A/N Sorry this wasn't on time. Thursday was cleaning day. Friday and Saturday My uncle was here visiting. So I forgot about the story. Again I'm sorry. :-(
12. Singing and Captured
. . . In Zaibach . . .
A man knocked on a door then entered, and bowed.
"My Mistress, I have been spying on the queen and her friends as you requested. I learned two things. The queen likes to run. She and her friends are going to start running every morning. I also know where they run to."
"Good work, Sander. What is the other thing?"
"The queen is pregnant!"
"Do you know how far along she is?"
"No. But it can't be far, she wasn't showing yet."
Marianna smiled. This was indeed good news. If she could get ahold of that baby, She could raise it to hate baby would also be of Draconian blood. She looked back at Sander.
"This is indeed excellent news. You shall be rewarded for this. Leave me and send Dilandau in, but stay at the door. I will call you when I am done with him."
"Yes, My Mistress, and thank you."
The man bowed and backed out of the room. A few minutes later, Dilandau came in and bowed.
"What is it you want me to do?"
"I want you and Sander to get the queen. Sander will show you where to go. Try not to harm her. She is pregnant and I want the baby! If you fail again I will end your life."
"Yes, My Lady."
"Send Sander back in on your way out."
Dilandau bowed again and left the room. Thirty seconds later, Sander came back in and bowed.
"I want you to take Dilandau to where the Queen runs. Help him get her unharmed, and bring her to me."
"Yes, My Mistress."
"Now go, and bring her to me."
. . . Meanwhile in Fanelia . . .
Hitomi was wondering around the palace, bored. Van was in a meeting, and Merle & Kyria were in town. Finally after wandering around for a while, Hitomi decided to go get her discman and listen to it on the roof.
Meanwhile Van's meeting was almost over and he was getting desperate to leave. It was boring to sit there and listen to his advisers argue. Finally nearly half-an-hour later, Van's meeting was over. He decided to go find pendant swung upward toward the roof. Van ran up the steps two at a time, but slowed down when he heard singing. Hitomi was laying on her back, eyes closed, Discman next to her singing.
(This song belongs to Tricia Yearwood, and is called: How Do I?)
How do I
Get through one night without you
If I had to live without you
What kind of life would that be
Oh I
I need you in my arms
Need you to hold
You're my world, my heart, my soul
If you ever leave
Baby you would take away everything good in my life
And tell me now
How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breath without you
If you ever go
How do I ever
Ever survive
How do I
How do I
Oh how do I live
Without you
Ther'd be no sun in my sky
There would be no love in my life
There'd be no world left for me
And now
Baby I don't know what I would do
I'd be lost if I lost you
If you ever leave Baby you would take away everything real in my life
And tell me now
How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breath without you
If you ever go
How do I ever
Ever survive
How do I
How do I
O h how do I live
If you ever leave
Baby you would take away everything, need you in me
Baby I've come to know that your everything good in my life
And tell me now
How do I live without you
I want to know
How do I breath without you
If you ever go
How do I ever
Ever survive
How do I
How do I
Oh how do I live
Without you
As Hitomi finished singing she suddenly sensed that she was being watched. She looked behind her and instantly blushed. Van was standing at the top of the stairs, looking at her, and smiling. 'Did he hear me sing,' Hitomi thought blushing crimson. Van came over and sat next to her. She quickly pulled the headphones out of her ears and turned off the discman.
"You shouldn't be embarrassed if someone hears you sing. You have a beautiful voice."
Hitomi was startled by this. No one except for Yukari and Amano liked her singing. She stopped singing in public because people made fun of her. Hitomi drew her knees to her chest, and put her chin on them. A tear suddenly escaped her eye. This shocked Van, who couldn't understand why she would be crying. He wiped the tear away and asked what was wrong. Hitomi sighed.
"The only people who have ever complimented my singing were Yukari, Amano and my family. Every one else made fun of me. Mainly because the songs I liked to sing were love songs. I stopped singing in public because I couldn't stand the ridicule. Now I miss my family and friends."
Van pulled her into a hug as she started crying again.
"If you miss them why don't you go visit?"
"Because I'd have to leave you."
"I could go with you. I need a vacation anyway. Why don't we ask Kyria to join us? Maybe she'd like to visit some people."
"Maybe. Though I doubt it would be her mother."
"So let's go ask her."
Van helped Hitomi stand up. Then they went down to talk to Kyria , who by this time had returned from town with Merle.
On the way down, Van was thinking about the song he had heard Hitomi singing. He wanted her to sing it again, but he wasn't sure if she would do it. She got so embarrassed when people heard her sing. Before he knew it they were standing in front of Kyria's door and Hitomi was knocking.
Kyria opened the door and let them in. All three sat down while Hitomi explained why they were there. Kyria was enthusiastic about going to visit the Mystic Moon. She had been thinking about going anyway for two reasons. The first was to get some more stuff for Jake. The second was that she thought that it was time to tell her father the truth. She didn't relish facing her mother though. They decided on a time to go and when. They would go in one week in the morning. That would give them plenty of time to prepare. Merle was going to be left in charge in their absence. They were going to start preparing the next day be telling Merle their plans. After everything was discussed, they all retired to bed.
The next morning the Van, Hitomi, Kyria, and Merle all met for breakfast before they went running. Van was able to go since Hitomi chewed his advisers out for calling running childish. After an intense argument, the advisers relented and Hitomi won. Van could go running if and only if he didn't have anything to do in the morning. Van of course knew nothing of this, though he had a pretty good idea. All he knew was that the advisers said that he could go if he didn't have anything to do in the morning. Naturally he didn't argue. Though he was suspicious as to why they relented so easily.
Van, Hitomi, and Kyria had agreed to tell Merle about their plans after they went running. Van and Hitomi knew she would be mad that she couldn't go.
After breakfast they all went outside to start stretching. Then they started running for the field. Little did they know that there was an unpleasant surprise waiting for them.
. . . Meanwhile at the field . . .
Two men were hiding in the trees waiting for Hitomi.
"When is she going to show up," Dilandau demanded impatiently.
"Soon."
A couple minutes later they heard footsteps approaching. Then four people came jogging into view. Sander felt Dilandau tense when he saw Van. Van though didn't have a sword so it wouldn't be a fair fight.
Everyone but Hitomi and Van sat down. Hitomi handed Van her pendant, then went to the starting block and got into position. At 'Go' Van let the pendant swing, and Hitomi shot off the blocks like an arrow. Dilandau and Sander got ready to pounce. After passing the finish line Hitomi stopped, turned around and was about to start jogging back when she suddenly sensed someone hiding in the trees. She could feel their aura and it was evil. She quickly formed the flame in her hand. She whirled around and threw it just as Dilandau and Sander jumped out of hiding. Hitomi's fireball just missed Dilandau and hit Sander's arm cried out in pain and fell to his knees. He looked at his arm and was surprised to see an ugly burn mark. Hitomi threw another fireball at Dilandau, which hit his shoulder, but only slowed him down a little. Hitomi whirled around and sprinted toward Van who was running toward her.
"Kyria, get Merle out of here," Van yelled to her.
By the time Van reached Hitomi, she had thrown another fireball at Dilandau. He dodged it though and kept coming. Van had no sword so the only thing he could think of doing was grabbing Hitomi and flying away. Just as he was about to take her hand, Dilandau threw himself on top of Van pinning him down. Van yelled for Hitomi to run before Dilandau hit him in the stomach, then the head, knocking him out. Hitomi screamed. Then she threw another fireball at him. It grazed the already hurt shoulder but Dilandau ignored it. When he reached her he threw her over his shoulder and started back to the trees. She kicked, hit and screamed until he got fed up and knocked her out. Then he and Sander disappeared into the trees.
Kyria and Merle, who were in the sky, had seen everything. They couldn't do anything though, because Merle had nothing but claws and Kyria was holding Merle so she couldn't use any of her magic that required hands. They waited till Dilandau had Vanished before Kyria flew back down to Van. Merle instantly began fussing over him. Kyria was faced with a dilemma. she couldn't fly both of them back to the palace at the same time. Then she thought of something. She would fly Van back to the palace while Merle followed on foot. Merle didn't agree right away. She relented though, when Kyria told her that it was the quickest way to get Van some help. As Kyria picked up Van, Merle started back to the palace. Kyria took off and soon saw Merle running. A few minutes later, Kyria landed on Van and Hitomi's balcony. She set him on the bed then went to find help. When she reached the main hall she saw Allen Shezaer, Celena, and Millerna Aston. They had come to visit Vand and Hitomi and had just arrived. Knowing that they were friends of Van, Kyria immediately told them what had happened. Millerna and Celena headed for Van while Allen went to talk to Van's advisers. Just as Kyria was about to follow Millerna, Merle showed up. So they went up together. When they reached the room they saw Millerna examining a still unconcious Van. Then she turned and faced them.
"He'll be fine, except for a bump on his head. He'll have a headache when he wakes up too. For now let's let him sleep," Millerna told the others.
The four of them left the room and went to the main hall where Allen was pacing. He stopped when they walked in. When he asked about Van, he sighed in relief after hearing the verdict.
"I told Van's advisers what happened. They're pretty upset. They've already sent trackers to the spot. They're worried Hitomi might not be alive," Allen suddenly stopped.
The others looked to where he was staring. Van stood in the doorway with a scowl on his face. Merle instantly ran to him.
"Hitomi's alive. I can feel her, and I'm going to find her."
"Van, I know you want to find Hitomi, but you still need rest. You wont be any good to Hitomi if your sick," Millerna scolded.
"Besides," Kyria interjected softly. "Hitomi can probably escape on her own."
"How," Millerna asked.
"Her powers. She can use the fireball to burn through any ropes, (unless there chains, she thought) and she can use her wings to fly away."
Van was not comforted by this. He knew what Kyria was thinking and agreed. While Van was thinking of some way to save Hitomi, Kyria filled the others in on Hitomi's past and new powers.
"So your saying that Hitomi is a Draconian," Millerna asked amazed.
"A very powerful on, yes."
"Anything else we should know," Allen asked.
"Well, Millerna already knows this, but Hitomi is pregnant," Van said.
Celena and Allen's faces registered shock, then they turned to Millerna.
"Why didn't you tell us," Allen inquired.
"Because I thought it best for Van and Hitomi to tell you themselves. And speaking of which, we should go see if the trackers have any news on Hitomi."
This statement brought everyone back to the realitly that Hitomi was indeed gone. While everyone else went to the council room where the trackers were about to give their report, Van snuck away to find Hitomi his own way.