Tsunami: The orbs aren't Van's but you'll see who they belong to soon- maybe even in this chapter.
ann: No, Van isn't that bad of a dancer. :) He's a soldier more than a dancer though.
blackrose: Old characters will more than likely start showing up soon! I love the story of Escaflowne! I have the whole series on vhs. It's in Japanese with english subtitles- I love it! I think the set was a 16th birthday present, maybe 17th. shrugs Anyway, I loved the story so much I was addicted to the tapes for like 3 months. I must have watched the whole series through 5 or 6 times in those months.
Bradybunch4529: Thanks! I love how couples act together. :) Van and Hitomi are so much fun to write.
mysisterisasquijum:) Thanks for the review! I'm reading the last book in that series by Stephen King and I'm taking my time with it. :) I'm sad that I'm almost done. :(
brezzybrez: Hello daughter of Inda! Congrats on having a cool mum and thanks for reviewing!
maeko14: Yea, poor Van. Nightmares suck. I have them a lot so it wasn't too hard to put Van in my place.
chibihitomi: I can't see the past, but I have a great memory for the things that I've done. I did just about the same thing when I was 9. I didn't find anything pretty just an animal den that was empty (thank the Goddess). I really love your reviews.:) O, by the way- we all drool over Van. ;)
Goddess-HItomi: I'm not a video gamer. That'd be Scott, my boyfriend. :) I'll ask him about the orbs because I'm sure he's played that game before. The funny thing is that my friend Paige, who is now happily dating Scott's best friend is the one who tells me we make her sick. :) I love it when friends will tell you anything.
QueenTatooine: Sorry I wasn't clear. As I've said before I get ahead of myself and skip facts. The hole was grown over by grass and earth. The earth just gave way after years of being strong. The hole broke more because of who was stepping there- not because of her weight. Hitomi was ment to find those orbs. I may not go into detail but Hitomi was ment to find them and Van was ment to see them.
jossi-31: I like them too. I was rather proud of the idea when i came up with it and now I've been told that there's something like them in a game. :(
Inda: Thank you so much for the reviews! You'rs was the first review I got for chapter 12!
Bianca: If you're excited for the rest of the story you'll be reading for quite awhile yet. I'm nowhere near half way through this. :) Enjoy.
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Hitomi stood patiently balanced on one foot as Cara, the palace seamstress hummed as she took Hitomi's measurements again. According to Cara gowns were much different than normal clothes and new measurements had to be taken.
"We want you to look your best, dear." Cara smiled when she caught the tired look on Hitomi's face, "Just a momet more and then you can sit."
Hitomi's ankle was still sore but it no longer throbbed all the time.
When Cara nodded Hitomi sighed in relief and hopped over to the chair Van had dragged into the room for her.
Hitomi fugured she had it easy compared to poor Van who had been cornered by Albert and 3 other councilors to go over the final details for the festivities of the coming days.
"Hitomi?" Merle's voice sounded from the hallway.
"In here!" Hitomi called back.
Merle's pink hair appeared as the cat girl peeked around the corner, "There you are! I've been looking everywhere for you and Lord Van."
"Well, Van's not here. Albert and the council dragged him off almost an hour ago."
"Oh, poor Van." Merle looked sincerely sorry for her friend and Hitomi couldn't help but smile.
"He should be back any minute. He has some fittings of his own." Cara said and the two girls looked at the seamstress' hunched back as she scribbled down numbers and lengths on a bit of paper.
Merle suddenly grinned evilly and leaned over to wisper in Hitomi's ear, "Van hates fittings but no one misses a fitting. Cara is strict. Even Van doesn't like to get her mad. We should stick around for the fun."
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And oh what fun was had. Hitomi giggled all the way back to the library.Van shot her a playfull glare every now and then as she glided beside him.
"You know it's not very nice to laugh at someone elses discomfort." Van said in a teacherly voice as he extended his arm. Some one was coming and Hitomi wasn't ready yet to use her powers around other people again.
Hitomi lowered herself to the floor and wrapped her arm around Van's.
"I agree but when someone makes faces like that they are just asking to be laughed at." Hitomi grinned at Van as he tried to hide his own smiled.
Hitomi untangled herself from Van and dropped into one of the large reading chairs just as Lord Christopher and his twin sister Ashlee came into the room. Ashlee's bright smile faded a bit as she apraoched Van.
"My King." she bowed, "I have been unable to talk my brother into returning to Callan." she glanced at her brother, her smiled completely gone by the time she looked at Van again, "He is my only sibling. Make sure he takes care of himself."
"I will, my Lady. As a Knight he will be apart of my palace family. I will care for him like a brother." Van laid his hand on Ashlee's arm.
Hitomi smiled. Van really was a good King. She knew he was telling the truth. In the past few days Christopher, Pennin, Aidren and Van had been spending a lot of time together. Already they were building a complete trust among the four of them. Just like brothers. Which, of course was Van's plan. Only the best to fight for Fanelia and it's people.
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Merle couldn't sit still. The day had been boring except for the time she had spent with Hitomi watching Van during his fitting.
Tina had been absent the past two days due to a small fever. Her father had forbidden her from getting out of bed and from having visitors. So, Merle had been left to amuse herself.
Amusement had been hard to find.
Merle looked down at the Orbs in her lap. Van had given them into Merle's keeping untill he and the others had more time to look them over.
Growling in the back of her throat, Merle pushed the Orbs into the basket she had lined with a silk dress she never wore.
The pink haired Cat began to pace. Merle turned on her heel as she reached the door and stepped easily over the scattered objects on her floor. In all honesty her room looked as though it had been hit by storm, but Merle knew just where everything was. The trick was to never clean too much. That way all of her treasures could be tucked away and hidden without anyone ever knowing there was anything there beyond the mess.
As she paced Merle kicked a pillow at the Orbs' basket and was satisfied by the way it landed, hiding all but one Orb. It looked casual- as though nothing special would be handled in such a way
No one was making a big deal about the Orbs but Merle had a feeling that they were important. Her feelings weren't usualy wrong about these things. She would tell Tina about them once her friend was well again.
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Van watched as Hitomi glided around the bed room. She was tired but afraid to sleep. They both had been since Van's dream turned out to be more than just a dream.
He was worried about her and she was worried about him.
Hitomi wanted to stomp and pace around the room to get out her frustrations but she couldn't. She had to be content with just gliding back and forth an inch or two off the floor. It wasn't the same but it was better than sitting around.
"My power's are stronger here, on Geae. There must be something I can do to keep them out of your dreams!" she said after almost an hour of 'pacing'.
"Haven't you heard of 'mind guarding'?" Van asked, surprised she hadn't been the one to bring it up.
"Yes, actualy I have. I even tried to find books on it. I'll have to ask my mom about when I visit her. I'm sure there's more stuff about the workings of the human mind on Earth."
Van smiled at her, "Worry about it later. There's nothing we can do now. Come to bed."
Hitomi stood there for a moment before nodding. He was right. She was driving herself crazy thinking about those eyes. She needed to relax and worry about what she was going to do once she had more information and options.
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A/N: Ok, Saturday was sooooooooooooo busy but prom was great! The best prom yet (and this was my fourth). Friday I barely got anything done at all. I was about 4 or 5 lines into the actual chapter when the baby woke up.
Anyways, as always please review!