Dreams and Visions: Chapter 21
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.
~*~
When Hikari woke up, the moonlight was streaming in through the open window. Noting that it was getting chilly, she wrapped herself in her blanket and went to shut it. Moonlight drenched the valley where Fanelia lie, making it seem surreal to the princess.
It was cooler than it had been, but the night was beautiful and she decided to climb up to the terrace once again to gaze at the stars. The night was clear so the stars were twinkling brightly in the sky, not like in Tokyo where the city lights prevented any stars from showing at night.
She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear and sighed. Her life had become more complicated since she had come to Gaea and suddenly she found herself wishing for high school and exams. But those were a thing of the past. She would just have to forget them and learn from her experiences here.
"Hello Hikari."
Her body tensed at the sound of Chid's voice. "Did you come to tell me how I've messed up my life by choosing Kaiden over you?"
Chid stood a few feet behind her, so that he wouldn't make her uncomfortable. "No, I didn't. I . . . uh . . . came to apologize, actually."
"Did you?"
"Listen, it wasn't my place to tell you who to marry. I thought that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you, but now I know that I can't."
"And why is that?"
"Do you remember how I left shortly before your parents' wedding?"
"Yes."
"Well, it was because I was being introduced to my fiancée. I wanted to deny that fact and so I chased you down. I wanted to be in control of my destiny. But now I know that sometimes I can't be in control."
"Oh?"
"Have you understood a word that I've said? I'm an engaged man and I still asked for your hand. Huh, I guess that means that I'm not much better than my father, right?"
"There's nothing wrong with following your heart," Hikari said quietly, "but sometimes you need to make sure that you're listening to your head as well."
"Do your head and heart agree?"
"Yes. They do. It took a while before they did, but eventually I reached the decision that Kaiden was the one for me."
"I don't know what my future holds for me. My fiancée is a wonderful woman, but sometimes I wonder if it will work."
"Love is funny Chid. It shows up in the most unexpected places."
"I guess that I'll have to trust you on that. Now go inside. It's colder than usual out here and I don't think that I could live with myself if I knew that you caught your death because you were speaking to me."
Hikari stood, still not looking at him since he had remained only a few feet behind her. "Very well. Good night, Chid."
"Good night Princess."
Hikari climbed back down to her room and crawled back into bed. Before she drifted off, she hoped that Chid and his fiancée would find the happiness that she and Kaiden had found.
~*~
A sharp rapping on the door woke her from a blissful sleep the next morning. Noting that the sun was shining brightly, she hid under her covers.
"Come on Hikari, it's time to wake up."
"Mom, can't I have half an hour more?"
"Five."
"Twenty five."
"Ten."
"Twenty."
"Fifteen."
"Fifteen."
"Twenty."
"Ten."
"Twenty five."
"Five."
"Half an hour."
"Deal," Hikari yawned as she rolled over, pulling the covers up to her chin.
"Oh no you don't!" Hitomi replied, walking over to her daughter's bed and ripping the covers off.
"Moooooom!" the princess yelled as she was hit with a blast of cool morning air.
"Upsie-daisy sleepy head!" Hitomi said, holding the blankets so Hikari wouldn't grab them back. "We have more company and I think that you should meet her."
Hikari's back was still facing Hitomi. "Who? Chid's fiancée?"
Hitomi blinked in surprise. "Er, actually yes. How did you know?"
"Chid told me last night when he apologized. Well, I guess I should meet the future Duchess of Fried."
"That's right. I want you downstairs for breakfast in ten minutes. Any later you're going to be in big trouble missy."
"Fine, fine," Hikari yawned as she rolled out of bed and shuffled to her wardrobe. "Now can I have a little privacy?"
Hitomi sighed. Teenagers. "Okay, if you must," she replied, rolling her eyes as she walked out, closing the door behind her.
Hikari faced her wardrobe and sighed. Going through the hangers she didn't see a dress that she wanted to wear. She stared at her wardrobe in disgust, until she saw it glinting in the morning sunlight from behind the other gowns.
It was a cherry red, vibrant and beautiful, and a simple cut. It had sleeves that just hung over the shoulder with a V-neck that had lace of the same color stretching from one strap to the other, concealing what little cleavage that Hikari would show. The skirt was almost a full circle skirt, and the dress was made entirely of satin.
Standing in front of her full-length mirror, she examined her reflection. It brought out the color of her eyes and set off her complexion nicely. What she liked before she put it on she absolutely loved after it was on. Rushing over to her vanity she rummaged around until she found a red satin ribbon with which she used to tie back her hair.
Feeling that she could face anyone, she went down to the dining room to have breakfast with the others. And meet Chid's mysterious new fiancée.
~*~
"Where is she?" Hitomi muttered. Hikari was late for breakfast, and at the moment it was looking very bad. She couldn't understand why her daughter couldn't have the decency to be on time for once.
Lady Indira looked around the table, unsure if etiquette rules were being broken or not. There was a Junin sitting at the table, along with a man that she assumed to be a soldier. Commoners and man-beasts at the same breakfast table as royalty! It was unheard of.
"Lord Van?" the Junin asked.
"Yes Merle?"
"Do you want me to go and see if she's okay? Maybe she decided to hang herself hang herself with her stockings."
"MERLE!" Van bellowed.
"Just a thought," Merle shrugged.
The sound of heels clicking on the flagstone hallway alerted the hungry mass that someone was approaching at a rapid speed. The doors were thrown open and Hikari stood, one hand against the doorjamb, doubled over and clutching a stitch in her side. "Sorry-" pant, "that I'm-" pant, "late. I was-" pant, pant, "caught up-" pant, "with something." Walking in to the room with a more dignified manner, she took her seat between Gaddes and Kaiden.
"Why Princess Hikari, you look beautiful this morning," Gaddes noted as she sat down.
"Thank you Gaddes," Hikari answered. "Good morning everyone."
"Good morning indeed!" Hitomi burst. "Where have you been?"
Hikari glanced at the clock on the wall and let out a nervous chuckle. "Erm, well, it's a rather funny story Mom."
"Try me," Hitomi muttered through gritted teeth.
"Well, I kinda didn't know what to wear."
"To breakfast! Why on earth would it take you twenty minutes to figure out what to wear?" Hitomi asked.
Millerna, who was sitting across the table, gave Hikari a sympathetic look. "Let me handle this. Hitomi, while some women don't care how they look, it's quite obvious that Hikari wanted to make an impression this morning. And I would certainly say that she's made an impression. That's a stunning gown."
Hikari blushed, but it could have been the red satin reflecting on her face just the same. "Thank you. I found it in the back of my closet."
"Ah, but that's where all of the best clothes come from," Millerna said, winking at Hikari.
Hitomi sighed. "Fine, I give up. But Hikari, you did keep us waiting for nearly ten minutes."
"Like I said, I'm really sorry. Now can we drop it and eat now?" As if on cue, her stomach growled much in the same way that Merle did when she was upset. "I'm hungry!"
Van chuckled, and then went to full out laughter. "Sure, if that's what you want."
"Thanks Dad!"
As breakfast was being served, Hikari looked around the table and immediately spotted Chid's fiancée. She was sitting next to him wearing an emerald green sari that suited her dark complexion.
"So," she said casually, "Chid, whom is the Lady sitting next to you?"
Chid looked up at Hikari, though avoiding her gaze. "This is my fiancée Lady Indira Gupta. She's going to be staying with me while I'm here."
"Oh, that's nice," Hikari replied. "Welcome to Fanelia Lady Indira. I hope you have a nice stay."
Lady Indira looked at Hikari. "Oh, yes, so do I."
There was a tense silence before Chid placed his fork and knife on the table and stood up. "Well, I have work to do this afternoon so I'm afraid that I must leave you now. I will see you at luncheon."
Hikari raised an eyebrow. Chid had to be about the only person who called it "luncheon" any more. "Okay, well, have fun"
Chid snorted. "Since when has work been fun?"
Hikari tapped her fork on her plate thoughtfully. "Since never, actually. Okay, well, be miserable then."
There were soft chuckles from around the table and Chid smiled. "I'll try to keep that in mind. Indira, you may join me if you wish. If not, you may bother my cousin to your heart's content."
Kaiden looked alarmed. "Hey, she's your fiancée, you look after her."
Chid shrugged. "Very well."
"If you get stressed, remember to take a break," Indira said as Chid walked out of the dining room.
Chid turned and smiled at her. "I will."
Hikari felt as though there was an electric charge running through the air. It was quite clear that there was a spark, a feeling, between Chid and Indira. Now all she needed to do was ignite the fire.
~*~
I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to take so long, but honestly, I've been suffering from writer's block and a lack of free time. I practically live at my place of employment, which means that when I'm not working, I'm at home, trying to catch up on sleep. Hopefully I'll get chapter 22 up soon, but I wouldn't count on it. School is starting up soon and that means that I'll have loads of homework (of course Tracy (my prof) is pretty cool about the whole homework thing) AND work so cranking out the chapters might take a while.
The good news is that there isn't much left to go, another ten chapters at the most and five at the least. ^.^ Sheesh, took me long enough, right?
That about wraps it up, so be good readers and review!
Mercy_Angel_09
