Okay, here's the second chapter.  Y'know, I could think of so many better things to with my life than writing fanfics.  For example, I've always wanted to be… a LUMBERJACK!!

Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne.  I just own a pair of Hitomi's underwear.  Yeah, baby!!

I don't know why I do this sort of thing before I write a serious fic.  It must be to get it out of my system. *Shrugs* 'Neh.

****

Reunion

Chapter 2

            Hitomi sat on her bed, talking to the image of Van she saw.  Even though he wasn't really there, she couldn't help but feel a little scandalous at the idea of him seeing her clad in a tank-top and small shorts.  That didn't last long before it turned to thoughts a bit more… mature in nature, though. 

            "Hitomi, is something on your mind?" Van asked, noticing the way she looked at him.  Although logically, he could just look into her mind and see what she was thinking, he didn't want to invade her private thoughts.  He might find himself red around the ears if he did, anyway.

            Hitomi snapped back to reality at the sound of his voice.  "Damn it, Hitomi, that's the second time today!" she yelled at herself.  "No, Van.  I'm all right.  I'm just enjoying your company."  She replied.  He just smiled that beautiful smile of his at her, which made her heart skip a beat. 

            "Well, if you say so, then I guess you're all right," he said.  He could tell she was lying, but that didn't bother him.  Nothing she did really could.  "That's what happens when you love someone," he thought to himself with a smile.

          Hitomi, deciding that had been enough private thinking today, changed the subject.  "So how is the rebuilding coming?  Is anything done yet?"  She was hoping that he had some positive new for her, but unfortunately, there was none.

            Van sighed and shook his head.  "Terrible," he replied.  "The castle's not even finished, and the town has hardly had any progress.  The destruction the Dragon Slayers committed was so precise that we have nothing to work with.  The entire job has been from scratch."  His eyes took on a sad look.

            Hitomi's heart reached out to him.  She hated to see Van so sad when there was nothing she could do to help him.  She could still remember the terror of that night, when Dilandau's elite soldiers, who called themselves the Dragon Slayers, massacred everyone in Fanelia and wreaked havoc on the kingdom.  She knew it was much harder on him, even though he refused to admit it.

            Seeing that her previous try had made things worse instead of better, she tried changing the subject again.  "What about the others?  How are they doing?"  Bingo.  At this, Van shook himself out of his slight depression and was his old self again.

            "They're doing great!" Van replied enthusiastically.  "Merle's having so much fun helping the orphans in Asturia.  She says that almost all have found homes."     

          Hitomi smiled warmly.  This was how she loved to see Van.  Not depressed, or as a warrior, but simply as Van.  "That's wonderful," she said.  "I'm glad to know she helped them when they needed her.  What about Millerna?"

            "She and Dryden have become engaged."  He replied.  This surprised her.  Out of anyone, Hitomi had expected the princess to become engaged to Allen Schezar.  Which brought up the Caeli Knight.  It was a subject Van was slightly tender about for various reasons.  Still, she pressed it.

            "And… how is Allen…?"

            At the name of the Knight of Heaven, Van's face took on another sad look.  Hitomi felt that it was different from the first one, though.  "He's still nursing Celena back to health.  When she had recovered on the battlefield, all she could remember were that guymelef pilot who died protecting her, and Allen."

            At the sound of Allen's sister's name, Hitomi shivered.  It was still unbelievable to know that Dilandau, the monster responsible for countless atrocities, was really Allen's sister.  But then she understood the look on Van's face.  "Van, you still feel guilty about what you almost did, don't you," she thought.  She stood up and approached him, to take hold of his hand.

            And it passed right through hers.

            "Agh, what are you doing Hitomi!?  His body's not here, just his image!" she reprimanded herself.  Smiling again, Van reached out his hand and brought it close to hers.  Thinking ahead of what he was doing, she opened her hand, palm towards him, as he lay his own against hers.  While neither could feel the other, it was still nice to imagine it.

            Taking it a step further, Van unfurled his wings, a sight that made Hitomi's breath catch in wonder, even after having seen it five times already.  He wrapped his draconian heritage around them, enclosing Hitomi and himself in pure-white feathers.  Although she couldn't feel them as they stroked her, the sight of this gave her a contented sigh.  They stayed that way until Hitomi fell asleep, and then Van took his leave of her.

****

            The chair of Ryoji Takashi slowly swiveled back and forth as he surveyed the business reports scattered helter-skelter around his desk.  He didn't have time to waste on each and every up or down flux in the market sales.  And even though his business managers might have thought otherwise, he wasn't in any hurry to read them, anyway.  His focus was on the document he currently held in his hand.  It was a slip of white paper, with only two sentences as its contents.  They simply read:

We were successful.  The project has been secured.

Only a few words, and yet they were exactly what he wanted to hear.  Slipping the note into the breast pocket of his suit, he got up and strolled over to his screen window, surveying the streets of Tokyo below.  Slender, tall, and in his early twenties, Takashi was the owner inherent of the Paradigm Programming Corporation.  Thus he was one of the most powerful men in the world.  But power never held much taste for him.  Control was what he enjoyed.  Control over his workers, his corporation, and his business.  Such control could often be intoxicating. 

Unlike other Japanese, his hair was pure white, and had eyes that were two different colors, neither of which was standard color of an Asian.  One was silver, the other gold, and flecked with black.  Despite the fact that they managed to turn the head of everyone he passed, he worried little about his odd traits.  Why worry about something you had no control over?

He smiled to himself as he thought once again back to his note.  This was the beginning, and soon, he would have everything he had ever wanted.  He stroked the red-gemmed ring on his left finger, when his message box sounded, the secretary's voice coming in over it.

"Takashi-san, you're 12 o'clock is here," she said as the message box silenced.

Well, enough of this for now.  Even though he could care less about his business right now, he still had to keep up appearances.  He stepped out of his office to greet his guest.

****

Van walked through the streets of Asturia, having arrived early to see his friends.  Rounding the corner, he saw the orphanage, where Merle was busy chasing down a pair of children who were apparently arguing over the possession of a toy.  Smiling he called to her and waved, although he should have known better, as he was about to discover.

Merle's sensitive cat ears perked up at the sound of a voice she knew all to well.  Completely forgetting about the children she was trying to calm down, she whipped her head around in the direction of the voice, and instantly grinned with glee.  Crouching down on all fours, Merle dashed straight at him, all the while yelling "VAN-SAMA!!!!" with pure joy.  Having knocked him right off his feet with the force of her pounce, she immediately began to relentlessly cover him with loving cat-licks.

Van tried to fend her off, but the determination of the cat-girl to show her enthusiasm at seeing him combined with his laughter to force him to wait.  Finally, he said "Okay, Merle, okay!!  That's enough!  I think you've made your point! Now will you please let me up?  I think you broke my legs!"  This made her stop licking, but instead of letting him up, she grabbed him in a fierce hug, apparently determined to crush his lungs as an addition to his legs.

"I'm sorry Van-sama!  I'm just so happy to see you!  Why'd you come to Asturia?  Are you finished rebuilding Fanelia yet?" she asked him.  Her tail twitched playfully as she waited for him to answer.  Unknown to her, the two children had abandoned their argument, and had crept up behind her.  Ever so slowly, the both grasped her tail and pulled.

"MMMMEEEEAAAUUUGGGHHHH!!!!"  Merle screamed.  She glared at the two culprits, who now looked as innocent as the day they were born.  Adjusting herself, she pounced at them, and they scattered behind Van, who had managed to get himself up, finally.  Unfortunately for him, this didn't stop Merle from trying to grab the tail-yankers.  She leaped at them, once again knocking Van over and scattering the children, who made a quick bee-line for the orphanage, laughing.  Merle's hackles were on edge, until she heard Van groan.  Looking down, he saw him spread-eagled on the ground, obviously uncomfortable.  Merle gasped.  "Van-sama!  I'm sorry!  Are you okay!"

Rubbing his head, Van replied "I'm fine, Merle.  Although I might have to change my clothes now."  Merle's ears drooped in shame.  Van smiled.  "Really, Merle, I'm fine.  And yes, I was busy in Fanelia, but was called here by King Aston on business.  I decided to visit you and the others."  Seeing that he was fine, Merle's ears perked up again.  "Do you know where they are?" he asked.

      She walked up and took him by the hand, pulling him along the streets.  Chatting his ears off about the kids and how she loved to walk the streets when she wasn't looking after them, she eventually led him to a large manor where the Schezar family crest was engraved on the side wall.  "Here we are!" she said cheerfully.  Van walked up to the door with her and tapped the knocker.  After a few moments, the door clicked and swung open.  At the entrance stood a tall young man with long blonde hair and ice blue eyes.  Seeing the two visitors before him, he exclaimed joyfully "Van!  Merle!  How good it is to see you!  Come in!"

Leading them into the guest room, he sat down and spoke with the two of them, asking Van how things were progressing in the rebuilding as well as other matters.  Van responded to each in turn, and then began asking how well Allen was.  Before he could answer, a young lady about Van's age entered the room.  "Allen?" she asked in a small voice.

Allen turned to give her his full attention.  "What is it, Celena?  Is everything all right?"  Van now had a chance to see Allen's sister, after hearing so much about her.  Tall, thin and frail, she had light golden hair, which hung about her face in curls.  She wore an Aqua colored dress with no sleeves and a high neck.  Looking at her, she wondered how this feeble creature could have ever been the vicious beast that had attacked towns and people, burning away everything with absolutely no remorse.  The Zaibach sorcerers must've had a time with her.

"I couldn't find you, Allen.  I looked for you all over, but you were gone.  I-I thought…" she began.  Allen walked over to her and embraced her, stroking her hair and gently whispering reassurances to her.  She hugged him back, the beginning of tears filling her eyes.  It made Van's heart wrench to see such a pitiful sight.  After a moment, he let her go and introduced them to her. 

"Celena, this is Van Slanzar de Fanel, and his sister Merle Fanel," he said, gesturing at them.  Merle walked right up and gave her a hug, to which Celena was unsure of how to react.  She looked over at Van, who hesitated for a moment before responding.

"Hello Ms." Even though he felt horrible about it, Van couldn't touch, embrace, or regard Celena in any way.  All he could see was Dilandau's mad grin and cruel snicker.  Noticing Van's lack of warmth, Celena's countenance fell.  Allen, who had also noticed Van's manner, quickly dismissed Celena, telling her that he would come see her again soon.  Celena nodded, then turned and left. 

Allen turned around and said nothing.  He knew the reason behind Van's coldness, and he didn't blame him.  Van began to apologize, but Allen held up a hand and stopped him.  "It's all right Van.  You don't have to explain anything."  He sat back in his chair, as his owl landed next to him.  Stroking its feathers, he asked "So why have you come here, Van?"

Van shifted in his seat as he responded.  "I received a letter by King Aston requesting I attend the summit of the Gaean Nation."  Allen frowned.  A month after Zaibach's war, the countries had signed an alliance agreement and came to be known as "The Gaean Nation."  The purpose of this alliance was to ensure that something like the Zaibach war never happened again, and if it did, to be as prepared as possible for it.  An annual meeting occurred, but some others were called every now and then.  This was one of those times.  However, instead of furthering the peace, most times their squabbling came closer to causing wars than preventing them.  What did they have to speak about that required Van's presence? "Well, perhaps I'll find out for myself…" he thought.         

Van looked at Allen's clock, and made ready to attend the summit.  "If you'll excuse me, Allen, I have to go."  He got up and made his way to the door, when Allen placed a hand on his shoulder.  Looking over his shoulder at the older man, Van was mildly surprised to see the serious look on his face. 

"I'm going to accompany you, Van.  I want to know why you need to attend the summit.  And I won't take no for an answer."  Suddenly, he grinned.  "Besides, as royalty, you need a bodyguard, right?"  The young king grinned back.  "And I'm sure that Merle would rather nail you to a wall then be out of your sight for the time that you're here, right Merle?"  Merle gave a fierce nod.  Van shook his head and chuckled.  "Okay then, it's settled.  I'll go fetch Celena and we'll be off to the castle."

****

As Van, Merle, Allen and Celena passed through the castle gates, they were greeted by four familiar faces.  Dryden, Millerna, Eries, and Mr. Mole were all awaiting at the entrance.  "It seems that Allen's owl is also a carrier pigeon," Van thought.  He greeted each of them in turn, and when he said why he came, he was surprised to find Dryden have the same reaction as Allen did.

"That's funny," Dryden said as he pushed his glasses up his nose.  "King Aston never mentioned any of this to me.  What about you?"  He asked, turning to Millerna.  She shook her head, and Eries did likewise.

"Father has not spoken to us about any of this," Millerna said, giving Van a concerned look.

"We knew about the Summit, of course," Eries continued. "But we weren't aware that father had requested Lord Van's presence specifically."  She looked troubled.  "We believed that he would realize that Lord Van was busy with the rebuilding of his kingdom to attend."  This fact didn't make Van feel very trusting.  Why had King Aston requested his presence here, anyway?

Suddenly Dryden grabbed him around the shoulders, taking by surprise.  "Don't worry, Van.  I'll be there attending the Summit in my Father's place.  We'll find out what's going on in there better than out here, right?"  He said, giving Van a knowing wink.

Van smiled reassuringly.  "Right Dryden.  Let's go, shall we?"

****

Seated around the council table were the rulers of Gaea's seven kingdoms.  Van, Dryden, and Chid seemed strangely out of place when compared to the older men who reigned over the remaining four.  Chid had been overjoyed to see Van again.  He had asked Van to tell him how Hitomi had been doing.  Van agreed, and Chid, satisfied, said his greeting to Dryden and returned to his seat.  Van was amazed to see how much Chid had grown and matured in these four years, even though he was still trying to be as good a ruler as his father, Duke Freid, had been.

"My fellow rulers, my friends," King Aston began as he stood up from his chair.  "I am happy to see all you here.  As a sign of our everlasting peace, I ask that we toast to our continued alliance."  There were agreements all around.  King Aston lifted his goblet, and the others followed suite.  "Well then, to Gaea!" he said, taking a deep draught.

"To Gaea!!" the others repeated loudly, following Aston's example.

He placed his goblet back on the table and seated himself.  Looking around at the other members, his gaze lingered on Van for a moment, and there was a look in his eyes that Van couldn't place.  This unsettled him a bit.  "Why did he look at me that way?"  He wondered to himself.  He didn't have long to wait for an answer.

"As you many know, Fanelia, fellow kingdom and strong ally to Asturia, was the first to fall to the sword of Zaibach.  No one here knows this as well as its king, Van Fanel." Gesturing to Van, the other rulers gave their condolences.  Van liked the situation less and less.  Why was the king mentioning an event that occurred four years ago now?

"The destruction of this kingdom lies as a remainder of the war which we blindly turned our heads to.  As such it serves as the strongest reminder of the foolishness we had." Murmured agreements followed.  King Aston continued. "Also, we have all received letters requesting help to rebuild King Van's realm.  Sadly, the war left all of us so badly expended that we couldn't assist him.  Which brings me to why I have called you here specifically, Fanel."  Aston said, turning to Van.  Van was at a total loss.  "Is this why he called this summit?  To see if I still needed help?" Van thought.

"Van Slanzar de Fanel, I, Grava Efud Aston, petition that in order to help rebuild your kingdom, you allow it to become part of the kingdom of Asturia."  He stated.  There was a deafening silence all at once.  One part of it was the shock from Chid and Dryden of hearing such a proposal.  The other was the expectant silence from the other rulers as to what Van's reply would be.  Van himself could only stare at Aston, slightly open-mouthed at hearing something so ludicrous.  And yet, Aston stood there awaiting his decision as if he had asked Van if he liked the wine that was served.

"Y-you can't be serious," Van said.  This was madness!  He looked to Aston to see if it was some kind of joke.  If it was, Aston apparently didn't find anything particularly funny abut it.  Van's confusion slowly turned to anger.  How dare this man!  After requesting so long for help, Aston had the nerve to make this suggestion!?  Van ground his teeth together in rage. 

"Are you suggesting, Sire, that I give up Fanelia's title, heritage, and her very soul in exchange for letting it be rebuilt?"  He asked quietly. 

Aston was a bit taken aback by this.  "Hardly!" he replied hastily.  "Fanelia would retain it heritage and all of its resources.  It would just be known as part of Asturia's kingdom, that's all."  This didn't seem to sway Van at all.  "It would merely be…"

"It would merely be reduced to a puppet state, is all." Dryden said, matter-of-factly.  The others turned to look at him.  Feet propped up on the table, hands folded behind his head, his eyes were closed and he had a knowing smirk on his lips.  "Isn't that right, King Aston?" he asked, opening one eye to look at the king.

       King Aston's face darkened.  While he might've been Hiem's son, Dryden was a little too free with his mouth.  "Please don't jump to conclusions, Dryden," the king replied. "I merely wish to find the best way to assist King Fanel."  Van, however, didn't look like he wanted such assistance.  Still, the king had failed to seem to notice this.

"Please, your highness," said Basram's ruler.  "I know it may seem a bit odd, but King Aston only has your best interests in mind."  Van turned his head to the pudgy man.  Snorting inwardly with disgust, Van adamantly ignored him.  Others tried to convince him to agree with Aston's suggestion, but they did about as much good as a rain-storm does to an oil soaked canvas.

It was then that Chid stood up to speak his voice on the matter.  "Majesties, please."  This caused every head to turn to Chid.  "As you may recall, my country, Freid, went though something similar to this during our fight with Zaibach.  Having gone through those times, I can safely say that this isn't the right decision to be made for Fanelia."  While this did make them consider for a moment, it was Aston who broke the silence. 

"Perhaps I was a bit too… hasty with my proposal.  I suggest we adjourn for the time being and regroup later."  This seemed to be a sound idea, and the meeting was quickly adjourned.  Van wasted no time in leaving the council hall, Dryden and Chid quickly on their heels.

****

    Takashi stepped off the elevator at the basement floor that only he and a select few others knew about.  As he walked down the short hallway, he reached a door that contained no handles.  Instead, he stepped up to monitor located at the right of the door.  A small red beam was emitted that scanned his eye.  "Retina scan confirmed." It said.  "Please state your name for vocal pattern recognition."  Takashi did as the program requested.  After a moment, the computer said "Voice recognition confirmed," and opened the doors. 

Walking past the men punching away at computer terminals, Takashi went straight into the heart of the underground research facility.  There, surrounded by scientists, was a massive object.  It was built like a suit of armor, but no armor was ever this big.  The things had to be at least seven or eight meters tall, and looked very old.  It was blackish-blue in color, and draped around its frame was a tattered cloak of blood crimson.  The ornamental work was exquisite, and would have put any modern-day designer to shame.  Its beauty almost made Takashi want to weep.

He turned to the nearest researcher.  "Well?  How is the progress?" 

The one he addressed quickly turned to answer.  "Er- well, the restoration of the object is complete.  The mechanical workings are quite remarkable.  It seems that whoever made this… whatever it is… knew full well what they doing."  The look Takashi gave him made him stutter into silence.

"Those are trivial details!" he growled.  He knew who had built the machine and how capable they had been.  Only the Atlantians could have developed this kind of technology.  "What I want to know is," he continued icily. "Is whether or not you've gotten it running yet!?"  The researcher made some more nervous stuttering sounds, and dropped his notepad and pen to the floor.  This was irritating Takashi greatly.  He advanced on the hapless researcher and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck.  Bringing his face close to the frightened man, he said "Answer me.  Now."

This seemed to snap the poor man back into coherent speech.  "We haven't been able to find anything that works as an engine, sir!" he blurted out.  "We've examined the entire thing!  Everything else is there!  Pistons, gears, balancers, everything!!"  Grunting in disgust, Takashi threw the pitiful wretch to the floor.  He then stepped up to contraption, and began to circle it, examining every aspect of it carefully.  He wasn't sure why, but he knew that somehow, this object was the key to finding Atlantis.  He just had to figure out how to utilize it to his needs.  Having climbed up to the strange crystal in the left breast of what would appear to be the chest-piece, he placed his hand on it, and ran it over the crystal's surface.  What happened next was beyond anyone's expectations.

The crystal began to vibrate dully.  This response caused Takashi's hand to snap back, causing the vibration to stop.  Curious, he placed his hand back on the crystal.  It began to vibrate again.  Pressing his palm flat against it, he concentrated with all his might.  He cried out in surprise when he saw the gem on his ring flash, causing the crystal on the machine to emit a blinding light.  He watched in wonder as the light began to shine brighter than the sun, like the beauty of God blessing him.

****

"He WHAT!?" Merle shrieked at the top of her lungs, causing Celena to instinctively hide behind her brother.  Merle, not noticing her outburst upsetting the other woman, continued on, tail twitching furiously.  "I can't believe it!  And I thought that Millerna's father was better than that!!  Imagine, asking you to give up your lineage to him that…"

At this point, Dryden decided to intercede.  "Now, now, kitty.  Don't insult the man while his daughters are here."  At this, Merle bared her fangs at him, hackles rising, to which he only grinned.  She was about to make a lunge when Millerna grabbed her by the arm. 

"I'd appreciate it if you didn't maul my fiancé before our wedding, Merle."  She said.  "After all, I wouldn't want to marry someone who looked like he had been shipping scratching posts."  She said, smiling at Dryden.  He gave a hurt sound and placed his hand over his heart as if it were about to break.

"Gods say it isn't true!  She's only marrying me for my looks!" he said in the most pathetic tone he could muster.  He lifted his arm from his eyes to see if it had worked.  She was trying to stifle a laugh, but failing miserably. 

"There must be a good reason for this…" Allen stated.  Even though it was an extremely insane request, Allen thought he knew the king well enough to believe that he merely didn't want the control of Van's country.  "Perhaps the king sincerely does want to help Van by doing this."

Van turned the knight.  "By taking my own country away from me, you mean?  What would that accomplish?"  He asked fiercely.

Eries stepped up to face the hot-blooded youth.  "Please, Lord Van.  Don't be so quick to judge my father.  I'm sure that he's only trying to help you."  Noting that this didn't lessen his indignation, she made a suggestion.  "Perhaps he feels that it isn't right that someone so young and having gone through such hardships rule at this time?"  This seemed to calm Van down a bit.  It did seem plausible.

"Perhaps, but I think the good king has something else as a motive."  Dryden stated.  This caught everyone's attention.  He loved being the center of attention.  Standing up, he walked over to Van, giving him a sly look.  "To be honest, I think the king wants Van's country for more profitable reasons"

Van looked at him in confusion.  Profitable reasons?  But that didn't make any sense!  "Why would Father want Fanelia, Dryden?  There's nothing of interest there," Eries replied, voicing his thoughts.  Dryden shook his head.

"On the contrary, my dear.  Fanelia has something of great interest to Asturia.  And the other countries, as well, I might add."  Dryden said with his trademark all-knowing smirk.  "After all, Fanelia is home to the largest population of Dragons, correct?"  It was then that they caught on to what he seemed to be implying.  Chid was the first to react.

"You mean King Aston wants Fanelia for its supply of Drag-energists!?" he exclaimed.  Dryden merely nodded.  Van was speechless.  It made perfect sense.  And here he thought that Aston only wanted to make his country look bigger.  His blood boiled in fury.  Those Dragons were creatures that were respected by the people of Fanelia, and used as part of the sacred ritual of the rite of kinghood!!  What was Aston thinking!?

Unfortunately, Van didn't have time to think of an answer to that.  For at that very moment, a completely unexpected event occurred that would cause a disaster to befall Fanelia.  Lifting into the air, Hitomi's pendant began to hum and vibrate.  Van and the others watched perplexed, as it began to shimmer, then exploded with a blinding radiance.  Suddenly, Van felt a rush of air from the ground beneath him, and a blue pillar of light erupted from under his feet, carrying him upward rapidly.  He could only watch helplessly as he soared skyward, his friends desperately trying to help him.  He knew where he was going, though.  He was going to the Mystic moon.  He was going to Hitomi.

Whoo!!  What's going to happen!? Well, that's it for Chapter two.  I made this one longer so that you second-hand electric donkey bottom biters would be satisfied whilst I brain stormed ideas for Chapter 3.  Well, now.  If you'll excuse me, I have to go complain about a dead parrot that I just purchased about an hour ago!  Bye-ee!!