I haven't updated this in FOREVER!!! I'm SOOOOOOOOO Sorry! But I've been working on other stuff! And I hafta update Riddles, too! But, read this! The end is really corny, but I was in a hurry to finish it! So, gomen! And no, there isn't a sequel... just thought I should tell y'all... Oh yeah, long chapter here...

Once in her tent, Amelia hugged herself tightly, grinning widely and holding back joyous laughter. She and Zelgadis were back together, and they'd be traveling just like old times. It would be great! Until, of course, they reached Seyruun. Then she'd be forced to go back to being a princess again. That thought sobered Amelia up, and she flopped down cross-legged on the ground.

"I don't want to be a princess," Amelia muttered quietly. She remebered what Zelgadis had said, how she looked like a completely different person. Could she possibly not go back to the castle and just keep wandering like she so longed to do? No, people at the palace would get worried and send people to look for her. Sighing, Amelia knew that her only choice was to return to Seyruun and the palace.

Out of habit, Amelia reached up to brush her hair away from her eyes, but found she didn't need to. She felt the edges of her hair, and then guessed about to where her hair had been before. She'd cut off almost five inches!

She wondered if Zelgadis liked her hair the way she had it now. He had seemed shocked at first, but maybe it was just first impression. It certainly was more manageable when it was shorter. She'd ask Zelgadis in the morning about it, and see what he'd want to do.

Amelia suddenly let out a long, wide yawn. She was exhausted. First there was the traveling, and then meeting Zelgadis and talking with him, and the excitement from that had worn her out. Sleepily, Amelia stretched out on her sleeping bag, pulling the top half over top of her, snuggling it under her chin. She smiled contentedly, and fell into a dreamy sleep.

Zelgadis woke up in the morning to the sound of voices. He sat up, and went to the edge of his tent to listen. He recognized Amelia's voice sure enough. When the second person spoke, Zelgadis recognized him as Landen. Amelia and Landen were talking? Curious, Zelgadis tried to catch what they were saying.

"So you two have known each other for years?" Landen asked.

Smiling, Amelia said, "Yes, years. Zelgadis-san is one of my best friends in the whole entire world."

"And you..." Landen started. "You're the Seyruun Princess?"

Amelia nodded. "All my life," she said jokingly.

"But you don't know the way to Seyruun?"

Shaking her head, Amelia said, "No, I got lost. I was running away and not paying attention to where I was going. I still want your help, and I really want you to forgive Zelgadis-san for what he did yesterday. He got a little..." She paused, looking for a word that fit. "He just got a little overprotective, I guess."

Landen nodded, and said, "I understand. I'll still take you to Seyruun. And this Zelgadis is going to offer a formal apology, right?"

Amelia bit her lip. "I wouldn't count on it," she told Landen. She looked up when Zelgadis came out of his tent and walked right over to them.

Zelgadis looked down at the two of them. Just because he heard he was supposed to apologize didn't mean he would. "We should get going," he said. "If I remember correctly, if we keep at a swift walk, we can make it to Seyruun this evening."

Landen nodded, and stood up. "Yes, we can. I think I'll walk a little ahead to scope out the trail. You two just follow the path. If there's a fork or something, I'll either wait for you or leave a marker."

Zelgadis agreed to that, so Landen quickly went on ahead, relieved to be out of the presence of Zelgadis. Shortly after, Amelia and Zelgadis followed after him, making sure to stay on the trail.

"Zelgadis-san?" Amelia asked after a short while.

"Yes?"

Quietly, Amelia said, "I don't know what I should do..."

Looking down at her, Zelgadis asked, "What do you mean, Amelia?"

"I mean," she started. "I don't want to be a princess. It's no fun. I want to stay out and travel the world like you and Lina-san and Gourry-san. But if I stay away, then everyone at the palace will be upset and maybe think I was kidnapped or died and then Daddy would get really really sad, and everything would be really really bad. I'm being selfish, I know, but... I really don't want to be a princess."

"You're not being selfish," Zelgadis told her. "You're just thinking about yourself for once."

Amelia looked up at him. "So I'm not wrong in wanting to just travel?"

Zelgadis shook his head, and said, "No, you're not wrong. But I think you should return to the palace first, and maybe get permission from your father to travel for a few years."

"You know..." Amelia mused. "I never thought about that."

Zelgadis smiled a little at her naive expression.

Amelia then remembered that she'd wanted to ask Zelgadis if he liked her hair the way it was. She really wanted someone's opinion on it, and he was the only one near her. Also, his opinion mattered very much to her. "Zelgadis-san?"

"Yes?"

"I was wondering..."

"What?"

"Do you like my hair the way it is now?" she asked quickly. "I know you were surprised before, so I was just wondering now, because short hair is real easy to take care of, and..."

Zelgadis looked down at her slightly critically. He just studied her for a few moments, before he said, "It's all right short, but you can't stay blond. It keeps making me think you're going to start acting like Gourry."

Amelia burst out laughing at the thought that she'd act like Gourry. In a silly mood, she quoted something Gourry had said a few years ago. "What's a fiancee?" she asked around her giggles. "Is it a..." She had a hard to finishing because she was laughing so hard. "A pickle?"

Even Zelgadis laughed a little, and Amelia had tears in her eyes from laughing so much. It was then that Amelia started to get the hiccups, which just made her laugh harder. When her laughter finally died down a little, she was still hiccuping.

"Hold your breath," Zelgadis told her.

Amelia nodded, and sucked in a big breath. She held it, and let it out after ten seconds. For a moment it seemed to have worked, but then she hiccuped again. "Zelgadi-- hiccup --is-san!"

Smiling at Amelia, Zelgadis took out his canteen, and held it out to her. It was then that he realized he still had her bracelet around the neck of the canteen.

Amelia's breath caught, and she stared. He'd kept it. The seriousness of the moment was broken when Amelia hiccuped again. She reached for the canteen, and took a few sips of water. Slowly, she looked up at Zelgadis. "You kept it?" she asked him.

Zelgadis blushed a little bit, and said, "Well... yeah... You asked me to..."

Amelia smiled brightly, and handed Zelgadis his canteen. "Yes, I did."

Hesitantly, Zelgadis took his canteen back. "Do you want it back?" he asked, starting to take the bracelet off his water bottle.

"No," Amelia told him, shaking her head. "You keep it."

For a moment, the two of them just walked in silence, before Zelgadis asked, "Why?"

"Well," Amelia started. "When we get back to Seyruun, then I'll have to go back to being a princess, and when you leave again, I want you to remember me... remember to come visit again."

Offering a half smile, Zelgadis put his canteen away. "I don't need that to remember you by," he said. "It'd be hard for anyone to forget someone like you."

Amelia just grinned while they followed the trail back to Seyruun, happy to be traveling with Zelgadis again, just like they used to.