Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne or it's characters.
Ruby: Thank you for the review, I tried to hurry and here is the new chap! ^__^
Kirei hime: Thank you for the review and for Hitomi's surname! You added me to your contacts? *blushes* Thankiez!!!
Freelancer47: *blushes* Thank you sooooo much! My face is hurting from all this smiling *lol*. You really think that? THANK YOU !!!!!!!
SabineballZ: Yes, Van really has incorrect ways of speaking *smacks Van on the head* , because of that Hitomi ran away and kissed Allen! Yuck!!! I'm sill mad because of that and because there was no Van and Hitomi kiss *sighs*! Thank you for reviewing !
Love Witch: Thank you for reviewing, hope you will enjoy this chap too.
GAMEACE: I tried to write a longer chapter, but it won't really work. *bows* Please forgive me ^__^! Hope this will do too, it's a little longer than the other chap.
A/N: Thanks for all the nice reviews. ENJOY!!!
In Disguise
Chapter 3
The curtains were roughly pulled away and bright sunbeams shone through the wide open window, directly into the face of a young, sleeping woman. A small groan was heard and the sandy blond hair bob vanished underneath the white sheets.
"Hitomi, wake up darling! You have work to do, sleepy head!", an all too cheerful voice laughed.
"Let me sleep", Hitomi mumbled, while snuggling deeper into the welcoming warmth of her bed.
Suddenly the bed sheets were harshly pulled away and cold morning air hit her warm skin.
"No honey, you can't just sleep the whole day! You aren't at Asturia anymore, now you have to work hard again and can't be lazy all day long!", Mrs. Kanzaki lectured.
"But I just came home yesterday! Please let me just sleep a few more minutes." She was about to grab her bed sheets again and drifted back into the sweet lands of Dreams.
However, her mother had different plans and pulled the sheets away. "No! You have so many things to do! You have to help me making breakfast, then you have to feed the chickens, horses and all the other animals, then you have to look after the sheep then you have to .
And her list was going on and on and on.
Hitomi groaned. That was going to be a long, long day.
****
"Mhmm, mommy, this is so delicious!", Mamuro ate noisily while stuffing even more food into his already overloaded mouth. "Oh, have I told you what Van and I wanna do?" Most of the food he just put in dropped back on his plate.
"Mamuro! How many times have I told you not to eat with your mouth full of food? Can't you listen once?", his mother scolded.
"Sorry mum!", he spoke with a full mouth.
Mrs. Kanzaki sighed. "He will never learn it !"
"What I wanted to tell you is that Van taught me how to use a sword and .
"A sword? Where do you have a sword Mamuro, it's too dangerous!", his mother shouted in shock.
"We didn't use a sword, we practised with sticks and .
"So, he taught you how to use a stick?", Hitomi asked amused.
"Ohh, Hitomi! Can't you let me finish? Besides, a stick is really useful!"
Hitomi laughed. "Useful? Fiddlesticks! It is absolutely vital !", she mocked at him.
"Stop it Hitomi! What do you want to tell us Darling! I'm sorry that we interrupted you!" his mother said fondly.
Mamuro looked thankfully up to his mother. "Thanks mommy. Van will teach me how to ride really well and we want to go swimming and we want to build a kite and let it fly so high in the sky no other kite has ever gone ! I'm so happy Van came here!"
"If Van has so much time to play with you, I think I should give him more work." Mr. Kanzaki suggested.
Mamuros' eyes widened in shock. "Daddy, you can't do that! Please don't, you can't do that. Daddy please don't."
Mr. Kanzaki chuckled. "I was just joking, you don't have to worry."
"Thank you dad, thank you so much." Mamuro cried joyfully.
Hitomi was amazed, Mamuro seemed to really like this Van. He seemed to be like an elder brother for him. She didn't feel jealousy or envy, it was normal for a ten - year old to long for a big brother, she couldn't do all the things with him like Van could.
' Maybe I should apologize to Van for my behaviour yesterday. I wasn't really nice, I didn't even let him finish his sentences. Besides, if Mamuro thinks so highly about Van, he has to be a nice guy. Yes, I'll apologize!'
****
The wind blow over the wide, green meadows and brought a pleasing coolness.
Hitomi had volunteered to bring Van his lunch, but she couldn't make up her mind to go to him. As soon as she came up the little hill and saw him, she just ran behind the nearest tree to hide. And now she was standing there for nearly half an hour or more, just watching him. He was working on the fence, which had broken during the last storm . Van had put off his red sleeveless shirt so now she could see his well - built chest. Black bangs hung over his handsome face and covered his crimson eyes.
How much she wanted to just go over to him and push the bangs out of his face!
Hitomi slapped herself mentally. ' Oh my! What am I thinking? Why can't I just go over and apologise? Come on Hitomi, you are a big girl, you don't have to be nervous. This is just an ordinary farmhand, there is nothing special about him! Although he is really, really good looking, and this eyes, they are so . beautiful. And his unruly hair . Oh, no! Hitomi STOP thinking! Just go over to him.'
She took a deep breath, straightened her light blue dress and began to walk over to Van, very self confident.
However the nearer she came the slower she walked and her self confidence slowly but surely left her.
"Errr."
Van heard someone clear his throat and turned around. In front of him stood the beautiful artful little devil, he had thought about the whole night. He couldn't sleep because of her. He thought the whole night about their petty quarrel and if he should be mad at her or apologise. Although she hadn't let him finish his sentence, he felt that he was the one to be blamed because he had been rather clumsy. Maybe Merle was right when she said that he always said the wrong things at the wrong time. Should he apologise now or shouldn't he?
But he doesn't need to think more about this matter anymore. A sweet, self conscious voice started stammering.
"Err, Van I-I brought you your lunch", she held up the basket with the delicious food in front of her. "And I, err", she looked down at her shoes as if they were the most interesting things on Gaea. "I wanted to ,err, apologise for my ,err, rude behaviour last night. I'm sorry!" She looked up at Van with her mesmerizing emerald eyes.
Van smiled a warm smile at her. "It's all right, I have to apologise too. I mean I didn't speak well. I'm sorry too."
She laughed lightly. "It's all right."
"Would you like to sit down and eat with me?" Van asked hesitantly.
"I would love to! I think I'm staving! I had so much work to do, I wasn't even able to finish my breakfast. Thank you."
They sat down on the soft grass and began to eat in silence. After a while Van spoke shyly.
"If you don't mind me asking , but why did you react like this yesterday evening ?" He hoped she wouldn't be mad again.
Hitomi blushed. "I'm sorry again. It's just because every man at the university discriminated Millerna and me. Especially me, because I haven't got a noble status like Millerna, I mean every one was afraid of the king, besides she will be the future queen. Nobody really wants to mess with the Kings. But I, I am nothing in the eyes of the royals, at first I wasn't even allowed to attend the university, but I could prove that I was able to study, furthermore my parents had to pay an unbelievable amount of money. Fortunately we had a really good harvest the last few years, so they could pay for it. But I still wasn't good enough for the man, they still thought the daughter of a farmer isn't worth studying medicine. I thought you think the same way as these royals and I just was tired hearing those things."
Van nodded and studied her profile, she had a sad expression on her beautiful face and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. He didn't know why but somehow he didn't want her to be sad, he wanted to wipe her sadness away, but didn't know how. It was very hard for her to study, and he could imagine the things those so - called nobles said to her, he knew most of them, their presumption and how they talked about their inferiors. He didn't like them and it always was torture to meet them on the countless balls that were held every year.
He looked at Hitomi again and couldn't bear her sadness anymore. Maybe he should try to say something that would make her happy again. He prayed that he would for once find the right words and not screw everything again.
"Hitomi, it was great what you did, you shouldn't listen to what these people say. You are a strong, beautiful woman and you did what you wanted, not everybody could be so strong and stand the insults of such people. You deserve studying medicine and being among these people, I even think they don't deserve being together with you. You worked hard to go to university, not like the rich snobs who don't have to work for their aim, because of their heritage."
He looked up at Hitomi and saw crystal tears in her eyes.
' Oh, no! I said the wrong things again.' Van panicked and was about to apologise, then Hitomi leaped into his strong arms.
"Oh Van, thank you!". She soaked his red shirt with her tears and Van tightened his grip on her sobbing body, letting her cry.
By and by her weeping got quieter and quieter until it finally stopped. He just held her delicate form in his arms and enjoyed her warmth and the way she fitted into his arms.
Suddenly she pulled away, with a face as red as a tomato. "Err, I'm sorry. Normally I don't do that. I-I hope you aren't mad. It's just that I couldn't tell anyone about my problems, I didn't want to tell Millerna, because I wanted to go through it alone besides I didn't want it to look like hiding behind the princess's back and if I had told my family they wouldn't have let me go again. I'm sorry!"
Van couldn't help laughing about the expression on her face and how she apologised, the words came so fast out of her mouth that he barely understood them.
Hitomi looked totally confused at the laughing Van.
"What is so funny?"
"I -I'm sorry but," he couldn't stop laughing, he tried but failed miserably.
Hitomi's expression changed to anger. "Van, could you please stop laughing?!"
He looked at her face and had to laugh even more.
Hitomi frowned.
Van regained his composure. "Hitomi, sorry, it's just the look you had on your face, it just looked so funny." He again began to laugh, he couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like that, but it felt good.
She still looked a little upset, but when she looked at Van laughing she couldn't help but smile.
"You' ve laughed enough? I take it that you are not mad because of behaviour ?"
"No, why should I? From time to time everyone needs a strong shoulder to cry on."
"It was really nice what you said, thank you."
"No problem!" A sweet lopsided smile adorned his handsome face, which made Hitomi's heart skip a beat and her face flush with a rosy hue.
She quickly looked away, so he couldn't see her face. When her embarrassment had vanished, Hitomi slowly turned to Van again. "You know, Mamuro really likes you. He even thinks of you as his elder brother."
"I like him, too. He is a real hotshot. He never gets tired."
"Yes, I know. Do you have a little brother, too, or other siblings?" The smile on Van's face vanished and he became sad.
"My brother died eight years ago, I was ten and he was fifteen. Please forgive me Hitomi, but I don't really like to talk about it. I'm sorry!" His voice was filled with bitterness.
"Oh Van. I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you and -"
He interrupted her. "Don't be sorry. You couldn't know, so please don't bother." Van smiled at her. "I think we should go back to the farm and do our work, or your father will tear our heads off." He began to rise again and removed the grass from his beige pants. He smiled at Hitomi again, but it wasn't the happy smile of a few moments ago, it was a sad smile and his eyes were filled with pain and loneliness.
****
A very pretty cat girl was walking through the grand, wooden halls of the Fanelia palace. Every servant who crossed her path bowed deeply and politely greeted the young woman with a "Lady Merle" or even "Your Highness". Merle was highly respected in Fanelia. She was treated like a real princess and not like the orphan she was.
Since she could think she had been a part of the Fanel family. Varie, the beautiful queen of Fanelia once found her all alone in the forest. Merle still was a little baby, just a few months old when the queen found her. She was put into a basket with blankets to keep her warm. Varie brought her to the palace and raised Merle like her own daughter.
Merle was just two years younger than the youngest Fanel, so they became great friends over the years. The first word she ever spoke was Van and they couldn't be separated, they spent all day together racing through the hallways and annoying the servants, cooks and everyone else in the castle.
She even had a big crush on Van and wrote him a love letter. She had to giggle at the thought. They were so young and Van just looked at her in disbelief and when she tried to kiss him he raced away and locked himself in his room.
At that time she was so sad and heart broken , but Folken comforted her.
"Folken." It was always sad to think or speak about him, especially for Lord Van. He never talked to anybody about Folken's death and he couldn't forget this terrible day. She knew that he sometimes woke up late at night with a scream, bathed in sweat.
In the terrible year of Folken's death everything had started.
Merle felt tears welling up in her eyes. In those years Van had so many burdens lifted on his shoulder and she wasn't able to help him. She was young too and had to fight her own pain. She remembered one night when she was crying again and Van came into her room and took her into his arms. He consoled her and told her everything would be all right and she shouldn't cry.
He was always there and dried her tears, but she was never there for Van to take him into her arms when he was crying. He pretended to be so strong in her presence that she didn't notice his pain.
A tear rolled down her soft cheek.
She still felt terrible that she hadn't there for him. And now that she was there, she couldn't take his pain away. He needed someone, who could give him love, but not her love, her love was the one you have for your siblings. He needed love which could take away the loneliness and the pain in his heart.
She was so much lost in her thoughts about Van that she didn't notice that she had already reached her destination.
She wiped her tears away, which she had unconsciously shed and opened the heavy oak door to the council room.
The big room was dimly lit and most of the space was taken away by a gigantic oak table.
A lone figure sat at the table, surrounded by dozens of papers and trays with half eaten food.
"Larian, I have news from our messenger."
Tired grey eyes met crystal blue ones. "Good or bad news"
"I'm sorry to tell you, but they are bad." His normally youthful face seemed to get older all at once. "Larian, please go to bed, you really need your sleep. It's not wholesome for you to sit here in this room day and night."
"I know Merle, but I need to work this through. Please tell me what the messenger said."
"All right, but only if you rest after I told you!"
Larian sighed. "All right Merle."
"The raiders are in northern part of Fanelia and have attacked another village, they have robed everything. Fortunately almost everyone was able to flee. But nobody knows where the raiders have their camp. It's like they come robbing and killing and then disappear from Gaea's surface."
"Why does it have to happen now?"
"Do you think we should tell Van?"
"No, he would probably come here flying and then jump on the next horse to hunt the raiders down. It's too dangerous for him, you know him, we should wait."
Merle nodded. "You are right! So come Larian, you need your rest!"
A smile rose on the tired features of the young man. "Since when are you so concerned about my well being Merle? Could it be that I finally caught your eye?"
Merle flushed and screamed. "Larian, stop that! I would never fall for you! I just think about Fanelias' well being, because if you are tired that you can't even stand on your own two feet, you surely can't help Fanelia!"
Larian smiled mischievously. "I knew you fell for me." After he had said that he ran out of the room.
"Larian! I'll use your face as a scratching post! Stop running, you know I'm faster than you!" Merle screamed while running after him.
****
Van inhaled the sweet night air. He was about to take a late evening walk to the lake in the forest.
On his way there he had to think about Hitomi and the nice day they had spent together. Hitomi had to take the sheep up to a little meadow and he accompanied her up there. They just enjoyed each other's company and the wonderful, sunny day. He began to really like her. She was different from the other women he had met.
Suddenly he felt an unpleasant itching in his back. He knew exactly what was bothering him. He hadn't let his wings out for three weeks now and it slowly began to hurt.
But he didn't know if he could just let them out now. If somebody saw him, a Draconian, the crushed demon, it would be his last day here on the farm, if not his last on Gaea.
But then he felt this painful feeling again.
He hesitated, but slowly pulled off his shirt.
Nobody would see him, everyone was sleeping soundly in their beds.
Van just stood still, concentrating.
Suddenly he arched his back and a pair of beautiful, white wings unfolded on his back. He was surrounded by pearly white feathers floating down around him.
Van was just about to fly away into the starry sky, when he heard the cracking of a stick, followed by a small gasp.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Filled with panic he turned around.
He looked directly into Hitomi's eyes.
He couldn't move nor say something.
He just looked into her terrified, frightened eyes.
A/N: Please leave a review, I hope you all enjoyed it! Could anybody tell me if Fanelia is the name of the whole country or just the capital? (I took it for both ^__^) *waves* till next chapter. Have a great week!
Ruby: Thank you for the review, I tried to hurry and here is the new chap! ^__^
Kirei hime: Thank you for the review and for Hitomi's surname! You added me to your contacts? *blushes* Thankiez!!!
Freelancer47: *blushes* Thank you sooooo much! My face is hurting from all this smiling *lol*. You really think that? THANK YOU !!!!!!!
SabineballZ: Yes, Van really has incorrect ways of speaking *smacks Van on the head* , because of that Hitomi ran away and kissed Allen! Yuck!!! I'm sill mad because of that and because there was no Van and Hitomi kiss *sighs*! Thank you for reviewing !
Love Witch: Thank you for reviewing, hope you will enjoy this chap too.
GAMEACE: I tried to write a longer chapter, but it won't really work. *bows* Please forgive me ^__^! Hope this will do too, it's a little longer than the other chap.
A/N: Thanks for all the nice reviews. ENJOY!!!
In Disguise
Chapter 3
The curtains were roughly pulled away and bright sunbeams shone through the wide open window, directly into the face of a young, sleeping woman. A small groan was heard and the sandy blond hair bob vanished underneath the white sheets.
"Hitomi, wake up darling! You have work to do, sleepy head!", an all too cheerful voice laughed.
"Let me sleep", Hitomi mumbled, while snuggling deeper into the welcoming warmth of her bed.
Suddenly the bed sheets were harshly pulled away and cold morning air hit her warm skin.
"No honey, you can't just sleep the whole day! You aren't at Asturia anymore, now you have to work hard again and can't be lazy all day long!", Mrs. Kanzaki lectured.
"But I just came home yesterday! Please let me just sleep a few more minutes." She was about to grab her bed sheets again and drifted back into the sweet lands of Dreams.
However, her mother had different plans and pulled the sheets away. "No! You have so many things to do! You have to help me making breakfast, then you have to feed the chickens, horses and all the other animals, then you have to look after the sheep then you have to .
And her list was going on and on and on.
Hitomi groaned. That was going to be a long, long day.
****
"Mhmm, mommy, this is so delicious!", Mamuro ate noisily while stuffing even more food into his already overloaded mouth. "Oh, have I told you what Van and I wanna do?" Most of the food he just put in dropped back on his plate.
"Mamuro! How many times have I told you not to eat with your mouth full of food? Can't you listen once?", his mother scolded.
"Sorry mum!", he spoke with a full mouth.
Mrs. Kanzaki sighed. "He will never learn it !"
"What I wanted to tell you is that Van taught me how to use a sword and .
"A sword? Where do you have a sword Mamuro, it's too dangerous!", his mother shouted in shock.
"We didn't use a sword, we practised with sticks and .
"So, he taught you how to use a stick?", Hitomi asked amused.
"Ohh, Hitomi! Can't you let me finish? Besides, a stick is really useful!"
Hitomi laughed. "Useful? Fiddlesticks! It is absolutely vital !", she mocked at him.
"Stop it Hitomi! What do you want to tell us Darling! I'm sorry that we interrupted you!" his mother said fondly.
Mamuro looked thankfully up to his mother. "Thanks mommy. Van will teach me how to ride really well and we want to go swimming and we want to build a kite and let it fly so high in the sky no other kite has ever gone ! I'm so happy Van came here!"
"If Van has so much time to play with you, I think I should give him more work." Mr. Kanzaki suggested.
Mamuros' eyes widened in shock. "Daddy, you can't do that! Please don't, you can't do that. Daddy please don't."
Mr. Kanzaki chuckled. "I was just joking, you don't have to worry."
"Thank you dad, thank you so much." Mamuro cried joyfully.
Hitomi was amazed, Mamuro seemed to really like this Van. He seemed to be like an elder brother for him. She didn't feel jealousy or envy, it was normal for a ten - year old to long for a big brother, she couldn't do all the things with him like Van could.
' Maybe I should apologize to Van for my behaviour yesterday. I wasn't really nice, I didn't even let him finish his sentences. Besides, if Mamuro thinks so highly about Van, he has to be a nice guy. Yes, I'll apologize!'
****
The wind blow over the wide, green meadows and brought a pleasing coolness.
Hitomi had volunteered to bring Van his lunch, but she couldn't make up her mind to go to him. As soon as she came up the little hill and saw him, she just ran behind the nearest tree to hide. And now she was standing there for nearly half an hour or more, just watching him. He was working on the fence, which had broken during the last storm . Van had put off his red sleeveless shirt so now she could see his well - built chest. Black bangs hung over his handsome face and covered his crimson eyes.
How much she wanted to just go over to him and push the bangs out of his face!
Hitomi slapped herself mentally. ' Oh my! What am I thinking? Why can't I just go over and apologise? Come on Hitomi, you are a big girl, you don't have to be nervous. This is just an ordinary farmhand, there is nothing special about him! Although he is really, really good looking, and this eyes, they are so . beautiful. And his unruly hair . Oh, no! Hitomi STOP thinking! Just go over to him.'
She took a deep breath, straightened her light blue dress and began to walk over to Van, very self confident.
However the nearer she came the slower she walked and her self confidence slowly but surely left her.
"Errr."
Van heard someone clear his throat and turned around. In front of him stood the beautiful artful little devil, he had thought about the whole night. He couldn't sleep because of her. He thought the whole night about their petty quarrel and if he should be mad at her or apologise. Although she hadn't let him finish his sentence, he felt that he was the one to be blamed because he had been rather clumsy. Maybe Merle was right when she said that he always said the wrong things at the wrong time. Should he apologise now or shouldn't he?
But he doesn't need to think more about this matter anymore. A sweet, self conscious voice started stammering.
"Err, Van I-I brought you your lunch", she held up the basket with the delicious food in front of her. "And I, err", she looked down at her shoes as if they were the most interesting things on Gaea. "I wanted to ,err, apologise for my ,err, rude behaviour last night. I'm sorry!" She looked up at Van with her mesmerizing emerald eyes.
Van smiled a warm smile at her. "It's all right, I have to apologise too. I mean I didn't speak well. I'm sorry too."
She laughed lightly. "It's all right."
"Would you like to sit down and eat with me?" Van asked hesitantly.
"I would love to! I think I'm staving! I had so much work to do, I wasn't even able to finish my breakfast. Thank you."
They sat down on the soft grass and began to eat in silence. After a while Van spoke shyly.
"If you don't mind me asking , but why did you react like this yesterday evening ?" He hoped she wouldn't be mad again.
Hitomi blushed. "I'm sorry again. It's just because every man at the university discriminated Millerna and me. Especially me, because I haven't got a noble status like Millerna, I mean every one was afraid of the king, besides she will be the future queen. Nobody really wants to mess with the Kings. But I, I am nothing in the eyes of the royals, at first I wasn't even allowed to attend the university, but I could prove that I was able to study, furthermore my parents had to pay an unbelievable amount of money. Fortunately we had a really good harvest the last few years, so they could pay for it. But I still wasn't good enough for the man, they still thought the daughter of a farmer isn't worth studying medicine. I thought you think the same way as these royals and I just was tired hearing those things."
Van nodded and studied her profile, she had a sad expression on her beautiful face and seemed to be lost in her own thoughts. He didn't know why but somehow he didn't want her to be sad, he wanted to wipe her sadness away, but didn't know how. It was very hard for her to study, and he could imagine the things those so - called nobles said to her, he knew most of them, their presumption and how they talked about their inferiors. He didn't like them and it always was torture to meet them on the countless balls that were held every year.
He looked at Hitomi again and couldn't bear her sadness anymore. Maybe he should try to say something that would make her happy again. He prayed that he would for once find the right words and not screw everything again.
"Hitomi, it was great what you did, you shouldn't listen to what these people say. You are a strong, beautiful woman and you did what you wanted, not everybody could be so strong and stand the insults of such people. You deserve studying medicine and being among these people, I even think they don't deserve being together with you. You worked hard to go to university, not like the rich snobs who don't have to work for their aim, because of their heritage."
He looked up at Hitomi and saw crystal tears in her eyes.
' Oh, no! I said the wrong things again.' Van panicked and was about to apologise, then Hitomi leaped into his strong arms.
"Oh Van, thank you!". She soaked his red shirt with her tears and Van tightened his grip on her sobbing body, letting her cry.
By and by her weeping got quieter and quieter until it finally stopped. He just held her delicate form in his arms and enjoyed her warmth and the way she fitted into his arms.
Suddenly she pulled away, with a face as red as a tomato. "Err, I'm sorry. Normally I don't do that. I-I hope you aren't mad. It's just that I couldn't tell anyone about my problems, I didn't want to tell Millerna, because I wanted to go through it alone besides I didn't want it to look like hiding behind the princess's back and if I had told my family they wouldn't have let me go again. I'm sorry!"
Van couldn't help laughing about the expression on her face and how she apologised, the words came so fast out of her mouth that he barely understood them.
Hitomi looked totally confused at the laughing Van.
"What is so funny?"
"I -I'm sorry but," he couldn't stop laughing, he tried but failed miserably.
Hitomi's expression changed to anger. "Van, could you please stop laughing?!"
He looked at her face and had to laugh even more.
Hitomi frowned.
Van regained his composure. "Hitomi, sorry, it's just the look you had on your face, it just looked so funny." He again began to laugh, he couldn't remember the last time he had laughed like that, but it felt good.
She still looked a little upset, but when she looked at Van laughing she couldn't help but smile.
"You' ve laughed enough? I take it that you are not mad because of behaviour ?"
"No, why should I? From time to time everyone needs a strong shoulder to cry on."
"It was really nice what you said, thank you."
"No problem!" A sweet lopsided smile adorned his handsome face, which made Hitomi's heart skip a beat and her face flush with a rosy hue.
She quickly looked away, so he couldn't see her face. When her embarrassment had vanished, Hitomi slowly turned to Van again. "You know, Mamuro really likes you. He even thinks of you as his elder brother."
"I like him, too. He is a real hotshot. He never gets tired."
"Yes, I know. Do you have a little brother, too, or other siblings?" The smile on Van's face vanished and he became sad.
"My brother died eight years ago, I was ten and he was fifteen. Please forgive me Hitomi, but I don't really like to talk about it. I'm sorry!" His voice was filled with bitterness.
"Oh Van. I'm sorry. I didn't want to hurt you and -"
He interrupted her. "Don't be sorry. You couldn't know, so please don't bother." Van smiled at her. "I think we should go back to the farm and do our work, or your father will tear our heads off." He began to rise again and removed the grass from his beige pants. He smiled at Hitomi again, but it wasn't the happy smile of a few moments ago, it was a sad smile and his eyes were filled with pain and loneliness.
****
A very pretty cat girl was walking through the grand, wooden halls of the Fanelia palace. Every servant who crossed her path bowed deeply and politely greeted the young woman with a "Lady Merle" or even "Your Highness". Merle was highly respected in Fanelia. She was treated like a real princess and not like the orphan she was.
Since she could think she had been a part of the Fanel family. Varie, the beautiful queen of Fanelia once found her all alone in the forest. Merle still was a little baby, just a few months old when the queen found her. She was put into a basket with blankets to keep her warm. Varie brought her to the palace and raised Merle like her own daughter.
Merle was just two years younger than the youngest Fanel, so they became great friends over the years. The first word she ever spoke was Van and they couldn't be separated, they spent all day together racing through the hallways and annoying the servants, cooks and everyone else in the castle.
She even had a big crush on Van and wrote him a love letter. She had to giggle at the thought. They were so young and Van just looked at her in disbelief and when she tried to kiss him he raced away and locked himself in his room.
At that time she was so sad and heart broken , but Folken comforted her.
"Folken." It was always sad to think or speak about him, especially for Lord Van. He never talked to anybody about Folken's death and he couldn't forget this terrible day. She knew that he sometimes woke up late at night with a scream, bathed in sweat.
In the terrible year of Folken's death everything had started.
Merle felt tears welling up in her eyes. In those years Van had so many burdens lifted on his shoulder and she wasn't able to help him. She was young too and had to fight her own pain. She remembered one night when she was crying again and Van came into her room and took her into his arms. He consoled her and told her everything would be all right and she shouldn't cry.
He was always there and dried her tears, but she was never there for Van to take him into her arms when he was crying. He pretended to be so strong in her presence that she didn't notice his pain.
A tear rolled down her soft cheek.
She still felt terrible that she hadn't there for him. And now that she was there, she couldn't take his pain away. He needed someone, who could give him love, but not her love, her love was the one you have for your siblings. He needed love which could take away the loneliness and the pain in his heart.
She was so much lost in her thoughts about Van that she didn't notice that she had already reached her destination.
She wiped her tears away, which she had unconsciously shed and opened the heavy oak door to the council room.
The big room was dimly lit and most of the space was taken away by a gigantic oak table.
A lone figure sat at the table, surrounded by dozens of papers and trays with half eaten food.
"Larian, I have news from our messenger."
Tired grey eyes met crystal blue ones. "Good or bad news"
"I'm sorry to tell you, but they are bad." His normally youthful face seemed to get older all at once. "Larian, please go to bed, you really need your sleep. It's not wholesome for you to sit here in this room day and night."
"I know Merle, but I need to work this through. Please tell me what the messenger said."
"All right, but only if you rest after I told you!"
Larian sighed. "All right Merle."
"The raiders are in northern part of Fanelia and have attacked another village, they have robed everything. Fortunately almost everyone was able to flee. But nobody knows where the raiders have their camp. It's like they come robbing and killing and then disappear from Gaea's surface."
"Why does it have to happen now?"
"Do you think we should tell Van?"
"No, he would probably come here flying and then jump on the next horse to hunt the raiders down. It's too dangerous for him, you know him, we should wait."
Merle nodded. "You are right! So come Larian, you need your rest!"
A smile rose on the tired features of the young man. "Since when are you so concerned about my well being Merle? Could it be that I finally caught your eye?"
Merle flushed and screamed. "Larian, stop that! I would never fall for you! I just think about Fanelias' well being, because if you are tired that you can't even stand on your own two feet, you surely can't help Fanelia!"
Larian smiled mischievously. "I knew you fell for me." After he had said that he ran out of the room.
"Larian! I'll use your face as a scratching post! Stop running, you know I'm faster than you!" Merle screamed while running after him.
****
Van inhaled the sweet night air. He was about to take a late evening walk to the lake in the forest.
On his way there he had to think about Hitomi and the nice day they had spent together. Hitomi had to take the sheep up to a little meadow and he accompanied her up there. They just enjoyed each other's company and the wonderful, sunny day. He began to really like her. She was different from the other women he had met.
Suddenly he felt an unpleasant itching in his back. He knew exactly what was bothering him. He hadn't let his wings out for three weeks now and it slowly began to hurt.
But he didn't know if he could just let them out now. If somebody saw him, a Draconian, the crushed demon, it would be his last day here on the farm, if not his last on Gaea.
But then he felt this painful feeling again.
He hesitated, but slowly pulled off his shirt.
Nobody would see him, everyone was sleeping soundly in their beds.
Van just stood still, concentrating.
Suddenly he arched his back and a pair of beautiful, white wings unfolded on his back. He was surrounded by pearly white feathers floating down around him.
Van was just about to fly away into the starry sky, when he heard the cracking of a stick, followed by a small gasp.
He stopped dead in his tracks. Filled with panic he turned around.
He looked directly into Hitomi's eyes.
He couldn't move nor say something.
He just looked into her terrified, frightened eyes.
A/N: Please leave a review, I hope you all enjoyed it! Could anybody tell me if Fanelia is the name of the whole country or just the capital? (I took it for both ^__^) *waves* till next chapter. Have a great week!