Title: Running
By: Queen Beryl
@---^---
I was just sitting at my computer, and I thought about why Hitomi runs. That can be taken to a deeper level... just like why Uranus senshi runs... so here's a little one-shot splurf on my crazed thoughts! @.^ Most of the dialogue comes from the first episode of Escaflowne.
Nope, I do not own Escaflowne... but I own land dragons! You can't take them from me! No, NO!!!

I was always running. There was track in high school and middle school. Jogging in the mornings, long runs through the city after dinner, and any other time I could run. It was always this sudden desire, this passion, for running. I, Hitomi Kanzaki, never really knew why I ran; I just knew I had to run, no matter what. As a matter of fact, that's what started the whole adventure.
I asked Amano-senpai to kiss me if I ran faster than I ever had before. I shake my head at the memory. It seemed so long ago that I fancied myself in love with him. What a fool I had been. I guess I should tell the story from the very beginning. I mean, someone has to, and it might as well be me, right?
I had been standing on the track, preparing to run my heart out. The earlier vision of the boy in armor came to my mind, but I shook my head, not wanting to remember. The next thing I heard was Amano-senpai say go. I ran. Suddenly, there was only one thought on my mind: the boy in armor. Amano-senpai had told me to focus everything... I suppose I should have focused everything on something else. Anything else.
There was a bright flash of lightning that struck the track about twenty feet in front of me. It stayed there until a boy appeared out of the light. It was him! He looked at me as I ran toward him, but I couldn't stop. I was going too fast, didn't have enough time, and I didn't even think about stopping, really. So, I ran right into him. I was thrown back to the gravel. It was like I hit a tree.
"Who the hell are you? Wha- where am I?" The boy asked as Yukari and Amano-senpai came running up to me, asking me if I was okay.
"That guy... that's the guy I saw in my dream!" I exclaimed, bewildered by what was going on. He then yelled at Amano-senpai, claiming he was a demon.
"No, we're not people from the demon world! Anyway, who the heck are you?" I demanded boldly.
"Van of Fanelia." The stranger said. Little did I know at the time that I would never forget it. Not even when I became old. "Where am I?"
"What?" I asked.
"Hitomi? You can understand what he's saying?" Yukari asked. I never thought that she couldn't understand him as well. I thought it was odd at the time. Oh, how little I knew of odd. More conversation occurred and suddenly I realized something was terribly wrong. Not just because of what this "Van of Fanelia" fellow had said, but because another long flashing burst of lightning touched the ground just in front of us. We all backed up as a giant lizard appeared. It then clicked what Van said about a "land dragon coming." Well, duh.
Both Yukari and Amano-senpai squealed and backed away farther. The dragon reared its ugly head at us, and we did the most reasonable, obvious thing to do at that moment. We ran. Van started chasing the beast, calling out to it. I thought momentarily how nice it was of him to try to dissuade the giant beast from killing me and my friends. The rest of the whole ordeal is a bit blurry to me... I mean, if I sit down and think about it... I might be able to recall it, but that takes time.
That's what really started it all. The whole ordeal. I was able to see who I really was because of that one incident. I always wanted to know why my desire to run was so great... and Van of Fanelia helped me out.
A bright light came down just after Van defeated the dragon. He and I were then taken to his world called Gaea. Apparently, Earth was called the Mystic Moon there. I wondered why it looked so differently on Gaea. I never knew that it was all white and had an odd-shaped eye on it. It was amazing: the things you could miss while actually living on the planet....
Even while I was on Gaea I had to run. Sometimes it was for my life, sometimes it was to save someone... sometimes for simple pleasure. I just felt the need to run. I had to. I never really thought about it until now. Why did I have to run? Why was I so restless?
In the end, I realized I was running from something. I was escaping. From what, you ask? Well, there are a few things, actually. One: I was running from destiny. I couldn't help it. I didn't want to be stuck in one place. I wanted more freedom. I wanted to do and say what I pleased. The little adventure to Gaea helped free me of that.
Two: I was running from myself. I didn't want to face the music. I wanted to go away... to just fade into the abyss. If I just ran fast enough... if I just ran far enough... I could leave myself behind. And yet, I knew I couldn't get away. Van showed me that running didn't get me anywhere. He knew the type of person I was... and he still loved me for it. In the end... there really was no reason to escape.
In the end... I had no reason to run.
That's why when I got back to Earth, I dropped from the track team. I stopped fortune-telling. I didn't need those things anymore to make me who I was.
It took a trip to the warring planet of Gaea, the love of Prince Van of Fanelia, and saving a world to make me realize that there was no reason to be running.
I don't need to run anymore.

AHHH! Gomen! I know it was poorly written and it sucks, but I just had to write it! Review it please! I just wanna know if it is as bad as I think! e.@;