Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne!

After a long break, for which I apologize (sickness sucks), here's the next chapter!

Enjoy!


Two weeks passed, and she didn't have any worse visions, but then Hitomi began testing herself. After giving herself the first test, she looked at the results. She sighed in disappointment, shaking her head.

"I'm not pregnant from all those nights. How couldn't I be? I've been dragging Van to bed every night."

She saw Euphimia's hands trembling, tears dribbling down her cheeks. "So I am to die, then…"

"You must be pregnant, because I've never seen you cry before. Come on, we have to put Plan B into action, making a baby in a Petri dish. Van probably won't understand, but we have to convince him to come with us."

"I'll bring Folken too, just in case the blood tests prove that I am pregnant and you're not. I'll need a shoulder to cry on."

They moved quickly to the throne room, where they knew that Van and Folken were holding an audience with a few of the nobles that were having some trouble with their underlings. They entered quickly, making sure they were unhindered. Folken spotted his wife at once, looking concerned at her tear-streaked cheeks. He asked her what was wrong with his eyes, and she all but ran to him, putting her arms around him. At this action, the nobles protested.

"Van-sama! This is improper! The princess has no say in these matters, so she must leave!"

"Have her escorted out!"

Folken stared the men down. "I will never deny my wife anything, improper or not. Van would never do that to his sister and friend, either. Be silent until this matter is attended to."

Hitomi came forward as well, taking Van's hand. "Van, there's something important that we have to report to you in private. Please, we need to retire to a quieter place."

The look in her eyes convinced him that it was urgent, so he nodded. "We'll continue this discussion at a later time, both Onii-chan and I have pressing business to attend to with our wives."

Without another word, the quartet left, heading to the roof, where no one dared to disturb the royals. Folken pulled Euphimia away from him and asked gently, "What's the matter, Euphy? You're very upset, I can see it in your eyes."

"I'm pregnant…" she squeaked, before breaking down.

Van's eyes widened as he looked to his wife and queen. "And you're not?"

Hitomi sighed, shaking her head. "We have to do something about this, but it can't be here. We have to go to the Mystic Moon, and we'll guide you the rest of the way."

Both the Fanel men nodded, knowing that it was truth that came from the queen's lips.

Hitomi and Euphimia changed to clothes normal to Earth, the young woman with the paler hair tying her hair up in a ponytail, so she wouldn't be recognized from the back should anyone see them as they entered the hospital. They were in such a rush that they didn't remove their wedding rings or other jewelry, as they went out to meet their husbands. When they came out, Van was wearing his normal casual outfit, while Folken wore a jacket and gloves over his normal blue tunic, to cover his artificial arm.

A pillar of light descended and drew them up, before they landed in the same place they seemed to come to on Earth: the track field of the girls' high school. The two of them began running out of there the moment they regained their footing, their husbands wondering what their hurry was. All too soon they found out.

"Hitomi-chan!" a girl's voice called. "Euphy-chan!"

Hitomi turned right away, smiling. "Hey, Yukari-chan!"

"Where have you been for the past month-and-a-half? Your parents said you'd gone out on your own, but—" The red-haired girl's eyes instantly locked on the glittering gold ring on her hand. "You're married? You're not even eighteen yet, so how did you convince your parents to let you? Those gems on it are huge! It must've cost hundreds of thousands of yen!" A/N: Not quite sure how much a ring that large would cost, but I suppose quite a bit, maybe even millions of yen, but I'll not get too into it. Continue on!

The Fanelian queen fidgeted, since she hadn't expected such a confrontation. "Yes, I'm married, Yukari-chan. I have to get somewhere with Euphy-chan really fast, so please, could you save the questions for later?"

"What's going on, you're acting really antsy."

Euphimia grabbed her friend's hand and pulled her away, Van and Folken following.

"Hey! Don't run off like that without explaining things! Hitomi-chan, Euphy-chan! Come on, you're so cruel!"

Without any other interruptions, they arrived at the hospital, Van a little unnerved by the automatic doors, but they walked through the hallways, Euphimia nervous as they entered the OB section. They both went to the front desk, receiving forms they had to fill out, putting in their old addresses and lying about their ages. They only wanted a blood test to see if things were as bad as they could get.

In no time, a nurse came out and called, "Fanel Euphy?"

Folken stood with her, rubbing her shoulders. "It's okay, Euphy. Calm down."

Keeping her breaths even, she followed the nurse to a room, where she sat on a bed and curled up, her head resting on her knees. "I really don't want to be pregnant unless Hitomi-chan is."

"If Hitomi is, we're lucky, if not, we'll stay here for the rest of our lives."

"How can I tear you from Van-kun that way? It isn't fair."

"I vowed to be with you for the duration of our marriage, and we're not calling it off just because our baby was conceived before Van and Hitomi's was."

"But—"

The door opened, and a doctor came in. "Fanel-san, you're in for a pregnancy test?"

She nodded, holding out her arm.

"You look rather stressed. Do you not want to have a baby now?"

"She's just anxious," Folken explained, smiling.

"All women are their first time, so she should be fine. Now just relax and I'll draw some blood and get it tested. I should be back in about half an hour. I suppose you're the father of the baby?"

"Yes, I am her husband."

"Well then, here we go."

Euphimia barely flinched as she was pricked and her blood was drawn. When a bandage was placed on her small wound, she took her arm back, her lips pressed together from the stress.

"If there's a baby, you two should be happy, if not, better luck next time."

"Thank you."

When the other man left, Folken took his wife's hand and smiled. "Euphy, don't be so tense. It's going to be all right either way."


When the two couples met back in the lobby of the hospital, Van looked a little pale and shaky. Folken snorted at his younger brother's condition and asked, "What happened to you, Van?"

Hitomi giggled. "He fainted when the doctor stuck me with the needle."

"I didn't faint!" the dark-haired king protested.

"Yes you did, because you didn't know what they were doing! You slumped over and fell onto the floor when they drew my blood!"

Folken chuckled. "Always the softer one, little brother."

The sandy-haired young woman beamed as she announced, "The test was wrong, Euphy-chan. I'm pregnant!"

Her best friend gasped. "What?"

"It's true! The doctor said my blood work looked a little odd, but there was no mistaking it, I'm going to have a baby!"

The other girl was so happy she hugged her friend. "I'm so glad, because I'm pregnant too!"

"Did your blood work come up odd too?"

"More than just a little, but it wasn't what they were searching for, so they overlooked it."

Folken smiled and murmured, "This is a joyous occasion, for all of us. We must stage this very carefully when we get back. Hitomi should announce her being with child first, then a couple weeks later, Euphy. Then the council will never know."

Van nodded in agreement. "To think we'll be fathers at around the same time, I just hope Hitomi's is a boy."

"For your sake, Euphy would be better off having a girl."

"Yes, that would be best."

A sudden shriek had everyone within range jump, Euphimia shrinking at the sound, because she knew that shriek. Before she could move, her mother scooped her up in a hug, tears rolling down her face.

"My baby girl! You're alive! How is this possible?"

Folken and Van stepped back, while Hitomi did the opposite. "Yume-san, you're suffocating her with your hug."

The overjoyed woman held her daughter at arms' length and beamed. "You've matured since you disappeared! We all thought the Shinigami had taken you directly from our home, so we had an empty casket! Now you can come home and we'll all be a happy family again!"

"Mother, I can't. Things have changed since I've been gone."

"You're underage and cannot live on your own as you have for the past month-and-a-half! You have school and your family! While you've been gone, we've had to find financial backing from another family because we couldn't give you to their son, who's turning eighteen almost the same time you are!"

"Mother, please, let me speak. I can't stay here with you, because I'm already married."

The older woman shook her head. "You couldn't have gotten married in such a short time, it's impossible! All the planning and everything would take far too long!"

"You're causing a scene, please stop shouting."

"But you're talking crazy, Euphy! We've had ties with this family since we've moved here! We must honor our end of the agreement! If we don't, we'll have to give up Cornelia instead!"

"You never told me that you'd planned on getting me married, Mother. Maybe that's why my dreams led me to a different place, so I wouldn't have to marry a complete stranger. I'm not talking crazy, I am married and I don't care what plans you have by using me as a tool to enrich yourselves. If you don't believe me, ask my husband and father of my baby."

Folken moved forward so he could lay his hands on his wife's shoulders. "You don't seem to be a very good mother to Euphy, Yume-san."

Euphimia's mother turned ashen at the tall man who referred to her daughter in such a familiar tone. "You…you took my daughter without permission from me or my husband! And on top of that, you made her pregnant! I should sue you for more you can afford for doing such a thing to my underage daughter!"

"Whatever charges you wish to bestow on me cannot be given, because we must be leaving now. Van, Hitomi, let's go."

As Euphimia turned to leave, her mother caught her by the arm. "You're coming back home, Euphimia! You won't leave with that man!"

"I've been taken by the Shinigami. Tell that to my father and brother and sister. The angel of death has swept me off my feet and taken me to heaven, and I shall bear his child. I don't know who you are, but my mother wouldn't be so rough with me nor shout at me in such an undignified manner. From this day on, I'm dead to you."

She pulled herself from her mother's grasp and walked away from the shocked woman, taking her husband's hand and smiling up at him.


As they arrived back on Gaea, Hitomi looked sympathetic. "Now I see why you didn't want to see any of your family. Did you have a feeling that was why you came to Gaea?"

"I knew something was coming, I just never had a dream about it. It was a gut feeling that my future had already been planned for me. I didn't want to be more miserable than I already was, so the fates spun a happier future for me. Even if I had honored my mother's demands, in about nine months, I would've had the marriage canceled anyway because I would've had my pretty winged baby…" the girl trailed off, before starting to bawl.

Folken, who had removed his jacket and gloves, held his wife close. "Euphy, what's the matter?"

"I'm just so happy that I get to keep my life and have our baby."

"I've never seen you cry, so why the sudden tears?"

"I don't know, but it feels wonderful."

Hitomi smiled, knowing that her first three months of pregnancy wouldn't be so gentle as to having her cry more often. Morning or evening sickness, for the first trimester, at least. She just hoped it was the morning, so she could eat enough in the afternoon and evening to keep her weight steady. She'd heard stories from her mother that her morning sickness was so bad that she'd lost several pounds, unable to eat barely enough to compensate, and when she wasn't throwing up, she'd been horribly nauseated. She'd almost not wanted to have another child after having Hitomi, but relented after a few years and had Mamoru.

She just hoped it wasn't that bad, or else she'd have to have Van and Euphimia go to Earth to get saltine crackers every few days.


giggles How'd you liked this most recent chapter? If you thought it was offensive because they talked about intimate things, believe me, try the fics with lemons in them! Far, far worse than just a few comments.

Anyways, you know, it isn't too hard to leave a comment on my story.

Please review!