"Well I'd be happy to play with them, they seem very playful." he noted and blinked at her question. "Huh? Oh...w-well no I haven't. I haven't eaten at all today, I was busy with chores and when I got here I just put my things in my room and came to look for you here." he admitted and smiled softly. "I know I should eat though, but I don't feel like moving honestly." he added.

"I'll go with you if you like, you really shouldn't go without eating ya know?" Mela smiled softly then laughed some as Weasel flopped down on his back to make himself look dead so Mint would stop attacking him and then jumped up and pounced on Mint when she turned away.

"Weasel...a fitting name fore someone as sneaky as him." commented Nero before looking at Mela. "Yeah I know...food is important. I'll go eat then but only because you want me to." he teased and stood up before helping Mela up and dusting himself off. "Well then, let's go get me some food shall we?" he said softly and grinned.

Mela smiled softly and nodded before leading Nero to the dining room where she sat down in her normal seat and offered him the spot next to her where everything was pretty much in reach. She looked around a bit wondering if her grandparents were eating or not since she hadn't seen any of the three today.

Nero followed her in silence and looked around rather confused before sitting beside her. "Mela...is it always this quite in the mornings?" he asked. "Come along dear, breakfast waits for no one and you know that." you could hear Usha saying as she entered the dining room. Cresil muttered something under his breath and followed her inside before taking his seat after holding out her seat for her. Once they were seated, Cresil noticed Nero was there and raised an eyebrow questioningly. "Oh hello Nero, I didn't think you'd visit Mela so early." said Usha. Nero blanked out, unsure of what he should do or say.

Mela smiled brightly as she heard Usha and Cresil. "Good morning Mammo, Pappo, Poppa said that Nero could stay here now." she said but wasn't sure about saying exactly why... sometimes Cresil could still overreact and she didn't want him to get mad at Nero for not telling them about the guys that wanted to kidnap her and instead 'kidnapping' her himself.

"Good morning Mela sweetheart." mused Usha before nodding at what she said. "So Nero is staying? Nero are your parents okay with this?" she asked. Nero tensed up and looked at his food before shaking his head. "N-no they're not. I came here...out of my own free will...." he explained nervously. Noticing how nervous Nero seemed, Usha frowned. "Nero you shouldn't be nervous." she assured. Cresil was silent for a while before speaking, "So you ignored your parents and came over here?" he asked. "Cresil!" hissed Usha before she sighed. Cresil shrugged, "I'm not yelling at him dear, I was just stating the obvious." he explained calmly. Nero frowned slightly but didn't say anything and nodded at what Cresil had said before starting to eat his food. "Where is Valefar anyway?" asked Cresil.

"I think Poppa is in his room... but I'm not really sure." Mela said softly as she had some milk and started drinking it quietly.

"Prince V-Valefar said that he wanted to get some sleep...or at least try to..." he answered before going back to eating silently. He couldn't help but be nervous though, he told himself in his head that he was going to stay in his room most of the time...he didn't want to do or say anything that would upset anyone. "Sleeping...I see well that's good." answered Cresil before he began to eat quietly.

Mela looked at Nero a bit worriedly and curiously wondering what was wrong since she had never head him stutter like this.

Valefar slept for around three hours before waking up and stumbling into the dining room and looked around slightly confused before taking his seat and starting to eat. "Good morning." he said to everyone in general. Nero smiled softly and drank a bit of water. "Good morning prince...did you get some sleep?" he asked and was happy to see Valefar nod. "Good morning Valefar." chimed his mother while Cresil only nodded in greeting. While Valefar continued to eat, Nero took another drink of water before continuing to eat silently.

Five years had passed since Valefar had let Nero stay with them and three since Nero had vanished, during those three years Mela's eyesight never improved and she only got sadder and sadder as the months and years passed without Nero. During that time a war had also broken out between the demons and angels with some of the demon armies helping the some angelic areas so they wouldn't get hurt since they weren't involved. That's when things really changed for Mela. She had been out with some of her trusted guards one day when suddenly they had been killed and she had been taken by surprise. She was scared... she had no idea where she was or what was going on... all she knew was that there was something cold and metallic around her wrists and something rather heavy feeling on her neck, along with the ground being very cold under her.

(hope that's good)

"Hey! You're turn to guard the prisoner!" said one male to another. Nero nodded and went to take his post and guard Mela. After a while, the others left and he looked over at Mela and frowned. "Are you okay?" he whispered quietly, not sure if she'd recognize him. He hadn't really changed much, but he was slightly taller, he looked a bit older and his voice was just a tiny bit deeper but he was still the same Nero from before, still had the bar-code tattoo and all the piercings too.

Mela looked up weakly only to see a guard standing there but you could tell there was no recognition in her eyes... which looked almost completely shaded as if she were completely blind now. She just shook her head not realizing that it was Nero talking to her and thought it was just one of the guards stupid questions or games or whatever.

"I don't know why you're here...or how it is that you got here but we need to get you out." he whispered and went dead silent when another guard came over. "How's she behaving?" he asked. "Quiet like the stupid mouse she is." he answered and smirked. "I'm surprised she isn't crying like a baby and making a big scene about this." said the other to which Nero did all he could to control himself and nod. "I'm surprised too. It's better that she remains quiet though, is she acts up I know what I'm supposed to do." stated Nero. The other guard seemed satisfied with this and walked away. Once he was gone, Nero looked at Mela and frowned. "Oh Mela...you're in a tight mess this time. Getting you out isn't going to be easy at all..." he whispered sadly and shook his head.

"N..... Nero? I-is that you? Where have you been? Where did you go and why did you leave? Oh gosh..... I... I can't see you now... I couldn't even tell it was you...." Mela whispered once the other guard was gone and tears started to stream from her rather glazed looking eyes as she strained to try and see him better but just couldn't.

"Oh no...h-have you gone completely blind?" he whispered and nodded. "Yeah Mela it's me Nero. "Where did I go?" he repeated and thought back to where he went. "Well I left to visit a couple of friends...I'm sorry I left without warning. I only left, planning to back really soon but time went by so fast and when I returned, I saw there was a war...but I never thought that they'd capture you." he explained and sighed sadly. "I'm sorry Mela...this is all my fault. I said we'd never be apart again and I was the one that left." he whispered sadly. "Please don't cry...I'll have to hurt you if they see you crying." he warned softly.

"No... but very close..." Mela said quietly and tried to settle herself but it was hard... she was still very scared. "Nero... Please help me.... Mom and Dad are probably worried sick... and I'm scared... please..." she whispered feeling a lump in her throat as she just wanted to break down sobbing knowing that he was back... but also that he might not be able to help her. She already had marks on her soft skin from where a few of the other guards had smacked her or hit her to get her to be quiet when they first brought her in... she had just wanted them to leave her alone but now all she wanted was to feel Nero hugging her and know that it was really him and that he was really there for her.

Nero frowned and looked around before quietly unlocking the cell door and walking over to her. "Shh...please don't cry Mela. You're much too pretty to cry." he whispered and wrapped his arms around her gently while keeping an eye out for any guards that might be coming their way, but they were alone. "Mela, I promise that I will try to get you out of here safely, but I just need you do do whatever they tell you to do okay? If I yell at you it's because I don't want them to know that we know each other because then they'll keep me away from you, and...I-I don't think I can bare the though of being away from you again." he explained softly. Mela was right, her parents where probably very worried about their daughter and he had to help her escape.

Mela whimpered a bit before leaning into Nero and managing to get her arms around his shoulders some but they couldn't be moved too far. "Nero? When we get home... you... you won't leave again will you?... I've missed you... so much... I don't think I could stand it if you ever left again." she whimpered quietly in a whispered but was trying to keep from crying too much. She had never told him how she felt before... and she wasn't sure to now either... but she had figured it out herself... she loved him... and she never wanted to be away from him ever.

Nero frowned and held her closer to him, careful not to hurt her. Listening to her question, Nero smiled slightly and shrugged. "I don't know. I honestly don't plan on leaving...but things might come up where I'll have to go. I promise though, that unless it's absolutely necessary...I'll never leave your side Mela." he whispered and wiped away her tears before smiling. How am I supposed to tell her that I love her...I can't...she can do a lot better than me. he thought to himself sadly. "You don't need to worry Mela, just do as you're told and I'll think of a way to get you out of here." he assured and hesitantly pulled away before walking out of the cell and locking the door behind him. He dint' want to but he had to...he couldn't raise suspicion at all. Especially if he really planned on helping her out.

"Okay... so long as you don't leave me that long ever again... I think I might die of a broken heart if you do." Mela whispered softly then moved a bit and wished she could either lay down on at least stretch her wings... of course if she did she knew that if the guards saw her they would hurt her wings...

"I won't do that Mela, you have my word." he promised and grinned over at her. "You're probably tired...you should really get some sleep but I can't move your chains around for you to be more comfortable. I really wish I could." he explained quietly and frowned before looking around. Soon, his shift would be over and Mela would be all alone again and he didn't want that...he didn't want to be parted from Mela anymore.

Mela looked at Nero tiredly with a frown. "But... If I go to sleep... you'll be gone when i wake up." she whispered and you could tell she didn't want tobe away from him at all and the thought of him not being there when she woke up scared her.

"You need your rest, I'll be back tomorrow anyway for my shift so just behave like the good girl you are." he answered seriously as another guard came in to motion for him to follow. "Leave the prisoner alone, we need to get some sleep." ordered the other. Nodding, Nero glanced over at Mela but said nothing before walking over to the other guard and following him out of there.