IV. Glycine
~ Friendship
Millerna breathed in the scent of the gardenias that had been artistically arranged in a vase, placed on a table next to the piano. It was incredible how much could something as innocent and modest as flowers change so much the atmosphere of a house, and in so little time.
She remembered the beautiful rose that Hitomi had given her a few days ago; it had been a little white bud when the flower girl had handed it to her, telling her to put it in water and place it in some place where she could see it bloom.
Oh, and it had indeed, revealing after the first petals of innocent dazzling white an ardent red heart, some tiny sparkles of crimson shining like blood drops on the virginal white. She blushed at the implications Dryden might have wanted to give that flower, but she was definitely happy to see how well things were going between them, even after nearly nine weeks of that daily communication.
She had managed to see him and talk to him for a while at the opera, but her sisters had been with her, and her soon-to-be-fiancé as well, so she'd only been able to exchange some polite words with him thanks to Eries, who had conveniently half-fainted on Dryden on their way out. Of course Millerna only got to talk with him for less than five minutes, always with Allen's presence at her side, but she had enjoyed the secret caress her lover had stolen when no one was looking, gently stroking her silk-covered palm before kissing the back of her hand to bid her goodbye.
Allen was a constant worry in her head, the negotiations with the Schezar house getting quickly and steadily to the point of engagement, to which marriage followed right away. And, were she to judge from what she already knew from the sky-blue-eyed man's family, they tended to celebrate their weddings in no time, as it had happened with his sister, Serena.
Millerna had attended the ceremony, barely a week after her first meeting with Hitomi; the youngest Schezar had married the only son of the Albatou family, a very handsome man but whose lineage wasn't quite as eminent as the Schezars, though they were very rich indeed.
Perhaps it was a marriage for true love, she wondered, remembering the bliss that had showed on the bride's face at the altar, an expression that matched the groom's one. But then, it wasn't fair: why did she have to marry Allen forced by duty, if his sister had been allowed to marry for love?
The young Aston turned around the corner of the corridor, and her gaze wandered out of the windows, where the early afternoon sun showered its rays down on the mansion, the gardens looking more magnificent than ever. She stopped just in time, nearly bumping into Allen, who was standing next to a wall clock with his eyes set a few meters ahead him.
It was Hitomi carrying a fresh bunch of flowers in her arms, humming softly for herself as she filled with water a beautiful porcelain vase and selected with critical eye what flowers she was to fill it with.
Millerna looked at her fondly; since the first time she'd arrived at Aston Manor, dirty, awfully thin and dressed in rags, she had changed a lot… at least in appearance, because her spirit had remained unchanged and as bright as ever. Her skinny body was starting to fill out nicely, revealing slender curves that made her appear more like the young woman she was; the violet-eyed blonde had given her some dresses, as well as a few blankets for her and her grandmother, and a couple of jackets to keep the cold at bay. As autumn's winds drew closer and closer, announcing a cold winter, Hitomi was slowly starting to claim a place of her own in Aston Manor, and in the hearts of some of their inhabitants.
Allen was looking at her with an unreadable expression covering his handsome features, contented by his mute observance of the girl's doing as she rummaged trough the bunch of flowers, now stopping to brush a strand of hair out of her eyes, now bringing her finger to her lips to suck it, accidentally prickled by a sharp thorn.
It reminded him of her sister, the same look in her eyes, even though Serena's were the same blue as his, making him feel a little bit protective over that girl who cheered the house with her thousand flowers and scents.
He'd been watching her for a while now, as the green-eyed girl prepared the bunches that were to adorn the room she was in. He had admired her exquisite taste to choose colours and forms, combining them to look graceful, sober, the right and precise measure to fill the room with a scent that was neither too intense, nor too weak.
"I think you haven't met Hitomi yet, have you, Mr. Schezar?" asked Millerna's voice from behind him, sounding strangely amused.
The flower girl spun around with a frightened expression on her face, with such bad luck that her elbow knocked over the porcelain vase she'd been filling up. The beautiful china fell to the floor, shattering with a loud crash in hundreds of pieces and soaking the carpet's edges, as well as the wooded planks of the parquet.
"Oh my god, I am so sorry, Miss Millerna," she whispered frantically, quickly stooping to pick up all the shards scattered across the place. "I am so so sorry…" she murmured again and again, as if in a prayer, knowing that if she was to pay for the lost piece, she would never have enough money to settle her debt. Clumsy useless girl you are, she scolded herself, biting her lip in pain as a sharp piece of china cut her right hand when she tried to pick it up, quite carelessly, as her mind was somewhere else: to be more precise, imagining what would come out of the disaster she had provoked. She hid her hand in her pocket and carried on with the other hand.
"Don't worry about it, Hitomi," said Millerna in a soothing voice, joining the flower girl to tidy it up and immediately being followed by Allen. "My dad didn't like that vase after all," she grinned, sensing the nervousness that had taken hold of the green-eyed girl, who looked up at her with an imploring expression on her pretty heart-shaped face.
"I don't have any money to pay you back, Miss Millerna, but if you let me work here long enough I'm sure I will be able to compensate you for what I've broken, but if only you could pay me a little bit to have some money to buy food for my grandmother I'd-" she said hastily.
"Hitomi, I said it's okay," the young Aston calmed her with a grin, placing her hand on the flower girl's shoulder. "You don't have to pay us back, I will tell dad that I broke it," she said smiling with a casual shrug.
"And I can pay for the broken vase, after all it was partly my fault that you were scared," said Allen kindly, his sky-blue eyes linking with her emerald ones. He smiled. "As Millerna said, we hadn't been introduced to one another. My name is Allen Crusade Schezar VII, and it's my pleasure to meet you."
The flower girl drew in a deep breath of relief, as she finally understood and assumed that they weren't going to place the blame on her for what she'd done, that they had forgiven her. People who came from a world she had always believed to be intransigent and narrow-minded were proving her that kindness was also possible between rich people. Appearances were deceptive indeed.
"M-my name is Hitomi," she stuttered, blushing a little when Allen took her left hand and kissed her on the back of it, making her feel like a little princess. "I am sorry that you'll have to pay for my clumsiness, I was just so absorbed into what I was doing that I didn't hear you were here," the green-eyed girl explained, wiping the water on the floor with a piece of cloth she usually used to dust the vases where she was to put the freshly-cut flowers.
"Don't think more about that. It's the least I could do," he smiled. "One can see you really love what you do…"
Hitomi slowly rose from the floor, shifting then her weigh from her right to her left leg as she felt the steady trickle of blood trailing down the palm of the hand stuffed in her pocket. The only thing she wanted was to run away from there, but she had to be polite to Millerna's future fiancé. He looked like a nice man, she decided; not as good as Dryden, but not that bad.
"Yes, sir, I enjoy it very much. Aston Manor has a wonderful garden," she smiled, waving her arm in a wide arch to take in the whole span of the lush green grounds that could be seen through the crystal panels of the windows.
Millerna could plainly read in the flower girl's eyes that she was eager to leave the room; when she noticed the small red mark that stained the pocket's fabric, and the unmistakable curling of the girl's fingers under the soft cloth, she decided to help her escape from the embarrassing situation.
"Now, Hitomi, could you please go to the kitchens and send someone up to wipe the last remains of the vase, just to make sure there are no pieces around left?" she requested kindly, winking the eye that was out of Allen's view. "And make sure you get something for that hand of yours!" she added after the green-eyed girl had scrambled away with a quick curtsy and a nod of her head.
Allen's gaze followed the retreating form of the girl until she turned the corner and disappeared from view; noticing Millerna's amethyst eyes fixed on him, he cleared his throat and got up with one of the flowers Hitomi had carried in his hand, a yellow tulip. He twirled the flower between his fingers for a moment, then left it on the tea table next to the window.
"She really is adorable, isn't she?" commented Millerna with a soft smile on her lips. Allen nodded.
"She looks very young, innocent… Serena was just the same as her," he murmured, wondering for a split second what the flower girl's dreams might be, if they would come true as her sister's… thwarting his own ones in the process.
"Isn't she not anymore, milord?" quietly asked the younger Aston, caution edging her voice.
"Young, yes. Innocent… she's a married woman now, milady. My mother used to say that no woman is really a woman before… err…" he trailed off, obviously embarrassed, but she supplied the words he hadn't dared to say out loud.
"Before being bedded by a man, you mean," she completed with an amused grin. "I hope that your sister finds happiness in her… er, new found womanhood."
Allen drew out a soft sigh. "Yes, I think she will, and I'm glad for her."
Millerna observed his profile carefully; he looked honourable, and for what she'd seen, he was a kind and compassionate man too. He would make indeed a good husband, she had to agree with her father… only, that she had already chosen hers, and it was not Allen Schezar the one who had her love.
~···*···~
He saw her petite though prettily curved form the moment she entered the stables, and Feahan noticed her too, for the stallion he was brushing nickered quietly and rubbed his head against Van's shoulder repeatedly, swishing his tail to get rid of the flies that buzzed around him.
"Hey there," he called out softly to her. "I thought you were filling the house with your buds and blossoms," he left the brush on the ground and walked to where she was, smiling at how much she'd changed during his stay at the house. What two months ago had been a scrawny little girl covered in dirt was now blooming into a pretty young woman, though as full of smiles and sweetness as before.
He immediately noticed the flush on her pale cheeks and covered the ground between them in three strides, applying his fresh hand to her head to check if she had fever. "Are you all right?"
"Aye, I'm okay… I just made a fool of myself up there," she smiled faintly, heading for the comfortable mattress of hay where Van slept. The place was soothingly familiar, some kind of sanctuary where nothing could harm her. As long as she stayed in those stables, with the horses and the dark-haired boy with her, sitting on his bed, she would be safe. "I broke a vase, a very expensive one I think…"
Van sat next to her and took a jug full of water from the small wooden table beside his mattress, pouring the crystal-clear liquid into a glass and then handing it out to Hitomi. It was then when he saw that her right hand had firmly stuffed in her front pocket, and that the white linen was tinted crimson.
"What happened to your hand?!" he asked hoarsely, his callous warm ones taking her bloodied one out into the light, where he could see the extent of her injury.
"No harm done, Van, really," she protested feebly, but he gave her a serious glance that made her close her mouth shut. "I simply cut myself when I was trying to pick up the pieces of the broken vase…" she bit her lip as he carefully proceeded to clean the cut to stop the bleeding, after having produced a clean cloth out of thin air and soaking it with water.
"But I see you quite… happy," he reasoned, while his fingers explored the borders of the cut and, after wiping it with the cloth again, decided it was enough. He then rummaged through the pockets of his jacket, hanging from a long nail on the wall, until he found a yellowy bandage, the same one he had used countless times when some horse bit him, or when the blisters in his hands decided to burst open and start bleeding. He always kept that bandage clean, just in case, the cloth that had once been white now yellow and worn out, but it would serve well to his purposes. He wrapped it meticulously around her hand, until the bandage was too short and he had to tie it with a knot to stay still and in its place.
Hitomi's eyes were fixed on Van's hands during all the process, silently admiring his confident movements and that quiet way of his that told her that he cared for her. "Mr. Schezar offered to replace it," she explained with a sigh; the auburn-eyed boy's head jerked up.
"Schezar was there?"
"Aye, Miss Millerna and him helped me to tidy the disaster… really Van, how can I be so clumsy?" she complained, shaking her head. He let out a long sigh and lied back, putting his hands behind his head in the gesture the flower girl had grown to recognize as distinctively his. The way he shrugged, the way he wore his old cap all day and all night, the was he moved had become something familiar, welcoming. It made her think at times that even if the sky fell down on their heads and the world was destroyed, Van would always be there for her.
"You're not clumsy," he gave her a lop-sided grin; he got up and picked a fork, starting to pile the hay scattered across the ground after having led Feahan back into his box. "If you were, you couldn't work with flowers, you'd be prickling yourself all the time," he reasoned. Hitomi blushed, bringing her middle finger to her mouth in a way that gave away what had happened with that finger.
The dark-haired boy let out a laugh and, setting the fork aside, he walked to her side and tousled her silky honey-blond hair as if she were nothing but a little girl.
"Don't worry, 'Tomi, I think your hands are golden," he smiled encouragingly at her, who beamed in return. "But now, now, tell me about that Schezar… he didn't harm you, did he?" though he tried to conceal it, his tone was fiercely protective, and it made her chuckle.
"No, Van, he didn't, you can spare his life," she said jokingly. "Actually, he's very nice… if I didn't know better, I'd say he's perfect for Miss Millerna."
The horse boy grinned at her, shaking his head. "And, speaking of the devil, how are things between her and Dryden? Any news I don't know?" he asked mischievously, earning a playful poke in the ribs from Hitomi.
"You're such a nosy guy!" she laughed, at what the raven-haired boy put on an offended expression.
"Me? You hurt my delicate sensitivity by even thinking such a thing!"
Hitomi let out another pearly laugh that finally died down and was replaced by a warm smile. "Oh Van, what would I do without you?…"
"Bleed to death, that you'd do," he chuckled, getting up again and going into the tack room to get a saddle and a bridle to polish. He couldn't help it: when Hitomi was around he felt the terrible urge to busy his hands with something, or else he got terribly nervous, though he couldn't find a rational explanation to it. The flower girl sighed.
"Probably, aye… Things between the
lovers are very well… this morning Dryden sent her a cabbage rose, that
means Ambassador of Love, and Millerna wanted me to send him a red
camellia… it seems that the heroine of the opera that they watched when
they first met wore that kind of flowers," she explained quietly, a dreamy
expression on her face. "It means You're a flame in my heart."
Van observed her in silence, vigorously rubbing the saddle with his cloth. "It seems as if you were the one in love instead of Miss Millerna," he stated; somewhere in the stables a horse whinnied softly, the constant swish of tails and buzz of flies filling the air.
Hitomi sighed and lied down onto the mattress, her eyes staring at the ceiling; her dress clung to her soft curves tantalizingly, and the dark-haired boy fought to tear his gaze away from her, deciding that there was definitely something terribly interesting on the ground that he had failed to notice all those years. When he could find no excuse to keep on staring at the hay-covered stones, and starting to feel quite stupid, he fixed his stare on the saddle, which actually proved to be much more entertaining than the ground.
The flower girl, happily oblivious to what was happening around her, closed her eyes and drew in a deep breath. "I don't think I am in love, but I would like to," she confessed shyly, making the auburn-eyed boy's head turn towards her. She went on, taking his silence as an encouraging sign. "When I was just a kid, my mother used to tell me beautiful stories about princes that saved lovely princesses from evil dragon's clutches," her voice was misty, obscured when she talked about the memories that had shaped her as she was now. "She used to call me 'little princess', as did da…"
"Well, they should see you now… Princess of the Flowers you are in here," he smiled at her, trying to lighten up her pretty heart-shaped face.
"She told me that one day my Prince would come and get us out of our misery," the green-eyed girl said dreamily, an innocent and wonderfully child-like look of delight on her face.
"So, princess, you've had many years to think about that prince of yours, you must know what he is like," he said, intending to keep his tone neutral. She giggled, a girlish gesture that Van could only find loveable in Hitomi.
"Oh, aye, Mr. Fanel, I know indeed!" she grinned. "He is a kind and compassionate man, who sees me, loves me for what I really am; he makes me laugh, and always tries to protect me from harm. He has a warm heart, and will take us both to my grandma and me to his big house where we won't be hungry, cold or lonely ever again," she finished with bright eyes. Rose colouring her pale cheeks, she turned to Van, bitting her lip in mild embarrassment. "I must sound pretty stupid, huh?"
He fumbled with the right words, while trying to fight down the lump that had formed in his throat at the same time. "N-no! Course not, 'Tomi," he assured her, rubbing the saddle energetically. "And, do you think you've found that prince of yours?"
She smiled sardonically. "At first and for a second I thought it could be Dryden… I really envy the kind of love he shares with Millerna, that defies all conventions, all social rules or opinions. I guess that's why I am so thrilled when I speak of the flowers they exchange…" she sighed softly. "Maybe it's when I notice what I don't have, and would like to…" she looked at Van, whose eyes were fixed on her, and inscrutable light in their burgundy depths. She let out a nervous laugh. "Heavens, I sound like a child… I'm sorry Van, it wasn't my intention boring you to death with my stupid dreams," Hitomi apologized, but the dark haired boy shook his head slowly.
"No, no, it's okay, 'Tomi… it's all right."
But deep down, he knew that things were not exactly what he would define as "all right". He had surprised himself thinking of Hitomi as he had never thought of a woman before. Wait a second… a woman? Since when she had become a woman instead of a girl in his mind? Heck, since when the flower girl actually was in his mind?
Pretty long time, now, a part of him stated, and he knew it true. First curiosity, then a blooming friendship had caused the green-eyed girl to be a constant thought in his head, but now he was stepping right into quicksands.
Good Gods, he was starting to think of creating Category 5, just for Hitomi. And he was terribly afraid to label it.
~ When she passes him by
She's a ray of light
Like the first drop of sun
From the sky
And he knows she's a queen
Who deserves a king
But he is not a king
And she doesn't see him ~
~···*···~
Hitomi was shivering from all the excitement, tense as an bow's string; she burst into the stables like a hurricane, her soft golden strands adorably framing her face and falling down her shoulders, curling lightly at the ends.
"Van!! VAN!!" she yelled happily, throwing herself onto the mattress, then having to get up again, too hyperactive to stay calm and quiet in the same place for more than three seconds. A loud grunt followed her joyful shout, and she bit her lip.
"Go on, yell again and let's see if you scare the horses enough so that they actually succeed in trying to beat me to a pulp," his young voice came out of a box where a roan mare was prancing nervously around the place. A second later the door opened, revealing a dust-covered Van with straw on his cap-less head, black bangs pointing out in all directions.
"Hey, I had never seen you without your cap," she smiled, forgetting that she was supposed to be apologetic for what she had provoked, but that thought was far away from her mind at the sight of him like that. Without the cap, his eyes were fully visible, a strange shade of brown sprinkled with crimson that made her think of ripe strawberries in a cinnamon mist.
"Well, you nearly got to see me without a head," he replied sarcastically, running his hand thought his hair to get rid of the hay bits there. "Okay, are you going to tell me what matter of capital importance made you yell like that?"
Hitomi grinned goofily at his words, clutching a single flower in her fingers; she showed him the tiny blossom, five double petals so lobbed that they gave the impression of being ten instead of just five. It certainly wasn't the flower that one might think of when trying to express words of undying love, but its humbleness was deceitful…
"Look!"
Van frowned in puzzlement. "Very beautiful. And?"
The flower girl smacked him on the head. "The meaning, you silly!! It's a date!!" she squealed, and the dark-haired boy placed his hand on her lips to hush her. For a moment the green-eyed blonde could've sworn her heart beat double, but it soon resumed its normal pace, if it had ever changed it, that is.
"All right, you can tell me what it means but if you don't keep it down it won't be just me, but the whole house will know," he grinned at her, and she smiled back, excitement tingling up her spine.
"This means 'rendezvous', a date, a secret date!" she smiled from ear to ear, clutching the flower like mad. "He told me that he would give us more details, but that he wanted Millerna to know that he had to see her again, privately," she whispered, totally happy.
It was amazing, really, how something that wasn't directly implied in her well-being, in her own happiness, could stir such amount of feeling in her, he thought.
"Good, good, I was starting to think that this man would never move a finger to be with her!" he smiled, picking up the cap from the floor and dusting it before putting it on again. But as he was going to, Hitomi's hands jerked up and grabbed her own ones.
"Don't."
He froze at her touch. Was it his imagination, or had it really been that electrifying? Had he sizzled under her palms, or had it been just an illusion? "What?" he asked hoarsely. His burgundy eyes were now full exposed to the daylight, that played games of lights and shadows with his face, replacing the permanent shadow that dwelled there when he wore his cap.
"Don't put it on again. I like you better this way," she simply stated, the sincerity in her words reaching the very core of the raven-haired boy.
Don't be stupid, Fanel, he chided himself. Stubbornly, he put on the cap again, and the pout Hitomi rewarded him with was so endearing that he thought that winding her up a little was something he'd have to do more often. She looked so cute when she was annoyed…
Don't go that way, you know it's a dead end, he told himself. She's waiting for Prince Charming… you're not that prince, and you know.
"You are a mulish man," she protested, and he bowed to the floor, in mock imitation of the gentlemen.
"At your service, madam," he smiled. "But what are you doing here yet, wasting your time on me? Have you told Millerna about the date?"
Hitomi grinned widely, her eyes sparkling again. "No, no yet!!" she said, breaking into a run towards the kitchens. She turned back before closing the door behind her and blew him a kiss.
Van smiled slowly as she ran away into the house, her sweet scent still floating in the air.
Cherish this moment, Fanel. This will be the most you'll get from her.
~···*···~
Tbc~
*wipes a tear* thanks ppl, it means quite a lot te me that ye're still readin' this, ye 'aven't abandoned me! *hugs* thankiez tons!!!!!!!
SabineballZ: Haha! Aye aye, fer once Tomi has some sorta crush on Dry an' not Allen... nono, he won't create much trouble I promise *grins* Merle was a lil bit too much te 'ave it in there if I wanted this te be relatively short, so she stays a kitten *hugs Merle* hehehe… Tomi still lookin' fer Prinche Charmin'…
Starry Eyed Wonder: *hugs till ye're out o' air* ye know ye keep me goin' girl?! Ye, along with me damsel's comments an' praises make me think this is still good *grins* I think I've read yer review fer cheerin' up somethin' like… 4 times or so ^^U, really!! Scarves… aye, red definitely *grins impishly* must say girl, straw scene written last night ^_~… strange, that I don't drink coffee at all an' described it as such a wonderful thing! Well, must've been coz the other day I was really cold an' took a sip o' some friend's cup o' chocolate an' moka one… worked wonders te me poor throat *sighs* LOL! Sweep her away on a horse *bursts out laughin'* hadn't thought o' that one!! xD an' *puts hand to heart an' sniffs* ye DID get what I wanted te mean… ahhh!! *jumps at yer arms* I love yer philosophical thinkin', same as mine girl!!!!! Now I must start doin' just that an' reconsider all the guys around me *sobs*… feel-gooders *is so honoured she can't speak* ye make me go all emotional too!! *hugs till ye're… hmm.. what colours were missin'? K, hug till ye're orange* (now, blue, purple an' orange covered) ^___^
Dreamboat Annie: lol!! Well, as this only has 7 chapters, plus prologue an' epilogue, it won't take that long fer dear ol' Tomi te understand what she feels… ^_~ I'd also love te 'ave a friend like 'Kari *grins* she's so cute! An' ye like the flowers? ^___^ that was the original idea, what this fic, along with a couple o' songs, is based an' inspired on… an' oooohhh *hugs like mad* thanks fer the review te Natsu! *grins widely* I'll write ye an e-mail as soon as possible… me also now quite stressed *grumbles* Zoology *mutters* Maths *growls* Chem *sobs* Biochem… I'r better stop or I'll end up go lookin' fer a bridge, as Dee says…
Tevrah: *nods wildly* I totally agree with ye, but Hitomi doesn't seem te *sighs*… hehe, is it predictable, that Tomi will fall fer Allen? *grins mischievously*… thanks tons fer reviewin'!!!!!! ^________^
sqeekers: *blushes* thank ye… *grins sheepishly* the truth is I'm from Spain ^^U an' I 'ave no English-speakin' relatives… someone told me I've got a cute accent speakin' *grins* I think it's a mixture o' British (picked it up when a kid), American (had an American teacher fer quite some years) an' Irish (been there twice *sighs dreamily*). My accent in writin' is cool? Oh wow, thanks! Lol, ye weren't nosy ^^ feel free te ask any time!
Kanberry: ^_____^ thanks a million!!! Glad ye like it *grins* here's more!
Anette: *goes beet red* blimey, thanks!! *looks shyly at toes* Happy that ye think like that, I feel very honoured!! Aye, I keep on postin'! ^______^
Jeany: *grins widely* well, didn't 'ave te wait much, ne? ^^ hope ye like it! Thanks a million fer reviewin'!!
Kaurin: ^____^ nah, ye didn't but it doesn't matter! MIA? *is lost*… I'll 'ave te ask where's that… *shakes head* Lol! nono, I'm not gonna delete it, not at all! I love me ficcies all too much… *bursts out laughin'* the announcement thingy was really funny! *blushes* thank ye so much ^__^ I won't get down, nay! But the review thingy would be nice, lol! Yer reviews do keep me goin'!!! *grins like mad an' hugs*
AN/ Now, when I finished this
I was so sleepy I could be hardly awake *stifles a yawn* aye, half three
in the mornin'… an' I am not a superwoman *glares at a certain missy out
there* who is fit an' fresh as a rose with 5 hours o' sleep *groans*… an',
unluckily, I'm also a person totally unable te sleep in late the followin'
day T.T
But I just couldn't let go, I
just love the way he looks at her, thinks o' her… ye know, great loves
an' great passions are not always instant, I think Cupid 'as a pair o'
arrows that are… o' "slow action", that build up love lil by lil ^_^ an'
that's what's 'appenin' te Van *hugs him like mad*… oh, actually, the song
is one o' the ones that inspired this fic (coz aye, 95% o' me ideas come
outta songs *sighs* I'm a helplessly musical person!), it's "She doesn't
see him", by Sarah Brightman, really sweet an' sooo fittin'! *grins*
Aye aye, so... other 3 chapter
te go + epilogue an' it's done ^__^!