WARNING – LEMON

If you don't want to read the lemon when it starts just skip down to the next part that starts after the ((((((((((((((((((((o)))))))))))))))))))). Again, I have put out a rating please follow and I hope you enjoy!

Chapter 11: Relived Nightmares

The sun had just started to sink in the sky when the Crusader landed outside of Fanelia's gates. Van and Allen made the short trip to the palace. The city seemed locked up tight as they moved through the streets.

"This is very strange." said Van. Allen nodded a reply as they continued forward. Entering the palace, Van was flooded with questions from his counselors, but he batted them away saying he was too tired for their worries. Allen looked over at his friend, but stayed silent until they were out of hearing range of the old men.

"Van you really should have told them what had happened."

Van shook his head. "I want to see Hitomi right now and make sure that Ilya is alright. Besides I want to tell Millerna and Dryden first about what is going on."

They had almost reached the main royal chambers when Hitomi came running around the corner. "Van! Your back!" Hitomi rushed up to him as Van pulled her in for a tight hug.

"Hitomi, I missed you." Van kissed the side of her cheek. Hitomi grabbed Van's hand and lead the two to Van's sitting room. Millerna and Dryden were looking over some of the scrolls on the formation of Astoria while Merle and Ilya sat on the couch playing a hand game.

Dryden looked up from his reading. "So what is the news."

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Amano, Yukari, and Professor Tomoe Hideki all sat around a large table where pieces of a stone slab lay in what seemed the proper order. The sun had long set and the lamp above the table was lit. Books were strewn around the slab as well as a pot of coffee and mugs. None of them felt tired, even after poring over the transcription books for hours.

"So you say that you got this broken stone slab from a friend you meet at Stonehenge. What is this person's name?" asked Amano.

Professor Tomoe scratched his head. "Come to think of it. I don't know."

"Is there a name on the packages?" Yukari started to turn the empty boxes over.

"Nope. The only way that I knew what was inside was the seal on the attached letter." Professor Tomoe emptied out his pockets. He pulled out a yellowed envelope with a black wax seal with the picture of a key.

"She called herself 'A Guardian of the Key'. I just went along with what she said. Come to think of it, I have a picture of her that I took when we first meet."

Looking in drawers in a cabinet and shuffling through a large amount of pictures, Professor Tomoe found the picture he was looking for. He put it under the light for Amano and Yukari to see. The lady stood underneath one of the pillar doorways leaning up against it. Her white blonde fell below her short jean shorts and the baby pink tank top gave a hint of color to her lightly tanned skin. Her green eyes seemed to pull you forward.

"She's beautiful." breathed Amano, which swiftly gave him an elbow in the ribs.

"So how did you meet her?" Yukari sat down on one of the stools and picked up the pot of coffee to pour herself some more expecting a very late night.

"Well, it so happens that I was on my sabbatical this past fall semester and decided that I should make a trip to Stonehenge. It was on a particular misty day out when I went up to investigate the site. Come to think of it, I believe I was the only one there that day. I had walked up to the site with my camera and seen her standing there. The very sight of her compelled me to take a picture." Professor Tomoe gave a sigh.

"Alas, she would be much too young for me. She had started asking me questions soon after I had taken that picture. Who I was, what I did for a living, and others like that. I asked her about herself and all she said was that 'I have a strange purpose, I am 'A Guardian of the Key'.' I had thought her a little insane at that point, but what happened next surprised even me." Yukari filled the professor's cup and urged him to continue.

With a grateful nod Professor Tomoe went on. "She created a small blue light in the palm of her hand and asked me to touch it. Oddly unafraid I did and found myself in a long stone hallway. As we walked down there were ancient pictures that, come to think of it, should have taken pictures of. I had looked behind me at one point to see a much larger room, but the lady directed my attention down a hidden door behind a statue. She told me that she trusted me with her secret and showed me this stone tablet. She said that it had been broken long ago and duty of being a guardian suddenly becoming more time pressing. I agreed to take a look at it and see if I could figure out the scrip."

"Did she tell you what this was for?" asked Yukari.

Professor Tomoe shook his head. "She kept her motives very vague, but she did tell me that many lives depended on the text of this tablet to be figured out. So here it is and we still can't seem to crack the code. Though it would be nice to have another brain or two to help pick at this riddle."

"Could we professor?" Yukari clasped her hands together waiting to beg if he said no.

Professor Tomoe chuckled, "Of course! Why don't we get you two some train passes and meal tickets so we can really work hard on figuring this mystery out fast. I have a feeling that we need to do this soon."

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After Millerna and Dryden had been through all of the details everyone felt the emotional exhaustion. Most of the fatigue had come from convincing Allen that it would do him no good to gallivant around the continent to maybe stumble across a clue as to where his sister had been taken. Merle had decides to take Ilya to her room tonight because she didn't want to be alone in her own room which left Van walking Hitomi back to her own.

"I'm surprised that Merle was able to convince Ilya to detach herself from your leg." Hitomi giggled remembering Ilya latch onto Van's leg and began nodding off.

"Well, Merle had a bit of convincing on my part." Hitomi looked behind her shoulder at Van as she walked into her room.

"What did you tell Merle, or should I say what did you promise Merle."

Van tried to hold a straight face, but the corners of his mouth kept twisting up. "I just wanted a little bit of alone time." suddenly Van's face went serious, "I was really worried about you today while I was walking around Fort Castelo. All I could think about was the last time that you had been kidnapped and I wanted to hurry back to you."

Hitomi went over to Van after he closed the door and put her arms around his neck. "I'm not going anywhere."

Van rested his forehead against hers and closed his eyes. "I love you, Hitomi."

"I love you too." she whispered back. Hitomi slowly bent her head upward as Van moved his lips closer to her's. Van let his hands run up and down Hitomi's back sending sparks through her body. Pulling him closed, Hitomi wanted to feel as close to Van as she could. Breaking the heated kiss only momentarily to catch their breaths Van moved Hitomi over to the bed and lowered her down. Van felt the ties that held the back of her dress and slowly began to undue them. Somewhere in Hitomi's mind she had registered what he was doing, but she had waited so long to feel this way that it didn't matter how things ended up. Feeling her dress falling off her shoulders, Hitomi thought it unfair to be left half naked alone so her hands made fast work of taking off Van's shirt. Breaking their kiss, Van took a moment to survey his handy work. Hitomi lay beneath him, her green eyes shining and her golden hair splayed around her head. Her lips were swollen red from the long connection as her only remaining undergarments left his mind to only hope what was underneath. Hitomi let her hands roam across Van's chiseled chest. She remembered the nights in her own bed wishing she could be this close and here it was.

Slowly Van untied her undergarments kissing down her neck and continued downward as new flesh was exposed. Hitomi's skin felt every burning kiss and when his lips touched her breasts she thought her world was sent on fire. A deep moan from Hitomi urged Van to continue his ministrations on one breast while his other hand came up to gently need the other. Hitomi felt a tingling sensation begin to grow in the pit of her stomach and as Van continued the better she felt.

Wanting Van to feel as much pleasure as she was having, Hitomi let her hand find a very hard bulge. Feeling her gentle hand caress him through his pants made Van give a low moan of his own. Releasing her slightly he let Hitomi explore more of him enjoying her soft skin as it passed over his own. Unable to contain himself, Van let his fingers roam further downward along her inner thigh. He felt Hitomi shiver but it didn't stop him from trying out this new spot. Moving closer to her core, Van let his fingers slide down feeling how wet she was. The sensations from Van's hands left Hitomi speechless as the feeling inside grew to a burning flame. Leaving Van's hardened erection she let him continue to explore.

Looking up at Hitomi, Van saw her face in ecstasy as he continued to rub her. Slowly he let a finger slide into her feeling the hotness of her body wash over him. Hitomi felt as if she would fall from the pleasure wave that had passed through her body. Van gingerly began pumping his finger in and out at first then gradually picking up speed.

The sensation began to build until it seemed to engulf her throwning pleasure through her body.

Hitomi shivered from pleasure as Van moved himself around her and pulled her into his embrace. His warm body and the steady rhythm of his breathing lulled her sleep.

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Lady Serra paced around her war room. The Dragon Slayers had been sent out and now she waited for their return. Earlier that morning she had received a word of warning from Astoria that Fort Castelo had been attacked, Lady Serra smiled. The door from the barracks opened and Chesta entered the room kneeling in front of Lady Serra.

"I'm glad that you were able to pry away from the fun, but I have another job for you."

"Yes, my Lady."

"At the ball I meet the soon to be Queen of Fanelia. I want you to find out all you can about her, but make the journey quick."

"Yes, may Lady." Chesta stood up, bowed low and left the room.

"Now Lady Hitomi, I will finally find out what secrets you may be keeping."

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Hitomi felt a strong arm around her waist when she moved around her covers. At first she didn't think anything of it, but the thought of it might being a person trying to kidnap her jolted her out of her sleep. Sitting up, Hitomi saw Van sleeping peacefully next to her with his arm draped over her stomach. Hitomi gently moved Van's arm to the side and slid out of bed. She grabbed her night robe and walked over to the open window. The sun had risen and caste a glow across the kingdom. She was admiring the view when a pair of hands encircled her waist.

"Good morning love." Van tilted his head to kiss her neck.

Hitomi blushed at the action. "Mmm, good morning."

"Do you like the view?" asked Van.

Hitomi turned around to face Van. She placed her hands on his bare chest. "Your kingdom is beautiful, how could I not love the view."

"Well," Van fiddled with pushing some of Hitomi's blonde hair out of the way, "I think this view is perfect for me." Hitomi was about to respond when the creaking of her door opening Hitomi decided it wouldn't be a good idea. Ilya poked her head around the door and seeing that Hitomi was looking at her, entered the room.

"Vabrin was wondering when you and Van were coming down for breakfast." Ilya scuffed her feet on the floor.

Van sighed, "Tell him we will be there momentarily." Ilya nodded and left the room.

"I guess that puts an end to this." Van tenderly kissed Hitomi's lips.

"Don't worry I think we will have plenty of time later." Hitomi smiled up at Van. Pushing him out of the room she promised to meet him in the kitchen after she changed.

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Watching the flames of the small village burn the houses down to mere embers, Dilandau felt energized to see the chaos that the Dragon Slayers had created. After what seemed an unending battle, seeing the results of the scare started old feelings that had been dormant for a while. Though the never ending battle with Escaflowne still haunted his dreams. He had wanted to go and kill the King of Fanelia, but Lady Serra had made it extremely clear that he was to follow orders. Rubbing a sore spot of the back of his head Dilandau hid the gesture of weakness by straightening his face mask.

"Escaflowne, know that I vow to kill you once and for all."

That's it for now, there will be more close calls and more action coming up. Granted I stay inspired to write! Sorry, but I didn't know a lemon would be that hard to write! Send your comments my way!

-EmpKaylenatye