Hi everyone! Hope you're all enjoying the story so far! As I said before, there will be some changes. For example, Folken and Van (in this story) are only 5 years apart, not 10. Trust me, it will work out! I promise! Thanks for reading! Ah, and a HUGE thank you to Sakura Shinguji- Albatou for her corrections! I've fixed them all now. It was an error I had neglected to see myself. Thank you again! I'm so glad you like the story! I guess the site where I found the spelling of Goau's name (and Varie's) were wrong! Goau has too many freakin vowels in it! ^-^

Chapter 4

Van raced through the woods with Kyme close at his heels. They had been chasing each other around for a half an hour and they had already become fast friends. Van slowed down to a halt and sat down on a nearby rock. "So what do you think of Fanelia so far?"

"Oh I love it! The part of the city you showed me was wonderful. The people were so nice. And these woods...they're perfect." Kyme said dreamily, spinning around in the sunshine.

"So are you." Van sighed silently. Kyme wasn't like any of the other girls he knew. All of the other girls were always worried about what they looked like, and always agreed with him on everything, when what he really wanted was someone to go against his opinion. They were so passive, always willing to go with whatever he said, and not being honest about their own wishes. Van liked to do things for other people, and he was glad to go out of his way to do favors for others, but how could he when they always said they wanted what he wanted? It was so boring. Kyme wasn't like that at all. If she didn't want to go somewhere, she would tell him, politely, of course. She wasn't afraid to do anything for fear of wrinkling her clothes and silly things like that.

He watched in awe as the sun glinted off of her hair and her eyes shone with delight. As she danced, Van felt something he had never felt before. Folken always spoke of beautiful princesses and maidens when he read Van stories about the heroes in books, a tradition they had started when Van was very small, and had never stopped. Folken was always a hero to Van. Van wanted to be a hero. More importantly, at that moment, he wanted to be Kyme's hero. He thought about what it would be like, rescuing her from danger, the thrill of battle, and the sweet reward afterwards when he finally received a kiss. He realized he had never liked any girl as much as he did Kyme, and they had just met.

Girls were fussy and followed him around, especially when it was the last thing he wanted them to do. They had the worst timing. It was so embarrassing. Whenever he would try to be polite and waved to them, they would erupt into a fit of hysterics and scare him half to death. At least he didn't have to worry about them fainting when he said hi to them; that was Folken's problem. He laughed to himself as he thought about it.

"Van? Van! Snap out of it!" Kyme laughed, waving her hand in front of Van's face.

"Huh? Something wrong?" Van asked.

"You've been staring out into space for a while. Are you ok?" She asked, pressing a hand to his forehead to see if it was warm. Van sighed in delight.

"Yea, I'm fine."

Kyme smiled. "As long as you're sure..."

Van nodded, then stood up and held out his hand. "Come on, there's something else I want you to see."
*****

Folken and Lorena slowly walked side by side through the cherry blossom orchard. It was perfect. Lorena was walking with the most gorgeous, not to mention the sweetest guy she had ever known as the flowers were slowly falling off the trees and blowing lazily in wind, creating a shower of petals. Lorena breathed in the fresh air that smelled like a combination of the ocean and fresh flowers. She was glad that Folken was so wonderful. Back in the carriage on the way here, she had worried for a minute that he would be conceited and terrible. But he was as she had dreamed. He was incredibly handsome, charming, and kind. He treated her with gentleness and respect, and she genuinely liked him. In fact, even though they had just met, she was falling for him.

Folken stared at Lorena. She was beautiful. He had never seen anything so gorgeous. He was wary though; he knew what beauty could do to a person. He knew it was easy to fall for someone who was so attractive, but what really mattered was what was behind the face. Sure, it was easy to say that too, but he meant it. He had been raised that way. But Lorena was so kind to him, and she didn't treat him as if he were Prince Folken, he was just Folken, nothing more. She paid attention to him when he talked instead of just swooning over him telling him how gorgeous she thought he was like most of the girls in the country. He loved the way she talked. He could listen to her all day, and if he ever had the chance, he would. Her voice was so sweet.

Smiling, he thought back to their walk through the garden an hour or so ago, when he had picked a rose for her, kissing her on the cheek as he handed it to her. She looked so happy, like he had given her the world, as she kissed him back sweetly and thanked him. He felt he could have flown. Even though it had happened about an hour or so ago, he could still feel her lips on his cheek. And he still felt like he could fly, which was ironic. He looked at Lorena, and decided that it was best to wait.

Lorena caught his eye and laughed lightly.

"What's so funny?"

Lorena brushed her fingers though Folken's hair. "You have some flower petals in your hair. I think you look cute, but I didn't think you'd want anyone else to see you like that."

In response, Folken reached up and plucked a blossom off of a tree and tucked it behind her ear. "Beautiful." He said smiling.

Lorena shyly smiled at him.

"So why is your dad having you stay with us?" Folken asked as they continued walking.

Lorena sighed, twirling the rose in her hand. "He's always away on business. He travels everywhere, meeting with important people: kings, rulers, you name it. He's never specifically told us what his job is, but he seems to be some kind of ambassador or advisor. Don't ask me why he hasn't, but it's obviously something he has to keep secret."

Folken nodded thoughtfully. "Hm. That makes sense."

"So," Lorena grinned, "What's it like being a prince a prince of Fanelia? Bet you don't have a problem with the ladies..." she laughed, nudging him in the ribs.

"Yea, right." He laughed sarcastically. "Very funny. As for being a prince, it has its ups and downs. I get treated well, and everyone already knows who I am, so I don't think I've ever had to introduce myself to anyone in Fanelia. That saves a lot of time. But I have to be careful not to say too much about my life; you never know whom you could be talking to. It's a caution I was raised with. I have to live up to everyone's image of how I should be and how I should act. I'm the oldest son of the king. I have responsibilities. I have to be courteous and respectful to everyone no matter what the time and situation. If you ask the people of the country, Folken LaCouer de Fanel never has any troubles. He is always charming, and we all love him dearly."

Lorena linked her arm in his and rested her head against his shoulder. "I'm sorry it has to be that way for you. I can already tell you're a much deeper person than everyone makes you out to be. You're only human, Folken. Sure you may be a prince, but you shouldn't have to live up to anyone else's idea of who you should be. Live up to your own standards. I'm just sorry the rest of the kingdom can't see you the way I do. The sweet, gentle, compassionate, and caring person who isn't perfect and doesn't smile all the time, though his smile is one of his greatest attributes. They only get to see the Folken they've created for themselves. That's only a small piece of who you are."

Folken stopped. "That's the nicest thing anyone's said to me in a long time." He said with a hint of awe in his voice.

"Well, then, I'm glad I'm the one to say it." Lorena said as she looked around. "Fanelia is just so beautiful. I can't get over it. I can tell I'll love it already. Of course, I'll miss home, but there's no other place I'd go if I had the choice."

"I'm glad. Fanelia is honored by your presence." Folken smiled as he bowed to her.

Lorena laughed and raised an eyebrow in amusement. "A prince bowing to someone not of royal blood? Well, this is quite unusual. I wonder what people would say..."

"I wouldn't care."

"People talk, you know."

"I know, I find myself doing it out of habit sometimes."

"Oh Folken!" Lorena laughed as she playfully shoved him. Folken picked her up and swung her off her feet, spinning in a circle. She shrieked in delight. Folken chuckled as he set her back down, and the two of them just looked at each other and started cracking up. They fell to the ground, leaning on each other as they held their sides.

"God, I haven't laughed like that in forever! That was fun!" Folken smiled.

Lorena wiped the tears from her eyes. "I know. I haven't laughed to the point of tears in a long time!"

Once they were both calmed down, they sat beside each other and started talking again. Little did they know that they were being observed.

Varie, Goau, and Corian all stood on one of the castle's many balconies overlooking Fanelia. Goau laughed and pointed down. "Corian, it looks like your daughter has charmed my son."

"It looks like your son has done the same." Corian observed.

"That's absolutely perfect." Varie sighed. "They're so happy. I'm glad they hit it off so well. I was praying they would."

"So was I actually." Corian admitted. "Normally the boys Lorena attracts make me nervous, but Folken is a fine young man. I know he'll treat my daughter well."

"I'm glad you have so much confidence in my son." Corian smiled.

"Oh look! Here come Van and Kyme!" Varie exclaimed excitedly.

The three of them looked over to see Van walk through the courtyard with Kyme on his shoulders. How he was holding her up was anyone's guess, though he did have excellent balance. She was smiling with a bunch of daisies in her hand and was delicately plucking off petals one by one and seemed to be mouthing the words "He loves me, he loves me not. He loves me!" She saw the three adults up on the balcony and waved enthusiastically, forgetting she was upset with her father. Van took advantage of her distraction and pretended to lose his balance, making Kyme squeal and hold onto him for dear life, her fingers clenched tightly in the fabric of his red shirt. He grinned widely up at his parents.

Corian was leaning against the railing of the balcony and watching Kyme and Van with an amused and delighted gleam in his eyes. "I thought Van wasn't into girls so much yet." He observed.

Goau laughed jovially and shook his head. "Apparently I don't know my son as well as I did this morning!"
*****