A/N : this is my first Esca Flowne fanfic. my aunt got me into the show and it was just the greatest thing ever! but I hated the ending! Urrg! ok back to business.

DISCLAIMER : if you read the author note right above you would pretty much conclude I don't own it. (if I did things would be changed believe me.)

SUMMARY : after two years Hitomi is once again swept back to Gaea to help in another war. this time against a enemy much worse than Zaibach. death, life, love intertwined in fate's strings; who will win.

Death, Life, Love

Chapter One : Vision of Gaea

By Aura Keyne

It had been two years since the war in Gaea. For some reason Hitomi wasn't sad about returning to the Mystic Moon or Earth as she used to call it; deep down there was something that her heart knew, a undiscovered secret that was waiting to be revealed.

A lot had changed but that was only to be expected after so many years. Things have to grow over time and get older; she'd certainly done enough of both. Golden brown hair that used to be as short as a boy's had grown just below her shoulders, giving her a more feminine look. Returning to Earth she had immediately thrown herself back into track and for some reason had picked up a new hobby of archery; it had just seemed right to hold a bow. Her body showed the muscles that had developed over months of hard training. Hitomi had changed mentally too, becoming less dependent on others and more solitary; she wasn't the same scared girl that had hid from battle and watched as everyone else fought for her.

As if to prove it to herself she continued to use tarot cards, predicting peoples fortunes and seeing occasional visions. They were never as horrifying as the ones she'd recieved in Gaea though, adding to her courage but she still didn't like them.

Hitomi was staring out the window of the classroom, head propped up lazily on a bended arm and eyes half closed in boredom. The excitement of the war had definitely made her normal life less than thrilling and school seemed no longer even remotely important. Blocking out everything around her the seer watched the clouds moving against the light blue and a vision drifted into her mind as she lost herself to the hypnotizing movements of the sky above.

A black dragon gymelefe slicing its opponent in half. Flash. Blood drenching a battlefield that was littered with dead bodys and destroyed achine parts; above the Mystic Moon shining down on the horrific scene, watching it from the sky. Flash. Van, looking older, dressed up for battle, a arrow sticking into his chest as he fell from a cliff, plummeting downward to the abyss below. Flash.

She bolted awake with a jolt as her body slipped from the desk where she had been perched on the edge of her seat. "Owww" she mumbled as laughter filtered through the room.

"That's enough class; now Miss. Kanzaki please pay attention and stop daydreaming" the teacher scolded, turning his back to the students as he continued giving a boring lecture on whatever he was teaching. Hitomi had been in the class for half a year and still couldn't understand anything he taught even though it was the one class she aced. Go figure.

Getting off the dirty floor with a silent curse she continued sky gazing. She hadn't had visions of Gaea since leaving it two years ago and those clips had been unmistakably from the alien plant. You didn't see many gymelefes on Earth. Why was she seeing it now though, after so long?

'Van...' Hitomi missed him no denying it but her memories of the young king kept her from being terribly crushed. He was busy making Fanelia a stronger kingdom after all and probably didn't have time to think about her. Unfortunately she had plenty of time to think about him and it was driving her crazy.

As the bell rang, signalling the end of class Hitomi gathered her stuff, breath catching as she saw the snowy white feather fallen right near her bookback. Fingers trembling she touched its softness to make sure that it was really there, a single tear running down her face to hit the marble floor of the room.

"He's calling me."

Hitomi sat on her bed, the familiar deck of tarot cards sitting right in front of the girl teasing her to do it, to tell the future.

"Urrg!" she growled in frustration tearing her eyes from the haunting item to look around her room like it was the most fascinating thing ever. Eventually her gaze returned to the thing that was the cause of her frustration. Hitomi took a deep breath to calm her nerves and slowly let it out; anticipation, nervousness, fear all flooding out of her with the air. Emotions were useless when trying to tell the future, they only make you confused.

Taking the deck in her hands she reassured herself. "Okay I can do this. What is going on in Gaea?"

Placing the first card down she frowned. It was the death card; that meant something was changing. But what? The next one from the deck was Cup VI standing for nostalgic feelings. Something from the past was influencing the present. 'Okay that one makes sense, I have been thinking about Gaea a lot and thats effecting my real life' Hitomi thought with a shrug flipping down the next card.

The spread forming before her was beginning to frustrate the girl to no end. Several flips had shown Cup VIII, leaving behind; Wand IV, change of residence and Swords VI, a positive mood. "I want to know about Gaea not that I need to change my life!" she screamed at the stupid cards, flinging them from the bed in anger. Looking down a single card caught her attention that had fallen on top of the other, facing up at her like a omen. The Judgement.

Hitomi thought about it for a second before restacking the cards from the floor and placing them on her nightstand. Lying back she closed her eyes hoping to fall asleep. It never came and her mind wandered to the last card, contemplating its hidden meaning.

'Why did that one come up? Re-evaluate what's important? What does that even mean?' Hitomi thought about everything important in her life. 'Parents, Yukari, my younger brother, track...Gaea, Van, Millerna, Allen, Chid, hec even the annoying cat girl Merle.' She blinked finally relizing what the spread had been telling her.

"Gaea...Van" Hitomi whispered softly feeling heart sick for the first time. Tears rolled down her face and she hiccupted a sob. "I miss them all so much."

Grabbing her duffel she began to jam as much stuff as she could into it. Hand pausing over the tarot cards the girl grabbed them too, shoving them in with everything else. Writing a note to her parent she left it on her bed and took one final look at her bedroom before leaving the house without a sound. No one even noticed her departure and that was the way she liked it; Hitomi had never been fond of goodbyes.

Shouldering the bag with a happy smile on her lips she gazed at the sky as a beam of blue light lifted her up and away from Earth. Back to Gaea. Back to her home.

To Everyone;

I'm going back to Gaea. Its home to me now and nothing feels the same as before. Earth isn't where I belong and I realize that. Someday I hope you understand and forgive me, I'm being selfish I know but this is my life and this is what I want to do. I'll always remember you all and hold you deep in my heart as I gaze at Earth from where I am.

I love you all so much.

Hitomi

A/N : short chapter I know. so what did you think? I tried to do the tarot scene and I think it came out okay, I'm not really sure I just studied a divination book and hoped it would work.

Next chapter - Fanelia Reborn; the king has been rebuilding his kingdom and finally it is prospering. But trouble has come as a unknown force threatens the new Fanelia and its surrounding kingdoms as well.