Chapter 7 – The Big Day
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!!!!
It was here, it was finally here, the day they had all been waiting for. It was the moment that Hitomi had dreamed would never come. It was the day of her wedding… and she was more nervous than she had ever been in her life. She had woken up in the morning and freaked out. Luckily Milerna had anticipated it, because she had acted the same way on her wedding day, so she had been there with Merle and Celena for morale. They had succeeded in calming her down… after about an hour. Then Merle summoned a servant to get Hitomi some breakfast, because she wasn't allowed to leave the room. There was the tradition of the bride not being able to see the groom before the wedding, and of course you couldn't keep a king in one room for most of the day. When the servant came with the food, Hitomi was too nervous to eat, but they made her eat… at least some of it. Then they all pitched in to keep Hitomi busy for a few hours. After they had made Hitomi eat some lunch, Merle got another servant to run and get the dresses. Since everyone was looking forward to this, there were several servants outside the door, so 3 or 4 ran off to get the dresses. The servants were back in about 2 minutes. Merle and Celena took the dress, while other servants went to fetch makeup and hairpins, etc. Hitomi gladly got into the dress and shoes. Then a servant knocked on the door. Milerna opened it, got the makeup, and turned around smiling. Hitomi sat down and let Milerna and the others fix everything just right. After about 2 hours Hitomi was finally ready to go. Then they proceeded to get themselves ready… they were the bridesmaids after all. They sent one of the servants to make sure everyone was ready for the wedding, and to tell them that Hitomi was coming. While they were waiting, Merle, Celena, and Milerna got into their bridesmaid dresses. When the servant came back about 10 minutes later.
-"Miss Hitomi? Everyone is ready and waiting for you. We should get there soon."
-"Ok… Milerna, is it natural to feel this happy and scared at the same time?"
Milerna smiled at Hitomi and patted her on the shoulder.
-"Oh yes, it's quite normal. Actually I'd be very surprised if you didn't feel that way. Especially since you're marrying the king of Fanelia."
-"Ohhhh… all those people are going to judge me!"
-"Calm down Hitomi! Just look at Van and focus on him."
-'Alright…this is the happiest day of my life after all."
Milerna smiled and linked arms with Hitomi. Celena did the same on the other side and Merle followed behind. When they got to the doors of the main hall, they sent a servant in to tell them to start the music. Merle went in first, then Celena, then Milerna and finally it was Hitomi's turn.
As she walked towards the doors all of the servants in attendance wished her good luck. The doors opened wide and every eye was on Hitomi. Hitomi's gaze went to the front of the room where Milerna, Merle and Celena stood in almost-matching dresses. They smiled reassuringly at her and she smiled back. Then she turned her eyes to the center pedestal, where Van waited for her…
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Van turned to stare at the doors when they opened for the last time. Then Hitomi walked in. She looked absolutely breathtaking that Van had to force himself not to run forward and kiss her. He stood still staring at her, reveling in the moment that was the happiest of his life. She wore a beautiful white wedding dress that looked simple but was probably immensely complicated. The top of it was form fitting and then it flared out gently from the waist, the sleeves were long and flowing. There was a long train of about 3 feet and a long veil that had been attached to the circle of flowers that surrounded her hair. She was wearing very little makeup, just a bit of eye shadow, blush and lipstick. The top of the dress had small teardrop pearls sewn in a tasteful design of flowers. The bottom of the dress lacked decoration, but was layered. The first layer was a shining white silk and a pale white gauze draped over that, making Hitomi's gown look like it was made of white clouds. He absorbed all of this in only a few seconds and was content to watch Hitomi slowly make her towards him…
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Hitomi forced herself to breathe normally and to focus on Van. She could people in the audience whispering to each other and couldn't help but overhear them. She nearly sighed in relief; they were all saying how great the dress and the decorations looked. Once she heard this Hitomi decided to take a look at the decorations since they had been brought in specially. She took a deep breath and tore her eyes away from Van and turned them to the room. She had always thought this room beautiful in a quiet way, though now it was beautiful in a noticeable way. There were white cloth streamers that were draped around the top of the room, that were duplicating the way her dress was. There were also many bouquets of white roses and some sort of white and pale pink flowers that smelled beautiful but were like nothing Hitomi had ever seen before. There was a white cloth carpet that she was walking on that started at the door and had been draped attractively across the alter. As her eyes followed this path they came to rest again on Van and she found that she was very close to him now and she found that she couldn't tear her gaze away from him.