Alright, here you go guys! The first chapter of my first Esca flick. I love Esca. Please R&R and tell me what you think!

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, nor any of its characters…sob…

It had been one year since Hitomi had returned to Earth, the Mystic Moon, and she was now in her second year of high school. As she walked towards the track field, she reached out in her mind, seeking the comfortable, familiar presence that was always nearby.

'Van?' her mind reached out questioningly. He responded almost immediately.

'Yes, Hitomi?'

'Where are you right now?'

His warm chuckle drifted through her mind. 'Pretending I am listening to my advisor's ramblings. It never fails to amaze me how greatly they concentrate on petty issues when there is still so much work to be done in getting Fanalia back on its feet. Granted, it has come a long way in a short period of time, but it still is far from complete.'

'Exciting,' she commented sarcastically, mirth ringing in her voice. She felt rather sorry for him. 'I just got out of class and I am on my way over to the track field to train.' Suddenly, Hitomi heard a voice calling her.

"Hitomi!" Yukari called out to her, Amano being dragged behind her. She smiled. They made a cute couple. She was happy that they were finally together. She turned back to her mental conversation.

'Van, I have to go now. My friend is coming. I'll talk to you later tonight, right?'

'Of course,' he smiled, 'I love talking to you.'

'Later then.'

'Bye.'

With that, she turned her attention back to her two rapidly approaching friends.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

Yukari smiled. "We were just trying to catch up to you. You seemed really spaced. Are you ok?" Hitomi blushed a little. She did not realize that she was paying that little attention to her surroundings. That was the danger of communicating with Van in public, but she loved his company so dearly that she often risked it.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Come on. Let's get to the track field."

As she warmed up, Hitomi once again realized just how grateful she was for her mental connection with Van. She would have been so lonely if she had had no link to him. When she had first returned home the connection between them had been a weak one and had been difficult to use. As they grew accustomed to it, though, they had learned to control it better. Now they where connected so closely that she could even feel him touching her at times. One of the most amazing discoveries was when Van had realized he could enter her dreams when they were both asleep. For some reason, their connection was strongest then. He would often spend all night just holding her in their dreams and talking about everything and nothing at all. It was so intimate and sweet. She knew she loved him deeply, and she thought he loved her too, but she could not be sure. He never had actually told that he loved, nor did he ever kiss her. Now though, she assumed, and wanted to believe, that is was only because he wanted the first time to be real, in the flesh. That and, for all his rashness and hotheadedness, he was undeniably shy when it came to her in many ways. Oh well.

She shrugged her thoughts off for the moment and crouched, ready to run. As she took off, she reveled at the feeling of running, the wind whipping around her. It almost felt like she was flying again. Oh how she missed being wrapped in his arms, flying with him. She would never grow tired of those beautiful wings of his. He was her angel.

Hitomi got home later that night, already thoroughly exhausted. She forced herself to stay awake, however, and pressed through her homework. After a while, her mind started to wander back to Van again, as it often did as of late. Even when she had left a year ago, she had harbored a desire in her heart to return someday. But for now, she had to finish high school and Van, she was sure, was preoccupied with his own duties. She hoped that he would want her back. Three years was a long time to wait, and she did not even know for sure that he really loved her. Even if he did, would he still love her in two more years when he had gone so long without her? She knew that she would never stop loving him. She hoped that he would want her back.

Sighing, she looked back down at her paper and rolled her eyes at herself. She had written Hitomi Slanzar de Fanel all over her page with little hearts around it. How much of a love sick schoolgirl could she be? Deciding that she was not going to get anything more done tonight, she changed into her pajamas, turned out the light, and crawled into bed. As she started drifting off, she heard his soft voice whisper to her fading mind.

'See you in our dreams.'

She fell asleep with a light smile on her face. After a moment, she saw scenery start to form. She stood upon a grassy hill that overlooked part of what she instantly recognized as Fanalia, but not the Fanalia as she had known it. Rather, this was the new, still growing and rebuilding, Fanalia. It was a beautiful view. Two warm, strong arms suddenly wrapped around her from behind. She smiled at his presence and leaned into his comforting embrace.

"It's amazing, Van. Is this what it looks like now?" she asked as she craned her head around to get a look at his gentle face and tender cinnamon red eyes. He smiled at her softly and held her tighter.

"Yes, this is one of my favorite spots to escape to when I need to get away from my advisors and responsibilities for a little while. When I was here earlier today, I committed it to memory so that I could show it to you now." He guided her over to a spot on the grass, and they sat down next to each other. He never relinquished his hold on her. Contently, she leaned her head against his shoulder, and he rested his head on hers.

"I miss you, Van," she said softly.

"As I miss you, Hitomi," he murmured, holding her a little tighter. They spent the rest of the night that way, clinging to each other and talking about everything on their minds.

Hitomi was reluctant to wake up when her alarm went off the next morning. She hated having to leave him. Begrudgingly, she climbed out of bed and began to get ready for school. How crazy all her friends would think her if she told them that she had fallen in love with a king from another planet and met with him in her dreams each night. She laughed softly at the thought. She had never told anyone of her adventures. Not even Yukari. She just did not know how to bring it up. "Oh yeah, by the way, last year I went to the world called Gaea, fell head over heals in love with a king, and help win a war against a man who was probably formerly Isaac Newton." Yeah, that was sure to go over well.

Hitomi met up with Yukari and they walked to school together, eventually joining up with Amano along the way. School went as normal as did track meet. After track was over, Yukari invited her to join her and Amano for ice cream. Hitomi smiled.

"No thank you, Yukari. I have homework I need to catch up on. Besides," she winked at her friend, "I'm sure you wanted to spend some time alone with him."

Yukari blushed, and Hitomi giggled before giving her friend a hug and starting home. As she walked, she decided to see if she could connect with Van again. Reaching into her mind, she called out to him.

'Van?' After a moment, she got a tired response from him.

'Yes, Hitomi?' Concerned, Hitomi questioned him.

'Are you all right, Van? You sound worn out.' She could here him sigh in her mind.

'I am. I have been filling out paper work on every topic imaginable for the last three hours, and the pile does not look any smaller than when I started.' He sighed wearily again and she felt a pang of sympathy for him.

'Do you need me to leave you to your work then?' she asked. It took him a moment to respond, and she assumed that he was trying to decide if he could afford stopping for a short while or not.

'No, no, I could use a short break. My concentration is shot as it is. I would love to talk to you. So how has your day been?' he queried amiably. She proceeded to relate her day to him, sparing no detail, eager to distract him from his burdens, if only for a short while.

Unfortunately, Hitomi was so distracted by her mental conversation, that she was hardly aware of her surroundings. As a result, she had no time to react when the sound of a blaring horn and screeching tires reached her ears and the smell of burning brakes assaulted her nose. She began to spin around, when an intense pain shot up her side and a immense force shoved her off the side of the road and off a steep ledge. As she plummeted down to the rushing waterway below, she screamed the only thing that filled her thoughts.

"VAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN!!!!!!!"

In Fanalia, the blood curdling scream rang in Van's head and shook him to the core. He jolted out of his chair in terror, knocking it to the floor. "Hitomi!" he cried out into the stillness of his study. His knuckles were white on the desk as he waited for some response, but there was none, only an eerie silence that petrified him more than any scream ever could. Something was very wrong.

Oh! Cliffhanger right off the bat! Exciting, huh? What's gonna happen? Tell me what you think! Thanks!