Well here's Chapter 6. I'm in a very silly mood at the moment so it might be a tad bit…well, silly. For this particular chapter, I was listening to the song Breathless by the Corrs, hence the chapter is called Breathless. I hope you like. Enjoy.
Traditions
Chapter 6: Breathless
The cool breeze over the mountain (hee hee, that's known as a keanu in Hawaiian ;p) blew through Hitomi's silky brown hair as she inhaled a deep breath. God, she just loved the smell of the fields of Fanelia; they reminded her so much of Van. She looked around and found herself standing in the field where she and Van first arrived together in his kingdom. Green grass up to her waist interspersed with wild country flowers were all swaying in the gentle wind as the warm sun shone down at her. A feeling of peace and happiness ran through her body as she took another good look around. She was finally where she belonged. There was no better feeling in the entire universe, except for perhaps being in Van's arms. Hitomi blushed at the thought of this.
Taking another look around at her surroundings, Hitomi noticed a pair of eyes looking at her from a short distance. At first she was startled, but then as she stared into those brown eyes she was left breathless. 'Van.'
The daylight was fading slowly, as the king of Fanelia rose from his hiding spot in the tall grass with a mischievous smile on his face and began walking towards her. To Hitomi, it felt as if time was standing still. She had been waiting for this moment and the slightest touch of his hand on her face made her weak. As he brushed his hand over her cheek, Hitomi closed her eyes and felt her entire face flush a deep pink. She couldn't hide or fight her feelings for him; all she wanted was just to feel his lips on hers. Suddenly, she felt Van pull away from her. Opening her eyes, she saw him walk away with the same mischievous grin as if he was trying to get her to follow him. 'All right, Van Fanel, I'll follow you. I'll let you tempt and tease me while I long for your kiss. You're going to get it when I get my hands you,' thought Hitomi playfully to herself as she began to chase after Van. It had been a while since Hitomi had ran this fast and she loved every moment of it. Van was still quite a bit ahead of her but she was closing the gap very quickly. He kept looking back at her with that grin of his making her more determined to catch him. This was like a dream that Hitomi never wanted to wake up from. Just as Hitomi was about an arm's length away, she unexpectedly heard her name. She skidded to a halt looking around for whomever was calling her. Nobody was there except for Van who hadn't stopped running and was almost out of sight.
"VAN!"
"Hitomi!!"
"Wha…" groaned Hitomi as she blinked her eyes open.
"Wake up, Hitomi. We're at the palace," announced a very perky Dryden as he jumped off the wagon. How could he be so happy? He had just woken Hitomi up from one of her best dreams. A dream so sweet and wonderful that just the mere thought of it still left her breathless.
"May I help you down?" whispered a deep voice into Hitomi's ear.
"Allen!!!" exclaimed Hitomi as she spun herself around. She would recognize that voice anywhere. The magnificent Knight of Caeli then swept Hitomi off her feet and placed her back down onto the ground. Sir Allen Schezar hadn't changed one bit. His long blonde hair was as shiny as ever and his tall, broad physique still amazed Hitomi. Even his clothes were still the same. Hitomi tackled Allen and gave him a big hug.
"If you hug him any tighter I think you might break him in two," interrupted a gentle voice of a woman with long silver hair tied up in a ponytail. She was wearing a dress very much like the one that Hitomi had borrowed from Millerna during her first visit to Asturia except that it was lavender, which helped bring out her purple eyes. "You must be Hitomi. My brother has told me much about you."
"How rude of me? Hitomi, this is my sister Celena."
"It's very nice to meet you Celena," said Hitomi as she bowed with the palms of her hands together.
"Oh, there's no need for that Hitomi," responded Celena to Hitomi's odd behaviour.
"Oh, that's just a habit. It's Japanese tradition to greet people by bowing to show them respect."
"Oh, I see," replied the slender girl a little embarrassed. "I don't think what those two are doing anything very respectful at the moment," she continued, motioning to the King and Queen of Asturia with her eyes who were locked in a very passionate embrace. "You'd think they'd give it a rest after a month. Newlyweds." Celena rolled her eyes.
Hitomi was confused. Weren't Millerna and Dryden married before the Destiny War? "Newlyweds?"
"Yes. They renewed their vows just over a month ago. Now let's go inside and leave the two love birds before even I get nauseous," stated Allen as he escorted his sister and Hitomi back inside.
"No wonder he was so perky when we got here," whispered Hitomi to the giggling Celena as they hurried into the lobby of Asturia's palace.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The rest of the day passed by quickly for Hitomi. First, a very hyper Celena showed her to her room where she changed into a dress that she borrowed from Millerna. Celena offered one of her dresses but Hitomi wasn't as slender as she was. The dress that Hitomi ended up borrowing was baby blue in colour and fit Hitomi amazingly well. It perfectly outlined her curves on top showing the lovely woman that she had become and flowed out smoothly to her feet. The sleeves came down to a V-shape just above her elbows. Around the neckline and hems were little pearls sewn in groups of five to resemble flowers.
After the whole dressing event, Hitomi was then was taken on a grand tour of the palace grounds where she and Celena got to sit down in the garden and have a good chat. It was amazing how different this person was now that Celena was in control and not the blood thirsty Dilandau. Celena explained to Hitomi how after she and Van had destroyed all of Dornkirk's work all of the fate alteration changes that were done to her were reversed. The only visible trace of Dilandau were her purple eyes, a combination of Dilandau's red ones and Celena's blue ones. However, who knows what her mental state is like. So far, she seemed just like any ordinary girl. Actually, Celena reminded Hitomi a lot of Yukari who was very bubbly and energetic. If this is the way Celena was, then she must have a strong mind to overcome all that had happened.
"Hitomi?"
"Yeah, Celena."
"Um, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for all those things that I did to you six years ago," Celena said quietly with her head hung low.
"Oh, Celena, you don't have to be sorry. You had no control over what was going on then. Please don't feel bad about it. I don't," comforted Hitomi with her warm smile.
"Really, Hitomi."
"Really."
"So, how long are you going to stay on Gaea, Hitomi?" asked Celena as she played with a fold in her dress like a little girl with a big grin on her face.
"Well, I was actually, um, hoping to possibly stay here forever," replied a very nervous and shy Hitomi. She always thought she would tell Van first but with Celena being so much like Yukari, she felt like she could tell her everything.
"Really?! That's so great!!" squealed Celena with joy. "I'll finally have someone to talk to who actually understands. Millerna has been of no use ever since she got married. All she ever talks about is Dryden this and Dryden that. Eries is useless too. She's way too serious and whenever she does relax a little it's only because Allen is around."
"Wait a minute. Is there something going on with Allen and Eries?"
"Well, no one is supposed to know but since you are like the closest person I have to a friend, yeah. They've been seeing each other for about 2 years now. It's great that he's finally found someone who makes him happy but I can't take it. I'm surrounded by happy love couples meanwhile I'm here all alone."
"I can't believe it. That means that Allen's dated all of the Aston women," uttered Hitomi a little disgusted.
"I know. I guess it's his fate that he ends up with one. It's almost as if he's always known he was meant to be with an Aston. Anyway, we're going to have so much fun, Hitomi. You, me and Merle."
"Merle?"
"Yea, you know. Cat-girl. Kinda bossy. Angers easily."
"Oh my god. I could never forget Merle. So you and Merle are good friends?"
"Mmm hmm. But we only get to hang out when I visit Allen in Fanelia. But once you're queen, I'm sure he'd let me come live there too," answered Celena winking. "That entire palace is full of men and Allen won't let me stay there by myself. Something about how they might take advantage of a poor defenceless girl such as yours truly. I guess he would know first hand wouldn't he?"
Hitomi went red and then started laughing. She had never heard anyone talk of Allen that way before. It was funny to see how such a highly respected knight and commander can be treated just like everyone else. Seeing Hitomi's amusement, Celena also began laughing.
"Hold on a second," said Hitomi as she tried to stop laughing. "Allen lives in Fanelia now?"
"Yes. He's Asturia's ambassador and temporary ruler of Fanelia when Van is away," sighed Celena as she wiped away the tears from laughing too hard.
"Van?"
"Oh, not you too," pleaded Celena. After a very brief pause the two girls were laughing again. They had just met a few hours ago, but it seemed like they had known each other for years.
"What are you two laughing about?" came Allen's voice from out of nowhere. "Celena, you know you shouldn't exhaust yourself so much. You just recovered from your illness."
"What illness?" questioned a startled Hitomi with a worried look on her face.
"Oh, it's nothing to worry about. I'm perfectly fine. I was just overtired and stressed with all the love in the palace."
"It wasn't nothing," interjected Allen. "She collapsed in the middle of dinner. Millerna was so worried that she immediately sent for me to come back to Asturia."
"Well, maybe next time you'll take me with you to Fanelia. That way you can keep a closer eye on me," said Celena sarcastically.
"Um, sorry to interrupt the brother-sister moment, but when can I go to Fanelia?" an eager Hitomi asked.
"I'm sorry Hitomi, but the Crusade isn't due to return to take me back till next week. There are other ways of getting there but it wouldn't be as fast and safe as the Crusade. Van would kill me if I let anything happen to you. He's already grumpy enough as it is because it's taken you such a long time to come back," replied Allen.
"Long time? I'm the one that should be mad that he took such a long time to contact me! I came as soon as I got that message last night!"
"You just got it last night?!" exclaimed both Allen and Celena. "I have no idea how many messages that Van sent, but I do know for sure that he sent one on the night of Millerna and Dryden's wedding and that was over a month ago. Just a few days before I returned to Asturia," continued Allen.
"I can't believe it. An entire month." Tears were forming in Hitomi's eyes as she stared blankly into a rose bush. "He must think I don't love him anymore. Oh, Van." Her tears began to run down her cheeks as she crumpled into a tiny mass of baby blue.
Celena knelt down by her side and put her arm around to comfort her. "Don't think that way Hitomi. He would never think such a thing. He knows you love him and he loves you. He's already waited six years. What are another few weeks? Trust me, he'll be the happiest man in all of Gaea when he sees you next week."
"But why did it take so long for me to have the vision?" asked Hitomi in between sobs.
Celena looked up at her older brother for help. "Well, it has been quite a long time and the Mystic Moon is very far away. Maybe the link between you two was weakened by those factors," reassured Allen. Although he had given up on Hitomi's love for sometime now, Allen still cared for her deeply and thought of her as a sister. It pained him to see her so hurt. "Don't worry Hitomi. From the way he looked at Millerna and Dryden's wedding, I'm sure Van is waiting endlessly for you to come back. He beat out a lot of men to get Millerna's scarf."
Hitomi looked up, her eyes all puffy and red from the crying. "What?" inquired Hitomi with a sniffle.
"That's the tradition here in Gaea," answered Celena happily. "You see, after the wedding, the groom tosses his wife's scarf into the air while all the available men try and poke it with a sword." Celena was mimicking poking an invisible scarf with her invisible scarf causing Hitomi to start laughing. "The lucky man that gets the scarf is supposedly the next person to get married. Silly don't you think?"
Hitomi wiped the tears from her eyes and said, "No, not really. We have a tradition like that on the Mystic Moon. The only difference is that the bride throws her bouquet to all the single girls."
"Now that's silly!" shouted Allen all of a sudden surprising the two girls. Celena and Hitomi looked at each other and then gave Allen a what-was-that-all-about look. "What? See Hitomi, Van loves you and wants you to go back to him. Why else would he put so much effort in getting the scarf? You know you two should be together. Everyone knows." Hitomi smiled back at Allen.
"Good. Now that that's over we can go get some dinner. I can't believe we spent all day out here. It's so nice. Hitomi, you have got to try the cheesecake. It's absolutely to die for," cheered Celena as they headed back to the palace.
"I can't believe that you eat so much and yet you don't gain any weight. Look at you. You look like a twig," teased Allen.
Celena gave him a nasty glare and continued, "Oh, and you have to try the pudding. I hope the food in Fanelia is as good as it is here…"
Hitomi's mind drifted off as she followed the bickering brother and sister through the garden. She looked off to the distance in the direction of Fanelia. 'I hope I'm as welcome when I return to Fanelia…when I return to Van.'
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ta da!! That was a rather long conversation chapter. I didn't plan on it being so but it ended up being one. I hope you like Celena's personality. I modeled her bitterness towards the happy couples in the palace after my own…er…I mean what I think people in her situation might feel. *glances around innocently* I know I haven't really gotten into the whole action(?) and excitement part of the story yet but I promise it will start in Chapter 7…hopefully. What do you think about the Allen and Eries relationship? I kinda borrowed that bit from another story that I read here on fanfiction.net but I can't remember the name. I hope you don't mind whoever you are. I also kinda borrowed the whole "he's always known he'd be with an Aston" thing from Little Women. You know the whole Laurie wanted Jo but she said no so he ended up with Amy blah blah blah. Well, I better shut up here before someone gets annoyed with me and won't read my story anymore. Please, please, please review my story. I don't care whether you're bashing or supporting me I just want to know what you think. Your reviews are what motivate me to write faster. Neway, TTFN!