Not- So- Standard disclaimer: OK, if I put a
disclaimer on the first chapter do I have to put one on the rest
of them? O.o I'm not sure, but I don't want to risk it. Umm...I
don't own Escaflowne or anything associated with it. And please
read the author's notes. Believe it or not, I spend a lot of time
on those. *grin*
Forget
By Snow Raven
Umi laid the last slice of bread atop the tower
of cheese, tomato, and turkey, cheerfully patting the top of each
finished sandwich. Hitomi would be home soon and would want a
snack before her daily study session at Yukari's house. She
smiled at the mental image of her daughter- a literal whirlwind
of books, papers, and skirts that would pause just long enough to
give her mother a kiss before rushing out the door. Hitomi had
always been a busy girl and it hadn't changed when she got to
college.
Outside, a car door slammed. Ahh... there was
Hitomi now. A key jiggled in the lock, followed by shuffling
sounds and footsteps as Hitomi shucked off her shoes and made her
way to the kitchen. Umi turned, greeting her daughter with a
smile.
"Kobanwa Hitomi! Did you have a good
day?"
"Hai," the girl answered in an absent
tone, setting her books on the counter.
Hitomi sat down at the kitchen table and began
to eat, forgetting to thank her mother for the food. Umi watched
her daughter with a keen eye. Hitomi- usually so happy and
vibrant- seemed vague and distracted. Normally she chatted
happily during her snack, trying to cram the events of the day
into a mere hour. Today however, she gazed out of the window at
something only she could see, eating with large, mechanical
bites. Umi tried vainly to get some small semblance of
conversation out of her.
"You were later than usual today. Did
anything happen?"
"Not really, " Hitomi didn't even
glance at her mother, continuing to stare outside. "I
stopped to talk to Amano and kind of forgot about the time."
"I see. And he took you home I
assume." No answer. Umi changed tack, using a light, teasing
voice. "Amano seems like a nice young man. Handsome, smart,
talented, with a good future ahead of him. Everything you could
want in a husband, ne?"
Hitomi looked at her then, her mouth turning up
with laughter. A smile....but not quite a Hitomi smile. It lacked
the same brightness. "Oh mother....are you matchmaking
again?"
"No, just making a suggestion," Umi
laughed. Relieved to have gotten a response, she continued.
"Will you be home for dinner tonight? Or will you be eating
at Yukari's again?"
"I'll be eating at Yukari's," Hitomi
answered regretfully. "We'll be up late studying for Sensei
Watanabe's exam. It's too bad. I miss your cooking. I don't get
to eat it often enough anymore."
Umi paused the conversation as the doorbell
rang. She scurried to the front of the house, spending a good
fifteen minutes convincing a salesman that no, she didn't need
a new hairbrush. By the time she had returned to the kitchen,
Hitomi had finished her sandwich and was resting her head in her
hands, watching as the clouds crept across the blue sky. There
was a disturbed expression on her face. Her eyes held a strange
mixture of emotions- sadness, frustration, despair.
"Hitomi..?" she asked quietly,
"What's wrong?"
Something in those green eyes flickered.
"I heard Van today."
The world stopped.
No.
"Oh-hhh?"
"Amano and I were talking and--I don't
know--somehow we got on the subject of marriage, and we were
going to kiss...." Hitomi touched her lips in remembrance.
"Then I heard Van's voice. He didn't say much; he only
called my name. But he sounded so sad and lost..."
Umi suddenly founded those emerald orbs looking
directly at her, boring into her soul.
"I want to see him again mother. I want to
see Van."
No...no...no.. The chair scraped across the
floor as Umi stood abruptly, breathing in shallow gasps. The
kitchen walls were closing in on her...she was
drowning...drowning...
"Mother?" Hitomi asked, her voice
tinged with panic. "Is everything OK?"
"Everything's fine." Umi said
distantly, "I'll be upstairs. Tell me before you leave for
Yukari's."
She pushed past her daughter, dimly making her
way up the stairs and into her bedroom. She was opening the
bedroom drawer, moving aside the piles of socks and underwear,
her hand closing on a familiar, rectangular object. Umi sat on
the bed and slowly removed the worn, cardboard cover of the box.
She emptied its contents onto the pale green comforter. The
familiar faces stared back at her: the Emperor, the Lovers, the
Magician.
Her tarot cards.
The day that Hitomi had stumbled back into the
house- pale, tired, and weeping- Umi had laid the cards in the
bottom of the drawer and vowed never to open them again. She
didn't need to be reminded of the endless nights she had spent in
the living room, begging the tarot cards to tell her that her
daughter was safe and happy. The dreams- a gift from her mother,
a woman of the second-sight- had told her little. In fact, they
only served to heighten her anxiety. The dreams had only shown
her tiny snatches of Hitomi's life on Gaea-- mostly bloody,
relentless battles between giant machines and the silent war
between the two young men who loved her daughter.
Umi picked up one card. The Emperor. For some
reason the dark-haired, bearded man on the card reminded her of
the young king of Fanel- Van.
For nearly five months after returning from
Gaea, Hitomi had come home from school, choked down a mere
spoonful of dinner, and rushed to her room to cry. Umi had felt
like her heart would break. It wasn't fair that her daughter-
barely sixteen- should know this kind of heartbreak. If it hadn't
been for Amano, Umi didn't want to even think about the
level of despair that Hitomi might have sunk to.
Then, one year later- just as Hitomi was
becoming brave enough to face the real world- it came. Umi had
awakened in panic as she felt the young king of Fanel call for
her daughter, pulling her back to Gaea. Hitomi- confused,
frightened, and unwilling to leave her family so soon- rejected
the summons. However, she relapsed into a state of depression,
weeping for Van, wondering if she should have accepted his call.
That day, Umi could have cheerfully wrung his
neck.
And then, a year after that, the summons had
come again.
Flashback
Umi bolted out of bed, terrified by
terrible dreams of Hitomi rising into the sky...away
from Earth, away from Tokyo, away from Umi. But it wasn't a
dream, was it?
The summons, strong and insistent, tugged
on her senses. In the next room, Umi could feel Hitomi begin to
awaken. A mental image formed in her mind. The king of Fanel-
shirtless, his wings unfurled- stood majestically in a pillar of
light. His hands were outstretched as he reached for Hitomi.
Hitomi was awakening, answering the summons, taking Van's hand...
and feathers- white as snow- began to obscure the scene...
A beautiful scene....but terrible in its
meaning. Terrible...terrible..terrible....
"You can't have her!!!" Umi's
voice rose in an unnatural shriek. "You stole her from me
for four months...four!!! Leave my daughter alone king of
Fanel...leave her ALONE!!!"
And suddenly the strange pull was
receding....
Hitomi was falling asleep, deeper into
oblivion, deeper into safety...
The terrible, beautiful dream was
fading....
All was silent.
End Flashback
Umi never understood exactly how she had done
it, but somehow she had 'blocked' Van's call. She had been afraid
that Hitomi would ask about it the next morning but Hitomi had
come down to breakfast as always, acting as if nothing had
occurred during the night-- although she had mentioned some
rather strange dreams. And that's how it had happened, time and
time again, always at the exact same time of year.
Now that Umi thought about it, that time of
year was approaching again. She stroked the surface of the
Emperor's card.
"So Van..." she murmured, "Are
you going to ask for my daughter this year? Or are you going to
give up? Will you take her from me again? Will you take her
forever?"
And suddenly she was falling....
Falling...deep into a dream....
She saw a figure dressed in brown crouched on
the now-familiar rooftop of the Fanelian castle. It was a girl,
with wavy, crimson locks that cascaded down her shoulders and a
long, wiry build that spoke of strength and grace. As the
dream-image sharpened, Umi noted the finer details. She saw the
long tail that poked out from under the hem of the girl's dress,
the blue eyes, the fine layer of fur that covered the girl's
arms, legs, and face. Then she saw it. Tangled in the short,
stubby fingers of one hand was something that glinted in the
moonlight- the pendant.
Umi's eyes fluttered open. She was bent over
the cards, as if she had fallen asleep sitting up. She
straightened, a fierce smile of delight curving her lips. The
cat-girl....what was her name? Merle. Merle had the
pendant....and Van could never call her daughter again.
* * * * * *
Hitomi knocked softly on her mother's bedroom
door. No answer. Hitomi tucked her textbooks under her arm,
leaning against the doorframe. Her hand played with the tiny,
angel charm that hung from the gold chain around her neck.
" I'm going to Yukari's now," she
called through the door. She paused. "Mom? Are you OK? Look,
if you would like me to stay home that would be fine. I'll just
call up Yukari and tell her I don't feel very good tonight,
that's all. Don't worry about Watanabe's exam. It's bound to be
easy. You know how Watanabe Sensei is..." Hitomi pushed open
the door. "Really, if you want me to stay home I'll unders--
oh..."
Hitomi blinked in surprise as she took in the
scene before her. Her mother was sitting on the bed with her
tarot cards spread about her, an expression of peace- almost joy-
on her face. Mrs. Kanzaki smiled at the confused young woman in
the doorway.
"Go on to Yukari's dear. I'll be
fine."
"Oh....Okay..." Hitomi said
uncertainly. She came into the room, pecking her mother on the
cheek. "Well...I'll see ya later Mom. I'll be home by
eleven, I promise."
Hitomi began to leave. At the doorway, she
paused, turning back with a confused, wary expression.
"You're sure you're OK?"
"I'm fine." Umi listened as her
daughter's footsteps receded down the hallway. A bemused smile
crossed her face. "Just fine...."
~ *~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Author's Notes: Whoa. Writing this chapter was
an odd experience. I try to 'be' my character when I'm writing
and being Hitomi's mother was just...intense... That's the only
way I can put it. She was going along in her happy, normal life
and then all of the sudden Hitomi drops a bombshell, and her
entire world goes haywire. Sorry if the flow of the story goes a
little weirdo in this chapter, but the story was coming in
distorted 'waves' and I had a difficult time sorting it out.
*shakes head* Augh....that was really strange....you have no
idea...
Sorry, I did a lot of crazy things with
Hitomi's mom. I didn't know her name so I made one up. I gave her
the ability to see things in her 'dreams'-- for some reason, I
strongly believe that all of the Kanzaki women have some type of
power. *shrug* She also might seem a bit OOC. I know that she
seems like a nice, elderly lady in the series, but I think that
this is what almost any mother would feel after four
months of knowing your daughter was in mortal danger and not
being able to help. That and not knowing if you'll ever see them
again.
I also don't know squat about tarot cards- and
have no wish to- so if I do something weird with them please
don't hurt me.
Also.... I am now convinced that this story is
too mushy. My best friend and editor, Rei- the QUEEN of mush-
just informed me that she doesn't think that this story is too
mushy. If she had said that I needed just a tad more romance, I
would have known that the story was OK. But she gave me approval.
That's scary. And if she had said that it was too mushy...? I
simply would have set a virus on this file. ^^
*wince* And once again.... *gets down on knees*
Please review! Please! I'm begging you! Quatre's begging you! And
you can't refuse a cutie like that can you? *kitty eyes*
