Author's note: This chapter would not have been possible without the help of the totally awesome Sharlee :)

To recap the age issue for those who may have missed it:
The long(er) version: See my author's note from the previous chapter.
The short version: I am playing fast and loose with the characters' ages, since they were never mentioned in the anime. Hitomi and Van are currently 22 in this fic, and Millerna is 24.

-

The Last Night of the World

Chapter 7

Palas

-

One can be a word that counts as lonely
Two can be as lonely as each can be
Searching and pretending
As we wander through this world
Can we ever know
Where hearts go
- "Perfect World" by Yoko Kanno

-

"Why didn't she say anything?"

Merle followed her childhood friend through the streets of Palas, her padded feet stepping almost silently on the cobblestones in the company of Van's heavier footfalls. She can never decide, that's why, Merle thought, but kept her opinion to herself. Typical.

"She should have said something," Van insisted.

Merle walked beside him without speaking; the tabby cat had known Van long enough to know when he was just talking out loud and when he was looking for a response. But it was unusual for Van—Van, who never talked about the way he felt—to be this outspoken, even around her, unless he was truly upset.

They weaved their way between the people who populated the busy merchant city. Their path would eventually take them to the royal palace, and Merle figured that Van probably needed to work off some frustration first. She imagined King Aston would be appalled when he found out that the king of Fanelia came to the palace without a royal escort, and on foot, no less.

"She should have said something," he repeated. "Yes or no, I don't care. It really doesn't matter."

But it does matter, Van-sama. It matters to you, and it matters a lot. That much she could tell, from the stiff way he carried his shoulders, from the agitation barely contained in his step. From the way he used to absently finger Hitomi's pendant without realizing what he was doing.

"Just let her go, Van-sama," Merle said, echoing the same advice she had given him years ago, during the Great War. "If she really loved you, she would have said something. She wouldn't be making you go through all this." She almost added, "I knew something like this was going to happen," but this was not really the time for I-told-you-sos.

In truth, it made Merle almost glad that Hitomi had proved her right. Merle knew Van better than anyone alive, and her cat's instinct was rarely wrong, even when he stubbornly refused to listen to her. But it was a Pyrrhic victory, because when she was right and he was wrong, it usually meant that he was going to suffer. And in this case, his heart was being broken by a fickle woman who was afraid of commitment.

"Do you really think she's fickle?" Van stopped so suddenly in the middle of the street that Merle almost walked right on ahead.

Oops. She must have been mumbling aloud without realizing it. "She can't make up her mind, Van-sama. She's fickle," Merle said bluntly.

His face fell at her remark, and Merle wondered if she was being too harsh. You shouldn't sugarcoat the truth, in her opinion, but over the years, she learned that there was something called tact. Though there were times when the truth was going to hurt, even with all the tact in the world.

But what was the truth? Van loved Hitomi, that was clear. And Merle was pretty sure that Hitomi still had feelings for Van. But Merle didn't want Hitomi getting closer to Van any more than she had wanted five years ago. She had been rather jealous of Hitomi back then, because up until the fortune-teller's arrival from the Mystic Moon, Merle had been the only person who was truly close to Van. And though it was not easy, the past five years had taught her to share. After a while, she didn't mind when Van wore the rose colored pendant everywhere he went, or when he shared a drink with Wellyn, or when all those princesses and noblewomen visited the castle to court him for his hand in marriage.

Even when Hitomi came back, Merle was overjoyed to see her. But once Merle saw the ring on her hand, all the old suspicion and jealousy flooded back, stronger than it ever had before. And since that moment, she hated Hitomi. Five years ago, Merle may have harassed, taunted, and insinuated, but she never hated. Now, she hated the way Hitomi could make Van's eyes light up or become downcast within the same breath. She hated they way Van stared after Hitomi like a lost puppy. She hated the way Hitomi made her feel.

How did Hitomi make her feel? Ears twitching in agitation, Merle tried to push away the nameless sentiment that poked its nose into her belly. She was Van's friend, nothing more, nothing less. Of course he had to marry a princess or somebody like that; there was no way a king could marry a cat. Or a girl from the Mystic Moon, she thought smugly. Especially not when she has someone else's ring on her finger.

But nobody could make his eyes come to life the way Hitomi did. Not even Merle.

"Van-sama!" Merle exclaimed in consternation. The ragged edges of Van's shirt had caught her eye, jolting her out of her reverie. Her Van-sama was walking through the streets of Palas dressed like a pauper? Why hadn't she noticed this before? She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. The entire back of his shirt was ripped almost in half, as if something had burst its way through. "You showed your wings again, didn't you?" she accused.

"Well, yes, I—" he stammered, like a cat who had been caught with one paw in the fishbowl. "I had no choice, Merle. I had to save Clara's son. And Hitomi and Clara already know about them, so it's not—"

"You've gone and ruined a perfectly good shirt, Van-sama," she fussed, pushing him to the edge of the street, out of the way of human traffic, all the way out to the bank of one of the canals. "What are we going to do now? You can't go walking around like that!"

"Yeah, you're right." He reached his hands under the edge of his shirt and pulled it over his head. Now his torso was completely bare, his skin the color of coffee milk from all the afternoons of practicing sword forms in the sun. The remains of the shirt dangled from his hand, a tattered green flag.

"Van-sama! You can't walk around like that, either!" Merle protested, and her cheeks reddened, even though she had seen him shirtless countless times before.

"I suppose you're right. You can buy me another one when we pass by the marketplace." But his shoulders were much more relaxed, and his face, no longer stern, was almost smiling.

"Van-samaaaa," she whined playfully. Well, at least she was able to distract him.

But their lighthearted teasing was short-lived. As they stood by the canal, a shadow came over Van's eyes like a cloud passing over the sun. "Merle, I don't know if Fanelia exists anymore," he said quietly.

Merle went cold, despite the humid sea air of Palas, and her hair rose on end as goosebumps dotted her arms. "What do you mean, Van-sama?" she asked, even though she did not really want to hear the answer.

"Fanelia is disappearing, Merle."

"…Disappearing?"

"Half the forest is gone. Arzas is gone. The ground is breaking up, and the land is filled with lava. Hitomi and I almost got caught in it, but we escaped just in time."

Arzas is gone? Merle was having trouble making sense of what Van was saying, her thoughts straggling behind like a lame horse. The forest is filled with lava? And Fanelia…?

"It kept spreading, all the way across the main road, surrounding the city. I don't know if there's anything left." He lifted his eyes, no longer a battle-hardened king but a boy who had lost his parents and his brother, and now his home. "I was so afraid, Merle. I couldn't stay. I couldn't bear to watch Fanelia disappear." He hung his head, and his voice dropped even lower. "I'm such a coward."

"Van-sama…" she mewed as his words sank in. The ground is breaking up. The ground under Fanelia. It's disappearing. It's…really disappearing. She threw her arms around him and started to bawl into his neck. "Van-samaaaa!"

Van put his arms around her as she cried, her tears damp streaks on the side of his neck. He felt like crying himself, and his eyes welled up, but they did not spill over. He had never felt so orphaned in his life. This was different from the time when Zaibach torched Fanelia to the ground; at least the burning desire for revenge kept him from thinking too much about what he had lost. But this time, there was no enemy but nature itself. And this time, there might not be anything left of Fanelia to come back to.

Merle's sobbing gradually faded into sniffles and hiccups. The slow waters of the canal flowed under the wooden docks, lapping at the struts, tranquil and inevitable as the passage of time. If Fanelia was carried away, where would they go? What would he do?

-

Millerna Sara Aston, the youngest of King Aston's three beautiful daughters, was unable to hide her surprise at the sight of Hitomi, even though she had been expecting her all afternoon.

"Hitomi? Is that really you?" she exclaimed in astonishment as a young woman in her twenties was ushered into the sitting room. She had expected a tomboy with shockingly short hair wearing the odd pleated skirt and blazer that were in style on the Mystic Moon. Instead, in front of her stood a woman with sleek brown hair gathered into two long braids, looking quite feminine in a creamy yellow dress.

"Princess Millerna!" Hitomi said, and Millerna rose to meet her. The two women embraced, and Hitomi hugged her tight. "Oh Millerna, I'm so happy to see you!"

"Me too, Hitomi." Millerna held the younger woman at arm's length, admiring the transformation that the last five years had wrought. "You look wonderful."

"So do you." Then Hitomi pulled away and held up her left hand, which was adorned with a simple diamond ring. "And before anyone else asks," she said, twisting off the ring and thrusting it onto the opposite hand, "Van and I are not getting married."

"Oh." Millerna was not quite sure what was going on. "Are the two of you quarreling?"

Silently, Hitomi shook her head. When she looked up, her eyes were shining with tears. "Oh Millerna, I don't know what to do!"

Shushing her gently, Millerna settled Hitomi in one of the armchairs by a bay of windows in the sitting room. "There, there. Now tell me, what's going on between you two?"

Hitomi took a deep breath and composed herself. "You see, Millerna…I'm engaged. I'm engaged, but not to Van."

"What?" Millerna blurted out before she could stop herself.

"It's true," Hitomi said, nervously curling her fingers under her palms. "It's been five years, Millerna. How was I supposed to know I was going to come back?"

Millerna gazed at Hitomi wonderingly. She remembered how jealous she had been of Hitomi and Van, of the love they shared, a love that was pure and unfettered by burdens of the past or fears about the future. They simply loved, and there was no doubt in anyone's mind that their love would never change.

She looked at Hitomi's ring, which was jammed just below the lower knuckle of the fourth finger on her right hand, the diamonds twisted around and wedged into the side of her pinky. Can it be possible that it hasn't changed at all? she wondered.

With her elbows balanced on the arms of her own chair, Millerna bridged her fingers together and rested her chin on top, carefully observing woman in front of her. "So you met someone else? From the Mystic Moon?"

"Yes," Hitomi replied, absently playing with the end of one of her braids.

"What's his name? What's he like?"

"His name is Yutaro. He's incredibly smart and he has a great sense of humor. He's a very sweet and caring person."

"How long have you been engaged?"

"About three months."

"And you want to marry him?"

"Yes. That's why we're engaged."

Millerna paused for a moment, considering. "Do you still love Van?"

Hitomi looked down and bit her lip. "I—I don't know. If some part of me didn't love him, I wouldn't be this confused, would I?"

It must be so hard. Poor girl. Millerna reached out and touched Hitomi's arm. "Does he still love you?" she asked gently.

Hitomi stopped fidgeting with her braid. "I think so. I mean, he gets so angry when people ask me about the ring. And then there are times when we're together and it feels like I've never left." Her fingers flew to her mouth, a sieve trying to catch the words before any more came out. "That's what makes it so hard," she managed in a choked voice, and broke down in tears.

Millerna got up and drew Hitomi into her arms, soothingly stroking the top of her head until she calmed down. She offered her a handkerchief, and Hitomi accepted it thankfully, using it to dab at her eyes. "I wasn't supposed to come back," Hitomi said, sniffling. "I shouldn't have come back. How can I love two men at the same time?"

There was a knock at the door. Oh, honestly, Millerna thought, annoyed. What could they possibly want? She opened the door, standing so her body was blocking the view to the rest of the room.

To her surprise, it was Allen and a slender woman who had silky white hair, despite having a face not much younger than Millerna's. "Allen?"

"Good afternoon, Princess," he said. "Is this a bad time?"

The timing could not have been worse, but she ignored the question. "Is it important?"

"I hate to impose, but could you watch Celena for a while? There's nobody else available, and the King has called a meeting that I need to attend."

"Well…all right," she relented.

"Thank you, Princess."

"Try to be back soon, ok?"

"I'll try."

When Allen left, Millerna led Celena into the room. "Celena, you probably don't remember her, but this is one of my friends, Kanzaki Hitomi," she said by way of introduction.

Hitomi held out a hand. "Nice to meet you."

But Celena only stared at her outstretched hand and did not move or even curtsy. "Nice…to meet you," she said softly.

Millerna sighed inwardly. "Celena, dear, please have a seat." She glided to a bookshelf and picked out several books, the ones that had the most pictures. "What would you like to read today? The Legend of Jeture? The Royal Castles of Asturia? Or High Seas and High Adventure?"

"The Legend of Jeture is fine," she said in the same soft, eerie voice.

"Here you go, then," Millerna said and handed the young woman a book bound in dark red leather with gold-tipped corners.

When Millerna sat back down, she saw the questions in Hitomi's eyes. "Ever since Celena returned, she's been like this. I think that being…that other person…for so long has robbed her of her childhood. As a result, she has the mind of a ten-year-old child. Also," and here she waved Hitomi closer, her voice dropping to a whisper, "you mustn't mention Zaibach or Dilandau around her. She finds it…distressing."

Hitomi nodded and cast a nervous glance at the white-haired woman sitting on the sofa only a few feet away. Allen's younger sister, who was also the former madman of a military commander for Zaibach, was quietly absorbed with the book in her lap. Millerna had never met Dilandau in person, but Hitomi had, and Millerna imagined that the circumstances were not pleasant. But anybody would be uneasy around this strange girl with her quiet, ghostlike way of speaking and eyes that watched your every move.

"We can't leave her by herself, either," she continued in hushed tones. "Being alone upsets her." "Upset" is an understatement, Millerna thought to herself, remembering how Celena would cry—a lonely, high-pitched wail that chilled Millerna to the bone—and throw violent tantrums, smashing everything in sight. "That's why Allen always has to watch her, and when he has to be somewhere, he sometimes asks me to do it."

"Oh, that's terrible," Hitomi whispered back. "How has Allen been taking it?"

"Very patiently. I have never seen a more loving brother. He dotes on her, and he wants nothing more than for her to be happy. She's all he has left."

"How are you and Allen, by the way?" Hitomi asked, more conversationally.

Millerna sighed again, this time out loud, and smoothed the folds in the pink chiffon of her dress. "I still love him, but it's not like it was before. Ever since the war ended, ever since she came back," a quick motion of her head indicated the white-haired Celena, "he hardly has the time or energy for anyone else. I don't fault him for it, and it actually makes me love him all the more. But it's been hard." Millerna looked out the window, at the clouds drifting lazily across the bright, sapphire-blue sky. "There are times when I can't help feeling that I'm only second best. Good enough, but not…"

Millerna trailed off, struggling with what had always lurked in the back of her mind but had never been given voice. "Not Marlene," she finally said, turning back to Hitomi. "Or Celena."

"Oh Millerna," Hitomi said, her voice brimming with sympathy. "I had no idea."

Millerna shrugged. "Well, if it doesn't work out, there's always Dryden," she said lightly. "We're still engaged, after all. I haven't seen him in years, but he recently returned to Asturia. Only Jeture knows where that man has been all this time."

An awkward silence fell, neither woman able to find the right words to say. Hitomi was the first one to speak again. "I'm so sorry, Millerna. I had no idea how hard it must be for you. I shouldn't have gone and dumped all my problems on you."

"It's all right, Hitomi. Life is never easy, so we just have to try to make the best of it while we can, right?" Millerna said, trying to sound as cheerful as possible. "But it's a miracle that you're here at all, and just seeing you again is enough to make me happy."

Hitomi flashed her a grateful smile. "Me too. I don't know what I would do if you weren't here, Millerna." Then her smile faded, and her hand went to the pendant around her neck. "But there's something that's been bothering me. Ever since I arrived, there has been nothing but disaster after disaster in Fanelia. I think that my return to Gaea has something to do with it."

"How can that be? Don't be silly."

The other woman shook her head, her braids swinging back and forth. "There's something I have to tell you. This isn't something that many people know, but—" And abruptly, she broke off, leaving the rest of the sentence hanging.

Millerna waited for Hitomi to continue, but her mouth had frozen in mid-sentence. "Hitomi?" She passed a hand in front of Hitomi's eyes, which only stared blankly ahead.

Is she having a vision? Suddenly, Hitomi gasped, a sharp intake of air as if she had just started to breathe again, and she looked at Millerna with green eyes that were dark with fear. She reached forth and grabbed Millerna's hands, and Millerna almost gasped herself because Hitomi's fingers were cold as ice.

"The giants are coming, Millerna! Asturia is going to be attacked!"

"Giants? But there are no such thing as giants."

"I know—no, I mean, I don't know—I don't understand it, either. But I saw the giants, the ice giants, and they're coming to destroy Palas. Please, Millerna, we have to let King Aston and the others know, before it's too late!"

Before Millerna had the chance to react, Hitomi's eyelids fluttered, her eyes rolling up into her head, and she slumped over in the chair. "Hitomi? Hitomi!" Millerna tried shaking her and patting her cheeks, but there was no response. She grabbed one of Hitomi's wrists and a wave of relief washed over her when she found the pulse; it was slow, but steady. A hand on the woman's forehead told her that Hitomi did not have a fever, but she was as cold as frostbite on a winter day.

Pulling Hitomi from her chair, Millerna leaned back against the wall and hugged Hitomi's body close, trying to deliver as much of her own body heat as possible. "Celena," she called, and Celena's pale face lifted from her book. "Celena, please be a dear and find me one of the servants. Anyone will do."

Celena raised her hand, a balled-up fist containing a crumpled page from The Legend of Jeture. Staring at it in wonder, she opened her fingers and watched as the wad of paper dropped into her lap and bounced onto the floor. Millerna wasn't sure if the girl had even heard what she said. But Celena rose to her feet, swanlike and graceful, and floated out the door.

Please hurry, Celena, Millerna thought anxiously as she listened to Hitomi's shallow breathing. Although Hitomi's visions were never wrong, this one was unusual to the point of being bizarre. It was the middle of summer, and Asturia was nowhere near Asgard, the only place that Millerna could even fathom having ice giants, whatever those were. It was impossible. But then again, she would have thought that falling unconscious from hypothermia on a hot summer day was impossible, too. As she cradled Hitomi's cold body, a chill began to creep through her own body, spreading through her from the inside out.