Yubiwa
Verse 1: A Burst Of Light
...
...
...
As my tears keep overflowing one after another,
I can't see your last smile through their blur.
Please don't go, please don't go... Stay here.
Light bursts through the sky
...
...
...
It was so bright.
The wind was whipping her hair around, her short sandy locks slapping her cheeks almost in defiance. She felt light-weighted, hovering in the air as her clothes billowed around her. For some reason, her arm was stretched out, tense like a board. Every muscle in her body was stiff, straining to reach for something she couldn't fathom. All her squinted eyes could make out was a blurred figure below her, arm also outstretched and his fingers inches from her own.
There was something on her face, and without touching it she was able to recognize them as droplets of water. With a detached epiphany, she realized she was crying, whether in joy or sorrow she couldn't tell. As soon as they dripped down her chin, the liquid seemed to evaporate into thin air, carried away to disappear into the distance, just like she was doing.
The person below her had stayed rooted in one spot, a complete contrast to her ever-fading body. He began to come into focus. She could pick out a lanky figure, though slightly toned to show years of hardship. The figure was covered in clothes of bright red, beige, and brown. A sword was strapped to his belt, shining royal blue with golden outlines. His obsidian hair was wild, untameable and if he were not looking up, she was certain his crimson eyes would be shadowed.
The wind whipped faster around her body, and she slowly felt her body rise higher into the air. The tears began to blur her vision again, and as she climbed upwards into the clouds, he eventually faded out of her sight completely.
...
...
...
"Hitomi-chan! Wake up, it's already past ten!"
The room was somewhat dark, sunlight blocked by the cheerful blue curtains draped over the windows. Her door was cracked open slightly, allowing sound to travel easier around the house. Hitomi heard the stomping of her brother's feet run past her room and the smell of breakfast filtering through the house. Her nose wrinkled, and she could hear her stomach growl.
With a groan, Hitomi Kanzaki (because of Gaean customs, she started introducing herself in the western way, instead of the eastern way like she was taught to) blearily raised her head to look at the digital clock on the side of her bed. It was ten-fifteen, and Hitomi remembered that Amano was coming back today. He was coming back at eleven o'clock, and she had promised Yukari she would be over at the other girl's house by ten-thirty.
It took about a minute for that to sink in.
...
...
...
"Mou, you are such a lazy butt sometimes Hitomi." Yukari scolded, jerking a brush through her hair as Hitomi easily manoeuvred her way across the roads and towards the airport. Yukari was still in the process of learning to drive (given she wasn't so good under pressure behind the wheel) so it was Hitomi's job to get Yukari to the airport and let her and Amano have their heartfelt reunion. The two of them haven't seen each other for four years if you omitted the occasional visit to Japan that Amano took. But now, he was permanently staying in Japan, so Hitomi had a feeling she would be hear wedding bells fairly soon.
Hitomi breathed a sigh of relief, parking in the lot and turning off the car. Driving still unnerved her very much; she was a little embarrassed to say she had gotten used to the strange airships, or leviships common on Gaea.
Her heart panged a little, remembering the bustling city she first arrived at after landing on the other planet. Hitomi wondered if it had been restored already, if it was back to the beautiful, breathtaking Fanelia she wanted to remember. The Zaibachian guymelefs were ruthless in their destruction of Van's homeland; Hitomi saw it firsthand. They had already started rebuilding Fanelia when she left, but Hitomi wished she could have seen it grow back into the nostalgic place where she first met all the people she held so close to her heart. Like Balgus, and Merle, and Folken.
Hitomi's lips curved down into a frown.
Like Van.
...
...
...
"Okay, lets see. I've already got my clothes in there, my toiletries, the pictures I want all stuffed in an album, my track shoes and track clothes, and some candy for the trip there. Am I missing anything?" Hitomi asked herself, a new duffle bag sitting on her bed bulging with things she was going to bring to college with her. Her gaze immediately went to the locked drawer on her desk, which held the fated tarot cards from so long ago. She had given up telling fortunes since she was fifteen, and the past four years she had never given a thought to reading another fortune.
So why now, when she was almost nineteen and going off to college to start a new chapter of her life, was she compelled to do another reading?
Maybe… maybe because those cards were memories? Yes. They were memories. Beautiful, heartfelt, life-changing memories of that time four years ago. Memories that sometimes became painful, unbearable memories but nonetheless strengthening ones. Memories of times when she had done readings with those cards, and accidentally killed so many people… And yet, those cards also saved lives; so many lives. Lives that she could never possibly live without unless knowing they were safe… lives that had changed her for the better. A life that had given her such beautiful feelings…
Her throat closed up.
Hitomi's hands twitched, but she kept her feet firmly rooted on the spot. She had decided four years ago to let herself decide her own destiny. She made a vow to never pick up those cards again, to never cause grief or happiness to another persons life using her sixth sense. Hitomi saw the key to that drawer lying on a nearby dresser, and her eyes narrowed. Doing it quickly, so she wouldn't have second thoughts, Hitomi swiped it up and stomped over to her window, poking her head out to feel the cool breeze on her face and chucking the golden key as hard as she could.
Without bothering to look at where it landed, Hitomi ducked back inside, turned her back on the window, the golden key, and her tarot cards, and never looked back.
...
...
...
There was something wrong.
"Hitomi?" her mother asked, touching her shoulder softly to jolt her out of her dazed state. "Hitomi, are you okay?" The girl with the extraordinary sixth sense blinked, looking over to her worried mother and shaking her head. A little sheepish smile was on her face, and she reached up to ruffle her sandy locks.
"Ah! Oh, um yeah. I was just… I suddenly got this…" Hitomi shook her head again, mostly for herself this time. It was as if she wanted to shake those thoughts away, even though in her heart she knew they would always be there at the back of her mind. Such was the curse of having a sixth sense. "Never mind, its nothing." Her mother looked a little sceptical, but dropped the subject and took out the soft picnic blanket, spreading it over the grassy ground and sifting through the basket she brought with her.
Releasing a breath she realized she had held in, Hitomi slowly made her way as close to the edge of the cliff as the fence allowed her. It was her birthday today, the day she officially turned nineteen. It was amazing how the years had gone by so quickly, now that she looked back on them. Her time on Gaea was her greatest treasure, and her most precious secret. Hitomi had a feeling her mother and Yukari and Amano knew, but they never broached the subject once. She was grateful they didn't.
Those memories were for her to relive again and again in her dreams and her thoughts, and no one else.
Hitomi smiled lightly, tilting her head up and letting the wind ruffle her hair and her clothes, dancing over her skin and sending ticklish tingles inside her. It was one of those beautiful, once-in-a-lifetime days with a blue, blue sky and the perfect blend of sun and wind. Not hot, nor cold. Not dark, nor bright. And to top it all off, it was Hitomi's birthday picnic with everyone she loved. To any other normal girl, this would be the perfect day ever, right?
But Hitomi wasn't like normal girls.
"Hey birthday girl!" Hitomi heard Yukari shout from beside her. Amano stood behind Yukari, giving Hitomi a gentle smile. It was the smile that four years ago she would've blushed and gotten flustered at, but her childish infatuation with Amano was long done and she merely felt a joy of seeing him again after so long. He had remained mostly the same, except for subtle changes in face and a shorter haircut. Runners had to keep their hair short to avoid obstacles in the way of their vision, so it wasn't a surprise when Hitomi saw his new haircut.
"Hi Yukari, Amano." Hitomi greeted, tucking her hands behind her back to link her fingers together. Yukari immediately pulled Hitomi into a conversation, and Hitomi was a little surprised when Amano actively participated. She was worried he would be left out while they talked girl stuff, but surprisingly he was joking around with the two of them. It was nice, Hitomi had thought. Yukari definitely picked a good one.
Her eyes softened somewhat as she watched the couple interact with each other. They were so sweet, so endearing to the other. Despite the fact they tried to hide it, Hitomi could see the little touches, the adoring tone they used with each other when they said something that was obviously private and between only the two of them. Even though four years ago Amano had shown an interest in Hitomi, you would've never thought it now looking at the both of them. His eyes were so filled with love when he gazed at Yukari, and she looked like she was dreaming, like she was in a fairytale and perfectly content to stay in that fairytale. It made Hitomi think… did she look like that when she thought of Van?
And before she knew it, everything went black.
...
...
...
"What…?" Hitomi whispered silently, a sense of dread looming up in her. She remembered this feeling. She remembered this place.
Hitomi was having a vision. Of Gaea.
She couldn't think straight, or more like wasn't given the chance to. A pair of crimson eyes (the ones she dreamt about too often, too fondly, and at the same time, too sadly) was staring at her. A smile blossomed on her face, and she stepped forward to reach a hand out to him.
"Van!"
Only to have him turn his back and walk away.
Hitomi felt her heart freeze.
Then she heard the noise of the Fanelian marketplace. She could hear the normal sounds of people haggling prices, of mindless chatter with fellow neighbours or friends, of children laughing and playing while weaving through the crowds. She could hear it all, but see none of it. And that made her heart pang, liquid gathering upwards and spilling out her eyes, making trails of tears down her face. She was so confused, so alone, and so unsure of everything.
Her heart throbbed so much to see Fanelia; to see Gaea. Her entire soul seemed to flash with pain as she recalled the cold shoulder Van had shown her; recalled it again and again and again until she was numb with hurt. Even though she stood wallowing in her misery, Hitomi could still hear the hustle and bustle of the marketplace.
She could still hear the shrill scream of a woman breaking the noise like the crack of a whip.
...
...
...
With a sharp intake of breath, Hitomi's vision became clear again, taking in the sight of Yukari, Amano, and her family hovering over her with worried expressions on their normally carefree faces. She was lying on the grass, near the cliffs where she assumed she had fainted. Her mother reached forward to cradle her cheek.
"Hitomi-chan, are you okay?" She asked hurriedly, panic lacing her voice. Hitomi blinked once, then twice. Her eyes were still dazed looking, before because she was having a vision, but now because she couldn't believe what she saw in her vision.
"I'm losing him." Hitomi whispered, so softly they had to strain to hear her. Yukari, Amano, and Hitomi's mother looked at each other, confused but having a theory as to what she was talking about. Her little brother and her father were clueless though.
"Hitomi, who are you losing?" her father asked, a hard edge to his voice. He was the standard overprotective father, believing his daughter should never date until he died and couldn't do anything about it. To hear out of her voice that sentence that sounded so lovesick and weepy, it made a dangerous, angry, uncertain feeling spread through him.
Hitomi sat up quickly, half-hearing his question. Pushing past everyone she cared for, Hitomi took off in a run and leapt over the fence that prevented people from getting too close to the edge of the cliff. Hitomi heard the cries of her family; of Yukari and Amano completely panicking about what she was going to do. But she ignored them; she blocked them out and only thought of that place where she felt truly at home. Of that place she helped save; of that man she loved.
"Gaea! Take me to Gaea!" Hitomi shouted at the top of her lungs, nearing the edge of the cliff and the rocky waves beneath it. Her family and friends continued to shout from a distance, only Amano gaining on her because of his training as a runner. But Hitomi had a head start. There was no way he could possibly catch her. So she wished and wished and wished with all her heart as the end of the ground came closer and closer.
Hitomi wished to see Fanelia, the beautiful city she had watched burn to the ground with her very eyes. Hitomi wished to see Merle, the infuriating but loyal cat-girl who pushed buttons on her that no one else could. Hitomi wished to see Chid and Freid and discover how the wonderful little boy had grown, the little boy whose fortune she told and whose trust she held. Hitomi wished to see Asturia and Millerna and Dryden and Allen, the people she began to trust with her life. The people who had grown on her so easily, had worked their way into her heart so quickly. But most of all?
"I want to see Van!"
Hitomi pushed off the edge of the cliff, throwing herself into the mercy of the sky, knowing the sky was a fickle, fickle thing and not prone to bouts of kindness or mercy. But thankfully, this particular day was what normal people would consider perfect, and though the sky was not a person it agreed wholeheartedly, and offered one merciful act to the girl who longed for a home other than the Mystic Moon.
It offered a pillar of blue light.
A/N So, it is out! My first chapter of my 8 chapter long Escaflowne fanfic! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be out, so please bear with me! The poem/verse up at the top of the chapter is from the Escaflowne song Yubiwa, sung by Maaya Sakamoto. There will be a verse in her song in every chapter, and they all relate to the actual chapter, so please read them! Anyways, I hope you enjoy the first chapter, and enjoyed it enough to review! Pretty please? :3
Snowflake Flower