Escaflowne

The Final Kindred Spirit

Chapter 4

I swear, I seriously need to stop jinxing myself, before I end up getting myself killed! I couldn’t believe that I had actually gotten hit in the face. Man did that hurt… Hopefully, this girl didn’t brake my nose. At this point, being around Lord Folken seemed safer, at least I know that he wouldn’t throw things at me. At least I would hope not.

“Jilun, move before you cause any more damage” Kal said, pulling the girl away from me.

“Hey Daluk, why is she here anyway?” Jilun asked, looking up at her tall friend. Both Kal and Daluk sighed.

“Well, we were about to find out when your Darkurn ball hit her in the face” Daluk informed her with an exasperated sigh. Kal kneeled down next to me.

“Hey, are you okay Tatsumi?” Kal asked me, placing a furry hand on my shoulder. I nodded my head quietly, staring at the three of them. I think I’m slowly losing my mind…

Meanwhile, Lord Folken was pacing back and forth in his room. At the moment, he was thoroughly annoyed and frustrated. He had been the one to summon me here and now I was gone. The only good thing about it was that he knew that I was still on Gaia… somewhere anyway. Now, his problem was finding me. He sighed quietly, before kneeling down in front of his bed, hands resting on the wooden frame of it. He then touched his forehead to it, closing his eyes and concentrating. “Where are you my little Tatsumi?” he whispered quietly as he tried to focus his mind. He seemed to be in some sort of trance as he set there, soul intent on locating me.

Time went by as he searched the planet with his mind, focusing his powers as much as possible. Finally, he came across something that made him smile. “Adom” he whispered “the village of Adom…and Van” he spoke quietly, his eyes slowly opening as he stared at the foot of the bed. He had finally found what he was looking for. He found me. He found me in Adom, sleeping on a small bed, hands curled slightly with my nails pressing against my palms.

I laid there quietly, sleeping away the time around me, sleeping away into the dark nothingness of the night. I laid there in the room by myself, dreaming of home, dreaming of my father.

“Tatsumi, how are you doing?” my father asked on a lighter note.

“I’m fine Dad, how have you been?” I asked him, laying on my bed, phone in hand.

“Oh, I’ve been quite well my dear. In fact, I’ve met someone too” he told me. This caused me to pause in my questioning. Met someone? Seriously? I mean…he couldn’t have…could he?

“What’s…her name?” I asked quietly, a foreign tone in my voice.

“Her name is Tanya, she’s been a great help with my work. In fact, she’s my assistant now. She’s helped to take a bit of stress off of my shoulders. You know how hard it is doing all of this by myself” he said, laughing a bit. I nodded my head slowly.

“Yeah…I know” That was all that I said, before laying the phone down for a moment, whipping a tear from my eye.

“Tatsumi…are you alright dear?” he asked, I could almost see his brows furrowing on the other end.

“Yeah, I’m fine Dad. I…gotta go, okay? I’ll talk to you later Dad” I said, getting up off of the bed and walking across the room.

“Ok, but you take care now, alright?” he told me. I nodded my head, even though I knew that he couldn’t see it over the phone, but still.

“Don’t worry Dad, I will, bye” I said.

“Bye”

With that, I hung up the phone and walked back over to my bed. I just laid down on it, burying my head in my pillow, clutching it in my hands. “I miss you so much Mom…” I whimpered slightly upon saying this. It seemed as though it had been an eternity since she had passed away, but in reality, it had only been a few years. It didn’t make things any easier though. If she were still around, then Dad would be around more. But no…she was dead…and Dad was never here.

As I laid there in sleep, I had no clue that someone was in the room watching me. I was far too deep in my dream to notice the change in space or the sinking of the bed as someone sat on it. Though I did take notice to the newly accumulated feeling of warmth placed upon my cheek. I subconsciously felt myself leaning into it, enjoying the new found warmth that had come to me. It had been so long since I had felt such a warmth. I welcomed it, enjoying it, savoring it. It was…wonderful. I wished that it could last forever, that it would never leave, that I would never move from this spot. Alas, nothing lasts forever. This caused me to frown slightly in my sleep, the warmth soon disappearing, causing me to whimper. A moment later, the warmth returned causing me to smile. I could have sworn I heard a soft chuckle after that, but dismissed it as my imagination. So warm…

A hour later in real time, I woke up to the sound of shouting, arguing. When I opened my eyes, the world was blurry to me at first, but after a moment or so, my vision cleared. What I saw startled me greatly. There before me, stood Lord Folken. He was arguing with a young boy who seemed to resemble him in a way.

“Lord Folken…?” I called out quietly, finding that I had woken up with a headache. It was then that he turned his eyes, his gaze falling upon me, smiling faintly. As I looked at him, I could have sworn that he whispered my name.

“Tatsumi…” I blinked. I must be imagining things. Then again, his lips did move and it did look like he said my name. I sighed quietly, staring at him with slight curiosity, before turning my eyes on the boy in front of us.

“I told you Folken, leave here. My people do not want you here” he said. At that moment, I decided to stand, finding myself slightly dizzy. I felt my knees buckle, falling to the ground. I was surprised to find that I never touched it, looking up instead, staring into the cool eyes of Lord Folken.

“Lord…Folken” I whispered. He smiled down at me, pulling me up to rest against him.

“I will go Van, but not before taking my little Tatsumi with me” he informed the boy I now know as Van.

“What?” the young man asked, confused and slightly angry.

“You heard me Van, I’m taking her with me” Lord Folken told the boy, his grip tightening around me slightly. I looked at his arms. They were wrapped around my waist, holding me against him, but not forcefully. In fact, I didn’t really mind it that much. It had been a long time since anyone had held me. Actually…the last time was possibly a year and a half after my mother died. That’s pretty sad now that I think about it. So, without really thinking about it, I allowed myself to lean against Lord Folken as I closed my eyes. I could feel this strong, firm chest pressed against my back as I leaned against him. I could also feel slight pressure that increased then decreased from his chest as he breathed. It was a nice sort of feeling to be honest, no matter how strange that may seem, but it was true. Van just looked at the two of us as we stood there together, almost looking like a couple if you will. Now THAT was definitely a strange thought. Where did that come from?

Van continued to stand there for a moment, watching Folken warily. It had been a long time since he had seen his brother. In fact, everyone thought that he had been dead after Hitomi left long ago.

“Folken! How have you come to be here?” Van asked, demanding an answer from the man before him.

“Why, whatever do you mean little brother?” he asked, faint sarcasm in his voice. Brother? Well, I guess that it made since. After all, they did look alike.

“You’re supposed to be dead” Van said, a strange look in his eyes. Dead? But isn’t he standing right her with me? Lord have mercy, once again, nothing was making much sense to me.

“That is an answer to be left for another time” he said, quickly dashing passed Van with me in his arms. Within seconds, we were standing in front of a large mech. In fact, it was the mech from before. “Raitou!” Folken called up to the machine, resulting in the hatch opening and its arm coming down in front of us. I let out a faint gasp as it did this, still not completely used to having it move on its own. Quickly, Lord Folken stepped onto the hand. The mech then pulled us up to the pilots hatch, letting us inside of it, before closing behind us.

“Lord Folken…” I whispered quietly, staring up at him with tired eyes. He just gave me a small smile in return. He then pulled me against him for a moment, before whispering into my ear. “You had me worried for a while Tatsumi. I didn’t know where you had gone. It made me rather sad actually” he told me, a tone in his voice that I wasn’t familiar with. Ok, this was beginning to be very strange.

Once again, the stone on my necklace started to glow, causing our eyes to widen. No…not again, I don’t want to go anywhere else again. Surprisingly enough, it didn’t take me anywhere as Lord Folken held onto my, arms wrapped securely around my waist. What it did do though, was show us something. As we stood there, images began to appear for us, images of an ancient past.

A young woman and a man were running through a field of flowers. The girl herself was dancing around, laughing happily as she looked at the young man chasing after her. “Darling, slow down” he called after her as she twirled around gracefully in the field.

“But Canin my love, I’m having so much fun” she smiled at him, before running to him. He enveloped her in his arms, holding her close and kissing her hair softly.

“Yes, I can see that Isabelle, and you look lovely doing so” he cooed into her ear, causing her to blush faintly. She laughed softly, before shoving him playfully.

“Catch me if you can” she said, before running quickly through the field.

“Hey!” he shouted, before running after her. They just laughed together as they ran through the field, chasing after one another.

“Ah! Canin!” Isabelle squealed as he caught her in his arms, laughing softly. She smiled up at Canin, before slowly leaning up a bit. In turn, Canin leaned down, meeting her in a kiss. Their lips met, locking together in a passionate kiss. The two of them were obviously in love with one another. When they finally broke apart, they smiled at each other lovingly. Isabelle’s eyes sparkled in the light as she gazed up at Canin as though there was no other person in the world.

“I love you Isabelle” he whispered in her ear as he held her.

“I love you too Canin” she whispered back, smiling at him affectionately.

The scene soon changed to one of violence. Mechs and dragon armor all around.

“Isabelle, hurry!” Canin shouted, pulling her along with him as they ran. Once they ran far enough, they came to a stop as the necklace she was wearing started to glow. It was an elegant blue stone and it shone brightly.

“Come on…please” she whispered, urging the stone to hurry. Suddenly, it was an explosion of light as a large dragon armor materialized in front of them.

“Now hurry Isabelle” Canin said, pulling her up on the large machine. The hatch opened for them, allowing them to quickly climb inside of it. “Isabelle” Canin called as he stood of the small platform, calling for her to join him. She then came in front of him, leaning against him, her back touching his chest. It was then that the machine attached to them. It fused around each of their limbs, pressing them to one another tightly.

“I hate it when it does this” she spoke quietly.

“I know Isabelle, but this is the only way to operate it. If I could operate it myself, then I would. Unfortunately, this is the only mech that I know of that takes two people to operate it” he told her. She groaned as a piece fused around their midsection, pressing them even tighter to one another.

“Just be glad that I like you so much Canin” she told him, inhaling a breath, causing her to become a bit more restricted as it tighten on her.

“Now, let’s get rid of these guys, shall we?”

I blinked as the vision ended, finding myself suddenly exhausted. I then noticed that Folken was still behind me, holding me too him. He too looked as if he were now exhausted. “What was that?” he asked quietly, unsure of himself.

“You…saw it too?” I asked, looking over my shoulder at him. He nodded his head briefly, looking down at me. “What does it mean?” I asked in a whisper. Realization suddenly dawned on me. It had to do with the stone. The one that I wore around my neck was also in the vision. “So…this is the stone” I said to no one in particular, merely talking quietly to myself. Folken heard me though, turning his eyes on me as his arms rose up slightly, his hand gently grasping the stone around my neck. It glowed as I placed my hand on top of his. It was reacting to the two of us, but why? It didn’t make any sense. We soon found ourselves staring into each other’s eyes. “Lord Folken…” I whispered quietly.

“Tatsumi…” he whispered back, our eyes never leaving each other. The sound of a gun going off is what broke us out of our trance. I flinched when I heard the bullet bounce off of the mech. I’m SO glad to be inside right now.

“Lord Folken” I whimpered faintly. I never did like guns, they scared me.

Lord Folken pulled me toward the platform.

“Stand behind me Tatsumi” he told me, stretching his arms out a bit. I watched as the armor quickly attached to his limbs, fusing around them and holding onto them tightly. “Now, I want you to wrap your arms around my neck, this could get a little bumpy” he spoke, looking over his shoulder at me. I nodded my head, quickly wrapping my arms around his neck. I thanked the fact that the part I was standing on was a bit higher than his, making it easier to wrap my arms around his neck securely. Moments later we started moving, causing me to be thrown against him.

“Sorry” I whispered, only to receive a light chuckle in response.

“I told you it might be a bit bumpy, didn’t I?” he asked, a faint grin on his face as he looked at me over his broad shoulder. I nodded my head meekly, staring ahead of me, a small blush rising to my now warm cheeks. I watched his eyes soften out of the corner of my eye. This made me curious. Without saying anything, I rested my head upon his shoulder, closing my eyes. He made to protest to this, which I was quite happy with. I continued to hold onto his as we moved, carefully not to choke him when we hit a large bump. I found him chuckling at this every time, he found me amusing to say the least.

I eventually found myself falling asleep against him, just resting quietly against his strong back. He didn’t seem to mind this, just like everything else that I did when it came to making any sort of physical contact with him. “Tatsumi?” he called my name, but I didn’t respond. He then looked over his shoulder, finding me laying there sound asleep. He smiled quietly at this, finding the sight of me asleep to be quite refreshing to him.

Ok people there's chapter 4. I hope that everyone enjoyed it. Remember, please REVIEW? I want to know what everyone thinks of this story because I'm working very hard on it. It's hard trying to keep everything updated when I have so many active stories that I'm working on. So please, REVIEW and give me some inspiration? Cuz I really like writing this story, but I need a boost of confidence. Please and thank you. Night everybody. Byebye and pleasent reading. I'm going to bed since it's like one o'clock in the morning going on two.