Dreams and Visions: Chapter 16

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.

~*~

            Hikari wasn't sure what time it was, but judging from the wet grass under her and the chirping of the birds, she guessed it was fairly early.  She slowly opened her eyes and squinted into the light.  Her parents were nowhere to be seen, but there was one person waiting for her.

            "Good morning beautiful."

            She groaned.  "Chid, where am I?"

            "Somehow you wound up out side.  How did you manage that?"

            "I, uh, wait a second.  What's today?"

            "The day after your parents' wedding."

            "Oh my God!"

            "What?  What's wrong?  Are you hurt?  Are you sick?"

            "No, no.  I'm fine, I'm just confused."

            "As am I.  Where did this bag come from?"  Chid held up Hikari's canvas knapsack that held all of her new art supplies. 

            "I don't think that you'd believe me even if I told you.  Can we leave it at that?"

            Chid shrugged.  "If that's the way you fell, I don't see how it's my place to force you to tell me anything.  I was just asking in case you felt like telling me."

            "Thank you," Hikari replied, slowly coming to her feet.  "It was a long night."

            Chid nodded.  "I completely understand."

            Hikari sighed but said nothing.  But you can't know, she thought, there's no way that you can know or understand.

~*~

            She returned to her room, only to flop down on her bed in exaustion.  But she knew that she would not have much longer to just lie there in contemplation of her love life.  She had a feeling in her stomach that told her that Kaiden was looking for her, wanting to be near her, that he wouldn't wait long after waking to come and see her.

            She sat up and wandered over to her dressing table where she peeled off her jeans and tee shirt and sat covered by her purple satin robe.  She started to brush through her hair when there was a gentle tapping on her door.

            "Come in," she called, not quite sure whom to expect.

            "Hikari?" Kaiden asked, poking his head in.  "Can I talk to you?"

            Hikari continued to brush her hair.  "Sure."

            He came in and sat on the bed behind her.  "Well, um, I came to talk to you about last night."

            "What about it."

            "You left."

            Hikari paused.  "I what?"

            "With Chid.  You left the reception with him."

            "He merely escorted me to my room," Hikari replied.  "To make sure that I didn't fall asleep somewhere other than my bed."

            "Yeah, well, I guess what I'm trying to say is-"

            Hikari turned around and face him.  His face was flushed and he couldn't look her in the eye.

            "What I'm saying is that-"

            "What are you trying to say Kaiden?" Hikari asked.

            "I don't think that you and Chid belong together!" he blurted suddenly.

            Hikari was startled.  She didn't think that he would ever say anything like that to her.  "Uh, I don't know what to say," she answered slowly.

            Kaiden was now a deeper shade of red.  "Oh, I'm so sorry.  I have to leave now."  He bolted from her room under a cloud of shame and embarrassment.

~*~

            Millerna could tell that there was something seriously wrong with Kaiden.  He wasn't eating, he wasn't talking, he wasn't working on his sword technique, in fact he wasn't doing anything.  She walked up to him, gently placing her hand on his forehead.  "Well, no fever, so I can't say that you're sick."

            "Not physically," he mumbled.

            "Oh my dear, tell your mother what happened," Millerna cooed at her son as she took a seat on the bench next to him.

            Kaiden pulled away from her.  "No Mother.  I don't want to talk about it.  Especially now that you've started with the baby talk."

            He stood up and hulked away, leaving Millerna behind to contemplate the problem.

            "Is everything okay?"

            Millerna looked up at Dryden, who was watching his son's receding figure with mild interest.  "Oh, I'm just worried about Kaiden.  It seems as though he's developed a fondness for Hikari but he's not quite sure how to go about tell her.  He was terribly flustered by the fact that she left the reception last night with Chid."

            "In other words, he's in love but he feels like he can't tell her.  This is something that he'll just have to figure out on his own.  Kaiden is a smart boy.  He'll figure it out; just give him time.  In the meantime, stop mother henning and let the boy do what he thinks is right.  We can't live his life for him.  I realize that he will always be your little boy, but he is eighteen and that does mean that he's old enough to take care of himself," Dryden replied.

            Millerna bit her lip.  "I'm so worried about him though.  He's not eating!"

            "Any man can tell you that even food means nothing once you're in love.  Come on Millerna, go and find Eliana.  I'm sure that she'd like to do something with her mother," Dryden urged, pulling Millerna up from her seat.

            Millerna sighed.  "Fine, fine."

            Dryden kissed her cheek and sent her off, leaving him alone in the courtyard.  Looking toward the sky he smiled.  "Finally, he has a sense of duty and responsibility."

~*~

            The sound of footsteps racing down the hall alerted the servants to clear the way.  Hikari flew past them, leaving behind only a trail of dust and large rush of wind.  She had to find Kaiden.  She didn't care how long it took, just as long as she found him.

            She checked the paddocks, the practice rooms, his room, the kitchens, the gardens and the ballroom, but still he wasn't to be found.  Then she knew exactly where he was.

            Hikari mounted up and prayed that she still remembered where the pond was out in the Fanelian countryside.  She found the landmarks that she had committed to memory and sure enough she found Kaiden dangling his feet lazily into the cool clear waters of the pond.  "Hello Kaiden."

            He looked up at her but quickly looked away to hide the rising blush in his cheeks.  "Hello."

            "Why'd you come here all by yourself?"

            "I need to be alone."

            "Are you sure that you don't want any company?"

            "Yes.  Did my mother send you?"

            "No."

            "Oh.  In that case you may sit down."

            "Since when have I needed your permission to sit down?" Hikari asked.  "You know, I was going to stay even if you told me to get lost."

            Kaiden snorted.  "How did I know?"

            "Because you know me.  That's how."

            "So why aren't you with Chid?"

            "I don't know.  Because I'd rather be with you?"

            "Why?  I only make you miserable."

            "Yeah?  So?  What's life without a little agony?  I'll survive."

            "Don't you owe Chid a duel?"

            Hikari gasped.  "Damn!  You're right.  Sorry, I'd love to hang around with you but I gotta vamoose.  A promise is a promise and I can't break it!"

            Kaiden nodded sadly as he watched her quickly mount her horse and ride away as quickly as she could on the mountain trail.  Then he turned back to the water and sighed.  "I just wish that I were more important than that duel."

~*~

            Chid was sitting by a fountain, whistling softly to himself as he read over papers.  His sword rested by his side, glinting brightly in the early afternoon sun.

            He looked up when he heard the pounding of hooves coming towards him, but he didn't flinch as the horse came to an abrupt stop just inches from where he sat.  He grinned at Hikari, "My, aren't we in a bit of rush?"

            "Well, I just remembered that I owe you a duel.  So, what do you say?  Can we finally get this over and done with?" she replied.

            Chid stood up and bowed.  "Far be it from me to tell the lady of the manor what to do in her own home."

            Hikari smirked.  "And don't you forget it."  She unsheathed her sword and bowed to Chid.  "This is an honest duel, so no dirty tactics and no hitting below the belt."

            Chid nodded.  "Of course, I wouldn't dream of it."

            The pair walked around each other, neither attacking, with their swords out in a defensive position.  First Hikari lunged, but Chid was able to easily counter.  And that was the pattern.  One would lunge or thrust, while the other would defend, so that neither could say that they had gained the upper hand.

            "You're very good princess," Chid panted.  He had stripped from his regalia to just a pair of trousers, a shirt and his boots.  His hair had been pulled back at the nape of his neck so his ponytail swung dramatically behind him as he moved.

            "You're not to bad yourself," Hikari replied as she dodged his blade.

            They continued on for a few more minutes before Hikari found herself up against a wall, with no where to go.  In the blink of an eye, Chid had knocked her sword away and had her trapped against the wall.

            "You can't let your guard down for even a second," Chid said quietly.  There were just a few inches between their faces.  He leaned in so that his lips were gently caressing her ear.  "If you do, you might end up dead.  And my dear princess, we can't leave Fanelia without an heiress, can we?"

            Hikari shivered.  To feel his warm breath on her ear had an intoxicating effect on her.  She closed her eyes and began to take deep, steadying breaths of air, but she couldn't fight off the wave of dizziness that was starting to overcome her.  She swayed gently and Chid had her in his embrace before she could protest.

            "It would be a terrible burden for Fanelia to loose their princess, but I don't think that I could live without you," he said, holding her against his chest.  He placed a finger under her chin and moved her head so that she would look at his face.  He looked lovingly into her eyes and then kissed her.

            And that was how Kaiden found them.

~*~

Uh oh.  This smells like . . . one giant problem.  And a plot device to keep the story going and going, just like the Energizer Bunny.  Yup.  I'm just evil that way.  Because of the hardware problem, I was able to complete a few more chapters than usual and that means that . . . you're that much closer to the end!  Well, actually that depends on how long I want to make this drag out, but I hope that I'll end pretty soon.  I was thinking that it wasn't going to be much more than thirty or so pages, but that was twenty pages ago.  (This is with a twelve-point font in Microsoft Word.)  *Sigh.*  I know, I know, this seems to be taking forever and a day, but I swear, I'm working as fast as I can without blowing my brains out here. 

The usual after chapter comments apply, so be good readers (as most of you are) and write a review.  You guys rock.

Mercy_angel_09