Restless Night

"Judal..."
Judal turned away from the noise and continued to sleep soundly.
"Judal..." this time a bit louder.
"..." He snored.
"JUDAL!" Spira yelled, yanking his blanket off, causing Judal to roll to the ground with a Wham!.
"WHAAAT??!!!" He rubbed his arms, wincing from the rude awakening, "What do you want?"
"I can't sleep." Spira retorted.
Judal stared at her in utter disbelief. "That's it??? And you had to wake me up just because of that?!?!"
"Yeah, who else am I supposed to call on?"
Judal groaned with frustrated despair and pulled himself back on the bed, making sure his back was turned to the annoying little wretch. It wasn't his responsibility to spoil the midget of a queen, even if they had known each other ever since the peace with Al Sarmen.
Seeing no progress, Spira walked indignantly towards the bed. Her bare feet caught on the blanket she was holding and she tumbled face first on to the ground. Judal snickered. Angered, Spira dropped the blanket and pulled herself up, her shoulders crunched high. She marched to the nearest candle and struck up a flame with her index finger. However, she left her finger there too long and it singed, causing her to yelp in pain and stick the wounded finger in her mouth. As she sucked her dainty finger, light flooded the room and danced about her. It followed the brown tresses of her hair, cropped short from the war, and leaped to and fro from in the rich earth of her eyes. It caressed her barefooted, 13-years-old thin frame, adorned in a simple tan dress made of peasant spun flax, and last of all sparked flashes in the simple gold band that hugs her head.
Now that she could see her way, Spira walked speedily with her chin high in the air towards the bed and aimed a strong kick between Judal's legs. It made contact.
"WHAT IS UP WITH YOOOOOUU?!?! Can't you let me sleep?" Judal roared at her. Indifferent, Spira pulled the blanket from off of the ground and onto herself as she lie on the bed. Judal growled. Spira closed her eyes.
"Go back to your own room."
"No."
"Go back."
"No."
"I'm telling you to."
Spira turned on her side to face him, and her eyes sparked. "Who are you to tell me what to do?"
"I'm a magi."
"I'm a queen."
"How is that more important?!!"
"I'm a ruler, you're not."
"I'm older than you."
"I'm wiser."
"SINCE WHEN??!?!"
"I'm a guest."
"You're not mine, why do I care?"
"Because I'm not budging."
"Really..."
"Hey, what are you----" Before Spira could react, Judal grabbed her around her waist and carried her like he would carry a flour sack towards her room. Spira wailed and kicked her legs to no avail.
"Shut up! You're going to get me into trouble!"
"Like I care, put me down!"
Judal opened the door to her room. In one last act of desperation, Spira reached forward and yanked hard on his braid. That made him drop her.
"Are you satisfied now?", cried Judal,agasted, as he rubbed his head. Spira turned to him and stuck out her tongue. "Nope."
Judal threw up his arm and turned back in the direction of his room, but Spira quickly got hold of his braid. "Wait!"
"What?"
"Stay with me."
Judal lifted an eyebrow. Spira sighed and swallowed her pride. "I'm scared."
He pretended to ignore her and made to swat her hand away like it was an pestering fly until she continued, "Please?"
Judal looked at her for a moment. Spira looked lost and confused, like a puppy left out in the rain. Not to mention he still had that debt he owed to her predecessor. He sighed, "Fine."
Pulling his poor, abused hair out of her grasp, in case she was going to yank it again, Judal walked briskly toward her bed and jumped in it, lying wide across the whole mattress. Spira quickly got in and closed the door. She then followed suit and climbed onto the soft mattress, where Judal was already dozing off, and lie next to him. She pinched him. Judal jolted and narrowed his eyes. "Stop doing tha----" he spoke but was cut off by Spira throwing her arms around his neck. Confused, Judal made to throw them off when he noticed that she was shaking and trembling like a leaf in a storm. "What's wrong?" He aked, forcing his voice into an unusually soft tone.
"I'm so scared. Of the future. Of everything. The people are weeping, they're still mourning for the lives that were lost, the pain of destruction still hangs over up like a thundercloud. Aoi.... Onee-san, she was a perfect queen. How could I ever possibly measure up to that?"
Judal sighed heavily. So that was it. Not unusual for a kid that was just crowned a week ago. He had thought it was rather unusual for someone to be so calm when the country had just went through a war and she's only thirteen. What a burden to bear for a kid. He wrapped his long arms around her and held her close as she cried away all her troubles in waterfalls, and didn't let go even after he stopped hearing the sobs. Eventually, the regular sound of gentle breathing wafted up to his ears, and Judal knew that she had cried herself to sleep. He brushed his fingers gently through her hair, and kissed her on the top of her head. Untangling his arms, he was about to get up when a strong grip fastened on his braid and halted his progress. Again? He was about to slap her now. However, the peaceful look on her face and the tear tracks on her cheeks melted his irritation, and Judal took up his place again. It was fine. He stroked her head and and brought her close to his chest, so close that he could feel their hearts beat in union. Kouen is going to be angry tomorrow, but Judal didn't care. "It'll be alright," he whispered to the fragile little girl whose hands held fast onto his braid as if it was her lifeline," Everything is going to be alright."