A/N: It only took me exactly a year and a week to post this. Though this is not the final chapter I will try to have the final one (as it's very short) up by January '04. Thank you to all who have stuck with this.

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The Truth Hurts





When the carriage finally rolled to a stop over the cobblestones in front of the castle,

its two passengers were still fast asleep. It was not until the sound of a teenaged shriek of joy that Van Fanel weakly opened his eyes. He felt very warm, very suffocating, and very blinded by the sight of a mess of pink hair.

"Lordvanlordvanlordvanlordvanlordvanlordvanlordvanlordvanlor-" Van shushed her, motioning to his short-haired companion who was still asleep.

Merle cocked her head to the side. "She's back?" she looked at her king suspiciously. "What happened?"

The masses were beginning to gather around the carriage, so Van didn't answer. The crowds were murmuring in hushed joy and he knew that if he didn't explain himself quick he was never going to hear the end of it. Gently he reached over and nudged Hitomi awake. Her eyes fluttered open.

"Oh... Van... are we there yet?"

He nodded quickly and glanced around him. As she rose into a sitting position, he jumped off the carriage and held out his hand to her, which she took to help herself down as well. However, despite having all feet firmly planted on the ground, the pair kept their fingers entwined for a little longer than necessary. Not wanting to draw attention to their blossoming relationship, the link was soon broken and remained relatively unnoted.

"Merle," Van motioned to his catgirl, who had indeed taken note of the way the two interacted, rushed to his side. "Would you please show our guest back to her room. I'll drop by the castle and let Gudevo know I'm back." Catching Hitomi's eye he added, "I'll see you both later." With that, he submerged himself in the crowds as Merle led the earth girl in the direction of the guest house.



"Well..?" demanded the young teen after the excruciating silence and anticipation. The two were in the room, Hitomi arranging her things and Merle quietly glaring at her from her spot at the edge of the bed.
"Well what, Merle?" Hitomi asked innocently, though hiding her flushed cheeks as she tended to articles in her bag.
"Well what happened in Asturia?"
"I was going to go home... but the machine broke and so we thought we'd come back and try something else." ooh. Good lie.
"Something else, huh," frowned Merle suspiciously, "..like MARRIAGE!"
"Merle!" responded Hitomi, turned and revealing a face with far more color than before. "It's not like that!"
"Oh yeah? Come on Hitomi, tell me!"
"No."
"Ahhh so there's something to tell is there?" the catgirl leapt up from her seat on the bed and zipped around Hitomi, repeating her name and continuing with the begging tactic.
"No, there isn't!" the 15 year-old closed her eyes, growing increasingly annoyed with the other's antics.
"Something happened, I know it!..... heyyy... you kissed him didn't you! You kissed Lord Van!" her eyes sparkled like a little kid's.
"No I didn't!" replied Hitomi, flustered. There was a pause. "....he kissed me."
"Ahhhhh!" Merle's eyes squeezed shut and she gave a little giggle of excitement. "What happened??"
Hitomi proceeded to tell her, cautiously at first but then becoming more comfortable with the catgirl and pulling out every detail she could remember. The conversation went on as the sun rose higher and higher in the sky, eventually starting to sink towards the horizon line.



"Lord Van really it's no trouble. You just got back from a long journey, you should rest!" the blacksmith, Tai, protested as the young king helped him lift a heavy plank over to his shop.
"It really wasn't that long a ride... I slept through most of it. I'm rested enough to help out. Besides," he said, posting the plank and ducking his head at Tai, "I don't want to even think about the hassle the councillors will give me when they find me!"
Tai gave a hearty laugh. "Very well. Thank you sir. Hey, could you do me a favor and go grab that pail?" he pointed to a pail a few meters away.
Van nodded and set out on the incredibly harsh, skill-testing, extensive, arduous, painf--
"Here." the king handed Tai the pail. "Anything else?"
"No thank you your majesty. I'm fine from hereon in."
"Alright." Van turned and found himself face to face with Kayulo. The catboy just smiled, winked, and give a thumbs-up. Then he turned and walked back into the busting crowds. Van's expression was stoney, still poked by the thoughts of the cat-couple, but he softened and walked off to find a soul in need of help. If he had stayed looking after the retreating figure for even just a moment more, he would have noticed the sudden shocked look of pain that the catboy bore on his face.



"I feel guilty," whispered Hitomi as she walked down the hallway with Merle. "I spent half the day getting back here and the rest of it talking about boys, of all things, with you! I didn't do anything for the reconstruction at all."
"Oh well," replied the cat, shrugging it off indifferently. "There's always tomorrow. Besides, it was worth it! ...and no one expects you to go around helping people fix stuff anyway."
They walked down a long winding staircase.
"I'm so hungry!" hissed Hitomi, patting her stomach.
"When was the last time you ate?"
She paused for a moment, desperately trying to remember. "I... remember having a bit of an egg at breakfast... and..."
The catgirl led the way to the kitchen. Dask, a sous-chef, greeted her immediately with a smile. "Need something miss? I'm afraid the head chef is out at the moment, but I can prepare something if you like."
"Can you whip up something for her?" Merle jabbed her thumb at her friend. "She hasn't eaten since breakfast!"
"I'll see what I can do."
"Thank you very much," said Hitomi, bowing and trailing after Merle who had left for the dining room.

The ravenous Hitomi was able to polish off a great deal of food, in such amounts that Merle's appetite seemed to have been consumed as well. She rolled a pea around her plate as the stared at the sandy-haired girl sink her teeth into another piece of fruit. She rolled her eyes and sarcastically noted that Lord Van would not be oh-so-smitten if he saw her eating habits.



As it turned out Van didn't seem to mind Hitomi's ravenous habits, as the two ate together often. It had been a month since their return, and they were both busy during the day, helping with Fanelia. The city was really starting to glimmer. Most of the houses were now complete and looked better than ever, and the citizens had planted trees where the other ones had been reduced to cinders in the fire. The castle was the truly the only structure that required significant repair-Van had insisted on it being like this. When urged to focus more on the central edifice rather than the smaller homes, the 16 year-old had replied that his greatest concern was his people's happiness. The castle was liveable, at least, he had noted, and further polishing could be done when the important matters concerning his people were rectified. Much of Van's day was spent on either helping with roof repair, carrying heavy objects, or arguing with his councillors that no, this method of reparation would suffice. Frequently he would return late at night, frustrated by the elders' lack of comprehension on the matter, but the heat would simmer when he saw Hitomi.

Hitomi too, had been busy. She wasn't very strong but she was swift which made her the best person to ask to run errands. She ran from city edge to the inner city, delivering things and offering laundry aid. When there was nothing to do she was with Merle, keeping the younger children entertained with games and stories. Several of them had asked her to tell them what they were going to be when they grew up, but Hitomi gently declined every time. Fortune telling was a part of her that she had left behind, choosing to believe the theory that fate was only an idea and not an actuality.

She didn't see much of her Draconian during the day. He was usually very occupied with roof work or plank lifting and skirted about, house to house, almost as fast as Hitomi. Because of this, the two never really interacted. Several times Hitomi had gone off looking for him, but to no avail. On one occasion the pair had accidentally collided during one of Hitomi's errand runs. The crash had left the two on the ground, and Van immediately rose to help her out. Giving her his hand and stabilizing her balance with his arm around her, they both blushed.

"Are you alright?" he had asked carefully, searching her eyes.

"Yes, thank you..." she had replied, staring back. The moment would have gone on longer, if not for the citizens whose eyes Van could feel boring into his back.

"Well then!" he had stuttered loudly, quickly releasing Hitomi. Then before running off, had whispered, "I'll see you tonight."



Despite the lack of interaction during the day, the couple often stole away into the night for a private dinner. There was a particular rock which jutted out of the cliff near that Hitomi loved to sit at, and Van often took her there. Still consious about his wings, they would walk all the way until they got to the cliff, where Van would silently remove his shirt, unfurl his wings, and lift his maiden up onto the large platform. Once there, the wings would disappear again and he'd put his top back on. The basket would be opened, the food would be eaten, and then Hitomi would lean against Van with a sigh, asking him to recount his day and how he was doing. He would then ask her the same thing, and the conversations would soon seed out onto other, less trivial matters. It had taken more than a week for Van to overcome his boyish shyness and work up the courage to put his arm around her as he answered. A kiss had taken twice that long, and occurred only every now and then despite the passion that had transpired in the barn on that fateful night. Both were still young, still so timid about the feelings they were experiencing and not entirely sure how to properly express them. Often the evenings would pass with them simply leaning against the wall of the cliff in a gentle, calm silence, basking in the warmth of each other's presence and breathing rhythm.

No one "knew" and everyone knew about the depth of the couple's relationship. On paper, it was secret, but through word of mouth and word of eye it was obvious how they felt. The people were happy; they appreciated Hitomi's presence and aid in Fanelia, and commended the king quietly for not letting his love for her stand in the way of his duty. They enjoyed the presence of each during the day, and left "whatever happen behind chamber doors" to the business of the pair, though nothing ever did.



The months passed. Van was exuberant, happier than he had ever been. Hitomi had changed him, had increased his mental and physical strength by her existence there with him.

Hitomi, on the other hand, was not growing as happy. Indeed, there were two things that plagued her every day. She tried to hide it, and she had hidden it well. Van had had his suspicions about how she was feelings, but all he had gotten out of her was that she was feeling "a tiny bit" homesick. He wanted her to stay, with him and because she hadn't seem terribly homesick he dismissed it. It was selfish, but he lied to himself that it was because he was too distracted by the completion of the final part of Fanelia- the castle.



It was a sunny day. No one was working, the homes had been finished in their entirety, save for a couple of new ones that had been asked to be built. The roof of the castle was the final piece of the broken puzzle, but Van had given the workers a couple days of holiday with their families. He was sitting on the roof, staring out at his accomplished country, when he saw Kayulo pass by. The catboy had not been looking well over the past few days, and Van noted that he had been unable to meet his eyes whenever they conversed. Van wondered if something had happened with Merle, and when he subtly asked how things were going with his fake sister, Kayulo had brightened and had responded with a smile.

But today, Kayulo had never looked worse. Concerned for the person he had grown to like and had even encouraged for the relationship with Merle, he jumped down from smaller roof to smaller roof until he reached the ground.

"Kayulo!" he called, motioning the young man over. Kayulo turned at the sound of his name, and slowly trudged over.

"Majesty," he replied, looking past the king as though seeing something behind him.

"You look terrible, you have for a week now, and I know you're avoiding me. What's going on, Kayulo?"

Kayulo looked wearily, finally allowing his eyes to meet Van's. "You don't want to know," he answered slowly. "The truth hurts."

"What 'truth'?"

"Forget it. Ignorance is bliss, Master Van, and for Merle's sake I don't want you to b-" he stopped himself suddenly. "I have to go." he turned to leave, but felt a strong gloved hand on his fur.

"I order you to tell me." Van said. "If it concerns me, then I need to know."

Without turning around, Kayulo murmured. "She's going back tomorrow, at dawn. She's known how to all along but has been lying to you because she loves you... but you... I'm sorry, Master Van." he turned around to face the older teen and found that Van was just standing there, frozen. Then in a burst of speed, Van ran away, his feet flying, leading him aimlessly as he tried to escape the truth.

Kayulo was right.

It did hurt.