Hey people, here is chapter 14!

There aren't too many after this

Two or three at the most

Dun dun dun!! So enjoy while you can!!



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Van and Hitomi lay curled into their other half until dawn broke. Allen, who was practically screaming bloody murder and looking extremely flustered, awoke them suddenly.

"Hitomi! It's an emergency! I need advice! Right- " he broke off as he saw whose lap she was lying in.

"Wh- what?! Van?!" Van groaned, and wiped sleep out of his eyes. Hitomi stood slowly and helped Van up after her. Van turned to the Asturian knight.

"Yes, Allen. It's me. Is there anything specific you wanted?" Allen's jaw hung low as he gaped openly at the risen King.

"B- but Van! You're you're dead!! Oh my Hitomi had said something, but I just didn't believe it!!" Van sighed and rolled his eyes.

"Obviously not. It's quite a long story Allen. I'll tell you about it sometime." He spat sarcastically. "Now close your mouth and stop gawking, before something flies in, and you choke on it." Allen pulled himself together and bristled at the insult.

"What are you so bad humoured about? You've seemingly just returned from the dead. I say you shouldn't have anything to complain about."

"Is time alone with Hitomi too much to ask for?" Allen, still flustered and quite confused, heaved a sigh, and nodded.

"I'll leave you two be then. But keep in mind, and I'm assuming you know, that we have a war to plan." Allen left, shutting the door behind him, and grinning from ear to ear.

"Now we can't lose!" he whispered to himself as he walked smartly down the empty hall.

Hitomi burst out laughing after Allen had left the room.

"Van!" she gasped between giggles. "That was horrible!" she cried, her face turning stern. "That wasn't funny at all!" She announced, but in the end was betrayed by another fit of hysterics. Van smiled at her, enjoying the sound of her laugh.

'It's amazing how much I missed hearing that laugh.' He thought to himself solemnly.

"Oh come on Van, get that serious look off your face." Van pulled his way back from his thoughts and listened to Hitomi.

"Why on Earth, or well, Gaea, did you do that Van?" The King smiled slowly and walked closer to Hitomi to kiss her hand gently.

"Remember what I asked you to consider Hitomi?" Hitomi blushed a deep shade of red and blinked furiously.

"Well- I, um" Van interrupted her with an ardent kiss that sent tingles down he spine.

"Well?" asked Van, his old childish impatience showing. "Did you decide?"

"I was thinking of"

"Yes?"

"Of maybe saying"

"Mmmhmm?"

"Will you stop interrupting me!" Van sighed.

"Alright."

"I was thinking of saying, well, yes."

Van's heart skipped a beat. He kissed Hitomi again, and smiled.

"I promise, you won't regret it. Trust me."

"I do Van. That's why I'm saying yes."

Van swept his true love off her feet and carried her to the bed where she had waited for him so loyally and so long.

'I trust you Van, with everything, my life, my heart, my soul.' Hitomi giggled at the thought that occurred to her.

'My virginity'



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"TWO DAYS!!" cried Dilandau in elation as he burst through the folds of his tent out into the very first rays of morning sunlight. "MOVE IT!"

The army seemed to groan collectively as they began to pack up for the march.

Miguel yawned loudly and rolled out of his cot onto the ground with a hard thud.

"For the love of the Creator. I never thought a forced march could be this forced"



****



The shock of Van's return was now wearing off for Allen, and the anxiety had returned.

"Who am I going talk to?" Allen whispered to himself in near-fright. He sat down on a bench in the courtyard flower garden, and moaned.

As if an answer to his prayers, his sister wandered by. Allen leapt up and snatched her by the sleeve.

"Taiahna! Just the person I was looking for! Please! You've got to help me!" Taiahna frowned quizzically up at her older brother.

"What's going on Allen?" she asked slowly, slightly confused.

"It all started last night, when Grymm took me out to the bar, and I don't remember a thing, and I woke up in his bed! But I can't talk to Ahire, because he'll be jealous!" Allen realized his mistake belatedly, and he covered his mouth with a white-gloved hand.

Taiahna's eyebrows shot up and she froze, not quite understanding what Allen had said.

"So you're not sure if you-" Taiahna swallowed noisily. "You're not sure if you slept with him. But why would Ahire be...?"

Taiahna remembered the morning after she'd been rescued. She threw Allen's arm off her own.

"Why you- you liar!!" she screamed. Allen blanched.

"What?"

"What was it Ahire said that morning? 'Don't worry, I wasn't doing anything to your brother'?! You lying bastard!! You slept with him!" Taiahna realized something else.

"How dare you criticize ME, when you slept with another man, and you're not sure if you've slept with a second!!" Taiahna raised an open hand to slap Allen, but then lowered it slowly. Allen sighed with relief, but much too early, because the open palm came back as a fist that struck Allen cleanly in the right eye.

"Don't you dare bring up Dilandau ever again! Do you hear me? EVER!" Taiahna turned on her heel, and walked furiously away.

"Ow..." whispered Allen as he cradled his face. "That was stupid"



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Charles awoke slowly, his head filled with fog.

"Where am I?" he wondered to himself as his eyes fluttered open. He slowly began to remember what had happened.

A bright colourful landscape surrounded Charles, but he knew immediately that something had gone wrong, because he could not see through Van's eyes the way he was supposed to. He was gone from Van's body.

"Am I dead?" he squeaked, examining his surrounding.

"No." A voice answered. Charles swung around to see a man with soft teal hair that fell into his smiling eyes.

"Who are you? How do you know I'm not dead?" The man smiled.

"My name is Folken Fanel." Charles gaped in surprise.

"I have another brother? But, are you dead too?" Folken nodded sadly.

"Yes, I've passed on as well. As well as Van I mean, you're not dead yet."

"Then where am I?" Folken looked sombre.

"You're in Purgatory. It means your soul can still go back to your body, but you have to last out a month, or else there's no going back, ever."

Charles looked around at the welcoming place.

"But what could go wrong here? It's beautiful!"

"That's just it Charles, it's hard to believe anything can go wrong here. You're going to be tempted, probably several times, by the Keeper himself. Whatever you do, I beg you, don't listen to him. He can appear in any form, at any time, but he can't take you away unless you agree to go with him. Please be careful little brother."

Charles nodded, a miniature version of his other brother.

"I promise you I will." Folken affectionately ruffled Charles' hair.

"I have to go now, so take care. Remember, he can appear anytime. Just be on your guard. I won't be coming back, so if I appear here again, it's not really me, keep that in mind."

Folken turned to go, but Charles grabbed him by the hand.

"Wait! Folken, I mean, I want to believe you, but after what you've told me, I think I need proof it's really you. So do you, um, do you have them too?"

Folken looked at his brother quizzically.

"Have what?"

Charles looked around cautiously from habit, but then realized it didn't really matter anymore.

"Do you have wings too? Can you show me them?"

Folken realized something suddenly.

"That's the other thing I need to warn you about. A long time ago, the Keeper convinced me to give up my wings in return for my life. The truth is, a Draconian's wings are their soul."

Charles looked slightly depressed.

"Oh, so you can't show me your wings then."

Folken smiled warmly.

"The Creator blessed me with new wings when I repented."

Folken removed his blue shirt, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. His wings exploded suddenly from his back in a burst of white feathers. Charles looked up shyly at his older brother.

"They're beautiful brother." Charles looked abjectly at the dirt. "I'm sure mine are still small. I've never even flown before because I wasn't aloud to show my wings to anyone at the manor." The older brother looked surprised.

"Well why don't you give it a try? I'll show you how if you like. I guess I could stay with you a little longer."

Charles grinned from ear to ear.

"Oh really? Thank-you brother!"

Charles threw his shirt on the ground next to Folken's and concentrated hard. He took a deep breath and clenched his fists tightly, squeezing his eyes shut. His wings burst from his back as suddenly as his brother's. The extra weight threw him off-balance and he fell backwards with a painful thud. Folken smiled and helped his brother up.

"Don't worry, you'll be flying in no time."



****



Allen had finally made up his mind.

"That's it!" he cried. "I can't stand it anymore! I need advice!"

Allen ran to Ahire's tent and burst inside.

"Ahire! I need advice! I mean, I really, really, really need advice!"

The thief sat glowering in the corner of the room.

"Why hello, Schezar. Nice to see you've come crawling back."

"Wh-what?" Allen groaned. "Not you too- I mean, Taiahna's already given me a black eye."

Ahire snorted disdainfully.

"Yes, I can see that. She did quite a good job if I do say so myself."

Allen brushed aside the rude comment.

"Please, I need your advice."

"Fine. Here's what I have to say. Go talk to Grymm."

"How do you know what I was going to say?!"

Ahire rolled his eyes.

"I saw you go into the bar last night, and I saw you come out hanging off of him. What else is there to know? Did you sleep with him Allen?"

Allen swallowed, and looked away.

"I, um, I don't know exactly. You see, I don't remember anything"

Ahire sighed.

"You can't be serious."

"Unfortunately, I am. And he says nothing happened but I'm still not sure."

"Then go ask him. That's the obvious thing to do, Allen."

Allen glared at Ahire.

"That would... that would defeat the purpose!" he insisted.

"For Creator's sake. Get your sorry arse over there. Just get out of my sight."

Allen sighed in frustration, but complied.

Ahire burst out laughing after Allen had left.

'That poor man thinks I have feelings for him. Oh Creator, he's about to be horribly disappointed.'



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"Hitomi" whispered Van impatiently. "Hitomi" Finally his impatience got the better of him. "Hitomi! Wake up!!"

Hitomi sat straight up in bed and scrambled for the blankets to cover herself. Van sat next to her, eagerly awaiting her awakening. She glared dangerously at him.

"Van! What did you do that- fmmf!" Van cut Hitomi off with a kiss.

"We're wasting the day Hitomi! It's almost noon!" Hitomi's eyebrow rose.

"So what do you propose we do with the rest of the day then?" Van grinned at Hitomi.

"You can't be serious." Van moved behind Hitomi, and began to massage her shoulders. He leaned in close and kissed her cheek softly.

"I am completely serious." He purred.

Hitomi rolled her eyes, then sighed, and leaned back onto Van's warm bare chest.

"Is that all you think about Lord Van?"

"Certainly, that is when I'm alone in a room with you, and neither of us are wearing any clothes."

"I'd be happy to oblige, after a short rest. This kind of exercise can really wear a person out." Hitomi closed her eyes, and snuggled closer to Van. "So Van, tell me, who was your first?" Hitomi asked innocently, eyes still closed. "I mean, I know it wasn't me. Even though I don't really have a lot of experience in this area, it's pretty obvious to me that you knew what you were doing."

Hitomi felt Van's back straighten, and he blushed a deep red.

"They didn't mean anything to me Hitomi. I thought I was never going to see you again! I mean, what I mean is, I was trying to fill the hole you left. I swear Hitomi, they-"

Hitomi turned to face Van and rested a hand gently on his lips.

"I know Van." She whispered. She ran the hand slowly over his cheek, and down his neck, tracing his Adams apple with two fingers, making Van swallow hard, and the Adams apple bob gently. She looked up at Van with her deep olive eyes.

"I'm rested now." She whispered.

Van smiled widely.

"I'm sure Allen understands. He'll take care of everything."



****





"Grymm? Are you in here?" Allen knocked on the door anxiously, hoping desperately that Grymm was there, for he'd searched everywhere else, and the Captain had been nowhere to be found. Allen knocked again, more loudly, hoping Grymm just hadn't heard him the first time. The door opened suddenly, and Grymm stood in the doorway, half dressed. It took Allen a minute to compose himself, because he'd just realized that he'd never really planned exactly what he was going to say once he'd found Grymm.

"Why hello Angel. Word's gotten to me by now of course. Don't worry yourself, I'm a very sarcastic person." Allen stood, and just stared, profoundly astonished, as a woman walked up behind Grymm and pulled impatiently on his muscular bare arm.

Grymm smiled at her, and whispered for her to go wait for him.

"Listen Angel, it's just something you have to know about me." Grymm shrugged. "Some men simply aren't meant to be trusted. I happen to be one of them." The door slammed abruptly in Allen's face. Allen heaved a sigh of relief and left immediately for the War Room.



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Van shook his morning lover gently awake.

"Hitomi, there's a problem." Van spoke softly, and meekly, as though something had gone horribly wrong, which indeed it had.

"What is it Van?" asked Hitomi, immediately sensing his distress.

"It's Charles, he won't come back."

Hitomi gasped.

"What do you mean Van? He has to come back!" Van shook his head sadly.

"But how do you know?"

"Before, I always felt a trace of his life force. Even though his soul wasn't here, there was always a feeling. It told me that even though I was there, it was still Charles's body. It left Hitomi. The last of his soul is gone. He didn't survive Purgatory."

Hitomi felt suddenly numb. She remembered what she had wished when she'd been alone with Van.

"Oh God." she whispered, a trembling hand rising to her mouth. "Oh God no... It's..." she swallowed, her whole body shaking as she slipped slowly into blackness. "It's... all my fault..."

Hitomi heard a soft cry of alarm from Van, and then was enveloped completely in dark.



****



'Oh yes.' He thought to himself, as he watched the brown-haired girl stir peacefully in her sleep. 'I've been waiting for one such as yourself for such a long time now.' He toyed with the surface of the mirror, dragging a finger across its liquid surface, leaving silver ripples in its wake. 'But how to make you come to me?' he wondered, probing the room for a possible was to access it. An evil sort of grin appeared on his face. 'Good job Van. Good job. The spell you're set to protect her is my passageway to your world.'

He laughed menacingly at the marvellous discovery that had almost gone unnoticed.

'Oh yes, I've been waiting'



****



Hitomi awoke in darkness with a shock.

"Van?" she asked weakly. "Van, where are you?"

She removed the damp cloth that covered her eyes and forehead to ease her fever and opened her eyes slowly to see that she was still in the room she had been in before.

"Where did he go?" she whispered to herself. She then remembered the war.

"Oh, he must be in the War Room. I'll join him."

Hitomi climbed out of the messy bed and picked up a soft baby blue dress with a white lace collar that Van had bought for her. She smiled at his thoughtfulness as she pulled on the beautiful garment. Hitomi heard a soft noise, and turned to see Van standing at the door.

"Van! There you are! I was just about to come see you!" Van walked over to Hitomi with the gravest of expressions on his face.

"Hitomi, you have to help Charles."



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Van sat attentively in the War Room, listening carefully to several ideas for strategies to repel the coming Zaibach army. The strategies faded suddenly from his mind as he felt a slight disturbance in the spell he had left to protect Hitomi while he'd be gone. He stood abruptly, his chair falling over as he made a dash for the door.

"There's something wrong with Hitomi!" he cried, as he left the room.

Allen quickly took off after the king, excusing them both profusely.

Van ran as fast as he could up to his room. He pulled one of the double doors, but they wouldn't budge.

"Damn." He growled through gritted teeth and yanked viciously on the door several more times. Just as Allen ran around the corner, he threw off his shirt, and dived out the nearest window into the blood coloured, sun-stained sky.



****



Hitomi's face fell.

"But how can I possibly help him Van?"

Van walked slowly behind Hitomi and placed a hand on her shoulder, stroking her cheek softly with the other.

"You can go into Purgatory," he whispered, his freezing breath making her shiver.

"And you can get him back."



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Oooo! I like the Devil! Lol

Hope you enjoyed the extra long chapter.

So that's the end of this chapter!

Sorry it took so long to get it out.

Some if it was beyond my control!

You guys all know how ff.net went nuts.

Oh yeah, * sigh * one more thing

For all those people out there who didn't catch on, yes Dilandau thinks that Tai is pregnant. That's all I'm going to say! So cease the e-mails asking so! ^.^

Thankies again fellow fanfic-ers!

Love and mashed potatoes to all!



~Planeswalker