There and Back again

GA1: twitch, twitch

SD: Heh heh... looks like I over worked her again...O well... either that or the hurricane has blown away that last brain cell of hers...

GA1: twitch

SD: Wait... Don't we share that cell?!!!

GA1: twitch, twitch

Disclaimer: Please listen to this little muse! These crazy women own nothing more then the dirt on their shoes, and the one brain cell they share! How could they possible make Escaflowne? So, there for the do not own it, so don't sue them! But they do own their respective characters and changes in plot line.

Spirit Dancer: Aiko, Shiva

Glass Angel1: Ayane, Fira, Merlin, the Providence Children, and any other character that I must create for the production of this story.

All Rights reserved.

Summary:

Not just an ordinary retelling of Escaflowne. Two girl's wish away their lives of family abuse, only to find their wish answered. Destiny plays its hands hard as these two friends find themselves caught up in a war of a world they barely know, only to be torn apart along the way. Will they be able to overcome their trouble pasts, and save this new world for its own destruction? Or will their pasts become its means of destruction?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

xXxXxXx ; scene change

xVxVxVxVx; same scene different view

italic; vision

XoX ; Flashback

Chpt. 9 The Grace of Healing

"But we have to save Van-dono!" Merle cried, as Allen leaned back against on of the windows on the bridge. They had moved under cover as the crew tried to fix the Crusader as fast as possible. There was a problem though; every now and then a set of blue guymelefs would fly by, giving the crews the creeps. They were still trying to find them, and moving would give away their location. But it still left the problem of how TO find Van. By now he had been captured and taken aboard that large fortress. Allen had already said that they probably hadn't killed Van, given that they may still need him; all they had left was convincing Allen and finding the fortress.

"Merle, I told you, there is no way to find the Zaibach fortress."

"Actually, Allen...there is a way..." Aiko said for the first time since Van disappeared. Allen looked at her with a 'go-on' face. "I don't know how, but I can...find people...or things..." Merle looked at her questionably, the turned to look at Allen with a smile on her face, jumping up and down.

"YEAH!! That's right!! She could see the invisible Guymelefs in Fanelia!!!" Aiko glanced over at Merle with one word in her eyes...Death. And then it hit her, Merle wasn't there when she did that, then how could she've known? Allen looked between the both of them.

"Please, Allen...just give me a chance..."

"Hey, Boss we ain't got anything else to run on. I mean she was right about the attack." Gaddes said suddenly, almost making Aiko jump, she forgot that he was there. Sighing Allen took in his defeat and looked at her.

"Alright, we'll give it a try… What do you need?" Aiko smirked.

"Jus a map." Allen headed down the hallway.

"Follow me."

"You owe me BIG time." Merle whispered to Aiko as they walked down the hallway into a room Aiko had never seen before. Aiko glared at her.

"Hey, who's finding Van huh?" Aiko retorted back, glaring at her. Once they entered the room, Allen and Aiko sat down at a square table that had a map on it. Gaddes, mole man, and Merle were either standing or sitting around the table. Aiko took her choker off, held it above the map, and closed her eyes. The pendant started to sway, and Aiko moved it across the map. This might take a while...

xXxXxXxXx

Miguel leaned his head back on to the floor as he stared up at the ceiling of the commons room. His feet hung over the top of the chair; he didn't care at this point if Gatty came in and yelled at him for the 'improper' use of the damn thing. His feet sort of began to tingle, as the blood rushed more to his head then anywhere else and his arms ached from the day's battle, the mere thought of the whole thing made him want to curse. Stupid Austria Knight, Miguel cursed inwardly, it was because of him, he had received that lecture from Shesta about watching your enemy's every move, and 'You're an Elite, Miguel! Act like one!' How come every time HE did something wrong he was yelled at it for, yet when Voile did something wrong, he was let off with a slap on the wrist by Shesta or Gatty? Well then again, the only time Viole ever got yelled at was when they BOTH did something wrong, and that was only by Dilandau-sama. Maybe that just came from him being born from a noble family, though the only reason he made it to an Elite was because his damn father paid for it. Miguel slammed his fist against the arm rest; he worked twice as hard because of that. Dilandau won't have let some–paid-off soldier into his Elite Dragonslayers, Shesta and Gatty should know THAT!

There was commotion in the room as Dallet and Guimel walked into the room, laughing. Behind them, smiling at some new joke of his, was Viole. Groaning inwardly, Miguel pulled himself up right into the chair, and let his feet rest on the floor. He felt dizzy for the first few moments as the blood rushed back down to his feet. Watching as his two friends plopped down onto the couch across from him and the small wooden table that sat between them, Miguel rubbed the back of his head. Viole, on the other hand, made his way around to stand behind the chair Miguel was in, and rest against the back as he smirked down at him. Groaning inwardly again, he slumped down in the chair. O lord, here it comes.

"Miguel! You should have told us you had that kind of talent!" Viole ruffled the brunette's hair a bit. "That was the most perfect Swan Dive I have ever seen!" Biting his lip Miguel could hear Dallet swallow a chuckle, Guimel just rolled his eyes. "I think Dilandau-sama should let you do that in practice, you may never know when falling off like that could come in handy!"

"Shut up, Viole before I request a new partner..." Miguel growled at the long haired boy, before slumping over to stare down at the floor. "Can't you find someone else to annoy with your stupid jokes?"

"O, I'm hurt Miguel!" Viole held a hand up over his heart dramatically as if he had been stabbed. "How many times must you say those things?"

"Alright you two..." Guimel said before Miguel could turn around and strangle Viole, who had 'fainted' on the back of the chair from his 'deadly wound' to the heart. Miguel's blue eyes narrowed at him. "Let's not go getting into a fight again that ends with one of you with bathroom duty and the other with kitchen duty for another month. Dilandau-sama is already pissed off at you two for one thing; don't need to make it another." Viole's head popped up, with him smiling widely at the pale blond/mushroom haired slayer.

"I wouldn't mind another month of kitchen duty! I mean, making Dilandau-sama's meals are easy as long as its fruit, and if I throw some strawberries he's in a good mood!" Miguel slammed his fist into the boy's shoulder.

"You may not mind it, but I could go without the bathroom duty, and I would like the normal cook back! You food is terrible, Viole, you can't cook worth a hoot!" He narrowed his eyes at him again, but Viole just wave his hand in the air to dismiss it, smiling.

"Alright, now what are you two going off on?" Shesta's voice carried into the room, making them all jump. He stood in the door way with nothing more then his blue undershirt, black slacks, and his boots on. His sword slumped down his waist from the loosened belt. "I thought I told you to leave him alone Viole..."

"Ah, at last, I have been framed of a crime I have not committed!" Viole cried out, yet again dramatically, waving his hands in the air. "I have not done such a thing, oh second-in –command. We were just having a little fun, no harm done."

"Right, sure Viole..." Shesta just rolled his eyes, annoyed slightly before looking to the others. "We have training to get to; Dilandau won't be there. So, Gatty and I are taking care of it this time. Be down on the training floor in ten. O, and Miguel?"

"Um?"

"Do me a favor; bring the irregularity with you on the way to the training grounds. Dilandau wants it moved up to the upper floors of the Vione today..." Miguel nodded as Shesta disappeared out the door. Viole stuck his tongue out at the back of their second-in-command.

"Viole!" Dallet yelled at him.

"What? He and Gatty have been tight asses for the past five days!" Viole crossed his arms. "Its starting to bug me! Is there something wrong again and those two aren't telling us?"

"Well Viole..." Miguel said as he stood up, rolling his eyes annoyed. "If you care to pay attention to the world around you, then you would know..."

"Know what, oh my Miguel-sama?" He turned and glared at him for a moment.

"It has to deal with this 'irregularity' that we caught in Fanelia... By the way," he looked at the other two as they stood up, "Does anyone know the name of this 'irregularity'?"

"Nope, natta clue, Miguel."

"Great, just great…"

xXxXxXxXx

"Last one..." Ayane said to herself as she started to pull out the last curler in her hair. The past few days she had probably spent in this room had been long and boring. So she had spent the last day working on getting the curls back into her hair. This would have been an easy thing to fix if she could use her curling iron, but with no where to plug it in, she had to go about it the hard way. With the last one out she looked down onto the small mirror that sat on the night stand, and studied her reflection. Sighing she took the small toothpick comb through each curl to break them down into several smaller ones. Taking up the ribbons on the table, she weaved them back through the front two curls. Done with the task of her hair, Ayane shuffled through her small makeup case for the small tube of light red lip gloss. No one had come into this room for the past few days, except the guard that brought her meals. That was about it, so she had deemed that going all out was pointless. But, just incase, she took some of the liquid eyeliner out. Taking one last look at her reflection in the small mirror, Ayane closed it and placed it along with everything else back inside her bag.

"This...is...boring..." Groaning, she fell back onto the bed and stared up at the ceiling. The image of the red eyed boy flashed through her mind, with a snort she rolled to her side and stared at the door. Why did I kiss the stupid pervert back? I wasn't even thinking about it either... Sheesh girl. If Aiko heard about it I'd never hear the end of it. There was a small knock on the door, causing her to bolt up off the bed.

"Come in!" She said, as she subconsciously straightened out her dress. It was a bit early to be dinner time... had someone finally come to see her? The dark blue door slide open and a brownish red headed boy walked in, the long sword tapped against the rim of his boot as he walked. A pair of black gloves were tucked underneath the black belt that held up his sword. The sleeveless blue tank top hung loose on his muscular frame, mentally Ayane's jaw dropped. That makes two so far. How old are these kids? Aren't they a bit young to be in the army? She pondered in her head, as she spoke: "Is there something I can help you with... Milord?"

The boy blushed.

xXxXxXxXx

He walked down the long catwalk across the hanger floor, with the girl trailing behind him. The evening winds blew through the open hanger door, ruffling his hair. It would have been nice if Shesta had warned him it was a girl, would have been even nicer if he warned him how she looked! He and Gatty were probably having a hay day with this; well at least practice would be interesting. Miguel looked over his shoulder when he realized that the foot steps behind him had stopped. The girl, Ayane, was looking off onto the white guymelef that was in the hanger. The look in her gray eyes was vacant, as if no one was there. Hesitantly, he turned and walked a ways towards her.

"Lady Ayane? Is there something the matter?" The girl jumped at the sound of his voice. Her light curls fell in front of her eyes as she turned to look at him, there was a fine line of blush on her checks. At least he had gotten her back for surprising him earlier, it had been a long time since a girl had mistaken him for a lord.

"O, no nothing's wrong... but umm..." She pointed outside the hanger bay to the lava stones that floated about. "How can stones float?" The girl really wasn't from around here was she?

"They're Lava stones. It's what we use to make our ships move around in the air." Miguel turned to continue walking down the catwalk. "The Vione is made inside a very large Lava stone."He walked a few steps before she moved again after him, holding her bag close to her. The ruffling sound of her dress echoed in his ear. How could one wear something that looked so heavy? Well, at least Viole would be occupied by something besides him for a while. Even though this made him feel sort of sorry for the girl, today was turning out to be a long day.

xXxXxXxXx

"Damn, Shesta wasn't kiddin'!" Viole whispered, as he leaned back on the small wooden step. The curtains around the enclosed room were pulled back, revealing the walls of mirrors. The only real furniture wise was the racks for practice weapons that lined on side of the room. Some of the weapons didn't have much of a blade, and some were so sharp it was like they had never been touched before. On the floor was Shesta and Miguel, Miguel was doing pretty well against Shesta, at least he was this time around. Guimel was off on the far side of the room standing next to the girl who had popped down on the floor after a while of standing. Her heavy skirt fell around her in a perfect circle. "Are all the girls on the mystic moon that hot?"

"Viole!" Dallet growled as he punched him hard against the arm. Viole just grinned as he rubbed his hurt arm. His blue eyes looked back up at the girl across the way; even though he was suppose to be paying attention to Miguel and Shesta. Still the chick was hot; bouncing black, blue tipped curls fell around her oval-ish face. The dress she wore was a little strange, but hell it brought out much of her figure. The tight corset showed off the nice rack the girl had. Though the only two things that really made the girl catch your eye (besides the hair) was the color of her skin and eyes. All of them had thought you couldn't get paler then Dilandau-sama, but this girl made it look as it Dilandau had a tan. Then there were her eyes, steel gray. Once someone had told him that each eye color means something about the person, though Viole could only remember one because he saw the color every day, red eyes, Dilandau-sama eyes. Red stood for demon, and that fit Dilandau just fine. Now Viole wished he could remember what gray meant.

"I still think she's hot."

"Viole..." Gatty's voice warned him, sighing he looked way from the beauty and back to the little battle that was going on before him. At least the girl could amuse her self by watching Miguel get his ass kicked, Viole smirked, and then I can show off as I kick Shesta's butt! Hey anything to get a girl's attention, Viole was so absorbed in his own thoughts that he nearly missed what was happening before him. Shesta misjudged his footing and slipped from the imbalance in his weight. Miguel didn't have time to readjust his sword to miss him, and he brought the sharp edge down on Shesta's sword hand. The whole thing seemed to happen in slow motion, as the realization of what just happened hit them all. Blood splattered on the wooden floor, and was reflected in all of the mirrors around them. It also dripped off of Miguel's sword. None of them moved until Shesta cried out in pain.

"Shesta!" Gatty was the first to run to his companion's side. A few seconds later he and Dallet shot to their feet.

"Good one, you two!" Dallet yelled, Miguel tossed his sword to the side as he knelt down if front of their wounded friend.

"I didn't mean too!" Was the only thing he could managed as they all looked on as Gatty looked over Shesta's hand. The boy was so far into tears of pain that he could only whimper at the touch.

"Shit, Miguel you sliced his hand in half! There's no way the medic can fix-"

"Ah, hell Dilandau-sama's gonna kill us!"

"Someone get a medic up here!"

"Get Dilandau-sama too!" Shoots and orders were flying around in the total chaos that no one noticed the girl stand up, and quickly walk across the room towards them. She pushed Guimel and Miguel side ruffle and knelt down in front of the blond boy. They were all in to much startle to say anything or stop her as she took Shesta's wounded hand from Gatty. It wasn't until he cried out in pain again that Gatty snapped out of his trance.

"What the hell of you think your do-"

"Shut up!" She snapped at him, the fierceness in her voice silenced anymore protests from Gatty, along with any that could have come from the rest of them. She looked back down at the bloodied hand that she held into hers, for a few seconds nothing happened and Gatty was about to speak again. But then, her hands began to imitate a dark blue light.

"What the-" were the only words able to leave one of the slayers' mouth as Shesta yelped out in pain one last time, and the girl grinded her teeth together to keep from crying out herself. A few moments later the light died anyway, the girl withdrew her hands. Looking down at the once wounded hand, Gatty smeared the blood aside. The wound that would have rendered Shesta no long able to be a swordsman...was gone.

"How the...? Did you- " Was all he was able to get out, before the girl fainted into Guimel's arms.

xXxXxXxXx

"Folken-sama!!!" Dilandau yelled as he walked through the door into the man's study. Folken was sitting at the table in the center with a glass of red wine sitting before him and a small book in his hands. He looked up that the boy who rampaged in, ruining his silence with interested. It wasn't everyday he did something so wrong that Dilandau would remember titles when yelling at him. The boy could get quite angry but not angry enough to forget that. The red eyed boy slammed his fist down on the table, making the small glass shake from the force. "What the hell is she?!"

"I beg your pardon?" Folken looked at the young man questionably. Dilandau turned his head slightly to glare at him.

"Fifteen minutes ago, Miguel sliced Shesta's hand in half…" He frowned slightly; Shesta was one of Dilandau's first slayers. It would be a shame if the boy could no longer wield a sword. There had been a reason why he picked the boy to be his second-in-command, along with the other, Gatty. Both boys' seemed to have a natural knack for swords, along with the newer melef models.

"I'm sorry to hear that, Dilandau, but what does this have to do with Ayane?"

"Everything, damn it! A mere touch! Gatty told me that the girl took his injured hand, and with mere touch..." Dilandau seemed to continue to make no sense for sometime, as if he himself was having a hard time believing whatever he was trying to tell him. "She healed it! The only evidence that Shesta was even wounded was the blood on Miguel's sword, on the floor, and on the hands of Gatty, the girl, and Shesta's! What the hell is she?!"

"She...healed him?"

"Yes, Folken-sama! Weren't you paying attention to a single word I just said?!!"

xXxXxXxXx

Sweat dripped down the side of her face as she moved her pendent over the map. Three hours, she had been at this for three hours. For the first hour she had tried to do just what she had said, find Van, but it was to hard to concentrate on him. So, thinking with some information she had, if Van was with the creepy silver head kid, then Ayane had to be near by. So instead of looking for the twerp, Aiko had turned her attention to her friend. She couldn't quiet tell what was worse, Merle's continuous glare, or the fact that everyone was watching her. If Ayane and her had their places switched, Aiko knew that Ayane would have already found her by now, and Van ten times over. But, Ayane had just started to teach her this less then six months ago, after their class trip to Tokyo Tower, and she still had to use a map.

Maybe if she used something that Ayane always had around her, well the only thing that could come up was the teddy bear in her bag, but that wouldn't work. Even though the bear was Ayane's prized position, the teddy bear was what Ayane always had her find. That might back fire if she used it. Taking in a deep breath she continued on. Come on Ayane give me a sign! They're all counting on me, and Merle's death glare is starting to get annoying. Come on...she cried in her mind frustrated, I… I promise I'll tell you who really eat that chocolate Double Decker cake you made last month! The pendent continue to swing back and forth as she stared at it. As it passed over something labeled 'Lava Valley' the pendent stopped, and her plead was answered. But not in the way she wanted.

A massive pain surged through her hand, making her almost drop the pendent. She chocked; the pain was almost unbearable, even if it only lasted for a few seconds, but the instant it stopped Aiko was pulled into a world of darkness.

Colors swirled around her as they slowly took on forms and shapes. She was walking down some sort of catwalk. A brownish redhead walked in front of her, his sword tapping against his high boots. It was cold, even if the clothing she wore seemed to feel heavy. A black-blue tipped curl fell down a crossed her face as she turned her head to the left. There among the chaos below she could see a white guymelef. She could recognize it, even though she felt confused somehow. Her head suddenly shot back to the front, the boy was talking to her even though she couldn't hear what he was saying. She said something back, and then turned to the right and pointed outside the hanger where large rocks floated about. The boy said something in respond and she nodded her head as he motion for her to follow. The world around her fell into the darkness of swirling colors once again.

"There! He's there!" Aiko chocked after a moment, her hand fell off the table as she slumped down her chair. She could see them all talking, the look on Gaddes's face as he said something to Allen and disappeared out the doorway. Allen looked at her and said something but she didn't hear it as she fell into the darkness of unconsciousness.

SD: Soon, soon the real noticeable difference will start in plot! Yay!!

GA1: still twitching from over work ness

SD:-.- STOP THAT AND GET BACK TO WORK!!

GA1: twitch

Edited: 11/17/06