Yay, I'm back! I hope all of the fans of this story are still out there, because this one's for you!

Lapse in Time

Chapter 7: The Raging Storm

"Ranna?" Van spoke, his voice shaking. She didn't not reply. "Ranna!" he said louder. Her eyes twitched, and she twisted her body to face him.

"Yes my Lord?"

Van heaved a sigh of relief. "You went pale of all sudden. It was almost like you were…"

"Like I was what?"

"Never mind," Van replied bitterly.

"Tell me!" Ranna begged, her eyes widening with childish pleasure. "Please?"

"We'd better get back," the King said with finality in his voice. He turned his horse around, and with a swift kick in her sides he sent her off in a rapid pace. His young companion, obviously annoyed by his rude change of subject, chased after him with the wind whipping at her shoulder length hair.

"What is it Your Majesty?" she called.

"Nothing! Nothing at all!" he yelled back. His eyes were no longer clouded in misery, but bright and cheerful, matching the smile that spread across his face. The high-speed chase had turned into a race between Ranna and the King, with Van still having the advantage. The young woman behind him, however, was quickly gaining. With his attention completely on her, Van did not notice the sky change until a droplet of rain splattered on his face or the thick forest at his right side. Grey clouds had spread themselves across the blue expanse, and thunder rumbled in their depths. A heavy storm was beginning.

As the rain began to poor, lighting began to explode in yellow tendrils across the sky. Van signaled to Ranna to stop as he did so himself. His horse trotted over to where she and her mare stood, drenched by the sudden downpour.

"I don't like that look of that lightning!" he yelled over the noise. "It's getting rather close to the ground." Worry was etched across his features as he watched the bolts reaching towards the field.

"What should we do?" Ranna responded.

"I'm not sure, but I don't think standing out here is doing us any good!" said Van.

"We should go home then!" Ranna decided out loud.

And Ranna was very correct in her decision, however late it was, for the angry, golden tendrils seemed to be coming ever closer, as though it was the intention of a powerful God to strike them down. The pair signaled their horses to run in the direction of the Marr's farm, but all too soon it became apparent that they simply could not make it in the storm. As the lightning inched closer, Ranna and Van became more and more fearful. It was then that a single bolt struck the ground only a metre away from Ranna's mare. The horse raised herself onto its hind feet and neighed in alarm, sending her rider to the ground hard and fast. The girl cried in pain. Van jumped from his horse instantly and ran to her side. It was only seconds before both animals were no longer visible.

Van turned his head from the field to Ranna and looked intensely into the emerald depths of her eyes as he said, "Are you alright?". She smiled gently at him despite the constant ache in her left wrist. "I'm okay," she spoke. And for a several minutes the sat there, gazing into each other's eyes as if nothing, not even the storm, existed. She knew she had felt like this before, but when? And for whom had she had those feelings?

Another crash of thunder reminded them of the imminent danger. He pulled her closer to his body where her face rested against his chest. So warm, she thought, and so strange. I remember this happening once before. The rain, the warmth of a lovers skin...it all happened before...her thoughts ended as her body subdued to sneezes and hacking coughs.

"We have to find shelter before you die of cold!" the king exclaimed. He pulled himself to his feet, and she as well, and opened his eyes as much as he dared to seek any kind of cover.

"Over there!" Ranna yelled. She pointed with her finger to a small house that was barely visible in the rain. They ran, their legs carrying them like wings across the slippery grass and towards the trees where the old shack stood old and weak. It appeared bent and twisted with age and rot; obviously no one had lived there for years. Van threw the door open and when they were both safely inside he shut it with force causing the aged walls to shake and creak.

"Where did you go Ranna?" he asked, unable to spot her in the dark.

"Over here, of course," she teased. Van allowed his eyes to adjust to the dark, and then he saw that she was seated on a bed. Strange that there should be a well kept bed in such an old house. He moved to join her, tripping over a pot that had been lying on the floor in the process. Ranna burst with laughter, which made Van's face turn crimson. "Damn pot," he muttered under his breath. But his anger quickly ceased as his love reached out her arms to him-or was he just imagining it?

"Come here and warm up," she said softly. "The blankets are clean."

Once again, Van walked to the bed, only more cautiously than before. His red eyes watched Ranna once again with that same intensity as he sat next to her. Her whole body was shaking within her soaking clothes, and his blush increased as he realized what must be done.

"I know you'll probably hate the idea, but we'll both freeze to death in our wet clothes," he explained. "Since we have no fire, we must…well, you know…"

"Yeah," was all she said as she hesitantly slipped out of her clothes. The king did the same, and soon they were sitting against the wall, wrapped under multiple sheets, in nothing but their undergarments. Ranna kept her head turned towards the floor, fuming about how much she hated having to share a bed with the man, although it was really only an excuse to mask her embarrassment. Van too remained still, until he began to chuckle.

"What now?" Ranna snapped.

"Oh, it's just…," Van replied, "that your hair is tickling me!" This made Ranna forget her feelings of anger.

"Well then, how does this feel?" she giggled and began to move her fingers quickly up and down his sides. Now Van was the one laughing loudly, and he tried to push her off. When that didn't work, he instead fought back with the same weapon, tickling her stomach until fell onto the cold ground, still laughing. Once she was certain that he would not attack her again, she climbed back onto the bed and into his open arms. She did not mind being so close to him now-his skin was warm and she was freezing.

After a few minutes of silence, Ranna spoke. "Don't think I'm doing this because I like you."

To that, Van retorted, "And I share the same feelings."

…And the question began to nag her once again, the one she had no possible answer to. It was a silly event; meaningless at best and-or was it meaningless? She just couldn't hold on any longer…

"Your majesty, why did you call me by that name? Why Hitomi?"

I knew she would ask, it was only a matter of time... "Oh, it was nothing really. You just look a lot like a women I once new, and that was her name."

"Oh."

"Why is it bothering you now?"

Ranna sighed deeply. "It's because of my accident. Since that day, as you know, I've had no recollections of my past, none except for several strange images in my dreams. And sometimes I feel as though I'm…..well, that I'm not the person I think I am. I thought that maybe, just maybe, when you called me by that name all my questions would be answered, but I guess not….sorry. I shouldn't be bothering you with my problems. I'm certain that you have enough to deal with back home."

"No, it's alright," Van spoke. "I don't mind."

"Then may I ask you a question?" she wondered aloud. The king nodded his head drowsily; in spite of the time of day, he felt very sleepy. "Did you love her?"

Memories of Hitomi, his Hitomi, flashed through his mind like a dragon across a sunlit sky. Her warm smile, her daring laugh, her worried tears…and suddenly he was back in the creaking house, in bed with her-no, not her, but another girl entirely, as though there had been a lapse in time.

"Yes, I loved her so very much."

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

The sweet scent of morning dew rode on the air as feathers in the wind. What remained of last night's storm was nothing but water droplets glistening on the trees-even the earth's wounds caused by the strings of lightning were beginning to heal. Ranna and Van, who had slept well all night, were now making their way by foot to Enila Marr's cabin in the forest. It would be at least a half an hour before they would return, and that thought irritated Ranna. She hated the king for causing her feelings of doubt, she hated herself for being so open to him, and most of all, she hated her feelings for him, feelings that came out of now where. What a foolish girl she was.

Notwithstanding the pleasant change in weather, the king, too, was feeling frustrated. Not only was Ranna completely ignoring him as though last night had never happened, but he had this constant doubt that everything was alright. Somehow, that storm hadn't just happened. There was a reason for it, something symbolic. It had poured heavily the night before he had found Hitomi's duffel bag the previous year, and there had been fierce lightning as well-exactly the same. The tension in the atmosphere only increased when the pair reached the little cottage. Something was not right, and they could both feel it.

They found Enila inside, sitting in the living room with a young man dressed in the armor of a Fanelian samurai.

"Your highness…" the boy began, but he seemed unable to speak. Enila spoke instead. "First off, I'm not angry at either of you. I found the horses this morning in the barn and am aware that the storm kept you. But now, young Gavin here has something important to tell his Majesty."

"Y-y-ess," he stammered. "Last night, after everyone was asleep and the storm was still fighting, someone came into the castle unnoticed. We think his intention was to murder you, but you were not there. He must've made a lot of noise, because he managed to wake several people. T-two of them were found in your room sire." He swallowed heavily, and was quiet for so long that Van grew enraged.

"Then WHAT?" he shouted.

The boy shook a little. "They were both dead. One was a servant, the other was Pyrus." Van froze in shock.

Why Pyrus? Why? He was like a father to me, just as Balgus was. Why does every man I look up to have to perish?

But Gavin wasn't finished. "I'm afraid it gets worse sire. There was a note left on your bed, stained with blood. Whoever did this has taken Merle."

Okay, I'm extremely tired of the sappy romance story, so I had to throw this plot twist in. I hope it helps to add some more interest to the story rather than make it fall flat on its face.

Hopefully I'll come out with more soon!

~T.G