I just re-watched the entire series and I had the insatiable urge to have it continue. Thus here I am! So, I've never written an Escaflowne fic before and I'm interested in what kind of feedback this will get. Please let me know what you think!
Oh yes. Standard disclaimers apply. I don't own any of them! Now onto the show…
On Dragon Wings
"With
you at
my
side the
dragon
sleeps.
On
dragon
wings
your
wishes
will
leap."
Van was sleeping.
Smiling slightly, Hitomi just looked at him. It was one of the few times she could just take in his features without some sort of crisis interfering. Two months had gone by since the war between the allies and Zaibach had ended, and in that time a somewhat rocky peace had been established throughout the land. Now the young king was beginning the long process of reconstructing his homeland.
Two months since she'd come to realize how much she loved him. And tonight…
Hitomi blushed a little, but then curled up closer to the man beside her. They'd both been shy, both uncertain…yet it had been the most beautiful moment of her life.
But she also knew it would be her last night with him. They both knew she couldn't stay. She had her life and home on Earth. He had his duty to country and people. She was from one world, he another. It would be selfish to remain here. Leaving would be the right decision.
Wouldn't it?
Wrapping her arms around Van, Hitomi had the urge to never let go again. She didn't know if leaving was the right decision at all. There was only one thing she was certain of.
"I love you, Van."
Hitomi woke up knowing already that she'd been crying in her sleep. She sat up and rubbed her eyes. Normally she was alright with how everything had turned out. It was just sometimes, in moments like these, where she missed Van so much it hurt. Did he ever think of her?
After all, it had been five years since they'd been together. They'd both promised to keep each other in their thoughts and sometimes she would see flashes of him—his face, his smell, his voice.
"I miss you." Sighing, she moved to rise off the bed. This called for some midnight cookies to cheer her up. Besides, she did have much that made her happy. Yukari and Amano were priceless friends, who she suspected would soon be announcing an engagement. But more importantly there was-
"Mommy?" Hitomi looked over at the doorway at a figure holding a stuffed animal. A small boy with dark hair and eyes her own blue-green blinked back at her. Her child. Van's son.
She'd discovered she was pregnant shortly after returning from Gaea. Her family and friends had supported her, helped her through the pregnancy and afterwards. There'd been some suggestion of abortion, but Hitomi had stamped down that option without hesitation. She wasn't ashamed of her child at all. He was her child, a result of a beautiful moment between her and the man she loved. Looking at him sometimes reminded her of two rivers that had met and blended together. He had her eyes, but Van's dark hair. He had her nose, but Van's chin.
Swinging her legs off the side of her bed, Hitomi smiled at her son. "What is it, Daichi?"
"You're sad again, mommy." Hitomi blinked but beckoned for him to come closer. He ran towards her and scrambled up into her arms.
She sat him up on her lap asking, "Now why would you say that?"
" 'Cause I saw it in my sleep. You were crying 'cause the wing person was gone."
Wing person? He'd been dreaming of Van? Hitomi brushed the hair out of his eyes. "Have you dreamt of that person before, Daichi?
He scrunched of his face trying to remember. "Yep! I think I have. Do you want Ryu for tonight, Mommy? He's the best ever! He'll make you feel all better."
Daichi held out his stuffed animal towards her: a white dragon he'd picked out himself in the local toy store. She shouldn't have been surprised at the choice. After all, like father, like son.
"Thanks sweetie, but you should keep him with you. I am a little sad. You know what always makes me happy?"
"What?"
"This!" Hitomi lifted the small boy off her lap and started tickling him in the stomach. Daichi shrieked with laughter and she couldn't help but smile. It was such a wonder that a small child could bring her such joy. Still out of breath from her assault, she picked him up and moved out of the room.
"Time to get back to bed now."
"No! Can we eat some cookies first?"
Chuckling at their similar thought patterns in regards to cookies, she responded, "Not now or you'll get a tummy ache. Besides tomorrow you get to go to Yukari's while Mommy takes her tests."
"Yay! You're gonna do best on them all."
She lay him down in his bed, smiling softly. "Goodnight, Daichi."
"'Night, Mommy. I love you."
She kissed him on the forehead and left the room. Maybe she didn't need those cookies after all.
"Ah! Finally done!" Hitomi stretched her arms over her head. It had taken her longer than most, but she'd finally taken her entrance exam to go to university. With any luck she'd get her acceptance letter.
Just a few years ago, she wasn't even sure she'd finish high school. Taking care of a baby was never easy, but being a teenage mother certainly added to the uncertainty and stress. Her mother had leant her all the help she could offer though. Even her father who had refused to speak to her for a time eventually caved -- especially when faced with Daichi's sweetest smiles.
She stepped off the train and headed in the direction of Yukari's apartment. She knew Amano would be proposing soon, especially after she'd seen him leaving that jewelry shop with a suspiciously shaped box in his hand. She was happy for them. It was strange to think about how she had felt for him before. It seemed like just a silly crush in comparison to…to Van.
Why was she thinking about him so much lately?
It used to be a source of happiness to remember him, to think of him. And then it hit her that she would never see him again. He would never see their child. It caused a painful wait on her chest whenever she thought of it.
With a firm shake of her head she walked up the steps to Yukari's home. She needed to clear her head or Daichi would grow anxious again. He always seemed attuned to how his mother felt. She knocked on the door and Yukari's bright face greeted her.
"Hitomi! How'd it go?"
Hitomi clapped her hands together. "Aced it of course! It's just like a race. Put all your concentration in at the start and charge forward."
Laughing, Yukari closed to door as they stepped into the hallway. "You WOULD compare it to running. Daichi's just in the next room. He's drawing very…well, interesting pictures."
Hitomi gave her friend a puzzled look and headed towards Daichi. He was seated at a table surrounded by papers and crayons, with his faithful Ryu doll by his side. "Hey sweetie."
He dropped his crayons at the sound of her voice and ran to clutch at her legs. "Look what I drew, mommy! It'll make you happy."
He thrust some papers at her and Hitomi felt her breath catch at the first picture. It was a crude drawing, typical of a small child's, yet she could make out herself standing next to a dark-haired man in a red shirt. A small figure, Daichi, stood between them. Van, Daichi, and herself all together.
"Mommy! Mommy! Don't cry! I'm sorry!"
"Hitomi, what's wrong?"
At Daichi's voice pitched in panic and Yukari's anxious query, she realized she'd started crying. This was what she really wanted. She was happy on earth, but not complete. This picture was what her heart had been wishing all this time.
"Daichi…"
The little boy had tears running down his face as he gripped his mother's arm. "I'm sorry, mommy!"
"No," Hitomi answered gently. She hugged the boy to her. "No, Daichi. Don't be sorry. This is the best picture I've ever gotten."
"R-Really?" He sniffled and rubbed his nose.
"Yes, really." She tapped his nose and he giggled. "Go get your coat so we can get some dinner at home."
"'Kay!"
He ran down the hall and Hitomi turned as Yukari addressed her. "It's that man from those stories, isn't it? Daichi's father."
Hitomi nodded and Yukari looked away for a moment. "I'm all right, Yukari. I have you and Daichi and my family."
"I know. It's just, I feel like you should have more."
Hitomi bit her lip. She did want more. Van…
"All done! I even buttoned all by myself." Daichi's happy voice interrupted the two and Hitomi took a deep breath. She needed to get home just to have time to think.
They headed towards the door and as she turned to say goodbye to her friend she felt an incredible sadness come over her. Like this would be their final parting. She hugged Yukari. "Be happy with him, Yukari. And thank you so much."
"Hitomi?" Yukari seemed confused and Hitomi was unsure of these feelings herself.
She put on her best smile. "See you later, Yukari."
She and Daichi headed away from the apartment. Daichi was skipping gladly as she held his hand, but Hitomi could only frown. What was happening? This feeling…she hadn't felt it since she'd been on Gaea.
Foreboding. Danger.
It's coming.
She stopped abruptly and Daichi was jarred backwards into her. "Daichi, I think we need to head back to Yukari's."
The small boy opened his mouth to respond when a beam of light shot down from the sky. A beam of light she knew too well. Scooping Daichi into her arms she backed away as the light retreated to reveal a figure only slightly taller than her. She was a woman with long blonde hair, bearing a sword and standing regal and lithe. A woman with-
"Wings! The lady has wings just like-" Hitomi covered her son's mouth and the woman looked sharply at them.
"Hitomi of the Mystic Moon?" Hitomi gulped, unsure of this woman, and nodded. She smiled and then Hitomi knew there would be trouble. The smile was cold, calculating, and smug.
"Give me the child."
"What!?" Her hold tightened on Daichi. "You're not taking him."
She laughed in amusement. "Oh really?"
In a moment she seemed to disappear and Hitomi felt a sharp blow to her head. Daichi's weight left her arms as her back collided with the cold concrete. She lay dazed for a few seconds, Daichi's screams echoing in her ears. A beam of light was reaching down from the heavens once again.
No!
Ignoring her jarring head and back, she launched her bag at the woman. The heavy books contained within collided with her head and she dropped Daichi while cursing in pain. Hitomi lurched forward to catch the falling child only to have moved in vain. Daichi never fell to meet her waiting arms because he and the woman were being pulled upwards -- pulled towards Gaea and away from her.
"Daichi! Daichi!!"
Her screams only echoed into the empty night as all traces of the light disappeards. Daichi was gone.
Hitomi couldn't breath. Her head was bleeding, her back was bruised, and she didn't feel any of it. Daichi. Her Daichi. He was all she had left.
She had to get him back.
She got up on shaky legs and headed towards home. Racing towards her house, she ran faster than ever before. She could hear shocked voices and cries of alarm as she passed people. She didn't care though. Let them stare because it didn't matter anymore. She reached her home and tore into her bedroom. She dug through the drawer and pulled out her set of tarot cards.
Hitomi hesitated. She hadn't used them since she came back, but something told her this was what she needed to do. Taking a deep breath, she took off the first card.
Ace of Serpents. Van's card.
"Please work…please send me to Gaea." She held the card to her closely, held it tight just as she had held Daichi to her before…
"Please! Van, I need you!"
White light encircled her and Hitomi let out a breath. She was going back to Gaea. To Daichi. To Van.