Visions of the Mystic Moon

By Kiki Smith

Chapter Two

The soft humming of the life keeping aparature unnerved her. It only reminded her that her father – the most excitable and energetic man she'd ever known – was lying still and helpless on this God forsaken hospital bed, unable to even wake up. He lay unmoving, his breath barely noticable through the plastic tubes that were sticking out of his nostrils. His skin was deathly pale and his dark red hair lay dirty and shineless on his forehead.

Yukari felt wretched. She couldn't comprehend why it must have happened to her of all people, why must have it been her father to have problems with his health? Had he done something wrong in his life? Or maybe it was her? Was it something she'd done? Maybe it was because she'd been such a lousy daughter to her mother lately. Maybe it was a punishment for being such a lousy person in general. She felt helpless and useless. And guilty. Guilty for thinking that it was it. That he wasn't going to be okay ever again.

'Stop it right now, missy!' she yelled in her mind. 'Stop thinking like he's never going to wake up! You know he's going to be back to normal any time soon and everything's going to be okay. No use killing yourself over foolish things.'

But, even though she was determined not to cry anymore, her eyes watered and the tears spilled onto her cheeks. She was all by herself in her father's single ward, while her mother was away, probably either crying or talking to one of the doctors. The silence and loneliness got to her more quickly than she'd thought.

They had arrived at the hospital some six hours ago, Yukari and her mother in a state of near hysteria, and the head of the family unconscious, his chances for recovery thinning with each passing minute. Their problems started with Kaoru Uchida's sudden collapse in the back of the house, in the middle of a conversation on his mobile phone. It had taken some time for Yukari's mother to find him, but when she finally noticed that something was amiss, all the sings said that her husband had had a heart attack. Fortunately, it had been a rather mild one and he made it to the hospital, where he was well taken care of by the doctors.

The fact that he wouldn't wake up threw a shadow over the relief.

Thus he was transported to the intensive therapy department, with his wife and daughter following along. The two women stayed together in the ward for nearly an hour before Leiko disappeared, claiming that she couldn't sit still for a minute longer. Yukari was left alone.

The whole place was way too quiet for her tastes. There were about twenty different people stuck in their comas for God knows how long, not making a sound of course and not giving the staff the least bit of trouble in their deathly sleep. When she had walked down the hall to her father's room Yukari felt shivers run down her spine when she heard the distubring silence emanating from around her.

That's why she almost jumped out of her skin when she heard a scream from behind the wall.

The voice was high-pitched and hoarse and she couldn't say whether it was a man or a woman or what they were screaming about because the sounds were too inaudible. She stayed still, listening.

Outside the door she heard some people running. There was some kind of a commotion before everyone entered the screamer's room and everything became still for a short moment before erupting into more shouting. She could hear the head doctor's nasal voice trying to calm down the patient, but he – she could hear it now that it was a he – had other things in mind. She heard him shout at the doctors and nurses to get away from him, to get out and leave him alone.

She supposed his wishes weren't to be granted, but she still hoped they would just go away so he could stop screaming.

Someone must have opened the door to his ward because suddenly his shouts became louder and clearer.

"Jajukaa! Get the fuck away you cretins! Get away!"

There was so much despair and anger in those words that it made her insides clench and she bit her lip, looking at her father's limp hand. What she heard next made her gasp.

"I will kill you, Van! I swear I will!"

Then everything became silent again.

Gaea shone down from her place next to the moon when they sat at the stands, holding hands and looking at the sky. Van's warm hand in her own caused Hitomi's heart to burst. It's been two years since she'd been so certain of her own feelings and of everything around her. With Van at her side she felt powerful, even though she wasn't strong. 'He is my strenght' she thought fondly, looking up at his face.

In the two years they'd been apart he became taller and his shoulders broadened. The hands of a boy became the hands of a man, with calloused fingers rough on her palm. His face almost lost the boyish look, but still not quite, crouching somewhere around his eyes. And yet, with so many changes, his hair remained dark and unruly, just like it'd been when she first met him.

"Van."

"Hm?" he turned to her and smiled.

"I'm glad you're here" she said, her eyes glinting.

"Me too."

"How have you been all this time?"

He looked away. "Fine."

"Va-n" she said sternly.

"Oh, all right. There've been some ups and downs, satisfied?"

"No" she frowned. "Tell me."

Van sighed. "I've forgotten how stubborn you can be." She glared at him and he gave up. "Bringing Fanelia to its former glory isn't going as well as it should be."

"How so?"

Van was silent for a moment while he run his free hand through his hair. "We don't have enough money" he said finally. "Rebuilding takes up a hell of a lot of gidaru."

"Can't you borrow some from Asturia?"

Van grimaced. "Asturia is having economical problems and has debts bigger than Fanelia."

"How about Freid? I'm sure that Chid would be happy to help you, Van" Hitomi pressed.

"Let's not talk about it, please" he turned to her with pleading eyes. "I'm here not because I wanted to talk about Fanelia."

Hitomi looked at him intently. "Then why are you here, Van?"

He turned away and she could see a blush form on his cheeks. "Erm...I'm here to...you know, be with you... if you want me to, of course!"

Hitomi's heart soared. Grinning madly, she threw her arms around him, startling the soul out of him. "Of course I want to, silly!"

Van laughed awkwardly at first, but then gradually put his own arms around her and brought her closer to his chest. She buried her face into the fabric of his dark green shirt, inhaling his scent and smiling secretely upon discovering that it was still the same, even after all this time. A feeling of safety spread over her like a blanket and she felt calm, clutching to him like that.

"Mm" she whispered. "I've missed you, Van."

"I've missed you too, Hitomi."

"Van" she said after they moved away from each other, accenting the 'n' in such a way that it made his name sound as something akin to a sigh. "How's everyone? I mean, Merle, Millerna...Allen."

He mercilessly quenched the pang of jealousy that had hit him in the chest and he smiled at her, still feeling somewhat shy. It was the way she looked in the strange half-light coming from that stone pole that made him so nervous – she was radiant, with shining green eyes and hair – much longer than he remembered – swept back into a bun. When he'd first looked at her after those two years this odd emotion preserved deep down underneath the every-day problems emerged anew, startling him. The cheesy realization that it was in fact true love, not some flick of imagination, made him feel unnaturally giddy.

"Well, I can't say much about Allen...We haven't kept in touch all that much. And Millerna's struggling with her royal duties..."

He paused and it took him a while to realize that the somber look on his face might alarm Hitomi and lead her to asking difficult questions. Before she could open her mouth, he quickly added. "Merle's another story though."

Hitomi's eyes widened at his playful tone. "What happened? Tell me!"

"You won't believe it."

"Van!"

He laughed. "All right. But I warned you."

"Well?" she pressed.

"She got married."

"WHAT?"

"I told you that you wouldn't believe it" he shook his head with a snigger.

"But – I mean – She can't – She couldn't have – But she's what, fifteen?" Hitomi sputtered. "She's way too young for marriage!"

Van blinked in surprise. "Too young?"

"Of course! She's still just a child."

Van raised an eyebrow. "Hardly. Her language is more foul than any respectable adult's."

"It's not the matter of language! It's the matter of maturity! She hasn't even begun growing up yet."

Van furrowed his brow. "I don't think I understand. How old do you have to be to become an adult?"

"Well" Hitomi said, flustered. "In Japan you are considered of age when you turn twenty, but I suppose it varies from country to country."

"Odd" Van commented. "On Gaea you are treated like an adult when you start to look and talk like one. Taking a certain age for a barier of maturity is silly."

Hitomi pinched her nose in thought. "Well, I personally think you're right... But it's just the way it is here. When Allen had proposed..." she paused and he cringed without meaning to. "I was really surprised and nowhere near to being ready to get married."

"You didn't mind Millerna marrying Dryden, from what I remember" Van said gruffly.

"You mean she was fifteen?"

"Well, yes, she's my age."

Hitomi groaned. "This is really weird" she said before looking at him oddly. "And what about you? You're – You're not married too, are you?"

Van immediately turned red. "Gods no!"

He thought he saw a small relieved sigh escape her lips but he might have imagined it.

"Well" she muttered awkwardly. "So who's the lucky man then? Is he, you know, a cat-man?"

"Yeah" he nodded, glad to be on safe ground again. "He's a rather wealthy trader... As sneaky and stubborn as they come. He managed to make her fall in love with him enough to get her to the altar. That's an accomplishement if I ever saw one."

"Is she" Hitomi bit her lip. "You know, is she happy?"

"If she weren't I'd kill him" Van said darkly. "I guess he's nice enough. Puts up with her – it can only mean that he loves her."

Hitomi laughed out loud. "Too right you are."

For a long moment they just sat there in comfortable silence. Feeling particularly daring, Van put his arm round her back and was pleasantly surprised when she immediately leaned into his embrace.

"How long are you going to stay?" she asked after a while.

He stiffened. "I don't know yet."

"We'll have to find you some place to sleep in. I'm afraid I don't have anything up to the standards of the Fanelia palace, sorry."

He laughed. "I'm sure it'll be all right."

"In fact" she ignored him, looking horrified. "I don't have anything at all! My parents won't let you stay at my house! Well, my mum would, but my dad... Oh, damn! What a disaster..."

"Listen, don't worry" he hurried to calm her down. "It's not a problem, really..."

But Hitomi didn't listen. She buried her face in her hands and breathed out heavily.

"Hitomi" he said quietly. "I don't need luxuries. I can sleep anywhere. Even here."

She looked up, scandalized. And suddenly her expression changed and she brightened.

"The orphanage! There's a spare bed now that Nobuharu's over at his new foster parents' house... Come on!"

Before he had the chance to protest he was dragged across the field to gods only knew where.

It was ten minutes after the frightening incident when Yukari decided to emerge from her father's ward, find her mum and simply go home. She gathered her things and stepped out into the hall, feeling a bit apprehensive. It was completely empty, apart from a chubby nurse standing right next to the exit door, pining something to a board on the wall.

Exhaling in relief, she strode down the hall quickly, wanting nothing more than to be out of this chilly place and back at home with her mother. But as she was passing the nurse, something made her stop.

"Excuse me" she said politely after a moment.

The nurse turned to her in surprise. She had a kind, round face and seemed to be quite young.

"I was wondering" Yukari continued, "if you could tell me something... You see, I've heard those screams and if it's okay I would like to - "

The nurse grinned suddenly. "Yes, one of the patients woke up. It was quite a surprise!"

Taken aback, Yukari blinked stupidly. "Why did he scream so much then?"

The nurse furrowed her brow. "I guess it might have been because he was scared... He's a very unfortunate case. Been out for twelve years. Imagine a five year old waking up in a seventeen year old body..." the young woman snickered. "And a delicious one at that! Well, he is awfully thin now, because of the lack of movement, but once he recovers he'll sure be one hell of a hunk!"

Yukari shifted uneasily. "But shouldn't he behave like a five year old?"

"He should" the nurse nodded. "But that's just the thing... He's behaved most oddly today – Doctor Maeda thinks he's been dreaming for the past twelve years, but we've got too little data to make assumptions."

Yukari bit her lip awkwardly.

"Now" the woman put her finger on her mouth. "I must go before I get caught" she laughed. "I shouldn't be telling you any of this, but you look like a nice girl to me and besides – I'm really curious what becomes of this Keiji boy."

With that, the nurse scattered away, leaving Yukari alone with her thoughts.

The road to the railway station was rather quick and uneventful, although during the time Van spent being dragged by Hitomi, he'd noticed several rather odd things that he hoped he would get a chance to explore later on. There was for example the fact that everything around seemed to be covered in stone or metal and there were odd black ropes looming down on him from above which he found deeply disturbing. But, above all, the oddest thing of all had been the moving gleaming vehicles of various shapes and colours that seemed to move by themselves, without any assistance.

When they reached their destination and he was able to catch his breath and put on a jacket (upon which Hitomi started apologizing for not noticing that he was freezing), he had already decided not to ask too many questions until they were in a private place, even though everywhere he looked there was something that peaked his curiosity.

"Van" Hitomi called from several feet away, beckoning him to follow. "D'you see those rocks?"

She pointed ahead, in the direction of the dark ocean. Straining his eyesight, he finally saw an irregular shape not very far away from the shore.

"This is where I first saw you" she commented. "It was half an hour after I came back and you were the only thing on my mind."

Feeling a strange warmness fill his chest, he stepped closer to her and put his arms around her. She stilled for a moment and let out an awkward giggle.

"I don't remember you being so... you know, touchy-feely."

He stiffened and moved away. She stopped him by catching his wrist.

"I didn't say that it was a bad thing" she said, chagrined.

Embracing her again, he brought her closer to him and sighed. "I've realised that the people I care about tend to go away quickly... So I decided not to waste anymore time by hiding my... feelings...for them."

"You've changed." It wasn't an accustation, but a simple statement.

"I have. But it has been two years. A lot happened during this time."

"You're right, of course" Hitomi nodded. "I suppose I've changed as well."

As a response he smiled into her hair, relishing in the feeling of having her in his arms.

He was startled by a loud horn and a noise he couldn't put a name to. Turning around and putting Hitomi behind him, he saw an enourmous and heavy-looking shape ride in along the stone platform they were standing on. With wide eyes he watched as the thing stopped and opened what appeared to be doors, but what was even more astonishing was the fact that there were people calmly coming out of them.

He heard Hitomi snigger behind him.

"That" she pointed to the shape, "is a train. It's a public means of transport."

Closing his mouth, he looked at her blankly. "The Mystic Moon is a bizarre place."

She laughed. "And this is said by a person who enjoys flying on a dragon aircraft."

He scoffed at her, but couldn't help but smile.

He didn't stop smiling for the entire journey.

Someone was humming a pleasant tune when he woke up again, aching all over. There was a fuzzy feeling occupying his head and his eyes felt heavy when he tried to open them. He felt drawn and sleepy like he'd drank too much vino the day before and now was somewhere between drunkedness and being extremely hung over.

A face appeared in his line of sight. It was an older woman, with worry lines on her forehead and with lank hair falling over her dark eyes. She was crying. When she noticed that he was looking at her, she laughed through her tears.

"Good evening, Keiji" she whispered hoarsely, her eyes filled with unreleased joy.

"'m not Keiji" he slurred. "It's Dilandau. Who're you?"

The woman gave out a dry sob. "Your mother, dear."

The love she put into those words enveloped him and made him warm for some odd reason. His mind wasn't fully awake yet to even begin to analise that, so he gave her a ghost of a smile instead.

"Nev'r had a mother..." were his last words before he fell back to sleep.

The orphanage was a separate, smallish building, surrounded by a garden with a pseudo-playground consisting of a swing and an old, battered merry-go-round. There was also a pile of sand in the back yard which the children used as a sand-pit and built castles and tunnels in it. Mrs Nakamura had been trying to get some funds to buy a proper playpark for the orphans, but so far she'd been unsuccessful. Not many people really cared about the orphaned children unless there was a problem of homelessness or if a child was starving. Small things like a happy and loving childhood were irrelevant.

Hitomi brought Van through the gate and down the path leading to the main door, holding his hand and blushing secretely at the thought that he had been the one to link hands with her when they came off the train. It was one of those things she'd dreamed about long ago, even before she went to Gaea – she'd wanted to have someone who loved her, wanted to touch her, hug her... kiss her. Now that her dreams finally came true she felt giddy and light as a feather.

"Now, remember" she said to him before she rang the bell. "You come from Europe - "

"I remember" he groaned. "I really do."

She pinched her nose. "I'm really sorry for this... But my parents would have never let you stay. It's because...well, you're a boy."

"I know that" he teased. She decided to join in.

"I don't mind it all that much... But my parents would mind that I don't mind."

Van didn't answer, so she promptly rang the door and waited. Several seconds later Mrs Nakamura appeared on the doorstep, looking quizzically at Hitomi.

"What are you doing here, child? I thought you went home already" she paused when her eyes fell on Van. Her eyebrows travelled upwards. "Good evening."

For a moment nothing happened. Frowning, Hitomi glanced at Van and saw that he was staring at the woman with a panic-stricken expression. Her heart stopped beating.

A flourish of thoughts came to her mind and in one very short second she remembered the very first moment she saw him, two years ago on the track in Kamakura-Kita high school sports area, the dragon, the fear and Yukari's unexpected, unpredicted question that had thrown her so off balance back then.

Somehow, for some strange and unfathomable reason, she was the only one who understood Van's language.

And by the look on his face she assumed that she was also the only person whom Van could understand.

Cursing the whole world in her mind, she hurried to explain.

"Mrs Nakamura, this is Van Fanel. He's just travelled from Europe and can't speak Japanese at all...And he's got nowhere to..."

"Stay?" Mrs Nakamura asked, eyeing Van suspiciously. "And why did you come to me?"

Struggling for words, she cleared her throat, praying that Van wouldn't take offence in what she was going to say. "Both of his parents are dead... And he's only seventeen, so he's still legally a minor."

"And...?" pressed Mrs. Nakamura, although the realization seemed to be slowly dawning on her.

"He's an orphan with no place to stay and no way to make a living" Hitomi explained, looking Mrs. Nakamura in the eye intently. "And this is an orphanage."

The old woman pursed her lips and made a show of reluctantly stepping away. "Come in, then. I see that I have no choice but to let him stay. But it's not permanent!"

She turned around and strode down the hall, not bothering to wait for them. Hitomi exhaled in relief and flashed a bright smile to Van. He looked bewildered.

"What did you say to her?"

Hitomi stared. "You mean you didn't understand me?"

He shrugged. "As soon as you started talking to her, the words turned into some weird gibberish."

"Odd" she commented, frowning. "We'll think it over tomorrow. Come on, she'll be angry if we make her wait."

She lead him in the direction Mrs. Nakamura had gone and they quickly reached a large day room with four doors leading to the children's dormitories. The door with a label 'big boys' were wide open.

"Tell him that breakfast is at eight and it would be nice if he didn't make much noise after nine or before seven" Mrs. Nakamura, who was standing next to the door, whispered briskly, but before she turned around and left, she threw an ill-concealed concerned glance in Van's way.

When they were left alone, Hitomi smiled at him.

"She likes you" she whispered happily. "If everything goes well, you'll be able to stay here for the entire visit."

He shot her a quizzical look. "She doesn't look like a generous person. And why are we whispering?"

"Because there are children sleeping here. I told you it was an orphanage... The orphans here aren't older than twelve years old" she explained. "And Mrs. Nakamura is a very peculiar woman. She's very caring and nice inside, but she seems to think that it's unbecoming and she has to be stern and strict. And, as a bonus, she sacrificed her entire life – from what I know – to helping orphans."

She felt Van's eyes on her as she looked away in embarrassment.

"Does she know that my parents are dead?" he asked slowly.

Hitomi nodded sheepishly.

Van's mouth became a thin line. "Hitomi" he whispered firmly. "I know this time it was probably necessary, but I would rather... you didn't tell personal things about me to other people."

Her cheeks immediatelly heated and she nodded, chagrined.

"Come here" he said, surprising her and she complied by moving closer to him and looking up to his eyes. She noticed that she had to look much higher than she'd had during her stay on Gaea. His eyes had also changed – even if the colour was still the same, the glint was different. She couldn't put a finger to it even if she tried, but she knew that it somehow wasn't the same.

"I'm sorry" she muttered.

"It's all right" he answered, reaching out and softly touching the skin on her face, his hand hesitant. A blush was slowly making its way from his nose and up to the tips of his ears as his eyes roamed her features, making her heart flutter madly in her chest.

"You must go" he said after a moment, his hand sliding down her arm and stopping at her palm. "Your parents will be worried about you."

"Right" she agreed, but her voice sounded suspiciously high pitched to her ears. "I'll... I'll come back first thing tomorrow morning... Sleep tight!"

She turned on her heel and left, flashing him a shaky smile. Her legs wobbled underneath her as she made her way out of the building.

A/N: I'm very sorry for allthe grammar or spelling mistakes I might have made - English is not my first language and I don't have a beta yet, so it's difficult for me to write a grammatically spotless story.

Thank you to all of you who have reviewed. You have no idea how much a simple comment means to me. :D I do hope you liked this chapter and will drop another nice review some time soon. ;P