Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ The Star's Power; A Christmas Wish ❯ The Wish ( One-Shot )

The Star's Power; A Christmas Wish

By Fanilia

Hitomi sat by the window watching the gentle snowflakes that had begun to fall. They say that the first snow of the season is special, but when it falls on Christmas Eve it's said to contain Magic. Hitomi smiled, what a wonderful gift on this her last Christmas. She could feel time slipping away from her, feel it in her tired soul, but then she had been blessed with a long and happy life. Unspoken, her family had felt it also. They had all traveled to be with her this year. Both of her daughters were there with their families, their children and the children of those children. Four generations of one family were together on Christmas Eve. Great Grandma Hitomi, it made her feel good to have lived so long as to see them all.

Hitomi's thoughts were drawn again to the snow and magic, thoughts that took her to Van, and to Fanelia. Her smile deepened to reach her eyes, making them sparkle as they had when she was young. He had been her first love, truly her greatest love. He was the reason her life had been so full, the reason she had married the strong, silent American man who had given her this wonderful family. In her eighty plus years she had never truly regretted leaving Gaea, but lately… lately her thoughts had turned more and more to that raven-haired boy, and what might have been, until her attention turned to the faces around her. No she didn't truly regret returning to the Mystic Moon, but it was no wonder she had been thinking of Van now. She had just finished telling the tale of her time in Gaea with Van and Escaflowne to her family assembled here tonight. Her youngest great granddaughter, Helen, Rebecca's child, had begged to hear the story again, and even her daughters had encouraged her to tell it, one last time.

The chill from the window she sat by was seeping into her, so Hitomi drew the shawl she wore closer to her body. It had been such a wonderful present, embroidered by the family; it depicted her family tree, each branch done by a different part of them, each name stitched by the owner, no matter how young. Across the bottom, the inscription read, "Hitomi, beloved dreamer of Dragons".

Hitomi's attention turned to the small child lightly tapping on her arm. She reached over to pat the petite hand with soft wrinkled one. "Grandma Hitomi, will you tell me again about the star's power?" Helen asked in the musical voice that only the very young possess. The room quieted as the attention of everyone there again turned to the woman whom they all loved.

"When I was young, my grandma use to tell me that if you wanted something--wanted it with all your heart and wished very hard, then the stars would give you the last of their power to grant it. The power of the stars." Hitomi's voice was growing softer as she spoke, tiredness stealing her strength away.

"If you could have the power of the star's what would you wish for, Grandma Hitomi?"

Hitomi sighed, taking a shallow breath before answering, "I would wish to see Fanelia again. So beautiful and green, and I would wish to see the dragon again, little one, I would wish to see the dragon." Hitomi could see it in her mind, her dragon, unruly black hair and kind brown eyes, Van. Hitomi slowly exhaled, and as she did her eyes closed one final time.

Outside the snow stopped, the clouds in the sky parting to reveal the Christmas Star shining brightly in the night sky. The star began to glow brighter it seemed to be filling the silent room with its brilliance, and in that brilliance a woman appeared. She was beautiful, with long dark hair. As she stood there wings of the purest white unfurled littering the floor with white feathers. "It's an angel!" gasped Helen as she backed away from her still and silent grandmother.

"Not quite little one, but I have come here to grant Hitomi's last wish, with your permission. I will return her to Fanelia, to her Dragon. Her life here has come to an end, but a new one awaits her on Gaea. The power of her heart saved my world and made it possible for all dreams to continue to have a second chance there. Her dream is waiting now for her."

No words were spoken in the room. None was necessary. The love of the family, her family was as strong as a living thing. The star overhead flashed brightly giving the last of its power, then settled back into the night sky. The angel woman smiled as she vanished, the feathers on the floor the only trace remaining.

A bright white pillar of light descended into the room engulfing Hitomi, and in the light she began to change, her short silver hair changing to brown, her features becoming again those of the girl she was so long ago. Hitomi opened her bright green eyes to look one last time at the family she loved and who loved her enough to make her wish come true. The light vanished upward, taking Hitomi with it; in an instant she was gone.

Helen ran to the window just in time to see the bright streak shoot across the sky past the Christmas star and then it was gone. Rebecca walked over to hug her daughter as the clouds again blocked the night sky, as the snow began to fall again.

Van stood by the shrine. He lowered his arm the energist's glow fading as he turned to leave. He had just done the hardest thing he knew he would ever do in his entire life, sending Hitomi back to the Mystic Moon. It had been the right thing to do, he could feel it in his heart, Hitomi deserved the chance to have a full and happy life. How he had wanted her to stay with him; be his forever. The last words she had spoken still echoed in his head, "I won't forget you, Van, even when I'm old."

Suddenly the pendant around his neck, the one she had just given him, began to glow. Van stopped startled as the bright white pillar of light he had seen take Hitomi away reappeared before him. In an instant it was gone, but standing there was a girl; she looked almost exactly like Hitomi, except her brown hair was slightly different and she wore a red kimono adorned with golden dragons. Around her slim shoulders was draped a finely embroidered shawl. She smiled at Van, taking a step toward him, her arms reaching for him as if she had been gone forever.

"Hitomi?"

"Oh, Van," she said as the space between the two closed and they embraced. Hitomi raised her lips to his, and they met in a long and passionate kiss. The kiss he had regretted not giving her a few minuets ago, the kiss she had waited her lifetime for. As the kiss ended Van wrapped his arm around Hitomi and the two started back to the castle, to home.

"But how?"

"I never forgot you, even when I was old." Then looking lovingly up at the Mystic Moon high in the sky, she whispered, "Merry Christmas."