Chapter 6: Old friends

Hitomi frowned in her sleep, trying to resist the pull of the waking world. She burrowed down into the feather pillow with her face when the combined feeling of being watched, the throbbing of her shoulder and the memory of the past events caused her to fully wake and open her eyes. She sat up, clutching the covers to her chest with her good arm. Her other arm was in a cloth splint.
Merle was sitting on the foot of the bed and was watching her suspiciously. Hitomi stared at her, trying to associate the graceful woman in front of her with the rambunctious thirteen-year-old she had known. Energetic cuteness had given way to long, slender limbs and beautiful pink hair reaching halfway down her back. Merle silently stared at her in return with a look of disdain until finally Hitomi lost her patience.
"What? Where is Van?" said Hitomi crabbily.
"You leave, send no messages, and then turn up in time to get hurt," sniffed Merle, licking her wrist. "And you sleep most of the day away. I don't know what Van sees in you. He could have his pick of princess around here and he ignores them all. He's not here. He is a king after all, and has important duties. Did you at least bring me something?" Merle said diving into Hitomi's bag, which someone had placed next to the bed.
Hitomi's faced burned as she reached to ineffectively try and stop Merle from rooting through her things. "Stop that, you little thief. You haven't changed. Are you trying to make me mad?"
Merle deftly avoided Hitomi's hand and continued throwing things about with a devilish grin on her face. As a sweatshirt hit her in the face, Hitomi scrambled out of the bed and snatched the half-empty bag out of Merle's reach. "To think I actually missed you. Go bother someone else." Hitomi ordered. Merle sniffed again and then suddenly hugged Hitomi around the waist. She then let go and bounded out to the balcony. She smiled brightly for a second, startling Hitomi. "I'm glad you're back. We missed you, too." Merle said, and then jumped on the roof and disappeared from view.
Hitomi stood with the bag held limply by her side. "I will never understand her." she muttered and began to one handedly stuff her things back into the bag.

Van stood on the other side of the bedroom door, smiling as he listened to the exchange between the girls. Their spat made him inexplicably happy; it was if nothing had changed and no time had passed since Hitomi had gone back to the Mystic Moon. He waited for a few seconds after Merle's departure, then knocked on the door and opened it after Hitomi said to come in.
Hitomi flushed as Van looked around the door and walked in. She suddenly felt awkward with him and was strangely shy in his presence. Plus the fact she was only wearing the garments she had slept in didn't exactly instill her with confidence. She couldn't understand her reaction, but this grown up king was a different Van than she was used to. He looked like a king now, and no longer the half-wild boy she knew. Van smiled at her and placed a tray of food on the bedside table.
"How are you feeling?" He asked. He sensed her awkwardness and was saddened and puzzled by it. Things have changed, he thought. Five years is a long time. She has changed.
"Fine." Hitomi responded, disregarding the throbbing pain in her shoulder. She flushed again and looked down at the ground. "How are you?" Van watched her and did not respond.
"I missed you, Van." she added quietly, still staring at the ground and blushing.
Van stood still a moment, unsure how to respond to her words. He felt a thrill begin in his stomach and work its way up through his chest. But words wouldn't come to him; he couldn't express it. He searched his mind for a response, but the seconds passed and he couldn't think of a word to say. Turning abruptly back towards the door, he said, "I'll let you get dressed. Merle set out some clothes for you. Then I'll tell you the information we were able to get out of the prisoner."
As Van closed the door behind him, the tenseness that Hitomi had felt build during the silence following her words left her body in a rush and she felt weak. He doesn't love me still, she thought despairingly to herself. She slowly gathered her shattered emotions and looked around for the clothes Van had mentioned. I should leave, she thought, a lump forming in her throat. This is awkward for him, having me here. Why did I speak? She sat on the edge of the bed and put her head in her hand.
Van leaned against the closed door and mentally kicked himself. She had as good as opened her heart to him and he had clumsily walked all over it. Why couldn't he have responded in kind? Why couldn't he have told her that the sight of her face filled him with joy and he wanted her with him always? He had used the prisoner as an excuse to leave, even though they still had not been able to get any information out of him. He hung his head and made a silent promise to tell her that he still loved her as soon as he could. He pushed himself off the door and nodded to the guards standing beside it. They bowed as he walked down the hall, lost in thought.
Merle sat on the roof where she had been waiting to see Hitomi's reaction to the clothing she had picked out and shook her head. She knew that Van still loved Hitomi and was disgusted by his behavior. She still regarded her adopted brother as nearly perfect, but this girl was his one weakness. She peeked back through the balcony and watched Hitomi sitting on the bed. Merle opened her mouth to say a snide remark, but closed it without uttering a word, after having the (unexpectedly) considerate thought that neither Van nor Hitomi would have liked that scene witnessed. Quietly she withdrew back onto the roof and ran to another entrance to the castle.