Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 42
Yukari's bedroom
---
Yukari's longhaired cat walked up along the bed. Coming to the sleeping girl's face she started to lick her on the cheek.
"Mmm, Merle, that's enough. I'm glad to see you too but…" Slowly the teen opened her eyes. "Oh, it's you Mashiro." She smiled. "I'm sorry, I thought you were someone else." She picked the cat up in her arms as she sat up. Yawning deeply she looked around. "Where is your master Mashiro?"
As if on queue, Yukari walked in the room with a tray in her hands. "Morning sleepy head." She smiled.
"Hey." Hitomi smiled sheepishly. "What time is it?"
"It's already 10:30. You've been asleep almost eleven hours. Don't you get any rest over there in Gaea?" Hitomi's friend asked.
She smiled, remembering their conversation the night before and how Yukari confessed to finally believing her stories about Gaea and Van. "Well, we had just arrived at Fanelia from our ocean voyage from Asturia. I must admit, I found it difficult sleeping at sea. And staying up with Merle kinda took its toll on me too."
"Well then, you must be hungry too. Move Mashiro, Hitomi needs to eat." She told her cat and set the tray on her lap as the feline spring off the bed. On the tray was a bowl of rice, another bowl of miso soup, some toast and a glass of juice.
"Ahh, thanks I'm starving." Hitomi picked up the bowl of rice and began to eat.
Sitting on the edge of the bed, watching her friend eat, Yukari wondered out-loud, "I guess they didn't feed you over there either."
"Hmm?" Hitomi looked up. She smiled and gave a silent laugh with her mouth full. After a minute she responded. "Actually, I was so upset over leaving in such a rush, I forgot to eat anything." She grinned. Suddenly her eyes grew wide. "Oh my goodness! I forgot to call my mother and tell her I was spending the night." She started moving the tray.
"Don't worry. I already spoke with her."
"You did? When?" She set the tray back down.
"Late last night. She paged you about ten minutes after you fell asleep. I told her you were spending the night and most of today here. She seemed okay with it."
"Thanks." She went back to eating.
When she saw her friend was almost done, Yukari asked. "So, tell me more about this guy you've falling in love with, Van right?"
"Mmm," Hitomi smiled. "Van is so, soo… wonderful. He's about our age, a little older I think. He's the king of his country, Fanelia. During the war, he was very serious and very single minded but this time he was …"
"Was what?"
"So different. And yet the same."
"Okay, that makes no sense." Yukari folded her arms in front of her chest.
"It's difficult to explain. I mean on the one hand he's very much a king, dealing with important issues like trade and politics. On the other hand, he still can be very single-minded like when he fought in the exhibition match against Allen. Van became a great swordsman during the war but in that match he fought at a level he had never before achieved. And he did it for my honor."
"Are you serious?" Her friend expressed her skepticism. "Maybe he just said that to make you feel special."
"No, really. That's why I gave him the handkerchief." She looked down on the bed and saw it sitting next to where she lay. Picking it back up she held it close again. "I knew he needed to focus all his energy on one thing, otherwise he was going to be humiliated by Allen. And it worked. When he focuses his energy on one thing, one thing he really cares about, there's nothing he can't do." She smiled.
"He's so noble and brave but he also showed me a tenderness I hadn't seen before, a gentle side of him that the war didn't allow him to show. He's just… so… amazing." Sadness began to overwhelm her again.
"Hey, hey! None of that." Yukari reached out and took her hand. "Don't start getting all melancholy on me. Okay, you love him. Okay, you want to spend the rest of your life with him, but you're here now and you've got to deal with this world now. We've got exams in three weeks. Summer track practice starts in four weeks and you stand a good chance of not only being on the varsity team for the fall season but also being our number one 100-meter runner."
"But does any of that really matter?"
"If you really believed it didn't matter, why did you bother coming back home?" She questioned.
Hitomi just looked away.
"You came back home because you know it does matter." Yukari moved closer. "Okay, so maybe your future isn't as uncertain as the rest of us. Maybe you know that when the time comes you'll go back to Gaea to stay and become the Queen of Fanelia. But until that time, you need to live, and learn. Do you know the first thing about being a queen?"
The shorthaired girl just shook her head.
"Okay then, there's something you can do. Research the duties and responsibilities of a queen. You said their world is kind of like a cross between European mid-evil and renaissance times with the exception of their flying ships and their giant fighting machines. Well, then that means there are lots of things in our world that can be used to help their world: medicine, technology, you know stuff like that. I mean, do they even have flushing toilets?"
Hitomi smiled and slowly blushed as she shook her head again.
"There you go, you can bring indoor plumbing to their world." Yukari smiled.
Setting the tray aside, Hitomi got up on her knees and hugged her friend. "Thank you Yukari. I knew you'd be able to help get through this. You're the best friend a girl could ever have."
"What, and you're just realizing it now?" Her friend teased as the two girls shared a good laugh.
"Come on, let's get going." Hitomi said as she got off the bed and grabbed her bag.
"Where are we going?" Yukari asked with a look of confusion on her face.
"To the library of course. No reason to waste time, I got to start my research." The shorthaired girl smiled as she began to change. "By the way, wasn't Mashiro in a fight recently with some other cats. I thought I remembered her being scratched up pretty bad.
"Yeah, well. You see." A guilty expression crossed the girl's face. "I sort of used that medicine of yours on her. And it worked great."
Hitomi stopped what she was doing. "I thought you said you believed me?"
"I did, I mean I do, I just wanted to make sure is all. It's not like I lied to you, I just wanted to remove any doubt." She said defensively.
"I guess your right." Hitomi conceded as she continued to get dressed.
"I am? I mean, of course I am." She smiled as she got off the bed.
"Let's go to the main library, I need to do some research on the time-space continuum is well." She smiled back.
"Space-time?" The redhead asked with a puzzled look. "What on earth for?"
"Well, for some reason this last time I returned to Gaea, I arrived six months from the time I left when only six weeks passed here. And every time I return, I come back at a time before I even left. At this rate, Van will be an old man before I'm ready to say I DO." The taller girl explained as she started getting undressed. "Umm…"
"What, what is it?"
"Mind if I take a shower?" She asked sheepishly as she turned a pale shade of pink.
"Don't be silly. Go right ahead." Her friend gestured.
"Thanks." Hitomi replied as she gathered up her things and headed for the door. "And Yukari."
Her friend turned toward her once again.
"Thanks again. You don't know what this means to me." She smiled then headed for the bathroom.
"This is just too amazing." Yukari said to herself with a smile "Hitomi, I always knew you were special. I just never knew how special."
~~~~~~~~
AN: I'm really glad you guys like my last few chapters. Here I figured it was time to lighten up the mode some. The heart can only take so much pain. How will they manage apart? Well, one of the things that I love about both characters is their inner strength and resiliency. Separation from the one you love can be painful but Hitomi is not a bowl of jelly and won't just go to pieces because she's not with her true love. How will Van fare? Well, we'll just have to wait and see. I've got one or two more chapters with them apart before she ventures back. It takes time to figure out that whole space/time thing. ^_^
A couple things I wanted to mention. Now I'm sure most of you have already seen this but I feel I must mention it anyway. Every so often I venture to www.animemusicvideos.org and look for AMVs of my favorite shows. Which is tough since my three favorite shows are Nadesico, Lodoss War (OAV), and Escaflowne. Tough to find good works on the first two. But I found an AMV I really like featuring Escaflowne. It is called "Ordinary Day" by Cailet Studios featuring the song, Ordinary Day by Vanessa Carlton. I just love it and if you haven't seen it yet, I strongly recommend that you find it and watch it. I think you'll love it to. ^__^
The other thing I wanted to mention, well actually ask is if there are any fan artists out there. I am planning on posting this story on my website but I'd like to include some fanart inspired by scenes from the various chapters. I can't afford to pay, unfortunately, but you're are will be posted for others to see and enjoy. If anyone is interest please email me at aamishi@netscape.net. Thank you.
I'd really like to thank those who have been leaving some very verbose reviews lately and offering suggestions and ideas. I love all the reviews I receive but I especially appreciate those who take the time to really express, in words, the thoughts and emotions my story stirs within you. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. I'm no longer able to read my netscape email at work so I have to wait till I get home to read it and its something I really look forward doing almost every single day, especially after posting a new chapter. Thank you all. ^___^
A. Amishi