Disclaimer: See Chapter 1

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

Chapter 47

Hitomi's Chamber's in the palace at Fanelia

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Van sat quietly staring at Hitomi while she slept, still running his thumb over the back of her hand. He spent most of his time staring at her tranquil face. Committing to memory all the little things about her features that set her apart from any other woman he knew. He memorized her long dark brown eyelashes, her thin but long eyebrows, her high forehead, her long pointy nose, her strong jaw line and chin, her high cheekbones, her small overbite and her soft, moist lips. For the first time he noticed that her hair was a little bit longer than when she first traveled to Gaea. He hadn't even noticed this detail on her last visit. But now just watching her sleep, it was rather obvious. It wasn't much longer but definitely noticeably longer. Gradually, his eyes traveled down the rest of her body. She was wearing a white blouse with blue trim and a navy blue pleated skirt, about the length of her uniform skirt.

His eyes grew sad and a slight frown crossed his face. "You're so thin. Were you always this thin?" He looked at her wrist and her hand. Then his eyes traveled over her shoulders, down to her waist, around his hips and down her legs. A faint smile reappeared. "You're thin but not weak." He observed as he studied the muscle definition of her legs. "They appear powerful, and … and long." His smile grew, as his cheeks suddenly felt a bit warm. Looking further down, his smile grew. "You have cute feet."

Slowly he brought his gaze back up to her face, admiring all parts of her on the way back up. "You're so beautiful Hitomi. Why didn't I notice how beautiful you were from the beginning? To think of how callously I treated you back then. Never again. Never will I consider you a nuisance or a burden." He caressed her hand to his cheek and kissed it. "Thank you for loving me, despite myself." Resting his elbows on the bed, he held her hand to his cheek and gazed lovingly at her peaceful face.

And this was how Hitomi saw him when her eyes slowly fluttered open after about an hour's sleep. Seeing him smiling at her brought a smile to her face. "You stayed."

"You asked me to stay so I stayed."

"If I ask you to kiss me, will you do that as well?" She drew a deep breath, not believing the words that just came out of her mouth.

Without hesitation, Van leaned over and pressed his lips against hers.

Hitomi moaned her acceptance and pleasure as she brought her free hand up to the back of his head, running her fingers through his hair as they deepened their kiss.

A firm knock at the door caused Hitomi to open her eyes and break the kiss. Looking up toward the door, Van asked, "Yes what is it?"

One of the servants opened the door but refrained from looking in, stated in a clear loud voice. "My Lord, Lady Hitomi, breakfast is ready and is being served in the main dinning hall."

"Thank you. We will the there shortly."

"Yes my Lord." The servant turned and bowed at the same time so as to divert his eyes. He then turned away and left.

"What was with him?" Hitomi asked as she raised herself up on her elbows, having freed her hand from Van's.

"I suppose since I've been in your room for more then an hour, the servants suspect something of a cardinal nature may have taken place." He answered.

"Cardinal?" Her eyes grew large instantly as she realized that he meant. "You don't mean they think we?" Sitting up quickly she covered her red face with her hands. "Oh my god!"

Taken by surprise by her reaction, the king replied. "There are worse things that could happen."

Looking up at him, she was filled with embarrassment again. "I didn't mean to imply… It's just that… I'm still a… a… and you're only the second man I've ever kissed… and we haven't even kissed all that much. Now you're saying people think were having ssss… ssss…" She sighed. "I can't even say it."

Smiling at her as he offered her a hand off the bed, he reassured her. "Don't worry about it Hitomi. There are two things that keep a palace functioning. Servants that perform the day to day tasks, without whom nothing would get done and the rumors they spread that give them something to talk about while they do their work."

"I guess." She replied.

"Come, you must be hungry by now." He held onto her hand after helping her off the bed. "I'm sure the chief prepared something wonderful for us."

"Well, I didn't eat much today." She smiled. "I can't wait to see." And they made their way out of the room and down the hallway to the dinning hall.

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AN: Hope that was fast enough for an update. ^_^

I hope to be able to update all my stories several time this week. I hope I don't make Van out to look like a voyeur. While we know Van admires Hitomi for her abilities and strength of character, we don't get much of what he thinks of her physically. We know Hitomi things Van is handsome but I haven't really spent much time expressing Van's thoughts about Hitomi's physical appearance. I hope I didn't make it seem either too clinical or too lecherous. Also, with the idea of exercise as sport being a foreign thing to the people of Gaea, I wanted Van to kind of have a miss impression of Hitomi's state of health before he realized that yes she is thin but she's not frail.

Hope you like this chapter. I'll try and have another one posted by tomorrow.

Thank you for your comments and support. They are always appreciated.

A. Amishi