Disclaimer: I don't own Escaflowne… blah, blah… Aravase and Tony are mine (if Tony is your name… tough… I made up the name Aravase Avistone so I very much doubt you have it)

Authors note: It's been brought to my attention that my punctuation style is a little blah, but I'm too lazy to go back and fix it. I'm starting from here then!

"Talking"

'Thinking'

~*Point of View*~

~*Aravase*~

'How the heck am I gonna find Van, anyway?' Sighing, I rolled onto my stomach, opened my eyes and began to survey my surroundings, not like I knew where I was, but what else was there to do? It was then that I came face to face with the most beautiful rose I'd ever seen, in fact, they were everywhere.

"Looks like we're in some kind of garden," Tony's voice cut in.

I nodded in affirmation while looking around. We were in a hedge maze of well… hedges of course... and hundreds of different flowers that were practically glowing in the moonlight. The smell made me both giddy and lethargic. That and the fact that I am back on Gaea gave me no desire to move from my spot, at least not at the moment.

"It's a beautiful garden," I murmured, closing my eyes and resting my head down in the crook of my arm. 'I am so tired. I haven't slept well since I left, but I always made it through before. Maybe it's all catching up with me now that I'm finally back. Just the thought of being on the same planet as Van simply chases my insomnia away.

"Umm… So what now, Ara?" Tony stared at her calm form nearby, "do we just stay here?"

"I don't really know where we are, and I'm really tired. Lets just rest here till morning and then we can worry about it."

"Stay here? B-but, what if this is somebody's private garden and they find us and are like 'Halt infidels. You are trespassing on sacred ground. The penalty of such an offence is death,' and they throw us in the dungeon and…"

"TONY," I yelled. 'Since when did he become such an idiot?'

"Huh? What is it? Is somebody coming?" Tony looked around frantically.

"No, Dummy!" I rolled my eyes "Calm down already, you're rambling like a…" Tony clasped his hand over my mouth, "Hush, listen…"

I glared at him before stretching out my senses to hear what Tony was so worried about. Sure enough I could hear a deep male voice and several sets of footsteps.

'The voice is too far away to distinguish what was said, but now I'm starting to get just as nervous as Tony. Somebody is out there, and I have no Idea if they are friendly.' Huddled up behind the hedges the two of them were well out of sight… but for how long?

I leaned close to Tony and whispered, "If we stay very still and quiet, they'll never know we were here; it's a fairly big garden." Tony nodded his agreement and they stayed close to each other listening.

Currently the voices were coming closer and I began to make out what they were saying… "NO, it was real!"

'That voice sounds so familiar,' I thought to myself. Cautiously I peeked up over the hedge that we were hiding behind… 'Hmm… there faces are hidden. If I just move this way a little bit further and…'

"Ahhh!"

To be continued…

Just kidding!

~*Van*~

I stood there for a moment, blinking and shaking my head to get the bright light out of my eyes. Then it finally registered… I had just been partially blinded by a large, blue column of light… AND it had originated from the Mystic Moon…

"Ara," her named slipped from my lips. It HAD to be her!

I rushed out of my chambers, dashing out the door into the hallway only to skid into the nearby table up against the wall. The vase of flowers that accompanied the table balanced precariously on the edge of the table before it fell to the ground, shattering with a large crash. Paying no mind, Van swiftly turned and continued his dash down the hallway towards the garden.

~*No POV*~

Merle poked her head out of her room, "What is going on out here…" She jerked back as Van ran past at high speed. "Van?" she called out after him.

Hitomi opened her door to her room, peering out into the hallway at Merle. Rubbing the sleep from her eyes she queried, "What's wrong, Merle?" Allen came up behind, wrapping his arms around Hitomi's waist, Millerna and Dryden appeared as well, and they all waited for an answer with a sleep- induce appearance of apathy.

Merle shrugged, "I am not completely sure. He simply ran past as if the devil was after him. I guess we should go find out what he is up to."

Though long gone, they followed after Van quickly, almost giving up their search until Hitomi spotted him out in the garden through a nearby window. Van was already far out past the inner flower gardens searching for something out in the small hedge maze by the time they caught up with him.

"What are you doing out here, Van?" Millerna asked. She pulled her robe more tightly around her, finding it a bit to breezy outside in only a nightgown and robe. Not to mention she was ignoring all the rules of propriety in her state of dress, but she simply had to appease her sense of curiosity. Dryden wrapped his arms around her to warm her and she favored him with a smile.

He turned towards the group, "I saw… a blue column… of light." His deep voice was slightly stuttering as he gasped for much needed air. "Please, I have… to… find her."

Hitomi shot Allen a pitiful look, asking for his approval. "Okay, we'll all help look for her." Van smiled at him, "Thanks."

After several minuets of searching they still had not found anyone. "Van…" he vaguely looked in Hitomi's direction as she spoke. "Are you sure that it wasn't only a dream."

Van spun towards her, "NO, it was real!"

Merle looked at Van sadly, "Look, Van, we all miss Ara, but we haven't found anybod…"

"Ahhh!"