My Angel 
Vision of Escaflowne
HOME

	>>It's over.<<
	Hitomi sat on her bed with her knees drawn up to her chin, 
staring miserably out her window. Her short hair and white shift 
stirred gently in the breeze coming from the open pane, and then papers 
began to blow around the room as the wind kicked unexpectedly up. The 
stars were brighter than she'd ever seen them in the city.	
	>>He's out there, somewhere, in all that expanse of sky.<<
	Tears flowed down her cheeks. Memory spiked her mind. The 
wrenching, the longing, coming home after she'd been gone forever. 
Finding nothing had changed, no time had passed. 
	And now it wasn't even home anymore. Home had become Gaea. 
Home was with a certain, stubborn, dark-haired king of a destroyed 
country. 
	Three days. Three days since she'd woken up in the infirmary. 
Three days since she'd last been with Van. And their last conversation 
just had to have been an argument.
	>>Van. I didn't mean to leave you. It just...happened. I never 
got the chance to tell you...<<
	Feathers floated by the window, and she focussed on them with a 
small cry of anguish. Floating on the wind, a small, white downy 
feather landed on the back of her hand. She stared at it for long 
moments, remembering the first time she fell, and the white-winged 
other half of her soul who had saved her.
	Sobs racking her body, Hitomi gave herself over to her grief.
	>>It's over. One run changed my life. Now it's back again, and 
I don't want it.<< She sniffled into her knee, then a thought wandered 
into her mind. 
	>>Or can I change it again?<<

***	***
	Three days. Three long, lonely days since Hitomi had left.
	>>Hitomi. Why did you have to leave me? Why did you leave?<<
	Standing on the bridge where Hitomi had saved his life several 
nights ago, Van Fanel looked up at the round sphere of hte Mystic Moon, 
so far away yet so tantalyzingly close to Gaea. 	
	"Lord Van?"
	Merle's voice came hesitantly, uncertainly. Van couldn't 
resist a half-hearted smile. It could have only took something as 
serious as his heart breaking for the cat-girl to quiet down. "Yes, 
Merle? What is it?"
	Merle crouched at the edge of the river, the expression on her 
face stating that she would love to be anywhere but right here with a 
grieving Van. The tiger stripes on her face shone fiercely in the 
moonlight. "Lord Allen and Princess Millerna wish to speak to you 
about... about Hitomi."
	He turned away with a rough jerk, returning his gaze to the 
stars. "It can wait," he said simply. 
	"But..."
	"It can wait." 
	He didn't even hear Merle leave, though he did hear her sigh 
with worry. He stared up into the inky black heavens, obsessed by the 
sight of the Mystic Moon.
	>>It's so big, so bright. Does Hitomi really live there, or 
was she just a fantastic dream?<< A thought struck him suddenly, an odd 
thought that just wandered into his mind of its own violition. 
	>>It doesn't look that far away. I wonder...Would Escaflowne 
reach it?<<
	Smiling fully for the first time in three days, the king of 
Fanelia went in search of his guymelef.

***	***
	"You're sure you want to do this?" Yukari asked hesitantly, 
clasping her hands together in entreaty for Hitomi to reconsider. She 
looked at her friend, who was stretching, preparing for her run. "It 
could have been a dream."
	Hitomi paused, looking up from the ground. Slowly, she 
straightened, and looked her best friend in the eyes. "I have to get 
back," she said, enunciating every word carefully. "I have to do 
this."
	Yukari watched Hitomi with careful, saddened eyes. She nodded 
once. "Okay. As long as you're sure."
	"I'm sure."
	She took her place. Amano waited at the edge of the track, 
holding the blood red pendant in his hand. 

***	***
	"VAN!"
	He no longer heard their cries, their pathetic attempts to 
chase him with their inferior guymelefs. When Escaflowne was in its 
dragon form, no one could catch it, no one could keep up with it. 
	>>Hitomi. I'm coming.<<

***	***
	"GO!"
	She no longer felt anything but the drive to return to Gaea. 
She ran, the ground flying beneath her feet. When she was in her 
element, nothing, not even the wind could catch her.
	>>Van. I'm coming.<<

***	***
	>>Air...not so much...air up...here. Got to...keep 
conscious...get to...Hitomi...<<
	Light exploded in his eyes.

***	***
	>>Lungs burning....can't stop running....got to keep...
running...Van...<<	
	Light exploded in her eyes.

***	***
	Somewhere, in a place that defied existence, their hands 
touched, and she was in his arms.

***	***
	"Van," Hitomi whispered, clinging to him as Escaflowne returned 
them to Gaea. Tears of ecstasy filled her eyes, and her arms tightened 
around his chest until she could almost hear his ribs creak. "Van."
	"Hitomi." His arms were just as fierce around her body as hers 
were around his. His voice whispered her name countless times, his 
eyes streaming tears. "Hitomi, don't leave me again."
	"Never again," she promised softly, burying her face in his 
shoulder, breathing in his scent. Below her spread a land she had 
thought she would never see again. 
	Home.