This is based on the assumption
that before Hitomi left Gaea, she shared a blissful night in the throes of
passion with Van. Also, I have only
seen episodes 1-12 of Rurouni Kenshin, so my knowledge of the series pretty
much only stems from that. And yes, I
am fully aware that Rurouni Kenshin takes place in a time period previous to
that of Vision of Escaflowne; however, I have come up with a way to account for
that. You will understand when you read
the actual fanfiction.
In case you do not understand my
writing style, let me explain a few things first hand. Anything in "quotation marks" is
speech. Anything in italics is
thought. I don't know if this will be
used in this particular story, but anything italic and between carrots
is telepathic speech. Anything marked
off by ~* and *~ is the title of a new chapter. And last but not least, anything in [brackets] are author's
notes, and they will be shown like this: [AN: blah blah blah] just so there is
no mistake. Anyhoo, onward….
Disclaimer
I own none
of the characters of The Vision of Escaflowne and/or Rurouni Kenshin. They belong to people who make a heck of a
lot more money than I do. I can
guarantee, however, that there will be at least one character who is completely
made up by yours truly. This character
is mine, and only mine, so don't steal him/her from me, okay? I will let you know if there comes a time
for me to add more characters of my own musings.
Enough talk…let's get on with the story. You're tired of hearing me talk anyway. I hope I haven't scared you off by now….
~*Prologue*~
Kanzaki
Hitomi quietly snuck her way out of the house when the clock struck
midnight. She was running away; she couldn't
take it anymore. It had been about four
months since she had returned to Earth from Gaea, and she regretted it. Van gave me love, she said to herself
as she stealthily opened the front door.
Why did I leave?
She ended
her musings as she readjusted the strap of her duffel bag, and again made sure
she had everything she needed—which wasn't much. She was planning on going to Aizu, a small rural town which held
tradition in high esteem. The women
there still wore kimonos, which were obsolete in several areas of Japan
including Kamakura (Hitomi's hometown).
But no matter; Hitomi had a few kimonos for special occasions, which she
neatly folded and placed in her duffel bag earlier; perhaps she would find a
good-paying job and be able to buy more casual kimonos. Aizu was also known for its schools for
swordsmanship, which was another reason why Hitomi chose to run away
there. After the all she had been
through and seen during the Great War on Gaea, she figured that a little
self-defense training wouldn't hurt.
She had heard of a fairly new style, the Kamiya Kasshin, which was a
purely protective style. A style made
for protection of oneself and others.
She had also heard that the master—or mistress, rather—of the school was
a girl about her age named Kamiya Kaoru.
Apparently, Kaoru's father created the Kamiya Kasshin style.
Hitomi's
attention fazed to the map she held in front of her. A tear made its path down her cheek. The map reminded her of the time she dowsed with her pendant all
night on the Crusade to find Van.
"Van," she cried quietly on the sidewalk of the corner of her
street. She slumped to her knees, not
caring that the cement was scratching her skin or that she made a small tear in
the paper of the map.
"Don't cry,
Hitomi," a familiar voice commanded, as the figure squatted in front of her.
Hitomi
looked up, instantly smiling when she saw the figure's face. It was Van in his astral form via the
pendant that now hung around his neck.
His hand, although Hitomi felt no warmth from it, gently wiped her tears
away. "You shouldn't be out so
late. You should be sleeping."
Hitomi
glanced back at the roof of her house.
"I can't go back. They tried,
but they couldn't understand." She
shifted her gaze to Van. "They couldn't
understand about you!" She continued to
look into his eyes, losing herself in his enchanting and gentle reddish brown
depths. "After I told Yukari and Amano
that I was pregnant, they demanded to know who the father was…."
"What did
you tell them?" Van interrupted, with a sympathetic yet slightly worried gaze.
"I told
them the truth," Hitomi answered. She
looked down. "Needless to say, they
didn't take it too well. My parents
took it even worse." She looked up
again, fresh tears pooling and beginning to spill. "I don't think they want me as their daughter anymore."
Van
frowned. "I want you. I want you and our child." He stood, pulling Hitomi up as he did
so. "But I don't think I can have
either of you." He wasn't afraid to be
open anymore. His experiences with
Hitomi had taught him that sometimes you only had one opportunity to say or do
something.
Hitomi
leaned onto him, feeling nothing but thicker air. She put one of her hands to her stomach, feeling its slight
roundness. "I'm carrying high," she noted. "That means it's probably a boy," she
concluded with a smile.
Van put his
astral hand atop Hitomi's. "Our son is
the true heir to Fanelia. And you are
her true Queen, no matter what princess or duchess my Council may force me to
marry in the future years. I'm sorry I
never really told you that while you were with me."
"It's
okay," Hitomi assured. "If I didn't
already know that you loved me, why would I have let you make love to me that
night before I left? I knew you loved
me the moment you saved me during the earthquake at the energist mine. I knew you loved me when you, my angel,
flew."
At that Van
glanced behind his shoulders. He
noticed that his astral form appeared with his wings. He smiled. "I see you
love all of me." He looked down. "Not many will love a Draconian."
Hitomi
gently lifted his chin, once again gazing into his beautiful eyes. Her hand lingered on his face for a moment,
searching for the warmth that she could feel when she was with him on Gaea. She smiled, despite the fact that she found
none. "But not many will love a strange
girl from a strange planet either." She
kissed him on the lips, letting him taste her although she could not taste
him. "You should go back to your body
now," she suggested. "Merle's probably having
a panic attack right about now."
Van nodded,
a small smile turning up the corners of his mouth. "Merle's been having a lot of those lately. Especially when she sneaks into my room at
night and notices the blank stare on my face."
Hitomi
gasped. "Is that why I always wake up
with feathers surrounding me in my bed?"
"Yes," Van
answered. "I sleep with you every
night, though you are never awake when I fall asleep to come visit you. And I will continue to sleep with you every
night until the day I die." He
smiled. "If that's okay with you, of
course," he added nervously.
"It's okay
with me," Hitomi replied, more unshed tears pooling underneath her emerald
depths.
Van
smiled. "I should go now though. Be careful on your way to wherever it is you
are going, alright?"
Hitomi
nodded. She watched as Van's astral
form dissipated, leaving only a feather as proof that he actually came to
her. She deposited the sentimental
object into a bag full of them that she placed inside her duffel bag. Again she heaved the strap onto her shoulder
and took another gander at the map. Twenty
miles to Aizu, she noted, and thus she began her journey.
Sayonara,
Kamakura…
~*Chapter One: Beautiful Stranger*~
"YAHIKO!!"
Kaoru exclaimed with exasperation. She
approached the young boy, her eyes rolling.
"What is
it, hag?" Yahiko questioned with a smirk.
Kaoru
resisted the urge to glare at him. Why
is it that he looks IDENTICAL to that Ash kid from that Pokemon show…? Shifting her thoughts back to the topic at
hand, she pulled the bamboo sword out of his hands. "You were holding it the wrong way," she explained. She readjusted his hands around the grip. "Here.
Hold it like this, alright?"
"Fine,"
Yahiko responded, gripping the sword tightly.
"Hag," he muttered under his breath.
Kaoru
couldn't resist it anymore. She
glared. If looks could kill, Yahiko
would be sooooo dead…. "What. Did.
You. Call. Me?!" she asked through gritted teeth.
Tiny beads
of sweat formed on Yahiko's tanned face.
"I…uh…well, you see…" he stuttered.
It was then that he noticed a woman—a BEAUTIFUL woman, he noted
wistfully—just outside the dojo's [AN: dojo is Japanese for school] gates,
holding what appeared to be a heavy bag.
"Uh…bag!! That's it! I said bag!
That lady over there looks like she's got a heavy bag! Yup, that's it…bag!" He smiled, proud of himself for coming up
with such a clever cover story.
Kaoru
halted her glaring. "What are you
talking about?"
"The lady
at the gates is holding a really big bag.
See for yourself," Yahiko answered.
Kaoru looked over her shoulder, and
sure enough there was a girl about her age standing outside the dojo's
gates. "Can I help you, miss?" she
called out. Maybe she's just lost or
something, she thought to herself as she walked towards the gates.
"I hope
so," the girl replied. "Do you know
where I could find Kamiya Kaoru?"
"You just
found her," Kaoru answered proudly as she opened the gates. "Please, come inside."
The
stranger nodded, following Kaoru. She
led the girl into the main building of the dojo, instructing her to set her
huge bag on the ground and sit down at the table while she went and made some
tea. The stranger did as she was told,
and sat Indian style on the only red cushion around the low table.
Meanwhile,
outside, Yahiko stood blinking and scratching his head. "Did that hag just forget about our
lesson?" Of course, no one answered his
query. "Oh well. Guess I'll just go find Sano or Kenshin."
Kaoru
returned only minutes later, and handed the stranger a cup of tea. "So, what brings you to my humble dojo?"
The
stranger took a sip of tea before answering.
"I want to learn your style."
Kaoru
noticed the stranger's emerald eyes glistened with nostalgia. It almost reminds me of the way Kenshin's
eyes are… She was never one to pry,
but she couldn't help asking, "May I ask why?"
The
stranger nodded, her lips forming a small smile. Her hand traveled down to her stomach, and only then did Kaoru
notice the slight roundness of it. "I
have someone to protect."
"I see,"
Kaoru said, smiling. "So, how did you
know where to find me? I mean, this
place isn't exactly advertised."
"A woman
with long greenish black hair told me," the stranger answered, taking another
sip of tea. "I sort of ran into
her. Literally. She said her name was Megumi and that she
knew you, and then she told me where I could find you."
"Megumi,
eh?" Kaoru remarked. "I haven't heard
from her in a while."
"Yeah,
well, she nearly gave me a heart attack when I ran into her," the stranger
continued. "She looks so much like
Sailor Pluto from Sailor Moon! Am I the
only one who thinks that?"
"No," Kaoru
answered. "The thought crossed my mind
a few times too. Anyway, what's your
name?"
"Kan…" the
stranger began, then shook her head. "Fanel,"
she continued. "Hitomi de Fanel."
