Disclaimer: Valentine's Day is evil.

A/N: I was hoping to post this last night, but never got around to writing it. Anyways, this story has been following me around lately, and I couldn't leave it alone. To let you know, I know Van and Hitomi seem slightly out of character; I'm kinda intending to do that. It's been a few years and all, and people do change over time. Anyways, happy belated day of the devil, and I hope you all enjoy the chapter. Review if the notion strikes you.

Between Dreams
chapter 2



This was a dream, right? And yet, she could feel his shirt beneath her fingertips, feel his warmth tingling on her skin. It...it wasn't possible, was it? She couldn't be back on Gaea, the pillar of light hadn't embraced her...but she was here, in the forests just outside of Fanelia but within the small country's borders...

"Hitomi?"

She felt his voice rip through her, as if his memories had held it back within her, and it had finally broken free. Her own voice caught in her throat, her eyes filmed over but she blinked the tears away with a smile.

He hadn't changed. Or at least...he had changed, but not like she'd have thought. He was taller--she didn't need him to stand up to know that. His hair was shorter, less chaotic, but still wild. He seemed to have finally grown into his frame as well. But there was a peace in his eyes, a peace that she hadn't seen there in all the time she'd been on Gaea four years ago, one that she had only glimpsed before he'd helped her home.

The attitude was gone; the overly-assured and almost cocky attitude had disappeared, leaving him as he'd been those nights they'd camped with Escaflowne and Merle. Leaving him almost...regal.

"Van..." she whispered, finally finding her own voice.

He smiled, the expression on his face matching the shock she felt. He cautiously rose to his feet, almost as if he were afraid she'd disappear if he took his eyes off her.

Face to face, his eyes a few inches higher off the ground than hers, he smiled at her. Both had the urge to dive in the other's arms and just stay there for forever, but neither had the nerve.

"You've changed," they both said quietly at the same time, Hitomi looking down as she tugged nervously on the hem of her sweater, Van gripping the hair on the back of his head as he looked over and down at his sword as it lay where he had sat moments before. Blinking, they both looked at each other, then laughed quietly.

"It's been a long time, Van," Hitomi told him, her eyes drifting out to the lake, at the silent and glass-like water. She turned and walked to the water's edge.

"It has, hasn't it."

She smiled. It never had been like him to ask questions.

The water glowed brighter than the sky, and she gazed out over the surface, marveling at the clarity of the reflected stars, the Earth, the moons...

Moons?!

She froze, then whirled and grabbed Van by the front of his shirt.

"Why are there three moons in the sky? I-this isn't-why are-I thought Gaea only had two moons-I thought-"

The young king set his hands on her shoulders, laughing at her hysteria. Gently, he squeezed and smiled.

"Gaea only has two moons, yes."

"But then-"

"We aren't on Gaea, Hitomi. As outrageous as it seems, we aren't."

She looked up at him, at the calm and rational lines of his face, the peace in his eyes. Without a second thought, she leaned forward and fell against his chest, arms hanging down, face pillowed against his shirt, eyes closed. He stiffened, but then relaxed and wrapped his arms around her, stepping closer to hold her tighter. As if she were a worn-out toy rejuvinated by his touch, she pressed herself into him, her arms lifting and curling around his back, her fists clinging to his shirt.

"Then where are we, Van?"

He smiled, his cheek and the side of his chin pressed against the side of her head. He squeezed her tightly, part of him remembering the last time he had held her, like this, both of them in the clearing where rested his family's gravesites and Escaflowne, just heartbeats before the blue light had come for her.

"We're dreaming, Hitomi."

"But I can feel you, I can smell you. How can you be a dream? How, Van?" she whispered, her voice somewhere between lost and awed.

He smiled again. "I told you before you left, Hitomi. We can see each other whenever we like, we just have to think of each other."

She grew silent, clinging to him, considering this.

"But then...how come we've never met like this before, Van? It's been four years...and I've never forgotten. I dream of everyting and everyone so often...but..."

Van tightened his arms gently and momentarily, silencing her as if he had set his fingers over her lips. In a way, it worried him that she was this confused. And at the same time, he enjoyed being able to explain something to her for once, for him to know what was going on.

"Our thoughts have never paralleled each other, most likely. In all reality, the only way either of us could have come here would be if the other was to have as well--and if both of us had fallen asleep with the other on our mind."

"But what reality is this?"

He let go and walked to the very edge of the water, looking up at the stars.

"Over there, the Mystic Moon and her child swim the heavens," he told her, pointing. He gestured to the other end of the lake. "And there, swims Gaea."

Hitomi walked forward and stood next to him, looking up at his profile; there was wisdom and patience in him now...but he was still the same old Van he'd been last she'd seen him.

"Then what is this place?"

He blushed slightly, glancing down at her; their eyes met briefly, and he shrugged and turned his gaze back to the moons. "The Atlantians created Gaea out of their will; in a sense, it was created by their dreams. And at the same time, the survivors of Atlantis, those who found themselves on Gaea after their downfall, repaired the damage they had wrought on the planet they'd left behind with their wishes and dreams.

"I remember my mother telling me stories once, about how two Draconians--decendants of Atlantis who were children during the destruction and the at time the curse was placed upon Atlantis--they were the age we were during the war. These two were separated, one on Gaea, the other on the mystic moon. They'd grown up best friends, each harboring deeper feelings even as children. As it became clear that there was no hope of reunion between them, the two became heart broken, crying and wishing and dreaming as hard as they could to see the other. It's said that their wishes and dreams reached the heavens, and the Gods of the stars couldn't bring themselves to fault the two children (now few years older), and so they created a world that was reminescent of both Gaea and the Mystic Moon, that the two could visit in their dreams. The two met through their dreams, and their pains of separation eased.

"Time passed, and soon they were to the age to have been married off. They met here the night before the girl's wedding; they both knew they could no longer meet on this world between dreams once she belonged to someone else. Neither had ever confessed any feelings for the other, but they both knew. That night, the two bid tearful good-byes, promising to never forget. But the light that carried them both to and from the planet every night never came. The two lived here in happiness and in love for the rest of their days."

Hitomi stood quietly, then blushed.

"So this place is..."

"This place is the world the Gods made for them...a world between dreams."

A/N: So, you likies? You no likies? Me completely screw up with Van and Hitomi's attitudes? Lemme know in that little box down there that reads "review".

-Belle
http://www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica