Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or any inherent characters, locations, or mecha.

Flight of the One Winged Angel

Smoke billowed up from the scorched soil, choking the sky in a black haze. Red rays of sunlight lanced weakly through the shifting clouds of ash. Gigantic bits of wreckage loomed here and there in the dim light, discernible only as broken armored hulks. Broken swords and broken bodies littered across the blasted ground and fires still guttered fitfully in hollows.

I know this isn't real…

Piteous moans rise from a few too injured to move. A few soldiers were still alive, powerless to anything but lie in agony and await the relief of death.

Why do I keep having this dream? Why do I keep seeing these things? It's been so long…

A shape strides purposefully through the fog, resolving slowly into a tall man dressed in flowing black robes. His hair is completely white and hangs to his waist. And his face… His face is perfect, angelic and unmarred. But his eyes reflect the fire around him, reflect it and multiply it a thousand times over so that they blaze with a cold fire that seems to consume all that they see. He stares blankly ahead, then raises his head to gaze into the roiling heavens.

Who is he? And why do I feel like those eyes can see right into my soul? His eyes reflect the fire, but they're so cold… So very, very cold…

The clouds explode away from his gaze, and a brilliant white pillar of light descends to engulf him in a nimbus of pure whiteness. And still his eyes are burning…

Directly in the center of his gaze, two moons hang in the sky. He doesn't blink, his eyes never leave those two distant globes. A single glowing wing rises and spreads from the center of his back. It stretches to the limit revealing every feather and pinion in translucent majesty. Then, with no movement at all, he begins to rise gracefully on the beam of light. As he disappears into the sky, the clouds of smoke iris closed like a trap and the fires swell to consume everything…

Why is he coming here? What does he want? And why does he look so much like-

"Van!" Hitome cried, sitting bolt upright in her bed as sweat poured down her brow, matting her brown hair to her forehead. With a gentle sob, she collapsed back among the bedding she had kicked into disarray. She hugged her pillow to her chest and curled around it, trying not to cry.

It was the same dream, always the same, never changing for the past four years. The same man striding through the carnage. The same angel's face with demon eyes, eyes which would burn forth and consume the world…

Four years of waking every night sobbing the name of the only one she had ever loved. Why do I call his name? HE doesn't look like Van. If anything, he looks live Allen. But those eyes…

"Oh Van," she whispered into her pillow, "Why won't they stop? It's not as if I could go back. I've already tried, already tried to go back to Van… So why am I having visions I can't do anything about?"

With one last sigh, her eyes closed and she slept once more, dreamless then, until dawn.

* * *

The next night Hitome awoke again, startled awake by the same awful vision of death and carnage, that same burning eyed angel with one glowing wing. But for the first time in four years it had been different. This night, he had strode through the battle field with one arm stretched before him, hand clenched tight about something that glowed with a violent redness through the flesh of his hands. When he stopped in his accustomed spot, he opened his hand and something dropped down on a thin golden chain. It glowed insanely in his grasp and his eyes became white hot chips of ice as he stared at the planet above him.

It was pink fragment of a drag-energist, and as it swung from his fingers, it kept perfect time…

Hitome shuddered and reached over to hit the light switch beside her bed. Instead, he fingers brushed against the knobby bark of a tree root. Hitome's eyes snapped open to stare across a field of tall grass waving gently in the night wind. Amid the millions of diamond stars, the Earth and the Moon hung distantly in the night sky.

I'm back! I've finally come back to Gaea, to Van! But why now? Does this mean that HE's here?

She hugged her knees to her breast for a moment before rising slowly to her feet. She turned to look at the ancient tree she had been sleeping against. To her surprise, there was a sword driven into the ground near the trunk. Hitome blinked a few times and walked over to inspect it. A diamond shaped crest winked at her in the bright moonlight. That's, isn't that Fenelia's crest? She was about to look up in surprise when something else caught her eye. A small golden chain had been looped through the guard of the hilt, at the end was a small red stone fixed in gold. My pendant!

Hitome burst to her feet and stared wildly about her, searching desperately for Van. "Van!" she called into the night, "Van are you there?"

The wind whispered and a few crickets buzzed but there was only silence to answer her. With a sigh she turned back to the tree. A shadowy figure stood beneath its branches holding the royal sword towards her in a threatening stance.

"Who are you? What do you want with the King of Fenelia?" The sword jerked with deadly intent and it's brilliant edge glimmered in the soft white light from the mystic moon. Sudenly, the pendant affixed to the sword blazed to life illumining both of their startled faces.

"Van?"

"Hitome?"

The light from the pendant faded leaving the two of them standing face to face beneath the gaze of a million stars and two moons.

"Oh Van, I've missed you so much." With that she stepped forward and fell into his arms, embracing him and wishing she would never have to let him go.

* * *

Hitome awoke with the light of dawn slanting through the window of a guest room that had been hastily prepared for her use. Oh please, don't let it have been a dream. She opened her eyes and cried out happily to see the city of Fenelia spread out beyond her window. There was a gentle knock at her door.

Hitome stretched and yawned, took a moment to arrange her night gown about herself in a bit more modest fashion, then called out cheerfully. "Come in!"

The door opened slightly and an orange and white furred face poked through. "Hitome?" The door burst open and a furry shape in a yellow dress leapt across the room to grab her in a giant hug.

"Is that you Merle?"

Merle slid off the bed, regaining her composure a bit. "Mm hmm, I can't believe it's really you Hitome."

Hitome took a moment to size her old friend up. "My you've grown, Merle."

"Hmm, speak for yourself!"

Hitome smiled and opened her mouth to speak when a someone spoke from the doorway.

"Hitome."

Her eyes flashed to meet his and words welled up in her throat. Oh great, I haven't seen him in years, and now that I'm finally back, I don't know what to say!

They considered each other across the room, each silent, considering what to say. Merle looked from one to the other. Then dropped her head into her paws with a sigh. "Oh please, one of you should just spit it out."

Van smiled a bit unsure of himself.

Merle rolled her eyes. "I'm sure you've both been rehearsing this moment for years, so as a reminder, I'll bet it goes a bit like this." She clasped her paws to her heart and began sarcastically. "Oh Van! I've missed you so much!" She adopted a serious expression and dropped her voice ridiculously, "Oh Hitome, I've dreamed of this day." "Oh Van, I love you and I want you and-"

At this point her words were transformed into a yowl of surprise as Hitome whacked the back of her head with her pillow.

Van burst out laughing. Merle bristled, "It's not funny, I almost bit my tongue!"

Still chuckling, Van strode across the room and took Hitome's hand. He pulled her gently to her feet and said, "It seems as if Merle's better at this than we are."

Hitome smiled and saw her own eyes reflected in his. He lowered his head and captured her lips in a gentle kiss.

Merle's eyes widened and she took a step back fretting to herself. Ye Gods! Don't they start fast! Oh well, I guess it's only fair since they haven't seen each other in so long.

Merle started to get a bit uncomfortable and beat a hasty retreat to the door while calling out, "I'll go tell the kitchen to start breakfast!" With a scurry of paws on stone floor, she was gone.

Hitome pulled away from Van and rested her head against his chest, "I think we embarrassed Merle."

Van snorted, "I think she brought it on herself." His gaze became serious, "That's the first time we've kissed."

"Oh believe me, I know. I'm sure it won't be the last." With a light laugh and a peck on his cheek, Hitome extracted herself from his embrace, "Didn't she just mention breakfast?"

"Hey not so fast, we just got here!"

"Sorry Van but I'm starving! It's a long trip from the mystic moon you know!" With that she followed Merle's line of retreat and Van leapt after to keep up.

Van took her hand out in the corridor and led her to a private terrace overlooking the gardens. A table had been set there and Merle stood patiently beside a large serving trolley heaped with food. "Oh there you are!" She called with a wave and a laugh, "I thought maybe you'd gotten lost," She said with a sly smile to Van.

"Cut it out Merle, let's eat."

Hitome took a seat where she could see the whole garden stretched toward the side of the mountain. Construction crews could be heard in the castle and the city beyond. "Everything's being rebuilt so fast, when will it all be finished?"

Van took a moment to consider the renovations, "Everything should be finished in a little over a year."

"I'd love to see it when it's finished."

"I hope you'll be seeing it for many years after it's finished."

Hitome smiled and turned her happy eyes back to the garden. After a few moments, a slight frown creased her brow and Van gazed at her in worry. "What's the matter?"

Hitome's frown deepened, "Van, what's happened to all the birds?" Hitome clearly remembered there being many birds in the garden on her last visit, but now she was sure she hadn't seen one since she had returned to Gaea.

Van's face fell suddenly and tears welled in Merle's eyes. "Wow," the cat woman muttered, "In the excitement of you showing up, I'd almost forgotten."

"Gaea is being destroyed the same way Atlantis was."

Hitome gasped, "What? But we stopped it last time. We saved them."

Van shook his head sadly. "We diverted it, postponed it, but it's beginning to be more rapid now. About a month after you left, the birds began to disappear. Then, a year later, the land dragons, then the sea dragons, and finally, the air dragons. The energists were next to disappear, and finally, a month ago, the levi-stones started to fail."

"What does it mean?"

"It means that Gaea fading, the things that hold it together are failing."

"But why?"

"Because the power of Atlantis wants to return home, to go back to the mystic moon."

Van gazed sadly across the lush green garden. "There's a war coming, All of Gaea versus one man. Once it's ended, Gaea will burn to nothing and everything on it will die, and then the power of Atlantis will return to the Mystic Moon to destroy it as well."

Hitome raised her eyes to the mystic moon above. "I guess peoples wishes just conflict too much to be overcome."

"All of that destructive conflict forged itself into a single entity, that entity took over a mortal, and now the body is used to help the power meet its goals."

"Who's body?"

"Allen Schezar's."

* * *

A. N.: Do hope you're all enjoying. Should only be another chapter after this one. I'd post it all together it I wasn't so lazy…

Chapter Version 1.1: Fixed typos

Future Changes: None planned