*Chapter IX, Doran*
As
Van and Hitomi were walking down a street, hand in hand, Hitomi thought of
something. "Van, how are we going to
get a message to our friends on Gaia without going there ourselves?"
"I…umm
was sort of hoping that you might be able to think of something…"
"Oh
great! I…ummm…think that we might be able to get a message to Merle, because
we're both close to her, especially you. Do you have anything of hers? That
might help us concentrate on her a bit more…"
"I'm
afraid that I don't have anything of hers."
"Ok…
well I guess we have nothing to lose. Give me your other hand. Picture her in
your head; those long pointy ears; that tail…that annoying high pitch squeal, …"
Hitomi said under her breathe.
"Hun?"
Van asked wondering what she said last.
"Never
mind, think…"
They
both stood, both holding each other's hands, thinking about Merle.
'Merle?
Are you there?' Van called out.
~*~*~*~
'Merle?
Are you there?'
Merle
jumped, startled. "Van?" I swear
that I could hear him… She looked around and only saw Millerna sitting in a
chair.
"What's
wrong Merle?"
"Oh
nothing…I just thought that I heard Master Van's voice…"
'Merle please listen. I have to tell you something really important'
"What!!!"
Merle's tail was puffed out; her ears were laid back and her claws out.
Just
then Dryden walked into the room; he saw that Merle was going crazy; she looked
as if she was looking around the room for something.
"What's
wrong Merle?" Dryden asked.
Before
she could answer, Millerna chirped in. "Don't worry, she'll only hear voices in
her head. She just is overreacting."
"I
am not!"
'MERLE!!! Please listen! I don't
know how long I'll be able to do this! Warn Chid! I think that a new enemy is going to attack Fried! I saw it in a vision! Fried will burn; I
won't let that happen! Please warn him! Van's here with me on the Mystic Moon, I'm not sure when we'll be back,
but don't worry. Please, prepare for
war!' Hitomi was almost 'shouting' at merle trying to make sure that she'll do
everything.
'Oh merle, make sure that
none of my advisors will be in charge of anything. Get Allen to ready the gumelif's and the soldiers.'
"Ok I promise that I'll
do that, please come home soon Master Van. Hitomi too."
Millerna and Dryden
looked at Merle as if she's going crazy.
"Merle do you need to
see a doctor?"
Merle ignoring their
question, she asked, "Where's Allen?"
"I think he's talking
with some of the guards. What wrong?"
"Get Chid and some of Van's
and your own most trusted advisors. I'll be right back."
Merle ran out of the
room as fast as she could, shouting for Allen. "ALLEN!!! WHERE ARE YOU? BLONDY!!!"
Merle spotted him and
Chid talking to a guard.
"Allen I need to speak
to you and Chid now! Come with me, no time to wait! Come on!"
She dragged them to the
others and explained everything. After
she explained as much as she could everyone went about arguing and thinking
about what might happen.
'So he's there with her
on the moon; he better keep her safe…' Allen thought to
himself.
~*~*~*~
"I think it worked!!!"
Van said cheerfully. Then he blushed at his enthusiasm.
"Yes…" Hitomi had used
all of her energy to reach Merle.
Van saw Hitomi swaying
back and forth. He put his arms around
her waist holding her up.
"Are you ok?" He asked,
worrying about her.
She leaned into him;
letting her head, rest on his shoulder. "I'm just a bit tired from talking to
Merle, I'll be okay in a minute."
"Let's go back to your
to your house, we can talk in the morning."
"…::yawns::…Ok…::yawns::…"
She stated to walk back to her house, when she was suddenly picked up from
behind.
"Let me do the honors of
bringing you home."
"Ok" she was too tired
to protest.
She looked into his
burgundy eyes, and she felt like she could see into his soul. She saw the love and devotion in his eyes.
"I love you too." She
said as she drifted into a deep sleep.
When they got home she
was in an even deeper sleep. He went up
to her room and put her under the covers. As she pulled them up tighter around her body, unconsciously he watched
her for a few moments, and then left to his designated room. He fell asleep instantly as his head gently
hit the pillow, dreaming of Hitomi.
~*~*~*~
(ON GAIA)
In a distant village a
boy was crying out for his mother, "Mamma? Mamma? Where are you?" The boy was calling.
~*~*~*~
(FLASHBACK)
He was sitting eating
his dinner when one of his father's old friends rushed into the house.
"We have to get out of
here now Akina! Raiders have come to the
village, and they said that they would set the village on fire! Take your son
to the northern gate and grab anything of value and get out of here!"
Doran sat at the table
wondering why his mother was crying and running around the house taking their
most precious things.
"Mamma, what's goin' on?
Why did papa's old friends come here?" Without an explication, Akina grabbed
her son's hand and pulled her son out of the chair and out of the house. Doran followed quickly behind his mother
only to stop when she heard people coming towards them.
"Shhhh… honey, don't say
a word." She said as they quietly moved into a dark alley. "Doran, stay here, don't say a word and
don't move, can you do that for mamma?" She said as she hid him under an old
crate in the shadow of a tall building in the alley. He nodded. "Please stay
here. Promise me honey."
"I promise mamma. Where are you goin' mamma? Are you gonna leave me? Please don't leave
me mamma, I'm scared."
"I have to go. Stay here." She took off a necklace that has
always hung around her neck, and she put it over his. "Keep this for mamma. Don't ever take it off. I have
to go now; I'll be back soon. Remember, don't say anything and don't move. I love you. I know that your father would
too. Good bye." Doran saw that his
mother was crying, she hugged him then left.
Doran sat under the
crate for a long time, wondering when or if his mother will be back. Whimpering quietly trying not to make a
noise, he promised his mother that he wouldn't make any noises. He became very upset when he heard screaming
from people he knew, but he promised that he wouldn't move. He was terrified when he saw that the
buildings around him went up in flames. He promised his mother that he wouldn't say anything. He almost died
when he saw his village burn down before his very eyes. He promised himself that he would have revenge.
~*~*~*~
"Mamma? I don't feel like playing hide now, please come out…Mamma?" he walked to his home that was now only a pile of ashes.
"Mamma?" he called out as he heard a noise behind him. He turned around to see a cat-woman standing behind him.
"Are you lost? Are you looking for someone?"
"Yes. Have you seen my mamma? She's sowed things for people. Have you seen her?"
"The people of this village all died today. Did you live here?"
"Yah, what does died mean?"
"How old are you? What is your name?"
"I'm Doran and I'm four. Who are you?"
"I'm Anana. If you want I'll help you look for your mother."
"Ok"
Anana and Doran searched for his mother all day. Anana was afraid to tell the child what to die means. She thought about bringing him to an orphanage, if they couldn't find his mother; she thought that was the best thing to do.
"Doran, do you have a father?"
"Yah, but he had to work for a very long time, I haven't seen him since I was two. I don't remember him very well. The only thing I remember was he had…" he looked down remembering what his mother said.
"What?"
"Mamma made me promise not to tell, I'm sowy. (*Sorry*)"
"That's ok. Do you have any relatives? And uncle or aunts?"
"Nope, just me an' mamma." Do you have any welative? (*Relatives*)
"I had a husband but he's gone now. I also have a daughter but I haven't been able to find her in a long time, so I guess I'm also missing my family."
"Miss Anana, can you now tell me what 'died' means? 'Cause I want to know what happened to my village."
"Do you know that time before you were born? The people that have died go back to that time. They come back in a different body, but the same soul." Anana felt so bad that she had to tell the boy this instead of his mother.
"So did my mamma died? Did all the people died? Did your husband died?"
"I'm not sure if your mother died, or if the people in the village died. I'm not really sure if my husband did died too." She said the last part very quietly.
She saw that the boy wasn't crying; he looked almost happy.
"Why aren't you sad Doran, why aren't you crying?"
"I don't know how."
~*~*~*~
After the arguing had finished, Allen and Chid had the same look on their face: a look of worry. The other looked more or less the same but not as worried.
"I have to go back to my people now. I'm sorry. Merle please thank Van ad Hitomi for the warning. I will see them another day. Good bye everyone, it was nice to see you again."
"I'm coming with you." Allen said. They all looked at Allen, curiously. Millerna knew that he was going to protect his son.
"I will send some reinforcements to Fried to help with the battle. Don't Worry Chid everything will be fine. Hitomi and Van will also be there to help soon." Millerna said to try to calm the young man."
"Thank you aunt Millerna."
"Chid I'll also try to send some guards and gumelif's, with you too. I wonder why people would attack Fried; it's always been so peaceful. I wonder if there will be any other attacks…"
"The main thing I'm wondering about is who would be attacking Fried, and breaking the alliance. We never counted anyone out of the alliance, including Zaibach."
"Maybe it's for revenge from Zaibach. We know that they hate everything about Gaia, except themselves." Merle said unconsciously.
"Thank you for your hospitality Merle, but I must be going" Chid said. Merle could hear the urgency in his voice.
Poor Chid, he's too young to have to deal with all this. His country might be in war right now. He would blame himself for letting his country down. That's too much responsibility for him. I don't think he will ever be allowed a childhood. He's just so young. Merle thought to herself.
Chid bowed regally then he left, Allen was close behind him.
"Good luck Chid, Allen, may the gods of good fortune be with you." Millerna said as they left.
~*~*~*~
'RING! RING! RING!'
"Hello?" Hitomi said drowsy after she picked up the phone.
"Hitomi? You're home? It's really you! Where have you been? Amono and I have been so worried about you!"
"Please stop yelling in my ear Yukari! It's too early to be yelling."
"I'm coming over right now, and by the time I get there you better have a good explication why you were missing!"
"No wait, don't come here. I need to exercise so I'll meet you at the school's track. I have someone who would like to meet you. I'll be there in an hour."
"I'll also be brining someone; I'll be brining Amono. Talk to you in an hour, bye!"
"Bye" Hitomi hung up the phone, and got out of bed.
She went into the guest room, and saw that the bed was made and Van wasn't there. I guess he's already down stairs.
As she walked into the kitchen she saw that only her mother was there.
"Good morning Hitomi. How was your sleep?"
"Good. Where is everyone?"
"Kioshi went out with his friends and your father also went out with some of his friends."
"Where is…."
"He's out in the back yard, playing with a sword. You had better go and tell him to put that thing away before he pokes someone's eye out!"
"He's not going to hurt anyone; he has been training since he was four years old, mom. I really don't think that he's about to poke somebody's eye out. What's for breakfast?"
"The traditional Japanese breakfast; rice, miso soup, grilled salmon, pickles, raw egg, laver, and spinach. I hope that he'll like it."
"I hope so too. I'll go and get him"
Hitomi opened the screen doors and saw that Van was practicing in the large garden. Hitomi noticed that he has gotten much better at swords. He didn't even turn around when Hitomi came up to him. He slid his sword once more through the air, and then lowered it.
Hitomi wrapped her arms around his waist and leaned into his back.
"How was your sleep? Was the bed comfortable?"
"Everything was fine. How was your sleep?"
"It was okay… But I had the weirdest dream that you came into my room and stood there watching me."
"That's because I did. I hope that doesn't bother you. Does it?" He asked somewhat sheepishly.
"No, of course not. Was there something that you wanted to talk to me about? Is anything bothering you?"
"No, I just felt like it was my duty and pleasure to watch you sleep."
"Oh." Hitomi couldn't think of anything better to say. "Breakfast is almost ready, then we're off to see two of my friends, you may remember them. They were there both of the times you came and got me."
"Okay. What's for breakfast?"
"It's nothing like Fanelia has for breakfast. It's going to be an interesting morning. Come on we don't have much time before we have to meet Amono and Yukari, I said that I would meet them at the track at 8:00am and it's 7:30! I still have to have a shower and eat! Come on! Got to go!"
Van was pleased at her eagerness to show him off to her friends.
They ran inside and Hitomi jumped into the shower, and got changed all in less then ten minutes. Van took a little longer because he wasn't used to the way the water works.
As they sat down at the table Hitomi handed Van a pair of chopsticks. He looked curiously at them.
"What are these?"
"Those are called chopsticks you pick up your food with them. Good luck!" Hitomi said teasingly.
Usually eating a meal at her house was quiet, but today Hitomi and her mother couldn't stop laughing at Van. He must have gotten food everywhere.
"What do you find so funny?" Van looked at Hitomi and grumbled. "I think that we should introduce these to my court at an evening meal. I want to see my advisors squirm. I think that would be funny!"
(*A/N: Just to clear
something's up…Doran is very young, so he can't pronounce everything properly
yet, so I put what is really supposed to be said in brackets. Anyways I hope everyone is likes my fic so
far, don't worry there's still more to come. Keep all the GREAT reviews coming! And thank you so far for the wonderful reviews. You are all to kind to
me. Chapter ten will hopefully be out soon! Thank you once again! BYE!)