I moved up the rating to PG13 for violence in later scenes- It probably could have stayed the same but It's better to be safe than sorry (never thought I would say that.)
Disclaimer; I'm too young to own escaflowne, I'm still in secondary school, I haven't even hit 15 yet, I'm too young to get a job other than 'paper girl' and the boy down the road nicked that (grrr evil boy down the road.)
Fluff? Angst? I'm not really sure
I love all you reviewers^-^ reading your reviews makes me happy because I know people actually bother to read the stories I write, thanks ^-^
O.k. recap on names (I'm not going to even bother to explain the original cast of Escaflowne or Hikari or Yusuke-.-)
Yuhei –her eldest brother
Tsuyoshi + Sadhura –twins both 20
Sanosuke/ Gaki (brat)-the youngest one (9)
Hikari's History
Hikari giggled child-likely as she swung open the balcony doors revealing the small white flowers. She lent over the balcony her silver hair cascading down the side looking for any trace of Yusuke who she was sure had put the flowers there. She couldn't stop herself from laughing as she scanned the garden below; she thought that if she looked at herself now as she was only two days ago she would have said she was pathetic, but she couldn't help the surge of emotions bubbling within her. Yusuke made her feel so excited, so alive he made her forget all her troubles her family, and she had known him only for a day; he was an even better charmer than Allen. She giggled and gave up her search for the boy making sure she would thank him later. She bent down and scooped up the tiny flowers in her arms and placed them on her bed.
Hikari looked in every direction but up, why would she have reason to? Above her the young prince smiled at the girls reaction, then left as she retreated away from her balcony, arms laden full of flowers.
After minutes of rambling through her suitcase she had found the perfect dress to wear. It was again an Austurian style dress, like all her dresses as they were all sent by Allen but not as elaborate as the one she wore yesterday. It was plain white and had an orange corset with long tassels at the end of the thread that was used to tighten the corset. She hated it the first time she saw it but then found it looked quite nice when worn especially with orange accessories to tie it together; however her main reason for wearing the dress was so she could wear something that matched the flowers that Yusuke gave her so she could braid them in her hair.
An hour later after the usual morning essential duties Hikari was ready to go to breakfast. She smoothed out the creases in her dress and rubbed the oil on her lips together to add a shine. Her long hair had been tied in to two French plaits on either side of her head and in each little twist of the plait she had inserted a white flower and again the orange lily took pride of place behind her ear. She smiled happily as she heard a knock on the door; no doubt someone to escort her to breakfast -to escort her to Yusuke.
Her smile broadened further as she opened the door to see Yusuke as her escort; wearing a white shirt and tanned trousers, both of which brought out the golden glow of his skin. Instinctively Hikari threw her arms around his neck squeezing him a tight hug. She drew back slightly, once again blushing out of embarrassment at her outburst. Yusuke smirked at her antics.
'Thank you for the flowers.' She said now in a more reserved manner. She looked down at the floor unable to meet his powerful stare so instead tried to avoid it.
'How did you know the flowers were from me?' He was still amused, the smirk still on his face. He found her bashfulness cute and wanted to see how she managed to escape awkwardness from this question. He didn't know why but seeing her like this seemed to make him burn inside.
'I didn't, it was either that or I have a stalker who knows the exact flowers that you know I like and conveniently turns up while we're courting.' Hikari said still unable to face his teasing smile.
'So we're courting now are we?' If possible his smile became more mischievous 'unless I was mistaken I thought you didn't want to court me.'
Hikari's blush had transformed to a deep shade of scarlet; she had hoped to the heavens that he had forgotten that conversation and prayed for a quick release. Then realizing nothing was going to happen she tried to fathom a reply and found she could only criticize the last one she made; why did she tell him they had been courting? This she found only made her blush deepen further more making it look as if some had crushed many red rose petals along her cheek.
Yusuke seeing her awkward; as fun as it was torturing her, decided to give the poor girl a break and held out his hand ready to accompany her to breakfast. Hikari gratefully took his hand glad for an escape; still however unable to make eye contact with him.
The two walked down the hallway in a relaxing silence, each appreciating each others company, each reveling in the sanctity of the moment.
'Any way you deceived me.' Hikari said a smile playing her lips, 'You pretended you weren't you.' She was determined to beat him in his own game.
'I didn't deceive you; you just didn't ask my name so I didn't tell you.' His gloating smirk replaying itself on his lips.
Hikari gave an exasperated sigh; 'That's like saying, if you don't ask me to tell you the information I know about your best friend dying I won't tell you. It's a bit ridiculous isn't it?'
'And you're not at all over dramatizing the situation.'
Hikari was geared to continue their passionate debate but while opening her mouth realized there was nothing she could say and let out an exasperated sigh blowing the silver lock of hair away from her face. She decided that she would calm herself before she got too worked up.
'Fine you win.' She said in a defeated tone throwing her hands in the air as a mock surrender.
'I always win.' Yusuke replied in that oh-so-annoying tone of his.
Hikari gave him a suspicious look and raising her eye brows quickly and rolled her eyes. She gasped silently as Yusuke brushed away the rebellious lock of hair that had fallen over her face. He took the opportunity to kiss her gently on the lips his tongue gently stroking hers and intertwining with it in a passionate dance. Finally he broke away with the same smirk on his face, only softer and no-longer mocking.
'W...w…what was that for?' Hikari stuttered regaining her senses.
'For being you.'
Hikari smiled eyes once more facing the carpet, a blush creeping its way to her face. He laced his fingers within hers the rest of the journey to breakfast in a serene silence.
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The rest of the day remained rather uneventful. After breakfast Van, Hitomi and Yusuke had to go and open Fanalia's first hospital; and as usual none of her brothers were willing to accompany her outside the palace grounds, so instead she remained indoors and started to unpack and position her things in her temporary room. Even dinner proved to be boring as the three still hadn't returned back to the palace; so Hikari remained bored for the passing of that day.
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Hikari had changed in to her black negligee and as usual had resumed her position at the balcony. Everything below was silent; the palace had retired for the night. Hikari left her room eager to explore the gardens in the beauty of the night.
She took a deep breath and absorbed her peaceful surroundings. The lake rippled slowly causing its reflection of the moon and its surrounding candles to waver. The flowers had closed over themselves hiding from the cold winter air. Hikari made her way to the outskirts of the garden which was no longer ornate with coloured flowers and shaped hedges but an expanse of grass. She stood in the middle and watched the grass quiver in the wind causing the shine of the moon to bounce along the surface like waves. She felt a shiver run down her spine and shook it off.
Yusuke watched her; she wore a black plain silk sleeveless negligee that fell down to her knees and her hair was worn loose and tossed wildly in the wind. He saw her so peaceful and at home with nature; he saw her free.
Hikari began to shiver in the cold winter air when she felt two warm arms holding her protectively around the waist. She didn't have to ask who it was she already knew. His hot breath sent a chill up her spine. Watching her shiver he instinctively drew her closer and rested his head on the crook of her neck.
'How did you know I was here?'
'I saw it in a vision'
'Oh.'
Again there was silence between them; again there was peace. It was never awkward: It was always comforting.
Finally when the night hung heavy in the air the two made their separate ways to their own room, both reluctant to leave due to the loss of company.
Hikari made her way through the long stretch of corridors to her room when she saw a slightly tipsy half dressed maid stumble out of Tsuyoshi's room. She went through the door in to the room behind her trying to avoid trouble from her older brother. She sighed behind the close door; she felt sorry for that girl, all of her brothers had away with women although Yuhei had an obligation as a trainee knight to be chivalrous –which he was, even though he never tried to stop Sadhura and Tsuyoshi from behaving shamelessly; after all they had no such commitment holding them back.
'Hikari,' she heard a smooth male voice say; she looked up to face the speaker even though she already knew who it was.
-------------------------Flashback------------------------
Another day passed like every other day in Hikari's life; spent hiding from her father. When she wasn't with him or near him nobody could quash her spirit; at home away from prying eyes she spent the day as her uncle put it 'in the mind of a boy'; she preferred to use the word free. She was free from the restricting dresses, the manners, the sewing, and the confining life-style of a lady. Instead she wore trousers like a boy, climbed trees like a boy, stole her brothers' archery and swords and sparred like a boy, her hunger for adventure was insatiable. She didn't dislike the dresses or the balls she just hated it's accompaniment of aristocratic society, she was definitely a girl only her spirit hadn't been squashed with a corset.
However just as she spent every day of her life avoiding him she had to spend those days avoiding her family. She had put up barriers for her own protection only to find that she had cut herself off from the world and was now alone; when she needed the help it was never there it was always on the other side with him, her 'father.'
Unfortunately she couldn't spend every day away from him and every day she spent with him she craved for death; only she had promised herself he wouldn't kill her spirit, only then would she lose; so she spent these days trying to persevere through hell.
Her father had hated her. He called her a slut, a bitch and a whore when she was only five; she never understood why. Only her mother knew; her mother didn't say anything after all she was the perfect wife, mute, she pretended to be oblivious like the rest of the world, not even her brothers knew; if they did perhaps the current situation would be different. She was pushed away from her father and his life and as a result was sectioned away from her family. She was always the subject of his verbal abuse and when it became physical she hid behind her mother's leg; she would always save her –until she was nine. Her mother became heavily pregnant with Sanosuke and eventually gave birth; she was so busy with the youngest she could no longer save Hikari from the insults and the constant beating from her 'father' she had to lock her self away from her life, she became a different person no one knew about, they had tried to care but never understood why she would always retreat away from their advances, their love. Needless to say as years flew by; they gave up and Hikari lost the bond she had with them; everyone became a stranger, all her love, passion and affection was devoted to her hobbies and nature. She became accustomed to the solitude that saved her from his wrath.
Hikari hit adolescence, her body changed and curved; she blossomed in to a young girl of extreme beauty. This didn't earn love from her father only more abuse; and rape. When he was alone with her he said she had to 'pay her own way' and he gave in to his temptation scarring the girl for life. Hikari hated herself, hated her beauty, if she was free from it then she wouldn't have to endure the suffering from her father; she, however, couldn't change the way she was made.
Her spirit survived his tortures although in some days you could see her eyes becoming hollow. The outside world who knew nothing, thought of her as rebellious tom boy who didn't deserve the life of a lady; her family barely remembered her at all, there only fleeting memory of her was, that she ran away from their arms as a child and that she locked herself away from them: they didn't know she had no other choice.
Celena had always suspected that he hit the girl; after all he knew of Dilandau and he knew this girl was Dilandau's child not his, he didn't know how it was possible just that it was. He had always complained about having a bastard girl living under his roof. Celena however never suspected the agonizing rape she would have to go through as well; no one knew that she had lost her innocence as a child, until recently.
The memory was still fresh in all of their minds, only five weeks had passed. Only five weeks when her father came home in a drunken slur; something he never did. The alcohol dulled his senses and as he tried to rape the girl he forgot his usual custom of tying her up with a rope and gagging her mouth. This left Hikari able to fight back and able to scream in agony as he hit her with a broken bottle of wine for resisting. Hearing the commotion the family and Allen ran upstairs to witness the scene. The men lay back shocked to see Hikari naked and shivering in the corner blood covering her body and their father attempting to rape her. Celena however clutched her head in agony and screamed entering a fit leaving Dilandau in her wake. They were all shocked as they saw a mirror image of Hikari only male, trembling in fury at their father. They were too stunned to stop him from drawing the sword from Allen's sheath and running it through their fathers gut. The warrior then cradled his sobbing daughter protectively returning once more to his original form.
The boys all cried, in their eyes Hikari murdered their father. They didn't have a chance to form the love they formed with their father and so their love for him blinded them against her; especially the twins who were so fond of him. They also didn't know Hikari had gone through this nearly every day so they had thought this a one off situation and blamed it on the drink. Looking for someone to blame they saw now from their fathers prospective and saw her as a bastard girl living in their house who had the mordacity to kill their father for something that wasn't his fault; they couldn't blame Dilandau he was part of their mother who they loved whilst they never had a chance to love Hikari.
Celena and Allen however had now suspected that she was actually often raped by her father and slowly made sense of the situation; they had explained it to the eldest brother Yuhei, so he wouldn't behave rashly spoiling his chances as a knight. They decided to keep this a secret as this would spoil Hikari's chances at marriage. Celena, Allen and Yuhei now understood the situation did not hold it against her but there was till a slight inevitable hostility towards her from them as they had hardly a chance to form any love towards her like they did her late farther. The twins however hated Hikari with passion as they did not understand what had been going on; they needed someone to blame for the hurt inflicted on them by the loss of their father, Sanosuke, still naïve followed their suit as any child would.
Hikari, not joyed by the death but rather relieved took the time to rebuild her bonds with her family however this opportunity was quickly refused by the younger three of the brothers who now treated her as an enemy with in the family rather than the stranger she was before.
------------------------End of Flashback--------------------------
'Dilandau?' she said uncertainly swallowing the lump in her throat. 'Father.'
Owari
People review please ^.^
::sniffles:: so sad (not the story!) I've been forced to go to ANOTHER wedding; my parents have to big a social life ^.^ anyways I have to go get ready for the old aunts pulling my cheek saying they remember me when I was yey *points to certain length high*