Disclaimer: See Chapter 1.

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

Chapter 69

Along the shore of the lake

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As they rode past the last line of trees, they came to a clearing where several large rocks stretched out into the lake. A white sandy beach that went for about one hundred cubits followed. Which was followed by a formation of smaller rocks from where a gentle stream fed the lake.

Once on the sandy portion, Merle yelped with joy and jumped off the horse. Running toward the water, she kicked off her sandals, threw off her dress and dove into the crystal clear water.

Hitomi gasped in mild shock that the little catgirl would so easily strip right in front of Van like that. For his part, the Fanelian King just laughed and dismounted his horse; reaching up with both hands, he took the shorthaired teen by the waist and helped her down onto the soft white sand.

"There you go Hitomi. A natural pool, just for you." The young king smiled as he gestured to the sparkling waters.

"Ah, that's great Van…" She hesitated a moment.

"But what?" He gave her a look of mild confusion.

"Well, it's just… I don't have a swimsuit." She replied with a small hint of embarrassment.

"Swimsuit?" His look of confusion grew for only a moment before he broke into a wide smile and began walking backward toward the water. "Sure you do Hitomi. We all do." Then he turned and jogged toward the shore, pulling off his shirt and boots in the process.

"He wouldn't." The teen from the Mystic Moon said to herself. Suddenly she gasped in shock as she dropped her tracks shoes and slapped her hands over her mouth, her face turned beet red as the young king pulled off his pants along with anything else he may have had under them and dove into the water like Merle did.

Swimming a distance under the water, he finally surfaced several cubits away and shook the water from his hair. Then he waved in her direction and called out. "Come on Hitomi! Live a little!" With that he dove back into the water and swam further out into the lake.

The teen just stood motionless. Too stunned to react in any way. It wasn't till the king's horse gave her a gentle nudge, did she snap out of her shocked trance.

"Not you too?" She turned and asked. The black beauty simply shook his mane and nudged her once again.

"Well, I guess… when in Rome, do as the Romans do." She said to herself as she pulled off her gym shoes and socks. Then she stood up straight and took a deep breath.

"Come on Hitomi!" Merle waved to her. "The water's great!"

"Oh hell." The teen pulled her T-shirt off and her shorts and started running toward the water's edge, and just before her feet hit the water her bra and panties flew into the air. A moment later, she splashed into the water and swam in the direction of her younger friend.

Merle laughed as the older teen came to a stop next to her. "Isn't this great? The water is always really clean here because of the springs the feed the lake." She pointed and the emerald-eyed girl could see there was not just one stream but there were several in a long chain that fed the large body of fresh water.

Looking about for a moment she turned back toward her friend and asked. "Where's Van?"

"Oh, don't worry. Lord Van won't come anywhere near us. We used to come here all the time when we were younger. We'd play in the water for hours at a time, but once I started developing breasts, he always made a point to stay away from then on. He usually swims out toward the center of the lake, so as long as you don't go out there you don't have to worry about him seeing you naked." The catgirl explained.

"Oh," Hitomi sighed as she looked toward the middle of the lake.

"Unless of course you want him to see you naked, then by all means, swim out there." She teased with a devilish grin.

The older teen gasped. "Of course I don't want him to see me naked. How could you even suggest such a thing?"

"Relax. I was just kidding. Sheesh. Can't you even take a joke?" She said as she casually floated face up with her arms out to her sides. Suddenly she straightened up. "Come on Hitomi. I'll race you to the second stream. I'll even give you a head start."

"Fine but I've got to warn you, I'm a very powerful swimmer." The teen replied as she started for the stream.

As the older teen swam past her, the feline responded. "As long as you don't swim like you run, I'll beat you easily. Once the teen was about five body lengths ahead of her, the feline said to herself with a smile. "And you don't," she added as she turned and began swimming toward her destination.

As she boasted, she swam past the teen with ease and reached the stream several body lengths ahead of her.

Pulling herself up onto the stones that were in the middle of the steam so the water ran gently over her back, the shorthaired girl gasped for air as the young feline frolicked in the shallow waters.

"I thought cats didn't like the water." She said between gulps of air.

"Not this catgirl." The younger teen replied. "I love the water. I would spend all day in the water if it didn't make my fur all frizzy."

Hitomi smiled as she watched her friend play. 'I love it here so much, so very much.' She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them. Resting her cheek on her knee, she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the water cascading over her back. 'I just love it here so very much.'

Halfway across the lake, Van swam with long powerful strokes as if racing some unseen opponent. Coming to an abrupt stop, he dove down into the water and surfaced with a splash a few seconds later. Breathing deeply as he treaded water, he turned so he was facing the direction he had just come from. In the distance, he could make out two forms over by the second stream.

A thought occurred to him and he took a few strokes in their direction but he quickly chased that thought away and returned to treading water. Smiling to himself, he chuckled and said, "Van, you nasty boy." Then he took a few deep breaths and dove under the water to see how far down he could go before running out of air and having to return to the surface.

After spending nearly an hour playing a mostly one sided game of water tag, Hitomi and Merle made their way back to the beach.

Sitting on the soft sand with her legs in front of her, Hitomi asked, "Should we get dressed before Van returns?"

Merle, who was laying flat on her back with her hands stretched out to her sides and with her eyes closed, replied, "Don't worry about it. Lord Van won't come back till he sees that we've put our clothes back on."

"You mean he can see us?" The teen's cheeks turned a bright pink as she pulled her legs in closer to her chest.

"Don't worry. He can see that we're here but he can't make out anything worth anything. He'll be able to tell when we're dressed because we'll start walking around and stuff." The catgirl reassured her.

"Oh." She let out a sigh of relief and let her legs slide forward once again. "Fanelia really is a beautiful place."

"This isn't Fanelia." Merle replied with her eyes still closed.

"What? But Van told me that Fanelia encompassed the entire lake."

"That's almost true, the borders of Fanelia do go around most of the lake. Technically speaking though, this is part of the Zaibach Empire. It used to belong to a kingdom called Cristal, which was conquered by Zaibach over ten years ago. Zaibach raped Cristal of its natural resource then withdrew, leaving the people to fend for themselves. They never bothered with this lake because they use flying ships exclusively. So did the Cristalians. We have always treated all the lands around the lake as ours since neither country that owned it ever paid any attention to it. Van's father, King Goau, had hoped to purchase these lands from Cristal but died before he could. Folken spoke of doing it too, even after Zaibach concurred Cristal but then he disappeared after battling the dragon."

"I see. It's so sad, how in the midst of all this beauty, so many terrible things always seem to happen." She looked out into the lake, spotting movement far out in the distance. "It's incredible Van even knows how to smile at all."

After a few minutes Merle replied. "I've done what I can to help put a smile on Lord Van's face but I think I've never seen him happier than over the past two months since you've been here Hitomi. You're good for Lord Van. You make him happy like no one else can."

Turning her gaze on her young friend, who was still lying with her eyes closed, she smiled and responded. "Thanks Merle, that means allot to me, especially coming from you."

Merle just smiled and replied. "You're welcome."

After about a minute of silence, Hitomi stood up. "Well, I'm pretty well dried off." She started brushing the sand off her body but noticed that there was hardly any on her. "That's strange."

This got Merle's attention, causing the catgirl to open her eyes and sit up. "What's strange?"

"The sand, it didn't stick to me." She said as she ran her hands over the backs of legs and even over her feet but not a grain could be felt.

"Why would the sand stick to you?" Merle asked.

"Back home, on the Mystic Moon, sand has a way of getting into every crack and crevice of your body. Even weeks later and after dozens of baths, you can still find sand in some of the most embarrassing places." She answered.

"Eew! That's disgusting!" The young catgirl make a sickly face. "I'd never set foot on a beach like that."

Picking up her panties and shaking them off, she carefully inspected them for sand as well. "It doesn't even stick to the clothes either. Amazing." She giggled as she put them on.

Van slowly approached the shore. He spotted Hitomi easily as she stood next to his stallion, casually brushing his mane and humming to herself. He looked around but didn't see Merle anywhere.

When he was close enough, he called out. "Hitomi, it's me, Van. I didn't want to startle you. I'm just letting you know, I'm coming on shore."

Hitomi smiled without turning around. "I was wondering how much longer you were going to be out there."

As the king slowly rose out of the water he looked around one more time then asked, "Where's Merle?"

"She said she was going to find some sweet fruit, she called it." The emerald-eyed girl continued brushing the beautiful beast. "She said she'd be awhile."

"Oh, I see." The young king replied as he picked up his shirt and started drying himself off with it.

After a few minutes he put his shorts and pants back on as well as his socks and boots. Walking up behind Hitomi, who was still brushing his horse, he placed one hand on her shoulder and the other over her hand that was holding the brush.

"Coragem must really like you. He normally doesn't let anyone brush him except me and his stable hand, Stephian." Van smiled as he held her hand gently.

"Well, I think Coragem and I have an understanding. Don't we Coragem?" She tilted her head so as to be in the horse's field of vision.

The horse reared his head and neighed.

They both laughed lightly as they shifted so they could look into each other's eyes.

After brushing the horse for a few more minutes, Van put the brush away and they walked out onto the large rocks that stretched out about twenty cubits into the lake. Sitting down next to each other on the rock, they looked out over the tranquil waters, enjoying the early morning air. Hitomi leaned up against his shoulder and sighed happily.

"You know Van… I was thinking…" She hesitated, not sure if she should go on, but now that she started, she felt as if she had no choice. "Maybe three years is too long." She could feel the king's eyes staring at her but she kept her view forward toward the lake as she continued. "I love you so much… and I love Fanelia so very much. M-maybe…"

But before she could continue, Van interrupted. "Hitomi," He put his arm around her and pulled her close. "Nothing would make me happier than to have you here with me always… but seeing you train this past week. I've got to believe you've been doing this for a reason. If it didn't mean anything to you, you wouldn't being trying so hard."

She looked up at him with a hint of sadness in her eyes.

"I love you Hitomi. More than I've ever loved anyone in my life but I promised you that I would be patient and wait till you were ready. If that means waiting a week or three years, so be it. I just don't want you making a rash decision that you may want to reconsider later on." He explained.

"Don't you believe me when I say I love you?" A tear rolled down her cheek.

"Of course I believe you Hitomi." He smiled at her as he brushed away the tear. "I just think that maybe these past two months have been almost like a fairytale for us and as much as I will try to make every day like today for you, I know there will be times when… well, things won't always be like today."

"I know." She said softly, resting her head against his shoulder once again. "You're right. I was letting the moment get the better of me. I'm sorry. I'm not usually so fickle."

"That's alright." He rubbed his cheek against the top of her head. "Actually, I was… I've been thinking… about your trips back and forth between our worlds."

"Oh?" Hitomi sat up to look into her true love's eyes. What she saw frightened her just a bit.

"I was thinking that perhaps it's not such a good idea for you to travel between our worlds so often and stay so long."

"What are you saying Van?" Fear began to fill her being.

"It's just that, you spend a month here but then you return home and it's like no time has past at all then you spend a month on the Mystic Moon and only a day passes here. If you keep this up, you'll be an old woman in no time." He looked over at her and saw the fear in her eyes. Reaching out with his free hand, he gently caressed her cheek. "Don't get me wrong, I wish I could have you with me always, but I'm just worried that you may be harming yourself by doing this. That first day you came back, you were so exhausted, even after your nap. I'm afraid this may be too much of a strain on you. I don't want anything bad to happen to you Hitomi. Even if it means not seeing you as often as I'd like. Do you understand?" He pressed his forehead against hers.

Slowly she nodded. "You're right Van. I felt the same way when I returned to earth this last time. I-I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She squeezed her eyes tightly shut.

Pulling her into his arms, the young king whispered, "Don't be sorry Hitomi. It's not your fault. We'll just have to make the most out of the time we do have together. That's all."

She slowly nodded her head and held onto him tightly, not wanting this moment to pass. They stayed like this for several minutes until they heard the happy humming of their mutual friend approaching from the forest. Slowly, they separated but not before sharing their love for each other through a kiss. Then they sat hand-in-hand staring out into the lake.

"I found some! I found some!" Merle said with unbridled excitement.

Taking a deep breath, Hitomi turned her head and asked, "What did you fine Merle?"

"Sweet fruit! These are my favorite." She smiled as she skipped over the rocks to where her friends were sitting. Handing each of them two grapefruit-sized fruits, she grinned. "They're delicious." Then she bit into one of the three fruits she still had in her arms.

"Mmm, you're right. It is delicious." The emerald-eyed girl said with a happy smile.

Van just grimaced as he bit into the fruit.

"Is there something wrong Van?" His true love asked.

"Lord Van doesn't like sweet thing. He prefers sour things." Merle grinned. "You're weird that way Lord Van."

"It's not that I don't like sweet things, it's just that this is way too sweet." He defended himself.

"Well then, you won't be needing that other one then, will you?" Merle grinned wickedly.

"No, I guess I won't." Van looked at it then over at Hitomi. "Would you like it Hitomi?"

"Hey!" Merle yelled.

Trying her best to contain her laughter, the teen from the Mystic Moon, took the fruit then handed it to her young friend. "Here you go Merle. I have to admit. It's a little too sweet for me too. I think one is my limit for now."

Grinning, the catgirl took the fruit and asked. "Well, in that the case, if you don't want your other one, I'll take it off your hands."

"That's okay Merle. I think I'll save it for later." The older teen grinned back.

The catgirl gave an angry frown but it vanished the moment she took another bite of her fruit.

The young king laughed silently as he watched his childhood friend devour one fruit after another. Turning to gaze upon his true love, his smile grew as he watched her enjoy the sweet treat as well. Without thinking, he took a big bite out of his fruit as well and grimaced once again. 'Too sweet, way too sweet.'

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AN: I hope you liked this chapter. ^_^ I wanted to show that Van does have a playful side though he tempers it with restraint. I also wanted to show Hitomi's gradual acceptance of the Fanelian way of life. Also, I was looked for a way to have the length and frequency of Hitomi's visits reduced and this way seemed to make sense. It had been suggested that Van visit Earth but if you recall from the series, only Hitomi could make out what he was saying because he speaks in the Gaean dialect. Because of Hitomi's unusual link or bond to Van and Gaea, she is able to understand and be understood by the people from Gaea, but her alone.

Again, thank you all for your wonderful comments and reviews. You keep my creative juices flowing with your wonderful words of support. I love them all and I love you all so very much. ^_^

After the summer track practices, things will start moving along a little faster. I won't be writing about each of Hitomi's visits to Gaea but rather just the more eventful ones. In this way, I hope to be able to be done with this story sometime next spring. I hope you'll continue to follow along and will continue to follow along in the three sequels I have planned for this story.

I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend,

A. Amishi