Dreams and Visions: Chapter 12

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.

~*~

            The reception was a merry event, with several toasts to the newlyweds, unusual gifts and the ritualistic tossing of the bouquet.  Millerna was one of the few women watching the catfight, but she was willing to call who caught the bouquet first. 

            Merle, Hikari and Eliana were in the front of the pack, elbow to elbow, jockeying for the prime position in order to catch the bouquet.

            "One, two, three!" Hitomi counted, tossing the bouquet of white roses over her shoulder.  She laughed along with the others as war broke out over who caught the bouquet, but when Hikari emerged with it unscathed there was no disputing who had grabbed it in mid air.

            Hikari held it up to the applause, making a goofy bow as she did so.

            "Excellent catch."

            Hikari turned around and grinned.  Chid smiled back at her.  "Oh, it wasn't that wonderful.  I was lucky."

            "And ruthless."

            "Sometimes one must be ruthless in order to achieve their goals."

            "I suppose.  So, I guess that means that you're next to be married."

            "Something like that," Hikari answered with a chuckle, rolling her eyes.

            "Ah, I see.  It's a tender subject for you.  Perhaps you need a change of pace.  May I have this dance?"

            Hikari shrugged.  "Why not?"  She placed the bouquet on a nearby table and walked out onto the dance floor with Chid.  Gaddes was dancing with Celena, Allen had grabbed Eries, Dryden and Millerna were twirling about, Eliana was trying to convince her brother to join her and Van and Hitomi danced in the center, blissfully unaware of anything around them.

            They did a two-step around the floor, careful to avoid many near-collisions with any of the other couples.  "I didn't know that you danced so well," Chid said, leaning in closer so he could be heard over the music.

            "I took lessons when I was a young girl.  I never thought that I'd actually have to use them though!" Hikari laughed.

            "Have I told you how wonderful you look today?"

            "Erm-"

            "Because you look absolutely stunning.  Any man would have to consider himself lucky to have you on his arm tonight."

            "So, do you feel lucky?"

            "I feel truly blessed to be able to dance with such a beautiful, smart, and charming young woman such as yourself."

            Hikari's cheeks became tinged red and she quickly adverted her eyes.  "It seems as though your cousin doesn't like dancing," she said, changing the subject.

            Chid turned so he could see Kaiden.  "Hm, yes.  Kaiden knows how to dance, goodness knows that anyone born into a royal position is supposed to take the lessons, but it seems as though he'd rather be else where."

            "Would you mind dancing with Eliana for a bit?  I want to see if I can get Kaiden out onto the dance floor."

            Chid was taken aback.  "You actually want to dance . . . with Kaiden?"

            "Don't sound so shocked.  Besides, we agree that he needs to join the party."

            "I suppose."

            "Good.  Then let's go this way."

            The pair danced toward Eliana and Kaiden, who were currently standing against the ballroom wall.

            "Well now, why aren't you dancing?" Chid asked as merrily as he could.  He didn't want to show his displeasure at being tossed aside by Hikari.

            "Kaiden refuses," Eliana answered.

            "That's too bad," Hikari said, breaking free from Chid's tightened grip.  "Come Kaiden.  We're going to dance."

            "We're going to what?"

            "You heard me."  She pulled him onto the dance floor and placed his right hand on her waist and took his left with her right.  "Okay, this is a waltz so we have-"

            "I know how to waltz," Kaiden grumbled as he started to lead.

            "You're a very good dancer."

            "I had lessons when I was younger.  Mother insisted."

            "Good for her."

            "Of course.  How did I know that you were going to side with her?"

            "Because we're women that's what we do."

            "I've noticed."

            "So why didn't you want to dance?"

            "There wasn't anyone worth dancing with."

            "I don't think that it would have killed you to dance with Eliana."

            "She's my sister."

            "All the more reason for you to at least dance with her once."

            "Besides, she doing fine with Chid.  So why are you dancing with me?"

            "I'm a firm believer that the more, the merrier.  Since you two weren't joining in on the fun I thought that you needed to be given a little push."

            "Well you're certainly good at pushing."

            "Funny."

            "I would have thought that you'd be avoiding me like the plague."

            "What makes you say that?"

            "We did walk down the aisle earlier and the fact that the last few days haven't exactly been pleasant for either of us."

            "I think we can put our problems aside for just one day.  It's not every day that my parents get married."

            "You're right there."

            "Of course I am."

            "Whoa now, don't start this again."

            "Start what again?"

            "That's exactly what I'm talking about."

            Hikari laughed and Kaiden rolled his eyes.

            Meanwhile, across the dance floor, Chid was doing everything humanly possible to keep from exploding.

            "Ouch!  Chid, you're squeezing my hand too tight!" Eliana squealed.

            "What, oh, sorry."

            "Chid, this way," Eliana said as she guided him out of the ballroom and on to one of the terraces.  She sat him down on one of the benches that faced the ballroom and stood in front of him.  "Now tell me what's bugging you."

            "Nothing," he replied, straining to look around her.

            She stepped to the side he was trying to peer around and placed her face level with his.  "Something is bothering you and I won't let you leave until you tell me what it is."

            "I'm fine Eliana."

            "No your not.  And what are looking at?"  She turned around and saw exactly what he was looking at.  Hikari and Kaiden were dancing and laughing, and it looked like they were genuinely getting along.  "Oh that."

            "It doesn't bother me," Chid lied quickly.

            "Sure it doesn't.  That's why you left Freid early.  Did you know that they walked down the aisle together?"

            "Well who walked with you?  It was supposed to be Kaiden."

            "True, true.  But then you, who were supposed to be escorting Hikari down the aisle, left on business and Kaiden was next in line.  Gaddes walked with me."

            "Oh."

            "Chid, you really care about her, and I think that you should at least tell her."

            "But she and Kaiden seem to be getting along just fine.  I don't know what to think or to do.  I want to tell her, but what if she doesn't feel that way?  Kaiden is closer to her age."

            "There's no way to find out except for telling her."

            Chid sighed.  "I wish it were that simple Eliana."

            "Hey, she's leaving Kaiden.  Now go talk to her.  You might just hear what you want," Eliana said gently.

            Noting that Kaiden was headed in the opposite direction, Chid hurried across the ballroom to find Hikari.  He found her in the gardens that attached to the ballroom.

            "Hello."
            Hikari, who had been sitting by a fountain, lazily skimming her fingers across the surface of the water, smiled benignly at him.  "Hello."

            "Were you successful?"

            "Oh yes."

            "Are you okay?"

            "Oh, just a little light headed."  Hikari stood up and walked over to Chid.  She looked deep into his eyes and smiled.  "You have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen.  Reminds me of a poem.  'Please don't hold my longing in a secret embrace because I'm just fine this way.  Your blue eyes, such beautiful foolishness.  Everything about you I believed was a miracle.  People board gondolas and float away; meeting and parting this short mid-summer.  Sadness and joy repeat.  Someday, this one time love will end, but you should save eternity for me.  A damp wind touches my cheek; everything is forgotten, completely destroyed.  Even this small part of myself and tomorrow.  I love you.  Please don't hold my longing in a secret embrace because I'm just fine this way.'"

            "That's a beautiful poem."

            "Yes, it is."

            "Are you sure that you're okay?"

            "I was just feeling a little suffocated.  That's all."

            "I was just checking."  Chid shrugged but was surprised when Hikari quickly embraced him.  She held on to him, gently swaying with the music that drifted out of the ballroom.  He put his arms around her, not wanting to let go.  "I love you," he mouthed into her hair.

            She sighed and her body became slightly limp.  She had fallen asleep in his arms.

            He gently scooped her up and carried her to her room.  He placed her on her bed, covered her with a blanket, and tiptoed out, leaving her to her dreams. 

~*~

^^  Aww, cute!  I was checking my reviews (I'm one of those strange authors who likes to see what other people are saying about my writing) and I saw that one of the readers said that the Kaiden X Hikari X Chid love triangle reminded them of the Van X Hitomi X Allen love triangle from the series.  Well, frankly it's supposed to.  Let's face it: Escaflowne wouldn't be Escaflowne without love triangles of some kind!  And while the movie downplayed the Van X Hitomi X Allen love triangle (huge spoiler) it is still there.  (Which of course causes problems for our rather over-emotional King.)

Now I realize that I used the English translation for "Aoi Hitomi" for the poem, and I thought that I worked, and the credits for the song go:

"Aoi Hitomi" music and lyrics by Kanno Yoko-san, performed by Sakamoto Maaya-san.

That's all cleared up so no one can blame me of copyright infringement.

Mercy_angel_09