“Do I have to?” Sora sighed for the umpteenth time. She was reluctant and constantly stopping as Kai led her down the bricked corridor. Kai raised an eyebrow and looked at her like she was a disobedient child; he knew that whatever happened next, it would be the way he wanted it to go.

“Sora, I’m being serious,” Kai began, “She is the only friend you have here and maybe the only person who doesn’t want to clobber you to the floor.”

Sora squinted her eyes, focusing a fiery glare in his direction. She crossed her arms over she chest and lifted her chin in defiance.

“What are you trying to say? That you want to clobber me to the floor?” Sora exclaimed in a huff. Kai’s lips twitched in an almost smile. But he wouldn’t show any sign of encouragement; that would only slow things down and make it easier for Sora to weasel her way out.

“Yes, I would and I would make sure you are bow legged for days,” Kai replied, suggesting something much naughtier. Silence came from Sora, knowing that she had been defeated. She wouldn’t say it out loud though, no, she wouldn’t give Kai the satisfaction.

“Why have we stopped?” Sora asked nonchalantly as if nothing had happened, “Weren’t you taking me somewhere?”

Finally, Kai allowed himself to smile. A deep laughter left his lips and he shook his head, allowing his hair to shift across his forehead. Spontaneously, he grabbed her face in his palms and squeezed her cheeks lightly. Her lips lazily puckered and her eyebrows creased in attempt of showing her disapproval.

“You’re too cute sometimes,” Kai sang, swiftly stealing a kiss from her lips. A mumbled chain of protests followed from Sora, claiming an Empress could not be cute.

“Whatever you say,” Kai mused before holding onto her hand and pulling her towards their destination.

Once through the door, they were greeted with brighter lights and the smell of marinating meat. Aria stood over a pot, spoon held up to to taste. She looked up and saw Kai and Sora as they walked in through the door. She noticed the connecting hands and almost sighed with content. Perhaps there was hope after all.

Kai and Sora stood before Aria. Nobody said anything for a few seconds before Kai had to forcefully urge Sora. He discreetly patted her back and smiled tightly.

“Aria, Sora has something to say,” He turned to Sora, “Don’t you?”

Sora looked painfully at Kai, then turned her head to the woman with the weight chained to her feet. Sora in the air around her and gritted her teeth painfully. Apologies were just so difficult but Kai insisted. He knew that Sora would need Aria at some point, after all they were half-sisters, and therefor he needed Sora to mend their bond.

“Aria…” Sora started but trailed off, as if searching for the right words, even though there was just one she needed.

“Aria I would like to say…sorry?”

Her apology came out as a question, which made Kai look at her once more with that same look he gave in the corridor when one brow was lifted. Sora cleared and tried again, stronger this time.

“I would like to say sorry and that…you don’t have to wear that on your feet,” Sora mumbled at last, waving her palm smoothly over Aria. The heavy weight disappeared and Aria felt a lot lighter, physically and metaphorically.

“Thank you Empress,” Aria nodded, a hint of a smile on her face.

“Right,” Sora breathed out, releasing the awkward energy within her. It wasn’t so bad: apologising.

“I’ll let you get on then,” Sora said, making a quick exit with Kai following after. Not before offering Aria a sheepish smile to excuse Sora’s improper behaviour.

Sora dropped herself on top of her blankets, sinking into the soft material. She sighed loudly and in tune, feeling as if she had been standing for hours. A rest was what she wanted at that moment. Kai slipped in to the room and found Sora spread out across her bed.

“Can you run me a bath?” Sora asked.

“Depends. Are you asking me as your servant or as the attentive father of our unborn child?” Kai asked, leaning his body against the bed post. He looked down at Sora, watching her facial expression and waiting for her response. Sora opened . Her mind was thinking the question over. It had to be a trick question.

If she answered servant, she knew that was definitely the wrong answer. However, the second option was confusing. Would she only be accepting Kai as the father of their child, or something more like a partnership?

Kai noticed her puzzled expression and sighed softly, deciding to lighten up the mood.

“You couldn’t afford me as a servant Sora. I’m worth so much more,” He said, in a sort of challenging way.

Sora scoffed and lifted her body to rest on herself on her elbows.

“I’d get you to work for me despite that,” Sora said confidently, rising on to her knees. She moved across the mattress towards Kai. She smiled softly, placing her hands against the plains of his chest, softly caressing with her fingertips. She looked up at him through her lashes and bit down on her plump lips.

Sora straightened herself a tad more till she was tall enough to reach his mouth. Lips brushed playfully before Kai took charge and caught her bottom lip between his own. His kissed her sweetly, lifting his fingers to cradle the back of her neck. They kissed slowly; there was nothing to rush. Sora nipped Kai’s soft lips lightly with her teeth before retracting. She kissed his cheek and then his nose; she didn’t want to let go of him just yet.

Suddenly she in a deep breath. Her mind escaped reality and her eyes fought to see Kai. But she couldn’t; her vision was replaced with something else far more sinister. She could feel the pain and fear as if she was there. She could see it all in her head. The return of her father.

Sora breathed out and she could see Kai again. She coughed and spluttered like she had swallowed gallons of water and it had managed to flood her lungs, ceasing access to oxygen.

“Sora? What? What happened?” Kai asked desperately.

Sora clung onto to Kai’s shirt, her fists almost tearing the fabric.

 “I don’t know what happened. It was so real. I saw him…but…but he’s dead,” Sora whispered. Her head was now troubled. Her blood was pumping faster through her veins; her heart pounded, accelerated at an abnormal speed. Her eyes fluttered shut before she went limp in Kai’s arms.

He looked down in alarm and quickly laid Sora down on her bed. He didn’t want to leave but he knew it would only be for a second. He vanished in thin air, reappearing in the kitchen.

“Aria!” He shouted, startling the witch, “Hurry! Sora’s gone out cold!”

Kai disappeared once more, returning to Sora’s bedroom and knelt by her side. He held on to her hands and willed for Sora to awaken. It didn’t take long for Aria’s arrival.

She rushed over to Sora and asked for the details she needed.

“I don’t know, one minute she seems to just daze off as if I’m not there and when she comes to, she starts mumbling to herself about someone she saw,” Kai tried his best to explain, “And then she just collapsed.”

Aria felt for a pulse and touched Sora’s forehead. Before there could be any diagnostic, a shimmering blue light emanated from Sora’s belly. It spread with a low hum, floating like a mist across Sora’s body. It slowly wafted away into nothing, but as the blue fog cleared, something had changed.

There was a more prominent bump in place of Sora’s flat stomach. It was as if she had skipped two months of the pregnancy and entered her second trimester. Sora was beginning to wake up, her eyes filled with sleep as well as her voice.

“What happened?” She asked, looking up at the two astonished faces.

Kai just shook his head while Aria stuttered softly, “I-I don’t…know.”

Sorry for the late update.

the past week has been hectic with visiting relatives and my dad and brother returning from Asia.

Plus i haven't had time to get onto the comupter and write up until now.

Well i hope you enjoy this chapter. Let me know what you think

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