Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne. I am not making any profit off of this.

Author's Notes: Hi! I'm updating. First off, I want to thank everyone that reviewed. Thank you to lavender, big-mops-in-shorts, Magicman/Smokegirl, Niffer, ???, and SabineballZ. It made me so happy to read them. People actually liked this and wanted me to continue! Jeez, I actually cried. Don't mean to sound sappy or anything though. Well, I hope people like this chapter. Not much happens, but keep reading and all will be revealed in later chapters! Please, it would make me ever so happy if you read this and reviewed. Thank you!

Chapter Two – Someone to Talk To

The sun rose, chasing away last night's rain clouds. In one small apartment everything was peaceful. That is until one emerald-eyed girl realized that she was late for school.

"It's 7:30! I'll never get to school on time!" she shrieked.

This woke a very annoyed Van. An alarm clock would have served the girl to get her up in time to go to school. Then he could have continued his sleep. Well, he was already awake now. He might as well see if she remembered him.

**

Hitomi turned when she heard a yowl. "Van! I set out some more turkey for you and made sure you had enough water. I'll be back after track practice, okay? So be good," she finished with a pat on his head. With one last wave, she grabbed her book bag and duffel bag and headed out the door.

**

Van stretched before making his way to the kitchen. He was quite thankful to the girl. For one night at least, he had managed to stay warm and dry. That would have been impossible if she hadn't come along. He now had food, water, a place to sleep, and someone to take care of him. He should have been happy but he wasn't. Who knew how long this girl's generosity would last? Who knew how long it should?

After eating a little of the meat, Van decided to look around the apartment. The other day, he had been too tired to bother. Now, however, he was wide-awake with nothing to do.

He first looked around the kitchen. It was small and was open to the living room. A refrigerator, microwave, and oven were the major appliances. There was also a coffee maker that didn't look like it was used a whole lot. Van's dishes that he was currently using were on the floor on one side. The sink held the girl's dirty dishes from the previous night. He looked at them disgustedly. She could have cleaned them after she ate.

The living room was next. It had a small television, a radio, a couch, and a chair. There was a bookshelf filled with books, videos, CDs, and decorations. Her family had to be pretty well off to give her all of this. One table was lined with photos. Van jumped up there to look at them.

The first one was of the girl and another girl. They looked to be about the same age. The new girl had red hair. The second picture was the girl and what obviously was her family. It was an old one since she could only have been about six. There was an old woman, probably her grandmother, her mother, her father, and a little boy who was most likely her brother. The picture next to it was of the same family except they were all older and the old woman was missing.

The last picture Van thought was a strange one. It did not have the girl in it or any of the previous people. It was a pretty distant shot of a young man with long blond hair. It seemed his eyes were blue but Van couldn't be sure. The man was wearing a soccer jersey. Was the girl a fan of his? He looked no older than eighteen. Boyfriend maybe? But then you would think she would have a better picture. Van decided to forget about it since it wasn't his business and continued on his way.

The bathroom was small. It looked like a typical one. The last room was the girl's bedroom. Van hesitated at first. Maybe he shouldn't go in. It would be invading her privacy. 'But then you've done that already, haven't you, Van?' he thought. After a brief mental battle, he found no harm in just taking a peek.

It was quite plain looking. It had a bed, a desk, a stereo, and a computer. He jumped up to the desk to see what was on it. There was a personalized notepad that read: From the desk of Hitomi Kanzaki. Hitomi could have been the girl's name. There was no way of making certain though.

Van left the room seeing nothing else of interest. He curled up on the chair to think. 'Kanzaki,' he thought. 'Now where have I heard that name before?' Van just couldn't remember. He knew he had heard it before though. As sleep overtook him, he didn't have much more thinking time.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

"I'm back, Van!" Hitomi shouted as she entered her apartment. She giggled when she saw him curled up in an odd position on the living room chair. She ran her hand over his back, gently waking him up. "I'm back, sleepy head. Look at this."

As Hitomi unrolled something that had been under her arm, Van stretched and sat up. Flipping through the pages of the newspaper, she finally found what she was looking for. She turned it around and pointed to a certain section.

"See? Right here it says: Found. Cat Male Black Fur Red Eyes. If missing, call 555-5555. Now you find your family and you'll be happy." She sat down on the couch heavily. "Oh, I am so tired. First, I had track practice. Then I ran all the way home after buying this paper. I just want to sleep."

To emphasize her point, Hitomi flung an arm across her eyes. Van slowly crept up into her lap. This surprised Hitomi, but she quickly got over and started to pet him. Absently, she just started talking about different things.

"I guess I never really told you about myself. I'm Hitomi, but that probably doesn't matter much. Something amazing happened to me today. My friend, Yukari, just thinks I'm silly, but I can't help it. Allen Shezar talked to me today. The Allen Shezar talked to me, little ol' Hitomi. You're probably wondering who Allen is. Allen is the hottest guy in my school. All the girls want to date him. Too bad he already has a girlfriend. Millerna Aston is her name. Some think she's a ditz but they just don't know her. She's actually smart and funny. You're a good listener Van," she said as she noticed his eyes looking inquisitively up at her. "I can't really talk to anybody about most things. Not even Yukari. She just laughs things off."

**

The girl, now confirmed as this Hitomi Kanzaki, continued to talk. This way, Van learned many things. It turned out Hitomi had liked Allen since she was three. She had fallen and he had helped her up. Since then, she had developed a huge crush on him. Today, he only talked to her because she was standing in the way. Still, it was enough for Hitomi's heart to flutter. Of course, she ended up making a fool of herself since she couldn't speak.

She continued to tell him more about her school and friends. She had been best friends with Yukari Uchida since first grade. Yukari was dating someone named Amano. He had been a good friend of the two girls but graduated the previous year. Hitomi still saw him sometimes but not much since he was busy with college and Yukari. The thing was he was Allen's cousin. She admitted that was the reason she became friends with him at first.

Hitomi then turned more to her family. She had a younger brother, Mamoru, who used to always get in her stuff. She would get angry but her mother would scold her and not him. Their father would just sit and laugh. Her grandmother died when she was seven leaving behind her pendant.

**

Unconsciously, Hitomi clutched the small piece of jewelry. "It was a long time ago but I still miss her. You must have relatives that you've left behind. Do you ever miss them?" She looked at Van but he only looked back with his gorgeous reddish brown eyes. "Oh, well. It's late. How about I make us some dinner? Then I have to do homework and then it's off to bed." Van jumped off with a meow and Hitomi stood up. It felt good to have said all that even if Van couldn't respond. At least he could listen. That's all Hitomi really wanted.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

Fortunately, Hitomi awoke the next morning with plenty of time to spare. As she did the previous day, she gave him a pat on the head and said she'd be home after track practice. Van had another day to spend doing absolutely nothing.

As he settled down for a nap, since there was nothing else to do, he felt a slight breeze. He looked up and saw that one of the windows was open just enough for him to squeeze through. This was his chance. He could just leave now and not worry about any sticky situations that could occur or the time when Hitomi turned him out.

When he jumped up to the window, something started to nag at him. What it was, he didn't know. It just didn't feel right that he should leave after all Hitomi had done for him. No one had ever treated him like she did with the exception of his family. Maybe he should stay. As long as she kept a way open for him to leave, everything would be all right. Finally, Van decided he would stay. For now.

#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#*#

That afternoon, Hitomi came home with a grin on her face. "Guess what?" she said joyously. "I was one of the few picked to be on the main track team!"

To Van, this did not seem anything worth getting so excited over. He understood, however, as Hitomi sat down and explained to him.

"You know, Van, it has always been my dream to run track professionally. I love the way the feeling I get when I run. It's as if I can leave everything behind and just be myself. I've had two dreams ever since I was little. One is track and the other is to fall in love with the perfect man and live happily ever after." A sigh escaped Hitomi. "That sounded kind of cliché, didn't it? That's way I've never told anyone. So don't tell anyone else, okay, Van?" She looked seriously at Van as if she expected him to promise not to.

With another sigh, Hitomi got up to prepare their evening meal. "It's silly," she finally said. "I don't know why I half expect you to respond."