Disclaimer: See Chapter 1
Escaflowne: All you need is Love, Isn't it?
Chapter 91
As they rode along the bank of the Vinsorii River, Hitomi could easily identify where the campsite for the aqueduct construction used to be. While the trenches had been backfilled and the tents that housed the laborers were all gone, it was still easy to identify the overturned soil and the charred ground of the campfires.
Hitomi's smile disappeared and she couldn't help but sigh sadly.
"Is something wrong, Hitomi?" Van asked, looking over at her.
She glanced over at him, offering him a faint smile. "No, not really. I just… I can't help but feel sad for you, Van; what with the failure of the aqueduct and all."
Van offered Hitomi a warm smile. "You needn't worry. I believe our efforts to find the necessary technologies to make the aqueduct work have proven successful. But for now, the workers are concentrating on expanding the harbor."
Smiling back, Hitomi asked enthusiastically, "So which country provided the technology? It was Asturia, wasn't it? With all the channels and canals in Palos, I would think they're very adapt at manipulating water."
Van's smile grew as they continued to ride along the shore. "Some of it, but some came from other kingdoms as well. To be honest, I'm rather excited to see what type of technology you have to show us from the Mystic Moon."
"From the Mystic Moon?" A bead of sweat trickled down the girl's temple.
"Is there a problem, Hitomi?" Van looked over and asked.
"Problem? No, no problems." She gave a nervous laugh. "What makes you think there might be a problem?"
Van gave her a crooked grin and replied, "I understand if you forgot to look into it for me. You were very busy, and I didn't take the time to remind you when we communicated at night."
"No!" Hitomi screamed. Her hand flew over her mouth as her cheeks burned bright red in embarrassment. "I mean, I did take the time to research it, like I promised. It's just…" She trailed off.
"What is it, Hitomi?" the young king asked, his brow beginning to wrinkle with concern.
"Well, you see, the technology of my world is… well, it's very different from the technology of Gaea. And I have to admit, a lot of it I don't even understand. And it's not like your engineers will be able to read the writing from my world…" Hitomi explained.
Van smiled, "That's all right, Hitomi. I'm sure whatever you brought with you will be put to good use. But that's for another day. We're way behind schedule. At this rate we'll be sleeping under the stars tonight." The handsome youth quickened his horse's pace.
With a snap of her reins, Hitomi got her horse to keep pace with her companion. "I don't mind," she replied with a smile. "It's been awhile since we slept under the stars together." She remembered how they had been forced to flee Asturia and had had to spend several nights in the forests leading to Freid before they fell under attack by Dilandau and his Dragonslayers. And while they were in constant danger and she knew their lives were being threatened every moment, those nights under the stars were some of the most peaceful and comforting nights she ever experienced. 'It was because of you, Van. I felt safe when I was with you, protected. I knew you wouldn't let anything bad happen to me. I trusted you, Van. I believed in you, even back then.' A warm smile crossed her face.
They continued to ride for about three hours, stopping briefly for a quick lunch then continuing along the path that followed the river. During this time they talked about everything they had talked about when they were communicating telepathically over the long months apart. Van asked Hitomi about all the races she won and about the new friends she made, while Hitomi asked about the progress at the harbor and about the festival, and the girls Van had to dance with.
Glancing past Van at the debris floating down the river, Hitomi asked, "Van, I couldn't help notice, there seems to be an awful lot of trees and large branches flowing downriver. Is that normal?"
Van turned to look at the river just as a large tree passed no more than 10 meters off shore. Turning back to face Hitomi, he answered, "Actually, it's quite common for this time of year. During the dry season in the forest, the river narrows out upstream and the forest presses in on it. During the rainy season, like now, the river swells and washes away the weak and dying trees." He sighed and looked further up stream along the shoreline. His pensive expression change to one of concern as he added, "Our trip may end up taking quite a bit longer than expected."
Looking upstream as well but not knowing what she was looking for, Hitomi asked, "Why is that, Van?"
"The wolf people of Arzas insist on building the bridge that crosses the Vinsorii River to their village, but they lack the knowledge to make one large enough and sturdy enough to weather the rainy season. I had hoped that with the mild rains we've had so far this season the bridge may have remained, but with the amount of debris flowing downriver, it's highly unlikely the bridge remained intact." Commanding his horse to continue along the shoreline, Van added, "It's not much further now, let's see if by some miracle the bridge remains."
Hitomi followed suit, and after about two kilometers, they saw what remained of the bridge.
Van sighed deeply.
"Where is it?" Hitomi asked, not able to make out any remnants of a bridge.
Van pointed at what looked like the start of an isthmus on each side of the river about a hundred meters further upstream. "The soil acts as a foundation for the wooden bridge, though it could hardly be called a bridge," Van explained. "Unfortunately, during the rainy seasons the bridge regularly gets washed away."
"Why don't you build a more solid bridge?" Hitomi asked.
"I wish I could, but the lands over here," Van pointed all about on both sides of the river, "belong to the wolf people, and while they are part of my kingdom, they hold fast to their traditional ways. We'll have to ride another five hours and cross the Asturian border to get to the stone bridge of Tiirus. We'll lose about a half a day but there really isn't anything we can do about it."
"Oh." Hitomi stared pensively out over the river. "Well, can't we just swim across the river with the horses?"
"The current is too strong and with the sun going down, our gear won't dry before the temperature starts to drop for the night." Van looked about, then concluded, "We should continue to ride a couple more hours, then we can camp for the night near the Asturian border."
Hitomi nodded with a smile as they continued to ride on. As they rode past the remains of the bridge, Hitomi came to a stop and looked out over the narrow peninsula. Slowly, she rode her steed out towards the end of the earthen foundation.
It took a moment before Van realized that Hitomi was no longer beside him. Turning his horse about, he gave a start when he saw Hitomi at the end of the peninsula.
"HITOMI!" he cried out.
The emerald-eyed girl looked over her shoulder at the man she loved and smiled. "Don't worry, Van!" she called out. "I just wanted to get a prospective of the river from here!"
Van rode quickly to where the shore met the isthmus. "Hitomi, the ground there is very unstable! It could wash away at any time! Please, come back, carefully!"
"Wash away?" she whispered to herself, as all color vanished from her face and her forehead was dotted with nervous perspiration. Looking out over the river, Hitomi noticed for the first time just how fast the current was moving. 'I guess this wasn't one of your smarter moves, Hitomi,' she scolded herself. Slowly, she turned her horse around and let out a stifled scream as part of the ground at the end of the earthen jetty broke off and was quickly washed away by the powerful current. Doing her best to control her racing heart, she began walking her horse carefully towards the shore. The isthmus was only ten meters long but it felt like a hundred meters to Hitomi.
Van had to fight the urge to rush out to the girl he loved, for that would just endanger her life that much more. Instead, he stayed along the shore and spoke words of encouragement and reassurance while desperately trying to keep his own fears in check, hidden from Hitomi.
When she rode her horse out to the end of the peninsula, Hitomi didn't pay any attention to the condition of the ground beneath her, but now as she rode back towards the shore, that was the only thing on her mind. Her anxiety level rose with each step the beast took. Feeling the creature slip and struggle to maintain its balance made Hitomi's heart stop repeatedly. Glancing over at the sides of the isthmus and seeing the ground crumble and wash away made her breath catch in her throat. But little by little she drew closer to the shore and when she was just two meters away, she let out a sigh of relief.
Suddenly, Van cried out, "HITOMI! HURRY!"
But before she could react a large tree struck the isthmus and it instantly disintegrated and got swept away. Hitomi let out a loud scream as she and her horse went tumbling into the river and went racing downstream.
"HITOMI!" Van screamed. Without thinking about it, the young Draconian's wings came bursting forth, reducing his shirt to rags. Lifting off his horse, Van flew over the river in search of the woman most important to him. Panic immediately set in when he was unable to see Hitomi anywhere, but panic turned to relief when he spotted her burst forth from under the muddied waters, gasping for breath. Van flew down to her with a quick flap of his wings and snatched her up from the racing currents, then turned and returned to where his horse was.
Landing, he saw that Hitomi was no longer conscious. Wiping the blackened water from her mouth and nose, he checked her breathing, which was labored and a bit raspy but steady. Van rolled Hitomi on her side and patted her on the back. Gradually, some muddy water trickled out of her mouth, then she coughed violently, sending a spray of water to the ground. Gasping deeply, the girl's eyes flew open. Her eyes darted around wildly until finally focusing on Van.
Van gently wiped the muddy water from the rest of her face with his hand. "Hitomi, are you all right?"
She took a couple deep breaths and nodded, "Yeah, I'm fine, Van. I'm…" She hesitated when her rescuer ran his fingers through her hair in order to brush it out of her face. "My hat!" Her hands flew up to her head. "I lost my hat!" she yelled in a panic. She pushed herself up off the ground. "I've got to find it!" She started towards the river but Van held her fast. Struggling violently, she protested, "Let me go, Van! I need to find my hat!"
But Van refused to release her. "Hitomi! Get a hold of yourself! Your hat is gone. It got washed down the river. There's no finding it now."
"No! No, I have to find my hat!" She continued to struggle. "Let go of me! Let go of me!"
Van shook her firmly. "Hitomi! Get a grip on yourself! It's gone! I'm sorry, but it's gone! There's nothing we can do about it now."
He tried to pull her into his arms but she pushed away from him. "NO! Let me go!"
Seeing no other way, Van released the hysterical girl with his right hand and gently but firmly smacked her on the cheek.
Hitomi gasped in shock.
"Hitomi, I'm sorry, truly I am. You were just acting completely irrationally." Before she could react, Van pulled her into his arms and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry, Hitomi."
In her lover's arms, it finally dawned on her that her clothes were soaking wet and Van was without his shirt and had her enveloped in his wings.
"Van," she whispered. "You saved me." She wrapped her arms around his waist and held him tight. "Oh God, I could have drowned. Van…" Her eyes slid closed and she collapsed in his arms.
"Hitomi! Hitomi!" Van called out, shaking the girl in the hope that she would wake back up. A surge of adrenaline coursed through his veins, but seeing that his one true love was breathing normally and her heart was pounding strong and steady against his chest, he allowed himself to relax a bit.
Scooping Hitomi up in his arms, he carried her away from the shore to a grassy knoll that preceded the forest in this area. Gently lying her down, Van whispered, "I guess we camp here for the night." Staring at Hitomi's peaceful expression, the young king couldn't help but be captivated by the unconscious girl, despite the mud on her face. "By the gods, Hitomi, you're so beautiful." He ran his hand over her cheek. Startled by how cold she felt, Van quickly withdrew his hand and stood up. "I need to make a fire quickly and get Hitomi out of those wet clothes." Without any further hesitation, he began gathering up kindling and tinder for the fire.
"Mmm…" Slowly, Hitomi's eyes fluttered open. 'Where am I?' she wondered. Taking a deep breath, she realized and looked down at herself. 'I'm wrapped in the blanket.' She gave a small struggle to get up, but gave up when she realized the blanket was wrapped all the way around her. 'I feel like a spring roll.'
Looking forward, she noticed for the first time that it was already nightfall and the only light was coming from the fire about a meter away. The crackling flames illuminated the face and bare chest of the man she loved. "Van," she whispered.
The young king looked up from the fire he was stoking and smiled. "You're awake." He rose from his crouched position in front of the fire and walked over to the girl. "How do you feel?" He reached out and touched her cheek.
"Okay, I guess," she smiled, enjoying the feel of his warm hand upon her face.
"Well, you've finally warmed up. I thought I might have done more harm than good when I bathed you in cold water," he said innocently.
"What!" Hitomi's eyes went wide in shock and her cheeks burned bright red.
Seeing her embarrassment, Van couldn't help but feel embarrassed as well as his cheeks turned a pale shade of red. "Well, you see… when you fell into the river, you fell in with all that remained of the jetty. You were covered in mud from head to toe. I didn't want to leave you like that so…" He decided based on the horrified expression on Hitomi's face that the rest was best left unsaid.
With her heart racing and her breathing short and rapid, Hitomi tried desperately to reason these shocking revelations to herself. 'It's… It's okay, Hitomi. Van was just doing what he thought was best. You trust Van. You know he wouldn't do anything to take advantage of you. He wouldn't…'
Just then a light breeze rustled the nearby trees as well as several hanging objects over the fire. Looking up, Hitomi gasped in horror. "My clothes! …. My clothes!" Hitomi began to hyperventilate. She looked down at herself, but being cocooned in the blanket, she couldn't tell if she had anything on underneath. "I'm… Am I… Am I… I'm…" She looked up at Van, then back down at herself. 'I have to know,' she told herself. " Help me, Van. Please, help me." She struggled to free herself from the blanket.
Giving a mild chuckle, Van pulled at the blanket. "I guess I over did it a bit, but you were so cold, I just wanted you to warm up."
As the blanket fell away from her body, Hitomi screamed, "Don't look at me!"
Van gasped in shock at his girlfriend's reaction. Realizing why she was reacting as she did, Van smiled and looked deeply into the girl's emerald colored eyes. "You didn't think I was going to leave you naked, did you, Hitomi?"
Slowly breaking her lover's gaze, Hitomi looked down at herself. Relaxing her arms, which she had folded across her chest, she breathed a sigh of relief as she saw Van's red sleeveless shirt on her. Looking back up at him, she smiled. But as the memory of the day's harrowing events returned to her, Hitomi's smile disappeared as she looked all about for confirmation of what she thought she remembered.
"What is it, Hitomi?" Van asked with a concerned look on his face.
Hitomi continued to look about frantically, clearly in search of something. Finally, she spotted a small cluster of feathers nuzzled at the base of a nearby tree. "It wasn't a dream. You flew out over the river and saved me, didn't you, Van?" she said softly.
The young man nodded, then reached up and lightly brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. "I'm sorry, Hitomi."
"Sorry?" Her brow wrinkled a bit.
"For not keeping a closer watch over you, for letting you ride out upon the isthmus, for striking you across the cheek," he said whispered sadly.
Placing her hand over his, Hitomi smiled up at Van. "It's okay, Van. It's my own fault. I should have known better than to ride out over that stretch of loose earth. But you know…"
Van looked deeply into her eyes, waiting for her to continue.
"When Allen needed to calm Millerna down, when he fled from Palas, I heard he kissed her." She offered the king a teasing smirk.
Van turned his gaze aside and whispered under his breath, "Sounds like Allen." Looking back into Hitomi's eyes, he replied, "I'll be sure to remember that in the future."
"Oh, Van." Hitomi leaned forward and embraced him tightly. Van returned her embrace and kissed the girl he loved upon the forehead, then pressed his cheek upon her head and held her close.
After staying like this for several minutes, Hitomi came out of her reverie and realized as Van ran his hand over her back that she had no bra on. Concentrating for a moment she also realized she had no panties on either. 'Well, I'm sure they needed to be dried too. But they're so small and thin, I'm sure they're dry by now.' Leaning back a bit, she smiled at Van then looked over the makeshift clothesline Van had rigged up over the fire. After a quick inspection, Hitomi's smile faded away. "Van, where are my underwear, my bra and panties?"
Van's face turned bright red as he turned his gaze from the girl in front of him.
"Van?" Hitomi raised her right eyebrow at his suspicious behavior.
"Well, you see," Van looked back over at her, but without his usual confident expression. "All your clothes were covered in mud as well. So I took them by the river to wash them…"
"You lost my underwear down the river?" a startled Hitomi gasped.
"No! No, I didn't lose them, not at all," Van reassured her.
"Then what happened?" She tilted her head slightly.
"Well, I hung them along with the rest of your clothes on the line over the fire. I was hoping to have them dried first; since they were so small and delicate, I assumed they'd dry faster. In fact, I wanted them to dry so I could put them back on you before you woke up. I guess I didn't realize just how delicate they really were…" Van hung his head in shame. "See, I guess I had them a little too close to the fire, so when a spark jumped up, they both burned up almost instantly." Looking back up into Hitomi's eyes, Van whispered, "I'm sorry, Hitomi."
"That's alright, Van." The sandy-haired girl smiled and ran her hand through his hair. "I'll just get the spare pair from my saddlebag. She looked around trying to find her horse. "Where's Beleza?"
Van shook his head slightly. "I don't know. I didn't see her when I flew over the river."
Hitomi gasped and her eyes filled with unshed tears instantly.
"But that doesn't mean…" Van reached up and took her shoulders. "I mean, it wasn't like I was looking for her. I was looking for you, so it's entirely possible that she made it out of the river further downstream. If she did, then most likely she headed back to the castle. That's what she's trained to do, just like the rest of the palace horses. So if they ever get separated from their riders, they won't end up lost."
"I hope you're right." Hitomi's expression remained melancholy.
"I'm sure of it." Van smiled. "But you must be hungry by now." He stood up and walked over to the fire.
"Not those slugs again?" Hitomi stuck her tongue out at the memory of the foul tasting bugs she was forced to eat so long ago.
Van laughed softly. "No, fortunately we're next to a river this time." He pulled two sticks from ground around the fire and walked back over to Hitomi, sitting down next to her. "Here."
"Oh, thank you, Van." She took the stick and eyed the medium sized fish that was on it. 'Well, it doesn't look bad.' She closed her eyes and took a bite. "Mmm, that's good." He held her hand in front of her mouth. "Sorry."
"That's all right." Van smiled. "And you're right, it is good." He took a bite and nodded in agreement.
After they ate, they sat around the fire and talked for about an hour, until Van observed that Hitomi was having a hard time keeping her eyes open.
"It's pretty late. You should get some rest now, Hitomi. We still have a long ride ahead of us tomorrow," the young king said, then he stood and added another log to the fire to make sure it stayed lit the rest of the night.
"Van…" Hitomi stood up, letting the blanket fall to the floor and walked up behind him. Kneeling down she placed her hands upon his bare back. "You're so cold."
"I'll be fine." He assured her as he stoked the fire.
"What about your other shirt? Don't you have a spare one in your saddlebag?" She asked.
Van hesitated for a moment before saying, "You're wearing my spare shirt."
"Huh?"
"I tore up my shirt when I flew out to rescue you," he explained.
Leaning forward, Hitomi hugged Van from behind, pressing her cheek against his shoulder blade. "I'm sorry, Van. I should have known better. And I'm sorry for getting hysterical over my hat earlier."
"You remember that?" Van smiled. "It's okay. You'd just fallen into the freezing river. You were in shock. It's understandable."
"Come…" She pulled back and tugged on Van's shoulders. "Come lay down with me…. Please."
Van turned around slowly and looked into his girlfriend's eyes. Slowly, he nodded.
Hand in hand, they walked over to the blanket. Van grabbed it and shook it out, then laid it out, and taking Hitomi's hand, guided her back onto it. He then sat down on the blanket next to her and grabbed it from the far end and folded it over them so they could be covered by it as well. Lying down, he inched closer to the red clad girl and pulled the blanket tightly around them. Hitomi pressed up against Van and wrapped her arms around him.
Feeling her body pressing up against his, Van's heart began to race. 'What's wrong with me? We've laid in bed together before, just a few days ago. Why is this getting me so excited now? Could be because she's wearing my shirt… only my shirt? Could it be because we're miles from anyone else?' He inhaled sharply. 'Control yourself, Van. You swore to honor her virtue. What kind of Samurai, what kind of King am I, if I can't control my own desires?'
"Van?"
The young king turned his head to look into the eyes of the woman he loved. "Yes, Hitomi?"
"Is something wrong?" she asked innocently.
He hesitated for a moment, debating in his mind how he should answer that question. Finally, he said, "To be honest, Hitomi, I'm not sure how long I can stay here under this blanket with you tonight."
"Why?" she asked sadly.
"I feel myself being overwhelmed with desires. Desires that may compromise your virtue." He turned his head in shame. "I promised never to take advantage of you, Hitomi. But being here with you, like this, I'm not entirely sure I can contain myself. I'm sorry." He started to turn away but Hitomi held on to him tightly.
"Van," she whispered to get him to look back at her. "There's something I want you to understand. I'm yours, all of me… belongs to all of you." She blushed slightly. 'Gosh, I hope that the light from the fire isn't bright enough to show just how embarrassed I am to be saying this. But it's true, every word of it.' "I'm here for you… body and soul," she whispered, then pressed her cheek against Van's chest. "I love you, Van… I always will."
"Oh, Hitomi." Van held her tight and kissed the top of her head. "Thank you… for giving me strength." He kissed her atop her head once again, then Hitomi looked up into his eyes and they kissed deeply, passionately. When their lips parted, he whispered softly. "I love you, Hitomi. I will love you till the day I die… and beyond." Then they kissed again.
AN: I hope you liked this chapter. This one took some effort to write. It didn't come as easily as most of my other chapters for this story. But I'm happy with the way it came out. I hope you are too.
I know that Hitomi seems quite OOC in this chapter and she is, but there is a reason for it. That reason will be revealed in the next chapter or two, so please be patient.
There seems to be some interesting comments made lately by some of you in your reviews. Since I don't make a habit of replying directly to reviews, I was wondering if anyone would be interested in holding a chat session to discuss this story? Just an idea. Let me know what you think.
As always, thank you Janice for being the worlds best beta-reader and for listening to my reasoning for writing Hitomi OOC in this chapter. I hope the end result proves to be worth the effort.
A. Amishi