Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

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

Chapter 60

Along the path toward the lake

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With sweat running down his face, Van spoke between ragged breaths. "This is rather invigorating." He tried to smile.

Hitomi just smiled back.

"Hey, why are you running slower then you did yesterday?" Merle yelled from the other side of her.

A guilty expression appeared in the teenager's face.

"Don't… hold back… because of me… Hitomi. You're in training. You need to… push yourself… if you are going… to improve." Van said between labored breaths.

She gave him a sympathetic smile. "Okay Van." Then she kicked it into high gear leaving Van and Merle behind.

Van's eyes went wide as Hitomi continued to get further and further away.

"Alright! Now this is like yesterday!" The catgirl yelled as she quickened her pace as well.

"My goodness." Van said to himself as he tried to run faster but was unable to keep pace with either girl.

Hitomi and Merle were on the open field stretching out again when Van came into view. Spotting the girls, he slowed to a walk as he struggled for air.

Seeing her king, Merle commented, "Eew! Lord Van, you're all sweaty."

Putting his hand on his knees, he just nodded as he continued to suck air.

"Are you alright Van?" The brown-haired girl asked, her eyes wide with concern.

"I'll… I'll… be… fine… just… need… to catch… my breath." He continued to breath heavily.

"Oookay. Well, why don't you sit down and catch your breath then. You can start stretching out as soon as you feel up to it." Hitomi said as she stood up, having changed into her track shoes already. She picked up her running shoes and marked off 100 meters with them.

"What is she doing?" Van asked Merle as he plopped down on the ground.

"She's marking off 50 cubits so she can start her real training." Merle answered.

"Real training? What was this?" He gestured in the direction of the path they just came from.

"Oh, that's just a warm up for Hitomi. Running sprints is her real training." Merle informed him.

"Sprints?" He gave her a confused look.

"You'll see." She jumped up and kicked off her sandals. "Wait for me Hitomi!" She yelled as she ran over to her friend.

Van watched as Hitomi explained to Merle the proper way to set herself to get ready to run. After a few minutes of explanation and demonstration, the taller girl called over to him.

"Van! Can you yell out, READY… SET… GO! Just like that please."

"Sure!" He replied. "When?"

"Now will be fine." She smiled

He nodded his understanding then started. "READY!"

The two girls took their places at the start line.

"SET!"

They got down on all fours.

"GO!"

Merle sprang to an early lead with a long horizontal jump but within five strides, Hitomi had caught up with her and by the time they were at the halfway point, she was in the lead. The finish wasn't even close as Hitomi passed the marker a good two and a half strides ahead of Merle.

"Amazing." Van whispered as his eyes continued to grow with each step Hitomi took. After taking a few minutes to catch their breath, they lined up again and Hitomi waved over to him indicating they were ready to do it over again. He repeated the three words once again and again they exploded out from the start line. This time Hitomi got a better start and finished a whole four strides ahead of Merle.

She repeated this twelve more times, taking time out occasionally to stretch out again before lining up to race. After losing to Hitomi eight times in a row, Merle decided she had had enough and went to sit down next to Van. After running four sprints by herself, Van got up and lined up with her.

"Van, what are you doing?" Hitomi's eyes went wide with shock.

"I'm going to run against you." He said. "You don't mind, do you?"

"N-no, not at all." She answered hesitantly. "Okay Merle, you know how to do it!" She signaled the catgirl.

The catgirl waved back and started, "READY!"

The two took their positions.

"Don't go easy on me Hitomi. Give it all you've got. I know I can't run as fast as you. I just want to get an idea of how fast I can run and I can't do that if you take it easy on me." He said softly.

"SET!

They got down on all fours.

"Set your hands like this and bring your legs closer in, think of it as making your body into a spring. You want to launch yourself out of the starting block." She paused a second. "Okay Van, I'll give it my all." She replied.

"GO!"

Following her own advice, she launched herself out of the start and was a good two steps ahead of Van before he finished his first step. Van pushed himself as best he could but seeing Hitomi pull further and further away took its toll on his psyche as he slowed down noticeably after he reached the halfway point.

Almost instantly, he heard Merle scream, "Don't give up Lord Van!"

But at that point it was too late. He didn't have the ability to seriously quicken his pace, and finished nearly twelve steps being Hitomi

As her breathing returned to normal, Hitomi walked up to Van and said with a painfully serious expression. "What was that you said about giving my all?"

"Your right. I didn't give that my all. If you're up to doing it one more time, I'd like another chance." He replied.

"Once more, but then that's it. I want to make sure I don't over do it either." She said as she got into position and signaled Merle. Turning to Van she added. "By the way, don't focus on me when you're running. Focus on finish line. Focus on getting to the finish line as fast as you can, not on trying to keep pace with me."

Van nodded and with all the determination and concentration he exhibited during the tournament against Allen, he focused on the task at hand. Blocking out everything except Merle's voice he got in position when he heard her say, "READY!"

He repeated to himself, 'like a spring, like a spring,' when he heard her say, "SET!"

And he got down on all fours, just like Hitomi had showed him. He looked up and spotted Hitomi's shoe that served as the marker for the finish. It sat right between them just as the shoe on this end did. 'Like a spring.' He repeated once more to himself. "GO!"

Pushing off as hard as he could, his peripheral vision told him that Hitomi was already in the lead but he focused on his objective none-the-less. Running as fast as he could, he remained totally focused on the shoe at the other end of the field. The closer he got to it, the harder he pushed himself; pumping his arms harder and harder. And as he passed the finish line, he let out a sigh of relief and a smile crossed his face.

Slowly walking over to Merle, Hitomi sat back down and started stretching again and Merle mirrored her every movement. After watching them for a few minutes, Van sat down and followed suit. "So how far behind her was I this time Merle?" He asked.

"Hmm, well, not as far behind as last time Lord Van." The catgirl give him a worried smiled.

"Don't worry Merle, I won't be upset." He smiled back.

"Well, to be honest Lord Van, you were seven steps behind her." She answered timidly.

"Oh, why wasn't I thinking?" Hitomi yelled, catching the other two off-guard.

"Thinking about what?" Van asked.

"You're still wearing the pendant, aren't you?" She asked.

"Of course." He pulled it out from under his shirt.

"We could have used the pendant to keep time." She replied. "Oh well, next time I suppose." She followed up with a smile.

When she was done stretching out, she got up and walked over to pick up her running shoes. Changing into them, she walked back over to her companions. "Ready to go?" She asked.

Getting her sandals back on, Merle asked Hitomi, "So how are we getting back to the castle today?" She looked over at the port, which was deserted.

"Today, we run back." The teen answered.

"Run back!" Van and Merle said in unison.

"Don't worry. The run back will be a lot easier. We'll just go at a nice easy pace. It's more of a cool down run." She smiled. "Come on." She said as she started running down the path.

The two Fanelians sighed then started running after her.

True to her word, the pace Hitomi set was nice and easy, and with Van at her side she took the opportunity to glance over at him and see how he was running. After observing him for a few minutes, she commented. "You know Van, if you swing your arms front to back, instead of side to side, the way you do; you'll save yourself a lot of energy when you run, and you'll run faster as well."

"Front to back?" He gave her a questioning look.

"Just watch the way I run and try to run the same way." She said.

After watching her for a little while, Van tried to duplicate her running style but after a few minutes said, "It feels unnatural."

Looking at him again, Hitomi smiled. 'It looks it too.' But she replied, "It will for a while, till you get used to it, but trust me. You'll start feeling and seeing the difference in a couple of days."

As the three of them ran down the path toward the castle, a feeling of contentment began to fill the young teen's heart. Running along side the man she loved and her best friend on Gaea, a joyful smile spread across her lips and she felt like she was running on air.

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AN: Well, still keeping things light for now. Hope you enjoyed this little piece. Now, you didn't really expect Van to be able to keep up with Hitomi, did you? ^_^

By the way, I'd like to say THANKS to Datexan and especially to Fushizen na for there help in editing this chapter. You guys did a great job. Thank you both so very much. ^_^

Things should get a little more interesting next chapter. I hope to have it up early next week but I do need to update some of my other stories as well. So we shall see.

Again, thank you all for your wonderful reviews and words of support and encouragement. I love them all and I love you all.

Have a great weekend,

A. Amishi