A Return to Gaia

In the early morning light she awoke with a start, her body covered in sweat and her legs tangled in the sheets. The dream had woken her yet again, she did not want to admit it but she knew what she had to do. She had no choice; this world would tear its self apart if she did not leave. The visions of smoke and fire were still dancing in front of her eyes when she slipped out of her bed and walked over to the balcony. Her heart was heavy in this knowledge, she had come to love Gaia just as much as she loved Van, but she was out of time. Even the dragons whispered on the cool morning wind that she must not linger any longer. One of her many new gifts she mused, I can hear the dragons voices, they are so lovely, certainly not the beasts I once saw them for. Poor creatures so misunderstood. Her thoughts grew dark once again, it was hard for her to fathom that it had been two months since the fall of the Zaibach Empire. Her chest grew tight as an image of Folken flashed in her mind. She had not been able to change his fate, and even if she could have he would he have let her. She felt Van's pain, mourned with him through it all.

Plagued by these dark thoughts she slowly turned away from the window as the sun crept over the horizon. She did not want to see the sunrise, knowing she couldn't stay. Tears blurred her vision as she dressed in the morning light. She took out her old school uniform and dressed herself. She hastily made her way down to the sparring area knowing that Van would be there, he enjoyed sparring in the early morning, and she loved watching him. The moment she caught sight of him her heart skipped a beat. If a man could be called beautiful then Van was that man, his body glistened in the morning sun, his skin had a honey glow and light sparkled around him as beads of dew and sweat were thrown into the air as he danced with his sword.

She will never forget the sight of him on that morning, just the thought of it made her cheeks burn and her body ache for him. They had been so busy once they had finally returned to Fanelia, the rebuilding was underway and she did not get to see Van nearly as much as either of them would have liked. And now she was leaving. She did not even get more than a few stolen kisses before he was needed elsewhere. She sighed and cursed her own inner voice again; I am having enough trouble leaving without these thoughts invading my mind.

Van noticed her watching him and sheathed his sword as he walked over to where she stood. He had such an amazing smile on his face and before she could react he captured her in his arms and kissed her. His kiss set her body on fire, her desire for him a physical force within her burning to release it. She wrapped her hands around his neck and tangled her fingers into his black silk like hair. She would miss being able to fun her fingers through his unruly hair. When he broke the kiss, somewhat reluctantly, they were both breathing heavily. He chuckled as his dark eyes looked into her green ones, she knew her face would be flushed and she couldn't help but start to giggle as he held her so tight and kissed her like that. A shadow must have crossed her eyes in that moment because he saw her sadness. He pulled away just enough for him to slide one of his hands up to her face so he could cup it. "Hitomi?" his voice was husky as hers would probably be. He said only her name but it was enough, a tear rolled down her face and she suddenly blurted out her thoughts.

"I have to leave Van! I love you and I can't stand the thought of having to go but I –"he suddenly cut off what she would say next by kissing her again. He placed little kisses all down her neck and back up; he kissed away her tears and whispered,

"I know. It was that dream again, right?" she gave a faint nod as he held her. "I know you will come back to me Hitomi, I had hoped to be able to spend more time with you. The dragon's song cannot be ignored can it?" She was surprised to learn that he could hear the dragons as well but then blushed at her own stupidity. Of course he could hear them too! Folken could so why wouldn't Van too! Stupid girl! Her brow furrowed as she thought this. And Van let out another infuriatingly wonderful chuckle.

"It's time Hitomi" said Van as he took her by the hand and lead her to the resting place of the Escaflowne. Once there he let go of her hand so he could leap onto the Escaflowne so he could grasp the Drag energyist from its chest. "I believe it can help you get home" he stated as he pulled her to him. Holding her tight, after what seemed to be far too short of time he held up the energyist and the power within her began to respond to it.

"I will be back I promise" Her eyes filled with tears and her vision blurred, "I love you, Van."

"And I will be waiting for you." he smiled at her and she couldn't help but smile back even though her heart was breaking. In that moment she almost changed her mind, the wonderful sent of his skin made her heart ache,

Why can't I stay with him? Her thoughts were betraying her, she was losing her resolve. She closed her eyes and buried her face into his shoulder as she forced herself to release the power within. The beam of light engulfed her; she started lifting off the ground. She felt his arms tighten on her; he did not want to let her go. At the very last moment he whispered into her ear "Marry me?" she was surprised for only a moment and whispered back to him "Yes!" as she was suddenly pulled away by the light, her tears falling like rain to land on Van.

He stood rooted to the spot for a few moments after Hitomi had disappeared. His heart ached to be with her, he clenched his fists and focused on controlling his breathing. He wanted to go with her but he could not leave Gaia, he was the King and he had a duty to his people, He must rebuild Fanelia so that when Hitomi did returned, they would have a place in this world together. Her last word echoed in his mind.

Yes!

She would be his queen, and he wanted that more than anything. He felt as if his chest was crushing his heart as he turned and looked back upon the ruin that used to be Fanelia.

I will wait for you Hitomi. And I will rebuild Fanelia for my people. Please come back to me soon.

Van was sitting on the ledge of his balcony thinking of Hitomi as night descended signalling the end of another long day. The scent of rain drifted to him on the wind, another storm was brewing. Van sighed, deciding to head back inside before the rain started to fall, as he turned the slightest sound reached his ears. He stopped where he was and turned his ear into the wind, listening, the sound came again. A soft whisper was weaved into the wind, a dragon song. He had not heard those voices since Hitomi had been sent back to the Mystic Moon almost three years ago. His heart began to beat faster as more words filtered through the wind, they sang of the wind goddess, and of her return. Van strained to hear more of this strange song just as a flash of light lit up the evening sky as a pillar of light touched the ground in the nearby forest. Without even a second thought he leapt off the balcony his wings burst from his back in a flurry of feathers.

Hitomi!

He could hardly contain his excitement as he climbed higher into the sky so he could pinpoint her location before the light faded. His heart nearly stopped as he suddenly realised where she had landed, it was a clearing he had visited many times in the past but times had changed. Fear blossomed in his chest as the light began to fade.

No! Why did she appear there? His blood turned to ice as the clearing was consumed by the darkness.

I won't make in time! His inner voice screamed at him, as he caught movement in the woods just before the last of the light died away.

I can't lose her! Not now that she has finally been returned to me! His chest burned with every breath as he streaked across the sky.

He was drawing close. He could hear the sound of movement in the trees, heard a low guttural grunt and an inhuman screech as he finally cleared the last of the bushes. He landed hard and drew his sword in one swift movement and then he froze at the sight of her. Hitomi! She was so beautiful standing in the center of the clearing; it took a moment for his mind to comprehend what he saw. She was dressed in a long silvery dress much like the ones his mother used to wear. Her eyes were closed and she had her face tilted up towards the sky. The silk cloth danced around her exquisite body, floating in the air as if the fabric had a life of its own. Her body began faintly glowing and feathers made of blue light burst from her back and formed her wings. Then unexpectedly the light around her pulsed outwards and the air crackled as if lightning had struck. The blast from Hitomi made all his hairs stand on end and there was a distinct buzzing in the air, Van snapped out of his initial shock of seeing her and leapt gracefully to Hitomi's side preparing to defend her. The figures in the darkness had put their hands over their ears; some of them simply ran back into the woods to get away. Van was confused as to what just happened; he heard Hitomi move closer to him and felt her hand touch his shoulder. He smiled despite the fact that they may be attacked at any moment, he was just relieved to be able to touch her again.

"Van?" Hitomi's voice was faint, he turned himself enough to see her face but still keep an eye on the woods. It really is her! She has become even more beautiful since I last saw her. The glow faded from her skin and left her looking pale. Their eyes met and then without another word she collapsed, Van was quick and managed to catch her before she hit the ground but he had compromised his fighting stance to do it. Struggling to place Hitomi on the ground while scanning the forest he heard the menacing chuckle.

"Well, Van. Whatever will you do now? Here you are alone in our woods, and with only the aid of an unconscious woman." The voice was deep and spoke with difficulty as if trying to form the words around large fangs.

"Master, we have to leave this place, that woman, she did something… The woods have heard her call… I can hear them….. Master please……." A small frail voice spoke to the first. There was a sickening crack and a muffled whimper as the first voice let out a harsh laugh. His laugh died as a loud thump sounded and the ground shook. A low growl reverberated through the forest, causing the trees to tremble. They could hear branches snapping like twigs as something very large made its way towards the clearing.

"So she really did call them….. We will continue another night Van. You will not have a dragon around to protect you forever. And as for that sorceress," He savoured the word with his foul mouth. "She will be a nice prize for my prince. He always had a taste for the exotic ones."

Van tensed at his words, this beast could threaten him all it wanted but not Hitomi! His anger flared at the monster hidden in the woods. Its laughter haunting as the beast made its escape. Van remained in the clearing with Hitomi, he would not leave her, this time he had been able to control his temper enough to stop himself from rushing headlong after his enemy. He took a couple deep breaths as he let some of his tension leak away. From behind him a massive dragon had made its way into the clearing, its large yellow eye inspected Van and then Hitomi. He snuffled the ground and let out another low growl, as he came fully into the clearing. Now he is a magnificent creature this one! The dragon looked back to Van as if he had heard Van's very thoughts. Thank you young one, a deep unfamiliar voice echoed in Van's head. Van involuntarily took a step back from the dragon that just spoke to his mind. What? Van was shocked and confused. The dragon seemed to chuckle as steam rolled out of its nostrils. I felt her presence and so I came. The dragon focused his eye on Hitomi again seeming satisfied with her it turnedaway and headed back out of the clearing. Van sheathed his sword and knelt to pick up his beloved Hitomi. Once she was in his arms he noticed that the dragon had stopped walking away and was watching him over its shoulder. "She is to be yours?" The dragon asked him in its resonating voice as it cocked its head to the side. Van was unsure how to answer this question.

"If she will have me" was all van said as he spread his wings. Van looked around the clearing for anything that could help him ascend into the air to take Hitomi back to Fanelia. Upon finding nothing his eyes met the dragons once more. Van was surprised as he realized the dragon was waiting for him. He hesitantly began walking towards the dragon.

"You will need more speed than that to take to the air young one!" The voice in his mind gave Van the impression that it was laughing at him. Van smiled at the magnificent creature as he spread his wings and ran towards the dragon, he ran up along the great dragons' tail, up its back and just as he reached the dragons head there was a great burst of wind and van was launched into the air. Van rose higher into the air with Hitomi safely in his arms. He smiled as he looked down at her sleeping figure, she had finally returned to Gaia.