Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ Secrets ❯ Promises ( Chapter 3 )

Secrets

Chapter Three

Promises

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AN: To all of the people who reviewed, thank you so much! You're all so nice ^-^! Now on with the story.

->BTW, this is the longest chapter so far with tons of Allen bashing. Sorry Allen fans, he's just so easy to bash.

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She called his name into the darkness once again. She screamed it as though her very life depended upon his answering and, in a way, it did.

The darkness was the same but not, it was blacker, bleaker somehow. There were shadows now. Shadows cast upon the faces of the two people who were, supposedly there, shadows on their faces and shadows on their minds.

"DILANDAU!" she screamed again, she didn't need to scream, he would hear her if she so much as barely breathed it out but she wanted to scream it. The screaming carried her urgency, let her feelings be known. She couldn't scream out loud in the house, Allen would think she had broken down completely and go even crazier about her than he already was. And, then again, didn't they always scream to blow of steam?

She needed to see him, she needed him but he wasn't there the BLOODY LIAR! She hadn't realised she had screamed out the last two words.

Her voice echoed through the nothingness that was filled with so much until finally, she saw he had appeared, materialised, arrived, call it what you want. She hadn't heard him though, hadn't seen him and didn't know how long he'd been there and frankly didn't care. Small, trivial matters as such didn't matter to them. She looked at him sitting on a chair made of the same full, black emptiness that made everything where he stayed. Of course, no one could see where or what he was on.

This time, he wasn't in his Zaibach uniform, and, come to think of it, he rarely wore it now. He was in pure black and it made him seem like a head and hands floating about in an empty void but one could be sure he had a body there…somewhere. Black pants, steel tipped boots and a rather Allen-esque black shirt (AN: let's just say this one time that Allen is fashion so Dilandau wears what he wears 'cause it's the latest stuff out. For the past three years ^-~).

Celena was still in the nightclothes she had been wearing when talking to Allen except for…Oh gods, her dressing gown was gone. She stood there in an extremely short piece of purple silk that were barely held in place by two very thin straps of the same delicate material. But then again, that didn't matter either. He was part of her.

"What did you call me?" he asked, his voice dangerously low. "What do you want, weakling? I don't know why you came back here and I really don't care but say what you have to and go. I don't need to waste my time with someone like you." He looked tired, and sick and stoned…wait, he was drunk. And to top it off, he was completely pissed about the result of her 'discussion' with Allen.

She looked at him as he refused to even glance in her direction. She couldn't stand it. She was questioning her very existence and for the first time, she was really and truly alone. She fell to her knees, sobbing his name helplessly. What had she done? It wasn't him, it was never anything to do with him, he was the face. She was the evil and she didn't deserve to live, not even in his body, especially not in his body.

She'd just make his life a misery. When he went on and tried to continue his life she'd simply burden him, stop him from becoming everything he could become simply by being in his mind. Hell, she wondered, in a fleeting instant, whether she'd be able to accept it if he ever fell in love with a girl. Would she be able to allow all of Dilandau to love fully, unconditionally, unrestrainedly? For some reason she doubted whether or not she could accept him falling in love period.

He looked up. What? Why was she crying, he couldn't have been that harsh? He knew he'd told her worse using language unfitting for ladies' ears and she'd taken it. Why cry now? He sobered up almost immediately. She was kneeling on the cold hard ground with her face in her hands, sobbing in earnest. He couldn't leave her there. He got up and began walking towards her.

"Dilandau, I don't want to be alone," she whispered into her hands. "I don't want to be alone." Before Celena knew what had happened Dilandau's arms had wrapped around her and pulled her into a tentative yet comforting embrace. She buried her face in his chest until she was able to form coherent sentences without sniffling.

"Shh," he said quietly in her ear, "You're not alone. You're never going to be alone. I'm going to be with you…always. I promise you that. But it's not like I have a choice or anything, do I?" he tried to stop her from crying but his last sentence came out bitter and resentful. He knew that wouldn't help his situation but then again, she had already stopped crying.

She sniffed and turned her head to look up at him. It was impossible to tell exactly what was going on that silver-haired head of his. His face was unreadable as a blank stone tablet, even for her. Celena knew she could easily find out but she didn't want to. He had been right, she did think of him as another human being, a completely separate person. And a person's thoughts are supposed to be private, are they not? She wasn't going to intrude. But she was going to tell him what had been bothering her and he was going to listen, whether he liked it or not.

"I need to ask you something," she said. She had stayed in his arms and he had let her stay there. They were one person were they not? She felt safe there. She needed her face. As an evil, she needed a face and he was it. He was her cover.

"What?" he asked stroking her hair absentmindedly; Celena didn't mind either. It reminded her of something her mother had done many, many years ago.

"Who was it?" she asked.

"What?" he said again, his face now registering his honest confusion.

"Who was it? Who was the truly evil one? Was it you or I? Were you the bad one who liked all of the blood and gore and violence or was that me?" she asked. She was wondering why she was asking it for someone who was so good to her couldn't possibly be that terrible. Then again, she was a special case.

"What are you talking about, Schezar? I was the one that BLOODY DISGUSTING BASTARD WEAKLING KING OF THAT TINY UNCONSEQUENTIAL FU-" he was starting to scream like he used to. All maniacally and soon he'd be cackling and thinking up ways to kill Van Fanel that Celena did not want to dream about.

Some things refused to change although Dilandau's bloodlust for Van seemed to have died down, there were still times when the mere mention of his name could set his blood boiling. He unconsciously tightened his grip on Celena. Seeing as how they were kneeling down on the floor, it was not such a great idea on Dilandau's part to do this and throw his head backwards with the amount of force he had. The end result was the two, Celena atop Dilandau, on the flat, hard, uncomfortable ground.

Celena found her nightgown riding dangerously high on her hips and she willed it to change into anything longer. She wound up in a straight, deep violet, dress with large flared sleeves and tight cuffs. The neckline, however, decided to dip into a far too low 'V' down her front.

She detangled form from Dilandau's and sat down, knees propped up, ankles together and her wrists perched delicately atop her knees. Dilandau sat up, in a slouched position Indian style.

"Don't use that word," she said. "It was I, wasn't it? I know it was. I almost said so to Allen!"

"I know. I was listening."

"And there was something else I thought of too."

"What?" he asked, a bit of his impatience seeping into his voice.

"When I become the secret. Yes, when I become the secret, screw all the crap Allen spews, I don't listen to his bullshit opinions anyways," she said causing Dilandau to turn and look at her, one silver eyebrow delicately raised and his almost ever-present smirk on his face. His eyes seemed to be laughing.

"Looks like I rubbed off on you," he mumbled, smiling despite himself.

"Yes, you did. And I'm not proud of it," she stated and his smile widened. "But really, when I become the secret, what'll happen if…if you fall in love with a…girl?" she said timidly, not quite able to put across what she wanted too but at the same time saying so much more than she had wanted to.

"What do you mean 'if' I fall in love with a woman?" he asked sitting up straight. "Of course I'll fall in love with a woman! I may have spent most of my time with men Vione but I knew how to deal with…urges." He blushed slightly as he finished his sentence.

"You're straight?" she asked truly surprised. "And I always thought…"

"Always thought what?" he asked, his eyes narrowed on her rather flustered face. This was obviously not what she had intended for them to talk about.

"That…well, you know…you and Chesta…well…you know!" she blurted in exasperation. She had no idea and really no intention of putting over what she was trying to say very clearly. He'd still get it though, she'd said enough for him to put two and two together and come up with four.

"Me and Chesta?" he murmured.

"Yeah, well, I wasn't the only one who thought so!" she cried defensively. Tearing her eyes from her toes she dared risk a glance in his direction. He was chuckling to himself. He started to laugh harder and harder and she let him. When he began to go into hysterics, however, she shook him out of it.

"So. What you're saying is that if I ever fall in love, you'll do…what?" he asked looking really worried after he had regained his composure. It had never occurred to him that she might have a problem letting her 'other half' fall in love. It would have been so much simpler if either of them had been otherwise inclined. Then it wouldn't be hard for the other part of them to love their spouse too but no, they both just had to be straight.

"I won't do anything."

"So what's the problem? If you're going to ignore me and my…you know, what's the problem?" he asked, not understanding an ounce of her logic.

"You see, Dilandau, if you were to fall in love and I didn't agree but didn't do anything, you'd never be able to give yourself completely to the one you loved. You'd be…restrained in a way. I would never do anything to stop you from loving but…"she left it hanging but Dilandau understood exactly what she meant.

"Oh. So what do you propose we do?" he asked stroking the scar on his cheek.

"We split."

"What?" the hand fell.

"If they could put us together, they can take us apart, don't you think?"

"Well, I never really had a body to begin with, I've always used your body. A soul without vessel can't do much but haunt people," he said. He had a very downcast look on his face, which probably had never been seen there by anyone but the two. Celena felt like kicking herself. She hadn't thought it through. How was he supposed to become a different person without a body?

"Well, you could always haunt Allen for fun," she said trying to lighten the mood and come up with a way to get him a body. He didn't laugh or even smile. She hadn't expected him to.

"Listen to me, Dilandau, you are going to get yourself a body even if I have to sleep with half the girls on Gaea for it. You'll either get one of your own or take mine but you're not staying in my head any longer. I believe that you're ready to face the outside world once more and you'll do it without the blood, war and violence and you will not, I repeat, you WILL NOT lay a finger on Van Fanel," she had gotten up somewhere in the middle of her speech and was now standing looking at the top of his head.

She reached down and took his face in her hands, turning it to look upwards at her. Celena moved down onto her knees and knelt in front of him. He was crying. The untouchable Dilandau Albatou was crying silently, glistening tears running down his pale cheeks.

"You will live Dilandau, and even if I have to give my body up for it, you will live and you will love and you will do something good with your life, I promise you that. Do you understand me? You will live," she said quietly. Then, whether on impulse or instinct or something else, she leaned forward and kissed him fully, with everything she had.

When he wrapped his arms around her small waist and began to return her kiss, a wind not thought to exist in these far reaches of her mind rose up, the two were engulfed in light brighter than anything ever seen in her soul then everything abruptly went black…

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AN: I know! I'm a terrible person, a cliffhanger! *Hides behind chair dodging various flying objects sent her way* I'll try to get the next chapter up soon and not have you stuck in suspense for too long.

REVIEWS, FLAMES, COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS ARE WELCOME. LEAVE THEM IN A REVIEW AND THANX FOR READING ^-^!