Disclaimer: See chapter 1.
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 24
In the Palace in Palas, in Asturia
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Hitomi Kanzaki ran down the hall toward Van's chambers. Gasping for air when she arrived, she knocked and called out. "Van, please, let me in! I need to speak with you!"
"The door's open." A familiar feline voice said.
Opening the door and stepping in, Hitomi saw the catgirl sitting at the foot of Lord Van's bed, her arms wrapped around her knees.
"Merle, what are you doing here?" She asked.
"I came to tell Lord Van off. I came to tell him what a big mistake he was making by falling for Queen Millerna."
"But I was wrong, he wasn't!" She yelled and at the exact same instant, Hitomi yelled, "But we were wrong, he wasn't…!"
"Oh! How do you know?" They said in unison.
After a minute Merle responded. "Lord Van told me. He said what he was doing was giving Millerna some advice and she was simply displaying her gratitude. He said she was really frightened over her new responsibilities as queen and just needed someone to talk to."
'She was frightened? That's what Millerna said herself.' Hitomi recalled.
"How did you know?"
"Ah, Millerna told me. She also said Van was terribly depressed."
"Oh he is. I've never seen him like this. I'm scared Hitomi. I'm afraid he may do something. I don't know, something foolish." She covered her face with her hands. "And it's all my fault." She cried.
The girl from the Mystic Moon walked over to her friend and sat next to her wrapping her arm around her shoulder. "Its okay Merle. It's not your fault, really. It was just a misunderstanding, that's all. I'll find Van and set things right. You'll see." She gave the young girl a hopeful smile.
"Really?" The feline looked up at her.
"Really." She smiled back. "But I've got to find him first. Did he give any indication as to where he might be heading."
"No, none at all." The catgirl wiped her eyes. "But you can still find him, can't you? You used to be able to do stuff like that."
"Yes, I should be able to." She took her arm away from her friend and clasped both hands to her chest. She then closed her eyes and thought of him. 'Van, where are you Van? I need to speak with you. Van, please.'
Suddenly, the image of hundreds if not thousands of star flashed in her mind's eye. And the feeling of a gentle sway and light breeze.
"Aaah, I know where he is." She got up and headed for the door.
"I'll go with you." Merle said as she jumped off the bed.
"No Merle, I need to speak with Van, alone. Please try and understand."
Though sad at the prospect of not going to help her king and friend, the young feline nodded and sat back down.
"I'll be back with Van before you know it." The teen smiled then turned and was out the door.
Ten minutes later a carriage stopped in front of the pier and a pretty young woman stepped out. She pulled her sweater tight around her to fight off the night chill caused by the light ocean breezes as she made her way down the pier. Without hesitation she walked straight to The Lady Vari. The gangplank was down so she walked onto the ship carefully. Looking from front to back she spotted someone laying face up on a large pile of ropes. Slowly, quietly she made her way over to the still figure.
Stopping just a few feet from the still person she asked. "Are they beautiful tonight?" As she looked up at the stars.
"Yes, they are. But they're always beautiful. We just don't always take the time to notice is all." He replied.
"Van, I came to say… I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." She whispered softly.
"I told you there was nothing going on between Millerna and me. But you chose not to believe me." He said matter-of-factly, without a hint of accusation in his voice.
"Hey, news flash, I'm not perfect. Hehe." Hitomi said nervously. "I know you may not believe it but I am just a fifteen year old girl, with all the insecurities and fears that come with being a teenager. So see, surprise! I get scared sometimes."
"Scared of what?" He asked honestly.
"Scared that this is all a dream. That a brave and handsome king could in no way be in love with a plain, simple girl, like me. Afraid that someday your going to say, Hey, Hitomi, its been fun but you know I could never really fall in love with a girl from another world." She laughed sadly as tears clouded her vision.
Van sat up and looked at the girl who stood before him. "Hitomi, I don't ask you to be perfect, all I ask is that you trust me, that you believe in me. Is that too much to ask."
She remained silent for a minute then answered. "And what I'm saying is that there are time when I don't trust myself, when I don't believe in myself. How can I trust you when I doubt myself sometimes?"
A look of sadness overcame him. "So what you're saying then is that you can't trust me. Is that it?"
The girl sighed, "No, that's not what I'm saying."
"Then what is it you're saying?" His frustration quite evident.
"What I'm saying is that sometimes I doubt myself, and because of that, it makes it difficult to trust others, even you, all the time." Seeing his deep sadness motivated her to continue. "That's why I need your reassurance from time to time. And even then I still jump to stupid conclusions, like today. That's when I need your understanding most of all." She smiled weakly at him. "That's… that's when I need you to tell me you forgive me. That… that you understand and that everything will be alright because you love me." She whimpered as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Van stood up and walked over to her. Placing his hands firmly on her shoulders he looked deeply into her eyes. "Hitomi, I forgive you. I understand. Everything will be alright… because, I love you." Then he pulled her into his gentle but strong embrace.
"Oh Van, I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She cried softly. "I love you so much. It hurt so much to think you were in love with someone else."
Van pulled back just a bit and placed his fingers under Hitomi's chin to get her to look up at him. "Oh Hitomi, don't you know? Only you own my heart, no one else." He whispered gently to her.
"Oh Van." With those words she was swept away; lost in his eyes, lost in his embrace, lost in his love. Slowly, she rose up to bring her lips close to his and in turn he lowered his head to bring his lips closer to hers. And at that moment when their lips met, every inch of her skin felt alive. Like a soft electric current, she tingled all over as her lips pressed against his. They were soft yet firm, wanting but not too hungry, loving and passionate but not lustful.
Without thinking her hands wandered up and down his back feeling the contours of his strong, lean muscles under his shirt. And for an all too brief moment she was certain she had died and gone to heaven.
'I never imagined it would be like this. My first kiss. It's so… magical, so wonderful. How will any other ever hope to compare to this? No, don't worry now, just enjoy this now.' She shut off the logical part of her mind and allowed herself to just feel the pure joy that blossomed up inside her.
The kiss lasted both an eternity and an instant. Neither wanted it to end and so neither pulled away; rather they relished the moment as wave after wave of emotion washed over them. Only after these powerful feelings slowly subsided did they both lightly, gently, end the kiss. They stood in each other's embrace staring deeply into the other's eyes. Starlight shimmered off their orbs like tiny spirits of life. No further words were needed, so none were said. They simply enjoyed each other's touch as Hitomi rested her cheek on Van's chest and he rested his cheek on the side of her head. They held on tight, afraid to let go, afraid to let the moment slip away. As their heartbeats returned to normal after racing uncontrollably during the kiss, they looked at each other once again and smiled. Then hand in hand they left the ship and walked back up the pier.
As they approached the carriage Van looked over at Hitomi who just shook her head.
"I think we'll walk tonight." Van addressed the coachman. The man bowed and closed the door then road off.
In perfect tranquil silence, they walked together through the streets of Palas toward the palace. While most of the streets were deserted, a few people wandered in and out. But they may as well have been alone in the middle of the sea together for all that their senses registered where the touch of their hands, the rhythm of their footfalls as they walked in sync, and the short glimpses each stole of the other as they walked.
As they approached the palace thirty-five minutes later a sole figure atop the roof watched their ascension up the palace steps.
As she wept silent tears she spoke to herself. "I'm happy for you Lord Van… and you too Hitomi. Really I am."
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AN: I hope I was able to convey that pure magic of that one pure, perfect kiss. I don't know if I've ever truly experience it but I know I've come very close a few times in my life. ^_^
I really hope you've enjoyed this chapter. And at this point I feel I must apologize because I will not be able to update this story for about a week, maybe a little longer then that. I am truly sorry. Allow me to explain. From Friday till Sunday, I will be camping in downstate Illinois. And when I return Sunday, I'm sure the only thing I'll be wanting to do is sleep. In addition, as the founder of the anime group NoSCAMS, Northwest Suburban Chicago Anime/Manga Society, I have been trying to accumulate a set of high quality fanfics to add to our website. Currently, there is only one on there (my own ^_^ ) but my webmaster has the second to be posted and I am currently editing three others that we hope to have up in the coming month. Well, as any writer knows, editing takes time and I have been neglecting my duty to edit the stories some very talented writers have sent to me by request. So I plan on getting some of that taken care of early next week. Sorry for the delay in updating but I will have a new chapter up by next weekend. I promise.
As always, I greatly appreciate all the wonderfully supportive comments you've all made. It is truly the fire that keeps my creative juices flowing. But I feel I must warn you, as the description says this story will take us all the way through Hitomi's senior year in high school and beyond. That's a very long time and so far I'm just on the first visit. Basically, what I'm saying is I hope you're in it for the long haul because I know I am. This is why I've intentionally kept each chapter short. But in doing so I fully expect to have over a hundred chapters to this story. I hope I didn't scare you off with this revelation but I felt you deserved to know.
I look forward to reading what you thought about this chapter, come Sunday night. I hope I have met your expectations. ^__^
A. Amishi
PS: Just 21 days till ACEN'03!!! ^_^