<div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://s300.photobucket.com/user/SociallyToxicBeauty/media/5d741913-5214-4aef-8677-bf3a2c5711a8.jpg.html"></a><a class="postlink" href="http://i300.photobucket.com/albums/nn24/SociallyToxicBeauty/5d741913-5214-4aef-8677-bf3a2c5711a8.jpg">[ img ]</a><br/><span style="color: #408000"><span style="font-weight: bold"><span style="font-size: 150%; line-height: 116%;">Alida</span></span></span></div><br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">"We'll figure something out Alida, I promise,"</span>Izu started, his face momentarily in his hands. Izu seemed determined on something and Alida was flattered to realize that he was determined to make<span style="font-style: italic">her</span>feel better.<span style="color: #FF0000"> "Mar had food in his dish and water, he'll be fine until we can figure something out. We won't leave him there, but we can't just snap our fingers and poof him here--"</span>Izu paused, turning to Zoltan,<span style="color: #FF0000">"King somethingoranother,"</span>Alida cringed inwardly at Izu's lack of an attempt to say Zoltan's name,<span style="color: #FF0000">"How did you bring Alida back? You didn't intend to get me back, I wasn't a part of the plan. How did you home in on Alida? How long until we can do that again, and what do I need to do to get it done now?" </span>Izu asked in an authoritative tone.<br/><br/>By then Alida's sobbing had slowed to small hiccups and sniffles. She had realized somewhat too late that her crying still had just as much effect on Izu as it did her brother. She couldn't stop the pity party yet, though, not while her brother was still in the room--and he was currently explaining how to get Marmalade to her world. She only half listened, knowing Izu would likely hang on every word.<br/><br/><span style="color: #FF0000">"We can do it at the festival if everything is going to take time to set up anyway, right Alida?"</span>Izu's voice filtered through to Alida and she looked up with big, woeful eyes at her brother, purposely avoiding Izu's gaze,<span style="color: #408000"> "I guess..." </span>she said remorsefully--though inwardly that was a much better outcome than she had expected. Zoltan seemed to wilt under Alida's sad stare, mumbling something about he would begin working on it right away.<br/><br/>As soon as he was out the door, Alida seemed to perk up and flourish. She stood and wiped the tears off her face and gave a beaming smile to Izu. The emotions were certainly real and still there in the background, but she definitely had learned how to play them up in Izu's world. All that television had been good for something, it turned out. She had counted on her brother's inexperience with Alida's display of negative emotions--what she had not counted on was Izu trying to actually step in to provide a solution. Her goal had simply to bully her brother into doing what she wanted with her tears (and to make him very uncomfortable as revenge for him continuously calling Izu by his title).<br/><br/>But, in the end, she was giddy about Izu's attempts to make sure she was happy. In his world, it always seemed he was doing things just to shut her up. There were certainly times where he was softer and cuddlier, but not often. Here, she could feel his genuine desire to please her and it made his past actions seem all the sweeter in hindsight. While she had always taken Izu for his word, it was different being able to feel the truth so fully.<br/><br/>She reached for him, pulling him by his wrist toward her to where they were chest to...er...eyeball. Her eyes were still a little puffy as they looked up to Izu,<span style="color: #408000"> "I am beginning to feel like you do not like being referred to as Prince Izu..."</span>she stated teasingly. She could feel his distaste for the title,<span style="color: #408000">"But you know, that is...more or less...who you are now. I don't find it a bad thing. I believe most human females would be very jealous of me right now...They do have a fondness for Princes...from what I can tell anyway." </span><br/><br/>She wondered what it was that made Izu dislike being called a Prince. She had a few ideas just based on his personality alone, however Izu's personal explanation would help with any confusion into the matter. She mulled over her thoughts, trying to think of different ways to ease Izu into her world---starting with the fact everyone would likely refer to him as Prince Izu. Even she wouldn't be able to prevent that.<br/><br/>No doubt Yehuda would make the transition harder. He was such an odd Euthalian. He wasn't nearly as peaceful and calm as his brethren and his display earlier had shown a violence in him she had not seen before. She had not been prepared for his anger, either. Would he harass her? Would he harass Izu? She hoped not. Surely her brother would speak to Yehuda about his behavior. When her parents had made that match, Yehuda had seemed so serene and kind...Now Yehuda was a little...disconcerting to say the least.<br/><br/>Either way, they wouldn't be able to avoid him forever and they couldn't stay in her room forever (though she certainly wished they could). If Zoltan was truly planning a festival, then there would be a lot going on in the middle of Euthalia. It was probably best to avoid that for now and look for something quieter to show Izu. Perhaps she could show him some of the animals she had been talking about earlier. She had never seen such tiny animals before Izu's world, though Izu seemed to think some of them were large. She gave a sly grin, excited to be able to introduce something to Izu that would likely blow him away.<br/><span style="color: #408000"><br/>"Izu, would you like to go exploring with me?" </span>