The Galactic Bride

"Read somewhere?"

Kahwool looked slightly confused for a moment, then realized he didn't know the extent of the research she had to do on him. "Oh Goddess, I messed up again."

"What do you mean, messed up?"

"It's just. Well, I thought you knew that after it started to look like who the winners were, my tutors started having me study everyone's profiles. It's been pretty exhausting. I know everything there is to know about you. But I've never really been good with studies so I keep forgetting things."

While he believed what she was saying, Kahwool was acting different now. It was as if she slipped out of character. Then he understood. Not only did she had to physically turn into a beauty, but she had to train herself to be to his liking. But it seemed she wasn't doing a good job of it. She was supposed to be his ideal girl, he reasoned, but perhaps she wasn't capable of pulling it off. He wondered just how much of what he learned about her was the real her, and how much wasn't.

"Look, forget about the lessons. Don't try to be someone else just to make me happy. Just be you. That's all I care about."

Kahwool glanced at him, unsure what to do. Clearly she usually wasn't asked to be herself in normal situation. She either had to be the daughter of the Minister, or whatever perfect girl the Mari thought he'd like. She seemed lost on how to act now that she had no guidelines to go by.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep and get this over with." Aki said after a moment.

Kahwool looked at him, and there was a bit of frustration on her face. "You're supposed to like the shy act." She blurted out, her whole tone of voice changed. "I was told that you like shy girls the best, so.. so I pretended to be shy."

"Really?" Aki wasn't sure if this was a act too.

"Everything I told you was true. I just tweaked my personality a bit. It's just…" Kahwool groaned and stood up, pacing the room. "I really messed up. Olma was so insistent that I make you happy. Now she's going to scold me again. All those hours of reading stupid information on you was for nothing."

Aki stood up and followed her pacing. So this was the real her. "Hey, I won't let on that you messed up to your Olma. Don't worry about that."

"But you hate me now." Kahwool groaned. "I'm a complete fraud."

"I don't hate you."

"But you can't trust me. I bet you just see me as some part of my Olma's plans to keep you under control. Well, I sort of am, but I'm not working with anyone or anything. I'm just supposed to make you happy. And I can't even do that right."

Aki grabbed her shoulders to stop her from pacing all over the place. He turned her around and made her face him. She wasn't the shy girl anymore and didn't blush and shrink at his touch. She looked directly in his eye unruffled at being touched. "I don't want you to be forced to do anything. Sure we have to marry, but I want you to do what you want. Hell, you can ignore me and never talk to me again after the wedding for all I care. I'll keep up appearances so you can live how you want. We're both forced into this so it's only fair."

Kahwool smirked somewhat. "Oh you'd like that. You just want to dump me and forget me. I know about your fiancée and your concubine. I'm just extra baggage to you."

Aki was tired of this. What exactly did she want from him anyway. First she seemed trapped into doing something she didn't want, then she wanted him to like her. Not to mention he wasn't even sure what kind of person she really was. He let her go and went to the bed and laid down, his back facing towards her. He heard her stomp to the bed and climb on next to him. She snapped her fingers three times and the lights in the room turned off.

She laid next to him, breathing heavy. He could feel her body heat, even though they weren't touching. She clearly was upset. More like she was angry. Maybe she was mad at herself for messing up, or angry at him for not accepting her. He just didn't know what to make of her. Anything she did now he'd second guess.

He couldn't sleep. He laid there for hours completely awake. Not only was he uncomfortable in the soft bed, but his mind couldn't stop thinking about Kahwool. She had fallen asleep at some point, he could hear her breath and feel her body slowly move up and down in rhythmic way sleep takes a person. He rolled around and look at her face. She was pure in this form, with nothing to hide. But it wasn't like he could learn about her like this.

His movement must of stirred her, as she slowly opened her eyes and the two of them met. She was still sleepy enough that she couldn't hide one thing. She found him attractive. He recognized that look she had. Lani and Hana gave it to him often, and now that he remembered correctly, so did Iris the Wahco. But she seemed to wake up a little bit more, and her face stiffened slightly. He could tell she didn't know how to act around him now.

"Sorry." Kahwool said, her voice slightly muffled from the side of her head being on a pillow.

Aki really didn't know what to say. He knew she honestly was sorry, but sorry for what was the question. Was she sorry she deceived him or sorry they didn't get along?

"Y-You promised that you wouldn't tell my Olma that I messed up, right?"

"Yeah."

"Thanks." Kahwool then took a disappointed look on her face. "I'll stay out of you way from now on."

She rolled over, facing her back to him, then curled in a ball and shivered. Part of him wanted to like her. But it was like she was bipolar to him.

But he also hated the thought of just ignoring her. What she said before popped into his head. "Oh you'd like that. You just want to dump me and forget me. I know about your fiancée and your concubine. I'm just extra baggage to you." She wanted to be loved, he finally reasoned. If not loved, at least part of a happy marriage. Even if it wasn't ideal she was willing to make him happy to achieve that. He could now tell it wasn't just her Olma's bidding that made her want this. Part of her wanted to be happy with him.

Without knowing it, he pulled himself close behind her, and pressed his chest to her back, and wrapped his arms around her waist. She exhaled in a surprised reversed-gasp, but snuggled her back into him, clearly feeding on the affection. That's when he knew his theory was right. Even though she hadn't picked him for a lover, she wanted it to work.

"You don't have to hold me, you know." She spoke tentatively.

"Just shut up."

She did, and even though he should see it, somehow he felt her smile. Her body oozed into his in the affectionate way Hana's sometimes did. They laid there like that for a few minutes, both not saying anything. Despite himself he couldn't help but think she smelled really good and she felt extremely soft. People weren't meant to be they soft. He could feel her heart pumping fast and his started to dance along side of hers.

"May I speak now?" Kahwool asked in a playful voice.

"Sure."

"I was hoping you'd be the one to win." She whispered. "At first I was cheering for Lew, but after a while I was rooting for you."

Aki didn't want to think about the contest. But he didn't want to ruin what little process he made with her. "You liked the love story, didn't you? That was all edited-"

"It's not that." Kahwool shook her head. "You were the only one to say that the Contest was complete garbage. That was really brave. I never liked the idea of people fighting for me, and well… I just admired that you had the courage to say the whole thing was stupid."

"Well-" He didn't know what else to add to that. But he was happy she admired that about him.

"I'm sorry that I'm not your perfect girl. And I'm sorry that you have to marry me. But I'm happy that you aren't just some noble kid trying to advance their house. If am to be wed to anyone, I'd rather it be you."

"You're not just saying all this stuff because you think that's what I want to hear, are you?"

"Is it working?"

Aki laughed. He knew she was joking. She was being real with him finally. "You know, I think we should consider this our first meeting. Let's forget about the other stuff. When your Olma is involved it just ends in disaster."

"Yeah." Kahwool nodded her head. "Wait, does that mean if we're starting over that we have to take the bath again?"

"That desperate to see me naked again, are you?"

"I was thinking the same for you." Kahwool nudged him playfully with her elbow.

"I didn't really get a good look anyway. You were playing the shy-girl bit."

"I really WAS shy then. How could I not be?"

They laid there for a moment thinking their own thoughts. Then all of a sudden he remembered Hana and Lani. If they knew he was getting along with Kahwool they might be upset. Well Hana more than Lani. He wondered what this meant for them. He'd have to marry Kahwool, regardless, so it made sense for him to get along with her. But both of the other girls were special to him. This was just a crazy mess. As Hana pointed out, on Earth things would have been simpler.

"You can't sleep, can you?" Kahwool asked, interrupting his mental morality battle. Her voice sounded a bit sleepy. "Sleeping on beds doesn't feel right to you anymore, I read."

"It's true." Aki told her. "But go ahead and sleep. I'll be fine."

"Hold on."

She pulled away from him, her body heat leaving him. He found that he missed it immediately. As they had been laying there, it had gotten quick cooler. She then reached for his hand and pulled him off the bed with her. Then she took the large comforter, and pulled it off the bed and onto the floor. There was so much there that it could be folded over to make a cushion, as well as a blanket.

"This might be softer than what you're used too, but I can't just sleep on a thin blanket. I hope you can get used to this."

He was surprised at this. "Wait, you want to sleep on the ground too?"

"I've been practicing. It's not ideal, but it's not so bad." Kahwool looked slightly embarrassed. "I was doing it as research to make you happy before… and even after I've dropped the act, I still do want you to be happy. I hope that you can accept that about me."

"Accept what about you?"

"That I want us to be happy." She still looked embarrassed. She wasn't putting on the shy-girl act, she really was embarrassed. "Please believe me, I'm not trying to trick you anymore."

"I believe you."

"Then come…" She went to her knees and crawled on the comforter, then reached for him to join her. He did, and after they laid down, she pulled the rest of the comforter over them. It was more cushioned that he was used to, but it certainly still was like laying on the floor. He thought he could deal with this

She faced him and entangled her body around his, facing him, imitating the position he and Anura used to take in the cave. She had done her research. But she didn't act like she was trying to put one over on him. The familiar position made up for the extra softness. His eyes started to go heavy.

"This isn't so bad." Kahwool whispered. As she talked the tip of her nose brushed against his cheek. "I can get used to this."

"You don't have too… Lani and Hana-chan won't-"

"Well they aren't your first-wife, are they?" Kahwool said in a teasing voice. "Let them sleep on the bed with my concubine, and we'll be down here."

"It seems wrong to force you too-"

"Your turn to shut up." Kahwool reached up and pushed a finger to his lips. "Just go to sleep and not worry about anything for once."

Not worry about anything for once? Just how did she know about that? Something like that couldn't be written down for reports. Had she already figured him out from the short time they've known each other? Or had she been forced to watch the feed recordings for so long she figured him out that way? He pondered these things then felt a light poke in his side. He winced and looked at her.

"Stop it. Just go to sleep."

"How do you know what I'm thinking about?"

"I don't. But I know you're thinking about something. It's the way your face looks, and how your eyes move. Remember, I had to study you?" Kahwool spoke in an exasperating voice. "There, now you know how I figured that stuff out. Go to sleep."

"But-"

Kahwool lightly kissed his cheek. "You can learn all about me later, okay?"

Somehow that satisfied him, and he closed his eyes and went to sleep. It had been too long that he had just surrendered his mind and allowed it to relax. He wasn't thinking about deaths or political motives anymore. He was just content in the happy cocoon Kahwool placed him in. Sadly he had to disappoint Hana. He was starting to like the Mari heiress.