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Hitomi is mad. Technically this would breach beyond furious and create a break through into a completely new category of rage.
Perhaps it's her rage that compels her to tighten her already too-tight hold around the King's slender hips. He winces for the third time since they had taken to the sky. She'd feel bad if she wasn't so furious. The icy wind felt like needles against her beet red face, and the wild strands of her strawberry hair licked at her ears like foul little daggers rending tender flesh.
She could kill him-Oh how she hated this man! The worst part was that she has NO reason to hate him tonight. Her foul mood was nobody's fault, she even made an effort when she woke up to spend a whole hour telling her own reflection that she wouldn't be sad today. She would take a stroll through the courtyard, help with the laundry, arrange a trip to the bazaar with Merle, and have a normal dinner with her friends. A perfectly normal agenda, for a perfectly normal day.
Except it wasn't a normal day. It was actually a most dreadful day, as her pager insisted on reminding her of. In little robotic numbers across the top of that tiny digital screen read '09/12' . Her birthday.
Above her, Van shifts his weight methodically between his lanky legs with a ginger cough. Escaflowne shifted in sync with its pilot, jostling her against the wind. Oblivious to her plight, he pressed on with a steely gaze towards the horizon line.
Hitomi had promised herself she wouldn't make a big deal of today. Truthfully, she wasn't sure if birthdays were a recognized tradition on Gaea. She felt too shy to mention it, and would always back out of any attempts to express her melancholy to her comrades. With that logic, it makes sense that nobody would know. Not a single person SHOULD have known that today was her 16th birthday, let alone her first birthday spent away from her family. Her very first birthday since she arrived in Gaea. Nothing could reason with the foul anxious mumblings that haunted her head space, so she settled to commit acts of micro aggression towards her completely innocent, and now very stiff travel companion. She hears him take a quick breath before he even opens his mouth to speak.
"Tomi, you're gonna strangle me, " she knows. Defiantly, she picks her head up from where it rested on the flat of his scapula smacks his neck with her forehead. He flinches with a chastising bite to his voice.
"You're malcontent, I understand, but I can't help you if you sit there and mope like a child, " little did he know, moping was ALL she wanted to do about it. She presses her lips together tightly and squeezes her eyes shut. Van's chest fills and deflates with an elongated sigh, and suddenly she feels the siren call of gravity begin to tip the dragon guymelef downward. They had begun a descent.
"Van where are we going?" She asks pointedly. As she looks around them, the clouds begin to swallow the dragon whole before spitting them out again just below the cloud line. Wires and metal panels groan and squeak as Van masterfully manipulates the behemoth through the admittedly beautiful night sky. Hitomi cranes her neck to see the veridian sea of trees and lush greenery turned a deep emerald in the evening light race beneath them sink towards the ground. She has to repeat her question one last time before the king turns his head to address her.
"You're upset about something. I'm taking us down so we can talk and figure this out. I can't have you crushing my guts for another 5 hours, " she scrunches her nose at the hint of annoyance in his voice.
The descent is quick and painless. Van picks a small clearing in the trees and allows Hitomi to dismount before backing the Escaflowne just below the tree canopy. She watches with a twinge of anxiety as the pilot launches himself from the edge of the cockpit, landing silently into the dewy grass.
Hitomi glares from beneath the cover of a stretched mechanical wing. Quietly and diligently, the king stomps down the unruly grass patches and deploys their bed rolls. Then he methodically picks the best sticks, twigs and dried brush to start their fire. Still sore from the way he had announced that he was no longer willing to put up with her passive aggression, Hitomi was grateful for the space Van had given her. Yet all at once she felt burdened by his absence. She grasps her clammy hands tightly, wringing them and fidgeting as her unease continued to grow. At her friend's polite request, Hitomi scales a leg of the behemoth Escaflowne to retrieve the rations they had packed for this trip, grateful for something to do.
Perched atop the metal shoulder of the Espano guymelef, Hitomi turned her face to the sky. Just barely, she was able to make out the stars through the leafy canopy that shielded them. A cool breeze carries whispers and secrets of the forest that her ears could not understand. She remembered the breeze of home. The cold winter air carried with it the smell of burning wood and smoke from the surrounding houses as their fireplaces and pellet stoves worked hard to keep warm during the snowy months.
She recalled how her mother and father would smile and how her brother would cling to her arm beside her as they sung sweetly their birthday song. The quaint homemade cake with whipped frosting and the pale pink confetti that dotted the white table cloth. A tear raced down her cheek when she noticed she couldn't remember the taste of the cakes her mother would make her. Her lips trembled as she blotted the tears away.
"Hitomi," startled by the sudden interruption, Hitomi turns quickly to look down towards the voice that called to her. Van stood in a thready moon beam, eyes glassy and brows furrowed as he gazed sadly up to her perch. She stared down at him as more tears pooled in her eyes. He raises his hand to her, and she concedes to his silent statement. Hitomi reaches for his gesture with trembling hands as she slides down the metal panels of the sleeping dragon.
Van settles to swap places with the forlorn girl. He guides her to where he had flattened out her bed roll and climbed Escaflowne to retrieve their dry rations. As he slides down the length of it's leg, his sharp eyes catch the crimson glint in it's energist. Van frowns when he lifts his head to check the dragons face. It stares back, emotions imperceptible as always.
The king is aware of his social short comings. He had grown hostile and rough after the events that broke his family transpired. Coupled with his prickly exterior was his innate inability to read others. He'd always said the wrong thing at the wrong time. Yet here he is, one hand gingerly holding Hitomi's, with the nagging persistence that there was something wrong no matter how many times she assured him it was nothing. He has to crane his neck to see through the shadows cast across her eyes by the flickering fire light. When her wet eyes dart away from his concerned gaze, he rubs a thumb over her cold knuckles.
"You don't have to tell me what's wrong, but please let me help you," she shakes her head and takes a wet, shaky gasp of air, clearly pushing down her sobs. "Hitomi, " he breathes. Her hands are still trembling. In fact her entire body shook like an autumn leaf. His guts twist with guilt. Was he pushing too hard? He didn't want to be invasive, but he wanted to be a good friend. His thoughts perform acrobatics as he debates his next steps. Carefully, delicately, he pushes.
"I'm not sure what you're feeling, but you taught me that giving space for your emotions is healthy." He crosses his legs tightly and takes both her hands in his own. "I want you to know that this is the perfect space for those feelings, and if you still feel like there isnt any space, then I'll make it for you," Silence settled amongst the clearing, conducted by the crackling and snapping of the fiery wood. After what felt like ages, Hitomi turns her face. Her tears glow in the firelight, appearing like streams of liquid gold racing across her puffy features. Impulsively, Van reaches up to wipe her left cheek.
"I'm sorry... " she whimpers, sniffling through her desperate attempts to dry her face. "I'm not mad at you, I promise. Today has just been really h-hard for me. I was happy when you asked me to join you on this trip, " he breathes a sigh of relief. "I was hoping it would be a good distraction... " she gnaws her bottom lip as she carefully picks her next words.
"When my grand distraction didn't work I guess I just got so upset... I didn't mean to take it out on you, " he scoffs.
"Felt like you did, " she swats at his arms and he deftly avoids her flying hands, wiggling his body further away. Against her will, a giggle bubbles up into her chest. Shaky hands smooth out the stray hairs on the girls head. A heavy sigh wheezes from her lungs as the pair stare quietly at each other.
"You dont have to keep that stuff a secret around me," Hitomi nods, eyes flicking between the softly glowing scars on the kings hands. Knicks, callouses, burns and scrapes peppered the rough skin of his knuckles and palms. "Your emotions will never scare me, " her lips curl into a demure smile
"Thanks... I needed the reminder, " she reaches for him, and he bends to her obediently. She turns his hand around in hers, tracing the tight stretches of scars that raced along the valleys of his palms. As the fire danced away, the orange hues leapt between each knot of skin, telling a different story of the kings distant childhood.
"My birthday, " she murmurs. Van blinks, fixing his posture as he asked her to repeat herself. Hitomi glances up to see the light shining in his eyes and a smile trying to pull up the corners of his mouth. "Today was my 16th birthday. It's stupid, I know! I didn't want to make a big deal of it but... " Hitomi once again turns her face to the stars, admiring how bright the moons were shining. "It's my first birthday without my family. I guess that's why I've been so emotional. " the girl could sense the intense stare that her companion has pinned to her before she saw it. Reluctantly, she turned to meet him halfway.
Van leans his body forward, just barely dipping into the girl's space, before he lifts her left hand to his lips. Hitomi's face flushes beet red and shivers race up her body from where his kiss was pressed to her knuckles.
"Thank you for sharing this with me, " the king begins, grasping her cold fingers in his warm ones. She begins to stutter out excuses but all her words tumble uselessly from her tongue. "If I knew your mother I would congratulate her too, " Van admits flawlessly. Finally, he let's her hands slip away from him as he stands to loom over her. She cocks her head inquisitively, and watches with tamed adoration as he illustrates his thoughts with those worn and weathered hands.
"I'm not sure about the rest of Gaea, but in Fanelia the date of ones birth is incredibly sacred. It's a day of great reverence for mother and child, " he turns his body as long legs carry him away into endless loops in the grass. Hitomi keeps her soft gaze fixed on his pacing figure. "It celebrates not only the day a new life is born, but also the day a mother is born. Often they are celebrated together, as one cannot exist without the other. " he cups his hands together before the happily sizzling flames. "It best symbolizes the Fanelian belief of shared energy. Within you resides the energy of your ancestors, you're body akin to a bowl of paint that's been mixed by an artist, The Mother. Each child born a piece of art to be cherished and held, made unique by your mother. " Van looks up from his cupped hands, his face painted with fiery brushtrokes of warm reds. The pit of her stomach flutters.
"Your fathers legacy will give direction, but you cannot be without your mother. It is natural to miss her on such a momentous occasion. But she is you, just as much as you are her. Every step you take is taken in tandem with her very soul." Suddenly, her view of his fire lit form is obscured by hot tears as they leak from her eyes once more. Van's smile drops.
"Even if she's a whole world away?" Hitomi wheezes as tears plop from her red cheeks onto her circled fists. His smile returns, soft and wide while he scoots back into her space, this time pressing his body to her side. She tucks herself into his chest, lavishing in the comforting warmth he provided as he holds her close. Her breathing subsides from hiccups to a trembling rise and fall just barely in time with Van's heartbeat.
"Yes Hitomi. Even if you're worlds away," Together, they look up at the bright sky. It was painted in dreamy strokes of onyx and sapphire. Lavender dapples of starlight stippled the obsidian canvas and above it all hung the moon and earth, dancing a cosmic waltz to the symphony of colors that soaked the sky.
"I know your mother cares for you very deeply, " Van whispers against her temple. She hums in solidarity.
"And I know you're mother loves you so much, Van. " she lifts her head to share a look with her king. His eyes are distant and sad as they stare up at the sky. That mournful depth is gone when he turns to look at her. Instead she sees gratitude gazing back. Hitomi smiles, and softly presses a chaste peck to his warm cheek. He blinks stupidly, the very first rosy hues of a blush creeping over his face.