Chapter 5: A Sunday Date
Hitomi stretched and yawned loudly as she stepped outside. The air was comfortably warm, and there was just the right amount of clouds in the sky. She set out boldly down the path and onto the sidewalk. “What a beautiful day,” she declared, smiling up at a bright and boisterous sun.
“You seem to have a good relationship with your family,” Van commented as he fell into step beside her.
“Yes, I do.” Hitomi paused, and scowled. “Except for that damn Tatsumi--what a little jerk! I hope his attitude gets him in trouble some day. Brothers are stupid.” Immediately after she’d said the words she regretted them. How can you say that to Van of all people?
But he continued to stare straight ahead. His lips were turned up slightly. “Don’t worry, Hitomi. Brother and I…have come to terms, you could say.”
“That’s good.” She faltered on what to say next, and so quickly changed the subject. “Anyway, life’s pretty calm around here, which is why we might have a hard time finding you a weapon. I still think we should try to find a way to capture Celena without fighting.”
Van nodded vaguely in agreement. “You’re probably right. Which means we’ll have to locate the Alseides and quickly.”
They didn’t find the Alseides. Hitomi led him to where she thought the light had originated from, east from her school, but they discovered only traces of the melef’s presence. “Celena must have moved it,” Van reasoned. “Probably during flight mode, in order to leave no tracks. It could be anywhere.”
Their next step was the hospital, where they met Kenji. “I thought you’d end up here sooner or later,” he said. “I just talked to my dad. He says that your friend Jovey’s asleep now--he was pretty sick this morning, but he’s doing better.”
“Sick?” Hitomi repeated with concern. “Is he all right? And infection?”
“Oh, no. Stomach problems. Dad doesn’t think it’s related to his arm at all. He’s okay. He’ll be out in about a week, they think.”
“Thanks, Kenji-kun.”
Kenji frowned. “Wheels, you’ll be careful, won’t you? They still haven’t found that woman yet.”
Hitomi brushed his concerns aside, which may have only worried him more. “I’ll be just fine. Van’s with me.”
Van glanced at her significantly. Once they’d left he said, “Thank you, for saying that. But we still haven’t solved the problem of a weapon.”
“If Celena hid the Alseides,” Hitomi mused aloud, “it probably means she’s waiting for something. Probably for Jovey to recover.”
“Dilandau did rely a lot on his Dragonslayers,” Van murmured.
She nodded. “If she was only interested in killing us, she could have ambushed us by now. She’s waiting for Jovey, which means she needs his help.”
“Allen did mention that Celena has no guymelef experience. Maybe she needs him for that?”
“Could be.” She found it encouraging, though, that Celena was considering the condition of her fellow. There was a good chance that, if they were able to reunite her with her brother, she would be able to regain her senses.
“In the meantime,” Hitomi decided, “we need to go shopping--clothes for you and shoes for me.”
“Van frowned, clearly not comprehending the vital importance of a new wardrobe. He glanced about at the crowds of packed streets. “Like these people?”
Hitomi giggled at the look on his face. “Not just like these people. But yes, sort of. Come on--it will be fun.”
“I don’t think it would be--“
“Come on.” She tugged on his arm. “Celena’s not going to try anything while you’re with me anyway, let alone in a crowded department store, so relax. Please? I promised my dad, remember?”
Van relented, allowing her to drag him through the busy streets to her favorite department store. She passed several of her friends at some point and waved, not bothering to pause for fear of having to explain her companion. I’ve dreamt of this, her mind whispered. A Sunday date, just the two of us. In my world, like a normal couple.
Hitomi bought her shoes first, reasoning that she would be able to wear them in while they traveled through the mall. Van only smiled at her enthusiasm.
Just being with him. No fighting, no war.
She stood back, giggling, as Van was led hesitantly into one of the department dressing rooms with an armful of clothing she’d picked. He sent her a pleading look; she waved back in encouragement.
No fate.
“You might be right. The leather is a bit much.”
Only us.
After some discussion and a lot of embarrassment on the king’s part, they decided on an outfit: khaki pants, a pair of nice shoes, and a T-shirt of black, red, and gold--Hitomi reasoned that she could pass him off as being German if the occasion arose. Van looked himself over in the store’s full length mirror and nodded in barely concealed satisfaction. Hitomi smiled as she paid the clerk, and clipped the tags off his new attire. She was glad to see him acting his age, even in so simple an action as praising his looks. When she complimented him, he blushed a bit and grinned with a hint of sly pride. It was an attractive expression on his face.
They chatted casually on the way home; their concerns of Celena and Jovey were long since forgotten. Not even the fast-paced, bustling streets dampened their simple spirits. Upon reaching home they found Tatsumi out with his friends, and Hitomi’s parents on their way to see a movie. Both gave Hitomi her due credit for picking an appropriate outfit for their guest. “Keep the money left over,” her father said. “Since we’re leaving now, use it to get yourselves some lunch. Show your friend what it’s like in the big city.”
“Sure thing. Thanks Dad.” Hitomi waved as the pair moved to their car.
Van only smiled, unsure as to exactly what was gong on but hoping that he seemed pleasant enough. “So what happens now?” he asked as the couple drove away.
“Since Tatsumi’s with Hiroshi, and Mom and Dad are going to be gone until dinner, I guess it’s just us. Are you hungry?”
“A bit,” he admitted. But after their experience with the clothing, he was afraid of what she might have in mind.
Hitomi considered very carefully. “Well, I remember food in Fanelia tasting kind of European. Maybe we should--“
“I want to eat your country’s food,” Van interrupted gently. He was a bit embarrassed, as he himself didn’t understand why it meant so much to him. “I want to eat what you’d eat if I wasn’t here--your country’s meal.”
She stared at him, taken aback by the sudden request. He could see, however, that it pleased her, for which he was happy. “All right. We’ll go…hmm…to Mari’s. They have prepared box lunches--the kind students buy. Is that okay?”
“Of course.” Van smiled, and they set out once more.
Mari’s wasn’t far, and he found the rice and vegetables easier to stomach than some of Hitomi’s suggested outfits. The simple taste was even quite good. Hitomi beamed as if personally complimented when he told her so. She must be feeling a lot like I did once, he thought wistfully. This is her world, and she wants me to like it. It shouldn’t be personal, but it still is. But this world is so different--how did she adjust to ours so well?
Afterwards, the subject of Celena resurfaced. “I’d like to go back to the woods,” Van admitted. “Try to follow where she might have taken Alseides.”
Hitomi nodded unenthusiastically. “Okay. I don’t like the idea much, but you’re right.”
Van and Hitomi journeyed to the woods for the second time that day. The air had grown hot and still; Van was thankful for the loose fit of his new clothing. He bent down and examined the marks made in the earth by the Alseides’s feet, then looked to the sky. “She must have moved it at night, just after dropping off Jovey. Or else, Jovey somehow moved it,” he mused aloud. He ran his fingers over a patch of crimson-stained grass. “No, it must have been Celena. I didn’t see Jovey after the fight, but Allen mentioned he’d been badly injured. All this blood…he must have left it unattended for hours. No wonder he’s in such bad shape now.”
“Fight?” Hitomi repeated curiously. “Allen and Jovey?”
“Yes. Just after Celena became Dilandau, I think.” The king straightened and surveyed the tree canopy. “Some branches were broken,” he indicated. “I injured Dilandau’s leg--you said the wound stayed, somehow, so Celena must have been forced to favor it in maneuvering. She must have gone east.” He glanced at Hitomi to make sure she would follow. “Come on--I’ll explain everything I know on the way.”
Van told her then how Celena had first appeared in Fanelia’s throne room--a beautiful, spirited youth; how she expressed her interest in guymelefs, and met Jovey; how she’d confided in the king on the palace balcony late one dark night; how Allen returned from the forest; how he and Dilandau fought. And how Jovey had helped her escape.
“I want to believe that Celena can be saved,” he finished. “For Allen’s sake, and her own. But I can’t risk letting Dilandau free. If I understand Celena at all, she wouldn’t allow it, either.”
Hitomi nodded, looking somewhat subdued. He watched her profile as she considered. His heart quivered. Though in the past several years Van had begun to think of himself as more than a reckless child, he still couldn’t help but feel unsteady in her presence. He desperately wanted to know her thoughts. He’d heard said that wisdom and knowledge came with age, and yet he still couldn’t’ even interpret the eyes of the woman he loved. She had always been mysterious to him, like a maze within his brain he couldn’t solve or escape from.
God, I wish I knew what she was thinking.
Van discovered very few clues as to where their quarry might have gone. Within an hour they’d reached the opposite end of the small forest, and then started to double back. Hitomi didn’t comment or complain, lost in her own thoughts. They continued the search by spreading away from their original path. Soon they’d passed the Alseides’s original resting place, and still they went on. Van began to realize that finding the machine by this method was probably impossible--he had no idea how long Celena had had to hide it, or how much wilderness there was to search, or even if it was in a forest at all.
Van slowed and then stopped, lowering himself to the ground. Hitomi stared at him inquisitively. “What is it?”
“Break time.” He motioned for her to join him, and she did so thankfully. “We’ve been walking around all day. You looked tired, and I know I am.” He wasn’t all that much, but he didn't want to tell her that.
Hitomi brushed off her clothes and hair, which had now acquired quite some amount of forest debris--leaves, twigs, and dirt. She sighed. “We’re not going to find it, are we?”
“I don’t think so.” He could be honest with her. “It could be anywhere.”
“Then all we can do is wait.”
“Yes, I believe so.”
Both were silent for some time, unsure and fatigued. Something occurred to Van then that had been bothering him for some time. It might not have been the most pressing issue at hand, but now was as good a time as any. He reasoned that it might be important later. “Hitomi, can I ask you something?”
She raised her head sharply, and answered a bit too quickly. “Yes?”
Why does she look so nervous? Van tried not to frown. “I was wondering how you learned our language,” he said. “It doesn’t seem like anyone on this moon understands me.”
Hitomi fidgeted. “I didn’t,” she replied quietly. “I didn’t even know about Gaea until you showed up that day. I’ve been wondering about that myself.”
“You understood everyone on Gaea, but I don’t understand anyone on Earth. It doesn’t make much sense, but I hear you speaking our language.”
“And I hear you speaking Japanese.” She shrugged.
Maybe we’re speaking each other’s language without realizing? But how could we tell if that were so? “I want to test something,” he told her. “Repeat what I say when I tell you to, okay?” He placed his fingertips over his lips and murmured, “This is how I speak.” Hitomi stared at him curiously. Then Van reached out, somewhat embarrassed, and touched her lips gently. “Okay.” He closed his eyes.
Hitomi gulped. Her lips had grown suddenly hot beneath the light pressure being placed on them. “Um…this is how I speak,” she said timidly.
Van was silent for a moment. “It is different,” he said at last. “What you say and what I hear are different.” He opened his eyes.
The deep brown stain of his irises startled her into taking a breath. He was watching her intensely in a strange, penetrating fashion. The air had become thick, almost suspenseful. His hand hadn’t moved. When it did, she flinched. The worn fingers traced along her cheek, then moved bravely to pass through the locks of her hair. A tremble ran down her spine.
“I like your hair like this,” Van spoke softly. His tone was oddly hollow. “It’s beautiful long.”
Hitomi’s cheeks glowed. “T-Thank you,” she only just managed to stutter. She could feel the anticipation in the wind, and knew what it foretold. His body was speaking to her across the space between them--a shorter distance than what it had been a moment ago.
The king continued to move his hand through her hair, sending tiny shivers into her scalp. This isn’t right, some part of her brain was saying that she didn’t care to listen to. He shouldn’t have this kind of effect on me. This isn’t the kind of love we had.
She closed her eyes as Van’s second hand joined the first. His skin smelled of sweat mixed with his own unique scent--summer wind and fresh grass. He wanted to draw her closer, but he was afraid to; afraid she would reject him. This isn’t right--this can’t be right. He touched her lips once more, coaxing them to part. I chose to come here, back to my world. So that I could….
Van’s lips brushed hers, a touch so faint that it wasn’t a kiss--could not have been a kiss. But before Hitomi realized what she was doing, she inclined her head, inviting them closer. He responded in kind so that their mouths pressed tightly.
Oh God, oh God. What’s happening?
Their lips separated, spilling the king’s hot, ragged breath over her flushed cheeks. A moment later his hands curled behind her neck, forcing them together. He kissed her passionately, desperately, like a starved man finally finding salvation. Allen hadn’t kissed her that way, nor had any of the few boys she’d dated. She was used to feeling her body go stiff and numb at times like these, unable to react to what was happening to her.
Now was different. A strange energy possessed her; she wanted to be closer to Van. She pulled herself to her knees and urged him to do the same, wrapping her arms around his waist. His smell and warmth smothered her. Tentatively, as she’d never initiated such a thing before, she touched the tip of her tongue to his lips. His kissed her fiercely and deeply, just as she’d always imagined he would. She’d dreamt of this moment, this feeling.
Gradually they slowed, then stopped, until their lips separated, allowing them to breathe once more. But the pace of Hitomi’s pulse would not falter. Her eyelids fluttered; she hid her face in his neck, hoping to drown herself in his scent. She felt the muscles of his back tight beneath her fingers. His heart beat lightly against her chest.
Van’s breath hissed in sharply in her ear, and abruptly his arms encircled and entrapped her. A choked murmur escaped his throat, like a sound of pain. It caused her to start. “Why, Hitomi?” he whispered hoarsely. Her heart nearly stopped. “Why did you leave?”
Hitomi couldn’t reply.
She was numb all over, as if her brain had been severed from her cold
and silent body. You can’t ask that, her
voice flowed about her. Don’t ask that.
“Why did you leave
me there?” the king continued, trembling, his embrace tightening. “Since then, I…I haven’t been able to….”
“Van….” Please
don’t. Don’t ask that, Van, please.
Hitomi squirmed, trying to gain some space for her lungs to fill; more
importantly, trying to escape the questions she couldn’t answer. But his hands were firm, demanding, and
unyielding. Her back ached beneath the
pressure. “Van, please, you’re hurting
me.”
Van instantly
withdrew. He sat back, his breath
labored and eyes cast away. “I’m
sorry,” he murmured. He could no longer
face her. Suddenly he climbed to his
feet. “That’s not what I--“
“Van.” Hitomi stood
as well. “It’s okay. Don’t be sorry.”
“Just…forget
it.” He turned away, as if to search
the surrounding woods. “It was
nothing. We should find the Alseides.”
She started to
speak, stopped, and bit her lip. That’s not what I meant, either. Please, don’t look like that. She
started to reach for him. “Van.”
Van turned away and
pretended not to notice her outstretched hand.
This can’t happen. Not right now, he told himself fiercely. His
hands were still trembling, and he clenched them tightly. I
have to stop acting foolishly. She
doesn’t know--couldn’t possible know.
But, oh God, it was so
perfect.
The king closed his
eyes briefly to dispel that heat, as well as the more deeply routed
sorrow. He forced himself to take deep breath. “Actually, it might be best if we head back.”
“Van, wait.” Hitomi took a step closer, which caused the
line of his spine to grow weak.
“Please, can we talk for just a moment?”
No; no. I know what you’re going to say.
Slowly, Van glanced back at her.
She was watching him with her bright hazel eyes, hands clasped. Her knuckles were white. And he remembered how a moment ago those
hands had touched him, simply, as if attempting to speak something pure and
real. He wandered vaguely if the
message in her fingertips had been a lie.
“I don’t want you
to be upset. It’s my fault.”
No, I can’t handle
this right now. I know what you’re
going to say. Van pressed his lips into a firm line. He could feel the rhythm of his own heart
pounding in his temples. He did his
best to ignore it, as well as his churning insides. Please, let me by
anywhere but here.
Van started as his
pendant began to hum softly. “Of
course,” he said, pulling the chain over his head. “I should have thought of this earlier.”
Hitomi eyed the
pendant nervously. “Are you sure that’s
a good idea? To use the power of wishes….”
“I know. But this might be our best and only chance
of finding it.” He closed his eyes,
focusing on the image of the Alseides: specifically, he concentrated on its
engergists. After a moment his senses
buzzed, and the pendant swung forward, indicating a direction to his left. “That’ll be it. Do you think you can walk a bit more?”
“I am
an athlete,” she replied lightly, in an attempt to loosen the atmosphere. Grateful for her efforts he smiled faintly,
leading the way deeper into he forest.
Celena closed her
eyes and extended her hands toward the city.
She felt it’s vibrations, its pulse running through her. Her fingers tingled. Her head rolled to the side as she listened
to the rumbling murmur of thousands of vehicles and people. They mixed in her mind like storm clouds,
swelling and receding, oppressive and foreboding.
Burn.
In her mind the
earth buckled, spewing waves of molten rock into the streets. The wordless mutterings rose into shrieks of
agony. The sky blackened, burying the
pale and terror-stricken sun. The
buildings rocked like wandering, lost children before collapsing into clouds of
dust and fire.
A smile tugged at
Celena’s lips. Atlantis must have looked that way when it
was destroyed, she thought with
satisfaction. Dragged into flames, into Hell. That was always their fate. And now, a fate I must carry out.
Celena retrieved
her sword and returned to the woods.
Her mind was spinning, anxious to fulfill this destiny. “Patience,” she advised herself. “That time will come soon enough.” She leapt over a fallen long and continued
on, following a memorized path. Before
long she’d reached the clearing where she’d left the Alseides. As soon a it was within her sight, however,
she could tell that something was wrong.
Her beast was unnaturally silent.
Celena tossed her
sword at the Alseides’s feet and climbed onto its bent knee. The cockpit hadn’t been touched--everything
was as it should have been. Frowning,
she scanned the rest of the armor. When
she found the disruption, she growled curses in anger and frustration.
Van had stolen the
energists.