Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 40
On Earth
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Hitomi Kanzaki stood motionless, staring straight forwards. It wasn't until the train pulled out of the station as the contrast of light and darkness caused by the lamps from within the train and the night sky casting a dark shadow upon everything else did she rouse from her trance.
Gasping in shock, she looked around to get her bearings. "Where am I? The train station, but which one?" She looked off in the direction where her school tower would be if… "I'm near school." She stared at the edifice in the distance. "What time is it?" She took her bag off her shoulder and set it down on the ground as she opened it and started rummaging around in search of her pager. "There it is. Only forty-five minutes since I life home." She sighed in sadness. "Well, at least I won't be reported missing. I guess that's a good thing."
She put her pager away and stood up waiting for the next train.
She walked with purpose in her step, occasionally breaking into a jog, wanting to get to Yukari's house as soon as possible. She had so much to tell her friend and this time she had evidence to prove she wasn't just dreaming. As she came close to her own house she slowed down. Passing slowly, she looked in the front window to find her family still sitting watching TV. Not wanting to draw attention to herself, she quickened her pace once again and continued on to her friend's house.
As she turned the corner she spotted her friend standing out front of her home but she wasn't alone.
"Yukari! Oh, Amano. Sorry, I… a…" She turned away to hide her embarrassment. "I… I'll come back later."
"That's alright Hitomi. I was just leaving." The handsome young track star said. Turning his attention to his girlfriend he whispered. "I'll call you tomorrow, okay."
She nodded as he gave her a gentle kiss on the lips.
"Goodnight." He smiled as he turned and walked away, past Hitomi. "That's a cute outfit you got on Hitomi. Did you have a date tonight?" He asked as he walked by.
"No, I mean yes… well sort of." She blushed once again.
Laughing lightly, he smiled at her. "Well, when you figure out whether it was a date or not, maybe you can introduce him to me." He added as he continued on, waving goodbye.
"That might be hard." She said, turning to watch him go.
"Did you want something Hitomi or do you always like spying on me when I'm on a date with Amano?" Yukari teased.
Turning back around quickly to face her friend, she responded. "I wasn't spying. I came to talk to you."
"About what?" Her friend tilted her head slightly.
"Lets go to your room. It's not something I care to discuss out on the street." The two teens walked to the door and went inside.
"Okay, but this doesn't have anything to do with that dream you had six months ago, does it?" Yukari inquired.
"I'll tell you upstairs, in your room." Hitomi insisted.
"You had the dream again."
"I'm telling you it's not a dream. It's real. Gaea really does exist."
Yukari walked over to her window and looked up at the full moon. "I only see one moon up there Hitomi, not two."
Walking over till she was standing next to her friend, the teen looked up at the moon as well. "I can't explain it but when I look at the moon, I see Gaea as well, just behind it."
Her friend sighed then walked back over to her bed and sat down. "So, tell me what happened this time. Were you sucked up by a beam of light, like last time after track practice or something."
"No, I contacted Lord Van telepathically a few days ago."
"Telepathically?"
"Yeah, we were thinking of each other and before I know it we could hear each other's thoughts. I told him I missed him and wanted to come visit him. He said he'd be waiting, so I packed some things and headed over the school." She said as she grabbed her bag and dropped it on the bed between her and her friend.
"So how long were you there this time?"
"Over a month. I arrived in the garden behind the castle in Fanelia and I spent a few days there. Then we traveled by ship to Astoria for Princess Millerna's coronation…"
As she spoke, Yukari went through her bag. "What, you went over there without your CD player?"
"I told you I gave it to Millerna as a gift."
"So now the Queen of Astoria has a CD player. Where is she going to get batteries or new CDs?"
"I guess I'll just have to bring them to her."
She continued to pull out items as Hitomi continue with her story.
"Then he lunged forward but Van blocked it and countered." The shorthaired teen went on as she pranced around the room with an imaginary sword in her hand. "Then he followed that up with a series of attacks but Allen blocked each one of them."
"Okay, I thought you said Allen and Van were friends?"
"They are. I told you, this was a tournament. They weren't trying to kill each other, just cut the flower off that was on the lapel of their vest. Aren't you listening?" Hitomi stood with her hands on her hips.
"Of course I am. So who won the match?"
"Well, that was the best part. See after fighting for almost an hour they both attacked at the same time and cut off each other's flower at the exact same time." The shorthaired teen thrusted forward with her imaginary sword.
"So it was a tie?"
"No, see Allen's cut wasn't clean. He tore a small part of Van's vest. It was just a tiny cut but it was enough. Van's cut was clean; he only got the flower. So Van was declared the winner."
"Then I dove in after her."
"So you ruined that outfit? Shoot, and I was going to ask you if I could borrow that one." The longhaired teen continued searching in the bag, "I don't see it in here."
"No, well, see after spotting her, I swam out to grab her but right before I could reach her the rope around my waist stopped me. So I pulled off the skirt so I could get the rope off me. Then after I reached her and pulled her to the surface, I took off the jacket and blouse. They were just too heavy in the water."
"So how'd you get back to the ship?"
"Van tied the rope around himself and dove in. He found me and the crew pulled us back to the ship."
"So you were on the ship in your underwear with a bunch of dirty sailors staring at you." Yukari's eyes went wide.
"I wasn't worried about what I was wearing at the time, I was more worried about resuscitating Merle."
"And then I appeared at the train station. Like I never left at all." Hitomi shook her head in disbelief. "I don't understand that part of it. I don't understand why I always return before I ever left. Or why time passes so much faster on Gaea than it does here."
Yukari sighed. "Hitomi, this all sounds incredible, but are you sure you didn't just dream it all? I mean really. Come on, a whole month's worth of adventures in less then an hour's time. And you still have no real proof you went anywhere."
"Yes I do. I have proof this time." Hitomi started searching in her bag. "See, here." She pulled out the herbal medicine Van had given her. "Van gave me this, to treat the scratches on my face."
"What scratches?"
"That's right, you saw me this afternoon. Did I have any scares on my face?"
"No."
"Look here." Hitomi turned her cheek toward the light to give her friend a good look.
"I don't see anything." Yukari insisted.
"Look closer. This stuff works really well, but if you look closely you can still make it out."
Looking closely, Yukari could just make out the faint tracks of three deep scratches across her friend's cheek. Her eyes went wide as she sat back down slowly. "When did you get those?"
"I told you, Merle scratched me when she was struggled to break free on the ship during the storm."
"Did they happen this afternoon after school? Did your brother do that to you?" The longhaired teen stared breathing a little heavier and feeling a little bet warmer.
"Would they have healed this much if he had done this to me this afternoon?" Suddenly, another item came to mind and Hitomi started looking through her bag again. "Here, this is the handkerchief I gave to Van before his match against Allen." She held the delicate fabric out for her friend to see. "Look at the designs on it. Have you ever seen anything like it ever?"
Yukari stared at the cloth, taking in its intricate designs and unique weaving, and she began to shake. "No, I've never seen anything like it before, not anywhere." Her breathing became more labored. "Where did you get that thing?"
"I told you, Princess Eries lent it to me and later let me keep it." She pushed it closer to her friend. "Here take it. Feel the texture of the fabric. Is feels softer than silk but it's not silk and it's not synthetic either."
"No, I don't want to touch it." Yukari leaped off the bed as if contact with the fabric could prove lethal in some way.
"Yukari, what's wrong?" A confused expression worked its way across Hitomi's face.
"This can't be true. This can't be real. You imagined it Hitomi. You had to have imagined it."
"Yukari, how can you say that? The scare on my face, the medicine, THIS!" She held the fabric firmly in both hands. Slowly, she drew it closer to herself, till she was looking down upon it. Gradually, droplets began to fall upon it. One or two at first then a steady flow as she pressed the material to her face and wept.
"Why won't you believe me? Why do you insist it's all just a dream? Van is not a dream. He's real and I love him. I love him more than I can bear. Why can't you believe that?"
Unable to overcome her own fears in order to comfort her friend, Yukari answered. "Because, if I believe what you tell me is true, then everything I've ever learned about human existence is a lie. Atlantis ceases being a myth. The origin of mankind and our understanding of the universe all changes. I'm not ready to throw away everything I believe in, everything I've been raised to believe is true."
Looking up through tear-filled eyes Hitomi replied. "There are many truths in the world, not just one. Why can't you believe in mine?"
"I can't Hitomi, I just can't." Seeing the sadness and pain her friend was going through brought tears of sadness and frustration to the young girl's eyes.
"But I need you to. I don't know what to do about Van. I left this time but if I go back again, I don't know if I'll be strong enough to return. It hasn't even been an hour since I left him and already I yearn to see him again. I feel so complete when I'm with him and so empty when I'm not. I don't know what to do. I need your help. Please Yukari, please. Help me, I love him so much it hurts." The teen wept again.
Having never seen her friend in so much emotional pain before, Yukari struggled to overcome her own fears and slowly walked up to her friend. Wrapping her arms around her, she reassured her. "It's okay Hitomi. It's okay to cry. It's okay to love. I believe you. I believe you now."
Looking up at her friend, hoping these were not just words of sympathy the girl asked, "Really, do you really believe me now?"
"Of course, the Hitomi I know would never get so worked up over something that wasn't real. For you to have fallen for someone so hard, he has to be real." Yukari smiled.
"Thank you Yukari, thank you." She continued to weep.
After a few minute, her friend said. "Come on now, it's late and you've been through quite an ordeal. Lie down and go to sleep. You'll need your rest, so you can tell me more about this place; Gaea is it?"
Obeying her friend's instructions, Hitomi laid down on the bed, still clutching the delicate fabric to her chest. "Thank you Yukari. Thank you for believing in me." She said through sleepy eyes as exhaustion over took her.
"What else are best friends for?" Yukari whispered as she took off her friend's shoes and socks, and pulled the blanket over her. Setting Hitomi's bag on the floor she saw the small package her friend had said was medicine. Getting an idea, she reached in and pulled it out. "Well, this is one way to make sure." Taking one last glance at her friend who was fast asleep now, she turned off the light and walked out of the room.
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AN: What will Hitomi do? Love can be a wonderful and a painful thing. But if there is one thing we know about our heroine, it's that she is never lacking of courage to face whatever challenges life has in store for her, even challenges of the heart.
I so love writing this story. It really lets the romantic in me grow. I'm glad you liked my last chapter. I was a bit concerned. I know how much everyone wants V/H to be together forever. Believe me, so do I. But there is so much I want to write about and the only way to do that is to keep them apart. Sorry.
Fushizen na, thanks for the suggestion. I'll see about submitting it there.
Tyifa, I did get your review, though for some reason it does not appear on ff.net. Thank you, and thank all of you for your support. You make working on this story a joy. ^_^
Just to let everyone know. I have not enjoyed a summer break for many years now. For me, the only difference between summer and the rest of the year is, I use my air conditioning while I drive to work during the summer. The last time I was in school, I'm willing to wager many of you weren't even born yet, and that was while I was working on my Masters. But I've always loved to write, ever since I was a young boy and ff is my outlet. So don't expect updates to come any faster just because it is summer time. If anything, they may be slowing down because I am entering a very busy phase at my work. But only time will tell. As always, I will try to update at least once a week. More often if I can.
A. Amishi