Chapter 3

The infirmary

"Your majesty, go rest. You've been here for hours. Sitting here won't wake her up. Her concussion wasn't very serious." Verin looked over Von's tired, worried face and didn't fail to notice how the young man held the young seer's hand as she lay unconscious in the hospital bed, as if the woman was on her deathbed. "I'm not tired Verin. Leave me."

Verin and the elderly doctor tending Hitomi exchanged a look. Then the young general shrugged. "As you wish, sire." He sighed as he left the room, knowing that the lady Hitomi's unannounced arrival at court would cause more trouble than he cared for, what between those that wished the king to wed the lady Mara, whose father was the country's richest merchant whose connections alone would help Fanalia prosper greatly, who would see lady Hitomi's coming as a threat to their plans should the king marry her instead, as well as the fact that the king would be tired and possibly distracted in the morning's council meeting. Admittedly, Verin didn't know the extent of lord Von and lady Hitomi's relationship. He had yet to see her feelings -or lack thereof- for the young king. But it was, and always had been, clear –at least to him- that Von was in love with this girl. He barely spoke of her, but he was forever casting not-so-secret secret wistful glances up at the sky, particularly when the Mystic Moon was in sight. Everyone knew of the girl from the Mystic Moon. Fortunately, Verin suspected many around him in court did not make the connection or even notice these moments. And to top it all off, while many viewed the woman as a hero and legend of the last Gaean war, some superstitious types viewed her coming as a bad omen, all because she first arrived soon before Zaibach had invaded and destroyed their country. And he knew that those lords that viewed her positively would see the king and her potential union as a way that anyone with its eye on sinking its teeth into their smaller kingdom would back off. No one knew the extent of her powers, and there were many rumors and hearsay about that, and of her deeds in the war. He sensed there would be a lot of juggling and soothing ruffled feathers in the days ahead.

Von watched Hitomi intently, willing her to wake up. His chief doctor had said she seemed to have a mild concussion, so the young king didn't understand why it had been many long hours and she was still unconscious if it was as unserious as he had claimed. At least she was breathing, he supposed.

Von wondered at her arriving the very moment he thought of her on the beach. Why had she returned, then especially? Had she come to see him, or for some unknown reason? Perhaps she had a vision, or Gaea called her back somehow. She hoped it was for him, but he didn't know what she was thinking. They had seen each other since she had left Gaea, but only twice, briefly. He didn't know why it happened so infrequently and why his thoughts hadn't seemed to reach her. He had wondered whether she had been too busy or their connection wasn't connecting for some unknown reason, or if she hadn't wanted to see him.

Sometime later Von woke up, disoriented. He felt something moving in his hand, and it took him a minute to realize it was Hitomi's fingers. Suddenly alert, he looked at her face. Her eyes were shut, but they were moving under the lids. "Hitomi?" Her eyes flew open. Von? She took in his worried face hovering close to her. She reached out and touched his face. Was this all just a dream? Von blushed. "It is you." She smiled. The young man nodded. She noticed how close he was. Close enough…to kiss. It was Hitomi's turn to blush. She sat up abruptly and winced at the sudden pain in her head. "Careful. You must have hit your head when you arrived." "Are we in Fanalia?" "Yes; in the medical wing of the palace. You've been unconscious for hours after appearing on the beach I was sitting at last night. I brought you straight here." "Oh." She touched her fingers gingerly to her head and felt some gauze-like material.

She looked the young monarch over. The Von before her was visibly older than his fifteen year counterpart. He seemed taller, though it was hard to tell without seeing him stand. His face was a bit more angular than it used to be, but less sharp than his father's or brother's had been, and still softer like his mother's. He was also less skinny than he had been and a bit more built up with muscle.

She must have stared too long. "What's wrong?" "N..nothing." She muttered, blushing slightly. "You look tired." She told him. Von shrugged in response.

Von finally couldn't take the tension of not knowing anymore. "How long are you planning on staying?" It was Hitomi's turn to shrug. "I didn't have a plan." Von got impatient with this, but tried not to show it. He got up and Hitomi thought he was going to leave, but he turned around abruptly. He started pacing a bit. "Why did you return Hitomi?" "Do I need a reason?" The young man made an exasperated noise and sat down next to her so fast, she nearly jumped back, startled. "Just tell me." He demanded. "I…missed you…" The words tumbled out of her in the shock at his agitation. "But… you haven't tried contacting me in a long time. Whenever I tried, it didn't work." Hitomi looked at her lap. "I…" She hadn't imagined he'd ask her these questions so soon after she arrived. She knew he would likely ask, but she thought she would have time to prepare herself to answer. She was far from ready, but his eyes said he wouldn't let it go without an answer. She shut hey eyes. "I couldn't." "Why not?" Von waited tautly as his heart sunk, expecting the worst despite her claiming she missed him. Her actions had said the opposite. She shook her head and opened her eyes to look at him briefly, but then looked away, unable to look him in the eye. "Why not?" His words were even more tense, its tone slowly forcing her to look into his sloe eyes. She kissed him.

Von froze. Something wet hit his cheek. He pulled away. She was crying. He was too stunned to speak. "It was too hard! I couldn't! I missed you too much. I just couldn't." She clutched his shirt as she leaned into his shoulder.

Eventually he unfroze and awkwardly put an arm around her. "You did?" He felt her nod into his shoulder. He slowly smiled as he realized what she was saying. "Hitomi?" When she looked up at him, he kissed her with all the intensity and happiness that he was feeling. "I missed you too." He told her, his forehead touching hers. Then he hugged her tightly.

Eventually they parted. Von looked at her tear streaked face and brushed them away with his hands. He held her again, resisting the urge to ask her another question that he suddenly wanted to ask her. He just reveled in this happiness. It was one he wasn't sure that ever would be his until now.

Smiling, he left her embrace and stood. He pulled a tasseled cord on the wall. "Now that you are awake, the doctor should see how you are."

Within minutes, the man in question arrived and bowed from the waist to his monarch. Upon seeing his patient awake, he fluttered around her, checking her pupils and checking on the bandage on her head and asking her some questions. Finally he gave his diagnosis. "You are fine, my lady. The cut is starting to close. Your head will be tender in that spot for a while and you will have to be gentle with it for a few days, but there is no reason you can't leave the infirmary." He handed her a small vial with a stopper. "This is an ointment for your cut. Just apply it in the morning and evening until it is gone. It will also help to prevent scarring." "Thank you." Hitomi smiled a bit shyly. "Thank you lord Meida." Von led Hitomi to the infirmary doors.

Hey all. I posted the first two chapters of this fic like 18 years ago. Yikes!

So why continue this story now? Well, I always wanted to continue. I had chapters 3 and 4 ready to post, but then I lost the usb, and it was on none of my working keys. I think it ended up on one I accidentally broke while moving my laptop (the key was in the laptop and I hit it hard enough to bend the head 90 degrees). So then I tried rewriting it, but I could never get it how it was and got so frustrated at how lame the redo were. I gave up on it. And I was busy working, writing my own original book and many other things. But I always wanted to continue. It always bothered me that I never did. I had been writing a Samurai Champloo fic, but also stopped posting that one due to my busy life (but still slowly writing on it). So I just finally said "F it." to not writing this fic. And here we are.

Will I be regularly updating? Probably not regularly. But I will keep trying to post. I'm sorry if it's too long between posts.

Also I am changing the rating from K to M (mature). That means lemons and limes will be added into the mix. But don't worry; I will give fair warning at the top of those chapters. I'm not a teenager anymore and I don't want to write teenager dynamics unless it still works, or there are teenagers in the story. And I just think it's time for Von and Hitomi's relationship to go beyond curtsey awkwardness (At least in this fic). Von and Hitomi are adult by Gaia's standard. *Spoiler from the past two chapters in case it wasn't clear* Hitomi had a long time to think about it, and she chose Von. She chose to be a Gaean, to give up earth for him. *Spoiler end* They are bit awkward at first, unsure how to say what they feel, but honestly this chapter changed as I wrote it from how I intended. I like it better this way because them becoming comfortable as a couple (faster than I intended) makes for a more enjoyable story. Anywhoo.

Chapter 4 is probably done by the time I publish this chapter, but I like to give myself a one-chapter buffer.