An emotion they call love

Author's note: Sadly I do not own Escaflowne, no matter how many tantrums I go on. Well, I was watching Escaflowne, and I suddenly had an urge to write this. Hope you all like this, and please review. I love it when you guys review. At the moment, I'm half way through the first chapter which I'll probably put up with the latest chapter of my Gundam Wing story. Enjoy the fic! And review!

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An emotion they call love

…Of two worlds…one destiny…one hatred…one love…

Prologue: Visions of power

"Earth to Yukari! Yukari! Hello!" Startled out of her daydream, the girl turned around to face her extremely annoyed friend. "What?" she asked. "I said do you want to do the project together?" her friend asked. "You snapped me out of my day dream because of that?" said Yukari, rolling her eyes. "Well it happens to be important, you know!" her friend said. "All right! All right! I'll come over to your place, and we'll do it then. I gotta call Amano first" she said. She got up and was about to leave, when she turned around. "Hitomi?" she asked. The honey brown hair girl answered. "Yeah?" "What was the project again?" she asked. Hitomi rolled her eyes. "We have to write a novelette," she said, sighing. "You go call Amano. I'll go home. Come over at seven, all right?" she said. "Definitely" said Yukari. "Who knows? If you still have that choclate cake from last week, I might even come over at six!" se said, winking. Hitomi laughed, and waved, as the two separated.

Amano and Yukari. They were such a great couple. It was hard to believe that Amano and Hitomi had once had feelings for each other. But that was before she had asked the cards the fateful question. 'Will I ever find true love?' The cards had shown her more than she would have dreamed. Somehow her wish to find true love, amplified by the cards and her pendant, had started a chain of events that left Hitomi changed forever.

Hitomi would never forget the day she had asked Amano for her first kiss. She had asked him that if she could run the track, and be able to beat her record, whether he would grant her first kiss. He had agreed. But as Hitomi ran on the track, a bright pillar of light had brought a young, rude man who old them the danger of dragons and to flee. Amano had scoffed at the man, but sure enough – a dragon appeared. The young man fought the dragon bravely, but could not harm it. Hitomi saw a vision where he would be killed, and horrified, had called out to him. Thanks to her warning, the young man averted his death, and slew the ferocious dragon. But after the beast was dead, another pillar of light took the young man back to his homeland, and with him, Hitomi.

It was there the couple's adventures began. From the terrible burning of Fanelia, to her kidnapping by an Asturian noble, to the fall of the kingdom of Fried. All the while, finding herself becoming closer and closer to the young man who turned out to be Van Fanel – King of burnt Fanelia. Many friends had joined the two in their adventures. Merle- the cat girl, Allen Schezar- Knight of Caelie, Princess Milerna – Queen of Asturia, Dryden- a merchant who later became king of Asturia. All who became the truest friends she would ever come to know. And Hitomi found something that she hadn't expected to find – true love.

Over the tie she spent on Gaea, she had come to fall in love with the young king of Fanelia. Her true love. Hitomi smiled at the thought of him. She imagined him sitting on the rocks as she passed them, and for a brief moment, she put out her hands towards him. He reached out to her, and their hands met. But then he vanished, and Hitomi sighed. She went on towards her house, and soon entered it. The house was empty because her parents were out of town. She went upstairs to get ready.

Soon it was time for Yukari to come over. Hitomi had gotten rid of her other homework, and waited for her to come. "7:15…what is wrong with that girl? She told me she would be over by seven!" grumbled Hitomi, as she looked up at the clock. There was a knock, as Hitomi rushed to open it. Yukari, and Amano stood there, grinning from ear to ear. "Hey!" said Amano cheerfully, as they came in. "What took you so long, Yukari? We have to work, you know!" said Hitomi. "Yeah, yeah! Don't worry! We'll do fine!" said Yukari, assuring her.

"Hey Hitomi?"

"Yes Amano?" said Hitomi, as she turned around. He was standing near a shelf, where he was looking at a small box. "What's this?" he asked. "Oh...those are my cards" she said. Amano looked up with an eyebrow quirked up. "Cards? Your fortune telling cards?" he asked. "Yeah" said Hitomi. "Hey! I thought you got rid of them! Can you read my fortune? Please Hitomi? I know you don't believe in them anymore, but please? Just for fun?" asked Yukari. "No!" said Hitomi. "Aw come on! What harm can it do! Besides, it's not going to come true, right? You said yourself that fate is what one does…right?" said Yukari, grinning. "Hey! That's not fair! You don't use my own quotes against me!" grumbled Hitomi. "Oh get over it! Come on! Let's get this show on the road!" said Yukari, laughing.

'I can't believe I'm doing this' Hitomi thought to herself, as she sat down on a table, and took out the cards. Apprehension and fear coursed through her, but she knew she was being silly. She picked up the first card.

Death. The skeletal figure grinned up at her with a menacing grin, and suddenly, Hitomi experienced a vision. She felt the skeletal death float out of the card, and surround her in its misty presence. She felt heat, and suddenly she was standing in an inferno, and on the ground was the bodies of the dead. Gasping, and growing nauseous, she spotted many familiar faces. Allen…Milerna…Driden…Merle…the crusaders…Van…

"VAN!" she screamed out, but the intensity of the heat got worse, burning into her skin…into her mind. She ran up to him, but heard a chilling laughter fill the air around her, and the flames disappeared. "Van!" Hitomi cried desperately, as she knelt beside him, and shook him. "Van! Wake up! Please oh god…Merle! Allen!" she cried, tears running freely on her face.

"You're next, little girl," someone said. "Huh?" Hitomi turned to see no one. "Who are you?" she cried. "I am…power" the woman replied. "What have you done? Why am I here? Who are you?" cried Hitomi, panic in her eyes.

The voice laughed a rich throaty laugh. "As I had said, little girl. I am power," she repeated. "But the events you see here will not done by my hand. But by the hands of another," she said. "But why? What possible gain can someone have from this…this massacre?" she asked, looking around with tear stained eyes at the dead bodies. At Van.

"I am forbidden to tell you that, Hitomi Kanzakie"

Hitomi turned around angrily, but there was no one there, except the fallen beside her. "If I am the one seeing this vision, then why are you here?" she yelled out, her voice echoing. The scene suddenly changed into a shadowy desert. The mystic moon hung low in the sky, illuminating the sand with a silvery glow. Van lay still at Hitomi's arms, and the other fallen had disappeared. A slight breeze shifted the ever-changing sands.

"Answer me!" she called out. Her voice echoed far. "I am here to give you a choice, Hitomi Kanzakie" the voice replied, but it seemed to have strangely multiplied, as if a thousand different people in unison were speaking it. "What is the choice?" she asked. The shifting sands began to swirl in front of her, and out of the sand, she could make out a vague old hooded woman, made out of sand. She looked straight at Hitomi, her eyes blood red. It was the only part of her face Hitomi could make out. "Return to the land of Gaea, Hitomi Kanzakie. It is your fate. Return"

"But how can I?" cried out Hitomi.

"…Return…"

"I don't know how!"

"…return Hitomi…return…"

"…Hitomi…"

Slowly she opened her eyes. Yukari and Amano were looking at her worriedly. "What...what happened?" she asked groggily. "You must have fainted or something. You were acting really strange. And you kept saying Van for some reason" said Yukari. "I'm sorry...I must have…had very little rest" said Hitomi. "Hitomi? Are you sure you're okay?" asked Amano. "Yeah, I'm sure. Don't worry" said Hitomi. "I just need some rest," she said. "Sorry" she apologized to Yukari. "It's okay. Just get some rest. We can do the assignment later," said Yukari, looking at Hitomi as if she was made out of glass.

Soon the couple left, to the relief of Hitomi. The two had kept bugging her, about whether she was okay, and had kept on insisting she get some rest. But rest was the farthest thing from Hitomi's mind. What she had seen in her vision was still enough to chill her blood. "After all this time…I must return to Gaea…" she said, looking out of her window, and at the stars.

"…But how?"