Hello everyone! It feels a little weird to do this, since I never put anything at the beginning of my stories, but I thought I should explain the situation. So, I previously had an account, MusicalUnicorn, that I uploaded fanfics on. However, I lost the email that I used to create that account. Due to this, I also totally lost access to the MusicalUnicorn account, including all of the stories I had uploaded. This story is a rewrite of my old one, New Beginnings. I wanted to rewrite it instead of just continuing because I didn't really like the flow of the original work. Therefore, the first few chapters will cover the same content the old story did. I'm truly sorry for taking this long to pick this back up, and I hope you enjoy the story (excuse me if some of my writing is kinda cringy….I'm an incredible novice at writing).

Shirayuki

I took a deep breath in as I finally passed through the gates into the towering castle I had come to consider something of a second home. The familiar smell of herbs and flowers greeted me, and I couldn't help but smile softly at the nostalgia that hit me.

Despite the 5 years I had been away, the palace was just as I had remembered; that sense of overwhelming beauty I had come to expect and admire about the place was the same as always. Now that I was back, I only hoped that the people residing in this place were the same people from my memories.

Kiki, Mitsuhide, Chief Herbalist, Ryuu, even Prince Izana….but most of all, Zen.

The people I had kept close to my heart and in my memories during my stay at Lilias. I had made many friends in the wintry city, of course, but nothing could replace the ones that I had left behind. Even with all the letters and occasional visits, it still wasn't enough. Too often, I had found myself looking towards the direction of this very castle; whether I wanted to admit it or not, I had been so incredibly lonely.

I'm back now, though. And this time, I hope I'm staying for good. I can't wait to see everyone again…..goodness, I hope they haven't forgotten me!

I chuckled to myself as I continued my stroll through the open hallways to the medical wing. I couldn't wait to see everyone, but most of my excitement was tied to meeting Zen again. I had missed him the most, and I was extremely curious as to why he had stopped sending me letters after the first two years of my leave. The stranger thing was that no one would tell me anything about him when they visited, and we never got any news at Lyrias since it was quite far from the capital.

I knew in my head that he was probably very busy, being the second prince of Clarines and all, but… well, it didn't matter, since I would be seeing him again very soon.

I just didn't realize that it would be this soon….