Chapter 220

220 Date Night: Surprise!

After finishing her Shaman rounds, Skye headed to the Cat’s Paw Tavern for her lunch with Klaus and Ronnie trailing along behind her. It had become a part of her daily routine, no matter how late her Shaman rounds ran. Shasta had figured out that on bustling, busy days when the streets were packed with people, it was best to meet her at Alfred’s. Skye thought the fact that she drank for free while waiting there might’ve affected her decision a bit, but she wouldn’t admit it.

Entering the tavern, Skye was pleasantly surprised to find her husband waiting for her, but wondered where training partner was. She was just under an hour late today, so she’d been expecting to see a tipsy Shasta sitting at their booth. Waiting for Skye to come and heal her.

She’d been playing a dangerous game lately.. Seeing how smashed she could get before Skye showed up. After the eighth time in a row, the princess had tried to get her to stop. She’d told her that if she didn’t quit, she’d Let her puke her guts out. Disgruntled, Shasta had negotiated her down to only when she was running late. It’d been a pain to argue with her, so she’d agreed in the end.

Tidas stood up and extended his arms to embrace his happily surprised wife. She hugged him tightly before asking what he was doing there. When he grinned broadly in response, she eyed him suspiciously. Tidas had always been a bit mischievous, and he still hadn’t gotten her back for her sneak attack on him months ago.

The Summer Games were only a few weeks out now. The first of June was tomorrow, and the games started on the twentieth. The Summer Solstice was then, and it was the traditional day to start the games. The only time it ever changed was when rain poured heavily enough to flood the fairgrounds. It had only happened three times in recorded history. Alconians loved their games.

“What are ye doin’ here husband? I thought you had a pile of work to do? Ye skipped breakin’ yer fast with me this mornin’ for it,” Skye stated as she looked up at him.

Tidas donned a cheeky grin; “I was working, just not on anything having to do with my usual duties. I thought I’d focus on my most important job today. I feel I’ve been neglecting it for far too long.”

Curiosity covered Skye’s expression; “What’s yer most important job?”

Tidas’ grin widened; “Being your husband.”

.....

“Ack! Yer so cheesy! ...I love it,” Skye replied as she leaned up on her tip toes to kiss him gently.

“That’s so sweet, it’s nauseating,” Alfred replied as he brought out an oversized tray filled with delectable smelling food.

Skye’s eyes went wide as she looked down at the food on the tray. Peggy’s signature salad was the first thing that caught her eye as it stuck out of the side of the tray. However, it was not the item that made her squeal with delight. Two enormously-sized bowls that nearly overflowed with rice and sweet and sour pork took up almost the entirety of the tray.

The sauce looked thick, and the sweet smell of garlic, ginger, and a hint of mirin made Skye’s mouth water. She looked up at Alfred with a smile and thanked him for the food. He chuckled slightly before nodding in Tidas’ direction.

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“Don’t thank me, thank your husband here. He’s the one who got me the rice and the mirin for this. There’s plenty more in the back, so if you it, just call out.”

As Alfred walked away, Skye eyed her husband; “What’s the special occasion? Ye do remember that our anniversary isn’t for months still, right?”

Tidas laughed loudly; “Aye, I know. Hard to forget the second best day of my life.”

“Aww.. I love you too. What’s the first then?”

“The first time we..” Tidas wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Skye as he smirked.

Skye laughed boisterously at her husband’s innuendo; “Yer such a man!”

Tidas laughed along with Skye as they ate their meal together. Their merriment filled the tavern with a kind of jovial warmth that became contagious as the regulars began to trickle in. Before they knew it; the royal couple had polished off two plates of Peggy’s salad, and a total of seven bowls of sweet and sour pork with rice. As they leaned back in their seats to stretch, Alfred brought over two cups of hot mint tea to help settle their stomachs.

“Did you two like the food? I’ve never made Saian(Saiyan) food before,” Alfred commented as he set their mugs down on their table.

“Twas amazin’! If that becomes a regular item, I may just have to live here. I can make a wee tent out of some tables,” Skye joked, but was serious about the quality of the food.

As Tidas and Alfred began to discuss how difficult it was to cook right without the proper pot, Skye’s mind drifted. The last time she’d had sweet and sour pork was when Genie was still around. ‘I can’t believe I haven’t seen him in So long.. Mei too. I miss them; maybe I should write to them again? But they still haven’t answered me other letters yet.. Oh! Maybe Da will have some for me! I told them I was at the palace now, but they might’ve still went to Moonstone Castle because I never changed me name!’

“Out your head, love.. Your place is here, with me..”

Tidas’ gentle voice brought Skye out of her thoughts; “Oops.. Sorry bout that.. I started thinkin’ about Genie and Mei a wee bit.”

A soft smile touched his lips as he replied; “Maybe we can go visit them after all the Highland issues are dealt with. You still haven’t met Mei’s child yet, correct? We’ll make a vacation out of it.”

Skye grinned ear to ear; “Thank ye, husband.. I love you.”

Instead of speaking; Tidas stood up, yanked Skye to her feet, and kissed her passionately. The dozen or so people that were in the tavern hooted and hollered their approval at the daring young couple. Which made both Tidas and Skye begin to laugh as they kissed. Everyone in the tavern thought it was sweet, everyone except Renee.

Jealousy ate at her as she watched the princess enjoying her husband’s affection. Alfred was cheering for them like the the rest of the people within the tavern. She longed for him to wrap his arms around her in the same manner as the prince did with his wife. ‘I suppose they’re kinda cute together..’

Right as the thought crossed Renee’s mind, Alfred had walked over to them to bid them farewell for the day. He shook Tidas’ hand, then turned to Skye with his arm extended. She pushed his hand away, then moved in to hug him as she thanked him again for the meal.

Renee’s fury hit a new, all-time high. ‘How Dare the hussy hug him! He had his hand out! He didn’t Want the hug! Why isn’t the prince freakin’ out on her?! Alfred’s another man! He should furious with her!’

As Renee stoked her own ire, Skye stated as she beamed; “Sorry bout that, but Ima hugger.”

Alfred smiled broadly as his tail began to wag slightly; “I don’t mind, I love hugs.”

“Just don’t start loving them too much. Most are reserved for me,” Tidas stated with a cocky smile and tone to his voice.

As the couple left, Renee made a promise to herself that she would do something about Alfred’s affection towards the princess...

“Well husband, ye have made the utter arse-kickin’ comin’ me way totally worth it. But I best be on me way before Shasta comes lookin’ for me,” Skye stated as she pulled herself up onto Thoth.

Tidas grabbed Thoth’s reins; “Oh, I don’t think she’ll be coming for you today.. Unless she wants to suffer the consequences..”

Skye quirked an eyebrow at her husband; “And what ‘consequences’ do ye speak of?”

“That if she didn’t want to be randomly doused with water everyday for the next month, that she should leave us be for the entirety of the day,” Tidas replied as Thoth began to nicker; he didn’t like Tidas holding his reins.

Skye burst out in laughter, drawing attention from random people as they passed by. An obvious uptick in murmuring and people stopping to stare made Tidas quickly mount his own horse. They waved to the crowds until they passed the majority. Once away from the heart of the city, the two began to talk a bit more freely.

“Are ye seriously not gonna tell me where we’re goin’?” Skye asked after almost an hour of trotting along.

They were nearing the R&D Department, which caused a touch of disappointment to cross Skye’s face. The way Tidas had been talking and acting had made it seem like he had a surprise waiting for her. Turning down the road that led to R&D, her enthusiasm was nearly lost until Tidas called out to her. He had stopped where the single road branched off, pointing his horse towards the other road.

“Where are you going? The surprise is this way!”

“So there is a surprise?!” Skye yelled back as she turned Thoth about.

Coming to a stop in front of Tidas, Thoth bickered at him, then huffed like he was irritated. Staring at the beast, Tidas stated; “Oh, calm down.. You’ll like this surprise too.”

Skye chuckled at her husband before she asked how much farther it was. He’d simply pointed down the dirt road, then nudged his own horse forward. Skye followed after, a bit miffed that he wasn’t talking. As they came upon a giant, unplowed field; Tidas’ surprise became clear.

Skye immediately jumped down from Thoth, and took off running towards the center of the field. A semi-familiar person stood in the middle of it with what looked like a black blob from their distance. Tidas wrote it off as Skye just easily recognizing her, and had no suspicions about his wife’s new trait.

Skye had tapped into her Tank trait for a split second to verify what she’d thought she’d seen. She was right. As she ran out, Zazzy was already running towards her. She kicked up rocks and dust as she hit her top speed to reach her mother.

Skye nearly forgot that Tidas couldn’t see her catching Zazzy. If he did, he’d know she had tapped into a new power. Right as Zazzy jumped for her mother to catch her, Skye ducked. The cutest, most confused look crossed over Zazzy’s face as she sailed over Skye’s head, and tumbled across the ground with a hard thud. Tidas burst with unrestrained laughter as Skye ran to check Zazzy.

Pausing his fit for a few seconds, Tidas yelled out; “Surprise!”