"Merle, you and Hitomui should evacutae with the others and try to keep them all calm." He gave her his most reassuring smile because she looked absoutley terrified. "And Hitomi. I am so sorry. I'll be back as soon as---"
She placed her finger to his lip, silencing him. "I am going with you."
"But what if---" He was once again silenced by Hitomi but this time it was because the of the stern look on her face.
"We did this together before, Van. We can do it together now. I am going with you."
Van looked defeated but before he could say another word, the castle was shaken by yet another attack. This time bricks flew through the building and the entire stability of the castle was obviously in question. Van could not think of any good reason Hitomi would buy to keep her from coming so he took her hand and turned to Allen and Merle. "Merle, go and tend to the wounded. Allen, go and get your men and meet us out front." They both nodded and ran off in different directions. Finally Van turned to Hitomi once last time. "Are you sure about this?"
"Lets go!" Hitomi gave a half-hearted smile and they were off to find Escaflowne.
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Hitomi held her breath as she looked at the huge guymelf before her. She had forgotten how large Escaflowne really was. The only things running through her mind at the moment were why now? Did bad things just follow her around? Maybe this whole mess was all her fault.
As if reading her mind, Van stroked Hitomis hand with a reassuring smile. "Everything will be okay. We have each other, right?"
Hitomi nodded before climbling onto Escaflowne after Van and braced herself. "Lets go."
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As they made there was to the front of the castle, Van realized that a large portion of the castle itself was missing. At first glance, there were no enemies in sight.
"Van, look at the tree line at 3 o'clock!"
Sure enough, hidden in the tree line, Van counted 4 guymelfs that he had never seen before hiding in the shadows. All of them had swords, not unlike Escaflowne.
Without any warrning at all, the 4 enemies attacked and they were heading straight for Hitomi and Van, There was no time for reaction before they knew it, they were involved in a brutal sword fight. One by one, Van fought off the opponents and slowly but surely they were winning. It was hard to tell who was piloting the actual guymelfs. They made no noise at all. Even as Van cut them down dead. There was no screams, or cries or whimpers. Nothing at all. It was very odd. It was almost as if they were operating themselves but Hitomi knew that that was impossible.
When the last of the enemies was cut down, Van landed Escaflowne and helped Hitomi down before he allowed himself to take a sigh of relief and take in what had just happened. He reached over and pulled Hitomi in for a hug. "Are you okay?" He slowly wrapped his arms a little tighter around her waist.
"You are silly. I am fine. Although, I feel as though I somehow played a hand in this somewhere along the way. Everyone was safe and happy for the last 7 seven years that I have been gone but I am not even back here for 3 hours and we are already at war. Maybe it would have been better if-"
"STOP IT Hitomi!" His expession was stern but his eyes shone only the love and admiration he had for the woman whom was standing before him. "We are not "at war" yet. We do not even know who this new threat is. All I do know is that I would go through anything just to keep you at my side. I would fight every war and slay every dragon in the land if it meant spending even one day more with you."
Hitomi just stood there speechless, staring into his eyes. He had just opened his soul to her and she could not think of one thing to say. Well... she could think of one thing but she simply could not bring herself to say it. She loved him with all of her heart but she just could not say it. What if it scared him off, or what if his true feelings for her are not the same as hers were for him. She would not be able to take it if Van did not love her back. Instead Hitomi decided not to say anything at all. Instead she wrapped her arms around Vans neck and pulled his face to hers, kissing him softly. It was the only way to say how she felt without actually saying it.
Thats when Hitomi saw it. A flash of light behind van. It was the flash of sunlight reflecting off of metal and it disoriented Hitomi for a spilt second before she could react. "VAN! Look out!!!!"
It was too late. Van crumbled to the ground in a heap with a huge gash to his back. Hitomi now stood alone facing Vans attacker. Although his face was covered, Hitomi could see that he was a tall man(about 6 ft) with a rather thin frame. The man raised his sword once more, this time his target as Hitomi. Just as his blade sliced down, Hitomi felt herself being thrown to the ground forcefully.
When she looked up, she saw Allen holding off the attacker. It seemed like they fought for an eternity but they seemed very evenly matched. Then out of the blue, the attacker stopped and as Allen leaned in for the final blow, the man slimply disappeared into thin air.
After a second Allen turned to Hitomi with concern written all over his face. "Are you okay?"
She could not think or speak or cry or do anything. She felt completly numb. That was until she saw Vans lifeless form several feet away frim her. That was when it sunk in.
"VANNNNNNNNNNN!!!!!!!!" Hitomi dove to his side and scooped him up into her arms while she tried to stop the bleeding. "Van... Oh my God! Allen... HELP! Van!!! Wake up... please... Wake up!" Tears were now streaming down her cheeks as she neared hysteria. That was when Allen rushed over to try to help but Hitomi would not let Van out f her arms. "Please Van... I need you..."
Then Van moved slightly and coughed up a bit of blood when he opened his eyes and looked at Hitomi. "H-Hitomi. I- cough I love you." then he coughed up a bit more blood before losing conciousness once more.
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Okay peoples! What do you think? Do you like it so far? Let me know! Your reviews mean the world to me and I want to know what you think. Besides, it motivates me to write quicker. Love ya all
Sarah