Author's note: *I just wanted to say that this is my first fan fiction and
so if it is not that good, I am sorry. Plus I wanted to make a few notes
saying that the whole alternate time thing, where it was like the same day
as when she left really didn't work for me, it reminded me too much of the
Narnia chronicles so they are on the same time frame. By the way … when it
has little things like this *. It means that Hitomie and Van are 'speaking'
to each other. Anyway, enjoy it if you want and email me at
selena_miller85@hotmail.com if you have any feedback.
Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Escaflowne, people who live in Japan and make a lot of money do. Not only do I not live in Japan, but also I don't make a lot of money either. I do own any new characters, they're mine, all mine!!!! Anyway, don't hurt me because you think I stole these characters, technically I did steal the Escaflowne characters, but since I am not publishing this story, it doesn't matter, and I didn't steal the new characters, I think, I sure hope I didn't. If I did I am really really really really really sorry, I didn't mean to. Thank you and goodnight.
How to let go.
1
2 What if- A song that Kate Winslet sang
"Here I stand alone, with this weight upon my heart.
And it will not go away.
In my head I keep on looking back, right back to the start.
Wondering what it was that made you change.
Well, I tried but I have to draw the line.
And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind.
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
If I stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
Many roads to take, some to joy, some to heartache.
Anyone can lose the way.
And if I said that we could turn it back, right back to the start.
Would you take the chance and make the change?
Do you think, how it would have been sometimes?
Do you pray that I never left your side?
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
If I stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
If only we could turn the hands of time.
If I could take it back, would you still be mine?
'cause I tried but I have to draw the line.
And still this question keeps on spinning through my mind.
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
What if I had never walked away?
Cause I still love you, more than I can say.
If you stayed, if I tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
We'll never know."
2.1 Part One: Living without
Hitomie turned of her disc man and tried to wipe the tears of her cheeks without Yukari and Amano noticing, that song always made her think of Van, she looked up to the star streaked sky and sighed.
"What's wrong Hitomie?" Yukari asked as she leaned back against Amano. "Why the sad sigh?"
"It's nothing Yukari. I'm not sad." Hitomie said, hugging herself as she saw another bright light fill the sky, "I'm just amazed at the fireworks. That's all"
More of the bright lights shooted into the sky for the grand finale, Yukarie squealed in delight and Amano laughed at her happiness. Hitomie looked on and smiled softly. It was 3 years after her voyage to Gaea, you think she would be over him by now, but no matter where she was, or what she was doing, he was there. He had told her that they could talk to each other, which they did constantly, it was mostly feeling they sent, but sometimes they could talk to each other by sending words. Right now, Van wasn't speaking to her though. He still sent out all the feeling, he couldn't stop that. But he had stopped sending words out. It all started with a date that Yukari had set her up for, the boys name was Chris, he was a foreign exchange student, at first, Hitomie was apprehensive, but after a while, she loosened up and they ended up having a blast. Chris was fun to be around and he wasn't bad looking, with his short sandy blonde hair and lanky build. He even had a habit of pushing his glasses up his nose as he talked, which Hitomie thought was adorable. They were in the middle of dinner when the trouble started.
*What's going on* Van had asked, Hitomie instantly felt a wave of guilt. She quickly tried to cover it up, but Van knew.
*Umm, nothing, I was just….* Hitomie stumbled through her explanation, but then she felt a wave of anger from Van and then silence. He wasn't talking to her, that message was clear. The date had gone downhill from there; Chris had no idea what had made her so miserable. After he had dropped her off, she had gone to her room to cry, but when she got there she only felt anger. How dare he act like this towards her? She was 18 years old for Christ's sake; did he expect her to wait for him her entire life? It's not like she was able to get to Gaea anytime soon; she had her own life her and he didn't have the right to mess into her personal life.
She sent all of this anger towards him in a burning rage; she felt surprise, remorse and then anger again, as they duked it out with words and emotion. At the end she was exhausted and fell right asleep, Van hadn't talked to her since.
She thought about this as she stared out into the lit up sky. She missed him, could tell that he missed her too, but they were both too damn stubborn to own up to the fact that one of them was wrong. She didn't feel as if she was, and Van was too angry to admit that he might have been.
"Hitomie!" She looked back and saw Chris running towards her, she smiled, then laughed as he tripped over some people kissing on the grass,
"Whoops, sorry about that, carry on." Chris said, blushing as he backed away from the interrupted couple.
"Hey, Hitomie!" He said as he plopped onto the grass next to her, "like the fireworks?"
Hitomie kept the smile on, "Yes, I am, they are really neat. Your dad must have put a lot of effort into it."
Chris blushed and ducked his head down, "Yeah, well, I wanted a really kick ass party, y'know?"
Hitomie's grin grew even wider, "And you got it, that's for sure, look at this crowd!"
Chris blushed harder, "I'm leaving for home in a week, I wanted everyone to remember me."
Hitomie put her hand down on his, "I won't forget you Chris."
"Thanks, I just wish we could have another date before you go."
"Me too, hey! How about we just consider this our second date!"
Chris brightened "Does that mean I get a kiss good-night?"
Hitomie just laughed.
The rest of the night was fantastic, after the fireworks were over, Chris and Hitomie talked the rest of the night, mostly about Chris' home, Canada.
"It's really beautiful there, I'm from Toronto, and that's a big town, but I have been to British Columbia and there are so many trees! It's amazing!"
Hitomie thought about another place where there were many trees, and wide- open fields, and a young King. She quickly shoved that thought out of her head and smiled at her companion, "So you like it there?"
After the party, Chris gave Hitomie a ride home and smiled when she protested.
"Hey, remember? This is a date, besides, do you want to look for Amano and Yukari in that crowd?"
She relented, when he dropped her off, he even walked her to the door."
"Thanks Chris, it was a great night." Hitomie yawned, and started to open the door. Chris put his hand on hers and stared intently into her eyes.
"I really like you Hitomie." He said quietly as he drew her closer.
"I really like you too, Chris." Hitomie choked out as he bent towards her. "What are you doing?"
"Remember? My good night kiss." Chris looked into her confused eyes and smiled, "If you don't want me to kiss you, I won't."
Hitomie looked up at him with startled eyes; he wanted to kiss her? The only other person she had ever kissed was Allen Shezar on Gaea; even Van hadn't kissed her before she left.
"It's just that…" She stammered when he continued looking at her. He smiled again and nodded.
"It's okay, Hitomie, I don't have to kiss you." He started to turn away when she grabbed his arm.
"Hitomie, what is it…" He was cut off as she pressed her lips to his.
(This isn't so bad) Hitomie thought as Chris took over the kissing and held her close, (I mean, I don't have a lot of practice but as far as I can tell, it's not that bad….) Her thoughts were interrupted when a haze of red came over her eyes and she remembered.
"Oh Van…." Hitomie moaned, right before she passed out on her front stoop.
Chris looked at her alarmed, (I didn't know I had that kind of effect on girls when we kissed, wait a second, who is Van?)
Hitomie floated aimlessly through a black haze, she looked down and saw that she was wearing a light green dress, instead of the school uniform she usually wore.
"What's going on?" She called out to nothing. "Where am I?"
A bright light flashed before her eyes and she came to a stop. She felt her feet touch hard ground and slowly saw that the scene around her was changing.
"It's, it's.." Hitomie stared, she couldn't believe it. "I'm in Atlantis!
"Yes, you are Hitomie, you are in Atlantis."
Hitomie spun around and found herself face to face with a Draconian Angel.
"I don't understand, who are you?" Hitomie asked as she slowly backed away.
"My name is Varie, you know me, Hitomie Kansaki."
"Your, your Van's mother!"
"I am."
"Why am I here?" Hitomie felt as if she would burst into tears. Why was Van's mother coming to her?
"I think you know why, Hitomie." Varie said with a sad smile on her face.
"No I don't, please tell me."
"You have moved one, you have new interests. You don't need my son anymore."
"What!" Hitomie screamed, her face had gone white, "your wrong! I need Van, I need him!"
Varie just looked at her, "I am so sorry Hitomie."
The woman who was Van's mother started to walk away, Hitomie stumbled after her.
"You don't understand! I need him, I need hi…" All of a sudden a shooting pain shot up Hitomie's body, making her fall to the ground. Her head was aching and the scenery of Atlantis became blurry.
"No, don't please," Hitomie cried as she lay on the ground. "Don't make him leave me!"
But Varie had disappeared.
Hitomie woke up in her bed; Chris was kneeling beside her, his face taut with worry.
"Oh, thank God your awake!" He laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "You scared me for a while."
"Wha- what happened?" Hitomie managed to get out; her head was throbbing to no end.
"After we, we'll after I…" Chris blushed and stammered. "You passed out when I walked you to your door."
Hitomie started to cry, "Oh no, no." She sobbed.
"Hitomie! What's wrong?" Chris exclaimed leaning over her.
"He's gone, Van is gone!" Hitomie clutched on to Chris' shirt and clung. She felt only emptiness, when she should have felt Van.
*Fenalia: a couple days before*
"No!'
Van stormed around his advisory room and kicked a chair over.
"Your Majesty, surely you must realize that at your age it is fitting for a man to get married." Korlan, Van's chief advisor, stood straighter and looked the young king in the eye. "Your people are counting on an heir."
"I'm eighteen! For gods sake! I'm not in ill health, and there hasn't been a war in years. I am not going to die tomorrow! I think my people can handle me not getting married for a few years!" Van looked out of his window and scowled. "I'm not getting married any time soon Korlan."
"Your Majesty…"
"Don't 'Your Majesty' me! You have my final word on the matter; I am not getting married! You can write back to all the dukes and kings and lords and tell them that King Van of Fenalia has decided against marrying any of their ugly daughters."
"Van!" The 20 some odd man forgot his stature as an advisor and talked to Van as a friend, Princess Gracella is hardly ugly, neither is Lady Isabelle, or Duchess Marguerite!"
Van smiled, "About time you called me by my real name Korlan, and for your information, I've looked at, and spoke to all three of the ladies you are talking about." He counted off his fingers. "Princess Gracella has the laugh of a donkey, and she likes to laugh, often. Lady Isabelle talked right into my ear at the last ball that her father had, and her voice is so nasal that I am surprised that most of the men there didn't run screaming from the room. And then there is Duchess Marguerite." He paused and looked at his friend. "Come on do you really need me to explain? Her rear end is the size of a…"
"Van!"
"You're too uptight Korlan, you need to loosen up." Van smiled, he had been a friend to Korlan for about two years and the fact that Korlan was so proper never failed to amuse him. "You have my saying on the matter, I am too young to get married."
"Duke Chid has already begun to find a suitable wife for himself, he is much younger than you."
"Well isn't that ducky for him."
"Ducky, sir?"
"Something I heard Hitomie say…." Van cut off and looked out his window, embarrassed.
*Ah,* Korlan thought, *Now it makes sense*
"Sir?"
"What." Van said, angry now.
"Does this, not getting married business, have anything to do with Lady Hitomie?"
"No!" This was said so forcefully that Korlan backed off.
"If you say so, I'll be going now." Korlan walked out with a feeling that it had everything to do with the woman Van still loved.
Van stared out his window for a long time, anything to do with Hitomie, ha! Like he cared what Hitomie thought, he didn't! Besides, she obviously was fine with him getting married, she was seeing other people, so why shouldn't he? Van sighed and shook his head, "I'm kidding myself," He said quietly, "I miss her so much."
"Miss who?"
Van quickly turned around to see who the intruder was, it was only Merle. Merle had grown up considerably in the last few years, instead of being the gawky thirteen-year-old that she used to be, she now was sixteen and filling out nicely, she was a very beautiful she-cat, and had many callers.
"Hey Merle, how are you today."
"Who were you talking about Lord Van?" Merle had never grown out of calling him that, although many times he told her to just call him Van.
"Umm, nothing, I was just thinking aloud."
"About her?" Merle knelt by him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You miss her a lot, don't you Lord Van? I can tell, it's in your eyes."
"My eyes?"
"Your sadness in them, it's obvious how much you miss her.'"
Van stood up and started pacing, "Yeah, well, we don't always get what we want, now, why are you here and not with the woman?"
Merle slowly stood, and looked him in the eyes, her hurt clear. "Van," She said, completely forgetting the 'Lord' in her grief. "Don't think you are the only one missing her, I miss her too. So do Allen and Millerna and everyone who met her. She was a wonderful person and I know you love her, you are hurting because you feel that she betrayed you but have you ever thought about the fact that maybe she needs to move on with her life? She is on a totally different planet and it is not that easy for her to get here. Maybe she is trying to get over the hurt and have a life. You need to get over your self and realize that." She turned away to walk out, when she reached the door, she remembered why she came. "I just came to tell you that Princess Eries, Allen and Celena will be here shortly and Millerna will be coming tomorrow for the annual ball." Then she walked out.
Van sat down again and put his face in his hands. "I'm a fool."
Celena Shezar twirled a piece of her short blonde hair around her finger; she had kept it short despite her brother's wish that she grow it long. She looked over at him now as he sat in the carriage, sleeping with a small smile on his face. Becoming engaged had agreed with him. When Eries had finally agreed to his betrothal, he floated on a happy cloud for days. Celena was sick of it. It was disgusting the way the two of them looked at each other. Of course, Eries always kept it to a minimum, Eries was like that. Celena giggled, she thought it was quite amusing that her brother had loved each one of the Aston sisters. First it was Marlene, the eldest of the sisters, who he actually had an affair with, an affair which produced Chid, now Duke Chid. Then there was Millerna who loved Allen a lot, but instead married Drydan. Celena was still uncertain why, if she loved Allen, why didn't she marry him? Then Allen fell in love with Eries. Celena was still clueless on how that happened, she always thought that they didn't like each other. When Allen asked Eries to marry him, she at first said no, and said a lot of things about how she didn't now if he loved her, or her sisters. They got into a big fight and Allen ended up leaving the castle and going to a bar. Celena found that very interesting, since her brother never got drunk. Allen ended up persuading Eries to marry him and they had both been very giddy and happy the last few weeks. It was gross.
The carriage came to a stop and Celena was shaken out of her daydream. She poked her brother awake.
"What?" Allen jumped up and hit his head on the roof of the carriage. He pulled out his sword and aimed straight at a sleeping Gaddes, of course, right then Gaddes woke up and when he saw the sword pointed at his throat, jumped up also and unsheathed his sword.
"What the hell are you doing Allen?" Gaddes said, his sword pointed straight at Allen's throat.
"What? Gaddes?" Allen peered at his friend through sleep rimmed eyes, "Whoops, sorry man."
He sheathed back his sword and smiled at his friend. "I guess I'm tired."
That was all Celena could take, she started to chuckle, and when that couldn't hold, and she let out a huge laugh that scared both men into jumping. Allen and Gaddes looked at the young girl holding her sides and laughing until tears came to her eyes. They both scowled.
"I don't think it is that funny, Celena." Gaddes said with a frown, "Someone could have been hurt."
"Your getting old, Gaddes." Celena said after wiping the tears, "You have no sense of humor.
"Old!" Gaddes sat down and crossed his arms. "I'm only 23!"
"And you act like your 40!" Celena shot back, enjoying this immensely.
Gaddes muttered to himself for a bit, Celena laughed again then turned towards her brother. "If you two are done, then maybe you would figure out that the carriage has stopped, we're in Fenalia."
Allen and Gaddes stopped glaring at her as they realized that the carriage had indeed stopped.
Van had come outside to great his guests when he saw Allen and Gaddes come out of the carriage. He started running.
"Your Majesty." Allen said in a mock bow when Van came running up to them. "We are deeply honoured that you have allowed us to come and visit you."
"Oh shut-up Allen!" Van grabbed him in a hug, then hugged Gaddes afterward. "So where is your bride-to-be?"
"She stayed in Austuria, she is picking out a wedding dress."
Celena came out of the carriage and tackled Van. "Hey stupid!"
It took a while to get Celena off of Van, but when Allen finally wrenched his sister off of his friend, Van just got up, brushed the dirt off of him and proceeded to tickle Celena until she was gasping.
"Serves you right." Van said with a superior smile, "That's what you get for attacking the King of Fenalia."
"Oh puh-leeeeze!" Celena said after she was let go. "Give it a rest!"
Van smiled, Celena was very pretty, and really spirited, the kind of girl he would consider if he was getting married, but he almost thought of her as a sister and besides, anyone with half a brain could see the way Gaddes looked at her. Except of course for Celena, she was completely blind when it came to him.
"Well, my lady," Van said, in the same superior voice, "Shall we go in."
Celena giggled the entire way.
Later that night, after a huge dinner and a lot of talking and giggling between Celena and Merle, Van collapsed into his bed.
(I wonder what Hitomie is doing right now?) He thought as he drifted off to sleep, (She's probably on another date…..)
He floated in his dream, all around him was blackness, when his feet touched hard ground, the scene changed and he stood in Atlantis, for the first few minutes he stood there, amazed with all of it. Then he saw her; Hitomie sat on the ground, crying clutching at the ground, calling out his name. He started to run towards her but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned around and gasped.
"Brother?"
"Hello Van." Folken Fanel stared at the young man in front of him. "Nice to see you again."
"What are you doing here?"
"I have to tell you a few things."
Van wrenched his arm away from Folken's grasp, "I don't have time, I have to go to Hitomie!'
"No."
"No? What do you mean no? I haven't seen her in three years and when I finally do, you won't let me go to her?" Van was amazed at how unfeeling his brother was; "She's hurting!"
"You're right, she is hurting. But you need to know some things first." Folken looked into Van's brown eyes and sadly smiled. "Hitomie needs to move on."
"Wha-what are you saying?"
"You both are young and you have your whole lives in front of you. You need to meet new people, have new experiences. It's not healthy to cling to each other like this."
Van grew angrier at every word. "You don't know what you are talking about Folken, I love her. I am never going to let go of her."
Folken gestured to Hitomie and the pain that she was in. "But she is being made to let go of you."
"What are you talking abou…." A shooting pain traveled up Van's body and into his head. He gasped and fell to the ground. "What' s going on?" He cried out as another pain ricocheted up his body. When the pain subsided, he was on the ground, breathing hard.
"What was that all about?" Van looked up at his brother and glared.
"Try to reach her Van, try to reach her with your mind."
Van was confused, but he did what his brother said, he tried to send Hitomie a message but couldn't. Alarmed, he tried to find her, her feelings, but couldn't.
"What did you do to me?" Van asked his brother with a cold calmness, "Where is she?"
"You have to understand, she isn't yours anymore."
"She will always be mine, as I am hers. You cannot change that. We will find each other, whether you like it or not."
"You can try." Folken looked at his brother, standing there with his pain so obvious, He hated doing this to him, "I'm sorry brother."
"You Bastard, you aren't my brother, my brother would never do this to me, he would never take away the only person I love." Van stared at Folken; "You are not my brother."
Folken faded into the black.
Van woke up, sweating; he looked around his dark room as if he could find Hitomie there. Then he put his face in his hands and cried.
Authors note: Oh, so sad. I felt so bad writing that, I had to write the next one right away. The next few aren't going to be as long, but I hope they will be just as good. I promised myself that I would wait until I finished the entire thing but I can't! I hope you like the rest few. Thanks! Oh, by the way, please review!!!
Disclaimer: Okay, I don't own Escaflowne, people who live in Japan and make a lot of money do. Not only do I not live in Japan, but also I don't make a lot of money either. I do own any new characters, they're mine, all mine!!!! Anyway, don't hurt me because you think I stole these characters, technically I did steal the Escaflowne characters, but since I am not publishing this story, it doesn't matter, and I didn't steal the new characters, I think, I sure hope I didn't. If I did I am really really really really really sorry, I didn't mean to. Thank you and goodnight.
How to let go.
1
2 What if- A song that Kate Winslet sang
"Here I stand alone, with this weight upon my heart.
And it will not go away.
In my head I keep on looking back, right back to the start.
Wondering what it was that made you change.
Well, I tried but I have to draw the line.
And still this question keeps on spinning in my mind.
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
If I stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
Many roads to take, some to joy, some to heartache.
Anyone can lose the way.
And if I said that we could turn it back, right back to the start.
Would you take the chance and make the change?
Do you think, how it would have been sometimes?
Do you pray that I never left your side?
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
If I stayed, if you tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
If only we could turn the hands of time.
If I could take it back, would you still be mine?
'cause I tried but I have to draw the line.
And still this question keeps on spinning through my mind.
What if I had never let you go?
Would you be the man I used to know?
What if I had never walked away?
Cause I still love you, more than I can say.
If you stayed, if I tried, if we could only turn back time.
But I guess, we'll never know.
We'll never know."
2.1 Part One: Living without
Hitomie turned of her disc man and tried to wipe the tears of her cheeks without Yukari and Amano noticing, that song always made her think of Van, she looked up to the star streaked sky and sighed.
"What's wrong Hitomie?" Yukari asked as she leaned back against Amano. "Why the sad sigh?"
"It's nothing Yukari. I'm not sad." Hitomie said, hugging herself as she saw another bright light fill the sky, "I'm just amazed at the fireworks. That's all"
More of the bright lights shooted into the sky for the grand finale, Yukarie squealed in delight and Amano laughed at her happiness. Hitomie looked on and smiled softly. It was 3 years after her voyage to Gaea, you think she would be over him by now, but no matter where she was, or what she was doing, he was there. He had told her that they could talk to each other, which they did constantly, it was mostly feeling they sent, but sometimes they could talk to each other by sending words. Right now, Van wasn't speaking to her though. He still sent out all the feeling, he couldn't stop that. But he had stopped sending words out. It all started with a date that Yukari had set her up for, the boys name was Chris, he was a foreign exchange student, at first, Hitomie was apprehensive, but after a while, she loosened up and they ended up having a blast. Chris was fun to be around and he wasn't bad looking, with his short sandy blonde hair and lanky build. He even had a habit of pushing his glasses up his nose as he talked, which Hitomie thought was adorable. They were in the middle of dinner when the trouble started.
*What's going on* Van had asked, Hitomie instantly felt a wave of guilt. She quickly tried to cover it up, but Van knew.
*Umm, nothing, I was just….* Hitomie stumbled through her explanation, but then she felt a wave of anger from Van and then silence. He wasn't talking to her, that message was clear. The date had gone downhill from there; Chris had no idea what had made her so miserable. After he had dropped her off, she had gone to her room to cry, but when she got there she only felt anger. How dare he act like this towards her? She was 18 years old for Christ's sake; did he expect her to wait for him her entire life? It's not like she was able to get to Gaea anytime soon; she had her own life her and he didn't have the right to mess into her personal life.
She sent all of this anger towards him in a burning rage; she felt surprise, remorse and then anger again, as they duked it out with words and emotion. At the end she was exhausted and fell right asleep, Van hadn't talked to her since.
She thought about this as she stared out into the lit up sky. She missed him, could tell that he missed her too, but they were both too damn stubborn to own up to the fact that one of them was wrong. She didn't feel as if she was, and Van was too angry to admit that he might have been.
"Hitomie!" She looked back and saw Chris running towards her, she smiled, then laughed as he tripped over some people kissing on the grass,
"Whoops, sorry about that, carry on." Chris said, blushing as he backed away from the interrupted couple.
"Hey, Hitomie!" He said as he plopped onto the grass next to her, "like the fireworks?"
Hitomie kept the smile on, "Yes, I am, they are really neat. Your dad must have put a lot of effort into it."
Chris blushed and ducked his head down, "Yeah, well, I wanted a really kick ass party, y'know?"
Hitomie's grin grew even wider, "And you got it, that's for sure, look at this crowd!"
Chris blushed harder, "I'm leaving for home in a week, I wanted everyone to remember me."
Hitomie put her hand down on his, "I won't forget you Chris."
"Thanks, I just wish we could have another date before you go."
"Me too, hey! How about we just consider this our second date!"
Chris brightened "Does that mean I get a kiss good-night?"
Hitomie just laughed.
The rest of the night was fantastic, after the fireworks were over, Chris and Hitomie talked the rest of the night, mostly about Chris' home, Canada.
"It's really beautiful there, I'm from Toronto, and that's a big town, but I have been to British Columbia and there are so many trees! It's amazing!"
Hitomie thought about another place where there were many trees, and wide- open fields, and a young King. She quickly shoved that thought out of her head and smiled at her companion, "So you like it there?"
After the party, Chris gave Hitomie a ride home and smiled when she protested.
"Hey, remember? This is a date, besides, do you want to look for Amano and Yukari in that crowd?"
She relented, when he dropped her off, he even walked her to the door."
"Thanks Chris, it was a great night." Hitomie yawned, and started to open the door. Chris put his hand on hers and stared intently into her eyes.
"I really like you Hitomie." He said quietly as he drew her closer.
"I really like you too, Chris." Hitomie choked out as he bent towards her. "What are you doing?"
"Remember? My good night kiss." Chris looked into her confused eyes and smiled, "If you don't want me to kiss you, I won't."
Hitomie looked up at him with startled eyes; he wanted to kiss her? The only other person she had ever kissed was Allen Shezar on Gaea; even Van hadn't kissed her before she left.
"It's just that…" She stammered when he continued looking at her. He smiled again and nodded.
"It's okay, Hitomie, I don't have to kiss you." He started to turn away when she grabbed his arm.
"Hitomie, what is it…" He was cut off as she pressed her lips to his.
(This isn't so bad) Hitomie thought as Chris took over the kissing and held her close, (I mean, I don't have a lot of practice but as far as I can tell, it's not that bad….) Her thoughts were interrupted when a haze of red came over her eyes and she remembered.
"Oh Van…." Hitomie moaned, right before she passed out on her front stoop.
Chris looked at her alarmed, (I didn't know I had that kind of effect on girls when we kissed, wait a second, who is Van?)
Hitomie floated aimlessly through a black haze, she looked down and saw that she was wearing a light green dress, instead of the school uniform she usually wore.
"What's going on?" She called out to nothing. "Where am I?"
A bright light flashed before her eyes and she came to a stop. She felt her feet touch hard ground and slowly saw that the scene around her was changing.
"It's, it's.." Hitomie stared, she couldn't believe it. "I'm in Atlantis!
"Yes, you are Hitomie, you are in Atlantis."
Hitomie spun around and found herself face to face with a Draconian Angel.
"I don't understand, who are you?" Hitomie asked as she slowly backed away.
"My name is Varie, you know me, Hitomie Kansaki."
"Your, your Van's mother!"
"I am."
"Why am I here?" Hitomie felt as if she would burst into tears. Why was Van's mother coming to her?
"I think you know why, Hitomie." Varie said with a sad smile on her face.
"No I don't, please tell me."
"You have moved one, you have new interests. You don't need my son anymore."
"What!" Hitomie screamed, her face had gone white, "your wrong! I need Van, I need him!"
Varie just looked at her, "I am so sorry Hitomie."
The woman who was Van's mother started to walk away, Hitomie stumbled after her.
"You don't understand! I need him, I need hi…" All of a sudden a shooting pain shot up Hitomie's body, making her fall to the ground. Her head was aching and the scenery of Atlantis became blurry.
"No, don't please," Hitomie cried as she lay on the ground. "Don't make him leave me!"
But Varie had disappeared.
Hitomie woke up in her bed; Chris was kneeling beside her, his face taut with worry.
"Oh, thank God your awake!" He laughed and kissed her on the forehead. "You scared me for a while."
"Wha- what happened?" Hitomie managed to get out; her head was throbbing to no end.
"After we, we'll after I…" Chris blushed and stammered. "You passed out when I walked you to your door."
Hitomie started to cry, "Oh no, no." She sobbed.
"Hitomie! What's wrong?" Chris exclaimed leaning over her.
"He's gone, Van is gone!" Hitomie clutched on to Chris' shirt and clung. She felt only emptiness, when she should have felt Van.
*Fenalia: a couple days before*
"No!'
Van stormed around his advisory room and kicked a chair over.
"Your Majesty, surely you must realize that at your age it is fitting for a man to get married." Korlan, Van's chief advisor, stood straighter and looked the young king in the eye. "Your people are counting on an heir."
"I'm eighteen! For gods sake! I'm not in ill health, and there hasn't been a war in years. I am not going to die tomorrow! I think my people can handle me not getting married for a few years!" Van looked out of his window and scowled. "I'm not getting married any time soon Korlan."
"Your Majesty…"
"Don't 'Your Majesty' me! You have my final word on the matter; I am not getting married! You can write back to all the dukes and kings and lords and tell them that King Van of Fenalia has decided against marrying any of their ugly daughters."
"Van!" The 20 some odd man forgot his stature as an advisor and talked to Van as a friend, Princess Gracella is hardly ugly, neither is Lady Isabelle, or Duchess Marguerite!"
Van smiled, "About time you called me by my real name Korlan, and for your information, I've looked at, and spoke to all three of the ladies you are talking about." He counted off his fingers. "Princess Gracella has the laugh of a donkey, and she likes to laugh, often. Lady Isabelle talked right into my ear at the last ball that her father had, and her voice is so nasal that I am surprised that most of the men there didn't run screaming from the room. And then there is Duchess Marguerite." He paused and looked at his friend. "Come on do you really need me to explain? Her rear end is the size of a…"
"Van!"
"You're too uptight Korlan, you need to loosen up." Van smiled, he had been a friend to Korlan for about two years and the fact that Korlan was so proper never failed to amuse him. "You have my saying on the matter, I am too young to get married."
"Duke Chid has already begun to find a suitable wife for himself, he is much younger than you."
"Well isn't that ducky for him."
"Ducky, sir?"
"Something I heard Hitomie say…." Van cut off and looked out his window, embarrassed.
*Ah,* Korlan thought, *Now it makes sense*
"Sir?"
"What." Van said, angry now.
"Does this, not getting married business, have anything to do with Lady Hitomie?"
"No!" This was said so forcefully that Korlan backed off.
"If you say so, I'll be going now." Korlan walked out with a feeling that it had everything to do with the woman Van still loved.
Van stared out his window for a long time, anything to do with Hitomie, ha! Like he cared what Hitomie thought, he didn't! Besides, she obviously was fine with him getting married, she was seeing other people, so why shouldn't he? Van sighed and shook his head, "I'm kidding myself," He said quietly, "I miss her so much."
"Miss who?"
Van quickly turned around to see who the intruder was, it was only Merle. Merle had grown up considerably in the last few years, instead of being the gawky thirteen-year-old that she used to be, she now was sixteen and filling out nicely, she was a very beautiful she-cat, and had many callers.
"Hey Merle, how are you today."
"Who were you talking about Lord Van?" Merle had never grown out of calling him that, although many times he told her to just call him Van.
"Umm, nothing, I was just thinking aloud."
"About her?" Merle knelt by him and laid her head on his shoulder. "You miss her a lot, don't you Lord Van? I can tell, it's in your eyes."
"My eyes?"
"Your sadness in them, it's obvious how much you miss her.'"
Van stood up and started pacing, "Yeah, well, we don't always get what we want, now, why are you here and not with the woman?"
Merle slowly stood, and looked him in the eyes, her hurt clear. "Van," She said, completely forgetting the 'Lord' in her grief. "Don't think you are the only one missing her, I miss her too. So do Allen and Millerna and everyone who met her. She was a wonderful person and I know you love her, you are hurting because you feel that she betrayed you but have you ever thought about the fact that maybe she needs to move on with her life? She is on a totally different planet and it is not that easy for her to get here. Maybe she is trying to get over the hurt and have a life. You need to get over your self and realize that." She turned away to walk out, when she reached the door, she remembered why she came. "I just came to tell you that Princess Eries, Allen and Celena will be here shortly and Millerna will be coming tomorrow for the annual ball." Then she walked out.
Van sat down again and put his face in his hands. "I'm a fool."
Celena Shezar twirled a piece of her short blonde hair around her finger; she had kept it short despite her brother's wish that she grow it long. She looked over at him now as he sat in the carriage, sleeping with a small smile on his face. Becoming engaged had agreed with him. When Eries had finally agreed to his betrothal, he floated on a happy cloud for days. Celena was sick of it. It was disgusting the way the two of them looked at each other. Of course, Eries always kept it to a minimum, Eries was like that. Celena giggled, she thought it was quite amusing that her brother had loved each one of the Aston sisters. First it was Marlene, the eldest of the sisters, who he actually had an affair with, an affair which produced Chid, now Duke Chid. Then there was Millerna who loved Allen a lot, but instead married Drydan. Celena was still uncertain why, if she loved Allen, why didn't she marry him? Then Allen fell in love with Eries. Celena was still clueless on how that happened, she always thought that they didn't like each other. When Allen asked Eries to marry him, she at first said no, and said a lot of things about how she didn't now if he loved her, or her sisters. They got into a big fight and Allen ended up leaving the castle and going to a bar. Celena found that very interesting, since her brother never got drunk. Allen ended up persuading Eries to marry him and they had both been very giddy and happy the last few weeks. It was gross.
The carriage came to a stop and Celena was shaken out of her daydream. She poked her brother awake.
"What?" Allen jumped up and hit his head on the roof of the carriage. He pulled out his sword and aimed straight at a sleeping Gaddes, of course, right then Gaddes woke up and when he saw the sword pointed at his throat, jumped up also and unsheathed his sword.
"What the hell are you doing Allen?" Gaddes said, his sword pointed straight at Allen's throat.
"What? Gaddes?" Allen peered at his friend through sleep rimmed eyes, "Whoops, sorry man."
He sheathed back his sword and smiled at his friend. "I guess I'm tired."
That was all Celena could take, she started to chuckle, and when that couldn't hold, and she let out a huge laugh that scared both men into jumping. Allen and Gaddes looked at the young girl holding her sides and laughing until tears came to her eyes. They both scowled.
"I don't think it is that funny, Celena." Gaddes said with a frown, "Someone could have been hurt."
"Your getting old, Gaddes." Celena said after wiping the tears, "You have no sense of humor.
"Old!" Gaddes sat down and crossed his arms. "I'm only 23!"
"And you act like your 40!" Celena shot back, enjoying this immensely.
Gaddes muttered to himself for a bit, Celena laughed again then turned towards her brother. "If you two are done, then maybe you would figure out that the carriage has stopped, we're in Fenalia."
Allen and Gaddes stopped glaring at her as they realized that the carriage had indeed stopped.
Van had come outside to great his guests when he saw Allen and Gaddes come out of the carriage. He started running.
"Your Majesty." Allen said in a mock bow when Van came running up to them. "We are deeply honoured that you have allowed us to come and visit you."
"Oh shut-up Allen!" Van grabbed him in a hug, then hugged Gaddes afterward. "So where is your bride-to-be?"
"She stayed in Austuria, she is picking out a wedding dress."
Celena came out of the carriage and tackled Van. "Hey stupid!"
It took a while to get Celena off of Van, but when Allen finally wrenched his sister off of his friend, Van just got up, brushed the dirt off of him and proceeded to tickle Celena until she was gasping.
"Serves you right." Van said with a superior smile, "That's what you get for attacking the King of Fenalia."
"Oh puh-leeeeze!" Celena said after she was let go. "Give it a rest!"
Van smiled, Celena was very pretty, and really spirited, the kind of girl he would consider if he was getting married, but he almost thought of her as a sister and besides, anyone with half a brain could see the way Gaddes looked at her. Except of course for Celena, she was completely blind when it came to him.
"Well, my lady," Van said, in the same superior voice, "Shall we go in."
Celena giggled the entire way.
Later that night, after a huge dinner and a lot of talking and giggling between Celena and Merle, Van collapsed into his bed.
(I wonder what Hitomie is doing right now?) He thought as he drifted off to sleep, (She's probably on another date…..)
He floated in his dream, all around him was blackness, when his feet touched hard ground, the scene changed and he stood in Atlantis, for the first few minutes he stood there, amazed with all of it. Then he saw her; Hitomie sat on the ground, crying clutching at the ground, calling out his name. He started to run towards her but a hand on his arm stopped him. He turned around and gasped.
"Brother?"
"Hello Van." Folken Fanel stared at the young man in front of him. "Nice to see you again."
"What are you doing here?"
"I have to tell you a few things."
Van wrenched his arm away from Folken's grasp, "I don't have time, I have to go to Hitomie!'
"No."
"No? What do you mean no? I haven't seen her in three years and when I finally do, you won't let me go to her?" Van was amazed at how unfeeling his brother was; "She's hurting!"
"You're right, she is hurting. But you need to know some things first." Folken looked into Van's brown eyes and sadly smiled. "Hitomie needs to move on."
"Wha-what are you saying?"
"You both are young and you have your whole lives in front of you. You need to meet new people, have new experiences. It's not healthy to cling to each other like this."
Van grew angrier at every word. "You don't know what you are talking about Folken, I love her. I am never going to let go of her."
Folken gestured to Hitomie and the pain that she was in. "But she is being made to let go of you."
"What are you talking abou…." A shooting pain traveled up Van's body and into his head. He gasped and fell to the ground. "What' s going on?" He cried out as another pain ricocheted up his body. When the pain subsided, he was on the ground, breathing hard.
"What was that all about?" Van looked up at his brother and glared.
"Try to reach her Van, try to reach her with your mind."
Van was confused, but he did what his brother said, he tried to send Hitomie a message but couldn't. Alarmed, he tried to find her, her feelings, but couldn't.
"What did you do to me?" Van asked his brother with a cold calmness, "Where is she?"
"You have to understand, she isn't yours anymore."
"She will always be mine, as I am hers. You cannot change that. We will find each other, whether you like it or not."
"You can try." Folken looked at his brother, standing there with his pain so obvious, He hated doing this to him, "I'm sorry brother."
"You Bastard, you aren't my brother, my brother would never do this to me, he would never take away the only person I love." Van stared at Folken; "You are not my brother."
Folken faded into the black.
Van woke up, sweating; he looked around his dark room as if he could find Hitomie there. Then he put his face in his hands and cried.
Authors note: Oh, so sad. I felt so bad writing that, I had to write the next one right away. The next few aren't going to be as long, but I hope they will be just as good. I promised myself that I would wait until I finished the entire thing but I can't! I hope you like the rest few. Thanks! Oh, by the way, please review!!!
