Hey guys, I hope you enjoyed the last chapter. I wanted to give you guys a bit of backstory on how the kidnapping and war played out. And how Enlil and Zopyros relationship was. I hope you guys enjoyed reading about Yugi and Seto's conversation as much I loved typing it! Enough with the intro, on to the new chapter!

~Preview from chapter 21 to continue the storyline~

A guard burst through Yugi's door. "Your majesties! I apologize for my sudden intrusion, but you must come quickly. You won't believe who's here!" heavy breathing ensued afterwards, shock gracing the younger's face. King Lycus thought 'Who could it be to have my guard here so flustered?' It was decided that Jono, Yugi, and Yami should stay behind just in case. The royal family marched to the throne room. Guards opened the large dark oak doors for them, bowing their heads in respect. King Lycus striding in first, heels from his leather boots clacked against the onyx tile floor. He took a deep breath, raised his shoulders high, and opened his grey eyes. Now, he understood why the guard rushed to get them so fast. There in is throne room stands a man he hasn't seen in 18 years, Enlil, the king of the Nymphs, Lycus gasped at the sight before him. He turns to his wife, Mikuro for confirmation on what he's seeing. Her blue eyes shown with clarity and she nods her head, taking a deep breath. The couple makes their way to their thrones, Seto and Mokuba don't understand why their parents had that reaction, but took a seat on their smaller thrones beside their parents. Once the princes got settled in their seats, Lycus spoke up. "It's been many years since I've laid eyes on you." Lycus squints his eyes at the elder nymph man before him.

Enlil nods his head in agreement, "Yes, it's been many years. It's hard to believe your Seto is almost 20 years old. I remember him just beginning to walk the last time I saw him." His auburn eyes turn to Seto and meets his blue ones with a soft sad, fatherly like gleam in them.

Taken aback by this elven man's use of his name, and the confusion of how his father knows this nymph. He speaks up, "Why are you here?" his baritone voice rang through the throne room, his words laced with his demanding tone.

"My, my, you truly have grown to be a fine young man for you to speak to me so scornfully, when you haven't recognized me." He laughs playfully, with a hint of sorrow laced in it.

Mokuba noticed something peculiar, he remembered looking at older pictures and paintings of when his father was younger. He saw a nymph man with him often. He took one long look at the nymph before him, and then it clicked. "YOU'RE THE NYMPH KING!" he screamed in shock.

Enlil laughed at the younger prince. "Yes, I am Enlil, the king of the nymphs." He nodded, affirming the confirmation.

Seto's eyes took the man before him in shock. He looked to his father, who nodded at him. Lycus cleared his throat before speaking. "I thought we were at war, yet I see no weapon in your possession?" His greys danced across Enlil to scan for any hidden weapons, and he didn't see any. Which was quite odd.

Enlil shook his head, "If I had a weapon, don't you think your guards would've stopped me from getting to you? I may be a king, but I'm still an old man." He laughed heartily.

Lycus stood up. He took off his sword, and three hidden knives off of him and handed them over to a guard nearby. Once done he walked over to Enlil to give himself a closer look. He shook his head and went to punch Enlil's shoulder, the blonde man dodged effortlessly, before launching a surprise hit to Lycus' side. Thus ensued a fist fight between the kings. Seto, as well as a few guards went to go help break it off, but Mikuro waived them off. Her blue eyes piercing their hearts with a sternness they've never seen before. The two kings continued their fight, but when Lycus actually started tearing up, Enlil paused at the sight. Lycus, not realizing that Enlil had stopped, went for a punch. Which landed him a hit straight to Enlil's face.

Enlil took a step back, holding his hand to his already swelling cheek from the impact. But he made no move to use his powers to heal himself, which caught Lycus by surprise. "Why don't you heal yourself?" He questioned.

"Because I deserve this pain. And I'm happy I got it from you." He smiled the best he could with his swollen cheek, his auburn eyes glinting with shame.

"You've suffered enough, heal yourself." Lycus demanded sternly.

Enlil shook his head. "Not nearly enough to make up for what I've done, for what I said, for what I blamed you for." He buried his face in his hands, shame and guilt overwhelming him.

Seto knew that the reason for the war was because of something King Enlil accused his father of, but no one would tell him what it was. Now, he had the chance to ask the accuser in person. "If I may interject here." He spoke out with caution, knowing his father was not in a strong mental state. Enlil looked up at the young prince. "What exactly did you accuse my father of?" curiosity outweighing animosity.

Lycus and Mikuro turn to their eldest and was about to interject, but Enlil raised his hand to stop them. He took a deep breath, "How much do you know about me, son?"

Taken aback by his evading question, Seto had a thought that reminded him of Jono when she first came here. "I would say, not a lot, I know you're one of the best magic users in your kingdom, one of the best for hand-to-hand combat, and that there was something that you accused my father of that started this war. But other than that, no, I don't know much about you." He proclaimed honestly. Mokuba, also having this knowledge also nodded his head in agreement.

"So, you don't know what happened to my family?" Enlil asked this a question, but his eyes conveyed more of a statement. He turned toward Lycus. "You didn't tell him what happened?"

"No, why would I? It doesn't involve him. 'That' is between us." Lycus declared.

"He's your heir to your throne! You didn't think for one second to tell him how this ridiculous war started?!" Enlil screamed angrily.

"I DID think about it! With the Dawn Forest between us, I didn't think that this meeting would happen!" His voice got quiet as he spoke. "I thought I'd never get to you again." Enlil was his best friend, they were best friends when they were little, it broke his heart to think that Enlil thought he kidnapped his daughter, but it hurt even worse that after everything that's happened that he'd never get to see Enlil again. He was a man of a stern nature, but he had a loving heart and he never cried as much in his whole life besides when Mokuba had disappeared to retrieve Jono, until this moment.

Seeing this man who he once knew to be strong-willed, could brace even the hardest of times, crumble before him, and Enlil knowing he was the cause of it, couldn't take it anymore. "I'm so sorry…It's all my fault, I shouldn't have blamed you, I knew you wouldn't ever, but I was just so desperate and distraught…there's no excuse for what I did." Enlil crumble to the floor, head bowing, hands in his lap, he really felt like he should just disappear forever. But he knew he had to tell Seto what happened, so he took a moment to gather himself before he spoke. "I accused your father of kidnapping my daughter."

Seto confused, he never heard that King Enlil had a daughter, so he turned toward his mother for clarity. Mikuro turned toward her sons and gave a sad smile. "Seto, Mokuba, during the summer months, what is something that we as a family do, but the kingdom doesn't?"

The boys paused for a moment to think, Mokuba speaks up first. "We join hands and pray for Katsuya's return!"

"We gather in the study and bring flowers to place on her designated alter." Seto nodded in confirmation.

Enlil is shocked to the core. Tears welled up and he just couldn't help himself. It had been many years since he cried like this. Two kings standing in the middle of a throne room balling their eyes out was not something you see every day. Mikuro started to tear up a bit due to the emotional display before her, but she held strong. "Katsuya is HIS daughter." She spoke pointing at Enlil. "When she was kidnapped, it had not been long afterward that his beloved wife left this world due an illness." She spoke gloomily. "She had been such beautiful lady. Both inside and out, and she had no problem with speaking her mind. I remember one day when we were over there visiting and Enlil had said something negative about a criminal who was charged for stealing." Seto and Mokuba listened closely. She also noticed the two kings had stopped crying and were also listening in. She continued, "I kid you not, she took one of her shoes off and thwacked it against the back of Enlil's head!" Using her right arm and balled hand in a swing motion to show her kids how it happened. The princes turn toward to Enlil, who nods in confirmation. They look at each other first, both having shocked expressions before turning to their mother for her to continue. She giggled at the scene. "Her words: 'You don't get the right to judge him until AFTER you hear his reason for doing so!' It took so much will to keep myself from laughing at Enlil's dumbfounded expression." Laughing at the memory.

"So, what happed after that?" Mokuba asked curiously. Head turning slightly.

It was Enlil that answered. "It turned out that the young man stole to feed his family. He had injured himself at his job and didn't have enough money left to cover for the time he was out of commission." He sighed. "She was right, I shouldn't have judged him so badly because I really didn't know."

Mokuba burst out laughing. "Oh my maker! Your wife reminds me of Jono!" Not realizing what he just said, he continued laughing. But Lycus, Mikuro, and Seto all tensed up and the mention of Jono.

Noticing the rest of the family tensing up, he decided to stand up. "Who is this 'Jono'?"

Mokuba stops laughing, "Oh, oops." He takes both of his hands and covers his mouth like he just said a bad word.

Seto laid his head in his right hand and sighed. He turned toward his father. "It's already out, might as well tell him."

"Yeah, good idea." He shook his head then turned toward Enlil, who just had the most curious expression, one eyebrow raised. "Okay, I need you to promise me that no harm will come to the people that I'll be naming." His eyes serious.

Enlil raises an eyebrow at him. "If you're going to mention the 'nymph, fairy, and mage' that left to come help your kingdom, I'm already aware of it." The royal elven family now all had shocked expressions. Enlil rolled his eyes. "I may not have the complete network of all the people who live in the Dawn Forest, but it's not hard to figure out who's missing if they're extremely helpful people that a lot of others rely on."

"Does that mean you're not mad at them for leaving to help us?" Mikuro interjected apprehensively.

"Of course I'm not mad, I'm very happy they decided to help you all. They were very brave to risk being expelled from my kingdom to come help yours. Not that they would've been given the circumstances." He gave big smile and a thumbs up at his statement.

"Word does travel fast if you already figured out what's happening here." Seto stated absentmindedly.

"Which is why I'm here. In fact, I have about 50,000 people from my kingdom making their way here as we speak although I'm sure there are more who joined as they combed through the Dawn Forest." He smiled a genuine smile of pride.

"50 thou-what?" Lycus stuttered. The rest of the people in the room whispered amongst themselves. The royal family feared the worst for a moment, what if he brought the 50,000 people to go to war.

Sensing the dark emotions circling the room. Enlil quickly stated "To help your kingdom! I've brought all of those people to help you all." His auburn eyes darting throughout the room to see if they believed him. "I heard there's a poison seeping from the land and taking children's lives. Given I've arrived, I know that it's true."

Mokuba spoke up first, "So, you're NOT here to fight?"

Enlil shook his head, "No, dear boy. I couldn't stand for innocent children lives to be taken, so I decided to gather magic users to dispel this wretched poison." He paused for a moment before he spoke once more. "But that is not the entire reason for me being here today."

"We couldn't have asked for more with you bring that many people to drive out the poison which plagues our lands. What else could you be here for?" Seto proclaimed curiously. This was a true blessing from the other kingdom to come so far to help.

The older nymph took a deep breath to calm his nerves. "I've come to make amends for my actions against your kingdom, but most importantly for my accusation to you…" He turned toward Lycus. "…good king." He downcast his gaze to the floor but held his treaty in front to show the royal family. "This is an apology letter and an alliance treaty. I ask you to look it over, but I understand if you don't want to sign it." His hand slightly shaking due to his nervousness at Lycus' reaction to it all.

Lycus had thought of playing the "Why should I sign it?" trick, but seeing Enlil's hand shaking and sensing the frightened aura surrounding him, Lycus decided to not play with his emotions and simply stated "Where should I sign?"

Enlil lost in his thoughts, didn't hear Lycus' question and continued his mantra, "Of course I understand if you don't ever wish to sign it, but I just wanted to properly apologize and to clarify to hold no ill will for the people of my kingdom, they were just following me. A-and I hope you could ever f-for-forgive m-me…" Enlil stopped speaking due to Lycus putting his hand on his shoulder. Auburn eyes met grey ones with an all too familiar playfulness laced in them.

"It's okay." Lycus stated. "I accept your apology and I want to sign the treaty."

He spoke with such resounding confidence that it Enlil blinked a couple of times before speaking up. "Yo-you accept…" His mind reeling with what he just heard, he continued. "You can't possible forgive me that easily!" Shaking his head, his dark blonde hair swaying with veracity. I accused you of the worst thing imaginable, I shattered our friendship, and I DESTROYED the fundamental trust between our kingdoms…"

Lycus went to interrupt him but someone else beat him to it. Someone with long blonde hair and honey brown eyes. "But you apologized for it." Everyone turned toward the young nymph woman standing in the doorway.

Seto jumped up first, "What are you doing Jono?!" his voice conveying his worried thoughts.

She laughed a bit at his question, "Did you think I was just going to stay hidden forever? I listened in and he said he wasn't mad at us for coming here to help." She shrugged her shoulders and smiled. Seto just gave a dumbfounded expression.

Mokuba laughed at his brother's shocked expression. "Seto, your face is priceless!" Jono joined in on the laugh. From behind her Yugi and Yami came into view holding hands.

Enlil didn't notice the fairy or mage, his eyes were transfixed on Jono. Almost taking a double-take when he first saw her. 'So, this is the Jono that they were speaking of earlier…' he thought. 'She looks familiar, I don't know how to put it, but it feels like I've seen her before.' He spoke up to her. "Young lady, Jono is your name?"

Jono paused her laughing as her king spoke to her. She turned toward him and bowed like she had before when she first met King Lycus. "Yes, your highness."

"If I may, would you come closer? I want to take a look at you." He didn't understand this feeling welling up inside him, apprehension creeping in his heart but a sense of urgency taking control.

She perked up at his request, standing straight up, having a big smile on her face. "Of course!" She gracefully stepped toward the nymph king, it was as if she was walking on air. She stopped just short of 4 feet from the king, her eyes closed and head slightly bowed, waiting for the next task he might ask of her.

Enlil's eyes lit up, 'She looks just like my wife when we were first married.' He took a step toward her and outstretched his hand to caress her face. Which earned him a good look at her eyes when she opened them, same color as his when he was younger, he had an apprehensive thought, before speaking up. "I want to check something, if I may."

A little confused at her king's actions so far, but not concerned that he was going to hurt her, smiled reassuringly. "Sure, um, what is it you want to check, your majesty?"

"Turn around for me." He said softly. She nodded and did so at once. Enlil's hands reached up to the back of Jono's head and slightly parted her hair, at the base of her skull was a birthmark in the shape of a star, but not a perfect star, two pointed ends extended longer that the other 6 giving a kind of abstract look.

Seto, who is the most curious as to what's going on, turned towards Yugi and asked, "What is he looking at?"

"Her birthmark, I think." She tilts her head in confusion as well. How did the nymph king know that Jono had a birthmark? And also knew where it was, was beyond her.

"Birthmark? I didn't know Jono had a birthmark." Yami interjected. He's known Jono for a long time and had never heard of her having a birthmark.

"I never told you?" Yugi turned back at her husband, who shook his head in response. "Oh, I guess it never came up in discussion…" she thought hard about the last 8 years she's known Yami and never once had the topic of birthmarks came up. Jono wasn't ashamed of her birthmark, so it wasn't like she didn't tell Yami on purpose. "Well, she has a birthmark on the back of her head, it's shaped like a star, it has 8 points, but two of the points are a bit longer than the rest!"

Lycus and Mikuro overhearing the conversation both looked at each other, Mikuro spoke up first. "Didn't Katsuya have a star shaped birthmark?"

"Yes, and I do believe it was also on the back of her head…" Lycus nodded in agreement. He remembered Enlil showing him Katsuya's birthmark and commenting on how it was in a special place for a special child. Everyone looked back toward Enlil and Jono, eyes wide with anticipation.

Enlil had only told his wife, Lycus, Mikuro, and Zopyros about Katsuya's birthmark, fearing that someone would bring in a young girl with a fake birthmark created by magic to pass off as his daughter. He knew his heart wouldn't have been able to take it if he had kept getting his hopes up and then disappointed to realize that the child wasn't his. But this birthmark was real and it was the same birthmark his daughter had. Tears started forming in his eyes, "This birthmark…" He started to say, but Jono turned around, causing him to stop speaking.

Her honey-brown eyes looked up at him curiously, "We've only just met, how did you know that I had a …" Her voice trailed off seeing the nymph king in tears. "Hey! It's okay, why are you crying your highness?" Hands waving around frantically, not knowing what to do with the situation.

Enlil grasped her hands softly, his eyes displaying heavy tears, but not of sadness. For the first time in many years he felt relief wash over him and true happiness set in. "You, my dear, you might not believe me, but please hear me out." She nodded, eyes wide with interest and concern. "You're my daughter."

Everyone was shocked at the revelation. Mikuro and Lycus burst into happy tears and hugged each other. Talking amongst themselves how Jono reminded them of Enlil's late wife both in beauty and personality. Yugi and Yami hugged each other smiling at the scene before them. Mokuba smiled pointing at Jono and looking at the guards around them proclaiming how he had brought the nymph princess to the kingdom. Seto on the other hand, just sat in his chair, staring wide-eyed at Jono, never letting her leave his sight. He just couldn't believe it, Jono-no, Katsuya, the woman he had grown to care for the last two months was the nymph princess all along. 'Talk about irony at its best.' He thought incredulously.

Jono, having been in shock about the whole situation, looked up at Enlil, "Your daughter…? How could I be your daughter, mom, um, Diane found me laying on top of a pond, there were footprints in the ground…" Her mind reeling.

"Because of many reasons, your hair, your eyes, how you look just like my wife when we were engaged to be married, but the most important reason is your birthmark." Enlil having smiled a true genuinely happy smile at finally getting to see his daughter again, was still patient with Jono. He understood that she probably wouldn't believe him at first. "I understand if this is difficult to process at the moment, but you ARE my daughter, there is no doubt in my mind."

Jono had thought that if she ever came across her real parents, she wanted to question them profusely on why they gave her up, but for the nymph king to say that HE was her father meant that those footprints that Diane saw when she found her on the pond were from the kidnapper, not her family. She looked up at him, "You're my real father…?"

"Yes I am, oh Katsuya I'm so happy I got to see you again!" He wrapped his arms around her in an encompassing embrace. After a few seconds, he put his hands on her shoulders and pushed her away a bit so he could look at her face again. "I suppose calling you Katsuya is a bit strange, given you grew up with the name, Jono." He smiled sheepishly.

She smiled the same smile back, "I won't lie, it's a bit weird to be called that, but it's not a bad thing." She shrugged her shoulders.

He laughed at her honesty, "Ha-ha! Have no fear, I won't ask you to change your name, but please understand that it will take me a while to fully stop calling you Katsuya, after all, I've thought of you as Katsuya since before you were even born." He paused a bit, before a thought struck him. "Speaking of family! Your uncle came with me on this journey, would you like to meet him?" His heart so happy at the circumstances, but he didn't want to do anything that would overwhelm her.

"Yeah, I'd love to see him!" Her eyes sparkled at the thought.

Enlil looked up at Lycus, "I have Zopyros waiting outside with his head mage Clive, and can they both come inside?" Wanting to ask permission rather than assume it would be okay.

Lycus laughed boisterously, "Of course they can! I haven't seen Zop' in a long time, and why would I want to ruin this amazing family reunion?" he turned toward the guards at the door. "Let them both in!" He commanded.