Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 29
In the Great Arena
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As Millerna prepared to walk out onto the tournament field she turned to Hitomi who was standing towards the back of her entourage. "Hitomi." She gestured for the teen to come over to her. "I want you here at my left." The queen gestured a step or two behind her much like Eries was on her right.
"Ah, but Your Majesty, why should I be given such a place of honor?" The teen asked, clearly embarrassed by the attention she was receiving be the other members of the queen's entourage.
"Because you're a representative of Fanelia and King Van's honored guest." She smiled warmly then turned and began walking down the carpet onto the field.
Princess Eries turned and followed her younger sister without hesitation.
"Oh my." Hitomi gasped as her pause caused her to fall a step behind which she quickly recovered.
As they walked out onto the field the applause that still continued for the two combatants grew even louder with the appearance of the young queen. Hitomi looked about and was overwhelmed at the size of the arena as seen from the field. Then she looked forward and saw Van and Allen kneeling at the end of the carpet, their heads bowed in respect to the approaching monarch. She smiled to herself as her heart filled with pride for the man she loved. 'You did it Van. You really did it. I'm so proud of you.' Her smile found its way out onto her face as she beamed with pride and love.
As they approached to two men, Queen Millerna stopped along with her entourage. She raised her hands in a gesture to get the crowds to quiet down, which they did instantly. Then she addressed the Knight. "Arise Sir Allen Schezar, Asturia's Knight of Heaven."
Allen got to his feet slowly and with some effort then walked over to his queen and kneeled down again before her. "Yes My Queen."
"Sir Allen, you have represented Asturia well. Your demonstration of master swordsmanship was a marvel to behold. You are truly the finest swordsman in all of Asturia." To this statement, the audience applauded enthusiastically. "Please receive this amulet as a symbol of your kingdom's gratitude in participating in this tournament." She placed the amulet around his neck.
"Thank you My Queen." He rose and stepped back to his prior position.
"Lord Van, King of Fanelia, would you please step forward?" The Queen asked.
Van rose with a strained look on his face then walked over and began to kneel once more, but Millerna reached out her hand to stop him.
"Lord Van, please, stand before me as an equal." She stated.
Van straightened then bowed respectfully. He stared at the Queen without a hint of emotion until out of the corner of his eye he caught sight of Hitomi standing to the left of the Queen. His heart filled with warmth as a small hint of a smile crept its way onto his face.
This did not go unnoticed by Hitomi or the Queen. Addressing her friend she went on, "Lord Van, I thank you for participating in this tournament and for your triumphant effort. Never before has a swordsman outside the boarders of Asturia demonstrated such skill and ability in this arena. Any kingdom would be honored to call Fanelia an alley. I am especially honored to be able to call you both alley and friend." She curtsied before the King. Then she continued. "Please accept this as a symbol of our friendship and respect." Receiving an amulet with the crest of Asturia from one of her servants, she placed it around Van's neck.
Van bowed, "Thank you Your Majesty."
In bowing a second time Princess Eries took notice of the delicate fabric tied to the end of the King's sword. She took a half step forward and whispered in her sister's ear then stepped back.
Looked at the sword, Millerna smiled. "Tell me King Van, that handkerchief at the end of your sword. What significance does it hold?" She asked with a smile.
Van's expression grew very serious for a moment then a simple smile appeared. "It is a symbol of my true love's favor. She gave it to me and asked that I fight to preserve her honor. To this end I dedicated myself to this match." He answered.
Hitomi's cheeks began to burn.
The arena filled with the mumbling of the crowd as the old remorse started up again.
Millerna smiled, "Perhaps it is time now to return the favor to your true love, now that you have ensured her honor."
Van considered her words for a moment then bowed his head, "Excuse me Your Majesty." He said as he walked over to Hitomi. Seeing this the crowds gasped in surprise.
In her seat in the royal seating area Merle looked on as her heart sank. 'What are you two doing? … I can't take this anymore.' She stood up and turned to the minister. "Sir Charson, I'm going to get something to eat from one of the food venders. I'll be right back." She smiled and left the area. Once in the outer hall she found the nearest pillar and leaned against it, slowly sliding down until she was sitting on the floor. She wrapped her arms around her knees and buried her face in her arms.
Standing in front of Hitomi, Van undid the bow that held the material to his sword then went down on one knee, holding the object up his love. "I have done as you requested of my Lady Hitomi. I have defended your honor and now return to you the favor as a symbol of my love and faithfulness."
Hitomi's heart was racing and she knew she must have been the brightest shade of red ever. She reached out with trembling hands and placed them on either side of his and said. "Thank you my Lord and King. No woman could ask for more." She thought for a moment of what she should do or say next. There really was only one thing she wanted to do at that moment more than anything else in the world. "Arise my King and receive the gift for preserving my honor."
Van rose to his feet and Hitomi stepped forward, placing her hand on his cheek, she gently caressed it as she lifted herself onto her toes to draw her lips close to his. Without hesitation, the King wrapped his arms around her and tilted his head to meet her kiss. The crowd gasped even louder then was silent in shock. The silence was finally broken when the Queen began to applaud. Shortly there after Allen then Eries and the rest of the queen's entourage followed suit. Eventually the entire arena filled with the approving applause of those in attendance.
Everyone except Merle, who sat alone weeping in the outer hall, "You promised Hitomi. You promised not to make a public show of your love for Lord Van. You promised."
The kiss lasted several minutes and as they kissed, Hitomi wept tears of joy. While this kiss was not the awe-inspiring kiss of the other night, it was warm and loving and somehow familiar. In it was the love and the trust they shared and the assurance that now all of Gaea knew of their love. No rumors to the contrary would ever again rear their ugly heads to serve as a seed of doubt between them.
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AN: Hope you liked this. I wanted a way for Millerna to put an end to the rumors about her and Van and this provided her that means. Not that she was trying to be manipulative and all, she just saw an opportunity and took it, trusting in the love between Van and Hitomi. This ends the saga at the arena. They'll be setting sail soon to face yet another predicted danger. Unfortunately, this is probably my last chapter till after ACEN. I want to get at last one more chapter in on my Eva/Dual and OLS fics before the con so I won't have time for another chapter here before then. But rest assured, I will continue next week.
Thank you all so much for your responses to my last chapter. I was really worried about that one. I read/edited it so many times it kind of lost its impact on me so I was really worried that it was going to come across flat. I'm so glad you all liked it. I guess maybe I'm a better action writer than I thought, but don't worry, I won't let it go to my head. ^_^
Oh, just to clarify, because I thing there may be some out there that think otherwise, I am a guy, and a hopeless romantic as well. ^_^ But that part I'm sure you all already knew. ^____^
By the way, I've been playing around with the idea for another Escaflowne fic and I thought, I'd pass it by you all to see what you think. Not to worry, I won't start it till I'm either done with this one or very near done. My idea actually is an Escaflowne/Lodoss War crossover, where the island continent of Lodoss is actually on Gaea but separated so long ago that almost everyone on the rest of Gaea had all but forgotten about it. While at sea, Van/Hitomi/Merle/Allen/Millerna get shipwrecked on Lodoss and meet Parn and Deedlit. The free knight and his companion try to help our Esca heroes return home but then a new danger threatens the accursed island and all must fight. I must admit that Record of Lodoss War (OAV) is actually my second favorite anime, ahead of Escaflowne. I've always been a big sword and sorcery fan. The more I've thought of this the more I like it. It won't be a sequel to this story but some elements that will come about in this story will carryover to that one, if I end up doing it. Let me know what you think, please.
A. Amishi
PS: Just 4 more days till ACEN'03!!!!!!!!!!!! ^_____________^
As you can see from the above PS, I had intended on posting this several days ago but I held off because I got a new beta-reader (not that I had an old beta-reader before). And I've been waiting for him to return this chapter with his corrections but at this point, time is running short and since both he and I will be at ACEN this weekend, I know he won't be sending me anything over the weekend. So I decided to go ahead and post this chapter already. Hopefully, I'll be reloading several of my chapters soon with the necessary grammatical and spelling corrections. I've already writing the next chapter but it's a little rough so I'll post it after ACEN. Sorry for the long delay. And thank you for your patience.