A/N: After many, MANY months, the story is finally finished! YAY!!! It's kinda rushed, but I wanted to resolve it, so here it is. The epilogue is included in this chapter. The end is kinda a cliff-hanger which may or may not lead up to a sequel which you may or may not like. But who cares? Just read. And REVIEW!!!

This is for those of you who wanted to know what happened to the angst… not a happy ending!!! Love ya all! -Nymphean

Chapter 5: Endings

The wedding was held two days later. It was a small, quiet service. The only guests were Allen, Millerna, Hitomi, Van, Merle, Gaddes and a few of the Crusade's crew. Taeami refused to use a crutch, and so she limped precariously down the isle towards her future husband, doing her best to ignore to pain which shot up her leg every time she stepped down. The vows were exchanged, as were the rings, and the ceremony was over quickly.

Folken and Taeami's wounds healed quickly. Although Millerna strongly discouraged Taeami's walking on her foot, the young queen began to walk about the palace unassisted only days after her wedding. The fact that her husband was once a sorcerer didn't hurt either; he used some of Zaibach's accelerated healing techniques to make sure the bones wouldn't break if she walked on them.

A week after the wedding, Folken was sitting in his study when Hitomi burst through the door.

"Folken!"

He turned slowly towards the sound of her voice. "Well. Hitomi." The girl was leaning on the railing of the balcony overlooking his study. Her face was flushed, her eyes were wide, and she was panting slightly. "What is it?"

She said nothing, running down the steps from the balcony. She appeared before him after a few moments, and Folken detected something frantic and fearful in her eyes. "You can't fight him!"

Folken stood silently, digesting what she'd said. "Hitomi," He said after a moment, "Whatever do you mean?"

"Dornkirk!" The young girl cried frantically. "You can't confront him! If you do, you'll… you'll die!"

Folken smiled faintly, uttering a low, ironic chuckle. "We all have to die some time."

"But… But you…"

Another quiet laugh. "I don't put too much stock in my own life, Hitomi. I've foreseen…" He paused. "Well, never mind what I've foreseen. My point, Hitomi, is that I'm going to die someday. Dornkirk MUST be stopped, and I MUST be the one who stops him. That's they way it has to be."

Hitomi's eyes were still wide with panic. "Please, Folken… You have to listen to me! I saw that you would die if you faced Dornkirk! I saw…" She stopped abruptly in mid-sentence, her panic turning to shock as the floor around her and Folken began to glow.

It's that light…

The column of light swept the two of them off their feet. Hitomi tried with all her might to remain on the ground, but the pull was too strong. Folken floated easily off the floor, letting the column carry him away. One thought was running through Hitomi's mind;

Where NOW?

*****

Taeami Saerian-Fanel paced nervously in front of the fireplace. "I don't understand! Where could he have gone? He was just here a few minutes ago…"

Van shook his head and put and arm around his sister-in-law. "You know Folken. Probably off looking for an oil can…"

"Van! That's not funny…"

Van smiled arrogantly. "You were the one who told me I ought to have more fun, weren't you?"

Taeami shook her head. "I'm sorry I ever did."

Van saw her serious expression and stopped laughing. "Taea, He's FINE. I'm sure he just went out for a while and forgot to tell you."

She furrowed her brow. "All right, so I'm overreacting. I just have this terrible feeling…"

*****

"…Your reign is over, Dornkirk!" Folken spread his wings and lifted away from the ground, flying towards the emperor.

"Stop, Folken!" Hitomi was standing on the ground below the two men. "Don't do it!" But Folken was too enraged, too focused, to even hear her cries.

"Strike me," hissed the emperor, almost smiling.

"It's time for you to meet your end," Folken said, raising his sword. He clenched his jaw and, with a loud cry, brought the sword down upon the ruler of the Zaibach Empire. Below them, Hitomi cried out in despair.

"Folken, NO!!!"

Dying on his throne, Dornkirk raised one bony hand, pointing towards Folken's chest. Looking down, shock mixed with fear, Folken saw the blood flowing from the open wound.

"I see…" He whispered as he fell.

*****

Van ran into the Guymelef storage room, followed closely by Merle, Gaddes and Millerna.

"Van, where are you going?" The princess shouted, following at a run. Van moved almost mechanically down the large aisles, seeking out his Guymelef.

"It's Folken. Something's wrong, I can feel it."

Millerna fretted her brow. "Are you sure you should be…" She stopped as Van skidded to an abrupt halt. "What is it?"

"It's gone," Van whispered, dumbfounded. "Escaflowne's gone."

*****

Hitomi rushed towards Folken. His body had hit the ground with a dull thud, and she could just barely see a small puddle of blood spreading beneath him.

"Folken! Folken, can you hear me?" The Draconian's eyes glittered with tears of pain.

"H-Hitomi?"

"Yes, Folken," She whispered, leaning in closer to his face. "Can you hear me?"

He winced as he tried to breath in. "I… I can't… see…"

"Close your eyes," Hitomi said quietly, tears escaping from the corners of her eyes.

"Taeami…" Folken whispered desperately. "Taea…"

"Van will take care of her…"

"Van…" his brother's name escaped his lips with his last breath before he shuddered and died. Hitomi covered her face with her hands and sobbed.

"Goodbye, Folken."

*****

Taeami's hands were moved deftly over the controls in the Escaflowne's cockpit. She moved instinctively, blindly, towards an unknown destination.

Take me to my husband. I want to be with Folken.

She gasped as she saw, on the horizon, a bright flash of light, which spread rapidly over the countryside. She felt a sharp jolt as the light invaded the Escaflowne's cockpit, flowing over her, through her, like a cold breeze. She closed her eyes, blinded by the horrible brilliance of he light, and waited for the chilled feeling to go away. When it did, Taeami opened her eyes hesitantly, not wishing to be assailed again by the unpleasant brightness. She looked out through the front of the guymelef, and gasped in shock as it registered in her mind where she was.

Dornkirk's Palace! I must be in Zaibach!

…How on Gaea did I get here?

*****

Hitomi raised her tearstained face from her hands at the sound of footsteps in the hallway behind her. Surely no one could have heard of the Emperor's death already. The machine must have created a great deal of confusion, and…

Her train of thought was cut off as the person in the hallway entered the room. Hitomi gasped.

"Taeami," she whispered, a sob catching in her throat. "Gods…"

Taeami blinked, horrified, and stumbled to a stop. "No…" the word escaped as a short whisper. The young queen's face contorted in the most pained expression Hitomi had ever seen. "NO!!!" A strangled cry tore forth from Taeami's throat as she rushed towards her husband's body. She knelt down on the floor beside him, her skirt soaking up his blood. "Folken… no… oh gods, no…" Hitomi watched in despair as the young widow threw herself against Folken's chest and sobbed loudly.

"Taeami, he did what he had to do. It was his destiny."

Taeami turned her gaze to Hitomi, her eyes full of tears and… was that anger? "What do you know about destiny? You and Him and everyone else, that's all you ever talk about. Gods forbid that we should make our OWN destiny instead of living… and dying by someone else's rules! Tell me, Hitomi, Is this my destiny? Did Fate wake up today and decide to take the one thing I love away from me? Was it pre-ordained that I end up with nothing and no one?" She shook her head, tears of rage and despair coursing down her cheeks. "You're just a child, Hitomi. What do you know about Fate?"

"You're right," Hitomi whispered. "I don't know anything. I'm very sorry." Her eyes widened as Taeami got up from the floor and walked back the way she'd come in. "Where are you going? Don't you want to stay with him?"

"That," Taeami gestured at Folken's body, "Is not my husband. My husband is gone." With that, she turned quietly and left the room.

Taeami leapt back into the Escaflowne, moving almost robotically towards the controls. Fly for me. Fly…

She gasped as the Guymelef began to transform beneath her. Soon, she was no longer in the safe confines of the cockpit, but riding the back of the legendary White Dragon. Taeami grabbed the reigns as the Dragon soared into the sky, flying towards an unknown destination.

*****

From the cockpit of his Guymelef, Dilandau Albatou saw the White Dragon circling the sky overhead. He barely had time to think before the dragon touched down and transformed back into the Escaflowne.

"Van…" he whispered angrily, turning his Guymelef abruptly and starting towards the Escaflowne. "VAAAAANNN!!!" He screamed. "It's time for you to pay for what you've done to me!"

He couldn't see Van inside the cockpit, but he knew no one else could use that Guymelef except Folken. And it definitely wasn't Folken… he didn't use Guymelefs. Besides, Van would never let anyone else use Escaflowne. Dilandau raised his Guymelef's arm. Van Fanel was going today. Here. Today. NOW.

Dilandau cackled euphorically as the flames shot at the Escaflowne. He heard a high-pitched scream from inside the cockpit. Van screams like a gi-irl, he chanted in his mind. "BURN!" he shouted, "That's it, burn, burn BURN!"

*****

Van Fanel collapsed on the floor of the Guymelef storage room, gasping and choking. Millerna cried out in horror as large red welts began to appear on his skin.

"Van-sama!" Merle yelled, leaping towards her master.

"What the FUCK?!" Yelled Gaddes. "Your majesty, what…"

"Escaflowne," the young king rasped. "Dilandau…"

"Shit!" Gaddes cried, running towards on of the many Guymelefs. "SHIT!"

*****

"Dilandau, NO!" Allen Schezar raised Scherezade's large arm and brought its sword down on the head of Dilandau's guymelef. The fire stopped spraying towards Escaflowne, but as Allen surveyed the guymelef he realized that he was probably too late.

"Van!" He yelled, moving Scherezade towards the young King's guymelef. He opened the cockpit of his guymelef just as the Escaflowne opened up. Allen gasped in horror as the Guymelef's operator tumbled from the cockpit to the ground below. "Taeami!"

The Knight Caeli jumped down to the ground where the young queen was lying. "Your majesty, are you all right? Can you hear me?" Taeami turned her head slowly and looked at Allen with sad eyes.

"I'm going to find my husband now." A wistful smile drifted onto her face. Allen gathered her up in his arms.

"We'll find him later. Right now we have to get you to the palace, your majesty! You're very badly burned!"

Taeami shook her head. "Say goodbye to them for me." She closed her eyes slowly. "Goodbye, Allen."

The knight looked down at her in horror as the queen stopped breathing. He held two fingers to her neck, feeling for a pulse. Nothing. A single tear ran down Allen cheek as he laid her back down on the ground. "Goodbye, Taea."

Epilogue

Allen,

The sun is setting on the Gaea, leaving us alone for another long, cold night. It's always worse at night, when everyone's pretending to be asleep. At least I don't even try to pretend.

The worst of it hasn't even begun. All the physical pain and suffering is pretty much over now, but the real pain hasn't even begun to make itself known yet. I may not be the smartest guy in this palace, that's probably Dryden. Or the smoothest. That's you, boss. But sometimes I actually know what I'm talking about. Like now. I know it's not just going to go away. So much has happened. We haven't even begun to sort it all out yet.

I know I'm probably the least affected by this situation, but that doesn't mean I'm able to sleep at night any better than the rest of us. It's hard to get any rest at all, knowing that everyone you care about is lying awake crying or wanting to cry. I've never been a crier myself. But sometimes you have to make exceptions.

It seems like the whole planet was fixed by that Zone of Absolute Fortune. Everyone in Asturia seems to be much happier now, much more at ease. Everyone but the people here in this palace. The people here are like the living dead these days, stalking aimlessly around the building all day long. But the nights are still the worst.

It's going to be hard to let go. Some of us probably won't at all. Van won't. He'll always blame himself. For letting Folken go. For letting Taeami go after him. But it's not his fault. Only people with Fanel blood can operate Escaflowne. How was he to know that she had Fanel blood inside her, that she was having Folken's child?

None of us knew. Well, maybe Hitomi knew. But then, she's not really one of us, is she? It doesn't matter, though, because we couldn't have stopped it even if we had known. Funny thing, fate. It does what it damn well pleases.

We're all of us just a bit more observant now, and a bit wiser. Me, I've realized just how short life is. How you can be alive one day, and the next… not. It's sort of hard to come to terms with something like that when you finally realize it. I've never been one for romance and such, quite frankly that sort of thing makes me a bit uneasy. I've always kind of avoided it. But now I realize that life is too short to let it pass by without loving someone. Funny, eh? Never thought I'd say it. But it's true. Taeami and Folken made me see just how much I value some people in my life, as friends and as much more. I'll be damned if I let the chance to tell them slip through my fingers.

As much as I may want to forget all about it, I know one thing will keep coming back to me, probably for as long as I live. It was something Taea said to me the horrible evening that she ran away, when I was carrying her back to the palace. At one point, she just looked into my eyes and said to me, "The hardest part of loving someone is letting them love you back." I remember thinking at the time that she was inside my head, and I know her words won't leave me, not ever.

I'm ready to love.

I'm ready to be loved.

I remain always,

Gaddes