… Uhhh okay then how about @Tsuki?

Akhalia and Ardie stood there for a long time, just hugging each other and feeling joyous that they were reunited once more.  Finally, Xavier broke the silence by saying, "Do you guys want to come inside, or...?"

"Oh! Um, hi," Ardie said, breaking away from Akhalia.  Confusion and some other emotion Xavier wasn't sure about drifted across her eyes.  "Yeah, okay.  We'll come inside.  I, uh, I'm Ardie, by the way."

"Xavier," he replied with a friendly smile.

"Nice to meet you," she smiled back, but warily. 

Akhalia and Ardie entered the house, not realizing they had clasped each other's hands.  Xavier was about to shut the door behind them when he noticed Crieff still standing outside, staring into nothingness.

"Hey man, you alright?"

"Yeah," Crieff responded distantly, shaking his head as if to repel whatever trance he was in.  "Yeah. Thanks. I'm coming."

After a few minutes the group seated themselves at the wooden circular table in the dining room.  Ardie told Akhalia and Xavier everything she had gone through and her and Crieff's journey up until that moment.  

"Sounds like you two have had a pretty interesting few weeks," Xavier observed.

"What did the Forest Witch do after she found out her circlet was gone?" Akhalia asked.

Crieff, who had been silent the entire time Ardie was telling their tale, finally spoke.  "I... don't know.  I don't have it anymore.  I lost it before we even got to the palace.

"She must have known who took it, though she wasn't following me or Ardie.  She... she must have..."

She must have gone after Gruff.

The thought hit him like a bolt of lightning.  Gruff, who had never been particularly affectionate toward him.  Gruff, whose dangerous idea it was to steal the circlet in the first place.  Gruff... who Crieff had admired for years, who had always protected Crieff, however begrudgingly, who taught Crieff everything he knew.

Gruff, who he had left behind.

Gods, what have I done?

Akhalia began to speak, not paying much attention to Crieff.  "I fled here after I was given the news, and met Xavier, who was gracious enough to give me a place to stay.  We became close, and eventually got engaged--"

Here Ardie felt a sharp burst of anger she couldn't quite explain.

"but we both knew we didn't really love each other, not like that.  So we called off the engagement."

"Mhm," Xavier said, a smirk playing around the corner of his mouth.  "Akhalia's already given her heart away, I believe."

Akhalia blushed, embarassed but also colossally happy to have her best friend and the woman she loved by her side, plus whoever this Crieff guy was.  Ardie and Crieff were not quite so relaxed as she was.  Xavier's remark about whoever random Canderrian person she liked had put Ardie on edge, and Crieff? Crieff had never felt more alone in his life. 

Oops, almost forgot.  Tag!

List of People to Tag, because it hasn't been posted in a while: (Names in bold went, names in italic were skipped, and names in plain font are not tagged yet)

Periwinkle

Rora

Tsuki the Skywolf

Alex

Lyric

Hex

Artemis