"I'm nervous, Albert." Emille confessed as they walked slowly through the peaceful town of Donau.
"Don't fret, my love." Albert turned her to face him eye to eye. "Nothing is going to happen, we're just going to enjoy ourselves. The quiet waves lapping up against the fresh wood, the birds chirping overhead, we'll have a wonderful time!"
"You know I don't care where we are, as long as I'm with you." Emille tried, eyeing the harbour nervously, biting her lip.
"As do I." Albert smiled. "But I haven't seen the Commodore in such a long time, and I've always wanted to break your fear of boats sometime."
"I don't know how you can step foot on that boat either." Emille retorted. "After all that happened to your friends..."
"Come on, my dear." Albert took her hand in his, and kissed it gently. She loved it when he did that, he was such a gentleman. "Let's visit my friends Kate and Lynn, and then we'll prepare to board. I'm sure you'll love the Commodore, he is a true man of the sea. You wouldn't want to be in any other hands than his when it comes to being on water."
"I trust you," Emille sighed, and Albert smiled triumphantly. She followed him into a small house near the entrance of the town.
"Oh, it's the King!" She heard a small voice cry.
"Hello, Kate." Albert gave a small bow, and Kate almost jumped out of her skin.
"Oh dear, you shouldn't be bowing, Your Majesty. I apologize for this mess... we are renovating a little, making things a little more comfortable for when my baby is born."
"You are having a baby?!" Emille's eyes lit up. "That is wonderful! When are you due?" Albert grinned, he knew that Kate and Emille would become good friends. He headed out back to find Lynn building something on the grass.
"Hello, old friend." Albert greeted him, and Lynn whipped around quickly.
"King Albert!" He grinned. "How nice to see you! Forgive the way I look, I'm building a crib for our little baby."
"That's wonderful." Albert replied. "My wife and I are just passing through, we are going for a trip on the Queen Fury with Commodore Puler and Kayla."
"Oh yes, I heard of your marriage to Princess Emille, congratulations!" Lynn pointed to the house. "Would you like some tea?"
"No, actually, we should be going, I just wanted to drop by to say hello while I was in this area." Albert turned. "It was nice to see you, and best wishes with your child."
"A million thank you's, Your Majesty." Lynn watched Albert enter the house again, and then turned back to his crib.
"Shall we go?" Albert asked Emille, who was still conversing with Kate happily.
"I suppose." Emille sighed and walked to him. "It was very nice to meet you, Kate!"
"Pleasure's all mine, Your Majesty." Kate waved as they exited the house.
"It's strange to be called Your Majesty by your close friends." Albert commented as they walked towards the harbor. Emille took a deep breath when she saw the monstrous floating fort on the water. She had seen the Queen Fury only once, and that was when there was an emergency and it had to pull in under the Twin Castle. She had always felt uneasy about sea travel, but this time, she trusted her faithful companion that she was in good hands.
"Who is approaching?" Kayla squinted in the sunlight. Albert was surprised to see how much she had grown, she was now in her teens. "Oh my Soa, it is the King! Commodore! Commodore Puler! King Albert is here!"
"Kayla, please cease shouting!" Puler came out of the tunnel connecting the Queen Fury to the harbor, and his eyes lit up when he saw Albert and Emille. "Your Majesty!"
"Hello, Commodore." Albert shook the man's hand happily.
"Congratulations on your marriage!" Kayla spoke up, and Albert nodded.
"Thank you, this is Emille." He introduced, and Emille curtsied sweetly.
"A wonderful catch, my man." Puler patted Albert on the back. "What can I do for you this fine sunny day?"
"We just want to accompany you on the sea for a few days." Albert said. "By the way, where are you going to?"
"We're going to make a stop in Feuno, to drop off some cargo, and then some of my crew wants to visit their families in Furni." Puler informed them. "You are very welcome to join us."
"That's great!" Albert cried. "If we go to Furni, we can go visit Miranda in Deningrad!"
"I haven't seen her in a long time, Albert." Emille added, and then proceeded onto the ship. Puler saluted them, and headed back up to the wheel. Kayla showed them to their room, and then told them when dinner was, leaving them to themselves.
"Shall we go take a walk around the boat?" Albert asked Emille. "I'll give you a tour."
"Okay." Emille took a deep breath, and followed him around the sub-main deck levels. Finally they made it to the main deck, and she was very careful to stay away from the very edge of the boat. After telling him that she thought the boat looked like a floating fort, Albert laughed.
"Do you remember Hoax?"
"Yes. That's the little defense town that was burnt by Sandora, isn't it?"
"Right. Well, it's fixed now, and really, it looks so much like the Queen Fury!" He continued to tell her about the advancement of Hoax, and the Seventh Knighthood Fort. They had walked around the whole main deck, and were heading up to the crow's nest. They passed Puler concentrating on a map, and not wanting to bother him, kept climbing up to the topmost part of the boat. Emille saw that it was quite a small crow's nest, and clutched Albert as they neared the front of it.
"The water is beautiful." She noticed, forgetting her fear for a moment.
"Not as beautiful as you." Albert looked at her, and pulled her close to him.
"They make a wonderful King and Queen." Kayla was taking a break with a few of the cleaning crew members. "Look at them."
"She is very beautiful." One crewman, Gowry, leaned on his mop. "They say that Serdio has benifited a lot from Albert getting married."
"Well, naturally." Kayla countered. "He's a very good King, but now he's a very happy very good King. Their decisions corresponding to Serdio and Tiberoa have helped the people a lot."
"I still think that Queen Theresa is and always will be the best Queen." A second crewman, Neil, put in.
"Who do you think Queen Theresa will pass on her Kingdom to?" Gowry stumbled as his mop slipped out from under him. Kayla giggled.
"Most likely Sister Miranda." Neil replied. "She's the strongest, and the oldest."
"Probably." Kayla agreed. "She's very nice, but her temper is pretty short."
"I agree. Her wrath is vengeful." Gowry sighed. "But he would rule well, just like Queen Theresa." The three of them looked up at Albert and Emille, who were gently kissing up in the crow's nest.
"Gowry?" Kayla asked. "Are you married?"
"Yes, I am." Gowry smiled. "To a beautiful woman who used to live in Lohan. That's in Serdio. I met her when I used to be a merchant, and drove my wagon south of Tiberoa into the southern part of Serdio. I was passing through town, and I met her at the item shop while I was unloading some Healing Potions and whatnot."
"That's wonderful." Kayla sighed, staring up at the two lovers. "What about you, Neil?"
"Nope, I'm a single man." Neil bowed his head. "I'm married to the sea, this boat. I love it here, and I'll never leave it for anyone."
"I love it here too, I hope to inherit the Queen Fury when I'm old enough." Kayla sat back, leaning on her hands. "But I want to take someone with me."
"Oh? And who's that?" Gowry teased.
"Our little tomboy Kayla is interested in someone?" Neil added.
"Yes." Kayla blushed. "But I can't tell you who it is."
"Oh Kayla, don't do that!" Gowry stamped his foot.
"Don't worry, he lives in Furni, I'll let you meet him." Kayla grinned, and then hopped down onto the floor. "Come on, we should get back to work." Gowry and Neil agreed, they had lost all track of time, and proceeded away from the bow. Kayla looked up at Albert and Emille once again, sighing with longing and heading down below the main deck to the engine room.

Emille sat up with a start. Looking out the window, she judged it to be about one in the morning. She looked beside her to where Albert was so peacefully sleeping... she was glad he didn't snore.
"My sweet Albert..." Emille ran a gentle hand over his lips, and then stood up, slipping on a thin dress to go see what had woken her. After Albert had shown her every nook and cranny of the ship, she had a pretty good idea how to maneuver in the darkness, and made it to the main deck quickly and efficiently. She knew that the Commodore was probably steering the ship, and she tried to be quiet, because she also assumed that some of the crewmen were outside and didn't want to startle them. But to her surprise, Emille didn't see anyone outside, so she forced herself to walk towards the bow of the ship. She decided that for Albert, she had to break her fear of the sea. Just as she was nearing the very tip of the bow, she heard a low rumble. She stepped back abruptly, and looked up. There were no stars... The Moon That Never Sets wasn't there either.
"If the Moon That Never Sets, never sets, then why isn't it in the sky?" She asked to nobody in particular. Her question was answered. Rain began to pelt down, and another rumble shook the earth. Emille squealed, and ran quickly to the nearest shelter... the cargo bay underdeck. She ran right into Neil, who caught her just before she bolted down another flight of stairs.
"Whoa, hold on a minute, Your Majesty." Neil smiled at her. "You'll want to be going that way, towards your quarters with the King."
"Yes, please, I do." Emille took his arm, and he led her across the rain efficiently, and they stepped into the hallway leading to the rooms. "Thank you very much."
"Anything for you, Your Majesty." Neil bowed quickly, and turned towards the rain.
"Um... Emille gently tapped him. "How rough... does it get... in storms?"
"I'm going to be blunt, My Lady, but it can get very rough." Neil replied solemnly. "But I'm sure we'll be fine, it looks as if it's going to blow right over. You should get some rest."
"Thank you." Emille curtsied out of habit, and slipped back into her room. After changing out of her dress, which she noticed was pretty much seethrough from the rain, and sliding back in beside Albert after drying off, Emille couldn't bring herself to sleep. Every low roll of thunder, every time the boat shuddered, every flash of lightning that was beginning to form, Emille would blink and wake up even more than she had been before.
"Emille?" Albert murmured. "Are you alright?"
"Shhh." Emille whispered back, turning towards him. "Everything is fine."
"It's storming..." Albert sat up, looking out the small window at the pelting rain on the other side of the glass. "I was just wondering if you were okay."
"Yes, I suppose." Emille shuddered, sitting up beside him. Albert put a gentle arm around her, and placed his other hand on her slender cheek.
"Are you sure?" He seriously searched her face, and Emille smiled weakly.
"Yes, I'm sure." She leaned forward and landed a sweet kiss on his lips before lying back down on the bed. "We should get some sleep." Albert gladly complied, lying down beside her as she leaned on his chest.

"Your Majesty!" Kayla burst into the room, blushing at the two sleeping figures.
"Kayla!" Commodore Puler jerked her back violently. "You were supposed to knock!"
"Commodore, with all do respect, at a time like this there is no time to knock!" Kayla frantically babbled.
"At a time like this there is no time to argue!" Puler shot back harshly.
"At a time like what?" Emille demanded, and both Kayla and Puler turned to her, inclining their heads simultaneously.
"The storm is deadlier than we thought." Puler spoke up. "No mean to frighten you... but... er..."
"We aren't going to make it to Feuno." Kayla cut in. "We have turned around and tried going back the other way, but we don't have any sense of direction anymore. Excuse my bluntness, but we all have to be very alert and ready for any type of desperate measures."
"What sort of desperate measures?" Emille's voice was shrill and full of fear.
"We will cross that bridge when we come to it." Kayla bowed quickly, and whipped around, leaving the room briskly.
"I apologize for that outburst, we didn't mean to-"
"And I apologize for this, Commodore, but if the girl is right, we have no time to sit around talking." Albert stood. "We need to take action and get this ship back to Donau as soon as possible! Excuse us while we change." Puler was about to open his mouth again, but thought better of it, exiting after a slight nod. Emille almost broke down, she couldn't move.
"Albert..." She breathed, and he turned to her. "Are we going to die?"
"No, Emille." Albert slid on his green pants, and brown boots. He picked up a cape from the coat rack, one with a hood to protect his eyes from the rain if need be. "We are going to make it back to Tiberoa, and I will take you safely home."
"Oh... Albert..." Emille brought her knees up to her chin.
"No, Emille, please." Albert sat down next to her, taking her scared face in his warm hands. "I need you to be strong, Emille. I need you to keep it together, and fight your own fear. If we are going to make it, we're going to need you. I will get you home, but you have to believe it as well. Do you understand?" He searched her face, and Emille squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. After a few tantalizing seconds, she finally nodded her head shakily, and Albert kissed her forehead. Emille slowly got up, and pulled down her dress.
"I cannot maneuver in this dress." She told Albert, and he nodded.
"I will be back." He left the room, and came back about two minutes later holding some gray pants, black boots, and a light blue long sleeved silk top. "These are Kayla's, you should fit into them." Emille slipped into the clothes, and indeed, she was so dainty that they fit almost perfectly.
"Thank you." She said, and Albert handed her one of his cloaks as they exited the room. Up in steering, Puler and Neil were wrestling with the wheel to get it to turn.
"It's no use, Commodore!" Gowry was yelling. "You can't help the waves! It's better if we just go with the flow of the waves and maybe we'll get pushed back to shore one way or another!"
"You may be right!" Puler nodded, pulling on the wheel with all his might. "But I'm trying to take us through the calmest waves possible! My ship cannot withstand too much more of this!" Kayla all of sudden bolted into the room.
"We lost Jona and Laus, Commodore! Cargo is flooded!" She cried, and Puler whipped around. "The deck is under five inches of water! What should we do?!"
"We have to leave her!" Gowry came in from behind. "I don't think there's anyone left out there! We have to leave her!" Puler shook his head.
"I cannot leave the Queen Fury! We still have a chance!" He cried, clutching the wheel. Neil had backed up, realizing the truth.
"Commodore." Emille stepped forward in front of him. "I am just as, if not more, afraid than you are. We have to get out of here! Please, Commodore, it's too late!" Puler looked at her harshly, and then pushed her away.
"I'm sorry, Your Majesty, but I will not leave my ship." Puler said. "My daughter here has been through hell, she can go through a petty storm."
"Commodore!" Kayla cried. "Give it up! We aren't going to make it!"
"I will not leave." Puler stared straight ahead, battling the waves.
"We have to go." Kayla turned to Gowry, Neil, Albert, and Emille. "There are life rafts on deck. It will be tough, but we're going to have to go out there to get them."
"I will stay with the Commodore." Neil shyly volunteered. After recieving blank stares, he continued. "I might still be able to convince him to come with us. And if not... well... I have nobody to go back to anyway." Gowry put a hand on his shoulder.
"Are you sure?" He asked, and Neil nodded, turning his back.
"Alright, let's go." Kayla led them down to the main deck, and they stood under the overhang watching the rain and trying to time their bolt just right. It had to be perfect; the waves washing up on deck were wretched.
"Ready.... NOW!" Kayla began to run across the wood, with Gowry right behind her and Albert behind him, practically dragging Emille along. They made it to the life rafts, and Kayla yelled over the roar how to unfasten them from their perches. All of a sudden the Queen Fury was thrown over a very harsh wave, and they were all thrown to the floor. Except for Emille, who was still holding onto the raft's ropes tightly.
"Albert!" She cried as Albert slid dangerously towards the edge. Kayla and Gowry were clutching each other as they slid the opposite way. Emille squeezed her eyes shut, her heart pounding in her ears while her throat throbbed, threatening tears.
"Emille, throw a rope!" Albert yelped, sliding all over the place with the water. Emille snapped back into reality, and tossed a loose rope to him. He grazed the tip, and finally grasped it, swinging towards Kayla and Gowry. He grabbed Kayla, and Gowry held onto her leg. Albert pulled himself up towards the raft, and they continued to work on it. Emille worked like a robot, not thinking about what she was doing, just doing. There was a crack and a rumble, and Kayla began to shriek. The crow's nest had been struck by lightning and was dangerously wavering overtop of them. They all just looked up, awaiting to be crushed by the huge pole. It did fall, and swept everyone up towards the wall of the bow. Kayla floated in the five inches of water, unconcious, and Gowry had gotten the crow's nest directly on top of him. Emille wriggled out of her containment, looking frantically for Albert. He was in the water, thrown over into the vengeful sea. Emille cried out in frustration as there was another bright crack aimed right at steering. The small cabin caught on fire, and Emille knew that the Commodore and Neil were both gone... she was all alone.
"Emille..." Albert thought in his head as he was pulled under the water. "Please survive... I love you, and I'm sorry for dragging you into this... I never knew that this would happen, and I hope you can live, you have to live. Your country needs you, as does mine. Please... I love you, my sweet Emille." In his last breaths, Albert pulled his Jade Dragoon Spirit from himself, and let it float up to the surface. He fought the water a little, but then realized that this was the end, there was no turning back. He lay still as the salty water invaded his senses, and everything went red... and then black.
"Oh please, Soa!" Emille screamed into the pelting wall around her. "Please take me! Please!" She fell to her knees, not knowing what to do. And then Albert's face came into her mind, telling her to be strong, Tiberoa needed her. Serdio needed her. Emille pulled herself together, undoing the life raft hurriedly, and finally getting it down. At one point she fell down, and cut her leg badly on the splintered wood of the fallen crow's nest, but she managed to get the small boat to the edge. Looking back at Kayla, she realized she probably wasn't dead, and dragged her towards the boat. At that moment, another huge tidal wave encircled them, and since Puler wasn't steering anymore, the boat was thrown sideways, and both Emille and Kayla flew headfirst into the water. Emille surfaced, sputtering, and was relieved she was so close to the life raft. She climbed in and watched, her eyes red from trying to cry, as the Queen Fury crumbled and sunk under the treacherous waves. Emille laid down in the bottom of the life raft, laying stiff and perfectly still, praying that she would make it out of the storm. All of a sudden some water lapped into the boat, and she felt a cold round object land on her stomach. Sitting up, Emille saw it was the Jade Dragoon Spirit. "Oh... Albert..." Finally the tears began to roll, splurging out of her eyelids like two rivers of love. Then she felt a warm glow envelope her, and looked at the spirit shining in her hands. A sphere of pale green light enveloped her, carrying her above the clouds, out of danger. That was all Emille could remember before her exhaustedness got the best of her and she passed out.

"Pooch!" Pete cried at his dog as he bolted away. "Pooch, come back!" The dog yipped as he reached the far end of the beach. Pete gasped when he saw the woman lying on the white sand. He cried for the Mayor's help, and the Mayor gladly helped him carry her to his house.
"Who do you think she is?"
"Um, Mr. Mayor..." Pete bit his lip. "I believe she is the Princess of Tiberoa."
"Oh! She is wife to the man who abolished the Sea Dragon a few years ago!" The Mayor frowned. "I hope she is okay!"
"He was with the man who helped Mama to get to Feuno!" Pete exclaimed. "Dart. I wonder what he is doing now." Emille began to stir, and she was just about to wake when she heard the Mayor say,
"She has one of those miracle stones. They sell those in Lohan..."
"Wow! If the Princess is carrying one, I'm going to get one!"
"Please..." Emille croaked as her eyes fluttered open. "Send word to my father... tell him I am alright... and that I am the only one." Pete's eyes widened, and then the Mayor grabbed him, and they hurried away. "Thank you, Albert, you saved me. I will take good care of Serdio for you, do not worry. I love you, too."

END