Warning: Limeish... again. ^_^
Windflowers...
Chapter 4: Silk and Rose Petals…
Dawn was breaking in the lush country of Fanelia... the first, timid rays of the spring sun started to shine through the ancient forests that grew around Fanelia Castle. All was silent... only the cheerful chirping of morning birds and the monotonous sound of the windmill's continuous turning permeated the air. The sun shone down on the cold, white stones of the wall making the whole palace shine, allowing it to stand out from the small, dark houses that surrounded it.
A rooster crowed in the distance and another answered his cry, the shrill sound breaking the surreal silence.
The cold breeze ruffled the silky curtains of the royal apartments, blowing some of the scented incense's ashes away from the table and onto the bed's creamy blankets. The sun's rays tentatively entered the bedroom and crept slowly towards the bed, with the intention of waking the two sleeping forms cuddled together under the sheets...
The rhythmic breathing of the two occupants of the room sounding oddly comforting...
Hitomi shivered lightly, the white sheets feeling too cold in contrast with how warm Van's arms were... slowly opening her eyes she gazed lovingly at Van's sleeping face, smiling at the way his hair fell in front of his closed eyelids. It was even worse than she remembered. His hair had grown longer and now reached his shoulders, having come out of the usual ponytail during the previous night's activities...
His tender lips were slightly parted and she found herself fighting against the urge to kiss him awake... but his face looked so tranquil, relaxed, that she decided against it.
Another gush of wind entered the room through the open window and Hitomi shivered again... it was early spring and the air was still chilly... wondering when the window had opened, she attempted to get out of bed and close it but no matter how hard she tried, Van's arms wouldn't budge from around her waist.
Tugging one last time, the only result she obtained was for his grip to tighten further. Sighing in defeat, she decided that maybe snuggling closer to him would provide the warmth she sought. So she did just that.
Her arms tightened round his neck, her face pressed tightly against the firm muscles of his chest, her nose centimeters away from the rosy pendant she had given to him all those years ago.
*He still has it...*
He hadn't forgotten about her, the proof lying there, on a golden chain round his neck.
Tears started welling up in the corners of her emerald eyes and she blinked them away... but one of her crystal tears managed to slide down her cheek and drop on his warm skin, startling him.
Van's reddish eyes snapped open and he gasped as he realized that he was indeed holding Hitomi. He was holding the girl, no woman, he had been dreaming of for the past five years... she was comfortable in his arms, in those arms that would never let go of her again.
She was back.
It was then that he noticed the tears in her eyes and the beautiful smile she reserved only for him...
"Good morning, sire..." she giggled at the last part, her sweet laughter echoing through his sleepy senses, allowing a smile to tug at the corners of his lips.
"Would you kindly allow me to rise and close the window?" another giggle, sounding like crystal bells in his ears.
"Nope... I'm not letting go of you" he smiled, and buried his face in her neck pulling her closer... taking in the feeling of her naked flesh against his chest...
"But it's _cold_ Van!" she complained, but he felt her arms tighten round his neck, her fingers tangling in his silky hair.
"Well, I'll have to warm you up then..." he replied, placing a feather-like kiss on the tender skin behind her ear... nibbling kisses down her neck, his hands pressing her closer as she sighed softly...
His rough fingers played on her back, pushing her down against the mattress as he kicked the cold sheets from his legs and sat up...
Turning her head to one side, letting her cheek rest against the soft pillow, she peered questioningly at him as he started kneading her shoulders gently... his strong hands expertly relaxing her muscles as she closed her eyes in contentment...
"Your blouse was ripped Hitomi... you didn't hurt yourself did you?" he asked softly as he traced her shoulder blades with his fingers, admiring the texture of her flawless skin, checking for bruises or tender spots.
*My blouse was... my blouse was ripped? Ripped on the back? That means... that means...*
Hitomi suddenly pushed herself up on her knees, knocking Van off balance...
"Van... I dreamt... I dreamt of flying... but it means... it wasn't..."
Van stared at Hitomi in confusion, watching as various emotions played on her face.
Confusion, bewilderment, fear, shock. Her eyes went wide as her mind registered the fact that she had _not_ been imagining it.
She had... she had wings.
"Van... I... I..." she stuttered, unable to find the words to explain what had happened the day before in the park...
Van took her in his arms, hugging her close... and buried his face in her hair, inhaling slowly, wondering what had managed to scare her so... that was until he felt, more than saw, soft feathers falling from the pure white wings that had suddenly spurted from Hitomi's back.
His gentle eyes widened in shock as she moved away so she could stare into his face, her wings wrapping around her body, Hitomi feeling suddenly shy under his gaze.
"W... what! How!"
"It just... sort of happened I guess... yesterday... I wished... I wished to get to Ran before she disappeared and... And suddenly I had wings..." she turned away, unable to look into his eyes... unable to face his reaction.
"Mother... mother was right!" came the strangled reply from the other side of the bed...
"Your mother? Wh..." she faced his way again and gasped when she found herself staring into the eyes she knew so well, their noses touching, Van's warm breath on her lips, his silky hair brushing against her cheeks...
Van grasped Hitomi's hands tightly with his bigger ones, stroking her palms with his rough fingers...
"Mother told me... she told me when I was very little. Told me never to show my wings until I found another like me... until I found my 'other half' you could say if you wanted to be cheesy... I found you Hitomi... I knew it then and I know it now... we... we belong together... " Saying that he let his own wings unfurl from his broad shoulders, wrapping them around both himself and his lover, holding her close to his chest... afraid, afraid she might be taken away from him again...
Hitomi sat there, taking in what she had just acknowledged.
She had angel-like wings, like Van.
She was a Draconian, like Van.
"Van..." but she was cut off by his warm lips before she could say anything else.
What _was_ she going to say anyway? There was nothing more to add. Nothing more.
Just Van.
Van and his kisses, his touch, his voice, his scent...
Lowering her down to the bed Van broke their kiss to stare into her eyes once again, making sure she was comfortable lying on her wings... making sure she wanted him just as much as he needed her...
"I wonder how making love to an angel is like..." he smiled, bringing his lips to her neck...
"I know. It's wonderful..." came Hitomi's soft answer as she let her eyelids drop, drowning the entire outside world, concentrating on Van.
Just Van...
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
Tareel stretched as she walked leisurely towards Lord Van's room... holding her harp with one hand and her gown with the other, she gazed out of the window and at the crowded streets of Fanelia... Waking up Lord Van with her music every morning had become a habit of hers...
But she had overslept... Lord Van was probably awake already, awake and bored to tears while listening to her father speak about political matters she knew he didn't enjoy... on second thoughts... her father would probably be able to bore him even talking about sword fights... she shook her head cheerfully. Her father, Lord Burnel, was one of the advisors of the King... a trusted advisor with heavy responsibilities on his shoulders... responsibilities her King didn't need...
Reaching the left wing of the large castle, where the King's apartments were located, she sped up and knocked on the large oak door that gave to the royal bedchambers... receiving no answer she slowly slid the door open thinking Lord Van had already left. She entered the room lazily, slowly closing the thick, wooden panes behind her.... Satisfied when she heard a metal click echoing through the silent room.
She liked Lord Van's room... it was clean and sunny... and it smelled of him... Noticing that the flowers on the dresser had wilted she made a note to herself to go and pick some more that after noon after, her music lesson...
Music lessons... they were enjoyable and Lord Van approved of them... but she felt like she knew most of the things Sir Revel, the old court bard, taught her... Tareel frowned... she was acting too sure of herself again... she had lots more to learn. That's what her father always told her... when he encouraged her to go and play the harp for Lord Van...
Walking into the inner rooms of the apartment she noticed a neatly folded garment resting on a chair... Suddenly curious, she picked it up and studied it... It _looked_ like a skirt... but she couldn't be sure of it... It looked _way_ too short... probably reached above the knee... Wondering what female could wear something that actually showed her legs... a part from Lady Merle that is... Tareel shook her head in disapproval, and folded the piece of clothing...
The reason Lord Van owned such an unusual item was beyond her comprehension... and she quickly forgot about it as she eyed the window next to the bed. The curtains were flapping gently in the now warm breeze, as she closed the windowpanes... grimacing as the glass squeaked unpleasantly...
Hearing the distant sounds of the maids' chatter in the large bathroom next to the bedroom, she realized that Lord Van must not have yet awoken, for the maids were still preparing the morning bath... She slowly turned round and fixed her gaze on the bundle under the blankets, lying in the middle of the bed...
On the unusually _big_ bundle...
Yet, something was even stranger: long, sandy blond hair was peering out from under the white sheets...
She eeped as she realized that there were two people cuddled together: Lord Van and a woman.
Startled by the sudden sound the bundle stirred and a familiar face appeared from under the blankets...
"Tareel?" he asked, squinting to see clearly the form that was standing in front of the window...
Tareel blushed, because she had been caught red-handed spying... but mostly because Lord Van was now sitting up... and his broad chest was not covered by the usual black robe. It wasn't covered by anything at all.
"W... who is it Van?"
Came a sweet, soprano voice from somewhere buried beneath the warm blankets, but Tareel couldn't see who it was for she had fixed her gaze on an undetermined object outside the window.
"Y... yes... it's me, Lord Van." she stuttered, her voice breaking.
"It's just Tareel, Hitomi."
Despite her embarrassment, Tareel's eyes widened... *Hitomi? Where had she heard that unusual name before?*
"It's ok Tareel, you can turn round. We're decent." the last part was said with a slightly amused tone she had never heard Lord Van use before... it made his voice sound even more beautiful.
Shaking her head she faced the couple... noticing that the woman was blushing a brilliant red as she was doing up the last ties on the front of her white robe, and that Lord Van was wearing his usual night clothes.
Then Tareel's deep black eyes stared into Hitomi's green ones and she realized... realized that she was the woman from Lord Van's paintings.
"You... you're real!" she blurted out. Hitomi looked clueless and Van just cocked an eyebrow at the weird statement...
"I mean... well... ah, nothing!" Tareel blushed again, lowering her gaze to the ground, suddenly finding her bare feet very interesting...
"This is Tareel Burnel, daughter of one of my advisors and one of the most amazing harp players I have ever heard..." he told Hitomi... then, turning towards the younger girl... "And this is Hitomi Kanzaki..."
An embarrassed silence followed, the situation they were in making the presentations pretty awkward...
Tareel was the first to break the silence... "I'm glad you're back... preserver of peace." with that she flashed a sincere smile and bowed low.
"What... I don't... I'm not..." Hitomi stuttered, blushing again...
"You are..." and with that Tareel ran towards the door whispering a "make him happy..." under her breath, so quietly that neither Van nor Hitomi heard her request...
The couple stared after the fleeing girl for a moment until the heavy, oak door slammed shut.
~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~°~
The water of the bath was a tad hotter than what she was used to, but Hitomi relaxed and leaned back against the edge of what seemed a small swimming pool. Light was streaming in through the colored glass panes of the windows, causing little rainbows to form on the ripples in the water... She lightly fingered one of the rose petals that were floating on the surface of the water, along with the soapsuds from whatever substance the woman that was washing her hair had used...
The maids had given her weird looks as soon as she had entered the bathroom.. Just after Van had rushed out of the room claiming he was _extremely_ late for the daily meeting. Hitomi sighed... being a King required certain responsibilities.
But the young women had soon grown accustomed to her presence and had offered to help her wash. Now that had been embarrassing. But she guessed she might as well get used to the local custom that royal female guests weren't supposed to wash alone...
The women had resumed their cheerful chatter soon after... and their soft voices were a pleasant company...
"Lady Hitomi?" one of the maids asked tentatively...
"Uh-huh?"
"I've finished washing your hair..." she smiled a gentle smile and poured the remnants of the clean water over Hitomi's head.
Noticing that one of the maids was standing by the side of the bathtub holding a fluffy white towel, Hitomi sighed and stood up, exiting the warm water and stepping out of the tub. Immediately the towel was wrapped around her body and another woman started drying her long hair.
With smiles and gentle words, the maids had coaxed her into standing in front of a dressing table in Van's room, happy that they were finally able to do their job. Attend a woman while she dressed.
They wrapped Hitomi in a thin, white robe that reached past her ankles... and over that they made her wear a mauve colored kimono-like dress, tied round the waist by a golden sash. It's sleeves reached down way past her hands and she had to pull them up, the silky material leaving her shoulders bare... Then they sat her down and started brushing her long blond hair. Whatever that woman had used had made her hair so silky that they had difficulties holding it up with one of Van's mother's ornamental combs, so they had to use pins strategically positioned, so they were invisible in the final result.
Hitomi was starting to enjoy the attention as she joined in with the maids' chatter... When they were finally finished, Hitomi barely recognized herself as the woman that was staring back at her from the full-length mirror that hung from the wall.
She looked... well she looked like a queen.
The maids exited the room still chatting happily, promising to return the following day, and Hitomi was left alone.
Scanning the wide room, she looked for a door that lead to an adjoining bedchamber... just like Van had told her the day before. After unsuccessfully trying a couple of doors she finally found the one that led her to a small, sunny room. In the middle of this room was a bed, and sleeping peacefully in that bed was Ran...
Hitomi started walking towards the bed when, with a smile, she realized that a familiar looking cat-girl was already watching over her sleeping daughter...
To be continued...
This was one _long_ chapter... I hope that will be enough to beg your forgiveness for posting this so late... ^_^
I hope to have the next chapter out sooner... especially since I am now on holiday! YAY! Cough... neway
Disclaimer:
You know this, why do I keep having to repeat myself? :: sigh...:: Escaflowne does not belong to me. It never did and it never will... happy now? ^_^
I'm too tired to write anything coherent at the moment so I'll leave this here...
I seriously love you guys!
If I don't post anything before the twelfth this is also to remind you to celebrate Van-sama's twentieth birthday on Thursday!!!!!!!!!! (well he was 15 in 1996 so... ^_^) I think I'll be giving him some spare red shirts or ::coughMYSELFcough:: ^_^
neway... thank you everybody!
luv
Koneko Kamiya / De Fanel =^.^=
