For your pleasure I present the Beta'd version of this chapter. At her advice I have removed Kanzaki-san, as it was probably too difficult to get straight. I do hope you all enjoy the chapter. A big thanks to ookami123 for being my beta.
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From her position behind Van, Hitomi heard her mother's startled gasp as she gained her first view of her new home. She could appreciate the sentiment; she had never seen Fanelia look quite so spectacular. Mrs. Kanzaki and Yukio sat curled at Van's feet, trying to stay out of his way as he piloted the guymelef while still looking out at the world around them. Of them all, Hitomi had the best view, as she clung to Van's waist from behind.
Their first view of Fanelia was amazing. They had been deposited high in the softly lit sky, the rising sun behind them traced a remarkable path of shadows through the city streets. Even with the obvious signs of construction and rebuilding, Fanelia was beautiful. The rising sun turned the buildings into an orange-rose color, and even from the extreme distance you could make out awnings from shops and the people moving about in the growing light. Children could be seen running through the streets along with small animals; workers were walking along the streets, waving and calling greetings to each other.
Hitomi smiled as she recognized some of the people she had worked with before she had finally left for home. There was the Baker, already covered in flour and hard at work. One of the men Hitomi had delivered food to called a greeting down to a man below as he climbed the scaffolding surrounding the palace. That man had always been quick with a smile and eager to make those around him laugh. Even now she could see the man below grabbing his sides as he shook with laughter. Then there was the woman who had seemed so taken with Merle. The large woman was ushering a herd of reluctant children before her; perhaps she had decided to take up teaching after all.
From so far above, the city looked as if it were a paradise. It almost appeared as if none of the pain and sadness caused by the war, still remained in the hearts of Fanelia's people. One could almost believe that these people had never known tragedy or loss. But Hitomi knew better, and she marveled at how far they had come. These were not the refugees she remembered, ripped from their homes and scattered to the mountains; they were the people of Fanelia, and they were strong.
Van brought the Escaflowne around in a lazy circle, giving his passengers ample time to look down on Fanelia. By the time he brought the guymelef down for a landing in one of the palace courtyards, the sun had fully risen and the city was alive with activity. Several servants rushed from the palace doors, eager to greet their returning lord and assist in any way they could. They were quickly followed by a two well-dressed gentlemen, neither of whom Hitomi had met before.
With the ease of practice Hitomi slid down from the pilot's seat, giving Van room to help her mother and brother climb down.
"Your majesty, welcome home," the first man's voice was smooth and educated. He spoke with the authority of a man who knew his job, and did it well.
"Ah Gerard, how good of you to meet us so promptly," Van spoke as he gallantly handed Mrs. Kanzaki to a servant who had scurried forward to help her down, "and Lord Donwetz, I do hope you are enjoying the palace gardens. I would like to introduce to you both, Kanzaki Hitomi, previously a resident of the mystic moon, her mother and younger brother Yukio." He gestured respectfully towards each of them as they were introduced. "They shall be staying with us."
Yukio stood in the pilots chair examining the controls of the giant robot, apparaently oblivious to the fact that he had just been introduced to potentially important people.
"Ladies and Yukio," Van continued, "may I introduce Lord Donwetz, one of the advisors to the crown, and my head steward, Gerard. Gerard, see to it that rooms are prepared immediately, will you?"
Gerard smiled kindly and made a shallow bow towards Van, before turning to do his bidding. Lord Donwetz on the other hand . . .
Hitomi couldn't be certain, Lord Donwetz held himself at such an angle it was difficult to actually see his expression, let alone read it, but she was certain she caught a flicker of strong distaste as the lord bowed in turn to his king, and turned away to walk back inside. Van didn't seem to notice as he had turned to help Yukio down, but she couldn't help but feel as if this small act and all but ruined the sense of homecoming she had been filled with prior to this point. It seemed obvious some people didn't want her here.
"That was so cool," Yukio was saying as he and their mother cleared the way for Escaflowne to drop the load it held in one of its claws. "Can you believe how it flew? Oh I can't wait to do that again." Yukio ran forward as soon as the bundle sat on the ground and pulled out his and their mother's bags. The woman herself seemed to be in a state of mild shock; she looked around her but didn't seem react to anything she saw. A darkening bruise was spreading across one cheek and Hitomi couldn't help but watch her, worried.
She had seemed okay before they left, making decisions and packing. She hadn't even looked at her husband as she'd walked past him to where Yukio waited to help her up to the pilot's position in Escaflowne. She had seemed so strong then, and yet now . . . now she looked so fragile, as if the slightest wind could shatter her.
"Eugene?" Van's voice carried over the courtyard as he looked around him. A young man's head popped up from among the gathering crowd, and he scurried over towards where Van stood. He bowed low before him before speaking
"Yes sire? How may I be of service?"
"Assign someone to see to the luggage and the replacement of the gold in the treasury. Then I would like for you to fetch the Lady Atilda, and be quick about it." Eugene nodded and motioned two servants towards Van, before jogging through the door that Gerard had used earlier.
Van smiled at his new houseguests and motioned them to follow him as he walked inside.
When Hitomi was last here the rebuilding on the palace had just begun. It had been on of the greatest casualties of the fires and they had been sifting the ruins for anything salvageable. Now the construction, on this wing, was pretty much complete, the architecture standing above them in magnificent relief. There were gargoyles and statues carved into the outside wall. There was filigree and decorations the like of which she hadn't seen any where but in a cathedral decorating the walls of the garden.
The palace looked grand from the outside, but inside it was merely an empty shell. The stone work had been completed, but the rooms were horribly bare, boasting the possessions a minor noble might have, and no more. Where once Hitomi remembered tapestries and beautiful paneling, there were only bare walls. The royal family had lost so very much: paintings, books, documentation of their history, but the emptiness was also a sickening reminder of so much more. So many other Fanelian families had lost just as much. The city and the palace could never be the same again.
"This area is the first to be rebuilt, we have traders currently in Asturia and Fried to see what they can find in the way of furnishings and decorations." Van spoke easily, distracting them from the thoughts of what had happened on Earth, and giving Mrs. Kanzaki time to pull herself back together. "They are also to look for artists and weavers for commission work. Soon, this will be just as grand as my great grandfather first made it."
Hitomi smiled and glanced over at Van. He was proud of what they had rebuilt, and he had every right to be. In the soft glow from the lanterns he looked so strong and sure, handsome in so many ways. She felt her insides turn to mush when he glanced towards her and their eyes met. If Yukio and her mother hadn't been right there . . . Van grinned at her blush and took her hand in his.
There was a clatter of footsteps from down the hall, breaking the moment and releasing Van and Hitomi from their trance. Following after Eugene, a well-dressed woman confidently made her way down the empty corridor. Van released Hitomi's hand as he turned to greet the newcomer.
"Ah, Lady Atilda, thank you for responding so quickly."
"Your Majesty," the woman's voice was full and warm, and a very nice change from the lord's previous greeting, "You know I always enjoy our little chats."
Lady Atilda was older, perhaps a couple of decades older than Mrs. Kanzaki, but she was no wilting flower. As she strode forward it was with the energy of a much younger woman, and though her hair had turned to silver and her hands were weathered with passing of the years, she smiled easily and with her very presence seemed to put those around her in a state of ease. As she approached Van she took the time to slip into a graceful curtsy which Van quickly waved her up from.
"Lady Atilda I would like to introduce you to Mrs. Kanzaki, the mother of my betrothed." Hitomi felt her face warm and a silly smile spread across her face at the mention of their future union. "Their rooms are currently being prepared and I was wondering if you could entertain them for a bit. I fear their departure was rather abrupt, and this may all seem a bit unreal."
Hitomi turned to Van her eyes begging him not to leave her just yet. He smiled at her and held her hands to his heart. In an undertone he spoke only to her, "Things are different now. I have to be king and there are things that just can't wait any longer. I'll return to you as soon as time, and my advisors, permit. Till then, take care of your mother, I worry about her current mental state, and trust the Lady Atilda, she was as much a mother to me as she could be."
Hitomi nodded and gathered her courage and composure about her. However, she quite nearly lost it again immediately, when Van raised her hand to his lips and lightly brushed the back of it with the lightest of feather kisses. She never thought such a fleeting touch could send shivers down her spine. Maybe it was best that they did have some time apart, she'd hate to see what would happen if they were left alone for the briefest of moments. A child out of wedlock was bad enough for him, but to be caught in such a position . . . Hitomi blushed.
"Now Van, don't be getting lost in those eyes now, you have business to attend to."
Neither of them knew how or when they'd become lost in each other's gaze, and they didn't particularly care. It was only when footsteps sounded from down the hall and Hitomi turned to see her brother's unsubtle smirk, that she realized she'd lost several minutes to Van's dark eyes. As the footsteps came closer, and Van found that he was quite grateful that Lady Atilda had spoken before Lord Donwetz could see him so besotted.
"Gerard will have your rooms ready for you in short order," with reluctance Van released Hitomi's hand and set his mind to the business of the day. "Lady Atilda, Mrs. Kanzaki, Hitomi. I'll see you at the morning meal." Then without a backwards glance he turned and walked to meet Lord Donwetz.
Hitomi couldn't stop her eyes from following him as he disappeared from sight. Even now, knowing she was here with him, she was afraid something would take her from him.
"Well Ladies," Lady Atilda grinned over at Yukio, "and you too, my lad, shall we retire to my chambers then? I'll have one of the servants bring some wine and cakes." Hitomi smiled gratefully at her, and Mrs. Kanzaki cracked the faintest of smiles.
"Good," the woman declared, gesturing smoothly down the hall, "Follow me."
Lady Atilda turned to face the direction she had first come from, signing to Eugene to fetch the wine and food as she went.
Considering the fact that Lady Atilda had been away on Crown Business the first time Hitomi had visited, the conversation flowed remarkably easy. She made easy conversation, describing the rebuilding currently taking place as well as plans for future projects. She required no response from them, though at the same time they did not feel as if she were rambling or shutting them out. She listened when they spoke and gave credence to what they said. She also, Hitomi noticed, made it possible for them to pass through the corridors without drawing attention to Mrs Kanzaki's odd behavior.
Once in the lady's suite, they sat at a small table near the fire place. It wasn't until all the servants had left and it was just the four of them that she turned and asked gravely, "So, what really happened?"
The words were said with such kindness that you couldn't take it as prying, and her eyes rested on Mrs Kanzaki as she waited patiently for someone to speak. She could not possibly have missed the fresh bruise on the woman's face, and Hitomi imagined she already knew the answer.
"Father hit mother," there was a fierce current of anger running beneath Yukio's voice as he growled out the words. It seemed as if the words had reminded him of events recently passed. There was now no joy in his voice, no wonder of discovery for this new world of magic. The atmosphere in the room seemed to close in, as if they had told a secret meant to be kept. They felt swept up, back to the moment when their father had lashed out, feeling again the uncertainty and fear for what their father had done.
Those words, spoken so fiercely by a son's determination to protect his mother, seemed to break their mother as, suddenly, she burst into tears. Hitomi and Yukio rushed to her side, but were ushered away by Lady Atilda.
"Out those doors is one of the palace gardens. Why don't the two of you go for a walk and look around for a bit?" Yukio opened his mouth to protest. Every line of his body spoke of his dislike for that idea.
Mother doesn't want us to see her like this, Hitomi suddenly realized. Reaching over she grabbed Yukio's arm and caught his attention. Before he could say a word, she gestured for the door with her head.
"We can't just leave her like this!" Yukio said, a little too loudly for Hitomi's comfort.
"She wouldn't want us to see her cry," she hoped her voice was low enough that her mother wouldn't hear. Yukio looked at her, then over at their mother, obviously torn. Hitomi tugged on his hand and, reluctantly, he followed her out. Once outside however, he refused to wander far from the room where their mother sat. For almost an hour they could hear her crying and the soothing voice of Lady Atilda, but no words could be made out.
"So what happens now?" Hitomi turned to look at her brother. It was the first thing he had said since they had left their mother in Lady Atilda's hands.
"I don't know," she sighed, and shrugged. "When I was here before there was so much going on, it seemed as if there was never time to stop and see how people lived. Even after the war was over, we were all so busy rebuilding." Hitomi looked around her with a new awareness. What was her place here? She almost wished she had her tarot deck with her, but remembering the chaos that had ensued the last time she had consulted it, was glad she had left it behind.
"Don't worry, we'll find our place, and if there isn't one made for us already, we'll just carve one out for ourselves." The siblings grinned at each other and allowed the peace of the garden to envelop them. And as she wrapped a companionable arm around her little brother, Hitomi only wished her mother could feel its comforting embrace.