Chapter 2 – New Discoveries

Disclaimer:  Me no own Escaflowne… Me REALLY wish I did, but then if I did, I would be writing a second a series and not a fanfic now wouldn't I? That and I would be very rich. I get no money from writing this, it's just to amuse people! YOU HOLD NOTHING AGAINST ME!!!!

After a few non-stop hours of chatting with Celena, Hitomi managed to learn pretty much everything that had happened since she had left Gaea. Hitomi stumbled down the corridor in hopes of finding the kitchen or at least a glass of water! Suddenly total weariness fell on Hitomi and she stumbled into the nearest room, collapsed on the bed and found herself totally asleep.

~~ Hitomi stumbled down a set of stairs and she desperately hoped to find a bottom to these steps, and she also hoped that ended sometime soon. The stairs ended abruptly and Hitomi found herself on her knees. She got up slowly and looked around. She found that there was a small amount of light in the room, but very little. She suddenly noticed a tall figure shrouded in shadows in the corner of the room. Hitomi couldn't tell if the figure was male or female, and the voice she then heard didn't give it away either.

-"Soon, you shall meet your fate soon. Don't expect to live too much longer Goddess Of Destiny. Your fate is tied to many others and you shall bring others to their doom."

The figure laughed menacingly and sent shivers up Hitomi's spine. Then the figure disappeared into the shadows and Hitomi felt herself being pulled away. ~~

Hitomi slowly became aware of the fact that she was lying on a bed. Hitomi willed her eyes to open and found that they were trying to stay shut. She forced herself to sit up and was about to get up when she found that someone was preventing her from getting up. She forced her eyes open and saw that Van was sitting beside her and had his hand on her arm to hold her down. She blinked at him, tired to say something and coughed instead. Van held out a glass of water and she took it gratefully and drank it down.

-"What happened?"

-"Well I found you here, and Rose told me that you were suffering from exhaustion, and the start of starvation."

-"Well, I haven't been getting much sleep and I haven't been eating much so I guess that's true. How long have I been out?"

-"About a day and a half, the party is in 2 hours."

-"What?"

Hitomi got a sudden burst of strength, got out of bed, and told Van to get the seamstresses to bring in the dress. (They had finished it before Hitomi had met Merle) Van complied and within a few minutes Hitomi was surround by about 6 servants, who were putting on the dress, and fixing hair, makeup, etc. Van decided that it would be much better if he just left, so he did. He went to his room, and found a whole bunch of servants waiting for him. He walked in and let the servants dress him for the party. After about an hour Van, was finally ready, and he left for Hitomi's room to get her. When he knocked on the door and went in, Hitomi was sitting on the bed, and Van was unable to see how she looked. A couple of minutes later the maid finished with Hitomi, curtsied to both of them and left. Then Hitomi turned around. Van could feel his mouth dropping open as he stared at her. Her hair had been curled and piled on top of her head, but a few stands on either side had been left down. She was wearing a beautiful emerald green dress that fit her perfectly. With the dress came the white gloves that went to her elbows and she had white shoes, though you really couldn't see them. Suddenly Van's mind took over and he found himself actually going to do what he came here for. He walked up to Hitomi and kissed her.

-"Watch the makeup Van."

-"I'm sure you don't mind that much, and besides it's perfect for something I'm about to say."

-"Really?"

-"Yes, Hitomi I know that you know this, but I've never actually told you, and that doesn't feel right so… I love you Hitomi."

Hitomi smiled and kissed him.

-"I've always known that Van, but you're right it is better to hear. I love you too Van."

Van kissed her again and then a small part of his mind urged him to do what he had really come here for.

-"Hitomi, I love you with all my heart, and I really can't think of my life without you anymore. Since you said you were going to stay here, I think that this is probably best," Van got down on one knee in front of Hitomi, "will you do me the honor of becoming my wife and my Queen, so that you can always be by my side?"

Hitomi felt tears of happiness spill from her eyes, and she dropped onto her knees and threw her eyes around Van's neck.

-"Yes! It would be the happiest day of my life to become your wife and the queen of Fanelia."

-"I'm glad."

Van smiled and kissed her, slipped the engagement ring on her finger and then called a maid to fix her makeup because it now had tear streaks through it. The maid came in and saw that Hitomi was crying and shot a glare at the king until she realized they were tears of happiness. The maid just shook her head, shooed the king outside and went to fix Hitomi's makeup. About 20 minutes later Hitomi came out, dry-eyed and absolutely glowing with happiness.

-"Well the party starts in 10 minutes, shall we go?"

-"Sure."

Van offered Hitomi his arm and she took it, then they set off down the corridors.

-"Well do you think we should tell everyone about this."

-"I'd say that it would be a good idea, probably because no one will miss this ring."

The ring had a large diamond on top of it, surrounded by emeralds, and the gold band was inlaid with diamonds as well.

-"This thing is so expensive looking!"

-"It was my mothers. It's been in the Fanelian family for a few generations now."

-"Thank you… and do you think that after the party I could go tell my parents. I promise I'll be back, whether I have to get my parents to disown me or whether they just let me go. I would find everyway to get back to you. I love you too much to leave you now."

Van smiled and kissed her.

-"Of course you can go."

Hitomi smiled and kissed Van again and then they both stopped in front of a huge pair of doors that led into the dance hall. He nodded at the guards and they opened the doors. Van and Hitomi walked in and walked up to the front of the room. Van stepped onto the pedestal and everyone turned to look at him.

-"Friends were here to celebrate the day when we beat Zaibach. I hope you all plan to enjoy yourselves. I just have a couple of announcements to make before we start the party. First of Hitomi is leaving tomorrow to say goodbye to her parents and then she is coming back, and that's a promise. The second is that Hitomi and I are engaged. Now, let the celebration begin!"

For a few moments everyone just stared at the couple, then Merle broke the spell by jumping forward and tackling Hitomi to the ground. Then one by one everyone stepped forward to congratulate them. Then the party started. When it finished several hours later, they were all exhausted and they all retired to their rooms. All except Hitomi and Van, who stood outside their rooms (which were side by side for the moment).

-"So you're going tomorrow?"

-"Yeah but I should be back in a couple of days at the most, I wont leave you again I promise."

-"I know."

Van and Hitomi and gave each other a hug and a kiss, then retired to their rooms. A few hours later at about 6 in the morning, Van was awoken by a bright flash of blue. He sat up just in time to see the blue transport beam, take Hitomi back to her world. He shook off bad feelings and reminded himself that Hitomi would be back in a couple of days.