Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne but I do own my daydream that started this story. Beautiful Stranger, Part 2
"Good. Now, start from the beginning," Van ordered.
Hitomi ran a hand through her short clipped hair. "From the beginning?" she repeated. She threw herself back onto the grass. "But there's so much more to it than you think-"
Van followed her suit and lay down on the grass beside her. "Well, then give me a condensed version," he suggested.
Hitomi closed her eyes briefly, thinking. She opened them. Her mouth opened.
She let it spill about the time before Allen had noticed her, how she had always adored the handsome, popular blonde but always from a distance. She had been such a shy girl, pretty but not flashy enough to be popular. She always somewhere in the background but only as noticeable as a single petal on a rose. There was nothing about her that stood out from the thousands of other petals, nothing special. At the time, Hitomi had been thoroughly convinced that there was no possibility, no chance whatsoever, that she would ever have the honor of calling herself Allen Schezar's girlfriend.
So that's why she hadn't flirted with Allen when they were fatefully partnered together for an English project. Hitomi had been pleased for sure at her luck but nevertheless, she did not jump for the opportunity to smile seductively and raise her brows suggestively as other girls have done in the past. Instead, Hitomi had swallowed her infatuation of Allen and squashed down her fantasies. She had treated Allen in the same fashion she treated her fellow classmates. She would have intellect conversations with Allen, she joked, she laughed, she told stories, and she was witty. Allen in turn had smiled pleasantly at her wit and gave her clever answers. Soon enough, a sort of friendship formed.
Hitomi laughed out loud as she related this to Van. "I was so proud of myself that I kept my feelings for Allen down. I seriously didn't think our relationship would get any further than that."
"Bullshit," was Van's reply. "I think I can see where this is going from here. Did he ask you out after your English project?"
Hitomi turned her head to Van in shock. "How did you know?" she asked.
Van grinned to himself. "What can I say? I'm a really smart guy."
Hitomi smirked in good humor and sat up, stretching out her arms to the sky.
Van looked on as her stretching caused Hitomi's shirt to slide up her body, revealing her lean belly. He sighed in disappointment when the shirt slid down again and folded his arms under his head.
"Go on," he suggested.
"You already said what happened next. One day out of the blue Allen asked me out." Hitomi hugged her legs to her chest, eyes glazing over in memory. "I was so surprised. By that time we were really good friends and I didn't notice any suggestion that Allen had any feelings whatsoever for me. I don't think I showed any for him in any case."
To this day, Hitomi went on, it still puzzled her as to why Allen had asked her out of all people,. She remembered being so overjoyed that Allen had actually noticed her, really noticed her, in not just a friendly but romantic way. It was so strange. She had not acted as though she had a crush on him at all, Allen had developed feelings for her on his own! Hitomi hadn't had to do anything to attract him! Lady Luck had smiled on Hitomi that day.
The first few months of being Allen's girlfriend had been so blissful. She was happy with Allen. At first she had been fearful that Allen's feelings for her would wane into nothing, Hitomi had been extremely conscious of the rumors wrapped around her new boyfriend. Some of his ex-girlfriends had even come up to her and warned her of his playboy reputation.
But Allen really genuinely seemed to be in love with her. It showed in the tender way he looked at her and the sweet kisses they shared between classes. Hitomi could remember quite clearly how quickly her crush had transformed into love.
Once again, Hitomi laughed at herself, burying her face into her knees. "I was so stupid, back then! I really believed that it would last. I actually thought that Allen would always be in love with me! Can you believe that!"
Van stared up at her from the ground. He sat up when a single bead of wetness dribbled down her cheek.
"You don't have to go on," he suggested, lifting a hand to wipe away the tear. "If it's that painful…"
Hitomi looked at him, the tears flowing across her face. She smiled sadly and smoothed the tears away. "No," she said. "I want to go on, I want to finish it for you Van." She stared at the tears on her hands. "It's funny really," she murmured.
"What is?"
"I didn't start crying until now. Even when I had a chance to think while walking up here after he broke up with me, I didn't cry. Not a tear."
"Well, now you're crying, aren't you?" Van pointed out. He flinched at his lack of tact. "Sorry, that was dumb of me…"
"This is different," Hitomi said. "I'm not crying because he broke up with me. I'm crying for the past."
Van propped his elbow on his knee and rested his chin on his fist. He watched, mesmerized, as Hitomi wiped away another stranded tear.
Allen was well known for his player qualities. It had shocked their classmates to see Allen with the same girl for more than three months and better yet, their relationship was still strong. It had seemed like nothing could come between Allen and Hitomi, nothing…
Until she came along. Millerna was one of those glamorous types; the kind of girl who would probably end up on the cover of a huge fashion magazine that sold out in over five languages across more than four continents. She was popular, sophisticated, and had class. And she had her eye on Allen.
"I hated her," Hitomi said softly, hugging her knees. "I hated that bitch even before she started flirting with Allen. She was beautiful and she knew it. Millerna always acted as though she was on the top looking back down on us. And the sad thing was that she really believed that. That slut really thought she was better than all of us, as if she were a princess or something."
Guys were attracted to her like ants on sugar. They flocked around her, forming her own protective barrier of fawning suitors. But none of the caught her eye the way Allen did.
Allen couldn't resist her charms. Millerna would saunter sexily down the hallways amid her pack of admirers and raise her eyebrow at Hitomi when the couple passed her. Her eyes would hover over Hitomi for a moment in a cool, calculating gaze and then slide over dismissively. And then her eyes would meet Allen with a playful, seductive wink. The next time they passed her in the halls there would be an alluring smile on her face. And then there was a haughty toss of the head, her hair accidentally sliding against Allen's face.
Hitomi had not suspected anything at the time. She thought it was all coincidence that they saw Millerna a little too often.
"I was also assured that Allen would never look at any other girl. Remember, I thought we would be together forever," Hitomi added. "How stupid I was," she said again in a mumble.
"Oh come on now," Van said soothingly. "You didn't know better so don't beat yourself up. Was Allen your first kiss too?"
Hitomi glanced sideways at Van in disbelief. "How did you know that?" she asked suspiciously.
"In my experience, girl's always overestimate their first loves, because, obviously, they've never had love before. It's not their fault really, they just didn't know better. It's their second or third loves that stick most of the time."
"How do you know?" Hitomi demanded. "What do you know about love?"
Van grinned at her suspicion. He liked this perky Hitomi better than that solemn, sorrow-streaked story telling girl. "I'm a musician, and a rock star at that," Van bragged. "Of course I am an expert in love. I mean, it's a given really."
Hitomi suddenly laughed out loud, a huge contrast to her tear streaked face. "That's funny, Van," she said. "That's really funny!"
"Eh?" Van raised an eyebrow as Hitomi began to laugh manically. He began to feel concern when Hitomi became even more hysterical. Sure enough, soon Hitomi began to cry again. She sank down on to the grass and curled up in a tight ball.
Van sighed. He moved closer to Hitomi and gently lifted her head and rested her against his knee. He wondered briefly how far he was willing to go to comfort a perfect stranger and shrugged that thought away. Bending over, he smiled into Hitomi's face.
"I'm sorry. Maybe my idea isn't helping at all," he said.
Hitomi closed her eyes tightly and opened them again.
"I told you I would finish it," she said simply.
Contradicting her thoughts at the time, Allen was certainly not immune in the least to Millerna's charms. He didn't seem to actively react to her approaches. He only gave that stunning smile that he beamed at everyone. But he responded personally to Millerna is little ways. Allen would discreetly meet her eyes or perhaps brush slightly against her. Hitomi didn't notice at first, she was too infatuated with Allen to be suspicious of anything. Perhaps this was what encouraged Millerna to go even further.
Millerna began to actually touch Allen. She would brush a finger against his shoulder and look at Hitomi, daring her to say something. Once Millerna even tucked a ruffled strand of hair behind Allen's ear. Eventually, Millerna would tuck an arm into Allen's when Hitomi wasn't there. She would claim that she and Allen were 'just friends' and would leave it at that. And Allen allowed her to do that! He didn't protest in the least, not even when Hitomi looked at him sharply. It finally came to a point one day when Hitomi found a smudge of foreign lipstick on his mouth.
Even Hitomi couldn't ignore it. At first she persuaded herself that it was all in her head. Allen would never go behind her back, she had thought. He loved her, didn't he? But her friends had proved her wrong and they forced her to see the truth: Allen was falling in love with Millerna.
In the days that followed, Hitomi was stricken with terror. If Allen didn't like her anymore, then he would surely break up with her soon. Hitomi began to live in fear that this day would be the last she would ever see him again. She kept quiet about his "affair" as her friends called it for fear of speeding up the big break up. Why did she keep quiet exactly? It was because in her heart, Hitomi still loved Allen for all he felt for her.
But it didn't happen. Allen and Hitomi were still officially a couple. Allen hung on to her all through that month. Confused, Hitomi went along with it, relishing every moment she still had with her the only boyfriend she ever had. But Allen still continued to see Millerna every so often. In the end, Hitomi grew exasperated at their little façade and began to wish that Allen would hurry up and break up with her so that the pain would go away.
"I learned something in that period of our relationship," Hitomi remarked, head resting on Van's knee. "I learned bitterness. I learned how much selfishness I harbored inside."
"Really?" Van replied.
"I became bitter whenever Millerna was around. I think Allen noticed it but he ignored it and carried on like normal. Being bitter is something that didn't come naturally to me at the time. I was nice person, the kind of girl that everyone would describe as 'friendly.' But that's it, you see, that's all they could describe me as because nobody really knew me until Allen asked me out. So I changed into a bitter person.
I found that the reason why I didn't break up with Allen myself was because I was selfish. If I wasn't Allen's girlfriend, than I was no one special. I liked being special. People started to talk to me more often and I like that. There was no more fading into the background, no more shyness. Being with Allen gave me more confidence and I wanted to keep that. I thought it would all go away once Allen broke up with me."
"That's not true," Van cut in sharply. "You can't possibly still believe that."
Hitomi looked up at him. "Of course I don't," she said bluntly. "I told you, I'm selfish. I'm so selfish that all those qualities didn't go away. I remember still feeling special the moment Allen broke up with me. The only thing he took away from me was my beauty."
"You shouldn't say that," Van told her softly, gazing down at her.
"Why not? I'm not as pretty as Millerna. That's why he likes her more than me. She's beautiful and I'm not. I'm not beautiful to him anymore!" Hitomi shrieked.
She sighed and rolled over on Van's knee. "You already know the rest of the story. Today, Allen finally broke up with me. It's all over now. I'm never going to speak to him again."
Van kept gazing down at her, a thoughtful expression on his face. "It's not over," he said suddenly. "The story isn't over yet."
Hitomi frowned up at him. "What?"
"You can still breathe without Allen, right?" Van said.
"Yeah…"
"Well, then you're okay. You can still continue your story by yourself. When Allen picked you up, the pace of your story began to speed up and you liked the rush. So therefore, you were frantic when Allen began to hit on someone else because you were starting to slow down again. At that moment you started to move through your story by yourself. You kept up the pace on your own. Soon it came to a point when you didn't need Allen anymore; you could rush by yourself. So you instinctively wanted Allen to breakup with you so you could continue on without his help. But mentally, you weren't used to the pace away from him so there was still a part of you that didn't want to let go. And finally today, Allen didn't want to drag you along your story anymore, possibly because he realized that he was the one lagging. So, as he was used to being the one in the lead, Allen broke up with you. So now you are free to go along your story whichever way you please," Van finished.
While Van was talking, Hitomi had slowly sat up. Now her head was tilted to the side and her mouth gaped open slightly.
Van smiled sheepishly. "Well, that's just my personal metaphorical analysis of your situation anyway."
Hitomi stared at him. Then she started to smile. Then she laughed.
Van gasped indignantly. "What's so funny?"
"You're just so strange!" Hitomi giggled. "That was such a…unique way of describing me!"
"I try my best," Van admitted. He silently congratulated himself for another triumph: Hitomi was laughing, really laughing.
"Do you feel better now?" he asked her.
Hitomi blinked. "Actually I do," she said. "It really helped to talk to someone about it."
She leaned forward and Van suddenly found himself in Hitomi's tight embrace.
"Thank you Van," she murmured in his ear. "Thank you for listening and helping me heal my wounds. I think I'm over Allen now."
"That was quick," Van said jokingly. He wrapped his arms around Hitomi and closed his eyes in contentment.
Hitomi breathed in his masculine scent. Van felt so secure, so real in her embrace. And she somehow felt safe and comfort in his strong arms.
Then she stiffened. Van opened one eye and asked, "what is it?"
When Hitomi didn't say anything, Van opened his other eye and looked to the side. There was a car parked nearby. It had been sitting there for a while. Van hadn't noticed it before. He stared at it. There was a blonde guy sitting inside, watching them with cold eyes.
Van heard Hitomi snort.
"And there he is," she remarked bitterly.
"That's Allen?"
"Oh yeah. Doesn't he look sad?"
Allen, catching Van's gaze, quickly looked away. He certainly did look sad, almost small. There was a solemn expression on his face, as if he had been let down, but something else too. Guilt.
Allen looked up again at Van and then his gaze sidled over to Hitomi's. She narrowed her eyes at him. Van could have sworn he heard a hiss from her between her teeth. Whatever it was, Allen had apparently somehow heard it. His widened eyes stared hard at Hitomi. There was a snarl. Finally Allen looked away. He turned on the ignition and drove onto the street. He looked back at Hitomi one last time and was gone.
"Well, that takes care of him," Hitomi said brightly.
Van realized that he still had an arm around Hitomi's waist. He decided to keep it there. He noted the brightness in Hitomi's voice and knew how hard it was for her to keep it up.
"You were wrong about one thing, Hitomi," Van commented.
Hitomi turned to look at him. "What?" she asked suspiciously.
"Allen always thought you were beautiful. You were just too beautiful for him. You see Allen's the type of guy who can only handle the flashy kind of beauty, not the real, true beauty because it's too much for him."
Hitomi ducked her down to hide her smile and blushed.
"And you know this…how?" she asked to cover up her jitteriness.
Van grinned and tapped his head. "You're forgetting that I was never infatuated with him, so I can analyze his type immediately."
Hitomi looked at him incredulously. "You really are amazing," she said. "Maybe I should actually listen to your music some time. What do you go by again? Is it Van de Fanel?"
As if on cue, a stampeding pack of girls began to appear. Van instinctively dove behind Hitomi and clutched her to the front of him. Hitomi laughed merrily as the girls passed.
"Maybe I should call my driver and get out of here," Van mumbled.
Hitomi looked down sharply at him. "You're leaving already?" she asked almost frantically.
The girls were gone. Van sat up, relieved. He grinned at the shock in her voice. "Don't worry, Hitomi, I'll see you again, even if I am a celebrity."
Hitomi's frantic look was replaced with a snort as she shoved him playfully. "I don't care about fame!"
Van stopped himself from leaping and shouting with joy and contented himself with smiling widely. "I'm glad," he replied. "Do you need a ride home?"
"That would nice, thank you," Hitomi said. She looked down. "Thanks again for everything, Van. You helped me even though we're strangers. I can't possibly repay you…"
It was here that she realized that they were sitting so close to each other that their hips touched and that Van's arm was wrapped tightly around her waist. Hitomi then proceeded to undergo another session of what her friend liked to call Intense Blushing.
Van's smile grew even wider. He had meant every word he said. Hitomi really was beautiful, the kind of beauty that radiated outward from deep beneath her skin, not the type that clashed with make-up. Hitomi was a natural beauty; it was just too bad she didn't know it yet. Van could take care of that. If he could, he'd remind of her of her beauty every single day.
Well, he did have her cell phone number, so that thought wasn't too far-fetched…
Hitomi looked even more beautiful now that she was smiling. Before, when he had bumped into her, Hitomi was a tragic beauty, the Juliet of a tragic Shakespeare play. Van knew right there that he had to heal her pain somehow. He owed to her anyway, especially for almost killing her.
Hitomi was looking at him right now, her cheeks red, eyes slightly red from crying. Van met her eyes. He saw an angel, an eternally beautiful angel. She closed her deep green eyes as Van leaned forward…
A/N Next chapter is the Epilogue. You can either read that now are press the review button and tell me what you think of this chapter… By the way, since my updating schedule is pretty inconsistent, I'm going to send out a mailing list to notify people when I update any of my stories. So if you want to be on the list just email me. Note that if you're on the list, I will update you whenever I update ANY of my stories, meaning I may not have necessarily updated the story you wanted...but than you could read it anyway...