She huddled helplessly under the soaked murky yellow awning of Gino's Pizza, around West 5th Ave.; quite a walk from Aimsa Ramada Hotel. The thin windbreaker she used was entirely drenched, but pretty useful in protecting her from getting wet. Only her outstretched whiskers dripped droplets of rainwater down to her shivering legs, fur plastered down the sides. She may have escaped most of the torrent of the rain, but the bitter cold held her victim. The sharp winds seeped through her light coat bringing rain and hailstones to sting against her face.

Merle quickly surveyed the area, relieved to find no one close enough in range to see her; and to see the pizza place entirely closed and empty. Her face, the bright yellow eyes and black tiger-like stripes, lay concealed in the shadow of her navy hood which also hid her long pointed ears and head of rosy pink hair. Her hands, or more likely, her paws, never revealed themselves from her long jacket sleeves, the tufts of fur around her wrists every so often peeking out. But this one little coat didn't save poor Merle from anything. It was still very impossible to not notice her. Her thin, trembling legs were hard to miss with their slender stripes and tufts of beige fur near the ankles. Her bottom half was completely naked and vulnerable to anyone who walked by. She had managed so far, for the few hours she had been out, but she was beginning to highly doubt how much longer she could survive in the Mystic Moon on her own; and what was worse, she hadn't even one clue where Hitomi could be.

Grumbling, Merle headed down the sidewalk stubbornly kicking at a small stone which she had been working on for the last few blocks. She sadly watched it roll countless times over in the muddy puddles, images of Gaea floating in her dismayed mind. She couldn't help but wonder how much longer it would be until she finally got to return home, to a place where she was accepted. It's not like she didn't want to find Hitomi, but she also didn't want to spend forever looking for her.

From a distance the frustrated Merle looked almost as if normal, like a relentless teenage girl out for a lonely stroll down the deserted streets of the city. But instead, you were faced with a creature of some sort, of species not exactly known, wandering with an only sole purpose to find some girl that will make her best friend happy. Well, in all honesty, Merle wasn't just looking for Hitomi for Van's sake. A strong part of her also wished to meet up with Hitomi again. Sure, they hadn't gotten along greatly beforehand, but things have changed. Merle was no longer the childish little kitten that clung onto Van and claimed him as her own. Over time, her bond between Van grew stronger, but yet, she had also grown more independent. Once Fanelia had been restored a few years back, and many citizens had returned to settle there, Van had been kept rather busy. Obviously, it was time to test how well Van responded to his duties as King. Most days he would be out to discuss dealings with other townships nearby, socializing with the happy peasants of Fanelia, Kayle, Frade, Palas and all of Asturia, or visiting their good friend Allen Scheizar and his family. Often times, Merle would tag along wherever he went. It was pretty routine at first, but eventually she had lost entire interest in trailing him with all of his responsibilities. Instead, Merle helped out at the Castle of Fanelia in Van's absence. Or at other times, when things were fairly quiet and calm, she would sit out back in the midst of the tall, forest trees and continue to clean off the slumbered Escaflowne, by the Fanel memorial graves, which every now and then grew covered in moss and twigs. She could still remember those times Van had maneuvered that machine to be more than it was, into a fierce metallic creature Van had come to be a part of. So in a sense to Merle, whenever she was with Escaflowne, she was with Van.

"Rrrowww…"

A small tiny voice alerted Merle's sharp ears, bringing her back from her thoughts and straight into Mystic Moon reality. All of a sudden, a soft pressing body twisted itself around her legs. Merle's face almost lit with glee as she spotted what looked something like her, a thin, striped gray tabby cat glancing back up at her with the exact same gleaming eyes. It sat on all fours, and patted its ash paw against hers. Merle felt a clutching, happy feeling in her chest, as she proudly smiled at the tiny kitten, the only thing yet in this world that had actually welcomed her and made her feel welcome. Instantly she bent over, huddled it within her wet arms, and held the small, breathing and mewing creature close to her. Merle scampered over back to the pizza place a block down and sat in the only dry cement underneath the awning. Even then she could still feel the small rumble of a purr floating from her little, soaked friend. Merle did the same for what she felt was like forever.

"Hmm, I think he likes you."

A voice nearly scared the living daylights out of Merle. A voice, a human voice! Her eyes shot open. Her thoughts clamored all at once, her fear practically shrieking to escape. It was an earthling! An earthling had seen her! Instantly she was on her feet, feeling the struggle of the creature within her arms. Merle backed away shaken, not knowing what to think as she absent-mindly dropped the innocent little kitten onto the ground. Already she could feel the fierce pounding of her small heart smacking against the side of her chest. She was urged to run by her mind, the thought of fear and escape ran through her like fiery darts. What held her back? Merle really didn't know. Maybe it was of concern for the little grayish friend she had met, or maybe it was just a case of odd stupidity.

"Now have you met a new friend there, Casey?" The earthling that had run into her crouched only a few feet away, gently scratching the chin of the tiny kitten which had run over to him after Merle had dropped it. She instantly saw that he was rather young, probably younger than she was. He was merely a child. A child, which was now petting his small, mewing cat under the dry shelter of the awning. Not exactly a nightmarish picture which makes you want to flee the other way. That insisting urge to leave right at that moment was still incessantly scratching at the back of her mind, but it was now starting to get overpowered by curiosity. He continued staying there perched on his knees, cuddling the soft little creature he had with him, Casey. His blonde hair fell almost past his soft eyes, stuck in thick strands from the damp rainwater. He hid underneath one of those bright, yellow raincoats, complete with faded jeans with cut out holes at the knees. His feet lay tucked in worn out Reebok sneakers, everything looking old and dull. His whole outfit tended to make him look younger than he probably was, in which he kind of looked like a little preschooler. Merle guessed him to most likely be a couple of years older than that, judging by the sound of his voice and his height. But what intrigued her most was not the way he looked, but in fact his… well his lack of fear. Here she stood, a creature of which she was sure he had never seen before, and yet he just sat there… petting his cat. It just didn't seem quite normal. Even Hitomi had reacted relatively strangely to her when they had first met. She backed away hesitantly to keep a distance, but couldn't quite draw herself away completely.

"How long have you been here?"

At first Merle had figured the boy was referring to Casey as he petted him, but she furrowed her brows in disclosure to notice he was looking straight at her. Why would the kid be talking to her? Merle didn't really feel troubled by him since he seemed to be acting comfortably, but she also felt she couldn't take the risk of being seen by one too many people, even if it was just a kid.

"What do you mean…" Merle answered dryly, refusing to make eye contact, and looking worriedly to see if anyone else was nearby.

"You know what it means Merle."

Okay.

Now she was scared.

"Just how do you know my name?!?" Merle was practically leaping backwards now, quickly trying to get away from this odd little boy who talked as if he knew her. She suddenly felt vulnerable, as if she were trapped. Her eyes darted this way and that, looking for an escape route, a path back to the hotel. Why did she even leave? She was in too much danger now. This boy knew who she was. In other words, he knew too much.

He was slowly pacing himself towards her, a look of pure calmness written on his face. He showed no fear to the cat-girl that stood before him. He looked young, but also knowledgeable. He spoke with reassurance, his voice soothing but firm enough to be heard over the violent patter of the rain.

"I know your name Merle. And you know mine."

Merle paused for a second, wondering about his relaxed response.

She looked closer.

Something calmed her fears quickly. There was something strongly familiar about the boy after all. Something that reassured her there was no reason to be afraid. She had been able to sense it ever since she had run into him, or he had run into her, but now he was sort of confirming it. She knew him… somehow. Those soft features glowing in the raindrops, bright blue eyes full of dignity and honesty, voice of command and responsibility… sort of in a way like…

Allen.

"Oh my gosh, Prince Shied!" The words just fumbled right out of Merle's feline mouth. She really didn't understand her reasoning behind it. She had no clue how on earth Prince Shied Sheizar, the Duchy of Frade, biological son of Allen Sheizar, of whom she hadn't seen for a whole year, would be standing before her on the Mystic Moon. It made absolutely no sense and so much sense all at the same time. Well, Merle didn't really care for hard-core explanations, she was still certain it was Shied.

And she was right.

"Merle, friend, it has been so long." He smiled up at her, as he cradled Casey comfortably in his arms. He blinked softly those eyes, much like his father's. It was good to know there was a friend in this world at last. If only Merle and Van had known earlier.

Merle stepped closer, sheltered once again underneath the awning, softly rubbing her paw against Casey's small, purring face. Shied also stroked him gently, smiling with his little child-like smile. Merle glanced at the young boy, mind blaring with thoughts and questions she felt like spitting out all at once, but still kept in a blazoned silence. She was but kept in awe on how much Shied had changed. It had been only months since she had seen him last, and this was obviously the last place where she'd figure they'd get reacquainted. Merle was very happy though, and relieved that it was Shied. She didn't easily show it, but Merle had been starting to get worried about whether she was lost or not.

"Shied, why are you here? That is only one of the billion questions that I have to ask you, you know," She wiped away a pestering bang from her eyes, grinning at her new companion, speaking above the noise of the rain. "What about, how the heck did you get here? How did you find me…etc. etc…"

"You haven't changed a bit, still bloated with questions," Shied laughed handing Casey over to Merle who had been antsy to carry him for a while now.

"I know this does seem awkward for me to be here, but look, there is something urgent I must tell you, and Van."

Merle glanced upwards hesitantly, tearing her eyes away from the adorable kitten and back to Shied's perplexed face. She hoped if anything, it wasn't bad news. But it looked like it.

"Merle, I can't tell you here. We must go somewhere safe. We don't want to take the chance of you being seen." Shied tried his best to reassure her with a smile. "Take Casey with you, he seems to be fond of you."

Merle continued to stand hesitantly as she watched Shied emerge from the awning and creep down an alleyway. She really didn't feel like going anywhere besides the hotel. Plus, she didn't want to walk around any longer in the spitting rain, and she didn't want to hear of any bad news without Van.

"Shied wait," Merle scampered over to where he was heading down the murky alley by a rusting fire escape. "Shied, where are you going? Don't leave me wondering like this."

"You're right, I should tell-"

"No, wait Shied. How about Van and I meet up with you later? Just tell us where you're going, and I'll come back with him in a few minutes. Just let me go get him, he's at our hotel, it won't take me long."

Shied shook his head plaintively, "Merle, that's what I had originally planned to do, but I gave up on the idea. I had my address and everything written out for Van, but I lost the card somewhere, and I figured I would just go visit the two of you at your hotel. But since I've run into you here, you might as well come with me."

"Shied, let me go back to the hotel, please," Merle continued to insist stubbornly. "I can take care of myself, I'm older than you are."

"And I've been here longer than you have. It is too much of a risk for you to return to the hotel now Merle. The day is just ending, and a lot of people are going back to the hotel right now. You have a greater chance of being seen."

"Hey, I managed leaving there without one person spotting me," Merle replied confidently. Shied was starting to scare her with all of these warnings. "I can go unnoticed, trust me."

"Merle, don't take the chance. I don't think finding Hitomi is worth jeopardizing your life for. I've been looking for you and Van. I know where she is."

"Hitomi?" Merle couldn't help but feel an excitement build in her throat. Why of course, if Shied's been here for a longer period of time than they have, he was probably bound to have already met up with Hitomi.

"Yes. Merle, come with me. I have a thousand things to tell you. Then when it is dark we'll return to the Ramada Hotel and the two of us will explain to Van what we need to tell him."

Merle let go of Casey, and petted his soft, silk back. She was still longing to turn back now, and head on to the hotel, but already she could hear traffic building up on the roads. She didn't want to show it to Shied, but she was afraid of being discovered by all of those people. But another thing was she was also afraid of trusting Shied, if he was even Shied at all.

Casey trotted along to where Shied was, walking along with him as they continued down the alleyway. Merle sighed in frustration. It looked like she lost this one; and so she quickly jogged over to catch up with them.

The rain had finally eased up a bit, or maybe they had only escaped because of the protection from the giant apartment buildings they were walking in-between. Merle nodded to herself suddenly understanding why Shied would walk her through these creepy areas. It may have been quite desolate, filled with unappealing, ugly green garbage bins, wet and broken down boxes, bottles and loose flyers scattered on the dirty pavement, but then again, it was desolate. Empty. Not one soul in sight; most of the alley windows blocked off by a protective railing like prison bars, or entirely covered by thick boards of wood nailed to the panes. It didn't look like a very safe place to be, but ironically it was the safest place to be in Merle's case.

* * *

"I'm sorry, you're not hungry too, now are you Merle?" Shied couldn't help but joke, holding up Casey's cat food bowl filled to the brim with Friskies Tuna flavour cat food.

Merle only responded with the evil eye, "Very funny. I may look like a cat but I'll eat like a human, thank you very much." She stood uncomfortably still trying to dry herself off with the soft, pink towel Shied had handed her a few minutes ago.

"I'm kidding Merle, but seriously, if you're hungry I'll go and get you something. Why don't you take a seat anyway? You must be exhausted for how long you've been out." He poked his head out of the fridge as he put the Friskies can back in. He gave Merle an awkward glance as he sat by his at-the-moment-eating-companion, Casey.

"Merle, are you still wet?" Shied couldn't help but wonder. He hadn't gotten that wet because of his parka, but his clothes had dried off relatively quickly a few minutes ago. He was surprised to see Merle still dripping away like soaked laundry.

"Hey, why don't you try being entirely coated with fur once in a while? It takes a lot longer for me you know."

"Oh ha, that's right. I know what you mean; I've bathed Casey enough times in my life. Hold on a second, I'll go get you something."

Shied returned in moments from his small, apartment bathroom holding onto his mother's hairdryer. "Here, Merle, use this. It should dry you off pretty nice, and keep you warm from this horrible winter-spring Aimsa weather."

Merle smiled at Shied's concern, and looked confoundedly at the odd white device she held before her. She looked on back down at Shied, who gave her that reassuring look once again.

"You need help don't you?"

"Big time."

Shied, acting like a mother though only eleven years old, sat Merle down on his closed, bathroom toilet. He sat himself down on the porcelain wall of the bathtub, and plugged the hairdryer into the only dry electrical socket.

Merle noticed that his whole apartment was much smaller than hers and Van's hotel room. Not only that, but it was a dozen times smaller than the grand house that Allen and Milerna lived in back in Palas or there other palace in Kayle. Again, she began wondering how on earth Shied was even here. Did he own this apartment anyway? She remembered climbing up the unstable fire escape to enter in through the side door to the kitchen, and spotting a few items that looked like they belonged to a woman as they got inside. She had seen an assortment of dress shoes and boots quite like Princess Aries would always drag around, and a purse with a make-up kit she remembered Hitomi having so long ago. So Shied wasn't alone here. It was as if he lived with his mother, although she knew for a fact Princess Milerna wasn't here, nor his Aunt Selena or Aunt Aries, and Shied had no other foster mothers, and of course, his biological mother was deceased. Merle tried to focus her mind on other things. She knew all would be explained to her in good time.

"Wow, how does it do that?" She instantly turned her attention to the blaring hairdryer Shied had just turned on and was now waving across her back. Merle wagged her tail in delight at the soothing, warm air that began drying her in seconds.

"I really have no idea Merle. Let's just say it does what it does, electricity sure is fascinating now isn't it." Shied couldn't help but smile as he passed the dryer around her neck, and handed her a spare hairbrush. "Here, comb yourself at the same time, I'm sure you know how to use one of those."

"Ha, that I can do."

"If you're anything like my mother, your fur should come out with twice as much volume from all this blow drying." He gave her a grin, as he patted down the stripes on her back.

"Hmm… Shied, speaking of mothers," Merle couldn't help but give in to the topic. He had reminded her anyway, it was now or never. "You have one here don't you? I really don't mean to pry Shied, but this is all too much for me to absorb at once."

"Hang onto this," Shied passed Merle the hairdryer responding quietly. He gave her a solemn glance and headed out of the tight bathroom. Merle held it against her face, enjoying the warm air splashing against her whiskers. But inside, she was dying of curiosity, and of compassion towards Shied. He talked as if she had struck an emotional chord when talking about mothers. And knowing his history with them, Merle most likely had. It hadn't been long after Hitomi left before the secret about Allen and Princess Marlene of Asturia had finally been told. She couldn't blame Shied. It must've been hard to be an illegitimate son and not even know it until he turned ten. His own fostered father, the Dutch of Frade, had given all parental rights to Allen Sheizar and Princess Milerna just a year ago. Then and only then, did Shied ever find out the truth. That the man, the hero, he looked up to, Allen Sheizar, was actually his born father. Princess Milerna, his newly wed wife, Shied's aunt, was actually not Allen's original lover in Milerna's family. It had been his own mother, Princess Marlene that had been with Allen first and thus of course, Shied's mother. And to add to all that, he also found out that year that his aunt of Allen's side, Selena, was actually once one of Zaibach's most deranged warriors, Dilandau, who had been cruelly experimented with. All of this, just as a mere child, he had to bear. No wonder, Merle had stupidly struck that emotional chord.

Merle put the hairdryer down, feeling quite guilty after having thought it over. She figured out how to turn the dryer off, and looked up in surprise to see Shied walk in holding onto a small, tarnished, picture frame, and another picture which he held in his hand.

"I think these will explain it better than I can," Shied handed her the two pictures, and Merle quietly looked them over. In the first, the one without the frame, she saw a very small, boy, a baby, cradled in a soft blanket in the arms of a young woman. Merle noticed instantly, this was a drawing, a professional portrait drawn by an artist who is paid to draw these memorable photos. They were just like the ones made and sold over in Gaea. They didn't have photographic technology, but they did have drawings just like this one filled with wondrous, detailed pastel sketches. Merle turned her attention back onto the woman in the image. She had long, wavy, bright blonde hair, which fell past her waist. Her eyes were a bouncing blue and sometimes an off green, full of happiness and innocence. At the same time, she looked much like Princess Aries, and also like Princess Milerna. Merle had quite a good idea of who it was.

The other photo, the one in the frame, was a genuine photo, which held its roots in the technology of the Mystic Moon. Merle looked over it fascinated; it was the first time she had seen one up close before. Enraptured in the image was that woman, once again, and once again holding onto a small boy. This time, the boy was much older, eleven years old exactly, and this time without a doubt she knew it was Shied.

"Is that…" Merle couldn't quite bring herself to say it. Marlene? It couldn't be. Did this mean that Marlene had been alive all this time, on the Mystic Moon?

"They looked a lot alike, didn't they…" Shied mused, smiling warmly at the framed photo he took back from Merle.

"Who is she…" Merle was a little confused, and she didn't know how to go about such a sensitive topic. She didn't know how Shied would react to the mentioning of his biological parents. Instead, she avoided staring into his sad little eyes, and continued to look over the drawing she held under the dim 40 watts of the bathroom light bulb.

"The one you hold there is my real mother."

"Oh Shied," Merle sighed sympathetically glancing at the drawing of Princess Marlene holding onto Shied as a very young baby. "She was beautiful."

"She was. She reminds me a lot of Aunt Milerna. Allen says Mother was a wonderful person, and always will be."

Merle smiled softly, looking back up at him. For the first time, she could realize the situation in Shied's eyes. Merle never knew her mother, or parents for that matter. She had only had Van. Never did she understand the pain in losing parents, and having to meet new ones. It was obvious that Shied still hadn't taken quite a fondness to Allen just yet. Shied always called him "Allen", never once did he say, "father". Why wouldn't he be upset, Allen was his father this whole time, and poor Shied had only found that out just a year ago.

"But this," Shied continued on with his story, handing her the frame with the more recent photo. "This is my mother now. Not Aunt Milerna or Aunt Selena or my real mother, mind you. Her name is Angela Ferentini, a resident of the Mystic Moon. She owns this apartment. She's the one that's taken me in, took care of me ever since I came here. She works two jobs, cashier at Liquidation World in the daytime, and part-time cleaning lady at the local high school. She drives me to school every single day, and picks me up at exactly the right time. All this just to support the two of us, and Casey I guess. Don't you think that's brave? She didn't have to take me as her responsibility, but she did. If my mother were still alive, she'd be a lot like her."

"Oh Shied, wow, this woman is quite something. She does resemble Marlene a lot, you know, she has her eyes, and heart."

"I know. Angela, I call her Mum, does a lot for me. She's really helped me here you know. She's helped me get used to this earthly life. It's not that bad, but it sure is hard for her. Sometimes, I think that she thinks I'm just some eleven-year-old kid who really doesn't understand. But I know. I know all of the problems she had to go through to survive. This is the hard side of town Merle. Life here is a thousand times harder than on Gaea. Even as the Duchy of Frade I didn't have half the responsibilities that are bared down on her each day."

"What a woman," Merle shook her head in awe, twisting herself around on the toilet seat.

"Come on to the den Merle, you've got a few things you need to hear."

Merle walked over and sat her dry, fluffy, self onto Shied's dilapidated sofa. Ideas and thoughts were still freshly running through her mind. It was really interesting to note this Ms. Ferentini. She has obviously played the largest parental role to Shied than any of his four past parents combined. Shied had changed so much. He was so full of passion, so full of wisdom and knowledge of life. It seemed quite a pity that he had to have it so hard, when he was yet so young.

"How did you meet her Shied? How did you get here?"

"This is where the story gets complicated," Shied handed Merle a few mints he found lying on his coffee table as he sat across from her. "But first, I'd like to know how you got here."

"Oh…" Merle furrowed her brows in thought trying to recall all the details. "It was really an experiment kind of thing. We know that Van's entered into the Mystic Moon two times before when he met Hitomi."

"Van had been using the Escaflowne right?"

"Correct. But, this time, he wasn't too fond of taking the chance. Last time Van says Escaflowne had more, I don't know, 'magical' potential than it does now. It was the power that had been burned into it by Van and Hitomi."

"Oh yes, I remember that. The two had strong powers when they were together, right?"

"Yeah. I don't know how to explain it, or the science behind anything, but that's what everyone figured. Van was convinced it was through the power of Atlantis, but we didn't quite know how to control it. It was a lot harder to create a pillar of light without Hitomi's little 'powers'. I'm not too sure how he did it, but after a few years Van figured something out with that Drag-Energist he has."

"Using the power of Atlantis?"

"Exactly. A few days ago, he insisted to try it out. Of course, I protested, but he went and came in one piece. I didn't want him going to this weird place alone, so I came too. Dryden helped us out a lot, he was the one who got us our hotel room, food, clothes and everything."

"Oh really," Shied couldn't help but grin. "Dryden is quite sly isn't he, loves to take the credit for things, makes you wonder."

Shied handed a Ramada brochure to Merle, which had been lying by his telephone. "Dryden had already told me you were coming here, he asked me where Hitomi was staying. When he found out it was in the same city I lived in, he asked me to book the two of you at the hotel, and leave you guys some welcoming gifts like clothes, money and such. And so I did. Dryden's the mastermind, I'm merely the voice."

"I see," Merle flipped through the brochure looking at the pictures of her hotel. "Let me guess, he's the one that got you here."

"Exactly. That man sure has a lot of concept floating around his brain, but it works to his advantage. Scientifically, he's brilliant. Not only has Dryden figured out how to transport me here, he's also gotten the celestial explanation between Earth, the Mystic Moon, and Gaea all figured out."

"Wait a minute, let me backtrack here," Merle nestled herself further into the couch. "So if Dryden already got you to 'Earth', before Van and me, then, why didn't he just tell us and let us go the way you did, rather than messing around with the power of Atlantis?"

"Dryden's method of getting me here, was a one time shot, and not exactly full-proof. Merle, why do you think I'm still here? Why do you think I haven't returned back to Gaea in all this time? I literally got stuck here! Dryden got me here, but was dumbfounded on getting me back. Allen nearly had his throat! The whole operation was kept under wraps until now, when he found out that Van had the ability to transport to and from the Mystic Moon, which meant that I could return with you. That's one of the reasons why it was so important to meet up with the two of you."

"Wow, ha, sounds like a 'Dryden' plan alright. Backfires but backed up by luck. So let me get something straight, how did you get here Shied?"

"This is quite an unbelievable story."

"I've heard my fair share."

"Well, here on Earth, as you can tell, they are highly advanced with technology than over on Gaea. They've already done a lot of space exploration. One thing that I noticed though, which is very odd, is that you can see Earth from Gaea, but you can't see Gaea from Earth."

"Yeah! I've noticed that too!"

"Right. And of course Dryden has to be the first to come up with an explanation. If you ask any scientist or astrologist of Earth they'll tell you without a doubt there's no such planet in such close range as Gaea. But obviously, to us, there is. But why can't the humans figure it out if they're so technically advanced? They've already gotten their whole solar system, the Milky Way, entirely mapped out, and even other neighboring solar systems!"

"Holy Cow! And they've never even seen Gaea before?! We're so close to them!"

"I know; it doesn't seem right. But that's when Dryden came up with the theory that we're not as close as we appear. When I traveled here, I came using an actual space ship so to say. Dryden, and many others, for years, have been collecting actual space ship remnants that fly into Gaea from older Earth space shuttles."

"Oh yeah, I've heard about that. I once saw some metal pieces falling from the sky back in Fanelia."

"Exactly. Those are actually either rocket parts, engines, satellite debris or something that has floated in from Earth's space exploration creations. Dryden has been studying all these pieces. His whole family line has. Over the years him and his group of elite 'smart' people, I guess, have developed their little amateur ship, which was based and developed on the Mystic Moon technology. It was rather small, but very powerful. We also had one advantage Earth didn't. Levee rock as in the ones used for Levee ships, or Acenomophite. Using that rock we could get the ship to break away from Gaea's gravitational pull into the last layers of the atmosphere without having to use up anywhere near as much fuels as the Earth ships. Using this, he could launch me up there, and only need enough fuel to get me across to Earth, which is when Earth's gravitational pull would draw me in. By then the ship would land down on it's own."

"Yeah right! Shied, that really doesn't sound very safe," Merle couldn't help but giggle at the thought. "I can imagine you now, up there with no oxygen, floating in the middle of nowhere, in this tacky little cardboard excuse of a machine and Dryden sitting back engraving your tombstone, and Allen engraving Dryden's."

"Haha, that's almost how it played out! It was a one-time kind of thing. I am enormously lucky to just be sitting here in front of you right now."

"I know! What, did Dryden coat the ship with fifty layers of lead or something just to keep you from burning up in the Earth's atmosphere?"

"Ugh, don't remind me. We did a lot of tests and things to secure the operation though. You know I wouldn't get in there if I wasn't the least bit insured."

"But how come your father never heard of this? Or at least he never told us you were planning to visit the Mystic Moon… And anyway, why did you want to visit the Mystic Moon? It wasn't because of Hitomi now was it?"

"Um, we had our reasons. Let's just say meeting Hitomi was an added bonus."

Merle gave Shied a skeptical look, "Fine, be so secretive. I'm just happy you didn't die on the way here, knowing the chances with a wild invention like that. By the way, you've actually talked to Hitomi already?!?"

"No," Shied looked oddly embarrassed. "Funny that I've been here so long and haven't even talked to her yet."

"Well, why not?" Merle found that odd indeed, here they were on Earth after so much trouble only to meet up with Hitomi. What other purpose was there, Space exploration or something? Shied was awful young to be some sort of amateur astronaut already!

"I've never really given it much thought until Dryden told me you guys were coming here to find Hitomi. Before, the Mystic Moon was just a dream. I figured you'd need some sort of teleporty thingy like Hitomi to get anywhere. But then we heard of Mystic Moon technology, which advanced ourselves. I've been researching so many things for Dryden already, volumes of things."

"Researching?" Merle's brow instantly rose. "So you guys really weren't here for Hitomi after all. Well, what could Dryden need to know now? From the Mystic Moon?"

Shied grinned, recalling Dryden's obsession on learning more about everything about the Mystic Moon. "A thousand things! Space exploration, advanced technology, economies, the public society, the government, human history, religions… he's just sorry he never came down here himself! He talks to me all the time on this little communicator device he also invented, and I've been trying to figure out how to improve his inventions, especially the ship."

"So you could get back, right?"

"Yeah, of course, I'm the only one that can possible work on it. Oh I just remembered something, ready for some really boring science stuff?" Shied gave Merle a long eye-roll. "It's what Mickel, Dryden's friend, has nicely dubbed "The Inter-Galactic Co-Relationship Between Gaea and Earth Theorem."

"Theorem?" Merle's brows were quenched together now in trying to grasp the entire last few things that Shied had been telling her. Obviously, the kid had learned a lot in his short time here.

"Yes, as I was mentioning that weird 'can't see Gaea from Earth' thing, I just had to point out the theory to you, it's really interesting."

"Go ahead, enlighten me."

"As I was saying before, they've got it figured that Earth and Gaea are not as close as they seem. In fact, they are a ton farther than that. Earth and Gaea are actually light years apart!"

"Light years?" Again, an eyebrow rose, and a whisker frisked.

"Yes, light years. I'm trying to remember exactly, I think one light year is the length (not time) of 1,000,000,000 miles!"

"Length? Miles? Shied, help me out here? What's a mile??"

"Oh… you don't know… well holy crow, how do I explain this? Um, about the same distance you walk to get from…Allen's castle in Kaylee to the gates of Fanelia is I guess around a mile."

"WOW! That's a mile?!? You mean a MILLION of those make just one light year? And how many light years away is Gaea from the Mystic Moon?"

"We have no real official way of measuring anything, but judging about what I've read about solar systems and black holes, maybe about one hundred thousand light years, at the least."

"Oh my." Merle was too stunned for words. "That is FAR."

"Yeah, I know, it's quite a lot to take in."

"It makes no sense!"

"It doesn't?"

"No! If we were THAT far away from the Mystic Moon, why is it so big and large and visible from Gaea?"

Shied sighed, "It gets even more complicated there."

Merle's eyes widened, and she let out a long breath. Shied, the little science guy here, was already frying every little living brain cell in Merle's head. All this information and bits and pieces he was telling her were just mind-boggling.

"Talk very slowly, and look straight at me," Merle joked, resting herself against the sofa arm to listen better to Shied.

"Alright, it's what Mickel has nicely dubbed a 'Mirror Window'. But first let me get into black holes a little bit. Black holes are little, (well not little, they are big) sort of holes in space that sort of slowly suck in their surroundings in a circular motion. What happens once one enters into a black hole is unknown."

"So you're saying there's one of those things between Earth and Gaea? How does a black hole help anything?"

"Well, there's more to it. Black holes are rumored to suck things in and chop it into billions of tiny atom particles then into nothingness. But it is thought that the hole between Gaea and Earth doesn't really do all that, instead it chops you up into tiny pieces then puts you back together somewhere else nearly hundreds of thousands of light years away."

"Oh that's gross! Quite 'puzzling', so to say. Anyway, Are you talking like a teleportation kind of thing?"

"Ha, Exactly! Our hole is not so much a black hole, but more like a teleportation window, which can get you across extreme distances in a matter of seconds because of some warp in space and time. Now you get why it's called a 'window', but the 'mirror' aspect comes into play because you can only see through the window, or hole, from one side."

"I get it. You can see the Mystic Moon from Gaea, but not the other way around."

"Precisely. Gaea is behind the mirror and sees right through to the other side. Earth, on the other hand, can only see a reflection of nothingness. It's like we can see them, but they can't see us."

"You must be kidding me! You're saying that you, me and Van are right now kabajillions of 'miles' away from home, when it only took all of us a matter of minutes or even seconds to get here?"

"Yup, that's what I'm saying."

"DO YOU KNOW HOW CRAZY THAT SOUNDS?" Merle was at the moment perched entirely on the sofa arm, her cat like claws embedded into the fabric. Just the thought of being so far from home was making her fur stand on edge. "How are we going to get home?"

"Well, this is where it gets even better."

She flashed him a cynical look. "By 'better' you mean 'worse' right?"

"Oh yeah. We can return back to Gaea the same way you guys got here, but there's one little catch. That porthole, The Mirror Widow, isn't always accessible all year round you know. After years of studying, they've actually figured that the Mirrow Window is only at the right distance to get across for only around four Earth months."

"Van and I arrived on March 5th, I remember checking the hotel calendar! It was still snowing a lot back then."

"Right, and now you're edging into spring. Look, the worst part is that the timing varies each year because Earth and Gaea rotate around their separate suns at a different speed and distance. So when the two planets meet up by the Mirror Window it is really at always a varied pattern. When Hitomi came and went, she luckily hit the four months right on the money. She came in May, and left in August. If she had stayed any longer she would've had to stay on Gaea for at least another year or so."

"Oh this is just dandy, so when did the four months start this year?"

"Well, think back Merle. Haven't you noticed that the Mystic Moon is only visible during certain times of year? When were you able to see it again?"

"Um, around seven months ago, Gaea months I guess."

"That's about three months and two weeks ago over here Merle. Which means Van, you and I can only stay here for two more weeks, unless all of us get trapped here for good, or at least for another year."

"WHAT?! TWO WEEKS? That's it?!?"

"Yes, I know. That is what I really needed to tell the two of you! It's urgent that we all go about our business here then get ready to head home. I've missed my chance already, so I've stayed here for an entire year! I'm just really lucky to have found a place to stay in all this time."

Merle's eyebrows went up in worry. What was she going to do? What was she going to tell Van?

"What am I going to tell Van?" Merle practically gripped Shied's small arm. "We haven't even found Hitomi yet! We did come here for nothing, didn't we?"

"Merle, calm down, you'll have to tell him the truth. As King of Fanelia, I'm sure Van needs to return home by now anyway. Look, I'm sure he can still find some time to meet Hitomi-"

"He claims he already has."

"Met Hitomi you mean?"

"Yes! He says that he's already seen her and talked to her, at a park somewhere around town. He sounds really confident, but I don't like to doubt Van."

"You're doubting him? What makes you think it wasn't Hitomi?"

"Well, what are the chances it was her with a planet this big? With so many people?!?"

"Hmm, Aimsa City is pretty big, but I know for a fact she does live here in this city. Trust me, there aren't many 'Hitomi Kanzaki's around, did he say that she said that was her name?"

"Yeah, he did," Merle continued to glare back in doubt. "But still, even then, there was something not quite right."

Shied thought about it for a second. In his mind it did sound a lot like Van had run into Hitomi after all. "Like what Merle?"

"She doesn't…" Merle couldn't help but let out a sigh. "She doesn't remember him."

"What do you mean by that?" Shied looked up curiously. "She didn't know who he was?"

"Well, I don't know if stupid old Van actually bothered to tell her his name or not, but still, don't you think Hitomi's bound to remember him anyway? He recognized her, why wouldn't she do the same to him? Besides, she even said she would never forget us!"

Shied leaned back uneasily, remembering all of the information he had finally bothered to find on Hitomi after finding out that Van and Merle were in search for her. "I've been doing some research again, but this time, I've found out a lot about Ms. Kanzaki."

"Oh really, just what?" Merle looked on very interested, dusting off the ripping armchairs from her claw marks. "You know something about her? Like where she lives? How she's doing?"

"Yes, I've just been checking around a few days ago, and I got a lot of interesting information I should mention to Van before he talks with her. She lives pretty far from here, by the Aimsa suburbs, in Meadow Gardens Apartments off Upper Wentworth, by the University. She moved there two years ago, for schooling, but lately she has only enrolled in night classes. Hitomi has pursued a more interesting job over at the CGU Insurance Company."

"Wow, ha, she sure has grown. How in the heck did you find all this out by the way? Van and I have been struggling enough just to figure out if we were in the right city or not!"

Shied flashed her another secretive grin, "I have my ways, and my sources. I also happened to pick up another interesting factor. When Hitomi returned to her home from Gaea, nobody believed a word she said."

"Why? What did she say?"

"Hitomi was gone for four Earth months, what do you think she'd say? She was trying to explain her adventure to Gaea and everything."

"And nobody believed her? Poor girl!"

"I know, it must've been sad. It was so bad that her own mother signed her up with therapy sessions for a couple of years, she was even taken out of class just to make progress."

"You're kidding me, everyone thought she was crazy?"

"Yes, sadly enough. I guess it was the tale of Gaea, or the psychic powers or something that was too out of the ordinary. Hitomi has been through a whole lot, mentally. I feel sorry that she had to go through all that, when the whole time we know for a fact that she wasn't making any of it up."

"So, that's why she's forgotten us, isn't it?"

"That's what I think too. After all of that treatment she probably has successfully managed to block out the memories she has with us, but you can't blame her. Earth is very different, and not likely to accept the concept that another planet with living beings is so close by when you can't even see it, it's hard to make sense of it all."

Merle sadly sloped her thin body downward, disappointed to hear the news. She had really been starting to look forward to meeting Hitomi, talking about all that had happened. She had figured she would never see Hitomi again in her life, and now when came the opportunity… this was just too bad.

"Well, isn't there something we can do? I'm sure if we talk to her a bit she'll come to… she couldn't have forgotten everything!"

Shied gave a glance at the kitchen clock. "That's something we should discuss with Van around, we should get going."

He stood stretching slowly, and headed over to fetch his parka from the jacket closet.

"Where are we going now?" Merle lifted herself up, and headed towards the door beside Shied.

"To the Ramada of course."

"The hotel?"

"Yes," they stepped out into the gloomy hallway as Shied locked the rusty-green door. "Van's got quite the story to hear. I dug up a lot of info on Hitomi, I'll tell you both when we get there. We'd better hurry, each minute is already a minute too late."