Destiny's Pawns---~Chapter 13~

[Hitomi Lei]

That night at diner was the first time Hitomi had been there. She smiled at Millerna as they embraced. It had been seven pulse years since the friends had been together. Hitomi noticed small eyes peeping out from behind Millerna's skirt. She bent down so that she was eye level with the child.
"Who have we here?" Hitomi asked. From the other side of the skirt came an identical pair of eyes.
"Oh, there are to of you!!" laughter came into Hitomi's eyes. Millerna leaned down to set in-between the twins.
"Hitomi, please your meet namesake, Hitomi Marlena, and her brother, Dryden Van. We call them Denny and Tomi for short. She smiled proudly at her two children. Both had her hair and Dryden's eyes.
"How old are you?" Hitomi asked the twins as she coaxed them into her lap. Van watched her from his chair close to hers. He had met these little imps many times before. He was their Godfather, after all. Little Denny spotted Van and clamored into his lap.
"Unca' Van!!" the three year old said with a lisp. Hitomi turned so that her knees touched Van's. The twins started to talk in their native gibberish, and Hitomi looked at Van.
"Some one likes you." she whispered to Van.
"I'm the Godfather of these little imps. I see them every few weeks when Dryden comes by on the trade route. "
"I don't really understand. If Millerna is with Dryden, whose taking care of the kingdom?" Hitomi asked.
"Well about a year after you left, Dryden came back, but not to stay. He decided that the merchants life was the life for him. He came to set Millerna free. She would have one of it and with in a week every thing was handed over to Lady Eries. She now rules as the Queen. Millerna got her formal Doctors training and she and her husband travel the trade routes together."
Hitomi smiled "I'm glad their story had a happy ending."
"Our's will too, Hitomi, I promise."
"Ra you twu gettin' mar-mar...wedded? Mommy says you was." Tomi spoke for the first time to Hitomi, looking up at her with curious eyes.
"Oh, she did, did she? Well, Van do you want to make the announcement official?" Hitomi smiled. She knew everyone had heard Tomi's question, and that they were all dying to know. Van stood up and announced" Hitomi?s has come to stay. in one months time your all invited to the wedding feast.
Everyone rejoiced at the news, and there was a round of back slapping and hugs as a servant came to say dinner was ready.


@>~~~~~ ~~~~~<@


"Oh, Hitomi, it's beautiful!!" Merle said in awe. They were in Hitomi's bedroom. Hitomi had pulled a medium sized paper wrapped package from her duffle bag. Inside was her Mothers wedding Kimono.
"I'm going to wear it for the wedding. It was my Mothers and it'll be like keeping her clothes to me somehow. Millerna wrapped a comforting arm around Hitomi's waist. Every single woman in the room had all lost some one dear. Keiko had broke the sollom air bye by saying
"Look Mommy!!" They all looked to where Keiko had taken out Hitomi's photo album.
"Keiko, you put that back!" Jun made to take the book away from Keiko, but Hitomi intervened.
"No, she can see my pictures. In fact I would like to show all of you my world." Hitomi set down on the bed and pulled Keiko into her lap. The other five women crowder around to see a world that existed in their wildest dreams.


@>~~~~~ ~~~~~<@


Van and the men sat in the library. Denny sat in Van's lap and Tomi was asleep in her Uncle Chid's arms. Dryden looked up from the book he had been reading, and smiled. These men were the closet thing to family he had. Even Allen, who stood with his arms propped up on the wooden mantle over the stone fire place, could be called a close friend. After Dryden and Millerna had left for the trade routes, Allen and he had become friends. Allen shifted to look at Van.
"Van, I hate to bring bad tidings to this happy time but..." here he paused so that he could make sure he had Van's attention, "I was informed by Gaddes that the leader of the attackers got away. I have it on good authority that he was an old Zaibach Commander. I think his motivation against Asago and her women was revenge. She was a Zaibach captain."
Van closed his eyes. It was all he could ever do, it seemed, to keep from going insane.
"So, we have a mad man now on the lose?" Van looked down at Denny, who was oblivious to it all and playing with the hilt of Van's sword. 'I wanted to make the world safe for the children. Now it seems they will soon fell the bite of war.'
"Well, there?s no since worrying about it." Chid said quietly from his chair.
"What fate brings will come, but for now lets enjoy this peaceful time in the eyes of the storm." Dryden shut his book with a snap.
"I agree with my nephew. Let come what may. For now let talk about the wedding. My ships are the fastest in the land, and you'll need a lot of food for the wedding!!? Van smirked at Dryden.
"This would be half off for our old friendship wouldn't it?" Dryden's eyes bulged out.
"Um...Um...Well I-"
"Of course it will be!" Millerna walked in and set by her husband.
"Right dear?" her voice was too sweet and Can laughed out loud.
"You just wait Van, your time is near." Dryden said by way of threatening the younger man.
"Me? I'll never be hen pecked!!" Van looked smug as he said this, folding his arms over his chest. From the door way Hitomi called,
"Van!!" with out so much as a blink Van looked up at Hitomi, "Yes dear?"
"Oh, no. I'll never be hen pecked." Allen said in a good imitation of Van. Everybody started to laugh and Van had the grace to blush.
"I wanted to show every one some of my pictures." Hitomi said after the laughter died down. She set the book on the table and flipped some pages.
"This is Yukari, and Amono." Hitomi pointed to a woman and man.
"Hey, he looks like Allen." Chid said as he looked at the picture.
"I know, strange, huh?" Van wrapped his arms around Hitomi as she shared with them some of her world.
"Thank you," he whispered in her ear.
"Why?" she whispered back as she turned her head to looked at him.
"For leaving it all for me and my world."
"No Van....For OUR world."

END of CHAPTER


A.N. I just love those twins. Cute, cute, cute!! I want to thank Rose for reading this story!! It?s been about a year since I finished it. I had it on my own web site and on FF.net...But I didn?t get much response. It?s my first long fic ever. I really enjoyed writing it. I?m soooo proud of it!!!Oh and just incase you thought it was going to end soon?the story is like 28 chapters long... so it won?t be ending soon, and it has some very surprising things coming soon!!!

Hitomi Lei

[blackrose]

Eiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeee! Wedding! Wedding! Wedding!

*lol* Sorry...I haven't read a fic where Van and Hitomi actually get married, so I'm soooo looking forward to that part. **beams**

The twins are cute, and I'm very happy Millerna and Dryden are together - I thought they made a good couple in the series.

And hey, I'm not worried about the length - it's not like I write fics any shorter. >_<

So, cheers for posting it here - and I'm off to read the next part.

Love,
Rose