The day had been a dream for her. Hitomi had been to Gaia before and everyone in Fanelia knew of her that was for certain. However, fear, visions, homesickness and the great riddle of fate had kept her from admiring the beauty all around her. Rhum had taken them back to the palace in the cart, where they had done little else but hold hands, laugh and share a babble of news. Afterwards, Meryl had joined them in a tearful reunion outside the castle before leaving Van to get cleaned up and taking Hitomi to her room. The young Earth girl had suggested that she help with the harvest but neither Van nor his feline foster sister would allow it. The king in question had excitedly rhymed off a list of things he wanted to show her and that they could do together.

So there she stood, dressed in a plain Fanelian tunic, she had insisted on wearing something she could move about in. Meryl fussed around the large room, sorting sheets, dusting and opening curtains. "I'm sorry Hitomi, but you really should have sent a message ahead telling us that you were coming." She cast a sarcastic sideways glance at the green-eyed girl. Hitomi smiled back. She couldn't help but admire the strangely beautiful young cat girl Meryl had grown into. Her peachy hair swung about her shoulders as she busied to and fro, and she had a good bit of height over Hitomi as it was. She smiled with a displaced sense of pride at her feline friend. But before she could indulge in nostalgia, Meryl jolted her from her thoughts by giving her a sharp nudge. "Well? Are you going to stand there all day? King Van is a busy man you know!" And with that she bounded out of the room on all fours. Hitomi rolled her eyes. Some things never change.

As she arrived in the stables as they had arranged, Hitomi breathed in the fresh Gaian air. She felt as though she'd really arrived home. For the first time in her life, she felt as though she belonged somewhere and she didn't miss the earth. It hadn't shown her much in the way of love since she'd returned the last time. It was empty cold and dull. Not like Van. Van was her lifeline into the light. His gentle power, his familiar warmth, his love was all she felt she would ever need. Stopping in her tracks, Hitomi timidly raised her head towards the sky, where she perceived God to exist and raised her clasped hands to her chin. "Thank you God for bringing me here, and I promise, no more tarot cards!" As though showing her God's approval, Van appeared in the doorway of the stables, his face glowing with excitement. "Are you ready?" His voice had deepened a few octaves, but still had the impatient exuberance to it. Hitomi nodded and joined him, cheekily taking his hand in hers before they left.

The afternoon was no different to her morning. Van had taken her on a horseback ride through the highly wooded Fanelian countryside. He had shown her the best viewpoints, the places where certain fruits and flowers grew, each beautiful in their own way. By late afternoon they had reached the top of the high granite cliffs that surrounded Fanelia and made her a great fortress. From there, the sun began to slip down into the clouds and slowly to its resting place. The Mystic Moon and its partner were now visible as ghostly images in the orange sky. The view was breathtaking. The sea glittered sparingly in the distance and was remarked by a sweeping area of dense woodland that stretched for miles. Fanelia's castle and settlements were nestled snug in the centre, dark and rich against all of the green. The castle basked in the dying light and the newly built structures enjoyed the laziness of a last minute public holiday.

Van's mare trotted back and forth slightly as he caught his breath. "Isn't it beautiful? I haven't been up here in a very long time." Hitomi smiled at the man who sat next to her. He was different now, but still the same and she knew what he was like under that Kingly exterior. In a move that surprised her a little, Van dismounted his horse and led it by the reins to a near by tree. He beckoned for her to follow suit.

Tying off her own chestnut horse's leads, Hitomi came to join him close to the edge. He was looking out nostalgically at the red lined clouds, drifting lazily through the evening sky. His face was painted softly in amber light, accentuating his maroon eyes. The strong face betrayed nothing of the struggles he had faced in his life and the smaller dark haired girl admired him for it. She loved Van with all her heart, but first and foremost he was her friend and she envied the burdens that he bore so bravely. If only she could be as courageous and strong, then maybe she could feel as though she deserved to be standing on that hillside with him. Turning to face her tenderly, Van began to unbuckle his cloak.

"Hitomi, there's something I've wanted to show you for the longest time" His voice was rough like bark but at the same time, smooth with youth. Hitomi nodded, she wouldn't deny Van anything. Standing only in his tunic, trousers and boots, Van strained against his shirt. It took the girl a few distressed moments to work out that he was trying to grow his wings. With a small popping noise and a flurry of soft white feathers, elegant swan like wings unfolded with angelic grace, blotting out everything in the young girl's sight. The sensation took her breath away. The angel stepped toward her and let his arms snake around her waist. Hitomi gasped a little but smiled as she felt herself being lifted from the ground. The wings sighed against the air as it rushed past them. The young woman looked up into the titled face of the man whose arms she was in and smiled. Perhaps he wasn't an angel. No, he wasn't. Van definitely had his dark side. He wasn't an angel, but he was her angel. She would settle for that any day. She snuggled against Van's warm chest and felt the tears begin to sting at her eyes. How often had she tried to conjure the memory of how it felt to be carried in those arms, and failed. But now she could feel his heartbeat, his body-heat, even his breathing as his wings beat the air around them. The tender heat radiating off his body was something she had wished for more vehemently than anything. Something as elemental as the breath in his lungs was like gold.

Suddenly an updraft caught them and pulled the pair higher. Hitomi grasped Van's shirt preciously, surprised by the cool air rushing past her cheeks. "Open your eyes" His voice was nothing more than a whisper in her ears, but it felt like an electric shock had passed through her. Slowly she let her eyes flutter open, the pressure of the air kept her blinking. Van was flying higher, faster, and more passionately than she had ever known. They spiralled upwards, raging towards the clouds, picking up speed, hurling like a bullet shot from a gun skywards. Like a triumphant crescendo they broke through the thick blanket of thick orange tinted clouds. The sun, like a giant fan sat in a clear semi-circle on top of a sublime coating of whipped cream. It stretched for miles, encompassing all. It was like a whole different plane of existence. Somewhere Van with his heavenly wings belonged preserved forever in this state of youth.

Once again Hitomi was aware that she was suspended miles above the surface of the planet, but she wasn't afraid. Van looked down at her. "What do you think?" Hitomi blinked feeling the tears once again burning the edges of her eyes. "Hitomi, are you alright?" The last thing he wanted to do was upset her! But she smiled a watery smile at him. "It's beautiful Van" His eyes softened with the realisation that she had been moved more than he had by the awe-inspiring sight.

Van ran a hand through his boisterous black hair and watched the auburn haired girl intently, as she was birled around and drawn back to her dancing partner's chest. Her smile lit the room. The dress she wore was one of his mother's. The russets and golds blended into a striking autumn array as she spun. She had picked up the Fanelian style of dance incredibly quickly and was enjoying the local music. Van himself was seated at the head of the procession. He proceeded to drink from his large ale tankard, while never taking his eager maroon eyes from her. Merle bounced in her seat along side him. She really enjoyed these formal banquets. But Fanelian Banquets were much less starchy than Asturian ones and required their attendants to place enjoyment over etiquette.

Van's hand automatically travelled to his mouth, wiping away the thin slither of beer sliding down his chin – all the while never taking his eyes away from the beauty before him. He had to admit, Hitomi was not a beautiful woman. She had never been the ideal his mind and heart had concocted for him. But after all the time he'd spent with her, he could never understand the compulsion in his heart to keep her in his sight. Everything about her had had him bewitched. She was so strange but so real and vibrant. She was infectious, fulfilling and delicious in her own way. Van had found something deeper and more terrifying than anything he had ever known in this girl. For four whole years she had done nothing but haunt him, like something mystical and ethereal; never to be touched but always there. He wasn't even sure now if she would let him to her. Were they more than friends? Were their personalities now more compatible? He wasn't sure.

A blue melancholy had devoured the young king and he felt the sudden need to leave the room. Today had been perfect, almost exactly as he had imagined it. He didn't want to ruin it by doing anything more. Taking one last look at the moussey-haired dancer before him, he left the room. Meryl's bouncing stopped as she realised that her King had gone. Spotting him leaving by the side door behind the ring of dancers, Meryl hopped on all fours after him.

Hitomi flopped down on the large four-poster bed that had been declared hers. Whether it was permanent or not, she wasn't sure. In fact she wasn't sure what was going to happen now. She had assumed that as soon as she had been reunited with Van they would live happily ever after, but she wasn't so sure. She'd been aware of his eyes on her all evening even when he refused to dance. She imagined he was a fighter not a dancer and left it at that. But someone else had kept a keen eye on her. She had met the woman named Lady Feliciana early after her meal and had felt a strange coldness from her. The woman was striking in every way, with long dark hair trailing on the ground behind her, thick, wavy and lustrous, and smouldering blue eyes, sharp and keen. Hitomi had felt more than little intimidated not only by the woman herself, but also by the restraint Van had shown towards her. He had waited so long for Hitomi to return all the while living with one of the most beautiful women on Gaia. He must really have felt something for her…or against Feliciana.

Hitomi rolled on to her side. He fingers danced over the thick brocade silk of her gown, coloured maroon colour by the blue moonlight. Vari's gown. It was just like its pervious owner; soft, beautiful and smelt of the clean familiarity of a mother. Hitomi snuggled closer to the length beneath her cheek. How Van must have missed his mother. After seeing her again in those visions after so many long years of forgetting, it must have brought deep felt anxieties and guilt to the surface. Hitomi had always thought about how she had felt during her time on Gaia, but her arrival had churned up so many strange events, she had never really stopped to consider how the others felt. Allen was forced to look at the past he'd tried to hide and deny. The pain of losing his sister and the shame of his past sins had been so clear to Hitomi from the beginning. He had seemed so strong and mature, so smart and experienced in the ways of the world and within himself that she had felt she could never match him. However it became painfully clear after their visit to the mystic valley that Allen never did have a grip on himself. He had never been able to control the man he was or wanted to be. Allen's heart beat in his chest like anyone else, he lusted and desired and couldn't control the outcomes that resulted. Not only Allen, but also everyone! Milerna was awash with her own bad thoughts. Dryden had his need for control, and Meryl with her unwavering devotion to Van. Hitomi's own insecurities heightened and brought all of these conflicting emotions into the fray. It was all so painful, so tragic, but none more so than Dilandau.

A shiver was set through Hitomi's very soul at the thought of him. She could honestly say that those cerise eyes had never been conjured in her memory before now. His lust for Van's blood was not only deep rooted, but also gave him a euphoria Hitomi couldn't even fathom. Van was the centre of his universe, his one reason for living; his mission and after he was gone, Dilandau would probably have ended his own life too. So sad…

Hitomi heard a small knock at her bedroom door. She stared blankly at it from her bed for a moment, debating whether she should open at the time of night or not. Finally she heaved herself in her long gown to the door. Opening the heavy oaken panel, she was startled to see Meryl looking distressed in the threshold. Her feline ears were pinned back sharply against her hair, displaying her natural reaction to trouble. Dark Prussian eyes jumped over Hitomi's face, as they filled up with fresh tears. Hitomi stretched her arms out for the cat girl.

"Meryl? Meryl what's wrong?" She asked, as the young cat took her gesture gratefully. She quivered in the embrace.

"It's Lord Van, he's crying again Hitomi!" She sobbed in that shivering tone of hers. The dark eyes of the cat tilted pleadingly up into Hitomi's own green ones. "But I've never seen him like this" Her eyes filled up again." You have to help him!"

Tugging Hitomi from the doorway, she begged her to go down the hallway. The young girl was apprehensive. She no idea from the happy façade the two had put on, that something like this had been happening. The thought in itself was confounding. She thought Van was incapable of tears. His strength had always prevailed. Whenever his own insecurities or nightmares as a warrior beat him down, shook him up or pushed him to the edge, he always found the strength to get back up to battle more. What had happened?

The pair stopped outside a grand door, Meryl whimpered weakly at the sound of a male scream from within the room. Hitomi pulled the feline close, as much for her own comfort as for Meryl's.

"Please Hitomi! Do something!" Again the pitiful blue eyes begged her.

Hitomi disentangled herself and stood pensively before the door. Knocking lightly, she knew she wouldn't get a reply. The sound of fabric being torn unnerved her as she turned the round ornate handle and pushed the heavy door inward. Meryl's hands tugged on her dress, pulling her inside, until her eyes adjusted to the dark of the room. The moans and grunts, yelps and whimpers were heart wrenching but terrifying at the same time. A pale form was writhing in the darkness; moving in short small bursts, rising and falling, convulsing like an animal in the pains of labour. Hitomi inched forward tentatively until she was by the bedside. She looked towards the small, frightened form still cowering in the doorway and smiled slightly.

"Meryl, you go to bed now, I'll take care of him." The cat girl shrunk away nodding solemnly, obviously shaken by the ferocity of the strange trance her best friend was caught in. The door slowly closed and Hitomi cast her wide gaze towards the bed of the King. He was still caught up in the net of his sheets, tearing them apart, gripping at the linen staining them with his sweat. She had never seen him like this. His jerks were crazed, irregular and chilling. Muscles strained against nothing but air, limbs reached out at invisible enemies. His whole form quivered from exhaustion. His bare chest rose and fell with painful breaths against the emptiness of the bed. Swarthiness swam under a thin film of perspiration and stood out against the pale blue of the bed sheets. His head swung backwards and forwards trying with desperation to get away from something close to him, pinning him helplessly to the mattress. The white glimmer of clenched fangs became visible about the strong jaw and beneath the wild forest of black hair.

He seemed to be placated for a moment by a break from his torment, but something was lurking in his quivering brow. Lying on his side, his weakening arms pushed his torso off the bed. His biceps bulged and the sinew stretched under his olive tinted skin. With a blood-curdling wail, he threw his head back, the masculine line of his throat bared to the teeth of nightmare beasts and swords of horrific warriors. His body was contorted and stretched, lithe and long off the bed when the flesh of his back began to ripple and convulse. Pain pulled at his features until those heavenly, cloud-like wings shot out, folded like bat's wings. They opened and strained pulling him in his dream from the ground. With this release, Hitomi had cowered into the corner of the room, startled by the stark ghostly feathers against the darkness of his tanned skin.  His brow unfurled and with a strangled sigh of exhaustion he flopped down the bed, only moments before the whole ordeal would begin again.

The girl's green eyes were wide with fear but also awe. Van's soul was twisted, pulled out of normalcy. He had seen things that Hitomi could never imagine in her worst nightmares and now they were repeating themselves in his. Plucking up her courage, she slipped closer to the bed, deciding warily to climb aboard or leave him to his monsters. The drive of love in her soul made her choose the former. Kneeling on the edge of the bed, her pale hand slid forward, searching for his skin. It was hot and clammy from his exertions. Hitomi took Van's shoulders in her hands to steady his thrashing. She shook him, fear gripping her stomach.

"Van wake up, wake up!" His eyelids flapped open under the thick curtain of hair and pierced her with their own fright. They flickered, panicked, over her features, before he breathed her name gruffly.

"Hitomi?"

He let himself be pulled into her arms and sat there cradled in her lap, gripping her robe as thought it was all to keep him slipping into a pit of nothingness. He mumbled unintelligibly, drifting between feverish slumber and the reality of Hitomi's body beside his.

"Hitomi…no, not alone...Dilandau, no...stay away!" Hitomi stroked his brow and held him while he gripped her waist preciously against his neck. Dilandau haunted him always, never giving him rest, hunting him down until he was no longer a warrior but simply prey. Tears leaked out between his heavy lashes as Hitomi tenderly cooed him into an even sleep. His wings lay limply across the bed covers as his body curled into a foetal position. The young girl rested her back against the headboard of the bed and yawned. It was late now and she too was tired. Holding him close she drifted off into a dreamless sleep of warmth.