I know, you're all probably saying 'about freaking time' but I've been busy with college stuff. Enough with excuses, here is chapter 8 of 'Heart of a Dragon'. It's the moment you've all been waiting for, the climactic battle between Hitomi and Merdiera. I'd like to take this moment to thank all of you for reviewing and putting up with my long gaps in chapters.

Disclaimer: See chapter one, I'm sick of typing them.

"Dialogue" 'thought' (A/N: Author's Note)

~*~ Recap (Just in case you forgot)~*~

Mediera gaped as she watched her foe become the Wing Goddess. So what if Hitomi was the real deal, once she assimilated her powers she'd be the Wing Goddess.

"Good match. Do you really think your theatrics scare me?"

Hitomi opened her eyes, if that's what you wanted to call them. They were completely devoid of color and glowed blue. She aimed her palms at Van, Folken, and the party guests.

"Owersp fo Aeag I allc no ouy ot ida em ni rotectingp hesest nnocentsi"

They were all shielded inside a white sphere of light. The two fighters were boxed in so neither could escape until one of them fell. Mediera took a defensive stance and waited for Hitomi to make a move. All she did was stand there looking at Mediera.

Chapter 8: Battling Fate

"C'mon chosen one make your first move."

"Mediera, ouy houlds otn eb ot astyh."

"You've proven that you can speak ancient Gaean. Now try speaking modern Gaean so I know what the hell your saying."

Hitomi smirked and began to chant again.

"Is this better?"

"Much. Now can we get on with the fight so I can kill you?"

"You will find that killing me will not be an easy task."

That time Mediera was the one who smirked. She charged at Hitomi, sword in hand. Hitomi easily blocked her and struck at Mediera. However, her attack was blocked. So the deadly sword battle began. To onlookers it seemed like the opponents could predict each others moves. Neither of them could get close enough to strike. Mediera would lunge at Hitomi's abdomen, but Hitomi would swing to the left and try to hit Mediera's throat. Mediera would move back once she saw Hitomi swing back. They fought with pinpoint accuracy, neither fighter showed any sign of weakness. They backed up to breathe and circled around their 'arena'.

"You fight well guardian."

"My husband taught me everything I know."

Mediera knew fighting this way was useless. At the rate they were going they would faint from exhaustion. She needed to find a way to make Hitomi slip up, but Hiotmi was determined to protect these innocent people.

'The dragon! I can use my powers to make a hole in her shield that is big enough for a dagger to run through. Once her precious dragon is dead victory will be mine.'

Mediera carefully pulled the dagger out from underneath her cloak, and powered it with her red energy. Once she felt the energy was strong enough she threw it at Van.

"Die Dragon!"

"Van!"

Hitomi saw the dagger, speeding towards her husband, but she seemed to be running in slow motion. She knew she wouldn't be able to stop it in time. Then she saw Folken push Van to the ground, but he couldn't move out of the way in time and the dagger pierced his chest. Everyone including Mediera was shocked by Folken's actions.

"Folken!"

Mediera dropped her sword and ran to her fallen lover. She turned him over and saw all the blood he was loosing, if she didn't do something soon he'd die.

"You damned fool! Why did you take the hit? It wasn't suppose to be like this. We were going to rule Gaea together and now.."

"Van is my brother. I couldn't let him die, try to understand."

"I can save you. I have the power to heal you."

Hitomi came up behind Mediera and looked at her with a shocked expression.

"Mediera, if you do that you'll be weakened. You'd give me the chance I need to defeat you."

"I don't care. Folken was the only person who understood and genuinely cared for me. I love him, and I won't let him die when I know I can save him."

Mediera placed her hand on Folken's wound and began to heal him. It was then that Hitomi finally understood what had to be done. Van stood beside her taking in the sight of Mediera and his brother.

"Hitomi, you aren't going to kill her."

"No Van just open her eyes. She has spent most of her life blinded from the truth."

When Hitomi was sure that Mediera had finished healing Folken she stood behind her and placed her hands on the side of her head. The minute Hitomi's hand touched Mediera, her eyes blanked out.

"Aeag, leasep eart waya het eilv fo iesl hatt ash lindedb erh. Peno erh yese, nda erh ees het rutht."

Mediera's eyes filled with a blue light. When Hitomi removed her hands Mediera fell backwards, gasping for breath. Folken put a comforting hand on her back.

"Are you all right Madeline?"

"Madeline, it seems like it has been centuries since I was last called by that name."

"Madeline?"

"Yes Hitomi, Madeline is my real name. When Dornkirk brainwashed me he called me Mediera. It means 'fire starter' in ancient Gaean. My mother was a fire starter, and when the people in our village discovered her gift they attacked us. They feared her power so they killed her and my father. I saw it all happen from a distance. Dornkirk knew of my power and offered me a position in the Zaibach Army."

"How did he brainwash you?"

"He used the fate alteration machine to lock my old life away. Then he manufactured false memories of he and I. It was as if he created another person."

"Well it's over now. You are free to live your life the way you choose."

(A/N: This next part is for all the Allen lover I pissed off in Chapters 4 & 5. Gomen nasai.)

At that point the doors opened, and the frightened party guests said their hasty good byes and left. Hitomi changed back into her usual self as two guards rushed over to Van and explained that Allen had been acting weird. The four of them (A/N: Van, Hitomi, Folken, and Madeline) went with the two guards to see Allen.

"Van. Why am I in this cell?"

"You mean you don't remember?"

"The last thing I remember is beating you in the tournament."

"It's my fault Van. I knew you and Allen would be an unbeatable team, so I put a spell on Allen to break you up. I am so sorry Allen. You may do subject any punishment you wish on me Van. I will suffer the consequences for the crimes of my other self."

Van turned to his wife and gave her a look that showed he wanted to know what she thought about all of this.

"I don't think she should be punished. She can't be blamed for the crimes of another person who wouldn't have existed if it wasn't for Dornkirk."

Van stared in awe of his wife. This women had put Hitomi through hell for the last four months and now she was forgiving her for everything. Hitomi would never cease to amaze Van. He reached over and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Hitomi turned to Van and smiled.

A/N: Well that's all for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. The next chapter will be the final one. It should be out by the end of the month since I'm almost done with it. Please review with you comments and suggestions. I love reading your reviews. If I get at least 15 reviews for this chapter I'll send everyone part of the upcoming chapter. Until next time.

BTY- If any of you wanted to get a different perspective on the wedding scene in Chapter 5, Tidus and Yuna's theme from Final Fantasy X is what I was playing when I wrote it.