Disclaimer: Tenkuu no Escaflowne is property of Bandai and Sunrise, all rights reserved. I am in no way affiliated with these companies, and am not making a profit by writing this novel. Any similarities between my work and that of any other fan-author is purely coincidental. "I Can't Make You Love Me" song lyrics are property of Bonnie Raitt, all rights reserved.
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"Broken" - Chapter 6: Flight of the Asturian Gossip Mill
By The Last Princess of Hyrule
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"I'll close my eyes,
Then I won't see,
The love you don't feel,
When you're holding me,
Morning will come,
And I'll do what's right,
Just give me till then,
To give up this fight . . ."
-Bonnie Raitt, "I Can't Make You Love Me"
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Gray clouds gathered overhead later that afternoon as Hitomi and Folken had left the wharf and walked through the gardens instead. The trees were slowly turning colors in preparation for the coming winter, their hues vibrant even in the dimming light. Red, orange, and golden leaves still clung determinedly to the branches, while other, less willful leaves, lay dying in piles at the trunks. They gave off a pleasant, not quite musty, but dry smell, one that was characteristically autumn.
"This place is so fascinating," said Hitomi as she looked around, waving one hand around her. "Every time I think I've figured out everything about it, something surprising always happens."
"What makes the changing seasons so interesting?" Folken asked. "The Mystic Moon goes through more than one season, doesn't it?"
"You know, I used to wonder that about Gaea, too." She laughed. "The summer is just so long, you'd think it was never going to end. That's pretty stupid, thoughthinking it wouldn't have winter just because it's a different planet." She looked up at Folken expecting comment, and found him just looking down at her with a small smile.
"What?" she asked. "I didn't mean to go off like that."
He shook his head. "I was just thinking about how beautiful you are."
Hitomi laughed again on self-conscious reflex. "What?"
Folken's smile widened. "Just like that."
"You don't mean that," she insisted, blushing a little.
"Of course I do. I don't mean that you look beautiful, but that you are beautiful. Any person can make themselves look beautiful, but they will always be ugly beneath the makeup. Inside, in your heart, where it matters most, you will always be radiant."
Hitomi's blush turned a bright red, and she shoved him playfully. "Stop it. You're embarrassing me." She looked around, searching for an out before her face too much resembled a cherry, and spotted it under a broad elm tree shedding the last of its leaves.
She darted off the path, wading through the leaves until she reached the trunk. Pressing one hand against it to keep her steady, she leaned back and gazed up through the layers of bare branches. They seemed to spread out from the trunk like a thousand dark wires spiraling up toward the cloudy sky.
"Wow, look at this! It's so cool," she said in awe. "I think I've seen a photograph of something like this before."
A gust of wind brushed past, ruffling her skirt and hair. "It's like a ladder, or something," she went on. "Like you could reach up and climb into heaven. Wouldn't that be something?" A drop of rain struck her nose. "You just have to make sure you pick a day when there isn't stuff falling down out of the sky on"
At that moment, a pile of dry leaves appeared in the sky above Hitomi's face, and dropped onto her head. She shrieked and stumbled away from the tree, brushing at her hair. Deep laughter erupted behind her, and Hitomi whirled around to see Folken tryingand failing miserablyto hold in his amusement at the scene. She put her hands on her hips indignantly.
"Yeah, I suppose there are a lot of leaves around here, aren't there?" she asked sarcastically. "We really should do something with them." She grabbed a handful of leaves, and before Folken could react, reached up and tossed them in his hair. "What do you think?"
He was laughing too hard to dodge Hitomi's second attack, but as she was gathering a third, he retaliated with his own.
"Wonderful idea. We can make an even bigger mess," said Folken, but he didn't seem to care.
Hitomi shot him a menacing glare as another rain of crumpled leaf bits tumbled over her head. "What's that supposed to mean? Who's the one making all the trouble?"
Hitomi heaved her handful at him, and the wind picked up behind her at just the right moment to blow the scattered leaves into his face. She giggled, letting loose another cluster of dusty leaves, but instead of waiting for them to hit him this time, Folken lunged forward and grabbed her. Holding the collar of her shirt so she couldn't escape, he rubbed a handful of matching leaves into her golden brown hair.
"I would say you are," Folken said slightly out of breath, finally answering her question. He was still smiling, and as he loosed his hold on her collar, their lips met.
She wrapped her arms around his neck and sank to the ground, pulling him with her. He pushed her down into the soft bed of leaves that blanketed the grass around the elm, and they paused for breath. Her heart was pounding, and she had no doubt that he could hear it. Hitomi kissed him again, more passionately this time, pulling him closer. Folken almost seemed hesitant, but didn't break away.
That is, until a voice called their names.
Hitomi opened her eyes, and her stomach wound itself into a great, nervous knot when she saw Millerna and Van standing out on the path. Reality returned with a sickening jolt.
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Merle ran down the palace halls as if possessed by a demon enraged. She had just the juiciest little tidbit of gossip, and absolutely no one to tell it to. If she didn't tell someone about it soon, she was going to burst. So distracted by this thought, Merle scampered around a corner and crashed headlong into Celena, knocking her off her feet.
"Oww . . ." the delicate blonde moaned as she sat up. She opened her eyes and gave Merle and indignant but teasing look. "Try to watch where you're running, Merle."
Merle nodded hurriedly. "Yeah, sorry." She got up, and was just about to hurry off again when she realized that Celena probably wasn't all too exposed to the Asturian gossip mill. She spun around and crouched next to Celena again. "Ooooh, Celena, you're never going to guess what Lord Van just told me!"
In her anticipation, Merle failed to notice the look of impatience that crossed her face as Celena rolled her eyes, then shook her head and asked politely, "What did he say?"
"Lord Van and Princess Millerna were out in the gardens, and they found Hitomi and Folken there," the cat-girl said excitedly.
"Yeah, so?" asked Celena blankly.
Figuring Celena hadn't picked up on her subtle implications, Merle decided to be more blunt. "Kissing."
Celena looked just as interested as ever.
A crestfallen expression clouded Merle's grinning visage. "They're a couple . . ." she prompted, expecting a response. She raised an eyebrow and stared at Celena skeptically. "Are you getting where I'm going with this?"
Suddenly, Celena smiled.
About time the light went on, Merle thought. This girl's actually weirder than Hitomi.
"Oh, I already knew that," Celena explained. "Hitomi and Folken being a couple."
It was Merle's turn to look confused.
"I was with them two months ago after the fall of the empire," the young woman continued. "Hitomi found me in the wreckage of the capitol, and I stayed with them for a week or so before I decided to come back here." She giggled. "It was pretty obvious that they were in love, even though I don't think either of them actually admitted it until after I was gone."
"Uh huh . . ." said Merle slowly, in a voice that meant she was listening, but really didn't care. "Well, I guess I'll see you later." She leapt up and scampered off down the hall again at full speed, still eager to find someone that didn't know about her little secret that was turning out to be not much of a secret after all.
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Celena got to her feet and brushed herself off as Merle dashed away. She could tell her actions had definitely disturbed the little cat-girl, but this didn't come as much of a surprise. Her idiosyncrasies tended to have that effect on people.
/./My gods, could she be any more oblivious/./ There was a self-satisfied smirk to Dilandau's words.
/You tell me./
/./I thought that was old news. Millerna told everybody after the letter././
/Yeah./
/./Noncommittal today, are we/./ Dilandau asked, his interest piqued.
/I'm just worried./
/./About the knight/./
/Of course. Things just keep getting worse out there./
There had been a brawl in the streets near the palace that afternoon between some of the palace guards, and a few rebellious citizens who were well-known to cause trouble. A few members of the Knights Caeli-Allen among them-had been sent to calm it down. Even though the fight was nothing compared to the real battles the Knights faced, Celena still worried that her brother would be hurt. It was only natural.
Dilandau snorted. /./Heh, it's sad to see the great "Heavenly Knight" reduced to stopping regular old domestic disturbances. How very unimpressive././
/Oh, stop it./
/./Come on, Celena. You know nothing's going to happen././ Dilandau assured her. /./Besides, if someone does knock him off, there'll be no one to force you to learn all those stupid etiquette lessons././ He made a gagging sound.
Celena giggled, feeling a little more lighthearted. /That's true. But I still pray he's all right./
/./Unfortunately, the knight's hard to kill. Believe me, I've tried././ Dilandau suddenly remembered something. /./Hey, isn't Millerna expecting you in the banquet hall/./
His words suddenly reminded Celena of her purpose for wandering around the palace halls. /Oh, no! I'm supposed to help her set up for the celebration tonight/ Her fears for Allen's safety temporarily were temporarily set aside by thoughts of flower arrangements and hanging decorations. Celena dashed off in the opposite direction Merle had taken toward the Great Hall.
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TO BE CONTINUED . . .
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