Man, this story just keeps wracking up the reviews! It makes me so happy and also inspires me to continue. Not like the review I just got for this other story...never mind. Anyway, here's the next part!
*****
In The Arms of The Angel
Part 5
*****
I have the sense to recognize that
I don't know how to let you go
every moment marked
with apparitions of your soul
I'm ever swiftly moving
trying to escape this desire
the yearning to be near you
I do what I have to do
-Sarah McLachlan Do What You Have To Do
"Hitomi?" the voice was unsure, coming from her room. Hitomi looked up, realizing that she had been working so hard on a new client's report that she had lost track of time. It was already ten at night. "Are you here?"
"Van! I'm right here, just a second." Hitomi smoothed a hand over her hair, hurriedly moving away from her computer and into her bedroom, where he was waiting for her.
"Hitomi, I thought I'd missed you." Van's voice was full of relief.
"No, I was just in the other room." Hitomi quirked her head at him as he moved to hug her. "Van, can I ask you something?"
"Anything." he answered, folding his arms around her and kissing her forehead.
"Well, some things have been bothering me..." she began. "Like, you're warm, but you don't have a heartbeat." Hitomi pressed her head to his chest to demonstrate what she meant.
"I'm dead." Van explained. "Of course I don't."
"Yeah, but that's not all." Hitomi pulled away a bit. "It's just...how come you only come at night, always at the same time, always in here? And how come I can't see you in the light?"
"I...don't really know." Van admitted. "I want to see you all the time, but I guess...since I'm dead...I don't know."
"But what about the light thing?" she asked.
"I guess I can just show you." he answered. Van left her side, moving to the door which was barely cracked open. He opened it further so that a broad band of light came through. "See what happens?" he moved his arm in the band and it became transparent. Hitomi gasped, moving forward and reaching for his arm, but her hand went right through the transparent apparition. "I think it's because I'm not real. Not really."
"But...if you aren't real, why do you feel real to me?" Hitomi closed the door, hugging him just to assure herself that he was still there. "And if you're real to me, why can't you always be real?"
"I don't really worry about it." Van told her, his voice shaky. "If you want me here, then I come as often as I'm allowed. And I guess...that's not a lot. Something has to be behind this. Something is keeping me here right now. But maybe it isn't powerful enough to do that all the time. I don't know."
"Van...I want you to come here." Hitomi led him to her bed. "Maybe...maybe if I want it enough, you'll be here when I wake up." There was a question behind her voice, and Van didn't know the answer.
"I want to be..." he answered. "I wish we could always be together...Hitomi?"
"Yes, Van?" she asked, pulling him down onto the bed so that she could cuddle against him.
"If...we were both alive and I was on Gaea...and so were you...and I asked you to be my queen, what would you have said?" he asked. "Would you have stayed with me? Would we have lived together?"
"Yes." Hitomi assured him. "I think, when I left, I was worried that you didn't really want me there. I thought that you offered for me to stay, but I wasn't sure if you really loved me the way I loved you. And when you gave me the choice, I thought you wanted me to leave."
"I was so stupid then." Van sighed, holding her close. "I should have claimed you as mine, and then maybe...Hitomi, what are you doing?" Van's eyes widened as he felt her fingers moving at his waist, working the ties free.
"If you're real...we should make sure." Hitomi kissed his neck heatedly. "If you're real, I'll feel it when you're with me...then maybe...maybe you'll stay with me."
"Hitomi, I don't...think." Van gasped as she achieved her goal, her hand slipping inside his loosened pants before working them off. "I don't know if...we should do this..."
"Why not, Van?" Hitomi asked him. "I love you and you love me, right? We should...prove it. Maybe then you can stay..."
"Hitomi...don't...please." Van pushed her fumbling hands away. "I don't think..."
"Van?" Hitomi stopped, tears forming in her eyes. "Don't you want to? Don't you want to be with me?"
"Hitomi, you're upset right now. I don't think we should do anything like that." Van told her, both hands on her shoulders. "It's not that I don't want to...I just don't want it to be like this." his voice caught with emotion. "Because...I don't think we can stay together."
"I...I know." Hitomi sighed, relaxing. "I just thought...Van, will you stay here with me? Until I fall asleep, I mean. Will you just...stay here and hold me?" she asked him, sniffling slightly.
"I'll stay." he told her, wrapping his arms around her as she replaced his pants. "I'll always stay with you, as long as I can."
"But how long will you be able to?" she asked, tears spilling down her cheeks. But this time, he was there to kiss them away. He didn't answer her question, though. He didn't know the answer, and he didn't want to lie to her. It was enough for Hitomi that he was there, though. She fell asleep in his arms, letting his warmth and his scent soak into her.
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"Do you realize how long it's been?" Hitomi asked Van as she dozed lightly in his arms. Ever since the first night they had slept together, he always joined her in bed. "Since you first came to me, I mean?"
"I've been visiting you for seventy-four days." Van told her. "As long as you count the nights where you didn't know I was there."
"Over two months." Hitomi sighed, brushing her fingers through his hair. "Two months where I've been...so happy...but I still..."
"I know, I know you want more from me." Van sighed. "I can't do anything about it, though. I'm here only for you. Isn't that enough?"
"Sometimes...but most of the time, I can't help but wish...one of these mornings maybe you'll be there when I wake up. How can I be sure you're really here if you always leave?" Hitomi asked him.
"Does this feel real to you?" Van pressed his lips to hers, kissing her softly. "And this?" he moved to her jawbone, placing warm kisses upon her pale skin.
"Yes, but I still..." Hitomi was silenced by another kiss, this one not as gentle as the first. She responded to his need, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him closer, moaning slightly into the kiss. Her breath caught as he continued to kiss her, moving down to her neck as his calloused hands moved shakily up her legs. "Van, I thought...you didn't want to..."
"I...I'll stop if you want." he told her, freezing in the midst of his motions. "I told you, I do want to. And if you do...we should at least be as close we can while we have this time." Hitomi considered his words before she moved a bit under him, lifting herself up to kiss him heatedly.
"You're right, Van." Hitomi pressed her lips to his chin. "I want this, whether we can stay together or not. Whatever happens, I want this forever."
"Maybe...this will be forever." he told her, moving over her as she responded in a dance older than time, her pendant glowing with all the love in the air.
*****
The End (Of Part 5, That Is)
Firefly: Look at me! I say I'll go faster, and then I slow down....grr...okay, well I'll let you in on a little secret. This story is soooo close to ending...oohohohoho!
Diamondchick: Um...here it is...though my hurrying obviously isn't very good...sniff...I'm sorry!
Emerald Mist: Well, this story is coming close to it's conclusion...and shall I say, something happening out of the blue? You'll see soon enough....
Cous-cous: Maybe, maybe...I'm glad you like the story and find it original, that's totally what I was going for.
Ah-Young: Oh, how I love you, oh very first reviewer of this story! You are great and you make me soooo happy! And that fake crying thing...gods, that was funny. Thanks for being such a great reviewer.
Calendar: So glad to see you like this one as well! Yay! *does happy dance* I may not be updating the other for awhile cause I got a mean review and it upset me a lot...something about how I don't take rape seriously enough and how I make it one big joke...sniffle...I don't, do I? Oh well. We'll just keep with this one for now, eh?
Agent Kodama: My heart swells with joy to see you reviewing not once but a record THREE TIMES!!! Oh, dood, did you hear that IY is going to be on Cartoon Network? I'm so happy I could squeal! Oh wait...I did...