I Could Make You Care [Closed]

The past few days had not been fun for anyone in the palace of Laplace. Everything was on lock-down and you couldn't take a bath without being checked out. It had been three days since the Emperor had returned from an assassination attempt gone haywire. Luxanna was not cleared on all of the details, but apparently Tsubine had been caught in the crossfire of a bullet that was meant for someone else. The entire palace was worried about her, but three women in particular were freaking out. One of them was Eira, the Emperor's sister. The second Lunaria, the Emperor's head maid and bodyguard. And the third? Well that was Luxanna. Everything had happened so fast. She was just taking a walk and was suddenly being attacked by an extremely skilled 'ninja'. If Artem Kovalyov, the now former Commandant of the Imperial Royal Guard, had not been there to save her, Luxanna was sure the surprise attack would have claimed her life. It was on the same day, during the same time frame that the Emperor was caught in the crossfire of another attempt. What's worse is that witnesses say they caught a few people dressed similarly to the person who attacked Luxanna following Eira around, as if they were waiting for something, but never seemed to act on it.

Now, three days later, and after multiple surgeries, the Emperor was said to finally be okay. She should be coming out of the anesthesia any time now. It took a lot of convincing, but Lunaria was finally able to get Eira to leave Tsubine's side and take care of herself. When Lunaria and Eira passed Luxanna in the hallway, they both asked her to go watch over Tsubine until they could return. They didn't want Tsubine waking up alone and Eira was in desperate need of a bath and something to eat. And of course, Lunaria had her duties around the palace to take care of, so she was unable to sit by Tsubine's side even if she wanted to. Luxanna accepted the request and made her way to Tsubine's room. Since the guard had been so damn strict lately, any time she was seen, they would assume she was going to go invisible and watch her closely. She never did anything, but that was a little prank she was pulling on them since they wouldn't leave her alone about wandering the halls without being a high ranking member withing Zakat. It became frustrating and she was sick of Lunaria or Eira having to be by her side, so she started walking around invisible. She'd be lying if she said that she didn't throw a few tricks here and there to drive the guards nuts, but that's another story.

As she made it to Tsubine's room, she stepped in assuming that Tsubine would still be asleep. She had her head slightly lowered and turned to close the door silently. When she heard Tsubine's voice speak out to her, her head instantly raised and she looked back to the Emperor. At that moment, one could easily see Luxanna's body just loosen and relax, as if she had been so worried over the past few days that being tense had become natural. All of that was now gone and Luxanna was able to finally calm herself down. "So you're finally awake." she spoke in a calm tone, trying to hide her relief and excitement the best she could. "And I cannot express how glad I am to see that you're alright." Luxanna replied as she made her way around the bed and stood on the opposite side, looking down at Tsubine with a gentle smile. "You've been out for three days now; The entire city is locked down, understandably, but your guards need to lighten up just a bit. I've helped with that... Or I've caused them more stress, I don't know which." Luxanna said, shrugging a bit, obviously trying to joke. She was doing this, but it was obvious that there was something else on her mind and she wasn't able to hold it in. Luxanna pulled up another chair and sat down next to the bed.

"I regret to say that a few things have happened in your absence..." Luxanna spoke softly, her tone worried, "When I tell you this, I need you to keep as calm as possible. It is being dealt with and you will need rest, but I do not feel right keeping it from you." She reached out and as if upon instinct, set a hand over Tsubine's and sighed. "It seems that someone, we do not yet know who, but I have the Noir looking into it... But around the same time frame of your event, there was a series of attempted assassinations in all countries..." she explained seriously, "Queen Aranhartte of Arcadia and Regent General Stoneheart of Brauk were two the victims. They are fine, but the nations are all pointing fingers at each other. And..." Luxanna lowered her head once more, "Artem..."

It was surprising that Tsubine was able to hold everything back up until now. Luxanna was not one to breaking news easily. She was completely honest and only held back enough detail to not make someone have nightmares every night. Seeing Tsubine's face wrinkle, Luxanna felt her heart sink, knowing exactly what was coming. Luxanna immediately wrapped her hand around Tsubine's hand and held it tightly. As the Emperor broke down in front of her, Luxanna felt tears forming in her own eyes and wanted nothing more than to console her. The only reason she didn't was because this was the Emperor of Zakat. She had no right. "I was powerless to stop any of this... and because... of it... Artem is...." Luxanna stood up and leaned over Tsubine's bed, taking a chance and pulling the Emperor into a hug. "I'm sorry." she said, holding on tightly, "I'm s-so sorry." Luxanna felt herself choking on her own words as she tried to hold back her own tears.

"How... how did he...?" Tsubine asked and Luxanna took a deep breath, pulling back from the embrace, if it had been allowed to happen in the first place. Luxanna didn't know how to answer that question. In fact, when it was asked, a look of guilt appeared on her face and she glanced away from Tsubine. "He... Uh..." Luxanna backed away fully and returned to the chair, "I was their target, not him. He saw it coming and I didn't, so he took the hit. He died to protect me."

"I... could not even protect you..." "You didn't need to." "Why... why am I so powerless?!" "You're not." "I.... I.... I........" Luxanna's stomach curled. She was getting more and more worried as Tsubine kept on. "I need more... more power..." "No, you don't." "If I can not protect even the people I care about..." "That's not your job." "What good am I as an Emperor?" Luxanna's final nerve was hit. Without really even thinking, she finally repaid that hit she had recieved when she and Tsubine had first met, but without the gauntlet. As if on instinct, Luxanna swung her arm around and smacked Tsubine across the face without any hesitation behind the strike.

"Enough. I will not hear any more of this!" Luxanna told Tsubine, doing her best not to raise her voice too much, "You are one human, one person, one woman. You cannot do everything on your own. Because of you, the man you took that shot for is alive!" Luxanna pointed to the arm where the wound was. "Because of you, Eira is no longer out there under the infulence of some... corrupted spell... harming people against her will. Because of you, my friend Nadia, that cute little white haired girl is happy. Because of your orders, I still live! Stop thinking you need to be this grand super hero for those that are around you. You're here for us just like we are here for you, so stop acting like you're doing this alone..." Luxanna took a deep breath and finally calmed down.

"Now... The world is about to get a little smaller with what has been going on and Zakat does not need the one person they look to feeling weak, especially when she is anything but that." Luxanna explained, her tone returning to a much more respectful one, "Are you able to handle it, or am I going to have to bring Lunaria and Eira in here to knock some sense into you?"

Luxanna was surprised to how blind Tsubine seemed. Did she not understand how many people that would fight and die for her were around? She was surrounded by people more loyal to her than to their own families, so how did she not see this? Luxanna knew that Tsubine could handle this all on her own if she needed to. She just shouldn't have to. There was no way one woman, one person, should ever have to handle such a large burden. Even though Luxanna said differently previously, she truly felt that Tsubine had ever capability to handle anything that would be thrown at her. What came next was probably the biggest surprise, something that Luxanna never would have seen coming...

"And I would like that person to be you, Miss Luminere." Luxanna froze. For comedic reasons, the first thought to enter her mind was, "Lunaria's going to be jealous", but that will remain unstated. Instead, Luxanna looked to Tsubine in shock. "M-Me?" she muttered the words as she let Tsubine continue with her explanation. It was one that pulled on Luxanna's heart-strings quite easily. There was even a young child inside Luxanna that would have jumped for joy and cheered in excitement, but she held that back. Luxanna was never one to get excited about much, so showing it threw her off. Instead, she wrapped her hand around Tsubine's and pushed up a gentle and bright smile.

"I'd be honored." Luxanna said, a single tear of joy shining as it drifted down the side of her cheek.