Chapter 6 – Preparations

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!!!!

Hitomi was so busy and so happy for the next while, looking forward to the wedding and everything else that she forgot all about the evil… almost. The mark on her arm still burned occasionally and then she couldn't help but think about it. But at the moment she was so ecstatic that even if the figure had showed up she probably wouldn't have cared. She was with Celena, Merle and Milerna, and they were all having dresses made. Hitomi was standing around in the middle of the room, surrounded by about 6 people who were working on her wedding dress. Milerna was sitting near the window in her half finished dress and cooling herself with a fan. Celena and Merle were sitting on stools, also in half finished dresses, but they were talking. It was now only two weeks until the wedding and wedding supplies and decorations were coming from all over Gaia. Hitomi looked down at the dress and sighed in happiness. This dress was the one Hitomi had seen on the first day she had been back. The dress makers and maids had noticed how close Hitomi and Van had been getting, and had been hoping that he would ask her to marry him, so they had started a dress. Then Hitomi had gone home, but they had figured that she would be back, so they had kept it, all the while getting new ideas of how to make the dress look right. They had currently taken out any mirrors so that Hitomi couldn't see how she looked, well she could see how parts of it looked, but not the whole thing. The dressmakers stepped back and admired their work then nodded.

-"Ok Hitomi, you can rest now. Merle, Celena it's your turn! We'll let Milerna have a bit more of a rest."

-"Thank you."

-"Don't mention it Miss Milerna, I have 3 children of my own so I know how it feels."

Hitomi stepped of the stool, walked over to Milerna and gratefully sat down beside her.

-"I don't know how you stood that long Hitomi."

-"It didn't seem that long, how long was I up there?"

-"We all up there for about 2 hours, then we got down and you stayed up… so about 3 hours."

-"I just kept thinking about things and it felt like I was up there for 5 minutes… only my legs and back say I've been standing for 3."

About 15 minutes later Milerna got up to have her dress continued. In another couple of hours all of the bridesmaid dresses were complete and they were all different. The dressmakers looked at them all and shrugged.

-"Ok, you can go get something to eat. Merle, Celena, Milerna, you don't have to come back tomorrow unless you'd like to keep Hitomi company, but Hitomi you have to be back, right after breakfast. If we're lucky we'll get the dress finished by tomorrow afternoon."

 Hitomi suppressed a groan of dread, but only barely. They all got changed out of the dresses and into… their other regular dresses. Merle ran outside into the garden, while Celena just walked quickly. Milerna was still feeling quite nauseous so Hitomi was walking with her. Once outside everyone started to do something different. Milerna just rested, Merle was chasing something, Celena was sewing and Hitomi was just thinking.

'I really wish my mom had believed me… I never thought I would be at my wedding without her being here. Of course I also never thought that I would be marrying Van… I mean I know I dreamed about it, but I didn't think I'd ever actually come back here. I still wish she could be here. Maybe I'll bring her here one day. I would love it if she could meet everyone. Oh well, I have the feeling that she'll be here one day…'

Just then Hitomi's train of thought was broken was the nearby clash of swords. Everyone else just ignored it, especially Milerna who had fallen asleep. Hitomi, who didn't particularly feel like returning to that train of thought, got up to find the source of the noise. But as she got up, Milerna opened her eyes and looked at her.

-"Oh, sorry Milerna, I didn't mean to wake you up."

-"You didn't I was just resting. Can you help me up? I want to watch them fight it out too."

Hitomi walked over and helped her up, and then they both set off to a clear area of the garden, where they knew they'd be. When they got there, they found a shady area under a tree where they sat down. Allen and Van were both fighting, and neither was winning. Hitomi and Milerna watched for about 20 minutes before they lost interest and started talking. About half an hour after that a shadow fell over the two girls. They both looked up to see Van and Allen standing over them.

-"Uh uh Van, before you come anywhere near me you're taking a shower!"

-"You too Allen."

Van and Allen looked at each other and went off grumbling something about pushy women. Both Hitomi and Milerna burst out laughing. Then the bell rang to say that dinner was ready. They got up and made their way there. After dinner, Hitomi decided to go to sleep immediately. The next morning she got up, had breakfast and made her way to the sewing room, to find Merle already there.

-"What are you doing here Merle?"

-"Well I'm here to keep you company. I couldn't let you be bored all by yourself."

-"Thanks!"

Hitomi walked in and within 2 minutes was standing on the stool with the dress on, surrounded by dressmakers. She just sighed and hoped it would be over soon.

'It's all for the wedding, it's all for the wedding…I just have to remember that…'