Van was sweating bullets. In his right hand was
the letter he had received from Dryden through Kayulo. His grip on it was
nearly destroying it, he was so nervous. He climbed up towards the forest
and paused at the entrance.
Do it! he told himself. Come on, just
go in and do it!
Taking a deep breath, he entered the wooded
area. Hitomi was kneeling in front of his brother's grave, murmuring something.
She hadn't noticed the teen in red just yet. Van approached her quietly.
"Folken..." Hitomi whispered to the gravestone.
"I'm so sorry. It's my fault you're gone, if only I hadn't..." she let
her voice trail off, her eyes watering. She brushed her tears away hastily.
"Folken, I understand what you were trying to tell me in my vision, but
I think that what I feel is all in vain. You see, Va--" the sound of a
cracking branch stopped her, and she looked up to find Van standing a few
feet behind her.
The young king was surprised to see Hitomi tearing
up. It pained him to see her eyes watering, threatening to spill salty
droplets down her cheek at any moment.
"Oh Van..." sighed Hitomi, letting the tears
flow. "It's my fault that your brother is gone, that you're left all alone
without him..."
But I'm not alone, I have you. Van felt
his heart breaking at her self-blame. He kneeled down next to her and that's
when impulse took over. He placed his arms around her and drew her into
his comforting embrace. "Shh... it's okay...." he heard himself soothe
her. He could feel the one he loved shaking with her sobs. Gods, he wanted
to kiss the tears away. But Van knew he couldn't. She'd probably slap him
for that, and he didn't want to risk losing her.
Never breaking the hug, Van and Hitomi stood.
Despite her sadness, Hitomi felt like she was flying. For the 4th time
that she could remember, she was being held by Van in a way that, in her
eyes, might be considered a little romantic.
Van lowered his face to her ear. "No matter what,
Hitomi," he began, his voice shaking. "You will never be to blame for my
brother's death. Never." Hitomi heard his words and felt a million
times better. In gratitude, she reached up and wound her arms around his
back.
Suddenly, Van pulled away. No, no, NO! he
shouted in his mind. It's just like when I said goodbye to her... I
don't want to think about that. I never want to let her go.
Hitomi looked at him for some explanation
as to why he withdrew, but he turned away before she could see the melancholic
look on his face.
"Van..."
"I received word from Dryden this morning." Van
said quickly, cutting her off.
"Oh." Hitomi's mouth didn't seem to want to function
past that one word, she was still stunned that Van had pulled away. Somehow
managing to regain her voice, she asked, "What does he say?"
Van held up the letter, turning to face her.
He opened it and looked it over again quickly before reading aloud.
"Your Highness,
sorry to hear that Hitomi
didn't make it back to the Mystic Moon safely, but I'm sure she'll be fine
in your care.
I read your letter over,
and it mentioned the machine that Folken Strategos had resurrected from
the Zaibach Floating Fortress wreckage. I did manage to get a glimpse
of it as they were pulling it in, and it looks kinda complicated. I will,
however, take a good look at it the next time I'm in Asturia.
Unfortunately, due to the work I have to complete
here, I won't be in Princess Millerna's country until one month from now.
I do hope this will cope with your schedule.
Drop me a line sometime,
Dryden"
Van looked to Hitomi for her reaction.
Hitomi didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Cry because it would mean another
month until she was back on eEarth, or laugh because it would mean a full
month more with someone she loved... who knew? Maybe, in that month, he
would return her feelings.
"What are you thinking about, Hitomi?" Van asked
quietly.
"Hmm?" she looked up suddenly, shaken from her
thoughts. "Oh, it's nothing Van. It's unfortunate that it will be another
month, but that's quite alright. I can help with the reconstruction of
Fanelia!" she said cheerily.
The king of Fanelia was pleased to see that she
was taking the news so well.
"Are you sure? If you really want to go home
quite quickly, there may be someone else I can try..."
"No, it's okay." Hitomi said hurriedly. "Dryden
is trustworthy." it was a stupid explanation, but it wasn't as if Hitomi
was about to confess her feelings to Van. Although she was terribly homesick,
she still wanted the luxury of spending even another week with Van. Maybe
during their last month together, she would tell him how she felt.
Maybe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Hitomi looked up at the little part of sky that
could be seen through the leaves above. The light of the evening was quickly
fading. She hadn't left the Fanelian forest yet. It had been hours since
Van had read the letter from Dryden aloud, hours since the young king had
exited the forest, inviting Hitomi to what he promised would be a dinner
beyond the usual small amounts of fruit and bread. Hitomi had politely
declined, saying that she was going to stay a little while in the wooded
area. Van had looked concerned, but didn't push it. Halfway to the castle,
he had paused for a moment, as a sudden flash of boldness struck him. He
had turned around to tell her what he had been hiding, but she wasn't there,
so he slowly shuffled home.
"Van..." Hitomi said unconsiously. She was kneeling
in front of the Fanel graveyard, pensive. For a while, when Van embraced
her, she had felt the guilt of Folken's death just slide away. But now,
it had been hours since the raven-haired biy had left her alone, and the
pangs at her conscience were back.
"Folken, I'm so sorry... it's all my fault...
" she let her sentence trail off, not wanting to think about the horrible
crime she had committed. She leaned back against the knee of the Escaflowne
and let out a heavy sigh. It was late, the sun had vanished, and owl-like
creatures began to hoot. The crickets chirped, singing a lullaby for the
girl from the Mystic Moon. Hitomi found her eyelids drooping, and it wasn't
long before she fell asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merle sat on Van's bed, yawning lazily. Her eyes
swayed from left to right as her gaze followed the young Fanelian king
who was pacing back and forth, clutching the pendant.
"She'll be back soon, Lord Van." the catgirl
assured. "I have a feeling that if she was in danger, you would have known
by now." this comment eased Van a bit, and he stopped pacing. He flopped
down on his bed with a sigh. Merle picked up the pendant for a moment and
examined it.
"You haven't told her yet, have you."she let
the pendant drop back onto his chest.
"No. How can I? She thinks of me as a friend,
nothing more. She probably still loves Allen." Van said mournfully.
"Wake up, Lord Van! She's crazy about you. If
she still loved Allen, she would have married him. If she still loved Allen,
she wouldn't have been so happy to see you when you brought her
back to Gaia. Has it ever occured to you that maybe she's as cold-footed
as you are?"
Van didn't answer.
"Fine, don't believe me. Honestly, you can be
so stubborn sometimes!" Merle left the room in a huff.
The king let out another sigh. He looked at the
clock on his wall, which had remained surprisingly intact. 11pm. Van decided
it was time to check on Hitomi.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Hitomi?" he whispered as he approached the spot
where he had last seen her. She was nowhere to be found. He searched around
the mini cemetery. A strange sound stratled him and he turned, instinctively
drawing his sword. There was nothing there, except for the sleeping girl
sitting against the Escaflowne's knee. Van smirked and silently put his
sword back in it's scabbard. He made his way over to Hitomi, noticing how
beautiful she was when asleep. Not wanting to wake her, he slipped his
arms beneath her and lifted her up, carrying her back to the castle.
After what seemed like a short time, he arrived
in her guestroom, a room that she no longer had to share with the catgirl;
a room had just recently been repaired and that's where Merle was staying.
Carefully, Van set the sleeping beauty down on her bed. Hitomi let out
a few tired noises but remained asleep. Van's hand slowly moved towards
her head and he brushed away her honey-brown hair. Impulsively, he bent
down and kissed her forehead.
"Sweet dreams, Hitomi." he whispered. He left
her room, closing the door behind him.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Sorry it took me to long to get this chapter out. At last, we
are having some romancey action! ^_^ more to come later!