Okay I don't own Escaflowne or any of the characters, yadda yadda. The story and my orginal characters are the only ones that belong to me. Okay?

*****
Hitomi looked up and around; she was no longer in Van's bed, though he could still feel the warmth of his body on her own. Instead, she was standing on a hill in a sunlight field, with vast volcanic rock hanging over head. Out of the left of her eye, Hitomi could see a large and majestic city in the distance, but her focus was mainly on the scene in front of her in the meadow a few feet below.

"Come on Adrian!" shouted a young girl as she tried to pull a slightly older boy off the ground. Her light brown hair fell into her bluish green eyes, and the boy brushed it out her face. "Princess, your mother said I can't play with you anymore. You'll have to go now."

The young princess's lips trembled as she stared into Adrian's eyes. "But Adrian, I like you. Please let me stay with you; teach me how to be a warrior."

Adrian involuntarily smiled, but then shook his head and frowned. "No, it's not right for a lady to fight, and besides, I'm not a warrior yet. Go back to the palace right now, before the Queen worries about you."

The young princess pushed away from Adrian, and not thinking, sobbed, "You're mean Adrian! I thought you liked me. I hate you! I wish I never saw you again!"

Pain filled Adrian's light blue eyes, and he reached out to console her, to hug her till all the enmity between them was gone. But a cobalt beam of light lifted Adrian up in the air, catching him off guard. "Wha..What's going on?!"

The little girl looked up at him with panic in her eyes, screaming, "ADRIAN?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! COME BACK ADRIAN!!"

Hitomi heard a sickening crack as white wings sprouted from Adrian's back, flapping wildly to get away from blue shaft. The princess followed similar suit, shooting her own wings out, and tried to fly up to Adrian. But she was still too young; one of her wings broke and spiraled towards the ground. Hitomi screamed in terror as the nauseous crunch of the girl's bones breaking echoed off the stone dome. Adrian reached out his hand and cried something incomprensible, but faded with the blue light. Hitomi watched in horror as the young girl struggled to get up, blood soaking her dress. "Adrian, no, come back...please, I'm sorry, I didn't mean it...please..ADRIAN!"

The girl fainted back down, covered in bloody feathers.


Hitomi abruptly woke up to find Van staring down at her worriedly. "Hitomi, are you okay? You were moaning and crying in your sleep, what's wrong?"

Hitomi practically jumped into Van's arms, sobbing, "Van, it was awful! There was two children playing, and some things were said that shouldn't have been, and the boy was taken by the blue light, and the girl tried to save him by using her wings, but she fell, and there was blood, and-it was horrible!"

Van clutched Hitomi's shuddering body closer her to him, whispering, "Hitomi, please calm down. It was just a dream, all right? It wasn't real."

Hitomi shook her head, her tears flying of her eyelashes unto the bed. "No! It was real! It was so sad..."

"Shhh...Hitomi, relax. I'm right here, and everything is going to be okay." Van cooed softly, laying Hitomi back onto the pillows. He watched as she drowsily closed her eyes, and smiled as he snuggled closer to his love.

*****
Kaze stirred and tossed the sheets off of his heated body. He was confused by his surroundings, but then remembered he was in the infirmary of Van's castle. His body wasn't responsive when brought through the castle gate, but his mind was conscious. He had listened to the whole conversation; he wondered how badly Tati was hurt. He didn't want to be responsible for anyone's pain, especially one helped him.

Kaze's legs still felt wobbly when he stood up, but he walked the feeling out. Sneaking silently past the sleeping guard, he tip-toed down the hall. Although he didn't know exactly where Tati's room was, Kaze had a strange feeling it was close.

Kaze saw that one of the room's door was cracked slightly, and he peered through the crack. He saw Tati sitting on the bed, his knees touching his chest. Kaze gently knocked on the door, and opened it without receiving an answer from Tati. "Umm, Tati? I wanted to thank you for helping me out, and just want to make sure you're okay, 'cause I heard you were hurt..."

When Tati didn't answer, Kaze walked up to the bed, wondering about Tati's silence. Kaze noticed that Tati's eyes were dull and glassy, and his whole body was shivering violently. Kaze shook Tati's shoulder, shouting quietly, "Hey, snap out of it!"

Tati blinked his eyes and became alert, but his skin was still deathly pale. "Huh? Oh, Kaze, it's you. What are you doing here?"

"Are you okay man? You don't look so good..." questioned Kaze, staring at Tati's hollowed face.

Tati shrugged, slightly embarrassed in the position Kaze found him in. "Yeah, I guess. I..I just had a bad dream, that's all. I'm fine now."

Kaze sat on the corner of the bed, surprise "Really? I had a strange dream too. There was this flying guy and girl, it was really weird. I wonder what it meant..."

If Kaze saw Tati's body stiffen, he didn't mention it when he continued to speak, "..Well, anyway, I just want to come and thank you for the medicine and everything, but I think I should head back to bed. I'm already feeling a little dizzy; I see you in the morning."

Tati watched Kaze's figure disappear into the darkness of the hall, listening to his footsteps echo off the stone walls. Tati let out the breath he didn't know he was holding, and wiped the sweat off his forehead.

Tati knew exactly what the dream meant, but he didn't want to think about as he checked the new dressing he applied earlier that night. It irritated his skin; it rubbed under his arms whenever he breathed deeply. But the big bandage was necessary to hide his true identity from the others. Joshu had agreed with him; Tati should expose his origin when the time was right. But Tati just hoped it wouldn't be too late.

*****
She had awakened in a cold, metal cage; one she remembered from some past memory. She looked around the huge dark room, seeing many cages filled with other female prisoners. Children were whimpering for the mothers, and their mothers trying answer soothingly from across the room.

She thought about her own brother, and wondered what he was doing now. Allen said he was just going for a quick visit to Fanelia to speak with Van, and promised Celena he'd be back soon. Celena had a bad feeling about Allen leaving her alone at their home from their childhood, and only realized the meaning of her fear when she was attacked by Zaibach spies on her daily outing.

She saw a door open and a dark shadow block the light filtering through the door, and she shook her cage to get the shadow's attention. "Let me out of here! I order in the name of the Schezar family! Do you hear me?!"

"Calm down, my dear. I will let you out very soon, but right now I have other important matters to deal with at the moment."

Celena opened her mouth, stunned at hearing the familiar voice. "Dornkirk?! Is that you?! You're alive?! What do you want with me?! Never mind, just let me out this instant! Now!"

Dornkirk smiled evilly, sitting regally in his life support machine. "Yes, I'm alive and well; that traitor Folken didn't kill me throughly it seems. As for you my dear, I have plans for you, but only if you're a good little girl." Dornirk came closer to Celena's face, his breath hot and rancid. "You're going to be a good little girl for me, aren't you Celena?"