Sequel: Lovers Forever



Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne although I would be so happy if I did. I do own any characters that I made up.



Chapter 1: Good-Byes and New Beginnings



A lonely young cat woman sat alone by the window sil of her bedroom, gazing up at the clear night sky. She let a small, sad sigh. She then gazed around the palace gardens. She saw a young woman with maroon hair frolicking with a tall blond knight. It's not fair, she thought in silence. She stood up and shut the window. She then made her way to her bed where she let herself fall freely onto it. Every bodies got someone and I've got nothing, it's just not fair. She thought as a single tear rolled down her soft cheek.

As the weeks went on, Merle grew more and more lonely. Van was always doing something with Hitomi and when ever she tried to play jokes on Allen, Yukari would yell at her.

Late one warm summer's night, Merle began to pack her things. She packed dresses, pants, shirts, boots, shoes, pretty much everything she had. As she was packing, a knock sounded from the door. She ignored it and continued packing. Hitomi then walked into the room and saw all of the dresser drawers opened and empty.

"Merle, what's the meaning of this?" she asked quit confused.

"I'm going to start exploring all of Gaea. This place is too boring for me and I need excitement." Merle tried to explain. Hitomi sat down on Merle's bed trying to find the right words to say.

"Merle, are you sure you want to do this on your own?" she finally asked. Merle looked up from her dresser and looked at Hitomi.

"I'm positive Hitomi. Any ways, I've always wanted to travel. So this is kinda fulfilling my dream." she gave Hitomi a soft and gentle smile. Hitomi stood up and headed out of the room but just before she left she had one last thing to say.

"Merle, just be careful and come back to Fanelia when you're finished with all your travelling." Merle then went up and hugged her tightly.

"Hitomi, I'm gonna miss you." she whispered. The two loosened their grip and Hitomi left.

The following morning Hitomi was awoken by the sounds of guards, servant and everyone else in the castle running around. Weakly she sat up and saw Van burst into the room. She saw the concern in his face.

"Van, what's the matter?" she asked as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes.

"Merle's gone missing." he answered her quickly. Hitomi left out a quiet yawn and stretched her arms.

"I know Van, I was talking to her last night. She said she was going to travel all over Gaea. She said it was her dream in life." Van looked at her in shock.

"You knew about this? How come you didn't tell me?" he questioned her.

"Van if I was awake earlier, I would have told you."Hitomi said as she looked at him as if he were some stupid idiot. Van then hurried out of the room to call off the search.

Hitomi then got out of bed and went into the bathing room. The in-ground bath tub was already filled with hot steamy water. She slipped out of her emerald green night gown and slowly made her way into the tub. The hot water instantly relaxed every part of her body. As she sat in the tub relaxing, a sudden sick feeling over came her. Immediately she jumped out of the tub and ran over to an empty bucket nearby and vomited into it. She then felt much better but she didn't understand why she had gotten sick. She figured it was probably because the water was too hot but then she remembered that she had taken hotter baths than that.

She grabbed two towels off the rack and wrapped one around her body and the other she used for her hair. She then changed into a loose fitting satin dress. She went down to the dinning room where she met up with Van to eat. As they ate, Hitomi hardly touched any of her food.

"Hitomi, what's the matter?" he asked her concerned. She kept on playing with her food.

"I don't Van, I just don't feel like myself today."

"Do you think it's because Merle's gone?" he suggested. She shook her head no.

"I'm not sure what it is but it's not that." she said and stood up. "I think I'll the doctor examine me." she said and left.

She headed to the hospital area of the castle. She walked into the waiting room area and asked a passing nurse if the head doctor was busy. The nurse told her that she was in her office. Hitomi smiled and thanked the young girl. She went and knocked on the office door.

"Come in," said a middle aged woman's voice. Hitomi went in and took a seat across from the doctor. She looked up to see who her patient was. "Oh your highness, what is the matter?" she asked as she got a blank sheet of paper ready.

"Well, I don't feel like myself today. Earlier I vomited but I got a strange feeling when it happened." she told the doctor. She didn't even write anything down.

"Your highness, I'm gong to have to do some tests." she said as she stood up and lead her to the examination room. There she ran some tests. She took the results with her into her office and examined them carefully. After nearly an hour of looking at the results, she went back into the examination room. She had a smile on her face.

"What is it Kylie?" Hitomi asked eager to know what she was smiling about.

"Well your highness, you are with child." it took only a moment for Hitomi to take in the information. She had mixed emotions. Kylie expected that she would react like that. "I'll let you be. I need to record these results." with that said, she went back into her office.

Hitomi walked out of the hospital area stunned, she was pregnant. She couldn't believe she had a son or daughter growing inside of her. She slowly walked down the maze of corridors to find Yukari. She had to be the first to know.



A/N: So what did ya think? I'm sorry it took so long to post! It's just that I had this big English ISP that I had to do and also I had a bit of a writer's block. Well it ya have any personal comments, please e-mail them to me at sailor_cosmos71@hotmail.com . And like Always, PLEASE REVIEW!!!!!!!!!!! :O)