Love In Blue Eyes

Part One: Altered Destiny

Chapter Two: Allen





"Your Highness, I'm sorry but I can't......" Allen tried to say. Millerna's soft eyes bekoned him to change his decision, but he couldn't. "Allen why?" she pleaded "Don't you love me?" The knight's face hardened, like a mask of stone. He knew what he had to say would hurt the young princess, and in a way, he wanted it to hurt her. It was the only way to get his decision across. If he had to hurt her, than he would. "No, Your Highness. I won't. And there's nothing you can say to convince he otherwise. I don't love you Millerna. I won't marry you." The princess sighed and tears leaped into her eyes. Folding her hands across her chest, she turned her back on him. "It's Hitomi, isn't it?" she mumbled. Allen didn't answer "It is Hitomi!" she yelled, now whirling on her heel to glare at him "I can't believe you Allen!" Her eyes now were filled with anger as she sliced through the knight with her stare. But try as she might, he didn't flinch, nor move a muscle. Instead he nodded slowly, returning the icy look. Millerna's lip trembled. "I knew it. You always loved her, from the moment you set eyes on her. What about us?,before Hitomi?" So much pain in her voice, Allen could hear it as clear as a bell. But he wouldn't be swayed by it. "There was no us." he said bluntly "There never was." A small cry escaped Millerna's lips. She looked as though someone had hit her in the stomach. The tears in her eyes began to flow down her now pale cheeks, and she began to cry, slumping to her knees. "I have to go now." Allen murmured. He walked past the sobbing princess and almost made it out. But before he could, Millerna said "Allen you jerk....I hate you!!." There was no pain her voice now, only pure rage. He could hear her fists pounding the ground, even with his back turned. And then, she started to cry again, as Allen walked out, and closed the door silently.







Celena sat gracefully on the window seat of her room, watching for her brother, waiting for him to appear on horseback over the hill. A small diamond ring on her middle-finger glinted in the moonlight. She sighed, and looked at it tenderly. Just the sight of it, brought the warm feeling of joy into her heart. The wedding, now only a month away, made her shiver with anticipation. "Allen couldn't have picked a better man for me." she said to herself, then started laughing. "Well he didn't exactly pick him for me....." "Lady Celena." the maids voice stopped her abruptly, and she turned slowly to look at the young girl standing in the doorway. "Oh Diantha, come in" she said sweetly. She didn't move, instead she murmured "Um, Lord Adrien is here to see you." Celena's face lit up and she bounded from her seat and out the door, into the arms of an incredibly handsome man. "Adrien!" she squeeled. Planting a kiss on her lips, the young man smiled. "Celena, I had a break from the Crusade so I decided I would come to see my future wife."he said sweetly. Celena giggled softly, remembering the day that Allen had first seen Adrien. He had come to see her brother, hoping to get a job upon the ship. Allen had almost burst out laughing, seeing the boy in his disheveled brown pants and baggy white shirt. But after hearing how much he wanted the job, and how hard he would work, Allen had decided to let the him in. Now the much refined Adrien was holding her in his arms, and she couldn't imagine him ever being such a scruffy boy of sixteen. The sounds of hooves on the brick pavement, brought Celena back into reality. "Allen's home." he said, releasing her so she could greet him. Gracefully gliding down the two flights of stairs, she came to the grand entrance. The incredibly high ceiling towered above her, where a diamond chandeleir hung. As the knight opened the large oak doors, it created an echo in the almost silent house. "Celena." he sighed, obviously glad to see her. The tired look he gave her, made her wonder how it had gone with the princess. "Um, so how was it with Millerna?" she asked softly, not wanting to upset him more than he already was. Slumping into the chair closest to him Allen groaned replying "She took it pretty hard, but she had to know...." He looked so young, so much younger than he was. It seemed to Celena that his world was crashing down on him, and he didn't know what to do about it. He had been fine for a while after the Gaean War, but as time drew on, he had sort of, deterierated. Allen was now just a simple Knight of Caeli who did his job and took care of his sister. Her pale blue eyes strayed from him as she realized one fine point. Was it her coming back that had brought him down? Maybe taking care of her and being her brother had been the problem. But there was another reason that she knew was more important than her. Hitomi. Allen had told her about Hitomi, and how much he had loved her. He said that she had gotten over her, and that she was Van's, but she knew deep down that keeping his feelings inside only made things worse for him. Celena didn't know what to say. Whether or not to ask about Hitomi. On one side, if she did, he might start to feel better if he vented his emotions. On the other side, if she did, she might cause him to suffer a nervous break-down. Finally, summoning up all her courage she asked "Is it Hitomi?"





Allen stiffened at the name. It had been so long since he'd heard it. It almost made him want to cry. Twelve years, twelve long years.Almost too long. She only seemed like a vague memory to him now. But he knew, that she had always been there, with her sweet smile and beautifull green eyes, always inside him. He knew that even if she ever came back, she wouldn't be his, because he knew she loved Van, and always would love him. And he had excepted that, and was happy for her and especialy for Van. But then he remembered something, something so important, it would break her heart....."Allen?!" Celena's voice stopped his mind from whirling, and was brought abruptly back into reality. "I'm sorry." he replied, suddenly getting up. "Allen if you want to talk about it......" "No Celena, I don't" the harshness in his voice suprised her and she shrunk away from him. His eyes softened and he wanted to hug his sister, say sorry for hurting her, but he couldn't. She was already half way up the stairs, back to her fiance. Allen sighed, and dragged himself to his main floor room. Closing the door softly behind him, he began to undress, and slowly slipped into his warm bed. Sleep bekoned so he welcomed it with welcome arms.It seemed like only moments, before he was awakened violently by the frantic yelling of Celena from outside his room. "Allen Allen, wake up! Hurry!" Jumping out of bed quickly, he threw on his uniform and hooked up his sword, than rushed out the door. "What is it!?" he asked, while trying to calm his sister down. But her excessive babbling wasn't making any sense. "I saw a coloum of light!!" she finally splurted out, after much squeeling and screaming. Allen's heart leaped, as he realized what had happened. "Where?!!" was the only thing his mouth could produce. The sheer joy inside of him overwhelmed everything else. "Down by the brook in the forest!" she answered, shoving him out the door. Without saying good-bye, he hurtled on the saddle of his horse than sped off into the woods.





The rain cascaded down in thick sheets, chilling Hitomi to the bone. Her sopping brown hair and summer dress were in dissaray. "I had to come to Gaea during a storm, with no shoes, and wearing a thin summer dress." she chuckled, trying to make herself forget the fast approaching hypothermia. But the rain just kept coming, and she kept getting colder. There was no way around it. Rubbing her numb hands together soon became a mechanical motion, as her thoughts and feelings slowly began to slip away. She didn't even bother to look up when a very soft patter of hooves on the wet grass sounded. The small stream that flowed just to her right, slowly started to rise as the rain began to increase in severity. "Hitomi....." she heard the voice, but just barely. Consciousness was leaving her, and finally giving up just flopped over onto the ground, letting the darkness envelope her. At brief moments in time she would awake and feel the soothing motion of a galoping horse, and the warm body of someone holding her close, but only for a second. Than losing strength, would drift away again. After what seemed like an eternity, she finally woke up for good. Opening her eyes slowly, she tried to get up from wherever she was lying. But heavy dizziness ensued, and her vision swam, so she just colapsed on the floor in a heap. Somewhere in the room, a door opened and she heard a strangled gasp. It was defenitely a man, and silently she hoped it was Van. "Hitomi are......ok..?" she could only hear him in intervals and it made her frustrated. She opened her mouth to respond, but suprisingly her throat was parched, and she couldn't say anything. "Celena......get Diantha....she's.......now..." Celena, the name suprised her. That was Allen's sister, she remembered him telling her about his lost sibling. Maybe it wasn't Van, maybe it was...."Allen!" she choked. But that was all she could muster as a fit of coughing started up. Hitomi opened her eyes and saw the knight leaning over her with a large glass of water in his hand. "Hitomi drink this." he said handing it to her. Thankfully she grasped it and began to guzzle it down. Unfortunately, most of it missed her open mouth, and she blushed furiously feeling incredibly embarassed. Allen laughed slightly then poured more water into the glass, giving her another chance at quenching her thirst. Finally, with a great last gulp and sigh, she was able to talk again. "Allen I....." she tried to say, but stopping her, he held out his hand for her to grasp. "Let's go somewhere where we can have some privacy." he said shifting his gaze to Celena and the maid, supposedly caled Diantha. Hitomi smiled and took his hand, then followed him out, nodding briefly at the duo, who in turn nodded in response.







"It's been a long time." Allen murmured, staring into the blazing fire, him and Hitomi sat around. "Indeed it has." she answered, sighing softly. "I thought I would never return after me and Van were cut off from each other..." she stopped abruptly noticing the way he tensed. "I'm sorry." "It's ok." Allen answered, turning to gaze at her. "It doesn't bother me when you talk about him." A smile played on his lips, but he didn't let it show. He had to tell her....."I can't wait to see him again." she said, laughing a little. "I know he'll be so suprised. I bet he's changed so much, as I have." Her slender fingers ran themselves though the shoulder length sandy brown hair brushing her exposed skin, bringing attention to her altered appearance. But Hitomi's eyes were still their lush green, with that sparkle of beauty, and her face still glowed, making Allen grimace as he thought of what he had to tell her. Which he knew would wash all that away. Noticing his change, Hitomi's brow furrowed. "What's wrong Allen?" she asked. "There's something you should know before you see Van again." he replied, with a hint of sorrow in his normaly musical voice. Hitomi's heart sunk, had something happened to him, or worse yet, was he......? "What's wrong with Van!?" she yelled jumping out of the deep armchair she had been relaxing in only moments earlier. Standing up with her Allen took her trembling hand in his "Nothing's wrong with him Hitomi, but there's something you should know." he aswered seating her back down again. "What?" she whimpered, tears welling in her beautifull eyes. "Hitomi, this hurts me so much to have to tell you this......but I have to. Van has gotten married to someone else. I'm sorry." The tears started flowing down her face "You're lying!!" she yelled pulling free from his grasp. "That's not true!!" Again jumping up with her, Allen replied "Hitomi, I'm not lying! I'm sorry, but you have to except this!" Sinking to her knees, she stopped yelling and just cried into Allen's arms. "I know." she sobbed quietly "It's just so hard to believe." Stroking her head softly, he said "Try not to be sad, Hitomi. He's incredibly happy, and has been that way for seven years, with Arra. He had to move on, and he did. This is probably going to be hard for you to hear, but he told me that he was happier with her than with you. He said that she was his essence, his will, his strength, and that he loved Arra so much. Now you have to move on too Hitomi, find someone else...." "I did." Allen was cut off by her abrupt response. Holding her out infront of him, he said "I don't understand. What do you mean?" Hitomi smiled a little than replied "I found someone else, two years after me and Van were cut off. His name was Sirus." but her smile faded as she continued "We got married soon after, and I was so happy, like Van is. And then we had a son, his name is Gavin, he's six now. But five years ago, Sirus was killed in a car crash. It seemed as though for the longest time after that, I was holding on to life by a thin thread. I was constantly crying, and never smiled. Just before I came back to Gaea, I had a vision, it was horrible. I woke up on the floor after it was finished, and I was shaking so much, and sweat was all over me. It was then that Gavin came home from school, when he saw me, he just crumpled. He told me that he was so scared because he thought I was going to leave him like Sirus, because of the way I had been acting. I realized that he needed me so much, and I had been just pushing him away. Gavin was the one that brought me back to reality. I told him about Gaea, since I never had before, and that made me remember Van for the first time in twelve years. I knew that I still loved him, and that I had to see him again. But then I did come back and Gavin didn't." she burst into tears and flung herself into Allen's arms again "And now I've lost Van too. I've lost all the people I care about most in my life. My husband, my son, and Van.What am I going to do?" Allen, suprised from her story, didn't answer. He couldn't believe that Hitomi had really gotten married and had a son. He had always thought that she loved Van too much to ever have room in her heart for another. But again, it had been twelve long years since she had seen or even heard from him, she couldn't wait forever. It was that way with Van too. He had found Arra, as she had found Sirus. "Hitomi, you have to try to calm down. Crying isn't going to get you anywhere." he finally said, holding her shoulders firmly. "You're going to have to trust me on this one." With a final sniff, Hitomi dried her eyes, obeying the knight's words. He was right, crying would get her nowhere. "I want to go to Fanelia." she said abruptly, holding her head high "I want to see Van." "We'll go tommorow, I can't take you today." Allen answered, before he even knew what he was saying. Hitomi leaned forward and hugged him. "Thank-you Allen." She released and looked at him with her beautifull green eyes, and he saw a rekindled fire of strength. Hitomi had always been to strong to just colapse and cry, thinking someone else would solve her problems. But now, he saw something more than just strength, something he had never seen before. It was the Hitomi from her youth, even at her current age, smiling back at him. And it was then that Allen knew, everything was going to be alright.