Dreams and Visions: Chapter 17
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.
~*~
It felt like a knife had been plunged into his heart and then twisted.
He stumbled backwards, not caring if he was seen or not. Kaiden didn't want to believe what he was seeing, but he knew perfectly well what it was. She was kissing Chid, and there was no restraint.
He picked himself up and ran as fast as he could to his room. He had to get away from the suffocating atmosphere. He has been sure that Hikari was in love with him. After all, she had gone all the way to the forest clearing just to see him, right? But then doubt started to cloud his mind. He sighed as he remembered her running off so that she could find Chid for the duel. The duel had been more important that he.
He reached his room and slammed the door as hard as he could. Then he leaned against it, sliding down so he sat on the floor. No, he didn't matter. It was obvious that Chid, the perfect gentleman, was going to get the girl. Chid always won.
Kaiden was oblivious to the tears streaming down his cheeks, but even if he had noticed, he wouldn't have cared. He remembered what his mother had said to him years ago, when he was still a child.
"Kaiden, there will come a time when you will chose a bride to become the next queen of Asturia. When that time comes, you will be allowed to select your own bride."
"But Mother, how will I know that I'm selecting the right bride for me?" he had asked Millerna.
"Oh, you'll know. Because once you find her, you won't want her to be around anybody but you. Kaiden, true love has a way of letting you know that you've found it. It's hard to explain, but I can tell you this. You'll know."
And now he knew. It was a strange feeling, thinking of waking up to find Hikari sleeping next to him, seeing her face across the table during meals, to find her sitting in the parlor, polishing a sword.
He snorted. Yes, she'd be polishing a sword, fixing a saddle, doing something that most queens would consider "unqueenly." But trivial things such a sewing or knitting were nothing to Hikari. Hikari was strong and independent. She didn't care what the others were doing. If she did something, she did it for her own reasons.
"What are you doing in there?"
"Go away Eliana!"
"No, I refuse! Mother wants to know why on Gaea you slammed the door. This castle doesn't even belong to you!"
"Shut up and get lost!"
"Mother! Kaiden told me to shut up!" Eliana screeched.
"Kaiden, I know that you're hurting-" Millerna started.
"But you can't know!"
"I saw it too," she answered softly.
Kaiden snapped to attention. He stood up and opened the door a crack. He peered through to see his sister near tears and his mother looking genuinely concerned. "I saw him kiss her. But sitting in your room all day and sulking about won't help to mend a broken heart. You'll just have to go and talk to her."
"Mother, I don't think that I could face her ever again."
"You say that now, but you really don't know. Kaiden, just go and talk to her. She might not have planned that. She's not the kind of girl who goes around seducing men. Chid's been in love with her from the start and she's certainly been charmed by him. But that's no reason for you just to give up on her. Remember, when you find the one, you'll know."
"Mother, I do know."
"There you have it! You just don't give up on true love because of some minor obstacle."
"Mother, I hardly consider Chid a 'minor obstacle.'"
"I realize that it will be difficult to face down your cousin for the hand of the beautiful Princess Hikari, but you have to do it. Think of everything that Hikari has done for you. She's changed you."
Kaiden sighed. He stood there, the door just open a crack, contemplating what his mother had said. Certainly she had changed him. Since they had first met, he found himself striving to be like her. She was selfless and kind, happy and cheerful, always wanting to explore and learn more. He had been the opposite. He had been selfish and mean, sour and rude, and he had decided that he already knew everything, so he didn't bother doing anything to increase his knowledge of the universe.
"That's what scares me."
"Heavens, you're afraid of changing?" Millerna gasped.
"It's scary. I've been the same for so long, but suddenly I meet this girl who throws me for a loop and all of a sudden I'm doing things that I would have never done before! Mother, if she hadn't come along, I would be a selfish king who didn't care about other people and would be so absorbed in my own affairs, I'd be dethroned by my people and Eliana would become queen of Asturia and then I'd be exiled to who knows where and I don't think that I could handle that! I want to be a good king, an excellent ruler of men, the kind of person that small children can look up to and admire. Hikari changed me all right, into the kind of person I should have always been."
"Does that mean that you're not going to give up on her?" Millerna asked.
"Of course I'm not going to give up on her. But I have to find a way around Chid. If there's one thing that I know for sure, it's that once he decides that he's going to have something, he gets it."
~*~
Hikari had been taken by surprise when Chid kissed her. Not that it wasn't a pleasant experience, but she didn't want to be kissing him. She wanted to be kissing Kaiden.
When Chid ended the kiss he looked lovingly into her eyes, but then slowly backed away, his eyes glistening with tears.
"You don't love me."
It sounded so simple for him to say that. To Hikari it had always been obvious that she wasn't in love with him. Charmed by him, yes, but in love? Never.
"I'm . . . sorry."
Chid's breathing had become deep and even, as though he was trying to calm down. "I could give you the world Hikari. I could give you things that you only imagine right now, and you're giving it up?"
Hikari was becoming frightened. She had never seen Chid or Allen become angry before. They had always been so laid back, so calm, so . . . not angry.
"Please, calm down!" Hikari hissed.
"I will not calm down! I could give you everything! I love you Hikari, I truly love you and I would do anything for you! But you shun me! You have no reason for this!"
"But I do have my reasons!" Hikari replied, two streams of hot tears coursing down her cheeks.
"Then tell me your reasons! Tell me and I won't be angry."
"But I can't tell you. You wouldn't understand!"
"Then I see no reason for you not to love me! I would give you the moon and the stars above! I would give your heart its most wanton desires! I would give your heart its deepest desire, your most secret desire! What you want, yearn for, what you would sell your soul for! I can give you everything!"
"You can't give me love Chid! You can't buy it nor can you force it on someone! Love doesn't work that way!"
"How do you know?"
"Because if you try to force someone to love you, then that person will grow to hate you. Much in the same fashion I would should you try to force me to love you. I'm sorry Chid. I can't love you."
"You can't. Well that's just fine and dandy for you maybe, but I really love you."
"And if you really love me, then you'll let me go."
"That I cannot do."
"I'm sorry Chid. It's the only way."
But Chid just stared at her. "No. It's not."
~*~
OMG! Talk about ripping his heart out and stomping on it! No, not really. She tried to be nice as she explained it to him, but let's face it. Chid has problems admitting that things aren't exactly going his way. Obviously there are a few more wrinkles to iron out, such as when Chid finally discovers the reason why Hikari isn't in love with him. The drama will certainly heighten there.
On a happier note, Hikari and Kaiden seem to be heading down the right path for love, but then again, the path of love in known to have detours. ^.~
Yes, yes, I know, this could be really long and drawn out (it probably will be) but look at this way, it something to do with all of that free time since the summer started.
Reminders: As always, R&R! I love to hear from ya! If you want to contact me privately, my e-mail is listed on my profile, and then write to me. I think that's about it.
Mercy_Angel_09
