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Beneath Two Moons
2. Changing Orbit
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By Jessica Lynn S. (escaflowne@opalwings.com)
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Spoilers: The entire Escaflowne series.
Warnings: Sensuality, shoujo-ai (romance between two female characters), and a bit of violence.
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or its characters. No profit is being made from my silly fanfiction hobby. ^_^ I do, however, own this fic and the original characters in contains. Please do not post this story anywhere without asking first.
Summary: Four years following the prologue, Hitomi - now a college student - finally makes her decision. All that's left is to say goodbye. How will her friends take the news? How will her mother take it? What is a certain pink-haired cat-girl up to in Fanelia?
Notes on the Revision: One of the biggest gripes people had with this chapter was that Mrs. Kanzaki was too okay with the idea of her daughter going, permanently, to another planet. I agree with them wholeheartedly; I did make it too easy. I'm used to writing interaction between friends and lovers, not mothers and daughters. I myself don't have normal parental interactions, to boot. But I really hope I made it better and more realistic this time. The added conflict extended this chapter by over a thousand words. I hope nobody minds that! ^_^
"Somewhere in a private place,
She packs her bags for outer space"
***
A girl with long black hair stood at an easel in a small, stuffy dorm room. Her paintbrush was poised gracefully as she chatted happily with her reluctant model. "There is supposed to be snow tonight," the girl said, "but my parents are coming to pick me up anyway. I told them that they should wait a day to be safe, one day won't make any difference...but they already planned a big dinner. Over the vacation, they're going to take me to the art museum. What are you going to do when you get home?"
Hitomi blinked twice at the question. "Well, I suppose I am just going to relax...and spend time with people that I care about." she said. "Nothing very exciting." If her roommate only knew.
Jeanne, the black-haired girl, cocked her head thoughtfully. "You know, Hitomi..." she said, "I have the strangest feeling. I have a feeling you aren't going to come back for the next semester. I have a feeling that this will be the last time I paint you."
Hitomi tried not to look surprised, because that would change her expression and ruin Jeanne's painting. But there was truth in the girl's words; perhaps it was artists' intuition. "I am sure you can find yourself a better model." she finally answered.
"You are beautiful," said Jeanne, "but you fidget too much. You shouldn't be so self-conscious." She fell silent for a moment, softly brushing the final details on to her canvas, then she looked back up at Hitomi. "There is just something in your eyes." she observed. "Something that is not of this world. Something that shouldn't be kept caged here."
It had been a long and fierce winter. March had come without a fanfare and the ground was frosted in an unmarred layer of virgin snow. The air carried a sharp chill which penetrated through layers of clothing and skin to Yukari's bones. She snuggled in to Amano's arm in attempt to steal his body heat. He took his long coat off and tossed it over her shoulders.
"Amano!" she protested, "You can't be without a coat in this weather!"
He shivered and wrapped his arms around his body to shield himself from the cold, but his voice remained calm and collected. "It is imperative that you stay warm, for your sake and the sake of the baby." He was right. Yukari conceded and slid her arms in to the too-big coat sleeves, feeling much like a little girl wearing her daddy's shirt. Amano smirked at the sight and embraced her lovingly, planting a gentle kiss on her forehead.
Much had changed in a few short years. After his high school graduation, Amano had been granted a respectable and well-paying position in his father's business. By the time Yukari's graduation came about two years later, he had made a substantial amount of money and was confident in his ability to provide for her. He proposed to her and they wed only months later. They rented a modest but comfortable apartment with a beautiful view of the city, and they wasted precious little time in the creation of a family. Their first child was due in the summer, as evident in the gentle swell of Yukari's waistline.
As Yukari and Amano settled comfortably in to the mold of domestic life, Hitomi had gone away to her first year at a remote countryside college. The year had been a shaky one for her. She approached her studies with a greater seriousness than she had in high school, but she was still uncertain of her future. She had expressed that uncertainty to Yukari in the many phone calls and letters they had exchanged since her departure.
Hitomi always said that Yukari was the one who should have gone on to college, as her friend had the intelligence and the motivation to really make something of the experience. Hitomi, on the other hand, was just biding her time. She really didn't have to continue her education, and if she chose not to she wouldn't have to work to support herself either. There was always another option which went without speaking. She just wanted to be sure that she was truly ready before she committed herself to that option.
Yukari looked up as the roar and screech of tires invaded her ears. The bus which they had been waiting for had finally arrived, over an hour behind schedule. The snow had delayed its route considerably. The passengers exited on to the sidewalk. The last person to step off was Hitomi. The wind violently whipped her short hair out straight in front of her. For a few years she had allowed it to grow, reaching past her shoulders, but when she left for college she cropped it like it had been in her youth. It was more convenient for her that way, and she and Yukari agreed that short hair was just better-suited to her.
Hitomi had a mature and regal air about her now; dressed in a long, chocolate-brown coat and black dress pants. She carried herself differently too. Though she was still pale and slender as she had been in high school, it was almost as if they were looking at a different person, but as she struggled helplessly and clumsily with her suitcases, it was evident that she was still the same Hitomi whom Yukari and Amano had grown up with.
"Hitomi!" shouted Yukari with glee, running to embrace her friend. Amano joined in the hug and offered to carry Hitomi's bags. She accepted gratefully. She was tired from her long bus ride, visibly evident in dark circles beneath her eyes. Her skin was rosy and chilled from the cold
"Goodness, you're freezing!" exclaimed Yukari, placing the palm of her hand on Hitomi's cheek to confirm her words. "Let's go get some hot chocolate!" Hitomi smiled and locked her arm in to Yukari's. The two marched briskly to the cafe down the street as Amano trailed several yards behind them, shivering while lugging Hitomi's two heavy suitcases. He quietly mumbled obscenities to whatever god was responsible for the weather.
The passing of moments found the three friends in the warm, brightly lit cafe catching up on things. Amano had just finished relating a story to Hitomi and his wife about a particularly interesting client of his, and a comfortable silence had settled upon them all. Hitomi fanned the steam coming from her mug, waiting for her drink to cool. She looked across the table at Yukari. "How is the baby?" she asked.
"Doing well so far." Yukari smiled proudly.
"Have you decided on any names yet?" Hitomi inquired.
"Well, I am thinking of Natsuko if it's a girl, or Ichiro if it's a boy..." Yukari's words trailed off as she caught a glimpse of the faraway look in Hitomi's eyes. Her friend's green irises gleamed with a sad and unusual sort of thoughtfulness.
"Hitomi, is something wrong?" Yukari asked.
Hitomi looked as if she had been snapped out of a daydream. She took Yukari's hand in hers and smiled at her and with a warm sincerity. "Yukari, Amano...I hope that you have a beautiful and healthy child."
"You are talking as if..." Yukari said, then paused, realizing the answer before she even asked the question, "...you are going to leave. You are going back to Gaea, aren't you? "Amano simply listened; his expression unreadable.
Hitomi had told Yukari of Van's proposal nearly three years ago. She told Yukari that she intended to take him up on it one day, when she found the strength and the will to leave Earth behind. Yukari had understood. Hitomi loved Van, and for that they deserved to be together. Hitomi loved Gaea and Fanelia as well. She would be happy there, and she would make a wise and gentle queen.
In the years since Hitomi had first returned from Gaea, she and Yukari had become closer friends than ever. The lines of communication had been opened between them, bringing to light feelings which had been previously buried. Yukari had always kept her emotions in check for Hitomi's benefit, including her love for Amano. But in Hitomi's absence she had found herself seeking comfort in his arms. The close physical proximity brought her latent feelings to the surface, and Amano clearly reciprocated them. By the time Hitomi returned, the two were an official couple. Yukari felt horrendously guilty for taking what she thought was rightfully her friend's, until Hitomi told her that there was no need to feel bad.
From there, Hitomi slowly opened up about the world she had discovered, and her on love for Van. Amano caught on to it as well, but he never knew as much of the story as Yukari did. The three friends had spent many afternoons after school at the ice cream parlor, talking over milkshakes and sodas. Together they faced track competitions, final exams and graduation. Hitomi had taken off a day from college to serve as maid of honor in Yukari 's wedding. Hitomi had also been the first person to know of Yukari's pregnancy.
Yukari had called her while Amano was still at work, crying tears of joy. After the accident which had nearly killed her years ago and the resulting internal injuries, Yukari hadn't known if she would be able to have children. For her entire life she had dreamed of becoming a mother, and she was overwhelmed with happiness. But now that a new light was coming in to Yukari's life, an old light which had been a guiding beacon was leaving. She had only wished Hitomi would have stayed longer, but she knew the time they'd had together was already greater than it could have been. Hitomi needed to be happy more than Yukari needed Hitomi.
Hitomi nodded hesitantly, confirming Yukari's suspicions. "It's time for me to go back." she said. "I know that now I belong there. I belong with Van."
"You will be a queen then." Yukari smiled sadly. "You will be a wonderful queen. But I will miss you, Hitomi." A few tears fell from Yukari's eyes, smudging her mascara. She quickly wiped them away with her napkin.
"Hey, Yukari?" said Hitomi with gentle concern in her eyes, "You know that I've traveled back and forth from Gaea to Earth." Yukari nodded.
"Well," Hitomi responded, "it will be the same way when I am in Gaea, except sort of reversed. I will still come here to visit. It's not as if you will never see me again. It will be like it was while I was away at college."
"While you were at college" said Yukari, "I could always call you when I needed to talk. I doubt there are phone lines which reach to Gaea."
"No..." said Hitomi. "But there are heart lines. There is something I want you to have." She reached in to the collar of her coat, producing the necklace which she always wore beneath her clothes. It was a single white feather on a braided cord of black leather, accented by deep red beads. It was the same necklace Yukari had helped her make three years ago.
"I can't accept that!" said Yukari, turning her head away.
"You can, and you will." said Hitomi. "Any time that you want to talk to me, all you have to do is hold this necklace and picture me in your mind. I think that I will be able to hear you."
More tears formed in Yukari's eyes as Hitomi pressed the necklace gently in to the palm of her hand. "Will you come to see the baby?" she asked.
"Of course I will." said Hitomi.
Yukari smiled a smile of relief. Hitomi was relieved, too. Her friends took the news better than she had expected. As the sun went down behind the sky's cloudy veil, the three reminisced their past together and talked of the exciting new futures which lay ahead.
Hitomi sighed and inhaled deeply, taking in the aroma of the strawberry bubbles which she was neck-deep in. After her long ride on a bus where the seats were frozen stiff, the warm bath felt like heaven. After their conversation in the cafe, Yukari and Amano walked her home. There, on the street outside her house, she had bid her dearest friends farewell and they wished her a safe trip to Gaea. Before they left, Amano snapped two Polaroid photos of she and Yukari together. He gave one of them to Hitomi, so that when she went to Gaea, she would always have a reminder of her best friend. She was to leave first-thing in the morning, providing that she could muster the courage to tell her mother of her intentions.
Hitomi and Van had spent their seventeenth and eighteenth birthdays together, as well as Hitomi's nineteenth, and the ceremony to commemorate the completion of Fanelia's reconstruction. (Van's nineteenth had yet to come.) On those days they would walk and talk together as if nothing had changed. They would mull over every single aspect of their lives with enthusiasm, except for the ring which she wore in a silent understanding. Van never dared to broach that subject, remembering all the hurt and discomfort it had caused between them when he first proposed.
Over the years, Hitomi had gradually adjusted to the idea of living on Gaea. In a way, being away at college was more alien to her than the far-off planet. She had a roommate; a chipper art student named Jeanne who was always up first-thing in the morning making coffee and humming an upbeat tune. Jeanne liked to use Hitomi as a model for her many assignments. She would sketch her face in pastel as she talked up a storm, updating Hitomi on all the goings-on of the campus. As friendly and agreeable as the girl she lived with was, they had nothing in common. Jeanne approached her art with a passion, while Hitomi waded half-heartedly through class after class on business management.
She spent many late, lonely nights in the top bunk of a bed staring at the ceiling and longing for the familiar warmth that was Van. She tried to hide her doubt and uncertainty when she spoke to him with her mind, talking instead of her assignments and her grades. Sometimes he would catch a small sliver of her confusion, and sometimes she would catch a small sliver of worry from him in response. Sometimes they understood each other so much that words were not needed.
When Amano and Yukari married, Hitomi felt her ties to the Earth breaking, and when Yukari announced her pregnancy it felt as if the final threads had been snipped. Her two best friends had settled happily in to the nook in which they belonged. They were living the life that they had dreamed of in high school, and they were doing it together. Things were falling in to place with her family as well. Her brother was to graduate high school in a year, and had ambitious plans for a career in technology. Her parents were planning to retire and buy a house in the country. She felt increasingly as if she was an odd, solitary puzzle piece which just no longer fit. She belonged in an entirely different puzzle.
Hitomi hadn't told Van of her plans to return to Gaea. On her last night at college, as she packed her bags, they had one of their regular telepathic conversations.
"I am going home for my break." she had told him with a mischievous smirk. He must have sensed her amusement.
Is something funny? he asked in confusion.
"No...nothing at all." she assured him, but she sensed him becoming strangely nervous. The elation of her newfound certainty and her upcoming journey ate away at the corners of her mind; she was awful at keeping secrets. She really wished she could tell Van, but she forced herself to keep a lid on it. She wanted to surprise him. Just imagining the look he would have on his face when she told him that she was finally in his world to stay caused her to smile so hard that it hurt.
Jeanne had realized that something was amiss that night when she'd painted Hitomi. Hitomi had hugged her roommate then and thanked her for her friendship and the warm cups of coffee. She wished her success in her art and in life.
Now there was only one more end to tie up; but it would be by far the most difficult. Hitomi was the first Kanzaki woman to go the college; a decision which had made her mother incredibly proud. Hitomi wasn't expecting her to take the news very well.
She slipped out of the tub and pulled on a fuzzy white robe, then padded softly towards the kitchen. Her heart pounded in her throat. She and her mother had always shared a close relationship. They cooked together, shopped together, and laughed together frequently. Mrs. Kanzaki knew about Gaea; Hitomi hadn't needed to hide it from her. Her mother had grown up hearing stories of the strange and beautiful world from her own mother, and was eager to hear all about Hitomi's adventures upon her return. Hitomi had told her the basics of the time she spent there, leaving out a few minor details -- Allen and Van, or more specifically, the relationships she'd had with them.
She didn't know why she was so secretive about the knight she had been infatuated with or the king with whom she eventually fell deeply in love. It was perhaps a combination of modesty, embarrassment and the notion that no one would really understand. She'd even tried to hide it from her best friend at first. Yukari wouldn't let Hitomi keep it entirely to herself, though. She continually pressed her for details and Hitomi eventually caved, telling Yukari everything. Yukari repaid her for her honesty with acceptance and understanding. But Yukari was young, romantic and idealistic, much like herself. Her mother was a more practical person who would have likely been troubled by it. Actually, she was certain she would have. She would have tried to dissuade Hitomi from continuing her very long-distance relationship with Van under the premise that it was not psychologically or emotionally healthy for her.
Hitomi and Mrs. Kanzaki had a lot of love and respect for one another, but Mrs. Kanzaki's expectations for her daughter were also very high. She always wanted her to do her absolute best in school, in track and in life. She often warned Hitomi of becoming too serious with someone while she was still in school. "Look what happened to Yukari." she'd say. "She was a really smart girl, just like you. She could have gone to college. She could have gotten a degree." She didn't want to have to choose between her mother's peace of mind and her own, because that choice would have been an unbearable one. She couldn't bare the feeling that she had disappointed or upset her mother on the rare occasion that she did.
But now she had to choose, and she had chosen. Now she had to put her foot down and give her mother the biggest shock of her life. There was no way she could go off to Gaea again without an explanation. It wouldn't be fair. It was simply was not an option. She had to do this.
Besides Hitomi, Mrs. Kanzaki was the only one awake in the house. She was sitting at the table with her reading glasses balanced across the bridge of her nose, writing by the dim light of a lantern.
"Mother, what is that you are writing?" asked Hitomi quietly.
"I'm writing the check to pay for your next semester of college." she answered matter-of-factly. "We also have to renew your insurance plan...all these forms." She sighed. Hitomi felt a pang of guilt and gulped hard. "Is there something you want to talk about?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked, sensing her daughter's unease.
"Actually mom, yes there is." Hitomi forced herself to say. She sat down in the chair across from her mother and looked her in the eye. "I am not going back to college."
"Why?" Mrs. Kanzaki asked her, alarmed. "Aren't you happy there? Is it too hard? We could always find you another college, maybe something closer to home?"
"No, mom." Hitomi said. "That's not what it is. I like college well enough, and I appreciate you and father paying for it. But...do you remember when I went to Gaea?" They hadn't actually spoken on the subject for years.
"Yes." said her mother. "Just like your grandmother had when she was young. It seems to be some sort of family tradition which has skipped over me." She smiled. "But you needn't worry about that, I've always understood. Forces were at work which were beyond your control. It was in the past, and you have a bright future ahead of you."
"Well, I met a boy there." said Hitomi.
"Ahh, that would account for your...other disappearances." said Mrs. Kanzaki in a slightly scolding tone. Hitomi fidgeted. She had thought that her mother hadn't noticed those few occasions when she'd gone to Fanelia for a day. "Hitomi, you aren't....ehh...pregnant, are you?"
"Heavens no!" Hitomi exclaimed. Mrs. Kanzaki breathed a sigh of relief.
"I want to go to Gaea and be with him, though." Hitomi said. "I want to make a life by his side." She braced herself for the inevitable backlash.
"Hitomi, you can't be serious." said Mrs. Kanzaki, disbelievingly.
"I'm sorry, but I am."
"How can you say that, Hitomi?! I don't know all of what happened there, I don't know this boy, but I don't think you're thinking straight. You're making a very impetuous decision that will do you no good."
"It's not impetuous. I've been thinking about it for three years, mom. Do you see this ring?" She indicated to the ring that Van had given her three years ago. Since then, it had only ever left her finger for cleaning. But if Mrs. Kanzaki had noticed the ring, it hadn't seemed out of the ordinary to her. She probably assumed it was something Hitomi had gotten as a gift from one of her friends or relatives.
"It's an engagement ring." Hitomi asserted. "Van proposed to me when we were sixteen."
Mrs. Kanzaki sat in silence for a long time, considering what her daughter had said. Hitomi nervously examined her shadowy face for some sign of emotion. "I can't believe this..." she said, shaking her head. "I never thought..."
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you mom, but I didn't want to worry you. Not until I knew for sure what I was going to do."
Mrs. Kanzaki gave a harsh, scalding laugh. "Yeah, I'm running off to some other world for the rest of my life, but don't worry, mom! Everything will be okay! Why can't you just find a nice boy here. Hitomi? There are thousands of fish in the sea. Your grandma went to that same world, but she came back and made a life for herself here. She had her little fantasy adventure, but she didn't forget reality."
Yeah, because Leon Schezar died! Hitomi thought to herself, biting down on her tongue as not to speak angrily. Her blood was beginning to boil. Her mother didn't know Van, and she didn't know exactly how much Hitomi loved him. She had no right to try to tell Hitomi what was right for her. But could she expect any other reaction? The news would be enough to rattle anyone.
"Think about reality, Hitomi." said Mrs. Kanzaki. "Think long and hard about it! This boy may love you just as much as you love him, but have you really spent all that much time together? How do you know that things will work out between you? Are you willing to give up everything you have here on that kind of gamble?! Good friends, a promising future, a family that loves you? How do you know that Van - that was his name, wasn't it? - can even provide for you?"
"Van is a king, mother." Hitomi said coldly. Mrs. Kanzaki's jaw nearly hit the floor. "He wants me to be the Queen of Fanelia. It's been rebuilt since the war. Did I ever tell you that I helped to win that war? Van and I did that together. I wasn't just a spectator." The older woman was speechless, and Hitomi felt instantly remorseful for speaking so harshly.
"Hitomi," Mrs. Kanzaki said, after several moments of silence, "I always thought we were close, but in some ways I realize exactly how little I know about you. I didn't worry too much when you went away to that place, because I knew you'd come back. I thought you'd be back to stay." She lowered her eyes to the ground, her face masked in sadness, but she continued. "I guess I would be doing you a disservice if I asked you to stay. It seems that you have already made up your mind."
"Mother?"
Mrs. Kanzaki took off her reading glasses, set them folded on the table and shuffled quickly out of the room, not even bothering to clean up the haphazard jumble of papers she had been laboring over. Hitomi shivered and a trickle of tears made its way down her cheek. She wiped them away and went to bed. She didn't sleep well that night.
Hitomi rose with the sun the next day and began to pack her things. Her heart was heavy with sorrow where it should have been light with joy and anticipation. Hitomi hated conflict. She did not want to leave on bad terms with her mother, but she didn't see any way she could fix the things ruptured by angry words, at least not right now. She had to go; she had to prove that she was making the right decision, both to herself and to her mother. She would come back to visit, bringing exotic gifts for her entire family and stories of what it was like to be a queen. Her mother would see that she had worried needlessly, and things between them would go back to being all right. It would all be all right, in the end.
She stuffed a few changes of neatly-rolled clothes in to her duffel bag. She could not bring an entire closet to Gaea; she'd have to purchase a lot of new clothes in Fanelia. She also slipped in the photo of herself and Yukari from yesterday. She took off her nightgown and pulled on her favorite pair of jeans, a pale green t-shirt that hugged her curves and a light gray sweater-jacket. Then she took a notepad off of her dresser and perched cross-legged on the edge of her bed, pen poised to write.
Dear Mother, she scribbled hastily,
It is with deepest regret that I leave after what happened last night, but you were right. I've already made up my mind. I'm sorry that it's like this, I just...
She was stopped mid-sentence by a knock on the door.
"Hello?" she asked uncertainly.
"Hitomi, it's me." said Mrs. Kanzaki's voice. "Can I come in?"
"All right." said Hitomi, nervously. Her mother opened the door and entered meekly, shoulders slumped. The older woman's clothes and hair were rumpled and she had dark circles beneath her bloodshot, downcast eyes. Hitomi quickly tucked the note in to her pocket. Mrs. Kanzaki sat down next to Hitomi, both women staring in opposite directions. It felt like Hitomi's heart was being torn from her chest by sharp hooks of guilt. Why did following your dreams have to be this hard? She wasn't going to back down, but she at least owed her mother an apology. Her features tightened and contorted as she reached for the strength to say the words, yet not back down from what she believed in.
"I'm sorry." both women blurted out simultaneously. Her mother gave a surprised laugh as they turned to face each other, then hugged Hitomi tightly, practically squeezing the wind out of her.
"I didn't sleep well last night." the older woman said. "I did a lot of thinking."
"So did I," said Hitomi. "I haven't changed my mind about leaving, but...I'm sorry that I wasn't fair to you. I understand how you feel, and I'm going to miss you a lot."
Her words prompted her mother to squeeze tighter. Mrs. Kanzaki sniffled. "Oh, Hitomi...you're grown up now. Even if you want to do something that's so damned crazy, it's not my place to tell you not to. I know that your grandmother would have supported this decision, and she'd be really proud of you for having the courage to go through with it. As for me, well, I still don't like that you're leaving. I'll never like it. But if I have to let you go, I'd rather our goodbye be a happy one than an angry one."
Hitomi buried her face in her mother's shoulder and sobbed, tears of joy, relief and regret. "Thank you." she said. "Thank you so much." When they finally released their embrace upon one another, her mother looked in to her eyes.
"I need to say this, though; I want you to know that if things don't work out, you can always come home. It is easy to love someone...when you seldom see them. It can be a bit more difficult in the context of day-to-day life." Mrs. Kanzaki admonished.
Hitomi had heard the story many times; her mother had met her father when he was in the military. He was often stationed far from home and the only thing they had was their correspondence. When he was finished with his duties, they married quickly, only to find that being together all the time took some serious adjusting to. They had preserved through it though, and were all the stronger for it.
"I know." Hitomi said. "But things worked out for you and father, right?" She gave a hopeful smile.
"Always stand your ground, too." Mrs. Kanzaki continued. "You may be on foreign soil; you may be in his world, but that doesn't mean he has any right to push you around. Always stand up for the things that you want and need." If Hitomi wouldn't stay on Earth, she could at least humor her mother by listening to her advice.
Hitomi nodded. "You know I will come to visit you, right? I'll come home again after a few months and I'll stay for a week or so. We can pretend it's like college." She was using the same analogy she'd used with Yukari, but it seemed to have a calming effect on her mother.
"Well, you better visit!" commanded Mrs. Kanzaki. "And you better try your absolute best to be a good queen. Now wipe those tears, we can't have you going back to Gaea with red, puffy eyes." Hitomi smiled weakly. "Oh, I almost forgot!"
Mrs. Kanzaki walked briskly out of the room and returned with a bundle of tissue paper. She unwrapped it to reveal a beautiful silk wedding fursode which Hitomi instantly recognized as her grandmother's. It was an elaborate garden scene embroidered in green and fuchsia and gold on a background that faded from soft, pale blue to the perfect white of snowfall. The obi was the delicate pink of cherry blossoms, with trimmings in the same brilliant gold. "She'd want you to have this," Mrs. Kanzaki said, "to wear in the wedding."
"Maybe there's some way you could come to the wedding." Hitomi said. "I'm sure it will be a big affair."
"I don't think Gaea wants me to." said Mrs. Kanzaki. "Otherwise, I would have been taken there as you were. Interplanetary travel just doesn't set well with me, to be honest. Just having you come back to visit will be enough."
Hitomi re-folded the fursode and tucked it away. The two women exchanged a look of understanding, and wordlessly, they rose from their seats. They walked out of Hitomi's room, down the hallway, through the kitchen, and out the front door. They embraced tightly one last time.
"Mom...I love you. I'm going to miss you." Hitomi said, holding her mother tightly.
"I love you and I'll miss you too." Mrs. Kanzaki said.
Hitomi closed her eyes and willed the blue pillar to take her to her destination. The twin moons of her engagement ring began to glow.
"Oh, and Hitomi? I believe in you." said Mrs. Kanzaki. That earned her the biggest, most heartfelt smile she had ever seen her daughter give as an almost blinding light overtook them and Hitomi was lifted in to the air as if gravity did not exist.
Her mother could only stand in the column of light, looking up with tears in her eyes as her daughter was carried away to another world.
"Got a ticket for a world where we belong"
~*~*~*~*~*~
An amber sunrise was just beginning to break through the darkness of the Fanelian horizon. Moths danced around the small lamp which burnt on the windowsill, enraptured by the flame. Their beating wings cast long, fluttering shadows across the walls. Van was taking his breakfast in his chambers with Merle, as he did nearly every morning. His royal accommodations were quite modest. The walls were wooden and the floors were stone. A large, canopy-style bed rested against the wall on one side of the room.
On a shelf beside his bed was what Merle had teasingly labeled Van's "Hitomi Shrine." Resting upon it were the remote-controlled car (its batteries had long-since run out, though she had promised to bring more some day), the wooden dragon carving, and various other things she'd given him over the years. An empty heart-shaped box once filled with Valentines chocolates, a small stuffed purple dragon (dragons seemed to be a common theme), and a 8x10 inch framed copy of her senior portrait. Hitomi spoiled him to no end and he treasured every last thing she gave him.
A small table with four chairs occupied the other side of the room. That was where they were currently seated. Van's feline companion wolfed down her meal eagerly, but he was predominately occupied with staring out the window. He had barely even touched his food.
"Something feels different this morning, Merle." he said thoughtfully. "I just can't quite pinpoint what it is."
"Hmm?" she asked, looking up at him. Her cheeks were stuffed with food and bulged out as if she were a hamster or a chipmunk. This normally would have sent Van in to peals of laughter, but now he didn't notice.
"I wonder where Hitomi is right now." he said with a far-off look in his eyes. "I wonder what she is doing today."
Merle swallowed the contents of her cheeks in a single, powerful gulp. "I think she is still in bed right now..." she offered in an overly sweet, sing-songy voice.
"Could be." said Van. "She is probably tired from her trip home from school."
"WITH ANOTHER MAN!" Merle added enthusiastically to her previous statement. "Then her trip wouldn't be the only reason she was tired." She smirked. Van's eyes went wide and Merle broke in to a fit of giggles.
"Hey!" Van growled. "Oh, you're gonna get it, you little brat." He knew that Merle was only joking, but he still felt the irresistible urge to chuck a forkful of sticky, syrupy food in her direction. He didn't fight the impulse. It hit her smack-dab in the forehead. The humor faded from her eyes and for a moment she looked as if she had been possessed by the spirit of Dilandu.
"I have to go wash now!" she muttered in anger.
"Well, next time you'll know better than to question the integrity of the woman I love." Van responded with a taunting grin.
She stuck out her tongue at him and scampered out of the room. That was Merle. He smiled, leaned back, and dug his fork in to his food. His earlier sense of unexplained anticipation had already slipped from his mind. Merle was still playful, childish and chock-full of attitude. But she had grown up a lot in other ways.
Only a year after the war, the cat-girl had taken an active interest in the political matters of her country. She became a member of the Fanelian council, and an advocate for the children who had lost their homes and families in Zaibach's attack. She had traded in her short-dresses for more-respectable garments and had become a fairly accomplished public speaker, except for her tendency to revert to huffing and childish name-calling whenever she came up against opposition. Van was trying to break her of that habit, but it didn't seem to be doing much good. Some things never changed.
Despite her occasionally faulty approaches, Merle had successfully gotten dozens of children who had been left with nowhere to go out of shelters and in to homes with families who could properly care for them. She had spent much of her spare time over the years counseling those same children. Her version of counseling usually involved a lot of running around and giggling, but it seemed to work wonders for the kids. She had gotten some of the older children in to apprenticeships where they could learn a trade that interested them, and employed others at the palace. Half the cooks and maids that worked for Van - and even some of the guards - were orphans of the war. Merle made a definite name for herself and became well-known and loved throughout the capitol.
With her good looks, she was also highly sought after by many young men. Her hair had grown out in long, thick, pink tendrils that fell to her waist, and she had developed a mature and regal physique which would have rivaled Nariya and Eriya. She always turned down her would-be suitors, but on good days she took amusement in toying with them as if they were mice. She went often to Asturia, visiting the palace or the Schezar estate, as she had remained good friends with Celena and Millernia.
Van finished his food. He picked up the empty plates from his floor and took them to the kitchen to be washed. He then proceeded to go for a stroll and see what was happening on the castle grounds. He had grown too. His shoulders became broader and his muscles were more defined. His physique had been obtained by working hard in the reconstruction of his country and was maintained in the aggressive sparring matches which still took place whenever Allen visited. Van was taller as well, but he would never be quite as tall as Folken had. He had a build more like that of his father.
A tall and slender guard leaned against the castle wall. He blew a long strand of brown hair from his eyes and boredly swung his sword in large, sweeping circles. He quickly returned it to its sheath and straightened his posture when he saw Van walking towards him.
"Good morning Direedus." said the king with a good-natured smile, "How are things today?"
Direedus bowed gracefully and sighed. "Just as they always are." he answered. "Perhaps we should have a tournament?" he suggested. "It would keep things around here interesting."
"I'll consider it." said Van. "I've been in need of some excitement myself, and it would give you and the others an opportunity to show off your skill."
Gaea had settled in to a state of peace since Fanelia's reconstruction. Hatchets had been buried and treaties had been forged. Another war did not seem imminent, and it was the last thing Van would ever hope for. But war was part of human nature and he was wise to be prepared just in case. Almost all of the older, most-capable fighters had been wiped out in the past war and a new generation had to be trained in the art of battle. Van did not take on much of this responsibility himself. Most of the new charges were sent to Asturia to learn the ways of sword and guymelef.
Compared to their predecessors, these soldiers' jobs were fairly mild. Some guarded the palace and the capitol, others were posted in the few other cities that the small kingdom possessed. Their biggest challenges were fighting against small bands of thieves and criminals; not the invisible and deadly opponents of Fanelia's past.
"Good day, 'Reed." Van said, and continued along his path.
Direedus hoped that a replacement would come soon to relieve him of his post, or that at least someone else would come by to talk to him and keep him awake. His eyelids were heavy from a long night. He looked up, watching a flock of white birds make their way across the pale blue morning sky. Suddenly there was a flash of much brighter, more intense blue. It sprung like a fountain from the heavens, touching the distant mountains for an instant before fading away. It could have been a hallucination induced by lack of sleep, but Direedus was no longer tired. His eyes were wide-open with amazement.
He wanted to alert the king, but Van was already a good distance away from him. Before he could go running after him, Merle came walking along. He stepped in to her path and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her impetuously.
"Merle, did you see that?!" he asked with a mixture of excitement and fear.
"See what?" She stared at him with a rather sour expression on her face. She had just scampered away from a quarrel with a handmaiden who had dared to question her authority, and she was feeling irritable.
"There was a pillar of light! Over there!" he pointed. "It's gone now." he frowned.
Merle's expression brightened instantly. "A pillar of light, eh?" she mused. "Was it blue?"
"Why yes. I was going to inform the king; we should let him know immediately." said Direedus.
"No." Merle commanded. "Don't tell him."
"Why not?" demanded Direedus. "It could be an enemy attack!"
"Relax, I know what it is." Merle said. She grinned in a way that was devilishly feline and repeated herself. "Do not tell Van-sama. I plan to have a bit of fun, and I will take all the responsibility for it. Where did you say the light came from again?"
Direedus hesitantly pointed in its direction.
"Ready a horse for me." Merle said.
"As you wish, my lady." answered Direedus. Under his breath, he cursed the cat-girl for being so charming. He had a fierce loyalty to his king, but this was Merle. What man in their right mind would disobey such a beautiful and spirited young woman?
"Send a signal that she's
hanging all her hopes on the stars"
***
AN: One of the biggest gripes people had with this chapter originally was that Mrs. Kanzaki was too okay with the idea of her daughter going, permanently, to another planet. I agree with them wholeheartedly; I did make it too easy. I'm used to writing interaction between friends and lovers, not mothers and daughters. I myself don't have normal parental interactions, to boot. But I really hope I made it better and more realistic this time.
A fursode is a kind of kimono, often worn for Japanese weddings (though not so much in modern days, as our Western-style wedding dresses have become increasingly popular.) It has long sleeves that trail to the ground. I am far from an expert on Japanese clothing (or any kind of clothing, for that matter.) I don't know what kind of colors and patterns are commonplace for wedding fursodes, so I took some liberties with the description.
Song Quotes: All from "To the Moon and Back" by Savage Garden.
Site Plug: http://www.opalwings.com/escaflowne