Saving Two Worlds p.2: Lost in the woods



By Angelstears



It was near nightfall and still no sign of civilization of any kind. Hitomi was ready to give up and sit in these horrible woods until she died, but that wouldn't be fair to Duo and Heero. Instead, she continued searching for a way out, and for food. They hadn't eaten for a while now and food was going to be needed.

"How much further do you think it is?" Duo asked Heero tiredly. Hitomi had let them think they were leading the way, but she, of course, put in her own suggestions every so often. Now they had no idea where they were and how lost exactly they were. "We should be out of here soon. We've been moving in the same direction for hours now."

"I don't know, Duo. It could be hours until we leave these woods. She could be hundreds of acres of away and we don't know where we are." Heero explained. Hitomi stopped suddenly and looked east. She was picking up something in that direction, something important, something familiar. Hitomi ran towards the area where she sensed the strange power.

"Hitomi!" Duo called after her. She didn't stop, not if it meant she'd find Van. She ran and ran until she couldn't move anymore. "Hitomi! Where are you going?"

Heero and Duo were calling to her as they ran after her. Both could barely keep up with her as it was but now they were tired and hungry. Hitomi glanced back for a second then stopped. She needed to wait for them. Duo and Heero caught up with her after a few minutes.

"Why did you take off like that, Hitomi?" Duo asked as her when they could rest. Hitomi looked straight ahead. Van was there. She knew it. She ran off once again without answering.

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Van looked over at Relena. She seemed to be okay for know. The real problem was finding Hitomi and her friends. They were lost somewhere in the woods. There was no way out of those woods unless he flew them out of there, but then how would they find Hitomi? A voice suddenly rang out from the west. Van wasn't sure if Relena heard it, but he did, it was Hitomi's voice, and she was calling to him.

"Van!" The voice clearly cut through the dark area. Relena's head snapped up in reply to the call. She too seemed to recognize the voice. It had to be Hitomi's, no question about it. Van started running slowly but quickly ran faster and faster. To his surprise Relena, too, was running just as fast, trying to get to her friends.

"Hitomi!" Van called back into the darkness.

"You know Hitomi?" Relena asked as she stopped as he ran further ahead. Van didn't answer; he just kept running.

"Hitomi!" Van called again.

There was no reply; everything had fallen silent. There were, however, a few figures moving in the distance stuck out. Van stopped suddenly. There were rumors of strange beings living in these woods. Creatures so horrifying that most people were found in shock, never to awaken from some sort of strange sleep. But these looked like people running; Van continued running.

"Van!" The voice resumed calling out. He was almost there; almost to his love, Hitomi.

Van froze in place when he clearly saw Hitomi. She stopped too and looked at him. Neither said a word; they didn't know what to say. Hitomi could hear Duo and Heero calling out for her, and Van could hear Relena calling out for help, she was lost. A few minutes past before the others caught up. Duo hugged Hitomi as tightly as he could when he found her. Van glared at Duo jealously. Hitomi was supposed to be his. Relena shot past Van and into Heero's arms. Once Hitomi managed to pry herself away from Duo's death grip she greeted Van.

"It's been a while, Van, how's it going?" Hitomi called to him, her voice as sweet as ever. He smiled at her.

"You two know each other? How's that possible?" Duo asked her. She looked at him strangely. Relena had also turned to face them.

"Oh, Hitomi, I missed you so much." He ran to her and hugged her even tighter than Duo hugged her. She happily returned the embrace.

Duo watched, just as jealous of Van as he was of Duo. There was definitely going to be a fight. The look on Hitomi's face was one of complete relief. She had finally found her long time love. Van was equally happy to have found Hitomi.

"So you do know each other." Relena spoke up.

Van still held Hitomi in his arms. Clear out of Duo's reach. Heero gaped at Relena. He, too, was jealous of Van's good looks. There was no doubt in his mind that Relena found this new guy so amazing. He was incredibly well built, dark hair, puppy dog brown eyes, he was very attractive. He had won Hitomi over at first glance, if you ignore the fact they somehow knew each other.

"Yea. Of course Van and I know each other. We fought in the Great War together. It was such a sad time for Gaea though." Hitomi replied, still holding on to Van for dear life. "You could say," Hitomi joked, "that Van is my guardian angel always watching over me."

"So what do we do now?" Duo asked Hitomi. He didn't like Van at all. Hitomi was his girl. "We need to get out of these woods."

"I can help." Van offered, looking at Hitomi for permission. She knew his little secret. The fact he was a draconian was something he used to be ashamed of until Hitomi told him she loved his wings. "I'll go check out if we're anywhere near the edge of these woods in any direction. You know it'll only take a second then we'll get something to eat."

"No way," Duo cut in, "I'll climb a tree and find out how far we are from the edge." He was getting very jealous of Van now. He was showing off to Hitomi, well not anymore. It was his turn to show Hitomi how brave he could be. "I'll climb up there and you could go find food. Heero, you protect Hitomi and Relena until I get back."

"Duo." Hitomi was getting frustrated with Duo's behavior. He was trying to prove himself better than Van. But there was no use in telling him that Van had a better chance of checking things out. 'He wants Van to be out of his way so he sent him for food. There's no way I can convince him we'll be safer with Van. I keep feeling like I'm gonna run into a dragon somewhere. I want to go with Van, but Heero and Relena won't be safe all alone here.' Hitomi thought angrily. "Van be careful, I think there's dragons around here."

"Don't worry about me. I got my sword. If anything and I mean anything seems wrong you call me. I won't be too far off from here, and if you see a dragon run. Don't be stupid and try to fight it." Van warned before leaving to go hunting for food.

"I'm gonna go check now." Duo started climbing up a tree. He got up quickly and started looking. There was nothing but trees for miles. All he could see was an ocean of trees and the darkening sky for miles on end. He climbed down to give his report on the area. "Nothing for miles. We'll have to spend the night here."

"Just great. We have to spend the night here, in some strange forest, on a strange planet. I'm starting to love this trip more and more as we go along." Relena remarked sarcastically. She didn't like to be here. But at least she was with Heero, Duo, and Hitomi now. "Well can we at least sleep somewhere safe. I hate how people keep mentioning dragons."

"We wait for Van and then he'll help us find somewhere safe to spend the night. I won't go anywhere until we know where we are." Hitomi fought Duo. He looked at her with disbelief.

"Of course we won't leave without him." Duo sneered. He wanted to shut Hitomi up about all of this Van business. They didn't need him, or his help. He could protect Hitomi and the others with Heero's help not Van's.

"Hey, Hitomi, can I ask you for some help? There's some good berries over here and I think I need some help." Van called from a little ways off. Hitomi ran in his direction.

When Hitomi got to where Van was he was picking some wild berries, they looked a lot like raspberries. Hitomi hugged Van again from behind. She was completely ecstatic to be back on Gaea after all this time. But her dream continued to play around in her head. And the blood she thought she saw on her pajamas still bugged her. When she looked at Van she saw a strong man who she loved more than life, how could he die? He was stronger than life. He openly returned her embrace the best he could manage.

"It's been too long since we last saw each other, Hitomi." He handed her a load of berries. There was a strange crimson glow on his face. Hitomi started wondering if he was sick or not. "These are corra berries. They're very sweet if you pick them at the right time. But if you pick them too soon they're very sour. Here have one."

He handed her a corra berry. She graciously took his offer and ate the berry. It was delicious and sweet like Van told her it would be. She licked the juice off her lips before speaking to Van.

"It was really good, Van. I think we should talk when the others are asleep. I had a vision a little while back and it has been bothering me for a while now. I can't believe how horrible it was." she spoke to him quietly, as if the others could hear her if she spoke too loud.

The gentle caress of Van's hand against her cheek brought her some comfort against the memories of her visions. His eyes were looking into hers, as if he was trying to see into her soul. She couldn't hide anything from him ever. He continued picking more berries in silence until they had enough for dinner, and then they headed back to the campsite. Duo kept glaring at Van for the rest of the night they were there.

***************

"So what was your vision of?" Van asked her when the others had fallen asleep. It was around midnight now and everything was silent. The boys decided to take turns guarding the site, despite Van's protests about how safe it would be if he guarded.

"I saw Fanelia on fire again. I think someone is going to try to take over Gaea. I'm not quite sure about it though. There is the slightest chance it was a nightmare. But rarely is that the case. I want you to be careful if anything happens." Hitomi replied protectively. Van smiled at her.

"I want to ask you something, Hitomi." He told her quietly, incase one of the others heard him. "I need a queen for Fanelia."

"Hey you two." Duo called as he interrupted Van. Van and Hitomi both glared at Duo. "It's my turn to take watch now. Why don't you all get some sleep, things will be just fine under my watch."

"You're right. Night you two." Hitomi agreed and went over to the others and fell asleep.

"She's mine you know." Duo hissed at Van. They glared at each other for a while.



Well that's all for now. I'm all out of ideas. Will the feud between Van and Duo end well or not? See ya soon! P.S. I do not own escaflowne no matter how much I wish I did.

Angelstears