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I haven't updated in a very long time but now I'm back and this story will go on. smile
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Chapter 12: Afraid to love
Hitomi had never been kissed in her whole life and if she had been, she thought it would have never been like this.
It felt completely right to touch his lips with her own.
'How badly must he've been hurt before when he thought I would hate him now that I know what he is?' she thought, one of her hands running through his hair.
Van on the other hand couldn't believe what was happening to him right now. He wasn't used to people liking him once they knew which kind of blood was flowing through his veins. Actually, only Merle knew what he was and didn't avoid his presence.
And now, there was Hitomi...
He blushed as her hand touched his hair.
Both of them were trying to catch their breath when their lips parted.
"Well.." she started, looking into his eyes. She knew what she wanted to say, what her heart was screaming but somehow she couldn't say those three famous words.
She could see pain flicker in his eyes, and seeing this made her heart ache again. This wasn't how moments like that were supposed to be. She wasn't supposed to be a little crying girl who was afraid to tell what she was feeling right now.
"Van... I... I love you." she finally whispered while she looked straight into his eyes so he could see that she meant every word she said.
Vans eyes grew wide as he heard her say it. Never, never since he found out about his true descent, he had thought that someone would say those words to him.
He swallowed hard because his mouth was totally dry all of sudden.
"Can... can you say that again?" he asked but his voice failed him.
Hitomi blinked and the fear, that she would be rejected which had made her shiver slightly only seconds ago, disappeared. She suddenly realized that it was him who was afraid to be rejected... that it was him who couldn't believe that someone who knew the whole truth about him could actually love him.
"I just said that I love you, Van." Hitomi said. She was smiling and blushed even more than before.
A great smile crossed Van's features before he bent down to kiss her again. The kiss was soft, tender and warm, releasing all the feelings he had kept inside so no one was able to hurt him again.
Somewhere, between the ending of one kiss and the beginning of another one he whispered clearly into her ear: "I love you, too."
A tear touched his cheek and he pulled away. "Are you OK?" he asked softly, watching her carefully as she opened her eyes. There was no pain, hate or disgust for him to be seen. If he should describe her expression he could have said that her eyes were as bright as stars and a lovely smile lay on her lips.
"More than just OK, I guess." she whispered, as she stroked his cheek.
"I can't believe it..."
She smiled at him. "What can you not believe? That Folken told me about you? Oh, I guess you do believe that part. That you thought I could hate you? Well, I wouldn't have believed that but you did, obviously."
She shook her head, still smiling. "The other part about the kiss and what I said... you'd better believe that, Van. I'm not saying 'I love you' to everyone, you know. Actually, I've never said it before."
Hitomi blushed again but was still looking into his eyes. She knew that it was important to look into his eyes while she unburdened herself to him. "I love you, Van."
He sighed in relief and smiled, too.
"I know I just... didn't expect to hear those words from you."
"Don't make me pinch you, Van.", Hitomi said.
"I love you." he said again and embraced her tightly.
"It's late, Van. We'd better go to bed now." Hitomi sighed, pulling away from him.
When he arched an eyebrow she shook her head and went deep red. "I didn't mean together, Van! Don't act like you didn't know what I meant!"
"I didn't say anything." he smirked.
"Let's drop this subject, OK?"
"Make me stop talking about it." Van challenged her.
And she did. Her lips touched his and for a while he didn't say anything.
Only a few minutes later, Van gave in and they headed back to their rooms. Van was smiling all the time because Hitomi still wasn't able to find her room on her own.
"This place is thought to make me get lost."
"Come on, Hitomi. You'll get used to it." he laughed and reached for one of her hands.
"I found my way in the forest, you know."
"By the way... where is your 'rebel friend'? Van asked suddenly as he remembered that he and Hitomi weren't the only people living on this planet.
"I don't know. He's just like me. He comes and goes whenever he wants but he takes care of the ones he took to his heart, you know. He's the reason I'm here now because he took my away from my golden cage."
"I guess I have to thank him the next time I see him."
Hitomi laughed. "He'd like that. A real prince thanking him for kidnapping the princess of Zaibach."
They reached the door to Hitomi's room and both of them were still laughing.
"I guess it's time to say good night." she yawned and kissed him once more before opening the door.
"Hitomi?" He sounded so serious that it almost worried Hitomi.
"Yes, Van?"
He kneeled down in front of her, reaching for one of her hands.
"I know that I already told everybody that we're going to get married but... I never really asked if you wanted to get married to me."
He stopped suddenly. 'Stick to the point, Van.'
"What I'm trying to say is: Hitomi, will you marry me?" His voice almost failed him once more in this night.
"Yes! I will! I will marry you, Van!" she nearly screamed and embraced him as tightly as she could.
Both of them were in seventh heaven, admitting what they were feeling and that their hearts belonged to each other. They were meant to be.
But they didn't know that someone was watching the scene with angry eyes.
TBC
Done with chapter 12! Oh, I'm so happy about that! It took almost 2 ½ hours to write all this down... Hope you liked it! And if you did (or did not), please tell me in your review!
