Darien: Say it!
No.
Darien: Say it or your Van plushie dies.
You are absolutely detestable.
Darien: I'm waiting...(holds Van plushie over the loo ready to be meet it's watery death)
Okay! Okay! I'll do it! Just...don't flush the plushie...(Grumbles) I don't own Escaflowne. Happy?! Now give me back my plushie! He's MINE!
(Tackles Darien to the ground)
Unforseen
by: Rainstorm Elegance
Chapter 1 – Unforseen Departure
"Well, well, well…If it isn't our little Hitomi! I must say you look like a fine piece of female ass today."
Hitomi raised an eyebrow at the grinning man behind the mahogany office desk as she took a seat in front of him. Ever since Yukari's sudden enlightment in the fashion department she had urged Hitomi into a shopping spree to turn her into one of the most desirable women in Tokyo city. She'd said it was theraputical purposes, to cheer her up a bit. Hitomi thought it was because Yukari was just plain bored and had nothing else to do but take her up as a project.
That's how she ended up wearing a cream colored business suit today which flattered her figure and emphasized her shapely legs, the mini-skirt stopping about mid-thigh. Her honey-blonde hair, which now reached down to in-between her shoulder blades, was sweeped into a simple but neat low ponytail, a few strands escaping the elastic band and settling gracefully upon her shoulders.
"Do you always greet women like this, or am I just an exception?"
The man laughed and leaned forward glancing down at her long legs as she crossed them.
"Not always. But for you and your new skirt it's my duty as a man to make an exception," he said giving her a playful wink.
"Greg!" Hitomi cried swatting him on the arm as the man laughed at her embarrassed face. "Seriously, if you weren't my boss I'd be chucking my shoe at you for perverted comments."
"Me? Say something perverted? I never said anything perverted," Greg said giving her a mock innocent look.
"What do you call making reference to my ass then?" Hitomi said.
"A compliment?"
"My ass doesn't need compliments," Hitomi said dryly.
"You're completely right. I bet it gets quite enough of them as it is," Greg said and his eyes twinkled behind his reading glasses. "So. What kind of panties you have on today, Hitomi?"
"I have a high-heeled shoe and I'm not afraid to use it," the woman before him warned with a pointed glare shot in his direction.
Her boss sighed miserably.
"What is it with women always threatening me with pointy objects, anyways?" he said dejectedly. Pushing back his glasses to rest at comfortable spot on his nose he turned serious.
"Alright Hitomi. What have you got for me this week?"
"An article on a political scandal. Apparently, chairman Yoshio Miasaki has been doing some illegal transactions," Hitomi said handing him a manila folder. "You'll find the evidence in the appendix."
"Another front page?" he said leafing through the article.
"Don't know. You're the editor," she said waiting as he scanned the information.
"Damn it, Kanzaki! This stuff is marvelous!" he said after a while of silent reading. "Do you know how this will sell?! That's it. I'm giving you a raise girl. And you know what? I'm giving you a promotion too!"
Hitomi smiled.
"So I suppose it's made it to the front page?"
"Doesn't it always?" her boss grinned.
"I'll take that as a yes, then," Hitomi said and stood up. "Nice making business with you, Greg. I'm off to share the good news."
"What's your secret?" Greg asked as she opened the door to the office.
"Secret?" she questioned a little bit confused.
"You always manage to get us the juicy stories before anyone else does," Greg explained. "You're almost like a detective and probably the best journalist we have because of it. Maybe you have a second sight for these things?"
"Maybe…" Hitomi said grinning in a mysterious manner. "But then if I told you it wouldn't be a secret anymore, now would it?"
Her boss shook his head at her.
"Alright Kanzaki, you're dismissed. Oh! And if my wife is out there tell her I've jumped out the window and died," he called after her.
"Uh...I think it's a bit too late for that, boss," Hitomi said pointing at a frizzy brown haired woman standing in the doorway in font of her.
Greg's face paled a bit and Hitomi had to bite down a laugh as he scrambled to his feet.
"Honey! How nice to see you! I was just about to-"
"Jump out the window?" came the non-amused of Greg's wife as she pushed past Hitomi to get into the office.
"Now darling…if this is about the evil pancake that self-detonated itself on the frying pan this morning and-"
Hitomi slipped past Greg's wife mouthing a 'good luck' at him as he looked at her imploringly not to leave him. She just gave him a thumbs-up and left him to his doom. Apparently his wife didn't take well to Greg's kitchen disasters…
Turning back to walk to her office she passed by the noisy cubicles of her co-journalists at The Tokyo Times. People were hurrying in and out of their little cubby holes holding stacks of papers, chatting on the phone or with each other, lining up at the coffee machine for the much needed dose of caffeine or typing away at their computer screens.
Most of the people smiled or waved at her as she passed by. Some men winked and a little group sipping coffee by the snack-machine catcalled.
'I knew that wearing this mini-skirt was a bad idea…' Hitomi thought grimly as she stepped into her private office.
"Well imagine who decided to stop by her office…" a male voice whispered into her ear as two strong arms circled her waist.
Hitomi's sandy-blonde tresses whipped around in surprise as she turned around to face the smiling face of her fiancée.
"Saito!"
"The one and only," chuckled the honey-brown eyed man.
Saito, although rather ordinary looking, had an athletic figure which most women would find quite appealing. He was dressed in an old pair of jeans and a polo navy blue shirt, his sunglasses sitting atop of his short cropped spiky hair. Disentangling herself from his embrace, Hitomi looked up at him questioningly.
"What are you doing here?"
"Can't a guy come to visit his wife-to-be?" Saito said giving her his best I'm-hurt-therefore-I-pout kind of face.
"'Wife-to-be'? Whatever happened to 'fiancée'?" Hitomi said going round her desk to sit at the chair in front of her computer.
"Synonyms, babe, synonyms," Saito said turning to lean against her door, watching as she reached for a pen in one of her drawers.
"Glad that you've rediscovered your use for a thesaurus," Hitomi giggled as she scribbled something down in her agenda.
"Well, considering the infinite amount of books lying about in your apartment I was bound to stumble on one at some point," Saito shrugged. "Seriously, your apartment could be mistaken for a library!"
"I'm a writer, Saito. Books are my thing," Hitomi said.
"Really, now? I would have never guessed!" Saito said sarcastically. "Maybe that's why you've written a book that now is displayed on the bookshelves of every single bookstore in this entire country?!"
Hitomi stuck her tongue out at him and Saito laughed.
"A best-seller, wasn't it? What was it's name again…?" he said going over to sit on top of her desk.
"The Dragon King," Hitomi said softly.
Saito eyed his fiancée as she suddenly took on a far away look, a melancholic expression sweeping over her face as if recalling some tender memory stored away into her heart.
"It was a good book," he said. "You wrote it almost as if you were really there."
"Who knows? Maybe I was really there," she said with a teasing grin. "So, how's training coming along?"
"Fine, as always," Saito said ruffling his short spiky brown hair. "The media came to pester me at the courts today to see if I was nervous about competing in Wimbledon and if I thought I'd be winning again. Stupid press…"
"Must I remind you that you fell in love with a member of that 'stupid press' that so likes to pester you," she said tapping him on the leg with her pen.
Saito chuckled and kissed her forehead.
"So I did, didn't I?" he said caressing her cheek. "But must I remind this pesky journalist and writer that she is also a track runner and thus makes her half a sportswoman. Quite compatible with a sportsman and famous tennis player, such as myself, don't you think?"
"Hmmm…yes, quite compatible…" she smiled, closing her eyes as he ran his fingers through the long hair of her ponytail.
"So, are we going to that charity ball today?" Saito said, letting his hand fall onto his lap.
"Yep. Remember it's formal wear," she reminded.
"Crap!"
"What is it?" she gave him an inquiring look.
"Forgot to pick up my tux from the drycleaners," he said and leaned down to give her a quick kiss on the cheek. "I better go before it closes."
"Okay," she said watching him head for the door.
"I'll pick you up about 8 o'clock, alright?" he said as he left.
"See you then!" she waved after him.
The door closed and she was left to stare at her computer screen. Glancing down at the engagement ring on her finger she sighed.
That was the life of Hitomi Kanzaki. Thriving journalist engaged with star tennis player, Saito Nimura. Perfect, wouldn't you think?
Running a finger over the diamond engagement ring she remembered the day they'd met.
She'd just been starting her journalistic career and her assignment had been to interview some famous sportsman. She'd tried getting an interview with an idol of hers in track racing but hadn't been able to set up the appointment. Instead she ended up interviewing Saito and with their mutual interest in sports they kinda hit it off from there.
"Guess I always do fall for the sporty ones…"
She smiled whimsically and an unbidden image of Van and Allen fighting within their Gymelefs flashed through her mind.
"Wonder if Gymelef fighting is a sport…"
She twisted her engagement ring in thought.
'Van…I wonder how you're doing…'
She twirled around in a flutter of emerald green silk, surveying herself in the long-length mirror to make sure her image was just perfect.
The evening dress she wore complimented her mossy green eyes, falling to sweep the ground at her feat. Her shoulders bare and a v-neck cut in the front, it allowed an enticingly moderate amount of cleavage to feast upon, still managing to maintain itself in the respectable boundaries. Curves that she'd developed throughout the years displayed themselves in an adequate manner, flattering her lithe-athletic figure. On her wrists dangled golden bracelets accompanied by a golden necklace that lay daintily around her slender throat.
Pursing her lips she added lip-gloss and batted her naturally long and defined eyelashes at herself, giggling at her reflection. A beautiful woman stared back at her through the mirror.
She looked like a goddess.
Turning on her high-heel stiletto sandals, she picked up her dress a bit so as not to step on it and made her way to the balcony of her apartment.
It was a nice night outside, a gentle summer breeze lifting strands of her hair to dance in the wind. Making sure that the broach with the wing design on it was still settled comfortably in her sandy-colored mane she let herself look out at the city lights and relax.
'It's been a while since I thought about Van…' the idea struck her as she gazed into the distance.
She'd been thinking about him ever since Saito had mentioned the book she wrote on her adventures in Gaea.
It had been strange really…she'd almost forgotten about him and Fanelia. Ever since Van had started to cut back on his monthly visits through their mind link Hitomi had begun to find other things to do, understanding that Van had other priorities at hand. But then her activities started making it more and more difficult to keep communicating...
She smiled a bit as she remembered their periodic communication in form of telepathy.
'Van? You there?'
'Yeah. I'm here,' Van's voiced echoed through her mind.
'What are you doing?'
'Just another tedious Council Meeting. The city is almost rebuilt and now we're starting to reconstruct the palace. They want to add an extra wing for fancy balls or some stupid thing like that.'
Hitomi giggled.
'That would be nice. I bet that Fanelian balls would be absolutely glamorous.'
She heard Van snort.
'Are you practicing as I told you to do?' he asked after a bit.
'I am. Now I can control my visions. And most of them aren't negative anymore,' Hitomi informed him happily.
There was a pause.
'It would be nice to see you again, Hitomi...'
'I know Van. I know...'
Predicting the future…she had the sight and still did. That was the secret behind all her articles.
But he'd encouraged her to train her mind to do other things.
'It's been a while since I've done this…' she thought as she turned to look back inside her apartment.
Eyeing the purse that matched her attire she concentrated on it's form, weight and the illusion of it flying towards her. A familiar tingle washed over her and she watched in satisfaction as the purse began to float towards her.
"If you believe hard enough, with your powers you could do anything," Van had said to her once. "You have a gift, Hitomi. Your mind power is unusually strong. Use it well."
Hitomi sighed, catching the purse as it levitated patiently in the air beside her. Turning back to look at the night sky her train of thought focused itself on Gaea.
"Van…"
Closing her eyes she tried to imagine Fanelia as he had last described it, his voice, his presence, the anecdotes of the rebuilding of his kingdom and the time spent with their friends, Merle, Allan and the others.
She didn't realize the level of concentration she was focusing on this imagery. She was so wrapped up in her memories, in the reliving of her past that she didn't notice the faint pinkish glow she was starting to emit.
Her eyes popped wide open when she felt her feet being lifted off the ground and her body soar upwards. Suddenly everything was bathed in a bright blue light, a fierce wind encompassing her and whipping her hair around her in a wild frenzy.
'No…I can't! I can't be going back!' she though frantically as she scrambled to get a hold of the balcony railing.
She had a life here now. A comfy job, friends, a proud family…and she was going to get married to Saito, a wonderful, caring and polite man who loved her!
"Hitomi?"
Saito dropped the keys she had given him to her apartment in shock as he saw his fiancée suspended mid-air in a column of light. She turned towards him seeing his frozen figure as he held onto the doorknob of her bedroom door.
"Hitomi!"
He ran to the balcony and into the bright tunnel of light, trying to catch a hold of her dress. She tried reaching out to grab onto his outstretched hand but it was too far away.
"Saito!" she cried in despair.
The last thing she saw was Saito's broken face calling out her name.
o.0
o.0
This is my first Escaflowne fic. I sorta fell in love with the whole story and well...Van is just SO scrumptious! I want to hoggle him to death and cuddle him and torture him for being just so CUTE!
Darien: (sweatdrops) Don't you have any compasion for the well being and health of the male species?
No. Should I?
Darien: Well, yeah...Unless you don't mind them becomeing some endagered race on the verge of extinction that is...
Would that mean that there would be no more Van-like men to drool over?
Darien: Yes.
(pouts) Life is so cruel!
Darien: Well, tough. You gotta live with it.
Well duh! It's not like I can live life dead.
Darien: Good point.
Okie-dokie! Please Review! I expect lots of nice little coments in order to continue with this story!!