This's an Escaflowne fanfic series written by me, Shenrezade (But you can call me Shen.) It's my first one, so let me know what you think. A few things to note, though, are:
1. This is NOT a hentai fic. I don't and won't do those.
2. Just because "lover" is mentioned once or twice doesn't mean they're having h0t dr4g0n s3xx0rz. It means they are two people. In love. With each other.
3. I don't own the Escaflowne Characters. They are the property of the GENIUS who made this anime.
4. Avoid scary monkeys and giant fish in bear suits. They're bad for your health.
Reunion
The sun shined across the fields of Fanelia, illuminating the golden stalks of wheat with a dazzling light. Its rays bounced across the walls of the castle, as it came to rest in the ancient audience hall, where several people stood addressing the man seated on the throne.
Van Slanzar de Fanelia, the youngest king in the old country's history, swept back a lock of hair from his eyes, as he gave those before him half of his attention. His mind turned toward the blue star seen by everyone on Gaea. It was known as the Mystic Moon. He had been there once before, during his rite of passage, in which he slew a dragon. It was there he met a girl named Hitomi Kanzaki. A strange girl. A girl who had mysterious powers. A girl who had saved Gaea from destruction at the hands of its own people. A girl with who Van had fallen in love with.
Reaching into his mind, Van passed through the millions of miles to Hitomi, their mental link having no regard to the distance. He crept around in the back of her mind, not wanting to disturb her if she were busy. He sensed that she was concentrating on something with all her mind. Van quickly withdrew, back to his own business. Focusing his attention back to the people before him, Van listened carefully to what they had to say.
It had been four years, and the rebuilding of his beloved home country was proceeding at a snail's pace. The Castle was nearly finished, but that left the rest of the town as well as the guard walls. Suffice to say, it would be some time before his people could return to their once proud city. Van listened carefully to the masons, throwing in some suggestions on speeding the work up without taxing the workers to their extremes. He also acknowledged some advice the masons gave on how to decrease the costs without cutting corners. Their business finished, Van dismissed them to continue their work.
Sighing with exasperation, Van stood up and walked to the balcony overlooking the kingdom. He was clad in a red sleeveless shirt and brown trousers with boots. It was his favorite attire, and even though the nobles had asked him to dress properly as a king, he adamantly refused. "After all," he thought to himself, "a king must have subjects, and mine are gone." He surveyed the work being done on the city, wondering how much longer it would take to be done. Beyond the ruined gates lay the resting place of Escaflowne, royal guymelef of the Faneliea bloodline. After the war, he had no more use for it.
He smiled. Thinking about the Escaflowne reminded him of the time he had spent with Hitomi. Unconsciously, he fingered the red amulet at his neck. It was the pendant that Hitomi wore, and had used to save him and the others countless times. She had given it to him as a gift when she left. He had often used it to help strengthen his link to her. It was as dear to him as she was.
That was enough fawning. He had matters to attend to. Walking down the empty halls to his room, he failed to notice the fact that the only sound was his boot soles tapping along the stone floors. Merle was away taking care of orphans from the war. Allen had no to time to visit due to his attention to his sister Celena. The experiments the Zaibach sorcerers had conducted on her had nearly left her empty. That struck a sharp pang in Van, thinking back to final moments of the war. He still recalled how he had nearly killed Dilandau. If Allen hadn't interfered, he would have really lost his sister forever, and it would have been Van's fault. In his blind rage of being deprived of his revenge, he had turned his blade against Allen. He would have killed him too, if Hitomi hadn't reached out and stopped him. He was so full of anger and hate back then.
Seating himself at his desk, he began looking over royal documents and reports. He had requested help from the neighboring kingdoms to rebuild Fanelia, and the responses that came were always the same.
"We can't spare the men."
"Our own country is suffering."
"I wish we could, but…"
Of course, none of this had ever bothered Van. It was understandable, really. So much had been lost during the war. Actually, if he hadn't needed it so desperately, he would never have requested help in the first place, as it sounded slightly selfish. Leafing through the papers, he found one that made a grin that stretched from one ear to the other. Merle's handwriting was scrawled over it. She talked about how big the children had gotten, and how beautiful Asturia was. "Though not as beautiful as Fanelia will be" was scrawled hastily after it. Ending the letter with a statement saying how much she missed him, her name had been signed at the bottom, as well as a paw-print that could only be hers. Van chuckled to himself. "That's so like her," he thought. Putting it down, he leafed through the rest, picking up another one. This one, however, had a different effect on him than Merle's.
It was a letter from King Asturia requesting his presence. A meeting of the Gaean nation was being held there. Van scowled. "I don't have time to attend meetings. My kingdom needs me." But, after some consideration, Van conceded. As much as his country needed him, it was more important he attend this summit. Not doing so might be considered by the rest of the countries as an insult. The last thing he needed right now was to anger some pompous old men who fancied themselves rulers of men's fates.
Folding the letter up, he placed it into his shirt pocket as he wandered out of the castle to help the masons with their work. It wasn't really necessary he do this. As a matter of fact, the masons always begged him not to bother with it, as they would today. However, Van wanted to help rebuild his kingdom, and he could do that much better by toiling away with a hammer and nails than by signing meaningless decrees with a pen and paper.
Hitomi finished her final lap around the track course. The whistle blew and the coach told everybody to hit the showers. Hitomi arched over, hands on her knees, as she gasped for breath. Running was one of her favorite activities, especially since she gave up fortune-telling (just about every girl in the school protested against this). But it always left her so breathless afterward. Finally getting her breathing stable, she wiped her brow, and then stood up straight as she heard Yukari yelling her name.
"Hitomi, that was great!! Perfect track record, as always! If Amano were here, he'd envy you!" Hitomi grinned as her friend raced over to her and gave her an enthusiastic hug. Yukari always was an emotional.
"Don't be so flattering to me, Yukari!" Hitomi said as pulled away from her friend. "Besides, I'll bet Amano's still twice as good as I am." Yukari gave her a look that screamed "Yeah, right." "Anyway," Hitomi continued, "Has he sent you any letters lately?"
"Oh, of course! He knows that I'd march all the way to France and wallop him if he missed sending me one!" Yukari laughed. Amano had to leave Hitomi's freshmen year to study abroad. But not before Yukari had admitted her feelings to him. He was reluctant at first, due to the fact that he thought that Hitomi still wanted him. In the end, though, Amano had been won over by Yukari's charm. He had promised to send her letters every month. He was in France right now, and though Yukari wouldn't admit it, Hitomi could see that she wanted nothing more than to be in the city of lovers with her own.
Deciding to change the subject, Hitomi asked Yukari how her choir classes were going. Yukari said their final concert was coming up, and then she'd be pretty much free the last few weeks of school. This brought about the subject of graduation. Both girls were as eager to be finished with High School as dog is ready to knock over trash cans. Yukari especially, because Amano had said he'd be coming home this summer to visit her.
The two walked back the gym, Hitomi ready for a shower, and Yukari to get any announcements she needed from the coach. Now that she wasn't concentrating on her sprinting, Hitomi had time to remember the presence she had felt in her mind a while ago. "It must have been Van," she thought to herself. "I wonder what he's doing now." She smiled to herself as she thought about him. Yukari noticed this and was quick to jump on it.
"What are you smiling for, Hitomi?" she asked innocently. Here came the set-up. She knew Hitomi would only smile to herself for several reasons, and she had a pretty good idea which one it was.
"W-what!?" Hitomi gasped, shocked back into reality. Yukari asked again. Hitomi turned her head and closed her eyes. "Nothing, Yukari. I was just… thinking about something, that's all."
Yukari decided to up the ante. "Something or someone?" She asked, pulling around in front of her friend and placing her arms behind her back. Hitomi's face turned scarlet, giving her the exact answer.
Hitomi tried to move past Yukari and make for the door. "It's none of your business you nosy gossip." That remark made Yukari's grin wider. She quickly sidestepped and cut off Hitomi's route of escape. She wasn't getting out of this that easily.
Yukari went in for the kill. "Who is he, Hitomi? Do I know him? Is he cute?" Hitomi scowled and tried again to move past the stubborn girl, but Yukari cut her off again. Grinning like a maniac, she said, somewhat devilishly, "If you won't tell me, I'll have to force it out of you!" And with that she lunged at Hitomi.
Hitomi was caught completely off-guard. As such, she was unable to resist when Yukari grabbed her and started tickling her. Falling into a fit of laughter, she still refused to give in to Yukari, who had continued her assault, demanding to know who it was her friend was daydreaming about. Soon enough, Hitomi gave in.
"Okay! O-ok-kay!!" Hitomi managed to gasp between giggles. "If I tell you what I was thinking about, do you promise not to tickle me anymore? She looked up at Yukari in a mock plead, sticking her bottom lip out as far as it could go.
Yukari's face contorted in a laugh at the sight of her best friend's face. She got up and helped Hitomi to join her. "Okay, no more tickles. Now spill it." She asked, eager to find out about this mystery man that made Hitomi lose her senses.
"Okay, then." Hitomi began. "Yes, it was a guy. His name's Van, and no, you don't know him. He's cute." she was going to stop with just that, but the look Yukari gave her quickly changed that idea. "Okay, he's very cute. He has beautiful black hair, reddish-brown eyes, and…" Hitomi caught herself before she said "wings", skipping instead to her last description. "And a smile lovelier than the finest painting." She finished as she thought about what she said and brought up a mental image of Van. She giggled inwardly. Those things only began to describe him.
"Sounds like one killer of a guy. If I didn't love Amano like I did, I might be tempted to steal him away from you." She teased. Hitomi shot her a look that wouldn't have been pretty, if she knew the other girl hadn't been kidding.
Still, all the same, she replied "Try it and I'll make sure you walk funny for the entire time Amano's here!" She said in a grossly exaggerated threatening stance. Yukari again burst out laughing, and then said goodbye to Hitomi as she went off to talk to the coach. Hitomi sighed and looked up to the sky, looking for some glimpse of the world where she had met her lover. "I hope you're well, Van. We can see each other later tonight." And with that, she went off to take her shower.
That's the end of Chapter one. Not much, I know, but it's just to let everyone know where everyone is, and what everyone's doing, and where… every… one… Ah, screw it. I'm gonna go watch "Invader Zim". Second chapter'll be up soon.