Of Making Amends

"And now I stand here starry-eyed and stormy

Oh, just when I thought my heart was finally numb

A beautiful, young man appears before me,

Singing 'come, oh, won't you come'

And what can I do if finally for the first time

The one I'm burning for returns the glow?

If love has come at last it's picked the worst time

Still I know

I've got to go."

- Meadowlark by Susan Egan

When the evening came, both Hercules and Meg even more so got reluctantly ready and took Pegasus to journey to the palace. Flying did not cause a full-scale panic attack to Meg any more, but she did not really enjoy it either. She kept herself glued to Hercules, trusting that if her hero had retrieved her soul from the Underworld, he could handle this situation as well.

When the two of them arrived to the palace, it obvious judging by the icy attitude of Creon's, that inviting Hercules had been against his wishes: it had been obviously Harmonia who had persuaded him into inviting Hercules as well. Meg appriciated the gesture though, for she didn't even want to know how painful being in her childhood home would have been without Wonderboy as her moral support.

All Meg's family member were there to greet them, even though Pyrrha still seemed somewhat unwilling to be there. After changing greetings and pleasantries, Meg eyed worriedly her father: he seemed even worse out than he had been the last time she saw him. Her father noticed her look.

"I am quite alright, my dear. Still having those headaches, though. If you want to please your father, would you mind singing for me?" her father brushed her worries aside and gestured towards the corner of the room. There, Meg spotted the same lyre she had used to play when she was still living in the palace and asked to play. Mostly those times where when she had to entertain the quests, but king Creon had always enjoyed music: she knew her father loved to listen to her play, it reminded him of his late wife, who had been a famously skilled singer and a player of lyre.

Momentarily, Meg wanted to argue But then she took another look of her father's paled, pained complexion and re-thought her plans, swallowing back her objections. This was not the time nor the place to question her father's physical condition: if she continued pressing on the matter, she would only anger him once more and for once she wanted to avoid that. She would figure out what was going on eventually.

"Of course," Meg replied with a small, forced smile. Obediently Meg went to pick up the instrument, gently testing its strings.

The strings were in a perfect condition: someone had been obviously attuning her instrument while she was away. It almost as if she had regained a member of her body or a limb she hadn't even known she was missing. Holding the lyre in her hands felt so very good: she hadn't even realized how much she had missed this.

Then she picked out a song and started to perform, her fingers running on the strings as if they hand a mind of their own.

"When I was a girl l I had a favorite story

Of the meadowlark who lived where the rivers wind

Her voice could match the angels' in its glory

But she was blind, the lark was blind

An old king came and took her to his palace

Where the walls were burnished bronze and golden braid

And he fed her fruit and nuts from an ivory chalice

And he prayed:

'Sing for me, my meadowlark,

Sing for me of the silver morning,

Set me free, my meadowlark,

And I'll buy you a priceless jewel

And cloth of brocade and crewel

And I'll love you for life,

If you will sing for me.'"

Hercules was completely taken aback with Meg's skill. He had heard her humming to herself and taken notice that she had a beautiful singing voice, but he had never known that she was this skilled. King Creon had his eyes closed, completely absorbed with the music. Henioche was listening with a warm smile on her face, but Pyrrha was pointedly facing away from Meg, studying the tapestry covering the wall.

"She's good, isn't she?" Harmonia quietly whispered to Hercules.

"Yes," he breathed back, still baffled by her skill.

"Her mother, Eurydiche, was talented a singer and a player of the lyre. That is another quality Megara has inherited from her mother. My son, Creon, really loved listening to Eurydiche. Well, he loved her in many ways, but that was one of the things cherished above other things," Harmonia sighed, fondly studying her granddaughter.

As Hercules glanced at Creon, he noticed a faint trail a moistness escaping his closed eyes and running down his left cheek. Momentarily Hercules wondered how Creon had continued living his life after losing the wife he obviously had loved and cherished so much, remembering the pain that had filled every part of his mind and body when he had momentarily lost Meg.

He felt as if now he could understand the strict king just a little better than before.

"Fly away, meadowlark

Fly away in the silver morning,

If I stay, I'll grow to curse the dark

So it's off where the days won't bind me

I know I leave wounds behind me

But I won't let tomorrow find me

Back this way

Before my past once again can blind me

Fly away

And we won't wait to say goodbye

My beautiful young man and I," Meg's voice grew stronger towards the end, filling the whole hall.

King Creon gave a shuddered breath at the end of her song, his eyes still filled with tears.

"You've still got it, dear," Harmonia complimented Meg as she put her lyre away.

"You are more talented than ever, my dear daughter. Eurydiche would be so proud," Creon whispered the last part, momentarily lost in his own thoughts. Meg shook her head with a small, almost timid smile, as if to brush the compliments away.

"I had no idea that you're that talented," Hercules honestly told her as she returned to stand beside him.

"I have many skills. But thanks, Wonderboy," Meg replied with a coy smile.

Finally, Creon shook himself out of his reverie, clasping his hands together.

"Now, that our hunger for arts is sated, we shall dine," Creon concluded, inviting the servants to bring out the dishes.

The conversation during the dinner wasn't exactly fluent as Creon was still against her daughter marrying the demigod against his wishes, Pyrrha was still mad at her eldest sister and Henioche was rendered into speechless as she ogled at Hercules. But Hercules, Meg and Harmonia tried their best to keep the conversation going. After the dinner was served, Pyrrha stumbled up and muttered: "Thanks for the dinner." Then she stomped into the garden, obviously still mad at Meg.

Meg sighed unhappily and Hercules placed his hand on hers under the table, giving her a compassionate look. And he had thought that his family relations were complicated.

"So how are the matters of the city-state, father?" Meg politely asked and Creon sighed.

"Well, we have still much reconstruction to do after that Cyclops' attack," her father begun and Meg had to fight the urge to remark that without her fiancé, they probably wouldn't have even a city-state to rebuild.

"And then, those damned cultists, those followers of old Goddess Cybele and that cursed Zenia woman as their leader are giving us hard time," her father carried on.

"Why, aren't they usually quite peaceful? Maybe a bit eccentric, but not revolutionary at least?" Meg furrowed her brows.

"Well, they have been babbling about Cybele being mad at Greeks and that some divine retribution coming for us," Creon huffed condescendingly.

"Are sure there's no look deeper into this matter?" Meg felt the need to disagree: sure, those people had certainly some weird outlooks on life, but what if there was a piece in this puzzle they were all missing?

"Religious fanatics like them are always muttering such ominous nonsense," Creon explained and had a small fit of cough. Meg furrowed her brows again, this time out of worry.

Then Creon cleared his throat and started a long speech about matters concerning the situation of the city-state. For a moment Hercules tried to follow his monologue, but the honeyed wine was making his head pound. Meg gave him an understanding look: after all, it was because of her questions that her father was giving this speech.

"I'm gonna step outside for a moment. You okay, hon?" He whispered, giving his beloved a concerned look.

"This is a family dinner, not torture even if Cassandra might see it as such. Sure, I'll be just fine," Meg whispered back, giving him a quick smile.

Hercules shot her a thankful smile before he got up and excused himself and the king hardly noticed him exiting as he was just getting started with his speech.

Hercules breathed in the fresh, cool night air from the gardens: their lush richness was truly a sight to be seen. Without a real destination in his mind, he started walking, just appreciating the fresh air and the scent of the herbs and flowers. As his way trailed to the fountain, he saw a figure seated on the paving surrounding the waterworks.

Pyrrha was sitting there alone and judging by the slouch of her shoulders, she wasn't in a good mood. Hercules decided to push his luck anyway.

"Hi, would you mind having company?" he asked, smiling at her kindly.

"Hmph, suit yourself," Pyrrha gave him a quick look, before looking back into the water. Hercules took her answer as 'a yes' and sat beside her. For a moment, both of them remained silent.

"My sister Henioche said you wish to marry Meg," Pyrrha suddenly said, her voice sounding tense.

"Yes, I certainly wish to," Hercules replied with a small smile.

"Is it because of her beauty? Everybody is always telling how she's the most beautiful of us three sisters, how she looks so much like mother," Pyrrha replied petulantly, finally looking at him.

She shared some similar traits with Meg, her hair was the same auburn color and her eyes were bluer than Meg's, but there was some obvious similarity there. Her features, however, where more strongly inherited from their father's side as they were more angular. Her built was more slender than that of Henioche's, almost tomboyish: considering her age, she had still a year or so, before her feminine features would become more prominent.

"Hmmm, it is true that when I met Meg for the first time, I did notice her beauty first. But it isn't the reason why I wish to marry her," Hercules started to replied, but Pyrrha continued her angry rant.

"Everybody are always raving who she's the prettiest one, the smartest one and the most talented one of us three: of course she will be the one of us who ends up marrying the most famous hero in Greece and the son of Zeus. Even if she fights with father, he too holds a special place for her in his heart, because she reminds him of mother," Pyrrha ended her speech, crossing her hands on her chest.

"I'm sure your father has a special place in his heart for each one of you and your sisters. But coming back to what you said before, if I was really concerned with only Meg's looks, I really couldn't say I want to marry her out of love, now could I?" Hercules told her, giving her a side-way glance.

"You love her?" Pyrrha snorted with disbelief.

"Yes, I do, " Hercules replied, sounding sincere.

"Why?" Pyrrha seemed perplexed. There was defiance in the look she gave Hercules, something so characteristic for a teenager.

"There are many reasons. I love her, because she accepts me the way I am. Everybody expects so much from me as a demigod and as a hero, yet when I'm with her, I'm allowed to be just me. I love her for her mind, she's the smartest person I've met: her sense of humor, the way she never fails to give a witty response to anything anyone says amazes me. And she's loyal and brave: there was a period of time, when I misjudged her character because of the mistakes she had made and I pushed her away. She still wouldn't leave my side and though I had pushed her away, she was still even willing to risk her own life to save mine," Hercules sighed at the end of the last sentence, the memory still too fresh and painful in his mind.

"What happened?" Pyrrha was now intently listening.

"She died. But I was able to save her, I dived into the river Styx in order to save her. After that I realized that not even becoming a God could compete with being with her. Just being with her fills me with happiness," Hercules gave her a bit melancholic smile, remembering all they had been through in order to be together.

"You did all that because of her?" Even Pyrrha sounded a tiniest bit impressed.

"I did. But Meg is the true hero here, she actually did give her life to save me. She would do anything for those she cares about, to those who she loves: that includes you as well," Hercules kindly told her.

"The way she left… I was so mad, so disappointed. I still am," Pyrrha quietly whispered.

"It's understandable. Meg knows it too and she feels really bad about it: I know she would be more than happy to explain by herself, if you're willing to give her a chance," Hercules carefully tested the waters with Pyrrha, hoping that she would at least give Meg a chance.

There was a long silence: Pyrrha's brows were knitted together and it was somehow poignant for Hercules to recognize the similar trait she shared with Meg.

"Fine," Pyrrha finally muttered. She hardly heard what Hercules told her as he quickly got onto his feet and trekked towards the palace. Pyrrha stayed seated, until she heard softer steps approaching. She didn't need to turn to face the comer as she already knew who it was.

Meg took the same spot which Hercules had vacated only a few moments ago.

"He spoke highly of you," Pyrrha simply stated to her older sister.

"Hmph, I can only imagine: he thinks too highly of me," Meg chuckled, still unsure of how the situation would unravel.

"You know, I'm still mad at you," Pyrrha responded, still not facing her sister.

"I know. You have every right to be. When I first left the palace, I just wished to be free and to be with my boyfriend of that time. Well, I guess you still remember Damen. Fleeing with him was one of the worst decisions I've ever made and during these recent years, I've made a lot of them. I ended up in a really bad place in my life: I guess some could say that it was almost poetic that I met Hercules when I was probably at the lowest point of my life. I regret turning my back at you and at our family. I'm ashamed of it, so ashamed that I've postponed returning here for as long as I could. I'm not proud of it. So yeah, I know you've got every right to be mad at me," Meg balled her hands into fists as she closed her eyes, recalling all those dark places she had visited before she had met him.

"I thought that you just ran away and had the time of your life and then assumed that you can return here with your famous boyfriend. That made me so mad," Pyrrha finally confessed to her. Meg gave a dry laugh.

"Yeah, well it couldn't be farther from the truth. I've made so many mistakes and bad decisions that I can't even recount all of them. Sometimes I'm still surprised to find that Herc actually wants to be with me, that he sees something in me which he values so highly. I don't feel like I deserve him because of all I've done," Meg honestly told her. As Pyrrha remained silent, Meg sighed.

"Look, I know I've been gone for a long time and things have changed, but I'd be happier than you could ever know if you'd give a chance to get to know you again," Meg then timidly looked at her sister.

Pyrrha remained silent for a moment, then finally sighing as well as she turned her attention to her sister.

"Fine, but the next time we talk, can we please about something on more cheerful note than the sad sob-story of your life?" Pyrrha jabbed at her and telling from a smallest hint of smirk on her face, she was teasing her older sister.

"I'm pouring my heart out and you call it a sob-story! Fine, fine, we'll talk about whatever you want to talk about, then," Meg jested, raising her hands in defeat.

For a moment, they remained silent. Then Pyrrha rested her head cautiously to Meg's shoulder. Meg was almost touched to tears by this simple gesture.

"I've missed you," Pyrrha quietly whispered.

"I've missed you too, more than you could ever know," Meg told her, her voice restrained because of her emotions running wild.

She rested her own head against her sister's: she knew that there was still a lot to mend between the two of them, but at least this was a beginning.

-A/N: So I'll have to admit, I really struggled with the idea do I want to use song lyrics as a part of this story or do they affect the overall flow of the story? But I decided as musical numbers were quite prominent in both the movie and the tv show, that I might use them occasionally. What do you think? And yes, the song I referred to in this chapter was 'Meadowlark' performed by the lovely Susan Egan, I've always pictured that song as something Meg might perform at her father's palace.

On the other note, I haven't given my stories as much time and attention lately as I would have liked and this is not because I'm getting bored or planning to stop writing. I'm simply feeling really, really exhausted and if I won't be updating quite as regularly as before, I promise I'll update at some point.

Review shout-outs:

Sakura: I'm happy to hear that you're still enjoying this, the next chapter is now up!

Maya: The newest chapter is now up, you're welcome!

Guest: Thank you, I've always thought that Meg and Cass would make great friends, I'm happy to hear that you agree!

Nutmeg: Thank you, have some more!