Hen Dekigoto

By Tig Jones

Disclaimer: Tenkuu no Escaflowne is owned by Sunrise and Bandai, and a whole bunch of people who aren't me.

Last chapter

With wide, wet, green eyes, Hitomi stared at the man in front of her. From behind those long dark bangs stared garnet eyes back at her.

Part 2

A wave of confusion washed over Van as he stared at the girl in front of him. She was fairly short, maybe 5'6" at most; he towered above her at 6'3". She was slim and delicate looking, her limbs long and thin. Her pale pink sundress emphasized her large, exotic green eyes, and flattered her peach complexion. Her golden brown hair glowed in the evening light, floating around her shoulders. Her pretty face looked back at him; a look of uncertainty lay on her features.

This was the girl who had haunted his dreams for the past five years. She looked different – older, taller, longer hair – but it was the same girl. In his dreams he was also younger, a boy king of another land. And this girl before him, Hitomi, was his mysterious companion, the girl from the Mystic Moon. But recently his dreams turned into nightmares – Hitomi leaving and then burning and the blackness.

"Van... Fanel...?" Hitomi's quiet whispered rocked him back into reality.

Van gaped, not believing what he had just heard. "No. It's Fanelli." Did she also know about Gaea? No, he thought as he looked at her face. She did not appear to be nearly as affected as he was by their introduction.

A rosy colour sat on her cheeks. "I apologize. I must have misheard."

"Van here is Spanish and Italian, and speaks both too. A gorgeous boy, but he just won't run away with me!" Arisa interjected, breaking the intensity between Van and Hitomi.

"Arisa, stop embarrassing me. You know I'm continually trying to steal you away from Jiro," Van smiled, relieved by the distraction. Hitomi was still staring at him though, with a look that shot right through him.

Arisa gave Van a bright smile. "What can I say?" she shrugged. "I love my man. Oh! Excuse me – I need to go say hello to some business associates." And with that, Van and Hitomi were alone.

After a short time, Van could not stand the silence any longer. And Hitomi's eyes were still boring into his soul. "Are you alright?" he asked.

Van watched in fascination as Hitomi rocked back and blinked, almost physically bringing her mind back from wherever it had wandered. She brought a hand up to her mouth in embarrassment. "I'm sorry. I... I was lost in a thought for a moment. I was thinking you seem very familiar."

He stiffened. "Do I?"

"I think I had a dream about you last night."

He couldn't believe it. Never in his twenty-four years had he felt so faint-headed. "Really?" he managed to rasp out, his throat dry.

"Yes. Sometimes I have prophetic dreams. My grandmother told me it was a gift. When I was younger I told fortunes, but I stopped when I was fifteen."

So she didn't remember him. She didn't share his dreams but she had her own. However Van knew that Hitomi was the girl from his dreams and Van didn't know what to do about it. All he knew was that he had loved this girl in some lifetime and he had lost her. Something told him he'd be a fool to do it again.


Hitomi tried not to ogle at the man in front of her. He was gorgeous, as her aunt had said. His voice was low and smooth, his body language casual and inviting. But it was his eyes that held her, those dark, intense (smoldering, the romantic inside her added) eyes that were both seductive and familiar. The instant attraction she felt for him was fierce and frightening, and she didn't know what to do with it.

Hitomi didn't consider herself shy, but she was not flirtatious, and she was feeling awkward. She desperately wished for something witty to say, especially after randomly blurting out that she had dreamt about him. This man in front of her would not stay there if she continued to stand there like a tongue-tied idiot. She was sublimely surprised when Van gently took hold of her arm in his large, warm, tanned hand and pulled her empty glass from her fingers.

"Let me refill this for you, and we can talk some more," he said, and turned to walk to a serving table.

Hitomi felt a rush through her body and felt her knees go weak. When Van returned, he cupped her elbow and gently led her to two empty seats away from the crowd. The flushed Hitomi was only too happy to comply.


Van wasn't sure when he took one of her hands in his, but he marveled at the softness of her skin, as he rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. She was speaking animatedly about her studies – how everyone thought she would continue running but how she instead chose to go into public relations. He listened with only half an ear though. He had to find a way to keep close to her. He silently congratulated himself on his stealthy maneuver to get her alone, but it wouldn't nearly be enough. But he also didn't want to scare her. Not only could he not tell why he wanted – no, needed – to be with her, but she was only twenty, staying in a new country.

Hitomi shifted in her seat, moving her hand in his slightly. Reflexively, he held it tighter, causing her cheeks to redden. Unsure of himself, Van loosened his grip. Maybe he was making her uncomfortable. He stilled and smiled broadly as she subtly but surely squeezed his hand with her own. Her entire face was red and her eyes were glued on the ground. With other women, innocence annoyed him, but Hitomi's was just endearing.

"What are you doing this summer?" he asked, desperate to know when he could see her.

Hitomi's forehead puckered as she tried to remember. "I'm working Mondays through Thursday at Arisa's studio for most of the summer. Besides that, I guess I'll just be exploring."

It was then that Van realized that the party has basically come to an end, and he and Hitomi were sitting alone in the backyard, with the only light coming from the lanterns, which cast dancing shadows around them. Standing up, he helped Hitomi up as well, and with her hand still in his, he escorted her to the porch.

"I guess I should be off. I live right next door if you ever want a tour guide, okay? I hope to see you again soon," he said, his melodious voice carrying in the night.

Hitomi just nodded and turned to go inside. Van frowned at her back, then left the backyard, missing Hitomi stop before she opened the door, holding a palm over her chest, as if trying to still her wildly beating heart.


Hitomi sat in bed, watching the moon through her open window, the drapes billowing softy with the late night breeze. Her aunt and uncle had gone to bed hours ago and the only sound was the clock on the wall, ticking away the seconds. She rested her back against the wall and pulled her sheet around her crossed legs. She was still exhausted from her journey but she couldn't sleep.

Van.

She couldn't stop thinking about him. It wasn't just his looks, which Hitomi could not help but admit were very nice, or the way he had moved his thumb over her hand, or the way he stared at her. It was that sense of familiarity she felt with him. She had a nagging feeling that she couldn't just chalk it up to that dream she had the night before. But there was no way she could have met him before, since this was her first time leaving Japan.

Hugging her legs and resting her chin on her bent knees, Hitomi sighed before shooting straight up with a strangled breath. Could it be that Van was the one she was looking for?

In the house next door, Van also could not get to sleep. He knew that seeing her beautiful green eyes in a dream could not compare to the real thing. He couldn't help but wonder what brought her to him. Was it just coincidence or was it something more? Van needed to believe it was fate that they met on this world, just like they had met on the other.

Van walked up his narrow staircase, his sweats riding low on his hips and scratched his bare chest as he wandered into his bedroom. He walked to his desk and unlocking the drawer, he pulled out a lacquered box. Inside was a notebook, filled with what he remembered from his dreams of Gaea; five years worth of memories of another lifetime. He thought that keeping a journal would help cleanse his mind, but night after night it was the same. He flipped through the book disenchanted, before tossing it on the desk. Reaching back into the box, Van rooted around until he felt what he was searching for. Walking to his window, he watched the moon illuminate the rose-coloured pendant that lay in his hand.


Lots of fluff and no plot – just how life should be.

This is dedicated to jaioublie who not only replied but did it twice! I did go back and fixed that typo (I'm a little anal retentive that way).

Sorry for any spelling mistakes or grammatical errors. I don't use an editor and I'm not too good at editing on the computer.

As a clarification, this story hasn't been sitting on my computer waiting to be finished for three and a half years. It first went up in the spring of 2001, I believe. Then I put up an edited version in the winter of 2001/2002. I fiddled with it again in early 2003 before removing it. Since it was my first chaptered fic, it's rather dear to me, so I wanted to have it done for good.