Return of the King! Let's see how Lance makes it up to his dear wife! As always, please leave a review for me! I get all teary eyed whenever I get a new one.

Lance stormed through the doors to his throne room, eyes fixated on the woman lounging on his throne. She tipped her wine glass towards the sky, draining the rest of the Fuchsian red in a single sip. Her brilliant emerald green dress shone in the light of the torches, contrasting violently with the armour that Lance had last seen her in. Lance stopped at the bottom of the staircase in front of the throne, kneeling before his Queen. "Mira, " he said quietly, voice barely audible over the crackling of the dragonfire torches. "I've been a damn fool."

She looked down at him, brushing her dark brown hair from her face as her brow furrowed at her husband. "That you have been." She stood up, looking down at the most powerful man in the region reduced to kneeling for her love. She stormed down the stairs past him, not even bothering to spare him a glance. She pushed open the doors to the balcony overlooking Blackthorn and stepped out into the morning sun. "I was to be at your side, share in the glory of battle with you."

Lance appeared at the doorway, his sullen look out of place with his usual brash demeanour. "It was for your safety. I could not bear the thought of any danger coming to you."

"Is that why you wasted your time butchering the Oak family?" Mira spat. She stared off at the cliffs that surrounded the city, eyes falling on the massive dragonite perched above the city. "Your anger has made you cruel and reckless. Your actions have ignited yet another war. One that I fear will cost Johto dearly."

Lance stiffened his posture, and his sullen expression morphed into a disapproving scowl. "You have never questioned my methods before. Where were these morals when we burned Olivine to the ground? When we lay the sword to the rebellion, side by side."

"And then, " Mira continued, ignoring his question.. "You fly off after your victory to indulge in more pointless bloodshed, rather than return to your beloved wife and Queen."

"I took the initiative and made the first-"

"You turned Viridian into a smouldering ruin!" she shouted, cutting him off. "You ensured that Kanto will never submit peacefully. They will fight us for every single mile of land. Every single fortress will fight to the last man because you have shown no quarter."

Lance stepped out onto the balcony with her, looking at her wistfully. "Perhaps I have acted rashly. But is that not preferable? Kanto is divided amongst petty kings and false monarchs. We can bring them together under us if we crush them into obedience." He paused, then held out his hand to her. "I was wrong to force you here. However, please understand that I only did so because of my love for you. With Koda and Firenze gone, you have no protection."

Mira's expression fell, Lance's words confirming her suspicions. "Firenze didn't make it?" she asked. Lance pulled her into a hug, holding her up as she mourned both her pokemon. She pulled away, head bowed and eyes locked on the floor."I wish to be alone."

Lance allowed her to step away, arms falling to his sides. "As you wish, My Queen."

She turned away, making for the doors of the throne room. She slammed them behind her, leaving Lance alone in the empty hall.

"With all due respect, what would you want a hatchling for?" Clair looked at her cousin with a curious smile, sweat streaking down her face. She shook out her icy blue hair, letting her ponytail down. "I have many fully grown dragons that are of much greater use to you. You should not worry yourself with raising a hatchling, especially now."

Lance sighed, adjusting his cape to avoid the river of lava that Clair had insisted they speak beside. The hatchery was located inside the mountains that Blackthorn was perched upon. Rivers of molten rock ran through the dragon den, pools of superheated magma heating clusters of eggs that sat perched on the rocky crags above them. "It is not for me, " he said plainly. "The Queen has need of a new pokemon."

Clair frowned, having expected this since she watched the Queen's pokemon fall to that wicked gengar. "She does not have the blood for it. It would tear her apart."

Lance shot her a scowl. "She is far too talented a trainer to allow that."

"I will not kill her by giving her a true dragon, " Clair said forcefully. Her status as Keeper let her trump Lance, at least in this one thing. "Give her a charizard if you wish to give her a dragon. The firedrake is the closest thing she could ever hope to train."

"I will train the dragon, " Lance replied. "Train it to listen to her commands as it would my own."

Clair stood in silence, studying Lance's expression. She turned towards the river of lava and held out an arm. "Nahanei, come." One of the dragonair that tended to the hatchery uncoiled from her place on the cave wall. She slipped down the craggy stone wall, landing beside the two dragon tamers. "The King requires a hatchling of the highest quality. One of the matriarch's prized offspring." Clair's dragonair nodded, lifting her head up to an alcove in the cave wall. A dratini coiled itself around the dragonair's neck, allowing her to ferry the hatchling to the ground.

Lance knelt before the hatchling as it sized him up. The dratini's inky black eyes met his and blinked once. Lance blinked back at the hatchling. The dratini slithered closer to him and pressed itself into his hand. "He will do perfectly, " he said, looking up at Clair. He stood, turning to look at Clair's dragonair. "Thank you, Nahanei. I am in your debt."

The dragon nodded and slithered back to her place above the pool of lava. Clair looked back at her cousin and smirked. "She's getting close to moulting for the last time. She'll be a dragonite soon."

"Your first, " Lance remarked. "You've trained her exceptionally well. She will make a magnificent dragonite."

Clair nodded and laughed. "She will make you wish you'd never pledged a debt to her." She looked up at her dragon fondly. "She can be a nasty bugger sometimes."

"Thank you, Keeper." Lance turned to walk away, the dratini curled around his forearm.

Clair stiffened her back and nodded. "It was my pleasure, Your Grace."

Lance stiffened his back, raising his arm. The dratini slithered towards his shoulder, looking curiously at the wooden door in front of him. Lance knocked on the door three times, hoping desperately that it would open for him.

The door swung open angrily, revealing the furious Queen. "What are you doing here?" she asked coldly. "I thought I said that I wish to be-"

"Alone, " Lance said. "I know." He stepped into the room, closing the door quietly behind him. He knelt, holding his hand out to the floor. The hatchling slithered down his arm, dropping onto the floor in front of Mira. "I didn't think that you really wanted to be alone."

Mira looked down at the dratini with puffy, red eyes. She narrowed her eyes and looked up at Lance. "I don't have the blood, " she said quietly. "Clair said that it would kill me."

"He is bonded to me, " Lance said. "His will is that of my own. Since I will never bring you harm, neither will he."

She frowned. "So I am to be just a trophy to you?" She shook her head and looked away from the dratini. "I will train my own pokemon. You will seldom have time to train him with me if you're off waging war."

"What if I stayed?" Lance asked. "What if I didn't go off to lead the army into battle?"

Mira smiled despite the pounding headache that she had given herself. "You would trade the lives of Johtan soldiers for a chance at redemption in my eyes?"

He nodded. "I would trade a great deal for your happiness, My Queen." He looked down at the dragon, smiling expectantly. "What would you like to name him?"

She knelt in front of the dratini, peering into its inky black eyes with her own brown eyes. "Vàli." She held out her hand to the dragon hatchling, letting its forked tongue taste her fingers.

Lance smiled and turned towards the door. He lifted a leather sack off his belt and dropped it to the floor. "He's probably hungry, " Lance said.

Mira reached for the leather sack without a word. She pulled it open, pulling out one of the strips of meat within. "Does their food need to be cooked?" she asked quietly.

The dratini launched, sinking his fangs into the strip of meat and tearing it from Mira's hand. The little dragon spat a jet of flames at the strip of meat, searing the flesh before choking it down.

"No, " Lance said with a laugh. He turned towards the door, leaving Mira to play with the curious little dragon. "I am sorry, My Queen. I will be in my chambers if you wish to speak with me."

She nodded, not bothering to look up from the hatchling. She pulled another strip of meat from the leather sack, happily feeding Vàli as Lance shut the door to her chambers behind him.