"Of course!  If your room was not close to mine, how could I possibly steal you away?" Aria smiled back at the boy, her smile held child-like mischief.  She opened up her draping white curtains to reveal the setting sun and snuck glances at Xander with a smile on her lips.  "Taking a bath would definitely help.  I should also bathe soon.  I smell like ash and hay" she laughed as she moved towards Xander.<br/>Aria finally decided to say something that had been on her mind since they met up.  Although, she didn't know if he would think it was strange, the princess walked up to the blond young man and quickly hugged him.  She held the hug and buried her face in his chest for a second before letting go and looking up at Xander affectionately, "I'm still finding it strange, seeing you again.  You have no idea how great it feels to finally see you again" she said in a soft voice, her eyes held nostalgia as she remembered that little boy she used to play with.<br/><br/>She remembered the times they would fight, or laugh, or just act childish.  The days when she would play in the mud with him after a heavy downpour and then throw mud balls at each other.  The days when she would play Knight and Dragon with him.  They used to tell eac other stories and secrets that were promised only to each other for the sake of having fun.  They could always be so open with each other because they never had a reason to lie.  Back then, they were allowed to be kids outside their kingdoms.<br/><br/>As Aria observed him with pure joy in her bright lavender eyes, she couldn't help but feel that something was slightly off about Xander.  It was probably because they had both grown up, in both personality and appearance, but she still couldn't shake that small twist in her gut.<br/>"I apologize, but I just felt like I needed to say that.  You are important to me.." She said, she wasn't embarrassed by the sentence so her cheeks were not red at all as she spoke her mind.<br/><br/>"Miss, the extra room is made up for...our guest, as you requested" a maid said as she stood at the slightly opened door of her bedroom.  Aria nodded as she started to head towards the door and the maid left.  The princess already knew where the room was.  "Are you ready to go?  I'm sure you want to settle in soon" she said as she glanced back to the ex-prince.