Title: All For Love
Author: Tevrah
It's been a while, hasn't it? Well, now I'm getting back into the game, so things should be rolling right along. I'd like to thank each and every one of you for the reviews and emails that were sent to me! You guys are the greatest!
I'd also like to thank everyone who's been thinking about and helping the Hurricane Katrina victims because I was one of them. She went right by my house. I live an hour from Biloxi and Waveland, and about three or four hours from New Orleans. I really hope that Rita isn't as bad a Katrina was. That would be so horrible! But thanks to everybody!
Oh, and hey, you guys might want to skim over the other chapters to refresh your memories before you read this chapter. Or just whatever!
Here's the next chapter, so enjoy!
(000)
Chapter Eleven"I'm so glad that you remember me," the woman said kindly. A small smile graced her lips as she looked at Van. "Though I'm surprised that you don't."
With her eyes staring so intently at him, Van wondered why as well. How could he have so soon forgotten the woman he had watched burn to death?
"Do you not remember me, as well?" the other woman asked.
Van looked at her. HE had to admit that she did look familiar, but he just could not place her. He slowly shook his head and the woman smiled sadly. "I was afraid that you might have forgotten me. It has been so long since you last saw me."
"Who are you?" Van asked. He felt drawn to her. Who was she?
"Try to remember, Van," Hitomi urged softly.
He looked down at her, then back to the black-haired woman. He looked into her dark eyes and memories that he had so long ago buried came floating to the surface of his mind's eye. A woman with dark hair and dark eyes washing his face, her scent of fresh wild flowers still lingering as she tucked him into bed. The same woman gently drying his tears and kissing his scraped knees. The same woman coming to him in the middle of the night and whispering 'I love you'.
This woman…he knew her.
"Mother," Van whispered, his voice dangerously close to cracking.
His mother smiled warmly at him. "Yes," she said softly. "I am Varie Fanel."
Van shook his head in denial, unable, unwilling to believe. "No," he said, his voice stronger, harder, "my mother's dead. She's been dead for fourteen years."
Varie sighed. "I did die, Van, but I've come back as a spirit." She motioned to Hitomi's mother. "Mitsuki and I have comet o guide you because you will save all of Gaea, but you mustn't let your fears hinder you." She looked at Hitomi. "You have a very precious item around your neck, child. You are the only one who can use it, and it is the only thing that will keep Gaea from falling into darkness for all of eternity."
"What?" Hitomi asked. "What are you talking about?"
Mitsuki stepped forward. "We've come bearing an important message for the two of you. We've come to tell you to not be afraid, to not let your fears keep you from completing your destiny."
Hitomi was confused. "My destiny?"
Her mother smiled. "Yes, daughter, your destiny. It is the saving grace of all of Gaea. But you are not the only person who will help restore light back to this world." She turned to Van. "You are apart of it as well."
"Apart of what?" he asked.
Varie just smiled and took a step back. She looked at Mitsuki and the other woman began to explain. "Gaea has been in shadow for many years. It is time for some light to penetrate this world. Many have fallen trying to defend our planet, and before the end many more shall die if no one does something to stop it."
She looked at the two of them. "Go to the Mystic Valley. Find the answers there. That is all we can tell you. But once there, you will know, you will see; you, my daughter will finally understand."
"Understand what?" Hitomi whispered.
Mitsuki smiled at her. "My precious little girl is all grown up." She looked at Varie and the other woman gave a slight nod. She turned back to Hitomi. "Our time is almost at an end, but there is something that I wish to tell you." Her eyes softened as she grasped Hitomi's hands. "You were never alone. All those years you prayed for help and deliverance did not fall on deaf ears, child. The words were heard, but it just was not your time.
"I've seen the way that man would look at you, and I've seen how many times you've cried. Do not be afraid any longer. You shall never feel alone again." The woman leaned down and kissed Hitomi's forehead. "Goodbye for now, my little love."
Mitsuki stepped back and the two women began to fade.
"Wait!" Hitomi cried and stretched out her hand frantically. "Don't go! How will we end the war? What are we supposed to do?"
The faded reply was faint, but it echoed in their minds. "Love…"
And their worlds went dark.
(000)
Hitomi jerked awake with a gasp and a throbbing headache. She turned to see Van slowly raise his hand to his head. She was sitting between his legs and had to turn around to see his face. Their eyes locked and held for a moment while they both tried to understand what had just happened.
Then Van noticed something. The wind had stopped blowing. It was completely silent in the chamber. Hitomi's sharp gasp echoed in the stillness. Van's gaze snapped back to her.
"What is it?" he demanded.
She moaned and her head dropped down. Van gripped her shoulders tightly and gave her a small shake. "Hitomi," he said. "Wake up!"
"A shadow…" her voice was but a sliver of sound. "The dark tree…a dream of fears…we have reached the first crossroad…our guide will see us out…"
The hard wind began to blow again. Van gripped Hitomi tightly, shielding her with his body the best he could as the wind began to blow harder, whistling sharply. He closed his eyes against the sting until the blowing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. Slowly he opened his eyes and found himself staring at a huge rock. He tilted his head back and found that he was kneeling at the base of a mountain. The sun glared down into his eyes and he quickly bent his head again to escape the harsh light.
What in Gaea was going on?
He needed time to think. First, he got sucked into a past-dream of some kind that showed Hitomi as a child, then he saw his dead mother, Hitomi went weird, and now he was at the base of a mountain with not even the slightest clue as to how he had arrived there. A man could only take so much.
He sighed wearily and ran a hand through his unruly hair. First, he had to take care of Hitomi. He closed his eyes and shut down all of his senses except for his hearing. It was a trick that Dryden had taught him many years ago when they had been hunting. Van was very grateful that the older man had, for the trick had saved his life many times.
Listening carefully, Van discovered that there was a fox family about fifty feet away. The mama fox had just given birth to a litter of babies. Twenty feet from there was a small family of quail trying to cross over a broken log. A bear's den was about eighty or ninety feet from the log and the bear was sleeping soundly in hibernation.
There was plenty of wildlife and game in the area, but no stream and no threat. Opening his eyes, he sighed. He did not know whether to be grateful or disappointed. Gently laying Hitomi on the ground, he tugged his jacket around her more tightly so she would not get cold. The temperature was slowly beginning to drop.
Straightening, he looked around and assessed the situation with his eyes. He discovered they were in a small clearing against the mountain that was only about twelve feet in width and length. Just enough room for a comfortable campsite. He walked a short distance into the forest and began to collect firewood. He wouldn't be able to get fish for supper tonight and he really didn't want to disturb the wildlife, so he settled on picking berries, as well.
When night fell, Van had managed to set up a warm camp. He sat beside Hitomi's still figure while the events of the last few hours rolled around inside his head. There was so much to take in. So many unanswered questions. He was staring into the fire when he heard Hitomi's breath begin to speed up. He watched as her eyes fluttered open and the sleepy green irises slowly locked onto his own. She blinked and slowly sat up.
"Where are we?" she asked, drowsily. She used her balled fist to wipe the sleep from her eyes.
"At the base of a mountain," Van answered. "Other than that, I'm not really sure."
Hitomi avoided his gaze. It never wavered from her face and it was beginning to unnerve her. What did he want?
"What happened when you tried to run away?" he asked suddenly. He had been thinking about everything that had happened from the moment that he had first seen her until the events of now. He remembered her saying in the meeting with the other Abaharaki leaders that she had tried to run away.
Hitomi's gaze snapped to his, confused at his unexpected question. "I hid in one of the garbage bins in the soldiers quarters. Gaddess saw me and drug me out. He put me in my room and told me to stay put. He never told on me," she answered.
"Who is Gaddess?" Van wanted to know.
"He was a very kind man who had been led down a very wrong road," Hitomi said quietly.
"Was?" Van asked.
"He tried to stop the emperor from killing a child, but the emperor killed the boy anyway, and then he killed Gaddess, too," she said, reliving the memory. She had been watching from the hall.
Van's gaze went back to the fire. Hitomi's eyes stayed on him. "Why did you ask me that?" she asked softly.
Van looked at her and his eyes hardened. "I'm going to kill him, Hitomi. For every misery he put you through, I'm going to kill him. I promise you that."
Hitomi's forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Why?" she whispered. "You don't even like me."
He lightly trailed his fingertips down her cheek. "Don't ask me why," he said softly. "Just know that I will. You don't have to be afraid anymore, Hitomi. I'm going to take care of you."
Tears filled her eyes at he tenderness in his voice. It had been a long time since anyone had cared for her. "I don't understand…"
He stopped her sentence by leaning over and lightly brushing her lips against hers. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders and pulled her into the shelter of his arms, offering reassurance the only way he could. He handed her some berries and they fell into silence as she ate and he thought.
When Hitomi had had her fill of the berries, she put the rest on the ground. She felt so comfortable. She was wrapped in his jacket still, his scent enveloping her, and his arm was around her shoulders still. She felt her eyes drupe a little and didn't fight against it. Even though she had slept earlier, she was still tired. But there was something she absolutely had to know, something that had been nagging at her for a while now.
"Van?" she asked quietly.
He grunted.
Her lips curved a little at his reply, but it didn't deter her. "I need to ask you something. Why did you marry me? There were other ways of keeping me from the emperor." She bit her lip and held her breath waiting for his answer.
He was quiet for a long minute, and then spoke. "There were a lot of reasons. Most importantly, was Chid."
She was confused. "Chid? What did he have to do with anything?"
"I was Chid's champion, his protector when Dryden and Millerna weren't around. When he fell from the cliffs and everyone thought he was dead, I thought I'd failed in my duty. Then we heard that Chid had been found and taken to a slave camp, so I went to rescue him. Only, you got to him first."
Hitomi continued to listen in confusion.
"When you completed my duty because I didn't get to him in time, a bond was created between us. It created a debt that I owed to you. By marrying you, I completed my bond by protecting you," he finished his explanation. No matter what, he was going to be honest with her. She deserved that.
"So you married me to repay a debt." Realization and a tinge of anger coated her voice.
"At first," he replied.
"And now?" she inquired, gritting her teeth.
"And now, I'm married to you because I want to be."
She let out a breath and counted to ten. Could the man get anymore dense? Could he not tell that he was insulting her? Telling her that he had married her just because he owed her something?
Van felt her body tensing in his arms and tightened his grip so that she wouldn't get any ideas about jumping up and running away. He wouldn't put that past her. "You asked a question, and I answered it honestly. You should not get angry."
First an insult, and now a lecture. She tried to curb her temper by telling herself that he was just a man, so of course he was an absolute clueless idiot. That she shouldn't get mad, because in part he was right, he had been honest with her. The arrogant idiot.
"Are you going to yell at me?" he asked. He kept his laughter in check. She was taking deep breaths to get rid of her anger.
"No," she said shortly. "I'm just going to call you names in my head."
He couldn't help it, a chuckle escaped his lips. She whirled around and looked at him, her eyes narrowed in repressed anger, daring him to laugh. He merely tugged her back to his side and kept his arm wrapped tightly around her so she couldn't move. He pushed her head down to his shoulder. "Stop thinking so much. I answered her question. Now get some sleep. We need to get an early start tomorrow."
"Fine," she muttered, determined to have the last word.
He smiled, and let her get away with it.
His breath was warm against her skin, and Hitomi began to get sleepy once more. She was warm, safe. But she refused to go to sleep just because he told her to. She'd go to sleep when she was good and ready.
That was her last thought.
(000)
Dilandau had failed.
Allen detested failure. That required understanding and compassion, and as he had neither, he detested that, too. He turned to the kneeling soldier and studied him. The soldier was trembling in fear and agitation. Yet, he was still kneeling. He was obedient, well trained, everything Allen expected in one of his soldiers. None of them would dare to fail him. Not if they wanted to live another day.
Dilandau was his best soldier, yet he had failed. Allen would have to do something about that when he had more time. Right now, he needed to concentrate on squishing the rebels and finding Hitomi.
That was turning out to be somewhat of a pain. Dilandau claimed they had fallen through the ground and were now nowhere to be seen. There had to be more to it than that.
"What else did Dilandau say?" Allen demanded.
The soldier's tremors increased. "He said that hours later a bright light descended from the stars many miles away from the town, near the mountains. He was personally going to see what it was and that was all, Milord," the soldier ended.
Interesting. Very interesting. Was it possible that his little Hitomi had developed powers over the years and had somehow managed to keep it from him? Well, no matter, she would still be his, but she would have to be severely disciplined. He didn't like liars and false pretenders.
Allen dismissed the soldier with an arrogant wave of his hand. When the doors had closed behind him, Allen went back to looking out the window. The slaves were working in the cold, driving rain. Breaking their backs to please their master. Allen watched with detached eyes. They were so pathetic.
One day, he would have no need of slaves, and Gaea would be purged of all these abominations.
Suddenly one of the slaves yelled out and the overseers rushed to him. The slaves scrambled away as the earth shook.
Allen smiled. Finally. It had been found. The ultimate weapon.
Sheherazade.
(000)
Hitomi stretched and wiggled her toes under the warm jacket. She knew Van was gone because the arms that had held her close the night before weren't there. Slowly, she sat up and looked around. It was morning, just after dawn, judging by the dew still covering the ground, and the sun was just beginning to shine bright. She stood up and caught the jacket before it hit the ground.
She heard footsteps coming toward her from the forest and turned to see Van walk into the clearing. "Good morning," he said.
"Morning," she replied. "Have you found out where we are?"
He shook his head. "Not yet. But I did find a path that leads up the mountain. It doesn't look like it has been used in a while and it's mostly overgrown with vegetation, but it still looks useable."
He took his jacket from her hands and slipped it around her. "It'll get colder the higher up we travel. Stick close to me, I'll have to clear the path the more we go up the path." He grabbed her hand and they went into the forest. She immediately saw where he had been cutting away the vines that had been growing on the path.
"Should we be heading up the mountain, or should we try to go down?" Her hand felt warm in his.
"This path is the only one I saw," Van answered. "And considering the fact that our mother's spirits sent us here would tell me they wanted us to go up the mountain." He still didn't know how he felt about seeing his mother again. "We'll travel this path and see where it takes us. Hopefully, we'll end up at another marker that on the map."
"Hopefully?" she questioned.
He shrugged as they trekked up the worn path. "All we can do now is hope that we are going in the right direction. The map is old and some of the marks are faded. Most of what we do now is guess work."
Hitomi let out a dejected sigh. Well, that was just perfect.
(000)
The camp wasn't even a day old.
Dilandau kneeled down at the base of the mountain and grabbed a handful of ashes. They were cold, but the texture of them told him that his prey wasn't very far. He looked over to the side of the fire and saw the disturbed earth. It looked like the Dragon and the emperor's lady had gotten very cozy last night. He smirked. What an interesting development. It would make the hunt even sweeter.
He saw the footsteps lead to the forest and let the ashes fall from his hands. He had had to leave his horse a ways back to make the journey to the campsite. He gripped his sword as he lifted a hand to his face and felt the scar that had destroyed his beautiful face. He was snarling, his red eyes glowing with hatred as he walked into the forest. Not long now.
And then they would pay.
(000)
Her feet were killing her and her throat felt like it had splinters in it.
But Hitomi refused to voice a complaint. After all, Van was doing all of the hard work. He was swinging his sword back and forth to chop and cut at the vines blocking the path. Sweat ran down the back of his neck into his shirt and Hitomi allowed herself to imagine the trail that it would leave.
As if she needed to get any hotter.
They had been walking all day, not talking, concentrating on trying to get up the mountain. And even though the air was colder, and cooling even more as night began to fall, they still had beads of sweat on their faces.
Hitomi reached up, wiped her forehead, and saw Van quickly do the same thing then go straight back to work. The muscles worked in his arms and back and Hitomi quickly looked away. Get it together, girl. Here we are walking through the forest, trying to save the world, and here you are thinking about his muscles. Jeez. Reality check.
The small pep talk helped a little bit. But not much. She really needed to learn how to focus. She was so busy talking to herself and trying not to stare at Van, that she didn't notice the tree limb in her path. She tripped over it and rammed straight into Van. He jerked forward but caught himself. He turned around, sheathing his sword and caught her arms.
"Are you all right?" It was the first words he had spoken to her since that morning.
She nodded and avoided his gaze. She should have been paying attention.
A rumbling caught their attention and they both looked up in time to see large rocks rolling and bouncing toward them from the front of the path. Without a thought, Van pushed Hitomi to the side, off the path and they began to roll down a steep incline that was filled with branches and vines.
Several bumps, bruises, and scratches later, they stopped and lay where they were, trying to catch their breath. Van was the first to recover. He sat up and touched Hitomi's shoulder. "Are you all right?"
She managed a nod and slowly sat up. They both looked up the incline of where they had rolled, but could see no sign of the path. Van stood up and helped Hitomi do the same. He held her arms in case she wasn't going to be able to stand. They looked around and discovered that they were deep in the forest, but where exactly, they had no idea.
Branches began to crack and break and Van shoved Hitomi behind him and drew his sword. They stood, waiting, for whatever was coming.
A woman emerged from the dense trees and stopped before them. She was beautiful, and had an ethereal aura surrounding her. Her face was soft and held a gracefulness that neither one of them could find words to describe, her ears were pointed and her skin was a soft blue. And when she spoke, her voice was that of music, soft, melodious.
"Welcome. I've been expecting you."