Digimon Fan Fiction ❯ Captive Complications ❯ All Dressed Up ( Chapter 2 )

A/N: Big thanks to everyone who took the time to review! As promised, here's the next part. Unfortunately, I don't know when the next bit will be posted. -_-;;

2. All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Prince Taichi. A dress. Not Hikari. Prince Taichi. A dress.

Unable to think in concepts greater than two words, King Yamato finally found his tongue. "GUARDS!!"

Uniformed men immediately poured into the room and easily overwhelmed the prince, who was too busy nursing a cracked skull to pay them any mind. In a matter of moments, they had Prince Taichi on his feet and trussed up rather strongly with a great deal of rope.

Yamato gave a hard look at his Master of the Guard. "You knew about this," he said, waving at the pink-garbed prince.

The man blanched. "Not exactly, King Yamato. We were sure that it was Princess Hikari's window, it was dark, and the men did clearly make out the silhouette of a dress. But the attack was too swift to be sure of our target. We thought that the Princess was a bit heavy and that her grunts were rather deep, but if we had not moved quickly, we would have been discovered and killed."

Momentarily, Yamato was annoyed that his Master of the Guard had always been an extremely loyal and competent subject. The fact made it such that he could not punish the man too severely, as Yamato still relied on him heavily in many areas. He raked his hand through his blonde locks and began pacing. "Was the ransom note left?" he asked, dreading the response.

"Yes, your highness."

"And was Princess Hikari specifically named in that note?" When the resulting answer was indeed given as an affirmative, he sighed, then quit his pacing. "Make sure that he is securely tied, then leave us. I'll just have to think of something else."

Once the room was empty of distractions, Yamato noticed that Taichi was surprisingly remaining silent. He allowed himself to look a bit closer, now that the brunette was effectively prevented from causing him harm, and he determined that, yes, Prince Taichi was indeed wearing what could only be termed as a ballgown... in a shade of pink that was highly flattering, in Yamato's opinion. Judging from the way the gown fit his curves (or lack-thereof) it was unlikely that the garment belonged to the Princess. He took a step closer to the unhappy-looking brunette. A very large bump was forming on the man's forehead.

"Does it hurt?" he questioned sympathetically.

Taichi scowled at him. "What do you think?"

Feeling rather miffed that his concern was rewarded with a snotty attitude, Yamato shot back, "Well, what were you doing in a dress in Hikari's room anyway?"

Taichi flushed, the action giving the king welcome proof that Yamato's plan had not been discovered ahead of time and that Taichi had not intended to act as a decoy. "It's none of your business," he muttered, looking away.

The lack of malice behind the words caught Yamato's attention. "You're not angry with me? A minute ago you wanted to kill me."

Taichi looked surprised briefly, then sneered. "I just don't want to get the dress dirty with your foul blood. Besides," he added, staring into Yamato's eyes, his expression becoming more soft and natural. "We both know that you wouldn't have harmed her. You're not the type."

Not 'the type'? What was that supposed to mean? Yamato wondered. Surely Taichi wasn't commenting on Yamato's sexual preferences. His advisors all agreed that he'd kept them well hidden. Taichi had to be remarking on Yamato's appeared ability to carry through with a task. Yes, that was it. Taichi was attacking his capability as a commander. That was all.

As much as it hurt Yamato's pride in being a strong ruler, he had to admit that Taichi was right. He would not have harmed the Princess. The kidnapings had been mostly a ploy for increased land -- one piece of land in particular -- one that would ensure his happiness. And if Hikari's father preferred losing his daughter over losing his land, Yamato would have offered the princess to Takeru, since the boy knew and fancied her.

Kidnapings the heir to the throne was a very different matter from kidnapings a princess. The latter happened all of the time. The former was an act of war.

"So what do I do with you now?" he asked, neither contesting nor affirming Taichi's statement.

"The obvious and intelligent course of action would be to let me go," the brunette said.

Yet Yamato, now that the death-threat portion of the evening was over, was rather enjoying Taichi's company. It would be much more interesting to keep his accidental captive. And who knew? Maybe Yamato would get his important piece of land and just maybe he would finally find his happiness like the mysterious robed figure had promised. One thing he did know for certain was that he wanted to spend some more time with the prince.

Yamato shook his head. "Sorry," he answered the other man. "I can't let you go. It's too dangerous."

Taichi snorted. "It's more dangerous for you to keep the heir to the throne here against his will. The royals always suspected that you were lacking in the brain's department. Now I have proof."

"I'm thinking more than you are! I didn't mean dangerous for me," Yamato laughed, the sound rolling out easily. Taichi was just too much fun to tease! "No offense," he explained to the cutely confused and irritated prince, "But you wouldn't last one minute outside this room in that dress."

Taichi's jaw dropped and a muscle beneath his left eye began to twitch.

Careless of the doom that was being promised in the man's brown eyes, Yamato continued, "The pink does look pretty on you but in order to be taken seriously as an escaping prisoner, you'd need... Hmmm..." He dramatically paused to think. "Maybe... maybe... a gown in a light shade of blue, perhaps?"

With a cry of outrage, Taichi ran at Yamato and bent his head for a breath-stealing blow to the king's belly. The impact caught Yamato off-guard and the two tumbled to the ground, Taichi landing firmly on top of the blonde's outstretched body.

TBC...