Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Pathetic ❯ Van's position ( Chapter 2 )

Well… here it is. Chapter 2 of my very first fanfic. I didn't quite know at first which direction to give it, but after much debate with myself I gave in to my hopelessly romantic nature. Which means that it's gonna be a V/H get together. Some might have wanted something else, but you can't please everyone…

Also the rating will go up eventually. Most probably up to R, `cause I don't know if I'll risk myself in writing a lemon, but if I'm asked to I'll try… and maybe even if I'm not. Who knows? If it's too bad it can always be deleted, soo…

Before forgetting I'd like to thank Shady for reviewing my fic. I had no idea how great it would feels, but I can said now that it truly does make a difference in the best way possible.

Disclaimer- I don't own Escaflowne.

Chapter 2: Van's Position

Gaea

Fanelia's Palace

Van Fanel stood by the window, gazing at the night sky deep in thoughts. His counsellors have done it again. Trying to urge him into marriage to ensure the continuity of the royal bloodline of Fanelia. It had been going on for almost a year now and he didn't know if he'd be able to get away from their request any longer. They were getting more and more insistent every time. The problem was that the young king didn't see any reason to explain this pressure of them. He wasn't an old impotent man, he was only 20 damnit!

On the other side, the king could understand to some extent. Even thought the Great War have been over for 5 years now, the reconstruction of Fanelia, like all of Gaea, had took almost two years to be completed, even with all the good spirits of his people. The people of Fanelia wanted guarantee. They wanted a queen. And an heir to the throne. They wanted a future.

Van didn't thought it was because his people didn't trust him. When the reconstruction have started, more than one have been surprise to see their king helping rebuilding their country as any other man. And even if some have protested at first that the place of their king was in the castle and not in the building yard with them, they have soon accepted the idea. Van honestly didn't see any reason he should have sit on his ass while his people worked 12 hours/day. And in the end, this initiative of his have gotten him closer to his people and he had earn their trust and respect. Respect for the king, but also respect for the man he was.

Van liked his people. He liked his country. He wouldn't have fought with such rage back in the Great War, if he didn't. But marriage was a very personal thing, a commitment for life. He didn't know if he was ready to do so, even for his people. His parents marriage had been a happy one for what he could remember. He wanted the same. Bonding himself to a woman for the sole purpose of reproduction for the throne was a disturbing idea to him. He wanted a wife who would look at him with the same eyes his mother had every time his father entered a room. Eyes that were shinny, like if they were glowing of an intense light, eyes full of tenderness and comprehension as if the loved ones could understand each other without words. Kinda like Millerna and Dryden had become over the years.

He did have thought of Hitomi with the marriage issue. Not really in the perspective of wanting her as wife, even if the thought have crossed his mind, but more because the whole thing made him thought of their promise, the last words they had for each other before she left to return to the Mystic Moon. And he had to wonder about himself. Was he so inconstant in his feelings? When Hitomi left he would have sworn he would never forget her, that he would think of her everyday for the rest of his life, that she had been the one true love of his life and that the pain would never go away. It had been so for a while. But with all the work there was in rebuilding an entire country, his mind had focussed on more practical and immediate matters. He soon have realized how much is people depended on him, and he became a man, both in body and spirit, to face his responsibilities as king. And the thoughts of Hitomi have faded.

He still held tender emotions toward her souvenir and gratitude also, he had to admit. Even if unwillingly, Hitomi had play an important role in the war and in their victory. Only after her living for the second time, had he realized how hard it should have been for her. Being thrown into a world she knew nothing of, with people wanting her head and no real indications of who to trust, he had to say that she had been very lucky to come out of all this unscarred.

Van sighed and looked down without really seeing anything. All those thoughts were getting him no where. He had learn in the war to face his problems, not to ignore them. Yet, it was what he was doing now.

Retracting in the shadows of his bedroom, Van stood by his bed, pensive. Marriage was now inevitable. He might not like, not want it, but it was his duty it seamed to do so. And he wasn't about to start escaping from his responsibilities toward his people.

Slowly he sat on the edge of his bed, absently stroking between his fingers Hitomi's pendant. An habit acquired after becoming the pendant's owner. Such a small gesture that often help him clear his mind and focus on the important matters. But tonight the pendant's magic wasn't there. In frustration, Van took off the pendant from his neck and throw it onto the pillows while getting up. Pacing in large circles in his dark room, he dove in his thoughts one more time.

Who could he marry? It wasn't as if he knew all of Gaea's royalty relatives. Heck, much of them he haven't seen since the end of the Great War. And some he haven't seen even then. He wasn't the `social' type. An other complain his counsellors had over him. Fanelia wasn't throwing garden parties and ball every month. Most of his visitors where commercial acquaintances. Allan, Celena, Millerna and Dryden also came once in a while. And he was going to Asturia once a year. That was pretty much was his social calendar looked like.

He had considered for a brief moment marrying Merle. The little spitfire had grown quite a bit over the years, and at fifteen she promised to be a beauty. But he had immediately dismissed the idea. Not only most of his counsellors wouldn't accept such a choice, but the thought of taking Merle, that he considered as his little sister, to bed… Cold shivers downed his spine. The simple thought made him feel like some old dirty pervert. Merle was definitely out of the question. Celena? Kissing the woman who had been Dilandau wasn't part of his untold fantasy. But then who?

He tried to mentally revisited the available women he knew. But somehow none of them fitted. In the end, Van let himself fall onto his bed. Without taking off his clothes or getting under the sheets he let himself drifts into sleep. Maybe the right answer would come to him in the morning.

Eyes closed, half-away in sleep, Van could have sworn he hear someone saying "I want to be in love". But the voice wasn't his. It was a woman voice. Already to much gone in his sleep he just drifted in the abyss of forgetfulness thinking "ditto".

And by his side, the pendant glowed.

To be continued…

What do you think?

You probably can already figure out part of what's gonna be next chapter, ne? Maybe not all… we'll see.