A/N: Wooohoo! I LOVE my dear friend Justin, who was kind enough to drive me to ushicon today! I'm oh so joyous, except that I couldn't find ANY Escaflowne stuff, which was very depressing. But, still. yay!!!! Ushicon, ushicon, ushicon! My god, I need to work on a new costume for the next convention, which I am going to go to even if it's the last thing I do. Even if it means I have to hitch hike with Justin again, and share a hotel room with him. Actually, that might not be that bad, but still. My parents would freak out, and I don't think he'd try anything, but still.. I STILL WANT TO GO TO THE NEXT CONVENTION, which is probably A-con, in Dallas, which is three-ish hours away from our homes. Oh well. Yeah. Anywhoo, on with the story!

Disclaimer: I own one pass to Ushicon and. let me get back to you on that.

SIX

"Shit!" yelled Van as, quite suddenly, the ground exploded and flames shot down from nowhere. Screaming women, crying children, yelling and terror erupted from the small fortress, over which could be heard the faint echoed of song.

"Dammig, this is a sick, twisted world," muttered Van as the ground exploded next to him. He ran to the arena, where Allen and Hitomi had been duking it out for the past few hours. Van had finally needed to take a 'pee break', and had been making his way back to the arena, greatly releived of a heavy burden.

"Hitomi!" he yelled, making his way through the mob as smoke poured through the city. He dashed through the double doors protecting the arena, and stopped. Hitomi was standing with one foot on Allen's chest, her sword pointed at his throat.

"We'll be going now," said Hitomi to the blonde knight, who only gulped and nodded. The first thing Van noticed about the knight was that he was very pale. The second thing he noticed was that he had blood on his hands- Hitomi's blood. Anger welled up within Van, but he said nothing, knowing that he would only make circumstances worse.

"Come on, Van," said Hitomi, tossing her sword down upon Allen's chest and grabbing the boy by the hand.

"Hitomi, where did all that blood come from?" Van asked the queen as she dashed through the city, her friend in tow.

"The bastard played dirty. He pretended to be injured. When I came over to claim my guymelef and my sword back, he leapt upon me. His sword," said Hitomi, pointing to her arm, "pierced my skin. I managed to pry him off, though, and I won," exclaimed the queen before she rammed straight into a little pink cat girl.

"Hitomi? What's happening?" Merle asked, clutching her nail file with both hands.

"An attack," said Hitomi, still dragging Van by the wrist.

"But lady Hitomi, what do I do?" asked the cat girl.

"Get out of the city! I'll meet up with you at Palas," cried Hitomi. Merle nodded, and scampered off through the smoke.

"Hey, Hitomi?" asked Van as he was dragged through the burning wreckage.

"Yes?" Hitomi snapped, making her way to the fort.

"Where did they put Escaflowne?"

"Escaflowne is in the main hangar," said Hitomi. "Along with my sword- I just didn't expect it to be there."

"Great. SO, why do you need me to come with you?" Van asked her as she dragged him into the building.

"Because," Hitomi said, shutting the doors and striding through the too dark, too quiet hallway. "I need you to tell me where the invisible attackers are."

"Oh," said Van casually, "all around us." He suddenly saw the wall caving in and burying himself and Hitomi in rubble.

"Move!" Yelled Van suddenly, tackling Hitomi out of the way. And sure enough, the vision came true. Where Van and Hitomi had been standing just a moment before, there was nothing but a pile of rubble.

"We need to move faster," said Hitomi, standing up and leading Van down the corridor, illuminated by the gigantic, newly installed window to their right.

"No shit Sherlock," Van said, pushing Hitomi out of the way again as another wall came crashing inwards. With no more words spoken, the two dashed madly through the fortress, until they reached a large room- completely devoid of anything, save for Escaflowne. Hitomi hopped gratefully up into the cabin.

"You ready?" she called to Van over the internal whir of mechanics as he struggled up the slick surface of the guymelef.

"Almost," yelled Van, hooking his arms desperately around an out cropping of metal, his legs sliding comically and uselessly in a windmill on the highly polished guymelef. He felt Escaflowne lift its hand and assist Van up to the shoulder, where he clung on tight to the helmet.

"Lets go!" yelled Van as Escaflowne zoomed off, bursting straight through a wall and exiting the fortress.

"Shit! Are you trying to kill me?" Van yelled to Hitomi, who put the visor down.

"Sorry Van. I'm not that used to having someone on the guymelef as well.

"Left!" yelled Van suddenly, sensing an attacker. Hitomi whirled and raised the sword, and not a moment too soon- there came the loud sound of metal scraping against metal as Escaflowne flung off the attacker.

"Watch out! In front of us!" Van yelled.

"Ah, queen Hitomi," came a loud, cackling voice that sent shivers up Van's spine.

"Show yourself, you beastly coward!" cried Hitomi to the wind as Van pointed to the right, saving Hitomi from another invisible opponent.

"I am no coward! I show myself only when I choose! But, it was fun burning your city, your country, and you're home." Van could almost sense Hitomi's blood boiling, and he felt wildly about with his mind for the invisible attackers.

"They're all around us!" Van yelled to Hitomi. However, the queen did not seem to hear him.

"I took great pleasure in squashing the lives of your people- snuffing each soul like a tiny flame. How powerful you must feel, to know that I have destroyed you with no effort."

"Hitomi, we have to move!" Van yelled to the queen. He snuck a peek at her through the open visor, and very nearly fell off the guymelef. Angry and pale. Suddenly, a vision hit Van like a blast of heat. "Close the visor!" he yelled. "Quick!" Hitomi looked up at him, shocked, and did as she was told. She quickly slid out of view. Out of nowhere, a giant set of razor sharp, thick poled came crashing down on Escaflowne- one very narrowly missing Van.

"Dammit, Hitomi! You're going to get us killed!" Van yelled again. "This fight can wait! But you won't gain anything from it here- you'll only get us, and many more killed." Van felt Hitomi stir out of her trance-like state within the cabin, and there came the whir of mechanics. In the blink of an eye, Van was riding behind Hitomi on the back of Escaflowne. The giant dragon took off into the air, and Van was pleased to note that the invisible attackers. But, from above, Van could see another guymelef appearing to confront the attackers, and the crazed voice say "So, we meet again, Allen Schezar." But Hitomi and Van flew away from that, leaving Allen to his own choices.

"I cannot thank you enough, yet again, from preventing our heads from being sliced up," said Van, gripping Hitomi around the waist in order to keep from falling off. A pleasant tingle ran through Hitomi's body as the boy tightened his hold around her, and with a silly jolt of the stomach the queen was reminded of the previous events of the morning.

"It's no problem," said Hitomi, trying her best to remain casual. "Just, please, whenever psycho pyromaniacs begin manipulating my mind like that, snap me out of it, okay?"

"By any means necessary?" Van asked her, and Hitomi could just see the evil, one sided smirk crossing her face.

"Any means," said Hitomi, gulping down her emotions, trying to ignore the odd feeling in the pit of her stomach. "But, I might just have to get you back for them," she said, her voice going up a bit as Van wrapped his arms tighter around her.

"I might just have to make you," he murmured, putting his chin on her shoulder and sneaking a sideways glance at Hitomi, who was doing her best to keep the guymelef from turning loop-de-loops in midair- like her heart. The young queen began to debate what to do- smack Van senseless, or let him carry on with his little charade. Both ideas were very appealing, so Hitomi just settled for neutrality.

"Van, be careful. Don't bump the controls," she said as he idly toyed with a strand of her long hair.

"I won't," he said innocently, legging go of Hitomi's waist and beginning to play with several sections of Hitomi's hair. Inwardly, the queen wondered what the hell Van was doing, but just let him be. An odd egg, he was. But, after nearly half an hour, Hitomi began to wonder just exactly Van was doing.

"What on Gaia are you up to?" She asked, turning around to look at him for a moment. "Van!" she shrieked when she noticed that he had pulled what looked to be highlighters out of his pocket and had been idly coloring Hitomi's hair in a rainbow.

"What?" Van asked innocently, dropping the last section. If Hitomi could have, she would have grabbed the ends of her hair and frantically inspected them, however, since both hands were at the controls, it was quite impossible for her to do so.

"Remind me to kill you when we land," she steamed.

"Are you going to torture me?" Van asked.

"Yes," said Hitomi sullenly.

"With a whip?" asked Van, sounding happy.

"You're a bloody pervert, you know that?" Hitomi asked Van.

"Proud of it," he replied. "So, anyway, I see it's getting dark, and there's no cities nearby," he said, becoming suddenly serious. "Are we going to have to camp out in the woods?"

"Unfortunately, it seems so," said Hitomi, scanning the horizon for the telltale signs of a city. However, there were none.

"I see. Yuck. I hate camping," said Van randomly. Hitomi shrugged, and looked for a good clearing where she could land.

"There!" said Hitomi, quite suddenly, piloting Escaflowne downwards and landing quite neatly in a large meadow.

"Good job! A meadow! No creepy crawly things dropping from the trees!" said Van exuberantly, hopping off the guymelef as soon as it landed, and stretching like a cat. Hitomi couldn't help but stare as the muscles rippled below his red shirt, but she quickly tore her eyes away and busied herself trying to find Van's 'magic track bag,' which she had found outside Van's fortress and stowed away in her guymelef.

"Look what I found," Hitomi said, tossing him the bag.

"Hey! My magic track bag!" said Van joyfully, opening it up and digging through. "Lets see- gym clothes, walkman, towel, deodorant, playing cards- great! Everything's here!" he said, and Hitomi hopped down from the guymelef and roughly snatched the towel away from Van.

"I' going to find a spring and take a bath," she said, unsheathing her sword. "You come and sneak a peek and you're dead," she said with a glare. Then, she turned and exited the clearing, in search of a spring of some sort.

"Right! I'll just stay with Escaflowne then," Van called after her, and Hitomi ignored him. She searched through the woods, making sure to leave a clear trail in case Van needed to find her for some odd reason or other- which Hitomi hoped he didn't. She was, apparently, lucky, because she found a spring within fife minutes. She tested the water, looked around carefully for any onlookers or spirits, and then slipped off her corset, tunic and pants. She submerged herself in the water, clothed only in black shorts and a white string halter top that she always wore, just in case her wings.. Hitomi sighed, and hung Van's towel over a nearby tree, submerging herself in steam.

"What a day," she muttered to herself, leaning back against a rock and staring up at the starry sky, specifically the two moons hanging above.

"Earth- the Mystic Moon. I wonder if Van'll ever get back there," Hitomi muttered to herself. With a jolt she realized that in the time she had been soaking and staring at the sky, it had gotten completely dark. Hitomi sighed and stood up, grabbing Van's towel and wrapping it around herself, inhaling it's scent. She then remembered her hair, and looked desperately to the multi-colored ends.

"Dammit," she muttered, dipping her hair into the water and trying to scrub the ink out. But, no go. It wouldn't come out.

"A thousand curses upon him!" Hitomi muttered angrily, tossing down the many strands of her hair in exasperation. "It'll just have to go." The queen pulled on her clothes, tied her corset loosely, and slung the towel around her shoulders, reviling in the smell of Van. Soapy and clean, and meadow-y smelling. It was nice. Hitomi shook herself out of her daze, slipped on her boots, and made her way back to the guymelef and Van.

"Dammit," Hitomi said to him upon her return. "What did you use? Permanent ink?" she thrust her hair into Van's face, and then noticed that he had managed to make a camp fire.

"Yes. no.. maybe. It depends on whether or not it's a good or bad thing," said Van meekly. Hitomi growled angrily, and sat down in front of the fire.

"Do you have any scissors?" she asked him in exasperation. Van dug through his bag for a moment, and then triumphantly pulled out what looked to be a red oval.

"Swiss army pocket knife," he said happily, pulling a pair of scissors out from within it. "Here you go!" Hitomi looked at the scissors skeptically.

"Merle should be doing this for me," she muttered, and began to snip at her hair. She couldn't go before the king of Austaria with rainbow hair- she would be a joke. Long strands of rainbow and gold fell around Hitomi as she snipped. Done with the deadly task, Hitomi shook her head, lighter by far than she was used to, and fluffed her short hair with her fingers.

"How does it look?" Hitomi asked Van, who was gawking at her.

"Really.. Good. Great. Fantastic." He stuttered, his jaw hanging open.

"I'm glad you think so," she said, climbing up into Escaflowne. "I don't know about you, but I'm ready to go to sleep," Hitomi said, curling up on the floor next to the single bench running through it. She looked wildly around for some form of something to cover her, but there was nothing.

"Hitomi, what are you doing?" Van asked her. She irritably popped her head up, looking over the edge.

"Trying to sleep, that's what," she replied. "Now, if you don't mind."

"Come sleep down here," Van said, patting the ground next to him, where he had laid down a blanket he had pulled out from who-knows-where.

"I would, but there's only one blanket, and you'll try to make a move on me in my sleep or something," Hitomi said, but shivered, realizing it was quite cold away from the warmth and light of the fire.

"I won't- I promise," said Van. Begrudgingly, Hitomi hopped off the guymelef and sat down on the blanket next to Van. She sat there and stared at him, unsure if he had any ulterior motives or not. Knowing him, most likely, but Hitomi decided just to let it drop.

"Go on, sleep," Van said, gesturing to the blanket and giving Hitomi a smile. Slightly unsure of herself, Hitomi curled up in the fetal position under the blanket, still cold. She loosened her corset and discarded it- her insides would be mush in the morning if she wore it overnight. But, still Hitomi was cold, curled up on the hard ground. The only warmth was from the fire, which Van was stoking with twigs. Hitomi decided to ignore the cold, and instead concentrated on trying to get to sleep. But she couldn't. Every second the cold and damp sank into her bones, making her freeze. Van heard her shiver, and turned. Subconsciously, she made sure that her tunic was laced up all the way, and looked at him.

"You're cold," he said after some time.

"No shit, Sherlock," she said, mimicking a phrase he had said earlier to her. Hitomi liked the ring of it, even if she didn't know what it meant. Van smiled, and scooted over by her. Hitomi was unsure of what to do, but allowed him to approach.

"It's really freezing out here," Van said, rubbing his arms a bit. "I guess you can't sleep?"

"No," Hitomi shivered, getting colder still. The leaping of the flames illuminated Van's concerned face.

"I'll be fine," Hitomi said. Van snorted.

"The hell you will!" he said, and then crawled under the blanket next to her. Hitomi stiffened, wondering if he was about to try something, and had to work very hard to keep from gasping as he wrapped his arms around her.

"What are you doing?" she gasped out.

"It's cold. We need to preserve heat. This is the best way- the fire will eventually die," he said logically to her.

"Mm," said Hitomi, feeling greatly warmed. She looked up, his face barely an inch away from hers. "Tell me about the mystic moon," she said, burying her face in his shoulder. And Van began to speak, telling of things Hitomi never would have dreamed- no guymelefs, but the ability to speak with someone thousands of miles away with no effort. To be able to watch people on a screen, but no swords. Creations of mass destruction, monuments of beauty. And just as Hitomi looked up at him in awe as he began to describe the beauty of the cherry blossoms of spring, he looked down at her, and their eyes caught in a heart-stopping gaze.

"Beautiful," Van said, the last word rolling off his lips and floating through the nighttime air. Hitomi wasn't sure if he was talking about the trees, or her, but she didn't care. She was drowning in the ruby pools of Van's eyes, the most beautiful eyes she had ever seen. Before she knew what had happened, he had bowed his head and closed the space between them, locking his lips with hers. Hitomi was too surprised to do anything, but was depressed when he pulled away.

"You need to sleep," he whispered in her ear, and Hitomi smiled to herself as she put her head on his shoulder, and slowly drifted off into dreams of Raven hair and ruby eyes.

.:*:.~.:*:.~.:*:.

"That was great!" called Dilandau, hopping joyfully out of his guymelef and spinning around once. Miguel hopped down as well and covered up Dilandau's eyes with his palms.

"Okay, you're going to have to bear with us. We're getting the final touches for the party ready.." Said Chesta.

"Hooray!" called Dilandau, smirking to himself as he heard many crashes, bangs, and curses.

"B-but-" came the unmistakable stutter of Folken.

"Is everything ready?" Gatti hissed.

"Almost," replied Dallet.

"Done!" cried Guimel. "Miguel, you can let him see now." Miguel removed his palms from Dilandau's face, and the albino blinked a few times to clear his blurry vision, and smirked. Folken was dressed up in full clown attire, complete with purple trousers`, yellow shoes, a flame thrower and a big red nose; there was a gigantic red cake with nineteen burning candles on top, and there were red and silver streamers decorating the room.

"Happy birthday to you," the Dragon slayers began to chorus. Dilandau smiled exuberantly as the men finished their song, and then Gatti gave Folken a swift kick to the rump. Muttering angrily, the man came forward, honking his horn and shooting flames around.

"In honor of Dilandau's nineteenth birthday," he said in a dull monotone, "I hereby bestow upon thee. a tickle me Elmo." Folken held out his hands, and Dilandau had to work hard to keep the tears at bay.

"Just what I wanted!" he said, dancing insanely around the room. He the propped the elmo against one wall, and grabbed Folken's flame thrower, and fired the fuzzy red doll, smiling to himself as he whipped out corny phrases such as "hee hee hee! I love you! That tickles!" Dilandau wiped the tears from his eyes as the men cheered, and then proceeded to bury his face in the cake, scarfing it all down at top speed.

"This is the best birthday ever!" he cackled, and then proceeded to light as many things on fire as possible, whilst Folken blearily honked his tricycle horn and the men cheered.

A/N: ssh! *looks right and left* I'm not supposed to be on the computer! But this chapter was irritating me all day, so I began working on it the second that I got home from school. Likey likey?

FOR THE PEOPLE THAT I LOVE EVEN MORE THAN DILANDAU AND HIS ELMO:

Fireangel: hurrah! I'm glad you loooove it. This was quite an ultra fluffy chapter, some of which was based on disturbing personal experience, and, yes, Allen is STUPID. Dilandau sends many thanks for the happy birthay, and also a flamethrower. Yay.

Aeka-himme: nah, you're the one who actually has to deal with it now. *whistles and hides bazooka behind back* Yes, I do think it was the nasty high school ideas. I hope you liked the Folken clown scene! And, yeah, this was a way early chapter. But, go me! Review review review! LoL.

Pink Cherry Blossom: was the outcome of the duel satisfying? I can't really describe sword fights very well and crap, but, yeah. And, hon, you haven't hit the tip of the Dilandau birthday iceberg. *insane cackling* hahahaha!

Naria: yay! I'm glad you love it!

esca chick: I agree on the entire "Allen. perv. manwhore asshole" thing, so, yeah. Was this enough Dilandau birthday party for you? Or do I need to write more?

mara-slytherin: o_O wasn't expecting you to review, oh bestest buddy 'o mine. And, I really don't know if my grandpa'll be okay. I hope he is. And, yes, Van/ Hitomi rules. Slash sucks. HA!

FINAL A/N: wow. The only reason I'm able to publish this now is because my parents are at the hospital, visiting my grandpa who got pnemonia. I'm really very depressed about this, and I hope he'll be alright. I'll try to sneak on to the internet more often if everybody reviews more. Come on, let's get to 50!!!!! I love you all (except Mara, who is a pain ^____^) so, please, make me smile with your insane reviews. .ahem. that is all.