::Gem Heart::
I'm back again ; i was watching Escaflowne and got inspired to write this. I hope you enjoy it
Chapter one: In the beginning there was...Gaea
Hitomi woke with a sigh. why now? she thought to herself. That dream just kept happening and she didn't know why. The girl with the long raven hair, it moving in an invisible dream wind. The girl had looked happy. I wonder who she is...maybe... She shook her head and sat up. It was then she noticed who had appeared across the room by her desk. His dark hair as messy as ever and his face mature but with the same kid smile on it. But he was no longer the boy king but a real king, after all it had been 4 years
Van stood against his bedroom door with his hand clutching onto the pink gem pendant that even to this day still had its place round his neck. He felt the heat from the small gem in his hand as he smiled at the figure sat on the bed. The girl smiled back, her hair moving slightly with the tilt of her head. He looked her over, she was no longer the boy-ish girl he had once met but now a beautiful woman who still held his heart. Her hair had grown so it was now but not a great deal, just more could be seen from the bottom of her head and her body had changed a lot, he noticed that. Oh how he still missed her. His smile changed to a final sad smile as he slowly let go of the pendant, her image fading into the darkness of his room, but he saw her mouth form the word he was longing to hear her say once more to him
"Van.." She whispered into the empty room as he faded. She swung her legs over the side of her bed and jumped up. She didn't know why but seeing Van always gave her happiness and energy. He had been greeting her every morning for a while now and it was something she knew that they both had time for and knew the other was always going to be there as they both had busy lives. Van, of course was a king so he was going to be busy. Hitomi had graduated college and had emerged herself in a job and sports, running, karate and Kendo. She had become quite good at Kendo, it always reminded her of Van, that was why she joined in the first place.
She shook her head again to clear her mind and moved to the wall where a calender was, it was 4 years today since she had last seen them, when she had left but she remembered every moment clearly.
For some odd reason though, her tarot cards seemed to be calling her, she picked up the top one and smiled. The card with the dragon picture on, meaning courage, the card she associated with Van, maybe he was still thinking about her like she was thinking of him. She placed it down on the desk next to the pile and left the room picking up her bag as she went. She wondered as she walked down the stairs, that she had wanted to answer the call of her cards so badly, that hadn't happened before in a very long time, since she gave it up when she came back to Earth.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs, her mum was there going through a box full of things. "More of grandma's things?" she asked looking over her mum's shoulder into the box. She pulled out a fist sized object covered by a cloth.
"What the?" her mum started as she took the cloth off to reveal a pink jagged stone. Hitomi gasped behind her mother who turned her head "You know what this is?" Hitomi stood, unable to speak but nodded at her mother, a hand still covering her mouth.
"It's...a drag energist" Hitomi muttered, almost sounding to scared to say it out loud, scared it might not be true. She suddenly thought of her cards, maybe this was what it had meant, she was to find a dragons heart, a drag energist. To take her back to Gaea. She looked up at her mother who seemed to have read her mind in a way and smiled, handing over the pink gem,
Van let out a gasp as the pink gem around his neck reacted, Confusing both Merle and Allen. The light lifted the pendent and it suddenly shot upwards pointing. Van looked at Allen "Something is coming!" He said quickly and all 3 got up and ran out of the grand dining room. Into the gardens, all the while the pendent was pointing and then they saw it. A pillar of light. It can't be her...can it? Next thing Allen and Merle felt was the breeze of wind as Van forced his wings out and took flight towards the pillar.
Hitomi felt it, the gust of wind as she was lifted off her feet holding the energist. Her mother didn't look surprised "Come back one day won't you dear?" she asked calmly
"Of course i will mother, i promise! Gomen!" She shouted as she was tossed into the air by the warm light. She was forced upwards with a great force and when she next opened her eyes she did not recognise where she was. It was a city with white buildings with lots of flowers and trees. It was then she noticed she was heading for a patch of grass which she landed on. she took a deep breath, her first sent of Gaea had not changed.
She looked to the sky and saw something moving in her direction, she suddenly realised who it was. This made her run up to the edge of the grassy slope to a cliff quite quickly. She raised her arms up, waving when she suddenly got a vision
Van flying towards her..a flash of light coming from no-where and thunder striking him and killing him
"VAAANNNNNN!!!!" She screamed as she reached forward not remembering where she was and she fell, another scream but this time not a warning scream but a scream of just pure terror.
Van heard the screams and recognised the voice instantly. He pushed his wings back making himself more streamline. moving faster and faster he soared towards her, hearing the crack of thunder behind him.
Down and down she fell, clinging onto the drag energist and her angel with hope that he would save her. She closed her eyes tightly as she fell please..please let him catch me! she wished and the drag energist began to glow. Next thing she knew was that she was just hanging in the air, no longer falling. She looked around and realised the light was pink, looking at the energist revealed that it was that which saved her from falling to her death. She hung there staring at it till she heard someone shout her name in a voice she knew
"Hitomi!" She turned to see Van coming towards her, tears started to build and leaking down her face, she had wanted to hear his voice for so long
"Van!" She shouted in return. He smiled, he had missed her, missed even just the simple act of her saying his name.
He flew up to her and grabbed her in a hug, arms around her waist as she reached around his neck and placed her hands behind his head. She sobbed into his neck as he nuzzled her neck with his nose "Don't cry" he said softly and she pulled away from his neck to look at his face, which had watery eyes staring back at her own
"You silly" she muttered at him as the two stared at each other.
Van decided to take her back to the field she had landed in and placed her carefully down on her feet. She carefully placed her feet down before fully letting go of Van. He landed next to her and re-tracked his wings into his back, his shirt ripped down the back from where things had been.
Hitomi stared at him, she couldn't believe this was happening, that she was back. He was real all right, she no longer had to look at a vision of him in her room any more. Van smiled "It's been a while, 4 years today" He said calmly, when she said nothing he carried on "We were going to have the annual ball of celebration that the war was over and...for you" He added, his voice trailing of at the end of his sentence.
"For me?" Hitomi asked and Van nodded and then looked at the direction he can flown from "We should really return now" he stated
Hitomi looked that way also, then suddenly remember the vision as she looked into the clear sky "Oh Van! The vision!" she had with a sudden outburst which Van wasn't expecting
"Vision?" He asked, looking very confused, his brow ceasing slightly at her words.
"Yes!" she said "That lightening that came from no-where was meant to kill you! That's why i screamed for you" She saw the confusion leave his face and to be replaced by a smile
"Saved me before we even spoke to each other" she smiled at his statement, which was true she guessed.
He held his hand out towards her "We should return, Merle and Allen will wonder what has happened" Hitomi's face brightened at the sound of her old friends names and nodded at him, taking his hand. She felt happy, so much more so than in a long time and could feel that he did too. He pulled her towards him and spread his wings once more. He held her to his chest, his arms around her waist as well as her arms around his neck. She had her face against his chest and looked up to see him looking down at her. She suddenly felt very hot and realised that her face had gone a little bit red but she couldn't seem to pull herself from his deep brown eyes.
She realised she was staring and it was rude so she tried to make conversation, "So you wear my necklace where ever you go then?" she asked and he nodded, not once taking his eyes off her eyes. "Always wear it" he said, half absently. He lent down and buried his head in her hair and muttered "I missed you". Hitomi smiled as she knew it was hard for Van to be open with people, especially about things like his emotions.
"I missed you too" She replied, resting against his chest then added "Maybe we should go back soon..." Van moved his head up and nodded "I think so too" He clutched her tight and then flew off into the air.
"Where is Lord Van?" A very impatient cat-woman asked, stood on the roof of the castle. She loved the view from here, you could see all Fanelia which looked amazing. She was just scanning the horizon when she noticed a flying object, she smiled, knowing full well it was Van.
She focused in on him using her cat skills and gasped in shock at what she saw. Van was carrying someone and he never did that, not after the last person he carried was her. As he got closer she shouted his name "LORD VAN!"
"MERLE!?!" Came a response but not from a male voice but a female voice, the person he must be carrying. As he landed, the woman ran forward and hugged Merle, sobbing into her long pink hair, so quickly that Merle had no time to re-act.
Hitomi pulled back and smiled, "You little cat thief, you look beautiful!" She said happily, tears running down her face. Merle gasped looking into the emerald green orbs of her eyes, no-one had ever called her that but one person "Hi...Hitomi?" she stammered looking at her old friend, who nodded quickly and smiled even more when Merle hugged her and started to cry also.
"You left! And he was so sad, and so was i! I missed you. Why did you leave? No-one wanted you too! I can't believe your back!" Merle gushed everything out at once, then pulled back and looked her up and down. Hitomi blushed, her clothes didn't match what was warn on Gaea, never really did.
Merle took in the blue vest top and black pants she was wearing and shook her head "Hitomi, Millerna would have me dead if she saw you like this!" She started pulling her away "I'll take he to your room Lord Van after i sort her with some proper dress for this evening" She said as Hitomi was about to complain and turned to Van who just smiled at Hitomi's confused face.
Van sat in his room, on the bed after coming down from the roof. He took hold of the pendent in his hand and smiled, all his wishes had been granted, she had finally returned to Gaea, to him. He smiled and set about looking for yet another new shirt to put on.
"WHOA!" Hitomi gasped when she saw all the clothes that Merle had in her room "Millerna?" Asked Hitomi slyly and Merle giggled.
"Indeed" And Hitomi looked at Merle as she looked through her wardrobe to find her something. She wore a white corset top with short sleeves of white with pink ribbon down the front tied in a bow. Accompanied by long pale pink shirt with white and dark pink trim detail. The colours suited her so well and Hitomi smiled.
After much trying on, they finally found something that fitted and looked good. It was lilac dress with a dusky purple tie round the waist, dusky purple accents on the neckline with had spaghetti straps. The bottom of the dress was just above the floor and somehow Merle managed to find matching shoes in all the mess of shoes which were just in a pile on the floor of the wardrobe.
Hitomi was then commanded by Merle to sit at the table which her hair was brushed. Merle smiled and started chatting to Hitomi "So what have you been doing these past years?" She said with much interest
"Well i finished my studies so i was working and involved in sports, like the word fighting Van does" This piped Merle's interest even more "so you learnt to fight like a knight?" she asked and Hitomi laughed "I'm not that good, I'm still a beginner"
After much interrogation about her life Hitomi was led along the corridor to Van's room. The walls were white and the floor like marble, all shiny and made noise when walking.
"When did you grow up so much Merle?" Hitomi asked while they were walking
"Well i guessed that you were gone and I couldn't rely on you to be there for Lord Van, to give the mature advice he needs. I wanted to help him and keep a reminder of you alive for him" Merle replied timidly
"You've changed so much Merle, I never would have believed it" Merle laughed then spoke on a serious note
"I will always love Lord Van though" This statement shocked Hitomi, maybe she wasn't as changed as she thought "I know that now you have returned, i will become his sister once more and love him like family" Hitomi stopped as Merle did, not showing her face
"I'm sorry Merle" She stated, the emotion showing in her voice. Merle turned towards the door next to them and looked over at Hitomi
"Do not say sorry, you would make a better Queen than i would" She smiled and laughed as she walked off, leaving Hitomi a little flustered by her statement.
She stared after Merle for a minuet as she rounded a corner back to her own room. Letting out a sigh, Hitomi turned to the door and knocked.
"Come in" Said a gruff voice which made Hitomi smile inside. She pushed it slightly and put her head around. Van turned round, a towel still resting on his head, his wet hair leaving water running down his face "Ah, Hitomi" he said, slightly surprised. She smiled at him and appeared fully from behind the door closing it behind her
He smiled at her and removed the towel from his head, his hair still flat and Hitomi just laughed. He looked confused as she walked over to him and took the towel from him and placed it back on his head which confused him more. She started to dry his head roughly and he just smiled down at her, a red tint appearing on his face. Her face to went red after a while too and finally took the towel off, his hair just as messy as always now it was mainly dry. She folded the towel and placed it on the bed, all the time noticing that he was still staring at her, even though her back was turned. She turned and sat on the bed and then just fell over, lying on the bed.
Van watched her and smiled as she lay on the bed, hair sprayed out and looking at the ceiling. "Why did i come back Van?" she asked in a small voice. Van stopped his advance to the bed and stared at her, in some strange way he felt a little bit hurt by her question
"Because you missed everyone and you were missed by them too" He said as he reached the edge of the bed and offered a hand to her as she looked up at him, realising that what she had said was cruel and that both had been waiting to see each other for real. She took his hand and he pulled her up so she was sitting up and she looked up at him, tears running down her face, seeing the hurt in his eyes.
"I'm sorry, i didn't mean to sound like i didn't want to see you again because i did!" She said quickly and Van sighed and placed his hands on her face, wiping away the tears with his thumbs from her cheeks. She felt her face flush again and even more so when he came closer to her face, his nose resting against her
"I wanted to see you too, more than anything..." He whispered before his lips claimed hers.
Hitomi felt like she was floating, her heart was a flutter inside her from the moment he placed his hands on her face. His lips tasted sweet and her breath was caught in her throat but seemed almost disappointed when he pulled away.
He looked at her, she seemed to be stunned. Maybe he shouldn't have done it, too soon in seeing her again but he needed to get his feelings across to her and it seemed the best way. He sighed and moved of to the window
"I'm sorry Hitomi, i shouldn't have..." He trailed off.
"No, that's not it!" Hitomi said sharply, taking him by surprised, he half turned to see that she was stood up, her eyes were shining and her hands were clasped in front of her.
She had just opened her mouth when there was a knock at the door, both turning to see Merle appear in the doorway. "Queen Millerna and the others have arrived" She turned to Hitomi "Do you want to come and see everyone again?"
"Take her with you Merle" Van said turning to the window
"But Van!" she began to protest but Merle had already grabbed her and was pulling her after through the door which closed with a click, leaving Van to his thoughts.
Hitomi was quiet as they walked down the hall, her eyes were kept low. Merle glanced over to her a couple of times. Something must have happened between them and that something had gone wrong. She was just about to ask when a blonde came round the corner.
"Ah, Allen! We were just going to find Millerna" Merle said happily
"We?" Allen asked confused then looked at Hitomi. It took a moment to sink in, as to who the girl was next to Merle. He looked at the composed face and the emerald eyes which seemed blank to a degree
"Hitomi? I can't believe it" He said looking surprised. Hitomi nodded
"It's good to see you too Allen" She said and then turned to Merle "We should go to Millerna, we shouldn't keep her waiting" Merle nodded, happy to see Hitomi taking some interest.
"Mama?" A small blonde girl in a dusky pale red dress with gold looked up at the blonde woman who smiled down at her
"What is it, Marissa?" The little princess was about to say something when Merle, Allen and Hitomi all entered the room.
"Merle!" she shouted when she saw the cat woman and ran over. Millerna smiled at how well they got on and turned to the other two
"Allen, hello again and..." She stopped and stared at Hitomi which caused everyone in the room to stop. King Drew and Prince Chid were staring at Hitomi also.
"It's been a while Queen Millerna" She said bowing and smiling. Millerna stared at her for a moment before her mouth opened but was unable to speak until the tears started rolling as they did on Hitomi's face.
"Hitomi?" She asked and the brunette nodded. She was then swamped by Millerna, Chid and little Marissa who clung to her leg. Malerna sobbed into Hitomi's left shoulder and Prince Chid gave her a hug round her waist
"I missed you all so much" Hitomi sobbed as they all stood together. She felt better, but inside she suddenly saw Van's face from 4 years ago when he had looked so hurt. It struck a cord deep in her and she pulled away. "I'm sorry, there is something i have to do!" she said before she an off back the way they had come.
After she rounded the corner, Merle voiced everyone's thoughts
"Something happened between Van and Hitomi and she is upset" She was almost tempted to follow her until Malerna asked a question "Was she wearing one of your dresses Merle?" Merle turned to her in shock, how could she ask a question like that at a time like now?
Hitomi stood outside his door and was about to knock when she changed her mind and carried up the corridor to find the stairs that let to the roof where they had first landed.
She looked out into the city, it was amazing, especially on celebration day. But was she really needed here after all?
"Oh Van..." She muttered, sitting on one of the walls, letting the tears fall. Why was she being so emotional today? Was it still the shock of returning? She didn't know.
"Lord Van!" Merle said as he came down the stairs to join everyone, she smiled up at him. He looked at the at woman and smiled at her, his little sister, the only family left. Merle then blinked at him and looked behind him "Where is Hitomi?" She asked, looking confused at Van.
"i haven't seen her" Van said and everyone turned to look at Merle. "Why?" he asked suddenly seeming concerned that everyone looked worried.
"She ran off King Van" Millerna "Saying she had to do something" Van looked at her
"We need to find her before the celebration begins" He said and everyone ran off in different directions. Van stood still, wondering how they were to find her. Out of the corner of his eye, the pink light shone and he took the pink pendent off his neck.
He closed his eyes and concentrated on Hitomi and the pendant showed him where she was, the roof. As soon as he saw here in his mind, he turned on his heel and sprinted up the corridor to the stairs.
Hitomi stood next to the edge of the roof, looking over the city more
"Van...you've done so much good while i wasn't here...and i was only thinking of myself when i wanted to see you so much. All it did was get me upset and you angry with me...i never wanted that!" She muttered to herself. She sighed and turned round to see Van stood there. She gasped and the wind whipped up and blew her hair into her eyes, sending her hand up to move it, to see the same happen to Van, a tear running down his face.
"Van, I..." she started as he walked towards her, taking her in his arms, burring his head into her hair. His hands in the back of her hair and she clung onto his waist, her hands holding onto the back of his shirt with grip.
"I was selfish too, i wanted to see you" Was all he could muster. Hitomi shifted to force him to look at her, she didn't like the look in his eyes, the sadness.
He stared at her eyes and noticed her mouth form a small smile.
"i didn't mean to act so stunned before, i wasn't expecting it" She said, laughing slightly as he lifted his head up and became his full height. She was thankful for the shoes that Merle had found and that they had heels, or she wouldn't have been able to reach his face. She placed her hands round his neck and brought him down slightly and kissed him.
Something he wasn't expecting either, just like her earlier but reacted differently when she was about to pull away by placing his arms back around her waist and pulling her close and deepening the kiss. This earned a gasp from Hitomi and her eyes flew wide, but she didn't pull back.
Eventually Van pulled back and took a deep breath as did Hitomi as well as coughing slightly as the breath caught in her throat for a moment. She laughed, blushing and looked up at him.
"That's the Hitomi i remember" He said smiling. She smiled with him, she loved him more and more just today than the past 4 years but she still hadn't told him.
"We better go back" Van suddenly remembered the celebration and grabbed her by the hand and pulled her after him down the stairs to the packed garden which had people from all over Fanelia and beyond. Everyone was relieved when the two appeared, Van handed Hitomi over to Merle. He walked over to a makeshift stage and spoke out to everyone
"Welcome, everyone" he said shouting over the noise. It died down quickly and he carried on "We are here today to celebrate the treaty of peace and all those who died in the name of peace!" A great cheer rose from the people
"As always i would like to pay special tribute to our lady from the mystic moon who was with us always and saved us on many occasion, Lady Hitomi" Hitomi stared as everyone burst into applause and cheers. She was stunned
"4 years has now passed and Lady Hitomi has returned to us!" Van shouted as he ran off the stage and grabbed Hitomi by both hands who was looking scared and a little bit panicked by all of this. In the end she couldn't pull back from him so she let him lead her up to the stage. It was so quiet that you could hear a pin drop.
"May she watch over us, protect us and be our mystic moon lady!" Van shouted once more as Hitomi stood next to him, looking a little bit shy but trying to look strong and brave at the same time. Her legs felt like they could buckle at any second,she was glad of the long skirt which covered her legs.
The roar that followed this statement was the loudest one yet, many men seemed to be shouting and a few slaps were heard which made both Hitomi and Van laugh. Van then nodded to his left and music began to play. Hitomi looked past him to where he had just nodded to see a full orchestra about to play and the first thing played was the Fanelia lullaby which Hitomi had heard before which made her smile.
She looked back to all the people who had started milling again, talking, singing and dancing.
"You will have to go meet a lot of people" Van said, looking around also "but if you get tired at any point just tell me and i will take you back, all right?" he said in a stern voice, Hitomi just nodded and then followed him down towards all the people.
The night was long and Hitomi became tired, but by this stage a lot of people had left or had gone to bed within the castle. With shoes in hand, Hitomi was walked by Van, who had also bid everyone goodnight, back into the castle.
"You will have to stay with me tonight because there are so many people staying there aren't any extra rooms as we didn't know of your arrival till to late" Van said as passing conversation, Hitomi blushed slightly and tried to hide it, which she managed.
They arrived at Van's room after many a conversation with guests who were staying the night and wanted to greet the King and the mystic moon Lady. They had been kind and considerate before finally getting to there destination.
Van opened he door for Hitomi who gladly went over to the bed and sat down, nursing her red feet. Van excused himself for a moment to use the bathroom while Hitomi borrowed one of his shirts for the night as she hadn't any chance to get any other clothes yet.
Van came back into the bedroom to find Hitomi curled up on the left hand side of the bed, dead to the world. He went round and perched on the bed next to her and gently brushed her hair behind her ear with a light touch.
Even this lightest of touch made her wake, her eyes fluttered for a moment before opening fully and pushing herself up onto the hands to face him
"Sorry" She blushed, she had not meant to fall asleep in such a small space of time. Van just smiled and gave a light laugh
"You don't need to apologise Hitomi" he placed a hand under her chin to bring her face up and kissed her forehead, "You are just very sleepy which is understandable. A lot has happened in one day, Mystic Moon Lady" he jested at her. She sighed and just fell back against the bed.
"Am i always going to be called that?" she asked, looking up at him. He just shrugged and looked down at her but he couldn't help notice that his shirt covered to just the tops of her thighs. "I'm up here, Lord Van" She said with pretence scolding in her voice as he blushed and looked her in the face to see a smile playing on her lips.
"You're just as much up here" He said with a finger on her nose "as you are down here" he finished by resting a hand on her leg with a smirk. She gave a gasp and proceeded to tell him that his hands were very cold on her bare skin. He just laughed at her and left his hand there just to annoy her, which worked.
She sat up and attempted to tickle him in payback which only half worked but they were like school children playing a game. At one point, Van had her lay on the bed and was succeeding to tickle her so she was squealing for him to stop and when he did they just ended up in fits of laughter. It ended up with Hitomi sat on the edge of the bed and Van lay on the bed with his head resting on her lap, she seemed calm and he was quite happy where he was.
"i think I'm going to go to sleep now" Hitomi finally said. Van tilted his head back, the hair falling back above his eyes.
"I guess that was the reason i brought you back" He said staring up at her face. She smiled down at him and lent forward and kissed his forehead before shifting her legs from under his head and walking round the other side of the bed. She got under the covers as Van sat up and within a minuet she was asleep again.
Van smiled as he got off the bed and sat on the window ledge, staring at the lights over Fanelia. It was always pretty at night.
(you all thought they were gonna get up to more now didn't you? Naughty naughty!)
join me next chapter