Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne, its characters, or any flashbacks used in this story from the series. I also don't own "Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas, "No Need For Promises" by Ma'aya Sakamoto and Yoko Kanno or the song "London Bridge." Nor do I claim to own them. I do, however, own any original characters in this story. Oh yes, and I used an idea from Calvin and Hobbes that I found interesting in this chapter! Credit goes to the amazing Mr. Bill Watterson! Thanks!

A/N: I'm sorry that I haven't updated in such a long time… It's been really unfair of me to all of you loyal readers. I hope that all of you didn't abandon me, although I must admit that I deserve it. It's just been one thing after another… 8th grade is quite demanding, I'm sorry to say. My friends keep trying to set me up with random boys, I was "volunteered" to be on St. Lucia's Court in my church's Christmas pageant, we're getting a new dog, I had to study for my algebra final, my LA teacher is crazy, my SS and Science teachers love giving projects, Mr. W was mad at me for not submitting anything till the last minute for our school poetry/artwork club, I keep starting new fics that I don't technically have time for, I read too much, my parents are getting angrier at me than usual, my computer is not working correctly, I turned fourteen a few days ago, and life is just quite ridiculous right about now… Please forgive me for taking so long. I'll try to pick up the pace with updates… I want to thank my best friend, Akai Yuki, who kept asking when I planned on updating. Thanks, Nat! Read and review!

Note: The song Yukari sings in this chapter is the English translation of "No Need for Promises." (As most of you probably can tell without me reminding you…)

Tears of the Heart

You
You

You are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
That's pulling at my skin

You leave me when I'm at my worst
Feeling as if I've been cursed
Bitter cold within

Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Without you
Without you

You are still a whisper on my lips
A feeling at my fingertips
That's pulling at my skin

You leave me when I'm at my worst
Feeling as if I've been cursed
Bitter cold within

Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Without you
Without you

Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Days go by and still I think of you
Days when I couldn't live my life without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you
Without you

-"Days Go By" by Dirty Vegas

Chapter 7: I'll Be Waiting

"So, is everyone this lonely

When they're in love?

They embrace a pain

Deeper than the shadows?

It's all

To make us shine,

I just know it!

I… I love you

I gaze at you with my heart

I… I believe in you

Even on the coldest of nights…

I call out to you with my tears

But I don't need any promises

It's thanks to the precious strength

That you've given me…" Yukari sang softly. Probably not the ideal lullaby, but still, it set the mood.

I wish I remembered where I heard that song… Yukari mused to herself. She was quite fond of it, but she drew a blank as to how she knew it.

Yukari rocked back and fourth, softly humming a lullaby to her unborn child. All of a sudden she heard a faint beeping noise and jerked her head in surprise, noticing that the sound was coming from her duffle bag in the corner. She dropped the baby cap she had been working on, walking over to investigate. She flung various clothes, mementos, schoolwork, and track gear out of the bag until she found what she was looking for.

"It's my pager…" Yukari exclaimed in excitement, amazed that it still worked so far from home.

WHERE ARE YOU YUKARI? It read across the screen.

"It's… It's from Amano…" she whispered in disbelief, staring at the message in wonder. She didn't know whether to smile or cry when she stood up, as the pager clattered to the floor.

"It's… It's from Amano…" she whispered in disbelief, staring at the message in wonder. She didn't know whether to smile or cry when she stood up, as the pager clattered to the floor.

"London Bridge is falling down,

Falling down,

Falling down,

London Bridge is falling down,

My fair lady…" Hitomi sat on a simple wooden bridge, her feet dangling over the edge. The Vione was docked once more and she was enjoying this time outside the ship. She hadn't an inkling why she was singing such a childish nursery rhyme. She was seventeen for God's sake. If Yukari knew… As if on cue, she looked up to see Yukari blinking down at her.

"Glad I'm not in London." Yukari remarked casually, trying not to laugh.

"So I'm a bit homesick! Jeez, give me a break!" Hitomi remarked in annoyance.

"Uh, Newsflash Hitomi! We don't live in London." Yukari commented, sweatdropping.

"I know. It hasn't been that long!" Hitomi replied stubbornly, rather putout that her friend was acting as if she'd lost her memory or something. "I was just remembering when Mamoru was younger… He'd just begun to study English and I taught him that song…" She looked down at the water, her reflection staring back at her. "Yukari… Do you ever wonder if we're actually the reflection of our reflections?" she asked softly, staring into her copy's face.

"There you go, Hitomi. You think of the weirdest things." Yukari shook her head, sitting down beside her to stare at her own reflection.

"Yeah. I know." Hitomi admitted softly, hugging her knees. "But if you think about it… wouldn't you disappear, if your reflection moved away?"

"Kinda makes you want to hang around, huh?" Yukari commented thoughtfully.

"I guess." Hitomi nodded. "I suppose I'm just tired of all of this. All the traveling and fighting and such. Maybe I just miss home…" She watched a flower blossom glide through the water silently, reaching down to scoop it out with her cupped hands.

"I wish I could just drift away. I don't belong here. I'll never make a good queen." she whispered, letting the blossom float off with the soft breeze.

"Hitomi… You didn't ask for this… Didn't you ever hear the saying, 'People become great when greatness is thrust upon them?' I mean, give yourself a break… You don't owe these people anything… In fact, technically, they owe you." Yukari replied lazily.

"I mean… Folken and Dilandau and that old guy… what was his name again? They tried to kill you more times than I can count. And you feel sorry that you aren't the ideal empress?! For Pete's sake Hitomi, I think that something's wrong with your head!" Yukari rolled her eyes at her friend in frustration. "Ever since we were little, you always took the blame for everything! When I broke the neighbor's window with that baseball while we were playing in the yard, you said that you threw it! When Mamoru ate half of the pie that your mother left out to cool, you said that you messily devoured it! And when we didn't win the sectional track meet, you claimed that it was because of your score! Honestly, Hitomi! Stop being such a martyr! You aren't responsible for everything! And you don't always have to take the blame!"

"I still feel guilty… Everyone's counting on me…" Hitomi said softly.

"Ugh…" Yukari murmured in defeat, sweatdropping. "You're hopeless."

"WHAT'S THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN?" Hitomi demanded. Things would have almost been normal between the two friends if circumstances hadn't dictated otherwise.

"Amano… Amano… Amano…" Yukari chanted in her sleep, as though his name was her mantra. She smiled slightly. She was dreaming about him again.

They were in their apartment. The one that they'd chosen together to rent after their marriage. They were sitting on the couch, drinking coffee, both smiling as he paged through one of his medical journals while she caught up on what she'd been missing in her fashion magazine. He casually wrapped an arm around her shoulder, causing her to blush. She looked up at him, when he pulled back his book. Her smile turned to a gasp of horror.

"Isn't this quaint?" The man beside her wasn't Amano anymore.

"Dilandau…" she hissed as he laughed sadistically. "I hate you! Get out of my dream!" she shrieked.

"Too bad, Bitch! You're mine now, and there isn't anything that you can do about it!"

And there isn't anything you can do about it…

Do about it…

Do about it…

The former track captain awoke in a cold sweat. She looked over to see her husband snoring peacefully beside her.

"It was just a dream…" she whispered. "Just a dream…" She looked down at Dilandau's sleeping face and smiled slightly. He was alright when he wasn't awake. However, she chose to take this opportunity to grab the glass of water on the bedside table and dump it into his open, snoring mouth. "I don't like snorers." She commented as he sputtered and choked, springing up in confusion. "Goodnight, Dear!" She immediately closed her eyes, feigning sleep as Dilandau gave her an accusing look.

"Ha. Ha. Goodnight to you too, Bitch…" He grumbled. The way that she was behaving was disturbing. Perhaps they had spent too much time together. He thought that he might be rubbing off on her.

"Yukari!" Hitomi pounded on the door. "Come on! You promised that you'd go to the shore with me! Yukari! We leave port tomorrow! YUKARI!" The girl whined desperately, as she had now grown accustomed to her friend being practically deaf and this everyday routine. "And I know that Dilandau isn't in there because Folken assigned him to a 'top secret' mission this morning!"

"Wrong again, Bitch!" Dilandau snarled, shoving her against the wall.

"My, this is becoming quite familiar…" Hitomi muttered, rolling her eyes as he released her from his vice-like grip.

"I must be losing my touch…" he murmured in annoyance, strapping on his sword and storming out.

"He must be late. Reallylate. He overslept. He's in trouble…" Yukari muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Too bad that there is no secret mission…" Hitomi replied, grinning.

"You're getting awful tricky… So, we're going to the beach, right?" Yukari stood up from where she was sitting.

"Yeah, weren't you listening to me yesterday?" Hitomi arched an eyebrow in annoyance.

"Of course." Yukari mumbled.

"Hey Hitomi…"

"Hmm?" Hitomi turned from her position at the door.

"I have something else to tell you…" Yukari muttered.

"Jeez Yukari… You are way too secretive for your own good, you know that?" Hitomi commented in exasperation, flopping down on her friend's bed and looking up at her curiously.

"Enlighten me."

"Well, remember when we were 15? Our moms were so proud that we were going off to high school that they bought us pagers…"

"And new backpacks, too…" Hitomi added absentmindedly. "Yeah. That was great."

"Well, yeah… Anyway, that day when we were abducted, I don't know about you, but I had my pager with me. And I still have it." Yukari commented, beginning to shift from foot to foot.

"Mine's on my dresser at home. Where are you going with this, Yukari?" Hitomi asked suspiciously.

"I… I got a message…" She turned to look out the window.

"You've gotta be kidding me!" Hitomi shrieked in surprise, leaping up.

"I thought it was impossible… But I guess not…" Yukari whispered. She handed the beeping device to Hitomi.

"Where are you Yukari?" Hitomi whispered in disbelief. She looked at Yukari who had a pained expression. "It's from Amano, isn't it?"

"Who else? But don't you realize what this means, Hitomi?" Yukari asked softly, running her fingers through her hair.

"Amano … he hasn't given up on me yet… After all this time… he still thinks that I'm alright…" She sighed.

"He also doesn't know that you're on a different planet…" Hitomi added quietly. "There aren't that many payphones around."

"Yeah, but… He's thinking of me. I don't belong here… Maybe this is the world for you, but I… I just don't like it here… I miss home… I miss my family and Amano… Hitomi… I can't go on living like this…" she whispered, slumping to the floor.

"Hey." Hitomi put a reassuring hand on her friend's shoulder. "It's going to be alright! You worry too much! I mean, if something bad was going to happen, I would have had one of those strange visions by now…" she muttered at a voice-level that Yukari wasn't able to hear.

Hitomi froze for a moment, her skin ice-cold to the touch, her eyes wide and filled with horror.

"Hitomi?" Yukari whispered in concern, waving a hand in front of her friend's face. "Are you alright? Hitomi?" The girl was frozen in place, as though they were playing statues or freeze tag. "Damn it, Hitomi! WAKE UP!""She slapped her friend across the face, hoping that it would snap her out of it. She was relieved when a red mark appeared on the girl's cheek from where she had been struck and she took a quick breath before falling to her knees.

"Blood…" Hitomi whispered, staring at her hands as though they were caked in the crimson liquid. "So much blood… It is coming… Very soon…" She said softly, hugging her knees, bringing her face into them and sobbing softly as Yukari did the best she could to comfort her.

"There was no 'Secret Mission…'" Dilandau muttered angrily as he reentered the room approximately ten minutes after Hitomi had left to visit with Ari and Yuushi.

"Guess she gotcha that time, huh? It serves you right for being such a jackass all the time. You were fooled by a 'stupid' girl!" Yukari commented smugly, laughing at his angry expression.

"Damn it, Girl! If our kid is as annoying as you are…" he threatened until he realized what he'd let slip. Yukari immediately stopped laughing and looked at him as though he'd just shot her.

"Y-You… know…?" she asked shakily, clutching at her chest to try to cease her rapid heartbeat.

"Of course, I know! When you talk, it's like you're using a loud-speaker!" he replied indignantly. "Even if you whisper, it's like you're screaming!"

"So you were eavesdropping on Hitomi and me, huh?" Yukari glared at her husband, enraged beyond belief.

"Yes, if trying to find out what the hell's wrong with your wench is eavesdropping, I suppose that's what I did!" he defended himself, not understanding why he had to.

"I can't believe that you'd stoop so low as to spy on me!" she shrieked angrily.

"IT WASN'T SPYING! It was gathering information!" Dilandau yelled back.

"Whatever! You know what? I don't even care anymore! See you at breakfast, you bastard!" she hissed, storming out of the room.

"This really isn't shaping up to be your day, is it?" Hitomi asked, meeting up with her friend outside the door to go to the dining room.

"No…" Yukari sighed sadly. "I guess not."

Folken sat in his usual oversized chair, staring at a piece of parchment, occasionally blinking.

"So, as I was saying…" Hitomi halted her conversation with Yukari, noting Folken's disturbed expression. "It's another letter from Van, right?" she deduced.

"You are correct. This one implores me to give up my idealistic ways and embrace a free world." Folken replied indifferently.

"Same old, same old?" Hitomi asked, sighing. She wished that she could write to the young Fanelian king, but her mail was monitored. Every time she attempted to send word that she was all right, the message was intercepted and destroyed. She must have lost over 100 letters that way.

"Yes… Oh yes, it also requests that I aid him in his quest to find his dear Hitomi." He looked at her curiously.

"What?" She gave Folken a look that meant if he was making this part up that she would strangle him.

"He misses you terribly, apparently." Folken commented.

"He says that he's positive that you're on Gaea again. He's looking for you."

Van hasn't given up on me? But it's been so long… 2.5 years… And he's still waiting for me to return to him…? She was happy that he still cared for her, but frightened at the thought that he might be putting his life on the line in order to find her again.

"What do I do?" she whispered too quietly for anyone to hear.

"That's devotion alright…" Yukari commented, nodding in approval. "You're far too popular for your own good Hitomi." she teased, grinning at her worried best friend.

"Shut up, Yukari!" Hitomi hissed in annoyance as Folken gave them an odd look.

Girls from the Mystic Moon are indeed strange… He noted.

"Anyway, can we eat or what?" She looked to Folken for an answer.

"Oh. Yes. Of course." He nodded slightly and several servants entered with breakfast.

"See, I told you that he was trainable. Now if you could only get him to stop wearing that tacky cape." Yukari commented, chewing on some strange, cereal-like product.

"Whatever you say, Yukari…" Hitomi murmured, trying not to look at whatever was on her plate. She still didn't want to know the mystery behind the meat. "So, have you told you know who about you know what?"

"Uh…" Yukari began as Dilandau barged in. "Later…" she muttered, shifting focus. "Shall we bow to you now, oh great and fearless leader?" She asked sarcastically.

"Only you." He nodded as Yukari rolled her eyes. "Stupid whore…"

"Son of a bitch…" Yukari countered.

"Just like our son, what a coincidence!" Dilandau remarked. At this comment, Yukari stood up, leaving the room. "What did I say?" he asked in annoyance.

"First, how the hell did you find out? Second, this is a sensitive time for her you stupid jerk!" Hitomi hissed.

"Calling your pregnant wife a bitch is no way to create a solid relationship."

"We have no relationship!" Dilandau protested angrily. "She's just here until I get sick of her and send her packing… Who needs that stupid bitch anyway? I'll take the kid and she can go back to her stupid Earth boy!" Everyone turned when they heard a small sob, and the clatter of feet running down the hallway. "What was that?" Dilandau asked in confusion.

"I think that she heard you…" Hitomi said softly, getting up to go comfort her friend. Dilandau sighed in defeat as Folken shook his head. Those two would never get along.

The next morning, they sat in their accustomed seats. Everyone except Yukari, that is.

"You are such an insensitive jerk." Hitomi commented, disgusted by Dilandau's behavior.

"I don't remember anyone asking your opinion, Wench!" Dilandau sneered.

"It's no wonder Yukari was crying! Anyone would cry waking up to a face like that…" Hitomi muttered.

Dilandau was about to make a crude rebuttal when the red-haired girl in question walked in. Her crimson locks were frazzled and uncombed, while her face was red and puffy from crying.

"Good morning." she said softly.

"You look like Hell." Dilandau commented as Hitomi whacked him over the head in fury.

"Have some breakfast!" Hitomi turned her focus to Yukari, speaking cheerfully. "You can sit next to me instead of that bastard!" She beamed.

"I don't need breakfast…" Yukari murmured.

"But Yukari, you need to keep up your strength. You're eating for two now, right? What's wrong?" asked Hitomi as she and the two men followed the pale-faced girl to the ship's center where Dilandau had mourned over his slayers over two years ago.

"You all know my condition." she said weakly. "I was with the healer yesterday evening. It's a boy."

"That's wonderful, Yukari," Hitomi said encouragingly.

"No. You see, it's not wonderful. I didn't want to betray Amano. I didn't want to become pregnant. And I certainly don't want to be here. I'm eighteen. Today's my birthday. I'm eighteen years old. I don't want to have a baby who will live with an uncaring father in a war-zone. I don't want to grow old with a life filled with nothing but regrets. Now… For once in my life… I'm doing what I want. Something for me." Her chest was wracked with quiet sobs.

"Yukari…" Hitomi pleaded. Where was she going with this?

"Dilandau… I named our son after you. I thought that you'd like that. You always did only think of yourself." She walked over to Hitomi and hugged her gently.

"Hitomi… You were the best friend that I ever had. Don't forget about me. And tell Amano… that I'll be waiting…" she whispered softly.

Then she walked over to the hole in the floor and gazed upon the beautiful scenery below her. She smiled genuinely for the first time in six months and whispered, "Later!"

She then leapt over the railing and plummeted headfirst into the countryside below, her red hair flowing behind her like a flag of victory.

"Blood…" Hitomi whispered, eyes wide. "NO! NO!" she shrieked, running towards the opening and preparing to fling herself after her friend. Folken stepped forward quickly, holding her back as she flailed her arms wildly, trying to escape his grasp. "NO! FOLKEN! LET ME GO! I HAVE TO SAVE HER! FOLKEN! LET ME GO!" she screamed hysterically, clawing, biting, and scratching her captor.

"Folken…" Dilandau muttered gravely. He seemed to still be in shock. And who could blame him?

"FOLKEN! SAVE HER! YOU CAN FLY, FOR THE LOVE OF GOD! SAVE HER! Please…" Hitomi's voice trembled as she fell to her knees.

"No, Hitomi. Yukari finally got what she wanted." Folken murmured in his usual stoic manner, walking away, leaving the weeping girl to grieve.

"But it wasn't what she deserved…" She hugged her knees, trying to remember how things once were and would never be again.

Hitomi walked in later to find Dilandau leaning over the railing. His eyes seemed disbelieving and wider than she'd ever seen them. Perhaps he couldn't grasp that his wife and unborn son were no more. For some strange reason, she pitied him. She wondered how this was possible.

He's the monster who caused all of this…

But don't you think that he's grieving as well… Her conscience whispered.

She shook her head, clearing the voice from her mind. She noticed that he clutched a single red rose in his gloved hand and was twirling it ever so slowly. He didn't seem to notice her presence.

"Yukari…" He murmured. The word felt strange on his lips. "I'm sorry. Please, forgive me." He tossed the rose over the side, turning before he could see it hit the ground far below.

Hitomi felt someone bouncing on her bed. Up and down. Up and down.

"HITOMI! WAKE UP!" Merle's high-pitched voice screeched.

"Merle?" Hitomi murmured in disbelief.

"Well, duh! Who did you think it was, you silly girl? Lord Van?" Hitomi's face turned red and Merle knew that she'd struck a chord. She grabbed Hitomi's bow, tying it around her neck and pulled Hitomi's tennis shoes on, to the girl's great annoyance. "Oh why do I keep seeing these things? Why oh why? Oh Van! Where are you? I need you Van!" She fell on her back laughing as Hitomi towards her, ready to strangle her.

The door opened and the boy in question walked in.

"What are you two doing?" He asked, hand on his hip, an eyebrow arched in confusion.

"Oh, Hitomi was just telling me how much she loves y-" Hitomi clamped her hand over the annoying catgirl's mouth.

"What?" Van asked in puzzlement.

"Oh, nothing, Van!" Hitomi excused him from the room before the angry catgirl bit her. "OW! BAD KITTY!"

"Wait for me! Wait for me, Lord Van!" Merle pleaded, bounding out of the room after his retreating form.

"Was it all just a dream?" she whispered. She realized she was in her room in Asturia. She sat in the bay window, looking out over the city. "But Merle is dead…" She hugged her knees. "Everything that has happened… Could it all have been just an illusion?"

Then, everything faded away. It was hot… So very hot. She was burning. She looked off into the distance. There was Folken, in a guymelef. Van looked at his brother who had betrayed him.

"Hello, Brother." Van hissed.

"We finish this today!" She could already see the blood. So much blood. Everywhere. It was covering everything. There was no way of escaping it…

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" she shrieked. She awoke in a cold sweat. She jumped out of bed, still in her silk nightgown, blindly dashing towards Folken's room. She burst through the door, gasping for air.

"What's going on?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes and blinking at her in confusion.

"Folken… I can't sleep… Can I stay with you tonight?" she pleaded, not making direct eye contact with him.

He was about to send her away. Then he saw her sad, lonely eyes. Surely he could let her stay here for just one night without everyone assuming too much…

"Of course."

"Thank you, Folken." she whispered. She lay down beside him, wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes. He studied her curiously, before falling asleep to the sound of her soft, rhythmic breathing.

A/N: Wow! I did it! Oh yeah, we're not getting the dog that I wanted. We're getting my second-choice, this little black dog named Lucy. God… I had to bribe my sister with $20 not to change the dog's name to Angel Heaven Lucy Byerly… She got to name it since we didn't pick her dog… You should hear what she came up with for her guinea pig! Anyway, thanks for reading!

Next Time On "Tears of the Heart":

"What's that noise?" Hitomi wondered aloud, getting out of her chair and grabbing a candle.

Where is it coming from? She whispered in the deep recesses of her thoughts. She could see the pendant in her mind. It swung straight ahead.

"The guymelef hangar?" she seemed to direct her question at the pendant in confusion. This was a day off and it was the middle of the night. No one should be in there.

She proceeded to the hangar, opening the door slowly for fear of what she might find behind it. What she saw was a boy. A boy with dark raven hair. His back was to her. But when he heard the door open, he turned towards her. She dropped her candle, not even noticing the sharp clatter it made as it rolled across the floor.

"It's you…" she gasped as the man nodded, smiling at her.


"It's nice to see you again, Hitomi."