Dreams and Visions: Chapter 6
By mercy_angel_09
Rating PG-13
Disclaimers: I don't own Escaflowne and I'm certainly not making any money off of this venture, so it'd be sort of pointless to sue me. (Besides, I'm a poor college student; you'd lose more money than you'd gain.) The creative geniuses behind EscaFlowne are Hajime Yatate and Shoji Kawamori, Sunrise, Bandai, and I'm sure a few other companies that I'm forgetting or have no idea about.
~*~
After a very lively dinner, Hikari climbed to the terrace just outside of her room. She sat down, gazing at the moon and the Earth, which hung in the sky. "What's gonna happen now?"
"Only time will tell," a familiar voice said.
Hikari turned to see Chid standing behind her. "Oh, hi."
"You sound enthusiastic," Chid chuckled.
"If you were suddenly plucked from what you knew and loved and thrown into a world that you only thought existed in the mind, you would be asking yourself the same question," Hikari sighed.
"Hikari, you're such a brave girl," Chid said, walking over to where she sat.
"I'm not a girl. I just turned seventeen."
"My, we are older than a girl. A young woman then."
"And just how old are you?" Hikari asked.
"I'm twenty-five."
Hikari blinked. 'Way too old for me,' she thought.
"So, do you have a boyfriend?"
Hikari looked at Chid. "What kind of question is that?"
"An honest one I thought."
"I guess so. To be honest, I didn't have many friends. So a boyfriend was absolutely out of the question."
"Such a pity that such a lovely young woman such as yourself doesn't have a boyfriend, or friends for that matter."
"I have friends, it's just that I never get to see them. My Aunt Yukari and Uncle Amano have a few kids of their own, but the closest to my age is two years my junior. As for school, well, I always felt as if I didn't belong."
"You belong here in Gaea. It's in your blood."
Hikari shifted. "Are you sure? I mean, my parents could have asked you to come out here to talk to me."
"No, of course not. I came of my own free will. You may find this surprising, but I find you a very interesting young lady."
"I guess if calling me a girl will save your breath, you might as well."
Chid smiled and Hikari felt her heart melt. "Well, then can I call you Hikari?"
"Sure, why not? I don't think that I'll ever get used to the whole princess thing."
"And you may call me Chid. I don't really care for titles either."
"Chid, such an unusual name."
"I can't say that Hikari is normal."
"Sure it is."
"And so is Chid. I think that covers that subject."
"I guess so. Uh, so what's going on downstairs? Are they planning something?"
"The formal marriage of your parents. That means big party for all of the royalty of Gaea. If I weren't coming here all ready, I would have been here in matter of days. You see I believe that our meeting was fated."
Hikari looked at Chid and winked at him. "Ah, but I don't believe in fate. I believe that your destiny is something that you control."
"And where did you get an idea like that?" Chid asked.
"My mother. You see, a person's destiny lies within their hands and the choices that they make shape their future. If you make a bad decision, then it will have consequences that will change your future."
"Have you made any bad decisions?" Chid asked.
"Not bad enough that my life is ruined because of them," Hikari answered. "What about you?"
"Well, I did give Zaibach the key to Atlantis, and I have to admit that wasn't the most brilliant thing that I've done," Chid sighed.
"But you were four and doing what your father wanted you to do," Hikari said, reaching over and grabbing Chid's hand.
Chid looked at the Fanelian princess with small, rueful smile. "But I know the truth now. There's no denying it."
Hikari looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean?" She pretended not to know, but the truth was that Hitomi had told her all about her trip to Gaea, but she made it sound like a fairy tale rather than a real life experience.
"My father wasn't the Duke of Freid, it was Allen."
"When did you find this out?"
"I was looking through my mother's things at her villa that Duke Freid had brought from Asturia for her. Listening to her music box, I pressed on the head of one of the figures and it revealed a secret compartment, which held her diary. A written confession of everything."
"That must have been hard on you."
"I have to be the only person who knows. I don't even think Allen knows."
"Maybe you should ask him."
"You're joking, right?"
"I'm serious. He knows more than you think."
"You mean he's always known that I was his son?"
"From the day you were born."
"And how did you know?"
"He confessed everything to my mother when he proposed to her."
"And your mother told you?"
"Chid, don't think that it was anything against you or Allen. It was my mother telling her restless daughter bedtime stories to get her to fall asleep. Until a few hours ago, I would have told you that Gaea was nothing more than a figment of my mother's imagination. But here I am, on Gaea, a princess, talking with the Duke of Freid. I can't deny that as much as I would like to."
"I guess you're right."
"Listen, I think that's enough talking for tonight. I'm tired and I really need to sleep on this whole ordeal. Good night, Chid."
"Good night Hikari."
Hikari climbed back down to her room, leaving Chid on the terrace alone. He sighed as he stared at the stars and the moons. "That girl is something else."
~*~
The next morning, Hikari woke up with a scream. "Oh God!"
Both Hitomi and Van were in her room in the blink of an eye, and found the girl breathing erratically.
"Hikari, it's okay," Hitomi said soothingly.
"Mom, I forgot where I was! It really scared me!"
"Shh. Don't worry, everything is okay."
"Of course everything is okay. Like I said, I just forgot where I was. But other than that, I'm fine."
"She seems fine to me," Van said, smiling fondly at his daughter.
Hikari climbed out of bed and looked down at her nightgown. "I think that I need some clothes."
Van nodded. "Don't worry about a thing. I took care of it. Your own personal wardrobe."
Hikari gasped when she saw the contents of the massive oak wardrobe from her bed. "Is all of that really for me?"
"Yup. And if it doesn't fit, we can have it tailored so it will," Van said. "You're the princess, and that's how you should dress."
Hikari rose and peered into the wardrobe, and let out a sigh. "Gowns? And only gowns?"
"Well, what would you like to wear?" Van asked.
Hikari shook her head and sighed. "Well, as long as I can get some pants for sparring, I'll be fine. I refuse to fence in," she gave a scathing glance at the gowns, "those."
"You speak of them like they bear the plague," Hitomi murmured.
"Mom, you try using a sword in a dress. It's not easy," Hikari protested.
Van nodded. "I'll have some trousers and shirts made up for you so you can spar in them. And she has a point Hitomi, dresses can be restricting on movement."
Hitomi raised an eyebrow. "You're not speaking from experience, are you?"
Van blushed. "No! I just listen to Celena and Merle whine when they have to work in the dresses. And remember, Millerna ran around in pants when you were here the first time."
"Right," Hitomi chuckled.
"Uh, can you please leave?" Hikari asked.
Van turned to face his daughter. "Why?"
She looked annoyed that she had to explain it. "I would like to get dressed, in private, if it wouldn't be too much trouble for you."
Van blushed and Hitomi snickered. "Erm, yeah."
Van and Hitomi left, leaving Hikari alone in her room. She pulled out a dress, and tossed it onto her bed. She sighed as she walked over to the window. "Man, I am not going to wear a dress all day. I can't stand wearing my school uniforms, what on earth makes them think that I'll like my gowns?" She leaned against the windowpane and let out another sigh.
"Lady Hikari?" a voice asked.
Hikari turned to see a servant standing in the door. "Yes?"
"Your father asked me to send these up to you. They should fit you he said."
Hikari watched the maid place a pair of pants and a shirt on the bed. "Oh, thank you."
"Anything for you, your highness."
Hikari nodded as the maid dismissed herself. "I'm never going to get used to this."
~*~
Hikari is like any other girl in her position, she just can't get used to the idea of being princess. She's an absolute tomboy, which obviously will cause some problems in the not to distant future.
Some of you must be asking by now, what about Millerna and Dryden? Don't worry, they'll appear in future chapters, there's no way I could forget my second favorite Escaflowne couple!
A reminder to my readers, if some parts seem really stupid or really lame, it's because the majority of this story was written pretty late at night and my brain wasn't exactly functioning properly. Just a warning. -_-;
Mercy_angel_09
