Traditions
Chapter 7: Majesty of Fanelia
A small sliver of golden sunlight shone in through the open window illuminating the sleeping figure on the bed. Hitomi stirred as the rays of light reached her eyes waking her from her slumber. Sitting up, she blinked away sleep from her eyes and stretched her well-rested body. It had been a long week in Asturia, a fun and informative week but nonetheless long. Although Hitomi was enjoying her time with Celena, Allen, Millerna, and Dryden in Asturia, she couldn't wait for the week to end so that she could go to Fanelia and more importantly return to Van. 'Oh, Van. I can't wait to see you. How will you react when you see me? Will you be happy or will you be sad? I hope I don't cry. I don't want you to see me cry even if it is because I'm happy. Oh, I wish I could be in Fanelia right now.'
"Well, I better get ready," said Hitomi quietly as she got out of bed. The day was finally here when she and Allen would return to Fanelia. She wanted to get there as soon as possible so she decided to start getting ready at sunrise. Most of her possessions and clothes, some her own and some borrowed from Millerna, were already packed away in her duffle bag. All she needed to do really was to get changed and go find Allen. She had decided to wear a nice lavender gown that Millerna had given her during her stay. It was sleeveless with a high collar and a snug fitting bodice. Actually, Hitomi had wanted to wear her jeans and a t-shirt for the long journey from Asturia to Fanelia but Celena and Millerna wouldn't let her.
"You can't wear that!!!" exclaimed Millerna pointing to Hitomi's hip hugger jeans and grey t-shirt. "Why not?" asked a perplexed Hitomi as she watched Millerna gesture at her clothes.
"It's not like Van's never seen me in my Mystic Moon clothes before."
"Hitomi," replied Millerna rolling her eyes. "This is your reunion with the man of your dreams, the love of your life. You can't just show up in a pair of trousers or whatever you call them. You have to shock him!!" There was a sneaky gleam in her eyes as she pulled the lavender dress out of the closet. "Something like this that will make him blush and go all numb. Even better if it makes him pass out. Hee hee!!" Hitomi couldn't help from laughing at the thought of Van "falling" for her. "A dress like this that can make even the most composed men turn their heads drooling. This," Millerna spun around and held the dress up to show Hitomi, "is what you have to wear."
In the end, Hitomi agreed with Millerna that she did want to shock Van speechless when he sees her again and so was now wearing the lavender dress. Her hair was left to flow down to just above her shoulders to give it a more seductive look just like Allen's as Celena put it with a smirk.
"OK, do I have everything? Let's see, all of my
clothes are packed in my bag and so is my brush, toothbrush yada yada and where
is it?" questioned Hitomi as she rummaged through her duffle bag.
"Aha. There you are. I can't forget you now can I?" In her
hand she was holding Van's soft pearly white feather. She tickled her
face with it and kissed it before she wrapped it back up and gently tucked it
back in her bag. Taking one last look in the mirror, Hitomi took a deep
breath and left her room. 'This is it. I'm finally going back to
Fanelia.'
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Hitomi wasn't the only one to rise with the sun. In fact, the entire Asturian palace was already up and running which amazed Hitomi. Why would everyone be up so early unless they were going on a trip? Luckily she spotted someone in the hallway that could answer that.
"Huh?" asked Celena as she turned her head towards her right shoulder, which was being poked at.
"Gotcha!!"
"Don't do that!! You scared the crap out of me!!" Celena quickly covered her mouth after realizing that she just swore...well not really but Allen would say she did.
"Don't worry, Allen isn't here."
"Phew. I would never hear the end of it if he caught me." Turning around completely, Celena finally saw what Hitomi was wearing. "Wow, you look amazing in that dress. Van is going to be knocked speechless when he sees you."
Hitomi blushed a deep shade of pink. "Thanks." She twirled around so that Celena could see the back too.
"So, are you ready to go back to Fanelia?"
"Yep! Hey, why don't you come with us now instead of later?"
"I wish I could but I'm working on something," replied Celena with a secretive look in her eyes.
"What are you up to, Celena?" interrogated Hitomi with a sly grin on her face knowing that the slender girl was up to no good.
"Nothing," stated Celena in an artificially innocent voice. "Oh, I can't take it. I have to tell you but you have to promise not to breathe a single word out to anyone especially Allen. He'll have my head if he finds out I told."
"You know you can trust me, Celena."
"OK, come closer," whispered Celena to her friend as they walked closer to the wall so as to not stop the traffic in the hallway. The two girls giggled like little school children as Celena told her secret to Hitomi. Hitomi's expression on her face went from suspicious to utter shock. Her eyes widened and her jaw almost dropped to the floor.
"I can't believe it!!" exclaimed Hitomi with her hand covering her mouth.
"It's true. That's why everyone is so busy right now and why I can't go to Fanelia yet. I'll be meeting up with you in a few days. Remember, not a word to anyone."
"Gotcha!" answered a winking Hitomi. Just then Allen walked up to the friends in the hall.
"What are you two giggling about?" inquired the Knight of Caeli.
"Um, nothing," replied the two giddy girls in unison.
"I'm not sure about Hitomi, but I know you're up to something Sis."
"Whatever do you mean, Brother?" asked Celena with her innocent voice again with the addition of big purple puppy dog eyes.
"Um," interrupted Hitomi before Allen could interrogate Celena any further, "can we get going soon, Allen? I want to try to get to Fanelia before nightfall." By this time Hitomi was tugging at Allen's sleeve trying to make him move. Allen began walking away but not before he gave his sister a warning. "You're lucky that I have to leave right now or else you would be spilling your guts out right now. I'll find out what's going on, mark my words," stated Allen with a grin on his handsome face.
Celena blew a raspberry at him and started to wave good-bye from her spot in the hallway. "Bye, Hitomi!! See you in a few days. Bye bye, Allena!!" Allen tried to retort his sister's display of disrespect and wave of laughter but before he could, he was pulled out the door by Hitomi and on their way to Fanelia.
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The landscape of Gaea was amazing. One could see miles out into the distances when in the air, unlike on Earth where pollution made it almost impossible to see past the city limits. Gaea was covered with lush emerald green forests and sapphire blue oceans. Every once in a while, Hitomi saw a small patch of brown rooves where a village or city was but other than that, it was all nature. Hitomi never once left the balcony of the Crusade. There really wasn't a point to. Gaddes and Allen were too busy discussing something to talk to her so she just enjoyed her flight in solitude.
She just loved the feeling of flying and seeing such a
spectacular view. It made her feel free
and weightless like a bird. Before her visit to Gaea, Hitomi hated to
fly. The whole possiblity of explosions and plummeting at terminal
velocity to her death scared the bejesus(sp?) out of her. But, ever since
she flew in Van's arms, there wasn't a better feeling in the world.
Unfortunately, the flight portion of Hitomi's trip was rather short.
Within an hour, the Crusade landed at the dock on the
borders of Fanelia where a carriage was waiting for Allen.
'Oh, I wish the flight could have lasted longer. I guess I'll have to get Van to fly me around later,' thought Hitomi to herself as a smile crept across her face.
"What are you smiling about?" asked Allen as he helped Hitomi into the carriage.
"Nothing. I was just thinking about how Van's going to react when he sees me."
"Well, he won't be completely surprised because I already sent him a message telling him that I had a surprise guest returning with me."
"Allen! Now what kind of surprise will it be!"
"He doesn't know it's you. He probably thinks it's Celena the genius he is."
"Are you mocking the love of my life?"
"Maybe."
"What if he's smart enough to think that you're bringing Eries?" teased Hitomi with a very sneaky grin on her face.
"I knew Celena told you. How much do you know?"
"Let's just say that I know enough to say 'Congratulations!!!!' I would have never expected that it would be Eries that would tie you down," giggled Hitomi.
"Well, she was always there when I needed someone to talk to or just be there for me," replied Allen dreamily. "At first I thought she hated my guts for that whole thing with Marlene and Chid and of course then there was Millerna. But then…"
"Then she couldn't resist your charms and good looks and fell madly in love with you just like her sisters did," continued Hitomi with a chuckle.
Allen gave her a dirty look. "Look, if you're going to make fun of me you're not going to be invited to the wedding."
"Oh no. I'm sorry Allen. I didn't mean to mock you. It's just that your story is so fairy tale like. Please let me come to your wedding," pleaded Hitomi with big green puppy dog eyes.
"So that's where Celena learned to do that," said Allen with a smile. Hitomi returned the smile. "Of course you can come. You know I was only joking."
Hitomi didn't hear a single word that Allen had just said. Her eyes were no longer on the handsome blonde Knight of Caeli. She was staring out the window, her eyes glazed over and dreamy. Allen turned around and looked out the window on the other side. Sure enough they had just entered the capital of Fanelia and were now headed towards the palace, which was located at the centre.
Hitomi was speechless at the view she was looking at. There was no trace at all of the Destiny War that had taken place six years ago. Everything looked the same as when she first arrived in Fanelia after Van retrieved the drag energist. There were small buildings that Hitomi assumed to be little shops and bazaars here and there and around the edge of what seemed like the downtown of a city were brown and white cottages and houses. The reconstructed Fanelia was breathtaking.
"It's amazing what Van's done isn't it?" asked Allen bringing Hitomi back to reality.
"Mmm hmm," replied Hitomi when a giant aquamarine building caught her eye. "Is that the palace?" asked Hitomi in a voice so quiet that Allen could hardly hear her.
"Yes it is, and it looks like the King is waiting outside to welcome us," replied Allen in a calm and collected voice as he pointed to a dark haired figure standing at the top of the steps.
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Well, there it is, Chapter 7. Sorry for taking such a very, very long time to get it out. I've been rather preoccupied with trying to get my hands on a copy of Sailormoon Sailor Stars. I'm still missing the most important volume that contains the final battle. Hopefully I'll be able to get it soon so that I can devote all of my time to writing my story. I was also kind of stuck on how to start this chapter. I know everyone wants Van and Hitomi to meet and guess what, she's almost there. Actually they'll see each other in Chapter 8, which I hope can be out very soon, maybe even at the same time as Chapter 7. It might be a bit short but still, they will meet, I promise you that. And, for those who are interested, I don't even know if any of you are, but I probably won't be naming any of the next few chapters including this one after any songs. I really don't know of any songs that would work for conflict so I'll just leave that theme for a while and bring it back for when the fluff begins. One might come to mind but no promises. I wish I could just write fluff and not action *sigh*. NEway, I hope you enjoyed this. Please R&R. TTFN, Emily :p