A/N: Chapter eleven! What a pain.. No, not writing for you people, but getting over my writers block.. Oiii, I need a break! *wail* anywhoo, today I had a major squeal fest when I saw that I had 18 REVEIWS in my inbox! Hurrah! So, thank you to the people who reviewed and made my day! Now, onto the story.

Disclaimer: You know that I don't own it. So there.

ELEVEN

A loud scream, unearthly, sliced through the dungeon like a knife. It rang through the echoing stone hallways, and Hitomi sat up.

"What was that?" she asked. She ran forward to the bars. "Hey! What just happened?"

"The prisoner just died," said one of the guards. Hitomi sucked in her breath and put her knuckles to her lips.

"Van," she whispered. Chid came down the hallway, and looked up at Allen sadly.

"How could you have attacked a Zaibach guymelef?" he asked, but did not wait for an answer. He turned to make his way out of the dungeons, when Allen reached through the bars and grabbed Chid, pressing Merle's nail file to his throat. The guards all drew their swords.

"Let us out and take us to the prisoner," he said, "and your prince will come to no harm." Reluctantly, the guards unlocked the cell door.

"Let them all out, but do not touch us or the prince will die." Hitomi found this behavior odd, but maybe Allen had a plan in mind. Hitomi shakily made her way out of her cell, pushing roughly past the guards, and took off down the corridor at a run, to where Van had been held for questioning. She burst in the door, followed by Millerna, Allen, Merle, Dryden and Cinderella. Plaktu had pressed himself against a wall and was raising an arm up, as if to ward away Van.

"Him! He's a monster," he said shakily, pointing at Van. Millerna tore open Van's shirt and pressed her ear to his chest.

"Nothing," she said, and then began to pump furiously at his heart with the heel of her hands.

"Let me try," Hitomi said, as it seemed to be exhausting the princess. She straddled Van and began to press rapidly against his chest.

"With your pulse!" Millerna cried, Hitomi felt the beating of her heart deep within her, and then transferred the energy from her body to his.

"Come on Van, dammit, breathe! You can't die on me," she said angrily, furiously pumping. "Please!" Minutes passed, and a foam of sweat began to slowly form on Hitomi. But she wouldn't give up- she couldn't give up! One, two, one, two, Hitomi thrust at Van's chest. Another minute passed, everybody looking on in anxiety, as Hitomi tried to save Van. Unnoticed by any, Plaktu slank out of the room. Van was still pressing Merle's nail file to Chid's throat, but the young prince looked concerned for Van's safety; Cinderella was clinging to her brother and both had tears in their eyes, Millerna was watching nervously and Merle was flitting in frenzied circles. Hitomi, however, didn't hear, didn't see any of this. All she saw was the cold and dead in Van's eyes.

"Live dammit!" she shrieked, pumping with renewed vigor. Long moments passed, and Hitomi was now sure that he was dead. But she kept pumping, even as Millerna tried to pry her away from the corpse.

"He's not dead!" Hitomi cried. "He's alive. Come on, Van, breathe!" She flailed about as Millerna and Cinderella roughly pulled her away. Hitomi slumped down, defeated. She was weak- Van had been wrong. She wasn't strong enough to save him. Hitomi was a failure. Hitomi gripped Van's cold hand, feeling frantically for life. There was none.

A single trail of silver made it's way down Hitomi's cheek and splashed lightly on Van's wrist. Hitomi sniffed, and the fingers interlocked in her own twitched. Van rolled over, coughing, and put his hand to his head. Suddenly, his eyes jerked open.

"The priest! Plaktu! He's a doppleganger!" he yelled frantically, looking around the dungeon. "Don't trust him! He was sent by Zaibach." Hitomi collapsed, almost sobbing with relief, Merle sniffed, Cinderella went lax, Millerna all out burst out into tears, Dryden wiped damp away from his eyes and Allen smiled, letting go of Chid.

"Thanks for the nail file, Merle," he said, tossing the file back to its owner, who caught it and slipped it back around her neck.

"Prince Chid?" asked Millerna, kneeling in front of the little boy. Hitomi was fussing over Van, who was struggling in vain.

"Yes?" he asked her, signaling to his guards to hold.

"Could you give us a chance? Would you allow us to prove that the priest Plaktu was a doppleganger?" she asked. Chid thought it over, and then nodded.

"Only because it's you, Auntie," he said. Millerna gave him a hug.

"Thank you, Chid," she said, patting him on the head. Chid gave his aunt a smile, and Millerna straightened up.

"Van, you're sure it was a doppelganger?" she asked him. Van nodded.

"Absolutely," she said, batting Hitomi's hand away as she fussed incessantly over him.

"We should get a move on, then," said Cinderella stoically, her arms crossed below her breasts. Allen gave a nod.

"Cinderella's right."

"Of course she's right," said Dryden. "She's my sister." Merle was scampering in circles, still, her tail in her mouth.

"Oooh, I hate dopplegangers," she muttered, stopping and sitting down. "I hate, hate, hate them." A loud smacking noise reverberated through the dungeon, and all turned to look at Hitomi and Van. Hitomi was standing imperiously over Van, her hands on her hips, glaring down at him. And Van was tenderly feeling a large, red imprint of a hand on his cheek, wincing. Dryden, Allen, Merle and Millerna erupted in laughter, whilst Cinderella looked amused.

"I guess we'd better get going, then," said Dryden, suddenly serious. Van stood, nodding.

"We need to find him."

.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

"How dare he? The insolent rodent," cursed the doppleganger, speeding through the woods to the shrine where he was supposed to meet Dilandau. "I will not die!" Little did the doppleganger know that at that moment he was speeding towards his fate.

,:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

Van shuddered, clasping his hands to his forehead.

"Van? Van, what's wrong?" Hitomi asked him, clinging to his arm. He began to shake violently and sweat.

"Somebody help me," Hitomi called out. "He's having a vision." Allen scampered along and took Van's other arm, and they helped him down the hallway and into a room where he could sit down. Hitomi guided him to a chair, and looked around hopelessly. Only she, Millerna, Allen and Van had been allowed out of the dungeon, their friends staying there in order to prove their word. Van slumped over, his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands, trembling uncontroably. His breathing was harsh and ragged, and sweat rolled down his face.

"Van? Van, you're okay," Hitomi told him, putting one hand on his back and taking his hand with her other. "You're alright." At the sound of Hitomi's voice, Van calmed down slightly, shaking less. Hitomi continued to talk softly to him and he calmed down a bit.

"Well?" Hitomi snapped at Allen. "Aren't you going to make yourself useful? Get some water for him, or something."

"OH," jumped Allen, dashing off. Van was only trembling below Hitomi's hands, and the young queen rocked him back and forth a bit, waiting for his vision to pass.

"Hitomi?" Van choked out, turning to look at her, still shaking. She brushed a wet strand of hair out of his face.

"What did you see?" she asked. He closed his reddish eyes, pain flickering across his features, but opened them again and looked at Hitomi.

"The doppleganger. Hopping through the trees, towards a shrine, on top of which was burning a black fire. It reached out to grab the doppleganger, and sucked it in, squeezing it to death. It shrieked, and then.." Van made a violent gesture with his hands, then buried his face in his fingers. Hitomi looked at him with pity.

"I'm sorry," she said quietly, wrapping her arms around him in a comforting embrace. Allen came into the room, and then stopped, nearly dropping the glass of water. Hitomi shook her head no, and carefully pulled away from Van.

"Does this mean he's dead?" she asked.

"Probably," Van replied. A spark of an idea lit in Hitomi's mind.

"Allen," she said, her tone strange. "Go check Plaktu's room- the one on the air ship," she commanded. Allen looked confused, but did as he was told.

"What'd you do that for?" Van asked, regaining his normal, slightly clueless composure.

"If the priest really was a doppleganger, then there has to be a corpse of Plaktu. And what if Plaktu was left where he was killed?" Van looked confused for a moment, and then his eyes lit with sudden understanding.

"Aha!" he said, giving Hitomi a grin that melted her heart like butter.

.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

"You shouldn't have killed him," Folken said, adopting an angry pose and glaring at Dilandau. "Dornkirk said."

"Dornkirk this, Dornkirk that, yadda yadda yadda!" drawled Dilandau, putting his hands on his hips and looking at the ceiling, a strand of his silvery hair falling into his face. "What are you," he asked, looking to the floor, closing his eyes with a small smile. "His lap dog?" Folken glared at Dilandau.

"If it weren't for Dornkirk, you'd be dead right now."

"OH, sure," laughed Dilandau, holding out one of his hands in a questioning position. "If it weren't for him, I wouldn't have been tortured. If it weren't for him, I wouldn't hear the voices in my head."

"If it weren't for him, you wouldn't have your Elmo," offered Folken.

"True," admitted Dilandau. "I still say he doesn't know what he's talking about, though," Dilandau said. Folken turned, his cape swishing (large yellow clown shoes just visible beneath the folds of black fabric) and stomped off to a consultation with Dornkirk again, a rant session about Dilandau's difficulty and why couldn't I just torch him like he did to my country? Dilandau glared at the large round screen and grabbed a remote control, turning it on. Immediately, the sounds of Sesame Street filled the room.

"Dilandau! I've told you to use your own holoscreen a thousand times!" he yelled, and then hit the remote again.

"What now?" yawned Dornkirk.

"Dilandau's an idiot."

"I know. But, he is necessary for the growth of our beautiful country," Dornkirk wheezed.

"But still." an alarm bleeped within the Zaibach fortress, flashing red over the darkened hallways. "Shit."

"Is that what I think it is?" Dornkirk asked slowly.

"Yes. Fire alarm. We have a major situation on our hands," replied Folken, kneading at his teardrop tattoo.

"What is it?" asked Dornkirk.

"Dilandau's at it.. Again."

.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

The duke of Freid had returned, and given his son a large lecture which Van had not cared to stay awake for. He now had some lovely bruises from his dear friend Cinderella, and Hitomi was currently tending to them.

"Ouch! Dammit, Hitomi, be careful!" he said as she pressed a cold pack to his left wrist where there was a particularly ugly bruise in the shape of a cow.

" If you weren't so stupid and didn't always get on her nerves maybe she wouldn't beat you open as much as she does." Hitomi replied.

"I didn't do anything! Whether I sleep or not shouldn't matter to her. Shit! That hurt!"

"Van, you have to be respectful here," replied Hitomi. "You could be hanged, or slaughtered,"

"Or burnt to a crisp, I know!" he said. "But why do they even care?" he asked, scrutinizing Hitomi.

"Do you like it when people sleep when you're being serious?" she asked, and let go of his wrist. "There. All done."

Van looked at Hitomi, and then to the bruises on his arms, and decided that they were definitely looking better.

"No," he finally said after an extended period of time.

"Glad that you've come to your senses," said Hitomi, helping Van up. "Now, I have a favor to ask of you."

"Depends," said Van casually, putting his hands behind his head.

"Will you teach me that magic that you use? To see the invisible enemies?" she asked hopefully. Van let his hands fall, and turned to look at her, cocking his head.

"I guess." he said.

"Great," Hitomi replied, and led Van into a large courtyard, where Merle was filing her nails to deadly, razor sharp points.

"Merle, could Lady Hitomi have your help?" Van asked. Merle blew the dust off her claws.

"Sure!" she meowed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Hide in the bushes," commanded Hitomi, and closed her eyes. Merle gave a small yowl, and scampered away.

"Hitomi, I'm going to take your pendant off, okay?" Van asked quietly. Hitomi nodded, but still stiffened at the brushing of his fingers against the back of her neck. Van felt his heart break inside, and vowed to massacre the guard that had made her the way she was. She still hadn't told him exactly what had happened, even though it had been nearly a week. But, in a way, Van really didn't want to know. Van turned the necklace and let the pendant run down the chain until it hit the clasp. He then placed it in Hitomi's fingers.

"I want you to picture Merle," he said, almost totally serious. In a way, he found this situation rather comical, but, what the hell. "The psychotic yowling, the orange ears, the really poofy tail."

"You're not helping," said Hitomi. Van sighed.

"Okay. I want you to picture her. As soon as you get a clear mental image of her, I want you to concentrate with all your might on it. Seek her with your mind." Van trailed off and watched Hitomi, using this time to study her features. Thick, dark lashes resting gently against her cheek, clear, pure skin, deep, plus, sensual pink lips. Van mentally smacked himself. No, no, no. You're not thinking about Hitomi that way. But, somehow, he managed to ignore that voice in him that had always told him to stay away from the really pretty ones....

"I can't do it!" yelled Hitomi in frustration, jerking her eyes suddenly open and stomping.

"Relax. You will," said Van. "Try again." And Hitomi did, indeed try again, but to no avail. Van munched on his lower lip.

"Like this," he said, taking the pendant from Hitomi, their fingers blushing slightly. He held the pendulum in front of him, stiff as a statue, but it did not swing. Van plunked the pendant with his index finger, but it did nothing.

"Hang on," Van said, to Hitomi, shoving the necklace back into her palm and dashing off to the bushes where Merle had supposedly been hiding. It was just as Van suspected- no Merle.

"She ditched us," Van called, hopping out of the bushes.

"Ditched?" asked Hitomi, slightly puzzled. "What is that?"

"Uh. left. Looks like you're going to have to find me. Close your eyes and count to twenty." In an ironic way, this was like a twisted form of hide and go seek.. Van silently crept into the bushes, and then dashed half the perimeter of the circular courtyard, to a small gap in the bushes where he could see Hitomi and the pendant clearly.

"Eighteen, nineteen, twenty," she counted, and took in a deep breath. It had to work! Van willed the pendant to swing towards him with all his might. Slowly, but steadily, the pendant began to swing gently from side to side, like a clock pendulum. Then, it swung straight at him and stopped, rigid. Hitomi turned to face him. "Van?" she called, a bit of uncertainty about her. Van burst out of the bushes and ran over to Hitomi, hopping up and down.

"You did it! You did it! You found me without even trying!" he said, dancing in merry circles. "Zaibach won't stand a chance!" and right there, out of pure joy, he kissed her full on the lips, and then resumed his merry dance.

"Hurrah for the queen Hitomi!" he said, but she began to sway.

"Hitomi?" Van stopped mid fan-dance and caught the queen as she fell over backwards, rigid as a board with closed. "Hitomi, oh my god, are you all right?" he asked worriedly, dropping his yellow fans and cradling her in both arms. A smile began to tug at her lips, and she burst out laughing, her eyes opening.

"You fell for it!" she giggled, reaching up and twining her arms around his neck. "I can't believe it!"

"Yeah, well t wasn't exactly what I was expecting," Van laughed as well. His face lowered towards hers, and just as their lips were about to meet, he heard someone clear their throat loudly from behind them. Both jumped up, blushing red, and looking at the grass.

"Lady Hitomi? The duke requests your presence in the council chamber," said Cinderella with a crooked smile across her face. "You might want to wash your face before you go in, though. You're beet red." she gave a small laugh. "See you later Hitomi. Van," she added. Was it just Van's imagination or was that last part a bit. flirty? Van looked to Hitomi with a grin and raised eyebrows only to find that she was no longer blushing and was looking after Cinderella with an expression that Van couldn't read. He wondered what was up with the queen..

.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

A/N: DEAR GOD! That last chapter hated me very, very, very much. I'm serious! Gaaaah. It took me forever to write, and I'm very, very sorry if it's below everybody's expectations. Wow.. 106 reviews! I feel so loved. I'm so glad that we're close to the entire ispano sequence because I need a break! Believe it or not, I actually have been working (however slow it may seem that I am going.) I toiled and sweated and we got this lovely chapter. So, thank you very much to everybody who reviewed.

HUGGLES AND SMOOCHES OF THANKS TO:

Esca chick: yes, white out really will make you high. And sad stuff is easier to write.. At times. Anyway, it IS obnoxious when stories are all just mountains and mountains of pointless, pink fluff with no real plot- some are actually okay, but many aren't very well written. And, I updated. Yay! Aren't you proud of me? Oh, and I'm sorry ff.net cut off your review. I hate it when that happens.

Dariel: Hurrah for fluff! And, yes, shirtless Van= WAY HOT!!!!!! ^_____^ yes, there would be wrong with Van if something stupid he did not do. Hurrah for fluff! And, thanks SO SO much for sending the Esca gang to visit me whilst I was on the door of death. er. or at least sick. It really did cheer me up. LOL poor Allen. Gotta love torturing him.. Haahaaahaa! ^____^ can't wait for your next review.

Sakura: awkward situations are fun stuff!!!! Ha ha haaaa!

Feye Morgan: thanks! I do try.. *grin* your story is pretty good, too *cackle*. Anyway. I hope ff.net has behaved itself, yes yes. What did you think of this chappie? Crazy enough? And thanks for the tea tip- it really did help.

Naria: *salute* yes, cap'n! Will keep writing. And I'm THRILLED that you love my story. It really means a lot to me. Thanks a ton!

CraZKitty: wow. Lots, lots, lots of reviews. 17, if I counted correctly. Wow. Thanks for all the positive feedback- I really appreciated it. I hope you liked this chapter, too.

Princess Neptune: I've recovered.. Partially. And, I updated, so, yay. I hope you found this installment satisfactory ^______^

CinderellaxVan: I'm sorry ff.net wasn't cooperating. I'm glad you liked Cinderella and Van- I hope he "small incident that will soon escalate into a large incident" was good enough. And please refrain from beheading innocent bystanders.. ^___^ behead Allen instead!

Aeka-himme: last week ff.net was a pain. Gah. Death to ff.net! No, not really, because then there would be no fanfiction *sob!* and we'd all go mad. But, yeah. The guard was a jerk. I don't know why I put that in there.. Just did! For info about "Van" who I'm supposedly going to be hooked up with, read the final A/N. I'm glad that you understand about the writers block. this fic has it in for me. Ugh. A L S O, I'm really really glad that my fic is "so damn good." It really makes me very happy when I know that my death wish is loved.

Rina: thanks for the review. It made me feel very, very much better. School is a bitch. Teachers are terrible, too. At least, the ones that don't care about our fanfiction.

Youjibaracuda: this fic was inspired after I banged my head against a wall. Do not take it seriously. LOL! Anywhoo, I'm glad you like my twisted tale of insanity and Allen bashing. Thanks for reviewing- I can't wait to hear from you again. Oh, and, the soup really helped ^___^ ty!

Pink Cherry Blossom: very glad that you liked the other chapter. I hope Van's accident was enough.. Hitomi in hysterical tears flailing and fighting to get to his supposed corpse.. Gosh, that was morbid.

Fireangel: eek! No! don't be late for school! My story isn't worth that! I'm happy that you were happy at the last chapter. It was.. Erm. definitely and interesting thing to write. And as for the "fluffy puppies and rainbow ponies" comment, I was getting sick when I wrote that. So, yeah.

Asterix Lapine: wow! Well, I'm glad that you like the story. I think it hates me, but OH WELL. I'm glad it's one of your favorites. Yaay!

Final A/N: THANK GOD I FINALLY FINISHED THAT! I am so happy you guys reviewed, but I had to scroll through 35 emails to get that finished. Oi. Still not feeling that great, but I'm definitely recovering. Yay! VAN UPDATE: Still no news on him. I'm thinking of irritating my friend just to get him to introduce me to him, but I can't think up anything good to give him for doing so (he's a greedy hog, I swear!!!). If you want lots and lots of updates on how this crazy story is going, visit my bloc. I have the URL on my bio, hurrah! I feel like there's something that I have to say but I can't remember it! Oh well. I'm off to fill up 20 sticky notes with insightful statements on "The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman" for English, which is due during seventh block (1:00- 2:30) tomorrow. Yikes! She's trying to kill me, I swear! I actually think that this entire situation is slightly ironic- me. disliking my English teacher but continuing my "creative writing." Oh, and I have happy good news. I got ungrounded, and I got a new computer! A g3 Mac!!! Yay! And my old computer is hooked up in my closet, so, hurrah! No files lost! Aren't you all so proud of my proactivity? O_o ANYWHOO. I'll let you all have your sanity back. PLEASE REVIEW! I work harder that way- no, really!