Hello, everyone. Well here's the third chapter. I hope you all like it since I was having a
bit of trouble writing it. I also just
wanted to let anyone who's interested know that the song in Chapter 2, I Lay
My Love On You is by Westlife. You
might like to listen to the songs that I use in this story so I'll just write
the names of the songs and their artists at the beginning of each chapter. For this chapter, I was inspired by the song
Deeper Shade of Blue by Steps.
Once again, I hope you enjoy this chapter. Thanks for all of your support, especially Marilyn and Phantom
Angel.
Traditions
Chapter 3: Deeper Shade of Blue
His heart began beating
faster as he tried to out run the shadow.
Faster and faster he ran but it was no use, the darkness was much too
quick for him to even widen the gap. Up
in the sky, the sun was slowly rising above the horizon turning it all shades
of red and pink. Van was exhausted. They had been running for hours and soon
even the mysterious shadow would have to get tired or hopefully disappear with
the oncoming rays of the sun. All Van
knew was that he wasn't going to be the first one to stop. Suddenly there was a blinding flash of light
a few metres in front of Van. The
shadow that had been chasing Van receded at this shock and gradually crumbled
to the floor. Raising his head from
behind the arm that he used to block the flash, Van could now see a figure
standing where the light had been. Squinting
his eyes, he could barely make out who it was.
But then he felt as though his heart had stopped. That hair…those clothes. Could it really be Hitomi? Van walked forward towards and she started
to smile. Yes, it was Hitomi! He would recognize that smile anywhere. As Van continued to move closer to Hitomi
she unexpectedly started to cry.
"Hitomi!" cried out Van as
he reached out for her. But before he
knew it, Hitomi began to fade away.
"Hitomi, don't leave me…not again!"
As soon as Hitomi disappeared, the darkness returned catching Van off
guard and started to envelope him. It
wrapped itself around Van squeezing tighter and tighter until he couldn't even
take a breath.
"NOOOOO!"
Van awoke from his terrible
nightmare in a cold sweat and gasping for air.
He had never felt such pain in his life before. Not even when his family died nor when
Escaflowne was undergoing repairs by the Ispano workers. No, the pain that Van felt was that of a
broken heart. Seeing her cry and then
disappear like that just tore him to pieces.
He never ever wanted to see Hitomi sad.
Nothing in the entire universe should be allowed to bring sadness to her
sparkling green eyes and he would give his life to prevent that. But it was hopeless where he was.
Untangling himself from his
sheets, Van got up, opened the curtains of his four-poster bed and walked out
onto his balcony. The gentle breeze
felt cold against his chest as it evaporated the sweat that was there but
provided relief to his flushed face.
All was peaceful and quiet except for the sound of the leaves rustling
in the forest beyond and the flapping of Van's burgundy pyjama pants. It had been 3 long weeks since Van had sent
his message to Hitomi and he still hadn't heard anything from her. Not a single thought or flash of light in
the sky to let him know she had heard him.
He was beginning to worry that the connection between them had been lost
or worse, she didn't want to see him ever again. He was miserable and blue.
No, he was a deeper shade of blue but there was nothing he could do
because Hitomi was so far away. And, in
the last few weeks, he had been a darker shade himself never wanting to go out
or talk to anyone. If it weren't for
Merle, he probably would have starved to death by now.
'Oh Hitomi, why haven't
you come back yet? Do you not care for
me anymore?' Van
thought to himself as he brushed away a strand of black hair from his eyes and
looked up at the Mystic Moon, so beautiful just hanging in the night sky. 'I've tried to move on but there's
nowhere to run. I've got nowhere to
hide. I can't forget you when I try. Why can't we be happy like Millerna and
Dryden? The days are so empty and the
nights are so long. I wake up from
dreams only to find that you really did leave.
Where are you, Hitomi? It's easy
to say that memories fade, but I'm still missing you; nothing's changed. Have you forgotten the promise you made when
you returned to the Mystic Moon?'
Van could feel his sadness,
pain, and frustration turn into anger as his eye fell upon the pink pendant
that he had been wearing all of these years.
A souvenir that Hitomi had given him to remember her by. Well, it had done its duty but it seems
Hitomi has forgotten him. How could he
have been such a fool? Why would anyone
from the Mystic Moon love someone like him?
He was the king of an incinerated kingdom that inhabited dangerous
dragons. There was no way he could
compete with the people of her world; there was no way he could compete with
Amano.
"I'm such an idiot!! She never loved me! She only pitied me and my pathetic world!"
shouted Van into the night. Just then,
he heard his bedroom door creak open.
"L-l-l-lord Van?" whispered
a gentle voice. "Are you OK?"
"Go away, Merle!! How many times do I have to tell you I want
to be ALONE!!?"
Merle, wearing a yellow
robe, quietly closed the door behind her and walked over to where Van was
standing. "Maybe she's still packing
and deciding what to bring back to Gaea.
You know how Hitomi is. She's so
picky. She probably doesn't know
whether or not she should bring all her clothes. Do you think she'll bring more of those strange beeping gadgets?"
comforted Merle.
"Haven't you realized that
she isn't coming back?! She's happy
back on the Mystic Moon!! She never
wants to return here, to this dump!!" yelled Van shakily at the top of his lungs. He didn't care if the entire castle woke up
right now, he was too angry to care.
"She lied, Merle!!! She doesn't
care about me! She doesn't care about
any of us here on Gaea!!!!!"
"But, L—"
"I DON'T WANT TO TALK OR
THINK ABOUT HER ANYMORE!!!!!!!" Tears
welled up in Van's eyes as he pulled off the gold chain from which the pendant
hung. "I DON'T WANT ANYTHING TO DO WITH
HER AT ALL!!!!!" With that, he threw
Hitomi's necklace out into the vast darkness of the woods and fell to his knees
sobbing like a child. There was no need
for him to keep the necklace any longer.
It was obvious that Hitomi had moved on and had forgotten all about him
and their relationship.
Merle knelt down next to
Van and embraced him. He held her like
one would hold his mother and continued to cry as she stroked his hair and
hummed a lullaby to comfort him. Merle
had never seen Van so emotional before.
Perhaps it was because he was forced to grow up so quickly when his own
family died, but Van had always kept his feelings private and for him to show
all of it now just proves how much Hitomi affected him. Merle had given up on Van a long time ago
but she still cared for him like a sister would. It tore her up inside seeing Van so sad. There was only one thing that could make Van
happy again but she had no way of bringing Hitomi back. She knew that Hitomi loved Van and there was
no way that Hitomi would not want to come back to Gaea. Although the two of them didn't get along as
well at first, Merle had grown to care a lot about Hitomi during her stay on
Gaea and they had become very close friends.
It wasn't like Hitomi to abandon the people that she cared about. Something must be wrong.
Just then, a golden glimmer
from the woods caught Merle's attention.
She squinted her eyes to get a better look but it had already
disappeared. 'That must be Hitomi's
necklace. Maybe it has the answer to
why Hitomi hasn't contacted us yet. I
need to get it back. As long as I'm alive
I am going to make sure that Van is happy and reunited with Hitomi,' said
Merle to herself with a determined look on her face.
By now, Van had fallen
asleep in Merle's lap. He looked so
fragile with his tears still on his face, glistening in the moonlight. 'Don't worry Lord Van. I'm sure everything will turn out alright.' She kissed him lightly on the forehead and
got up slowly so that he wouldn't wake up.
Before leaving for her room to get ready for her mission, Merle took the
covers off of Van's bed and gently covered the sleeping king on the
balcony. This wasn't the way things
were supposed to be and she was going to make them right even if it means
moving the heavens.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Back on Earth a.k.a. the
Mystic Moon…
"…I hope you all understand
why I must leave you. It's not that I'm
not happy living here on the…I mean Earth, but there is someone on Gaea that
can make me the happiest woman in the entire universe. You should all understand. Mom, Dad, you have each other and so do
Tetsuro and his many girlfriends. Even
you, Yukari. You and Amano are now
husband and wife. I just want to be as
happy as all of you are which is why I have to go back to Van. He is the only one that I will ever love. I wish that I could have told you this in
person but it would have been too difficult.
I wish all of you the happiness and good fortune you deserve. I'll try and visit or maybe you can come
visit me on Gaea. Please don't worry
about me. I'll be fine. I love you all. Goodbye for now."
Hitomi reached forward and
turned off the video camera, waiting for the red light to go off before she
took the tape out. That was much harder
than she thought it would be. Instead
of writing a letter, she felt that recording her message on tape would help her
express her feelings better. She was
right, but it ended up also showing her cry while saying goodbye. This way her loved ones would be able to see
her one last time before she left.
Although she was sad, she knew that this was the right thing to do. Van was the missing part of her life that
would make her complete. It was time
for her to return to man she loved.
After Yukari and Amano left
for the airport from the reception, Hitomi motored her way home and began
throwing things into her duffle bag.
She had decided on exactly what she wanted to bring back to Gaea during
her drive home. Only the absolute
necessities would be taken with her.
That meant a few pairs of jeans, her t-shirts, a few of her skirts and
dresses, her tarot cards, pictures of her friends and family, and of course
comfortable sneakers. The heels that
she had been wearing for the wedding had been killing her. There was no way that these were going with
her.
When Hitomi was finished
labelling the tape for Yukari and the others, she walked over to her dresser
and opened the top drawer. Hidden
underneath the bottom board of the drawer was a secret compartment where Hitomi
had placed her most valuable possessions.
Inside there lay her tarot cards and next to them was a long slender
box. Hitomi removed both items from the
compartment and placed the cards into her bag.
With the utmost care, Hitomi opened the box to expose a piece of soft
red silk. Pulling the silk away, it
revealed Van's majestic white feather.
Hitomi stared at the feather. It
was absolutely the most beautiful thing that Hitomi had ever seen and
touched. She caressed the smooth quill
with her finger and followed it all the way to the tip where it was so
soft. 'Soon I'll be with you again,
Van,' thought Hitomi happily as she smiled. Taking one last look around at her home on Earth, Hitomi pulled
her duffle bag over her head and shoulder all the while still holding Van's
feather in her right hand.
"I wish…I want to go back
to Gaea," said Hitomi out loud, closing her eyes and focusing all of her energy
and thoughts towards the feather.
Suddenly, Hitomi's bedroom was filled with the familiar pillar of pink
light that had taken her to Gaea six years ago. She opened her eyes to see herself being pulled away from the
carpeted floor of her room. It was
working. She was returning to the place
where Van was waiting for her.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Yea!!
I finally finished Chapter 3. I
know that it was kind of boring but I'm still establishing the mood. I promise that things will get more
interesting in the fourth chapter.
Hopefully I can get that out soon but I still have to work and it is
Stampede week so no promises. Once
again, I don't own Escaflowne or any of the songs that I use in the story. Ta ta for now.
