No Redemption

~Princess Shadow~

I couldn't think of something to say, so I simply nodded, leaning my head on Marroe's chest. He sat down, pulling my with him, and holding me. I was sure everyone thought this was a strange sight to see, the princess of the kingdom, being held by a thief and comforted. I didn't care too much about Garrett's opinion, but I was suddenly worried about his reaction in the dungeon.

I wasn't too in to Jaykob, but I was worried about him. Was he hurt? I shouldn't care, but before I meat Marroe, I was fond of him. I shook the thought away, burying my face in Marroe's chest, and not wanting to worry about it anymore. I closed my eyes for the moment, probably going to sleep, but I heard everything going on.

MARROE

I stroked Shadow's hair, kissing the top of her head. I didn't know what was bothering, but whatever it was, I was going to put a stop to it. Sophie plodded up beside us and whimpered, sniffing at her master. I moved one arm and gave the wolf a pat. "She'll be alright," I whispered.

I looked up at Hunter and winked. See boy? This is how you get your girl. I kissed her head again and rested my cheek in her hair. My stomach churned. Her life was in danger, I needed that money. Two weeks would be enough time to get that all back, right?

SHANAELA MARZ

My head was throbbing dully and it was getting worse at a sickeningly quick rate. I stumbled over to the edge of the bed and sat down quickly, holding my forehead in my hands and closing my eyes. This was a horrible time to come down with one of these, the last thing I needed was for Garrett to walk in while I was unconscious.

"Naela?" I heard Raven ask, concern edging her voice.

I looked up and shook my head, wincing. I took deep breaths, sweat beading at my forehead. Keiko and Raven were both suddenly at my side, though I wasn't quite sure when they had gotten there. I closed my eyes again.

"Naela, lay down," one of them ordered. I thought it was Raven, but I couldn't be sure. My head was spinning too much.

I layed down, not daring to open my eyes. My head was pounding, it was the worst headache I had ever had in my whole life. I didn't even try to keep a grip on consciousness. I was vaguely aware of being put under the covers and a few hands on my forehead before I blacked out.

~Princess Shadow~

This wasn't the best time for her to pass out, but I got up, going to her side like the rest of them. Marroe stayed where he was, watching. I put my hand on her forehead, all of the other hands instantly moving away. Wow, was I that hated, or just scared of? I hoped I wasn't hated. What had I done? I was helping them.

I just needed a cold cloth to put on her forehead, and she would need sleep. It seemed as though she had been missing out on a lot of that, like us all, I supposed. I couldn't leave them now, not until Garrett got in here. Where was he? I sat on the bed next to her, keeping my hand on her head. They all looked wary, but they didn't remove their eyes from me and the girl. I was helping, not hurting.

"She just needs sleep," I said, almost silently. "And a cold cloth." I wouldn't worry too much about Garrett, he could take care of himself, right? I would leave as soon as he got back. I wondered where he was, and what he was doing. Bobo was quiet for once, knowing there was danger. I glanced over at Marroe, smiling weakly at him. He smiled back, and I felt a wave of fear roll over me. I didn't want to lose him. Not to elite, and not to that man from the garden.

Keiko

I saw Shadow's face fall as our hands moved away. She half-mumbled some stuff and smiled back at Marroe. On a rush of impulse, I reached over and squeezed her hand, releasing it just as quickly. Under my breath, so only she could hear, I said, "Most of us spent our lives running away from royalty and guards. Old habits die hard." I smiled briefly and, after casting one more worried look at Naela, walked back to Hunter. I drew my knees up to my chin. He put a comforting arm around my shoulder.

"This is absolutely the weirdest night ever." I mumbled.

"Second that." he whispered. I yawned and dropped my head onto his shoulder. He laughed softly, but I could tell he wanted to crack up.

"What?"

"It's just...now you decide you want sleep?"

"It was a yawn, Hunt."

"And?"

I smacked his head and leaned towards him.

How was it that I was head over heels for a moron?

MARROE

I smirked at Hunter before scrambling to my feet and making my way over to Shadow, half shoving Raven out of my way. I sat down beside her on the bed and rubbed her shoulder, leaning close to her ear. "Will you please tell me what's bothering you?" I whispered, kissing just below her earlobe.

She looked up at me and I took her cheeks in my hand. "Please?" She just stared at me, tears brimming her eyes and I felt angry. Not at her, but at whoever was making her hurt. "Fine, then it looks like I'll be forced to do this then." I leaned over and kissed her lips good and hard, pulling her onto my lap. Bobo jumped off of my shoulder and scampered off to who-knows-where, I didn't look up to check. I felt drunk suddenly, too happy in the midst of what was going on. A delightful shiver ran down my spine and I pulled her closer.

~Princess Shadow~

I didn't want to tell him, and this was good punishment for not. I put my arms around his neck, not really bothered if anyone watched. I felt my face go red, though, and I wondered what they were thinking. I wondered if it bothered them, bothered them that he was kissing me in front of them.

You should really stop worrying about this thing, and just live with it. He's yours, live in the moment, a voice in the back of my mind said. But I didn't want to be selfish, I didn't want to be the princess type. I didn't want to take everything for myself. I wanted to be generous, could I be generous without someone saying anything?

No, take him, take him forever, like it or not, he's taking you. Just let your heart guide you, Shadow, you know you love him, and he loves you. Be selfish with him, and let him know you love him. Gosh, I gave good advise. After a moment more,, he pulled away, looking at me. I had already stopped crying.

"If that's what I get for keeping quiet, then I'll never talk," I whispered. He sighed, and I touched his face. "Right now's not the best time. I'll be fine as long as you are." I could hear the word echoing in my head. As long as you are.

DAVIS

I put my hand on my head. Stupid fricking morons. It wasn't worth it. I would find someone else and trick them into doing my bidding. All that work gone. I opened my eyes and sat up. I got really dizzy, I stood slowly and leaned against a tree for support. Who was I kidding, what were the chances of coming across another unconcious girl. I pounded my fist agaisnt a tree and headed off towards the palace, I'd done more then one good raid of the place in my younger days.

*sorry WB gah...*

MARROE

I sighed and pushed some of her hair behind her ear. "Even if I'm not alright, you'll remember I love you, right?" I asked quietly, tears forming in my eyes.

She nodded. "But why..."

I held her closer and blinked back the tears. With the men I was working with, life was full of unexpected surprises. Most of them had already tried to kill me, and Twarl wasn't so thrilled with me at the moment, and Twarl wasn't the kind of guy you wanted to tick off. "Because of who I am, who I'm in league with and who I'm against."

It wasn't until Hunter coughed that I remembered there were actually other people in the room. Oh yes, and I was sitting beside an uncounsious theif. I chuckled. "But if I'm with you guys, I suppose I'll be fine. Miss Marz is much more dangerous than Twarl any day." I chuckled again. "Actually, they had a run-in a couple months back. Now that was interesting..." I had forgotten about that until just now. She had... my smile faded. This meant that I had fought against her, which probably wasn't a very good thing. I didn't doubt she could rip me to shreds.

SHANAELA MARZ

I could faintly hear them talking. Marroe had said something about Twarl. I tried to open my eyes, but they wouldn't budge. My head was still pounding, worse than before. How could somebody feel so much pain and be unconscious all at the same time? Better yet, how could somebody be in unbearable pain, be uncounsious and aware of their surroundings all at the same time?

Things started fading again, for about the eigth time now, and I couldn't hear them anymore.

~Princess Shadow~

A part of me got what he was saying, while the other part was still clueless. He was working with dangerous people, he was safe with us, he had met the Marz girl before, and now he was on the verge of crying, just like me. Yea, nothing confusing about that. I didn't mean to be rude, but I had no clue where this was going. Any of it to be honest. I wondered if we would die, if I would die, if Garrett would die, if any of the people in here would die...if Marroe would die. I hugged him closer, closing my eyes and pushing that thought away. I didn't need this right now, I didn't need any of this. I just needed to focus on one thing at a time. First, where the hell was Garrett?! What could be taking him so long? Was he dealing with something? Was he ditching us? Well, by the way he looked at the Marz girl, I'd say not. He loved her, I could see that, just as I loved Marroe. I wasn't stupid, anyone could see that.

I thought of the halls randomly, and where every one of them lead. It was strange that I had wondered them, but it was even stranger that I knew where every hall lead. I wounded my way through them all in my head, just trying to get my mind off of things. Then, I suddenly thought of the dream. Who was the figure standing there by the entrance? Who was it that called to me, then I woke, and it was all gone. Just like that.

I found myself drifting to sleep, dreaming of nothing but the past few days. How I used to be fond of Jaykob--which I found sudden;y cut off when I meat Marroe--how I wandered through the forest, alone without a care, how he looked when I looked at him, the butterflies in my stomach when he danced with me, the feeling I got when he kissed my forehead before leaving, then, the feeling I got when he actually came back, something I had been doubting. Then, there was the happiness and pure pleasure when he kissed me. Pure bliss. And there was the scared feeling I got when I knew his life was in danger, as well as everyone else's. All of these feelings mixed couldn't equal anything too good.

Keiko

The princess was going to sleep; that was good. She needed rest. I found myself lapsing in and out of conversation with Hunter, often about plans after this, or word games to keep us occupied. Neither of us had moved an inch, and no more guards had passed. I was counting the number of pleats on the prince's bed skirt when I fell asleep.

I didn't dream.

I woke with a jolt (Hunter had nudged me) and looked at Hunter with wide eyes and a huge smile. He raised an eyebrow.

"No dreams," I whispered. He hugged me. I laughed into his chest and kept on repeating that : No dreams. It was incredible. I had had no idea how wonderful sleep felt. Warm, and soft, and almost fluffy. Like a good muffin. Speaking of which, I was hungry. I rifled through my bag until my hand wrapped around a loaf of bread. I tore it in half, gave one part to Hunter, and started chewing on mine.

Completely out of the blue, Hunter kissed my cheek. "Glad you slept well, Twitch."

I couldn't stop beaming.

~Princess Shadow~

I was unconscious, yes, and sleep felt good. But I heard everything going on. They were talking about random stuff half the time, probably looking for something to do. I didn't want to open my eyes, but I wanted to see Marroe. I couldn't make them open, and I thought about the last time I actually had sleep. That was a while back. I heard them talking about more unknown topics, and I heard Garrett's name mixed in some places, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I was going in and out of sleep, and it actually felt good, so I didn't try to open my eyes until I was sure Garrett was here.

>CHUPA! Your turn to post! Please! We need Garrett!<

Garrett~

Garrett finally made his way up to his room after interuption after interuption. God, five minutes after his father leaves and he's treated as a king, just without the usual pampering. Gray panted at his side, a limp Jaykob laying across the wolf's back. Damn, he had taken quite a blow on the head, and Garrett could see that with the purpling-skin on the young elite's forehead. Oh well.

He pushed his door open, seeing everyone asleep. With a sigh, he looked to Shanaela, checking on her first before moving to Raven, who was asleep as well. Garrett wrapped her injuries, and splinted her fractured limbs. Successfully, the girl only stirred a little, so it obviously hadn't bother her too much, or she was too far passed asleep to even care. Garrett, seeing his bed, the couches, and half the entire floor occupied, sat down at his desk, gripping his head in anguish.

He'd heard the elites talking of what'd they'd like to do to the criminals. How they'd love to... torture them. He shivered, and grabbed a parchment of paper. How would he tell his father he was in love to a criminal? Just... how? Garrett pressed the pen to paper, scrawling out in his perfect script.

Father,

I'm in love. Now, before you get too much over your head in excitement, I want to tell you, it's not a princess. It's not royalty at all as a matter of fact. You see, the one I'm in love with... she's the Marz girl. Shanaela Marz. Yes, Father she's a criminal, but I don't care. She knows the error of her ways and I'm hoping she loves me back. Yes Father, I'm hoping. You see, I have yet to tell her... to come out and simply tell her that I'm absolutely in love with her.

Garrett groaned and crumpled up the paper, throwing it onto the ground as he sat in the chair, waiting for everyone to awaken.

~Princess Shadow~

I groaned, opening my eyes slightly. I was laying sideways on the bed with Marroe, who was still fast asleep. I tried not to stir him as I sat up and looked around. They were all asleep. My eyes froze on Garrett, who looked up suddenly at me, that same face he had made before showing. I didn't bother to smile at him, I simply pulled my knees to my chest and stared at him, waiting for him to speak. I wasn't in the mood to start a conversation, though I did want to ask what that face was for.

His eyes were light, generous, sad yet happy. I stared at him a moment more before sighing, and standing, walking over and sitting on the floor in front of him, and looking up at his face.

"Why do you make that face why you look at me?" I asked. "Are you disgusted with me?" Why would he be, though. He had made a choice too, and his was no better than mine. But we were in this together, brother and sister, prince and princess, saving the thieves they had fallen in love with.

Garrett~

Garrett's mind was torturing him at that simple question. Of course he wasn't disgusted with her. They'd grown up together, as brother and sister even if they really weren't. Garrett smiled weakly at his sister, and turned his eyes toward the ceiling before sitting down on the ground beside her. "Of course I'm not disgusted with you Shads, you're my little sister. Now, the hair color... still screams at me, but no, not disgusted."

Shadow giggled and Garrett smiled weakly. He then sighed and furrowed his eyebrows. "Remember when we were little, and I'd always tell you that I would marry you, just so nobody could ever split us apart?"

Shadow nodded, eyes wide.

"Well... we kind of split apart, without the help of our own romances." He shook his head. "I guess... it's just me realizing my baby sister's growing up, and it's a bit hard, because until now, Father and I have been the only men in your life, and it's hard to let another in."

~Princess Shadow~

I remembered that day. We had both been so young, but I remembered it. I smiled at the thought, thinking of that day. I missed that time when we had been close, best friends rather than brother and sister. We always had fun together, no matter what the weather was like, what mood we were in, where we were. He was the one who made me who I was. I wasn't the princess, I was a radical little girl, trapped in this God forsaken princess costume. I did like the hair, but maybe pink was a little...scream.

After all those years of being apart, right then seemed to patch up all of that. We would be family again, and I wanted that day back where I had a brother. Now a days, the only time we talked was, well...not often. Last time I had sat down and talked to him like this was when I was about fourteen, my birthday, when Father had gone away for something rather "important". Garrett had been there.

"You know something?" I asked, looking back at him. He arched an eyebrow. "You're the best brother I've ever had." We both smiled, and I hugged him lightly for the first time in what seemed like forever. How could you not miss the hug of a dear brother?

"It's seemed like we've been strangers for a while now," I said, looking down at the floor. I could see him nod. "Like we haven't known each other. And suddenly, what we thought would split us up, seems to be making us family again." Something kept telling me he wasn't my real brother, but I wasn't sure. He looked nothing like Mother or Father, and I bare no resemblance to him. I shook off the thought, hearing some of the others begin to stir. I didn't want them to wake up, I wanted to sit like this forever and go over old memories with Garrett. It was nice.