Aftermath

Van Fanel was tired. His entire body ached from working amongst the still ruined areas of Fanelia, carrying and moving brick, mortar and wood as he joined in on the reconstruction work, as he had been doing every day since his people, or the survivors of his people, had slowly began to wander back to their home.

The first year had been the hardest.

The survivors had to struggle with the task of reconstructing a nation, albeit a small one, with little to no funds, most of the Fanelian treasury having been burned in the fire, and most of their crops, or those they could afford to trade, being carefully measured down into what could be traded and what would feed the people. There was also the problem of protection. While some of the guardsmen had survived the Dragonslayer attack during Van's coronation ceremony, many guymelefs, swords, armor and other equipment did not. Wolves and land dragons had infested and thrived in the Fanelian countryside and ruins while the city was abandoned and roving bands of mercenaries or bandits, or, more sadly, desperate people who had been displaced by the war, had been a nuisance and more often than not, violence followed and even more were lost. The survivors were in a horrible situation, and every night Van and his advisors, some old and some new, would meet and decide between 'eating tomorrow and dying in the cold or being pillaged', 'starving and dying in the cold, but being protected, or 'starving and defenseless, but with adequate shelter.' Needless to say, many did not survive, and many, disillusioned with the war that was still ravaging Gaea, for the Zaibach Empire didn't immediately disappear with the death of Dornkirk, had left.

They either died, or they left.

But the end result was the same, less people to help those who stayed and still lived, breathed, and loved. Those that stayed, Van thought, were strong. They didn't give up on each other, they wanted to see their homes restored, and they wanted to live in peace. They had each other, they had their king, and they had friends. Milerna successfully talked her father into sending aid to Fanelia; relief workers, food, materials, and even some soldiers for protection, of which Allen and the crew of the Crusade had gladly volunteered. The Dukedom of Freid had also sent aid, though King Chid admitted in a private letter, not as much as he had hoped, and Dryden, to the surprise and despair of his father and financial advisors, had dug into his private funds and sent a small fortunes worth of gold, jewelry and other valuables that would boost Fanelia's own treasury or be used in trade and commerce.

Fanelia is growing again and I owe it all to my friends.

Van stretched his body and yawned, his body still tired and yearning for sleep. He wandered into his room, once his parent's room, and sat at his desk. There, arranged in a neat pile, was a stack of papers. Requests for supplies needed, forms tallying the expenditures for the day, week, and month. Small contract writs with small construction companies operated from Asturia, and so on. Van sighed deeply, The paperwork is worse than the actual labor.

He began sorting through them, stamping some of them with the royal seal, or reading them over. Some, the ones he dreaded the most, required him to do some mathematics, something which, he admitted embarrassedly, was something he was ill-prepared to do. "I should hire some scholars…" he said to no one but himself, before opening a desk drawer in hopes of finding some paper and quills to work out some solutions.

Instead he found, shiningly softly in the pale moonlight, the pendant that Hitomi had left with him.*

"Hitomi."

He reached in and pulled it out, looking at the pendant with soft eyes, holding it as if it was the most delicate thing in the world. Slowly he held it up and swung it gently, his eyes following side to side as it yet again kept perfect time…**

It was only after a few seconds that he realized he was holding it up against the Mystic Moon, and that it was once again shining brightly.

His heart leaped immediately, a small idea forming at the back of his head that this would signal her return. They would be reunited and the-

-!

A small sound from outside his window caught his attention, and he slowly stood up, his ears listening intently for any further sounds. His free hand was slowly reaching for the sword at his side, while the other closed itself firmly over Hitomi's pendant. He continued to stare out the window when suddenly a small sweet bread fell past it.

Van stood deathly still as his mind processed A sweet bread fell past my window.

Then, sure of the cause of such an odd event, he asked, "Merle?"

"Mmmrh Mmph!"

Van sighed yet again, easing his stand and letting go of his blade. "What are you doing out there Merle?"

Suddenly his childhood friend dropped from her perch on the roof and unto his windowsill, which was dangerously close to his balcony which he suspected wasn't entirely stable, since he had ordered the repairs to the castle being regulated to a secondary concern.

Merle, still sitting on the windowsill, looked down, watching as the previous sweet bread bounced off of the balcony and continued falling down, crumbling little by little as it did so. Its descent finally halted by a convenient crack in one of the rooftops, getting lodged in place.

"Rmh mmh. Rmmhp mh-"

She stopped when she saw Van couldn't understand a word of it. "Merle, why don't you take that bread out of your mouth?"

Oh that's right! I brought two breads!

She flashed him a cheeky grin, taking the bread she was biting on to and handing it to him, "Here Lord Van, I got you some sweet bread from one of the merchants that passed by today! You deserve it." Van smiled, taking the bread from her hands, then looking back up at her and asking "But, was that other bread, the one that fell, for you?" "Well, yeah, but I stumbled on some of the rooftops and it fell… but don't worry Lord Van, you need it more than I do."

Van slightly shook his head, laughing on the inside, "Here Merle, we'll share." And with that, he sat on his bed, and parted the bread in two, handing her the part that was already in her mouth, and biting into his own piece. Sitting down next to him they began eating their bread in silence, simply enjoying each other's company. She looked over at him, and saw that even thought he was up late and eating with her, he could have just as easily said 'I'm sorry Merle, but I'm tired. I want to go to sleep.' or 'Merle, not today, I want to have some time alone.' He could have easily said anything like that, and he could have easily, and rightfully, kept the bread to himself, he shared, and was kind.

You've always been kind to me Lord Van.

Her heart fluttered, and forgetting that it was improper to be in his room this late at night, she curled up at his side, making small idle chatter with him. It was then that she noticed something in his hand.

"Lord Van."

"Yes Merle?"

"What's that in your hand? Can I see it?"

Looking back at his hand, Van slowly and reluctantly uncurled his fingers from the necklace, letting the moonlight shine on it once again. Merle looked at the pendant, and then at his eyes. Her heart, which was happily bounding inside her just a few seconds ago calmed down, sadness slowing its pace.

"You miss her, don't you Lord Van?" You love her don't you?

…

He didn't respond. Putting her hand over his, she whispered, "I miss her too. Nearly a year and a half is a long time to be away from someone you care for."

*I'm pretty sure Hitomi left that pendant with Van, even with a nagging feeling at the back of my mind telling me I might be wrong.

** ... and blatantly laughing in the face of physics. That necklace shouldn't be able to keep time like that, it's impossible. Sure maybe on Gaea it has special 'magic' powers, but on Earth it was laughing its ass off as such irrelevant concepts such as 'gravity', 'energy loss due to friction' 'damping forces' and 'impossible!' silently wept in a corner and dug their own graves.