"It's so nice to have a meal with just the two of us," Maxine commented as she sat at a table with Emily in one of the more fancy restaurants in the area. They had just finished eating and were relaxing before paying the bill.

"Yes, it is," Emily replied, "That Lucas is a bundle of energy. I'm surprised your home is in as good of condition as it is." And now you know why I don't wear dresses very often. Even with his special gloves and shoes, that little shit might accidentally shred them with his claws and it's far easier to replace a pair of denim jeans or a t-shirt than a nice dress. Still, I wonder if Emily likes the dark green dress that I'm wearing right now. She hasn't made a comment on it, so I can't be sure.

"You should've seen the damage he caused before daddy got him those gloves and shoes. He absolutely shredded everything underfoot," Maxine said honestly.

"You told me about that. I completely understand why it takes both you and Hellen to keep that little guy in line," Emily pointed out, "By the way, have you talk to Jason lately?"

"I haven't talked to him since I threw him out of the house," Maxine answered, "Why do you ask?"

"Just curious," Emily replied, but Maxine sense there was more to it than just her being curious.

"I'm not interested in him, Emily," Maxine said bluntly.

"Don't be so quick to say that. You never know what surprises life throws at you," Emily said while smiling knowingly, "Take me for example. I didn't even consider the possibility that I was bi until after you kissed me."

"And what a happy surprise that was for the both of us," Maxine said with a happy smile.

"That it was," Emily agreed. But at that point, Maxine spied a man and woman pair approaching them out of the corner of her eye. She spotted a small handheld camera in the man's right hand. It took them long enough to find out that I'm alive. I just wish that bitch had waited until after we left this place. The other four were polite enough to wait outside until we leave the restaurant.

"I'm sorry. It seems our date is going to get interrupted," Maxine apologized to Emily, "A pair of reporters are approaching us from behind you."

"Shit," Emily uncharacteristically cursed, "At least, they waited until after we finished eating."

"There is that," Maxine agreed just before the reporter and her cameraman arrived at their table.

"Are you Maxine Levings?" the reporter asked.

"That is my legal name," Maxine answered coldly, "And you are?"

"Oh, I'm Marisha Walters from channel 5 news," the reporter replied, "Can I ask you a few questions? It won't take much of your time."

"I would prefer it if you left us alone," Maxine answered in an even colder tone, but just as she finished speaking, the reporter pulled a microphone from her bag. I don't know what I was expecting. I know that someone like her wouldn't leave even if I told her to directly.

"Ms. Levings, where have you been the last few years since your supposed death?" Marisha Walters asked and practically shoved the microphone in Maxine's face.

"Not on Earth," Maxine answered. You interrupted my date with Emily and I'm sure as hell not going to make this a good interview.

"Can you give me any specifics?" Marisha Walters asked.

"No," Maxine answered simply and gave Marisha Walters an angry glare, "You get one more question."

Marisha Walters seemed to hesitate for a moment before she asked, "What are you feelings towards Ambassador Petre Andrevich now that it's been made public that he's responsible for your mother's kidnapping and subsequent injury?" I knew this question was coming, but it still pisses me off for someone to ask it.

"My feelings?" Maxine asked as she tried to contain her anger, but she still wasn't able to completely control herself as she snarled, "His men nearly killed my birth mother and you ask me how I feel about him?! Fine. If it will sate the curiosity of your viewers to insensitively poke at me, I'll tell you. I hate that man and if there is any justice in this world, he will pay for his crimes against everyone that he's hurt. Now, leave me alone!" She unleashed some dragon just as she finished speaking.

"Yes, of course," Marisha Walters said nervously and she quickly left the table. Maxine spied the manager of the restaurant approaching them and promptly pushed down her anger. Neither Emily or that manager deserved to experience her wrath.

"I think the manager is going to ask us to leave for making a scene," Maxine said to Emily.

"Can you blame them?" Emily asked, "You were practically yelling at that reporter, but I understand why you were. She's lucky that you didn't slap her."

"If I had, I might've taken her head off by mistake," Maxine said while pushing her anger at the reporter out of her mind, "It's hard to control my strength when I'm angry."

"Ladies, here is your bill," the manager said calmly, "And I apologize for the earlier disruption. Miss Walters has been warned in the past about bothering the other customers and has been banned from this establishment."

"Thank you," Maxine replied politely, "And please pass my compliments to the chef. Everything tasted heavenly."

"I will let him know," the manager said with a smile, "I hope you both enjoy the rest of your evening." After bowing his head slightly, he began walking back to the main counter.

"We can only try," Maxine replied to his back before focusing her gaze onto Emily, "I don't see much more point to stay here. Do you?"

"Not really. That reporter ruined it for me," Emily complained.

"My thoughts exactly," Maxine agreed as she stood up and grabbed the bill, "Let me take care of this. I'm the one that suggested we eat here anyways."

Once the bill was paid, Maxine met up with Emily at the entrance to the restaurant and saw the reporters moving towards them just as they were leaving the building. She already had enough of the invasive questioning from the one that ambushed her inside and unleashed her dragon fear towards them to relay to them that she didn't want to be interviewed. This halted their approach, but they didn't leave. Damn, I thought they would be more cowardly than that. Well, you can't be a reporter without having some some bravery.

"Since these guys are so resolute about following us around, how about we fly through the sky for a bit?" Maxine asked Emily.

"Great idea," Emily replied and she held Maxine's hand as both of them took flight. They flew above the city and admired the view of countless lights scattered across the ground from the night sky. However they kept below a certain altitude to avoid any planes or helicopters that might be in the air.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

"It's a great view," Maxine commented.

"It is, but I should really head back soon," Emily said, "Grandpa still gets worried if I stay out too late."

"Seriously?" Maxine asked incredulously, "Nothing short of a nuke going off in your face could kill you and the few cultivators that could hurt you wouldn't. They know better than to hurt the only divine attribute healer on the planet."

"I know that, but grandpa is just being overly cautious," Emily explained, "His explanation every time is that I lack the combat power to defend myself. He isn't wrong in that respect. If it wasn't for my powerful barriers, he could overpower me with his strength." Yeah, I'm still rather surprised he managed to become a peak iron stage cultivator. I was almost certain that bronze was his limit.

"We both know why you don't have much combat power," Maxine said knowingly.

"Yeah, I just can't bring myself to hurt anyone," Emily said, "I'm not like you or the others."

"And I wouldn't have you change for the world," Maxine told Emily.

"Thank you," Emily said softly, "Now, let's head back before grandpa gets too worried."

"Alright," Maxine said and the both of them flew towards Emily's house.

Once they landed, Emily gave Maxine a quick kiss and said, "Good night."

"Good night," Maxine said and watched Emily go into her home. She stood there for a moment and turned around.

Maxine was in a great mood, and she didn't want anything to spoil it. However, she needed to go check on Michelle Baker. It wouldn't surprise her if someone tried to go after her at this point. She had put a few of her shadow wolves into Michelle's shadow as a precautionary measure, but people could still threaten to kill her aunt to get her to back off. Hence, Maxine made it a point to check on them twice a week and talk to Michelle about how things were coming along.

When she arrived over the house that Michelle was staying at, she began scanning 5 miles in every direction for any thing out of place. Surprisingly, she only found a few cultivators from Amanda's guild keeping watch over her. Yeah, those guys will definitely keep anyone away and if someone is dumb enough to try something, those guys from Amanda's guild can probably handle it. Still, it's best that I check in with Michelle.

Maxine gently brushed against Michelle's mind a few times with her spiritual sense before she began talking to her, [Hey, Michelle. Any changes to report?]

[Just the same old crap. The russian diplomats are calling bullshit and threatening me and my aunt. Nothing has come of it, though,] Michelle answered, [Although recently, they've been getting more direct about what they will do if I don't back off.]

[Is that why you asked those young men to be your bodyguards?] Maxine asked as she sent mental images of the four burly men that were patrolling Michelle's neighborhood.

[Yes, it is,] Michelle replied, [But one of them keeps trying to talk to me, and seems more protective than the others.]

[That's probably because he's interested in you,] Maxine replied, [If you don't like it, just be blunt and tell him directly. Men can be rather dense at times and often don't pick up on subtle hints.]

[Thanks for the advice,] Michelle replied, [By the way, how much longer do you think it will take for them to punish Mr. Andrevich?]

[If they're going to do it, it will be within the next month or two,] Maxine answered, [But I think they will.]

[Let me guess,] Michelle said smugly, [It's because he failed to capture you and severely injured your mother in the process. And with both your real parents and the Kavros clan backing you, they will have no choice but to give him up to survive.]

[Correct, and Petre Andrevich knows it,] Maxine answered, [His current actions are doing nothing more than a form of stalling for time. He's probably trying to think of a way out of this mess, but its too bad for him that I don't even know how he save himself from prison. Thankfully, the Alliance is rather loose when it comes to enforcing their laws. Only places that are open to everyone are subjected to it and since Earth only has a few small spaceports, they won't try to enforce them here. They can be pretty nasty with their punishments. If you were to attack and kill a normal citizen, you would have to pay a massive fine based on your cultivation and get your dominant arm cut off in such a way that it can't be restored using conventional means.]

[Jesus. Does anyone actually break that rule?] Michelle asked.

[Yes, but it doesn't happen very often,] Maxine answered, [It's usually some arrogant young master or miss that thinks their above the law.]

[Just like Petre Andrevich,] Michelle said angrily.

[Indeed,] Maxine agreed, [Anyways, do you need anything while I'm here? I'm about to head back home.]

[No, I'm good,] Michelle replies, [Thanks for dropping by.]

[Don't mention it. See you later,] Maxine said and flew a short distance before touching down. She created an arch and walked through it to return home to Hellen and Lucas. It was already quite late when Maxine arrived and she saw Lucas struggling to stay awake as he watched cartoons while sitting in Hellen's lap.

"Welcome back, Maxine," Hellen said without turning, "Could you call Orianna? She tried to contact you earlier, but you didn't answer."

"Alright," Maxine said and pulled out her dimensional disk to call Orianna.

Orianna answered practically as soon as Maxine activated it, "Maxine! I'm so glad you called me back. I'm sorry to bother you about this. But could you open a portal back to Earth? Patrick's troupe wants to be back in time for Thanksgiving and you're practically the only one that can do it."

"Fine, so long as Jason doesn't try to kiss me again, I don't mind," Maxine replied, "But can I change first?"

"Sure, go ahead. It'll take them a few minutes to get assembled anyways," Orianna said, "And thank you for doing this!"

"You don't need to thank me for that, sis," Maxine said with a gentle smile. She's recovered faster than I did. Then again, she had a real good reason to.

"It doesn't matter if I need to thank you, or not. I will thank you anyways," Orianna said happily.

"Alright, alright. Enough of this mushy stuff. I'll open the arch in a few minutes," Maxine said just before she turned off her communication disk and went to her room to get out of the dress she was in.

"Orianna asked me to open up an arch on Earth for her. Could you watch Lucas for a little while longer?" Maxine asked as soon as she walked out of her room, but quickly realized she shouldn't have bothered. Lucas was already asleep and Hellen was in the process of carrying him to bed.

"Of course, I can," Hellen said in amusement, "Looking after him while he's asleep is far easier than when he's awake."

"Thanks, mom," Maxine said and created an arch to a large park in St. Louis, "I shouldn't be gone for more than a few minutes."

"Alright, take your time," Hellen said and carried the slumbering Lucas to his room.

Without any further ado, Maxine walked through the arch and changed the location of it's other entrance to the Stardust Academy. A few moments later, Patrick and the rest of his mercenaries walked through it.

"Thank you for this, Maxine," Patrick said gratefully.

"You're welcome," Maxine replied calmly. Unfortunately, when Jason Markham walked through the portal, her expression became cold. Patrick looked over his shoulder.

"Yeah, he's really regretting that move of his and as far as I'm concerned, he had it coming," Patrick said, "Still, try to see it from his perspective. It's obvious to anyone that he's got a thing for you and he was, until recently, under the impression that you had been kidnapped. To top it off, he thought you were being tortured to lure your father out. Can you really blame him for being a bit emotional when he saw you safe and sound?"

"Most people hug the person they were worried about and say something to express that," Maxine answered coldly, "And he should've understood that wouldn't have made me angry."

"He's also kind of dumb," Patrick said shamelessly, and the rest of his troupe nodded in agreement while Jason looked betrayed.

Maxine looked at Jason for a moment, before agreeing with him, "Yes, I agree with you there. He has to be fairly stupid to pull something like that."

"You guys are assholes," Jason growled as pushed his way towards Maxine. However, this time Maxine had her guard up.

"What is it?" Maxine asked after Jason stopped just out of arms reach.

"I'm not going to say sorry," Jason said and Maxine raised her eyebrow at him.

"Then, why are you here?" Maxine asked.

"I love you. That's why," Jason Markham said with a gentle smile on his face, but his confession hardly effected Maxine. She searched his eyes to look for any falsehoods, but couldn't find any.

"You're an idiot, if you think you have a chance being with me," Maxine told him harshly.

"If being in love with you means I'm an idiot, I don't want to be smart," Jason said with a straight face and Maxine heard a chorus of groans. That was such a cheesy line that even your team mates groaned in embarrassment. Doesn't he understand how bad it was? Clearly, he doesn't. I can deal with people trying to cut my head off. Or someone trying to kidnap me and cut off my fucking finger. I can even deal with a horny young master trying to get into my pants. But I can't deal with this level of stupid. Time to leave.

"I'm going back home," Maxine announced and without waiting for a response, she created an arch back home before walking through it. She walked right past Hellen, whom was watching TV, and went straight to her bedroom. She promptly got ready to go to sleep, but even after she laid down, she couldn't fall asleep. That damn asshole. His cheesy line is resounding over and over in my head. If his goal was for me to think about him, he's achieved it, but making me loose my sleep is a good way to piss me off. I'm going to have to punch him the next time I see him.