Chapter 3: Reunion
I'm sorry it has taken me this long to complete this chapter, but i've been distracted with reading other ffs, and i wasn't too shure what everyone has been up to. and is my story that bad orwhat?iappericate any adviceor ideas cuse i am making this up as i go
"Of course it's really me. Who else would it be?"
"Well we can't be too sure with thatlot," Answered Millerna indicating Sora and her companions. "Just last week they had someone pretending to be you! And they did a pretty good job at it until Cheatourus forgot that he was the one performing the spell, and reviled that it was really one of their pranks." At that statement Hitomi looked at Sora with a questioning look, and in answer Sora held up her hands as if to say, 'Well, what would you expect?'
"Well then. Cheatourus, please remove all spells and/or illusions from this girl." Said Sora.
"Sure thing." Replied Cheatourus, who then closed his eyes in concentration. With all the spells and illusions removed, everyone saw that the girl was really wearing a tight fitted light pink t shirt with a strange logo on it, A pair of low cut camouflage cargo paints, and (although they can't actually see) knee high black leather boots with a one inch heal.
"Well we need to be sure that you really are Hitomi," Said Allen, "So if you could tell us some thing that only the real Hitomi would know, then we can truly believe you."
"Well…" thought Hitomi, "Van dose have the Fanalian Crest tattooed on his left but cheek. "How'd you know about that!" questioned Van, who made sure that his pants did cover the tattoo. "Hitomi didn't know about that."
"Well obviously I do!"
"Ok then, how did you find out."
"Merle told me bout it, and I've seen it for my self!"
"When did you see it?" asked Van. Everyone was looking at Hitomi with bewildered looks.
"Well… um…" stuttered Hitomi, who could feel the blood rush to her face, "I don't think that this is the appropriate time and place for me to tell that story." As she practically stared at Chid, indicating that she doesn't want him to hear that story.
Sniff
Sniff
"Well, she's wearing strange cloths just like Hitomi, and she smells weird just like her. Put in Merle who was now standing beside the girl.
"Hey! Your one to talk you…you… flee bitten cat-girl!" defended Hitomi.
"Hitomi!" exclaimed Merle as she flung herself onto Hitomi as a sign of welcome.
"Well now it looks as though we're one chair short." Said Allen.
"I've got that covered." Said Cheatourus, who walked to the head of the table, to where Van was sitting, and made a symbol in the air with his hand, and a chair materialized out of nowhere right in between Van and Allen. Hitomi, who had been released from Merle's abrupt hug, walked over to the chair and cautiously sat down, she didn't want to fall on her butt if it turned out that the chair was less solid then it looked, and Merle went back to her spot behind Van.
"Now Van, you have to tell us about this tattoo of yours." Asked Millerna, trying to get all the gossip that she could about the younger king, for it was very hard to get any on him in the past few years.
"Well since the secret's out. Merle dared me to get it a few weeks before I was to slay the dragon for me to become king. The joke was that on the off chance I couldn't pull it off the search party would know that they had found my body. And our deal was that she wasn't going to tell anyone about it." Said Van as he turned slightly in his chair so that he could see Merle's reaction.
"That's not what I agreed to Lord Van… I agreed not to inform anyone about your tattoo, and I wasn't going to deny it when she asked me about it." replied Merle.
"So what brings you back to Gaea, Hitomi?" asked Allen, who was trying to steer the conversation onto a more pleasant subject, not that learning about Van's past was uninteresting, but he could see the discomfort in the King.
"Well I was planning on a nice summer vacation hiking trip near my home for the summer, when Sora and her companions convinced me that it would be even better to come back to Gaea with them instead. Plus I have been getting a little curious about what all of you have been up to in the last ten years…" Said Hitomi; finally having a chance to look at everyone seated at the table and finally spots Chid sitting next to Van. "Prince Chid? Is that really you?" he nodded politely with a small smile on his face, knowing that he is the only one in the room, besides Hitomi, who showed any obvious physical change from the last time she visited Gaea, "I truly have been gone too long." She said, her emerald green eyes wide with awe at how much the young Duke had grown. His blond hair was still short and his eyes still a crisp blue, just like his father's, that contained knowledge beyond his years, he had undoubtedly grown taller, and had lost much of his youthful chibbieness.
" I think that I speak for all of us when I say that it is a pleasure and honor to have you back in Gaea, Hitomi," he said in a tenor voice, as she continued to look at the teenage Prince with wide green eyes. " And to answer your question, Allen has become the senior Knight of Caeli, and has been giving me some lessons with a sword when he comes to visit me. The Lady Celena has become a very good friend too all of us and Aunt Millerna's unofficial Lady-in-waiting," he smiled innocently to show he meant it as a jest at how much time the two spend together, "and Aunt Millerna in a few weeks is to be crowned Queen." They all smiled, as Hitomi's eyes unbelievably grew even larger at the last bit of news.
"Congratulations, Millerna" Hitomi finally said with a slight bow of her head to show respect to the future Queen of Asturia.
"Thank you, Hitomi, and Chid has done a very good job at running the Duchy of Freid, and should be looking at getting himself a bride."
" Aunt Millerna, I have told you that I am much too young to be even thinking about having a wife." Replied Chid, who was quite used to his Aunt mentioning that he should start looking for a wife.
"Well as long as you don't become like Van and swear not to marry again unless you feel deeply for a woman, who we all know is-"
"You were married, Van?" interrupted Hitomi, looking at him with a blank face, she had only heard the first part of what Millerna had said, and the whole room went stock-still. No one knew that the King had kept that information from the girl form the Mystic Moon who he had fallen in love with during the Destiny War.
Van, who distinctly looked like a deer in the headlights at that point, tried to explain himself, but the words kept getting caught in his throat. All he could accomplish was a flapping of his lips until Merle finally came to his rescue and said, "It wasn't ultimately his decision."
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