed to ignore her fiery look and carried on with his rest. Giving up, Marina leaned against the cold wall of her cell. She tried her best to suppress a shiver from the chilly air of the prison, causing her whole body to throb.

Though the prince had promised that no harm would come to her, she couldn't help but feel wary. He was her enemy, there was no way she could trust his words.

The prison was much too quiet, grating on Marina's nerves who preferred a more lively atmosphere.

'I don't understand how Roddy can go hours without noise in his stuffy little office.' Marina thought to herself with an exasperated sigh.

Thinking about Roderich immediately caused her mind to drift back to Hubert, possibly due to the glasses. She knew it had to be Hubert. He had the same short blue hair he did back then along with his notably pale skin.

However, he was much colder than she recalled. Marina didn't know him too well, as he was a few years older than her and had played with him only a couple times. But from what she could remember of him, he was such a timid little boy who would always follow his older brother. Unfortunately, after an event that caused many deaths, Hubert's father decided it would be best to keep him away from his brother. That was the last time Marina saw the boy before he was forcefully escorted out of the Kingdom and into the hands of the enemy.

'Moon Kingdom changed him…' Marina realized and was puzzled by Hubert's father's reasons for allowing his son to become part of such a ruthless Kingdom.

As she grew up, Marina had always been told how cold and merciless those from Moon Kingdom were. From what she had encountered, she believed it. All the warriors and knights from Moon Kingdom had guarded expressions, preventing a sliver of emotion to escape onto their faces. Marina could hardly even call them human by the way they would attack innocent villages and towns without any remorse.

As she tried to get more comfortable, as comfortable she could get in an ice-cold cell, she accidentally slipped and landed painfully on the ground.

A sharp pain shot up her arm from a wound that she acquired during the fight with the two Moon Kingdom Guardians. Marina let out a faint cry, but just loud enough for Kenta to hear. He lazily opened one eye to see her wincing in pain.

Wordlessly, Kenta got up from his chair and walked over to the cell door. Marina glanced up at him to see what he was doing. To her bewilderment, he unlocked the cell and closed it behind him before advancing towards her.

He wore the same guarded look all the Moon Kingdom warriors had and Marina feared what he had in mind.

'Oh no…' She immediately looked away, terrified of what fate may fall upon her.

She felt him grip her shoulder and before she could react, she found herself sitting upright again.

Kenta examined her silently for a moment, causing Marina's face to turn a light shade of red. After a while, he reached out and touched her leg, evoking a violent reaction from Marina.

Letting out a shriek, Marina desperately tried to get away from him.

"PERVERT!"

"H-Hey! Calm down! I was only trying to help! Your leg is hurt!" Kenta said, trying his best to be patient.

Marina paused momentarily and looked down to see her knee swelling. She realized this must have happened during the battle in Star Kingdom.

Heaving a sigh, Kenta stood up and exited the cell, only to return a few minutes later with an icepack and a roll of bandages.

He then sat down across from her and gently placed the icepack onto her swelled knee. Marina immediately winced at the chilling sting of the ice while Kenta started wrapping the icepack around her leg.

"This will help the swelling go down." Kenta said with an unreadable expression.

Marina was struck speechless. Her enemy was helping her. She just couldn't wrap her head around such a thing.

"Why…?" Marina said in such a small whisper that Kenta was barely able to catch her voice.

"Hm?"

"Why…why are you helping me?" Marina asked, avoiding eye contact.

Kenta widened his eyes briefly in surprise before a serious expression took its place. "I can't ignore someone who's injured, especially when they're right in front of me."

Marina's voice caught in her throat. Never had she expected someone from Moon Kingdom to have such compassion for others. They had always done everything out of self-interest out of pride.

Realizing that there had to be more than what the boy let on, Marina glared at him once more.

"Just because you're helping me, doesn't mean I trust you."

Another exasperated sigh escaped from Kenta's lips. "Do as you like."

Black Star was restlessly walking back and forth in the main room as Antauri watched him.

"I can't believe these idiots are doing nothing to help Marina!" Black Star shouted causing a few servants to glance over at him curiously.

Antauri let out a sigh before crossing his arms over his chest. "Black Star, please. The kingdom is doing its best to decide what to do at this time. If we were to rush into things, the situation could worsen."

Black star gritted his teeth, his fists shaking slightly at his sides. A part of him knew his partner was right, but he refused to acknowledge it. Marina was in danger and had to be rescued as soon as possible. He had even gone up to several officials, telling them that they should be focusing on bringing Marina back. Most just laughed at him and carried on with their duties. Others just ignored his request, telling him they didn't have time. Antauri had to restrain the boy from launching himself at them.

"Peh, I bet they're all just delaying the rescue because she's Star Clan…"

Before Antauri could scold him for saying such things, Black Star took in a deep breath before shouting his trademark yahoo. By this point, many servants and maids had stopped what they were doing to see what the boy was up to.

"YEAH! Don't worry, Marina! The big man is coming to rescue you!" Black Star announced before making his way towards the window.

Without thinking, Black Star jumped through the window with a loud crash, sending broken shards of glass flying across the soft grass outside.

He looked towards the horizon, seeing a storm make its way towards the Star Kingdom lands. A pre-storm warning breeze swept past him as he tightened his fists.

"Black Star! What in blazes are you doing?" Antauri demanded as Black Star merely smirked.

"I can't just sit around while my buddy is locked away by those Moon Kingdom goons. It's my time to shine and show those low lives never to mess with my friends." Black Star bantered before dashing off towards the gates of the palace.

His intentions were good at heart, but heading into enemy territory without thinking things through was risky. It could also possibly cause an even worse situation.

The maids and servants were now frantically gathering at the broken window, demanding to know what happened and if it was another attack. Antauri reassured them it was just Black Star being…well, Black Star. They scowled at his answer, but knew there was nothing they could do about it now and quickly called for a repair.

Antauri knew it was impossible to change Black Star's mind. Once he set his mind on something, there was nothing anyone could do to deter him. Deciding it was best to keep an eye on the boy, the black, cybernetic monkey hesitantly followed. He had to act fast as Black Star had a pretty good head start on him.

Running on all fours, Antauri dashed off in the direction of Moon Kingdom, hoping to catch up with the spiky haired teen.

'I just pray that everything will turn out all right…'

Sakura swallowed nervously while standing outside of Roderich's office. After Hiro had informed her that Elizabeta was with Roderich, Sakura's hopes of talking to her in private had disappeared in an instant. Especially without Roderich becoming suspicious of her intentions. She hoped that Roderich was out of the office, attending to his other duties. Heaving a sigh, Sakura knew it was highly unlikely, as he hasn't left the office since her brother had fallen ill.

However, Sakura couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk to her. If she didn't talk to the woman now, they she never would be able to after her brother finds out about what had happened. She didn't doubt that her brother would issue higher guard on her and would never let her out of the palace.

Living inside the palace for fourteen years, unable to go outside, was suffocating. She couldn't stand having to watch others suffer around her while she does nothing. It was time that she proved to her brother; to everyone that she could carry herself like a true princess.

Hesitantly, she pushed open the door to her teacher's office. She desperately hoped that Roderich was in a good mood. Considering all the stress that was placed on him, that was also highly unlikely.

The door let out a low creek as it was slowly pushed opened. Sakura peaked through the crack and saw piles of books scattered around the room.

When she didn't hear anyone object to her intrusion, she anxiously took a step into the room.

The room was as tidy as Hiro had said, except for a couple stray papers. Several bookshelves were lined against the wall, leaving Sakura to wonder if Roderich really had any time to read them all. In the middle of the room there was also a small couch with a lamp dimly lit standing beside it. A thin layer of dust had settled on top of most of the furniture in the office, showing how no one but Roderich had been here for the past few days.

Over to the side, Sakura spotted her mentor bending over his desk. Piles of papers were stacked around him, as if they were caging him in. She flinched at the sight, surprised he did not say anything upon her intrusion.

"Your highness?"

Sakura felt her heart nearly fly out of her chest upon hearing someone call her from behind. She however was able to hold it down and slowly looked over her shoulder to see a woman with long, wavy brown hair. She had vibrant green eyes and wore an orange flower clip in her hair.

"E-Elizabeta-san," Sakura stammered in a hoarse whisper, trying to settle her rapidly beating heart.

The woman lifted an eyebrow at her as Sakura tried to find her words. Before Sakura could form an excuse, Roderich suddenly shifted in his seat, causing Sakura to squeal in shock.

However, she heard him sigh faintly before he settled back down, much to her confusion.

A soft smile appeared on Elizabeta's face before she walked over and placed a blanket that she had been carrying over Roderich's shoulders.

"Hoe?" Sakura said as Elizabeta put a finger in front of her lips, signaling for her to remain silent.

Upon closer inspection, Sakura realized her mentor was fast asleep. His glasses were askew on his face, close to falling off and his mouth was open slightly, taking in small, relaxing breaths. Asleep, Roderich looked to be a completely different person. His eyebrows were not knotted and his posture was relaxed, allowing himself to be comfortable. He looked to be in such bliss that Sakura couldn't help but smile at the sight. Roderich had been working hours on end and Sakura was relieved that he was able to get just a bit of rest, if not a lot.

Sakura glanced over at Elizabeta and was surprised to see such a soft expression reflecting from her eyes as she gazed down at the sleeping man. There was something in the woman's emerald, green eyes that Sakura couldn't understand. But before she could question it, Elizabeta turned to her and quickly ushered her out of the room to let the exhausted man rest.

Once outside, Elizabeta put her hands on her hips and gave Sakura a questionable look.

"Now, what were you doing in there? You know that Mr. Roderich has been overworked lately," Elizabeta said in a scolding manner, causing Sakura to shy away slightly.

"And what have I told you about calling me 'Elizabeta-san?' I've watched you and your brother grow up since you were small, you don't need to refer to me with such formality. Just call me Eliza."

Sakura couldn't help but giggle before blushing slightly in embarrassment. "R-Right, sorry."

Once Sakura was done apologizing, she gave Elizabeta an expression that surprised the woman. She was more than familiar with the look, as she had the same look when she was younger. Determination.

An amused look came over Elizabeta's features as she waited patiently what Sakura had to say.

"Eliza-san, I want to learn how to fight."

To be continued...

Sorry for the delay, but my summer has been busy. Working really takes a chunk of your time. Anyways, hope you enjoyed this chapter, this one was particularly difficult for me to write. I think I like Roderich too much as I took a lot of time to describe him. I'm just a sucker for megane characters. X3 Why did I make Alphonse and Hiro twins? Well, it's most likely due they shared the same voice actor at the time. I dunno, I just get these weird ideas. Please Review!

Characters:

Hubert
Age: 17
Original game: Tales of Graces

Alphonse
Age: 12
Original anime: Fullmetal Alchemist

Hiro
Age: 12
Original anime: Fruits Basket

Elizabeta
Age: 28
Original anime: Hetalia Axis Powers