The Prophecy has been fulfilled, changing all that have been touched by it.  The future of Gaea is again safe, but as in all tales of conflict and renewal, what does the future hold?

**

Epilogue:

The gardens are in full bloom as Hitomi sits with Merle watching the children play among the flowers.  Millerna and Dryden's visit has been a pleasant surprise, and they are all enjoying the beautiful day outdoors.  Millerna will soon have a child of her own; she is shifting position every few minutes trying to get comfortable. 

Millerna: "I don't remember Eries saying anything about being this uncomfortable."

Hitomi: "How are she and Allen anyway, it's been too long since we have all been together."

Millerna: "They have their hands full, you should see Leon, he reminds me more and more of Allen everyday."

Hitomi shakes her head, knowing what a handful a young child can be.

Hitomi: "He's only three."

Millerna: "You'll see.  That boy, he can charm his way out of anything already.  You'll get to see them when this one comes, you are all coming aren't you."

She pats her large rounded belly affectionately and receives a small kick from within for her trouble.

Merle: "We wouldn't miss it. Nathen will be back in plenty of time from the village, I wish we could have gone with him this time, but well you know, men, but he hasn't missed the hunt in the four years we've been married."

Dryden enters the garden to retrieve his wife at the same time the children come running up.  Folken is the spitting image of his father Van, he has his mothers green eyes, and his raven hair is highlighted by a shock of pure gold, the unruly lock falling across his face most of the time.   Crystal, a head shorter then her friend looks like neither of her parents, with a pelt of lustrous silver and dark gray markings, she has eyes so blue they shine like crystals in the sunlight.

Crystal: "Slow down Folken, it hurts."

Folken: "Stop being a baby, I want mom to see the blood." Folken stops in front of his mother.

Crystal: "I'm not being a baby, and you wouldn't say that if you could feel it."

Folken: "Look at the blood, mom isn't it neat."

Folken is holding his knee up for his mothers inspection, smiling in triumph as if showing a battle wound.

Hitomi: "That looks pretty bad, honey, maybe we should take you to the healers."

Crystal is just catching up to Folken, she is limping, one silver hand holding her knee as she stops.

Merle: "Did you get hurt too?"

Crystal: "No mama, he did."

Crystal is pointing an accusing finger at Folken.  Then she reaches out to him,

Crystal: "Will you let me fix it now?"

Folken: "Ok, I'm sorry, but I wanted to show mom the blood."

Folken fidgets as Crystal reaches down and places her hand on his knee.  She sighs and lifts her hand.  The cut, blood and all are gone.

Crystal: "Be more careful, you know how it hurts me."

Folken: "I said I was sorry, hey want to…"

Crystal: "Yeah lets go."

With that the two children run off, hand in hand, laughing as they again go to find imaginary adventures in the garden.  Millerna wasn't paying attention, but Dryden's sharp eyes caught the whole thing.

Dryden: "Did anyone else see that?"

Van: "See what."

Van walks up and sits next to his wife, Hitomi, placing a small kiss on her cheek, and pushing the small dragon on his shoulder aside to lean his head against hers.  His arm goes instantly around her, as if he can never get enough of the feel of her.  Always in a corner of his mind is the memory of how close he came to losing her forever.  He sighs and directs his attention back to Dryden.

Dryden: "Crystal healed the cut on Folken's knee just now."

Both Merle and Hitomi look at him as if nothing at all out of the ordinary has taken place, but Van knows Dryden's merchant instincts won't settle for anything but the truth.  He nudges Hitomi to get her to look at him.

Van: "It's ok go ahead and tell them."

Hitomi: "We think that somehow they were born bonded, mated to each other.  We don't know why, maybe the Dragon's Mating Fire, or their being born at the same time, maybe even the Balance of Light had some unknown effect on them, we just don't know, but they are happy when they are together, that we do know."

Something is nagging at the back of Dryden's mind, something he should remember, maybe something he heard, or read, so he presses on in his questioning.

Dryden: "When did you first notice this?"

Merle stretches most of her attention on the conversation, but one ear twitching, listening to the children as they play.

Merle: "Remember when they were first born, they both cried and fussed all the time, the healers couldn't do anything for them, and both Hitomi and I were at our whit's end, no sleep, the babies weren't eating right or gaining weight.  We were both scared. Don't look at me like that, Lord Van you were worried too.  Then one day when I was in Folken's nursery with Crystal, the wind blew over a vase shattering it on the floor.  I only laid her down in his crib a moment, to help Hitomi clean up the glass, then we both noticed the silence, both babies had stopped crying and were sleeping peacefully curled up together. We ended up putting them in a nursery together, most of the time we find them sleeping together.  That's one of the reasons Nathen and I haven't gone to live with his people at the village, we can't separate them.  There are other things too, now that they're getting older.  They seem to know without words, what the other wants."

A sudden burst of laughter draws all eyes to the children as the both chase Goldie, who is swooping and diving at them, playing a sort of dragon tag.  Hitomi smiles, and then takes over where Merle stopped.

Hitomi: "It was when they started walking and talking that it became apparent that there was more.  When Folken gets hurt, Crystal feels it.  The healing is new."

Dryden sits digesting this information as Millerna watches the dragon playing with the children.  He reminds her of a small golden nanny, taking care of them.  She smiles at her thoughts.

Millerna: "I wish I had a dragon to help me when this one comes."

Hitomi laughs.

Hitomi: "I don't know what we would do without him.  Their his twin dragons."

Dryden: "What?"

Hitomi: "He has names, dragon names for them, just like Van is White, and I am Green to him, Folken and Crystal are Fire and Ice. They are his proper dragon names for us, just like we call him Goldie."

Dryden stands; it is time to leave, which was why he came to get Millerna in the first place.  He helps his wife to stand, no easy task and as they leave he bends to whisper to her only.

Dryden: "I knew I would remember, the Book of Three, it has a Prophecy about the Twin Dragons, Fire and Ice.  By the gods, will Gaea never be at peace?"

Millerna: "Are you going to tell them?"

Dryden: "Not yet, look at how happy they are, there's years before they need to worry.  Let them have some peace, they've earned it."

**

Well there you have it, The Prophecies of Escaflowne.

Please review and let me know what you think.  I have been asked if there will be a sequel to Prophecies, and yes but not until I have finished By the Hand of Destiny.

But I have been working on chapter excerpts to develop some of the major characters for the sequel along with the beginnings of the story line.   All I know for sure right now is that it takes place some fifteen years after the end of Prophecies and that it will involve Folken and Crystal along with Leon, a young Hitomi (yes anything is possible on Gaea) and a boy from the Mystic Moon, Dillan.  Of course Lord Lawrence has a hand in it, as well as Dilandau and surprise Yukari.  Is a world that has known peace for 18 years prepared for the war that is brewing unknown to them from an army across the sea?

Prophecies Fire and Ice.

Hopefully The Prophecies of Escaflowne will be available on my website in its entirety soon.  www.geocities.com/fanilia_gaea/Mystic_Moon. I will let everyone know when it is.

Fanilia