Vision Of Escaflowne Fan Fiction ❯ When We Meet Again *~* ❯ Unforgettable ( Chapter 10 )

The song was barely drifting throughout Hitomi's mind. She could hear it; hear it all over, so quiet and soft yet ever persistent, going over and over again. It raged at her heart, and played with her mind. The words hit her the most, giving her the most unexplainable feeling, similar to a breeze through a room with no windows. And so on it's melody went, dancing with the images she saw and the emotions she felt. Hitomi was beginning to drift, and lose herself into a sunken depth of dreams and reality.

The strong, hushing voice impelled out of nowhere, and Hitomi's eyes shot open in surprise. A drifting melody of a song that repeated endlessly played faintly in the background, in the background of what? Hitomi found herself, no longer sleeping in the secure comfort of her bedroom, but instead floating weightlessly in literally nothingness! She could see nothing beyond her at all, only a pitch-black darkness that was the same all around. She felt her eyes, with her trembling fingers, feeling her eyelids pulled back, knowing that they were open yet completely blind. She knew her arms and legs were sprawled out, helplessly swimming in emptiness, but she couldn't even see where they were. Panic was easily residing in her feeble body. All her senses were vanishing, all except one. She continued to hear. She could only listen to a song and a demanding voice that was talking to her…

"You promised me."

Hitomi felt her heart begin to race with worry, as her mind began to sharpen since she awoke in this odd place. Her thoughts were slowly registering, as if waking on a groggy morning, and a frightened feeling became impeccable. Scared, she flung her arms this way and that, trying to escape the dreary world, feeling a clamming sensation jar her throat. She waited for more words to speak out of nowhere, but she heard nothing but that drifting melody…

"Promised you what? Who are you??"

Hitomi's voice was surprisingly loud and powerful in the realm of darkness. She stilled herself, although she couldn't be entirely sure if she was still floating in any direction, she couldn't feel a thing about position or location. Her fists were tightly clenched, and she could still make out that ever-annoying song, barely audible above her deep, anxious breaths. She was here, alone, trapped in another one of her psychotic visions with God knows what, talking to her.

"You promised me you would never forget."

Hitomi was taken slightly aback by the invisible entity's response, and thought it over. The voice was beginning to become less intimidating, and a slight bit more conversational, as if it just wanted to talk. Whoever did the talking though, was still beyond her sight, and there was still not a speck of light where she lay, or stood, or floated. Hitomi felt a new feeling within her aside from stress and fear: frustration. She didn't understand why that stupid song would be playing, or why that voice was speaking to her. She was hearing voices in her head. Hitomi was slowly convincing herself she was losing it.

"I asked you before, who are you? Tell me! Tell me, who are you and what have I forgotten huh? TELL ME!"

Hitomi's voice rose with a mixture of fear and aggravation. She wanted nothing but to get out of here, of this weird, eerie dimension she didn't long to be a part of. The least that could help was for this voice to be a little more straightforward and for that song to shut up.

"You promised me you would never forget. I have never forgotten you in any time, in any place."

"What is that supposed to mean?? Who the hell are you!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Will someone please shut that stupid song off!?!"

Hitomi's anger blended with her full consciousness as she realized her only means here was to escape. She didn't care about whatever promises or other junk that voice was endlessly blabbing about in confusing riddles; she figured it was just another figment of her disturbed mind. She decided to pay it no heed, and widened her eyes as if it would only help something to become visible in the pit of black.

"The song will continue to play until you understand, Hitomi."

Hitomi could feel a powerful sense rise in her, one of demand and one of anxiety at the same time. She swam along the blankness, as if to progress back to where she started, then let out a scream of frustration. Her legs kicked madly in front of her, every so often hitting herself, as she could not see where they were. Her fingers were plodded deep into her ears, trying to shut out her surroundings, trying to will herself back to sleep. But it was obviously futile, both the music and the voice was apparently not something that she heard, but something in her mind. She could have been entirely deaf, but the sounds would not go away. They were living in her head.

"WHO… ARE … YOU??!!!??"

Hitomi took in deep, slow breaths, trying to relax herself as she had been taught in her psychiatric sessions so long ago. It was actually pretty helpful, as she sensed her mind becoming slightly more rational in this irrational state of being. After all, she had managed so far from letting out in a scream of insane wails and profanity.

"Let me show you."

Hitomi, even more taken aback by the response this time, let out a huge sigh of relief at the voice's newfound cooperation. Unfortunately, her sigh did not last long, turning more into a garbled recycle of air then into a full pledged shrieking scream. If anything had been frightening in the vision so far (keeping in mind that everything was pretty equally frightening), this had to be the worst sensation of them all. There wasn't a doubt in Hitomi's mind.

She was falling.

She shut her eyes quickly, managing to actually block out the music for a few seconds underneath the shrillness of her cries for help. She could sense the horridly realistic feeling of wind gushing past her traumatized body at amazing speeds, dangerous speeds. She could feel nothing that could hold her back, no safety cords or strings, nothing but the clothes she wore upon her to break the fall she was obviously in. She had never felt such a sensation as freefalling, ever in her life. It was too intense for such a simple-minded girl who found roller coasters intimidating. Her screams were too loud that it not only hurt her throat, but ears as well. Through her tightly squeezed eyelids, she could see a faint lightness appear as a bright, red blotch.

She opened her eyes quickly; there was light! Hitomi was surprised by it, but didn't have much time to think at such a critical situation. All these thoughts were streaming through her head in underneath a second, but her mind stretched it out for her to feel everything in a slow-motion sense, as if to add to the agony.

The light above her, drifting away quickly, was a bright white slit at the mouth of the crevasse, which she knew in an instant she was falling into. Her vision adjusted enough to make out the walls of lines rushing past her in astonishing speeds. The lines were nothing but the gritty dividers between the hundreds of layers of aged rock of the surrounding ground she was falling deeper within. Hitomi knew all this already. Her mind processed everything at even a faster rate than she was falling. Hitomi knew it all too well.

This was her nightmare. This was that ever-consistent dream that bothered her night after night, and woe begone, here she was living it. There was a major difference though between a vision and a dream. In dreams Hitomi didn't feel a sense of danger, or insecurity. In dreams Hitomi wasn't able to function herself, or talk to other characters. In dreams Hitomi wasn't able to feel emotions, or think and comprehend, and most importantly, feel the sense of not only danger, but also death.

Death. Hitomi could feel its presence, knocking at her door. She knew without much of a doubt that this was no bottomless pit. One way or the other, the ending of this was inevitable. She couldn't quite believe it! Death was the word that lingered. But then Hitomi remembered, her dream was not quite over yet now was it... There was always that second part… the part when…

As if on signal, just like a bullet streaming through the air, a dashing figure ripped through the minifying wall of light above, at first nothing more than a dark speck in the sky, but evolving into a swift, mysterious shape sending after her at almost double the speed she fell.

Hitomi's heart pounced lightly with a beat of hope. She felt a strange sense of safety as the figure closed in on her. Her mind, delusional with fear and relief, watched in awe as the outline of silver-glimmering wings flooded her view, as it did nearly every night, but never as great, never as real…

Feathers, bright beautiful feathers, just like the ones she had seen in her vision by the bakery, glided delicately by her side. A smile crept its way onto Hitomi's once traumatized image. She could see him now, coming closer, becoming clearer. Hitomi's frail heart pounded mercilessly, knowing this was where the dream always ended. This was the point where she would awake and know everything she had seen meant nothing at all, but now… but now… she wasn't going anywhere. Her mind was focused on what was happening, there was no waking up now, for she was already fully awake.

Her right hand drifted itself up to the angelic figure, looking to reach the gloved hand that longed to grasp her own. His hair flowing dreamily in the rush of wind seemed to slow as time did itself. His muscled arm extended, seemed to creep closer to hers, until their fingers were merely inches apart. She gazed into the face she could never clearly see, then instantly, Hitomi knew.

It was not Allen.

It was not Amano.

The winged figure of which she always saw, of whom had saved her life that fateful day which Hitomi knew existed and no longer denied, had been a person she had known and had forgotten all along. He had been right. She had broken her promise. Hitomi had forgotten all along, until now, until he had saved her life once again.

"Hitomi, now should I tell you who I am?"

"No Van, I already know."

Millions of questioning thoughts blazed through her mind as she allowed him to sweep her into his strong arms, and feel the immense power flowing through the muscles of his beautiful wings, wings with not just beauty but strength, strength as in a 3metre wingspan. Her mind dazed, she barely noticed as he fought incredibly to pull them past the weighs of gravity in a dizzying funnel of wind, and back to the open again. Hitomi didn't even notice herself appear once more into the usual room of nothingness, the scene before having entirely disappeared.

Van. Van. Van.

It was the underlying thought that insisted at her, as persistent enough as even the song that still continued to play though Hitomi barely noticed. She was thinking of many things, many things that required many hours of thinking. Her mind searched, puzzled, and questioned, but the result was never clear.

Van. That name had never meant much more to her than the kid she often saw in dreams or that one vision. She had been convinced that was all that 'Van Fanel' ever was and ever would be, a creation of her mind. This was what Hitomi was trained to believe. This was what had been constantly drilled into her mind until the thought never escaped, and began to be accepted as reality. Hitomi had developed a barrier in her therapy years, a mental barrier that was stronger than any physical wall that could ever be built. Hitomi's mind had convinced itself, and convinced everyone else, that there were no secrets to her. There was no mixed past. Everything was normal, average, and just what the doctor ordered.

It turned out her wall was not as strong and stable as she had thought it to be.

There was a brick missing, a small brick out of thousands, but just enough to let something leak in from the other side. Just enough to enable her mind to play with her thoughts, to enkindle the memories she had forcibly put away. And now it was too late, there was no blocking out what had come through. What Hitomi knew now could not be erased, and would not be forgotten any time soon.

Van Fanel was not just the person within her visions. Van was not just an ordinary person, as Hitomi was not an ordinary girl. Van was very different; very real, he was very special from anyone else she had ever known. Hitomi knew now, Van was that boy who had said her name as in her vision, who had said he loved her. Hitomi was that girl, that girl who had left, the girl he missed, the girl from the Mystic Moon. Hitomi knew that Van, more so her affection to Van, her love to Van, was the incessant power behind all of her visions, behind her dreams, behind her premonitions, even behind the magic of her pendant! But he was not just a boy she had once known. Van was also the man she had met in Gore Park that fateful night, when the stars aligned in their favor; that had been Van Fanel as well. She couldn't explain it, nor could she understand it, but she knew it, and that was that. He was in her dreams, in her visions, in her world, and now in her heart. Van had come for her.

Things started to settle in Hitomi's clouded mind, understanding yet confused. She knew now that she had all the pieces to Van's puzzle, but the problem was putting them together. She knew not what he wanted from her, she knew not why he came for her, and she knew not why she felt so strongly for him, a stranger yet a friend all at the same time.

"Van… I am so sorry."

Despite all that ran through her head, she had a feeling he was still with her, listening, and waiting, until she would come back to him and know everything she once did. For the first time in a long time, Hitomi was trying to remember the Time. The Time would be the key to putting the many pieces in place.

"It's not your fault, Hitomi. I'm sorry you had to go through all that you did."

"Van… please, show me more! I… I… know I can remember you… if I try… if you'll help me."

Hitomi felt a comforting feeling all over, as if the Van she could not see was smiling with her. She blinked sullenly in the darkness, overwhelmed with her personal thoughts and reflections. She narrowed it all down to one thing. One longing that was beginning to grow within her, a longing to remember, a longing to know, a longing to love the way she knew she once did.

As expected, Hitomi drifted on to another setting, another vague yet familiar memory relived through the Van that moved inside of her. Her fear had departed and only the longing remained. She now had the rare opportunity to turn her life around, and finally dive into the chapter she had skipped one too many times. There was no denying it now. There was no one to tell her what she could and could not believe. There was no outside world to her at the moment being; it was just Hitomi and Van and the past they had left behind.

Hitomi let out a startled breath as she found herself standing, actually standing inside, a gloomy, dim-lit room. She stood still for a moment, as if to grasp things and try to make sense of her surroundings. Thoughts slowly came to, such as the realization she was still wearing that Warden sweater and jogging pants she had worn before she fell asleep, and that the music, the song that had been bugging her constantly, was still there. After blinking blankly for a few seconds, Hitomi turned to see lined figures before her. They were bars. Prison bars.

Hitomi was in a prison cell, an old-fashioned prison cell! She noticed instantly that she was in a very strange setting, as if back to the Medieval times of knights, and kings and queens. The armor of the prison guards looked almost ancient to her, and the prison itself looked more like a dungeon than any modern-day correctional facility.

It didn't take her too long to figure it out, as she ran her fingers over the grimy, black steel, which held her captive, which held them captive. She had to stare for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the weak lighting, and noticed she was staring at three, motionless figures sitting bleakly on the other side of the cell with her. One of them was Van, Van Fanel.

"Van!" Hitomi let out an excited shout, running over to the person she had been thinking about so much lately. She was wondering if he would remember what they had been talking about, about the promises and all.

But then Hitomi's smile instantly faded. She stood directly before his slouched image, crying his name with joy, but noticing his inattentive response. She knew in a second's time, he couldn't see her. She stood right there, right in front of him, merely inches away, and yet he didn't even know. The disappointment that flashed across Hitomi's face was blankly obvious. She had been hoping that she might be able to talk to him, face to face, with one another. But it looked as if her mind intended this to be one of those visions in which Hitomi was simply the silent spectator. She would just have to hang around and watch what would come to happen.

Sighing, Hitomi turned her attention to Van's other two inmates. She recognized the girl quite easily; it wasn't hard to forget such a furry face. It was that Merle-cat, that whiny little one from her previous vision. As Hitomi studied the poignant figure clung onto the pensive Van's arm, she couldn't help but analyze the thoughts that began forming in her mind. She looked at Merle carefully, examined every little detail as things were starting to come to. She remembered… small things, little things… such as Merle's undoubted curiosity, when she would often pry through all of Hitomi's belongings at one time or another. And also, there was that look. That worry-stricken look that peeled on Merle's face every time Van engaged in something dangerous, or life threatening. And of course there was Merle's stubborn attitude always craving for attention, always out to give Hitomi a hard time.

Hitomi smiled. She was doing it! She was remembering! By just automatically knowing these things about Merle, she knew a part of that mysterious puzzle had been joined together. She had managed to decipher enough clues to hint her just a step closer to answering that longing within her. Each step, each connected piece, brought her further from her reality and further into the reality, the real reality.

Proud of her mental accomplishments so far, Hitomi focused her attention to the third figure, standing by the bars, looking out into the murky hallways where she could see guards aimlessly walking by. She had to center out her other thoughts, and try not to let them interfere. There was this insisting intuition telling her she knew this figure, this man, from somewhere. In fact, her mind had it played that it was Amano! But Hitomi knew that was silly. She had seen this particular man in her vision before, the one running from her and calling her name, and she knew it was not Amano. Amano did not have the same sapphire eyes, nor the pale blonde hair that swept clear past his waist. She knew this was no Amano, though someone quite similar, it was Allen. She could only come up with the name because she remembered herself knowing it for some reason from before. She remembered this 'Allen', but much vaguely than she remembered Van or Merle. Hitomi had to stay still, let her mind relax yet focus to try and understand his part of the mystery.

Allen. Allen what? Hitomi didn't know, yet she knew that somewhere deep within she knew everything about him, his last name, his family, everything. But where was that memory now? She would have to continue staring at him until she found that out.

As Hitomi stepped closer she began to realize a strange feeling growing inside her concerning this Allen. While she silently watched him gazing through those sturdy poles she knew there was an odd… an odd addition to their relationship. She knew that she had known him before, most likely even had been friends with him, but there was more… much more to that than just friendship.

Hitomi squinted her eyes as she tried to figure it out… thinking slowly.

"Lord Van, why are they keeping us here?" Hitomi turned her attention as the little Merle tugged incessantly at Van's burgundy top.

She watched Van let out a small, exasperated sigh as he too turned his attention beyond the prison bars. Hitomi could tell that he knew why they were in the prison, but he didn't understand why it was necessary. She knew and he knew that they had done nothing wrong to those who had imprisoned them.

"I'm not too sure Merle, I guess Frade just has some sort of problem with us," Van finally replied then gave a look up to Allen who was still standing motionless by the gate. Hitomi noticed Allen's guise; it seemed strange. She could recall him wearing a more… more formal outfit in her other vision; he had even looked somewhat like a medieval knight! But now she noticed Allen was dressed in a long, pale green piece of clothing that stretched down to his ankles.

'Somewhat like a hospital gown…' a thought occurred at Hitomi's mind. As she watched she caught Allen wincing every so often, hunching over and leaning slightly to the left. She began wondering if he had been hurt, she could sense he was probably suffering from some sort of injury.

"How much longer do they have to question her?" Hitomi looked on alarmed as Van suddenly arose and stood by his taller companion. He too watched the guards outside their pen, hoping only for the opportunity to escape. Hitomi could sense escape was the one thing on both Allen's and Van's minds.

Allen frowned, his face buried in thought, "Who knows, but we'll soon be next. With all of Hitomi's mind powers I'm sure Plactu would take extra time to hear her out. This is all such a waste of time… she didn't do anything and neither did we."

Van nodded agreeably, and simply acted submissive as he felt Merle's frightened little hand take his. Hitomi watched this all incredibly curiously, trusting them and feeling that they were innocent. Why would Van, wonderful Van, and sincere Allen, and little Merle be guilty of anything, especially imprisonment?

But even before any other thought could strike Hitomi's pondering mind a loud shrill scream pierced from a room far down the prison halls. Hitomi nearly fell back in surprise, as old-fashioned prison guards ran past quickly in all the commotion. But Hitomi's thoughts were elsewhere now. That scream, that scream had sounded like… well almost like hers! Her own voice! Hitomi didn't know what to make of it! Had that been her?

Obviously, her fellow friends were concerned with the situation as well, confirming that the scream had come from her, from her in another time and place.

"Hitomi!" Allen let out a worried breath, straining his eyes to see past the walls and to the direction the many soldiers were now headed. He could hear many worried voices discussing, and sometimes even shouting orders.

Van wasn't acting very placid himself. He paced quickly annoyed at his lack of freedom at such a critical time. Catching sight of Merle's worried stricken face, he knew he couldn't take much more.

"HEY!! What's happening?!?!" Van repeated, and yelled over and over, screaming to the guards who insensitively ran by. They didn't pay much heed to any of their unruly prisoners.

"What is happening? HEY!" Van's impatience and worry was too commanding, and he reached his arm out managing to barely grasp the shoulder of one of the hurrying guards who scarcely paid him mind.

The hall lanterns glimmered on the guard's baldhead, as he leaned in closer to hear Van's words amongst the turmoil.

"What was that scream?"

The guard did not hesitate to answer, "The prisoner's heart stopped."

Turning after satisfying them, the guard flung down the brick stairs and disappeared from sight. Hitomi watched in total awe and disbelief amongst the many gasps of her fellow inmates. Were they talking about her, herself of this time? Had her heart actually stopped before in this bizarre place? Was she ever that close to death as for her heart to stop beating?

Hitomi turned to see Van's face paling, his grip tightening immensely as he clutched the bars with fear. She could sense him endlessly wondering what he was to do, what he could do to help her… in that other time…

"Oh Hitomi…" Merle's anxious voice once again cut the silence, right before young Prince Shied's came cutting in.

"Allen! Allen!" The small boy with arms flailing came running from down the prison hall to quickly stop outside their cell, panting from the run and nervous with the urgency.

"Hitomi, it's Hitomi!"

Van quickly bent over and glared at the young prince in his small green uniform complete with a feather crown through the square view between each rail.

"Please Highness, let us out of here now," Van's demanding voice came out as a mixture of a command and a plea, perfectly aware that Shied was the only one who could help Van, and Van was the only one who could help Hitomi.

Hitomi herself watched anxiously, wondering why Prince Shied would come to prisoners for help, but then again, the prisoners were Hitomi's friends after all. Hitomi wondered at why she was referring to herself as a third person, but decided not to think of it and watched the dramatic scene take place in her wonder of silence.

"But I-" Shied began to stammer nervously; pressure being so adequately placed on his shoulders. "But I can't!"

Hitomi could feel her heart whipping around recklessly, as her eyes busily watched, and listened, and waited with dire anticipation to see what would become of Hitomi. She was bound to live, after all she wouldn't be standing here today if Hitomi were to die, but she didn't know with visions, anything was possible.

"Please hurry, I'm begging you Highness!"

Allen watched in total aggravation as Shied sadly shook his head in response to Van's cries for help. There was no time. He knew that. He wasn't going to put up with being locked up in a cell for no reason, while his friend was on the brink of life and death.

"Come here!"

Allen's harsh tone came as a surprise to all, and even more so when his right arm quickly looped through the bars and violently pulled the young Prince towards him, pinning him in-between the bars and himself.

Hitomi, taken aback by the action, watched in pure uneasiness as did Merle, feeling each second stretch by longer than was necessary, feeling each second wasted was already a second too late.

"Highness!!!"

Hitomi's head jerked upwards in surprise as she saw a heavy-built, coloured man with a Mohawk cut angrily appear by their cell, giving Allen a very dangerous warning glance. Hitomi could sense that this man had something to do with Shied, he protected him, and she knew that he was no friend to Allen.

Allen quickly sensed the anger easily transmitted from the man on the other side as well as the many armored guards who accompanied him.

"Just open the door…please," Hitomi sensed Allen's tone, commanding yet rational.

The man grimaced easily not fond of bending backwards for a prisoner, but totally conscious of the well being of his Prince. He knew he'd have to make a regrettable decision.

"Don't think that you're going to get away with this, Allen Sheizar," he made the most scornful look as his other guards and servants unlocked the large gate of Hitomi's prison cell for the sake of Shied.

"We'll see about that, now just move!!" Allen, still defensively gripping to the helpless boy, waited to make sure Merle and Van were free as well. He also made sure that the guards wouldn't touch any of them until they made their way to Hitomi.

Hitomi herself had to quickly scamper out with Merle just as the gate was shut behind her, the guards of course not aware of her presence. She was glad to see of their escape, but worried to see Allen's new change of attitude. She had a feeling that rising against authority wasn't his style (more like Van's) but he had to do what was necessary at the moment, and hell, it had worked.

She looked ahead to see Van already running at top speed, racing through the dimly lit halls in the direction of the uproar. Merle was scampering alongside, running swiftly on all fours at astounding speeds.

Hitomi picked up her own pace, catching up easily, sensing that her running skills hadn't lacked over the years after all. Her mind tried to focus, and she tried to set herself into the scene. It was hard though, for it was very unlike the falling vision. In that falling-angel vision she had at least been experiencing it head-on. In this one, she didn't have much panic racing through her, knowing if it was another Hitomi they were dealing with, than she wasn't in any danger at all.

Still, Hitomi couldn't help but feel a load of relief as they finally arrived at what was the interrogation room, lit brightly by the illumination floating from the glare of the two moons shining in between wooden bars, high up in the skylight.

Her eyes quickly examined her surroundings, spotting a fair-haired, light blonde woman sitting dressed in a conservative pink Maiden's gown, directly above her limp body amongst the building crowd. Hitomi had to stand still for a long time to grasp it all. That was her! She moved closer, and of course she knew it was true. Hitomi could see Hitomi, herself of this time, laying unmoving without response on the hard, concrete floor in her old high-school uniform. Hitomi found it absolutely astonishing yet frightening at the same time. Her own image looked about as good as dead, eyes fogged over with a worrisome glisten. That woman was perched beside her fainted body, hands placed firmly in the center of her still chest, feverishly pounding in a continuous pattern quite like CPR, in a dire attempt to rescue her, to rescue Hitomi. Her attempts so far proved unsuccessful.

Hitomi's live heart leaped, and she could feel the sweat beginning to build along her palms. She felt so close yet so distant from the action all at once. She wanted to scream at her fainted self to get up and to quit scaring the living daylights out of everyone, but still her reflected image remained immobile and daunting.

"Come on Hitomi, just hold on, don't die Hitomi!" The woman was constantly hushing pleads to the frozen body, as her own body pounded hard in hopes that the young girl would come to, that she would be alright. In the agonizing moments that passed, Hitomi still lay lifeless.

"Hitomi, hold on, you'll be okay!"

The others watched in breathless anticipation as well, Merle having to hold back to contain tears, Allen still gripping Shied but mainly more because of worry than ransom.

Van immediately appeared by the woman's side the second he approached the room. Hitomi also sensed a name for her helper at the same time: Princess Milerna.

Milerna, still endlessly pumping imaginary life worriedly, saw the lines of anxiety scratch across Van's face. She felt a sudden compassion towards him, knowing she had to return Hitomi to life, if not for herself and for everyone else, but for Van.

"Her heart won't start," she stated the obvious to him, hoping that he would have an idea.

Van did.

"Is this right?" he gently pushed Milerna aside and replaced her position above Hitomi, roughly gloved hands resting on Hitomi's cooling skin of her unmoving chest.

The observing Hitomi felt a gleam of hope as she usually did with Van Fanel, and continued to watch anxiously, biting her lip with worry.

"Yes that's right," Milerna instantly sensed Van's intentions, and didn't hesitate to guide him. "Push in time with your own heartbeat."

'In time with my heartbeat,' the thought pounded into Van's exhausted mind. He didn't know how to perform any sort of emergency medical procedure unlike Milerna, but if it involved saving Hitomi's life, he would do it and he would succeed.

His arms and body began heaving towards the sound of his heart, upwards then downward, pumping furiously as he stared his inert companion in her wide, static eyes. Each second grew onto his angst, and made him wonder if this was it… if this was it and if there wasn't any hope left…

"Yes! Push harder! HARDER!" Milerna's strict demands came blaring into his left ear, but he held no resentment. She knew what she was doing, and he would have to obey.

'Please don't leave me, Hitomi,' the thought was what motivated Van, and he continued on pushing as hard as he could as Milerna ordered, wishing for Hitomi to awaken, or for him to awaken and at least escape this world of trauma.

"Wake up damn you!" Hitomi couldn't help but hush the words quickly as she spotted the desperate Van unfruitful so far in his attempts to resurrect her. Hitomi was touched by their care, their determination for her, a stranger; but insulted by the fact that she wasn't awakening. She was giving everyone a hard time, especially Van. Hitomi hated being trouble, especially knowing that she would live through it while nearly killing everyone else in the experience.

Hitomi studied the other Hitomi carefully. There was some sort of strange message floating from her younger self. She didn't know why, but it was like the other her was not waking because she was still adrift in another world, quite like present day Hitomi was adrift in a vision. Hitomi knew that she usually tapped out whenever she rarely had visions, such as that incident with Amano and Cathy. Could that be what was happening to that younger her right now?

"Breathe… BREATHE!" Van's heart itself was drained with fear and his mind edgy with impatience. It had been long now, too long. How much longer could Hitomi hold on anyway? How much longer until they would all know what was to become of her?

Merle was burying herself in the worry of her hands, leaning close towards Allen and Shied. Her eyes refused to peel off Van and Hitomi.

"Will she be okay, Van?"

Van did not reply, knowing that he himself didn't know the answer and wished he did.

"Hitomi, you have to wake up…" Milerna watched in dismay, losing hope with every prolonged moment.

"Hitomi…" Shied hushed, adding to the commotion, holding tightly to Allen's arm.

"Come on!! Just snap out of it Hitomi!!!" Van's worried voice was filled with command, frustration and panic most of all. He had been giving it his all and he couldn't come to believe losing her would be the result. It wasn't going to end this way, not on his guard, not with her, not with Hitomi.

Suddenly to everyone's stunned surprise, the stationary Hitomi abruptly sat up, eyes widened, then curled over coughing and hacking endlessly.

Almost as if on signal, the crowds let out an enormous breath of relief.

"She's going to be okay…" Milerna confirmed, holding onto the shaking and stricken Hitomi, still trying to regain her health.

Van lay back, entirely exhausted but joyful deep inside. That had been too close, but he knew it wasn't like Hitomi to cut it short. She had lived through a lot; he trusted she would live through anything as long as he was around to insure it.

The watching Hitomi let out a whoop of joy, feeling a rush to go out and hug Van, embrace him with everything she had, after all, he had just managed to rescue her a second time! Hitomi had a good feeling that he had done that a lot for her, hadn't he… She couldn't believe it. Van Fanel! Van Fanel was her hero!!!

But before Hitomi could see what else would come of her traumatized younger self, or Allen and the other prisoners, she felt her feet rise off the floor, and instantly she sensed her body bolting upwards away from the scene. A part of her didn't want to go, just wished to stay, but she didn't struggle to avoid anything. An image was starting to form, but the rest of the puzzle still lay scattered.

Hitomi found herself drifting once again in her usual room of black, quite comfortable with the scenario after her last quite exhilarating experience. A part of her still felt indulged with that moment, like she hadn't just been seeing it all, but rather experiencing it. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened next.

The song was still drifting lightly, and Hitomi hadn't even noticed it for most of the while. This time though, Hitomi began to sing along with each line as it played for like the fiftieth time, and she couldn't help but dwell on the words a little longer.

"Hitomi, do you remember now?"

The voice, Van's voice, brought her back to her dreamy reality. She felt happy to know it was there, happy to know he was there, in her mind.

"Yes Van, I know who you are! I know Allen Sheizar, and Merle, and Prince Shied, Milerna; and I know how you saved my life again!! Did I ever thank you?"

She waited anxiously for a response.

"You never had to Hitomi. I never saved you to be thanked. I saved you because I would never stand back and allow you to be harmed. I promised myself that many times."

"Wow…"

Hitomi felt quite ashamed that this Van could speak so well mannerly, while she couldn't even find words to keep up conversation. She found it a little difficult though to speak definably when she couldn't even see a thing.

"But… but… Van I need to thank you! Please, let me see you. I owe so much to you."

She could sense the voice, Van's voice, hesitating.

"I'm sorry, Hitomi, but there is more for you."

"More? More? But why? What else is there?"

"Hitomi, there is still a lot you cannot recall without being reminded. I must help you do this, until you understand."

Understand? What was there for Hitomi to understand? But there wasn't any time for Hitomi to plod through these things, because as expected, she was almost immediately transferred again, to return once again to Van's world, to the world that obviously the most important part of her life had been lived in, and totally wiped off her memory. Hitomi was starting to build a newfound hate to Nathaniel Teroka. He had made her forget all this? All these moments? Life-treasuring moments surrounded by those who had really cared for her? Was it because of him and her mother that she could hardly recall anything about her other true friends of another world?

It didn't seem fair to Hitomi at the time, but it had to be fair. After all, she was living her chance to remember right at that moment. She was living the opportunity to go back to that Time, to know why it was so meaningful to her, to remember.

In only a sliver of time, Hitomi was dazed and amazed to find herself immersed into a great, blinding light. She wheeled around in circles for a few seconds often ambushed by visions of blue and sky, then in merely moments sitting perfectly still on the fifth step up of a concrete flight of outdoor stairs.

Hitomi blinked once, then twice.

She was gazing blankly for a lot longer than she could count, before her mind was restored within her. Her thoughts came slapping back and the realization that she was once again in the midst of a strange and unfamiliar place came to mind. Fright was starting to build inside her body and mind again, but she forcibly pushed it out. She knew why she was here; there was no reason to be afraid. Each vision came with reason she had to understand. She needed to focus on other things, where she was, her surroundings for instance.

'It's beautiful,' Hitomi finally turned her attention away from herself, to look up and beyond her. It was one of the most amazing sights Hitomi would ever come to see. She was sitting in the middle of a type of seating area with concrete flooring in the center, and an antique spout fountain adding elegance in-between it all. Up above the seating scene, she could see the many outlines and rooftops of aged, brick-layer buildings and homes with small, square, dim windows, stretching much thinner and higher than the houses she knew of her time. Out on the front of many of the structures were small shops complete with ragged lean-to awnings, sheltering many food produce and pottery items, and other ancient necessities. The street sides were nothing but yellow dirt roads, odd looking cattle and horses dragging behind large wooden carts full of barrels and crates for the many street stores. Merchants and peasants either shopped or sold, crossing through the busy roads or over the wooden bridges that lay across the many wondrous water canals beautifully lining the major streets of the city.

Hitomi was marveling at it all, at it's definite difference from the world she had left behind. She knew Earth had looked once like this with the great forest backgrounds, the people with their children chatting by the alleyways and small backyards, buildings and castles that were now in her time destroyed or withered, but that had been very, very long ago. It reminded Hitomi almost of not really medieval times, but sort of like Biblical times. It looked to her as if she had gone back by two whole millenniums; into an age before complex governmental systems, before various technology and invention spurts, and almost as if long before Hitomi's greatest-grandparent's very existence.

It was totally amazing, totally wondrous, this world, this world called 'Gaea'. She knew it was Gaea, the world created from the Power of Atlantis, she knew this was the very richness in which her other friends lived, the richness in which Van lived, Van Fanel himself.

Hitomi had to work hard to draw her eyes away from the divine scene and catch sight of her arms, her legs, and her whole body! Holy crow! Was that ever something! Hitomi was young again! She raised her hands up in alarm and surprise feeling her smaller face, younger features, and gawking in astonishment at the Aimsa Shoreline Public High uniform she had been convinced she lost almost two years ago. It was just…

'Oh my gosh, this is so weird!' It was all Hitomi could master to think as she inspected her whole self, amazed at what had changed in only near to six years. She could feel the awkwardness of her short auburn hair, which barely tickled her earlobes, the clamp, choking feeling of her seemingly extinct uniform oxford shirt, the lightness and agility of her flexible, strong and slender legs which she no longer really had in her time, and simply the strangeness of returning to a meek little fourteen-year old, an age she had definitely forgotten. Hitomi laughed out loud, this was just something! It wasn't everyday one could go back in time and relive their youth.

'Oh I wish Yukari and Amano could see this,' she shook her head in disbelief continuing to constantly pat her arms and legs as if to make sure she was there, to make sure it was her in this youthful body and she was here living it, living everything in this strange world. It excited her and thrilled her so much, and she almost instinctively arched her neck upwards.

Well, there was her home, far, far away. She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight with the palm of her left hand, gazing upwards at the faint image of Earth and it's moon, not too far off in the distance, a mere speck in the daylight sky. She had often seen such an image of two moons in her dreams and previous vision, but to see it for herself sitting amidst the clouds and cotton candy blue of the Gaean skies was quite outstanding. Everything was! Everything was outstanding!

As she wiped the sweat off her brow (the weather was much warmer than she would have come to expect from a vision) Hitomi thought maybe it would be interesting if she got up and explored a little bit. Maybe that was what Van wanted her to do in this vision; to go and find him and discover the truth, to 'understand' as he wanted her to.

Hitomi was enthralled at the idea of finding that Van, of finding her hero and allowing her own self, just her, to go and talk to him, one-to-one, where she could see him, hear him, feel him, touch him. She began to run through in her mind all that she would say to him-

Hitomi froze.

Hitomi froze even before she could stand, even before she could first think of where to go. She knew in a second she wasn't going to go anywhere. She was going to stay here.

'Why would I stay here?'

The thought bothered her, why had she just been impelled to stay put? She did want to go and explore, so what was with this little edging sense in her mind to stay where she was?

'Stay here.'

She could feel herself commanding herself to remain where she was, to block off any exploration wants and to stay here, in the burning sun without anyone she knew in sight, and without Van. But why? Why was she feeling this inside? What was going on?

Didn't she want to go find Van and the others? Didn't she want to find out where she was, and what was happening, and more about the Time?

The confusion was seriously starting to scare her quite a bit, wondering why her own body and mind were in a state of debate. It was like commanding your arm to move, yet growing an argument against another part of you, which did not want the arm to move. That wasn't possible was it? To actually feel your own personality lost in decision? It couldn't be, not unless you had a split personality or something just like the people in the cracker-houses… Hitomi didn't think she was crazy, and no she was not in denial. She was in this vision after all; this vision proved she wasn't crazy! It proved that those things she had said about that Time were true! It was true; she was here! But what about that second intuition she was having… did that prove she was crazy? Why did she have two senses at once? It couldn't have been normal!

'Oh… geeze… I'm losing it…' Hitomi furrowed her head in her hands, trying to will herself to stand but still that something held her back. Something was pulling her, teasing her and commanding her to stay where she was. She didn't see why, she didn't see any threatening consequences of doing a little exploration but yet she did just as she was told. There was something stronger at work here.

Before Hitomi could try for a second time to get herself up and take a look around, an even worse feeling than repression came at hand: remorse. Hitomi couldn't believe it. Just what was going on inside of her? She was feeling guilty! It was so true! A strange, awkward sensation was now bounding her back from even thinking straight, setting a heavy burden upon her chest of which she didn't know what. Why? Why was she feeling ashamed of something she didn't even know what was? It wasn't making any sense at all? What kind of vision was this…some sort of mental game?

The feeling grew stronger, made Hitomi's stomach twist and churn in despair. A feeling of mortification to herself began to grow, and she could sense a daunting thought in her mind. What had Hitomi done wrong? What? She felt she knew something, something horrid that needed to be told, but she was keeping it all to herself.

Wait a minute, Hitomi thought suddenly.

Maybe this was it. This was yet another level Van wanted her to understand. Maybe while she was in the Time there had been something she had been guilty of, that had held her back and made her hate herself inside. That was sure how Hitomi felt now, totally disgraced, but of what? Just what could be making her feel so down? What secret did Hitomi know, or once know, that was so important for her to understand?

Hitomi sat in absorption of thought and sunlight, scanning through her thoughts and memories but constantly coming up blank. There was still that feeling though, that heavy, damp feeling of fault that was prying at her mind. Hitomi would not be able to think straight, to function clearly without passing this sort of test. She had to, just absolutely had to, figure out what was eating at her well-being. Something was, she had done something and it was all a matter of finding out what. An upside-down smile scrawled across her dismayed face.

"Hitomi…"

Startled Hitomi's seemingly two minds unfocused then refocused on someone who had called to her. She hadn't even seen him come, he was standing merely five feet or so away on the hot concrete, standing casually leaning a bit on his left knee and holding onto a small, burlap sack.

"Oh my gosh, VAN!" The words barely fumbled out of Hitomi's mouth. She was astounded! It was Van Fanel, talking to her at last!! It couldn't be!! She didn't need to find him; he had found her! But why… again that question: Why? Why had she just said 'oh my gosh, van' in a low, barely audible mumble? Hitomi had meant to scream that out with fistfuls of joy, running over to hug him in triumph to get her wishes granted on meeting him at last, but instead she sounded as down as that blue donkey in Winnie the Pooh. It was that depression wasn't it? It now held her whole body victim. Hitomi knew that she wasn't smiling. She wanted to smile, longed to smile, but she knew she wasn't, her mouth probably stretched in a thin, firm, unappealing line. That was no way to act around Van, but she couldn't help it! The depression was beginning to sink further and root into her outside actions, not just mentally but physically as well! Her excited, happy self was being held prison in this unknown mopey state of being.

Obviously she was not the only one who noticed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The wondrous Van cocked his head sideways, giving her a surprising friendly glance and moving a step closer.

Hitomi hesitated to respond, eyeing this mysterious figure up close for the first time. Clearly now she could examine those familiar, chestnut eyes she had looked into many times before. That time in her vision, when he had cried out for her, he had looked exactly the same way, so youthful, adventurous, rugged and tough to the bone. His voice showed authority, his presence: power. He had those most adorable eyes hidden behind those black bangs, deep black bangs she remembered seeing dotted with snowflakes that night back in March, back in Gore Park. That long and lanky figure of his was the exact replica of the man she knew in all her heart she had met that night, knowing in her own sixth sense that that man was the future image of this boy before her, dressed in his stringy red top and cropped beige pants, sword ever daunting by his side.

"Oh Van…" Hitomi's voice came out mixed with both admiration and despair, at least half of it this time coming out the way she wanted. She wanted to answer his question, to tell him what was wrong but she didn't even know! She just didn't understand!

Hitomi gasped in girly surprise as Van stepped over to where she was and plopped himself down beside her. Hitomi instantly felt her throat swell in nervousness and of course in that bothersome guilt, but mostly in awe of having to sit beside this oddly prestige figure. This Van Fanel, she felt so intimidated by him! She knew for one thing, he was her friend (obviously by his concern), she knew he was her sort of hero-guy after rescuing her enough times already, she knew he was somewhat like an angel in disguise, but she had this other strong feeling towards him. An infatuated, girlish attraction like the kind teenage gals would often have on the star football player on a high school team. It was amazing yet uncomforting to Hitomi, seeing as, hello, she was going to be married in 24 days now and counting, and this was the first time in nearly three years she had felt attracted to another man aside from Amano. And what was worse, Van wasn't really a man all right now, not like in Gore Park. Here he was still young; he was still fourteen Earth years old. And even though technically she was fourteen in her vision state of being, it was still awkward to feel such a drawing to what seemed at the moment like a younger guy.

He stared forward for a few moments, and then returned her glance. Hitomi blushed horribly just like back in March, when Van had caught her glaring at him.

"I've just been out doing some errands," he rested the burlap sack onto his lap. "What have you been up to, Hitomi?" Oh his voice was so smooth, so silky and handsome all by itself.

"I-" Hitomi's mind was trailing with thoughts and excuses as she tried feverishly to put aside her guilt infested feelings. She needed to think straight and this unnecessary depression was exhausting her. She looked down to her running shoes (which she didn't even know she had back when she was younger) thoughts and words getting awfully scrambled and mixed in her mind. That frown returned again to Hitomi's confused image.

Van's eyebrows knitted with concern to see his usually intuitive friend in such a gloomy position. He hadn't seen her so down before, and so unwilling to speak with him. He felt curious and compassionate all at the same time.

"Oh nothing I guess," Hitomi smiled inside in triumph as she finally mastered to respond in her restless series of thoughts. This was more than triple the amount of thinking one had to do to respond to such an easy question, but nonetheless, she felt proud to have accomplished at least that much.

Allen.

The word, or more so, the name, popped strangely into Hitomi's mind out of the blue. It was accompanied by a feeling, an emotion towards it, or towards the person, of a selfish sort of care… she didn't understand it. Was this the guilt? Was it about Allen? Was she finally receiving another hint here? But what about Allen…

Van sighed, feeling if he didn't do something, Hitomi's mood would become contagious. He stood and embraced the glorious sunrays, then looked on back down to his remorseful companion.

"Hey, Hitomi look, if it'll make you feel any better rather than being out here by yourself, come with me to my windmill by the edge of Palas, it isn't too far from here," he gave her a last cheering smile and hopped on down, already making his way to the sandy pathways through the pastures. He figured if he got a head start and left her behind, it would make Hitomi antsy to follow along.

She gave an alarmed glance to see Van quickly arise and practically disappear out of her sight as quickly as he had come. Hitomi was almost instinctively instructed to go and follow rather than to lose her chance to speak with him, and for the first time, her second self allowed her to get up and go. Feeling the rush of her young, exuberant body she galloped along until she was halfway down a meadow easily keeping up with his brisk pace.

Van gave a small, sideways smile, which was hard to notice if one didn't pay good attention. But Hitomi had seen it and felt a secret sense of pride as she walked alongside. Actually, she was sulking alongside in that moody state but inside, aside from the mysterious Allen guilt, she still felt on top of the world.

"What's at the mill, Van?" Wow! Hitomi was actually making conversation! She was beginning to wonder if she was finally beginning to overpower that pestering force within her.

Van, relieved to sense her willing to speak this time, nodded his head as he skipped over a few large stones in their path.

"Escaflowne. I had to store it there rather than at the Palace. I figure it'd be too much trouble for Milerna's family if I were to endanger them with Escaflowne around. At least if it's all the way out at the windmill, it's a smaller threat to those in the town. Besides, my father used to store it there as well. It makes easier access, and Zaibach would have a hard time locating it.."

Hitomi nodded in response, the only reply she could get out of her feuding persona. She could already spot the tips of the large mill-fan barely inching in the soft breeze. She remembered the machines in her first vision a while ago. Her hunches alerted her that that magnificent technological wonder was what Van called 'Escaflowne'. She also had an odd knowing that Escaflowne was a large part of Van's life, as it was hers. Why? Once again, she really didn't know.

Allen.

Milerna.

Wedding.

The thoughts jarred hopelessly into Hitomi's already confounded thoughts. That guilt… it had something to do with Allen and Milerna, and a wedding? It made little sense to her. Allen… the knight, the one whom she had strange feelings towards, then there was Milerna, Princess Milerna as she recalled, who had been experienced in medicine and had tried to save her… and a wedding? A wedding? Her wedding? No, it couldn't be, this was way before Hitomi and Amano were serious enough to even be considering marriage. But then where was the link between the three? And even if they did share any common bond, how could that make her feel miserable?

Hitomi began to puzzle over it again as Van pushed a large, barn-like door to the side as it rolled on its hinges. Hitomi peered into the looming darkness, slightly lit by the sunlight peeking through the window in the roof. She could make out the silhouettes of many crow or pigeon looking birds casting their larger shadows on the hay-filled, mill floor, right by where the monstrous Escaflowne sat in solitude. Hitomi had to brace herself at the sight of the thing, at the gigantic contraption complete with such an intricate design to put a jet fighter to shame, and at its immensity and obvious power. She could easily picture Van within it, managing that beast of a machine to flow graciously as the muscles in his body. It amazed her so at the thought.

"I'm just going to get some of Escaflowne's tools, you can go sit up there if you want, just don't disturb Escaflowne," he gave her a slight grin which Hitomi knew that he rarely did, then disappeared behind a loft of hay.

Hitomi gave a depressing sigh, wishing she could talk to him freely as she wanted to, wishing she wasn't so oppressed by her strange intuitions. She looked on high up above her where a second level was, coated with haystacks and a narrow, wooden ladder leaning up against it. She gave yet another sigh, then a frown, figuring she'd have to find her way up there somehow. She very well couldn't just stay down here all day.

After managing the nerve-hassling climb up, Hitomi rested herself amongst the yellow twigs and leaned against the coolness of the mill walls, glancing at the intimidating Escaflowne up front of her. She made it her business not to get too close, feeling highly unfamiliar and pretty scared of the humongous robot machine. It reminded her of those little Power Ranger robot figures all the little kids used to play with when she was much younger. The difference was this thing was not made of plastic; it could kill you more than you could kill it, and she was sure Bandai didn't endorse it.

Allen.

Milerna.

Together.

Wedding.

< br> Wrong.

Cards.

Right.

Huh? Hitomi quickly sorted through all of the quick thoughts that had came once again from nowhere, frowning at it's complication. Allen and Milerna, together. She figured that much. A strong, selfish feeling came to her when she thought of that. Allen and Milerna… yes there it was again! It felt selfish, but yet again it made her sad… so sad and depressed to think of the two… together. Hitomi recalled Allen easily, remembering those strange feelings towards him, weak yet persistent. She remembered how easily he resembled Amano, uncanny with their eyes and facial features. She knew then that she didn't want Allen and Milerna together, was that why their wedding was wrong?

Hitomi turned in surprise to see Van returning back down beneath her, glancing up at her, then sorting through many different abstract weapon-looking tools below. Hitomi watched semi-interested, thinking more of her newest puzzle to figure out.

All right, so now she knew why she felt sad. It had to do with the relationship between Allen and Milerna. She didn't want to see the two together because she had some sort of thing for Allen. But a great part of her told her that those two weren't the ones getting married, in fact they were the ones that should be getting married. So what was this about a wedding? Between who? She had a feeling it was one of them… one of them was to be married… but which one and to whom?

Allen or Milerna… it couldn't have been Allen. She remembered him, she remembered him looking at Milerna in the last vision… in a different way than he looked at everyone else. Milerna had returned the same look, but still Hitomi was convinced it was Milerna that was in the wrong marriage. It had to be, she just knew it, Milerna was marrying someone else, not Allen.

Then what about the guilt? Cards… her tarot cards? Could that be it? Her tarot cards were right? But about what? Allen and Milerna…. Well… if Allen and Milerna were meant to be together, then of course the cards would be right about that…

Then, nearly instantly, Hitomi got it. She let out a sigh of relief and victory.

"I can't believe this," she meant to scream it with joy but once again it came out as a sorrowful mutter.

Van quit rearranging his sharpening items and looked on up to where the desolate Hitomi sat. He still hadn't quite figured out what he would say to her, but it looked like she was making the first step.

She glanced down towards Van, who stared back with a look of curiosity and concern.

"I know Allen and Milerna aren't meant to be, I can't believe I lied! I did a stupid reading for Milerna and I told her she's supposed to marry… marry… um… Dryden! Yes Dryden, when the cards didn't even say that. Now I know both her and Allen will be miserable and it's all my fault. I make myself sick," She slouched further back into a realm of self-pity.

Van winced at the thought that Hitomi was sad because of that Allen again, but she did have solid reasons to be feeling down. He was concerned though for her surprising abundance of self-hatred, he found it too harsh for her, "You make yourself sick??"

Hitomi bobbed her head in depressive agreement, "I'm such a jerk. I play nice but I butt into everyone's business. I'm such an idiot."

Van furrowed his brows in contemplation at all of her crude marks about her own self. He sure wasn't fond of Hitomi acting this way… she was so quiet! She had been so silent and lost this whole time, it made Van feel uneasy and awkward in a way he usually never felt. Van wasn't quite sure how to go around and act about it. He pulled back a strip of black hair past his view, and then rummaged through his burlap sack from the grocery stand.

Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise as she barely managed to catch a flying fruit that landed in her hands. She glanced back down to see Van smiling up at her, heading up the ladder, holding onto a few tools and another duplicate fruit in his arms.

Hitomi glared at the rough-textured yellowish thing, which to her looked kind of like an overgrown pear mixed with banana genes. She really didn't know what to make of it, and simply observed Van as he handed her a baboon straw, then prepared his.

She mimicked his actions, cracking open the top narrow part of the tear-shape thing watching the oozing, orange juicy slime leak around her fingers. Wiping the sticky stuff off on her kilt, she stuck in the straw and took a careful sip.

"Ugh they're sour!" She felt her face recoil in a funny manner, relieving her of some of her guilt impressions and leaving her feeling like she had bit down on a fresh, peeled and plump lemon. "What are these?"

"They're piscus," Van replied casually, sipping onto his, secretly amused at the funny impression on her face. "Do you feel any better now?"

Hitomi scrounged up her face then turned in the other direction so that Van didn't see her look of displeasure. The name of the fruit was just about as unappealing as the taste. On a blistering day like this one iced-cappuccino would be nice…

"If you go around with that nervous look on your face something bad is going to happen," Van continued on, moving back to his last sharpened section of Escaflowne's large sword and scratching the steel file against it, yet never making eye contact with Hitomi. "It's certainly not like you to be depressed now is it?"

'He's trying to make me feel better…'

Hitomi put the fruit aside on her lap for a second, trying to analyze things. For some reason she was surprised Van was talking to her in such a manner. Her guilty sensations were practically gone, and gave her more leeway to think. She felt that Van was that secretive type, wouldn't be so expressing of emotion. She considered herself lucky at the time that he would even be trying to comfort her.

"Hitomi," Van started on the other issue at hand deciding it was worth the try. "I'd like you to stay with me stay with me… from now on that is."

The words had made their way out of his mouth, and he didn't hold them back. He knew he meant them. He needed Hitomi. Still, he kept his eyes away from her, embedded into the shimmering slab of steel before him.

"But Van…" Hitomi was at a loss for words. What was she supposed to say to that? Why would Van wish for her to stay with him? Obviously she never did, but still why? Maybe he… Maybe he also…

Her eyes widened with wonder, and she could feel her heart rate liven and her chest heave. What was going to happen? Was this that crucial part of her vision, between her and Van, all alone? What would he tell her?

Van grimaced for a second, then set the file aside, finally staring at Hitomi eye-to-eye.

Hitomi stared back, facing those young, avid eyes of a fighter, waiting, anxiously, impatiently…

"I WANT YOU!" The words pierced to her from Van's mouth himself.

What was left of Hitomi's piscus slid from her grip and splattered against the mill floor. Her jaw was left hanging in anticipation and apprehension, unknowing of the situation. Was this what Van wanted to tell her? Was this what he wanted her to understand?

"Van, what is it???"

"I want your power!"

Ouch.

The words jerked Hitomi so totally off course she nearly collapsed off the second level of the mill, hardly keeping balance. What the hell was this all about? He wanted to tell her that? Her power? Why would he say such a stupid thing like that?? Her POWER?!?!

"Let's go destroy Zaibach together," Van continued to insist, continued on with his plan as he edged closer to the appalled Hitomi. "To defeat them I'm going to need your power, the power of Atlantis! With that Escaflowne may be able to do more incredible things… Hitomi please, I need your help!"

Hitomi stood there stunned, much too stunned for words. Her power? HER POWER? She couldn't get the driving thought out of her head. HER STUPID POWER?! Here she was thinking this kid was some sort of guardian angel hero thing, and all she's good for is 'her power'???? Her power? What the hell was Van thinking? Too much piscus getting to his stupid head! Hitomi had a very hard time containing her anger, keeping herself from exploding, at least verbally…

SLAP!!!

The sound echoed in the massive mill walls, vibrating all around until the flocks of pigeon birds flapped quickly from sight at the surprise of the noise.

Van staggered backwards unexpectedly, hand reaching to his blistered left cheek where a large red sore began to appear. It burned like fire and stung like darts, the pain was immense! He grimaced and tried to hold back from screaming in vulgar curses. He would've never expected Hitomi to do that, much less to do it with so much strength! He squinted at her, seeing her angry and flushed face, knowing that she was still very upset.

What had he done? Did Van say something or other than had offended her? What could he have possibly said that would make her hit him like that? All he wanted was for her to stay with him so that they could bring peace to Gaea… was that so much to ask?

Van watched helplessly as the young girl practically leaped off the second level and listened to the large creaking of the mill door, then the violent slam that accompanied it. Her anger was pretty apparent. Van didn't really know what to think as he proceeded to sharpen Escaflowne trying not to pay his pain any mind. What was he to do with Hitomi? He just couldn't figure her out! Sometimes she could be so placid and kind, and then other days she was just eccentric or Allen-obsessed. Obviously now she was just over-reacting or super-sensitive or something. Van never really had to deal with such awkward situations, his only really close female friend being Merle. But Merle was different, much different, she was just so loyal, so Merle. Not to say that she never got in fits with Van, but she hardly ever held a grudge, much less go out and hit him!

Van sighed knowing that there was an apparent difference of girls of his kind, or at least girls from the Mystic Moon. It wasn't like him to pay the opposite sex much mind, being much too busy and too mature to think of silly boyish things like crushes or infatuations, after all, he was a King of a vanished city. But nonetheless, Van was as semi-human as could be, and he often had the natural feelings of a human. To him, Hitomi was a very unique girl unlike any villager woman or princess that he had ever met; she was so… just so much more special than them. It didn't matter to him that she was from an entirely different world, and maybe even a different species; she was still Hitomi Kanzaki. Ever since they had first met (what seemed like a while ago now) he had a particular drawing to her. Maybe it was her exquisite mental abilities, or her courage at critical times. Whatever it was, he also felt that it was not just his right, but also his responsibility to care for her and to promise himself that he would get her home safely.

Many times, Van would wonder why he would even to go through bothersome trouble of getting her back to the Mystic Moon, or watching her back all the time. It's not like she was family or anything, and he really hadn't known her all that long. But still, he had that strange instinct to guard her, be there for her. Sometimes Allen was the same, but he knew Allen, no matter what Hitomi thought, didn't understand her as well as he did. So what if Allen is a stupid knight and all gentlemen like, Van had saved her many more times plus he didn't do it for show, he did because he had to. And in return, Hitomi had saved him from many serious situations as well. If it weren't for her many times, Van probably wouldn't have been sitting here at the moment.

Van's head instantly jerked upwards, his eyes peeking through the slightly ajar mill door. He could see the many rich prairies up ahead, also spotting clouds overcast. It wouldn't be long before a storm… He looked on, eyes sweeping the small expanse of land that he could see, searching, longing for a figure… looking for that girl lost in this strange world, but sadly Hitomi was nowhere in sight.

"What a jerk…"

Hitomi uselessly observed the ripples of water dapple slightly in circles as the rock she had thrown sunk deep below the stream. She leaned herself against the wooden fencing of one of the many small bridges that crossed across the waters, growing longer and longer the further she went as the mouth of the river widened.

Small, spits of water began to tickle all over her, and she knew by the gray skies blocking out what had been left of the sun, that it was going to rain, and here Hitomi was in the middle of nowhere.

She had been traveling through the beautiful Gaean countryside for a while now, but too absorbed in thought to fully enjoy the scenery. She couldn't help but feel so insulted, so used by Van. The thought never left her, and even though she didn't truly understand why she was acting so angrily, she didn't fight it off either. It was what her emotions were feeling, so that was that. She could still picture him, kindly handing her that piscus and talking with her, trying to make her feel better about herself when she had felt so down. But still, even as she thought of those noble acts she couldn't ignore those feelings of anger and disappointment. She had been expecting so much more from Van than this. Was this what he wanted to tell her? Wanted her to understand? That all she was good for was a psychological pawn in his game of war?

Hitomi knew it wasn't true, but she couldn't help but sadly dwell on the thought. When would she wake up anyway? When could she return back to her small, comforting home, to Cathy's delicious breakfasts, and Amano's wonderful smile… why did she have to go through all this anyway? Couldn't she just understand whatever there was to understand?

Hitomi made her way back to land and walked aimlessly upon a stony pathway heading back to the walls of Palas. The rain came down in sheets now cooling the atmosphere, sweet smelling rain, which soaked her through and through though she barely paid it mind. The worst was only feeling her clothes growing heavier, and her hair grow slick and dirty with rainwater. What was a little downpour to hurt now after all that she'd been through? There was a lot worse suffering than merely getting a little wet.

The view before her grew bleak as the water came down in torrents, blurring what she could see, making everything stick to her: clothes, socks, hair… just like the spring weather of Aimsa, her home which she was now beginning to miss. This dream, this vision, had been going on for an awfully long length now. Wasn't it ever going to end? Wasn't her alarm clock going to go off anytime soon? Shouldn't it? Or maybe this wasn't a vision at all, maybe all the realistic happenings around her were only realistic because they were realistic, she was really here.

"Where in the world am I?" she couldn't help to think it to herself, smudging her wet hands beneath her soaked uniform pockets. Nothing at all looked familiar, all of it, her surroundings were entirely foreign and alien to her. It didn't help that the stormy weather had now reached it's full peak, making her shiver in the once warm conditions, and blink the water away from her eyes.

"Oh no… I can't see a thing," she squinted to make out the blurry structures up ahead. There was the large wall surrounding the village, or city, of Palas, and the last bridge of the many only a few more steps away.

"I have to get back soon…" Hitomi thought harder about her last notion. "Back where? Back to whom?"

Well, it had to be back to somebody, and soon. She very well couldn't stay here for much longer; it couldn't be very safe in this world she didn't know. If only there was someone who could help her, someone she could turn to, but whom? Just who could care for Hitomi in this place she didn't know? Surprisingly, Hitomi couldn't think of any one, no one at all.

"Where are you going Lord Van??" Merle stubbornly watched as Van began opening the massive door of the mill. She had just arrived after all, seeking shelter from the rain in search for him, and now he was totally leaving her again.

"I have to find Hitomi," Van didn't hesitate to turn back to his companion, allowing the water to seep into the interior of the mill, and making his way down the soaked hillsides back to the Palas pathways beneath the property walls. He wasn't too sure if he would find Hitomi there, but it was definitely worth the try. There was no way Van would leave her out in the midst of Gaea all alone in this horrid weather. He wouldn't have minded as much if Milerna, Allen or even Merle was with her, but they weren't. He didn't care if Hitomi was mad at him or not, he was going to find her; it was his instinct that drove him to do it.

Merle's face glowed with jealousy and annoyance. Hitomi, Hitomi, Hitomi, yadda, yadda, yadda, was that all that she would ever hear? It obviously looked like it was all that drummed through Lord Van's head! She grumpily watched him disappear into the shower of water, himself not paying any mind to the fact that he was now entirely drenched.

"Oh just let her go!" She hissed angrily after him. "You'll catch a cold!"

But Van didn't listen to any of Merle's sobbing cries or warnings. His mind was one-tracked now, as it usually was. Find Hitomi. There was his mission, and now he was going to accomplish it.

"What am I doing?" Hitomi kicked again at a stubborn stone embedded into the mud. "When did I get used to life here? When did I start to like the people here? It's hard to remember home… I miss you Amano."

Half of what Hitomi had just thought to herself was true; she did miss Amano, quite a lot in this strange situation. She didn't like the dirty attachment to anyone besides him, and it was hard to refocus on her wedding. Why was she so concerned with anyone else? She was not going to marry any of these fairy-tale persons, so why did she even bother caring so much? And what did Hitomi mean about 'getting used to life here'? It was like her thoughts were coming to her from the past, because Hitomi knew very well that she wasn't used to life here, so why did her mind just think in that way? Hitomi knew it had to be her split personality once again, butting into her natural thoughts and making her two different entities in one: Hitomi of the present and Hitomi of the Time. She found it excruciating trying to differentiate from the two. Whenever she thought things, she tried to figure out which part of her was thinking it, but it was too hard to tell. Sometimes, she simply just allowed blending the two personas together; it was just her and herself in this creepy planet far from home.

Hitomi continued walking amidst her newfound depression, glancing up at the last bridge in the series up ahead. Through the sweltering drizzle she could see the many surrounding buildings, which had taken the place of the forest and hillsides that had last been in view.

Wait a minute.

There was something else…

Hitomi had to look very hard to make out the drab figure up ahead, on the other side of the long, stilted bridge. She couldn't see very well, and it was hard to hear over the sounds of raindrops falling across rooftops, treetops, and splashing against the surface of the now rampant river down below. Still, she was enveloped in curiosity, wondering whom else but her would wander alone down these areas at a time like this.

It was a man; it was definitely a man, which Hitomi could make out vaguely in the weather. He was rather tall and looked like her age, her sentimental age, which would've been in his early twenties or so. He was dressed in a soaked white blouse, and in tight black slacks with some sort of thick, violet strap around his waist. He too, like Van, had a sword hanging off its belt by his left leg for who knows what purpose. What was different though was definitely his appearance, recognizable with that long… blonde… hair…

Allen. Mr. Allen Sheizar.

It obviously occurred to Hitomi after a few moments of ogling him. It was Allen after all, just like her, soaked through and through in the weather. Also like her, he shared the same impression of dismay and loneliness. Hitomi remembered why suddenly, recalling the wedding, Milerna's wedding… Allen had to be heartbroken! She watched him with sympathy as they both made their way across the sturdy, creaking bridge, meeting right in the center as they were hit by ambushes of raindrops out in the open.

"A-Allen," It was all that Hitomi could make out at the moment. She remembered that strange feeling that she had towards him, and boy was it ever strong now. He just…. he just reminded her so much of Amano! That look, those eyes, it was like staring straight at her fiancé in another world, in another time, almost like the two of them in a totally different dimension! The Amano and Hitomi of Gaea…

"Hitomi…"

She stirred suddenly in response as she felt his heavy hand lie upon her left shoulder. It was like Amano's hand, when he was with her, always making sure she was close. It came with a strange sense of comfort, and affection. But wait, this, this was not Amano now was it… This wasn't her fiancé!

Hitomi flinched in uneasiness at the thought, the knowing that this Allen wasn't really the one she was going to marry either, not really the one she loved, he was as much of a stranger as everyone else, so how could she trust him, touching her like that, when she barely knew who he was?

"Why is it… why is it that when I'm with you my heart is at peace?"

Allen's words enthused at her thoughts, but she didn't think of it much as he drew her in, closer and closer, and soon enough, the young Hitomi was engulfed in his arms, protected from the surge of the weather. It felt so secure, so amazing, so familiar…

'He's warm,' she noticed instantly, feeling herself feeling drawn to his body, cowering closer to him, to his warmth, to his gentle embrace. Her worldly thoughts were at a loss now, totally forgetting where she was or what her surroundings were like, she had lost all interest in anything but him, this man. She was immersed into Allen's very well being.

'He smells like Amano…'She closed her eyes, nuzzling her head into his chest, listening to his strong and pounding heart as she did time after time with Amano, ringing over the worldly noises. Was this not Amano? It felt like him, looked like him, even smelt like him… those handsome eyes and caring arms, how could she be wrong?

Suddenly Hitomi's eyes flashed open and she jerked her body back suddenly. She shook her head abruptly, raindrops slipping off the tips of her hair as she backed away cautiously. She looked at him, that person, maybe Allen, maybe Amano, but nonetheless still getting flooded with many insistent images. Images of that Milerna were strongly coming back to Hitomi, rushing at her with enough impact to knock her off her feet if it wanted. She felt the instant coldness without his embrace, without the heat radiating from him, the drench of the falling rain was running through her, but she couldn't find it in herself to return to those arms, not now, not knowing about Milerna… knowing the guilt that would come in her actions if she were only to stay here with this man…

"Why?" Allen's hurt image struck her about as much, as he watched her panicked actions, startled by her pushing him away so intently.

"It's just that I know how Milerna feels about you!"

Hitomi felt stuck as she confessed the words out to his dazed image, she wanted to be with him, in those arms again, but she knew she couldn't!!! This was not Amano! No, it wasn't! It was someone else, it was Allen Sheizar, and Allen did not belong to her. He belonged to Milerna, and Hitomi knew very well she could not stand in their way. Why was she feeling like this anyway? Why did she long so much to return to his embrace? She didn't know him; she shouldn't be feeling anything! How could she do this to her true lover, Amano? And more so, how could she do this to Van?

Allen smiled, a strange smile almost as if he didn't know what he was saying, "All I see is you Hitomi, just you."

Hitomi shook her head in doubt. He wasn't making any sense! He loved Milerna didn't he? She had felt it! She knew Milerna and Allen cared for each other on such an amazing level, but why was he saying these things? Was he too, lost in depression? Was that what was wrong with the two of them? They were too saddened by their pitiful selves that they fell into each other?

"What are you saying?" She gave Allen a look of despair, aware that this was all wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wasn't this eating at him as well? Scarring his ethics? Didn't the thought of Milerna bother him in the least bit? Hitomi knew it bothered her very much so, just like another guilty pressure being applied… she felt she was betraying someone. She felt that she was doing the one thing that she should never do by falling victim to Allen's romantic lure. Oh Amano… he was always so good to her… but… but… Hitomi felt it wasn't Amano! Wait a minute; she wasn't betraying Amano now was she? She actually felt that Allen, this Allen was Amano! So if Allen and Amano were one and the same, whom else was she betraying? Who?

"Hitomi…" it was the last word out of Allen's mouth as he slowly began to lean over, eyes blinking shut in the scurry of the rain. He knew what he was to do, it raged at him like natural instinct, he was inclined to do this whether he liked it or not.

Hitomi felt a sudden lump grow rapidly in her throat, chest heaving once again in nervousness as his swooning image came closer, as he bent towards her; face merely inches away… She knew that her heart was angrily pounding in the nimble walls of her chest, for she could hear it, over the rain, over the noise, she knew how mixed her emotions were. Her stomach churned sickly, her palms sweated mixing to the raindrops. This wasn't right… this wasn't right but there was no stopping it…

She stood still, chin slightly tilted upwards as Allen lay his tender lips upon hers, held her towards him with those authoritative arms. The world as if struck Hitomi that very second their lips conjoined ever sweetly, yet the brilliant lightening rays cut through the murky sky, thunderous jolts riveting through her body. She could feel the world cry out at her, sending the last few raindrops lashing at her face, spitting at her in shame. Hitomi's heart hung as if strangled, robbed of whatever it had had left. There had been no avoiding fate, no matter how she despised it; it had been only bound to happen. Hitomi knew that, but she didn't care. She couldn't care. She blamed herself, she blamed her miserable self; she could've gotten away if she had wanted… she could've made the difference. But it was too late, Hitomi didn't, and even as their lips parted, the storm settled, and the sunrays danced upon their two lonesome figures, Hitomi knew she could never live it down. What from a distance may have seemed like just a kiss was actually a burden that Hitomi knew she held. It was a symbol to her, that wronged kiss was a symbol of something else… something deeper that was wrong… something Hitomi didn't understand… something Hitomi knew she had to understand, she was here to understand!

"Hitomi…" Allen smiled back at her, the few moisture droplets trickling down his long bangs shimmering in the dusk.

Hitomi failed to return that smile, and sighed resentfully. That feeling that hanging repressing feeling was real now. It wasn't felt by a part of her, it wasn't felt by her subconscious or split personality, but instead, it was felt by her as a whole, as one persona suffering from her own guilt and wrong-doings. Hitomi was one again, one again with herself hating herself as one. It didn't matter to Hitomi that she was in a vision, that this was simply a place of her mind, she knew very well that this had happened. It didn't make a difference that it was six years ago, no difference at all. What had happened now also happened in her present time… but how? She was obviously yet to understand her newest and harshest emotion yet.

"Ugh Allen, I don't know," finally her sad words replied, stepping back from him on the drying bridge side, blinking her eyes moist with not just rainwater. Hitomi hardly understood why she felt such a feeling of misery because of Allen, but she was soon to figure it out.

Hitomi and Allen's eyes both wandered upwards at the very same moment. At the same instant Hitomi knew in a dreadful realization that they were not the only ones who had been wandering in the rain. She knew now why her pain was so great, why she had felt such shame towards her actions. All this time… Hitomi had known she wasn't the only one who had witnessed her mistake; he had been there. Van had been there.

Hitomi stood in absolute desolation, her drying bangs falling lightly in her view. It didn't block him out though, and nothing could block out the awful feeling writhing through her dismayed self. She felt her eyes blur over instantly and her heart puncture in a way she knew it never had before. It was not the pain of losing someone you love, it was not the pain of betraying someone you love, but it was the pain of betraying someone you knew not you loved and who had loved you in return. It was this pain that froze Hitomi in a state of disbelief trying to will it all way, trying to convince herself it wasn't real… it couldn't have been.

But it was.

There he stood, merely a few feet away at her end of the bridge, the rainwater having soaked him entirely through. His eyes were expressionless, and unbelieving. The sunlight bathed upon him, yet his soul remained troubled and broken. His breathing was slow, and uneven, trying not to believe… he just couldn't believe…A few weaseling droplets fell from his bangs to his face, trickling down his cheek which could have been as easily tears that he wished to hide. Van hadn't believed his eyes, but he knew inside, he knew inside that this was not a figment of cruelty. It was true… she had been…

'Oh my God…' the thought stung Hitomi's mind as did the forming tears. 'He was in the rain all this time… he was looking for me...'

The thought surged through Hitomi accompanied by barrelfuls of unending guilt, throbbing guilt, which nearly had Hitomi throwing herself down into the deep river below connecting towards the vast of the ocean, telling herself never to return, vowing never to return. But instead, just by nature, she reached her hand out… and tried…

"Van! Wait……."

But Hitomi was too late. Van could not take any more, and he doubted that he could ever look her in the eye again. The sad image of Van lay embedded in the moment, as he briskly turned and ran the other way, he ran as fast as he could from the truth he didn't want to see any longer, he didn't want a part of anymore.

Hitomi watched him leave her, the hurt burning in her like the colours of the sunset, always beyond her grasp. She was such a fool, a dim-witted fool. She knew what Van felt, she knew what she felt, deep down inside the both of them. And even if Van was much less expressive of anything that he had towards her, it was still there! He had always been there… and only a fool like Hitomi would have pained him so many times.

'Only a fool like me…' she sadly thought, 'would be stupid enough to betray her true love for anyone else, any Allen or any Amano or whoever, and would be stupid enough to break her promise to him. Only a fool like me could possibly forget the only one person that loved them when they promised they never would forget…. When I promised I would never forget… hmm…I don't think anyone's that foolish but me."

Hitomi found herself now in a strange place, a desolate place filled with a navy blue, water-like liquid that waded just above her waist. It was very dark, almost as black as the room of nothingness, but there was still a strange aura of dim, blue light that came from an unknown source somewhere above her. She really didn't know where she was, and she felt as much confusion and fear as she had depression. Her last vision had taken a lot out of her, and it was rather difficult to function clearly in this apparently new situation she was in.

Suddenly a feeling of nakedness came to Hitomi, sensing she was exposed in this dark room where she prayed no one could spot her, and immersed herself up to her neck in the flimsy blue waters. She blinked; feeling oddly relaxed in the strange fluid, feeling now that it was deeper than she had thought it to be, her bare toes scarcely skimming across the ground below. She could not see her past her neck though, for the water was too thick and too dark to see through. Before her, the surface of blue liquid disappeared and blended right into the black background. Hitomi really tried to rationalize, try to place all that alarm away. It was only a vision, she'd have to learn from it, not fear it.

Hitomi's nerves eased a bit as that song came on again, wondering if it had still been playing all this time. How long has it been anyway? She really didn't know, it wasn't like she had a watch on or anything, and since in this strange room she could not feel location or position, she obviously wouldn't know much about time either. Her arms waded in the slimy coolness to keep her balance, wondering why she was here, and why she couldn't just be in that dark world again. It had been better at least to be fully nude in the pitch black where no one could care less, rather than looking as if she were skinny-dipping in the weirdest lake ever.

Suddenly, a notion was beginning to creep around again at the back of her mind. It was telling her to turn around, and look behind.

'Turn around,' it kept saying. 'Turn around, Hitomi.'

Hitomi, not needing to analyze her mindly commands any longer, spun herself slowly kicking her bare legs in the viscous ooze. Something was waiting for her, something behind her.

And so Hitomi now faced where once her back faced, looking on to the dim blackness of what was left that she could see. The ambience of blue light did not extend far past her, but even then she could still make out the calm outline of a solemn figure, standing in the line where light and darkness met, the eerie waters wading up to his knees as he stood in the far shallow part Hitomi was once in.

She still stood dumbfounded, tasting the sweet water lick upon her lips as she accidentally stepped further deeper. Moving back upwards, she waited just enough for her pupils to dilate casually adjusting to their shadowy environment. He was standing there now, not very far away, the light beginning to bring up his appearance to her view… it couldn't have been…

"Hitomi, it is so good to see you again."

Hitomi's mouth gaped open, once again accidentally swallowing some of the mysterious liquid. She couldn't quite believe her eyes nor ears! There he was, there was Van! The one that had been speaking to her, the one who had shown her all these things! It was so different from seeing him in the visions, in the visions it was never present day. This Van lived in present day and showed her the past; this Van was trying to tell her something that was still quite vague and unclear but she had to know. He was the only one who could help her in piecing her puzzle together.

"I can't… I can't believe it's you…"

She was at an obvious loss for words, wishing to rush up to him, touch his face, make sure he was real. He stood now clearly visible, a funny tint of blue. Hitomi noticed now that everything was a shade of blue, dark or light, in this place she was in. Even her skin upon her back was a funny cyan tint. She noticed though, what was strange was that his gloves, the brown ones Van regularly wore, were not blue. In fact, they were red, a bright red that stood out like a misspelled word, an error in a modified place.

"I'm sorry Van! I'm sorry for what I did to you! I don't know why…"

Finally, Hitomi was able to let out a few of her thoughts, shouting from the distance she stood in the murky waters.

"You didn't do anything, Hitomi. It was unfair to both you and Allen. Fate had forced you to do the things you did, and even if it hadn't I wouldn't hold that against you. I would always wish you to be with anyone who makes you happy, whether it was Allen… or…"

"Amano…"

Hitomi finished for him, thinking about it for a second. This Van here knew of her wedding to Amano didn't he? Was that what he was saying? Was he happy for her that she had found Amano in her life?

"Just be happy, Hitomi, do as your heart desires. I'm only showing you this to allow you to understand what I think has been wrongly forced away from you. You should have the right of knowing your life, your full life, and everyone in it, and that's why I've shown these visions to you."

"And I do understand Van, I do! I know now all that you've done for me! And I understand that I've broken my promise to you… I wish I could find some way to make up for -"

"Don't worry about such things, Hitomi. I told you, it's not your fault. I know, within, you have never forgotten me. I know all along, and so do you, that just like we said, we were still together in our dreams."

Van nodded his head, and tapped his chest with his crimson hand,

"And in here as well."

Hitomi sighed, feeling the beauty in his words, still feeling that longing to make up for what she had done. She had forgotten; she had done the wrongdoing. Van was being much too forgiving of her. If only she could actually find him, the one beyond her visions, in real life, beyond her mind, and tell him all she felt.

"I have just one more thing to show you before I let you go,"

Van continued on.

"There was a lot of good memories that we had Hitomi, that you've given me, but I guess it's only appropriate to end this with our goodbye. Come, Hitomi, come with me…"

Van stretched out his hand, a ruby speckle for Hitomi's reach.

Hitomi hesitated, remembering her odd situation as she watched him neck high in the black lake.

"But Van…"

She could feel the pink blooming in her cheeks, quite embarrassed at the moment.

Van gave her a cute smirk.

"Did I ever tell you Hitomi how adorable you look in that uniform?"

Hitomi paused for a second, appalled by his words, then noticed what he had meant. Of course, as she looked down, she could see the collar of her oxford shirt peeking above the water. She laughed to herself; only her mind would be full of such odd happenings such as being naked one second then fully dressed in the other. Stepping high up to the shore, she felt her clothes were very surprisingly dry, then smiled at the Van who stared her back in the eyes. He had this knowing of her, an understanding of her that she doubted she's ever seen in any one else before… That Van. Oh he was a wonder indeed, one handsome, mystical wonder indeed.

She took his hand and closed her eyes, feeling that same drifting sensation as she did each time Van took her back to the Time, a feeling of weightlessness and time travel. Hitomi was comforted at the thought that in this occasion, he was with her, he would be by her side the way she'd always want him to be.

The sun shone just right as its rays danced amongst the forest leaves, never too bright and soothingly warm. It helped illuminate the glorious surroundings, nature at it's best resting in solitude. The ground was fresh and crisp beneath one's feet, the air was light and breezy to the touch, the sounds of residing creatures were nestled in the scenery. As beautiful as it was, one wouldn't have guessed how rare it would be to see such a sight.

But Hitomi knew. She knew. This land was not always so tranquil, not always so beautiful. She knew that even the very ground she walked upon, the very air she breathed, was once enveloped in nothing but war and corruption not very long ago. In fact, she could have sworn that this city she stood within, had been entirely abolished! But now, here it was, rebuilding itself from top to bottom and bottom to top, in a way she had never seen before.

Hitomi was once again settled in another of her vision's many scenes, but this time, Hitomi was barely aware of it at all. There was only a part of her, a very small, diminutive part of her thoughts that knew she was only seeing her memories, not reality. But as mentioned before, it was a small, edging part of her mind, definitely not enough to overpower the new emotions and thoughts that were slowly breeding inside of her. Inch by inch, second by second, traces of Hitomi's present day being was beginning to fade. Her thoughts were slowly being filtered, any worries or concerns being temporarily discarded.

Hitomi's thoughts dwindled, and mixed into a blur of events and times and people. She stood as she always did near the beginnings of visions, lost and analyzing. She was forgetting and remembering, confusing and learning, and with time she could see many pieces, pieces of her thoughts and memories, being brought together, like a puzzle being joined. As the eternal seconds ticked by, she began to realize that Hitomi was new and old. Her mind had sat and worked to bring herself back. The new Hitomi was living back in the Time. Her mind had brought her here, to see, to think, to live it.

The new Hitomi was really the old Hitomi, brought back in newer time. This Hitomi was not aware that she was in any vision. She had no idea that what she saw and experienced, were events that had taken place half a decade ago. Her memories of future figures, like employers, like wedding planners, like new roommates, university professors, were all gone. Gone, just like that. Instead, Hitomi's frail little mind was now swiveling with new yet old thoughts that involved leaving, involved friends, involved new worlds, involved new people, involved Van.

As if on cue, this younger Hitomi turned her head just in time, as she heard footsteps crunching lightly on the brusque forest floor.

Suddenly, she knew again it was Van, as he joined her by her side and stared straight ahead. They were looking at gravestones, large, symbolic gravestones. Hitomi remembered them instantly, the Fanel Graveyard. She allowed her eyes to be enticed at the divine scene, a large, cement monument peeking high in the surroundings, protected by a wrought, iron fence.

Joyous yet sad feelings took over her for a second's time, as she fiddled with her uniform buttons in thought. She felt… she really didn't know. Should she be happy, or should she be sad? Fanelia, after all, Van's home, was finally being restored. Here she stood now in the land she had been positive would be vanished forever. But Hitomi had been wrong; there was peace at last, wonderful peace! She couldn't recall any time where she had seen the Gaean people so happy! They all worked so hard, filled with love and celebration, to building Fanelia back where it was, with Van, the ever-deserving king, as their leader.

Hitomi's smile was only partly though, as she gazed aimlessly around her with her short bangs interrupting her view. She was also thinking about being… being sad. Why would she be sad at a time like this? It was so wondrous, peace, what everyone had hoped for! Yet, if it was so great, why did Hitomi have to leave when the greatness was just starting? Was her journey really coming to an end? It had been an adventure she had been unwilling to take, and now unwilling to leave. Hitomi still couldn't come to grasp that it was time. That it was time to let everything go, to lose the everyday of the world of Gaea, to leave behind the good times and the bad, and to return home. But what was Hitomi's home now (if it was her home at all) in comparison? Did she honestly have the same kind of friends on Earth as she did here? Is she really as respected and as cared for there as she is here? It seemed a disturbing thought to her, after all, she had wanted to return home in all this time, in all this very long time. Why, just why, did she now have so many doubts?

Van breathed deeply as he looked ahead of him, glancing at the very graves where the memories of his vanished family lay within. Hitomi was quiet too, maybe also thinking to herself. He wondered if she could understand just how much he saw in those graves, just how much they meant to him. Sure, maybe to some people, some indignant people, they would only see burbony trees and large slabs of stone. Many people would be blind to understand it's real message, its message to Van.

There lay his family, his wonderful yet deceased family, resting in peace. Amongst them was his father, a true king of Fanelia, the late Gewau Fanel. Van didn't remember him all that well, but he knew in his heart, if alive, Gewau would have been a figure Van would have greatly respected. His father was true to the people, and also, true to himself. Gewau had not let society deem his heart, and when he had fallen in love with Vari, a blood-descendant of Atlantis, Van's mother, nothing could stop him. The boundaries of Draconian and human love were his to cross and his alone, and no ruler or king could tell him that was wrong. No one could tell him love was wrong.

Smiling, Van's eyes admired his mother's memorial stone as well, as he felt again that pang of sadness. Vari had been his one parent that he had known the best, yet still not long enough. She had been so faithful, to her family, to herself and to Van. He knew the hardships that had been weighed on her at the tragedy of his father's passing, and also the burden of being different. But Vari was not one to disappoint, she raised Faulcon and she raised Van, and Van had to say, she raised them damn well. Her life, after all, had been taken for the sake of searching for her son, his brother, when Faulcon had disappeared. No one else had braved the danger of searching for him in the dragon-infested wilderness, nobody else but Vari. And although she had never found him, Van knew his mother's discontented spirit still kept searching, still kept looking, and he knew she had been the one which had restored the love in Faulcon's heart, had turned him away from the evils of Zaibach - she had finally found him. Her spirit had changed Faulcon, she had been the one who had changed Faulcon back to the good brother he had once been.

Van's eyes, misty now, lastly fell on the newest grave to sadly be added, his brother's. Van sometimes still had a hard time believing Faulcon had been alive all that time… when they thought he had definitely been killed after Vari's failure to find him… and now had a hard time believing he was gone once again, for good. He never really understood Faulcon and his intentions very well, but Van knew that in the end Faulcon had fought for the very same thing that Van did: Peace. Faulcon had made his mistakes with Zaibach, but Van made mistakes as well. Unfortunately, his brother had to pay the greater price.

Hitomi watched in surprise and awe as Van quickly lowered himself to his right knee. She watched silently as he held his head bowed, strands of black hiding his face, adding to that ere Van always had. She felt a sense of compassion for him, once again mixed with happiness and sadness.

Van had his kingdom at last, had his country once again. But Hitomi knew alongside Van's losses were great, and he was now the last living member of his family. Poor Van, no wonder he was so isolated inside, so unexposed with his real feelings. She realized now how lucky Van was to have Merle. Without Merle, who else would take care of Van once Hitomi left? She couldn't think of many who would stay in Fanelia with him. There was only one other close friend Van had that she could recall, that man. That warrior man Van had admired like a father, that fighter named Balgus. Zaibach had claimed his life as well. Van had lost him as well, like nearly everyone else that was important in his life. Hitomi cringed at the very thought that now Van was also losing her.

"Brother we have finally returned to our homeland," Van rested his intricate sword respectfully on his knee, head still bowed in the sunlight. "Watch over our country's future here."

Hitomi smiled softly, admiringly listening to Van's voice amongst the stillness

"It seems like so long ago that I first came to Fanelia," the words came out a little sadly as she watched Van slowly stand alongside her. "So… what happens now?"

Van breathed deeply in content, dusting off his knees and gently sliding his sword back in its sheathe case hung on his belt.

"Everyone's dreams will go on creating Gaea."

Hitomi nodded thoughtfully, watching again in surprise as Van walked over to where Escaflowne rested itself in the shade of the trees. Its large metallic parts glinted beautifully in the daylight, barely scathing the surface of the treetops.

She watched curiously as Van, using that strangely amazing strength he had, leapt upwards balancing slightly on Escaflowne's large, knelt knee. His footing was as always, incredibly accurate, as he slowly edged towards the ruby chamber which shone like a gem in Escaflowne's upper torso. She couldn't help but wonder just what Van was up to. He was now reaching his arm into that glass chamber, and she tried to put away those pestering thoughts on how that could be possible. Escaflowne had a lot of wonders to it she was yet to understand, just like the whole idea of Gaea's existence. It was a magic that no matter how hard she tried, she could never fully comprehend.

"Thank you, Escaflowne," Van wasn't so sure of himself, as he gripped that mighty drag-energist which he had removed from the heart of Escaflowne, almost like sucking the life out of it. He could feel it's warm crystal slightly pinching his skin, reminding him of how hard that one little energist was to earn, and how hard it had worked for him once earned. It honestly still amazed him at the incredible powers that lay within a dragon's heart; the very same powers that had fueled his Escaflowne for the years and generations it had served. Was it truly the best decision to end it now, to take away the life from Escaflowne? Van knew well that Escaflowne had managed to save, rescue, and protect many lives of those he cared for, but all the same it had destroyed the lives of many in the battles of war. Escaflowne had served him when it was needed and it served him well. Now was the time. Now was the time for many things.

"Van…" Hitomi whispered in awe and a strange, newfound respect as Van leapt down and walked back towards her, holding that energist in his hand. She couldn't really believe it, Escaflowne without Van? It didn't seem right. Ever since she had first met him that fateful day so long ago now, she could never really picture Van without Escaflowne. She could even remember the very dragon that Van had bravely fought when they first met, the one that had died for the sake of Escaflowne. She could as well, remember when Van had awakened that brute of a machine, could still remember the very first time Van had handled that mysterious guymelef, that mysterious white dragon of metal. Hitomi knew that Van and Escaflowne, man and machine, had bonded so close it was hard to think of one without the other.

"Escaflowne should be kept asleep," Van as if confirmed her thoughts, glancing down momentarily at the precious energist in his hand. "My brother's wish was for a Fanelia, for a Gaea, where no one would rely on it. I want to see what that world is like, Hitomi."

He smiled down at her, seeing her listen to him so attentively, so interested and captivated in his words. Van had known her for so little, yet she knew him so well. He couldn't help but wonder when he had last met a friend that good to him.

"And I want to see it with you!" Hitomi smiled earnestly, eyes glowing as she looked on deeply at his. She stared hopefully at his image, that brave face of a warrior, the same face that had taken care of her for so long. She was so full of hope, yet unfortunately overwhelmed by reasoning and common sense.

"… or can I?" A tint of a sigh floated from her, as her eyes dimmed and lowered, "The truth is, I love it here! I love Fanelia!"

Van smiled, a little taken aback by her words. He really hadn't thought she was so fond of the place, after all the ways she talked about returning home, and even that one time when she did. But Hitomi had returned back to Gaea now didn't she…. Just maybe, deep down, she had really grown on Gaea all along.

"If you'd want, it'd be more than fine with me," he felt himself lighten in hope at his words, wondering what her reply would be as he stared back at her glimmering green eyes. In all honestly, Van was saying the truth. He didn't have many, if any, times like these with Hitomi, alone to talk with her. Van never really did get to know her, get to know the things she liked or didn't like, her thoughts, feelings…. He never really bonded like that with anyone, maybe Merle sometimes, but she was so much younger than him, and more like a little sister. He could tell Hitomi would be the perfect person to confide with, the perfect person to tell anything he liked to, and the perfect friend. She would listen so well, just like she always did.

Hitomi tilted her head upwards in surprise, in enchantment that Van would gladly have her stay. And the more she thought about it, the more dangerously she began to get attached to the idea. Well why not? A part of Hitomi's existence dwelled in Fanelia, in Gaea. A part of her had been permanently etched here with her new friends, her new experiences, her new home? Could she really abandon Earth, her mother, her friends, and her old life forever? And if not, could she really leave Van behind, and pretend as if nothing as wonderful had ever happened? It just seemed that whatever choice Hitomi would decide to make, it would still leave her partly, if not fully, unhappy.

Van felt a little stung by her silence, but could easily sense the depression in Hitomi's thoughts. Van wanted her with him; Van wanted her to stay! But that was yet so selfish, so self-involved, wasn't it? He wanted her with him, he wanted her to stand by his side to reign their peaceful country, but this wasn't Hitomi's destiny. He knew that her stay was short and sweet, but she had come from another home, and her future remained there, no matter how stubborn Van may be. Van had promised her he would bring her back home ever since they had first met, he had vowed it to her before everyone and Van had kept his promise. He couldn't back out now, even if he wanted to.

"You know… we can see each other anytime we want, we just have to think about each other," he looked on quietly at her watering eyes, slightly touched by the sentiment that flooded from her. He knew that she knew it was time. They both could sense it tweaking at the moment.

Hitomi could feel her throat swell, and the image of Van before her blur. Why did he have to speak with such beautiful words anyway? Why did he have to talk to her in a way that graced her heart and made her twinge with hopeful sadness? Why did Van have to make it so hard for her to let him go?

"Van…" the name came in just under her breath, feeling the bittersweet tinge of a tear glide down her cheek. She had told herself she wouldn't break down like this, not like this in front of Van. But Hitomi hadn't known the things he would've said, or the things she would've felt, or anything that was to happen. So now, her emotions were the only things controlling her, the only things that could matter at the moment.

"Here Van."

Van furrowed his brows in surprise at Hitomi's teary figure, slowly extending her hand towards him. He didn't know what to expect, he didn't know what to do. It was time. The thought kept creeping in his mind as much as he tried to ignore it. He wanted to hold her, maybe if he did, she wouldn't leave….

"Keep it," Hitomi looked at him, looked at the astounded image on his face as she delicately dropped her cherished pendant in his hand. She could feel the soft brush of his fingers as he took it from her. Hitomi held no regrets. She wanted him to have it, it had brought them together, and now it would keep them together, somehow…

Van's eyes fell upon the beautiful necklace, the instrument to Hitomi's amazing powers, the key to their very acquaintance. As he stared at it, he knew now, the feeling was strong. It was time. The days had seen them through faster than he had expected, and now, the time had come. It was time to say goodbye.

Hitomi didn't expect it. Hitomi didn't expect it as Van immediately drew her in, didn't expect his hands to brush against hers and pull her close, didn't expect to feel him so near to her, to even feel his faint heartbeat near her chin. Hitomi didn't know what to think as she felt herself sink into the sweet depth that was Van, and she was immersed into his sadness, and into her own. It was then that Hitomi knew.

Hitomi gasped suddenly, noticing she was here.

Who was she? Where was she?

"I'm Hitomi. I'm here, in my memories of Van."

The thoughts clamored and questioned and answered themselves so loudly and disturbingly in her mind as she felt her confounded arms search for comfort, felt the outline of his rugged body, felt herself immersed into a friendly and loving warmth she had never known.

It was too much; all this was too much.

It was happening. What was happening? It was happening. She was remembering, she was realizing, she was knowing, she was feeling.

She was Hitomi, Hitomi Kanzaki. She was twenty-years old. She was in a vision, an important vision of something that had once happened. She was engaged, engaged to someone named Amano. She was in love, in love with someone not named Amano. She was falling for Van. She was with Van. She was in love with him, in love with the memory of him, in love of the thought of him and the feel of him and the scent of him and the sight of him and the heart of him. Hitomi was confused. Hitomi was right. Hitomi was wrong. Hitomi was sad.

"I'll never forget you… I promise… even when I'm old."

Hitomi felt the words slip out of her mouth, tickle off her lips, beyond her control. Almost instantly, she felt the throb of their meaning; the sting of a promise she knew was nothing but a lie, the hurt of staring into Van's young and hopeful eyes, believing her, trusting her. Hitomi could feel those tears, salty tears in abundance now, soaking the tip of Van's gaunt shoulder. She could feel her fingers trembling upon his back, in guilt and sadness and depression and realization…

It was time.

Van had never felt someone so close to him before. So close, as if one could merely hear the other's deepest thoughts and secrets, as if one could feel the pain, the emotions of the other. Close enough to feel her hands lie gently amongst his back; feel themselves pressing and near to each other, in what was a moment divine in itself. Close enough to even kiss her if he dared to be that bold, that expressive, for at the moment it felt as if there was no space between them at all. But that was only for the moment being, change was on its way. It was time.

Regretfully, Van released his hand from Hitomi's waist then stretched it upwards high above his head, the hand with the mighty energist, in a noble act he would never live down. He didn't know why he knew this was the way it would have to end, but he just knew. It was that driving instinct that Van had with Hitomi. He knew when she needed him; he knew when he had to be there, he knew what there was to do. Van was a man on a mission, whether human emotions got in the way or not. He knew he had to send her home, despite what he felt, despite the sacrifices he'd have to make. He would have to, that was it, and he just knew.

He held his surprise as suddenly a bright beam of blue flooded their vision out of nowhere, soaring towards them swiftly from a pierced hole in the Gaean sky until the blinding light seemingly surrounded the two of them, highlighted them out of everyone on Gaea. Encased them, encased him, told him that it was going to be now. It had to be now.

The force of the light was nearly frightening, yet he barely paid it mind. He could feel the active energist burn with vigor in his hand, and quickly he dropped it by his side paying it no attention. His mind was focused to the greatest, as it usually was. He knew what these seconds meant, these precious and dear seconds he couldn't get back. They meant it would be the last time, the last time that he knew of, the last time he would see Hitomi, for days to months to years to forever, and that was that. There was no changing his fate; he had to send her home.

Van felt the lag in his heart grow, the emphasis in his mind weaken as he sensed her, Hitomi, slowly lift off the very forest ground, defy the very magic of gravity, slip further past his reach.

Almost instinctively his hands gripped hers, tightly, securely, as if he actually believed he would have the strength to hold her back, to keep her here to himself. Yet, Van may have had the strength, but it was the selfish desire that Van still lacked. He held her, for now…

Hitomi's fingers were barely gazing his fingertips. She tried to reach them further, but it wouldn't do. The light was blinding; the force was pulling. She wasn't strong enough to fight it, but willing enough to accept it. This was hard. This was really hard. This was nearly impossible, yet… she had done it… once before. She had lived this! She had been through this! She had lost him like she was now… so many years… so many years ago…

"I'll never forget you."

Hitomi realized then that those were the last words that Hitomi would ever say to Van Fanel of that time. She realized then this was the last time she had seen Van and for so many years, and had fully understood who he was, and what he meant to her. This was the only time where that puzzle was nothing but a clear, together, and perfect image. She was beginning to see, to understand, she was beginning to know. Van needed her to understand this, it was just so important.

"Hitomi…"

She didn't know what to feel as his youthful image quickly faded, smiling up towards her for the last time of that time, lost in the flood of bright blue. It didn't really sadden Hitomi though, nor did it make her happy in any given way. Instead she felt a burn as her body was wrapped in this light, this revealing light. It told her things, these memories told her things, gave her things.

A burn.

A burning desire, flaming with desire. Hitomi now knew. She knew not how she knew, but she just knew. Now Hitomi Kanzaki was the one with a mission. She was now the one who was focused to the utmost highest, she was now the one driven by instinct, by a deeming, unforgettable instinct:

She would find him.

She would find him.

She would find him.

10.) Unforgettable

The song was barely drifting throughout Hitomi's mind. She could hear it; hear it all over, so quiet and soft yet ever persistent, going over and over again. It raged at her heart, and played with her mind. The words hit her the most, giving her the most unexplainable feeling, similar to a breeze through a room with no windows. And so on it's melody went, dancing with the images she saw and the emotions she felt. Hitomi was beginning to drift, and lose herself into a sunken depth of dreams and reality.

The strong, hushing voice impelled out of nowhere, and Hitomi's eyes shot open in surprise. A drifting melody of a song that repeated endlessly played faintly in the background, in the background of what? Hitomi found herself, no longer sleeping in the secure comfort of her bedroom, but instead floating weightlessly in literally nothingness! She could see nothing beyond her at all, only a pitch-black darkness that was the same all around. She felt her eyes, with her trembling fingers, feeling her eyelids pulled back, knowing that they were open yet completely blind. She knew her arms and legs were sprawled out, helplessly swimming in emptiness, but she couldn't even see where they were. Panic was easily residing in her feeble body. All her senses were vanishing, all except one. She continued to hear. She could only listen to a song and a demanding voice that was talking to her…

"You promised me."

Hitomi felt her heart begin to race with worry, as her mind began to sharpen since she awoke in this odd place. Her thoughts were slowly registering, as if waking on a groggy morning, and a frightened feeling became impeccable. Scared, she flung her arms this way and that, trying to escape the dreary world, feeling a clamming sensation jar her throat. She waited for more words to speak out of nowhere, but she heard nothing but that drifting melody…

"Promised you what? Who are you??"

Hitomi's voice was surprisingly loud and powerful in the realm of darkness. She stilled herself, although she couldn't be entirely sure if she was still floating in any direction, she couldn't feel a thing about position or location. Her fists were tightly clenched, and she could still make out that ever-annoying song, barely audible above her deep, anxious breaths. She was here, alone, trapped in another one of her psychotic visions with God knows what, talking to her.

"You promised me you would never forget."

Hitomi was taken slightly aback by the invisible entity's response, and thought it over. The voice was beginning to become less intimidating, and a slight bit more conversational, as if it just wanted to talk. Whoever did the talking though, was still beyond her sight, and there was still not a speck of light where she lay, or stood, or floated. Hitomi felt a new feeling within her aside from stress and fear: frustration. She didn't understand why that stupid song would be playing, or why that voice was speaking to her. She was hearing voices in her head. Hitomi was slowly convincing herself she was losing it.

"I asked you before, who are you? Tell me! Tell me, who are you and what have I forgotten huh? TELL ME!"

Hitomi's voice rose with a mixture of fear and aggravation. She wanted nothing but to get out of here, of this weird, eerie dimension she didn't long to be a part of. The least that could help was for this voice to be a little more straightforward and for that song to shut up.

"You promised me you would never forget. I have never forgotten you in any time, in any place."

"What is that supposed to mean?? Who the hell are you!! GET ME OUT OF HERE!!! Will someone please shut that stupid song off!?!"

Hitomi's anger blended with her full consciousness as she realized her only means here was to escape. She didn't care about whatever promises or other junk that voice was endlessly blabbing about in confusing riddles; she figured it was just another figment of her disturbed mind. She decided to pay it no heed, and widened her eyes as if it would only help something to become visible in the pit of black.

"The song will continue to play until you understand, Hitomi."

Hitomi could feel a powerful sense rise in her, one of demand and one of anxiety at the same time. She swam along the blankness, as if to progress back to where she started, then let out a scream of frustration. Her legs kicked madly in front of her, every so often hitting herself, as she could not see where they were. Her fingers were plodded deep into her ears, trying to shut out her surroundings, trying to will herself back to sleep. But it was obviously futile, both the music and the voice was apparently not something that she heard, but something in her mind. She could have been entirely deaf, but the sounds would not go away. They were living in her head.

"WHO… ARE … YOU??!!!??"

Hitomi took in deep, slow breaths, trying to relax herself as she had been taught in her psychiatric sessions so long ago. It was actually pretty helpful, as she sensed her mind becoming slightly more rational in this irrational state of being. After all, she had managed so far from letting out in a scream of insane wails and profanity.

"Let me show you."

Hitomi, even more taken aback by the response this time, let out a huge sigh of relief at the voice's newfound cooperation. Unfortunately, her sigh did not last long, turning more into a garbled recycle of air then into a full pledged shrieking scream. If anything had been frightening in the vision so far (keeping in mind that everything was pretty equally frightening), this had to be the worst sensation of them all. There wasn't a doubt in Hitomi's mind.

She was falling.

She shut her eyes quickly, managing to actually block out the music for a few seconds underneath the shrillness of her cries for help. She could sense the horridly realistic feeling of wind gushing past her traumatized body at amazing speeds, dangerous speeds. She could feel nothing that could hold her back, no safety cords or strings, nothing but the clothes she wore upon her to break the fall she was obviously in. She had never felt such a sensation as freefalling, ever in her life. It was too intense for such a simple-minded girl who found roller coasters intimidating. Her screams were too loud that it not only hurt her throat, but ears as well. Through her tightly squeezed eyelids, she could see a faint lightness appear as a bright, red blotch.

She opened her eyes quickly; there was light! Hitomi was surprised by it, but didn't have much time to think at such a critical situation. All these thoughts were streaming through her head in underneath a second, but her mind stretched it out for her to feel everything in a slow-motion sense, as if to add to the agony.

The light above her, drifting away quickly, was a bright white slit at the mouth of the crevasse, which she knew in an instant she was falling into. Her vision adjusted enough to make out the walls of lines rushing past her in astonishing speeds. The lines were nothing but the gritty dividers between the hundreds of layers of aged rock of the surrounding ground she was falling deeper within. Hitomi knew all this already. Her mind processed everything at even a faster rate than she was falling. Hitomi knew it all too well.

This was her nightmare. This was that ever-consistent dream that bothered her night after night, and woe begone, here she was living it. There was a major difference though between a vision and a dream. In dreams Hitomi didn't feel a sense of danger, or insecurity. In dreams Hitomi wasn't able to function herself, or talk to other characters. In dreams Hitomi wasn't able to feel emotions, or think and comprehend, and most importantly, feel the sense of not only danger, but also death.

Death. Hitomi could feel its presence, knocking at her door. She knew without much of a doubt that this was no bottomless pit. One way or the other, the ending of this was inevitable. She couldn't quite believe it! Death was the word that lingered. But then Hitomi remembered, her dream was not quite over yet now was it... There was always that second part… the part when…

As if on signal, just like a bullet streaming through the air, a dashing figure ripped through the minifying wall of light above, at first nothing more than a dark speck in the sky, but evolving into a swift, mysterious shape sending after her at almost double the speed she fell.

Hitomi's heart pounced lightly with a beat of hope. She felt a strange sense of safety as the figure closed in on her. Her mind, delusional with fear and relief, watched in awe as the outline of silver-glimmering wings flooded her view, as it did nearly every night, but never as great, never as real…

Feathers, bright beautiful feathers, just like the ones she had seen in her vision by the bakery, glided delicately by her side. A smile crept its way onto Hitomi's once traumatized image. She could see him now, coming closer, becoming clearer. Hitomi's frail heart pounded mercilessly, knowing this was where the dream always ended. This was the point where she would awake and know everything she had seen meant nothing at all, but now… but now… she wasn't going anywhere. Her mind was focused on what was happening, there was no waking up now, for she was already fully awake.

Her right hand drifted itself up to the angelic figure, looking to reach the gloved hand that longed to grasp her own. His hair flowing dreamily in the rush of wind seemed to slow as time did itself. His muscled arm extended, seemed to creep closer to hers, until their fingers were merely inches apart. She gazed into the face she could never clearly see, then instantly, Hitomi knew.

It was not Allen.

It was not Amano.

The winged figure of which she always saw, of whom had saved her life that fateful day which Hitomi knew existed and no longer denied, had been a person she had known and had forgotten all along. He had been right. She had broken her promise. Hitomi had forgotten all along, until now, until he had saved her life once again.

"Hitomi, now should I tell you who I am?"

"No Van, I already know."

Millions of questioning thoughts blazed through her mind as she allowed him to sweep her into his strong arms, and feel the immense power flowing through the muscles of his beautiful wings, wings with not just beauty but strength, strength as in a 3metre wingspan. Her mind dazed, she barely noticed as he fought incredibly to pull them past the weighs of gravity in a dizzying funnel of wind, and back to the open again. Hitomi didn't even notice herself appear once more into the usual room of nothingness, the scene before having entirely disappeared.

Van. Van. Van.

It was the underlying thought that insisted at her, as persistent enough as even the song that still continued to play though Hitomi barely noticed. She was thinking of many things, many things that required many hours of thinking. Her mind searched, puzzled, and questioned, but the result was never clear.

Van. That name had never meant much more to her than the kid she often saw in dreams or that one vision. She had been convinced that was all that 'Van Fanel' ever was and ever would be, a creation of her mind. This was what Hitomi was trained to believe. This was what had been constantly drilled into her mind until the thought never escaped, and began to be accepted as reality. Hitomi had developed a barrier in her therapy years, a mental barrier that was stronger than any physical wall that could ever be built. Hitomi's mind had convinced itself, and convinced everyone else, that there were no secrets to her. There was no mixed past. Everything was normal, average, and just what the doctor ordered.

It turned out her wall was not as strong and stable as she had thought it to be.

There was a brick missing, a small brick out of thousands, but just enough to let something leak in from the other side. Just enough to enable her mind to play with her thoughts, to enkindle the memories she had forcibly put away. And now it was too late, there was no blocking out what had come through. What Hitomi knew now could not be erased, and would not be forgotten any time soon.

Van Fanel was not just the person within her visions. Van was not just an ordinary person, as Hitomi was not an ordinary girl. Van was very different; very real, he was very special from anyone else she had ever known. Hitomi knew now, Van was that boy who had said her name as in her vision, who had said he loved her. Hitomi was that girl, that girl who had left, the girl he missed, the girl from the Mystic Moon. Hitomi knew that Van, more so her affection to Van, her love to Van, was the incessant power behind all of her visions, behind her dreams, behind her premonitions, even behind the magic of her pendant! But he was not just a boy she had once known. Van was also the man she had met in Gore Park that fateful night, when the stars aligned in their favor; that had been Van Fanel as well. She couldn't explain it, nor could she understand it, but she knew it, and that was that. He was in her dreams, in her visions, in her world, and now in her heart. Van had come for her.

Things started to settle in Hitomi's clouded mind, understanding yet confused. She knew now that she had all the pieces to Van's puzzle, but the problem was putting them together. She knew not what he wanted from her, she knew not why he came for her, and she knew not why she felt so strongly for him, a stranger yet a friend all at the same time.

"Van… I am so sorry."

Despite all that ran through her head, she had a feeling he was still with her, listening, and waiting, until she would come back to him and know everything she once did. For the first time in a long time, Hitomi was trying to remember the Time. The Time would be the key to putting the many pieces in place.

"It's not your fault, Hitomi. I'm sorry you had to go through all that you did."

"Van… please, show me more! I… I… know I can remember you… if I try… if you'll help me."

Hitomi felt a comforting feeling all over, as if the Van she could not see was smiling with her. She blinked sullenly in the darkness, overwhelmed with her personal thoughts and reflections. She narrowed it all down to one thing. One longing that was beginning to grow within her, a longing to remember, a longing to know, a longing to love the way she knew she once did.

As expected, Hitomi drifted on to another setting, another vague yet familiar memory relived through the Van that moved inside of her. Her fear had departed and only the longing remained. She now had the rare opportunity to turn her life around, and finally dive into the chapter she had skipped one too many times. There was no denying it now. There was no one to tell her what she could and could not believe. There was no outside world to her at the moment being; it was just Hitomi and Van and the past they had left behind.

Hitomi let out a startled breath as she found herself standing, actually standing inside, a gloomy, dim-lit room. She stood still for a moment, as if to grasp things and try to make sense of her surroundings. Thoughts slowly came to, such as the realization she was still wearing that Warden sweater and jogging pants she had worn before she fell asleep, and that the music, the song that had been bugging her constantly, was still there. After blinking blankly for a few seconds, Hitomi turned to see lined figures before her. They were bars. Prison bars.

Hitomi was in a prison cell, an old-fashioned prison cell! She noticed instantly that she was in a very strange setting, as if back to the Medieval times of knights, and kings and queens. The armor of the prison guards looked almost ancient to her, and the prison itself looked more like a dungeon than any modern-day correctional facility.

It didn't take her too long to figure it out, as she ran her fingers over the grimy, black steel, which held her captive, which held them captive. She had to stare for a moment to let her eyes adjust to the weak lighting, and noticed she was staring at three, motionless figures sitting bleakly on the other side of the cell with her. One of them was Van, Van Fanel.

"Van!" Hitomi let out an excited shout, running over to the person she had been thinking about so much lately. She was wondering if he would remember what they had been talking about, about the promises and all.

But then Hitomi's smile instantly faded. She stood directly before his slouched image, crying his name with joy, but noticing his inattentive response. She knew in a second's time, he couldn't see her. She stood right there, right in front of him, merely inches away, and yet he didn't even know. The disappointment that flashed across Hitomi's face was blankly obvious. She had been hoping that she might be able to talk to him, face to face, with one another. But it looked as if her mind intended this to be one of those visions in which Hitomi was simply the silent spectator. She would just have to hang around and watch what would come to happen.

Sighing, Hitomi turned her attention to Van's other two inmates. She recognized the girl quite easily; it wasn't hard to forget such a furry face. It was that Merle-cat, that whiny little one from her previous vision. As Hitomi studied the poignant figure clung onto the pensive Van's arm, she couldn't help but analyze the thoughts that began forming in her mind. She looked at Merle carefully, examined every little detail as things were starting to come to. She remembered… small things, little things… such as Merle's undoubted curiosity, when she would often pry through all of Hitomi's belongings at one time or another. And also, there was that look. That worry-stricken look that peeled on Merle's face every time Van engaged in something dangerous, or life threatening. And of course there was Merle's stubborn attitude always craving for attention, always out to give Hitomi a hard time.

Hitomi smiled. She was doing it! She was remembering! By just automatically knowing these things about Merle, she knew a part of that mysterious puzzle had been joined together. She had managed to decipher enough clues to hint her just a step closer to answering that longing within her. Each step, each connected piece, brought her further from her reality and further into the reality, the real reality.

Proud of her mental accomplishments so far, Hitomi focused her attention to the third figure, standing by the bars, looking out into the murky hallways where she could see guards aimlessly walking by. She had to center out her other thoughts, and try not to let them interfere. There was this insisting intuition telling her she knew this figure, this man, from somewhere. In fact, her mind had it played that it was Amano! But Hitomi knew that was silly. She had seen this particular man in her vision before, the one running from her and calling her name, and she knew it was not Amano. Amano did not have the same sapphire eyes, nor the pale blonde hair that swept clear past his waist. She knew this was no Amano, though someone quite similar, it was Allen. She could only come up with the name because she remembered herself knowing it for some reason from before. She remembered this 'Allen', but much vaguely than she remembered Van or Merle. Hitomi had to stay still, let her mind relax yet focus to try and understand his part of the mystery.

Allen. Allen what? Hitomi didn't know, yet she knew that somewhere deep within she knew everything about him, his last name, his family, everything. But where was that memory now? She would have to continue staring at him until she found that out.

As Hitomi stepped closer she began to realize a strange feeling growing inside her concerning this Allen. While she silently watched him gazing through those sturdy poles she knew there was an odd… an odd addition to their relationship. She knew that she had known him before, most likely even had been friends with him, but there was more… much more to that than just friendship.

Hitomi squinted her eyes as she tried to figure it out… thinking slowly.

"Lord Van, why are they keeping us here?" Hitomi turned her attention as the little Merle tugged incessantly at Van's burgundy top.

She watched Van let out a small, exasperated sigh as he too turned his attention beyond the prison bars. Hitomi could tell that he knew why they were in the prison, but he didn't understand why it was necessary. She knew and he knew that they had done nothing wrong to those who had imprisoned them.

"I'm not too sure Merle, I guess Frade just has some sort of problem with us," Van finally replied then gave a look up to Allen who was still standing motionless by the gate. Hitomi noticed Allen's guise; it seemed strange. She could recall him wearing a more… more formal outfit in her other vision; he had even looked somewhat like a medieval knight! But now she noticed Allen was dressed in a long, pale green piece of clothing that stretched down to his ankles.

'Somewhat like a hospital gown…' a thought occurred at Hitomi's mind. As she watched she caught Allen wincing every so often, hunching over and leaning slightly to the left. She began wondering if he had been hurt, she could sense he was probably suffering from some sort of injury.

"How much longer do they have to question her?" Hitomi looked on alarmed as Van suddenly arose and stood by his taller companion. He too watched the guards outside their pen, hoping only for the opportunity to escape. Hitomi could sense escape was the one thing on both Allen's and Van's minds.

Allen frowned, his face buried in thought, "Who knows, but we'll soon be next. With all of Hitomi's mind powers I'm sure Plactu would take extra time to hear her out. This is all such a waste of time… she didn't do anything and neither did we."

Van nodded agreeably, and simply acted submissive as he felt Merle's frightened little hand take his. Hitomi watched this all incredibly curiously, trusting them and feeling that they were innocent. Why would Van, wonderful Van, and sincere Allen, and little Merle be guilty of anything, especially imprisonment?

But even before any other thought could strike Hitomi's pondering mind a loud shrill scream pierced from a room far down the prison halls. Hitomi nearly fell back in surprise, as old-fashioned prison guards ran past quickly in all the commotion. But Hitomi's thoughts were elsewhere now. That scream, that scream had sounded like… well almost like hers! Her own voice! Hitomi didn't know what to make of it! Had that been her?

Obviously, her fellow friends were concerned with the situation as well, confirming that the scream had come from her, from her in another time and place.

"Hitomi!" Allen let out a worried breath, straining his eyes to see past the walls and to the direction the many soldiers were now headed. He could hear many worried voices discussing, and sometimes even shouting orders.

Van wasn't acting very placid himself. He paced quickly annoyed at his lack of freedom at such a critical time. Catching sight of Merle's worried stricken face, he knew he couldn't take much more.

"HEY!! What's happening?!?!" Van repeated, and yelled over and over, screaming to the guards who insensitively ran by. They didn't pay much heed to any of their unruly prisoners.

"What is happening? HEY!" Van's impatience and worry was too commanding, and he reached his arm out managing to barely grasp the shoulder of one of the hurrying guards who scarcely paid him mind.

The hall lanterns glimmered on the guard's baldhead, as he leaned in closer to hear Van's words amongst the turmoil.

"What was that scream?"

The guard did not hesitate to answer, "The prisoner's heart stopped."

Turning after satisfying them, the guard flung down the brick stairs and disappeared from sight. Hitomi watched in total awe and disbelief amongst the many gasps of her fellow inmates. Were they talking about her, herself of this time? Had her heart actually stopped before in this bizarre place? Was she ever that close to death as for her heart to stop beating?

Hitomi turned to see Van's face paling, his grip tightening immensely as he clutched the bars with fear. She could sense him endlessly wondering what he was to do, what he could do to help her… in that other time…

"Oh Hitomi…" Merle's anxious voice once again cut the silence, right before young Prince Shied's came cutting in.

"Allen! Allen!" The small boy with arms flailing came running from down the prison hall to quickly stop outside their cell, panting from the run and nervous with the urgency.

"Hitomi, it's Hitomi!"

Van quickly bent over and glared at the young prince in his small green uniform complete with a feather crown through the square view between each rail.

"Please Highness, let us out of here now," Van's demanding voice came out as a mixture of a command and a plea, perfectly aware that Shied was the only one who could help Van, and Van was the only one who could help Hitomi.

Hitomi herself watched anxiously, wondering why Prince Shied would come to prisoners for help, but then again, the prisoners were Hitomi's friends after all. Hitomi wondered at why she was referring to herself as a third person, but decided not to think of it and watched the dramatic scene take place in her wonder of silence.

"But I-" Shied began to stammer nervously; pressure being so adequately placed on his shoulders. "But I can't!"

Hitomi could feel her heart whipping around recklessly, as her eyes busily watched, and listened, and waited with dire anticipation to see what would become of Hitomi. She was bound to live, after all she wouldn't be standing here today if Hitomi were to die, but she didn't know with visions, anything was possible.

"Please hurry, I'm begging you Highness!"

Allen watched in total aggravation as Shied sadly shook his head in response to Van's cries for help. There was no time. He knew that. He wasn't going to put up with being locked up in a cell for no reason, while his friend was on the brink of life and death.

"Come here!"

Allen's harsh tone came as a surprise to all, and even more so when his right arm quickly looped through the bars and violently pulled the young Prince towards him, pinning him in-between the bars and himself.

Hitomi, taken aback by the action, watched in pure uneasiness as did Merle, feeling each second stretch by longer than was necessary, feeling each second wasted was already a second too late.

"Highness!!!"

Hitomi's head jerked upwards in surprise as she saw a heavy-built, coloured man with a Mohawk cut angrily appear by their cell, giving Allen a very dangerous warning glance. Hitomi could sense that this man had something to do with Shied, he protected him, and she knew that he was no friend to Allen.

Allen quickly sensed the anger easily transmitted from the man on the other side as well as the many armored guards who accompanied him.

"Just open the door…please," Hitomi sensed Allen's tone, commanding yet rational.

The man grimaced easily not fond of bending backwards for a prisoner, but totally conscious of the well being of his Prince. He knew he'd have to make a regrettable decision.

"Don't think that you're going to get away with this, Allen Sheizar," he made the most scornful look as his other guards and servants unlocked the large gate of Hitomi's prison cell for the sake of Shied.

"We'll see about that, now just move!!" Allen, still defensively gripping to the helpless boy, waited to make sure Merle and Van were free as well. He also made sure that the guards wouldn't touch any of them until they made their way to Hitomi.

Hitomi herself had to quickly scamper out with Merle just as the gate was shut behind her, the guards of course not aware of her presence. She was glad to see of their escape, but worried to see Allen's new change of attitude. She had a feeling that rising against authority wasn't his style (more like Van's) but he had to do what was necessary at the moment, and hell, it had worked.

She looked ahead to see Van already running at top speed, racing through the dimly lit halls in the direction of the uproar. Merle was scampering alongside, running swiftly on all fours at astounding speeds.

Hitomi picked up her own pace, catching up easily, sensing that her running skills hadn't lacked over the years after all. Her mind tried to focus, and she tried to set herself into the scene. It was hard though, for it was very unlike the falling vision. In that falling-angel vision she had at least been experiencing it head-on. In this one, she didn't have much panic racing through her, knowing if it was another Hitomi they were dealing with, than she wasn't in any danger at all.

Still, Hitomi couldn't help but feel a load of relief as they finally arrived at what was the interrogation room, lit brightly by the illumination floating from the glare of the two moons shining in between wooden bars, high up in the skylight.

Her eyes quickly examined her surroundings, spotting a fair-haired, light blonde woman sitting dressed in a conservative pink Maiden's gown, directly above her limp body amongst the building crowd. Hitomi had to stand still for a long time to grasp it all. That was her! She moved closer, and of course she knew it was true. Hitomi could see Hitomi, herself of this time, laying unmoving without response on the hard, concrete floor in her old high-school uniform. Hitomi found it absolutely astonishing yet frightening at the same time. Her own image looked about as good as dead, eyes fogged over with a worrisome glisten. That woman was perched beside her fainted body, hands placed firmly in the center of her still chest, feverishly pounding in a continuous pattern quite like CPR, in a dire attempt to rescue her, to rescue Hitomi. Her attempts so far proved unsuccessful.

Hitomi's live heart leaped, and she could feel the sweat beginning to build along her palms. She felt so close yet so distant from the action all at once. She wanted to scream at her fainted self to get up and to quit scaring the living daylights out of everyone, but still her reflected image remained immobile and daunting.

"Come on Hitomi, just hold on, don't die Hitomi!" The woman was constantly hushing pleads to the frozen body, as her own body pounded hard in hopes that the young girl would come to, that she would be alright. In the agonizing moments that passed, Hitomi still lay lifeless.

"Hitomi, hold on, you'll be okay!"

The others watched in breathless anticipation as well, Merle having to hold back to contain tears, Allen still gripping Shied but mainly more because of worry than ransom.

Van immediately appeared by the woman's side the second he approached the room. Hitomi also sensed a name for her helper at the same time: Princess Milerna.

Milerna, still endlessly pumping imaginary life worriedly, saw the lines of anxiety scratch across Van's face. She felt a sudden compassion towards him, knowing she had to return Hitomi to life, if not for herself and for everyone else, but for Van.

"Her heart won't start," she stated the obvious to him, hoping that he would have an idea.

Van did.

"Is this right?" he gently pushed Milerna aside and replaced her position above Hitomi, roughly gloved hands resting on Hitomi's cooling skin of her unmoving chest.

The observing Hitomi felt a gleam of hope as she usually did with Van Fanel, and continued to watch anxiously, biting her lip with worry.

"Yes that's right," Milerna instantly sensed Van's intentions, and didn't hesitate to guide him. "Push in time with your own heartbeat."

'In time with my heartbeat,' the thought pounded into Van's exhausted mind. He didn't know how to perform any sort of emergency medical procedure unlike Milerna, but if it involved saving Hitomi's life, he would do it and he would succeed.

His arms and body began heaving towards the sound of his heart, upwards then downward, pumping furiously as he stared his inert companion in her wide, static eyes. Each second grew onto his angst, and made him wonder if this was it… if this was it and if there wasn't any hope left…

"Yes! Push harder! HARDER!" Milerna's strict demands came blaring into his left ear, but he held no resentment. She knew what she was doing, and he would have to obey.

'Please don't leave me, Hitomi,' the thought was what motivated Van, and he continued on pushing as hard as he could as Milerna ordered, wishing for Hitomi to awaken, or for him to awaken and at least escape this world of trauma.

"Wake up damn you!" Hitomi couldn't help but hush the words quickly as she spotted the desperate Van unfruitful so far in his attempts to resurrect her. Hitomi was touched by their care, their determination for her, a stranger; but insulted by the fact that she wasn't awakening. She was giving everyone a hard time, especially Van. Hitomi hated being trouble, especially knowing that she would live through it while nearly killing everyone else in the experience.

Hitomi studied the other Hitomi carefully. There was some sort of strange message floating from her younger self. She didn't know why, but it was like the other her was not waking because she was still adrift in another world, quite like present day Hitomi was adrift in a vision. Hitomi knew that she usually tapped out whenever she rarely had visions, such as that incident with Amano and Cathy. Could that be what was happening to that younger her right now?

"Breathe… BREATHE!" Van's heart itself was drained with fear and his mind edgy with impatience. It had been long now, too long. How much longer could Hitomi hold on anyway? How much longer until they would all know what was to become of her?

Merle was burying herself in the worry of her hands, leaning close towards Allen and Shied. Her eyes refused to peel off Van and Hitomi.

"Will she be okay, Van?"

Van did not reply, knowing that he himself didn't know the answer and wished he did.

"Hitomi, you have to wake up…" Milerna watched in dismay, losing hope with every prolonged moment.

"Hitomi…" Shied hushed, adding to the commotion, holding tightly to Allen's arm.

"Come on!! Just snap out of it Hitomi!!!" Van's worried voice was filled with command, frustration and panic most of all. He had been giving it his all and he couldn't come to believe losing her would be the result. It wasn't going to end this way, not on his guard, not with her, not with Hitomi.

Suddenly to everyone's stunned surprise, the stationary Hitomi abruptly sat up, eyes widened, then curled over coughing and hacking endlessly.

Almost as if on signal, the crowds let out an enormous breath of relief.

"She's going to be okay…" Milerna confirmed, holding onto the shaking and stricken Hitomi, still trying to regain her health.

Van lay back, entirely exhausted but joyful deep inside. That had been too close, but he knew it wasn't like Hitomi to cut it short. She had lived through a lot; he trusted she would live through anything as long as he was around to insure it.

The watching Hitomi let out a whoop of joy, feeling a rush to go out and hug Van, embrace him with everything she had, after all, he had just managed to rescue her a second time! Hitomi had a good feeling that he had done that a lot for her, hadn't he… She couldn't believe it. Van Fanel! Van Fanel was her hero!!!

But before Hitomi could see what else would come of her traumatized younger self, or Allen and the other prisoners, she felt her feet rise off the floor, and instantly she sensed her body bolting upwards away from the scene. A part of her didn't want to go, just wished to stay, but she didn't struggle to avoid anything. An image was starting to form, but the rest of the puzzle still lay scattered.

Hitomi found herself drifting once again in her usual room of black, quite comfortable with the scenario after her last quite exhilarating experience. A part of her still felt indulged with that moment, like she hadn't just been seeing it all, but rather experiencing it. She couldn't help but wonder what had happened next.

The song was still drifting lightly, and Hitomi hadn't even noticed it for most of the while. This time though, Hitomi began to sing along with each line as it played for like the fiftieth time, and she couldn't help but dwell on the words a little longer.

"Hitomi, do you remember now?"

The voice, Van's voice, brought her back to her dreamy reality. She felt happy to know it was there, happy to know he was there, in her mind.

"Yes Van, I know who you are! I know Allen Sheizar, and Merle, and Prince Shied, Milerna; and I know how you saved my life again!! Did I ever thank you?"

She waited anxiously for a response.

"You never had to Hitomi. I never saved you to be thanked. I saved you because I would never stand back and allow you to be harmed. I promised myself that many times."

"Wow…"

Hitomi felt quite ashamed that this Van could speak so well mannerly, while she couldn't even find words to keep up conversation. She found it a little difficult though to speak definably when she couldn't even see a thing.

"But… but… Van I need to thank you! Please, let me see you. I owe so much to you."

She could sense the voice, Van's voice, hesitating.

"I'm sorry, Hitomi, but there is more for you."

"More? More? But why? What else is there?"

"Hitomi, there is still a lot you cannot recall without being reminded. I must help you do this, until you understand."

Understand? What was there for Hitomi to understand? But there wasn't any time for Hitomi to plod through these things, because as expected, she was almost immediately transferred again, to return once again to Van's world, to the world that obviously the most important part of her life had been lived in, and totally wiped off her memory. Hitomi was starting to build a newfound hate to Nathaniel Teroka. He had made her forget all this? All these moments? Life-treasuring moments surrounded by those who had really cared for her? Was it because of him and her mother that she could hardly recall anything about her other true friends of another world?

It didn't seem fair to Hitomi at the time, but it had to be fair. After all, she was living her chance to remember right at that moment. She was living the opportunity to go back to that Time, to know why it was so meaningful to her, to remember.

In only a sliver of time, Hitomi was dazed and amazed to find herself immersed into a great, blinding light. She wheeled around in circles for a few seconds often ambushed by visions of blue and sky, then in merely moments sitting perfectly still on the fifth step up of a concrete flight of outdoor stairs.

Hitomi blinked once, then twice.

She was gazing blankly for a lot longer than she could count, before her mind was restored within her. Her thoughts came slapping back and the realization that she was once again in the midst of a strange and unfamiliar place came to mind. Fright was starting to build inside her body and mind again, but she forcibly pushed it out. She knew why she was here; there was no reason to be afraid. Each vision came with reason she had to understand. She needed to focus on other things, where she was, her surroundings for instance.

'It's beautiful,' Hitomi finally turned her attention away from herself, to look up and beyond her. It was one of the most amazing sights Hitomi would ever come to see. She was sitting in the middle of a type of seating area with concrete flooring in the center, and an antique spout fountain adding elegance in-between it all. Up above the seating scene, she could see the many outlines and rooftops of aged, brick-layer buildings and homes with small, square, dim windows, stretching much thinner and higher than the houses she knew of her time. Out on the front of many of the structures were small shops complete with ragged lean-to awnings, sheltering many food produce and pottery items, and other ancient necessities. The street sides were nothing but yellow dirt roads, odd looking cattle and horses dragging behind large wooden carts full of barrels and crates for the many street stores. Merchants and peasants either shopped or sold, crossing through the busy roads or over the wooden bridges that lay across the many wondrous water canals beautifully lining the major streets of the city.

Hitomi was marveling at it all, at it's definite difference from the world she had left behind. She knew Earth had looked once like this with the great forest backgrounds, the people with their children chatting by the alleyways and small backyards, buildings and castles that were now in her time destroyed or withered, but that had been very, very long ago. It reminded Hitomi almost of not really medieval times, but sort of like Biblical times. It looked to her as if she had gone back by two whole millenniums; into an age before complex governmental systems, before various technology and invention spurts, and almost as if long before Hitomi's greatest-grandparent's very existence.

It was totally amazing, totally wondrous, this world, this world called 'Gaea'. She knew it was Gaea, the world created from the Power of Atlantis, she knew this was the very richness in which her other friends lived, the richness in which Van lived, Van Fanel himself.

Hitomi had to work hard to draw her eyes away from the divine scene and catch sight of her arms, her legs, and her whole body! Holy crow! Was that ever something! Hitomi was young again! She raised her hands up in alarm and surprise feeling her smaller face, younger features, and gawking in astonishment at the Aimsa Shoreline Public High uniform she had been convinced she lost almost two years ago. It was just…

'Oh my gosh, this is so weird!' It was all Hitomi could master to think as she inspected her whole self, amazed at what had changed in only near to six years. She could feel the awkwardness of her short auburn hair, which barely tickled her earlobes, the clamp, choking feeling of her seemingly extinct uniform oxford shirt, the lightness and agility of her flexible, strong and slender legs which she no longer really had in her time, and simply the strangeness of returning to a meek little fourteen-year old, an age she had definitely forgotten. Hitomi laughed out loud, this was just something! It wasn't everyday one could go back in time and relive their youth.

'Oh I wish Yukari and Amano could see this,' she shook her head in disbelief continuing to constantly pat her arms and legs as if to make sure she was there, to make sure it was her in this youthful body and she was here living it, living everything in this strange world. It excited her and thrilled her so much, and she almost instinctively arched her neck upwards.

Well, there was her home, far, far away. She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight with the palm of her left hand, gazing upwards at the faint image of Earth and it's moon, not too far off in the distance, a mere speck in the daylight sky. She had often seen such an image of two moons in her dreams and previous vision, but to see it for herself sitting amidst the clouds and cotton candy blue of the Gaean skies was quite outstanding. Everything was! Everything was outstanding!

As she wiped the sweat off her brow (the weather was much warmer than she would have come to expect from a vision) Hitomi thought maybe it would be interesting if she got up and explored a little bit. Maybe that was what Van wanted her to do in this vision; to go and find him and discover the truth, to 'understand' as he wanted her to.

Hitomi was enthralled at the idea of finding that Van, of finding her hero and allowing her own self, just her, to go and talk to him, one-to-one, where she could see him, hear him, feel him, touch him. She began to run through in her mind all that she would say to him-

Hitomi froze.

Hitomi froze even before she could stand, even before she could first think of where to go. She knew in a second she wasn't going to go anywhere. She was going to stay here.

'Why would I stay here?'

The thought bothered her, why had she just been impelled to stay put? She did want to go and explore, so what was with this little edging sense in her mind to stay where she was?

'Stay here.'

She could feel herself commanding herself to remain where she was, to block off any exploration wants and to stay here, in the burning sun without anyone she knew in sight, and without Van. But why? Why was she feeling this inside? What was going on?

Didn't she want to go find Van and the others? Didn't she want to find out where she was, and what was happening, and more about the Time?

The confusion was seriously starting to scare her quite a bit, wondering why her own body and mind were in a state of debate. It was like commanding your arm to move, yet growing an argument against another part of you, which did not want the arm to move. That wasn't possible was it? To actually feel your own personality lost in decision? It couldn't be, not unless you had a split personality or something just like the people in the cracker-houses… Hitomi didn't think she was crazy, and no she was not in denial. She was in this vision after all; this vision proved she wasn't crazy! It proved that those things she had said about that Time were true! It was true; she was here! But what about that second intuition she was having… did that prove she was crazy? Why did she have two senses at once? It couldn't have been normal!

'Oh… geeze… I'm losing it…' Hitomi furrowed her head in her hands, trying to will herself to stand but still that something held her back. Something was pulling her, teasing her and commanding her to stay where she was. She didn't see why, she didn't see any threatening consequences of doing a little exploration but yet she did just as she was told. There was something stronger at work here.

Before Hitomi could try for a second time to get herself up and take a look around, an even worse feeling than repression came at hand: remorse. Hitomi couldn't believe it. Just what was going on inside of her? She was feeling guilty! It was so true! A strange, awkward sensation was now bounding her back from even thinking straight, setting a heavy burden upon her chest of which she didn't know what. Why? Why was she feeling ashamed of something she didn't even know what was? It wasn't making any sense at all? What kind of vision was this…some sort of mental game?

The feeling grew stronger, made Hitomi's stomach twist and churn in despair. A feeling of mortification to herself began to grow, and she could sense a daunting thought in her mind. What had Hitomi done wrong? What? She felt she knew something, something horrid that needed to be told, but she was keeping it all to herself.

Wait a minute, Hitomi thought suddenly.

Maybe this was it. This was yet another level Van wanted her to understand. Maybe while she was in the Time there had been something she had been guilty of, that had held her back and made her hate herself inside. That was sure how Hitomi felt now, totally disgraced, but of what? Just what could be making her feel so down? What secret did Hitomi know, or once know, that was so important for her to understand?

Hitomi sat in absorption of thought and sunlight, scanning through her thoughts and memories but constantly coming up blank. There was still that feeling though, that heavy, damp feeling of fault that was prying at her mind. Hitomi would not be able to think straight, to function clearly without passing this sort of test. She had to, just absolutely had to, figure out what was eating at her well-being. Something was, she had done something and it was all a matter of finding out what. An upside-down smile scrawled across her dismayed face.

"Hitomi…"

Startled Hitomi's seemingly two minds unfocused then refocused on someone who had called to her. She hadn't even seen him come, he was standing merely five feet or so away on the hot concrete, standing casually leaning a bit on his left knee and holding onto a small, burlap sack.

"Oh my gosh, VAN!" The words barely fumbled out of Hitomi's mouth. She was astounded! It was Van Fanel, talking to her at last!! It couldn't be!! She didn't need to find him; he had found her! But why… again that question: Why? Why had she just said 'oh my gosh, van' in a low, barely audible mumble? Hitomi had meant to scream that out with fistfuls of joy, running over to hug him in triumph to get her wishes granted on meeting him at last, but instead she sounded as down as that blue donkey in Winnie the Pooh. It was that depression wasn't it? It now held her whole body victim. Hitomi knew that she wasn't smiling. She wanted to smile, longed to smile, but she knew she wasn't, her mouth probably stretched in a thin, firm, unappealing line. That was no way to act around Van, but she couldn't help it! The depression was beginning to sink further and root into her outside actions, not just mentally but physically as well! Her excited, happy self was being held prison in this unknown mopey state of being.

Obviously she was not the only one who noticed.

"Hey, what's wrong?" The wondrous Van cocked his head sideways, giving her a surprising friendly glance and moving a step closer.

Hitomi hesitated to respond, eyeing this mysterious figure up close for the first time. Clearly now she could examine those familiar, chestnut eyes she had looked into many times before. That time in her vision, when he had cried out for her, he had looked exactly the same way, so youthful, adventurous, rugged and tough to the bone. His voice showed authority, his presence: power. He had those most adorable eyes hidden behind those black bangs, deep black bangs she remembered seeing dotted with snowflakes that night back in March, back in Gore Park. That long and lanky figure of his was the exact replica of the man she knew in all her heart she had met that night, knowing in her own sixth sense that that man was the future image of this boy before her, dressed in his stringy red top and cropped beige pants, sword ever daunting by his side.

"Oh Van…" Hitomi's voice came out mixed with both admiration and despair, at least half of it this time coming out the way she wanted. She wanted to answer his question, to tell him what was wrong but she didn't even know! She just didn't understand!

Hitomi gasped in girly surprise as Van stepped over to where she was and plopped himself down beside her. Hitomi instantly felt her throat swell in nervousness and of course in that bothersome guilt, but mostly in awe of having to sit beside this oddly prestige figure. This Van Fanel, she felt so intimidated by him! She knew for one thing, he was her friend (obviously by his concern), she knew he was her sort of hero-guy after rescuing her enough times already, she knew he was somewhat like an angel in disguise, but she had this other strong feeling towards him. An infatuated, girlish attraction like the kind teenage gals would often have on the star football player on a high school team. It was amazing yet uncomforting to Hitomi, seeing as, hello, she was going to be married in 24 days now and counting, and this was the first time in nearly three years she had felt attracted to another man aside from Amano. And what was worse, Van wasn't really a man all right now, not like in Gore Park. Here he was still young; he was still fourteen Earth years old. And even though technically she was fourteen in her vision state of being, it was still awkward to feel such a drawing to what seemed at the moment like a younger guy.

He stared forward for a few moments, and then returned her glance. Hitomi blushed horribly just like back in March, when Van had caught her glaring at him.

"I've just been out doing some errands," he rested the burlap sack onto his lap. "What have you been up to, Hitomi?" Oh his voice was so smooth, so silky and handsome all by itself.

"I-" Hitomi's mind was trailing with thoughts and excuses as she tried feverishly to put aside her guilt infested feelings. She needed to think straight and this unnecessary depression was exhausting her. She looked down to her running shoes (which she didn't even know she had back when she was younger) thoughts and words getting awfully scrambled and mixed in her mind. That frown returned again to Hitomi's confused image.

Van's eyebrows knitted with concern to see his usually intuitive friend in such a gloomy position. He hadn't seen her so down before, and so unwilling to speak with him. He felt curious and compassionate all at the same time.

"Oh nothing I guess," Hitomi smiled inside in triumph as she finally mastered to respond in her restless series of thoughts. This was more than triple the amount of thinking one had to do to respond to such an easy question, but nonetheless, she felt proud to have accomplished at least that much.

Allen.

The word, or more so, the name, popped strangely into Hitomi's mind out of the blue. It was accompanied by a feeling, an emotion towards it, or towards the person, of a selfish sort of care… she didn't understand it. Was this the guilt? Was it about Allen? Was she finally receiving another hint here? But what about Allen…

Van sighed, feeling if he didn't do something, Hitomi's mood would become contagious. He stood and embraced the glorious sunrays, then looked on back down to his remorseful companion.

"Hey, Hitomi look, if it'll make you feel any better rather than being out here by yourself, come with me to my windmill by the edge of Palas, it isn't too far from here," he gave her a last cheering smile and hopped on down, already making his way to the sandy pathways through the pastures. He figured if he got a head start and left her behind, it would make Hitomi antsy to follow along.

She gave an alarmed glance to see Van quickly arise and practically disappear out of her sight as quickly as he had come. Hitomi was almost instinctively instructed to go and follow rather than to lose her chance to speak with him, and for the first time, her second self allowed her to get up and go. Feeling the rush of her young, exuberant body she galloped along until she was halfway down a meadow easily keeping up with his brisk pace.

Van gave a small, sideways smile, which was hard to notice if one didn't pay good attention. But Hitomi had seen it and felt a secret sense of pride as she walked alongside. Actually, she was sulking alongside in that moody state but inside, aside from the mysterious Allen guilt, she still felt on top of the world.

"What's at the mill, Van?" Wow! Hitomi was actually making conversation! She was beginning to wonder if she was finally beginning to overpower that pestering force within her.

Van, relieved to sense her willing to speak this time, nodded his head as he skipped over a few large stones in their path.

"Escaflowne. I had to store it there rather than at the Palace. I figure it'd be too much trouble for Milerna's family if I were to endanger them with Escaflowne around. At least if it's all the way out at the windmill, it's a smaller threat to those in the town. Besides, my father used to store it there as well. It makes easier access, and Zaibach would have a hard time locating it.."

Hitomi nodded in response, the only reply she could get out of her feuding persona. She could already spot the tips of the large mill-fan barely inching in the soft breeze. She remembered the machines in her first vision a while ago. Her hunches alerted her that that magnificent technological wonder was what Van called 'Escaflowne'. She also had an odd knowing that Escaflowne was a large part of Van's life, as it was hers. Why? Once again, she really didn't know.

Allen.

Milerna.

Wedding.

The thoughts jarred hopelessly into Hitomi's already confounded thoughts. That guilt… it had something to do with Allen and Milerna, and a wedding? It made little sense to her. Allen… the knight, the one whom she had strange feelings towards, then there was Milerna, Princess Milerna as she recalled, who had been experienced in medicine and had tried to save her… and a wedding? A wedding? Her wedding? No, it couldn't be, this was way before Hitomi and Amano were serious enough to even be considering marriage. But then where was the link between the three? And even if they did share any common bond, how could that make her feel miserable?

Hitomi began to puzzle over it again as Van pushed a large, barn-like door to the side as it rolled on its hinges. Hitomi peered into the looming darkness, slightly lit by the sunlight peeking through the window in the roof. She could make out the silhouettes of many crow or pigeon looking birds casting their larger shadows on the hay-filled, mill floor, right by where the monstrous Escaflowne sat in solitude. Hitomi had to brace herself at the sight of the thing, at the gigantic contraption complete with such an intricate design to put a jet fighter to shame, and at its immensity and obvious power. She could easily picture Van within it, managing that beast of a machine to flow graciously as the muscles in his body. It amazed her so at the thought.

"I'm just going to get some of Escaflowne's tools, you can go sit up there if you want, just don't disturb Escaflowne," he gave her a slight grin which Hitomi knew that he rarely did, then disappeared behind a loft of hay.

Hitomi gave a depressing sigh, wishing she could talk to him freely as she wanted to, wishing she wasn't so oppressed by her strange intuitions. She looked on high up above her where a second level was, coated with haystacks and a narrow, wooden ladder leaning up against it. She gave yet another sigh, then a frown, figuring she'd have to find her way up there somehow. She very well couldn't just stay down here all day.

After managing the nerve-hassling climb up, Hitomi rested herself amongst the yellow twigs and leaned against the coolness of the mill walls, glancing at the intimidating Escaflowne up front of her. She made it her business not to get too close, feeling highly unfamiliar and pretty scared of the humongous robot machine. It reminded her of those little Power Ranger robot figures all the little kids used to play with when she was much younger. The difference was this thing was not made of plastic; it could kill you more than you could kill it, and she was sure Bandai didn't endorse it.

Allen.

Milerna.

Together.

Wedding.

< br> Wrong.

Cards.

Right.

Huh? Hitomi quickly sorted through all of the quick thoughts that had came once again from nowhere, frowning at it's complication. Allen and Milerna, together. She figured that much. A strong, selfish feeling came to her when she thought of that. Allen and Milerna… yes there it was again! It felt selfish, but yet again it made her sad… so sad and depressed to think of the two… together. Hitomi recalled Allen easily, remembering those strange feelings towards him, weak yet persistent. She remembered how easily he resembled Amano, uncanny with their eyes and facial features. She knew then that she didn't want Allen and Milerna together, was that why their wedding was wrong?

Hitomi turned in surprise to see Van returning back down beneath her, glancing up at her, then sorting through many different abstract weapon-looking tools below. Hitomi watched semi-interested, thinking more of her newest puzzle to figure out.

All right, so now she knew why she felt sad. It had to do with the relationship between Allen and Milerna. She didn't want to see the two together because she had some sort of thing for Allen. But a great part of her told her that those two weren't the ones getting married, in fact they were the ones that should be getting married. So what was this about a wedding? Between who? She had a feeling it was one of them… one of them was to be married… but which one and to whom?

Allen or Milerna… it couldn't have been Allen. She remembered him, she remembered him looking at Milerna in the last vision… in a different way than he looked at everyone else. Milerna had returned the same look, but still Hitomi was convinced it was Milerna that was in the wrong marriage. It had to be, she just knew it, Milerna was marrying someone else, not Allen.

Then what about the guilt? Cards… her tarot cards? Could that be it? Her tarot cards were right? But about what? Allen and Milerna…. Well… if Allen and Milerna were meant to be together, then of course the cards would be right about that…

Then, nearly instantly, Hitomi got it. She let out a sigh of relief and victory.

"I can't believe this," she meant to scream it with joy but once again it came out as a sorrowful mutter.

Van quit rearranging his sharpening items and looked on up to where the desolate Hitomi sat. He still hadn't quite figured out what he would say to her, but it looked like she was making the first step.

She glanced down towards Van, who stared back with a look of curiosity and concern.

"I know Allen and Milerna aren't meant to be, I can't believe I lied! I did a stupid reading for Milerna and I told her she's supposed to marry… marry… um… Dryden! Yes Dryden, when the cards didn't even say that. Now I know both her and Allen will be miserable and it's all my fault. I make myself sick," She slouched further back into a realm of self-pity.

Van winced at the thought that Hitomi was sad because of that Allen again, but she did have solid reasons to be feeling down. He was concerned though for her surprising abundance of self-hatred, he found it too harsh for her, "You make yourself sick??"

Hitomi bobbed her head in depressive agreement, "I'm such a jerk. I play nice but I butt into everyone's business. I'm such an idiot."

Van furrowed his brows in contemplation at all of her crude marks about her own self. He sure wasn't fond of Hitomi acting this way… she was so quiet! She had been so silent and lost this whole time, it made Van feel uneasy and awkward in a way he usually never felt. Van wasn't quite sure how to go around and act about it. He pulled back a strip of black hair past his view, and then rummaged through his burlap sack from the grocery stand.

Hitomi's eyes widened in surprise as she barely managed to catch a flying fruit that landed in her hands. She glanced back down to see Van smiling up at her, heading up the ladder, holding onto a few tools and another duplicate fruit in his arms.

Hitomi glared at the rough-textured yellowish thing, which to her looked kind of like an overgrown pear mixed with banana genes. She really didn't know what to make of it, and simply observed Van as he handed her a baboon straw, then prepared his.

She mimicked his actions, cracking open the top narrow part of the tear-shape thing watching the oozing, orange juicy slime leak around her fingers. Wiping the sticky stuff off on her kilt, she stuck in the straw and took a careful sip.

"Ugh they're sour!" She felt her face recoil in a funny manner, relieving her of some of her guilt impressions and leaving her feeling like she had bit down on a fresh, peeled and plump lemon. "What are these?"

"They're piscus," Van replied casually, sipping onto his, secretly amused at the funny impression on her face. "Do you feel any better now?"

Hitomi scrounged up her face then turned in the other direction so that Van didn't see her look of displeasure. The name of the fruit was just about as unappealing as the taste. On a blistering day like this one iced-cappuccino would be nice…

"If you go around with that nervous look on your face something bad is going to happen," Van continued on, moving back to his last sharpened section of Escaflowne's large sword and scratching the steel file against it, yet never making eye contact with Hitomi. "It's certainly not like you to be depressed now is it?"

'He's trying to make me feel better…'

Hitomi put the fruit aside on her lap for a second, trying to analyze things. For some reason she was surprised Van was talking to her in such a manner. Her guilty sensations were practically gone, and gave her more leeway to think. She felt that Van was that secretive type, wouldn't be so expressing of emotion. She considered herself lucky at the time that he would even be trying to comfort her.

"Hitomi," Van started on the other issue at hand deciding it was worth the try. "I'd like you to stay with me stay with me… from now on that is."

The words had made their way out of his mouth, and he didn't hold them back. He knew he meant them. He needed Hitomi. Still, he kept his eyes away from her, embedded into the shimmering slab of steel before him.

"But Van…" Hitomi was at a loss for words. What was she supposed to say to that? Why would Van wish for her to stay with him? Obviously she never did, but still why? Maybe he… Maybe he also…

Her eyes widened with wonder, and she could feel her heart rate liven and her chest heave. What was going to happen? Was this that crucial part of her vision, between her and Van, all alone? What would he tell her?

Van grimaced for a second, then set the file aside, finally staring at Hitomi eye-to-eye.

Hitomi stared back, facing those young, avid eyes of a fighter, waiting, anxiously, impatiently…

"I WANT YOU!" The words pierced to her from Van's mouth himself.

What was left of Hitomi's piscus slid from her grip and splattered against the mill floor. Her jaw was left hanging in anticipation and apprehension, unknowing of the situation. Was this what Van wanted to tell her? Was this what he wanted her to understand?

"Van, what is it???"

"I want your power!"

Ouch.

The words jerked Hitomi so totally off course she nearly collapsed off the second level of the mill, hardly keeping balance. What the hell was this all about? He wanted to tell her that? Her power? Why would he say such a stupid thing like that?? Her POWER?!?!

"Let's go destroy Zaibach together," Van continued to insist, continued on with his plan as he edged closer to the appalled Hitomi. "To defeat them I'm going to need your power, the power of Atlantis! With that Escaflowne may be able to do more incredible things… Hitomi please, I need your help!"

Hitomi stood there stunned, much too stunned for words. Her power? HER POWER? She couldn't get the driving thought out of her head. HER STUPID POWER?! Here she was thinking this kid was some sort of guardian angel hero thing, and all she's good for is 'her power'???? Her power? What the hell was Van thinking? Too much piscus getting to his stupid head! Hitomi had a very hard time containing her anger, keeping herself from exploding, at least verbally…

SLAP!!!

The sound echoed in the massive mill walls, vibrating all around until the flocks of pigeon birds flapped quickly from sight at the surprise of the noise.

Van staggered backwards unexpectedly, hand reaching to his blistered left cheek where a large red sore began to appear. It burned like fire and stung like darts, the pain was immense! He grimaced and tried to hold back from screaming in vulgar curses. He would've never expected Hitomi to do that, much less to do it with so much strength! He squinted at her, seeing her angry and flushed face, knowing that she was still very upset.

What had he done? Did Van say something or other than had offended her? What could he have possibly said that would make her hit him like that? All he wanted was for her to stay with him so that they could bring peace to Gaea… was that so much to ask?

Van watched helplessly as the young girl practically leaped off the second level and listened to the large creaking of the mill door, then the violent slam that accompanied it. Her anger was pretty apparent. Van didn't really know what to think as he proceeded to sharpen Escaflowne trying not to pay his pain any mind. What was he to do with Hitomi? He just couldn't figure her out! Sometimes she could be so placid and kind, and then other days she was just eccentric or Allen-obsessed. Obviously now she was just over-reacting or super-sensitive or something. Van never really had to deal with such awkward situations, his only really close female friend being Merle. But Merle was different, much different, she was just so loyal, so Merle. Not to say that she never got in fits with Van, but she hardly ever held a grudge, much less go out and hit him!

Van sighed knowing that there was an apparent difference of girls of his kind, or at least girls from the Mystic Moon. It wasn't like him to pay the opposite sex much mind, being much too busy and too mature to think of silly boyish things like crushes or infatuations, after all, he was a King of a vanished city. But nonetheless, Van was as semi-human as could be, and he often had the natural feelings of a human. To him, Hitomi was a very unique girl unlike any villager woman or princess that he had ever met; she was so… just so much more special than them. It didn't matter to him that she was from an entirely different world, and maybe even a different species; she was still Hitomi Kanzaki. Ever since they had first met (what seemed like a while ago now) he had a particular drawing to her. Maybe it was her exquisite mental abilities, or her courage at critical times. Whatever it was, he also felt that it was not just his right, but also his responsibility to care for her and to promise himself that he would get her home safely.

Many times, Van would wonder why he would even to go through bothersome trouble of getting her back to the Mystic Moon, or watching her back all the time. It's not like she was family or anything, and he really hadn't known her all that long. But still, he had that strange instinct to guard her, be there for her. Sometimes Allen was the same, but he knew Allen, no matter what Hitomi thought, didn't understand her as well as he did. So what if Allen is a stupid knight and all gentlemen like, Van had saved her many more times plus he didn't do it for show, he did because he had to. And in return, Hitomi had saved him from many serious situations as well. If it weren't for her many times, Van probably wouldn't have been sitting here at the moment.

Van's head instantly jerked upwards, his eyes peeking through the slightly ajar mill door. He could see the many rich prairies up ahead, also spotting clouds overcast. It wouldn't be long before a storm… He looked on, eyes sweeping the small expanse of land that he could see, searching, longing for a figure… looking for that girl lost in this strange world, but sadly Hitomi was nowhere in sight.

"What a jerk…"

Hitomi uselessly observed the ripples of water dapple slightly in circles as the rock she had thrown sunk deep below the stream. She leaned herself against the wooden fencing of one of the many small bridges that crossed across the waters, growing longer and longer the further she went as the mouth of the river widened.

Small, spits of water began to tickle all over her, and she knew by the gray skies blocking out what had been left of the sun, that it was going to rain, and here Hitomi was in the middle of nowhere.

She had been traveling through the beautiful Gaean countryside for a while now, but too absorbed in thought to fully enjoy the scenery. She couldn't help but feel so insulted, so used by Van. The thought never left her, and even though she didn't truly understand why she was acting so angrily, she didn't fight it off either. It was what her emotions were feeling, so that was that. She could still picture him, kindly handing her that piscus and talking with her, trying to make her feel better about herself when she had felt so down. But still, even as she thought of those noble acts she couldn't ignore those feelings of anger and disappointment. She had been expecting so much more from Van than this. Was this what he wanted to tell her? Wanted her to understand? That all she was good for was a psychological pawn in his game of war?

Hitomi knew it wasn't true, but she couldn't help but sadly dwell on the thought. When would she wake up anyway? When could she return back to her small, comforting home, to Cathy's delicious breakfasts, and Amano's wonderful smile… why did she have to go through all this anyway? Couldn't she just understand whatever there was to understand?

Hitomi made her way back to land and walked aimlessly upon a stony pathway heading back to the walls of Palas. The rain came down in sheets now cooling the atmosphere, sweet smelling rain, which soaked her through and through though she barely paid it mind. The worst was only feeling her clothes growing heavier, and her hair grow slick and dirty with rainwater. What was a little downpour to hurt now after all that she'd been through? There was a lot worse suffering than merely getting a little wet.

The view before her grew bleak as the water came down in torrents, blurring what she could see, making everything stick to her: clothes, socks, hair… just like the spring weather of Aimsa, her home which she was now beginning to miss. This dream, this vision, had been going on for an awfully long length now. Wasn't it ever going to end? Wasn't her alarm clock going to go off anytime soon? Shouldn't it? Or maybe this wasn't a vision at all, maybe all the realistic happenings around her were only realistic because they were realistic, she was really here.

"Where in the world am I?" she couldn't help to think it to herself, smudging her wet hands beneath her soaked uniform pockets. Nothing at all looked familiar, all of it, her surroundings were entirely foreign and alien to her. It didn't help that the stormy weather had now reached it's full peak, making her shiver in the once warm conditions, and blink the water away from her eyes.

"Oh no… I can't see a thing," she squinted to make out the blurry structures up ahead. There was the large wall surrounding the village, or city, of Palas, and the last bridge of the many only a few more steps away.

"I have to get back soon…" Hitomi thought harder about her last notion. "Back where? Back to whom?"

Well, it had to be back to somebody, and soon. She very well couldn't stay here for much longer; it couldn't be very safe in this world she didn't know. If only there was someone who could help her, someone she could turn to, but whom? Just who could care for Hitomi in this place she didn't know? Surprisingly, Hitomi couldn't think of any one, no one at all.

"Where are you going Lord Van??" Merle stubbornly watched as Van began opening the massive door of the mill. She had just arrived after all, seeking shelter from the rain in search for him, and now he was totally leaving her again.

"I have to find Hitomi," Van didn't hesitate to turn back to his companion, allowing the water to seep into the interior of the mill, and making his way down the soaked hillsides back to the Palas pathways beneath the property walls. He wasn't too sure if he would find Hitomi there, but it was definitely worth the try. There was no way Van would leave her out in the midst of Gaea all alone in this horrid weather. He wouldn't have minded as much if Milerna, Allen or even Merle was with her, but they weren't. He didn't care if Hitomi was mad at him or not, he was going to find her; it was his instinct that drove him to do it.

Merle's face glowed with jealousy and annoyance. Hitomi, Hitomi, Hitomi, yadda, yadda, yadda, was that all that she would ever hear? It obviously looked like it was all that drummed through Lord Van's head! She grumpily watched him disappear into the shower of water, himself not paying any mind to the fact that he was now entirely drenched.

"Oh just let her go!" She hissed angrily after him. "You'll catch a cold!"

But Van didn't listen to any of Merle's sobbing cries or warnings. His mind was one-tracked now, as it usually was. Find Hitomi. There was his mission, and now he was going to accomplish it.

"What am I doing?" Hitomi kicked again at a stubborn stone embedded into the mud. "When did I get used to life here? When did I start to like the people here? It's hard to remember home… I miss you Amano."

Half of what Hitomi had just thought to herself was true; she did miss Amano, quite a lot in this strange situation. She didn't like the dirty attachment to anyone besides him, and it was hard to refocus on her wedding. Why was she so concerned with anyone else? She was not going to marry any of these fairy-tale persons, so why did she even bother caring so much? And what did Hitomi mean about 'getting used to life here'? It was like her thoughts were coming to her from the past, because Hitomi knew very well that she wasn't used to life here, so why did her mind just think in that way? Hitomi knew it had to be her split personality once again, butting into her natural thoughts and making her two different entities in one: Hitomi of the present and Hitomi of the Time. She found it excruciating trying to differentiate from the two. Whenever she thought things, she tried to figure out which part of her was thinking it, but it was too hard to tell. Sometimes, she simply just allowed blending the two personas together; it was just her and herself in this creepy planet far from home.

Hitomi continued walking amidst her newfound depression, glancing up at the last bridge in the series up ahead. Through the sweltering drizzle she could see the many surrounding buildings, which had taken the place of the forest and hillsides that had last been in view.

Wait a minute.

There was something else…

Hitomi had to look very hard to make out the drab figure up ahead, on the other side of the long, stilted bridge. She couldn't see very well, and it was hard to hear over the sounds of raindrops falling across rooftops, treetops, and splashing against the surface of the now rampant river down below. Still, she was enveloped in curiosity, wondering whom else but her would wander alone down these areas at a time like this.

It was a man; it was definitely a man, which Hitomi could make out vaguely in the weather. He was rather tall and looked like her age, her sentimental age, which would've been in his early twenties or so. He was dressed in a soaked white blouse, and in tight black slacks with some sort of thick, violet strap around his waist. He too, like Van, had a sword hanging off its belt by his left leg for who knows what purpose. What was different though was definitely his appearance, recognizable with that long… blonde… hair…

Allen. Mr. Allen Sheizar.

It obviously occurred to Hitomi after a few moments of ogling him. It was Allen after all, just like her, soaked through and through in the weather. Also like her, he shared the same impression of dismay and loneliness. Hitomi remembered why suddenly, recalling the wedding, Milerna's wedding… Allen had to be heartbroken! She watched him with sympathy as they both made their way across the sturdy, creaking bridge, meeting right in the center as they were hit by ambushes of raindrops out in the open.

"A-Allen," It was all that Hitomi could make out at the moment. She remembered that strange feeling that she had towards him, and boy was it ever strong now. He just…. he just reminded her so much of Amano! That look, those eyes, it was like staring straight at her fiancé in another world, in another time, almost like the two of them in a totally different dimension! The Amano and Hitomi of Gaea…

"Hitomi…"

She stirred suddenly in response as she felt his heavy hand lie upon her left shoulder. It was like Amano's hand, when he was with her, always making sure she was close. It came with a strange sense of comfort, and affection. But wait, this, this was not Amano now was it… This wasn't her fiancé!

Hitomi flinched in uneasiness at the thought, the knowing that this Allen wasn't really the one she was going to marry either, not really the one she loved, he was as much of a stranger as everyone else, so how could she trust him, touching her like that, when she barely knew who he was?

"Why is it… why is it that when I'm with you my heart is at peace?"

Allen's words enthused at her thoughts, but she didn't think of it much as he drew her in, closer and closer, and soon enough, the young Hitomi was engulfed in his arms, protected from the surge of the weather. It felt so secure, so amazing, so familiar…

'He's warm,' she noticed instantly, feeling herself feeling drawn to his body, cowering closer to him, to his warmth, to his gentle embrace. Her worldly thoughts were at a loss now, totally forgetting where she was or what her surroundings were like, she had lost all interest in anything but him, this man. She was immersed into Allen's very well being.

'He smells like Amano…'She closed her eyes, nuzzling her head into his chest, listening to his strong and pounding heart as she did time after time with Amano, ringing over the worldly noises. Was this not Amano? It felt like him, looked like him, even smelt like him… those handsome eyes and caring arms, how could she be wrong?

Suddenly Hitomi's eyes flashed open and she jerked her body back suddenly. She shook her head abruptly, raindrops slipping off the tips of her hair as she backed away cautiously. She looked at him, that person, maybe Allen, maybe Amano, but nonetheless still getting flooded with many insistent images. Images of that Milerna were strongly coming back to Hitomi, rushing at her with enough impact to knock her off her feet if it wanted. She felt the instant coldness without his embrace, without the heat radiating from him, the drench of the falling rain was running through her, but she couldn't find it in herself to return to those arms, not now, not knowing about Milerna… knowing the guilt that would come in her actions if she were only to stay here with this man…

"Why?" Allen's hurt image struck her about as much, as he watched her panicked actions, startled by her pushing him away so intently.

"It's just that I know how Milerna feels about you!"

Hitomi felt stuck as she confessed the words out to his dazed image, she wanted to be with him, in those arms again, but she knew she couldn't!!! This was not Amano! No, it wasn't! It was someone else, it was Allen Sheizar, and Allen did not belong to her. He belonged to Milerna, and Hitomi knew very well she could not stand in their way. Why was she feeling like this anyway? Why did she long so much to return to his embrace? She didn't know him; she shouldn't be feeling anything! How could she do this to her true lover, Amano? And more so, how could she do this to Van?

Allen smiled, a strange smile almost as if he didn't know what he was saying, "All I see is you Hitomi, just you."

Hitomi shook her head in doubt. He wasn't making any sense! He loved Milerna didn't he? She had felt it! She knew Milerna and Allen cared for each other on such an amazing level, but why was he saying these things? Was he too, lost in depression? Was that what was wrong with the two of them? They were too saddened by their pitiful selves that they fell into each other?

"What are you saying?" She gave Allen a look of despair, aware that this was all wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wrong! Wasn't this eating at him as well? Scarring his ethics? Didn't the thought of Milerna bother him in the least bit? Hitomi knew it bothered her very much so, just like another guilty pressure being applied… she felt she was betraying someone. She felt that she was doing the one thing that she should never do by falling victim to Allen's romantic lure. Oh Amano… he was always so good to her… but… but… Hitomi felt it wasn't Amano! Wait a minute; she wasn't betraying Amano now was she? She actually felt that Allen, this Allen was Amano! So if Allen and Amano were one and the same, whom else was she betraying? Who?

"Hitomi…" it was the last word out of Allen's mouth as he slowly began to lean over, eyes blinking shut in the scurry of the rain. He knew what he was to do, it raged at him like natural instinct, he was inclined to do this whether he liked it or not.

Hitomi felt a sudden lump grow rapidly in her throat, chest heaving once again in nervousness as his swooning image came closer, as he bent towards her; face merely inches away… She knew that her heart was angrily pounding in the nimble walls of her chest, for she could hear it, over the rain, over the noise, she knew how mixed her emotions were. Her stomach churned sickly, her palms sweated mixing to the raindrops. This wasn't right… this wasn't right but there was no stopping it…

She stood still, chin slightly tilted upwards as Allen lay his tender lips upon hers, held her towards him with those authoritative arms. The world as if struck Hitomi that very second their lips conjoined ever sweetly, yet the brilliant lightening rays cut through the murky sky, thunderous jolts riveting through her body. She could feel the world cry out at her, sending the last few raindrops lashing at her face, spitting at her in shame. Hitomi's heart hung as if strangled, robbed of whatever it had had left. There had been no avoiding fate, no matter how she despised it; it had been only bound to happen. Hitomi knew that, but she didn't care. She couldn't care. She blamed herself, she blamed her miserable self; she could've gotten away if she had wanted… she could've made the difference. But it was too late, Hitomi didn't, and even as their lips parted, the storm settled, and the sunrays danced upon their two lonesome figures, Hitomi knew she could never live it down. What from a distance may have seemed like just a kiss was actually a burden that Hitomi knew she held. It was a symbol to her, that wronged kiss was a symbol of something else… something deeper that was wrong… something Hitomi didn't understand… something Hitomi knew she had to understand, she was here to understand!

"Hitomi…" Allen smiled back at her, the few moisture droplets trickling down his long bangs shimmering in the dusk.

Hitomi failed to return that smile, and sighed resentfully. That feeling that hanging repressing feeling was real now. It wasn't felt by a part of her, it wasn't felt by her subconscious or split personality, but instead, it was felt by her as a whole, as one persona suffering from her own guilt and wrong-doings. Hitomi was one again, one again with herself hating herself as one. It didn't matter to Hitomi that she was in a vision, that this was simply a place of her mind, she knew very well that this had happened. It didn't make a difference that it was six years ago, no difference at all. What had happened now also happened in her present time… but how? She was obviously yet to understand her newest and harshest emotion yet.

"Ugh Allen, I don't know," finally her sad words replied, stepping back from him on the drying bridge side, blinking her eyes moist with not just rainwater. Hitomi hardly understood why she felt such a feeling of misery because of Allen, but she was soon to figure it out.

Hitomi and Allen's eyes both wandered upwards at the very same moment. At the same instant Hitomi knew in a dreadful realization that they were not the only ones who had been wandering in the rain. She knew now why her pain was so great, why she had felt such shame towards her actions. All this time… Hitomi had known she wasn't the only one who had witnessed her mistake; he had been there. Van had been there.

Hitomi stood in absolute desolation, her drying bangs falling lightly in her view. It didn't block him out though, and nothing could block out the awful feeling writhing through her dismayed self. She felt her eyes blur over instantly and her heart puncture in a way she knew it never had before. It was not the pain of losing someone you love, it was not the pain of betraying someone you love, but it was the pain of betraying someone you knew not you loved and who had loved you in return. It was this pain that froze Hitomi in a state of disbelief trying to will it all way, trying to convince herself it wasn't real… it couldn't have been.

But it was.

There he stood, merely a few feet away at her end of the bridge, the rainwater having soaked him entirely through. His eyes were expressionless, and unbelieving. The sunlight bathed upon him, yet his soul remained troubled and broken. His breathing was slow, and uneven, trying not to believe… he just couldn't believe…A few weaseling droplets fell from his bangs to his face, trickling down his cheek which could have been as easily tears that he wished to hide. Van hadn't believed his eyes, but he knew inside, he knew inside that this was not a figment of cruelty. It was true… she had been…

'Oh my God…' the thought stung Hitomi's mind as did the forming tears. 'He was in the rain all this time… he was looking for me...'

The thought surged through Hitomi accompanied by barrelfuls of unending guilt, throbbing guilt, which nearly had Hitomi throwing herself down into the deep river below connecting towards the vast of the ocean, telling herself never to return, vowing never to return. But instead, just by nature, she reached her hand out… and tried…

"Van! Wait……."

But Hitomi was too late. Van could not take any more, and he doubted that he could ever look her in the eye again. The sad image of Van lay embedded in the moment, as he briskly turned and ran the other way, he ran as fast as he could from the truth he didn't want to see any longer, he didn't want a part of anymore.

Hitomi watched him leave her, the hurt burning in her like the colours of the sunset, always beyond her grasp. She was such a fool, a dim-witted fool. She knew what Van felt, she knew what she felt, deep down inside the both of them. And even if Van was much less expressive of anything that he had towards her, it was still there! He had always been there… and only a fool like Hitomi would have pained him so many times.

'Only a fool like me…' she sadly thought, 'would be stupid enough to betray her true love for anyone else, any Allen or any Amano or whoever, and would be stupid enough to break her promise to him. Only a fool like me could possibly forget the only one person that loved them when they promised they never would forget…. When I promised I would never forget… hmm…I don't think anyone's that foolish but me."

Hitomi found herself now in a strange place, a desolate place filled with a navy blue, water-like liquid that waded just above her waist. It was very dark, almost as black as the room of nothingness, but there was still a strange aura of dim, blue light that came from an unknown source somewhere above her. She really didn't know where she was, and she felt as much confusion and fear as she had depression. Her last vision had taken a lot out of her, and it was rather difficult to function clearly in this apparently new situation she was in.

Suddenly a feeling of nakedness came to Hitomi, sensing she was exposed in this dark room where she prayed no one could spot her, and immersed herself up to her neck in the flimsy blue waters. She blinked; feeling oddly relaxed in the strange fluid, feeling now that it was deeper than she had thought it to be, her bare toes scarcely skimming across the ground below. She could not see her past her neck though, for the water was too thick and too dark to see through. Before her, the surface of blue liquid disappeared and blended right into the black background. Hitomi really tried to rationalize, try to place all that alarm away. It was only a vision, she'd have to learn from it, not fear it.

Hitomi's nerves eased a bit as that song came on again, wondering if it had still been playing all this time. How long has it been anyway? She really didn't know, it wasn't like she had a watch on or anything, and since in this strange room she could not feel location or position, she obviously wouldn't know much about time either. Her arms waded in the slimy coolness to keep her balance, wondering why she was here, and why she couldn't just be in that dark world again. It had been better at least to be fully nude in the pitch black where no one could care less, rather than looking as if she were skinny-dipping in the weirdest lake ever.

Suddenly, a notion was beginning to creep around again at the back of her mind. It was telling her to turn around, and look behind.

'Turn around,' it kept saying. 'Turn around, Hitomi.'

Hitomi, not needing to analyze her mindly commands any longer, spun herself slowly kicking her bare legs in the viscous ooze. Something was waiting for her, something behind her.

And so Hitomi now faced where once her back faced, looking on to the dim blackness of what was left that she could see. The ambience of blue light did not extend far past her, but even then she could still make out the calm outline of a solemn figure, standing in the line where light and darkness met, the eerie waters wading up to his knees as he stood in the far shallow part Hitomi was once in.

She still stood dumbfounded, tasting the sweet water lick upon her lips as she accidentally stepped further deeper. Moving back upwards, she waited just enough for her pupils to dilate casually adjusting to their shadowy environment. He was standing there now, not very far away, the light beginning to bring up his appearance to her view… it couldn't have been…

"Hitomi, it is so good to see you again."

Hitomi's mouth gaped open, once again accidentally swallowing some of the mysterious liquid. She couldn't quite believe her eyes nor ears! There he was, there was Van! The one that had been speaking to her, the one who had shown her all these things! It was so different from seeing him in the visions, in the visions it was never present day. This Van lived in present day and showed her the past; this Van was trying to tell her something that was still quite vague and unclear but she had to know. He was the only one who could help her in piecing her puzzle together.

"I can't… I can't believe it's you…"

She was at an obvious loss for words, wishing to rush up to him, touch his face, make sure he was real. He stood now clearly visible, a funny tint of blue. Hitomi noticed now that everything was a shade of blue, dark or light, in this place she was in. Even her skin upon her back was a funny cyan tint. She noticed though, what was strange was that his gloves, the brown ones Van regularly wore, were not blue. In fact, they were red, a bright red that stood out like a misspelled word, an error in a modified place.

"I'm sorry Van! I'm sorry for what I did to you! I don't know why…"

Finally, Hitomi was able to let out a few of her thoughts, shouting from the distance she stood in the murky waters.

"You didn't do anything, Hitomi. It was unfair to both you and Allen. Fate had forced you to do the things you did, and even if it hadn't I wouldn't hold that against you. I would always wish you to be with anyone who makes you happy, whether it was Allen… or…"

"Amano…"

Hitomi finished for him, thinking about it for a second. This Van here knew of her wedding to Amano didn't he? Was that what he was saying? Was he happy for her that she had found Amano in her life?

"Just be happy, Hitomi, do as your heart desires. I'm only showing you this to allow you to understand what I think has been wrongly forced away from you. You should have the right of knowing your life, your full life, and everyone in it, and that's why I've shown these visions to you."

"And I do understand Van, I do! I know now all that you've done for me! And I understand that I've broken my promise to you… I wish I could find some way to make up for -"

"Don't worry about such things, Hitomi. I told you, it's not your fault. I know, within, you have never forgotten me. I know all along, and so do you, that just like we said, we were still together in our dreams."

Van nodded his head, and tapped his chest with his crimson hand,

"And in here as well."

Hitomi sighed, feeling the beauty in his words, still feeling that longing to make up for what she had done. She had forgotten; she had done the wrongdoing. Van was being much too forgiving of her. If only she could actually find him, the one beyond her visions, in real life, beyond her mind, and tell him all she felt.

"I have just one more thing to show you before I let you go,"

Van continued on.

"There was a lot of good memories that we had Hitomi, that you've given me, but I guess it's only appropriate to end this with our goodbye. Come, Hitomi, come with me…"

Van stretched out his hand, a ruby speckle for Hitomi's reach.

Hitomi hesitated, remembering her odd situation as she watched him neck high in the black lake.

"But Van…"

She could feel the pink blooming in her cheeks, quite embarrassed at the moment.

Van gave her a cute smirk.

"Did I ever tell you Hitomi how adorable you look in that uniform?"

Hitomi paused for a second, appalled by his words, then noticed what he had meant. Of course, as she looked down, she could see the collar of her oxford shirt peeking above the water. She laughed to herself; only her mind would be full of such odd happenings such as being naked one second then fully dressed in the other. Stepping high up to the shore, she felt her clothes were very surprisingly dry, then smiled at the Van who stared her back in the eyes. He had this knowing of her, an understanding of her that she doubted she's ever seen in any one else before… That Van. Oh he was a wonder indeed, one handsome, mystical wonder indeed.

She took his hand and closed her eyes, feeling that same drifting sensation as she did each time Van took her back to the Time, a feeling of weightlessness and time travel. Hitomi was comforted at the thought that in this occasion, he was with her, he would be by her side the way she'd always want him to be.

The sun shone just right as its rays danced amongst the forest leaves, never too bright and soothingly warm. It helped illuminate the glorious surroundings, nature at it's best resting in solitude. The ground was fresh and crisp beneath one's feet, the air was light and breezy to the touch, the sounds of residing creatures were nestled in the scenery. As beautiful as it was, one wouldn't have guessed how rare it would be to see such a sight.

But Hitomi knew. She knew. This land was not always so tranquil, not always so beautiful. She knew that even the very ground she walked upon, the very air she breathed, was once enveloped in nothing but war and corruption not very long ago. In fact, she could have sworn that this city she stood within, had been entirely abolished! But now, here it was, rebuilding itself from top to bottom and bottom to top, in a way she had never seen before.

Hitomi was once again settled in another of her vision's many scenes, but this time, Hitomi was barely aware of it at all. There was only a part of her, a very small, diminutive part of her thoughts that knew she was only seeing her memories, not reality. But as mentioned before, it was a small, edging part of her mind, definitely not enough to overpower the new emotions and thoughts that were slowly breeding inside of her. Inch by inch, second by second, traces of Hitomi's present day being was beginning to fade. Her thoughts were slowly being filtered, any worries or concerns being temporarily discarded.

Hitomi's thoughts dwindled, and mixed into a blur of events and times and people. She stood as she always did near the beginnings of visions, lost and analyzing. She was forgetting and remembering, confusing and learning, and with time she could see many pieces, pieces of her thoughts and memories, being brought together, like a puzzle being joined. As the eternal seconds ticked by, she began to realize that Hitomi was new and old. Her mind had sat and worked to bring herself back. The new Hitomi was living back in the Time. Her mind had brought her here, to see, to think, to live it.

The new Hitomi was really the old Hitomi, brought back in newer time. This Hitomi was not aware that she was in any vision. She had no idea that what she saw and experienced, were events that had taken place half a decade ago. Her memories of future figures, like employers, like wedding planners, like new roommates, university professors, were all gone. Gone, just like that. Instead, Hitomi's frail little mind was now swiveling with new yet old thoughts that involved leaving, involved friends, involved new worlds, involved new people, involved Van.

As if on cue, this younger Hitomi turned her head just in time, as she heard footsteps crunching lightly on the brusque forest floor.

Suddenly, she knew again it was Van, as he joined her by her side and stared straight ahead. They were looking at gravestones, large, symbolic gravestones. Hitomi remembered them instantly, the Fanel Graveyard. She allowed her eyes to be enticed at the divine scene, a large, cement monument peeking high in the surroundings, protected by a wrought, iron fence.

Joyous yet sad feelings took over her for a second's time, as she fiddled with her uniform buttons in thought. She felt… she really didn't know. Should she be happy, or should she be sad? Fanelia, after all, Van's home, was finally being restored. Here she stood now in the land she had been positive would be vanished forever. But Hitomi had been wrong; there was peace at last, wonderful peace! She couldn't recall any time where she had seen the Gaean people so happy! They all worked so hard, filled with love and celebration, to building Fanelia back where it was, with Van, the ever-deserving king, as their leader.

Hitomi's smile was only partly though, as she gazed aimlessly around her with her short bangs interrupting her view. She was also thinking about being… being sad. Why would she be sad at a time like this? It was so wondrous, peace, what everyone had hoped for! Yet, if it was so great, why did Hitomi have to leave when the greatness was just starting? Was her journey really coming to an end? It had been an adventure she had been unwilling to take, and now unwilling to leave. Hitomi still couldn't come to grasp that it was time. That it was time to let everything go, to lose the everyday of the world of Gaea, to leave behind the good times and the bad, and to return home. But what was Hitomi's home now (if it was her home at all) in comparison? Did she honestly have the same kind of friends on Earth as she did here? Is she really as respected and as cared for there as she is here? It seemed a disturbing thought to her, after all, she had wanted to return home in all this time, in all this very long time. Why, just why, did she now have so many doubts?

Van breathed deeply as he looked ahead of him, glancing at the very graves where the memories of his vanished family lay within. Hitomi was quiet too, maybe also thinking to herself. He wondered if she could understand just how much he saw in those graves, just how much they meant to him. Sure, maybe to some people, some indignant people, they would only see burbony trees and large slabs of stone. Many people would be blind to understand it's real message, its message to Van.

There lay his family, his wonderful yet deceased family, resting in peace. Amongst them was his father, a true king of Fanelia, the late Gewau Fanel. Van didn't remember him all that well, but he knew in his heart, if alive, Gewau would have been a figure Van would have greatly respected. His father was true to the people, and also, true to himself. Gewau had not let society deem his heart, and when he had fallen in love with Vari, a blood-descendant of Atlantis, Van's mother, nothing could stop him. The boundaries of Draconian and human love were his to cross and his alone, and no ruler or king could tell him that was wrong. No one could tell him love was wrong.

Smiling, Van's eyes admired his mother's memorial stone as well, as he felt again that pang of sadness. Vari had been his one parent that he had known the best, yet still not long enough. She had been so faithful, to her family, to herself and to Van. He knew the hardships that had been weighed on her at the tragedy of his father's passing, and also the burden of being different. But Vari was not one to disappoint, she raised Faulcon and she raised Van, and Van had to say, she raised them damn well. Her life, after all, had been taken for the sake of searching for her son, his brother, when Faulcon had disappeared. No one else had braved the danger of searching for him in the dragon-infested wilderness, nobody else but Vari. And although she had never found him, Van knew his mother's discontented spirit still kept searching, still kept looking, and he knew she had been the one which had restored the love in Faulcon's heart, had turned him away from the evils of Zaibach - she had finally found him. Her spirit had changed Faulcon, she had been the one who had changed Faulcon back to the good brother he had once been.

Van's eyes, misty now, lastly fell on the newest grave to sadly be added, his brother's. Van sometimes still had a hard time believing Faulcon had been alive all that time… when they thought he had definitely been killed after Vari's failure to find him… and now had a hard time believing he was gone once again, for good. He never really understood Faulcon and his intentions very well, but Van knew that in the end Faulcon had fought for the very same thing that Van did: Peace. Faulcon had made his mistakes with Zaibach, but Van made mistakes as well. Unfortunately, his brother had to pay the greater price.

Hitomi watched in surprise and awe as Van quickly lowered himself to his right knee. She watched silently as he held his head bowed, strands of black hiding his face, adding to that ere Van always had. She felt a sense of compassion for him, once again mixed with happiness and sadness.

Van had his kingdom at last, had his country once again. But Hitomi knew alongside Van's losses were great, and he was now the last living member of his family. Poor Van, no wonder he was so isolated inside, so unexposed with his real feelings. She realized now how lucky Van was to have Merle. Without Merle, who else would take care of Van once Hitomi left? She couldn't think of many who would stay in Fanelia with him. There was only one other close friend Van had that she could recall, that man. That warrior man Van had admired like a father, that fighter named Balgus. Zaibach had claimed his life as well. Van had lost him as well, like nearly everyone else that was important in his life. Hitomi cringed at the very thought that now Van was also losing her.

"Brother we have finally returned to our homeland," Van rested his intricate sword respectfully on his knee, head still bowed in the sunlight. "Watch over our country's future here."

Hitomi smiled softly, admiringly listening to Van's voice amongst the stillness

"It seems like so long ago that I first came to Fanelia," the words came out a little sadly as she watched Van slowly stand alongside her. "So… what happens now?"

Van breathed deeply in content, dusting off his knees and gently sliding his sword back in its sheathe case hung on his belt.

"Everyone's dreams will go on creating Gaea."

Hitomi nodded thoughtfully, watching again in surprise as Van walked over to where Escaflowne rested itself in the shade of the trees. Its large metallic parts glinted beautifully in the daylight, barely scathing the surface of the treetops.

She watched curiously as Van, using that strangely amazing strength he had, leapt upwards balancing slightly on Escaflowne's large, knelt knee. His footing was as always, incredibly accurate, as he slowly edged towards the ruby chamber which shone like a gem in Escaflowne's upper torso. She couldn't help but wonder just what Van was up to. He was now reaching his arm into that glass chamber, and she tried to put away those pestering thoughts on how that could be possible. Escaflowne had a lot of wonders to it she was yet to understand, just like the whole idea of Gaea's existence. It was a magic that no matter how hard she tried, she could never fully comprehend.

"Thank you, Escaflowne," Van wasn't so sure of himself, as he gripped that mighty drag-energist which he had removed from the heart of Escaflowne, almost like sucking the life out of it. He could feel it's warm crystal slightly pinching his skin, reminding him of how hard that one little energist was to earn, and how hard it had worked for him once earned. It honestly still amazed him at the incredible powers that lay within a dragon's heart; the very same powers that had fueled his Escaflowne for the years and generations it had served. Was it truly the best decision to end it now, to take away the life from Escaflowne? Van knew well that Escaflowne had managed to save, rescue, and protect many lives of those he cared for, but all the same it had destroyed the lives of many in the battles of war. Escaflowne had served him when it was needed and it served him well. Now was the time. Now was the time for many things.

"Van…" Hitomi whispered in awe and a strange, newfound respect as Van leapt down and walked back towards her, holding that energist in his hand. She couldn't really believe it, Escaflowne without Van? It didn't seem right. Ever since she had first met him that fateful day so long ago now, she could never really picture Van without Escaflowne. She could even remember the very dragon that Van had bravely fought when they first met, the one that had died for the sake of Escaflowne. She could as well, remember when Van had awakened that brute of a machine, could still remember the very first time Van had handled that mysterious guymelef, that mysterious white dragon of metal. Hitomi knew that Van and Escaflowne, man and machine, had bonded so close it was hard to think of one without the other.

"Escaflowne should be kept asleep," Van as if confirmed her thoughts, glancing down momentarily at the precious energist in his hand. "My brother's wish was for a Fanelia, for a Gaea, where no one would rely on it. I want to see what that world is like, Hitomi."

He smiled down at her, seeing her listen to him so attentively, so interested and captivated in his words. Van had known her for so little, yet she knew him so well. He couldn't help but wonder when he had last met a friend that good to him.

"And I want to see it with you!" Hitomi smiled earnestly, eyes glowing as she looked on deeply at his. She stared hopefully at his image, that brave face of a warrior, the same face that had taken care of her for so long. She was so full of hope, yet unfortunately overwhelmed by reasoning and common sense.

"… or can I?" A tint of a sigh floated from her, as her eyes dimmed and lowered, "The truth is, I love it here! I love Fanelia!"

Van smiled, a little taken aback by her words. He really hadn't thought she was so fond of the place, after all the ways she talked about returning home, and even that one time when she did. But Hitomi had returned back to Gaea now didn't she…. Just maybe, deep down, she had really grown on Gaea all along.

"If you'd want, it'd be more than fine with me," he felt himself lighten in hope at his words, wondering what her reply would be as he stared back at her glimmering green eyes. In all honestly, Van was saying the truth. He didn't have many, if any, times like these with Hitomi, alone to talk with her. Van never really did get to know her, get to know the things she liked or didn't like, her thoughts, feelings…. He never really bonded like that with anyone, maybe Merle sometimes, but she was so much younger than him, and more like a little sister. He could tell Hitomi would be the perfect person to confide with, the perfect person to tell anything he liked to, and the perfect friend. She would listen so well, just like she always did.

Hitomi tilted her head upwards in surprise, in enchantment that Van would gladly have her stay. And the more she thought about it, the more dangerously she began to get attached to the idea. Well why not? A part of Hitomi's existence dwelled in Fanelia, in Gaea. A part of her had been permanently etched here with her new friends, her new experiences, her new home? Could she really abandon Earth, her mother, her friends, and her old life forever? And if not, could she really leave Van behind, and pretend as if nothing as wonderful had ever happened? It just seemed that whatever choice Hitomi would decide to make, it would still leave her partly, if not fully, unhappy.

Van felt a little stung by her silence, but could easily sense the depression in Hitomi's thoughts. Van wanted her with him; Van wanted her to stay! But that was yet so selfish, so self-involved, wasn't it? He wanted her with him, he wanted her to stand by his side to reign their peaceful country, but this wasn't Hitomi's destiny. He knew that her stay was short and sweet, but she had come from another home, and her future remained there, no matter how stubborn Van may be. Van had promised her he would bring her back home ever since they had first met, he had vowed it to her before everyone and Van had kept his promise. He couldn't back out now, even if he wanted to.

"You know… we can see each other anytime we want, we just have to think about each other," he looked on quietly at her watering eyes, slightly touched by the sentiment that flooded from her. He knew that she knew it was time. They both could sense it tweaking at the moment.

Hitomi could feel her throat swell, and the image of Van before her blur. Why did he have to speak with such beautiful words anyway? Why did he have to talk to her in a way that graced her heart and made her twinge with hopeful sadness? Why did Van have to make it so hard for her to let him go?

"Van…" the name came in just under her breath, feeling the bittersweet tinge of a tear glide down her cheek. She had told herself she wouldn't break down like this, not like this in front of Van. But Hitomi hadn't known the things he would've said, or the things she would've felt, or anything that was to happen. So now, her emotions were the only things controlling her, the only things that could matter at the moment.

"Here Van."

Van furrowed his brows in surprise at Hitomi's teary figure, slowly extending her hand towards him. He didn't know what to expect, he didn't know what to do. It was time. The thought kept creeping in his mind as much as he tried to ignore it. He wanted to hold her, maybe if he did, she wouldn't leave….

"Keep it," Hitomi looked at him, looked at the astounded image on his face as she delicately dropped her cherished pendant in his hand. She could feel the soft brush of his fingers as he took it from her. Hitomi held no regrets. She wanted him to have it, it had brought them together, and now it would keep them together, somehow…

Van's eyes fell upon the beautiful necklace, the instrument to Hitomi's amazing powers, the key to their very acquaintance. As he stared at it, he knew now, the feeling was strong. It was time. The days had seen them through faster than he had expected, and now, the time had come. It was time to say goodbye.

Hitomi didn't expect it. Hitomi didn't expect it as Van immediately drew her in, didn't expect his hands to brush against hers and pull her close, didn't expect to feel him so near to her, to even feel his faint heartbeat near her chin. Hitomi didn't know what to think as she felt herself sink into the sweet depth that was Van, and she was immersed into his sadness, and into her own. It was then that Hitomi knew.

Hitomi gasped suddenly, noticing she was here.

Who was she? Where was she?

"I'm Hitomi. I'm here, in my memories of Van."

The thoughts clamored and questioned and answered themselves so loudly and disturbingly in her mind as she felt her confounded arms search for comfort, felt the outline of his rugged body, felt herself immersed into a friendly and loving warmth she had never known.

It was too much; all this was too much.

It was happening. What was happening? It was happening. She was remembering, she was realizing, she was knowing, she was feeling.

She was Hitomi, Hitomi Kanzaki. She was twenty-years old. She was in a vision, an important vision of something that had once happened. She was engaged, engaged to someone named Amano. She was in love, in love with someone not named Amano. She was falling for Van. She was with Van. She was in love with him, in love with the memory of him, in love of the thought of him and the feel of him and the scent of him and the sight of him and the heart of him. Hitomi was confused. Hitomi was right. Hitomi was wrong. Hitomi was sad.

"I'll never forget you… I promise… even when I'm old."

Hitomi felt the words slip out of her mouth, tickle off her lips, beyond her control. Almost instantly, she felt the throb of their meaning; the sting of a promise she knew was nothing but a lie, the hurt of staring into Van's young and hopeful eyes, believing her, trusting her. Hitomi could feel those tears, salty tears in abundance now, soaking the tip of Van's gaunt shoulder. She could feel her fingers trembling upon his back, in guilt and sadness and depression and realization…

It was time.

Van had never felt someone so close to him before. So close, as if one could merely hear the other's deepest thoughts and secrets, as if one could feel the pain, the emotions of the other. Close enough to feel her hands lie gently amongst his back; feel themselves pressing and near to each other, in what was a moment divine in itself. Close enough to even kiss her if he dared to be that bold, that expressive, for at the moment it felt as if there was no space between them at all. But that was only for the moment being, change was on its way. It was time.

Regretfully, Van released his hand from Hitomi's waist then stretched it upwards high above his head, the hand with the mighty energist, in a noble act he would never live down. He didn't know why he knew this was the way it would have to end, but he just knew. It was that driving instinct that Van had with Hitomi. He knew when she needed him; he knew when he had to be there, he knew what there was to do. Van was a man on a mission, whether human emotions got in the way or not. He knew he had to send her home, despite what he felt, despite the sacrifices he'd have to make. He would have to, that was it, and he just knew.

He held his surprise as suddenly a bright beam of blue flooded their vision out of nowhere, soaring towards them swiftly from a pierced hole in the Gaean sky until the blinding light seemingly surrounded the two of them, highlighted them out of everyone on Gaea. Encased them, encased him, told him that it was going to be now. It had to be now.

The force of the light was nearly frightening, yet he barely paid it mind. He could feel the active energist burn with vigor in his hand, and quickly he dropped it by his side paying it no attention. His mind was focused to the greatest, as it usually was. He knew what these seconds meant, these precious and dear seconds he couldn't get back. They meant it would be the last time, the last time that he knew of, the last time he would see Hitomi, for days to months to years to forever, and that was that. There was no changing his fate; he had to send her home.

Van felt the lag in his heart grow, the emphasis in his mind weaken as he sensed her, Hitomi, slowly lift off the very forest ground, defy the very magic of gravity, slip further past his reach.

Almost instinctively his hands gripped hers, tightly, securely, as if he actually believed he would have the strength to hold her back, to keep her here to himself. Yet, Van may have had the strength, but it was the selfish desire that Van still lacked. He held her, for now…

Hitomi's fingers were barely gazing his fingertips. She tried to reach them further, but it wouldn't do. The light was blinding; the force was pulling. She wasn't strong enough to fight it, but willing enough to accept it. This was hard. This was really hard. This was nearly impossible, yet… she had done it… once before. She had lived this! She had been through this! She had lost him like she was now… so many years… so many years ago…

"I'll never forget you."

Hitomi realized then that those were the last words that Hitomi would ever say to Van Fanel of that time. She realized then this was the last time she had seen Van and for so many years, and had fully understood who he was, and what he meant to her. This was the only time where that puzzle was nothing but a clear, together, and perfect image. She was beginning to see, to understand, she was beginning to know. Van needed her to understand this, it was just so important.

"Hitomi…"

She didn't know what to feel as his youthful image quickly faded, smiling up towards her for the last time of that time, lost in the flood of bright blue. It didn't really sadden Hitomi though, nor did it make her happy in any given way. Instead she felt a burn as her body was wrapped in this light, this revealing light. It told her things, these memories told her things, gave her things.

A burn.

A burning desire, flaming with desire. Hitomi now knew. She knew not how she knew, but she just knew. Now Hitomi Kanzaki was the one with a mission. She was now the one who was focused to the utmost highest, she was now the one driven by instinct, by a deeming, unforgettable instinct:

She would find him.

She would find him.

She would find him.