"… My tears keep overflowing; I can't see your last smile through the blur… Please don't go and leave me alone…"
~*~ Yubiwa ~*~
Chapter Seven: Echoes
Riiiiiiing Riiiiiiiing Riiiiiiing
"Hey, Ari, can you get that?" Amano's voice sounded from the study.
"Okay!" Five year-old Ari shouted back, tearing his bright green eyes regretfully away from his favorite cartoon as he ran towards the phone on his short legs.
"Hello?" The little boy asked breathlessly, proud of his ability to answer the phone.
"Hi Ari, is Amano in?" Yukari's cheerful voice asked from the other end.
"Mmmhmmm… just a sec…" Ari answered, walking dutifully towards Amano's study, "Are you still taking me to the park today?"
Yukari giggled, "Yes, and maybe we'll stop for ice cream too, okay?"
"Weeeeeeee! Thanks 'Kari!" Ari handed the phone over to the much older man, who had stopped his typing to watch the glee on the little boy's face. "It's for you Amano…"
The older man nodded in thanks and took the phone from Ari, waiting until he left before talking, "What's going on, my ravishingly beautiful girlfriend?"
The red head nervously twirled the phone cord between her fingers on her end of the line, "A-Any news from the police yet on Hitomi?"
Amano's silence on the other end answered the younger girl's question.
Yukari sighed tiredly and slide down against the wall she had been standing next to, "What are we going to do if they can't—"
"Don't say that…" The older man cut in, his hand tightening around the phone, "I promise you Yukari, everything's going to be alright. Hitomi will come back… we've… just got to believe in her…"
Yukari sighed again, biting her lip, "How's Ari doing…?"
Amano leaned back in his desk chair, glancing at the younger boy who was now back to sitting in front of the TV. "He's still been having the nightmares of chasing after her."
Amano could tell by his girlfriend's uncharacteristic silence that she was fighting back tears.
"I-I'll be over to pick him for the park around 3:00, okay?" Yukari said, wiping her eyes.
"Okay…" Amano replied, sitting back up straight in the chair, "Hey…"
"Hmm…?
"I love you."
"I love you too, Amano…"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Van's smell was intoxicating as I clung unto him, lost and confused for those first, few, fleeting seconds between sleep and reality. I didn't remember falling asleep in this particular position.
Van's hand traced lazy circles up and down my spine, my body molded into his as we lay together on the sofa. I felt the muscles of his chest tense up as he realized I was awake.
"Hey." He whispered hoarsely, a faint smile on his lips.
"Hey." I echoed, a soft blush crossing my cheeks. Shyly, I slowly edged myself away from him, almost painfully aware of how close we where. His hand slid up to cup the side of my face, and all my movement ceased. Unconsciously, a strangled sigh escaped my lips.
Why does this feel so familiar…?
I bit my lip; brushing away the indecisive emotions to the back of my mind as I attentively relaxed back into his arms, burying my face against the warmth of his bare neck.
Van shifted under my weight, moving slightly to accommodate our new position. I rested my forehead against the warmth of his bare neck, letting out a breath I hadn't realized I had been holding as his arms re-wrapped around me.
Long, lean fingers stroked over my spine, and all thoughts left my mind, his hands moving up my back until they burrowed into my hair. I lay there completely still as he lifted the strands and let them fall again, listening to his slow breathing as it grew hypnotic.
I tilted my head up towards him, sighing contently, too lost in the new emotions I felt inside of me to notice how my lips where grazing his jaw line.
I felt him tense at our new proximity, and slowly, his fingers moved from my hair to my cheek, tracing lightly over it, as he carefully watched me, his eyes glazed over with something I couldn't read. I almost stopped breathing as his thumb traced over my bottom lip.
"Can I kiss you?" He whispered into my hair, his breath smelling slightly of spices.
Slowly, I nodded my head, moving his with mine in the simple motion, every uncertain emotion in my heart swallowed by the dark look in his eyes.
I could feel the heat from his blush as he slowly slanted his face towards me, his lips shyly brushing against mine. I forgot everything all the hurt inside of me as he kissed me, slowly and gently; his lips sweet tasting like honeysuckle and strawberries.
I don't know at what point I began to kiss back, I was so lost in the sensations that he was causing inside of me. Without thinking I let my arm fail in support of my body, and collapsed to lie flat on the couch. Van followed me down, his lips now hungrily on mine, and then shifted to cover my prone form with his own body. The entire motion was a possessive gesture, done almost more for symbolism than for comfort.
He slowly pulled away first, resting his forehead against mine as he ended the kiss.
I felt his fingertips brush against my cheek along with his hot erratic breath, and my eyes fluttered open to meet his darker ones.
He was watching me intently, his fingers tracing lazy circles around my cheeks as he waited for my response. I leaned into the warmth of his hand, feeling my throat grow tighter as I placed my hand over his.
"Van, I---"
A soft knock on the door cut me short as it echoed around the room, followed by a muffled voice.
"Milord, Senator Mika is here to see you. He says it's urgent."
Van groaned in frustration, leaning forward to nuzzle his face against the crook of my neck, causing me to shiver despite myself.
"I'll see you in a few hours…" He whispered into my hair before kissing me roughly on the forehead as he regretfully pulled his body off of me.
I nodded, not trusting my voice.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
I laid spread eagle on my bed, oblivious to Merle and Rena's happy chatter as they picked out my evening attire for the dinner party celebrating Allen's arrival tonight.
Millions of confused thoughts and emotions bounced around in my head, each one more scattered then the last as I lay there. I felt like an awkward teenybopper again, my stomach full of hyperactive caffeine-hyped butterflies and still slightly weak in the knees after what had happened not more then two hours ago.
I can't put it into words but… That kiss… it made me feel like I was one step closer to finding out who I was inside. Like I had found another piece to the jigsaw puzzle of my memories, in Van.
"Did you hear anything that I just said?" Merle demanded, poking me hard in the still slight bruised ribs.
"No…" I answered dazedly, absently staring at the ceiling.
Merle cocked her head to the side, "Are you feeling alright, you've been awfully quiet…"
I shrugged, "Just thinking…"
Merle raised an eyebrow in curiosity, "About, wha--?"
"Ah ha!" Rena poked her head out of the wardrobe she had been busily digging through. "How about this one for tonight?"
I propped myself up on one elbow to see what new monstrosity of silk and lace they had found this time.
The older girl held out a crimson wine colored dress, with a tight fitting bodice and a wide neckline that would fall delicately off of my shoulders once I would put it on. In a word; it was beautiful.
"Hmmm…" Merle thought out loud as she looked back and forth between the dress, and me, "It's not pink, but I guess it will do…"
I rolled my eyes, ignoring Merle, "Thank you Rena, it's perfect for tonight."
"You'll be gorgeous." Rena said, winking at me, as she busied herself with putting away the small mountain of dresses that had failed the Merle stamp of approval for tonight.
"That's what I'm worried about." Merle grumbled, plucking the book she had borrowed from Van's study last night out of a pile of dresses.
"What does that mean?" I asked, now sitting up properly.
Merle shrugged, flipping to the page she had left off on as she sat down on my sofa. "It's just that A—"
"Ahem," A servant broke in from the doorway, his face pale and looked uneasy, "Sir Allen's leviship just landed."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Allen! Alleeeeeeeennnnn! You're here! You're really hereeeeee!" Merle shouted, darting towards him on all four paws, tackling the man in tight hug.
"Merle! It's been too long!" The tall blond hair man laughed, affectionately rumpling the cat girl's hair as he returned the hug.
"I missed too, you stupid mangy human! You have to come to visit more often!"
"My duty is to serve and protect the people of Astoria," Allen answered, breaking the hug, "But if you got the cook to serve more of that Dragonfruit cake I love, I might just happen to forget more often about the call of duty."
Merle giggled, "I'll see what I can do about that…" She paused and looked over his shoulder "Where's Celena?"
"Helping Princess Millerna and Eries plan for the big day." The older man sighed and shook his head ruefully, "You've never seen ladies of the court bicker over the smallest things as they are; they have the entire city in a uproar."
"Well that should please Celena."
"It does. A little too much." The man answered, looking past Merle and towards the archway where I was standing. The Knight's face paled, his eyes as big as dinner plates, as if he was staring at some walking eight-legged freak.
Except he was looking at me.
And I only have two legs, thank you very much.
"Hitomi…" His voice was soft as moved towards me, his silk overcoat rustling in the slight wind. The Heavenly Knight bowed deeply his long blond hair floating around like a halo as he offered me his hand. Shyly, I slipped my free hand into his, paling as his lips brushed against my knuckles.
"It's so good to see your face again, Hitomi." Crystal blue eyes met mine, half covered by spun-gold hair as he looked down at me, his face dark with something I couldn't quite read, "It's been far too long since our paths last crossed."
I smiled shyly, biting my lip nervously.
Merle, sensing my unease, popped up between us, taking Allen by the arm, "Come on, let's go find Lord Van." The cat girl glanced at me, smiling sadly, "Things have changed a lot since last time you where here, Allen."
Between meeting Allen and the dinner party, tonight promised to be a very long night indeed.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
~ I pressed harder up against Hitomi, pushing her against the frame of her door, moaning softly against her soft lips as I kissed her hungrily. Her hands shyly slide up my chest, up past my… her… our… pendent that's glowing slightly from it's place around my neck, her fingers feeling like drops of rain against my skin as before making their way into my hair.
The past two hours had been insensate torture for us both, her eyes looked so lost and scared at dinner, surrounded by strange people and so many lost memories, I had spent the evening silently wishing away the hurt I saw in those jade orbs. I had wanted nothing more but to hide her away from my world of politicians and aristocratic formalities, to keep her away from the prying eyes that had stared at us both the entire evening; to keep away from her everything that made her feel scared or uneasy.
Her face was thoroughly flushed as she pulled away from my exploring lips, resting her head against my chest as she sorted through her emotions. My sword calloused hands crept up her back and into the intricately woven mass of curls of her hair, my breathing as hard as hers.
I vaguely wondered if she could hear my rapidly beating heart, as she closes her eyes, limply clinging to my chest. To me, she's never looked so beautiful as she does blushing from our kisses. I re-wrapped both arms around her.
"You okay?" I whispered quietly in her ear.
She nodded slightly.
"Tired?"
She nodded again, nuzzling her face against my chest in the process, making me shiver.
"You should get some sleep." I whisper, pushing back a stray hair from her face.
Her eyes go wide, "But I—"
I placed a single finger against her kiss-swollen lips, and she fell silent, still clinging to me tightly.
"Shhh…" I whispered, more quietly this time almost as if I was afraid that I that had scared her. I leaned forward slowly, and brushed my lips against her soft, flushed cheek, "Good night Hitomi…"
She nodded, smiling softly as she holds me close before she pulled away, strands of her once gracefully piled hair now loose from its coiffure.
"Good night Van…" She whispers, before disappearing behind her door for the night.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Feeling like I was going to explode from pure happiness I sunk down against the door, a tired, but goofy smile on my face.
Every single uneasy feeling in my soul wiped away by Van's gentle kisses… even all the hurt from spending the entire night begging the floor to swallow me alive and save me from all the polite dinner talk, was washed away by his soft touch.
So this is what it feels like to be in lo---
Out of the corner of my eye, the shadows in my darkened room shift slightly against my bed.
"Merle?"
No answer.
I felt suddenly cold, and all of the happy feelings vanished from within me. A lump grew in my throat as I fumbled for the doorknob behind me, "Merle, it's not funny…"
The shadows shifted again and a man stepped out of hiding, a faint metallic gleam of a dagger in his hand.
"Scream and I'll slit your throat."
A/N: *pants* Sorry… about this chapter… being so choppy… Cliffhangers… and kissing… scenes… are…hard… to… write… *faints*
Review or else something bad might happen *menacingly evil glare*
Onigiri Momoko: Cheers to even more VxH fluff! (everyone: double awwwww!)
Raye-Rei: Aye, aye Captain Crunch! Thanks for reviewing!
SabineballZ: Allen? Make a move on Hitomi? Poor defenseless Hitomi? *cackle* No, that would just be cruel and unusual punishment for anyone to read, let alone for me to write. Thanks for reviewing!
pogo the kosher penguin: Eep! Yes she did! Thanks for reviewing!
Laka: Well, you could always bribe me with another review… =^_^=
Lydiby: TMI? Of course not, fellow track nerd! *^_^ Yeah, I know in the actual series, she does where spikes… my bad. Thanks for reviewing!
Colin: Thanks for helping out the cause and reviewing!
Allidoisreadfanfics: Teheheeee… Sorry to keep you waiting…
Aradow: I've written fics before that weren't in 1st POV, and for some reason people never seem to review them like they do my 1st POV. But, I'm glad you liked! And thanks for reviewing!
Candyfloss: Thanks for reviewing Candy!
And Special Kudos to Beta Reader extraordinaire Aurora Moon! I 3 YOU! THANKS!
Aug/ 29 / 2003
Version 1