Disclaimer: Dammit, I don't own them. How many times must I repeat this!!??

A/N: Millerna is 21 and Chid is 9. This chapter gives a hint of a possible couple. ^_~

Seasons of Loneliness
By Blue Shakira


Chapter Six: Return

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Hitomi found herself walking in the halls of Van's palace. She remembered the last time she was there. The palace had been severely damaged after the war. Van had ordered for the castle to be rebuilt but she never got a chance to see the beginning of the construction. By that time she had already left Gaea hoping to never return.

…..Or that's what she thought she wanted.

For three years, a part of her always hoped to return to Gaea. She missed her friends terribly and she missed the good times they had spent together. But there was always that one memory that stopped her yearning. Each time she remembered what He did it made her think less of Gaea.

Maybe that was her problem. She thought less of Gaea and more of HIM. Even after all these years of remembering what HE did…..she still felt something for HIM. She once tried to lead herself to believe that it was because HE was the father of her son and that was the reason she couldn't forget HIM.

But she was wrong.

She couldn't deny it anymore. She knew that even after what HE did…..she still had feelings for HIM. She still felt something for…. Dilandau Albatou.

After Chesta had told her that Dilandau was in the castle, she had a strange feeling inside of her. It was strange because Chesta also mentioned Van's name but it just slipped her mind. Dilandau's name, however, stayed inside her head. First she felt fear, then anger…..but then it all subsided and she began to feel a strange warm fuzzy feeling she couldn't explain.

'Why do I feel this way?' she wondered.

"Where almost there," Chesta's voice boomed.

Hitomi shook her thoughts away because the sound of his voice frightened her. "Ok," she said.

She wondered why his voice sounded louder and frightening. Chesta normally had a soft voice. She listened to the sound of their feet touching the floor. The sound of their feet echoed loudly in the hall.

She thought about it for a few seconds. Then she realized that Chesta wasn't speaking loudly. Instead the hallway made his voice sound louder because of the echoing.

She was too busy admiring the structure of the hallway, that she ended up bumping slightly into Chesta. He stumbled a bit but he regained his balance.

Hitomi turned red. "I'm so sorry, Chesta," she exclaimed. "I didn't see you….."

Chesta smiled. "It's ok," he began. "I understand that you have a lot in your mind at this moment."

"Did I make it that obvious," she asked, hanging her head down sheepishly.

The blond man shook his head. "Not really," he replied. His eyes fell to the child in her arms. "He is very observant isn't he?"

"Indeed he is," Hitomi said. She gazed down at Julian who was admiring his surroundings. His large emerald eyes seemed to be filled with curiosity and bedazzlement.

Hitomi smiled. 'I acted the same way when I first arrived in this world.'

Julian giggled and reached out for something. Hitomi's smile faded when she realized that he was trying to grab the handled of two beautifully decorated doors. She stared at Chesta who looked like he was about to say something.

"This door…..," she whispered.

"…..is the entrance to the throne room," Chesta finished off her sentence,

Hitomi closed her eyes. She had been so caught up admiring the hallway that she didn't notice that Chesta had stopped in front of the two doors. "Are they in here," she asked quietly. She didn't have to explain whom she was referring too.

Chesta nodded. "If you want, you can wait out here for a couple more minutes--," he was cut off by Hitomi.

"It's all right, Chesta," she said. "Three years have passed by and I don't think I want to wait any longer. I can't hide any secrets from them. I have returned to Gaea and I'm not going to run anymore." She kissed Julian on his cheek. "I think it's time for them to learn about my son."

"As you wish," Chesta responded. He reached out for the door handles

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+A few miles from Van's castle…..+

Outside the sun was burning the soldiers as they led the carriage towards the castle. It was a good thing that Fanelia was filled with many lakes. The horses had plenty of water available during the trip. So did the soldiers…..but that didn't stop the sun from heating the land.

Inside the carriage it wasn't any different.

Princess Millerna continued to fan herself. She had expected lots of rain during this season. Summer had been over for weeks now and it usually rains a lot during the Fall season in Fanelia.

"I should have listened to Eries," she muttered to herself. Her older sister had warned her about the strange weather changes occurring in Fanelia but as usual she didn't listened.

"Aunt Millerna," a young blond boy called her.

Millerna looked at her nephew, Chid. "What is it, Chid," she asked kindly.

The young prince shifted uncomfortably in his seat. He was only nine years old but he knew a lot more things about grown-ups than what he leads them to believe. "Why didn't you get married with Dryden," he asked.

Milerna blinked. "Why do you ask?"

Chid looked down at his feet. "Well, I kinda figured that you liked Allen better. But now that I think about it, you're not with him either. Why is that?"

Well…..," Millerna bit her lip. How was she going to explain this to him?

"Do you like someone else, Aunt Millerna," Chid inquired suddenly.

"Um, yeah. You could say that…..," she replied. 'Grrr! You're so stupid, Millerna!" she thought to herself.

"Oh," Chid finally said and looked out of the window.

Millerna sighed.

She was never one to be lucky with relationships. She had been in love with Allen but she knew it was impossible. He would never love her back. Then there was Dryden. He loved her, but she didn't love him back. She would have been married to him if her father hadn't died. When he died, Eries became queen. Being a 'good' sister, she asked Millerna if she still wanted to marry Dryden. When she replied "No" Eries broke off the engagement with Dryden. Millerna didn't know whether to be happy or sad.

For one year, she tried to ignore special events and important people. She pursued her goal to become a doctor, much to Eries distaste but she kept her mouth quiet and allowed Milerna to do what she wanted with her life.

Then one day, she found herself heading to a village outside of Fanelia. She had been traveling around that area when she was told that a young king had been injured after a battle. Millerna set off to help this young king. When she arrived to the village the recognized the young king immediately. It was her friend, Van Fanel. She cleaned his wounds and stayed with him all night because he had caught a high fever. The next day he woke up feeling better. He recognized her as well and thanked her.

They began to speak of old times and time passed by quickly. After a few hours of speaking Van invited her to his palace. He was feeling much better and he didn't want to stay in the village because he feared it would be in danger with his presence. She had agreed to go with him.

Surprisingly, she had stayed in the castle for a whole month. During that time she learned more about Van and grew comfortable with him. One day she mentioned Hitomi's name and she saw a pained look on his face. She asked him what was wrong. He hesitated but he finally told her that he was still in love with Hitomi. Millerna never expected it.….but she felt a wave of jealousy. She excused herself leaving a confused Van behind.

She remembered how she cried herself to sleep that night. She felt weird every time she thought about Van. The next day she woke up early and left the castle without saying goodbye. She told the guard at the gate to tell the king that something important came up and she had to leave. She returned to Asturia and continued her medical studies.

After that, she found herself ignoring Van whenever he came to visit Asturia. Occasionally, he would visit Freid when she would be staying for some time. She would speak to him quickly but she tried not to get too close like the time she had spent with him in his castle. This continued for a long time. Now, she was returning to Fanelia. Her excuse was to accompany Chid for an important meeting. But only she knew why she had come along.

She continued to fan herself and she stared at her nephew. She wondered why he asked her that strange question. Maybe he knew something…..

She looked out the window.

She once thought she was in love with Allen, but now she knows that it was only a crush of some sort. Especially now, that she has fallen in love with another man. This time, she knows that the love she feels is for real. The way she felt now she had never felt for any man…..not even Allen.

She wanted to much to confess her feelings to him. And maybe…..he would love her back.

Maybe.

That was the story of her life. She falls in love, but the man never loves her back. She wondered if this would be any different.

Millerna closed her eyes.

She shouldn't be thinking about this right now. She was with Chid for an important meeting. She wasn't about to act like a young school girl.

But at the same time she couldn't help imagining herself staring into the ruby eyes of the Fanelian king…..and him starring back at her with love.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Folken Fanel sighed.

This had been the fifth time during the day that he had to stop Van and Dilandau from killing each other. He eyed his brother and then at Dilandau.

Van sat on his throne drumming his fingers on the handles. He glared at Dilandau who was leaning against the wall with folded arms across the room. But the silver haired general was no different. He was also glaring at Van. Both men seemed to be too occupied in their starring contest and completely ignored the other occupant in the room.

Folken closed his eyes. "We are here to discuss about the arrival of Princess Millerna and Prince Chid to the castle today," he said. "For once, forget about your rivalries and lets talk about how we are going to set up security. We don't want any attacks while they are here."

Van snorted, "That's what I've been trying to do, brother. But General Dilandau over there is disagreeing with everything I say."

"Hey! You're the one who can't set up your own security correctly," Dilandau snapped.

"I didn't ask for your opinion!"

"Well…..excuse me, your majesty! I'm so sorry for being honest!"

"Shut the f*** up, Dilandau!"

"That's no way for the king of Fanelia to speak," Dilandau mocked. "What will your people say when they hear you speak in such languange?"

Van stood up from his throne and tried to reach out for his sword. However, Folken had been ready and grabbed his brother's hands before he unsheathed his sword.

"Dammit, Folken! Let me kill this arrogant ass once and for all," he growled.

"Calm down, Van," his brother said quietly.

Van glared at his brother. After a few seconds he finally calmed down and sat back down. "I don't even know why he is here," he mumbled.

"Hmph! At least we agree in something," Dilandau frowned. "Even I don't know what I'm doing here." He walked closed to where Van and Folken stood.

Folken walked between both men, just in case either one charged at the other. He spoke, "Dilandau, you are here because I asked you a favor. That favor was to help me protect my brother. I know that both of you have never been able to get along…..and I'm not asking for the two of you to become friends. For the moment, I would like you to act like partners. Whoever is trying to kill Van knows how to plan things out. With both of your minds put together, we might be able to outsmart the enemy and finally reveal who is behind all these attacks." He took a quick glance at both of them. He added, "At least pretend to get along. Please."

Dilandau raised a silver eyebrow. He could almost hear the pleading tone in Folken's voice. The blue haired man is his closest friend. Van is his rival but he is also Folken's only brother. "Very well," Dilandau responded. "But I'm doing it because YOU asked me, Folken."

Folken turned to face his brother. "I'll try my best to get along with him, brother," Van told him.

Folken gave a sigh of relief. "Thank the gods," he muttered.

Suddenly someone pushed the two main doors opened. Chesta walked in. "Lord Dilandau, Lord Folken, King Van….." he began.

"Talk about rude Dragonslayer's…..," Van smirked at Dilandau. He promised Folken he would try to get along with Dilandau. He never promised for how long.

The general rolled his eyes. "Chesta," Dilandau shouted. "How many times have I told you to never interrupt an important meeting!"

"I-I'm sorry, Lord Dilandau," Chesta stuttered. "B-but….."

"Hurry up," Dilandau growled. "Who ordered you to just walk into the room?"

"I did," a woman's voice was heard from behind Chesta.

Van looked up. 'That voice," he thought. 'It sounds familiar."

Dilandau was about to yell at Chesta for allowing himself to be ordered around by a woman but something made him stop.

The woman stepped up next to Chesta. Her soft sandy blond hair framed her face and her emerald eyes shone brightly. In her arms was a small child, but the attention was mainly focused on her.

"It can't be…..," Van whispered.

After a few seconds of silence Dilandau spoke. "Hitomi," he managed to choke.

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-OOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!

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-Cliffhanger!!!!!

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-I'm so cruel!

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Author's Note: Ok, I decided to pair Van with 'you know who', but that doesn't mean he won't go insane. Who knows, maybe the love of that person will bring him back to reality ;-) But that's 'till the later chapters. Like I said before, this is a Dilandau/Hitomi fic, but I'm starting slow just 'cause I'm evil person. *evil grin* I would update the story at least twice a week but unlike other people I don't have summer vacation. I'm spending my summer going to school full-time, plus I got a job. I really didn't mind how many reviews I received per chapter because I love to write. But I hafta be honest, if you guys want me to quickly post up chapter's I have to see at least 8+ reviews. Don't get me wrong, I'll still continue writing the story but it will take longer for me to put it out if I don't get enough reviews. Let's say 2 or 3 weeks at the most….@_@ Anyway, I love all of you peeps! Peace!