CHAPTER NINE
Brotherly Love
Allen charged into the castle. He found Van in the main hall staring out the window. "Van! Charge the Melef's! Hitomi's been taken!"
Van's eyes grew to saucers. He ran down the hallway. "Call your men!" He screamed as he disappeared.
Allen ran to the kitchen. Hang in there, Hitomi.
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Hitomi winced as Dilandau ripped her pendant from her neck. He looked at it carefully, then looked to her. "How do I use it?" He said calmly.
"I don't know, it only works for me." She barely whispered. Dilandau slapped her.
"How do I use it?" He said just as calmly as before. When Hitomi didn't answer, he raised his hand to strike her again, but instead he was sent staggering to the floor. The entire fortress shook. "What the hell is that!?" Dilandau shrieked. He got back to his feet and stormed towards Hitomi. He grabbed her by the wrist and dragged her with him. He led her out to the balcony where he saw exactly what was going on.
"Van!" Hitomi caught a glimpse of Van's face inside a guymelef. It was pitch black, but otherwise looked identical to Escaflowne.
Dilandau covered her mouth with his gloved hand. "Shut up!" He glared at the melef. "Come on, Van!" He watched as the guymelef landed on the balcony of the fortress. The entire fortress tipped. Dilandau lost his footing and went sliding down the floor; he hit the railing and sent Hitomi flying over the edge, screaming.
"Hitomi!" Van shrieked as he commanded the melef to jump off the balcony. He made the guymelef turn into a dragon and he soared down to her.
"Escaflowne?" Hitomi whispered as Van flew towards her.
Van caught her in his arms and then continued to maneuver the dragon. They could hear Dilandau screaming behind them. Suddenly the melef lost control of the wind and it was sent flying. It took a turn for the worst as it started flying straight down. Van grabbed Hitomi in his arms and pressed her head against his collarbone. "Hold on Hitomi… I've got you."
Although they were heading straight for trees, Hitomi felt safe. She clung to Van as one wing hit a tree and sent them spiraling. The other wing hit a tree and it evened them out. "When I say jump, hang onto me and jump!" Van called without looking at her. They were close to ground, just before the head of the dragon hit the ground, Van screamed, "Jump!"
Hitomi pushed off with all her might. Van squeezed her to him. At first it looked as though Hitomi was going to hit ground first, but Van turned his shoulder just before they hit the ground. Van winced as he slid through the rocks. They eventually came to a stop, and when Hitomi was finished shaking, she crawled off Van.
"Van!" She cried. Tears sprang to her eyes when he didn't answer. She shook him violently. "Van wake up!" Van still didn't answer. Hitomi screamed. Van died because of her. He died saving her life. She crossed her legs and cradled his head in her lap. Tears poured from her, hitting him in the face. She pushed her eyes closed roughly. The tears did not stop. All of a sudden she felt a hand on her cheek. Her eyes shot open and she saw his eyes looking back at her. She didn't dare blink. To think she might be imagining him alive was unbearable. She allowed him to wipe her tears away. "You're… Alight." He smiled. She got emotional. "Why! Why Van!? You could have died! You risked your life to save me! Why!" She began to cry again.
Van coughed. "You would have done it… For me." Was all he simply said.
"How do you know?"
Van smiled. "You already have."
Hitomi thought back.
Van! Look out!
She remembered. Dilandau was going to strike him with a claw from his guymelef, and Hitomi jumped at him to push him out of the way. Van grunted as he tried to sit up. Hitomi made an attempt to help him but Van wouldn't allow it. He had always been like that. He had never wanted anyone's help; always wanting to do it on his own.
Hitomi saw his back. It was covered with cuts, and it was bleeding terribly. Van's shirt lay in the dirt about twelve feet away. It had been ripped right off his back. Hitomi knew the only way to stop the bleeding was to apply pressure. She lifted her shirt over her head.
Van's eyes grew. He blushed. "H-Hitomi, what are you -"
"The only way to stop the bleeding is to apply pressure." She ripped a strand from her shirt. "You need to clean it out first." She ripped another piece. "Then you need something to cover the wound so it won't get anything in it." She ripped another piece. "I'm going to use my shirt to do that, there's no other way." She continued to rip her shirt apart.
Van continued to blush. "But you're…"
"I have a bra, Van." She looked directly at him. Then stood up.
"Where are you going?"
"I heard water coming from this direction. I'm going to wet a strand of cloth so I can clean your back." Hitomi was scared, amazingly scared. It took every ounce of strength she had not to faint. Van noticed Hitomi was limping badly. She returned moments later with a wet cloth. She sat on her knee's behind him and slowly began picking stones and washing out dirt. Hitomi noticed Van didn't even flinch.
"This could have waited until we got to the castle." Van said monotonously.
"It would have become infected. Just sit here and put up with it." Hitomi scolded him. She softened her tone. "What's Escaflowne still doing here in Fanelia? I thought you got rid of it."
Van didn't answer right away. "It's not Escaflowne. If it were, that piece of junk wouldn't have broke." Van sounded so angry.
"Why would you try to make it look like Escaflowne Van? Nothing good came from it." Hitomi asked slowly as she dug out another rock.
"It's not your business!" Van snapped at her. There was an awkward silence as she continued to clean out his back. Van spoke softly. "Are you alright? Did Dilandau…Did he hurt you?"
Hitomi smiled; he was worried about her. "No, I'm alright. Thank you for saving me, Van."
Van went scarlet. It was lucky for him that she couldn't see his face. "I already told you it was no problem."
Hitomi finished cleaning his wounds and began to wrap the remaining cloth around him to stop the bleeding. When she was finished she stood up. Van stood as well. Hitomi smiled at him. "We should head back now."
Van's ego stung him momentarily. "Yes. Allen is probably looking for you."
Hitomi narrowed her eyes. "Yes and your fiancé is probably worried sick." She marched away from him.
Van thought quickly. "Hitomi…I-I would prefer to spend the night here. I don't feel up for walking right now." It was a lie. He turned around to look at her; forgetting she was in her bra. He blushed and looked at the ground.
She turned around to face him. "Alright, Van." She took a few steps towards him. "But we'll need to heat things up a bit."
Van blushed furiously as his eyes shot to hers. "What are you saying?"
Hitomi picked up some wood. "We'll have to start a fire so we don't get cold."
Van paled. "Right." He moved slowly around the site, looking for twigs. What's wrong with me? Get a grip. I just need to concentrate on what I'm doing. Van continued to ignore the pain as he bent to pick up wood.
The collected wood and prepared a pit. By the time they had created a comfortable environment for them, it began to get dark. Both of them were exhausted and in pain. Hitomi leaned her back against a rock as she tucked her knees into her body. Her arms were wrapped around her legs; her chin on her knee's. She stared into the fire, thinking about Allen. Thinking about Van.
Van sat on top of a rock a few feet away from Hitomi. His elbows were resting against his elbows. He didn't move, afraid that his aching body would punish him. He looked over at Hitomi; orange and pink light soared across her face as the sun set. Mixed with the glow of the fire, she looked like an angel. His heart pounded in his chest, he couldn't stand anymore silence between them. "Hitomi, thank you for helping me." He looked at her eyes. "I owe you, really."
Hitomi's frown deepened. "Then tell me one thing, Van."
"Anything."
"Do you love Talia?" As she spoke, her heart pounded in her head, afraid of the answer.
Van didn't respond for a moment. This is Hitomi, how could I ever hide anything from her? I'm only hurting her more by not telling her the truth. He let out a sigh and looked at the ground. "No." He said flatly.
Hitomi's body hummed. "No?" She was so confused. "Then why are you with her? Why marry a woman you don't love?"
Van stood up and threw a stick into the fire violently. "We made a deal, that was all." He looked at her and saw the confusion and hurt in her face. He winced and looked back into the fire. "She can bring my brother back, Hitomi."
Hitomi's eyes pricked with tears. "Van, your brothers dead."
He faced her, with the reflection of the fire in his eyes. "Not for long."
