Escaflowne of the Sky

Cynic X

"..."- dialogue

'...'- thoughts

..... - scene change

Chapter 7- Astoria

Sunlight drifted through the windows in Hitomi's room as a knock rang out from the door.

"Hitomi, are you up yet?" the voice asked.

Hitomi stirred, still half a sleep and responded. "Just five more minutes Mom, and then I promise I'll get up." She muttered into her pillow.

The voice called out again to her. "Hitomi, do you want to sleep the whole day away?"

This time, Hitomi was jolted awake. "Where am I?' She thought as she looked around at the strange settings. 'Oh yeah, I forgot, we're in Astoria now.'

"Hitomi, come on, you have to get up."

"Allen?" Hitomi asked walking to the door. 'Crap, I slept in my uniform and now it's all wrinkled. Maybe I can ask if I can borrow an outfit from somewhere.'

"Hitomi, do you want to come to lunch?" Allen asked from the other side of the door.

"Lunch? What happened to breakfast?" Hitomi asked, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

"Breakfast was at eight, it's now noon."

"What?" Hitomi cried, throwing open the door.

"Four hours ago." Allen said, holding up four fingers to emphasize his point.

"Okay...okay...lunch it is then. Just let me get my shoes." Hitomi said and darted in the room, threw her shoes back on, and followed Allen downstairs.

"Feeling better today Hitomi?" Allen asked as they entered the dinning hall.

"Much...have you heard anything about Van?" Hitomi asked, digging into the food that was placed before her.

"No, I have not been there yet. We'll go after we eat." Allen said with a smile.

"Great." Hitomi said stuffing her face. She really wanted to hurry up and see if Van was okay. Just as they were finishing up, Gades entered the room.

"Boss, we need you out near the crusade, we can't get the elevation controls back on line. Something must have happened to them when we landed so fast."

Allen turned towards Hitomi. "It seems that I can not accompany you Hitomi. My sincerest apologizes, but I'll be along as soon as I am done."

"That's fine Allen, you're men need you. I'll go keep Van company." Hitomi said with a smile as she took off for his room. "Catch you later." Hitomi waved as she disappeared down the hall.

'Hmm... I wonder how Van is feeling today. He seemed to be feeling a little better last night.' Hitomi thought as she approached his door and knocked.

"Come in." A familiar voiced called.

"Hey Van." Hitomi said with a smile as she closed the door behind her. "How are you feeling?" She looked over to the bed and gasped. "They're gone."

"I'm feeling much better today, thank you for asking. And yes, they're gone. I was able to draw them back in a little while ago since the pain has subsided." Van smiled, a sign that he was feeling better.

"That's great!" Hitomi exclaimed as she walked over to the chair besides the bed. 'I was just getting used to him with his wings out, and now their gone. The truth is, he looked kind of cute with them.' Hitomi thought and blushed.

"Hitomi, is there something wrong?" Van asked as he looked over to her.

She swallowed hard and answered. "No, nothing. Everything is fine! Can

I get you anything?"

"I'm not an invalid you know. I should be back to my old self in a few days." Van said and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, you look like you're healing pretty well." Hitomi commented. His wounds looked much better than they were when they had been on the crusade.

"Tomorrow I want to go and see Escaflowne. I have to access how much damage was done to it." Van said.

"But you should take it easy Van." Hitomi said with worry. 'He's pushing himself way too fast.'

"There is still a war to be fought, and since my wounds aren't life threatening, I have to get back out there and save my country."

"But Van, you almost died." Hitomi cried in protest. "I was so scared...I thought you were going to die." Tears made their way down n her face as she recalled their encounter with Zaiback.

"Hitomi...it will take more than that to kill me. Don't worry so much." Van said as he placed his hand on hers. She shook her head "yes" in response, brushing away her tears.

"So, what have you been up to in the mean time?" Van asked, trying to change the subject.

"Nothing much...I slept in really late today." Hitomi laughed, remembering how she got up at noon. "Allen wanted to come, but he had to fix something on the crusade."

"Allen's a good friend." Van commented.

"Yeah...I'm really glad he came to go us when he did. Who knows what else Zaiback would have tried to do."? Hitomi said softly.

"What did I say?" Van asked with a smile as he pointed his finger at her.

"Sorry." Hitomi muttered, remembering his words about not worrying so much.

"So do you like Pallus?" Van asked, seeing her discomfort over the last comment.

"Yes, it's very beautiful." Hitomi said with a smile. "Hey Van, what happened to Merle?" she asked, remembering the cat girl from Fanelia.

"When I evacuated Fanelia, I sent her to Arzas, (AN: You know that city that they mention at the end of episode 1, when they first arrive on Gaea) a city not that far away so that she'd be safe." Van laughed, "She's probably on her way her now, if I know Merle." Van smiled, recalling how protective Merle was of him.

"It's nice that she cares about you so much." Hitomi replied.

"Yeah, but sometimes she can get annoying...but I know she means well." Van responded.

"I know what you mean." Hitomi said thinking of Yukari back home. "I wonder how they're all doing..." Hitomi said out loud. Van looked at her in confusion. "It's nothing." Hitomi replied with a fake smile.

"I know you're lying." Van told her, as he looked her straight in the eye. Hitomi placed her hand behind her head in embarrassment.

"What do you mean?" Hitomi asked.

"I know you miss your home." Van said, looking away. "And I know you want to go back."

"Van...that's not true. I'm going to stay to help you destroy Zaiback." Hitomi said softly.

'And then what?' Van thought bitterly.

"Hey, I thought you told me not to worry so much." Hitomi cried turning his words on him.

Van smiled. "Yeah I did. Okay, what do you want to talk about?"

The two talked all day about topics ranging from Fanelia, to Astoria, to Earth, to what Hitomi studied at school. Only after the sun had fully set below the horizon did either take notice how the day had slipped by.

"Isn't the sky beautiful tonight?" Hitomi asked as she walked over to the window.

"Yeah, it's really clear tonight, you can practically see every star." Van said coming up behind her. He had been trying to get out of bed as much as possible so he could get back to his normal routine,

"It's weird...the sky looks the same...but I know I'm not at home." Hitomi said pointing to the various stars that she'd seen from her bedroom window at home.

"I guess the sky doesn't change wherever you go." Van smiled. He saw Hitomi yawn. "Why don't you get some sleep?" He asked.

"I don't want to leave you alone." Hitomi smiled.

"But we're just a few doors away, and you need rest. I know your nerves were standing on end for the last couple of days." Van said as they started walking towards the door.

"Alright...good night Van." Hitomi said as she waved good-bye. "See you tomorrow."

"Night Hitomi. Sweet dreams." Van called as she closed the door. He heard her footsteps down the hall, and knew she entered her room after he heard her door open and close.

"Hitomi, are you really going to leave?" Van asked to himself as he returned to his bed. The thought had been at the back of his mind for a long time now. 'I know you try to pretend like it's not a big deal, but it is to me.' Van thought silently as he drifted off to sleep.

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