Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Twisted Fates ❯ How Did I Fall In Love With You ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9 ~ How did I fall in love with you?

Hitomi was sitting on the balcony of the Asturian castle. She was sipping a mug of hot cocoa. King Dryden was not back from his journey yet, and she was still stuck on Gaea. Hitomi looked up into the sky. How could her heart be in such pain? Hitomi felt a tear drop down her cheek. It wasn't a tear of sadness though. Hitomi was mad. Actually, she was enraged. How could Van treat her like that? How could he just walk on her feelings like they were nothing? Was he worth all this pain? Hitomi got up, and kicked the chair, as she left the balcony. She wanted off this planet NOW! It wasn't worth it. Loneliness was nothing compared to the pain and anger she was feeling.

"Hey Hitomi. How are you?" Millerna asked.

"I'm ok." Hitomi said a little sharper than she would have liked. "Millerna, tell me what's wrong with Celena?" Hitomi asked in a soft voice.

"Well, she fell ill about a half a year ago. That's about as much as everyone knows." Millerna told her.

"Is that why Allen's life went down the drain?" Hitomi asked.

"Yeah. You see, she fell ill when he was on a mission. When he came back and no one could awaken Celena, he fell prey to desperation." Millerna told her.

"Why? Did he blame himself for her again?" Hitomi questioned.

"Yeah. He said that it all happened because he wasn't there. First her kidnapping, and now her disease. He said that whenever he was away, his sister only got worse. Then he started to gradually drink as no one could do anything to help Celena. It's sad really, but there's nothing we can do about it. Allen is still the best knight we have. It's just that whenever his sorrow catches up with him, he curls up with his bottle." Millerna said sadly.

Hitomi only shook her head in disapproval. She could see what caused Allen to act so odd the days before. Yet it was still a poor excuse. She'd think a knight had better control.

~~~~

(a few hours before)

"Lord Van! Lord Van! There's an urgent letter from Millerna!" Merle came up to him with a letter in her hand.

"What does she want. I have no time to waste. Did the search parties reveal anything?" Van asked.

"No, but the letter must be very urgent. It came by special courier. " Merle informed him.

Van broke the seal quickly. Maybe, just maybe... yes he had found her! Van's heart soared as his eyes danced on the paper. Hitomi was in Asturia! No wonder she was nowhere to be found.

"Lord Van?" Merle asked as she saw Van's face light up.

"Hitomi's in Asturia. I have to go talk to her!" Van said and sprouted his wings. He took off into the morning sun, hurrying towards his beloved.

~~~~

(present time)

Hitomi was anxious for Dryden to come back, when the castle began to shake.

"What was that?" she asked Millerna in an alarmed voice.

"Oh nothing, it's just that this time of year we get a few earthquakes. Nothing to worry about." Millerna told her.

"Oh, ok. Well, I'm going to go take a walk. I'll be back later in the afternoon, so I can speak to Dryden." Hitomi said and proceeded to leave.

"Wait, where are you going to be going?" Millerna asked, aware that Van was probably on his way to Asturia by then.

"Not far. I'd like to go climb the hill behind the royal castle. I want to get a better view of the city, before I leave." Hitomi told her.

"Ok, be careful, there's an old abandoned mine under that hill, and it might be unstable because of the earthquakes. Take care Hitomi." Millerna advised.

"Don't worry. I will." Hitomi smiled. A sad smile only showing the queen how upset she really was.

Millerna watched Hitomi leave. The blonde queen shook her head in disapproval. "Van, you better get here fast, or else you're gonna loose her for sure." Millerna whispered to herself.

In the air, Van was thinking only of Hitomi. He hoped he would be in time to clarify things with her. Van's heart shivered when he thought of what Hitomi must be feeling. Without doubt she probably wanted to kill him. Van silently cursed. Why did June have to be so rotten? Even if Hitomi wasn't there, he would still not have accepted her as queen of Fanelia. There was only one woman for him, and Van didn't want to let her get away. Hopefully, she would have calmed down by now. "Oh no, what if she went to Asturia to accept Allen's proposal? What if she did it just to punish me?" Van knew he wouldn't stand around on the side and let Allen have Hitomi. Not after the way he had behaved when he asked for her hand, or the way he had behaved since his sister's sickness. Van shook his head, trying to clear his mind of the dark picture forming there. (He could see Hitomi cower in a corner as Allen would come home drunk.) No, she did not deserve that kind of fate. He would rather call Allen out in a duel, than let Hitomi marry him. Van knew what he wanted. He just hoped that he would be in time to get it. "Hold on Hitomi. We'll straighten this out!" he thought.

~~~~

A few hours later, Van set down on the balcony of the Asturian castle.

"Van! What took you so long!" Millerna greeted him.

"Good day to you too my queen." Van said with a smile. "Where is she?" he asked getting serious.

"She went for a walk. Van, how could you?" Millerna asked, with eyes of steel.

"I didn't. That wretch pulled me toward her, and pretended to kiss me. It was all a ploy to get her revenge because I would not have her as queen of Fanelia." Van told her sincerely.

"Well, she's set on going back to the Phantom Moon. I don't know how you can fix it, but you better you hear me?" she told him.

"Ok, ok, where did she go take the walk?" Van asked anxious to see Hitomi.

"She went up that hill. Go after her!" Millerna motioned him.

Van ran up the small country path, in the direction where Millerna said Hitomi went. He was really nervous. Would she believe him? Van hoped she would. After all, the truth was on his side.

After the long walk, Hitomi sat down on the side of the road. All she could think about was Van. Hitomi could feel herself getting angrier and angrier. How could he treat her this way?

"Hey there, may I take a seat here?" that familiar soft voice asked.

Hitomi looked up in surprise. She found herself staring into Van's chocolate eyes. He was kneeling down in front of her. Hitomi got mad. He had a lot of nerve coming here and trying to talk to her. Didn't he know how she felt? Hitomi growled. Her hand came down with frightening speed. Unfortunately, Van grabbed it.

"You're not going to slap me." He told her. Unfortunately, a forceful blow from her free hand blistered his cheek.

"Go back to your little princess." Hitomi told him and got up.

"She's not my little princess. All I want to do is talk to you!" Van told her.

"Well, did it ever occur to you that I don't want to talk to you? How did you find me anyway?" Hitomi asked, her eyes full of rage.

"Millerna told me you were here. Listen, June was jealous that she wasn't going to be the queen of Fanelia, and decided she should take a little revenge on us. She drew me into the hall, and when she saw you approach, she kissed me. I tried to get her off me, but I didn't succeed until it was too late." Van told her.

"What a good excuse! I completely believe you!" Hitomi said mockingly. "You're such a player Van Fanel! I can't believe you've got the guts to come here and sell me this crap! I spend two years of my life constantly thinking of you, and hoping that you still care about me, and when I come here, I find a player that leads me on at first and then breaks my heart to pieces. If I'd have wanted pain Van, I would have stayed on the Phantom Moon. At least pure pain is better than what you have put me through." Hitomi said, her voice going through Van like hundreds of steel knives.

"Hitomi, how could I ever get you to believe me?" Van asked, hurt in his voice.

"You can't. How could you Van? How can you be so clueless? How can you just treat me like that?" Hitomi asked, her eyes filling with tears. She didn't want to see him anymore. He brought her too much pain. Could he really not see how she felt about him. It was clear to Hitomi that Van didn't love her back. After all, she had opened her heart to him -more or less- and he didn't say anything. That was even more painful than all the kisses Princess June could give him. Hitomi couldn't stand it anymore. She spun on her heels and ran up the hill. She would give anything for the earth to swallow her up right now.

"Hitomi! Hitomi don't run away from me. We're not done talking!" Van called after her. When he saw that Hitomi had no intention of turning back, Van began to run after her. They weren't done. There was still something more he had to say to her.

Just then, the ground began to shake. Horrible noises echoed under him. Van saw the ground slowly cracking. The cracks began to become deeper and deeper as the ground slowly began to break under him. Holes started to grow in the ground. The noise was deafening. Van saw the ground break right under Hitomi. She was going to fall any second now. He couldn't let her get hurt. In a supreme effort, he ran the last few meters, and tried to push her out of the way, when the ground broke under him too. Hitomi and Van plunged a few meters into dark nothingness.

"Van! Help me!" Hitomi screamed before falling.

"Hold on! Try to grab my hand!" Van said, and tried to sprout his wings. However, the trip to Asturia had been enough for them, and they just broke when he tried to fly. Van found himself falling along with Hitomi. He managed to get a hold of her, and grab her.

When Van grabbed her, Hitomi had never felt anything better. She was sure things were ok now. Hitomi could feel Van's heart beating under his shirt. She could see he was scared, but Hitomi could feel he wasn't scared for himself. Hitomi felt that Van was scared for her. She hugged him, and in that instant, she saw the scene back in Fanelia.

Princess June had indeed forced herself onto Van. He had never wanted to kiss her, and HAD not kissed her back. Hitomi saw how it all had been. Van was telling the truth. He indeed did NOT love Princess June. Hitomi was about to sense something more, when she hit the ground. Van fell on top of her, shielding her from the falling rocks.

"Van, I'm sorry." Hitomi said before passing out.

~~~~

When Hitomi came about, she couldn't remember where she was. When her senses started returning to her, Hitomi felt something heavy sitting on her. With the little light coming through the long hole, Hitomi could see that the "thing" was Van. He had shielded her from the falling debris, and had passed out. "Oh no, what if he has a concussion?" Hitomi couldn't move. She guessed that the rocks all fell on her legs. She knew that her upper body was ok. She hoped she had not broken a leg in the fall.

"Van, Van, wake up!" she cried a little alarmed, when she saw that Van didn't move. "Oh, please, please wake up!" she begged.

"Hit... Hitomi, are you ok?" Van asked as he regained consciousness.

"Yeah! Van, we're probably in the abandoned mine. Can you move?" Hitomi asked.

"Abandoned mine?" Van asked confused.

"Yeah. Millerna told me that they used to mine this hill. When the ground broke, we must have landed in the mine." Hitomi briefed him.

"I see." Van said aware for the first time that he was resting his head on top of Hitomi's chest. Van blushed, thinking at how much he wanted to kiss her and see if she's all right.

"Can you move? I'm pinned to the ground, and you're squishing me." Hitomi told him.

"I'll try, but I must say, I landed on something soft." Van said, smiling in the dark.

Hitomi laughed. "Well don't you be getting used to this. I want out! And I landed on something soft also. I think it's moss. Anyhow, thank you for plunging after me." Hitomi said seriously.

"No problem. I love getting stuck in abandoned mines, with women ready to kill me." Van said with a bit of sarcasm in his voice.

"Oh Van, I'm sorry. I knew you were telling the truth, I was blowing off steam. I saw how it happened when you jumped after me. Princess June was indeed a snake. I'm really sorry for slapping you. Now get off me!" Hitomi said breathing hoarsely. Van was squishing her, and aside from that, being so close to him wasn't doing her good. All Hitomi could think about was kissing him.

Van moved, slowly at first, trying to brush the rocks off his body. When he got himself free, and off of Hitomi, she breathed a sigh of relief. Hitomi sat up, unable to move her legs. At least the upper part of her body was free.

"Do you have any means of lighting a fire?" Hitomi asked. The little light they had, was gone, and they were now surrounded in darkness.

"Yeah, wait here." Van told her. Hitomi heard some awkward sounds in the night, and a few minutes later, a fire was born.

"Is this ok?" Van asked.

"Yeah, thank you. I was uncomfortable in the dark." Hitomi said and tried to get the rest of the rocks off her foot.

"Here, let me help you." Van said gently. He got down beside the pile of rocks, and removed them off Hitomi's foot.

"Thanks." She said and tried to get up. As soon as she did though, Hitomi fell back down against the soft moss.

"Are you all right?" Van was beside her in a second.

"Yeah, I think I sprained my ankle." Hitomi said, tears of pain glistering in her eyes.

"Oh Hitomi, how do you manage to get yourself into these things?" Van asked.

"Well I don't know. I guess I must have fallen wrong or something." Hitomi argued.

"Come on, let me get you near the fire. I don't want you to freeze to death or something." Van told her. He scooped her up in his arms, and placed her gently near the fire.

Hitomi just looked at Van. His face was smeared with dust from the fall, and it had a few scratches. Other than that though, he was fine. She brushed his dusty hair out of the way. There were a few more scratches covered by it. She gently ran her hand past them, almost as if trying to heal them.

Van just stood there, electrified from her touch. It was so gentle, yet he could feel himself blush under the soft caress. He looked into her eyes. They were shining; sparkling with life and determination. He never thought her more beautiful. Even though her face was scratched, and smeared with dust, never had Hitomi sparkled more life, more love.

"You look like a million bucks." She said gently smirking at him.

"Same to you. It looks like you had a dust bath," Van told her, gently removing the hair from her eyes. He just loved the way they twinkled; so gentle and mysterious.

Van's hand lingered on Hitomi's face. He gently brushed her cheek. It was still silky and soft. His hand lingered on her face, gently soothing the cuts. He felt the blush creep up into her face. Van absolutely loved it. He leaned closer to her.

Hitomi herself felt pulled towards Van. She could feel the knots tie in her stomach. Was her really going to kiss her? Hitomi felt the urge to feel his lips against hers. She leaned closer, wanting to kiss him with a deep desire never before let loose.

Van didn't know when or how it happened. All he knew was just that he found himself wildly kissing Hitomi. She was responding to him in a way he never thought possible. Van felt something inside him snap. All the love he had held back from her these past two years just flew free. He could barely control the torrent of emotions that was passing through him. He found himself press against Hitomi harder. She was pressing back. Van could feel her sweet lips against his, yet he felt nothing. He could somehow feel her conscience link to his, and all his love just transfer to her. He was barely aware that the same thing was happening back. The kiss deepened, and a soft moan escaped Hitomi's throat. Van felt how he was running out of air, and the desire in him calmed for a moment. For just a moment. He was right when he had wanted to kiss her all those times. She tasted sweeter than honey. This first kiss had been wilder and better than anything he had imagined. He could have never dreamed of this. There were no words to describe it. All he knew when they drew apart, was that the kiss had left him powerless. He realised he was a slave of love forever, for he had hopelessly fell in love with the green eyed girl. Although Van had acknowledged it before, he had never truly realised the extent of his feelings for Hitomi. Right then and there he realised that he will never let her go. Ever. She was his forever, as he was hers.

Hitomi drew back from the kiss, bewildered by the feelings going through her body. She had felt electrified by the kiss. Hitomi felt like she had just tasted the sweetest fire. The aftershocks were still lingering on her senses. She felt her stomach burn, and her head ache and spin. Never had she experienced something more intense and more pleasurable. She remembered the kiss on the bridge with Allen. It was nothing like this. It was just ice masked in a little bit of warmth. Hitomi had felt fire now that she had finally kissed Van. She had felt how something broke inside of her. During those intense moments, she had felt how all her love for Van had flown out to him, and vice versa. She felt warmed by his love. Hitomi sighed with contempt. She had never felt more alive than when she had kissed him. She now realised that she loved Van beyond all obstacles. She had always loved him this intensely. Pity she only had to find out how much she cared for him after a kiss. Hitomi smiled wickedly. Oh, he would have a hard time trying to escape her! She would never let him go.

Van looked at Hitomi, and saw the shadows of the fire dance on her features. He thought he saw her smile, and turn red. What would happen now? He hoped she wouldn't slap him. Van was very surprised when Hitomi crawled closer to him. He let her rest beside him. Just having her there beside him was enough. He was still bewildered from their kiss. Van felt Hitomi stare at him. He looked down, to meet her gaze. It was a look of pure love.

"How did I fall in love with you?" she asked quietly as if speaking more to herself.

Van's eyes widened. Did he hear her right? She just said she fell in love with him. That meant... Did it mean what he thought it meant? He was silent, letting Hitomi continue.

"Van, I love you." The words slipped off her tongue. Her eyes grew large as she realised she had voiced her thoughts.

Van was in heaven. He was surprised how four little words could make him feel so happy. He had never dared hope. He dreamed, but he never let his dreams become more. But now, she had said it. She wanted him. Him, not anyone else. Should he tell her, or was he dreaming this?

Before Van could think everything through, he found himself kissing Hitomi. Again, he was caught in a slow moment, thinking that he didn't even know how it happened. Yet he was kissing her, and she was responding to him in that warm way that sent shivers up his spine. Van felt her wrap his fingers in his hair, and felt the need to press her harder against him. In their passion, Van lost his balance and fell on his back, Hitomi landing on top of him. Never breaking their kiss, it was Van who issued a small moan of pleasure. God he loved her. This kiss was again truly breathtaking. He could spend an eternity just kissing her. She was a flame within a flame. Van felt the fire from her kiss spread down his throat and into the smallest corners of his being. When the kiss ended (because of lack of air, damn that oxygen essential for living) Van lifted Hitomi a little so he could see into her eyes. They were again sparkling like two emeralds into the night.

"I could spend an eternity kissing you. I love you Hitomi. I always have, and I always will." He said gently.

He saw how her eyes filled with tears.

"What's wrong?" Van asked. "What did I say? I'm sorry Hitomi!" he added quickly.

"You said nothing. Your foot is on my twisted ankle, and it's killing me!" she said and broke into a fit of laughter.

Van looked at her. He had thought his words had hurt her in any way. Yet it was his foot. He had to smile. It felt great to finally admit his love to her. It was great to love, and to be loved back. He spun, placing Hitomi on the soft moss. He then started to place small kisses on her neck. She was shrieking with laughter.

"Oh, Van, stop! That tickles!" she cried out when she couldn't help it any more.

"I don't care!" he smiled wickedly.

Hitomi wrapped her arms against his neck, drawing him closer to her. She kissed him again, only this time she broke the kiss early, before the deep feelings inside of her stirred. They were already tormented by the previous kisses.

"I love you Hitomi." Van whispered gently in her ear.

"I know. I love you too. I think I fell in love with you when I first saw you. If you hadn't been such a jerk, we could have skipped all this pain." She told him lovingly.

"Hmm... well, I've always loved you. I was just too afraid to admit it, until I saw you kiss Allen on that bridge. That drove a sword right through my heart."

"I know. That's how I felt when I saw you kiss June. But let's put that all behind us. I don't care anymore. We only have here and now. Can you please take a look at my ankle now? It's killing me." Hitomi told him.

A few hours, and a few kisses later, Van and Hitomi fell asleep in each other's arms, by the warm fire. Holding her in a protective embrace, Van's head was resting on Hitomi's sandy hair. Her own was resting on his chest. Little did they know, that a magic never ending circle of love surrounded both of them. The angel was smiling happily on both of them. With that, Cupid took his bow and arrows and headed for the sky. He had wasted enough time on these two. The rest was up to them, for they had the never-ending love. Whatever obstacles would stand in their path, they would crumble when facing their love.