Chapter 5:
Kayulo left early
the next morning for Daeledus, in hopes that he would find Lord Dryden.
Merle watched him from the missing window in her room, her eyes brimming
with tears. Her sniffling awoke the girl huddled in the warm bed.
"Don't cry, Merle."
she soothed the catgirl. "Your boyfriend will return to you."
"He's not my boyfriend,"
Merle said defensively.
Hitomi laughed. "Yes,
of course not, Merle. That's why you look at him with big hearts in your
eyes."
"You're one to talk."
the cat shot back.
"What's that supposed
to mean?"
Merle leapt onto
the bed and began to lick her paw calmly. "Come off it, Hitomi. I know
all about your feelings for Lord Van." Hitomi turned red but remained silent.
"I'm amazed you guys haven't kissed yet." the catgirl continued. Then she
stopped licking her hand to take a moment an examine Hitomi's face. "Or
have you?" she moved closer to the sandy-borwn heaired girl, her
eyes darting back and forth. "Hitomi, have you kissed Lord Van yet??" she
asked excitedly.
Hurriedly, Hitomi
shoved the catgirl off her. "Merle!" she chided. "I have not kissed
Van." then she added, "And I don't feel that way about him." the cat was
very skeptic of this.
"Oh rea--" she began
but paused and sniffed the air. "It seems we have an eavesdropper." she
commented mildly, looking over her shoulder. Hitomi turned pale as she
saw a flash of red, black, and beige fly by the door. The sound of running
footsteps echoed through the corridor.
"Oh, no, Van..."
Hitomi's hand went to her mouth.
"I bet you're regretting
what you just said, huh?" said Merle snidely. She sighed and threw some
clothes at Hitomi from her duffel bag. "Come on, let's get some breakfast."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As Hitomi predicted,
Van was not at the "eating balcony", as Merle had dubbed it the day before.
Some food had been set out, however. Again, it was not much. It was quite
fitting. Hitomi wasn't very hungry after the foolish words that had popped
out of her mouth.
"I'm tired of just
sitting on my butt." Hitomi grumbled, watching the town progress below.
"I'm going to go help." Leaving Merle behind to eat her nummy snail treats,
the girl from the Mystic Moon set out to her room. Quickly, she changed
into her track clothes so as not to get her uniform sweaty.
Then she burst outside.
Fanelia was definitely
very busy this morning. The previous afternoon's weather had thrown everyone
off-track, and they were deperately trying to resume their pace.
Hitomi didn't know
where to begin, it seemed that everywhere she looked there was something
that needed fixing, someone who needed help. She decided it would be best
to start at the first home, and move her way along.
"Excuse me, ma'am,
can I help you?" she asked a petite woman in an apron who appeared to be
having trouble with accessing the roof of her house to repair it.
"The seeress of the
Mystic Moon? Of course, dear." Hitomi warily climbed the wooden ladder.
"What do you need
help with?"
"The roof, dear.
Do you see those planks there? They need to be nailed in properly. Those
damn Zaibach scum completely destroyed our roof." she shook her head. "Here
are the nails and the hammer." she paused a moment. "Mistress of the Mystic
Moon,--"
"It's just Hitomi."
the sandy-haired girl said with a smile.
"Forgive me. Hitomi,
would it be alright if I attended to a different area of the house? Are
you alright here?"
"Yes, it would be
fine, thanks."
The woman left, quite
pleased with the extra helping hand.
"Thank you so much,
Lady Hitomi." the woman bowed respectfully. It had been 3 hours since Hitomi
had begun her task, and at last she had finished it.
"It was nothing."
Hitomi said with a smile. That was a lie. It had been a lot of work.
Now she could feel empathy for the others. Wiping the sweat off her brow,
she began her journey to the next house.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dusk began to set
in slowly. Hitomi was grateful, for the work was slowly coming to an end.
She had aided with reconstruction at 7 houses that day, for a total of
9 hours. Her feet were positively killing her. She collapsed into a seating
position on a piece of debris, exhausted.
"My, my, don't we
look beat!" exclaimed a hearty voice. Hitomi looked up and saw the familiar
face of the wolfman who had first taken her to Fanelia.
"Ruhm!" she said
with a smile.
"Ah, so you do
recognize me. It's good to see you again, little lady."
"And you."
"You look thirsty.
Can I get you some water?"
"That would be great,
thank you very much." she took the cup and gulped down the cool liquid
quickly. It felt wonderful against her dry throat.
Ruhm took a seat
next to her. "I don't understand," he admitted. "I could have sworn I saw
you being carried home by that light..."
"I was..." began
Hitomi. "But something happened, and the light failed, and I fell..."
"And King Van caught
you." he finished for her. He shook his head sadly. "Some people think
that his wings are a curse... but personally, I think they are a gift."
"They're beautiful..."
Hitomi whispered unconsiously.
Ruhm chuckled. "You're
blushing, little one."
"Hey Ruhm! Give me
a hand here, would ya?" came a voice.
"Coming, Lumer."
he sighed and patted Hitomi on the shoulder. "Take care, seeress."
As he moved away
from the fallen stone where Hitomi was, she was given a clearer view of
the area surrounding her. Amidst the many citizens who were making an effort
to return home, was Van. He was helping two other men lift a heavy board....
and his red shirt lay a few feet away.
Hitomi watched as
he slowly managed to lift the wood with his companions. The fact that Van
was shirtless gave Hitomi a good look at his torso. She had never really
noticed how muscly he had gotten over the months; she had been too busy
gazing dreamily at the blond knight.
With a last heap
of effort, Van managed to push the wood up onto the roof, where some other
waiting men immediately positioned it and began to hammer away at it.
Van smiled, pleased
that his country was slowly working its way to being completed.
"Men, let's call
it a day," he said, patting them amiably on the shoulder. The nodded and
grinned,
heading home for their awaiting suppers.
The young king threw
his head back and poured a bucket of water over his raven-black hair before
running a hand through it. The action made him look even more gorgeous
in Hitomi's eyes and she couldn't keep herself from staring, her cheeks
growing as red as strawberries. Van turned, his ruby eyes meeting hers,
and for the first time, Hitomi noticed that he was wearing her pendant.
She was completely touched. She had given it to him to keep, she had never
expected him to wear it.
He smiled at her
and reached for his shirt, pulling it over his head, much to Hitomi's dismay.
Then he approached her.
"I see you've been
hard at work as well," he commented. She answered in a nod. "Come, let's
get something to eat," he invited with a grin. He held out his gloved hand
to her, to help her up from her seat. Her eyes never leaving his, her delicate
fingers reached out and clasped his own.
For a moment, time
froze. Nothing existed except for them, locked in each other's gaze.
Never let go,
Hitomi never let go.
I won't let go
ever, I promise.
But the moment
was broken as soon as Van let his hand fall from hers. They walked back
to the castle in silence, both flustered.
A/N: arrrrrrggggg! Why can't I invent more interesting chapters? LOL
It's all about introductions! I guess I'm too wrapped up in my other story
(which, frankly, I think is 10000 times better) to make this one seem any
good @_@.
05.14.01
