Part X: Love and Truth

"I won't lose this battle. If I lost it is my end. My children will laugh at me for being defeated by their mother." Sun thought to himself.

"I won't lose to him. If I lost my children will laugh at me because their father beat me in my own game." Flower thought to herself.

"Let's start the battle! Uhmm- Your Imperial Majesty, how many rounds is the battle?" The soldier asked.

"Make it ten!" They responded at the same time.

"S-sir Yes Sir! Well then, Ten rounds." The soldier announced and it gathered the attention of people passing by.

"No way. It attracted large group of people." Sun thought to himself as he sweats.

"Oh my. People are gathering around." Flower thought to herself as she blushed.

"Let's start. Who goes first?" The soldier asked.

"You go first!" They shouted at each other.

"Wh-why me?" Flower asked him.

"Ladies first." Sun replied and the crowd cheered him.

"Fine. Fine." Flower replied then she shot the first arrow.

"It was an 8!" The soldier shouted.

"My turn." Sun told her and shot an arrow.

"It was a 7!" The soldier shouted.

"What?!" Sun screams internally.

"Up next! Miss Flower." The soldier announced.

"I'm going in." Flower responded and shot an arrow.

"It was 6!" The soldier shouted.

"This is no good." Flower starts to panic inside.

"It is your turn, Your Imperial Majesty." The soldier told him.

"Here I go." Sun replied and shot an arrow.

"It was a perfect 10!" The soldier shouted.

"Yes!" Sun said to himself and he smiled.

"The score is 14 vs 16. In favor to our Imperial Majesty. Your turn, Miss Flower." The soldier told her.

"Here I go." Flower responded as she shot an arrow

"It was 4! Your Imperial Majesty, it is your turn." The soldier shouted and the crowd was serious.

"Fire!" He replied and shot an arrow.

"It was another perfect 10!" The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered.

"I won again!" Sun fired up his fighting spirit.

"The score is 18 vs 26. Still in favor of Our Imperial Majesty. Ms. Flower, it is your turn." The soldier shouted.

"Firing!" She replied and launched her arrow.

"It was a perfect 10!" The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered.

"I did it." She said to herself as she let out a smirk.

"H-how! I won't lose!" Sun told to himself and he fired up his fighting spirit.

"Your Imperial Majesty, it is your turn!" The soldier said.

"My turn." Sun responded as he released his arrow.

"It was another perfect 10 by our Imperial Majesty!" The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered.

"Yippee! I may survive this day!" Sun told himself.

"The score is 28-36. Still in favor of our Imperial Majesty. Miss Flower, it is your turn." The soldier shouted as he looked at the crowd.

"Okay! It is my turn." Flower responded and shot another arrow.

"Another perfect 10!" The soldier shouted.

"How about that!" Flower told herself.

"It is your turn now, Your Imperial Majesty.

"Firing!" Sun replied and released his arrow.

"It was a 9!" The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered.

"Relatively good." Sun told himself as he let out a sigh of relief.

"It seems you are pretty tense, Your Imperial Majesty." Flower teased him as she heard his sigh.

"M-me? T-tense? No no. I am not tense." He replied and laughed.

"The score is 38 vs 45. It is your turn, Miss Flower." The soldier said and she pulled an arrow from the box.

"I must make this a 10!" Flower told to herself as she pulled and released the bowstring.

"It was another perfect 10!" The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered loudly.

"Yes. I got it." Flower told herself.

"Your Imperial Majesty, It's your turn." The soldier told him and he pulled out an arrow.

"My turn!" Sun responded and shot an arrow.

"It was an 8!" The soldier shouted and the crowd were serious.

"This is not good!" Sun panicked internally.

"Don't get too fired up. This only a friendly match." Flower told him as he saw him brooding over his score.

"I-I am not fired up. Don't get to overconfident, eh." Sun replied as he gave out a forced smile.

"Yeah yeah. I know." Flower responded with a poker face.

"Last 4 rounds! Our score is 48 vs 53. Miss Flower, please do the honors of starting the round." The soldier announced and the crowd went silent.

"All right!" She replied and shot an arrow.

"Another perfect 10!" The soldier announced and the crowd went wild.

"W-what?! I will lose at this rate!" Sun told himself as he grinned.

"Y-y-your Imperial Majesty, I-it’s your turn." The soldier stuttered as he saw him all fired up.

"Arrow away!" Sun replied as he released the arrow.

"It is a 2!" The soldier announced and Sun was horrified of what he heard.

"What am I doing?!" Sun asked himself as he continued to grin.

"Our score is 58 vs 55. The battle is too fired up. Miss Flower please pave the way for the next round."

"Yes, Mister soldier." Flower said happily as she released the arrow.

"It was a 5!" The soldier shouted and the crowd went wilder.

"I am on the losing end. What have I done?!" Sun asked himself as he stared at the target.

"Your Imperial Majesty, it is your turn now." The soldier told him.

"Fire at will." Sun said as he released his arrow.

"It was a 3!" The soldier announced and the crowd went silent.

"Ara ara. I am about to win over Sun." Flower told herself as she smiled.

"Don't celebrate too early. We are not finish yet." Sun told her as he saw her smile.

"I am not celebrating yet." Flower replied with a smile as he saw Sun's frown.

"Our score is 62 vs 58. Two rounds left! Miss Flower please do the opening of the round." The soldier shouted and the crowd cheered on Sun and Flower.

"Sure." Flower replied as she pulled the bowstring and released it.

"It was a 3!" The soldier shouted and the crowd went wild.

"Tsk. I have the advantage now." Sun said to himself and smiled.

"It is your turn now, Your Imperial Majesty." The soldier replied.

"My turn now." Sun replied as he pulled the string and released it.

"It is a 6!" The soldier shouted as the crowd went wild cheering for Sun.

"No way! If this continues I will lose." Flower screamed internally.

"Our score is 65 vs 64. The battle is too close. For our final round. We will let the two contestants to shoot the arrow both at once!" The soldier announced and the crowd went wild in excitement.

"Both at once?" Sun and Flower was shocked internally.

"Let's start!" The soldier shouted

"3... 2... 1... Go!" The soldier counted and the crowd followed.

"Our Imperial Majesty, scored 5! Miss Flower scored 4!" The soldier announced and the crowd went wilder.

"It's my win!" Sun shouted internally and gave out a smile.

"Oh no. What a loss." Flower said to herself as she gloomed.

"Now for the scores! The score of the match is..." The soldier shouted.

"Isssssssss?" The crowd asked.

"The scores are 69 vs 69!" The soldier shouted.

"It's" Sun said surprise.

"A" Flower said in shock.

"Tie!" The crowd shouted.

"Yes folks! It is a tie! The battle is a tie!" The soldier shouted as the crowd was silent on shock.

"What is the commotion here?" Sunset asked them.

"Uh-uhm. Your Imperial Majesty..." The soldier was about to explain when he was interrupted by Sun.

"We were just having a friendly competition, mother." Sun replied straightly.

"What is the crowd doing here in the middle of the day? Everyone we have a lot of work to do. Let's get moving people." Sunset asked him and told everyone.

"Let them be, Mother. Sometimes they need entertainment you know." Sun replied casually.

"Entertainment? Son, you are a leader not an entertainer." She responded with sarcasm.

"Mother, I am a person not a machine. Don't tell me what to do like what you did to the little kid back then." He responded with irritation and the crowd of workers went back to their duties.

"Don't kill him little kid! He is your brother!" She shouted at him.

"I never didn't want a brother. What did he lead us to? He always brings you agony. He brings us agony! I will never have a brother like him." Sun replied and Sunset slapped him.

"How dare you speak ill will of your brother! You will never know how to love other people if you don't know how to love your own family!" She shouted at him.

"You are still defending him?! All he did was to create destruction in our household!" He replied angrily.

"Shame on you for not loving your own family!" Sunset shouted at him.

"Where is the kid you are defending?! Did they find him? No. Because he went away without thinking of what he will left and yet you are here, Mother, still brooding over his loss. You know I will never want to have a brother." He replied and she slapped him again.

"I am telling you, you will experience how you treated me when you have your children!" Sunset shouted at him and left.

Sun let out a sigh while Flower patted his back.

"Uh-uhm. Your Imperial Majesty, please excuse me." The soldier said as he went down the observing platform.

"Sure. Thank you for your help, kind sir." Sun replied as the soldier went on front of him.

"Welcome, Your Imperial Majesty. It is an honor serving you." The soldier replied, bowed and went away.

"Everything will be fine. Just talk to your mother and you will understand each other." Flower told him as she continued to pat his back.

"It is no use. He only loves that little kid. Look at how did things went. Father died in years of conquest because he is searching for that little kid. When my father died, mother brooded over his death and I was left alone to stay still. It was hard for me of losing father but I need to be strong like my father did when he was alive. My mother still hopes for that little kid to return." He burst out unconsciously and broke in to tears.

"It is fine. We are humans. We have our own breaking point." Flower replied as she hugged him.

"When mother is around nothing will be alright. It is good for us to have a distance between each other." He told her as he wiped his and hugged her back.

"Don't say that. Be happy that your mother is still here for you." She replied as she hugged him tighter.

"She was never there for me. All she loves is that little kid." He replied as he hugged her tighter.

"Your Imperial Majesty! Your Imperial Majesty! Master Fossil is here!" The soldier shouted as he ran inside the range and saw the two hugging each other.

"Fine. I will go." Sun replied as he rested his chin on her shoulder.

"Y-yes, Your Imperial Majesty. I-I am sorry to disturb you." The soldier replied and went away.

"If you feel alone, always think that I am here for you." Flower told him as they continued to hug each other.

"Thank you for being here by my side again. I wondered where you are in the past years. But it doesn't matter, you are here now." He replied.

"I will not leave you again." Flower told him.

"So, do I." He replied as he hugged her tighter.

"Well then, let's resume to your duties. Go get 'em tiger." Flower told him.

"Let's go." Sun replied.

"I love you." Flower whispered in his ear and ran away happily.

"Come back here. The palace is this way." Sun shouted as he smiled and chased her.