A/N: Ahhhh….That took way too long to write. I got so lost. I couldn't think, but here is the next chapter. Finals are finally over so I have more time on my hands. So, hopefully, I'll be able to update more often. My goal is at least one update a week for each story. I've started writing another fic. Personally, I think it's better than this one (mostly because it's not so depressing) and I think you will enjoy it. It's really funny. Please Read and Review. They will make me feel a lot better.
Melanie- If you think it's sad now, wait until you see what happens in the future chapters. Say no more here. Thanks for reviewing!!!
B. Burns- Yea, Hitomi is going to have a hard time in the future *sob* I won't tell you any more than that. *malicious laughter* Just read.
InuYasha/GF1889- Hee hee. I got my sis to sing! I WIN! I WIN! HAHAHAHA………Ok, I'm calm. Now, why did you have to go to LA? I wanted to meet you! *screams and cries uncontrollably* You have to come over one I come over again. Oh, and by the way, enjoy the Escaflowne DVD's. Thanks for reading and reviewing. Ja ne!
Dilandau-is-My-Boyfriend- I don't know what to say. Ha, I just said something. LOL. I can't write when you're standing right over my shoulder watching every move I make, so, I'll just say I love ya and I miss ya and I'll see ya later!
Mystry child- I think I'm gonna have Dilandau be on the good side………..opps, did I just say that out loud? Oh well, no one will notice…………hee hee, tanks for reading/reviewing.
Neithan02- Well, I've been getting lazy when it comes to my disclaimers. I've had less and less time to right so I just concentrate on writing a good fic. But thanks for reviewing!!!! Ja ne!
Aradow- hummmmmmm,,,,,,good point. My mistake…..unless….she had magical powers to heal herself, or better yet, time moves differently on Earth than it does on Gaea, soo, maybe she DID have a few weeks to heal before she left, but on Gaea, it only seemed like a few hours or a few days!!! Huh! How about that? Boy do I have an imagination or what?
BuMbUmLicious- That's ok, I understand what you meant. Most of the time when I talk, no body understands me either, which is why it probably takes me so long to write a chapter!!!! Hurray to those of us who cant talk!!!! It's nice to meet another person just like me. Tanks for reading!!!!
Shinagami- Hi person. *hides laughing bunny from sight* HA, where's your flamethrower now?! *sticks out tounge* see, I'm updating! Now you can't do anything about it! HEE HEE…….Hope your summer has been great so far! See ya later!
Disclaimer: Nope, I don't own. If I did, I'd be dead by now for making the audience wait this long for an update.
Chapter Ten: Welcome Home
'He's not coming back.'
Calypso stood alone on the balcony, staring in the direction where saw Van fly away. She cursed under her breath for this unexpected turn of events.
'There's no way I'll be able to work my magic tonight. It will have to wait until tomorrow.' A smirk appeared on her face. Enjoy his company tonight, seeress. Because after tonight, Van is mine.' She turned her heal and got ready for bed.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
On the palace rooftop, Van and Hitomi sat side by side, Van's arm wrapped around Hitomi's waist. They were catching up on what has been going on in each other's lives.
"What!? Allen's going to have another child?"
"Yeah. He and his wife Saria just found out."
"That's wonderful. What does Child think about this?"
"According to the letter, he couldn't be happier. He's really excited about being an older brother. They'll be arriving tomorrow, so we'll be able to ask them about it then."
Hitomi smiled softly. "I'm glad Allen has finally settled down. It seems everyone here on Gaea has settled down, even Merle." Van started laughing when Hitomi mentioned Merle's name. Hitomi looked up at him, bewildered. "What's so funny?"
"It's nothing, it's just that…earlier today, she was being so defensive when I asked her how her date went. I don't think I've ever seen her face that red before." The two of them tried to stifle their laughter, and failed miserably.
But after their short laughing fit was over, they grew silent.
After a while, Van finally asked the question that had been nagging at the back of his head for quite some time.
"Hitomi?"
"Yes, Van?"
"I was wondering, now that you're back…um…are you here to…you know…stay?"
"Well…"
"Because I'd understand if you wanted to go back to your family and friends. You don't have to stay just because of…"
"I'm staying." Hitomi blurted out. After that outburst, Van stopped his rambling and everything turned deathly silent. "I…I didn't come to Gaea just to visit…just to say 'hi'…I came back because…I want to be with you. I want to stay here…if that's ok."
Van couldn't think of an appropriate response. He merely tightened his hold on Hitomi and whispered, "Thank you." Although this statement lacked sentiment, Hitomi knew what he meant, and appreciated it all the same.
The two of them just sat there, holding each other while Van absentmindedly stroked Hitomi's arm with his thumb, sending chills down her spine. She tried to stay awake and enjoy this moment but the sound of Van's heart beat lulled her to sleep.
For the first time in a long time, Van was able to relax. Before, he was worried about Hitomi's well being. He couldn't understand how those men got a hold of her but she and explained everything to him, and now, they were just glad it was over. He wasn't going to let anyone harm Hitomi ever again.
'I will protect you.'
Van bent his head down and kissed Hitomi on the top of her head. It was then that he realized that she had fallen asleep in his arms. Shifting positions slowly, Van reached under Hitomi's legs and picked her up. He hunched his back slightly and sprouted wings. All around him, white feathers danced around him in the air. He walked to the very edge of the roof and looked down, something most people would be afraid to do considering how high up they were. Taking a deep breath, he let his body fall forward and his wings caught the air underneath them.
He didn't even have to do any work. He simply glided around the castle looking for the balcony to one of the spare rooms. Once he was halfway around the castle, he spotted it and shifted his wings to the right slightly. Van landed on the balcony's edge as gently as possible so he wouldn't wake up Hitomi. Van's wings disappeared in a cloud of feathers and he stepped down from the railing. Using a small burst of energy, Van made the glass doors unlock and open up. Van stepped inside the highly furnished room and walked over to the bed. He could feel a small breeze surround him when he used more magic to pull back the bed covers. (A/N: See! Van's powers can be used for things other than blowing stuff up!!!) Van gently placed Hitomi on the bed and pulled the covers up to her shoulders. He brushed some of her golden brown hair out of her face before kissing her gently on her forehead.
"Sweet dreams Hitomi." He whispered. "I love you." He had just turned towards the bedroom door to leave when he heard Hitomi whisper, "I love you too Van."
Van smiled and took one last peek at Hitomi's sleeping form before shutting the door quietly behind him.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Long after everyone had fallen asleep, Phoebe was still roaming the hallways of the Fanelian castle. She played with the thought of going to her guest room and trying to get some sleep but she knew it wasn't going to happen tonight. She was too restless. There was a lot going on inside her head. Mostly about the shocking news she had learned at the ball.
'The girl from the Mystic Moon has returned…incredible…there may be hope for Gaea after all…'
Phoebe stepped into the light of the Mystic Moon that was pouring in from a large window to her right. She walked over to it and placed one hand on the cool, stone frame and the other clutched something against her chest.
'I will do everything in my power to stop that fate…even if I die in the process…'
The sound of echoing footsteps interrupted Phoebe's thoughts. She turned her gaze towards the source of the noise but it was coming from the dark part of the corridor. Phoebe, already on her guard, removed her hand from her chest and placed it on her hip, ready to unsheathe the dagger hidden within the fold of her dress. Her whole body tensed as the sound grew louder and then suddenly stopped. A male's voice called out.
"Phoebe?"
The voice sounded familiar but she couldn't figure out who it belonged to. "Who's there?"
The visitor took a few more steps closer until his entire figure was also bathed in the eerie light. Once Phoebe recognized who it was, she relaxed and allowed her hand to fall from her side.
"Good evening, King Van."
"What are you still doing up?" he kindly asked.
"I couldn't sleep. I've got a lot on my mind. So what's your excuse?"
"Avoiding my duties as a newly wedded King." Van responded.
"I see." Nodded Phoebe. "Well, good luck to you, majesty. But I should point out that you can't run away from her forever. You'll have to sleep sometime, and then what are you going to do?"
"Hide out in the servant's quarters, maybe?" joked Van.
"I doubt that would work."
"Yeah, you're probably right." Van confessed. He turned his head towards the Mystic Moon, a small smile on his face.
"Well you sure have changed in only a few hours. What has gotten you so happy?"
Van shot Phoebe a double take. 'Should I tell her?'
*Flashback*
"But if you want some advice, here it is. Forbidden love requires patients. Just believe. She will come back someday."
*End Flashback*
Van laughed inside when he thought about the irony. 'It's almost as if she knew Hitomi was coming back. Well, everyone will find out about Hitomi's arrival tomorrow anyway. Why not tell her?'
"If you don't want to answer, that's ok. I'll stop prying into your personal life."
"No, it's not that. Well, it sounds pretty unbelievable but, a couple hours ago, Hitomi arrived here on Gaea."
Phoebe did her best to look as surprised as she could. "She did? That's incredible. How did it happen?"
"Honestly, I'm not sure."
"So how many people know that she's returned?" she asked, curious to see how much the new King knew about the situation.
"Just you, so far. We'll probably make the announcement tomorrow after Allen's caravan arrives."
"Allen Shezare (AN: Did I spell his last name right?) is coming to Fanelia tomorrow?" she asked with a hint of delight in her voice, which Van didn't notice.
"Yeah, he couldn't make it to the wedding so he and his family are arriving in the morning."
'That means that Celina Shezare will be here too.' Phoebe thought excitedly.
"Well, that should make for a nice reunion." Phoebe paused as a thought struck her. "I wonder, does Lady Hitomi have any…appropriate attire? I mean, she does come from the Mystic Moon, and I don't think they wear the same kinds of clothes as we do."
"You're right, they don't. But Hitomi isn't the kind of person who likes to wear dresses." Van smiled, "The last time Hitomi wore a dress, when she was still on Gaea, she tore of the entire bottom half because she said she couldn't run fast enough in it." He didn't tell Phoebe that the reason she needed to run so fast was to save his life. Van could still remember that day, as if it had just happened a moment ago. He was standing on the bridge, talking to his brother, Folken. Suddenly, Van heard the whistling of an object moving towards him at an incredibly high speed. It was Dilandau's crema claw. Van had spotted the claw heading towards him but knew he wouldn't have enough time to dodge it. He actually thought he was going to die, right then, but all of the sudden, he could hear Hitomi call out his name before colliding with him and pushing him to the ground, saving him from certain death…
"So Lady Hitomi is more the athletic type, is she?" Phoebe interrupted. Van nodded in response. "I have something that might suit her. Come with me to my room and you can give it to her."
"You don't have too…"
"Nonsense. Just call it a 'welcome back' gift. It's no trouble at all."
Defeated, Van fallowed Phoebe to her guest room. When she had pulled the dress from her closet and handed it to Van, he murmured, "Perfect."
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Hitomi woke up with the morning sun shining on her face. She rolled over onto her side and squinted her eyes at the morning light. She took a deep breath and pushed herself up into a seating position, leaning her back against the wooden bed post.
"So you're finally awake."
Sitting at a table near the glass door was the smiling form of Van
Hitomi returned his grin. "How long have you been sitting there?"
"Not long. About ten minutes or so." Van stood up and walked toward Hitomi's bed. She curled her knees towards her chest to make room for Van as he sat at the foot of her bed. "I thought I should let you know that Allen's caravan is approaching. They should be here in about a half an hour. But before they arrive, I think we should let the people here know that you've returned. Merle will be especially upset if she's the last one to find out."
Hitomi laughed. "Alright, I'm getting up." She swung her legs over the side of the bed as Van stood up and made for the bedroom door.
"I'll wait outside and escort you downstairs, Ok?"
"Ok."
Hitomi waited until Van closed the door before getting out of bed. She was still wearing the same outfit she wore the day before.
'I can't go in this.'
Hitomi looked around the room for her track bag and spotted it on the floor at the far corner of her bed. She picked it up and set it down on the table Van had been sitting at and began rummaging through it. As much as she would have like to wear some of her "normal" clothes, she wanted to make a good impression, but nothing she had seemed appropriate.
Giving up on her search, Hitomi glanced around the room. At the opposite end was a chest of drawers and a closet. Checking the chest of drawers first, she found that it was completely empty. She walked over to the closet and slid the door o the right. Inside was a simple emerald green dress and a pair of shoes. Attached to the dress was a note that said, "Just in case." She smiled.
Hitomi pulled off her dirty clothes after placing her feather necklace carefully on top of the chest of drawers and slipped on the dress. The smooth fabric clung tightly to her body and loosened up at the ankles making the dress look as if it were flowing every time Hitomi took a step. She examined herself in the mirror and smiled.
'Not too fancy, not too formal. I could even run in this dress and not worry about ripping it. I wonder where Van got it.'
Remembering that Van was outside her door and waiting for her, she quickly slipped on the matching green shoes and ran to the door.
Van was leaning against the wall opposite to Hitomi's room, staring at a spot on the carpet. When Hitomi came out of her room, Van looked up at her and his eyes lit up. Hitomi nervously clasped her hands in front of her and blushed slightly. Van walked right up to her and used his fingers to brush away some of Hitomi's hair and curl it behind her ear.
"You look beautiful." He said in a deep yet gentle voice.
"You don't look too bad yourself."
Van held out his arm and Hitomi took it and the two of them made their way to the front of the castle to meet their guests.
"By the way Van, where did you get this dress?"
"A friend of mine…"
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Merle was pacing back and forth at the bottom of a large staircase, waiting for Van to come down.
'He'd better hurry up. Otherwise, he'll be late for Allen's arrival.'
Merle's ear's twitched slightly when she picked up the sound of two pairs of approaching foot steps.
'That must be Van and Calypso…'
Merle looked up expecting to see the new King and Queen, but was surprised to see a different woman being escorted by Van.
"Is that…" Merle whispered. 'It couldn't be…Hitomi?'
Both Van and Hitomi looked down below them to stare into the cat-girls blue eyes.
"Merle!" Hitomi exclaimed.
"Hitomi!" Merle ran on all fours up the staircase and tackled into Hitomi, nearly knocking her to the ground. "I can't believe you're here." She cried. After a moment, Merle removed Hitomi from her grasp and glared at her. "What took you so long?!" she raged.
"Great to see you too, Merle." Hitomi dejected. 'Well, I see Merle hasn't changed much.'
"Hey you two, sorry to interrupt this warm reunion, but we should probably start heading down. Allen should be here any minute."
"Oh yeah!" Squealed Merle, her charming smile returning to her face.
The trio walked together down the hall, heading for the main entrance, Van escorting the two girls. Before they made it outside, however, Merle stopped walking and mumbled something under her breath.
"What was that, Merle?" Van asked.
"Calypso is out there." She repeated. Van stiffened.
"Oh…yeah." Van turned to Hitomi, looking a bit uncomfortable. "Um…I'm not supposed to be escorting another women, now that I'm…you know…"
"…married." Merle finished for him.
"Oh…right." Hitomi unlinked her arm from Van's and took two steps backward, as did Merle.
Van mumbled under his breath, "Sorry."
Hitomi glanced up. "It's ok, Van. I understand." Hitomi gave Van a reassuring smile which Van returned. Merle impatiently stomped her foot.
"Ok you two love birds, let's get a move on!" Merle interrupted. She noticed the two of them blush slightly before heading through the main doors, Van leading while the two girls followed behind.
* ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *
Outside the front doors of the castle, a small group of people waited for the caravan to arrive. A long staircase separated the castle guards from the royal officials. At the bottom stood several guards holding trumpets, ready to announce the coming guests. In the middle were the King's royal advisors and some officials (all women) from Cyrce. Among these officials from Cyrce was Jane, the woman who was responsible for keeping an eye on Van until Calypso arrived, and, of course, Phoebe, the woman who intends to foil Calypso's plan of dominating Gaea. At the top of the staircase stood the new Queen, Calypso Siren of Fanelia. Her mother, Queen Elizabeth Siren, was not present. She had left to return to Cyrce that morning, leaving Calypso in charge of their plan…
…and speaking of 'plan', the target of phase one of their plan has yet to arrive, and Calypso was getting anxious.
'Where is he? He had better get here soon or he'll make me look bad…' Calypso thought. 'He may have evaded me last night, but that won't happen again. Phase one begins tonight, and no matter what the seeress does, Van will be mine…'
Calypso's thoughts were interrupted when the large wooden doors opened up behind her and three personages came out into the light. One was her husband, the other belonged to the cat girl, but the other woman…Calypso didn't recognize. 'That must be the seeress…'
Van took his spot beside his Queen as Merle and Hitomi took their places a few steps down and to the left. Calypso, pretending to be completely clueless, asked the obvious question. "Van, who is that woman?" Van gave a smile to his wife that said 'I know something you don't know', and Calypso didn't like it. Van turned away to face the 'stranger' in their midst.
"Hitomi," Van called, "Come up here for a moment. There is someone you should meet." Van extended his hand towards Hitomi and waited for her to take it. Hitomi picked up the front of her dress and took a few steps up the staircase and took Van's hand in her own. Merle noticed a small scowl on Calypso's face when she saw this familiar gesture. Van brought Hitomi one step below the Queen and then introduced the two women. "May I present, Hitomi Kanzaki, seeress of the Mystic Moon. Hitomi returned to Gaea last night."
"The seeress from the Mystic Moon?" Calypso repeated with an air of surprise. "Well, it's an honor to meet you, Lady Hitomi. I've heard a lot about you." Calypso gave a small nod in Hitomi's direction.
Hitomi, not sure of what to do in response, gave a bow before saying, "It's an honor to meet you as well, Queen Calypso."
'So that's the woman Van is married too…'
"So, Lady Hitomi, what brings you here to Fanelia?" Calypso asked, innocently.
Before Hitomi could try to come up with a response, she was interrupted by the sound of trumpets from below. Everyone's eyes turned towards the main gates as a caravan entered the palace courtyard. Allen Shezare had finally arrived.
AN: Sorry to cut this chapter short, but it was getting too long and I wanted to get this posted by tonight. But I've already started writing chapter 11 so an update should come soon…I hope. *grin* So, yeah, I'm back from Utah and I had SOOOO MUCH FUN!!!! I went to BYU, and, OMG, they have the coooolest book store in the world. I love Harry Potter and they had the series in, like, 8 different languages!!! It was soooo cool. I checked out their foreign language section………and………I bought a Japanese-English dictionary!!! It is sooo cool. IT'S so much fun to play with. Hey, if any of you want to know how to say a word, just ask!!! And I'll be too happy to give it to you!!!
Oh, about the chapter, well, some people are wondering how Dilandau is going to play in this. Yes, he is going to be in this fic!!! So all you Dilandau lovers (my sister included…) can all jump for joy!!! But for Allen haters……………..I don't know. I'm not going to make Allen mean in this one. Sorry. But if you want to read about Allen dissing, keep waiting for an update on my other fic, "Flying High". There will be PLENTY of Allen dissing in there, but I don't think Dilandau will make an appearance though…..sorry, but it will be good! I promise. In fact, I will reveal that "Flying High" will have a SUPER DUPER COOL AWESOME TWIST ENDING. What is that ending you ask?.................................IM NOT GOING TO TELL YOU!!!!!!! MUAHAHAHAHA……………………OK, I'm calm. Any who, REVIEW REVIEW REVIEW!!!!!!!!!! I NEED TO KNOW HOW I'M DOING SO FAR.