~
"Mmm..." Hitomi stirred and her eyes fluttered open
only to see Van, carrying her back to the castle. "Van?" she asked, seming
unsurprised to be in his arms. She chuckled a little. "I'm awake now, you
can put me down. I'll walk, I could use the excercise."
"After that spectacle you put on? I doubt you'll
need excercise." he put her down nonetheless and the two of them continued
walking. Most of the citizens were still at the dance.
"I think the spectacle we put on topped my
little dance." Hitomi said, winking at him.
He blushed furiously and was thankful for the dim
light. "I wish someone had told us that the music had ended. I feel like
a fool."
"I don't. I'm glad the song went on longer. I don't
know why it did, but I don't care. I don't care that most of the
people of Fanelia saw us dancing together like that. I enjoyed that dance...
it gave me some more time to be closer to you, Van." she reached out and
touched his arm. He froze.
"Hitomi..." he whispered, longing for courage to
tell her.
Hitomi moved towards a large piece of rubble and
sat down. Van instinctively followed, setting himself next to her. He noticed
that she was turning bright red. She turned her face away.
"What is it, Hitomi?" he asked tenderly.
"Van... I... I wasn't asleep when you told me why
you would never forget me." her voice wavered nervously. "The real reason."
The raven-haired man was speechless. He searched
desperately for the words needed to reply, but all he came out with was
a blank. What would happen now? He waited for her to cast him a menacing
look or just leave abruptly. But she didn't. So, Van, being at a loss for
words, impulsively reached his hand out and cupped her face in his hand,
forcing her to look at him in the eyes.
"Gods, you are beautiful." the words popped out
of his mouth suddenly. Curse his disobedient tongue. He just couldn't help
himself, at the sight of her sparkling eyes and her figure, illuminated
by the light of the moon.
"Van..." Hitomi whispered.
Again, impulse took over and he slowly moved his
head towards hers. Hitomi pulled away. The young king mumbled an apology
but Hitomi brought a finger to his lips to silence him. She reached behind
her neck and pulled off the pendant, then draped it over his head. She
smiled at him and then slowly started to lean in to kiss him. Van noticed
this and grinned. So Merle was right. The pair both closed their
eyes, only centimetres apart.
"Lord Van!" came a shrill voice. "Lord Van!!"
So close... "Hitomi..." Van breathed, moving abruptly,
nearly touching his lips to hers--
"Lord Van! Lord Van! It's time to wake up!" Merle
shouted. She took a quick glance to the clock on his wall. "LORD VAN!!!!"
she yelled at the top of her lungs, frightening some birds and piquing
the curiousity of the people down below.
"Mghfshkjn..." the young king answered, groggy.
His eyes opened weakly to the face of a blue-eyed catgirl.
"Good morning, sunshine." Merle said sarcastically.
Van sat up in the bed and raked a hand through
his messy hair. "It was a dream." he deduced.
He sat up, raking a hand through his hair before
letting it fall to his neckline. A dream, he deduced with a smirk.
What else?
"Get dressed," Merle instructed the topless teen.
"The carriage will be here any minute."
"What am I missing, what am I missing?" Hitomi
scurried around her room, peeping under boards and the bed,
looking for anything she might have forgotten.
Merle watched her from her favourite spot---the
windowsill, where the sunlight would warm her as she stretched.
"I know what you forgot." the catgirl said, licking
her wrist.
"What?" demanded the girl from the Mystic Moon.
"You forgot to kiss Lord Van."
Hitomi looked as if she was about to go insane
but she refrained and tried to ease back into her calm demeanor.
"How would you know?"
"Kayulo told me," the pink-haired girl answered
simply. "He told me, when he saw you run off the dance floor,
that you two wouldn't kiss, because you would fall asleep before
any romantic things started to happen."
"Oh really." Hitomi smirked, rummaging through
her duffelbag. "And how did he figure this out?"
"He didn't 'figure' anything out. He knew.
I'll let you put two and two together how."
"Oh..." a soft gasp escaped Hitomi's lips as
it clicked in her mind. She zipped up the duffelbag.
"The carriage is here," Merle commented, looking
out the window. She turned back to her friend. "I guess it's
time to go."
"I'll take that, miss." a blonde man with a mustache
said, pulling the duffelbag out of Hitomi's grasp. He loaded it
into the trunk of the carriage.
"Oh, thank you." Hitomi said.
"What about you, yer Highness?" he nodded to
Van. "Got anythin' to put back 'ere?"
Van shook his head. "I... I won't be staying
long."
"Really?" the man said, checking the horses before
hoisting himself up into the driver's seat. "You really should.
Asturia is a might beautiful country, if I do say so myself." he
looked down at Van and Hitomi, who were looking
downcast. "Well come on, then. If you want to be in Asturia by this
aft', you'd better be gettin' on in."
"Right." Hitomi nodded.
"Hitomi?" came a small voice. Merle was walking
slowly up toward her, trying hard not to cry. She suddenly
lunged at Hitomi, giving her a hug. "I'm glad that you were given
more time on Gaia. I'll miss you!"
"I'll miss you, too Merle." Hitomi said, slowly
withdrawing from the hug.
"Here," Merle said, handing her friend a little
electronic object. "This is what you were overlooking."
"My pager?" the sandy-brown haired girl gaped.
"When did you swipe this, you little cat burglar?"
"Erm, nevermind. But I thought you should have
it back."
"Why don't you keep it, Merle." Hitomi
offered, handing it back. "Think of it as a token of our friendship...
and
a thank-you for all your little matchmaking attempts-" she glanced
over at Van, who had entered in a discussion
with the coachdriver-- "although I doubt they'll work."
The catgirl smiled apologetically and ran up
to Van, giving him a hug as well. "See you tomorrow, Lord Van." she
said. She leaned her mouth over to his ear. "Don't forget to kiss
Hitomi goodbye... there's a way you can get her to
never forget you." she whispered. Van chuckled and pulled away.
"I'll try." he promised. He opened the carriage
door for Hitomi, who scooted over to the other end to allow the
king room. As soon as Van shut the door behind him and was seated,
the carriage began to pull away.
Instinctively, Hitomi stuck her head out of window,
waving goodbye to the catgirl. Van also stuck his hand out the
window and waved.
The people of Fanelia gathered to watch, cheering
and laughing and waving.
Merle giggled as she felt a strong hand on her
shoulder.
"You really shouldn't have done that." Kayulo
sighed.
"what?" Merle asked innocently, batting her eyelashes
at him.
On the back of the retreating carriage, unbeknownst
to its passengers, was a hand-written sign that said "Just
married".
Hitomi let out a deep breath as she gave one
last look to Fanelia. It will probably be the last time I ever see it.
She curled her fists on her knees, using strength to hold the tears
back.
Van stared out the window at the passing mountains,
deep in thought. Hitomi was going to leave him this
afternoon. He had only a few hours to tell her how he felt. It seemed
so little... but he would tell her. If she left
without him having said anything, he would never forgive himself.
"Fanelia is so beautiful..." Hitomi started.
"It's progressed so much since we returned from the Destiny War.
Within a few years' time, it will be the green emerald that it once
was." her eyes burned into Van's. "I'm sorry I
won't be here to see that with you, Van." she added quietly, breaking
the gaze.
"Hitomi..." the young king reached over and placed
his gloved hand over hers. Hitomi's hand tingled from his
touch and she blushed. "You're welcome in Fanelia any time you wish."
he withdrew his hand. "Even if you didn't
help me slay that dragon."
"What's this?" Hitomi said in mock-irritation.
"So I didn't help you slay the dragon? For your information, Your
Majesty, if it wasn't for me, you'd be lying in a graveyard.
"Mmm... I doubt that. You see, I'm far
too agile despite my tendency to be pig-headed." he laughed.
Hitomi leaned over as if she was about to slap
him but instead, stopped her hand an inch away from his cheek and
ran her fingers through his hair affectionately. Van stopped mid-chuckle,
mesmerized by her touch. His amber eyes
locked on hers and she froze as well. Unconsiously, she found herself
moving her face closer to his. Van was also
beginning to close the gap between them.
All of a sudden, the carriage jerked, throwing
Hitomi into Van's arms.
"Er, sorry about that yer Mejesty."the driver
called. "I must've hit a large stone or somethin'."
Hitomi's face was redder than Van's as she lay
sprawled in his arms, after having been caught by him. "Thanks."
she squeaked, before returning to her seat.
What in the world just happened? Van asked
himself, remembering how it felt when Hitomi ran her hand through
his hair. Was she actually leaning in to a possible kiss?
he wondered. Blast that stone in the road. Now he would
never know.
"Hey, yer Highness? Is everythin' in there alright?"
the coachdriver asked.
Van glanced furtively at Hitomi, who seemed to
have taken interest in the scenery outside.
"Everything is fine." he answered.
"I spy... with my little eye... something that
is green."
Hitomi groaned, letting her head flop back. "Grass."
she guessed.
"Very good." Van said with a smile.
"There's nothing else!" Hitomi answered.
It had been hours since the little incident with
the "Bump in the road". Hitomi had since taught Van how to play
"I spy" in order to ease the boredom of the long trip, not to mention
the tension that had been caused by a little
stone. However, the game proved to get tedious rather quickly, as
the scenery outside consisted of 3 things: Trees,
grass, and sky.
"I suppose you're right," the raven-haired boy
admitted.
"Er, yer Mejesty an' 'is lovely friend, I jus
thought I would tell ya: we oughta be in Asturia within the next quarter-hour."
came the coach driver's voice. "Sorry it's takin' so long."
"Quite alright," Van called from inside. He turned
to Hitomi to smile apologetically before gazing out the window at the Mystic
Moon above. "You must be eager to get back home to your friends and family."
he commented, his voice wavering slightly.
"I am..." Hitomi admitted. "But I'm also going
to miss it here. I'm going to miss my friends here. You, Merle,
Allen, Millerna..." she sighed. "I'm happy to be going back... but I'm
also sad. Gaia is like my second home now."
He nodded, understanding, but also somewhat sticken.
He had hoped that he was a little more than a friend in her mind. Maybe
she was covering up for what she truly felt. He sincerely hoped so.
"Princess, a carriage has been spotted on the
outskirts of Asturia." a short messenger said, bowing respectfully to Princess
Millerna.
"That must be the carriage that Dryden sent for
Van and Hitomi." she guessed aloud. "Thank you," she said to the little
man. She flattened her skirt before walking to the courtyard in order to
greet her guests.
"Well, 'ere we are, yer Mejesty." the man said,
adjusting his hat. He jumped out of his seat and opened the door for Hitomi.
"Thank you," she said politely, clambering out
of the mode of transportation to get her duffelbag. Van jumped out behind
her and offered her a helping hand with her bag, which she politely declined.
"Why, Hitomi! Van. It's good to see you two again."
a bubbly female voice greeted.
"Princess Millerna," said the coachdriver, tipping
his hat as he climbed back into his seat. "Will you or Lord Dryden be needin'
my services anytime soon?"
"No, thank you very much for offering to drive
such a long way."
"Not a problem, princess." and with that, he
let out a "heeya!" and the carriage sped away.
Millerna turned back to her guests, looking them
over. Her women's intuition told her that no romance had budded between
them, and she frowned for a moment.
"You two look hungry," the princess said, masking
her disappointment with a cheery smile. "Come, let's get you something
to eat."
Hitomi looked as if she was about to humbly protest,
but she glanced at Van. Just the sight of him seemed to plead, "Yes, let's
eat. Stay a little longer with me..."
"I'm famished." she said brightly.
"You two certainly got here faster than expected."
Millerna commented, as the servants bustled around the table, setting food
and wine.
Van nodded. "We weren't sure how long the trip
would actually take, so we decided to leave a little bit earlier." he took
a sip of wine.
Hitomi glanced at the purple liquid warily. The
last time she had Asturian wine, she had gotten just a little bit too tipsy.
She had no desire to relive that experience.
A long silence befell the room as the servants
disappeared from the room.
"So," chirped Millerna, at an attempt to make
conversation. "What exactly happened? Why wasn't Hitomi able to go home?"
"The pillar of light failed." Hitomi said, not
looking up from her plate as she fiddled with her food. "We don't really
know why." liar.
Van didn't say anything, just sat in the dining
room chair, looking solemn. At last he spoke. "Where is Dryden now?"
Millerna bit her lip. "Oh yes, that's right.
Well, Dryden was here until early this morning. He left on business,
but he should be back tomorrow. I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but something
urgent came up." she paused. "I'll set you up in a guestroom right away,
Hitomi. As for you, Van, you don't have to stay." her eyes darted back
from Hitomi to the young king.
"That's alright. I'll stay. I have to speak with
Dryden about something, anyway." the raven-haired boy said hastily. It
was a lie that Millerna could easily see through. He still wanted more
time to try for Hitomi's love, that was the real reason he wanted to stay,
and if Hitomi hadn't been oblivious to little things such as that, she
would have picked up on it right away. She sighed inwardly and finished
her meal.
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
*A/N: Just when you thought that I couldn't get eviller... >: ) when
I showed this to my friend Rosie (redflye), she spazzed and attempted to
strangle me. @_@ I don't doubt that some of you might wish to do the same.
*ducks the flying vegetables*