Chapter three is the chapter that has the most changes, which was the whole reason why I had spotted for so long. I just didn't like how it had been done. A reviewer pointed out something that made me think for a minute and question myself. They why they were interacting with each other had annoyed me later. Perhaps I'm still not satisfied with his one either, but it will do for now I hope you like the changes, enjoy your reading!

Thank You

Ryuu Angel- blush thanks for all your sweet comments! I'm always on cloud nine when I read them;; THANK YOU! hugs you hehe, yup, Hitomi's a big girl and can take care of herself;; Yeah, this fic also has it's sense of humor! I love humor, so yeah laughter is the best medicine :p (apart from chocolate..ummm….) oh! Sorry for the cliffy u.u;; I hope this makes up! shows chapter 3 ;; lol, there are gonna be other esca characters up! Don't worry! Haha, and no-ones gonna mess Van and Hitomi up…or maybe they will…evil grin wait and find out! thanks again for reviewing! Don't stop, I love it! grins like an idiot and I hope you like this chapter!

dillpops-haha, but Van didn't know it was Hitomi! And if a woman were advancing on a bunch of guys what would you think? Thanks for reviewing!

Paige Moonsword-yup, they have met;; thanxs for the review!

Van no Futomara- don't take Van calling Hitomi a whore too personally;; he didn't know, otherwise he would have scooped her in his arms and kissed her senseless! dreamy look anyway, why could Folken 'hire' Van? Well, one thing Van is Folken's brother, so it's easier for him to gave his way :p the other is that they kinda work together, it's in their interest that they catch emerald, so someone has to get close to whoever knows emerald, and who could be better than our sexy Van? Lol! Thanks and I hope you like this new chapter!

SabineballZ- blush wow! so many questions! Oo;; sorry, but they will have to be answered when time comes XD and don't be such a mind reader! Honestly! ;; yeah, Allen bashing WILL come, lol! Thanxs so much for reviewing! I hope you like this chapter too!

ria fanel-sorry, I haven't seen Lupin, and I didn't know it was a detective/robber anime;; I only know a few animes! Sorry, if I had access, I would watch it too! Yeah, Van is so fine!thanks for the review!

Chitiko- Van and Hitomi were sweethearts in high school, it says in the summary;; and Hitomi can sure kick some ass! LOL, thanks for reviewing and I hope you like this new chapter!

Thanks once again for those who have reviewed, I love them all! And I hope you all enjoy

this chapter, it's got some fluff! happy reading!

Stealing Hearts

Chapter three-Souls Reunited

It was late at night in the city, most of the lights off and an eerie quietness settled. The wind rattled against the trees, hit the windows and flew madly through the sky. It was unbelievably dark, the lack of the glow from the moon leaving a hollowness in its place. Somewhere in the city stood Van, staring disbelievingly at the person in front of him.

It was with some difficulty that Van resisted the urge to touch her. He couldn't help himself; he hadn't seen her in five years. It was odd, Van noted as he studied her face, he had visioned their reunion so many times; had planned what he would say, knew when to grab her in his arms and kiss her passionately, and then quickly flung away from her and say goodbye forever. But he couldn't remember for the life of him what he was supposed to do, looking at her beautiful eyes made him dizzy in the head. He wanted to laugh. Of all situations, they see each other like this. The irony of it had not gone unnoticed by him.

He opened his mouth, but closed it quickly, not certain what he would say to her. His eyes roamed her face, noticing every detail and trying to see the difference after so many years. Her bright emerald eyes stared at him, her full lips parted, and her light brown hair tousled by the commotion. For a moment he stood mesmerized by she breathed heavily under his gaze, as if possessed and unable to look away. He licked his lips.

Hitomi rubbed her lips together and looked at Van with a strange sensation inside her stomach. She opened her mouth, but closed it, just like Van had done moments ago, not knowing what to say. She nervously fiddled with her hair, combing her fingers through her soft curls, and looked away, oblivious of the way he looked at her. She let her hand fall to the side, strained her eyes at her shoes, not daring to see the smoldering look in his eyes. Hitomi breathed in suddenly, and slowly, she turned her gaze once more to Van.

Van cleared his throat, thinking through what he would say, what he should say. His throat felt dry, his lungs felt tight, the sensation driving him mad and he swallowed. His dry lips cracked opened, the word automatically forming and saying so quietly that he was sure she hadn't heard him, "Hitomi."

Everything happened so fast that he almost didn't see it. Instantly the look in Hitomi´s face hardened, and she swiftly jumped to the side, and throwing herself on the ground like he had seen her do before. She stuck her leg out and swung it half a circle, almost like it was a dance, and met the legs of a startled teenager. With a yelp, the boy fell back on the ground, quickly moaning and shutting his eyes in pain. Hitomi grumbled and stood in front of the teenager, placed one of her foot and pressed lightly, "I had warned you to stay where you were."

The boy cracked an eye open and his lip trembled and said in a croaked voice, "Y-you bitch."

Hitomi's eyes gleamed and she quickly dragged the boy up, slamming his back against the wall and hissing in his ear, "I said I don't like you calling me that. Don't say I didn't warn you." And Hitomi knocked his head, not enough to injure him, but enough to knock him out cold for a few hours. Hitomi looked at the unmoving boy with a glare on her face, her hands at her hips looking as if scolding a child.

Van blinked several times, trying to register the scene in his head. He straightened his back and felt the nervousness build. It was quiet frightening to see a woman the size of Hitomi handle five strong boys on her own with so much ease. With a small voice, he said, "Hitomi."

She turned her head and quickly let her glare drop, replacing with a small smile. Van stood still looking at her, forgetting what he had once again planned to say. He moved forward and opened his mouth, saying in a short breath, "How have you been?"

Hitomi smiled almost shyly, and approached Van slowly, her eyes moving over his body. She bit her lip and ran to him, stopped in front of him very closely, enough that the smell of her shampoo filled his nostrils and made his head swirl. She half closed her eyes and had a sad look in them, her lashes trying to hide the feeling, "Van."

Van suck in a breath by the rasping tone of her voice. He felt her cool hand touch his cheek, and pressed slightly against her touch, remembering the feel of it from before. Hitomi stroked his cheek softly, a tenderness that didn't suit a woman that had just beaten five young man alone. His eyed searched her, feeling the swell of her hips under one of his hands, "It's really you." He whispered softly, raising his hand and touching her cheek as well.

Hitomi shut her eyes tightly and opened them again, tears swirling in her eyes, "Yes." She bit back a cry and threw her arms around him, lacing her arms around his neck and snuggling her face on the crook of his neck, "Yes, it's me, Van."

All thoughts of hateful words vanished from his head, and Van stood for a moment not knowing what to do, something that seemed common as of late. He swallowed again, and encircled his arms around her, bringing her closer and almost moaning at her familiar warmth against his. He touched his chin against her head, catching a whiff of her peach-like smell and rubbing her back soothingly.

Hitomi sniffled and closed her eyes, wishing just for a second she could forget everything and they could stay there forever. But unfortunately, everything had an end. Sound reached their ears and they moved away, the lack of warmth causing them to shiver. The sound was familiar, a serine wailed from the not so far away, the annoying sound nearing. They both knew what it meant.

"It seems that the police is coming, " said Van with some regret.

Hitomi straightened her coat and tried to compose herself as best as she could with her heart beating wildly, "Yeah, it seems so."

Van cast a furtive glance at her, admiring how beautiful she had become. Not that she hadn't been beautiful five years ago, but it had a certain maturity she had lacked in her younger years. Sadly, Van didn't have much time admire her beauty, because the light from the police car flashed inside the street, and soon an all to familiar voice said shutting the door.

"Van!"

The young man gave a heavy sigh, knowing exactly who was walking down the street. His glanced towards Hitomi, noticing her brows knit together in thought. She caught his gaze, and smiled.

A tall shadow loomed at the wall across from them, swaying from side to side and shrinking as the person neared. It felt like an eternity after hearing the heavy clicking against the pavement when a figure appeared from the darkness.

There, at the entrance of the alley, stood a very flustered Folken, breathing very heavily. His eyes roamed the street, and his eyes caught site of the boys lying on the ground. His eyes shifted to his brother's face, a surprised look in his features. He quickly ran up to Van and gave a slap on his back, "Damn, Van! That must have been so sweet, good job, man!" He laughed and didn't even notice there was someone else beside his younger brother.

Van looked embarrassed and looked sheepishly at his brother. Folken's grin faded said seriously, "I ran as soon as could when I got your message. But dang! Why did you call me when you handled those mother fuckers so well? I had to leave my wife to save your sorry ass! Geez Van, just by the way you spanked them seems enough punishment." Folken glanced a wary look once again at the boys, and whistled impressed.

Van secretly shook his head, his brother had a decency to cuss, especially when he was angry, much like now, noted Van with little enthusiasm. Van coughed and opened his mouth, "It wasn't me who did that."

Folken's face bared a disbelieving look, and suddenly noticed a feminine figure beside his brother. He cleared his throat and felt slightly embarrassed by his vulgar language. " I'm sorry, I hadn't noticed there was anyone else, miss."

Hitomi glanced at Van but quickly shifted her gaze back to Folken, "It's okay."

Folken studied the woman with little interest, but very curious why his brother would very often glance her way, a look in his eyes that he hadn't seen in a very long time. The voice seemed vaguely familiar, but Folken quickly shook it off and noticed with amusement how their hands were linked. He looked back to his brother and wiggled his eyebrows knowingly, slapping his brother on the back so forcefully that almost made Van fall on his face, "You sly dog! Why hadn't you told me you were smitten with some sexy girl? I had no idea you were seeing someone."

Van rubbed his tender back and looked nervously towards Hitomi. He cleared his throat and looked at his brother, "No, I'm not seeing anyone at the moment."

Folken looked puzzled and his gaze shifted from Van and to the face of the woman that was still partly hidden from the darkness.

Hitomi took a heavy breath, dreading her next words, "It's good to see you again, Folken."

Folken jumped back, the look on his face as if he had been struck, his eyes very wide and dubious. He gasped slightly in surprise when the woman left the shadows, and a familiar face appeared that he knew all too well. His jaw clenched and his eyes hardened, and said almost spitting, "Hitomi."

Hitomi scooted closer to Van and held his arm. No matter how old she was, she had always been scared of Folken when he got mad. He was a very nice man, but when he was angry…well, let's just say that it was advised never to do anything to displease him. Van caught her hand and intertwined his fingers with hers, giving it a small squeeze, reassuring her. The action seemed to only fuel Folken's anger and his eyes had a scorching look in them. Folken sneered and narrowed his eyes at his brother, saying in a hiss, "What the hell is she doing here?"

Van shook his head, sighing softly under his breath and meeting his brother's glare hotly, "Folken, that's the reason why I had called you—no, don't give me that look—I had found Hitomi in a very dangerous situation," Van paused and looked at his brother seriously, the look in his face didn't waver, "She had been trapped by those thugs over there, "Motioned Van with his head towards the lying bodies. "And I had quickly called you."

A question sparked in Folken´s eyes and shifted to Hitomi´s grim expression. Van said quietly, "And well, it seemed that in the end she didn't need any protecting at all, she handled them all on her own."

Folken didn't seem nearly impressed by the revelation as Van had been. Folken looked at Hitomi an arched eyebrow, as if challenging her to prove him. He looked back at the boys and glanced back again to the young couple. Folken took out a communicator and said, "Dryden, what's taking you so long? Get your sorry ass here right now!" Folken looked with some satisfaction when the quick steps of his partner sounded until a tall figure of a longhaired man appeared. His hair was pulled back in a ponytail, taming his wavy brown locks away from his long narrow face. The man quickly rushed next to Folken and nudged his head to the side, a curious look in his dark green eyes, "What happened?"

"Attempted rape," Folken muttered irritated, glancing at Hitomi´s face if he had presumed correctly. She nodded.

Dryden had a perplexed expression, "Huh, you don't say." He scratched his head and gave a lopsided smile, baring a nice set of white teeth.

Someone moaned from the floor and moved, shifting the their attention to the group of boys. The boy groaned and leaned to the side, and rasped out with some difficulty, "Fuck."

"Stop right there," said Folken calmly, taking out his gun and aiming at the boy, "Do something funny and you wish you had never been born, boy."

The young man looked frightened and visibly gulped, shaking his head. Another two voices moaned.

Folken turned to Van and murmured, "It's all clear, you can go. I'll take it from here."

Dryden grinned and gave thumbs up, "Good work, Van!"

Folken rolled his eyes and taped his brother's back, ignoring the woman standing beside his brother, "You did good."

Van nodded and left, taking Hitomi by the hand and not looking back. The young couple walked side by side, silently enjoying to company of one another. Van sighed heavily and gave a happy laugh, his eyes shinning at Hitomi, "I'm glad we're out of there."

Hitomi chuckled and met his eyes, "Me too."

A silence settled between them as they continued walking together, not quite knowing where they were heading. Van glanced at the ground, watched as he moved up the road with Hitomi by his side, often speeding her pace to keep up with his. He thought over what had happened in the alley, not sure what he should think of the matter. It had happened too quickly, hardly aware what they had been doing. The hot friction that had consumed them in that intimate embrace was gone, vanished like she had from his life. Suddenly Van half turned on his heels and looked at Hitomi, the act so sudden that she nearly hit against him, "Where do you live?"

"What?" asked Hitomi slightly tense by the question.

"I mean, can I take you home?" Van said as he peered at her curiously, he just couldn't figure her out.

The air blew softly and wiped her hair in her face. With her delicate hands she pulled her hair back, and said in surprise, "Take me home?"

Van laughed, he couldn't help it, "Yeah, take you home. You know, the place where you live. I mean, you can say no if you want to."

Hitomi looked incredulously at him, "If you want to."

Van's lips twitching upwards, hardly resembling a smile,"Okay."

Hitomi grinned and said nothing. Words weren't needed; they never really had to. And so they continued on their walk, content just by walking with one another under the same moonless night.

Hope you enjoyed!

hitomi-chan

1/11/03 (new version-12/02/05)