Hitomi woke up quite early the next morning. At
first she was bewildered at how she had wound up back in the guestroom
bed, she clearly remembered having dozed off in the Fanelian forest. The
sensation was quickly replaced by one of serenity.
Van... she thought, noticing that her
thoughts these days mostly consisted of one particular name. Vaguely, she
could remember the events that had taken place last night. Van.
It was Van, wasn't it, who brought me in. Unconsiously she touched
her forehead and turned red.
"Now that part I'm sure was a dream,"
she assured herself. A tiny part of her subconscience knew it had really
happened, but that tiny part was being ignored.
Hitomi quickly changed her clothes, switching
into the ones she frequently wore for track practice. An early-morning
jog might do nicely.
She tiptoed through the corridors. It must have
been 5 am, no one was awake yet. She was about to leave when something
caught her eye. Some movement on one of the back balconies. Curiosity struck
and she decided to investigate. Slowly, she pushed open the double doors,
unprepared for what she was about to see.
There, in the middle of the balcony with his
wings stretched out was Van. In his hand he gripped the pendant. Feathers
were flying everywhere from the majestic white. His shirt lay a few feet
away, unharmed.
"Van." again with the one word that took up Hitomi's
thoughts.
He spun around, startled. "Hitomi," he said gently.
He paused for a moment as his wings retracted into his back. "What are
you doing up so early?"
Your wings are so amazing, Van... how
could anyone think they're a curse? Van turned beet red, and Hitomi
realized that she had spoken aloud.
"Thanks," he said feebly. "I was just taking
a quick fly to stretch them out." he picked up his shirt and pulled it
on. He turned to look out the balcony at the many trees below. Hitomi moved
to be beside him.
"It was the strangest thing," she said coyly.
"Last night I remember falling asleep near the Escaflowne... yet when I
woke up, I was in the guestroom bed."
"Maybe you walk in your sleep."
"Maybe a certain king decided to be a gentleman
and carry me. Thank you, Van." she smiled. The Fanel grinned back
at her.
"You still haven't answered my question." Van
said, eying the clothes she wore. "What are you doing up so early?"
"I needed a run." she answered simply. "To clear
my head."
"Can I come, or have you gone already?"
"No, I haven't. And sure you can come..." she
winked at him flirtatiously. "If you can catch up with me!" she bolted
from the balcony, running as swiftly and silently as a gazelle. Van was
close at her heels.
"No fair!" he whined in a half-whisper. "You
had a head start!"
Hitomi just chuckled, bursting outside into the
sweet morning air. No one was up yet. The very occasional sound of a hammer
whacking a nail into place echoed through the area. Hitomi continued to
run through the streets, moving quickly towards her destination.
It took her half an hour to get there, but she
had run pretty fast. She noticed a little stream and scooped some of the
water up into her mouth, sighing at its refreshness. She sat down on the
ground to wait.
About 15 minutes later, Van came staggering up
behind her, looking completely beat. Immediately he drank some water from
the little brook before collapsing next to the girl he secretly loved.
"Awww, is someone tired?" Hitomi asked in a playful
tone, patting Van's back sympathetically.
"That's.... it." Van gasped weakly. "I'm... flying
back... to... Fan... elia."
Hitomi smirked. "On the Mystic Moon, we have
to do half an hour of running before gym class. And you have to do even
more if you want to do your best on the track team."
Van rolled over, so that he was lying on his
back, his hands behind his head. "The Mystic Moon," he said. "Hey," he
added. "Isn't this..."
"This is where we arrived when I first came to
Gaia." Hitomi said. "After we first met." she closed her eyes and smiled.
"'What's ypur problem? Are you always so pig-headed? I didn't help you
for a reward, I just... I thought you were going to die and I got scared.
The least you could do is thank me! I shouldn't have even saved you, I
should have let that dragon eat you!'"
Van turned on his side to face her. "You have
an amazing memory," he commented. "All I remember from our first encounter
is you slapping me." he touched his cheek for emphasis.
Hitomi chuckled. "My memory isn't actually all
that great," she admitted. "I just wrote it down. I started keeping a diary
when I first came to Gaia. I wrote down my thoughts, feelings, and just
the days events of this strange new world I was in. I wrote so..." he lip
trembled slightly, "...so I wouldn't forget." she turned away.
A long silence settled between the two. At last,
Van spoke, gentleness in his voice. "Hitomi... would you have forgotten
if not for your diary? Would you have forgotten Allen? Merle? Zaibach?
Asturia? Would you have forgotten..." he fumbled with the last word. "...me?"
Hitomi looked at him, horrified. "Of course I
wouldn't! I made a promise to you, Van. I always keep my promises."
The young king turned to lie on his back again,
looking up at the Mystic Moon. "I'll never forget you either, Hitomi."
he vowed. "How could I? You've done so much for this world. You played
a big part in stopping the Destiny War, and you've helped out so much with
the reconstruction of Fanelia."
Hitomi choked. So, the King's true feelings
are finally revealed. He sees me as nothing more than a strange girl from
another world who helped him rebuild his country and end a war. How could
I ever have even considered him liking me than more than that? Wake up,
Kanzaki. You're living in a dream world. Van will never love you.
Noticing the long pause, Van asked her
what was wrong.
"It's nothing." she said tersely.
Concern was etched on the Fanel's face. "Tell
me," he pleaded. "I can see you're mad."
"Just forget it." she started to stand up.
"Where are you going?"
"Back to the castle." she answered stiffly, still
stricken by his words.
"Wait, Hitomi, what did I say?" Van began, but
the girl was already running back to Fanelia.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The week went by at an excruciatingly slow pace,
according to Van Fanel. He and Hitomi hadn't spoken much since that morning
run. He still couldn't understand what had happened back there. He frequently
tried to get Hitomi to tell him, but she would just make up some excuse
not to speak with him, busying herself in helping others with the reconstruction.
Frustrated, the young king turned to the one person who could help him.
"Stop pacing, you're making me dizzy," Merle
whined, sitting on the edge of the main balcony. Van didn't seem to hear
her, as he continued to stride back and forth.
"The only time you pace like this is when you're
thinking about Hitomi." the cat commented. "So what's wrong this time?"
"I need your help, Merle." Van said suddenly,
stopping to face the catgirl with intensity. "Hitomi's mad at me at me
for some reason, and she won't tell me why. I tried talking to her but
she keeps brushing me off."
Instinctively, the pink-haired girl glanced down
at the streets below, where a girl in unusual clothing was occupied repairing
a torn roof. She paused a moment to brush her bangs out of her eyes before
returning to work.
"Please, Merle. I need to patch things up with
her. I don't want her to leave with so much resentment in her heart. Please,
help me." A devilish idea struck the young king and he gave Merle his sweetest
"puppy-dog-eyes" which he knew she had never been able to resist.
"Fine!" Merle groaned, defeated by the look.
"I'll find out, but then it's up to you to fix things." she jumped
off the rail onto the balcony. "Hey Hitomiiiiiiiiiiii!" she called. "Up
here!" the strange clothed girl looked up from her work and waved to the
catgirl. But when she saw the raven-haired teen behind her, her gaze turned
icy and she looked away.
"You were right," Merle admitted to her "brother".
"She's definitely angry."
You played a big part in stopping the Destiny
War, and you've helped out so much with the reconstruction of Fanelia.
How could I forget you? the words ran through Hitomi's mind,
over and over. The thought of what Van had said only made her work harder.
"Hey Hitomi." Merle said from below. "Are you
almost done with that roof?"
"Almost." the girl replied, nailing in the final
board. "Now I am." she hopped down.
"Blech!" Merle exclaimed, taking a step back
and holding her nose. "It's a good thing that the bath house was fixed
yesterday. You don't exactly smell like roses. Come on, let's get you all
squeaky clean for Lord Van." she grabbed the older person's hand and dragged
her off to a little building near the edge of the town.
"But Merle--" Hitomi tried to protest, but the
catgirl shoved her into the bath house. She handed her a towel and got
one for herself. She slipped out of her yellow dress and jumped into the
water, purring at the warmness.
Hitomi followed her lead and got in as well.
"It's so nice in here!" she commented, leaning back in the underwater seat.
"This feels nice after a long day of work."
Merle watched her in a cat-like manner.
"What?" Hitomi asked, flustered.
"Why are you working so much lately, Hitomi?"
the catgirl asked cooly.
"Well.... because...."
"You only have 3 weeks left on Gaia and you're
working 9 hours a day. You should be spending time with Lord Van."
At the mentioning of Fanelia's king, Hitomi let
out a "hmph."
"Oh wait, I forgot. You two aren't speaking to
each other." Merle remarked. "First you're in crazy about him, then you
won't speak to him. Love is so confusing."
"I was never in love with Van."
"Liar."
"I was never in love with Van." Hitomi repeated.
"Then why do you turn red every time I say his
name?"
"I don't."
"Lord Van."
Hitomi turned a slight shade of pink.
"Lord VAN."
Hitomi turned a darker shade of pink.
"lordVANlordVANlordVANlordVAN!!!"
Hitomi turned as red as a cherry.
"LORDVANLORDVANLORDVANLOR---"
"OKAY, OKAY! I admit it!" exclaimed Hitomi. She
lowered her voice to a whisper. "yes, I do like him. But unfortunately,
I doubt that he returns those feelings."
"What happened?"
Hitomi recounted what he had said.
"Typical male," Merle commented, tossing it aside
easily. "Lord Van is like that. His mouth doesn't connect with his brain.
Trust me, Hitomi. He's nuts about you. He's just too stubborn to admit
it. "
"Maybe. Maybe he'll realize that what he said
hurt me and apologize. I can be stubborn too, and I'll just wait him out.
Knowing you, you'll probably go back to him and recount what's making me
angry, so it shouldn't take that long for an 'I'm sorry'."
"Nooooooo...." said Merle, looking away. Hitomi
smirked and rose to leave. "Wait, Hitomi." Merle called her. "Stay a little
longer. I have more to ask you about."
"Oh really," mused the girl with the sandy-brown
hair. She sat down. "Like what?"
"I'm not as stupid as you think." the cat muttered
under her breath. She looked straight into Hitomi's eyes. "Hitomi," she
said calmly. "Why didn't the pillar of light work when it was sending you
home?"
The girl seated across from her paled. "I don't
know." she answered, hastily getting out of the water, drying off, and
putting on her clothes. "But I have to go, I forgot something in my room.
I'll see you later, Merle." she ran out of the bath house.
Merle sighed, leaning her head back. You're
just like Lord Van, Hitomi. Always keeping secrets from each other. And
I don't mean your hidden love.
______________________________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Hey, this is a longer chapter! Yay! So what does Merle know about Hitomi that the girl from the Mystic Moon has been keeping to herself? Will Van ever apologize? Will the destined lovers ever kiss? What will the trip to Asturia be like? If there's no rival for Hitomi, what could possibly stand in their way? Are there too many questions left unanswered? *lol* don't worry, I'm not going to put in an evil threat such as "resurrection of Zaibach" or anything. There will be no evil at all, actually. But there will be obstacles. On for those of you who are anti-Allen, sorry, but he's not going to be an obstacle in the relationship between Van and Hitomi because the blond dude is my 2nd favourite character so I don't want to make him seem like the bad guy. ^_^'
06.27.01