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The snow from the heavens covers the world with a blanket of peaceful bliss, bringing people closer to one another and letting new relationships sprout out beneath the frigid cold of life.

- Hoshino Yukino -

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Konnichiwa minna-san! This is the last and final chapter for my poetry series. It took me a very very long time to finally finish this because of all the things I had been doing and the stories I've been co-writing under silver moonlight… I hope that you would also read those stories under silver moonlight although they're only CCS and Digimon fics… I'll try my best to continue and finish the stories under Hoshino Yukino as well… I hope that this would start a wonderful revival for the long-forgotten Hoshino Yukino…

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne and the characters in it.

Rating: PG-13

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~ Cruel Fates: Epilogue ~

By the long-forgotten Hoshino Yukino

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Van sat by the windowsill, watching the stars outside the castle, glitter slowly in the darkness of the night. The stars twinkled softly, reminding the now middle-aged king of what has happened this past twenty years after Hitomi, the one he first loved, left him behind in the world they called Gaea to go back to her world of the Mystic Moon. He had married another, Catherine, although his advisers coerced the whole marriage to him. Soon, Van had a brave and adventurous son and a pair of beautiful daughters to continue on his Fanelian bloodline. Although the whole wedding was forced, Van felt guilty that he had lost his last bit of innocence to someone else, he had allowed himself to love someone else even if it was not to the same degree as the first. He had allowed himself to love someone else, and allowed his last bit of innocence be taken away by the same person, Catherine, as he did with hers. Van slowly strolled down the halls of his rebuilt palace and was amazed at the rapid changes that was happening to their country, which was originally burnt down to the ground. Most of the infrastructure has been rebuilt and improved greatly and with the defeat of the Zaibach Empire and the resolution of peace among the kingdoms, the improvement of the kingdoms have been springboard across the barriers of previous obstacles. The Fanelians believed that it was because of his great work as King and as the one who saved them all by bringing about the defeat of the infamous Zaibach Empire, that all this rapid changes was happening. However, Van knew better, he knew that it wasn't wholly him that saved them but the girl from the Mystic Moon, the girl of the red pendant, the girl he loves until now even if time and space separates them, Hitomi…

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Hitomi sat by the bedside, watching her son sleep peacefully, bathed by the moon's silvery rays. Hitomi then looked outside her window and stared at the great silvery white moon that shone with true brilliance and luster. She slowly recalled about the twenty years that has past by, after she had left Gaea, after she had left Van, the man who captivated her heart, the man she knew was meant to be hers…

Hitomi ran her hand through her son's raven black hair softly and planted a soft kiss on his cheek. She then left the room, closing the door slowly, as to not wake up her son who was sleeping peacefully. She had lost her last bit of innocence to Kyosuke, true, but she had taken his as well, it was merely a small trade, nothing more, nothing less. She felt a bit guilty to Van that she had married another, Kyosuke, her close friend, and yet felt guilty to Kyosuke, by loving Van all this while. It was true, she had fallen for Kyosuke, for his kind actions and dependability on all cases, but she loved Van with all her heart, with all her soul. Nothing could compare to that… Nothing…

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Van:

Time has been long and weary

It has made me worn and dreary

Yet I love you still, Hitomi…

How I wish for you to be with me!

It's true that I've fallen for another

But I love you above all, there's no other

You are my light, my hope, my one true destiny

My soul cannot move on without you with me

I love you, Hitomi, the girl of my life

I love you, Hitomi, no matter what strife…

Hitomi:

I love you, too, my dearest Van

But look at what I have done?!

You may have loved another

But I willingly accepted one other

I lost my innocence to someone other

Who is now my only son's true father

I dug and made my own selfish grave

Oh, how foolish of me, I'm such a knave

I can't say how much I hate myself…

All I can say is that I love you with my whole self!

Van:

You're not alone, my dearest one

I, too, now have daughters and a son

Mistakes we should forget, I believe

And just focus on what is there to live

I know we can never be together right now

But I know that we will be somehow

Once said I, "I'll wait for you at the ends of time"

I shall fulfill it even when the world has lost its rhyme

Time cannot separate us for long

Fate can only bind us just this strong

Our love is more powerful than the forces that be

That's why I believe that you'd be with me…

Hitomi:

Oh, Van, I hope that things are indeed that way

But I don't know how things would sway

I love you too much to sit and stay

But I don't want to leave my son at bay

I'll have to wait until the lifetime's end

Which is only around one small bend

I hope you can wait for me, my one true love

I hope that you do keep the promise that you have

Promises are not needed or so I said

But I guess, this wouldn't be true once I'm dead

I'll find you at the ends of time, by heaven's gates

I'll just have to wait for the passing dates…


Van:

I love you too, my precious one

And I know how much one loves their son

I too will wait for lifetime's end

To be with the one that God had sent

I love you and that promise I shall keep

I just hope that you'll not forget me in your sleep

How much I love you, I cannot say…

I'm putty in your hands, just some clay…

I long for your embrace, for your inborn grace

The beauty of your smile, which leaves me, dazed

I long for your chestnut brown hair

That compliments you, my lady fair

I long for your touch, your tender kiss

All these things, bring me such bliss…

Hitomi…

Hitomi:

Oh, Van, how sweet of those words!

I love you, I will always love you

I will never forget your love

For you will always be in my heart

I would wait for you by the gates of heaven

I would wait for you until the end of time

If it meant that I would be with you

I would sacrifice everything for you

Love sees no boundaries

Time holds no limit

Someday, somehow we will be together

I love you, Van…

I really do…

Van:

Aishiteru, Hitomi-chan…

Hitomi:

Watasiwa shiki desu…

Aishiteru, Van-chan…

~ Owari ~

Author's Notes:

Finally, the long-awaited conclusion to my long-forgotten poetry series, hope that you don't find this too cheesy because of the fact that it rhymes… We've just learned poetry in school and I'm putting it to the test… Like the pentameter that nearly caused me two big points in the LT!!! Please read and review….

Please read my other works and review them like the unfinished "Blinded by Hate" under Gatekeepers, the unfinished "Fallen Angel" under Escaflowne (my first work), the free verse poem, "Red Champagne", and the unfinished "Untitled" under Nadesico, which are all under Hoshino Yukino. Please also read the following stories of silver moonlight, like "Chocolates and a Bouquet of Flowers" and the unfinished "Playing Games", both under Digimon, and "Ice Prince" which is under CCS.