Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ There's Not A Thing I Would Change ❯ In the Absence of Wholeness ( Chapter 13 )

~*~Hello there! Miss me? *ducks as things are thrown at head* Now, what's with the violence? I said I'd be back, and here I am. There will be a longer, more detailed author's note at the end, since I think you're all so eager to read what I have here. Enjoy!~*~

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Chapter Thirteen: In the Absence of Wholeness

 

A woman with shoulder length light brown hair walked out of the elevator and onto her chosen floor, slightly astonished by the amount of people walking around with files while others sat at computers with their full concentration on their work. Nervousness swam through her as she took a few steps forward, looking for some idea as to what was in store for her. If only someone would tell her what to do…

“Hello there. You must be new.” The girl turned and gazed into the clear blue eyes of an older woman with brown hair and a kind smile. “Y-yes I am. It's my first day.”

The older woman's smile grew as she raised her hand. “Well, then allow me to show you around. My name's Maaya Kanzaki. And you are?”

Shaking the woman's hand, the other female replied, “Noriko Tachiki.”

Maaya looked her over and smiled again. “Oh that's right. We were expecting you. Come, let me show you around the place before setting you down to work. Don't let this place scare you. We're really all very nice.”

As the older woman began walking around, leaving Noriko to follow, the younger spoke up. “Umm, excuse me? I hope you don't mind me asking, but why does your name sound so familiar?”

Pausing, Mrs. Kanzaki turned around and faced her. “Well, if you've read the papers, you'll hear one story, but if you did your research on this company, you'll know I'm the head of this department.”

Hazel eyes widened for a moment as realization kicked in. “So, you're my new boss?”

“You could think of it that way. Now, let me show you to your desk.” The two continued to walk as they surveyed the area. Maaya pointed out all the important points, including where the vending machines were, before finally reaching their destination. “And here we are. This is your little cube, Ms. Tachiki. I'm assuming you know enough about computers that I don't need to assist you, correct?”

The younger woman blushed a bit as she lowered her head. “Well, actually, I…umm…”

Sighing, Maaya looked around before calling over to someone. “Izark. Could you spare a moment?”

At that moment, a very tall man with long dark brown, almost black, hair stood up and made his way over to them. He looked at Noriko before focusing on his supervisor. “What do you need, Maaya-sama?”

Puzzled, the younger female looked at the older woman as well, who only smiled. “Izark, this is Ms. Noriko Tachiki. She needs a little help with the computers, and since you are the most knowledgeable one on the floor, I figured you could help her. Ms. Tachiki, this is Mr. Izark Kia Tarj. If you have any questions, look for him. From what I know of him, he'd be happy to help, though he may hide that fact.” Earning herself a playful glare from the male, Maaya gave a small laugh before continuing. “Unfortunately, there are a few files that need my immediate attention. Let me know if you need anything, Ms. Tachiki. Oh, and welcome to the company.” She smiled again before turning and leaving the couple to head to her own office.

The man turned to face this smaller new girl and sighed. “Well, let's get started here.”

Noriko looked at him before nodding. “Oh, yes. Umm… how exactly do we get started?”

“I have a feeling this is going to take awhile. I'm not very good at explaining everything, but I can show you. Will that be alright?”

“Oh, yes. I'm actually a visual learner, so that works perfectly.” She moved aside to allow him access to the company computer that was to become hers until unemployment, which hopefully was a long ways away. He immediately sat down and pushed a round button, causing the computer to turn on. She made a mental note of that very lovely button.

“While this loads up, perhaps I should inform you of everything that goes on here.”

Noriko sat down in the extra chair and gave him her full attention. “That would be nice.”

Turning the chair to face her, but also to gaze at the computer out of the corner of his eye, Izark instantly began speaking. “As you've probably been told, this company is very new. It was taken over by Fanelia and transformed into a very efficient business. This floor deals with advertising and sales, but each floor houses something else entirely. In fact, only four flights up is our book publishing unit. They reach out to young authors through the internet and change their fanfictions into original works of fiction. You do know what a fanfiction is, correct?”

Thinking for a moment, she answered, “isn't that when a person takes someone else's work, like an anime, and put those characters into their own stories with different plots?”

“Exactly. Some of those stories are so independent of the original characters that they could be made as a complete work by itself. Simply put, they change the parts that keep the story a fanfiction and publish it for the masses as a separate idea. They have the author's permission, of course, and they get paid very well for the ideas.”

“They don't do that for all of them, do they?”

“Of course not. There aren't that many truly great stories out there. Some are just, well, sad.” At that point, Izark turned back to the computer and moved the mouse. “The program you'll be working from is in the start menu at the bottom. Click on it and it will shoot up, displaying everything for you. See?” He soon demonstrated what he meant while she looked over his shoulder. Seeing her nod, he minimized the screen and turned back to her again. “This floor, like I said, deals with advertising. Now and then, we are asked to make book covers, but that's rare. We usually deal with other company campaigns. Our biggest account is with Rand.”

Confused, Noriko inquired, “I thought Astoria had that company.”

Shaking his head, he corrected her. “After what happened four years ago, Fassa took his business here.”

“What happened four years ago? Isn't that when this place started up?”

“Astoria got caught up in a huge scandal. It was in the papers and everything. The department head there was arrested and sentenced to do some serious jail time.”

“Why?”

Raising one eyebrow, Izark looked her over. “You really aren't from around here, are you Tachiki-san?”

Blushing a bit, she lowered her head. “I've been away from awhile studying at school. I didn't even know companies here use the Japanese honorific system.”

“Well, not all companies do. It's just something the boss likes us to do. But you asked about what happened.” She nodded, telling him to continue. “The man's name was Allen Schezar, a name no one here will forget. He used lower employees to do his work and passed off the ideas as his own. Also, he would trick the female employees to sleep with him, or else risk losing their jobs. If that wasn't enough, he also was involved with a hit and run that almost killed-”

At that moment, the elevator doors opened and a man with raven hair stepped out, adjusting his glasses that sat in front of his maroon colored eyes. He wore a dark grey business suit with a deep red shirt underneath, a black tie in front of it. As he walked around the room, some of the employees would look up and smile or wave, which he returned. Finally, he stopped in front of Noriko's desk. Raising one eyebrow, he looked her over. “You're new.”

She slowly rose to her feet and stammered. “Y-yes, sir. I'm Noriko Tachiki.”

As if realizing something, he slowly nodded his head. “Oh right. Maaya mentioned something about you. I'm assuming you have already been given the tour, and that Izark-san has been assisting you with the computer system?”

“Y-yes sir.”

Izark stood at the moment, perhaps to save her from this embarrassing situation. “She seems to be a fast learner, sir.”

Shaking his head at the taller male, the maroon eyed one looked at him. “I thought we talked about that whole `sir' thing.” Turning his eyes back to the female, he explained, “since this company is somewhat small, we refer to each other by our first names after awhile.”

“Oh, I see.”

A small smile formed on his face. “Welcome to EscaFlowne, Noriko-san. I look forward to seeing great things from you.” Before giving her a chance to reply, he turned and walked away, heading for Maaya's office.

Both employees sat down, the female turning to the male. “Who was that?”

A small chuckle escaped his throat before Izark replied. “That's the big boss, Mr. Van Fanel.”

Hazel eyes grew oh so very wide as she looked at him. “Are you serious? That's him??”

“The one and only. He's the one that battled against Astoria, where he originally worked, and took over 90 percent of their accounts, as well as steal Maaya-san and quite a few other employees too. He's also one of the people Allen tried to con. In fact, he was almost killed by Allen with that car accident.”

“Oh my. That's horrible.”

Shaking his head, the man leaned in more and said in a whisper, “that's not half as bad as what that whole ordeal cost him, something he has never recovered from in all this time.”

“What's that?”

With a sadden look in his eyes, he took a moment before speaking, “not what, but who.”

~

The worst thing a person can face is the blinking of a cursor on a computer page. It signals the lack of ideas and concepts that need to be put into place, thus not being able to creating what is needed to be presented. With a sigh, a female pushed away from her computer and got up to pace around the room. Everything had been going great before, but then this damn block came, preventing everything and anything from getting through.

Shaking her head, the woman went into the kitchen and pulled out a can of coke, popping it open instantly and taking a large drink from it. The liquid was cool in her mouth as she sighed yet again before heading back to the room which held her computer. She sat down yet again in front of it and stared at the screen, silently pleading with it that some letters would just magically appear. However, no such luck.

While she glared at the white screen and the stupid blinking cursor, a small knock on the door signaled the presence of another. Without looking away, she called out, “come in.” The door opened and a man with dark raven hair and kind brown eyes walked in. Immediately, he walked up behind the woman and encircled her with his arms. “How's it coming?”

Groaning, she leaned back into his chest. “What does it look like, Einstein? I'm completely and utterly blocked.”

“Still?”

“Yep. At this point I'm having a staring contest with the stupid cursor.”

Raising one eyebrow, he inquired, “doesn't that just get you more frustrated?”

“Just a tad.”

Chuckling, he placed a kiss on her head and held her closer. “I know you'll do it. You've been talking about doing this ever since I've met you. Just clear your head and let your mind make its magic.”

Smiling, she moved her head so that she could look up into his eyes. “You have that much faith in me?”

Returning her smile, he leaned down and kissed her lips softly before pulling back. “Much more than you will ever know.”

“Remind me how I ever got so lucky?”

“Simple. Your insanity just captivated me.”

A small chuckle came from her lips as she added, “well that, and I can hit pretty hard.”

“That went without saying.”

Both stood there in silence for a few comfortable moments before the man pulled away. “I have some work I have to do, but I'll be back in a few to check on you.”

“I shall await with baited breath.”

Smiling, he moved towards the door, but before exiting, he turned back to her. “I've heard once that writers work best by drawing from personal experiences. Maybe it would help if you tied that.”

Nodding her head, she thought it over. “That might work. Thanks.”

The man simply nodded his head as he left. Not too long after, the female took another swig of her coke before letting her fingers fly on the keyboard of her laptop. “Chapter one: one week to go. The cafeteria was full today…”

~

The door opened and soon closed as the raven haired mane with maroon eyes entered his large office. His stride was large as he soon made it over to his mahogany desk and to his very comfortable large leather chair. After stretching, he adjusted his glasses before beginning his task on the computer. Folken had asked to see the new slogan for Fanalia, which he demanded to be done by Van himself. With a deep sigh, Van carefully moved the cursor around while typing out different ideas as they entered his mind. It had been a long time since he had done an account himself, but when Folken wanted something done, there was nothing else to consider. His brother had done so much for him the past four years, including intrusting this company to him to head. It was a big risk, but Van definitely did not disappoint. Both EscaFlowne and Fanalia were thriving, blowing the competition away instantly.

Folken had done more than give Van this chance, so much more. In fact, if it wasn't for his older brother, he didn't know what he would have done.

~Flashback~

A very loud banging was heard at the door, though Van continued to sit on the couch unmoving. It was as if he hadn't heard the noise at all. The banging continued and was accompanied by a familiar voice. “Van! Open this door!” After a few moments of silence, the banging came again. “Van Slanzar de Fanel, you open this door right now!” When there was no answer from the said man, there was an even longer bout of silence. Secretly, Van hoped the man outside had given up and left him alone. When he heard the sound of keys jiggling and the turning of the lock, he mentally cursed his misfortune for he knew his super had let the man in. `I'll have to have a talk with him about that.'

The door flew open, and instantly a silver haired man stood in front of the shorter male. A look of disgust entered his eyes as he surveyed his younger brother's appearance. “What the hell are you doing, Van? Have you even showered today?”

From Van's mouth came a very monotone voice, void of all emotion. “What's the point? Not like there's a purpose.”

Shaking his head, Folken sat in the empty chair and stared at him. His heart just broke at what he saw. There sat a hollow shell of his brother in the same clothes he saw last week, seemingly unchanged or even washed. His hair was even more out of control than usual and his eyes, eyes that once held so much joy and laughter, were void as if his soul was lost.

Looking away, Folken saw what Van was trying to hide between the cushions, causing a sigh to escape his lips. Reaching over, he pulled the book away and held it up. “You can't keep doing this, Van. You can't live like this.”

Grabbing at the book, Van pressed it against his chest, daring his brother to try and take it away again. “It's all I have left.”

“That's not true and you know it. You have to stop torturing yourself and move on. You haven't left this apartment in a month. A month, Van! You haven't worked, bathed or even done laundry in all that time. From the look of things, you haven't eaten much or slept either.”

“You don't understand, Folken. I close my eyes and there she is. I relive that night each and every time I dream. I see her tears and it hurts so much.”

“But why are you letting it?” Standing up suddenly, Folken paced around for a few moments. Did she know what she had done to his brother, how she had left him a crippled, broken man? Try as he may, he could not bring himself to truly hate her though. Van had dug his grave, and now had to live in it. But that didn't mean Folken couldn't drag him out. “Van, you have to find work. Another few weeks and you'll be out on the street. There are still things you have to do. You can't just quit at life. It doesn't work that way.” Pausing for a minute, he had one last attempt to gain his attention. “What would Hitomi think of you now? You think she'd be happy knowing she wasted her time on quitter? I guess she was correct in assuming she wasted eleven year of her life on a lie.”

He didn't even have a chance to react as Van held him against the wall, anger in his eyes. “Don't you dare say that. Don't you dare! It wasn't a lie!”

“Then prove it. Get your ass out there and get on with your life!”

“I… I can't!”

“No, you can, you just won't. Why would she come back to a man who would rather waste away in his room than face the world head on? Face it, Van. Hitomi has moved on without you. She's living her life everyday, not shutting herself away while she mopes around crying over what you did. You need to do that same.” At that point, Van's grip on his brother loosened, giving him a chance to back away. Folken looked closer at him, seeing the emotions flash in his eyes. “She wouldn't want this, Van. You know that.”

Raven locks covered maroon eyes as Van stood there motionless. Finally, a weak voice was heard. “I know, but how can I…?”

With a sigh, Folken walked over and took his brother into his arms. “Let us help you. We're all here for you. I still have that job for you when you're ready to take it, but you have to take the first step.” A small smile formed on his lips as he added, “Just like dad used to say, `before you can embrace the future, you have to step away from the past and keep a memory of hope in your pocket.' You can do it, Van. It's not too far and we're here if you stumble. No one said this would be easy, but nothing in life is.”

There was a long moment of silence, not even the slightest bit of noise. Finally, at long last, one word was spoken, one simple word that pushed everything into place. “Okay.”

~End Flashback~

Like Folken had said, it was definitely not easy. Each day was a new battle for him until Van was finally ready to start heading EscaFlowne. With Maaya's help and the support of his friends, the company grew beyond their wildest dreams, gaining more and more respect with each day that came. Two months into the birth of Esca, as it was commonly called, Dryden had shown up with the Rand account in hand. As promised, Dilandau was not even in the country anymore, but what shocked him the most was news of Allen's arrest. What everyone had failed to tell him was while he lay in a coma, Allen was on trial for his accident. Apparently, Wolfwood, one of the saxophone players, had come back for his cigarettes that he had dropped and had seen the man behind the wheel of the car. While in court, he positively identified that man to be Allen, sending the man to prison for attempted murder, as the District Attorney had twisted things to appear that way. That along with charges filed against him by many females in the company insured the bastard's long jail sentence. Apparently the phrase “karma's a bitch” isn't an exaggeration.

Sitting back, Van looked over the idea he had come up with. For some reason, a dragon had appeared in his mind, but with angel wings instead. Hopefully Folken would like it, since that seemed to be the only image he could come up with while thinking of Fanalia. It showed that they were powerful and willing to fight, but also had a gentle side and had a strong sense in morality. `Sounds perfect.'

There was a small knock on the door, startling him out of his thoughts. “Come in.” A familiar blue eyed woman poked her head in and smiled as she entered. “You do realize there are only a handful of us left here, right? It's after seven.”

Shrugging, he turned back to a file on his desk. “I plan on a late night. Tell the others they can leave. I'll get their names later and remember to lighten their load tomorrow. No one should be working past closing time.”

“Perhaps you should practice what you preach sometime, Van.”

Sighing, he removed his glasses and gazed at her. “Maaya, please. You of all people know why.” Nodding her head, she stood there for a moment in silence. Van was the one to speak first. “Why don't you head on home? Didn't you say Kenji had someone new he wanted you to meet?”

Snapping her fingers, Maaya nodded her head again. “I completely forgot. Thanks for the reminder. I'll see you tomorrow, Van. Bright and early.”

“Good night, Maaya.”

Closing the door behind her, Van was left with silence and a white screen, that stupid cursor still sitting there blinking. Sighing, he turned to read of the file he had been looking at before. What he saw clearly impressed him. `Must be from one of the older employees, possibly Izark-san.' When he looked to see who's report it was, he's eyes went wide in surprise. `Tachiki-san? Well now. One week on the job and this is what I get? Very impressive indeed.' The girl showed a lot of promise and was definitely a quick study, considering she couldn't even use the computer the first day. With more files like this, he'd have to promote her far too early.

Leaning back in his chair, Van raised his arms over his head and stretched, getting all the kinks out of his back in the process. His eyes drifted to a picture frame face door on his desk, causing him to let out a sigh. He knew what it was of, and though it tormented him, he just couldn't get rid of it. Ever so slowly, Van reached out and lifted it so that he may view the photo of a trapped moment in time. The picture had been buried in his photo album for years, but for some reason, he felt the need to have this particular one on his desk. The picture had been taken by one of Millerna's friends the night of the banquet. Van had just seen Hitomi that night when she had to close his mouth for him. The timing of the shot showed her hand on his face with this amused or even loving look in her eye while he gazed at her, taking in her beauty. The picture showed him what he could not see for a long time. It was crystal clear: `We were in love, but I didn't know it.' Sighing, he returned the picture onto his desk and reached out to look over another file.

~

The door opened quietly as the man looked inside the room. While sighing, he walked in and stood behind the woman in the chair. In a very groggy voice, he asked, “do you have any idea what time it is?”

Without turning to look at him, she replied, “I don't look at the clock. It just makes me tired. Besides, I'm on a roll.”

Stretching and yawning, he looked over her shoulder and at her laptop. “Oh? So you finally got your idea? Let me see.”

Shaking her head, the woman immediately covered the screen. “No! You can't look yet. I'm not far enough along for that.”

“Can you at least tell me what it's about?”

“I shouldn't have to. You already told me.”

The confusion was apparent on the man's face before he just sighed and walked away. “Crazy woman. I'm going to bed.”

Typing away on the computer, she held up one hand and waved at him while her eyes stayed glued on the screen. “Good night, sweetie.”

As he walked out, the man turned and looked at her. “Oh, and it's four in the morning.”

“Ahh! NO!! Now the tiredness will consume me!! You bastard!! Eyelids… drooping.. must… consume… more… caffeine…”

“Oh, is this the part where I tell you I drank the last coke a few hours ago?”

Ever so slowly, the woman stood and turned to look at him, eyes aflame with anger. “You… did… WHAT?!?”

The man wasted no time before going into an all out sprint. There was no telling what she would do if she caught him… “I'M GONNA BEAT YOU SO BAD, YOUR OWN MOMMA WON'T EVEN WANT TO LOOK AT YOU!!!” Strike that last comment. Apparently there was telling what she would do.

And in that small room, the cursor was still just blinking.

~

Noriko hesitantly opened the door after the person on the other side gave her permission to do so. What could Mr. Fanel want with her? Did she do something wrong? She had been there only a month and was still learning. Were her files not up to his standards?

“Ah, Noriko-san. Please, come in a have a seat.”

Gulping, she replied. “Y-yes sir.”

A small smile broke out on his face. “I thought we've been over this.”

“Oh, yes. We have, but I'm still not c-comfortable addressing you that way.” The woman walked in and headed over to the chair, her hands shaking slightly.

Van's smile increased slightly. “There's no reason to be nervous, Noriko-san. I'd like you to meet someone.” Gesturing to the other chair she hadn't noticed, Van introduced the man sitting in it. “Noriko Tachiki, this is Dryden Fassa, the head of Rand. Dryden, this is Noriko-san, the one I told you about.”

The man stood and looked down at her, a friendly smile on his face. “So this is the girl you've been raving about. It's a pleasure to meet you, Tachiki-san.”

Her eyes went wide as she shook his hand. “Oh no! The pleasure is all mine, sir.”

Van cleared his throat to gain their attention before explaining. “I have been looking over your files very carefully, Noriko-san, and I must say I'm very impressed. In fact, I'm here to make you an offer, if Dryden agrees, of course.”

“An offer?”

Nodding, the maroon eyed man sat up and adjusted his glasses in order to see her better. “What do you think about heading up some of Rand's new accounts?”

If Noriko expected to hear anything that day, that was definitely not on her list. Eyes wide in shock, she could not even answer him right away. Next to her, Dryden let out a loud and friendly laugh. “I think you shocked her speechless.”

Van's eyes never left hers, causing her to feel a little uneasy despite his kind gaze. Finally regaining her composure, Noriko spoke slowly, “are you sure?”

“Of course I am. You're work is like nothing I've seen before, exactly what Rand could use. You'll be head of your own team in order to run TV commercials, magazine ads, the works. Of course, that also means a raise in salary. We'll negotiate that later. So, what do you say?”

Taking a deep breath, she nodded. “I would be honored to.”

Both men looked very pleased with her answer, but Van was the one to speak first. “Good. Come back in here before leaving today. By then, I want an idea of who you're considering to be on your team. Chose wisely now, okay?” After she nodded, he smiled at her again. “Congratulations, Noriko-san. Feel free to return to your desk and share the good news to the people who aren't listening at the door.”

At that moment, a loud bang was heard along with the quick shuffling of feet, making Dryden laugh yet again. The woman smiled as she stood. “Thank you so much, Fanel-sama.” With a small bow to show her respect, she quickly turned and walked out of the office, heading immediately to her desk with a smile on her face.

As usual, Izark was sitting there waiting for her. “So, how'd it go?”

“Oh, like you don't know?”

Shrugging, he replied, “I don't press my ear against the door like some people. I'd rather find out from you.” Looking up at her, he clearly sent the message that he was waiting for her to talk. With that smile still on her face, she sat in her own chair and looked him straight on. “He asked if I would consider heading up a team for the new Rand account.”

Izark sat up straight and smiled brightly. “That's fantastic. Congrats!”

“Thanks. There's just one problem though.”

Confused, he tilted his head to the side, which was a common thing for him apparently. “What's that?”

Keeping cool, she pretended to inspect her nails which answering, “oh nothing, just that I have to think about who I want on my team. Now, who should I ask?”

Izark began to think before replying, “well, Najaran is good at pulling out victories at the last moment, so she's a good person to have. Watanuki is a very hard worker. If he can keep his eyes on his work instead of on Himawari, he'll do well.” Looking over at her, he saw she had one eye brow raised and this very confused look on her face. “What?”

“Are you really that stupid?”

“Huh? What do you mean?”

Smacking his forehead lightly, she smiled. “I'm going to ask you, smart one.”

The black haired man sat up a bit. “Me?”

“Of course! You're the one that taught me everything on this computer, plus how everything works around here. You have great insight and are easy to work with. Do I really need to continue?”

Shrugging, he leaned back in the chair. “You can if you'd like.”

Rolling her eyes, she laughed. “So self centered.”

“Oh really? Then I should ask if I could take you out to dinner tonight? To celebrate, of course.”

A faint blush covered her cheeks as she digested what he had said. “You really want to?”

Chuckling a bit, he leaned over to whisper in her ear. “Truth is I've been trying to ask you out since your first day here.”

Her blush grew as butterflies flew in her stomach. She had to admit she was attracted to him, but what would the others say? Would they think she asked him to be on the team just because she liked him? Throwing those thoughts aside, she looked him in the eye and smiled. “When and where?”

His smile sent those stupid butterflies to swarm everywhere. “Seven okay for you? The where is a secret.” When she agreed, he nodded his head. “Great. I better get back to work though. I'll see you later then.” With that, Izark rose to his feet and walked out of her cubicle and over to his, which was on the other side of the room, much to her disappointment.

Noriko sighed happily and turned to her computer screen. Before she could get started, however, a pleasant voice interrupted her thoughts. “Well, looks like Izark finally asked you out. It's about time.”

Mortified, Noriko turned and looked at her department boss. “You knew, Maaya-sama?”

The older woman smiled kindly at her. “Of course I did. Why do you think I called him over your first day?” She laughed slightly at seeing the younger woman look shocked. “I have a mother's instinct, that's all. Now get those files done before Van changes his mind.” Before the woman could respond, Maaya walked away, a sad smile on her face. `Too bad it wasn't that easy back then…'

~

Smiling, the man walked up behind her. “Staring off into space again?”

Turning to face him, she shrugged. “I'm trying to visualize my next sentence.”

“That might hurt. Don't think too much or you'll get those thinking cramps.”

“Your confidence in me is overwhelming. Thanks so much.” Laughing, he took her into his arms and kissed her fully on the lips. After a few moments, they separated, leaving her a bit breathless. “Well, someone had a good day.”

“It's always a great day when I get to see your beautiful face.”

Smiling, she crossed her arms and looked at him. “Alright, what did you do this time?”

Taking her hand, the man led her into the kitchen, causing her to laugh at what she saw. He shrugged. “I didn't want to face your wrath again, so I thought this would prevent that from occurring.”

Shaking her head, her gaze shifted to him while the smile still stayed on her lips. “You bought me forty eight cases of Coca Cola?”

“One case for each month we've been together.”

“That's disturbingly sweet.”

Leaning down, he placed another kiss on her lips before saying, “just goes to show how much I love you.”

“And that you're terrified of me when I don't have my caffeine fix.”

“That too.” He laughed a bit before asking, “how's it coming along? Can I read it yet?”

Tapping her finger against her chin, she shook her head. “Not yet. I have a bit more I want to do before then. Trust me. You'll be the first one to read it over.”

“Good.” Placing another kiss on her head, he smiled. “I have to get some more work done. Think you can take a break for dinner tonight?”

“For you, of course. Now get out of here before I make it so you won't be able to leave me.”

Laughing again, he shook his head. “I'll see you later then.”

After exchanging their goodbyes, the man walked out the door, leaving the woman to stand there in the kitchen. She looked around a bit at all the red cases, then shook her head and headed back to the room where her computer sat. Instantly, her fingers danced across the computer keys, not giving the cursor enough time to stand there and blink.

~

It was late, of course. There he sat, working on his own work while everyone else had left at least two hours ago. That was fine. Van grew to like working late. No distractions that way.

Reading over the file, Van smiled a bit. `Looks like Noriko-san is doing very well on the project. Dryden is definitely pleased at the results thus far. She and Izark-san make a great team.' That thought caused his smile to grow a little more. The pair had been together for over two months now, which made them the cute little office romance everyone talked about. `Gotta hand it to Maaya. She knows how to match people up pretty well.'

Shaking his head, he moved on to a different file. Things had been going well for Esca so far, much more than he could have possibly hoped for. All the work that was being done was nothing short of excellent, and their clients seem to be thrilled. Even the publishing company was doing remarkably well. Who knew there were so many great writers hiding out in the fanfiction world? How he had come up with that idea, even he didn't know.

Folken had loved that idea Van had for Fanalia. Apparently, the idea was so great that he immediately put the logo on everything associated with the company. Of course Varie was just so proud that her boys were getting along. Smiling at the thought of his mother, Van silently thanked her for all the support she had given him.

Sighing, he adjusted his glasses and turned his attention to the newest account they had. It was a new company called Avalon started by a woman named Kinomoto. Why that named sounded familiar, he still didn't know. All he knew was that it was a new account and that he was going to give it his all. If by some chance it needed an entire team, he would investigate on assembling one as soon as possible. For now, he would take care of it personally.

While reading over the file, there was a knock at his door, causing him to raise one eyebrow. Everyone had gone home, didn't they? It was probably a new maintenance crew person who didn't know his usual habit. Shrugging, he went back to his file and said, “Come in.” The door creaked open slowly and footsteps were heard as the person entered the room. Van continued to read over his file instead of addressing the new person directly. “It's okay. I'll lock up later. You can go.”

“And hello to you too, Sparky.”

Freezing in place, Van's eyes slowly widened as he heard this person speak. `That voice…' Slowly, he put down the file and looked at the owner of said voice. Equally as slow, Van rose to his feet, eyes never leaving the emerald orbs that stared back at him. A small, nervous smile appeared on her face before she spoke, “it's good to see you, Van…”

Taking a deep breath, he said the name that he dared not say out loud for the past four years. “Hitomi…”

~

Nodding ever so slightly, he moved away from the laptop and turned to look at her. “It's really good. Very captivating.” She only nodded ever so slightly, appearing to be in a deep state of thought. The man continued, “Why did you let me read it before it was finished?”

Finally looking at him, she sighed. “Because I don't know how it ends yet. It hasn't reached its end yet.”

With a nod, he rose to his feet. “When do you think you'll know?”

“Soon. The ending is already beginning to unfold…”

 

~*~And thus, the end of chapter thirteen. Was it worth the wait? I hope so…

Now, this is where I tell you all my excuses and such. To be honest, I was completely and utterly drained. This past semester was just so chaotic and time consuming, I barely had time to rest. I was taking a Playwriting 2 class, considering I had Playwriting 1 the semester before that. In that class, we were required to write a full length play (Three Acts) as opposed to the One Act play we had to write in the previous class. I was running out of time, so I transformed an idea I had for a great InuYasha fanfic into the play. All my creative thoughts went towards writing that play. Then I had a Directing class where I had to direct a One Act play and present it to the school. Needless to say, I directed my own One Act which only required three people. Rehearsals were insane, but I had a great cast (all friends of mine).

With that and the papers and other randomness, I did not have the energy nor the ideas to write this chapter until now. I had thought about what one reviewer said, about transforming this story into a book (thus came the publishing company idea in this chapter). After thinking about it, I decided not to. It's already so far involved, and to make it a book, I'd have to stop writing it for you all and transform it into a separate piece. There are just too many anime references and I could never think of the characters as anyone other than Van and Hitomi.

I do, however, have an idea for a book now. It's very exciting, but I won't work on it until this is done. I have to say though, I'm a little discouraged about the turn out for my last story The Mists. I worked on that one for a year, yet only three people responded to it. If you didn't notice, that was my not too subtle hint for you guys to read it. Lol

I will finish this story. It is my baby after all. It's just going to take some time. I start my regular job in a few weeks, plus I'm looking for another job. I'll do my best though. Thank you to everyone who has emailed me and reviewed many times with their encouragement. I do ask, though, that you don't review my other stories and ask when I'm going to update this one. Makes me sad.

Well, I'm cutting it off here. Review and let me know what you think. Oh, and if you want to know where I got any of my characters, just ask! Lol Ja ne!~*~