Sorry about the long wait! I didn't get home until the very beginning of September and have been very busy with homework. The story will most likely be updated more often from now on. There will probably be 2 to 4 more chapters. Anyways, special thanks to my fans, my friends and my editors! Thank you!
Chapter 3
The next morning Hitomi awoke to find that once again she had been rudely awakened. This time though, instead of Maid Marian being at the foot of the bed it was Milerna and Merle was right beside Hitomi, shaking her violently.
"Get up sleepy head! We have a big day ahead of us!" declared Merle as she continued to shake Hitomi.
"I'm awake! I'm awake! Could you quit yelling in my ear, you're making me deaf!" angrily blasted Hitomi as she sat up. "What time is it, I doubt the sun is even up yet," she complained as Merle raced to the window and drew the curtains to reveal the sunrise.
"We've got a full day of shopping ahead of us so we have to get an early start. I left you a dress for you to wear today. I wasn't sure exactly where you would want it so I just put it in the closet for you. Hurry up and see you in a moment," Milerna said in an eager voice as both she and Merle turned around to leave the room.
"Thanks," spoke Hitomi shortly before uttering grouchily, " Does anybody sleep around here?"
At that utterance, Merle turned and stared at Hitomi before retorting, "If everyone slept as much as you do, nothing would ever get done."
"You weren't supposed to hear that," countered Hitomi.
Pointing to her ears that began to twitch, Merle smirked slyly as she said, " I'm part cat, and my hearing is just as good as any cat. I hear a lot more than you'd expect." At that, she continued to walk out of the room.
Slowly Hitomi got up out of bed and got dressed in the dress Milerna had brought for her. The dress was a frilly blue dress with short sleeves that were very pretty. Quickly she put the dress on before leaving to meet up with her friends.
Watching quietly in a hidden place among the halls, the spy watched as the young girl they called Hitomi ran out of her room in pursuit of her two friends who had passed minutes before. He had been pleased to see that Captain Boren had been right when he said that the young king would bring the girl to the Gaean Peace celebration. That meant that he would not have to take the young girl by force to New Zaibach.
A slight smile appeared across the spy's face as Hitomi ran past him, oblivious of the fact that she was being watched. In mingling among the hired staff of the castle he had learned much of Hitomi. Rumour had it that the young girl had been able to see the past, future and the unseen. They also said that she was actually from that bewitched place called the mystic moon. Apparently the girl and the Fanelian King were one of the main causes that caused the fall of Zaibach. The story said that after the war had ended, Hitomi left King Van and went to the mystic moon even though she and the king had fallen in love.
He did not believe that most of the stories and the rumours were true. Surely the girl was strange but that did not mean that the girl was from the mystic moon. She was probably just from a very distant country or something. As the day wore on he began to believe the rumours less and less. He watched as the girl and her friends laughed gaily and blindly, ignorant of all the other things going on around them.
The more he saw, the less he believed. 'If she really did know the past, future and unknown wouldn't she have been able to sense that she was being watched? Wouldn't she know what was about to happen to her?' Puzzled the spy amidst his hiding place. The only part of the story that appeared to be true was the part that said that the young king and her were in love. She did not appear to be psychic or from the mystic moon and he could not imagine how a girl such as herself would even be able to imagine how to fall an empire. Now he almost felt sympathy for this girl. 'Poor girl doesn't have any idea about what's about to happen. She won't be smiling for too much longer," reflected the spy.
"Ei, Rin, how's the job been goin'?" said Ormond, a fellow spy. Startled, Rin jumped at that sound of Ormond's voice. Rin swore under his breath once he realized his mistake at making himself so vulnerable. Such a mistake could be very costly. He had been waiting for Hitomi and her friends to come out of a shop they had went into and had stopped paying attention to the people around him.
"The jobs goin' fine. Captain Boren was right, that little brat king is takin' the girl," roughly replied Rin as he returned his attention back to watching the shop.
"You're getting sloppy, leavn' urself so vulnerable like that. You're just lucky it was me sneakn' up on you and not nobody else," said Ormond. Ormond was an extremely large and stout man who despite his large size was one of the best sneaks ever born. He had long brown hair that was put into a ponytail and he had a round, fat face. The man was so talented that he himself could probably be in a play and act every single character successfully. He could impersonate almost anyone imaginable. Besides that he could persuade anyone into believing that the sky was actually brown instead of blue.
Rin replied with a grouchy look. "Why do Nola and Rygen want this girl? She seems ta' be totally harmless."
"Now's not a good time ta' be askin questions. I heard Nola nearly throttled Captain Boren fer suggestin' that there were already enough spies in Fanelia. Serves him right I s'pose, he's always been a little bit too obnoxious. Anyways word at New Zaibach is that they need this girl cuz she's got some amaz'n power that allows her to see the unseen and know the unknown and besides that she can influence fate. Creepy if ya' ask me. I wouldn't want no girl around like that if I was goin to take over Gaea. But even if that's a lie, she stills got real good connections with the King of Fanelia. I bets he'd be willin' to do anythin just to get 'er back, what an awful thing love is," stated Ormond as he too stared at the shop door with an evil grin on his face.
"There's no way this girl has those kinda powers. If she did she'd hafta have some kinda idea about what's about to happen and she seems to be totally oblivious of it. Though I'd be will'n ta bet that good ol' foolish king of hers' would pay a good lot for her," said Rin just as Hitomi, Merle and Milerna walked out of the shop, carrying a few more bags than they had before they went in. Ormond quietly slipped away and Rin was left alone once again.
The rest of the day turned out to be fairly quiet after that.
As Hitomi, Merle and Milerna and walked back to the castle it was dusk. All three of the girls were smiling and laughing. They had all obtained many new outfits from the days outing.
"Well I guess Fanelian clothing is just as prestigious as everyone says it is," Milerna said confidently.
"Fanelian fashion designers are the best," agreed Merle quickly.
"I know this is completely off topic but what exactly happens at the Gaean Peace Celebration anyway?" questioned Hitomi worriedly. As the day had worn on, she had realized that she had no real idea of what the celebration was exactly about.
"Oh it's really quite nice actually. Every year, on the very day that Zaibach fell, all the kings go to Asturia to celebrate the day when peace came to Gaea. There is a special ceremony involving all the kings where they all vow that another war like that will ever happen again. It commemorates all the brave soldiers that were killed in that war, and it honors all of the most recognized war heroes by having them give a speech to the masses of peasants opposing war and promoting peace. Many parties and celebrations happen on that day. After the main ceremony, there are many shows and demonstrations put on for the people to watch. In the evening they have fireworks and then after that there is a large ball put on in the castle for everyone's enjoyment. Of course the ball is mostly for nobility, the peasants have a separate celebration of their own," explained Milerna diligently.
"Oh wow… that sounds nice." At that moment Hitomi realized that she did not know any dances from Gaea. A pang of worry hit her. "Uh oh," gasped Hitomi.
"What now?" asked Merle impatiently.
"I just realized that I don't know any dances from Gaea, and we're leaving for Asturia tomorrow," complained Hitomi. Milerna looked back at Hitomi with a surprised look.
"Just get Van to teach you," said Merle happily as Hitomi began to blush.
"Merle are you coming to Asturia?" asked Hitomi hopefully.
"Nope, get Van to teach you" came Merle's reply. Hitomi was becoming more and more desperate by the minute.
"Hold it, I can teach you if you are willing to try and learn. It will take us all night though," warned Milerna. Readily, Hitomi agreed being as desperate as she was.
The lessons commenced soon after they returned to the castle and lasted way into the night. Milerna had a small orchestra come in and help them while they danced. Hitomi had not realized how many dances that she would have to learn. None of the dances were very hard but there were many different types of dances for each type of music. When Hitomi was finally able to go to sleep it was already the early hours of the morning.
"Get up! Get up!" Maid Marian said desperately. Hitomi had a hard time opening her eyes since she had only slept about two hours. "Time to go already?" asked Hitomi tiredly as she got up and began to get ready to leave. Her movements were almost zombie like as she walked out the door and through the castle to meet Van. When she reached the stable she found several knights standing around waiting. Merle was once again latched to Van's arm.
"You're late! Did you sleep well?" asked Merle slyly. Merle knew that Hitomi did not go to bed until very early in the morning because she had been at the session part of the time.
"Unnn…" was Hitomi's dull reply. Merle just smiled.
"So are we ready to go?" asked Van patiently as he looked directly at Hitomi. She nodded her reply and Van hoisted her up onto his horse. Doing her best, she tried not to blush as Van got onto the horse behind her. His arms touched hers as he held the reins of the horse.
"Good bye Lord Van! Have a safe journey!" yelled Merle as the group of knights; the king and Hitomi left the castle stables.
"Are we traveling by horse the entire way to Asturia?" asked Hitomi politely as Van gave a bit of a chuckle. Hitomi could feel Vans breath on the back of her neck and it was almost tickling her.
"No we're just riding to the harbor and then we're taking a Levi ship to Asturia. We're expecting the trip to take about three or four days. At any rate, we should be in Asturia in time for the celebration," replied Van in a respectful tone.
"I see, how long until we reach the harbor?" asked Hitomi in her same old tired tone.
"Just a few minutes now," he replied in a passive tone. They were now in a thicker part of the city and the people were just starting awaken to a days work. Merchants were just setting up shop and peasants were just starting to come out of their houses. The sun was just starting to come up over the horizon. Two nights ago, on the very day that Van had asked Hitomi to go to Asturia with him, Hitomi had made a decision. She was going to ask him, she was going to do it.
"I need to ask you a question," asked spoke Hitomi nervously in a broken voice. She was nervous and afraid of the answer he would give to the question that she was about to ask. Hitomi heard Van take a deep breath right before he spoke.
"Go ahead," he replied with a passive voice.
"I wanted to know… I was wondering…," began Hitomi distressed voice. "I… I…We… What are we? What is our relationship? Are we more than friends or are we just friends? I mean I really like you…I mean do you like me?" Hitomi's face completely flushed and she felt Van's grip on the reins tighten. She could not explain it, but she was pretty sure that at this moment Van was blushing as well. Half expecting and half hoping that Van would say something like 'what a silly question', or something she waited.
"I… I…" Van began speaking in the same broken state that Hitomi had just spoken in. Though, at that very moment the two of them plus the knights reached the harbor and immediately Van was called upon to do some necessary tasks that needed to be done while Hitomi was left all by herself. A servant helped her down from the horse and shortly after Hitomi boarded the Levi ship.
For the most part in the voyage Hitomi was alone. Time to time Hitomi would catch a glimpse of Van and for a moment their eyes would meet but he always had someone nagging him to do stupid tasks. It seemed to Hitomi that Van had a lot to do even though he did not have much to do with the flying of the Levi ship.
On the second evening Hitomi stood looking out the window with a worried look on her face. There were many workers busily working all around of her. She would have offered help but she knew there was nothing she could do to help them. Since boarding the Levi ship Hitomi had been extremely worried about the incident that had happened between Van and her right before they arrived at the harbor. She could not stop thinking, 'What was he about to say?' Distractedly she could not stop wondering if the reason why she did not see Van was because he did not want to see her and he made up some silly little tasks just to avoid her. Hitomi sighed.
"What's wrong little miss?" asked a masculine voice from behind her. Turning around, Hitomi smiled when she saw it was her new friend, Garin. Garin was in his mid- thirties but looked much younger than he actually was. He had long brown hair and the beginning of a beard. Garin had been the one to help Hitomi find her room and they had quickly become friends. Hitomi had learned in their short chats that Garin was married to a wonderful wife and had two children. She also learned the he was an ex-thief turned sailor when he had been caught stealing bread from a merchant in his early twenties. He was a good-natured fellow who had a taste for helping others.
"Nothing really, I'm okay," replied Hitomi in a voice that would not have fooled anyone. She turned around to continue looking out the window.
"Come now, you're not fooling me, now what's the problem?" asked Garin as he too looked out the window. "Is it the young King?" Questioned Garin. Hitomi began to blush.
"How'd you know about me and Van? I never told you about Van," said Hitomi as she turned to face him.
"One can always tell the pains and uncertainties of young love. Besides, everyone on this ship knows you're the young lady from the Mystic Moon. Rumor has it that you and King Van of Fanelia were and are in love and that he was heart broken after you left for your home. Gossip also says that you came back to him and now the two of you are a couple. Though by the way you're acting, I'd say that's more fact than fiction," concluded Garin as he looked around calmly.
Hitomi's face had turned at least two shades redder before she wildly and resentfully began retorting loudly. "Look here, we are not a couple! I don't even know how he feels about me so how could we be a couple? I haven't even really seen him since we got on this stupid ship! It seems like he's avoiding me, and how is it that everyone seems to know my business when I don't even know my business!" She was angry and she did not understand why. It was not exactly her nature to lash out on unsuspecting people but she could not stop it this time. The fact that Garin began smiling at her when she had began fighting with him made her increasingly angrier. How could he stand there with that dumb look on his face? It was just like she had just given him a great gift.
"Come now was that so hard?" said Garin belligerently as Hitomi shot him a dirty look. "Didn't you know the only reason why your king has been busy is because he has to speak that the ceremony. He has to prepare that speech. He is a big part of the ceremony because he is considered a well-respected war hero. The teachers he has been with will not allow him go on the stage until the speech is perfect and believe me; he has a very long speech. He's not avoiding you; he's doing something very important. I'm sure he'd love to see you but believe me his teachers will barely be letting him get a moment's rest until his speech is absolutely perfect."
Suddenly Hitomi felt very stupid. "I am an idiot. How self-centered was that?" She felt very bad for believing that Van would do that to her.
"It's not your fault anyone can make that mistake," said Garin soothingly. The two of them chatted for a while before Garin had to leave to go back to work. Hitomi continued with her day feeling half relieved knowing that Van was not avoiding her. The day progressed rather slowly.
On the third and final night Hitomi walked slowly and silently through the hall. It was very late at night and only the workers that were needed to keep the ship running were awake. Many people had long before gone to bed but Hitomi had found that she was unable to sleep. She was too nervous about the ceremony that was going to be happening the day after tomorrow. On this night Hitomi felt that she might be able to sleep better if she had a glass of water. When she reached the kitchen she heard someone moving from inside the room. Slowly she creaked open the door.
"Hello? Is anyone in there?" asked Hitomi into the lonely dark kitchen. As Hitomi had suspected no one had answered her so she quickly walked into the room, and began to light a candle.
"Don't do that," came a voice from behind her. Startled she jumped back, fell and knocked over what she expected to be a couple of pots. Out from the darkness and into the candlelight walked Van.
"You scared me half to death! What are you doing in here?" asked Hitomi suspiciously as she picked up the pots she had knocked over and stood up.
"We can't talk here," whispered Van as Hitomi looked at him questioningly. "Put the candle out and follow me," quickly Hitomi put out the candle and followed Van through a series of deserted hallways. As soon as Hitomi and Van had exited the kitchen through the servants door Hitomi heard men walking into the kitchen. After a couple of minutes of walking through the dark and deserted halls Van whispered, "Wait here, " and Hitomi began to hear clicking sounds. "Come with me", Van announced as he grabbed her hand.
She followed him through what seemed to be a door. As she walked through the door she realized they were outside. "How… Where?" asked Hitomi incomprehensibly.
"We're at the top of the ship. This is a place where they use to repair the ship when they are unable to land," said Van offhandedly.
"Why did we have to leave the kitchen? And why were we being so quiet about it?" questioned Hitomi warily as she looked out on the beautiful scenery. They were now passing over a vast ocean. She could see the power of the strong waves moving in a continuous cycle. Both Van and Hitomi looked out on the ocean. In the background a crescent moon hung brightly in the sky. Behind the moon, the Mystic moon was clearly in sight. There were many stars shining brightly in the sky. There was no other sound but the sound of roaring waves for a couple of moments.
"Because I told the tutors that I went to bed. If they knew I was still awake they would still be pestering me," replied Van as he began to sit down. At that moment Hitomi realized that she was still holding his hand.
"Sorry," she replied lamely as she sat down and let go of his hand. Neither spoke for many minutes.
"Do… Do you miss the Mystic Moon?" asked Van after a little while. He shifted awkwardly as he waited for an answer.
"Yeah, I miss the Mystic moon, I miss my friends and family but everything is alright. Everyone has an idea where I went and… I… I think I made the right choice but I'm not sure," at this moment Van seemed to have a somewhat preoccupied look on his face. He did not seem to really be listening at all.
Again there was a very long period of silence. " Are you all right? Is there something wrong?" asked Hitomi with a concerned ring in her voice. At that moment Van turned away from staring at the ocean and turned to face Hitomi. The facial expression he had was one that Hitomi had only seen once before. It was the same facial expression that he had had when he had got on Escaflowne and brought back Hitomi from Earth. That was right before the fall of Zaibach. He moved closer to her. It was just like the day that she had first realized she was in love with him.
" Van I love you," she had finally said it. That was the one thing that she had always wanted to say to Van. It had been the one thing that she had never told him. At that moment she found herself moving closer to Van and before she knew it they were kissing. It was their first kiss. It was short, awkward, sweet and at the same time everlasting. Hitomi felt as if she could soar through the stars, and jump over the moon. Neither of them would forget the moment for the rest of the life. At that moment Hitomi knew she wanted to spend the rest of her life with Van.
Quickly the kiss ended and they both turned away from each other, their faces red from blushing. There were several minutes of deafening silence.
"I suppose I should walk you back to your room. We have to wake up early tomorrow," said Van. Hitomi reluctantly agreed and stood up and they walked back to her room in silence. At the end of the journey when they reached Hitomi's room, Van just stood awkwardly at Hitomi's door. Hitomi was inside her room, with the door open and she faced Van.
"Good night," said Van briskly.
Quickly Hitomi kissed Vans cheek and blushed. "Thanks," said Hitomi shyly as she went back into her room and went to bed. Many of thoughts and dreams reflected the events of the night before.
The next morning Hitomi woke up to find that the Levi ship had docked and started unloading before she had even woken up. She looked out on the ocean and remembered so many memories. The memory that came most vividly to Hitomi's mind was the day when she, Van, Merle, Allen's crew and Allen had arrived in Asturia for the first time. That was the day when Hitomi had first met Milerna, which had also been the day Milerna had mistaken Hitomi for a simple handmaiden. Smiling, she began to look around for people she knew.
"Hitomi! Hitomi!" called Milerna from a place about one hundred feet away. Quickly Hitomi turned toward Milerna.
"What are you doing here?" asked Hitomi in a surprised tone of voice. She had not been expecting Milerna.
"I was on the same Levi ship with you, you just didn't notice because you were too busy sulking at why Van wasn't anywhere to be seen," to that, Milerna got a surprised and inquiring look. "I never saw it for myself but according to some of the maids that attended me, you were almost crying," continued Milerna promptly.
"If you were on the same Levi ship, how come I didn't see you?" challenged Hitomi.
"Preparations. I have quite a large part in the set up of the ceremony. I tried to get out to see you but there was so much that had to be done. Besides it would have ruined the surprise if you would have found out," Milerna began to grin mischievously. "Anyways I have to go get ready but I'll see you tomorrow!" said Milerna quite suddenly as she walked off.
The rest of the day was filled with few familiar faces but many people she noticed did not have the time to speak with her. She found herself wandering around Asturia aimlessly, remembering all the events that happened here at this city. It all seemed so far ago, since she was in love with Allen, since she lied to Milerna about her wedding to Dryden. She seemed like such a child then, she had been so naïve and foolish. Believing that she had actually fallen in love with Allen.
Rin had followed Hitomi in her aimless walk to nowhere in particular. Had watched her expression turn from smiling to frowning to smiling again. Here expression was constantly changing. It would not be long now before "Operation: Girl from the Mystic Moon" would begin.
When Hitomi had went to bed that night Rin left another spy in charge and left to the New Zaibach underground agency in Asturia. Unfortunately this agency was in one of slummiest parts of Asturia. Garbage littered the streets everywhere and with the garbage came large sewer rats that had crawled up from the sewers. Rin walked into a very shabby tavern. Inside the tavern smelled like urine, sweat and stale ale. He walked straight up to the bar and sat down.
"What'll ya have sir?" the bar tender asked grouchily. He had gray hair and was quite fat. He wore a white apron that was covered with stains. At the moment he was washing a glass.
"Ale for Mother Moon," replied Rin coarsely. This had been the password. At that the bar tender pointed to a side door. Rin stood up and walked into the room. In that room, sat a whole slew of fellow spies and thieves, all sitting at a single table. There was nothing in this room besides candles, a table and chairs.
'When does "Operation: Girl from the Mystic Moon start?" asked Rin impatiently. He was not fond on leaving his jobs to an amateur longer than he had to. He did not like to take risks.
"Operation commences tomorrow," said a rough looking, skinny, red headed thief. The thief smiled evilly and revealed both rotten and missing teeth.
Hitomi went to bed rather early because of her exhaustion. That night she was disconcerted at the nightmares she had. Her dreams beheld blood, helplessness, loneliness and fear.
She could not understand why she had a nightmare like that. It seemed to her that the last time she had a nightmare like that was when she had been on Gaea last, predicting the future. That was what worried her the most.