Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 85
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Club Twilight
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Hitomi stood against the polished railing that bordered part of the far end of the dance floor. She smiled, watching her friends having a good time dancing, but she sighed with a deep sense of melancholy as she thought, 'I wish I were dancing with you tonight, Van. I bet the Dragon Festival is simply wonderful.' She smiled, but her smile slowly faded. 'I wonder how many girls you've danced with already? Are they pretty? Are they sophisticated? Do they come from prominent families from all over Fanelia?' Hitomi sighed, but quickly shook such thoughts from her mind. 'Don't do this to yourself, Hitomi. You have to trust Van. Believe in him and in his love for you.'
"Lost in deep contemplation, Hitomi Kanzaki?" an unfamiliar voice said next to her, snapping her from her musings.
A bead of nervous perspiration formed on her right temple as she looked over at the young gentleman. "Aah… I'm sorry… do I know you?"
"Well, no, not really, but I know you, and so does everyone else at my school now." He smiled.
"Your school?"
"My apologies, Miss Kanzaki." He bowed. "It was very rude of me to take such an unfair advantage and act so familiar." He bowed once more. "My name is Toshiro, Toshiro Hasanami. I'm a junior at Hakone High School.
"Hakone." Hitomi searched her memory, 'Hakone. Why does that name sound so familiar? Wait a minute!' She then said aloud, "Hakone High School, we just had a meet at your school earlier today."
"Well, I'm glad we haven't become just another faint memory on your path to becoming the greatest woman's track star in Kanagawa Prefecture history." The boy smiled.
Hitomi blushed slightly. "I-I'm sorry. It's just been a very eventful day for me today," she explained.
"No need to apologize," he assured her. "Our school's faculty and administration made such a big deal about how this meet was going to be a contest to see who was really the best 100-meter runners in the prefecture, Amano Susumu and Hitomi Kanzaki from Kamakura-Kita, or our Akira Mifune and Motoko Hasanami. It was thought that since Amano-sempai was a senior and already known as one of the best 100-meter runners in the prefecture, that Akira would have his work cut out for him. But almost everyone at my school thought that you had just been lucky up till now, and that Motoko was going to see to it that your luck ran out today." He grinned.
"Oh really?" Hitomi smirked.
Toshiro laughed. "I can't wait to hear the excuses they'll make come Monday, in order to explain how you managed to blow all the competition away, and how not just one sprinter from Kamakura-Kita managed to beat Motoko, but two actually did."
Hitomi narrowed her eyes slightly at the boy, 'What a jerk,' then said, "You know, that's not very nice. Aren't you being kind of cruel towards your own school's runner?"
The boy struggled to contain his mild laughter. "I'm sorry, I know I must seem cruel, but trust me, it's not. You see, Motoko is my twin sister." He pointed to a table on the other side of the nightclub and waved.
Following the direction he was pointing, Hitomi spotted a table with several boys and girls. One girl in particular, who looked vaguely familiar, was smiling widely and waving back enthusiastically.
"Let me guess, that's your sister?" Hitomi smiled.
"Ah, yeah." Toshiro scratched the back of his head while waving back to her.
Hitomi stifled a giggle, causing the boy to laugh as well.
After a few minutes of silence, Toshiro looked over at Hitomi. Sensing his eyes upon her, she turned her head towards him and gave him a questioning gaze.
"Wou…" he quickly turned away, then just as quickly turned back. "Would you like to dance?"
Hitomi offered him a sweet smile, but said, "No, but thanks for asking."
He nodded and offered her back a weak smile, then went back to staring out over the dance floor.
Hitomi smiled to herself, 'You're a sweet boy, Toshiro, but it's Van I want to dance with.' Again she envisioned Van in his formal royal attire dancing with some beautiful young girl wearing a breathtaking long, flowing gown. The girl talked continually and Van nodded politely to everything she had to say, but in the back of his eyes, Hitomi could see the melancholy that bound his heart. It was the same look he had each time they ended their nighttime telepathic communications, the same look he had when she left Fanelia the last time. The look that said, "Hitomi, I love you. Hitomi, I wish you were by my side, now and forever."
She sighed softly and stole a glance over at Toshiro, who was still watching the crowd dance.
'Well, Van, if you can sacrifice for appearances, so can I. I'll do my best to enjoy myself while I'm here, just like you wanted me to. But I won't know true joy again until I'm with you.'
"Come on." She reached out and took the startled boy's hand, pulling him onto the dance floor.
"O-Okay." He smiled, overjoyed that this amazing young woman changed her mind.
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"Oh Lord Van, wasn't the festival wonderful?" the catgirl asked, dreamy eyed. "And you're such a wonderful dancer." She raised her hand high above her head and threw her head back, causing her weight to shift.
"Steady, Merle." Van adjusted to keep from having his young friend fall from his arms. "How much wine did you drink tonight, anyway?"
She lifted her head and looked into his eyes with the sweetest, most innocent expression imaginable and answered, "Only one, maybe two… dozen."
"Hmmm… I'm going to have to have a word with the waiters who served you," Van moaned.
"I had such a wonderful time, Lord Van. Didn't you have a wonderful time, Lord Van?" She grinned at him from ear to ear, her eyes only the tiniest of slits.
"Yes Merle, I had a wonderful time too, especially when I was with you."
"Mmm…" She grinned happily. "You're so sweet, Lord Van." She nuzzled up close to his chest, wrapping her arms around his neck.
Smiling down at his childhood friend, he pulled her close and continued down the hall towards her chambers.
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"Here we go," Van whispered, using the hand that was supporting Merle's legs to open the door.
The evening candles were still lit, so Van had no trouble making his way over to Merle's bed. The sheets had already been turned down for the night, so Van gently laid her down on it, but almost instantly the petite catgirl began to fuss.
"What's wrong, Merle?" he inquired.
"Dress…" she moaned, tugging at the garment with her eyes still shut. "Don't want to ruin it."
Van laughed silently, then gently rolled her on her side and began unbuttoning the gown. With it unbuttoned, he rolled her on her back again and slipped it off of her, then laid it at the foot of the bed. Grabbing the edge of the sheets, he pulled them up and carefully tucked her in.
Moaning happily, Merle whispered sleepily, "Lord Van?"
"Yes, Merle?" he whispered back.
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
Smiling, he replied, "Yes, Merle, I think you're very pretty."
"But not as pretty as Hitomi?"
To this question, Van gave no reply.
"Lord Van, do you think any of those girls tonight were more beautiful than Hitomi?"
Van sat at the edge of the bed and gently ran the back of his fingers across Merle's cheek. This caused the catgirl to open her eyes ever so slightly.
"Yes, there were some very attractive girls at the festival tonight, some might even say they were more attractive than Hitomi. But beauty, true beauty comes from here." He pointed to her heart. "From the soul. A wise man once said, 'An attractive woman without a beautiful soul is like a precious jewel in the belly of a sow.' I consider myself very lucky." He smiled.
"Mmm?" Merle snuggled deeper into the bed. "Why is that, Lord Van?"
"Because I've been fortunate enough to know three truly beautiful women. Two of them here in Gaea."
"And one from the Mystic Moon, right?"
"Mmm hmm…" He nodded. "And of the two in Gaea, I've been fortunate enough to have one of these beautiful women right here in Fanelia," He smiled warmly at her, "Right here in this bed."
"Oh, Lord Van." Merle smiled happily before yawning widely and letting her eyes drift shut.
"Goodnight, Merle." He leaned over and kissed her on the forehead.
"Goodnight, Lord Van," Merle mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.
Once Van was certain Merle was asleep, he picked up her dress and headed for the door. He was walking down the hall to the stairs that would take him to the laundry facilities when Sophia spotted him.
"Lord Van, still up after the celebration?" she asked with a smile.
"Sophia, are you still working at this hour?" the young king countered.
"I'm blessed with work, my King." She bowed. "Were you taking Miss Merle's dress to be laundered?" she asked after straightening back up.
Looking down at the dress, Van nodded. "Yes, Merle loves this dress so. I wanted to make sure it was cleaned."
"I'll see to it, my Lord." Sophia extended her arms to receive the garment.
"Thank you, Sophia." He handed it to her, showing great care so as not to drag it on the floor when he handed it over to the head chambermaid.
"It is my pleasure to serve you, my Lord." She bowed deeply again, then turned and headed for the laundry facilities.
Taking a deep breath, Van turned and headed for his chambers.
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Entering his chambers, Van walked over to his bed and sat down with the intent to pull off his boots first, but the pull of his formal dress coat on his shoulders changed that plan. Standing back up, he undid the buttons to his coat and pulled it off his shoulders, depositing it on the chest at the foot of the bed. He then undid his sash, discarding it on top of the coat. Sitting back down, Van pulled off his boots, then unbuttoned his shirt and stood back up, pulling out its tails from under his pants. Letting his shirt fall to the floor, Van walked over to the window, opened it, and looked out over the forest that bordered the back of the castle.
The forest was dark and deep, as was the sky. The many clouds in the sky helped keep the day cool during the festival, but now they concealed the stars in the night sky, and even hid the two moons of Gaea.
Van closed his eyes and breathed in the fresh forest air, filling his lungs with its sweet natural sent. Slowly, he exhaled and gradually opened his eyes, and as if by some divine command, the clouds concealing the Mystic Moon parted and revealed the blue planet to him.
'What country is it you come from again, Hitomi? Ja-Japan is it? Is it a beautiful kingdom, Hitomi? Do the forests grow thick and lush there? Are the skies filled with pheasants? Do dragons roam the land and the sky as they do here?'
He took another deep breath and turned sideways as he sat on the window's edge, allowing his bare back to lean against the window frame. Still staring up at the Mystic Moon, the handsome young king began to concentrate on the one person he treasured most in life.
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Hitomi Kanzaki lay on the futon next to Yukari's bed, staring up at the ceiling. They had gotten home less than an hour ago and talked about possibly staying up all night, but before she knew it, Yukari was overcome with exhaustion and quickly fell asleep.
While Hitomi was tired as well, and took the time to change and set out the futon, sleep was actually the furthest thing on her mind. But as she lay on the futon trying to conjure up the image of her true love, the image that kept coming to mind was that of the Earth as seen from Gaea. Quietly, she sat up and looked over at Yukari. Hitomi smiled, seeing her friend fast asleep. Gradually, she stood up and walked over to the window. While not nearly as large as the bay window in her chambers at Fanelia Castle, the window in Yukari's room was just big enough for Hitomi to sit in. Sliding in behind the curtains and opening the window all the way, the 15-year old girl with the emerald eyes sat down on the edge, her back against the left side of the window frame as she looked up at the moon and at Gaea.
"Van," she whispered, "Are you looking up at the Mystic Moon, Van? Are you looking up and thinking of me as I look up at Gaea and think of you?"
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Van gasped, but the surprise quickly faded as a smile played across his face. "Hitomi, yes, I'm sitting in my window looking up at the Mystic Moon and thinking of you."
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"Oh Van," she smiled, "So am I. I'm in Yukari's room, sitting at her window looking up at the moon and at Gaea. It looks so beautiful, so peaceful."
"As does the Mystic Moon." He reached his hand out towards the Earth as if cradling it in his palm. "I missed you today, Hitomi, more than any other day since you've been gone."
"What? Those other girls weren't able to capture your attention?" Hitomi teased with a faint smile.
"Only one woman has ever captured my attention… and my heart, Hitomi," he said in all seriousness.
After a long pause as her eyes welled up with unshed tears and glistened in the pale moonlight, she tried to reply. "Van…" her voice cracked. "I… I…"
"Shhh… It's alright, Hitomi." He closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around himself.
In that same moment, Hitomi unconsciously closed her eyes, allowing the tears to run down her cheeks, and wrapped her arms around herself. Softly, she whispered, "I love you, Van."
"I love you, Hitomi," he whispered.
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AN: I'd like to start by saying thank you to everyone who reviewed my last chapter. I had no idea it would receive the type of response that it did. I'm so very happy that you all liked it so. I hope you've enjoyed this chapter as well. It took me quite a bit of time to work out how the night would end for our two heroes, but this felt right. I hope you agree.
As for all the requests I've had to have Hitomi return to Gaea and to Van, I can only say, please have patience. It will happen soon enough, trust me.
Things will move ahead much faster after Hitomi's next trip to Gaea. Her junior year will be just a blur. (In Japan, there is no sophomore year in most HS's) The entire year will probably be covered in just 10 chapters, which will move us into her senior year. A whole lot will be happening during that time, both on Earth and on Gaea. I hope you'll stick with me on this journey. It promises to be an enjoyable one.
As always, I'd like to thank my awesome beta-reader, Janice, who not only is my beta-reader, but a very dear friend as well. Thank you Janice, you're the best.
And thank you, my readers, both new and old. Reading your reviews helps make writing this story a joy. I love you all so very much. Thank you.
A. Amishi