Taking Back

The Kiss

Alisha's thoughts vanished as her blush reddened. Eddie wanted to kiss her? She felt her heart race as she slowly nodded and leaned closer to him. Eddie felt her lips press against his, and his body shivered. He didn't feel such a rush of emotion before. Eddie didn't share a kiss with anyone in his life. He was now in a romantic sharing of love with a princess! It felt like a dream. He felt his hands wrapping around Alisha, pulling her into his body as he leaned in to kiss her back. Alisha felt herself fall forward into his body as they fell to the ground, with Alisha lying on top of him. They locked eyes for a brief second before continuing their kiss. "Princess," Eddie muffled, cupping her cheeks with shaky hands.

"Eddie," she replied, leaning in again. She kissed his lips again and caressed her hands against his body.

Eddie continued to speak through each kiss as he felt her body pressed against his. "I... I've never felt this way about anyone before," he said. "A-and I... I don't know if this is love, but I feel something for you, Princess. And, well, this feeling is telling me that if I leave things and if I continue to say nothing, then I'll always regret it." He stared into her eyes as he began to nuzzle her forehead, feeling his face get hotter and hotter.

"And I don't want to regret it, Princess. That's-that's why I have to come clean with how I truly feel. I'm not running away from this, not like last time."

Alisha felt a churning in her stomach as she had felt in her visions, but this wasn't one of her dreams. It was happening for real this time. She wanted to protect him, but she felt something different. She didn't know how to explain it either. She suddenly felt him pull her towards him more, pulling her onto his body.

"You must be his first crush!" Lucinda's words came back at her. "You should use this opportunity to your advantage, princess!"

"Alisha," Eddie smiled shyly. "I love you."

Alisha heard it loud and clear. It felt different than how her parents said it to her. What should she say? Should she say it back? She did like him, right? Alisha wasn't even sure herself. Was she taking too long to answer? Eddie looked concerned. Dammit, she did take too long. What was she supposed to say? Could she even say it out loud? All of her thoughts were making her head hurt. She wanted to say something, but she had to.

"Eddie, I-uh," she stuttered. Alisha covered her mouth. She covered her face in embarrassment. Alisha felt her breakfast coming up her throat. She clamps her mouth shut as she sat up and turned away. She felt it come out of her mouth. "Ugh, the damn morning sickness."

Alisha is hungry, but was it just going to keep coming out? She had to eat. Alisha wiped her mouth with her sleeve as Eddie touched her back.

"Are you okay?"

Alisha nodded. "Yeah, I'll be okay," she turned to look at him again. Alisha felt terrible for ruining the kiss. Alisha leaned in, and her nose brushed him as she leaned back into another kiss. Alisha felt shivering again. She cupped his cheeks and straddled his lap. Alisha heard him attempt to breathe in surprise as she inserted her tongue into his mouth. Eddie moaned into the kiss more as they tasted each other. Alisha felt that churning feeling in her stomach. Are those the butterflies Lucinda mentioned? They kissed more as they touched each other.

Eddie grabbed her waist and pulled her closer before running his fingers through her hair. Alisha wrapped her arms around his neck and combed her fingers through his locks. They departed in a gasp for air as they looked at each other longingly with deep red blushes. They didn't want anyone to interpret their moment.

"Eddie, I've seen us together in the future. I wasn't lying when I said you were happy. It was because I was there to love you. I thought you didn't want anything to do with me yesterday, but I now understand it was the opposite. I don't want to lose you because I love you too, Eddie."

Alisha felt a weight lifted off her shoulders as she collided her lips onto his again. She didn't want anything to happen again. She didn't want to hold anything back. Alisha pulled away from their kiss.

"Eddie, I need you to listen to me carefully. I don't want you to be alarmed, but I want you to get your game on. I never thought my visions would go as far ahead as they did, but they did. You are in danger, Eddie. Something is going to happen that will cause that battle to happen again. All I know is that my father is coming back from the dead. How? I wish I knew. Whatever it is, we need to be ready and prepared for it. I want us to train hard for anything, please."

Alisha's tone sounded severe, and even her face looked critical. She did say that her visions were always right. Alisha had to be telling him the truth. A battle? Between our kingdoms, again? There has to be a reason behind it. Alisha said I'm in danger. How much trouble am I going to be in now?

"There's something else that stuck out to me," began Alisha. "There was an odd difference between some of the Chermonoan soldiers. A few bled, but a few others turned to dust instantly. The battle was just last year, but the fact that my rapist was there still bugs me. He's been dead for three years. How was he alive?"

Eddie held her shoulders, sitting himself up as he had her. "Whoa, whoa, slow down, Alisha," he said, trying to calm her down. It was clear that her visions were stressing her out, and the fact that it had to do with her rapist was even more so. "One thing at a time, okay? Let's, um, l-let's just focus on this for now, yeah? Let's worry about bigger things later and the smaller things now." Eddie didn't know how to calm someone down, so he rubbed her shoulders as she sat on his lap, hoping it would calm her. He didn't want her freaking out too much about all this future stuff.

Eddie pressed his forehead against hers, hoping it would help her relax and breathe.

Alisha sighed and began to calm her breathing. "I just wanted to protect you," she finally said, lying on his shoulder. She hugged him and nuzzled into his lap. "I just want you to be safe and happy."

Eddie began to blush as he heard her say that. Aside from his friends, he had never heard anyone express such feelings toward him. It felt nice. Very nice, indeed. He let his arms slide to her back, holding her in his embrace as she nuzzled him. He then nuzzled back, followed by a kiss on her cheek as he whispered into her ear. "Thank you, Princess," he whispered to her. "That means a lot to me. I-I'm glad I met someone like you who cares so much about me, despite basically being enemies."

"I'd rather ignore that, us being enemies, and you're welcome," she nuzzled him. "So, you wanna stay here until someone comes and looks for us, or should we head in for lunch?"

"Mmm, okay," he answered, nuzzling back and kissing her gently again. "Maybe wait a little bit longer? Just five more minutes? Sorry if that sounds needy. I just, well, I kind of like this. Which is pretty new to me, being... 'loved' by someone romantically."

Alisha nuzzled more into his chest in agreement, practically curled up and ready to sleep in his hold, as their surroundings became drowned out by the sound of their hearts beating almost in unison. He was right. It is nice. It wouldn't hurt to stay cuddled together like this longer. Hopefully, no one would get too worried about them.