Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or any of its characters.
The Strands of Love
Prologue
Produced by: Angelize
I swished my feet against the cold water of the open sea feeling nothing but the numbness that I recalled feeling a week ago. The hard and cold rock that I sat on only made me chillier than before, and it somehow scared me. I don't like this feeling…I never did, it reminded me of the bitterness a corpse would feel, deathly still, no warmth would he or she ever enjoy again, especially if it had lost its soul among others in a fight to conquer. They could have had so much… but it was inevitable, war was inevitable. If I had never entered that mysterious world, would there be a difference in everybody's actions and choices? Had I… made a difference? I do not regret, as I know everybody else hadn't… especially… him?
"Van," I unconsciously whispered as my thoughts were suddenly inundated with images of him. His unruly ebony hair wisped in my mind, and his deep ruby eyes sparkled with determination, while remaining impassive at the same time.
I could only smile and look back at the events that had happened just a year and a half ago, and if some knew, they may call it an adventure, but I consider it more. It had touched me so deeply and left me with memories and scars that both pained me and made me laugh. I long for them so much, would something like this ever touch me again? For the first time in my life, I had truly fallen in love, and you know what? I fell in love with a rash, and impatient man, stubborn and arrogant, though, underneath it all, there was a gentle, and kind-hearted being that was willing to love, and to be loved, although experiences from his past kept him from doing just that.
Maybe I shouldn't have left that strange world after all. After six months back on Earth, I have soon learned to regret.
-Flashback-
"Hitomi, tell us what happened? You can't hide what happened, we want to help you. If there is anybody involved, we'll help you. We have a right to know" My mom didn't give up, and I agreed. They had a right to know. They were the ones that had suffered the most from my absence. I have never seen my mother so thin, and so worn out. Her eyes were puffy the day I returned, and the darkness around her eyes still remained.
I sighed in exasperation.
"Like I said before, there is nobody else involved" I answered annoyed.
"Well, SOMETHING happened. Where were you these past couple of months?" My dad shot in trying to control his anger. Both of them persisted constantly, but I had kept silent on purpose. I truly did not wish to inform them of my 'adventure'. I was deathly afraid that they would not believe me and I know my story was not what they had expected.
"I…was…" My eyes flitted to the sandy carpet and I shook my head at them, pieces of my short hair prickling my face lightly, but I ignored it. "You…won't understand" I mumbled quietly.
"If you don't tell us, we won't understand. Hitomi" My mom walked up to me and grabbed my limp hand and held it between her own cool palms, tears threatening to spill down cheeks that were already scarred with pain and remorse. "…Please, free yourself from this torture. We can help. I promise"
"Mom…" I whispered lightly, my voice tight.
"Honey…" My dad warmly whispered to me.
They had pushed me too much; I was tired of rejecting them again and again, and it pained me to see them so unhappy. I knew they would have to know one day, and it just depended on when. Besides, I know they would believe every word I say, wouldn't they?
Soon, we got seated on the couch with my parents and brother facing me as I fought with my will to begin my story. They all stared at me expectantly smiling awkwardly, meaning to assure me, but I couldn't help but feel nervous.
"I…that day…" And from there, my tale of lost love and war began, and soon, words cascaded out of my mouth in sadness and satisfaction from being kept for so long. I told them of how I met … him… through that mystifying pillar of light. Escaflowne. Millerna. Merle. Allen. The Draconians. My visions. Van…. I laughed and cried at the same time, but in the end, I ended up in tears, my words diluted. Memories of everybody brimmed in my mind, and his voice burned a mark in me yet again, but I snapped out of my temporary trance when my mom called my name out timidly.
"Hitomi…" My mom's eyes were dark when I finished and I tried to search for an answer in them with my own, but she cast them on her hands in her lap instead. "When will you tell us?"
I stared at her, my face contorted in confusion. "What?" I choked, my tears coming to a standstill.
"You don't have to make up stories like that… we only want to know what had happened to you" I watched as a single tear dropped from my mom's eyes to her cold hands. I could sense the tension in the rigid air.
I looked from my mom to my dad with frozen eyes. Didn't they believe me? Everything was as it was and I shook my head to show them that I didn't understand.
My dad was the first to answer my restrained question. "Hitomi, I want to let you know, we love you. It's our fault that we couldn't protect you, but… we just want to help you. Why do you have to do this to us?" He gestured to my mom and brother whose eyes were directed to the carpet beneath their feet.
"I…" I was speechless. I looked at my dad in vain. He looked at me with hard eyes; unbelieving eyes. I looked at my mom in desperation, but she shook her head and stared in her lap. Finally, I looked to my brother, and saw his wide eyes, the fear, and the pain as he hid behind my mother. My … family did not believe me. They… thought I was… lying. I swallowed hard but I could not escape the turmoil inside my stomach, and no matter how I tried, I could not run away from this feeling.
"Hitomi!" My mother brought her head up and cried out my name, her tears streaming down her face, I could feel the hurt radiating from her small racking frame. "When will you tell us? You have nothing to fear" She wept, her river of tears never-ending and it hurt me to see her weep like this.
"I…you don't… believe me.." I breathed. I found myself shaking and I blinked to find something warm and wet on my pale face. I pulled my hand to my face, and I felt my cool fingers brush the surface of my tears. I was… crying again, but this time, it was in desperation, in … vain. I blinked a couple more times, feeling the familiar warmth caress me. "Everything I say… is true" I whispered.
Tears streamed down my cheeks as I ran awkwardly up to my room feeling the waves of nausea wash over me. I thought… they could understand…
-End of Flashback-
The light breeze filtered through my hair as if feeling my pain from my memories, but still, it could not relieve the experience. My parents believed I lied, and if not, they believed that I had mental problems and a week after my 'story', they had appointed me to see a psychiatrist daily, but still, I refused to go against what I had said. Then again, how could I? I could not deny people I've met, places I've been to, it seemed… wrong.
After strong resistance against all 'help' given to me, my parents had finally believed me to be insane. They enrolled, more like forced me into a hospital reserved for the mentally ill, of course, I resisted, but I could not turn back on the road I brought myself to. Every single day I spent in there was bland, and horrifying. When I walked through the halls, screams, and yells of resistance and fear irrupted all around me, and I became afraid… for my own sanity. The only thing keeping me sane was my friends, Yukari and Amano, who came to see me regularly, bringing personal items of mine with them like journals, pens, and my cd player. They believed me, because they had seen me float up with Van into the clear night sky on EscaFlowne on that particular night, although they tried to tell my parents that they were witnesses to this, it was useless.
I stayed at that horrid place for about six months before I told myself to move on with my life, and the only way to do that was to… deny it all…
-Flashback-
"Everything I saw before was only something I've seen in my dreams, it just… felt so real, that I mistook it as something real" I stated timidly to my visiting parents.
-End of Flashback-
…and to make things up.
-Flashback-
"The reason for my absence was… I was taken by kidnappers" I looked up with my urgent emerald eyes. I needed to get OUT of here.
"Where did they take you?" The doctor's monotone voice echoed across the empty white walls of the small room.
I pursed my lips before I began, I didn't want to miss a single detail. "I don't know, I was blindfolded the whole time"
"So… you didn't know where you were"
"No" I answered tersely. Why wasn't he buying it? He seemed to be considering whether to believe my story to be real, or something conjured up in the mind of a mental patient, but still, I remained calm despite the turmoil I felt in my stomach. I felt like I needed to throw up.
"So, did you notice anything about your surroundings?"
"The place I was kept in smelled bad, like sweat, and sometimes, I could hear mice running around" My fingers entwined together on top of the table, showing a sense of
"How did you know it was rats?" The doctor eyed me with suspicion in his beady eyes.
"I didn't know, I just assumed" My doctor just stared at me some more, and I suddenly felt fear. What if he didn't believe me? Does that mean I'm stuck here forever? I answered carefully. "I mean, what else could make a sound so gentle?"
"Alright, do you know why they kidnapped you?"
"…I'm not sure, I tried to ask them once, but they didn't tell me." I stared down at my folded hands.
"Did they hurt you in any way?"
"No" I replied strongly as memories of Van floated into my mind once out of fifty times a day, and my answer reflected my time there. "They… gave me food, and everything"
A sigh came from the doctor as he turned off the tape recorder and pulled out the tape. "I'll give this to the police, and we'll try to find these people."
After hearing this statement, I was overjoyed and filled with relief, and also a tint of guilt, but I kept my face solemn and unmoving as I muttered a "Thank you," and I was leaded out of the room. He believed me, I could leave and resume to my normal life again, but inside, I knew my life would never be the same again.
-End of Flashback-
Six months. I shivered slightly at the depressing thought of my past, what if… I had stayed with Van? I wouldn't be going through this… would I?
A/N: That was pretty long for a prologue for me, but yea, wasn't it sort of boring? Bear with me… for now, or until chapter one starts? Feedback and any suggestions will be greatly appreciated, especially critical ones that can help me improve my writing and give me new ideas to work with, haha. Please R R !