This was sort of a spur-of-the-moment thing that I had while reading a short but sweet Escaflowne fan fiction called Even Angels Fall, by Jem. It was a second-hand thing sent to me from one of my school friends. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I most certainly do not own Escaflowne, but even if I did, I wouldn't be any more happy than I am right now.

A few things on the other hand...(shameless plugs) I'm sorta stuck on all seven parts of Yin-Yang Theory and all my other stories, so it may be a while for some of those. I'm trying to make the story better, I apologize deeply for all delays. A small family crisis around here, gomen to any and all of my readers.

Thank you for reading this fic. Enjoy.

Where The Heart Is

***

Hitomi walked around a corner, searching, hoping. But...he wasn't there. He never would be, never again. He wasn't of Earth, after all. He was from Gaea. Hitomi looked up into the mysterious night sky, but she saw only the moon. Gaea was hidden from her sights, a magical place. Oh, Van...

We laughed

And we cried

Together

Forever

Van looked up into the sky, up at the Mystic Moon from his perch on Escaflowne. He had thought that Hitomi was just that, a girl from there. But he was wrong. She was more than that, so much more.

Time caught up

We reached the top

And had to stop

Yet I was bothered

She'd never told him how she felt...Oh, Van, I loved you. I really did. I never said it, but...I did. Hitomi sighed and wiped her crystal tears. They wouldn't help her, not here. Not now. Her heart was breaking, aching. Her hands were shaking, her whole body was quaking. She didn't care about Amano any more, even as she saw him.

What is this ache?

My body shakes

Why does my heart cry?

For a simple sigh

Van sighed and sank down onto the cold, cruel metallic body of Escaflowne's exterior. He had been so worried about Fanelia...he hadn't even realized how much he loved Hitomi. She wasn't his, though, she belonged on Earth. But he missed even just the simplest things about her, just the things that made her who she was. And those that he had come to love.

Her laugh

Her cry

Her song

Even, just her simple sigh

Hitomi slapped herself harshly across her face. What was she thinking? Why did she miss him, he wasn't hers, he was Merle's. He'd never even shown a single sign that he loved her too. And it was so obvious that the cat-girl liked Van that Hitomi was shocked to find that Van was so dense he didn't even realize it. Or was it because his eyes were clouded by another? Hope found it's way into her breaking heart once again.

Why does she miss him?

He wasn't hers

He was almost never kind to her

And he had that other girl

Merle found Master Van on top of Escaflowne. She loved him, and dearly, but...the way he stared up at the Mystic Moon, she knew he was destined for another. The cat-girl walked cautiously up to her master. She knew he wouldn't want to talk at the moment. But she had to do it.

Van heard Merle approach him. He didn't want to talk to her, she wasn't the one he wanted. And she wasn't very sensitive to whom he did want, either. She wasn't the one he needed. She was just a good friend. He allowed her to approach without refusal. She crawled up beside him and sat down.

"Master Van?" she asked reproachfully.

A single tear fell from his right eye and splashed onto her white-furred wrist in answer.

The other walks

Comforting, but not the one

Not the one he wanted

Not who he needed

Hitomi sighed again and stopped her daydreaming forcefully. Everything around her was as it was the day before she left for Gaea. It meant that perhaps she could try for Amano again. But Hitomi didn't want him anymore. She wanted the Prince of Fanelia on Gaea. He was the only one. The only one who owned her heart now. Did dreams really come true?

The one she dreamed of

Wasn't as far as she thought

Dreams are never far

As long as you know what to look for

Van told Merle to wait on the ground. He activated Escaflowne and took off into the night sky. The Mystic Moon was shining brightly tonight. He wondered fleetingly if destiny had made it that way, simply to egg him on. Simply to let him know that his destiny was with the one who lived on it.

Hitomi raced down the track again. She hoped beyond hope and wished beyond fate that Van would come in that beautiful pillar of light again. The light that would lead her to Gaea, to her true love, and to her destiny. Destiny. She had never really believed in it before. But she had to try. But maybe simple love would find a way.

Destiny plays a part

Fate has a hand

But love has its own ways

And sometimes intercedes

Hitomi smiled enthusiastically as she saw Van appear, riding Escaflowne. His stallion in disguise. This was no dream. He was here! He'd come to her! Her knight in shining armor had finally found his way to her!
"Van!" she yelled joyously. He didn't answer her, but smiled as he took her hand and helped her mount his steady steed of metal and unbelievable power. The light disappeared into the heavens, her pendant following her. She was going home, she could feel it in her heart. After all, home was where the heart was.

Home isn't one's birthplace

But where the heart is

And where the heart is

Love often follows

Dark and light collide

Psychic and Warrior

Gentle and Intensity

Love is a funny thing

But where the heart is

Love forever follows

And love is a bond of heart

That can never be broken

***

Do you know someone who's yearning after the one they love? Maybe, like with Van and Hitomi, that love isn't as far away as they may seem. If destiny, fate, chance, and love have anything to do with it and your own determination and power, then time is never of the essence and a distance of a thousand miles is only a few steps away.

***

I hope you liked it. It's much deeper than I normally do...but after seeing this scene at one of my best friend's birthday party and reading the poem I'd written a while ago, I couldn't leave it alone. Thank you, for reading this. Please, tell me what you think.
The writer of the future, Angel of the Dragon (a.k.a. Anjeru), is signing off. Sayonara!