Disclaimer: I do not own the Vision of Escaflowne. I do, however, happen to own a little miniature figure of Dilandau's guymelef. However, I can't get it to stay together, so Dilly is kind of scattered on my desk. OO

Chapter 4

Van laughed as two familiar figures made their way to the entry of the castle. Both out of breath and exhausted, Merle and Hitomi had given up their chase of cat and mouse for night had fallen. The king leaned against the doorway as they entered the doorway, their argument not entirely forgotten.

"Merle," Hitomi said in between staggered breaths, "you'd think in five years you'd have grown up a little bit."

The cat reflected it with a mischievous smirk. "You'd also think in five years you would have started to look like a woman." That one deserved a punch in the arm, which didn't entirely hurt from their exhausted state.

"Having fun girls?" Van asked the two as their faces. The two didn't look any different from the children who ran across the streets of Fanelia. Their hair was tangled and a wreck, their faces dirty. Merle's tail was drooped from fatigue, Hitomi's head hung in her chest as she continued to try and catch her own breath. A huge smile crossed Van's face when the two immediately raised their heads to glare at him with the exact same annoyed expression. Van raised his hands for a cease fire as the two highly annoyed girls walked past him. "I didn't do anything, I swear!"

Van had to control his laughter as they walked inside the lit hallway. The two girls had managed to set down their daggers as they both wearily sat down on a bench. Van smiled. "You want to go to your room?" he asked Hitomi.

The blonde raised her head. "Actually, that would be great," Hitomi admitted, standing up. Van turned around and grabbed the attention of the maid, forcing her to accidently drop her sheets.

The red haired maid stopped her work, bewildered at the king's sudden question. As one would suspect the young maid began to stutter. "Um, your majesty, we haven't had time to get the room ready for the Lady Hitomi." Van sighed. What should he expect; he had given them only an hour or two. "But," the maid interrupted, grabbing his attention, "the cooks figured you all would be hungry and fixed some nice soup."

Hitomi smiled. "That sounds really good right now."

Merle managed to slurp down the last of her soup as she noticed Hitomi. The young seer from the mystic moon had her gaze up at the blue moon which hung in the sky. The cat couldn't just let it slide. "Ne, Hitomi, whatcha looking at?" she asked innocently enough, but she knew there was no such virtue in her voice.

"Hm?" Hitomi asked, gaining her attention again. "Oh, I was just wondering if Yukari got the video." She said, turning her attention back to the people at hand- Van and Merle. The cat seemed to smile as Hitomi looked at her with curiosity.

"Video?" Van asked from the other side of the table grabbing Hitomi's attention from the confusing marsh known as Merle's mind. The blonde nodded in affirmation.

"Yeah, it's like leaving a note for someone," she said, taking a spoonful of the nice soup.

She gained Van's interest with that last statement, as he was confused. "Um, Hitomi," he said quietly, as if trying to gain the attention of a friend who was truthfully embarrassing themselves, "You do realized you didn't write Yukari a note. I was there; you didn't touch any sort of paper."

"Yeah I did," she said, "when I kept explaining about my leaving."

"Um, you were talking to thin air."

"No I wasn't. There was a camera there that recorded everything I did."

That made Merle intrigued. "You mean, like wrote everything down on paper?" the cat-girl asked, making motions with her hands as if she was writing on the table.

That's when it hit Hitomi. She wasn't on earth anymore. Hitomi Kanzaki was now on Gaea, a world of knights and magic protecting the planet; Kings and Queens ruling the feudal planet with grace. Although sometimes ravaged with War, it was a peaceful time without the need of technologies to make their everyday lives survive. In this world, news was spread without the television or printing press. Mail couldn't be sent in an instant with the internet, but rather weeks by carriage.

The young blonde laughed to herself as she scratched her head in confusion. How was she supposed to explain the basis of a video camera? Something so simply described as "records to make a movie" when on this planet they haven't heard of a movie, let alone a record.

"Well," she started, trying to gather her thoughts. "It's like a play."

Merle looked at her confused yet fascinated all the same as Van sat back in his chair, listening with extreme interest. "A play?" she asked, turning her cat ears in thought. The parallel between a play and a camera needed elaboration.

"Yeah, when watching a play you're watching everything that they are doing- laughing, talking, dancing, moving," Hitomi replied making a visual with her hands. Merle nodded her head enthusiastically. "Well, a camera remembers everything that you did, and can show someone else what happened."

The cat watched Hitomi's hands, repeating everything. "So like, it re-acts what you did."

Hitomi thought for a second. "Kind of. You see, it paints a picture of what I did," she said, gaining the ever so wonderful sarcastic remark 'you can't paint something that is moving'. Hitomi sighed. "It paints a picture that moves to copy what I did. And when attached to something, the picture moves and even talks to re-act what I showed it."

Merle sighed. "It still doesn't make any sense," she said, hitting her head slightly against the table. "The mystic moon is confusing."

The girl smiled. "Hate to admit it, but it is…"

Van opened the door slightly. Hitomi walked into a beautiful room lit with the warm glow of the fireplace. The entire room had a nice blue theme to it, immediately grabbing Hitomi's interest. Her favorite color after all was blue. But sadly, that wasn't the most important thing on her mind.

Hitomi walked over and fell into the light blue covers. She was exhausted. Her morning began with running for practice, then running around the city in search of a pillar of light. From there she managed to walk miles to reach the capital city of Fanelia where she chased a certain obnoxious brat from the gates to the castle. Although she had managed to satisfy some of her lost energy with a well cooked dinner, she couldn't help but feel her legs about to detach themselves as she finally relaxed for the first time all day.

Behind Van walked in the same red haired maid from before. Her gaze was locked with the floor as she walked in, stopping next to the door. Hitomi looked at her slightly confused, but didn't take a second notion as her main thoughts were occupied with the thoughts of "Bed" and "Sleep".

The King walked over to the bed, looking at the exhausted Hitomi. "It's late so I'm going to head on to bed myself," he said, taking a few steps towards the door. Hitomi just nodded in response. "If you need me, I'm right down the hall."

As the door closed Hitomi tried to sit back up in bed. She managed to find a clock on the sill of the fireplace. It was a quarter past 11, meaning it was late within itself. The blonde woman threw herself against the bed.

The red haired maid walked forward. "Lady Hitomi," she managed to say after a few moments silence. "I'm here to help you…"

Hitomi shot up. "With what?"

"Whatever," the maid said; setting the clothes she carried on the bed. "I'd expect you may need help getting ready for bed."

Hitomi shook her head. "No I'm fine," she suggested, standing up as if to prove a point. However, Hitomi knew that wasn't what she meant.

"But it's my job to help you dress, milady."

"No, it's okay," she said, stepping towards the closet. "I'm pretty sure I can dress myself." Hitomi took the clothing that the maid had laid on the bed in an attempt to stop the girl from doing her job. That didn't stop the maid as she took the initiative to strip Hitomi with permission or not. The two were within the same age and without the king around, the maid grew back her courage as faced with someone like her.

Grabbing the belt loops of Hitomi's jeans, the maid tried to pull the pants down. Thank God for buttons and slim fit pants, as they hardly budged. Hitomi dropped the night gown as she grabbed her pant belt. "Hey!" she yelled, walking away.

"Don't make this harder than it actually is Lady Hitomi."

"I've dressed myself since I was five years old."

"But I've also been told that the Mystic Moon is much more different than Gaea."

"Not so different that I don't know how to change into a night gown!"

The Maid's anger was finally released with a huff. She let go of Hitomi's pants as she walked towards the door. "Let's see you get yourself into a corset when the time comes," she explained in a huff as she slammed the door shut.

"Trust me; I'm not wearing any corset!"

With that Hitomi sighed as she sat down on the bed again. What a strange woman. But something in the back of her mind told her that wouldn't be the last Hitomi saw of the spunky maid. What was with the sudden change of behavior from quiet and obedient around the King to no respect of personal space? Hitomi threw the question away as she began to change clothes. As she pulled off her jeans, she worshiped the buttons and zippers she had spent years arguing with.

Throwing the jeans on the opposite wall, Hitomi unfolded the white fabric which lay next to her. As she unfolded she saw not a night gown, but what looked like a huge marsh mellow. What she saw was actually a beautifully embroidered chemise, what she should have known from the Ren Fairs were worn under most all dresses. The undergarments of medieval ladies, this was perfectly suitable. However, Hitomi did have to adjust to sleeping in more fabric than usual, as her nightly garments used to consist of a pair of track shorts with a tank top.

The blonde sighed as she set the chemise down, starting to strip once again. Taking of her shirt, and throwing it against the wall with the jeans, Hitomi started to relax a little. Now positive that the red head wasn't coming back to strip Hitomi of her pride, the young woman began to feel a little more comfortable. Taking off her bra, as she never slept with one, Hitomi stood up to lock the door. It would destroy not only her pride, but her mentality if someone were to walk in on her practically naked.

But who said doors were the only threat.

Merely seconds before she could lock the door a crash came into her room. Hitomi turned on a time, covering her exposed body with her hands. A blood curdling scream leaving her mouth as she tried to hide from whatever intruder had entered her bedroom.

"Oh shit," a male voice said from the proximity of the inevitable crash. The man stood up quickly to try and find his way out; however, he wasn't expecting the onslaught of flying furniture.

A picture, flowers, a vase, and glasses; the assault of random objects stopped the man from his current route of escape. Through all the screaming from the woman, the man managed to hear the thunderous roar of footsteps. Within seconds, the door was slammed open, revealing the sight of a shirtless King with his trademark scowl. His sword drawn and ready to strike, he wasted not a moment as he took the first steps of battle.

The man managed to scramble away from the King just quick enough to avoid getting his head chopped off. Hitomi managed to cease her screaming as Van took care of the intruder. With his silvery blade against the man's throat, the trespasser began to rave forgiveness.

"Van, man, snap out of it! It's me!" he said, sitting absolutely still his neck to the blade, and his back to the wall.

Van's analyzing crimson eyes took a second glance at the man before releasing the slack on his sword just slightly. The sword still rested within inches of the intruder's neck. "What the hell are you doing here?" Van managed to ask with authority yet sarcasm.

That sparked Hitomi's interest enough to peer over the bedding, her holding onto the chemise for dear life. Sure enough when she took the time to actually look at the intruder it was the familiar figure of a certain Asturian merchant from her high school memories. Hitomi stood up as sudden recognition took hold.

"Dryden?"

The man tried to stand up, but the blade inches from his throat made him think other wise. "Is there another?" he asked, looking at the woman again. That's when he placed the pieces of his assault together. The blonde woman was undressed, holding her night gown close to save herself from exposure. The King brought his attention back from the woman with the simple movement of his royal blade.

"Why the hell are you in Hitomi's bed room?" the king demanded in an unusually low tone, placing the tip of his sword merely millimeters from Dryden's face.

Dryden tried to laugh. "Well you see that's a funny story. You see I…," he began, trying to find his explanation. That's when it dawned on him. His blue eyes darted from the startled blonde woman to the blade at his nose. Stopped in the middle of his explanation, Van noticed the glances Dryden was taking at Hitomi, thus causing steel to rest on the ex-king's neck. That of course brought the anti-war liberal back to his senses.

"That's Hitomi?" he questioned, his back stiffening with the chill of the blade against his throat.

The woman took a step forward, mocking her old friend. "Is there another?"

Dryden laughed as Van removed the blade from the merchant's neck. It was quiet obvious that now that they realized who each other were, nothing life threatening was going to happen. The dark haired merchant stood up. "Oh I would come and give you a hug right now if it weren't the given circumstances."

That caused the raven haired king to actually look at Hitomi. Blood rushed to his face as he immediately turned back around. "Please put the night gown on, Hitomi."

Hitomi's face turned bright red as she once again realized her predicament. The Asturian merchant turned in the same direction Van had whilst Hitomi put the chemise on. Once she was certain the nightdress was on to where nothing showed, Hitomi beckoned the boys to turn back around. The pink tint on Van's face seemed to have vanished while Dryden's familiar smirk once again crossed his tan face.

Hitomi made herself comfortable sitting on her bed, while Dryden and Van were opposite of her. Dryden sat in the chair whilst the latter decided it was better to lean against the doorway. The scholar began to question Hitomi on her journey back to Gaea without even a moment to stop and let the girl answer.

"So Dryden," Van began, driving the merchant's attention away from the blonde which had recently had his full attention. "You plan on explaining to us anytime soon about WHY you had decided to break into Hitomi's bedroom?"

Dryden laughed. "Oh yeah, about that," he began, twiddling his thumbs. "Um, it's part of an experiment."

Van raised his eyebrows. "At almost midnight?"

"Well you see, I got so caught up in it that by dinner food was far from my mind," he explained, resting his hands on his lap. "I was testing the Zaibach equipment when it backfired because of a bad power source, and kind of threw me into the window."

Hitomi's back straightened at the sound of the country. "What are you doing with Zaibach equiptment?"

"Well Hitomi, after the Great War, as they have been calling it, Zaibach's economy has failed so horribly that any and all business is welcomed," he explained. She knew that those countries that lost in a war lost more than just the lives. Their economy continued to suffer thus afterward. "Since the people now have an extreme hatred with Dornkirk's old soldiers and sorcerers, the people are selling all of their work—machinery, studies. I decided to buy it and see how the other countries could benefit."

Van nodded in agreement. "Yes, it's understandable," he said, closing his eyes. It had been lord knows how long since he's slept. "When a country's economy falls, so do people's ethics. As long as it will put food on the table, people of a destroyed country will sell anything and everything."

Hitomi understood. "But that still doesn't explain why he is testing it in the Fanelian Castle," Hitomi suggested. Van chuckled a bit before Dryden opened his mouth to answer.

"You see, Fanelia here is such a wonderful friend, he's allowing me to carry out my studies abroad, offering his castle as a homestead…"

"More like you're just hiding from the princess," Van chided. The scholar sunk in his chair whispering to himself along the lines of 'that too'. Hitomi sighed as she watched the man. She had been there when Dryden left the Asturian Princess to become a better man. But she was sure that within the five years that she had been away, Dryden was enough of that man than he himself thought.

Hitomi glared at Dryden. "Have you even seen Millerna in the five years I've been gone?" she asked the merchant accusingly. Dryden sighed placing a hand on his forehead.

"A few times. Once at Chid's birthday, another during Fanelia's here. Both were purely coincidental," he admitted.

Van laughed. "Yeah, and both times you used Me, Allen, or some other politician as cover to get away from talking to her."

Having his fill, Dryden decided it was time to leave the two to whatever they thought. Gathering the small parts that flew in with him, Dryden began to take his leave. Claiming it being past midnight and him in need of beauty sleep, the Asturian merchant used his suave persuasion to skillfully leave the room. Van followed in suit, but not before remembering entirely what all the man had done to his castle. Van sighed.

"You need a new room," he said to Hitomi, leading her out of the bedroom for the 3rd try in one night for a decent bedroom.

You know that little voice in your head? The one called your instincts that tell you when you're doing something wrong, and keeps trying to make you stop? Yeah, it's that really annoying one that likes to speak at either the absolute best time or more often than not at the worst possible time in history.

That just happened to be the voice screaming in Hitomi's mind as her and Van stopped in front of two double doors with the Fanelian crest engraved on it.

Last time she checked, it was past one in the morning, not a single servant roamed the hallways, and give her five more hours and Hitomi would have been awake for a whole twenty-four hours. With her current state, normally Hitomi wouldn't have entirely cared what bed she was sleeping in, let alone what room that bed happened to be in. However, when that annoying little voice decided to speak up at that worst possible time, Hitomi ended up being wide awake and alert. Van opened the door to the most beautiful room Hitomi had ever seen. A gold and red theme encompassed the room. It was at times like this, Hitomi really wondered if the 'old' styles were out of fashion.

"Um, Van?" she asked, stopping the near zombie state king who was next to her. "I'm going on a strange limb I usually don't tend to climb on, but I'm going to ask anyways. What room is this?"

The tired king managed to look at Hitomi before answering. "It's my room," he said as if it was the most obvious thing in the room. She couldn't lie- it kind of was. That still didn't make Hitomi feel that much better.

"Ok, where am I sleeping Van?"

The king looked at her confused as hell. "In my room," he explain simplistically as he stepped inside, slipping off his brown boots near the doorway.

Hitomi on the other hand, wouldn't step inside. "Um, Van," she said, "incase you hadn't realized, that's not exactly the wisest choice to pick right now…" Hitomi leaned against the doorway, her lack of sleep evident to anyone who could see her.

As she said that, Van turned around to face Hitomi. He closed the distance between them, as he spoke. "Hitomi, it's one in the morning. All of the servants are asleep. No extra rooms are made up, it's five hours till sunrise and I have a huge king-size bed big enough for both of us to lay on it and be comfortable." The distance between them had dissolved into that of mere inches. "I'm tired, I don't care about damn etiquette right now."

Van locked his weary red irises with hers. Over the five years she had been separated from him, that was one of the many things which never left her; the sight of his beautiful crimson eyes. Hitomi's instincts had woken her up to where her senses were fully working, unlike the desperately tired man before her. Hitomi sighed as she reluctantly gave in, much to the disapproval of her little voice in her head.

The young woman sighed as she walked inside his room. Once she decided to step inside, Van visibly relaxed even more. The two managed to get to their places on the bed, and wrap themselves in the warmth of the garnet comforters. The concerned voice in her head vanished as the familiar scent surrounded her. The depths of the forest, the grass of a field, and the wind of the sky; it was Van's scent. All of her anxiety died down; as she let the day's events take their toll, relaxing her to the state where she could find rest.

Looking through the balcony window, Hitomi could see the earth and moon hanging peacefully in the sky. A sight she had wanted to view so badly for the past five years was finally visible once again.

But as always, she feared it was just a dream. Van walking into her dorm room, and bringing her back was just a dream. Chasing Merle around Fanelia, explaining the video camera—even Dryden bursting through her window as she changed. It was all just a dream. Suddenly, she didn't want to fall asleep. What if she did, and when she woke up, it would be to the sound of her alarm clock reminding her she had early morning practice?

"Van?" Hitomi asked in a wavering voice. She turned on her side, to look at Van. Much to her surprise, he hadn't entirely fallen asleep although he was damn close.

"Hmm?"

He was tired, but he still managed to open his eyes and look at Hitomi. His senses flared slightly as he noticed the panic that lay within them. The fear in her eyes wasn't the Hitomi he knew. Tears threatened to fall from her emerald pools, forcing him to sit up. "Hitomi? What's wrong?" he said in that tired voice that's filled with alertness, but the body is still tired and doesn't relay everything.

The blonde curled the fabric near her face. "This isn't a dream, right?" she asked, managing to confuse Van beyond all reason. "I'm going to wake up in the morning, and I'll still be on Gaea, right? You'll still be here, won't you?"

Realization hit him in the face. Van closed the space between them as he wrapped Hitomi in his arms. He had asked himself before whether it was just a dream, but through all of it, he had accepted that Hitomi was in fact here on Gaea with him.

Van smiled softly as he stroked her hair in an attempt to calm her to sleep.

"I promise Hitomi. I'll always be right here…"

I realize it's been 2 chapters since I've had any sort of fluff, so this is filling the request for the fluff, however small it is (which in this case is TINY as HELL). But don't expect much more for a while. The stage is not entirely set, but since I altered most of this chapter from what I originally planned, I thought it would be a nice ending. Besides, it reminded me too much of some of the arguments I've had with friends, so I only saw more funny opportunities with our favorite king and the rules of 'etiquette'. So enjoy it while it lasts!

Also, I'd like to apologize for the extremely slow moving in the story, but it's hard trying to set the stage for future events. Trust me; I put adventure as one of the genres for good reason! It's not all this nice wonderful comedy, as much as we all love Dryden and his wonderful hippie personality!

I would like to thank a few special reviewers who have followed me dutifully for the past 3 chapters (for me that's a lot). I've got to admit, reading everyone's reviews are wonderful boots of inspiration! Thank you

Inda, Arienhod, kerpal bubbles, and Sulis Saifir!

You guys don't realize how much it means to have dutiful readers and reviewers!

Keep an eye out for the next chapter!

TehDono has left the building!