Chapter Two: The Real World Doesn't Believe in Second Chances

"Congratulations Van." Nineteen year old Hitomi gently lifted up her glass of wine toward the moon. It was on this day, on this hour, on an entirely different world, that Van Fanel, her first and so far only love, was to be wedded. She half-heartedly sighed and took a rather long sip. Staring at the waning moon, she could only assume what a beautiful wedding it must have been. Merle would probably be fussing with her dress, as would Van if he was forced to wear the same kind of garment he wore when he was crowned.

Hitomi chuckled to herself, remembering clearly how uncomfortable he was that day. Her brief moment of happiness faded as she stared into her half full glass of wine. She sighed again and walked over to the kitchen sink, pouring the remains of her glass down the drain. Hitomi was not much of a drinker, especially since she had to keep in shape during Invitationals. But this was a special occasion could only be marked, with alcohol.

It was barely three weeks ago since she had last talked to her fellow savior of Gaia. It was then that he had the courage to tell her about Adele, his fiancée. In fact, for a few months before then, she had a fleeting suspicion, but deep inside of her, she hoped she was wrong. Sure she could have wished it so, but wishes were too powerful to use. No, Hitomi never wished for anything anymore. She could only hope, and pray, that things would turn out the way they were supposed to.

Shaking her thoughts away, Hitomi looked around her studio apartment. It was a modest place, narrow kitchen with adjoining living room that would also serve as a bedroom. Some would find that confining, but like most studios it was a wide open area. And that suited the Waseda Track Star fine. Other than her various sports awards, Hitomi had a penchant for old worldly items. Most she would pick up from various bazaars. Notably, alongside her Spring Invitational from Kamakura-Kita High, was a statue of a dragon. The closest to depicting how the dragons she saw actually looked liked. A warm feeling came over Hitomi as her eyes rested upon said statue. People had always wondered where her fascination with dragons came from.

But only her best friend, Yukari Uchida, knew why. Having been the only one to remember that fateful night, she was the only one to believe the fantastic tales Hitomi had told of. Hitomi had hoped that her best friend would have followed her to Waseda University and share the college life together. But unlike Hitomi, or so she believed, Yukari was strong and brave enough to follow her heart and follow Amano to America. He had a full fledged scholarship and Yukari was just brilliant enough to enter the same school. She was happy for them. She smiled wistfully, remembering what Amano had said to her at the airport.

"As soon as I graduate, I plan to ask for her hand in marriage, he said. Do you think that's for the best?"

It was the only time he asked Hitomi to use a bit of herself to see how the future would go. But Hitomi didn't have to use her powers, she just knew. They would be happy for the rest of their lives. And that was all the reassuring that Susumu Amano needed.

'Seems like soon everyone will be happily married except me,' she thought bitterly. She then groaned at herself and headed for the door, picking up her keys from the counter on her way. "Stop it Hitomi, this is the way it's meant to be. My life is here, on the Mystic Moon -- I mean Earth! There was no other option!" When she began referring to earth as the Mystic Moon, she'll never know.

The night air was cold and crisp, the way she liked it. Keep my senses alive, she told herself as she soared through the park. It had started out as a random walk not too long ago, but soon became a daily or rather a nightly routine for Hitomi Kanzaki. Even when there was no moon to illuminate her way, she ran. She needn't fear losing her way as she always seemed to know where to go, what to look for.

These nightly runs were the only times she really felt free. Free from stop watches, free from competitors, free from the real world. With just nature around her, and the sometimes glowing moon above her, Hitomi felt as if she was back in Gaea. With no one watching her every step, it was the only time she could let her mind go. No worries, no regrets, no pangs of emptiness. It was the only time she felt alive.

Hitomi began to slow down as she neared the lake. She finally let the wind catch up as she stopped by the edge of the lake. Staring into her reflection, a cold feeling came upon her. Rarely did she ever go against her feelings; she stood guard for a moment, examining the surrounding area. 'Everything seems normal,' she thought.

She closed her eyes for a moment, "Starting to get paranoid now, are we?" she said to herself.

"It's only paranoia until you're proven right, ne?"

(gasp) Hitomi spun around, readying herself for a fight.

"Hey, I give up," said the man casually, raising his hands in the air.

The startled girl relaxed immediately, "Oh it's only you, Mikael-san."

"Only me? Who were you expecting? The Inquisition? And what did I say about the 'san' part..."

She responded with a quizzical look, "Why would I be worried about an Inquisition?"

Mikael groaned inwardly and shook his head. "Never mind, I wouldn't have taken you for an International movie-goer any how. You're obviously not as culturally inclined as me," he smirked.

The sandy brown haired girl rolled her eyes, "Ha ha...So is it your hobby now to scare women in the middle of the night?" Hitomi asked, with a slight smile to her lips. She walked around the man known as Mikael and headed towards a nearby bench. He followed.

"No, only to beautiful but crazy females who take a midnight run around the park by their lonesome," he grinned.

Hitomi could only scoff and roll her eyes as she sat on the bench, not minding when he sat down next to her even though her stomach fluttered momentarily. "And what do I call such a man who stalks said crazy female joggers?"

"A man in love."

For the first time, in a long time, a blush crept up Hitomi's face. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were trying to hit on me." She daringly turned to look him in the face with a coy expression. 'Two can play at that game.'

He flashed a grin, one that would normally work on any woman but because of her prior experience with a certain Knight Caeli, she was immune. "But you don't know any better. This is only our fourth encounter."

"Exactly. We barely know each other. How's that saying? Ah yes, I can only take your words with a grain of salt," Hitomi nodded to herself. She didn't know why, but whenever she was around this alluring stranger, she'd get mix feelings of danger and sincerity.

Mikael rubbed his chin, "Very true, my lady. So what brings you out on such a lovely evening?" He stood up to stretch his arms. He was not the type to sit still for a long time.

Hitomi took this chance to stare at him, as she had done before, but this time the light of the full moon gave her a good look. Even under the moonlight, she could noticeably detect his very European features. Long thick brown hair, tonight tied into a simple pony tail, and a bit of stubble around his chin. He seemed to be the type to always being chased by a five o'clock shadow.

But his eyes are what had really caught her attention when she first met this man, naught but three weeks ago. He had the steeliest blue eyes that she's ever seen. Even if had a playful look on his face, she could tell by his eyes a sense of weariness. She was a brown-red eyes kind of man herself, but she wanted to know why these eyes were so distant looking when the rest of him screamed of other emotions. Normally, such eyes would make her wary of him, but there was a small part of Hitomi that knew he was a good man.

"Oh, the usual, you?"

He smirked, hands in pocket. "The same."

She looked around quickly, "But I don't see your sketchbook anywhere."

"Hmm, today was just for inspirational purposes. They're in my motorbike just in case however," he turned his head to look at her and grinned, "Or maybe I was just waiting for my muse to arrive?"

Hitomi smiled and rolled her eyes, subconsciously pulling her hair behind her ears. Her stomach fluttered again, this time with a bit more agitation. "I swear. You are only the second man I'd ever allow to flirt so brazenly with me."

"Oh? So then my competition is?"

"A dashing young knight." 'Although he isn't the one you should be worried about,' she thought. She smirked suddenly, 'And he's not that young anymore.'

"That's some competition. Didn't know there were any knights in Japan."

Hitomi gazed at the reflection of the moon upon the lake. "There aren't," she whispered, 'There aren't any young Kings around either,' she thought to herself.

Mikael didn't hear her comment but he could feel the air around her, she was heartbroken. He wanted to pretend he didn't know why, but it was increasingly getting harder for him. He couldn't blow it now. He had to pretend he was oblivious to her feelings. Lost in his thoughts he didn't realize that she was suddenly standing next to him until the wind picked up an he heard her shiver slightly. Out of the corner of his eyes, he stared at her.

"Don't you find it odd we keep meeting up like this? Normally my gut would tell me this is a bad thing," 'which it does,' "but I feel at peace with you around." 'Two conflicting feelings 'Tomi,' she scolded herself. She couldn't remember a time before where she felt both safe and in danger at the same time.

Despite the fact that she was in casual clothes, khakis and a fitted tee, she looked beautiful to him. Mikael's eyes lingered on her face. For being so young she seemed very worldly, experienced, but most of all, alone. It's hard to see that as a trait to be admired, but he did. He knew that she did everything she could to keep herself happy, but like him, she just couldn't fit in. Sure, he was in another country but even back in his home country he was like that. He had only met one other who felt and experienced the same. Loneliness is can be a trait between kindred spirits. Finally realizing she wasn't asking rhetorically, he spoke up.

"Maybe it was fate that keeps bringing us together," his whole body now facing her, "Don't you believe in fate? Maybe my wandering soul and your lonely one were meant to find each other. Destined, even." He smiled at her sincerely, hoping his words got through to her. And it did.

"I hate it."

A confused look, "What?" He noticed then, that her cheeks were shimmering with tears.

"Fate, Destiny, I hate them both. Why must something or someone be fated to do something? Why must we be tied to it? Why does it have to be already 'written in the stars'?" she vented, now staring at him, letting her frustrations out a man she barely knew. He wasn't the one she wanted to confide to, to yell at, but she couldn't tell the one she wanted to talk to. Oh no, cause she knew it wasn't meant to be, it wasn't fated. Not after tonight. "Why does everything have to fit in a neat little package! Why can't traditions be thrown aside! Why can't we forge our own destiny?"

The self-proclaimed artist didn't know how to take this sudden outburst. Even more so when she began to pound on his chest.

"Why couldn't he wait! Why did they keep pressuring him? Screw principals! Screw Fate! I just needed more time! I should've told him, why was I such a coward?"

So he did the next best thing, and he held her. She suddenly began to sob, her voice now muffled in his shirt.

"Couldn't he understand? Couldn't he see? Didn't he realize it was too soon? For me? For us?"

"Men are stupid," Mikael responded, trying to soothe her nerves by rubbing her back gently. "And thickheaded," he added.

"But six months! How could so much change in so little time!" Hitomi glanced up at the victim of her onslaught, suddenly feeling guilty.

'You should know better than to ask that,' he thought to himself. "Darling, that's the real world for you. Just one random encounter can change a person's life. The world can't be full of fairy tales and happy endings." Looking at her, he was surprised to see how fragile she truly was. From all that he had heard of the famous Hitomi Kanzaki, he could see in her lackluster eyes that she was breaking. One simple act was all it took to bring the Seeress of the Mystic Moon to fall apart.

"I know, Mikael-san, I know. I had a chance at that fairytale, as difficult as it was, and I blew it. I'm sorry for lashing out at you like this, you don't deserve this kind of treatment," she apologized as she tried to remove herself from his embrace, realizing the dangerous feeling was beginning to grow. However, he wouldn't let her off the hook THAT easy, so he pulled her into a tighter embrace.

"It's okay. I know we don't know each other well enough for you to be comfortable with this but...I want to be there for you Hitomi. I want you to know that. You can always come to me and I'll understand. Hey, we all make mistakes in this world. And hey, just because you can't have the fairytale ending doesn't mean you can't live a wonderful life, right?"

For once, she ignored her sensors going off, too tired to reflect on what it meant. Instead, she relaxed in his arms. "You're right; it just took him marrying someone else to make me realize that I'm not living in that fairytale world anymore. I chose this 'real world' so I should stick to it." She gently wrapped her arms around him and smiled faintly. "Maybe with friends like you, it won't be so bad after all. I just wish-"

Mikael cut her off with his finger to her lips, "Wishes are a dangerous thing, darling. But I know... I know."

She quickly looked down, scolding her self for almost muttering a wish out loud. She rested her head against his chest, allowing his heartbeat to calm herself down.

The foreigner smiled sadly, a million thoughts ran through his head. He realized now, even after so few encounters, he had fallen for this girl, no, young woman. And he was stuck with a dilemma, should he follow his duty and carry through? Or maybe, after years of ignoring it, should he finally listen to his heart? He looked at her caringly, she really did trust him, her defenses fully down despite previous experiences. His first chance at love would forever be lost to him, but he did have this, second small chance, and he couldn't bear to make the same mistake she did. If they could toy with Fate, so would he. He wanted, needed this second chance at life, at love, and if willing, he'll have it with the woman in his arms.

"Hitomi?"

"Mmm? Yes Mikael?" she murmured, forgetting that emotional outbursts like that left her totally exhausted but happy that the uneasy feeling she usually had around him had begun to melt away.

He grinned at the lack of "-san". "Let me take you home, it's becoming rather late."

Hitomi simply nodded and allowed him to lead the way to his motorcycle. She didn't know why, but all the conflicting feelings in her that concerned this man, flew away. She took this as a sign, a good sign.

'Van, I'm sorry I didn't let you know sooner but it's okay now,' she thought, 'I'm okay now, and I really do hope you're happy.'

There were still a few more hours before the morning light would peak over the mountains but the King of Fanelia was already up. Not really wanting to leave his newfound wife's side, he sat at the edge of his bed and stared out the balcony window. Faintly he could see the Mystic Moons...There was tightening in his chest as he remember the words she whispered in his dreams.

'...I'm okay now, and I really do hope you're happy.'

"My King, is there something wrong?"

Van couldn't help but smile slightly at the voice of Adele, his Queen. He turned to her, noticing how her shoulder-length auburn hair fell around her face. She briefly opened her sea green eyes, noticing the King's stare, and blinked at him.

"It's nothing my love, just an odd dream." She nodded sleepily and turned around, hoping to catch a few more hours of sleep.

He smiled softly and once again gazed at the Mystic Moon. The weird feeling gripped him again and his hand suddenly went to his neck, where the pendant normally laid. However, it was not around his neck, but on the nightstand next to him glimmering as it usually does. He stared at it briefly, the tightening in his chest finally relaxing and his heart slowed down to its normal pace. This certainly wasn't the first time that the Fanelian King had these pains, but it was never this intense.

'Why does it feel like I've lost something very dear to me?' he thought, his mind foggy for unknown reasons. He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to sort out these weird feelings and sensations. He didn't realize that the constant faint glow of Hitomi's pendant began to fade. That by the time he would look at it again, it would appear to be like any other dull stone.

'Why does it feel like the unhappy end of a fairytale?'

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Author's Notes: Well this took a little longer than I hoped it would. Sorry for any excessively long sentences, and constant misuse of commas. Also since FF.N doesn't like my way of breaking scenes, i had to use the dreaded HR breaks. Sorry! Hopefully as I groove myself back into the Writing World, I'll get better. Don't worry about Van just yet; you'll get to hear his side of the story… Eventually. Chapter Three may take a little longer but hopefully I'll have it out within a week's time. Can't wait for your reviews!