A/N: Okei I know I made Belgarath a lil more emotional than he usually is. It adds to the effect. Or at least I thought so. This is actually my first Eddings fanfic, and I suggested this category, so I thought I should publish a fanfic in it, even if it sux. If u review this, plz tell me: do u think I should continue this story? Thanks! Oh yes, and all flames will be used to toast marshmallows at my next camp-out.

Beldaran woke up the next morning to find herself in her parents' old bed and Polgara beside her. She sat up and wiped the gunk out of her eyes that had formed as a result of her tears the previous night.

Climbing out of bed, she searched around for a bathrobe and slippers, and she found that her father had considerately left her and Polgara's morning apparel on a chair. Putting her own on, she walked downstairs to see if her father was up yet, which he was.

"Father?" Beldaran asked, approaching the chair in which Belgarath sat brooding. He didn't respond. He placed a hand on his shoulder and felt him jump.

"Beldaran! Belar, you scared me!" He quickly wiped the tears away from his eyes and tried to look cheerful. "Good morning."

He couldn't fool her, though. "Father, you've been crying. You don't do that very often. What's the matter?"

"Nothing!" he insisted. "I've just been staring at that thing too long." He indicated the candle on the desk in front of him.

Beldaran crossed her arms and shook her head. "That's not true and you know it." She paused. "It's what Pol said, isn't it? About Mother?" She knew she had hit the nail right on the head when he turned his back to her and said nothing.

Suddenly, he jumped up and started yelling. "Dammit, Beldaran! Why did she have to do that to me?" he shouted. The tears were no longer in his eyes, but he began running around the room like a madman, picking up things and throwing them on the floor.

Beldaran remained calm. "Father, it's okay. What Pol said was unnecessary, and she said it only because she didn't want to have to go to Riva. Are you going to let it hurt you this much?"

"I don't have a choice." He got up and went out of the room. Beldaran started to follow, but stopped as Aldur appeared in front of her.

"Let him be," he told her. "He must needs conquer his grief on his own. Thou must not interfere."

"But--" Beldaran protested, but the God held up a silencing hand.

"Thou must not interfere," he repeated.

"Oh, all right. I won't," she grumbled. Aldur disappeared, and Beldaran continued to follow Belgarath. Don't interfere, Aldur said in her head.

"I'm not!" she insisted out loud. "I'm going to ask him a question."

The voice disappeared as well, and she walked into Belgarath's room. He was sitting at his desk with his head in his hands. "Father?"

"Leave me alone, Beldaran," he said sullenly.

"When is she leaving?"

"Next week."

"Are we taking her there?"

"No, Riva is coming to the Vale."

"Okay."

"Now will you leave me to be a senile old widower?"

Beldaran smiled. "Yes, Father." She went out of the room and into the old room he used to share with Poledra. Polgara was still asleep on the bed.

"It's time you got up, Pol," Beldaran whispered in her sister's ear.

"No, Father, don't send me away!" Polgara moaned in her sleep. "I want to stay here and cook."

"Polgara, wake up," she said, gently shaking the sleeping woman.

"Huh?" came the half-conscious reply. "What time is it?"

"10:30. Father needs breakfast."

"Let him get it himself. I want to go back to sleep," Polgara groaned as she turned over in her bed.

Beldaran took a deep breath. "GET UP, POLGARA!" she yelled at the top of her lungs.

"Gods, Beldaran, keep your voice down!" came Belgarath's angry voice from the other room. Polgara jumped about six feet into the air before landing on the floor.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" she shouted furiously, getting up and rubbing her rear end. She crossed to where her blue robe and slippers lay and almost subconsciously put them on. "I didn't do anything to you!"

Beldaran sighed. "No, you didn't. But what you said to Father yesterday really hurt him. I don't think he got any sleep last night. You know he'd been trying to leave his memories of Mother behind. Why did you say those things to him?"

Polgara turned her back to her sister. "He brought those words upon himself. He should have known better than to push me like he did. Hey, I'm going to go take a shower okay?"

"Well, you should have known not to push those buttons on Father. You might as well tell him Mother was standing right outside waiting for him, then transform yourself to look just like her and go wait for him. That couldn't even have hurt him as much as what you said."

"I'll keep that in mind," Polgara said dryly. "Maybe one day I'll try that. Thanks, Beldaran. I need new ideas."

"You'd better not. I'd kill you. That is, after Father's killed you ten or fifteen times."

Polgara couldn't help but smile. "All right, all right. I'll apologize to him over eggs and juice, does that sound good to you? AFTER I take a shower."

"Fine," Beldaran replied, grinning.

The sisters went downstairs. Beldaran went over to the front door. "Tell Father I went to visit Uncle Beltira and Uncle Belkira." She winked. "Tell him I'll be back whenever he has a need for me to be."

Polgara winked back. "I will," she called as Beldaran walked out. Then she remembered what she had to do, and the smile disappeared from her face.

She took a quick shower, got dressed, and walked over to where her father's study was, took a deep breath, and knocked softly.

"Who is it," came the reply. It was more of a statement than a question.

"It's Pol, Father. Can I come in?"

There was a pause. "No. Go away."

Polgara was more than a little hurt at his response, but she remained submissive. "Please, Father, I need to talk to you."

Belgarath was silent for a moment, then he said, "You said all you needed to say and more yesterday. Leave me alone."

She tried to open the door, but found it was locked. Gathering in her Will, she whispered, "Unlock," and made a little gesture with her hand. The door made a little click, and Polgara opened it.

"Father, I wanted to say I was--"

Belgarath jumped and spun around. "How did you get in here?"

She gave him a Look. "I'm not simple, Old Man. It'll take a lot more than an unspelled door lock to keep me out of your hair."

He turned back around. "I don't feel like talking to anybody right now. Didn't I say that before?"

Polgara very nearly lost her temper at that point, and some of her anger seeped out in her words. "You need to quit feeling sorry for yourself and snap out of it! Crying about all this won't bring Mother back! All it'll do is make you more miserable! Now, I'm sorry for what I said to you yesterday, okey? I was angry and all I wanted to do was inflict pain, which apparently I did. Does that make you feel better, because it's probably the only time you'll ever get an apology out of me!" She stopped. Belgarath's face showed an astonishment to rival Mary's when she found out she would be the mother of the Christ child.

"What was that I just heard? Did the words 'I'm sorry' just escape your lips?" He got up, suddenly wary. "Who are you, and what have you done with Polgara?"

"Oh, stop it. You know not to push your luck. Now are you going to stop moping and come eat some breakfast?" Polgara asked, crossing her arms.

A sudden grin spread across Belgarath's face. "All right," he said. Although he appeared to be cheerful, his grief was still harboring itself inside him. However, he got up and followed his daughter down to the kitchen.

"Oh, by the way," Polgara said nonchalantly, "Beldaran asked me to let you know that she's at Uncle Beltira and Uncle Belkira's tower. She said to call her if you need her."

Belgarath chuckled. "How convenient for you." He sent out a thought to Belkira. You can send her back, Brother. The tower is still standing and Pol and I have settled our little disagreement.

Belkira laughed in Belgarath's head. Very well. She's on her way.

A few minutes later, Beldaran strolled in and sat down next to her father, who was busy shoveling eggs, pork, and cheese into his mouth. Seeing her, he stopped for a minute. "Oh! 'Ello, 'el'a'an!" he said with his mouth still full, spraying her with specks of his breakfast.

She giggled and wiped the food off her face with his napkin. "Hello, Father. I take it you're feeling a bit better than before?"

He nodded slightly, then quickly changed the subject. "What did you do at Beltira and Belkira's?"

"I just asked them what they were doing, then I watched them."

"Oh? What were they doing?"

"They were researching the source of the wind."

"Really? What have they discovered so far? Or did they tell you?"

"They said something about the rotation of the Earth and the solar something or other affecting the outer atmospheric layer of some sort. Well, it's all Old Angarak to me, so I'll just leave the scientific stuff to them," she said, wrinkling her nose.

Belgarath laughed. "I think that's a good idea. Some of the stuff they study is too deep for even me."

Polgara came over and sat down next to Beldaran, who hugged her.

"So I guess you apologized. Amazing," Beldaran said dryly.

"Oh, go away," Polgara retorted, pushing her away playfully.

They both laughed as Belgarath finished eating and got up to go study some more. "I need to go back to my study of the depths of the ocean. You can go visit your uncles or something, just don't bother me. I won't be very happy if I'm disturbed." He left the kitchen, then poked his head back in. "By the way, thanks for breakfast, Pol. It was delicious."

Polgara was surprised at the compliment. Usually her father never praised her. "You're welcome," she said after a moment's hesitation. Then she went back over to the sink and began to clean up the dishes.

Another A/N: I know this story is going really slowly so far. I guess this is just Chapter 1, Part 2, more than Chapter 2 itself. Next chapter, Riva will come to the Vale and everything. I promise. J So please review this one and don't be too hard on me about going so slowly. I like to be detailed. It's a great flaw of mine.