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She couldn't stand it anymore. Dawn was quickly approaching and she hadn't so much as dozed off yet. Sleep just would not come for Hitomi.
Annoyed and over tired Hitomi stuck her head out into the hall to make sure no one was there before crossing over and opening van's door.
Things had been so chaotic lately. People had started arriving for the wedding, which wasn't for another two weeks and flowers seemed to be coming in from all over Gaia. It was Hitomi's job to decide which flowers went where and they still hadn't figured out how they would fit everyone into the garden for the actual wedding.
There was just too much to think about and it was making her head hurt.
Moving slowly and quietly, Hitomi made her way over to Van's side and touched his arm as she said his name.
"You ok?" he asked sleepily.
"I can't sleep," she admitted.
"Come here," Van pulled back the blankets and waited for Hitomi to slip into his bed before wrapping his arm around her waist, "So what's on your mind"
"The wedding." Hitomi sighed, feeling Van move closer to rest his forehead against her temple as she laid on her back.
"It will be wonderful." Van kissed her cheek, his eyes focused on her face, "Are you scared"
"Very." Hitomi smiled weakly, "What if I'm not a good Queen"
"Impossible." Van laughed.
"Be serious, Van." Hitomi pushed at his arm but he only held on tighter.
"I am being serious." he said, propping himself up on his elbow, "You will be an amazing Queen, I just know it"
Hitomi was quiet for a minute and Van knew she had moved onto something else that was bothering her. He just waited, looking down at her in the dark, knowing she would tell him eventually.
"A lot of people are happy about this wedding," she said slowly, not looking at him, "They are all talking about Fanelia finally having an heir"
Van felt his stomach flip as his muscles tightened. Just a few days before Folken had also brought up the subject of children. "That scares you?" he asked gently.
"I've never heard of a Seer having a baby before." she still wasn't looking at him, "You would think that somewhere it would be mentioned if they ever had kids. What if I can't"
Van kissed her nose and her cheeks until she finally looked at him, "Those Seers probably hid their children from the world for the sake of their kids futures. As you know, Seer's aren't that well received by most countries so why would it be any different for their children"
Hitomi just watched him as he looked down at her.
"So you're not worried?" she asked, bringing her hand up to brush Van's wild hair away from his face.
"Not even the slightest." Van smiled as a small happy grin crossed Hitomi's lips.
"We will be happy," she said quietly.
"Unbelievably." Van leaned in and kissed her lips, bringing the hand that had been on her waist up to cheek, "I love you"
"I love you too." she smiled into the kiss and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him against her.
She held onto him tightly and Van squeezed her shoulder as they continued to kiss. With all the planning and trying to work out all the legal stuff about Folken being apart of the royal family again Van hadn't had any alone time with Hitomi in about a week. All he had known lately was sleep work and more work.
Having her there, against him, beneath him was almost enough to convince him that he was dreaming. He shifted, feeling her move to untangle her legs from the blankets. When she was free he broke the kiss and just stared at her, watching a blush creep up from her neck and into her cheeks. The sun was rising and there was just enough light in the room for him see her clearly.
Even though his body was begging him to do more than just look at her he managed to ask, "Have you slept at all"
"No." she smiled, running her fingers up and down his arms distractingly.
"Then let's sleep a bit before we have to deal with the day." it's not what he really wanted do. What he wanted was to lean back in and kiss Hitomi until she was breathless and flushed beneath him.
But he feared that sight would be his undoing.
Hitomi nodded but didn't let go of Van as he moved to lay against her side. Sometimes he wished those green eyes didn't see so much, didn't know his every move. He could see it in her eyes, she knew what he was thinking and how he was feeling and he was just thankful she wasn't pulling away.
"I love you," she whispered.
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As the days passed and more and more guest with trying to take up his time Van found himself sneaking off to find out what Hitomi was doing. He truly never thought he would ever be so completely and helplessly in love with someone.
When it had all started it was exciting and each kiss was a new experience. He knew then, before the first kiss had even happened, that he wanted to marry her.
And it frustrated him to no end that in his own home he had to sneak away to find time with is soon to be wife.
The planning and the people were just so overwhelming. Van understood now why Hitomi hadn't been sleeping much before. The only time she seemed to actually get any rest was when she would crawl into his bed in the middle of the night. It was comforting to know that she felt safe and relaxed by his side.
It was just embarrassing to have his older brother always bringing up the time he walked in to find the two curled up together in Van's bed.
"Swear to me that you haven't done anything." Folken had said quietly after pulling Van from his bed.
"No. Nothing." Van blushed. He felt like a child being scolded. He was just thankful that Hitomi was still asleep.
"You swear it?" Folken asked, a look in his eyes that Van couldn't name. "I swear it, brother." Van had said, squeezing Folken's hand, "I swear"
After that Folken would find Van in the middle of doing paper work and ask his uncomfortable questions about his feeling towards Hitomi.
"You love her, I know that. But will there be an heir within a year of your marriage?" Folken asked, causing Van to almost knock his ink well off the edge of his desk.
"How could I possibly know that?" Van had stammered, "I told Hitomi everything could go as slow as she wanted." he was blushing horribly.
"And yet you have talked about children, haven't you?" Folken leaned against the edge of Van's writing desk.
"Yes." Van avoided looking at his brother, "She was afraid that with her being Seer that she would be unable to have children"
Folken's brotherly torture had stopped for awhile after that but now Van was dealing with people who had no right to any of his personal business. People who tried to offer him tips on a healthy marriage after he had just seen that person and their significant other yelling in one of the hallways.
What Van needed was some fresh air but he was terrified he would run into Princess Millerna and her 'guests' who just happened to be some of the more unfriendly Ladies he had met in Asturia. Realizing there was only one place for him to go, Van turned on his heel and ran up the nearest set of stairs.
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Hitomi sighed, letting the wind rush over her as she laid in the sunlight.
This was so much better than listening to those older Ladies from other courts trying to give her helpful tips on how to keep a man happy. Not only had it been horribly embarrassing, but they had taken her blush as some weird encouragement to keep talking about bedroom things that should never be talked about.
She hadn't known how to ask them to stop without being rude so after a few minutes she had made up some excuse regarding her wedding dress and all but ran from the room.
A noise to her right had Hitomi opening her eyes and squinting in the sunlight as someone came out onto the roof through the same window she had used.
"You shouldn't be out here alone." Van said, after getting over his joy of finding her there, "What if you fell"
"I won't fall." Hitomi sat up and smiled, "So who are you hiding from"
"Everyone. You?" Van asked, sitting beside her.
"The older Ladies of court." Hitomi sighed and leaned into Van's side, "I think they were just competing to see who could make me turn a darker shade of red"
"Should I ask?' Van laughed.
"No." Hitomi giggled, "You really don't want to know"
Van kissed her hair and scooted over to seat her between his thighs, "It's beautiful out"
"It is." HItomi relaxed into Van and smiled when he wrapped his arms around her stomach, "I won't fall." she said again.
"Of course not." he said lightly, "Not while I'm holding you."
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Folken paced in his room. It felt wonderful to be back in Fanelia and back in his younger brother's trust but there was still something wrong.
The more he tried to think about Zaibach the more the details slipped from his memory. When he had been well enough to do so he began writing down the things he could remember.
The list became more and more disturbing as he searched through his thoughts.
At first he had told himself that he had just been following orders and that he hadn't had any real feelings about destroying his homeland. That was untrue. His mind had screamed when the orders had been passed on but he hadn't been able to disobey. His thoughts and even his body were no longer his own.
His list confirmed this.
One of the harder memories to pin down had been the white room he often dreamed about. Then one horrible night his dream showed him one of the familiar faces that leaned over him with a shiny instrument.
Zaibach had kept him from dying when he lost his arm but they weren't about to let him go. The gave him his arm and also messed with his mind. Through magic and operations, Folken had lost himself to Zaibach's ways and plans.
They just hadn't planned on him ever being able to get away from the dark magicians Zaibach used instead of healers. Their influence on his mind and body loosened when he fought for his life and all but vanished after when he woke from his healing sleep in his brother's bed.
He wondered if his draconian blood was the reason the magic hadn't stuck. He couldn't be entirely sure but he had a feeling that his blood was the reason for his almost daily visits to that white room.
If he had needed those doses of 'control' daily then that would also explain why his mind slowly realized that Hitomi wasn't his enemy when he was in Asturia. It also explained why he hadn't just stood back when she started to fall into the sea. Her grip on his sleeve wouldn't have been enough to drag him in after her but it was part of his excuse when faced with his Master's anger.
He never told anyone that his heart had stopped when he saw her fall. It had scared him to suddenly be feeling so much at once. That day had opened his eyes to what was being done to him.
That was the day he started to fight for his freedom.
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Hitomi was the only one in the basement room that belonged to Gwyn, the seamstress. Her dress was sitting on the wooden model not three feet away and she couldn't take her eyes off of it.
Gwyn had once again proved her skill and with this one dress Hitomi decided the woman wasn't being paid enough.
The gown was fit for a Queen. It was an off the shoulder, long sleeve design with a full, trailing skirt. Tiny beads of glass and pearl dotted here and there making the whole thing shine from every angle. Gwyn had been disappointed when Hitomi said she wouldn't wear a veil after her time in Asturia but had made up for the missing piece by giving the gown an amazing train. It wasn't long enough to get in the way or too short for it not to be noticed. Everything was perfect.
The shoes were even simple enough for Hitomi to wear all day.
The gown was ready, Naoki's and Merle's gowns were ready, both in pale yellows and golds and Van's suit was incredible. The flowers had been decided on and the gardeners were going to take out part of the hedge to open the area up for more room. The hedge would be replaced that night after the wedding so the plant would not suffer or die.
Now all the future Queen had o worry about was the uneasy feeling the Zaibach was once again too close to her home and loved ones. Sighing Hitomi got up from the stool she had seated herself on and walked once around her gown, trailing her finger tips over the beading.
Her mind was on a million things at once. She knew her wedding would be one of the happiest days of her life but what would happen after that day ended? Zaibach was planning something and she worried that her marriage to Van would only make things worse for Fanelia.
Walking slowly from the room, Hitomi brought her hand up to the pink stone around her neck and felt it's gentle pulse. She wouldn't let anything happen to Van or Fanelia. No matter what she was going to stay with Van and help Fanelia become a stronger kingdom.
The sun was setting by the time she made it out onto the front lawns and the guards bowed to her deeply. They were shaken over her powers but they respected her as someone who wanted what they wanted - to protect Fanelia's future. She nodded to acknowledge them and kept walking until she was on the other side of the gate.
Doen was a stride or two behind her, her personal guard until the drama and threat of Zaibach was over. He was quiet and she enjoyed the fact that he seemed to pick up on when she wanted to talk and when she didn't. Tonight she didn't want to speak. Tonight she was out to show Zaibach that she wasn't afraid.
Just as she had done for the past week, from the first day she felt them come closer, she walked the palace's boundaries. This was her home and they needed to know that couldn't and wouldn't just scare her off.
When she came to the spot where the feeling of being watched was almost to bear she turned and stared out into the woods. She knew they were there somewhere, even if they evaded the search parties, and they knew she knew.
Doen shifted behind her and Hitomi nodded without looking at him, "They are biding their time." she said and turned to continue her walk around the grounds.
She didn't show it but she was terrified. What was she suppose to do if one of them just suddenly came out the woods after her? Doen would do his best to protect her but she could rely on her powers to help her out. It seemed they had a mind of their own, even with the pendant to help her with control. She didn't even know if she could copy what she had done the other night when Dilandau had come for Folken. Her powers had taken over and everything had just happened without her having to really think about any of it.
Could she do that again if the need arose?
Would she be able to protect those she loved if an attack came to the door?
She didn't know. And that scared her.
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A/N: Yay! Ok, just tell me what you think and things you'd like to see. Also - this will probably end up being two stories. Is that a good idea or a bad idea? I just don't know how I feel about a 100 chapter long story.