08.08.01
Van clutched at the machine in an attempt to control himself. Why was life so unfair? He had lost the woman he
loved to one of his closest friends, and now she was gone, back to her own world. He would probably never see her
again. He sighed, taking his hand off the circular panel. The machine's whirring slowed down and then came to an
abrupt stop.
A piercing scream broke through the heavy silence. Van spun around and saw Hitomi, falling towards the floor.
Immediately, he ran over, skidding on the ground, catching her in the nick of time before she hit the cold, hard
cement. She was breathing heavily and her cheeks were stained with the tears that continued to flow. Van cradled
the girl he loved in his arms, trying to soothe her.
"Shh... it's okay..." he whispered. Hitomi hid her face on his shirt, crying out the last of her tears. After a few
minutes of just sitting there with her in his arms, Hitomi calmed down, and spoke. Her words were muffled in Van's
shirt, but he could make them out well enough.
"It happened again. I'm sorry. I couldn't help it."
He looked down at her tenderly. "Help what, Hitomi?" he spoke softly, slowly, and for a moment nothing existed
in the world except for them.
"Van, I--" she began, but was cut off by the door bursting open.
"Hitomi! Van! What happened?" Dryden asked, clambering down the stairs. Allen was right at his heels. At the
sight of the knight Caeli, the memories of Hitomi's diary came flooding back to Van and he released his hold on her. He got to his feet and helped Hitomi get to hers, failing to notice the look of disappointment on the girl's face.
"What happened?" Dryden repeated. "Hitomi, you're still here? Did you even try it yet?"
"It seemed to be working fine, but suddenly the pillar of light failed." Van answered.
The merchant prince stroked his chin and looked at the fate-generator. He placed his hand on the circular panel
and nothing happened. He frowned and gave the machine a hearty kick. Nothing. He gave it an even heartier kick.
Again, not even a spark of life was displayed.
"Damn." he muttered. He growled and gave it one last kick. Allen put his hand on the man's shoulder, suggesting
that Dryden stop kicking the thing because that could lead to its total destruction. Dryden nodded. "It just has
some bugs that need to be fixed." he said casually. "Give me a day, and I'll have it up and running. I've dealt with
this kind of stuff before, I can already see what the problem is." A lie, and a bad one at that, but they let it go.
"Well then, Hitomi." Allen said, moving over to the sandy-brown haired girl. "One more day in Asturia." he bent
down to her ear and whispered, "One more day with Van."
Van's brows furrowed. He couldn't hear what Allen was saying, but he was positive that it had to do with how the
knight and Hitomi would be spending the day together. He had no place here. He turned quickly, running up the
stairs.
"Van!" Hitomi called out to him, but he had already disappeared.
Hitomi lay on her bed, letting the rays of the
late morning sun wash over her. It was a fairly warm day, and the
girl was dressed in her track outfit. Her uniform was folded neatly
on a chair nearby. Her arm moved frantically as
she finished re-writing the smudged parts of her diary. She had
already added in what had happened earlier this
morning, and how Van seemed to have suddenly taken on a cold air.
She frowned at the thought and folded her
diary neatly away in her bag. Hitomi's head flopped back in dispair,
for some reason finding herself utterly bored.
She thought back to when she was on Earth.
That's it! she snapped her fingers at the idea.
Back on the "Mystic Moon", she often ran to clear her head or
erase her boredom. There was no reason she couldn't do it here.
Grinning, she burst out the door.
Asturia was such a gorgeous country for a run.
There were so many sites to see, so many people to wave hello to
as you passed by. A beautiful melody ran through Hitomi's head as
she moved through the streets, lifting her spirits
and putting an extra spring in her step.
Her late-morning run wound down as she returned
to the courtyard. She exhaled loudly and took a seat by the
fountain, relaxed by the sound of the water. It was so peaceful
here, now that the war was finally over.
"Hitomi." called a rich, mature voice. The girl
turned and saw Allen, appearing from the shadows of the
courtyard halls. He was dressed casually, without his uniform. He
walked over to her, taking a seat beside her.
"How are you?"
"I'm alright." she said, trying to sound a little
disappointed. After all, she was supposed to have gone home
today, but certain "errors" had quickly changed that.
"I'm sorry that you were unable to return to
your world today." Allen said sincerely. "I'm sure that Dryden will
have the fate generator up and running by tomorrow. Although, I
have this distinct feeling that 'technical difficulties' were not
the main cause of its disfunction." he looked directly into Hitomi's eyes,
as if analysing her, searching for
the truth behind his assumption.
At that moment, Van had passed by the courtyard,
unnoticed by Allen and Hitomi. He froze, mid-step, at the sight 500
feet from him. It was the girl from the Mystic Moon and the blond knight,
locked in a gaze that Van could only
dub as "lovesick". Despite the logical side of his brain which told
him to leave, turn away before he got any more
crush, Van stayed, hidden in the bushes, watching the "lovers".
He was too far away to hear them, but that didn't
matter. Seeing them together like this was proof enough of his claim.
"A-Allen..." Hitomi said, tearing away from the
look in his eyes which said, 'you don't fool me'. She stood
abruptly, reaching around her head to remove the pendant.
"Here." she said, holding out her palm which held the
necklace. "Will you time me? I might have improved since the last
time I ran."
"Sure." said the knight with a smile, reaching
out to take the pendant.
Van's eyes widened in sadness and shock. So,
Hitomi had given him her pendant, to keep forever. It stung too
much to watch anymore, so he quickly turned away, walking back to
castle.
Allen looked at the pendant, a little confused.
"After all the amazing things I've seen this stone do, I would never
have expected it to keep time. Um... how does it?"
Hitomi mentally thwapped herself. It was Amano
whom she had explained the "one cycle a second" to. Hastily,
she repeated it for the "Gaian" version of Amano and he nodded in
understanding. She then mapped out 100
meters (she had run it enough to remember how many paces long it
was) and set herself up on the finish line. It
wouldn't be the same as running on a real track, but it seemed to
make Allen forget his wise assumptions for the
time being.
"Ready..." Allen drew out the word as Hitomi
prepared herself. "GO!" the pendant in his hand dropped to a
swing and Hitomi took off like a rocket. "One... Two... Three...."
Hitomi was racing faster than before. At the
finish line, she imagined Van, giving her a gentle smile. He was her
motivation. It was as though some voice in her head was telling
her that if she could run the 100 metre under 13
seconds, he would stop the icy mood that he seemed to have acquired.
Come on, Kanzaki... faster! at last, her
feet flew past the sticks that she had set out to represent the finish
line.
She stopped a few paces after it, slowing down her speed and catching
her breath. Allen walked up to her cooly, his
hand open to give her back the pendant. She took it and pulled it
over her head, tucking it underneath her track top.
"The pendant swung almost 13 times. More like
12 and three quarters." Allen informed her.
She gaped at him. "Are you sure?"
"I'm positive."
She let out a cry of joy and hugged him spontaneously
before breaking away and giving a jump of excitement. "I
did it!"
Of course, Allen was perplexed, so the green-eyed
girl explained to him how, back on the Mystic Moon, she had
forever been trying to beat 13 seconds. And now she had done it,
all because of a secret motivation. Thank you,
Van.
Hitomi was so hyped up about her achievement. She was very excited,
prepared to tell Van about what she had
done. Unfortunately, the young king was not at lunch. Hitomi asked
Millerna his whereabouts, but she just shook
her head apologetically and said she didn't know.
The girl with the sandy-brown hair spent the
remainder of the day outside, alone, enjoying the sights of Asturia
while she was still able to. She kept wishing she would accidentally
bump into Van, but she experienced no such
luck. That was most likely because she never bothered checking the
one place he might be.
"How are the reparations coming?" the dark-haired teen asked as he
sat on the steps leading down to Folken's old
lab.
"W-ell... not bad, I guess, Your Highness." Dryden's
muffled voice came from behind the machine. "This baby
seems to have blown a lot of fuses somehow, and I'm about halfway
done fixing them."
"It's taken you all day to do just half?" Van
was incredulous.
"I'm a little rusty with repairing." he admitted
sheepishly. "And I'm tired. I'm gonna take a break." he hoisted
himself out from behind the machine, his face black from the exhaust
of the machine. He grabbed a cold drink that
he had set out for himself earlier and gulped it down quickly. He
wiped the moisture from his lips before setting the
glass down again.
"But Van," he began. "If this is her last day
here, what are you doing hanging around with me? You should be
spending the day with the one you love."
Van jerked his head to the side in a stubborn
manner. "What makes you think I love Hitomi?"
"Come on, your Majesty. Everyone knows you do."
"I don't. And even if I did, she's busy giving
her heart to someone else."
"But--" Dryden tried to explain to Van that Hitomi
didn't feel anything for the Knight Caeli, who the merchant prince automatically
assumed was the "someone else", but it was too late. Van had vanished
out the door.
"Sorry for this," Dryden Fassa lightly patted
Hitomi's shoulder in apology. "The fate generator experienced a real blast.
I worked on it as much as I could today, but I know that it's going to
take me tomorrow as well in order to finish it." he returned to the meal
that had been set out for him.
Allen, seated across the table from Hitomi, glanced
at her furtively. She didn't look surprised by the news that Dryden had
not completed his task. She looked entirely unphased, in fact, and that
bothered the blond. How much did she know about the machine's failure?
"But I'm sure you wouldn't mind an extra day
here." Celena piped up.
"No." Hitomi replied with a smile. She glanced
down at her food-filled plate, which had remained mostly untouched since
its arrival in front of her.
Suddenly, Millerna slammed her fork down. "Hitomi
Kanzaki, why don't you eat something? You've been sitting there
in a quiet mood, pecking at your food like a bird."
"I'm sorry." Hitomi squeaked. "I guess I'm just
not very hungry at the moment. I guess the realization that I'm not going
home as soon as I thought kind of brings me down... I miss my world, my
family and my friends on the Mystic Moon."
Perhaps. Allen thought to himself. But
that's not the reason that you're so silent.
"Has anyone seen Van?" the sandy-brown
haired girl asked, not noticing the strange look that flashed through Celena's
eyes. "I should tell him the situation."
"Lord Van'sh up on the rooftop," Mr. Mole's slurry,
lisp-like voice volunteered. Gaddes rolled his eyes as he wondered how
the old man had snuck in. "I think he'sh practishing with hish sword."
Hitomi bowed her head gratefully and excused
herself to go find him. She hoped that he wouldn't be as icy as before,
the wound from her 2nd departure attempt still stung bitterly.
Swish.. Swoop... Van loved the sound of the blade of his sword
coming in contact with the crisp night air. It made him feel powerful,
confident. With the strong hilt in his hand, he felt as thought he was
in total control.
There was really no reason to practise; the war
had been over for more than a month. But with the Fanelian crest near his
hand, he felt his mind clear of all its anxieties.
Then, came that one word, in a voice that could
shatter the wall he had slowly built up around himself over the years.
"Van?"
He growled at the interruption, sliding the blade
back into his blue scabbard. Why did she do this to him? Come out here,
pretending to be concerned about him. Didn't she know that by doing this,
it was crushing him even more? She was bringing up his hopes and then allowing
to fall, crashing mercilessly against the cement.
"Hitomi." he said, careful to show no emotion
in his voice as he jumped down from the ledge.
"The Mole Man said you were practising with your
sword up here... why? The war is over, and you're an amazing swordsman,
Van."
He noticed how she blushed faintly when she said
this, and he wondered why. Perhaps she always turned slightly rosier when
she complimented someone. After all, hadn't she blushed when she told him
his wings were beautiful? She had been infatuated with Allen at the time,
so why turn pink at another man?
"It doesn't matter." he said gruffly, and brushed
past her. She stiffened and spun around, grabbing his arm.
"Van, what's happened to you?" she whispered,
her bright green eyes pleading the truth while at the same time, threatening
to water over. "You.. you've changed. You're so cold and distant now...
tell me, please, what did I do to provoke this side of you?"
He laughed cynically, and the hollow sound echoed
painfully in Hitomi's ears. "After all this time... you can't tell me that
you still don't understand." he shook his hand out of her grasp and proceeded
down the steps.
"Van!" Hitomi called after him, but he wouldn't
look back.
Hitomi sighed and walked to the ledge to look
out at the Asturian night. The stars were glorious in the night sky, but
the girl paid no attention. She was focused on the larger of the two moons
in the sky. She was too lost in thought to hear the footsteps behind her.
But she did feel the hand on her shoulder.
"Van?" she spun around excitedly, hoping it would
be him, coming to apologize for his rudeness.
"What happened?" asked the blond knight, shattering
Hitomi's hopes.
"Allen." she said in a deflated tone. "Nothing."
"You can tell me," Allen persisted.
"It's Van, of course. Allen, what did I do wrong,
to make him be like this? He's so... cold. And I don't think... I don't
think he loves me anymore, if he ever did."
"Perhaps he's depressed by the fact that you
will be returning to the Mystic Moon. I know that if my true love was leaving
forever, I would not be in a pleasant mood. But I doubt I would
be angry with the one I cared for. I suppose each man handles it in his
own way, and unfortunately, Van's way is hurtful."
There was a pause before Allen spoke up again,
his eyes sparking. "Maybe you could get him to remove the strong
barrier that he's built up around himself these past few days."
"How?"
The knight Caeli paused again, working out a
plan in his brain.
Meanwhile, Van's conscience had been bothering
him and he decided to return to the roof to apologize for being so curt.
He had thought it over, really thought it over, and chose to believe
that maybe, just maybe, he had misinterpretted everything and Hitomi truly
wasn't seeing Allen in secret.
However, his original suspicions regained their
ground when he stumbled upon a private meeting on the rooftop between Allen
and Hitomi. Desperate to find the truth, he hid behind the large pillars,
as Hitomi had done so many months before.
Allen finished telling Hitomi the idea.
Van scowled. He couldn't hear what they were
saying, so with the grace of a cat he slunk 3 pillars forward to eavesdrop.
He didn't manage to catch a single word of Allen's plan, but he heard and
witnessed what happened after what Van assumed to be a huge promise of
eternal love and devotion.
"Oh Allen, it's perfect!" she squealed
in delight, a beautiful smile crossing her lips in a way that made Van's
heart ache. Spontaneously, the girl reached up and gave Allen a hug. When
she pulled away, however, she frowned.
"But do you think Van will understand?" she asked,
concerned. "I don't know how he'll react to this."
Allen thought about it for a moment. "The chances
of him accepting it hold the same wager as the chances of him being against
it... but it's a risk we'll have to take. If he doesn't understand, then
just let me take the blame. It was my idea, after all, and you shouldn't
be penalized. "
Van choked silently. So that was what
their little meeting had been about. They were getting married.
"Get some rest, Hitomi. The big day is tomorrow."
the 21 year-old's voice said casually.
"Right." she made her way down the steps. Allen
followed a few minutes after.
Van, however, did not go back to his quarters.
He stayed up all night, seated on the high ledge of the roof, brushing
away the tears and rage that threatened him in unison. And for one, small,
miniscule moment, he wished that if he fell off that roof, his wings would
not sprout.