Wow... I can't believe this is nearly at 200 reviews! I'm going to cry! (J/K) Thanks for everyone reviewing and all the support!

Disclaimer: Can I say it any other way? I don't own Escaflowne... so don't sue me.

Van: Yeah! I own Escaflowne!

MysticalDreamer: You dope! I'm not talking about your guymelef! The series! Sigh

Dilandau walked towards the door of the infirmary, but turned his head slightly just so he could see her out of the corner of his eye.

"Get healed soon... you have a lot of training to do..." and with that he left the room and shut the door softly behind him.

Chapter 18: Feelings of Peace

The day after Dilandau had visited Hitomi, she started to try and walk again. Being bed stricken for over a week, and having a major blood loss left Hitomi's muscles in a weakened state. One of the stronger doctors helped her to her feet to get her walking again. She wobbled a lot and got tired easily, but she had to take it slowly. A few times she got out of bed herself and walked towards the window, then she would try to walk more around the room.

About the fourth day of her 'physical therapy', Hitomi was able to walk around with no help. She stumbled here and there, but no longer feeling dizzy, Hitomi could at least make it around on her own. She no longer needed her whole waist wrapped in bandages, but her wound was still slightly sensitive. It was fully closed and the scar was starting to form... it would be a constant reminder of what had happened.

Hitomi was released from the infirmary the next day. The nurse was sure that as long as she didn't push herself, she would be back to normal in about another week. She was escorted back to her room, which she hadn't been in for a while, and found that everything was still there and in the places she had left them.

'This will be my new home... at least until I can find a way back to Earth...' she thought.

It was still early in the day so Hitomi went and took a bath. The only thing she had gotten in the infirmary was a piece of wet cloth rubbed across her skin and her hair had been forgotten. Sinking into the warm water was very relaxing and it seemed to wash off all the grim and blood from her body. She washed herself from head to toe but when she encountered the slash in her side, she was especially careful.

(Ever notice how anime characters never had to shave? I wish I never had to shave...-_-')

Leaving the sanctuary of the hot steamy bathroom, she walked into her bedroom only to see that on her bed, a new outfit awaited her.

'Do the seamstresses ever sleep around here?' she asked herself.

What she found fascinated her. The top looked like a Chinese shirt with the frog clasps on the sides... but it was sleeveless. At the waistline, it looked like a long oval flap was sewn to each the front and back sides. All of it was a deep red silk... very simple.

One look at the ensemble made her shout one thing in her mind. 'My whole leg will be showing!'

But what she didn't notice was the pair of pants underneath the outfit. When she saw a part that was hanging out from under the main piece, Hitomi let out the breath she was holding.

'It's here for a reason... I guess I should wear it... they wouldn't put clothing like this here if there wasn't something going on.'

Once Hitomi made sure her hair was dry, she dried the rest of her body before dressing in the clothing. When she was done fitting it all on, she looked into a mirror that was placed in the room. Studying her reflection in the mirror more carefully, Hitomi found that the pants were black... but they weren't a normal length. They reminded her of capris and the flaps that hung in front and back were a little above the end of the pants. All in all, everything suited her well.

Suddenly there was a knock on her door.

"Come in." she called.

"Hitomi, sorry your shoes are a little late..." it was Masumi who came in, carrying another pair of shoes.

'Oh yeah...' she thought 'my boots wouldn't look right in this.'

Masumi held out another pair of sandal looking shoes. They were the flattest shoes Hitomi had ever seen. The bottom looked weaved from bamboo and the strap was a wide piece of black leather that went across the top of her foot. Surprising when she slipped them on, they were comfortable.

"I never knew I was even getting another pair of shoes... it didn't matter if they were late." Hitomi replied to Masumi.

"Are you ready now? I was told to come get you when you were done." Masumi informed her.

"Ready?" Hitomi gave her a confused look. "What's going on?"

"They never tell us anything... I just get an order and I follow it, no questions asked. So can we leave?" Masumi almost looked like she was getting impatient.

"Yeah... let's go."

Masumi led the way out and Hitomi followed. She had no clue what was going on, and neither did Masumi. Both girls caught up on what had been going on while Hitomi was in the infirmary till they reached their destination.

Two men stood by a giant double door and when they spotted Hitomi, they both opened their door they were standing near simultaneously. Masumi was already gone from sight and Hitomi was now on her own.

All thoughts of being alone vanished from her thoughts as the doors opened fully to reveal what was inside. A mildly large dinning room lay before her, the places set for a limited amount of people. In two lines on either side of the entrance, the Dragonslayers were lined up. Dilandau stood with Folken at the end of the lines. Everyone seemed to be looking at Hitomi, beckoning her to come in. A few of the Dragonslayers were smiling and gave her a slight nod while she walked by, calming her nerves a little.

She arrived in front of Dilandau and Folken, and she waited for them to say something. Folken was the first to break the silence. "Hitomi... you have proved yourself many times already to me and many others that you are not an enemy of Zaibach or anyone else here. You have strength like none other that some don't even know of. Your passion for others is strong and your will to live never dies. By what I have heard, you wish to become a Dragonslayer. Is that correct?"

Hitomi answered him in the steadiest voice she could muster, "Yes... that is true."

Folken nodded and Dilandau took this as his queue. "As leader of the Dragonslayers, I welcome you into our ranks. As part of the Dragonslayers, you will be treated as an equal. Training will be hard and you may never give up. Are you willing and ready to be in our ranks?"

"Yes... whatever it takes... I will learn to fight... I'm willing to train everyday." Hitomi answered him.

Dilandau smirked slightly, and walked over to the giant table set up in the middle of the room. A long item covered in a velvet bag lay across the table in plain view. Dilandau picked it up gracefully and brought it forward.

"Your choice of weapon, the glaive, is what you will be continuing to train with. Now since you are part of the Dragonslayers, a new weapon was made for you." Dilandau said as he stood there, holding the mystery item in his hands.

He set one end of it down on the ground, and untied the rope that held the cloth on at the other end. As soon as the knot became undone, the rope fell to the floor along with the velvet, which slid off as well.

Hitomi stood staring at the beautiful glaive that Dilandau held. The pole was stained a dark red color for Zaibach and the blade at the end gleamed and reflected light all around her.

"This glaive was made for you Hitomi. The wood in the pole is dense, and very strong that even steel will have trouble cutting through it. The height was specified according to your physique. The blade is exactly shaped like the practice glaive you had been using, but if you notice, the steel is much lighter than what you're used to. It's just as strong but about half the weight. The blade is not sharpened for there is no need for it to draw blood yet."

Hitomi gaped in awe at her new weapon... not until Dilandau got her attention again did she take her gaze away from it.

"Hitomi... welcome to the Dragonslayers." Dilandau walked over to her, and held out the newly made glaive. Hitomi reached out and grasped the wood pole with both her hands, slowly lifting it from Dilandau's. She started to examine it more closely and smiled brightly as she set the pole down onto the ground.

The Dragonslayers standing in their lines started to clap enthusiastically. Hitomi looked behind her at the boys clad in their armor and smiled softly. She was accepted... even if she was a woman... they didn't care. Countless times had she put her life on the line and had proved herself to being more than just a seer.

Dilandau gave a signal to the Dragonslayers who walked towards the table and each took a seat. The three middle seats at the long table were left open for Dilandau, Hitomi, and Folken. Each sat down in that order and soon enough servants came in bringing platters of delicious smelling food with them. When everything was set up and ready, Hitomi looked down at her lap shyly.

Folken looked at her curiously and said, "What's the matter Hitomi?"

Hitomi peeked up at him. "Well it's just that I hate having everyone go through all this trouble just for m..."

Folken interrupted her. "It's no trouble at all. You've done so much for us already Hitomi... we are expressing our gratitude. This is from the Dragonslayers, for you have saved one of them and their leader. It is from the Vione, thanking you for warning us on the attack that was to come. And it is to thank for your courage because you are making your own choices and have decided to fight. This is not just because you decided to become a Dragonslayer."

Hitomi felt herself blush... she hadn't realized how much everyone really cared or how much she had done for these people already. Her thoughts were interrupted by Dilandau.

"I'm sure the food they fed you in the infirmary was pretty bad, and I bet you're starving. Let's stop the chit-chat and eat!"

Everyone nodded at his statement and soon enough everyone was filling their plates with delicious food. Vino was served but Hitomi was careful enough not to drink it all in one gulp and she declined when another glass was given to her. The vino would go to her head... and that wouldn't be a good thing.

There were so many strange dishes that Hitomi had never seen before, but she tried them anyways and found many to be appetizing.

When plates were cleaned and stomachs were full, everyone stood up from their places and walked towards the door. The Dragonslayers all gave her a slight nod as they left the dining hall to their own rooms. Folken left when he gave her a slight bow and smirked slightly. Everyone had gone except Dilandau who exited and held the door open for her. He shut it behind him and both of them started to walk down the hall.

"Do you know how to get back to your room?" he asked.

"Yeah... I'm pretty sure I remember how." she answered him back.

"Tomorrow you will start training with the Dragonslayers... you are one of them now... so get all the sleep you can." They walked down one staircase together but once they reached a hall that split in three directions, he went a different way than Hitomi, leaving her to find her way back.

As she remembered the way Masumi brought her, Hitomi made her way back to her room. She didn't have her glaive because it was taken to the training room. If she wanted to, she could later carry it around with her, but now it was unneeded... or so she thought.

As she walked along the corridors and down the stairways, Hitomi could feel the vino start getting to her senses.

'I only drank one glass! Why do I feel so disoriented?' she thought to herself.

Hitomi's only solution to why she felt this way was because of the vino. She was still young and her body couldn't handle what she drank.

'I'll never drink vino again if this is what it does to me... even just one glass!'

She continued to mentally scold herself as she walked around the Vione, and after a while, she could tell she was getting lost. She stopped walking after a bit and stood there staring at her surroundings. But little did she know of the person that just turned the corner behind her. The man was another soldier, but if Masumi or Hitomi had seen his face, they would have recognized him right away.

The man spotted Hitomi and at first thought nothing of her until he noticed her golden hair. Her teen figure stood out, and he immediately recognized her. His anger swiftly started to rise as he remembered exactly what she had done to him. But when he noted that she had no clue he was behind her, and neither did she have a weapon, the soldier swiftly thought up revenge in the back of his mind.

Walking nearer to her, he hoped his shadow that flickered in the torchlight wouldn't give away his presence. He neared ever so closely little by little on the unsuspecting Hitomi.

~Dilandau~

Dilandau had gone back to his room but found that sleep was not going to come easily that night. His head pounded horribly from a headache that started to grow rapidly more painful so he tried to walk around the low lighting of the Vione and see if it would go away. The sheath of his sword swung as he strolled and his sword was pressed against his head. The cold steel on his head helped a little but the pain still lingered. After a while of walking in his white shirt, black pants, and unlaced boots, Dilandau figured that it wasn't helping, so he started to make his way towards the infirmary.

'Hopefully they will have some kind of painkiller... I don't care how bad it tastes... as long as this damn headache goes away.' Dilandau told himself.

His journey continued and when the thought of cutting his head with his sword popped into his mind, he sheathed his sword. The feeling of pure stupidity would always linger with him especially if he had caused the scar. So rubbing his temples became the new temporary relief.

~Hitomi~

"I'm lost..." Hitomi confirmed aloud.

She sighed and started to walk forward again. The man following her found this opportunity to start getting closer. Trying to match her footsteps, he snuck up until he was a few feet behind her. Hitomi's senses kicked in as she felt in the back of her mind that she was in danger, but they kicked in too late. Before she knew it, the person behind her lunged forward, throwing one arm around her waist to lock both arms to her sides and covered her mouth with the other hand.

Hitomi's eyes widened as she realized what was happening. She struggled to escape her captor's tight hold but found it no use. She was still weak and recovering, and the vino she drank didn't help at all. She was weaponless, and as the soldier's hold tightened around her waist, it took all she had to stop tears of pain from falling. Any tighter and her wound might open again.

Her assailant brought his head down to her ear and whispered at Hitomi harshly. "Do you remember me? How you humiliated me? How you broke my pride? Being beaten by a woman... I don't know how you did it, but I'm going to make sure that never happens again!"

Hitomi was suddenly let go of by both arms, but as soon as the man's grasp was released, he threw her against the wall. She nearly collapsed from the pain, but a strong hand grasped her shoulder and spun her around. Once Hitomi saw her attackers face, all her suspicion was confirmed. The man she had saved Masumi from was the person who snuck up on her.

With no time for her to react, the soldier put his rough calloused hand around her neck and pressed her body to the wall. Her air supply was cut off suddenly and Hitomi couldn't breathe. She clawed at his hand that was crushing her neck, but he was too strong. She tried to kick out with her feet but found that he had them pressed against the wall with his leg. With her vision getting fuzzy, Hitomi stopped struggling as the world around her started to fade.

'Am I really going to die? After everything that has happened... is it going to end here?' Hitomi's thoughts raced through her head as she started to panic. Her energy was leaving her and her body started to go numb. She had to live... she had to live on!

Dilandau was still strolling down the corridors rubbing his temples when he heard something. It sounded like someone talking... but then again he could be hearing things... especially when he couldn't concentrate on much with the pain in his head. But as he drew closer, something didn't feel right. He turned a corner in the hall, but stopped dead in his tracks at the site before him.

The man Hitomi had beat up before was now holding her against the stone wall. His blood started to boil at the site and when he saw Hitomi struggling against his hold, which was around her neck, Dilandau leapt into action.

All thoughts of his headache vanished as he ran toward the man who was trying to suffocate her. The soldier didn't hear Dilandau till his footsteps were closer. Hitomi's attacker looked away from her pained expression just in time to watch as Dilandau slammed into him from the side with his shoulder. His grip around Hitomi's throat loosened instantly as he was driven sideways from Dilandau's blow.

With her legs failing her, Hitomi immediately started to crumple to the floor. Dilandau saw this and without delay, he caught her limp form. Gently lowering her to the ground, he felt relieved when she started to cough harshly, gasping for air in the process. She put her hands gently on her throat as she recovered, but never noticed Dilandau.

The soldier was back up on his feet, ready to give whoever did that a piece of his mind, but when he saw Dilandau there, he froze.

"Lor... Lord Dilandau!"

"Shut up!" Dilandau yelled at the man. "I don't want to hear any petty excuses or a word come from your mouth! All I know is that you were trying to kill one of MY Dragonslayers! For that... you will die!"

The fire in his eyes burned with such ferocity that the soldier looked at him with pure fear. Something in Dilandau took over and in the blink of an eye, his sword was pulled from its sheath and the angry red-eyed leader of the Dragonslayers was charging at Hitomi's assailant. The soldier had just enough time to pull his own sword from his side and block the blow coming from Dilandau.

Dilandau's attacks were vicious and powerful, the man hardly blocking them all. A few times, he hadn't been so lucky and was now bleeding from open wounds. Another slash and suddenly a sword went flying through the air, away from their owner's hands. The soldier sat on the ground staring at the sharp tip of Dilandau's sword. Scowling down at him, Dilandau would have cut his head off right away if it weren't for other voices running down the hall towards them.

Folken with a few Dragonslayers ran down the hall straight towards them. When they arrived, Folken ordered Dilandau to put his sword away and for a few of the Dragonslayers following him to bind the soldier at Dilandau's mercy and take him to the infirmary. He was to be treated for his wounds then be sent into one of the prison cells in the lower levels.

When Dilandau saw that the man who attacked Hitomi was being handled by his Dragonslayers, he ran to her side. She clutched her side and her face was trying to hide the pain. She looked at Dilandau when he knelt in front of her.

"Let me see your wound." he softly told her.

Hitomi lifted her hand and gently pulled the side of her shirt up a little. Dilandau sighed in relief. It hadn't reopened, but since it was still sensitive to touch, it hurt.

"Do you think you can stand?" he asked her.

She didn't answer him but Hitomi tried to push herself off the ground and used the wall to lean upon, but as she stood up fully, she collapsed right back down to the ground. Dilandau caught her again, but instead of helping her up, he put his other arm underneath her legs and lifted her body into his arms. He held her gently so as not to inflict pain on her side and looked at Folken who was still standing there.

"I'm going to take Hitomi to her room." Dilandau informed Folken.

Folken just nodded and walked away, having already figured out what went on only a few minutes ago.

As Dilandau walked around the Vione to get to Hitomi's room, he found himself staring at her face a lot. She had fallen asleep in his arms not to long after he picked her up, and now her face was snuggled against his chest. He felt her warm breath easily go through his thin white shirt onto his skin, which made him shiver. Different feelings were going through him at a rapid pace with each thought that crossed his mind.

'That bastard tried to kill her! Damnit! I could have had his head if it weren't for Folken... I hope he is tortured for what he has done...'

He felt furious that he wasn't there sooner to help Hitomi and that maybe something could have been done to prevent it. But as he looked at her innocent sleeping face, different emotions stirred deep within him. She was so fragile but so strong all at the same time it amazed him. His anger disappeared as he studied her features more closely. His mind and body felt at rest because she was near him... how odd everything felt...

Soon enough they arrived at Hitomi's room and Dilandau somehow managed to open the door without shifting Hitomi around in his arms too much. He pushed it closed with his foot and walked over to her bed. Gently he bent over and placed a sleeping Hitomi onto the soft mattress. When he moved away, he saw her wrap her arms around her upper body as if trying to find or get back the heat lost from being so close to him.

Smiling slightly to himself, Dilandau just noticed how chilly the room was. He walked over to the fireplace and used some wood that was sitting next to it to light a fire. He sat on the couch across from the fire and found his eyelids getting heavier by the second.

The warmth from the fire was relaxing and soon enough Dilandau drifted off into the world of dreams just like Hitomi. His body relaxed and he was now lying on the couch. When Hitomi woke up... he would be there, and he swore that he would never let something like that happen again. These were new emotions he was experiencing, but they made him feel at peace... that was something he hadn't felt for a long time.

~*~*~*~*~

Yeah! It was long and fluffy... and it's working up there! Sorry if there were any grammar mistakes but I just typed this out and its now 2:00 in the morning... I read it over... but my mind might not read everything correctly on the screen... I'm tired... so I'm going to bed. Please don't forget to review... -.- zzzzz