Author: Katma (kawaiikatma@hotmail.com)
Summary: Hitomi's home, it's been eight years, but she still misses Van. What happens now?
Rating: PG-13 (some violence and romance, but nothing graphic ;-) )
Disclaimer: Hitomi and Van are not mine. I only wish they were. I'm only borrowing them so that I can mess with their lives. Please don't sue me!! I'm a college student (ie, NO money).
Yay! I'm back! I had to go on vacation to visit my gram, which was kinda sad (she's 91 and not doing so well), but happy in the fact that I had to sit in the car for sixteen hours each way and I got a LOT written! So expect quite a few updates in a short amount of time, because soon I will be going back to school, and there will be a real drought of updates. Stupid firewall. Anyway, on to the really interesting stuff. I gather the .htm fixed the problem, which is really happy. And this chapter is INCREDIBLY different from the original. I hope you guys like this one better. And, finally, the chanting that appears somewhere in this chapter? If you want to know what it sounds like, imagine the Hymn of the Fayth from Final Fantasy X. If you haven't played it, and are still really curious, email me at kawaiikatma@hotmail.com and I'll send you the mp3. Thanks for reading the rant, and please enjoy!
Kat
Chapter 3
Anger
"And that's a wrap. Good job, people," the director called. Hitomi irritably shoved back her styled bangs and quickly detached the microphone from her business-like navy suit. If she hurried, she could probably get out of here before Yamoto caught her. Anyway, she had to work on the story she was going to Kyoto to film. She grabbed her briefcase, waved to the desk clerk, and hurried to the door.
"Kanzaki! Where are you going in such a hurry?" a jovial voice called.
"Yamoto-san," Hitomi said lifelessly.
"Why don't you come with me and we'll have some lunch, Kanzaki?"
"No, Yamoto-san. I have to go work on my story. I'll talk to you later."
"Work, work, work. That's all you ever do! A pretty girl like you should be married by now. But don't worry. I won't hold it against you. Come out and we'll have some fun."
Hitomi stared at him, anger building inside her until she could barely control it. How dare he say such things to her? How dare he? Her clear green eyes clouded and narrowed, an obvious danger signal. Yamoto, however, missed it completely.
"Well, Kanzaki? Are you ready to go? Come on, live a little!"
"No," Hitomi hissed, her eyes shooting daggers. "No, I won't. I wouldn't go out with you, ever. Even if you were the last man on Earth."
"Come on, Kanzaki. Quit kidding around and let's get moving." He reached out and grabbed her arm.
"No!" Hitomi said, yanking her arm away. Her voice was getting steadily and steadily louder. She knew she was making a scene, but she couldn't help herself. "I won't go out with you. Not now, not ever. Nothing could induce me to do so. You are an arrogant pig. Now let me leave in peace!"
With that, Hitomi stormed out the door, ignoring Yamoto's angry, red face and the crowd of interested bystanders who had gathered to watch the scene. Her anger carried her down the street and to her small house. She slammed her door and raced up the stairs, still fuming. How dare that man try to do that to her? He was simply awful!
Hitomi quickly changed into her running clothes and ran back outside. She needed to run, to work off this excess energy that still filled her. Only in running could she escape. The houses practically flew by her today. Hitomi lifter her face and let the wind sweep away her anger. She felt like she could fly when she ran like this, her body free and moving almost without her control. Flying…Van…Hitomi firmly pushed that thought to the back of her mind. She wouldn't think of anything. Not now, not when she could revel in the feeling of being free.
Hitomi ran until she could run no longer. There was so much going on in her life right now. The conversation with Yukari had dredged up feelings Hitomi had tried hard to repress for the last five years. Within a day, she had gone from actively not thinking of Van to obsessing over him again. Hitomi sank on to a park bench about a mile from her apartment to rest before returning. She allowed a dreamy smile to cross her face as she remembered the brief mental picture she had gotten of Van when she had contacted him. Age had only improved his already handsome features…
"No!" Hitomi barked aloud, startling a few birds around her into flight. She shook her head violently to dispel that line of thinking. She couldn't do this. Yukari's question about a husband and family had brought up other painful memories. Hitomi's mother's disappointment every time Hitomi returned home for family celebrations was permanently etched in her subconscious. Whenever her mother looked at her like that, Hitomi felt that she had failed in her duties as a daughter. It hurt, deeply.
Which is probably, Hitomi mused wryly, why I got so upset at Yamoto-san today. His words echoed too closely what I feel, deep inside. He certainly didn't deserve that, even if he is a jerk. I guess I'll have to apologize tomorrow. Hopefully, he won't be too mad at me. With that resolved, Hitomi stood up and prepared to return home.
Much later, an exhausted but satisfied Hitomi readied herself for bed. As she sank into the soft welcome of her sheets, she sighed. It had been a thoroughly stressful day. She could only hope tomorrow would be better. As her eyes shut, Hitomi fell into a restful slumber. Unfortunately, that was not to last for long.
Visions had not bothered Hitomi since she had left Fanelia almost eight years ago, but now they returned with a vengeance. She saw fire and heard screams. A myriad of images played, one after the other. Each passed so quickly she only got a general picture of death and destruction. Then, a picture whirled directly in front of her. Hitomi could see herself standing there, watching this huge picture as it unfolded like a movie. She saw Van, fighting desperately. Out of the shadows crept an old woman. Her slight, hunched form was surrounded by black, pulsing energy shot with gold. She approached Van slowly, cupping something almost reverently in her gnarled hands. Hitomi's dream-self strained for a glimpse. It appeared to be… an energist? Van quickly dispatched the last of his enemies and turned to face the old crone. The woman said something triumphantly to Van, who looked puzzled. He was in a half fighting stance, obviously reluctant to either attack this strange enemy or to completely let down his guard.
The old woman then raised a fist in the air. Clenched inside it was, indeed, an energist. But this energist was unlike any Hitomi had ever seen. Instead of glowing a warm rose, the energist pulsed with the same black-gold that surrounded the witch. Suddenly, figures emerged from the chaos of the battleground. Their faces were pale and their eyes were cold and dead. Soulless. Hitomi felt a cold finger of fear trace up her spine. This was not good.
The figures began to chant, and the energist pulsed with the rhythm. Hitomi became aware of something flying quickly closer and closer. Events suddenly sped up. The figure crashed to a halt in front of the woman. It was Escaflowne, but black as it had been after Van's disastrous fight with Dilandu in the last war, when Hitomi had had to pull him out from the realm of the dead. She saw a fleeting glimpse of Van's face, drawn tight with terror. A hissed word, "Die," and then…
Hitomi had seen many pictures of the effects of the atomic bomb. As a prep student she had studied that period of Japanese history extensively. Her parents had even taken her brother and her to Hiroshima once. Hitomi figured she had a pretty good idea of the destruction that could be wrought by weapons of mass destruction. That was nothing compared to this. In one brief flash, Escaflowne's eyes had gone red. Then, it exploded. Waves of blinding energy shot past, and where it touched, there was nothing. Pure emptiness.
Hitomi screamed, again and again, until she woke up. Her eyes flicked around the room frantically as she began to regain her bearings. The sheets were knotted around her and her nightgown stuck to her back, cold and clammy with sweat. Was it all just a dream? Or a vision? She wasn't sure, but she resolved to find out. She couldn't let Van die like that. There was nothing, however, she could do about it tonight. With a wry grimace, Hitomi lay back down. I promise, Van, that I'll do everything in my power to make sure that doesn't happen, Hitomi thought sleepily as she drifted into an uneasy slumber.
