LONG TIME NO SEE!! But, for any who cared to look, my bio gave the reasons for not updated…. Gr…. Life stinks… words of wisdom for the day.

P.S. I lied. I'm sorry!!!!!!!!!!!!! It's going to be a medium-short chapter, with no action in it. I just can't write action and I reeeeeeeeally want to get this story over with, it's been dragging on for so long.

(author's notes)

"talking"

Stressing a word

The End

{*sniff* (my best piece…well my only piece to date… anyway… the last chapter) *bawls*}

(I think it's obvious, but… This is Van's POV)

I never thought that after the Great War I would have another reason to awaken Escaflowne. But when my Hitomi was kidnapped from me I felt the need to awaken it. Maybe the power it wields could helped the war, maybe it could turn the tides of war. Either way, I did my best to ignore the urges to awaken it. Hitomi and Folken want it to rest eternally, and I want to see that happen.

When I had finally gotten over the fact that Hitomi had been kidnapped, I sent word to Freid and Asturia for help. Asturia rose to the need of Fanelia. Freid on the other hand couldn't. The newest appointed "advisor" to Duke Chid said it "was unwise to involve Freid in other countries problems, as she is still suffering from her own misfortunes." Chid was truly sorry that he couldn't help Hitomi it. Little guy has it rough.

When the forces from Asturia arrived, our combined forces, led by myself and Allen, set off for Zaibach. We were met by a force of old Zaibach loyalists at approximately ten o'clock in the morning. They were called 'old' because they still supported Emperor Dornkirk and help bitter resentment toward the Allied countries, especially that of Fanelia.

I had been surprised at the number of troops Taro, Yasu, and the old General managed to scrounge up. There had been approximately, at first glance, 50 melefs with over 200 soldiers.* At the time, Allen and I had no clue how trained they were. Unfortunately for them, they weren't the best soldiers we had seen.

What followed was a small skirmish. However, with the combined might of Fanelia and Asturia, the soldiers had been crippled within two hours. No casualties had been counted on our side, major injuries were few, minor cuts and bruises… too many for me to remember. The Zaibach loyalists had suffered worse, although no casualties were reported for them.

Finding Hitomi hadn't been as hard as I was inclined to believe. In fact, it had been downright easy. We used our hostages as information sources. They gave us the location of the fort that Yasu and the others were using. It had been relatively easy to find with the dowsing skills Hitomi had taught me only a little over a year ago, so long ago, yet not.

We had gotten to the keep by five in the evening. I had wanted to get there by the end of the day and had marched my soldiers till we arrived. It wasn't my smartest military decision, but I needed to see my Hitomi.

The fort had been a home of one of Dornkirk's old sorcerers. The fort resembled an adapted manor more than a fort. It still retained the rich furniture that Zaibach's finest would have been accustomed to, but the cliff to the north and the large gate to the south made it an almost impenetrable keep.

The ones who picked and laid out the area never thought they'd have to deal with a pissed off, love deprived, king-of-a-country, Draconian. I am aware that I am possessive, stubborn, and easy to anger. I am also used to getting my way. And I always do.

I came up in front of the gate house, straight up. Never the smartest thing to do, I'll admit. If I had been spotted, I would have made an easy target. But that didn't matter. What mattered was Hitomi was being held captive less than a mile away, and the stupid gate was standing in my way. Amazing how blind love makes you become.

I took the guards by surprised, tied them up, ( so corny and over-done, but I'm more of a pacifist myself) and proceeded to open the gate up. While the Asturian and Fanelian troop entered, I was flying toward the castle.

I flew around the castle once while dowsing. The answer I had was a bedroom on the north side. The bedroom had no balcony for me to land on and the curtains of velvet had been drawn closed to keep light out. More than likely to keep the prisoner from determining how long he or she had been in there.

I used my royal sword to unhook the latch that kept the windows closed. Once I had accomplished that task, I had wasted no time in cutting the curtains. The light from the late evening spilled into the room, leaving me a clear view of the occupants inside the room. A sweep of the room showed a bed against the left side of the room, a chest of drawers beside it against the wall, a table near the window I broke into, and four people in the room. Taro, Yasu, and the General were standing around a person in a chair, all gazing at me with their mouths open in shock. A figure sat in a chair in the bedroom with her back to me. I could tell it was a girl from her petite form.

"Give me Hitomi. Now!" I commanded. Gods, I love being a king. It just gave you the commanding voice you needed to get people to obey you.

Taro seemed to snap out of his stupor, shaking his head. "Wha- How did you get in here?" he stuttered. "We're on the second floor! You'd have to fly to get in here!"

"I can fly," I answered. "Now, give me Hitomi."

"Just take her, you know where she is, You Highness," the General answered, his voice turn sarcastic at the end.

I took a step forward. I purposely swung my sword into the light, letting a ray of sunlight gleam off the blade. I walked straight toward the girl in the chair. She was Hitomi, I knew it from the dowsing, and I just knew.

I got Hitomi back without having to duel, chop, or severely maim anyone. I wasn't the undisputed number one swordsman on Gaea for nothing.

I flew all the way home to Fanelia. I know Allen could handle it, he'd never let me down yet. Severely piss me off, yes, but never gave me a reason to think him incapable of anything.

I rushed to get Hitomi home, I didn't care the consequences it had on me. She was my priority. Once we got back to Fanelia's capital, I asked her what had happened to her during her captivity. She told about her kidnapping without a single tear. Brave woman. Wonder if it had anything to do with the fact she's from another planet…

She told me about the premonition dream she'd been having, and she wondered about Celena, and asked if we were all alright. I told her yes, putting her fears to rest. (you know, if anyone is just now reading this whole story, can you tell me if I did anything to Celena, or if Hitomi already told Van? My computer erased chapter 7 and lower… I just can't member anymore!)

After the story had been straightened out between us, I allowed everyone to come visit her. Our drawing room became quite packed when Yukari, Umeko, Yoshiko, Amano, Merle, Allen, Millerna, and Dryden came in along with Hitomi and I already being inside. I do believe Hitomi was please to see all of her friends, even though her wedding had only been a week ago and most of her friends lived there.

"Hitomi are you alright?" was the main question everyone asked.

Yukari and Amano also decided to grace us all with an important announcement. "Amano and I have decided to get married!" Yukari stated. "And we're going to live here, on Gaea!"

"WOW! Really! That's great Yukari!" Hitomi said from atop one of the couches. "But where are you going to find a place to live? You don't have any money?"

Amano gave her a little smirk. "Well, we happen to know the king and queen of a lovely country called Fanelia. The Queen is Yukari's best friend, and we were hoping she could find a us a place to live," he stated.

Hitomi turned to me with slightly large eyes. To me she looked like a beast-child, so adorable. (That sounds were, beast and adorable in the same sentence, but … hey! Different planets, different definitions of things!) I couldn't refuse her, and besides I had gotten used to them being around. "I'm sure this king of Fanelia could find somewhere for you two to live," I said.

"We want to stay too!" shouted Umeko.

What?! Now I have to find a house for them also! Was the Mystic Moon going to move into Fanelia?! Yoshiko must have seen my expression of disbelieve, because she quickly added, "Please! We don't have a way to return back to Ear- the Mystic Moon, you hauled our spacecraft away. It's your own fault if anybody's!"

"Yeah!" cried Millerna. "Van! You have to find them a house! Hitomi, Yukari, and I would be bored to death with out them! Us queens need some excitement besides gossiping uppity noblewomen!"

"And I think they're cool!" shouted Merle.

I knew I was outnumbered before I even looked at Hitomi. I gave a resigned sigh. "Fine. I'm sure I'll manage something. Just don't let my council find out. They'll blow a drag-energist."

The End. *quit quick, ne?*

*In the middle ages of England, this was a relatively lower middle sized army, or so I've been led to believe.

Ya know, I just realized something. This isn't important at all, but I noticed that I used both Gaea and Gaia interchangeably in my story. O well, ya'll know what I'm talkin' about.

THANK YOU TO ALL MY REVIEWERS!~!~!~! YOU'VE MADE ME COMPLETE THIS STORY!!! I LOOOOOOOOOOOOVE YOU All~!~!~!~!

If you have any questions, comments, or whatever! Just put it in the review and if you want I'll get back to you.

Special Thanks to:

Magicman: You've always had VERY interesting reviews

Esca chick: You…. Well you've been there from day one

Toki Mirage: You got me motivated to get off my lazy bum and finish this story! Thakns!

And finally Tokara: You gonna die? NO! I need my reviewers alive!

Ti'ana

(the author you've put up with for the last… year plus or minus a few months)