People were moving fast through the halls of the palace when Merle arrived
in the main portion of the castle from her quarters at the far end.  As a
close friend and Confidante of the King she had more than earned her right
to stay in the castle.  However the Princess was terribly afraid of Cat
people and so she was relegated to the far end of the castle.

She wasn't mistreated and Van still needed her, which was why Gaddes usually
played devil's advocate whenever Princess Narine brought up the subject of
the girl getting her own place to live.

Curiosity peaked she found Gaddes outside of the king's quarters looking
very worried.  "Gaddes, what's wrong with Van?"  Her concern jumped to the
King immediately.

Gaddes looked up and looking at the cat woman smiled reassuringly.  "Van's
fine Merle.  But he went to the Mystic Moon to do something about the
nightmares he has been having and one came true.  He brought Hitomi here and
the doctors and healers have been in and out all morning trying to get her
patched up.  She hasn't regained consciousness yet either I'm afraid."

His worry for the girl translated easily to Merle and she let out a small
moan of worry.  If anything happened to Hitomi she was really going to be on
suicide watch.

==

In the room Van was seated next to the bed as Princess Millerna and some
assistants started working on Hitomi immediately.  The first thing they had
done was stabilize the girl's spine.

The next was the longest part of the night.  Millerna worked several hours
only being spelled for a few minutes as she was fed something and changed
her surgery clothes.  Hitomi was kept asleep by careful application of the
anesthetics.  There was no way they wanted her to wake up before Millerna
was able to get all of the internal bleeding repaired.

Van was scared.  He wasn't about to leave Hitomi's side until this was over
and as he spoke to the princess as she worked he discovered that Hitomi was
going to be bedridden for weeks until everything healed.

If He knew this girl as well as he thought he remembered her.  She was not
going to want to stay down.  This was going to take the cooperation of
everyone she knew to keep her in bed, then to help her with her
rehabilitation.  But at least her chances for pulling through were better
than they had first expected.

==

As the surgery finished Van walked out with Millerna for last minute
instructions on what to do should the doctor be gone and they all needed
help with any complications.  There would be heavy bruising and some
scarring from the surgery but it was expected that she would make a full
recovery, much to Van and Merle's relief.

Days passed and Hitomi still stayed asleep.  Millerna came to see what was
going on and reassured Van that this would be fine, but to keep an eye on
her.  If anything strange happened then she was to be contacted immediately.

For the time being she had taken up quarters in the city proper of the
Fanelian capital.  Near enough to be summoned at a moment's notice, but far
enough away so as not to intrude any further on the daily schedule of the
castle.

Narine was almost infuriated.  Here she was, the King's fianc�e and he had
not even spoken to her in three days.  Instead he had been spending every
waking moment in that room with that girl from the mystic moon.

Sure, she knew of Hitomi and everything she did for Gaea, but that was no
reason for him to fawn over her like a lovesick pup.  She was headed down
the halls of the castle at a quick clip when she was intercepted by Merle.
Restraining a shudder at the cat woman's casual appearance she merely glared
at her.  "Out of my way, I must see Van."

Merle narrowed her eyes at the woman her standing height allowing her to
tower over the woman easily.  "Why is it that you need to speak to him now.
He informed me that he does not wish to be disturbed when he is with
Hitomi."

"That is exactly why I wish to see him.  That commoner, hero she may be, but
a commoner should not take the place of his fianc�e with the wedding so
close."  She made an attempt to pass by Merle and was promptly barred by the
more athletic woman's arm.

"I think not."  Merle growled out dangerously.  "Hitomi and I may not have
gotten along famously in the past.  But even I can see when Van-sama is in
love.  Face it.  Hitomi and Van-sama love each other or she wouldn't have
come back with him when he left to find her..."  Merle was interrupted by a
slap in the face.

She knew that she was earning the Princess's contempt but this was outright
hatred now.  "You even insinuate that-that Girl is more of a match for Van
than I am and I will have your furry hide gracing my father's hall."

Merle simply smiled as Gaddes stepped out of the shadows and looked down at
the princess.  "And if I get a report that you are threatening a member of
the royal household again Princess Narine I will personally escort you back
to your father.  Understood?"

Narine glared at Gaddes in a pique of absolute fury.  "How dare you treat
royalty that way?  You are to protect the royalty in this castle not that
common Cat brat."

"No Princess"  He chided gently.  "It is my duty to uphold Fanelia's laws in
a fair manner, protect the king and the royal family and Lady Merle here was
informally adopted into the family from the start when she and the King were
children."

Knowing she was beaten for now she retreated to her quarters to stew.  Merle
looked at Gaddes and smiled.  "Thank you Gaddes, I didn't want that to turn
into a fight.  You know who would have won that one."

Gaddes nodded.  "I know.  That is why I stepped in.  That and Van told me to
protect you two from each other.  He may be focused on Hitomi and her
recovery right now, but he is not blind to the fact that you two don't get
along."

Merle nodded and continued on to Hitomi's room.  She wanted to check on the
girl herself and talk to van for a few moments.  Gaddes watched her go and
shook his head.  He knew how defensive that woman could get with Van, but
she wasn't stupid.  He knew that she would protect Hitomi as well now that
she was back.  He was going to have to become more vigilant; this had the
potential for getting real ugly real fast on several fronts.

==

In the room Van simply sat next to Hitomi's bed holding her hand and waiting
for her to wake up.  As he sat there he thought of his many encounters with
this wonderful zest filled girl with no respect for status.

She was truly blessed with the ability to see everyone equally.  And now
there was the potential that she may have been gone from him forever.  He
didn't want to think about that now.  But it did lead to the better
thoughts.  She was here now, and when she awakened and was allowed up he
would help her all he could to run again.

He looked up to see Merle at the door.  "What are you doing here Merle?"

Merle walked quietly over to Van and looked closely at Hitomi.  She looked
so peaceful asleep like that, it was not a natural sleep, but it was at
least having the benefit of keeping her still while her body healed.

"Van-sama, I would make a recommendation.  Please post a guard in the room
for Hitomi?"  There was little emotion to her voice and it brought Van up
short.

"For Hitomi?  Why?"  He instantly wanted to know.  No one he knew in the
castle would harm Hitomi while she was like this, or when she was well and
about.  Why should he need to post a guard in the room?

"Princess Narine was about to come in here and have a talk with you about
spending all your time with a commoner and yet none with your fianc�e.  I
stopped her and she almost took her fight up with me.  Fortunately Gaddes
was there to prevent the occurrence.  But she doesn't like Hitomi.  She is
jealous and it is making her a danger to Hitomi while she is helpless like
this.  When you are not here or I am not here to protect her, please post
Gaddes or one of his crew in here.  I know that they would protect her with
their lives now that they all know that she is back on Gaea from the Mystic
Moon."

The concern the cat woman had for the girl was starting to show in the
warmth and the strength of her conviction that Hitomi would be in danger if
she were to be left alone.

This wasn't the first time that Van had heard something about Narine having
a jealous streak.  But this was the first time that Merle had brought it to
his attention in connection with Hitomi.

He had made a promise over a year ago that he would protect this visitor
from the mystic moon.  What he hadn't counted on was her strong will and his
own heart being drawn to her or hers to him.  It was this that brought them
back together after the war just over a year later.

Looking at Hitomi he listened to Merle and knew that if nothing else she was
a good judge of character when it come to those she cared about.  He would
listen to her and he nodded.  "Go inform Gaddes that I would like to have a
guard posted here around the clock.  I do not want to be taken by surprise
and I will not allow Hitomi to be placed in danger.  Not after the promise I
made over a year ago."

Merle looked from Van to Hitomi and nodded.  "I will inform him right away.
If that witch even comes near..."

"Merle!"  Van's tone brought her up short.

"Sorry, Bt you know what I think of her.  Hitomi is your match; I don't care
if she is common.  She redeemed herself by helping save you, Fanelia, and
Gaea in the times of the Great War.  Narine was hiding at the time hoping
that Zaibok would pass them over and instead had to watch as her country had
to rebuild like the others."  Her scorn for the girl that was soon to be
queen of Fanelia was evident but it was held in check to prevent any further
repercussions.

Van nodded knowing that his own feeling mirrored her own on this.  He only
hoped that he and Allen would be able to find a way out of this when the
Knight came to visit as an emissary in the next week.

Allen knew of Hitomi's condition and he and Van wrote often to say updated.
Now he was able to come and see for himself and he had warned Van that he
was not the only one who knew that the Girl form the Mystic moon was back
and that the rumors of her returning to overthrow the balance of peace were
running rife through the merchants as he had also been in touch with Dryden.

Van was starting to take the warning more seriously now that Merle had
confirmed of one problem in his own household and now there was nothing for
him to do but prepare for the storm and hope to diffuse it's total power.



~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Warrior,
Had I not known you were already dead,
I would have mourned the loss of your life.

-Sodanta
16th Century
Japanese Poet
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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