Another Vision of Escaflowne

Another Vision of Escaflowne

Disclaimer: Usual disclaimers apply regarding Tenkuu no Escaflowne. The following is an Original Escaflowne fanfiction / fanart. The story, new characters and events are our own creation. Any resemblance with any other fanwork is purely coincidental.

Author : Celena

Editor: Bellsandy

Illustrator: Bellsandy

~~ Delight in the Experience : http://bellsandi.tripod.com/AVE/index.html ~~

~~ Immerse yourself in the Experience : here ~~

Episode I

One's rebuilding, the other's going home

"I'm fine Van." she said softly, watching the image of the young King sitting on the rocks surrounded by water. The sun was slowly setting and its rays pierced a pinkish jewel hanging from his neck. Seeing he was still wearing her pendant pleased her and noticing that he had stretched his wings for her to see also made her happy. With her answer, the image slowly faded away and left Hitomi gazing at the now empty rocks, swallowing hard the grief she was starting to feel from being so far from the one she had learned to care so much about. She was soon disturbed from her thoughts as she heard the bright voice of her dearest friend calling out to her.

"Hitomi! Hitomi! There you are! We've been looking all over for you!" she shouted out as she approached her friend and gave her a big hug.

"What were you thinking? Hope you haven't forgot our night out with Amano?"

"How could I forget a so well planned out evening with my two best friends?!" responded Hitomi smiling wickedly, thinking about the pizza she was about to have and movie she was about to see.

Yukari and Amano always picked out the most boring love stories when they where together. It almost made her sick to her stomach to have to endure so many mushy scenes when she was all alone. Not that she felt alone, but hanging out with a couple was sometimes hard. But Yukari and Amano insisted on keeping her company as much as they could. They were trying hard to relieve her mind from worries and solitude they thought she was carrying (even if she told them hundreds of times that she was fine). Telling them about her adventures on Gaea might not have been such a good idea… it pretty much showed how she had been fond of Van and they were afraid that being apart from him would be hard. But she was okay. It had been weeks now since she had left Fanelia and it's charming King and she was doing great. She was doing well on her final exams, she had won the last race of the season on the track team, and she was mentally getting ready to have a perfect summer at the beach.

Yukari stared at her friend before giggling. "Hey! What does that comment mean?? Don't you like spending time with us?" she asked, trying to look offended at Hitomi's remark.

Hitomi started laughing and shrugged. Pulling Yukari by the arm, the two friends walked towards the small pizzeria Amano liked so much.

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As they finished eating, Amano noticed how distant Hitomi had been during the meal. Giving her a slight push he asked her what was on her mind. Having no response, he gave a quick look to Yukari for her approval and pinched Hitomi on the arm.

"OOOUUUCHH!" Hitomi yelled out squeezing her arm where Amano had hurt her. "What was that for??" she asked.

"Where have you been?" Yukari and Amano demanded at the same time, smiling at each other for it. Hitomi looked down and blushed, knowing the reactions she would get if she were honest.

"I saw him today." she responded.

Amano and Yukari gave each other a knowing glance.

"You saw him today." repeated Amano.

"You've been seeing him every day for the past week Hitomi!" added Yukari. "Are you sure everything is alright?"

"Of course!" Hitomi answered quickly. "He's just been checking up on me to make sure everything is going good for me, and you know that rebuilding his kingdom is asking a lot of him… he doesn't have much time for leisure, thinking of each other while doing something is easy and…" Hitomi trailed off, feeling the hard looks of her friends upon her.

"Hitomi…" started Amano "You two are from VERY different worlds, living VERY different lives, it was fine when you were checking on each other once a week, but he's been seeing you much more often these past few days, are you sure it's…healthy?"

Yukari made a face at his choice of word but only for him, she turned to Hitomi and watched for her reaction. Hitomi took in a long breather and scrutinized Amano; his long brown hair, his dark sincere eyes, then Yukari with her shoulder length and reddish hair, with her brown eyes that matched the color of her locks and then smiled.

"I know you mean well and I understand you're worried about me, but I guess we miss each other more than we had thought… I care very much for Van and he cares a lot for me, we've been through so much…I wouldn't want to tell him to stop nor would I WANT him to stop…"

Hitomi paused and Yukari surprised her by asking her a question she was not prepared to answer.

"Why did you choose to come back Hitomi?"

Amano looked at her with round eyes. Obviously they had discussed the matter and he didn't want it to be mentioned, but Yukari didn't show any reaction under his hard glare and concentrated on Hitomi.

"I, I…" she started to answer.

"You don't have to answer that Hitomi." Amano interrupted her.

"Yukari!" he scolded, "that is Hitomi's business and no one else's!"

Hitomi felt the rose creeping to her cheeks. Yukari looked down at her skirt, trying to brush off some imaginary hair.

"I'm sorry Hitomi, Amano's right, I shouldn't ask… forgive me." she looked up to her best friend. Hitomi was looking at her, her eyes full of unshed tears.

"Hitomi! Don't cry! I'm sorry, please don't cry!" Yukari moved closer to her friend but Hitomi stood up.

"I'm such a fool, I'm sorry Yukari, I'm sorry Amano, I didn't mean to spoil your evening, I'm going home now." she reached for her bag on the booth and headed for the door.

"Hitomi wait!" shouted Amano as he stared hard at poor Yukari who was biting her lower lip. Noticing she wasn't stopping, he went after her.

"Hitomi, wait up!" he met her just past the restaurant doors, on the sidewalk.

"Please Hitomi, listen to me."

Hitomi stopped and turned around. She was now crying freely, her tears made a trail down her beautiful flushed cheeks.

"What is it Amano?" she questioned, harsher than she had intended.

Her reaction surprised Amano and his face became smooth and full of concern.

"Hitomi, we care too, we care a lot." he added, insisting on the very words she had used to describe her feelings towards Van. "Yukari and I don't want you to hurt yourself and your Van unnecessarily. Somehow we get the feeling you two had more than friendship going on and this kind of relationship is hard when you're apart… I know, that's why I moved back, to be with Yukari… You sometimes have to make very difficult decisions, between friends, family, love… choosing is never easy, but you mustn't regret the choices you make, or else you're sure to live a long and sorry life Hitomi".

He came closer to her and wiped out her tears with both his thumbs. She put her hands on his, bringing them down to his side.

"You don't understand" she just told him. She turned around and started running towards the nearest bus stop. "I made no choice, I never got the chance to make any choice!" she thought to herself, wiping her tears before getting on the bus, paying the fare and choosing a seat.

Amano watched her leave and felt a hand on his elbow.

"Did, you catch up to her?" asked Yukari who had just paid the dinner before going after them.

"Yeah, I did" answered Amano, lost in his thoughts.

"AND??" she demanded, impatient to find out if he had been able to repair her mistake.

"What can I say Yukari, our little Hitomi looks mixed up, much more than we had expected…"

Yukari frowned and looked at her shoes. "I shouldn't have brought it up."

Amano turned and looked at her with great love in his eyes.

"No, I think you did well, she needs to answer to that question… better sooner than later. She's strong, although it's not like her to go off like that or to cry, I believe she's been trough too much and she needs to think about it."

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Soundtrack : For Lovers only

Song : Hitomi theme

In front of the Kanzaki's house, the moon was shining brightly. Few lights were illuminating the many windows. You could notice a faint, almost candlelight-like brightness coming from what must have been the reading lamp in the living room. There was another small glow coming from one of the rooms on the second floor. It was Hitomi's bedroom. She had gone straight up when she had arrived. Not bothering her parents in the living room and going right past her brother's bedroom, not bothering him either. She was now lying on her bed, staring at the ceiling. She was trying to think, but so many words, images and thoughts were going through her head it was about to explode.

She decided to take a bath in an effort to clear her mind. While the water was running in the bathtub, she washed her face at the sink and watched herself in the mirror while drying her cheeks. Her short light brown hair was damp near her forehead and her eyes were shining like emeralds thanks to her tears.

"What am I doing?" she thought to herself. "What do I expect now?"

She dropped into the heated water and started to play with the many bubbles that were flying here and there in front of her. This made her smile but soon an image of Van on the rocks brought her back to reality and she sunk her head under the water to make the pain go away. But it didn't, and she inevitably, had to resurface for air.

"What now? What now?" she kept asking herself. "What do I do now?" she watched the steam raising from the water and thought of Van, being careful not to summon him.

"It would be rather awkward," she thought, imagining herself appearing in her bath in front of Van, where ever he was, what ever he was doing.

"That would sure be embarrassing!" to this she grinned but it soon faded away, replaced by some unhappy smile.

"Van, why did you push me away? I wanted to stay, I was used to being with you, with everybody, I was happy on Gaea… I didn't want to leave."

She remembered when she and Van had put Escaflowne to sleep. Van had said he wanted to see what a world where Escaflowne was not needed was like. She had told Van she wanted to see it with him, but he had pushed her away, mentioning that when they would want to be with each other, they would be able to, with the power of their wishes.

"My wishes." thought Hitomi.

"My wishes were to be with you Van, but I guess you weren't ready for that were you?" Hitomi frowned; she had almost expected an answer from the empty bathroom.

"Well, I guess I have my answer. Oh Van… What was I thinking? Here I am, always so happy to see you, fantasizing that you've been coming more often for a reason, but deep down, I know that what I told the others is the real reason… You're just so busy with your duties, it's easy for you to get away and come here to me… you don't have any other intentions do you?" Again, no response from the bathroom.

"Well, I should go on too… and just be happy to see you when I do! Not think of you and the others when we're not together… it's not… healthy."

Tears came to her eyes at the thought but she refused to let them fall.

"Okay Van, look's like this is the way it's going to be…"

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The next morning, just before sunrise, Yukari was surprised to find Hitomi early at the track. Her friend was jogging along the white lines, she looked as if she had been running for hours. Her skin was flushed, her shirt dripping with sweat. "What are you doing?" shouted Yukari amused but still a little worried.

"I'm rebuilding!" answered Hitomi at the top of her lungs as she raced past her best friend.

"Rebuilding?" repeated Yukari nearly screaming to be heard.

"Rebuilding my life Yukari!" added Hitomi.

"Rebuilding your life…" thought Yukari. "Oh Hitomi, are you sure?" she asked herself, knowing her friend was too far to hear her.

But the look of determination and the smile on Hitomi's face brushed her apprehension away and Yukari started to warm up near the track as Hitomi went past her again, a huge smirk on her lips.

"You'll never catch me Yukari!"

"We'll see about that in a few moments my dear friend!" Yukari answered smiling back, watching the warm sun leaping over their high school.

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It was another beautiful sunrise over Fanelia's lush forests. Birds were chirping in the trees and small wild animals were scampering around under them. People were already up; men were working on rooftops, houses and barns. Women were at the fields working on the crops, near the river washing cloths and children were playing and shouting at each other.

The people of Fanelia had return to construct their homes and the city had grown considerably during the last weeks. From the hill rising over the city of Fanelia, you could not tell that the city had been completely burned to the ground months ago. The many houses and buildings looked beautiful and the castle resting above the city, at the far end of the city limits, was standing tall with pride.

Laughter and joy of living could be heard from everywhere. The crowd at the market place was huge. Many people were shopping for food and materials for the day. Among them was a short cat-girl with yellow fur and bright pink hair, searching for something very particular.

"YAAWWW!!!" she yelled out at some children passing by who hadn't resist the envy to tug on her tail. "Stop pulling on my tail you little monsters!!" she yelled, turning back to only see them scatter around in order to not get caught. She went back to her shopping, looking gloomy. She hadn't had any luck in finding what she was looking for. A merchant witnessed her unhappy gaze and came up to her.

"Watch y'a looking for Merle?" he asked nicely.

"Nothing…" she answered with a pout.

"Common Merle, I'm sure I can help, now tell me what you'd like." the nice man asked her again.

"It's really nothing Katti, it's Lord Van's birthday coming up and..."

"That's right!" he cut off than added: "There's going to be a great festivity in his honor and in the honor of Fanelia's rebirth!! I bet your looking for a gift for the King, am I right?"

"Well that wasn't very hard to assume…" Merle twitched crossing her arms and turning her head to the side, her nose high in the air. Opening one eye but not moving, she asked: "Do you have anything that Lord Van would like for his anniversary?"

"I'm sure you'll find something of your liking my dear little one, come closer…" Katti answered with a smile.

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From the immense windows of the castle, the King was looking down on his city and his people. His hands clasped together behind his back, he could not help a smile creeping up to his lips. He had done it. He had won the war, revenged his family and lost ones, had rebuilt Fanelia to its former beauty and brought back together its people.

"I wish you could see this Hitomi." he thought.

A slight knock on the door of his large study echoed through the room.

"Come in." he answered, not bothering to turn around.

"My Lord," a barely perceivable but lovely and very feminine voice echoed to his ears. "Breakfast is served."

"Thank You Lyla, I'll be down in a minute." he answered, still not looking back.

The maid bowed and left the room. Van put his gloved hand to the glass of the window and watched the sun rise into the pink sky. He brought his other hand to his heart, toying with something underneath his red shirt.

"This is going to be another incredibly long day." he thought, before turning around and leaving.

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After breakfast, Van went out to see what was left to be done in preparation for the celebrations that were held the next day and evening. Invitations had been sent to all of Fanelia's allies and friends. There were to be activities during the entire day and a great ball was to be held the same evening. Affirmative responses had come from everywhere and Van was sure all of Gaea would be there. Therefore, he wanted everything to be perfect.

As he made his rounds, he realized with satisfaction that everything was ready: the decorations, the food, the rooms, the many games and activities, the performers… everything except…

"LORD VAANN!!" A familiar voice called out to him. Van smiled and turned around, his arms open and ready to welcome his little friend.

"Good morning Merle!" he said, catching her in his arms. "And why were you not at the breakfast table with me this morning?"

Merle stopped licking his cheek and pinned an enormous smile on her face.

"You'll see Lord Van! You'll be so happy! I can't wait to give you my gift tomorrow!!"

The King didn't care for gifts and presents but he knew it meant the world to his companion.

"Oh I see, out shopping… well I'm sure I'll be delighted with your gift. I'm certain it will be the best gift I have ever had!"

With that, the cat-girl surrounded him in her arms and almost strangled him.

"Thank you for saying that Lord Van! What are you doing in town anyway?"

Van started walking again and Merle followed him.

"Look how everything is lovely Merle." he responded, looking at the well-sculpted buildings and monuments.

They continued walking until they were completely out of the city and climbing the hill to the outer limits of the town.

"Lord Van? Is everything alright?" asked Merle, noticing his silence and lost glare.

"Of course Merle, why do you ask?"

"Just worried…" she answered looking at the large path they had taken.

"Well don't be, there's no reason to be sad, in fact, I can only think of reasons to be happy!" he looked back and put an arm around her shoulders.

Still walking side by side, she looked up.

"Only reasons to be happy?"

Van looked down and saw in her eyes it was no use trying to hide something from her.

"Almost" he replied with a small smile.

They came to a stop and looked back. The scenery was breathtaking. A huge mountain with a distant but great waterfall, exquisite birds flying near it, great trees of many greens all looking down at Fanelia in the center of the forest and canyon, at the foot of the mountain.

"Oh Lord Van, our home is beautiful!"

"Yes it is Merle, it is so very much."

Merle noticed how he unconsciously reached for his heart and played with something under his shirt. She frowned at this but did not say a thing and gazed back at the view.

"Merle?" Van asked, out of his breath.

"Hmm?" she answered.

"Let's go home…"

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