Chapter 3 – Old friends
The sky was splashed with pinks, oranges, and blues of the sunset and the birds were singing their final song before they retired to their nests. Hitomi sighed and continued to look out the window from her position on her bed. It was so beautiful, but not even the view could warm her heart. Still in her dress that Merle had gave her early that day, Hitomi hugged the pillow closer to her head.
Why am I here? I know I saw Van calling me, but why is he denying it? Is he lying to me? I don't understand. I just want…I want…I don't know what I want! I wish I knew what was going on! Hitomi held up her left hand and pictured where the engagement ring would have gone. Married. Pictures of Van and Remy swirled through her head as she contemplated what was happening.
A knock came from the door.
"Come in." Hitomi said out of habit, forgetting to ask who it was. She heard someone come in and close the door behind them.
"Hitomi? Are you feeling alright." A soft, deep voice asked.
Hitomi pushed herself up and turned around. She was stunned. It was Van.
"What are you doing here?" she asked just as coldly as he had before, but she immediately regretted it as she saw him flinch slightly.
"I came to see if you were okay. Merle said you were sick." He said with a little hurt in his voice.
"Why do you care?" Hitomi demanded, but Van just stood there. Hitomi sighed in frustration.
"I'm not going to die, I'm just a little ill and didn't want to be a bother at dinner."
Van marched over and before Hitomi could react, he reached over and put his hand on her forehead. Hitomi froze. She tried to speak but no words came. To be so close to Van again…to feel that electricity running through her body….
"You're not really sick, are you?" Van asked as he pulled away and crossed his arms. "You just didn't want to come to dinner. Why?"
Hitomi inwardly scolded herself for having a weak moment and mentally put up more guards. "Give the man a prize! He's figured it out!" Hitomi said as she got off the bed, on the opposite side from Van, and stood facing him with her arms crossed. "I don't have to come if I don't want to. I'm not one of your subjects you can boss around."
"Well if you didn't want to come to dinner, why didn't you just say, so I didn't have to worry about you?"
Hitomi stood silent. "He was worried about me? Stop it Hitomi. This is the same Van who cut you out of his life."
"It's not exactly a pleasant thing talking to you, Van. You've changed. You've grown distant and cold. What happened to you?" She asked.
"What's happened to me! I'll tell you what happened…."
Another knock came at the door.
"Go away!" Van yelled.
"Come in!" Hitomi yelled louder, staring defiantly at Van.
The door opened and a tall man with long, blond hair walked in. He was dressed in the blue colours of Asturia and had on the familiar uniform of a Knight of Caeli.
"I hope I'm not disturbing anything important." He said in a deep, husky voice.
"Allen!" Hitomi said. Forgetting protocol, she ran up to him and embraced him in a hug. He laughed and hugged her back. Van stood and watched in silence. He suddenly wanted to hurt Allen, but he didn't because he was trying to figure out why. Why was he feeling this way?
"It's really you Hitomi! Welcome back! What are you doing here? Is everything okay?" He asked as he pulled her away to look at her. "Look how you've grown! You're a beautiful woman now!"
"Oh Allen!" Hitomi said as she blushed. She happened to glance at Van to see him staring at them in anger. What's wrong with him?
"ARG! Well, I'm going to back to dinner! Do whatever you want!" Van said as he stormed past them and left the room.
"What's wrong with Van?" Allen asked.
"Oh Allen, it's so messed up! Nothing makes sense!" Hitomi cried as she put her hands on her head in frustration.
"Do you want to get out of here? Go in to town?" he asked.
Hitomi's hands fell and her face lit up.
"That's a great idea!"
"Good, but first there's someone downstairs who wants to see you." Allen winked.
Hitomi thought about it for a second.
"Celena!"
"That's right! Let's go."
Hitomi ran and slipped on her shoes, which she had kicked off earlier, and grabbed a cape. She followed Allen downstairs and them up to a woman. She had shoulder length, wavy blond hair and was wearing a long, turquoise dress and a black cape around her shoulders. As she turned around to greet them, Hitomi was shocked at the family resemblance.
"Hitomi, my friend! It's good to see you." Celena said as she gave Hitomi a hug.
"It's good to see you too Celena! Wow, have you changed." Hitomi said.
"You too!"
"Come on, let's get out of here." Allen said as he herded them out. Celena seemed a little puzzled that they were leaving already, but she just shrugged and followed his lead.
~~~~
Van entered the dining hall and everyone stopped eating and quickly rose to greet him.
"Sit." Van commanded, irritated with the stupid traditions. He sat down in his big chair and picked up his fork. He took a few bites, but ended up pushing the food around his plate. He was upset at himself for being jealous of Allen. There was no reason he should feel that way. He was long over Hitomi and after everything she did to him, it was ridiculous to be acting this way.
Merle carefully watched Van. Obviously, something had upset him when he went to see Hitomi. She watched as Morgan asked Van what was wrong. He snapped out of his trance, patted her hand, smiled, and said that nothing was wrong. Merle sighed and slouched further in to her chair. She suddenly wasn't hungry anymore.
~~~~
Allen took Celena and Hitomi to a pub down in the heart of the city called the Gentle Giant. It was dark by the time they got there, so warm light was spilling out of the windows, giving the place a very inviting look. It was medium sized building, make of red brick, with a smoking chimney on top. Allen took them in and guided them over to a corner booth and ordered ale and two glasses of wine from a serving girl.
As Hitomi unlaced her cape, she took a look around. The stone walls were covered with tapestries, paintings and decorations, such as swords and shields. The furniture was wooden and the seats were padded, to encourage customers to stay longer. There was a large fireplace over on the fall wall, where men holding ales gathered and told stories. All the tables and booths were full of people: soldiers, men and women, talking and laughing. Serving girls weaved themselves in and out of the people to bring them more food and drink. The bartender was busy preparing drinks while keeping up a debate with old friends. The light from the oil lamps above and on the tables bathed everyone in a friendly light. It was a very warm atmosphere.
The booth they sat in had a semicircle shape with the table in the middle. Hitomi sat on the outside beside Celena. Allen sat across from Hitomi. They made small talk until the drinks arrived.
Celena had told her that over time her hair had returned to its original blond colour, erasing all that was left of Dilandau. She lived at the castle so she could be close to Allen and worked as a councilor's assistant. It was part of her training to someday be a council member. Allen was still a Knight of Caeli and was the military representative in the Asturian council. He kept his long, blond locks the same from when Hitomi last saw him, but his face had aged and grown more dignified with time. He was still very handsome and had finally lost the last bit of boyish charm. Hitomi couldn't stop herself from thinking how Van had done the same thing.
"Okay Hitomi, maybe you can tell me what happened. Van wasn't in a talking mood." Allen said after a long pull of ale.
"I'm not exactly sure what happened Allen. I was in the middle of a conversation with someone, on Earth, when I suddenly saw an image of Van calling out to me. In the confusion, I ran after the image and was taken away in that same white light." Hitomi told them.
"That's the one we saw from Palas." Celena said.
"Well, when I got here I received very cold welcome from Van. He asked what I was doing here and was actually mad at me for coming! It wasn't like I had a choice!" Hitomi exclaimed. "He's changed so much! I…I don't know what's happened to him."
"Everyone noticed a dramatic change in him three years ago." Allen said. "Merle told us how one day he just woke up like that. Poor Merle, she wants to help him but he won't even let her get close. She's his oldest friend and doesn't know what's wrong."
"Three years ago?" Hitomi whispered.
"Why? Do you know what happened?" Celena said.
Hitomi took a deep breath and told them how she and Van used to keep in touch. Then she told them about Van telling her to stop tormenting him and how he broke the link.
"Did you feel the same way?" Celena asked.
"No…but I couldn't say anything with the link broken, could I? I found it easier to be mad at him then sad, so I decided to forget about him and move on with my life." Hitomi said. She left out the part about wanting to tell Van she wanted to come back.
"If Van didn't want to see you, then why did you have that vision?" Celena asked.
"Exactly! It doesn't make any sense. And it's impossible to have a grown up conversation with him. Yet…I don't know, I'm not sure what to make of anything." Hitomi sighed. "It doesn't really matter, does it? I mean, he's going to marry that princess anyway. Ha! She even asked me to stay for the wedding."
"Er, Hitomi, is it true that you're also engaged?" Allen asked. Celena gasped and looked at Hitomi.
"Van must of told you." Hitomi sighed. "Well, yes and no."
"What does that mean?" Celena asked.
"Remy, the guy I've been dating, was proposing when I saw the vision, so…."
"You didn't give him an answer, did you?" Celena said. "Do you love him?"
Hitomi started fidgeting in her seat and kept her eyes on her wine. She did care about Remy, he was a great guy, but love? She didn't want to end up admitting to them that she still cared about Van. How much she cared about him, well, she wasn't even sure yet.
Hitomi's stomach growled and she blushed in embarrassment.
"Sorry guys. I haven't eaten yet."
"That's okay!" Allen laughed. "Let's order some food and Celena and I can catch you up on what's been happening on Gaea."
Thankful that Allen could tell she didn't want to continue the conversation, Hitomi was grateful for the interruption.
They spent the rest of the evening at the pub, eating and catching up with each other.
~~~~
Merle wandered down the empty hallway. Not long after Lord Van returned, did she excuse herself from dinner. She dragged her feet slowly along and stared at the floor. "How am I going to fix this? I thought that for sure Hitomi would be able to bring the old Lord Van back. Why do they both have to be so stubborn!"
As Merle entered the hall by the main doors, a steward ran up to her.
"Lady Merle, please excuse me, but I need you help!"
"Yes Philip, what do you need?" She asked.
"There is a gentleman at the door claiming he is here to meet with Sir Allen Schezar, but I can't find Master Poe, so I'm not sure what to do." Philip said.
Philip was a new steward, still in training, so Merle agreed to help him. As they walked over to the main gate, Merle could see the back of a young man. At the sound of their approach, the young man turned to face them. He had on the familiar crest of Asturia and was holding a helmet in the crook of his arm. He appeared to be with the army.
"Can I help you?" Merle said as she came up to him. The visitor seemed a little surprised to see a young, cat woman being the one to help him, but he quickly recovered and bowed. Merle, however, noticed his hesitation and inwardly scowled. She crossed her arms and watched the stranger.
"My name is Kael Hestler. I am a swordsman in the Asturian army and I received a letter from Sir Allen Schezar to meet him here." He said, as he reached behind him and pulled out the letter and handed it to her. As she reached for it, Merle got her first good look at Kael. He had deep blue eyes, short, dark brown hair, and was about a head taller than she was, and over all had rugged good looks. He was dressed in black pants, a blue tunic (that had the Asturia crest on it), a chain mail vest over it, and a black travel cape. He had a sword strapped at his side and a small travel bag down beside him.
Merle quickly read the letter. It was a short note from Allen explaining to Kael that something had suddenly popped up and he had to go to Fanelia and that Kael should meet him there.
"This is definitely from Allen." She said as she folded it back up and handed it back to him. "Unfortunately, Allen hasn't arrived yet." She told him.
"Excuse me, my lady," Philip spoke up, "but Sir Allen and his sister did arrive not too long ago, but they left right away. Their bags were taken to their normal rooms, so they will be back."
"Oh!" She said as she turned back to Kael. "You probably won't be able to see him tonight. You can stay in one of our guest rooms and see Allen tomorrow."
"Thank you, but I can just stay in the barracks with the other soldiers."
"If you insist. If you don't mind me asking, why are you hear to see Allen?"
"Sir Allen has agreed to train me as a knight." He said, his voice full of pride.
Merle remembered hearing how knights in Asturia would take a promising, young man under their wing and teach them the ways of the order. Merle was a little surprised that Allen agreed to do it. "Oh well, she thought, he's probably just a player like Allen used to be."
"Well, you'll be learning from one of the best." She told him before she turned to Philip. "Philip, can you please show Kael to the barracks?"
Philip nodded and motioned for Kael to follow.
"Thank you, Lady….?" Kael said as he stared in to Merle's eyes. For some reason, Merle started feeling a little warm in the face.
"…Merle, but please, just call me Merle.
"Thank you, Merle."
Merle watched them leave. When the door closed, Merle sighed and walked away. "Now, what do I do about Lord Van and Hitomi…?"
~~~~
Hitomi, Allen and Celena arrived back at the castle after an hour and a half at the Gentle Giant. Celena said goodnight to them and headed off to her room. Allen said he'd walk Hitomi to her room, since she really didn't remember which hallway it was down.
Hitomi had her arm wrapped around Allen's as they walked silently together. The rest of the evening had been relaxing.
"Thank you Allen." She told him suddenly.
"For what? Dinner?" he said.
"Well, that too, but for being a friend when I really needed one." She said, coming to a stop as Allen motioned that they had arrived at her room.
"You're welcome Hitomi. It's the least I could do. I really am glad to see you again."
Hitomi smiled and gently pulled away from Allen.
"Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow?"
"You bet. Good night Hitomi."
"Good night Allen."
Allen left as Hitomi entered her room. She closed the door and sighed. She kicked off her shoes and took off her cape. The room was dark and cold. She felt so alone. "Why was I sent here?" She thought as she rubbed her arms. "I didn't wish to come here! " She sighed again and walked over to her balcony, opened the doors, and took a deep breath of night air. It was wonderful. Hitomi walked over to the edge of the balcony looked over. There was a rose bed down below. "That's why the air smells so wonderful." She leaned her elbows on the balcony and gazed in to the night sky. The earth and moon still hung in the sky.
"I want to go home! I can't stand to see Van like this. What happened to him? Why did he cut me out of his life? Why am I here?"
Hitomi continued to stare at the night sky as her thoughts drifted. She didn't hear the creak of her door opening or the soft footsteps of someone coming towards her.
Suddenly, Hitomi was pushed hard from behind. She screamed as she tumbled over the edge. As she flipped over she caught a glance at her attacker and was stunned, but then she hit the ground and pain exploded in her head. Everything went black….
