Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne.
A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
freelancer47: Thankiez!!! I'm glad you like this story! I'm always happy when I get a review from you, Thanks!
SabineballZ: Some of your questions will be answered now. I know it was mean, hi,hi,hi, but I couldn't help, I had to write the cliffy! ^__^
Love Witch: I love fluff, too. *sighs* Fluff. Thanks for the review and for the Fanelian thing!
Niffer: *blushes* Thank you. And here is more!
Misora: Thank you for reviewing!!
DC: I'll keep on going, especially with nice reviews! ^___^
snow blossoms: I think too that he would be hurt!! Poor Van! Here is Hitomi's reaction!!
Rowan Silverfox: You really do? ^__^ Thanks! And here is another mean cliffy for you!
Satan: Thank youuuuuuuu! ^__
Kiya: *blushes* Thanks! I like the idea too ^__^. And thanks for the explanation, it helped me a lot!
Melanie: Thanks, so many questions! *holds head* and here are the answers!!
In Disguise
Chapter four
'He - he is a Draconian. Van is a Draconian!' Hitomi couldn't believe her eyes.
She remembered all the stories the elders had told her and the other children of the village, about the Draconians.
It was said that they once lived on a beautiful planet all together in peace and friendship. Nobody had to suffer hunger or illness. Moreover, they had special powers to make their dreams come true. They had wings grown to fly through the skies, everything was perfect. But the Draconians got presumptuous, they thought, they were more powerful than the gods. They had no more respect for the gods, they destroyed their temples and statues and built monuments devoted to themselves. The gods got angry and told the Draconians to stop, but they just laughed, their hearts were poisoned with pride and contemptuousness. So the gods punished the Draconians, they caused an inferno of fire and flames. Almost all life was taken by the fire. A few Draconians fled to the last temple that had not yet been taken by the fire. They prayed to the gods to grant them their lives and to forgive them. Their lives were granted, but they were banned to Gaea. Moreover, a curse was put on the Draconians since then. Everywhere they were going they brought death and sorrow. On Gaea the Draconians gathered to live in peace again, but after some time they tried to take over Gaea. They attacked villages and cities. Women and children were killed without mercy, they brought death wherever they were going. Great knights were sent out to hunt the Draconians down and to defeat the dark demons. And they did, they killed them and showed their wings around as a sign of glory.
The Draconians disappeared, but the elders warned the children of the village, there could still be Draconians out there and they were still cold hearted and crushed.
She never believed that Draconians were real, she thought that those were just fairy tales and the Draconians long extinct. But now she was standing in front of one, a monster, as the elders called them. A demon, that killed in cold blood.
But that was Van in front of her, could he really be a monster?
And his wings, they were such a pure white as she had never seen before, with long feathers, not the long spiky leather wings she had always imagined.
Could something so beautiful really be dark and dangerous?
She looked at Van, his whole body was tens and when she looked into his reddish brown eyes she saw pain and sorrow.
No! He couldn't be bad, could he?
Van looked down, he couldn't stand any longer looking into her eyes, that were filled with fright,.
He truly was crushed, he hated these wings and being a Draconian. A demon, every one was scared of. He could still remember the filthy looks his father's advisors gave him and his brother, the way they spoke about them when they thought nobody was listening. He hated that every person he held dear left him alone.
He was pulled back into reality by soft steps that slowly approached him. He looked up and saw Hitomi slowly coming towards him, her look was focused on his wings.
She slowly stretched out her hand to touch his wings. She was just inches away, when she pulled her hand back , as if afraid of touching them.
She took a deep breath and stretched her lightly trembling hand out again.
Inches away she stopped , but then she lightly brushed over them.
It was such a light touch, that Van couldn't even feel it.
She stroked along his wing, stunned by its softness.
Van was stuck in place again, he could do nothing but stare at her.
Hitomi's touch was like a soft, warm summer breeze.
Her hand brushed against a sensitive spot at his wings and he couldn't suppress a chuckle.
She immediately removed her hand and blushed a little. She shyly looked up at Van and asked him in a whisper.
"Would- would you fly with me?", a rosy hue adorned her face.
Van was taken aback. She wanted to fly with him? Wasn't she frightened anymore?
He looked at her shy features reflected by the crystal clear water of the lake and smiled.
Van slowly scooped her up into his arms. "All right then, are you ready?"
Hitomi looked a little startled and only nodded.
Van smiled at her again. He leaned down and sweetly whispered into her ear.
"Hold on tight."
His warm breath tickled her ear and she couldn't fight the strange feeling that rose within her. Hitomi's arms slowly wrapped around Van's neck.
He tightened his grip around her and jumped up into the air.
In an instant Hitomi tightened her grip around Van's neck and her whole body tensed.
He looked down at her and saw that she had her eyes closed. He couldn't help smiling.
"Hitomi, don't you want to open your eyes? The view is beautiful."
She slowly opened one eye and immediately the other one too. The view was breath taking.
They were high in the sky, almost in the clouds. Beneath them she could see the little farmstead and the lights of the small village. In the far distance she could see high mountains and the lights of other cities. She felt like she could touch the stars, if she just stretched out her hands, while the mild night air caressed her skin.
Van lost height and flew directly above the tree tops and straight up in the sky again. They flew together through the land illuminated by moonlight, enjoying the gorgeous view and each other's company.
Slowly Van began to fly back to the lake and carefully landed on the ground. He unwillingly let Hitomi down again.
She looked up at Van, with her face flushed with excitement.
"That- That was stunning! Thank you Van!"
Van smiled, but then his face fell again. "Aren't you afraid anymore of me, a winged monster? "
"No, I-I think your wings are beautiful", she blushed lightly," I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, it's just that I remembered all these terrible stories and . I'm sorry it is no excuse, I shouldn't have believed them. I should have .
Van put a finger on her mouth. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault! I know these stories and I know that they are passed from generation to generation. I can understand that you are frightened.
"But I'm not frightened!" Hitomi interrupted him.
Van gave in and smiled warmly at her. "Thank you."
Hitomi looked a little confused. "For what?"
"For saying that my wings are beautiful, nobody has ever said that."
"But they are beautiful!"
Van smiled , he was about to hide his wing again, when Hitomi suddenly stopped him.
"Wait Van! Err, I mean- could I, err, could you give me a feather from your wings, please?"
Van looked really dumbfounded, nobody had ever wanted a feather from him. "Err, sure!"
He reached out to one of his wings and took a long, glistening feather.
Hitomi's eyes shone with awe. "Thank you so much, it's so beautiful!"
He looked at Hitomi, she was the second one he had showed his wings, it was like giving a piece of his soul to her. He felt a strange feeling arise within him, he didn't know what it was, never in his life had he felt this, but it felt good.
****
It was a sunny, warm day at the farm stead, like every day since he had arrived. Van was sitting on a field near the farm, with all the other farmhands. They sat together eating and talking, however Van was again lost in his own thoughts.
It had been four days now since he had shown Hitomi his wings. He had asked her not to tell anyone about his secret and she had agreed. In these four days he had tried to spend every free moment together with her, he didn't know why, but when she was near it felt good, it didn't matter what just happened, when she was there he felt like smiling and laughing and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. When he saw her his heart began to beat faster and it increased every day more. He felt himself being pulled towards her and her sweet voice. He their long conversations or just sitting together in pensive silence.
He heard rough laughter and came back out of his trance. Van looked around confused.
Gaddes slapped him on the back. "Did you even hear what we were telling you?"
"Err, I guess not."
Bark, a rough man with short straw blond hair turned to Van.
" He thought about a girl again! Look at his dreamy look!"
Van blushed. "I, err .
"You thought about this sweet black haired girl from the village or .. maybe the hot red haired or perhaps the brown haired, who always gives you these looks?"
"Gaddes, every girl in the village gives him these flirtatious looks !"
Every one laughed. "So, who did you think about? You can tell us!"
"I didn't think about anybody." Van said flushing.
" And why are you blushing like mad? It's the red haired, isn't it?"
"It's nobody!" Van slowly got angry, he took a sip of water from his bottle.
"It's Hitomi!" commented Mr. Mole indifferently , he had worked at the farm for nearly eight years now. If you can call it work, most of the time he lay in the sun or walked around the village to hear and spread the latest gossip.
Van spat out his water and began to chough terribly.
The other farmhands were caught up by the exciting news.
"Hitomi? How do you know?"
"Tell us more?"
"I saw them the last four days always together. They sat hours together, too bad that I couldn't understand what they were talking about!" Said Mr. Mole in a disappointed tone.
"You spied on us?" Van asked in disbelief, but nobody seemed to notice him, every one was focused on Mr. Mole.
"Did they kiss?"
"I don't really know, I always came there later than them, but it could be ..
"Stop that! We were just talking, and why do you spy on us?" An outraged Van shouted.
"Van you lucky devil, first all girls in the village are flirting with you and now you have Hitomi, the hottest one of all? I really envy you!"
"And I thought there was something wrong with you, that you don't go after all this girls, but now I can understand!"
Van couldn't believe his ears, what were they talking about, he was just speaking to her. He really felt like cutting Mole's throat.
" WE WERE JUST TALKING! AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME, JUST BECAUSE I DON'T GO AFTER EVERY GIRL WHO LOOKS AT ME!" Van furiously shouted.
"O-Okay Van." The farmhands stuttered, they had never seen Van like that.
Mr. Mole saw the look on Van's face and began to run away as fast and quietly as he could.
Van turned around. "Where is this Mole man?" Unfortunately for Mr. Mole, Van spotted him running through the field.
"I will teach you to spy on people!" With that Van began to run after him.
Gaddes looked confused at the two. "What was that?", but soon a smile appeared on his handsome face, "Maybe Mr. Mole wasn't all wrong."
He lay down on the grass again, warming his smiling face.
****
Van still grumbled about Mr. Mole, too bad he didn't get him. He didn't know that someone with such short legs was able to run so fast. Mr. Mole ran on his short legs into the thick part of the forest, so Van wasn't able to find him again. But the next time he saw Mr. Mole, he would teach him to spy on other people.
He had to sweep the courtyard, he didn't know why he had to do it at this time of day, it was just past lunch. It would be dirty again even before he was done with the cleaning, if the other people didn't do that, the chickens surly would.
After some more grumbling, he heard a carriage slowly approaching. Van turned around and was completely surprised. The carriage that came to the farm wasn't just a normal one, it had the crest of the Asturian Kings on it. Besides the horses that pulled the carriage were the finest from the Asturian palace.
Who was coming to the farmstead? Maybe it was the princess or an other lady, Hitomi got to know? Van was really curious.
The carriage arrived at the entrance to the courtyard and the door slowly opened.
His heart nearly stopped beating when he looked at the person coming out of the wagon. It was Allen Shezar, the Ceali knight of Asturia.
Van quickly turned around. 'What if he sees me? He surely will recognize me and then my time here is over. And I can't spend my time with Hitomi anymore .', Van shook his head, 'I mean I can't hid here anymore from the assassin and save my life!'
He was just about to run out to the fields, away from Allen, when he heard a call.
"Hey you, farmhand. Bring me to Mr. Kanzaki, the owner of this farm!"
Van stopped. What should he do? He began to panic. 'What can I do?'
Suddenly he saw the solution. But could he really do that? He heard Allen's footsteps growing louder. "Hey, can't you hear me? I'm Allen Shezar and I demand that you bring me to Mr. Kanzaki!"
Van sighed, there wasn't any other option. He never thought that he would do this voluntarily.
Van took a step forward, stumbled and fell into a thick puddle of mud. The mud splashed into all directions, even onto Allen's fine clothes. He turned up his nose in disgust, while Van dogged his head more into the puddle.
"Can't you watch where you are going! You made my new clothes all dirty!" Allen growled.
Van came up again his whole face was covered in mud, he held his head downcast, so Allen wasn't able to see his eyes. "Please forgive me, my Lord! I'm always a little clumsy." He had forced himself to say these words and even more to bow in front of the knight.
Allen sighed. " I forgiven you. I'm in a really good mood, I think nothing can destroy it. Now bring me to Mr. Kanzaki."
Van pressed out a "Thank you my Lord" out and led him to Mr. Kanzaki, he didn't went directly in front of him, it would have been too embarrassing, besides he maybe would have to answer questions, therefore he offered his excuses and ran to the next basin to clean his face.
After what seemed like an eternity Mr. Kanzaki brought Allen back to his carriage. Allen didn't look as happy as before, but not sad either.
"Till next time Mr. Kanzaki." He bowed and went into his carriage.
That was strange, why did Allen bow and why did he called him Mr. Kanzaki? No noble especially not Allen called a farmer Mr. or bowed in front of one, it was really strange.
But now Van had to think about more important things, for example meeting a green eyed girl.
****
Hitomi was walking through the dark house, the only light was that of the twin moons. She had come back from the meeting with Van a long time ago, everyone was asleep, including Van. She had lain in bed for quite some time reading or just waiting for sleep to come, but it didn't and she slowly got hungry.
She stood up and walked into the kitchen to fix herself a little 'good night snack'.
Hitomi didn't know why she wasn't able to sleep. or yes, she knew. She had to think about a young man with unruly, black hair, brown-red eyes, a well- built body and.
She did it again, she was thinking about him. But why? He was nice and she liked him very much, but she felt only friendship for him, didn't she?
She sighed, but every time she looked into his eyes she felt as if there were thousands of butterflies in her stomach. And when he smiled at her she felt like her knees would give away every minute.
"Ahhhh."
Hitomi started. She had heard someone scream, she had heard Van scream.
She jumped up and stormed into Van's room, without knocking.
What she saw made her heart wince in pain.
Van was sitting in his bed, his head was bent down into his hands. He was covered in sweat and breathed heavily. He didn't seem to notice her.
She slowly walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Van jumped up and looked up at her in shook. It seemed as if at first he didn't recognize Hitomi, but slowly he realised her.
"H-Hitomi, what are you doing here?"
"I heard you scream, are you O.k.? What happened?" Hitomi asked concerned.
"Nothing, I'm alright! Did I wake you?"
"No, I was awake, but Van I can see that something is wrong, please tell me!"
"I said it's Okay, besides it's none of your business!" Van said in a harsh tone.
Hitomi looked down at him with reproachful eyes, she turned around and was about to leave the room again, when Van grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry Hitomi, I didn't want to be so rude."
Hitomi turned around and looked at Van with pleading eyes. "Van please tell me what is wrong. I-I care for you, please tell me."
He looked into her eyes and nodded. Hitomi smiled in relief and sat down next to Van on the bed.
It took a while till Van began to speak, he just sat there breathing, but it didn't matter to Hitomi. What mattered was that he would tell her, that he trusted her.
Slowly Van began to tell her his story, that caused him so many sleepless nights. At first he spoke unwillingly , but gradually his words came more fluently.
"I-It was eight years ago, on a beautiful spring day. It was so warm and the sun was shining like on a hot summer day. I asked my brother to come and play with me outside in the Fanelian forest. At first he didn't want to, because he was stuck up with work, but I whined and pleaded so long until he finally agreed. So we went out playing, it was a wonderful day like so many before . until- until I saw these Dragon eggs.
Folken and I were on our way back home, when I saw the nest of a Dragon. I wanted to examine the eggs and maybe take one home, but Folken told me to leave them. He said it would be dangerous and that I should go away from there, but I didn't hear, I staid there playing, I ran away from Folken. He got so angry, but I kept running around the nest so Folken couldn't catch me. Suddenly we heard the roaring of a Land Dragon and a wild beast came dashing out of the forest. I was like paralysed, when the mighty monster came running towards me. It was about to slice me into half with its gigantic, sharp claws. I had my eyes closed and waited for the fatal blow, but it never came. I heard the piercing of clothes and flesh and I felt a warm liquid splash on me. I slowly opened my eyes.
There in front of me stood my brother, he took the deadly blow that was meant for me. He stood with his back to me so I couldn't see him, he looked directly into the face of the Dragon and slowly the beast began to go back into the forest. I was so happy and ran up to my brother, but he stumbled forward and fell on to the soft grass of the clearing. I ran up to him and called his name, but he didn't answer. I began to panic and tried to turn him carefully around. That was when I noticed the blood I was sitting in and that oozed from my brother's chest. I couldn't think straight anymore, I just held my dying brother in my arms. The slowly fading voice of Folken brought me back to reality again, I didn't know what he said, but he smiled at me and slowly closed his eyes. " Van paused and tears began to form in his eyes. "My father died a year later, he had an incurable illness, my mother a year after my father, because of a broken heart. I- It's all my fault." He put his face down into his hands.
Hitomi was shocked by this story, Van had had to go through so much, tears formed in her eyes. She took Van into her arms. "It's not your fault Van. Don't believe that, it's not. Please don't believe that."
"But."
"Shhh, no, Van it's not."
She sat there holding him in her arms until he stopped crying and a little longer. Slowly Van moved away from Hitomi's embrace. He looked at her a and smiled shyly.
"Sorry."
Hitomi said soothingly. "From time to time everyone needs a strong shoulder to cry on!"
"Thank you!" He got serious again. "You now, you are the only one I told what had happened on that day." Van looked deep into Hitomi's eyes.
She didn't know what to do or say, she just blushed.
Van smiled again and scooped her soft cheek into his hand.
Hitomi blushed even more and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest.
She could feel his hot breath on her face. Her head was spinning and only one question came up in her mind. She felt like her heart would jump out of her chest any moment.
'I-Is he going to kiss me?"
Van smiled and leaned down a bit more.
A/N: That is a mean cliffhanger, or? Hope you enjoyed this chap. Please leave a review, please, they really motivate me to write faster. Till next chap.
Have a great week!
Little fairy
A/N: Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Hope you enjoy this chapter!
freelancer47: Thankiez!!! I'm glad you like this story! I'm always happy when I get a review from you, Thanks!
SabineballZ: Some of your questions will be answered now. I know it was mean, hi,hi,hi, but I couldn't help, I had to write the cliffy! ^__^
Love Witch: I love fluff, too. *sighs* Fluff. Thanks for the review and for the Fanelian thing!
Niffer: *blushes* Thank you. And here is more!
Misora: Thank you for reviewing!!
DC: I'll keep on going, especially with nice reviews! ^___^
snow blossoms: I think too that he would be hurt!! Poor Van! Here is Hitomi's reaction!!
Rowan Silverfox: You really do? ^__^ Thanks! And here is another mean cliffy for you!
Satan: Thank youuuuuuuu! ^__
Kiya: *blushes* Thanks! I like the idea too ^__^. And thanks for the explanation, it helped me a lot!
Melanie: Thanks, so many questions! *holds head* and here are the answers!!
In Disguise
Chapter four
'He - he is a Draconian. Van is a Draconian!' Hitomi couldn't believe her eyes.
She remembered all the stories the elders had told her and the other children of the village, about the Draconians.
It was said that they once lived on a beautiful planet all together in peace and friendship. Nobody had to suffer hunger or illness. Moreover, they had special powers to make their dreams come true. They had wings grown to fly through the skies, everything was perfect. But the Draconians got presumptuous, they thought, they were more powerful than the gods. They had no more respect for the gods, they destroyed their temples and statues and built monuments devoted to themselves. The gods got angry and told the Draconians to stop, but they just laughed, their hearts were poisoned with pride and contemptuousness. So the gods punished the Draconians, they caused an inferno of fire and flames. Almost all life was taken by the fire. A few Draconians fled to the last temple that had not yet been taken by the fire. They prayed to the gods to grant them their lives and to forgive them. Their lives were granted, but they were banned to Gaea. Moreover, a curse was put on the Draconians since then. Everywhere they were going they brought death and sorrow. On Gaea the Draconians gathered to live in peace again, but after some time they tried to take over Gaea. They attacked villages and cities. Women and children were killed without mercy, they brought death wherever they were going. Great knights were sent out to hunt the Draconians down and to defeat the dark demons. And they did, they killed them and showed their wings around as a sign of glory.
The Draconians disappeared, but the elders warned the children of the village, there could still be Draconians out there and they were still cold hearted and crushed.
She never believed that Draconians were real, she thought that those were just fairy tales and the Draconians long extinct. But now she was standing in front of one, a monster, as the elders called them. A demon, that killed in cold blood.
But that was Van in front of her, could he really be a monster?
And his wings, they were such a pure white as she had never seen before, with long feathers, not the long spiky leather wings she had always imagined.
Could something so beautiful really be dark and dangerous?
She looked at Van, his whole body was tens and when she looked into his reddish brown eyes she saw pain and sorrow.
No! He couldn't be bad, could he?
Van looked down, he couldn't stand any longer looking into her eyes, that were filled with fright,.
He truly was crushed, he hated these wings and being a Draconian. A demon, every one was scared of. He could still remember the filthy looks his father's advisors gave him and his brother, the way they spoke about them when they thought nobody was listening. He hated that every person he held dear left him alone.
He was pulled back into reality by soft steps that slowly approached him. He looked up and saw Hitomi slowly coming towards him, her look was focused on his wings.
She slowly stretched out her hand to touch his wings. She was just inches away, when she pulled her hand back , as if afraid of touching them.
She took a deep breath and stretched her lightly trembling hand out again.
Inches away she stopped , but then she lightly brushed over them.
It was such a light touch, that Van couldn't even feel it.
She stroked along his wing, stunned by its softness.
Van was stuck in place again, he could do nothing but stare at her.
Hitomi's touch was like a soft, warm summer breeze.
Her hand brushed against a sensitive spot at his wings and he couldn't suppress a chuckle.
She immediately removed her hand and blushed a little. She shyly looked up at Van and asked him in a whisper.
"Would- would you fly with me?", a rosy hue adorned her face.
Van was taken aback. She wanted to fly with him? Wasn't she frightened anymore?
He looked at her shy features reflected by the crystal clear water of the lake and smiled.
Van slowly scooped her up into his arms. "All right then, are you ready?"
Hitomi looked a little startled and only nodded.
Van smiled at her again. He leaned down and sweetly whispered into her ear.
"Hold on tight."
His warm breath tickled her ear and she couldn't fight the strange feeling that rose within her. Hitomi's arms slowly wrapped around Van's neck.
He tightened his grip around her and jumped up into the air.
In an instant Hitomi tightened her grip around Van's neck and her whole body tensed.
He looked down at her and saw that she had her eyes closed. He couldn't help smiling.
"Hitomi, don't you want to open your eyes? The view is beautiful."
She slowly opened one eye and immediately the other one too. The view was breath taking.
They were high in the sky, almost in the clouds. Beneath them she could see the little farmstead and the lights of the small village. In the far distance she could see high mountains and the lights of other cities. She felt like she could touch the stars, if she just stretched out her hands, while the mild night air caressed her skin.
Van lost height and flew directly above the tree tops and straight up in the sky again. They flew together through the land illuminated by moonlight, enjoying the gorgeous view and each other's company.
Slowly Van began to fly back to the lake and carefully landed on the ground. He unwillingly let Hitomi down again.
She looked up at Van, with her face flushed with excitement.
"That- That was stunning! Thank you Van!"
Van smiled, but then his face fell again. "Aren't you afraid anymore of me, a winged monster? "
"No, I-I think your wings are beautiful", she blushed lightly," I'm sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, it's just that I remembered all these terrible stories and . I'm sorry it is no excuse, I shouldn't have believed them. I should have .
Van put a finger on her mouth. "Don't be sorry, it's not your fault! I know these stories and I know that they are passed from generation to generation. I can understand that you are frightened.
"But I'm not frightened!" Hitomi interrupted him.
Van gave in and smiled warmly at her. "Thank you."
Hitomi looked a little confused. "For what?"
"For saying that my wings are beautiful, nobody has ever said that."
"But they are beautiful!"
Van smiled , he was about to hide his wing again, when Hitomi suddenly stopped him.
"Wait Van! Err, I mean- could I, err, could you give me a feather from your wings, please?"
Van looked really dumbfounded, nobody had ever wanted a feather from him. "Err, sure!"
He reached out to one of his wings and took a long, glistening feather.
Hitomi's eyes shone with awe. "Thank you so much, it's so beautiful!"
He looked at Hitomi, she was the second one he had showed his wings, it was like giving a piece of his soul to her. He felt a strange feeling arise within him, he didn't know what it was, never in his life had he felt this, but it felt good.
****
It was a sunny, warm day at the farm stead, like every day since he had arrived. Van was sitting on a field near the farm, with all the other farmhands. They sat together eating and talking, however Van was again lost in his own thoughts.
It had been four days now since he had shown Hitomi his wings. He had asked her not to tell anyone about his secret and she had agreed. In these four days he had tried to spend every free moment together with her, he didn't know why, but when she was near it felt good, it didn't matter what just happened, when she was there he felt like smiling and laughing and doing all sorts of crazy stuff. When he saw her his heart began to beat faster and it increased every day more. He felt himself being pulled towards her and her sweet voice. He their long conversations or just sitting together in pensive silence.
He heard rough laughter and came back out of his trance. Van looked around confused.
Gaddes slapped him on the back. "Did you even hear what we were telling you?"
"Err, I guess not."
Bark, a rough man with short straw blond hair turned to Van.
" He thought about a girl again! Look at his dreamy look!"
Van blushed. "I, err .
"You thought about this sweet black haired girl from the village or .. maybe the hot red haired or perhaps the brown haired, who always gives you these looks?"
"Gaddes, every girl in the village gives him these flirtatious looks !"
Every one laughed. "So, who did you think about? You can tell us!"
"I didn't think about anybody." Van said flushing.
" And why are you blushing like mad? It's the red haired, isn't it?"
"It's nobody!" Van slowly got angry, he took a sip of water from his bottle.
"It's Hitomi!" commented Mr. Mole indifferently , he had worked at the farm for nearly eight years now. If you can call it work, most of the time he lay in the sun or walked around the village to hear and spread the latest gossip.
Van spat out his water and began to chough terribly.
The other farmhands were caught up by the exciting news.
"Hitomi? How do you know?"
"Tell us more?"
"I saw them the last four days always together. They sat hours together, too bad that I couldn't understand what they were talking about!" Said Mr. Mole in a disappointed tone.
"You spied on us?" Van asked in disbelief, but nobody seemed to notice him, every one was focused on Mr. Mole.
"Did they kiss?"
"I don't really know, I always came there later than them, but it could be ..
"Stop that! We were just talking, and why do you spy on us?" An outraged Van shouted.
"Van you lucky devil, first all girls in the village are flirting with you and now you have Hitomi, the hottest one of all? I really envy you!"
"And I thought there was something wrong with you, that you don't go after all this girls, but now I can understand!"
Van couldn't believe his ears, what were they talking about, he was just speaking to her. He really felt like cutting Mole's throat.
" WE WERE JUST TALKING! AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME, JUST BECAUSE I DON'T GO AFTER EVERY GIRL WHO LOOKS AT ME!" Van furiously shouted.
"O-Okay Van." The farmhands stuttered, they had never seen Van like that.
Mr. Mole saw the look on Van's face and began to run away as fast and quietly as he could.
Van turned around. "Where is this Mole man?" Unfortunately for Mr. Mole, Van spotted him running through the field.
"I will teach you to spy on people!" With that Van began to run after him.
Gaddes looked confused at the two. "What was that?", but soon a smile appeared on his handsome face, "Maybe Mr. Mole wasn't all wrong."
He lay down on the grass again, warming his smiling face.
****
Van still grumbled about Mr. Mole, too bad he didn't get him. He didn't know that someone with such short legs was able to run so fast. Mr. Mole ran on his short legs into the thick part of the forest, so Van wasn't able to find him again. But the next time he saw Mr. Mole, he would teach him to spy on other people.
He had to sweep the courtyard, he didn't know why he had to do it at this time of day, it was just past lunch. It would be dirty again even before he was done with the cleaning, if the other people didn't do that, the chickens surly would.
After some more grumbling, he heard a carriage slowly approaching. Van turned around and was completely surprised. The carriage that came to the farm wasn't just a normal one, it had the crest of the Asturian Kings on it. Besides the horses that pulled the carriage were the finest from the Asturian palace.
Who was coming to the farmstead? Maybe it was the princess or an other lady, Hitomi got to know? Van was really curious.
The carriage arrived at the entrance to the courtyard and the door slowly opened.
His heart nearly stopped beating when he looked at the person coming out of the wagon. It was Allen Shezar, the Ceali knight of Asturia.
Van quickly turned around. 'What if he sees me? He surely will recognize me and then my time here is over. And I can't spend my time with Hitomi anymore .', Van shook his head, 'I mean I can't hid here anymore from the assassin and save my life!'
He was just about to run out to the fields, away from Allen, when he heard a call.
"Hey you, farmhand. Bring me to Mr. Kanzaki, the owner of this farm!"
Van stopped. What should he do? He began to panic. 'What can I do?'
Suddenly he saw the solution. But could he really do that? He heard Allen's footsteps growing louder. "Hey, can't you hear me? I'm Allen Shezar and I demand that you bring me to Mr. Kanzaki!"
Van sighed, there wasn't any other option. He never thought that he would do this voluntarily.
Van took a step forward, stumbled and fell into a thick puddle of mud. The mud splashed into all directions, even onto Allen's fine clothes. He turned up his nose in disgust, while Van dogged his head more into the puddle.
"Can't you watch where you are going! You made my new clothes all dirty!" Allen growled.
Van came up again his whole face was covered in mud, he held his head downcast, so Allen wasn't able to see his eyes. "Please forgive me, my Lord! I'm always a little clumsy." He had forced himself to say these words and even more to bow in front of the knight.
Allen sighed. " I forgiven you. I'm in a really good mood, I think nothing can destroy it. Now bring me to Mr. Kanzaki."
Van pressed out a "Thank you my Lord" out and led him to Mr. Kanzaki, he didn't went directly in front of him, it would have been too embarrassing, besides he maybe would have to answer questions, therefore he offered his excuses and ran to the next basin to clean his face.
After what seemed like an eternity Mr. Kanzaki brought Allen back to his carriage. Allen didn't look as happy as before, but not sad either.
"Till next time Mr. Kanzaki." He bowed and went into his carriage.
That was strange, why did Allen bow and why did he called him Mr. Kanzaki? No noble especially not Allen called a farmer Mr. or bowed in front of one, it was really strange.
But now Van had to think about more important things, for example meeting a green eyed girl.
****
Hitomi was walking through the dark house, the only light was that of the twin moons. She had come back from the meeting with Van a long time ago, everyone was asleep, including Van. She had lain in bed for quite some time reading or just waiting for sleep to come, but it didn't and she slowly got hungry.
She stood up and walked into the kitchen to fix herself a little 'good night snack'.
Hitomi didn't know why she wasn't able to sleep. or yes, she knew. She had to think about a young man with unruly, black hair, brown-red eyes, a well- built body and.
She did it again, she was thinking about him. But why? He was nice and she liked him very much, but she felt only friendship for him, didn't she?
She sighed, but every time she looked into his eyes she felt as if there were thousands of butterflies in her stomach. And when he smiled at her she felt like her knees would give away every minute.
"Ahhhh."
Hitomi started. She had heard someone scream, she had heard Van scream.
She jumped up and stormed into Van's room, without knocking.
What she saw made her heart wince in pain.
Van was sitting in his bed, his head was bent down into his hands. He was covered in sweat and breathed heavily. He didn't seem to notice her.
She slowly walked up to him and placed her hand on his shoulder. Van jumped up and looked up at her in shook. It seemed as if at first he didn't recognize Hitomi, but slowly he realised her.
"H-Hitomi, what are you doing here?"
"I heard you scream, are you O.k.? What happened?" Hitomi asked concerned.
"Nothing, I'm alright! Did I wake you?"
"No, I was awake, but Van I can see that something is wrong, please tell me!"
"I said it's Okay, besides it's none of your business!" Van said in a harsh tone.
Hitomi looked down at him with reproachful eyes, she turned around and was about to leave the room again, when Van grabbed her hand. "I'm sorry Hitomi, I didn't want to be so rude."
Hitomi turned around and looked at Van with pleading eyes. "Van please tell me what is wrong. I-I care for you, please tell me."
He looked into her eyes and nodded. Hitomi smiled in relief and sat down next to Van on the bed.
It took a while till Van began to speak, he just sat there breathing, but it didn't matter to Hitomi. What mattered was that he would tell her, that he trusted her.
Slowly Van began to tell her his story, that caused him so many sleepless nights. At first he spoke unwillingly , but gradually his words came more fluently.
"I-It was eight years ago, on a beautiful spring day. It was so warm and the sun was shining like on a hot summer day. I asked my brother to come and play with me outside in the Fanelian forest. At first he didn't want to, because he was stuck up with work, but I whined and pleaded so long until he finally agreed. So we went out playing, it was a wonderful day like so many before . until- until I saw these Dragon eggs.
Folken and I were on our way back home, when I saw the nest of a Dragon. I wanted to examine the eggs and maybe take one home, but Folken told me to leave them. He said it would be dangerous and that I should go away from there, but I didn't hear, I staid there playing, I ran away from Folken. He got so angry, but I kept running around the nest so Folken couldn't catch me. Suddenly we heard the roaring of a Land Dragon and a wild beast came dashing out of the forest. I was like paralysed, when the mighty monster came running towards me. It was about to slice me into half with its gigantic, sharp claws. I had my eyes closed and waited for the fatal blow, but it never came. I heard the piercing of clothes and flesh and I felt a warm liquid splash on me. I slowly opened my eyes.
There in front of me stood my brother, he took the deadly blow that was meant for me. He stood with his back to me so I couldn't see him, he looked directly into the face of the Dragon and slowly the beast began to go back into the forest. I was so happy and ran up to my brother, but he stumbled forward and fell on to the soft grass of the clearing. I ran up to him and called his name, but he didn't answer. I began to panic and tried to turn him carefully around. That was when I noticed the blood I was sitting in and that oozed from my brother's chest. I couldn't think straight anymore, I just held my dying brother in my arms. The slowly fading voice of Folken brought me back to reality again, I didn't know what he said, but he smiled at me and slowly closed his eyes. " Van paused and tears began to form in his eyes. "My father died a year later, he had an incurable illness, my mother a year after my father, because of a broken heart. I- It's all my fault." He put his face down into his hands.
Hitomi was shocked by this story, Van had had to go through so much, tears formed in her eyes. She took Van into her arms. "It's not your fault Van. Don't believe that, it's not. Please don't believe that."
"But."
"Shhh, no, Van it's not."
She sat there holding him in her arms until he stopped crying and a little longer. Slowly Van moved away from Hitomi's embrace. He looked at her a and smiled shyly.
"Sorry."
Hitomi said soothingly. "From time to time everyone needs a strong shoulder to cry on!"
"Thank you!" He got serious again. "You now, you are the only one I told what had happened on that day." Van looked deep into Hitomi's eyes.
She didn't know what to do or say, she just blushed.
Van smiled again and scooped her soft cheek into his hand.
Hitomi blushed even more and her heart began to beat wildly in her chest.
She could feel his hot breath on her face. Her head was spinning and only one question came up in her mind. She felt like her heart would jump out of her chest any moment.
'I-Is he going to kiss me?"
Van smiled and leaned down a bit more.
A/N: That is a mean cliffhanger, or? Hope you enjoyed this chap. Please leave a review, please, they really motivate me to write faster. Till next chap.
Have a great week!
Little fairy