(0kay, I'm back! I hope you all didn't miss me too much. Onward with the story!)

Hitomi had had enough with school by her third period and had to flake out on the rest of the day.

It had somehow made it around school that Yukari was at home, nursing her wounds from her breakup with Amano sempai and wasn't expected back anytime soon. She hadn't been told this directly of course; she was her best friend and therefore not subjected to the gossip, but she had heard it in passing in all three of her first classes in hushed whispers. She hated that every voice sounded excited, and every speculation of heartbreak came from a female voice.

Amano had returned to the school after his senior year, two years ago, working as an aide to the gym teacher on his free days from the university. He had remained popular with the boys, who looked up to him as a role model of masculinity and maturity, and all of the girls pined after him, because of his blatantly romantic relationship with the captain of the track team. For two years he showed his devotion to her, showered her with love and attention, and was a favorite of all. Every girl outwardly praised it, while secretly wishing for an end to the romance, to snag it up for themselves.

The fact that Amano seemed to appreciate the attention angered Hitomi. Even though in the Earth's time frame Yukari and herself had only been gone a day, he seemed to be moving on unapologetically to the next girl. She hated his smiling face, detested his laugh and scorned the fake pity he leveled at his one time love.

"I loved her dearly," she remembered hearing him say during gym, her third period, to a girl who asked about his reason for the breakup, "But love dies, I'm afraid." Hitomi had been standing behind a ball rack at the time, tying her shoe and so wasn't seen, but she had felt chilled by the words.

What could have possibly happened between them to warrant such harsh words, yet softly spoken? She had been horrified to hear the tone of his voice. He sounded resigned; almost as if he had been the one that was dumped. It was worse than if he had said those words with malice or scorn.

She was surprised at the amount of hatred she felt for him at that moment.

Was this the same Amano who had loved Yukari? The same man whom I thought I loved?

She left as soon as the class ended, not even bothering to change out of her gym clothes. She didn't care if she was ogled on the train all the way home. She had to get home.

Despite feeling the apprehension for Yukari at being left behind on Gaea, and the hope that she would return soon to get her back, she was also happy. Happy that Yukari wasn't here to witness the death of her relationship. To suffer through the false pity, to outwardly smile while she broke on the inside.

Hitomi knew she had escaped.

I want to see Van, she thought suddenly. Her hope for seeing his face was so intense she felt an almost unbearable pain in her chest. She quickened her pace.

She hoped that Van had spent the day at home, spending time with her mother, whom she knew would have questions about the world told of as a fairy tale to her by her mother when she was young. Of a romantic world filled with knights and kings, dragons and sorcerers, of a world filled with love and a secret magic. She had a hope that Van wouldn't go into the reality of his invisible world, that it was a dangerous place where angels perished amid flames and children saw the destruction of their homelands. Living the reality was bad enough, why tell her mother the real truth?

Then in horror, Hitomi recalled that she had told her mother the truth. One day she had poured her heart out to her. The day when she had been feeling particularly depressed, because it was the anniversary of Yukari and Amano's first date. She came home early that day and slept fitfully until her mother came home. She had to tell someone her loneliness. Had to let someone in to her pain. How could she tell Yukari? She was happy. Seeing her being held by Amano, kissed in public by him wishing she had had a chance to kiss Van, feeling bitter regret that she would never feel Van's arms around her again and never taste him on her lips. Her feelings of jealousy that Yukari and Amano seemed so happy... It had... hurt.

She went to her mother and told her everything.

Why have I remembered that? She shook her head to clear it as she stepped off the platform and walked a little ways until she found herself on her street . Inwardly she thanked the designers of the rail system to put the platform so near to her home.

She wanted to see Van. She wanted to know he wasn't an illusion of her dreams, a figment of a imaginary world created in her loneliness. She didn't want to wake up and find herself alone in her room, dried tears on her cheeks. She was nearly panting as she ran up the steps of her home and stepped inside.

He was sitting on the floor by the television, staring into the screen from almost too close. His legs were tucked beneath himself as a cushion, and the pose was almost childlike. He had a strangely confused expression on his face as he watched what looked to be a comedy variety show. A woman was dressed in a skimpy bikini and being danced around by a short man in a ratty looking worn suit and big bow tie. The audience laughed at something in the background. She felt her heart lift when he smiled uncertainly.

"Van." She stepped into the darkened room and called to him in a soft voice.

He was still startled. He made a move for his right side, obviously forgetting he didn't have his sword beside him, or was standing up. He didn't sway or fall however, something Hitomi had expected of him. When he realized who had called him, his hostile face calmed, and even from this distance she could see the light in his eyes as he took in her appearance. "Hitomi".

He was on his feet by the time she reached him, but didn't touch her, though he did instinctively reach out for her arms, almost as if he wanted to enclose her in his. She could see even in the dim light of the television he was blushing. She felt the heat from her own blush. They both behaving shy after the kiss they shared the night before. It felt as if the air around them had heated by several hundred degrees, and the air had escaped the space between them. Hitomi took an unsteady breath.

"What are you doing?" She stepped back and looked down to the t.v. A commercial was blaring the effects of a laundry detergent. He moved back to stand beside her and looked down as well. "Watching this vision box. Your mother suggested it when I found out you weren't here." She chanced a look at him again and saw his look of confusion was back. "She said that they were real people." He watched the action of the screen again, seeing the variety show back on and the bikini clad woman was covered by animation hearts obscuring the screen. "They seem too small." He touched his hand tentatively to the screen. How are they caught in here? They can't hear me."

Hitomi stifled a laugh as she faced his usually hard face, now almost innocent and childish in it's confusion. It was endearing. She grabbed his shoulder.

"They aren't in the television, Van. They're a projection of real people that are the same size as us. They...create a moving portrait of the people and then project it across the air to these," she patted the top of the television.

Van's confused expression didn't change. "Are they moving right now?" He pointed at the woman in the bikini, who was dancing again. "No. This isn't a live show..." Hitomi shook her head. She didn't think Van would get it. Before now, she supposed she never questioned how the television worked. She guessed she just took it for granted. She was shook from her thoughts by another of Van's questions.

"Why do it?" He looked directly at her. Hitomi noticed his blush had gone.

"Because it's the main way of getting information to a wide audience. The head's of nations talk to their people this way, and getting news about what's going on around the world is all within the reach of even the lowest of the people."

Van's expression changed. It seemed contemplative, a little harder. He looked away to the screen again, the light flickering across his features. Hitomi resisted the urge to step back.

"How... how many people are in your country?" He still wasn't looking at her, and his voice seemed quieter. Hitomi felt a little awkward, but couldn't understand the feeling. It wasn't the question she expected out of the conversation. "Why?"

"Because..." Van touched the top of the television tentatively, near her hand, "why would a nation need to send information over wide distances and to many people? And I remember you talking about your people having a hand in government, and how their nation is governed. There must be many in your country to have a hold on such a strong government."

"Um..." What do I say to that? "There is a lot of people in Japan." She paused, unsure if she should tell him the truth. She didn't want to frighten or alarm him, but she knew he'd want the truth. "Maybe 120 million."

"People?!" Van jumped back away from the t.v.

"Give or take a few," Hitomi said, giggling nervously.

He turned his surprised eyes her way, horror slowly dawning on his face. "How many people in your world?"

She saw his face, and for a split second, felt as if she couldn't tell him. But she had to.

"Almost 7 billion people."

Van's mouth gaped open, and Hitomi laughed outright.

"Are there even enough stars in the sky?" He fell back to the floor again, closing his eyes.

Hitomi sat beside him. He draped his arm across her shoulders and she felt her cheek graze his side. "No wonder you seem good with people and you weren't intimidated by me," He said taking her into his arms suddenly cradling her beside his warm chest, kissing her forehead once she settled. He made her blush again from the unlikely show of affection, "you've been around so many before." She looked into his face as he laughed. She laughed with him.

She had been around many in her life she thought. She had thought the world she occupied was so very big. It felt as if she had been engulfed by people. At the same time, though, she had felt alone, like a person adrift in a endless ocean. Van was like an island to her. Her refuge and her home, right here in his arms.

XX

Hitsarugi had run all the way back from school hoping for a chance to run into Van before his sister got home. His sudden appearance and strange behavior, coupled with his supposed origins and connection with his sister had many questions formed in his mind.

Unfortunately, Van wasn't alone when Hitsarugi got home. He was sitting in front of the t.v, his arm around his sister in the living room when Hitsarugi spotted them as he walked in the door. Hitsarugi was disgusted, and voiced it. "Gawd, get a room!" he yelled as soon as he set his bag down in the hall, slipping out of his shoes.

He watched in satisfaction as the young couple broke apart, both blushing.

"Where is dad?" He stepped into the room and forcefully sat between the two love birds on the floor. He had to bite back a laugh at the annoyed expression on his sister's face, and the anger on Van's face that he did little to hide.

"He left for his vocationafter we got back from the market." Van said, irritation permeating his voice. "You went shopping with my dad?" Hitomi looked apprehensive. Maybe it was because she was afraid of how their father would treat Van after showing up unannounced at their home, and staying for an undisclosed amount of time, or because he could be the reason(no scratch that, the reason) Hitomi had become such a different person over the past two years.

"Did he rip into you?" He asked, making sure he put enough callous mocking in his voice as he faced Van.

Van was quiet for a moment, his reddish brown eyes piercing into his own. It was a little unsettling. The awkwardness Hitsarugi thought Van felt with his sister was non existent with his dealings with him, then. He looked determinedly back, trying to prove he wouldn't be cowed by Van's piercing gaze.

"He didn't do anything like that!" Hitomi retaliated, he voice a mixture of annoyance and fear. He felt her hit his arm but ignored it. He was still looking at Van, whose expression didn't change.

Hitsarugi had no way of knowing if it was the truth or not, but he tried to get a rise out of him regardless. He broke the eye contact and turned to his sister, an easier target. "What are you doing here in the very public living room with a strange guy? Think of my virgin eyes! He could be having his wicked way with you right now if I hadn't interfered!" He almost added the disgust he felt to his tone again, but didn't. He did keep a mocking tone though and pulled a face.

Hitomi looked livid. The vein in her temple above her eye was bulging, like his father when he was mad. His desired reaction achieved, he turned back to his real target to gage his reaction, only to be met with empty air. He glanced back to watch Van walk down the hall, presumably to the linen closet. He turned back to the tv for the sake of distracting his sister, but was very aware of the sound of Van's movements in the hallway. He heard him pick up something, close the door, then move back into the living room. "I'm going out to practice." He said as he opened the back door. Hitomi didn't say anything, but she looked back and nodded, a slightly apologetic look on her face.

When he was gone, Hitomi wasted no time. "What is your problem?" She turned back to him.

"I don't like him. He just pops up out of no where and I'm supposed to accept it?" "It isn't up to you!" she replied, the anger evident on her face. "No. It isn't. It's up to dad. And by the look of things," he added, smiling, "he won't be here long."

Hitomi was silent for a moment huffing angrily, then she got up too. She followed Van outside, mumbling something about 'annoying little brothers' as she stepped out onto the back patio. Hitsarugi sat back and looked to the tv screen again, but couldn't concentrate on it.

Why did Hitomi have to bring him here? What made him such a great guy that she would be willing to abandon her family? Why did he have to mean so much to her?

He remembered how Hitomi was before her disappearance two years ago. She was happy. She was annoying and funny and ...she was herself. Everything had changed. Why? because of a guy? A guy who had obviously broke her heart and left? He didn't care if he was from some magical world spoke of by his grandmother in bedtime stories. He was no prince. He was a murderer. He had killed his sister's spirit.

Hitsarugi hit the floor rather forcefully in his frustration. He could feel his heart beating faster. His sister must be an idiot. The look of acceptance and attraction she had showed that jerk made him sick. She really seemed to care about him. The way she cuddled up to him, totally forgetting what she had been like when he wasn't around!

He got up and crossed the room toward the stairs. He was going to go upstairs to get some work done for school. Maybe focusing on algebra would get his mind off things.

As he passed the back door he couldn't help but glance outside to the young couple. To his surprise, he saw his sister was alone.

Hitomi was sitting on the bench alone, looking out to to the middle of the yard, a look of admiration on her face. Hitsarugi had to open the door a little to see where Van was, knowing he was somewhere in the yard. He spotted him standing a little close to the big cypress tree near the west fence, his back turned from Hitomi. Curiosity getting the better of him, he stood to watch to see what Van was doing.

He was standing with his feet braced apart and his arms raised, but Hitsarugi couldn't tell from his vantage point if he was holding something or not. He seemed to be waiting for something.

Hitsarugi watched in rapt attention, waiting for Van to move. He seemed to be standing almost too still. Suddenly Hitsarugi felt through the door a sudden gust of wind. It was then he saw Van move. He brought his arm downward in as swift movement almost too quick for Hitsarugi to see, then brought his arms up and outward, facing his left side. All Hitsarugi had heard was the sound of the wind and the tinkle of bells hanging on the patio above his head. When Van had shifted, Hitsarugi could finally see that he was indeed carrying something.

In his hand he held a long, gleaming sword, the sharp blade catching the setting sun. All around Van leaves fell in tatters, as if cleaved in two.

Hitsarugi took a step back in alarm, almost tripping on the hall rug as he stepped back from the still open door. Van was turning to face Hitomi, who had stood up smiling at him. Van's expression was calm, serene. He dropped the sword gracefully to his right side with his left hand, cleanly sheathing it into something at his side that Hitsarugi couldn't see. Van was striding back over to Hitomi, who had her arm outstretched to pat his shoulder. She was saying something Hitsarugi couldn't hear.

Fearing detection, Hitsarugi quietly closed the door and would have moved away if he hadn't realized his movements would attract attention. Van looked back to the house, his eyes suddenly cold and direct, and Hitsarugi could see them meet his own, his gaze burning into his own like a pair of razor sharp knives.

Hitsarugi almost chickened out and ran away, but remembered then that he was the only sane voice in his family for his sister's well being. So he stepped outside and headed straight for Van.

"What are you doing?" He stepped within a few feet of Van, his thoughts of self preservation getting the better of him again. Van looked down to Hitomi, who turned a disapproving eye on him, but Van was the first to speak. "I'm training."

Hitsarugi tilted his head and stared. Was this guy for real? "With a real sword? All you can do with it is trim the hedges?"

Van breathed a sigh of exasperation. Maybe he'd struck a nerve.

"I thought you knew where I come from. What I'm doing should make sense then." Despite himself, Hitsarugi showed his surprise at the fast comeback.

"What if I said I don't really know who you are, or where you come from? I mean, you haven't exactly been forthcoming."

Van surprised him once again by smiling, although not a full on one. It was just a crooked slant of his mouth that seemed more mocking than anything. Before Hitsarugi could recollect himself though, Van had stepped back, closer to the tree. Hitomi was silent. He grabbed the hilt of the sword, sheathed at his side. Suddenly, in one swift motion, he had drawn it out and whipped it through the air just as a leaf fell from the tree above his head. Hitsarugi felt the blood drain from his face as he watched the pieces fall to the ground at his feet. When he chanced a look up again, it was to see the sword held perfectly still, horizontal to Van's chest, directly in front of him. Hitsarugi felt the chill of sweat on his back as the wind picked up again, but the sharp blade in Van's hand did not sway.

"Do you really want to know?" Van asked, his eyes boring into his again. The crooked smile hadn't left his face. He deftly lowered his sword once more, and Hitsarugi tore his gaze away from Van's to watch the sword's movement.

Before it was covered, Hitsarugi caught a glimpse of a crest at its hilt. Within the crest was a splash of red background with a golden head at the center, shaped like an undefinable animal with red eyes, and between it's eyes sat the engraving of a winged snake coiled in a backwards 's'. The hilt of the sword looked obviously very old, but gleamed like the metal of the blade, as if it was made from the finest metal or gem, unharmed by the centuries of it's use. Hitsarugi was forced to believe it was a very expensive item, highly treasured by it's owner. The questions of who this person could be multiplied, along with his apprehension as he watched the crest disappear from view behind the royal blue casing at Van's hip.

There's only one way to find out who this guy is. Hitsarugi nodded his head.

Van closed his eyes briefly, then strode up to Hitsarugi. He patted him rather forcefully on the shoulder, gripping it for a small time. "Maybe some other time."

Annoyance getting the better of him in this show of condescension, Hitsarugi brushed Van's hand away. "Maybe I'll figure it out for myself."

Hitsarugi turned and fled as quickly as he could, forgetting for a moment his resentment for the man standing in the back garden with his sister. He felt nothing then but a mixture of fear, obeisance and curiosity.

He would definitely have to keep an eye on Van Fanel. Maybe he was more than just a wayward boyfriend.

He's trouble.

(Okay that's the end of that chapter. I hope you all liked it. I'm going to be writing another chapter pretty soon, and this one will probably be on Gaea. I don't know yet whose point of view I want...Maybe some suggestions from readers would help me out a bit. I hope ya'll will read and review! I do love the feedback. A special thanks to my last reviewers tear-drowned-angel and Arisuke for reviewing and reminding me that I still have readers who would like to know the ending I have planned for our favorite Esca characters! And for anyone interested in the way The crest on Van's sword looks, just go here:

.

Oh, and on a completely different note, I just turned 21!!!! YAY!! Drinking age finally, for anyone who might not know, and I am enjoying a few days off in celebration!

As always, thanks for reading!)