Disclaimer: See chapter 1.

Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?

Chapter 6: Dinner and the Deadly Vision

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Later that evening back at the castle

"So where is she?" an impatient Merle asked as she played with her fork.

"She'll be along shortly," Van assured her as he sat at the head of the table with his hands clasped under his nose and his elbows on the table. "She wanted to wash up and change for dinner."

Just then the door to the dining hall opened and a maid walked in, followed by Hitomi.

"Your Majesty, the Lady Hitomi." The maid curtsied and slowly backed out of the room.

Van and the other male guests at the table all stood up and took note of the vision in blue. The dress she wore was a royal blue chiffon halter dress that came down to her knee with a charmeuse band waist. Underneath, she wore an azure-colored silk camisole to provide just the right degree of modesty.

"Hitomi." Van's eyes traveled up and down her body. "You look…"

Before he could finish, a loud, "HITOMI!" filled the room as Merle flung herself into the girl's arms and licked her face.

Hitomi laughed. "It's good to see you too, Merle," she said, returning the catgirl's hug.

"I missed you. Not as much as Lord Van, but I missed you still," the catgirl informed her.

"I missed you too, Merle," the teenager replied.

"Really? Did you really miss me?" Merle grinned widely.

"Well… not as much as I missed Van, but I missed you still." The catgirl narrowed her eyes at the teen until she saw the girl's playful smile. Then she smiled back and licked her face one last time before jumping out of Hitomi's arms and saying, "Let's eat!"

"Please, Hitomi, sit here." Van gestured to the seat to his right.

She nodded and walked over to the chair.

Before she sat down, Van continued, "Let me introduce you to my ministers."

Hitomi stopped herself from sitting and placed her hands together.

Gesturing from left to right, Van proceeded. "This is our Minister of the Interior, Sir Baschan. He has overseen all of the reconstruction of our city." The minister bowed respectfully to Hitomi.

"Next to him is our Minister of Trade, Sir Charson. He was instrumental in establishing our trade agreements with Freid and Asturia." This minister did as the last, bowing respectfully to the king's honored guest.

"This is our Minister of State, Sir Vallentii, who has been working tirelessly at establishing peaceful alliances with our neighbors to ensure that war is a thing of the past here in Fanelia." Again the minister bowed.

"And lastly, but perhaps most importantly, our Minister of Defense, Sir Beckett. While peace is what we all strive for, we mustn't deceive ourselves in believing that this is the wish of all the kingdoms of Gaea."

"Ma'Lady." The minister bowed deeply.

"Gentlemen," Hitomi curtseyed low and held the position. "It is an honor to meet the men in whose hands, King Van places the fate of Fanelia in." Then she rose and gracefully took her seat. Picking up her napkin, she delicately wiped Merle's saliva from her face, taking a moment to steal a glance at the ministers.

She could hear Merle whisper, "Oh, brother." But seeing the approving nods and smiles amongst the ministers, she knew she had impressed them all. She smiled to herself and set her napkin down.

Dinner went by pleasantly enough. While Merle gave her full attention to her meal, paying no mind to the issues of politics and trade being bantered about, Hitomi listened intently, but chose to remain silent, stealing long glances at Van as he posed questions to and answered questions from his ministers.

'I can't believe this is the same Van that I saw just six weeks ago. He's matured so much. Before, all he was interested in was fighting and war. Now look at him. Dealing with issues of trade, infrastructure, and politics and he's only fifteen. It's amazing but …'She smiled, 'He's amazing.'

"What do you think, Hitomi?" Van asked.

"Huu?" The teen was snapped out of her stupor.

Merle snickered under her breath as she stared at Hitomi with hooded eyes.

"Perhaps matters of trade fail to capture the young lady's fancy," Sir Charson joked, eliciting the light-hearted laughter from the other ministers.

Hitomi lowered her head in embarrassment as her cheeks turned a bright red.

Van smiled politely. "I'm sure Lady Hitomi simply found her meal more interesting than our boring dribble. Or perhaps you were in the midst of a vision?"

"A vision? Surely you don't believe in such things, your Majesty?" Sir Beckett said.

"Surely, I do. Hitomi's visions saved my life many times during our struggle against the Zaibach Empire," Van said firmly. Turning his attention to his guest, "Please, Hitomi, tell me what you saw."

"Well," she turned a pale shade of red once again. "You see, Van… actually, I…" She gasped.

'What is this? A ship, we're on a ship. We're sailing, but to where? To Asturia, yes, we're sailing to Asturia. To meet with Princess Millerna and… and Allen.'

She gasped.

'Allen and Van are fighting. No! Why are they fighting? Allen, no! Van! Wait… they're not fighting, they're practicing, and they're training together. Now they're laughing together. And.. and Allen's sister. She's so beautiful… and shy. But she's taken by Van. She thinks Van is very handsome, and he is. Time has passed and we are ready to leave. The ship's holds are full and we leave with well wishes from all. The journey back to Fanelia seems uneventful but… what is that? The moon hangs low in the sky and in the horizon a storm is coming, a fierce storm. The ship is in danger and Van is with the crew trying to save the ship. What's this? Merle, what are you doing on deck during the storm? She's afraid for Van's safety. She's rushing over to him when a wave…'

Hitomi jumped to her feet and screamed, "NO!"

"Hitomi? What's wrong?" Van stood up quickly and reached out to her, but stopped short of touching her, not sure if he should arouse her from her trance.

'Merle, no! She… she got washed overboard. Van… Van is trying to save her; he's ready to jump overboard to save her, but the crew, they stop him, they hold him down. Merle, I can't see Merle. There, there she is. No! She's… she's under the water. She can't breathe. She's drowning. She's dying. She's… dead.'

Hitomi collapsed back in her chair, gasping for breath and staring at Merle with infinite sadness in her eyes.

The room was deathly silent. No one knew what to do or say.

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AN: I hope you found this interesting. Will this vision come true, or will Hitomi be able to alter the future and save Merle? Well, we won't find out for at least 4 or 5 more chapters. TeHeHeHe

Sorry about that; couldn't resist. Anyway, how am I doing in keeping the main characters IC? I don't think Hitomi is the kind of girl that would curtsy normally, but here she is trying to make a good impression and impress both Van and his ministers. Love will make people do odd things sometimes. Well, I hope you liked this one, I hope to have 2 or 3 more chapters posted over the weekend.

7/1/2013:

The big change here is with Hitomi's dress. I was never satisfied with the description I used before, so I did a little research and found a dress that I think would look good on Hitomi. I don't know why but I've always thought Hitomi would look best in blues.

A. Amishi