Mai looked back for the tenth time, even though they were far from the campsite by now. Zed had noticed and couldn't help but smile. He had never seen her so...worried before. It was cute.

He blinked at his own thoughts, running his hand through his hair. Glancing down at his companion again, he sighed, for she had looked behind her again.

“You can trust Lucas, he's not the kind of guy to go back on his word.” She whipped her head up to him, not exspecting him to speak. “O-oh, well taking the word of a thief wouldn't normally be something I'd do...”

He raised a brow. “What about now?”

She glanced up at him, then away, a bit embarrassed. “Now...I feel I can trust you.”

He stopped walking, giving her a look of pleasant surprise. She kept walking, hoping her face wasn't as red as it felt. She felt that she did trust him, though she's not quite sure why. He was selfish, cocky, sneaky, and all around misleading. But he was also sweet and caring at times... With a shake of her head, she told herself that it wasn't the time to think about her...feelings. The thought nearly made her cringe.

It took a minute, but after being able to process the Captain's words, Zed started walking after her. Feeling a little bit more than happy, he couldn't keep that pesky smirk off of his face.

~ ✿ ♥ ✿ ~
                                                                   
Elizabeth sat back down next to Lucas, watching Mai and Zed walk off, Mai looking back a couple of times. She only smiled to her overprotective Captain.

Lucas glanced over to the girl beside him. She was the Lost Princess. He had heard the stories, but he found that she was much different than what he expected. “So... You saw it too? The obvious connection between those two?”

She looked to him and laughed. “Oh yes. I may not have seen my best friend in a long time. But she is still the easiest book to read when it comes to her true feelings.”

Lucas laughed. “Zed is the same way. They both share in that respect.”

She chuckled sadly. “But when she wants her feelings hidden, she buries them. That worries me.”

Lucas gave a smile. “Well, Zed's a thief. When he wants something, he searches for it until he finds it. Right now he seems to have great interest in a certain woman you may know. But what you may not know is that when he does get his hands on something, he takes precious care of it.”

She smiled. “Well that's good to know. He seems rather talented in what he does. If he mistreated my friend in any way, well, lets just say I can be rather scary.”

Lucas gulped, there was some kind of force behind that carefree smile. “I can believe that, you seem to be the only one to keep Mai from becoming too dangerous.”

She laughed again, and he found himself growing quite fond of it. “Yes, she can be a bit tomboyish, but she's a girl at heart. Easily embarrassed too.” She pouted a little. “I'm a bit worried that if Zed steals her away from me, that my time with her will be limited.”

He chuckled. “I needn't worry about that. He understands that this kingdom means a lot to Mai. He would never be able to keep her away from you and the kingdom for very long. He...just wants her to be happy, but doesn't really know how to show it. Would you like to know a secret?”

She nodded, leaning in as if he were going to whisper it. “The truth is...I've only been with him for a few months, but during that time, we've only stolen small things, that normally wouldn't matter, but does to your Captain. I've never even seen the girl until yesterday, but she wasn't what I was expecting...Anyway, after we took the item, we would return it secretly.”

She blinked. “But why?”

He smiled. “At first, I didn't know myself, but now I think I understand.” There was that dramatic pause... “He just wanted an excuse to see her, and maybe try and get to know her. I think it was the only thing he could come up with to try and get close to her.”

She nodded slowly and then smiled. “I think that's really sweet. In it's own way. But I have to ask, was my crown also stolen and then returned?”

He laughed. “But of course, after a...brief negotiation, Zed handed it to her. Then he took her hat. That was amusing, but...it also led us to you.” He found it best that she not know of the little cliff incident...

She glanced to him, finding a warm smile coming to her face to match his. “Well, at least I don't have to worry about you wanting to take it back.”

He laughed. “That's very true.”

She gave a curious look. “So why do you help him 'steal'? Knowing that he just want's to impress my poor best friend who is in denial?”

He chuckled at the description. “Well if you must know, He told us that it would be fun. So we joined him. And it has been very fun. We've become friends of sorts to say the least. I find that important.”

She smiled, looking back into the forest. “They should be back soon. I hope they're little field trip helped move things along.”

He nodded with a chuckle. “He did need a little push.”