Hi ya all! Thank-you to all those who reviewed the first chapter. I appreciated your thought enough to review this poor author's first Escaflowne fic. This fic is dedicated to all the Hitomi/Van lovers out there as well as my editor Shanis and her assistant lirpa.
Disclaimer: I do not own either the movie or the TV series.
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Chapter 2: New Arrival
"Huh? What was that?" Merle questioned as she gazed in shock. *This could only mean…* "Hitomi! Hitomi!" She continued to yell out as she jumped from one part of the castle roofs to another part of the roof. *I have to tell Lord…*
"What? What about Hitomi?" Van asked as his head popped out of his window.
"I saw it, Lord Van, I saw it!" Merle shouted as she pointed to the direction of where the beam of light had landed.
"What did you see that got you all hysterical-like?" He asked calmly.
"I saw a beam of light. I think Hitomi has…" Merle trailed off when she noticed Van was no longer there, "…come back. Oh that's just like you Lord Van. Going off, leaving me behind, and not letting anyone help you." [Yes, I do know she sounds a little like Duo Maxwell but after living with a depressed guy for a decade, wouldn't your personality change a bit. People, even animal people, can change a lot in ten years. Besides, if you look carefully Gundam Wing and Escaflowne are quite similar, especially on the characterization. For example, Heero and Van, Allen and Zechs, Relena and Millerna, so I don't see why Duo's personality is that much different from Merle's.]
"Merle? Are you going to just stand there or are you going to take the ground?"
"Two steps ahead of you." Merle grinned as she leapt off the roof to the wall, landed promptly on the ground, and began running to the stables. It wasn't long before the two took off in the direction of the light. *Hitomi, have you really come back? Have you really come back to me?* Van asked in his mind as he flew off as fast as he could.
_*x*_
CRICK! CRACK! CRACK! A girl shifted as she tried to give up. *Damn! I must have broken at least one rib, Why can't the stupid light have given me a softer landing?* She yelled in her mind as she dusted herself off. "Oh well, might as well get going." The girl sighed, "I have a long way to go." She said to herself as she started down the dirt road that was not so far from where she had landed.
_*x*_
"Oh, come on, Lord Van. We've been searching for hours and there's still no sign of Hitomi."
"No. Let's continue looking. Are you sure you saw the light come this way?"
"Sure, I'm sure. I'm not blind Lord Van."
"Just a little while longer okay Merle? Then we'll come back later to continue searching. Merle? Merle? Where are you?" *Now where could she have gotten to?* Van wondered. After an hour's search, there was still no sign of Merle, or Hitomi. *Maybe Merle headed back to the palace after all.*
Just then Van spotted a girl, a young adolescent girl traveling on the main road to Fanalia. Van came in for a closer look. *Maybe she's seen Merle or Hitomi. She looks familiar. It can't be, Hitomi…* Van thought as he gazed into her deep green eyes.
[AN: Okay. For all my readers out there, who are as confused as heck, yes the girl MIGHT be Hitomi Kanzacki because if you recall, Hitomi's grandmother didn't change one bit and looked exactly the same way she did when Allen's father saw her for a second time. Same with Hitomi. There's a pretty good chance that when her grandma was transported, the light COULD have turned back time on her age. Wink. Wink. Hint. Hint. So therefore the samething could have happened to this girl who MIGHT be Hitomi.]
*It can't be, Hitomi…* Van thought as he stared into her deep green eyes. "Hit…Hit…Hitomi?"
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Aren't I mean? If you ever read my Trunks/Pan fics in the DBZ section you'll know I have a bad habit of leaving cliffhangers. Review or I'll never tell who this girl is. And as my author notes said she MIGHT be Hitomi.
