Disclaimer: I should probably actually say I don't own Escaflowne. 'Cause I don't. And I haven't said that in the last 5 chapters. But I own this story; the storyline, plot, and all the worlds and junk that weren't stated in the series are mine.
A/N: Dude, two chapters in less than 5 hours. I must love you guys.
Between Dreams
chapter 6
He closed the door to his room and started down the hall, nodding politely to servants and workers as he passed them, walking at a comfortable pace through the sunny corridors.
"Lord Van!"
Suddenly, running sounded like a wonderful alternative. But he held his steady pace, his shoulders braced for impact.
He heard the click of claws on the hardwood floor behind him, the swishing of garments, and then felt the paws on his shoulders driving him down to the ground and a furry cat body curled up on his back, a rough tongue licking his hair.
"Lord Van! Oh, I missed you Lord Van!" Merle purred, furry arms tightening around his neck.
"Don't you think you're getting a little too old for this, Merle?" he laughed, pushing off the ground and sitting back on his heels as the catgirl slid to the floor behind him. He looked back at her, only to receive a hard lick on the cheek.
Big blue eyes smiled back into his, short and spunky pink hair stuck up in a million directions between big ears.
"I've been gone for two weeks, cut me some slack, Lord Van," she informed him matter-of-factly, letting go of him and sitting back on her haunches.
He smiled, her hair drawing his eyes again.
"Your hair keeps getting shorter and shorter."
She blinked, and suddenly looked sheepish, like she'd been caught sticking her hand into the royal birdcage, something Van had once nearly killed her for when they were barely children.
"It keeps getting in my way…it doesn't…it doesn't remind you of Hitomi does it? Because I don't want to-"
Van laughed and stood, pulling Merle to her feet. "It looks nice, Merle. It's just different." He held out his arm for her and she playfully took it, clinging to him. "And it doesn't bother me."
She blinked, then scampered in front of him, placing both hands on his chest and leaning forward, forcing him to stop, as if he would keep walking if she didn't use physical means.
"Wait, are you saying-"
He set his hands on her shoulders. "I still love Hitomi, Merle. That won't change."
She dropped her hands and looked at him thoughtfully. "You seem…"
"Distant?" he supplied as they started walking once more.
"No…not distant, for once, actually," she mused.
He opened a door, holding it for her.
"Why did you think it would bother me, Merle?"
She shrugged slim shoulders, her form-fitted tunic and ankle length slitted-skirt looking strangely out of place in the great hall. Her tail twitched visibly through the slit that ran up the back of the skirt, her blade could be seen strapped to her upper thigh through one of the side slits.
"Merle," he told her, coming up behind her and setting a hand on her shoulder. She turned, blinking innocently, startled by the gravity in his voice. "The only thing that bothers me is the reason you've cut your hair."
A reassuring smile passed over her eyes, but she merely shrugged again. "I don't care what Allen says. Your hair can be used against you in a hand to hand fight."
He sighed. "You shouldn't be fighting, Merle."
"Who better to protect Fanelia, Lord Van?"
"Her king."
With a grunt, he hefted the heavy sledgehammer over his shoulder and swung it forward. The wall groaned on contact, and with a wheeze, gave way.
Resting the tool against the ground before him, crossed his hands over the top of the handle, dropping to one knee with exhaustion and resting his forehead against his wrists.
It was murder.
The afternoon sun beat down ruthlessly, her rays searing the skin of his back and his neck. The work was hard and strenuous.
And he couldn't allow his people to do it alone.
Panting, he toyed with the idea of spreading his wings, letting them not only shade himself, but using them momentarily as a fan for himself and the others.
Van started as cold water splashed over him. Turning his head to look over his shoulder, he laughed as Merle catwalked past him with an angelic smile on her face, unsuccessfully hiding an empty bucket behind her.
What would I do without you, hmm? he asked no one. A quick glisten of light flashed through the slit in her skirt along her thigh, and his smile quirked downwards. I'd lose this war, probably, with no one on Gaea to push me forward or to fight for.
He sighed and pushed himself onto his feet once more, his eyes flickering to the sun and back. Only another hour and they'd be able to call it a day, the other men departing to mothers, sisters, lovers, wives. And he to his castle.
He hadn't been lying to Hitomi when he'd told her that Fanelia had been rebuilt. But his country was far from completed. Stronger watchtowers were being built to replace the old. A more useful protective wall; one that could be scaled from the inside but not the out, one that would better protect sentries, warriors, and samurai.
He rubbed the back up his neck, hefting the sledgehammer back up, hurling it once more into the wall he and the others were demolishing.
Fanelia was prospering again, the trees green, the vegetation lush, all scars from it's previous incineration faded away. All of the houses and extras had been built, finally the castle restored; he had refused to repair more than the great hall before the homes of his people, and that much only so that they would be sheltered from the elements. The marketplace had returned, merchants from all over Gaea hawking their wares to people who needed or didn't need them.
The happy peace of Fanelia had returned, and with it came that camaraderie that his parents had struggled to maintain with her people.
About the only soul in Fanelia that wasn't at ease and laid back, was him.
A smile cracked his face as he watched Merle scamper up the rubble pile on all fours, leaping from the pile to the shaky scaffolding along the new wall. She stood and tiptoed across the beams, before a man yelled at her to get down, grabbing a rock and tossing it at her as a warning as he swore and she swore back.
Van laughed, the deep tenor of his quiet laughter reaching Merle's ears. She looked at him, then turned and stuck her tongue out at the foreman before leaping to the roof of the watchtower. Her tail was puffed up, and she sat huffily, her legs folded beneath her, her skirt spreading strangely due to the three slits, but he knew she wasn't mad, she was just playing.
With a half-smile and a humph, Van slammed the sledgehammer into the wall again with renewed strength.
Maybe he'd dream about that world again tonight; maybe he'd get to spend a few hours with her.
Maybe.
A/N: Just to let you know, I have school again starting Monday; updates will be fewer so often. Just to warn you.
-Belle
www.angelfire.com/anime4/angelica