Hi people, I finally decided to update! This is part two. I'm sorry to inform all you people reading my story that I had to cut my story into another part, and you'll have to wait for that. Because this part was getting really long. Sorry if the characters are a bit different, but not entirely.
Disclaimer: As I said, this story line is mine, with the characters from Escaflowne, actually only Van and Hitomi. I hope you'll like this second part! I liked the ending (hehe, just you see what I did to Van!)
Part Two: Draconian Wings
Three Years Later
Van looked out the window, his hair blowing with the breeze.
In the last three years, life has been nothing but bad luck for him. His mother died, his father remarried and his stepmother took the liberty to tell him what his birth mother was hiding from him all this time. It was because he was Draconian.
at first, he didn't understand. Just because he was Draconian? No way! Or maybe it's because his stepmother simply despised Draconians. Now he was fifteen and his life was already a mess. Nice, he thought.
He could go wherever he wanted now, only he didn't want to. His stepmother made him believe that he is someone that no one would ever love, for he is a Draconian, a part of the cursed race.
So no one loves him, and he doesn't love anyone. So he thought. Draconians are not capable of love, that's what she said. But somehow, deep within his heart, he knew that was a statement from his stepmother was not true. Because he felt as if he's felt it before, he just didn't remember when.
He never expected it, that moment. Some princesses usually turn their backs the minute they hear that he's actually a Draconian. Snobs, he thought.
Suddenly, he glanced down to see someone walk over to the castle gates. It was a woman, no, there were two women. The one on the left side had short, light brown to blonde hair and jade green eyes; she wore a long pink dress with a rose pinned to front of it. The other was most probably a maid that was ordered to follow her to the castle. From afar, he couldn't really see her face, and he was curious.
He did as he always did when his family had visitors. He's been doing this since he was a kid and he hasn't stopped since. He leaned on the wall. Ears seem to be the only thing he could use to understand what the conversation was about.
"Child, this is a ridiculous conversation."
"Why the heck do you want to see the (censored, this is a kid's story!) Draconian anyways?"
"Draconian?" he whispered to himself in surprise. Did that mean him?
"I'm sorry you feel that way," he heard her say calmly. "But I don't believe that I should turn my back and go back home because of that reason. It's unstable."
"Sheesh! Of course it's a reason! Do you know how many—"
"How many princesses turned their backs at him for the same reason? I've heard," she said. "But I happen to know how he is inside. And you know something: Wings may be a gift, not a curse."
He thought heard his father say something, but he wasn't quite listening anymore. He was thinking of what she just said. Wings may be a gift, not a curse. Does that mean that she doesn't care whether he was Draconian or not? In silence he walked back to his room. He didn't quite understand, maybe the Draconians weren't such a cursed race after all.
The first time he saw his step mother was after the wedding. He wasn't even allowed to attend the wedding. Not him, not Folken. He had no idea why until she came into the house. He looked up at her with his big, childish maroon eyes and she looked down at him and scowled. "A Draconian? One of the cursed race?"
"Cursed race?" he repeated in surprise.
"Yes, that's right. the Draconians are a cursed race," she looked away from him, as if disgusted at what she was seeing. "Simply incapable of love, incapable of being loved, the Draconians."
"No way! That's not true!" he said and ran up the stairs. What if it was true? What would he do? But it can't be, his mother was a Draconian too.
He looked out the window again. The girl was walking away. She looked very familiar. Really familiar. But he couldn't put a finger on it. Suddenly, she turned and looked up, straight at him, and waved. "Mistress?" he thought he heard her maid ask her. But the girl didn't pay her any heed. "Hi!" she said, waving. Then she turned around and said something he couldn't hear to her maid. He thought for a moment. Who was that? Why did she say 'hi'? How did she even know that she was up here?
Mysteries, the world is full of them.
"Hitomi! Where have you been?" a woman asked. She was in a castle. Hitomi Kanzaki was the daughter of the king's vassal (vassal- noun- a person who serves directly under the king). And the woman talking to her was her mother.
"I was just visiting an old friend, mother," Hitomi said defensively. "Am I not allowed to go see friends? I'm already fifteen. Besides, I took Elise with me."
"I suppose you're correct about that, you should be allowed out, but you must tell me first, okay? Including your destination and the person you're seeing, okay?"
"Oh, Mom, you act as if I'm secretly meeting some secret lover," Hitomi said accusingly. "But that plot does sound interesting…"
"Don't you dare Hitomi!"
"Alright, Alright, I was kidding," Hitomi said as she ran towards the stairs. "I'll be down for dinner!"
When she finally in her room, she said, "It's been a while, Van."
He was up practically the whole night. He was still thinking of who that girl was. Light brown hair and green eyes, where has he seen features like that before? He finally gave up trying to sleep and stood up, leaning on the windowsill, his arms crossed and his gaze out the window. "Who are you?"
"Hey, Van, do you believe in dreams?"
Van blinked. Who was talking about dreams again? Must be someone from his family. Folken never talked about anything as interesting as dreams. His father told him that he didn't need to dream and his mother never asked things like that. Maybe it was that girl, what was her name again? He was desperate to remember. He knew that that girl and the woman who came here to see him had some connection.
"Nice to meet you, my name is Hitomi Kanzaki. Do you want to walk around a little?"
"Hitomi… Kazaki? That's her name? Oh yeah, it is," Van recalled. "And she also had light brown hair and green eyes." Now he began to wonder, will he ever see her again? He wanted to, but he didn't know where to look.
"Let's go to the dock first! The dock is always fun!"
"The dock, she may be there," Van said in realization. And for the first time, he spread his 'cursed' Draconian wings and began to fly.
He landed just by the dock. It looks as if it hasn't changed. The water was still crystal clear and several stars could still be seen from the sky and the moon reflected on the clear waters.
He began to walk around the area, occasionally looking back to check for roaming guards because he didn't want to be brought back without being able to see Hitomi… if she was here.
He got closer and closer to the waters. When he was about to loose all hope and fly away, maybe check tomorrow, he spotted a girl sitting down on a spot at the side, looking out at the beautiful view of the dock. "Hitomi, right?" he asked. She turned then smiled. "Van, they're beautiful."
He looked over his shoulder. He'd forgotten to retract his wings. He turned red and retracted them, also making a series of feathers fall to the ground. "I wasn't exactly expecting you to come here."
"This is the only place I could think of to find you," he answered. "Are you sure that you're not disgusted because I'm Draconian?"
"Don't be ridiculous. Just because you're Draconian doesn't mean that you're not human as well," she said. "I did say before, Wings can be a gift, not a curse."
"So when did you find out?" Van asked. "That I'm a prince, I mean."
"My father is one of your father's vassals. I found out easily," she said. "Why don't you sit down?"
Van sat down. Somehow, he could already feel his heart racing, why is that? "Isn't your parents going to worry about you?"
"Aren't yours?" she asked.
"Not really, I snuck out. Like last time," he said.
"Is that what you meant by a bird? To be free?"
Van nodded his head. "Yeah, I guess."
Moments later, Hitomi stood up. "I think I need to go already, before my mom notices that I'm gone."
"I guess I should go too," Van said, also standing up.
"Just wait, I want to give you something," Hitomi said, blushing a little bit.
"Give me something?" Van repeated and Hitomi nodded. She bent a little bit toward him and gave him a little peck on the cheek. Van turned bright red. "What was that?"
"Ehe, it's just a little kiss, see you around, Van!" Hitomi said and ran off.
"A… kiss?" he repeated, still blushing a little and his heart still beating fast. Maybe his stepmother was wrong about Draconians incapable of giving and receiving love. Finally, he spread his wings and started to head home.
Hi, people who are reading my story! Did you like it? Sorry I had to seperate the parts again. It was longer than I could handle.
I would really like to know what you think about this second part. The more reviews, the faster I update.
I told you I liked the ending, didn't you? (cheeky laugh) Thanks for reading!
