HEYO... uhh so here I guess.
The journey home had been moderately awkward, just because it was clear that Van and Hitomi had at least talked. Also Van's face was abnormally red.
Things weren't smoothed over. Hitomi hadn't quite gotten over Van's behavior and didn't quite know where they stood. Obviously, things would be fine but right now she felt uncomfortable with just letting things go. They'd remained silent the whole way back, she could have opted to ride in the Crusade but chose to stay with Van on Escaflowne, but they'd been silent the whole time.
Once they arrived back in Pallas they didn't waste any time being uncomfortable. They easily dismissed each other and went to their separate rooms, and remained there for the rest of the night.
Allen, Van and Dryden had been brainstorming in Dryden's study for a long time. They'd wasted no daylight in trying to come up with some kind of plan that would set them in motion against Basram.
"We can't just attack them," Allen said as he stared at the floor.
Dryden was sitting on his desk skimming through books he thought might have some relevance to their situation. Both of them maintained a strong concentration on the task at hand, focusing all their energy on what they were going to do. Where as Van wasn't able to keep still, his usual calm facade was no where to be seen, it was almost strange; he had always kept his decorum when it came to things like planning an attack but the fact that they weren't able to make any progress had set him on edge.
"Van, would you sit down," Dryden suggested, looking up from one of his books.
Van looked at little startled at the sudden mention of his name, luckily he wasn't required to respond.
"We need a reason to go to Basram again..." Allen said.
Van exchanged a quick look with Dryden.
"How do we do that?" Van asked.
Allen was silent.
"To go into battle with Basram is a huge commitment, while Zaibach was hard, Basram is debatably their equivalent... if not more powerful, especially now," Dryden said, "they're creating their own 'power of Atlantis'... artificially. The idea is sound..."
Van and Allen looked at Dryden confused.
"In theory, I mean. Think about it, people have always wanted to fly, and it's basically the only thing holding us back from being perfect. I mean, we can think, create, walk, talk, swim, we have opposable thum... the next step in creating genetic superiority would be the capability of flight," Dryden explained.
Van and Allen said nothing as they thought about what Dryden was saying.
"That isn't to say their methods are the best, but their intention does have some justification," Dryden concluded.
"Van..." Allen said.
Van looked at Allen.
"Van, you know they'll come for you... maybe not right away but it's only a matter of time," he said.
Van nodded.
"So our job is to make sure we stop them before they get to that point," Van said.
Both Allen and Dryden nodded apprehensively.
"We need to see what they're doing without getting tracked," Van said.
"You mean like spying on them?" Dryden asked.
"More like... getting caught on purpose," Van answered.
"But they wouldn't capture us, they're only going after civilians," Allen said.
"Then it's a matter of disguising ourselves," Van said.
"Okay, fine, pretending your plan works. How do we get out? This has too many holes in it Van," Allen said.
Allen was right, and Van could acknowledge that, but he didn't want to.
"I didn't hear you offering up any suggestions," Van said, alternatively.
"It's not that simple... we need to think this out carefully," Allen said.
Van sat against the edge of the table and waited for them to speak.
"We need them to make the first move, we can't attack them right now because we don't know where they stand," Allen said.
"Now's the best time to attack! They're still developing!" Van said.
Dryden shook his head, "it would affect the civilians if we attacked now."
"Do whatever you want," Van gave in, "you know more than I do."
Van's frustration had come to a boil, he was at the point where he really didn't care what happened as long as some kind of action was taken.
He ended up leaving the two other men alone in Dryden's study to brainstorm a sensible plan of action, which seemed to be a bit of an oxymoron to Van. War itself was barbaric and uncivilized, so how could there possibly be a sensible way to approach it.
He left the palace easily. Since he'd been rather humble in his existence there, he'd gone practically undetected when leaving.
His first thought was to go into the town but he decided against it. He'd never really been one for crowds, which made the idea of him being King even more unfitting but it remained his blood right, and his alone. Van wandered away from the palace grounds and wound up following a path that he didn't quite realize why it was familiar. It led to the same barn that held Escaflowne three years ago, when he was in Asturia.
That's where he'd always gone, he didn't even sleep in the palace when he had this place. He smiled a little at the odd calmness that started to take hold of him at the fact that he finally found some kind of refuge. He pushed hard on the two large wooden doors until they opened. The place was pretty much the same as when he had left it; there was clear evidence of aging and erosion in the wood but it was still comfortable. There were pieces of clothing and remnants of what looked like someone's attempt at a bed but other than that nothing had changed; it still maintained the same stale smell of rain and dust.
Van climbed the wooden ladder that stretched to the first loft, and opened the large shutters of the window. The day was cloudy and pretty dismal; everyone was just waiting for it to rain.
The Asturian countryside was different to Fanelia by a large stretch. For one, Fanelia was enclosed by land, it was no where near the sea, so the idea of having canals was unheard of. The air was different, no doubt an effect of the sea and the general climate was more wet than Fanelia's.
Taking a deep breath, he sat in the frame of the window and stared out at nothing. His mind was finally starting to loosen up and that was something he'd been longing for.
"Van?" someone called.
Van's heart sank as he heard Hitomi call him, he really didn't feel up to a conversation.
"Van?" she repeated.
For a brief moment he contemplated not saying anything and waiting for her to leave, but his better judgment won.
"Yeah?" he said half-heartedly, raking a hand through his hair and getting up. He walked to the edge of the loft so she could see him, "hey."
"Oh... hey," she said.
"Everything okay?" he asked curtly.
"Um... yeah, I think so," she said, fidgeting, "you wanna come down?"
"You wanna come up?" he said without thinking.
"Oh... sure," she said, making her way to the ladder.
Once she was up he resumed his spot on the windowsill.
"I remember this place..." she said.
Van made a noise in agreeance with her.
She was forcing small talk, why was she forcing herself to converse with him? Why was it this hard?
"Van... I'm not... happy here," she said.
This got his attention as he snapped his head toward her, "Asturia?"
Hitomi sighed, "no Van..."
"What is it?" he asked.
Hitomi looked down and began fidgeting again, "I just... don't-I don't know."
Van sat up and looked at her, "yes you do."
Hitomi raked a hand through her hair and looked away.
"Hitomi?"
"I'm... I just..." Hitomi stammered.
"Hitomi, come on," he said.
Hitomi closed her eyes tightly then re-opened them, this wasn't a conversation she wanted to have with him.
"I'm pregnant Van," she said.
"Uhh..." was about all he could say, while his eyes widened about as much as they possibly could.
"Can you say something else?" she asked quietly.
Van hadn't been able to change his expression, in fact his mind was on such an overload that his muscles had stopped receiving messages. This wasn't something he needed to hear, he could feel insanity starting to grip him. This wasn't okay, as a King he wasn't allowed to have this happen, but of course it would. He'd never been one to have much luck, so why would this be any different? He could not have a bastard son, that couldn't happen! His family name would be tarnished, he was the last living heir to the Fanel family and he'd already soiled the lineage! What would the other countries think? What would his people think? What would Allen think? He couldn't have Hitomi pregnant with the newest Fanel addition, it wasn't going to work! She would ultimately be Queen but he couldn't have a child before a lawful spouse-
"Van!" Hitomi yelled, snapping him out of his myriad of thoughts.
"Huh?"
"Van! Tell me what you're thinking," she said walking closer to him, "I need to hear what you're thinking."
It was a few seconds before he said anything, "uh... how do you know?"
Hitomi looked down, "Millerna."
Van looked at her again, this time his eyes were wide in concern, "Millerna knows?"
Hitomi nodded.
"Anyone else?"
Hitomi shook her head, "I found out a little before I came here."
"...what are we going to do?" he mumbled.
Hitomi swallowed before answering, "I could go back..."
Van frowned and stared at her in confusion, "but..."
"We have this... procedure... on Earth, where we can... abort the pregnancy," Hitomi said carefully.
Van looked at her skeptically, he knew what she was saying and didn't like the fact that she had tried to deceive him, "you mean they can kill unborn children?"
"It's totally safe," Hitomi tried.
"Hitomi...no...I...no," Van said trying to grasp what she was suggesting.
Hitomi was quiet before she continued, "there's also the option of me staying on earth for the full term..."
Van tilted his head in thought, it wasn't a bad idea. It could at least buy them a little time, "but you just got here..."
"It's sort of our only option..." Hitomi said giving him a sad smile.
He nodded, "I know."
"No one needs to know," she tried.
He nodded.
"Hey..." she said softly to get his attention.
As he turned to her she kissed him softly.
"Everything is going to be alright Van," she said taking his face in her hands.
He suddenly grabbed her face and kissed her so hard she fell backward against the window frame.