Van blinked slowly and groaned. His head felt like someone had taken a sledgehammer to it and the rest of his body felt similarly mistreated.

"Well it's about time you woke up," said a cheerful voice. Van turned to see Millerna smiling at him carrying a glass of water and a roll of fresh bandages.

"How long have I been out?" he asked, or tried to ask. All that came out was a dry croak. Millerna offered him the cup and helped him to drink it. After taking a few greedy gulps, he repeated his question.

"About three days," she answered. Her tone was light, but he could see by the bags under her eyes that she had been worried. He felt guilty. When he said nothing, Millerna asked tentatively, "What happened to Hitomi?"

Van's face fell as he remembered what had happened. He had been so close, he'd felt the pendant calling him, could almost see her face, but something had gone wrong. The only way it could have worked was if he and she had both wanted it bad enough. He knew that he had, but perhaps she did not feel the same way. Maybe she was happy wherever she had gone. Maybe she hadn't wanted to return. Abruptly, he realized that she had probably gone back to her world. With her friends and family around her, she would probably forget all about Gaea…and him. He remembered her last words to him: I hate war. I hate this world!

Millerna watched his face harden suddenly. His emotions, a moment ago so open and easy to read had been erased as if a door had slammed in her face. "She's not coming back," he said shortly and she knew better than to ask any more.

Quietly, she gathered the glass and bandages and left the room. She could redress his wounds later. Right now, he needed some time to himself.

&&&

Three years later…

Hitomi clicked off the television set with a bored sigh. Getting up, she stretched and checked her watch. It was 5:30, time enough for her to get a good jog in before it got dark. Grabbing a jacket and slipping into some running shoes, she left the house, locking the door behind her. She chose a direction and began to jog, letting the steady rhythm of her feet hitting the sidewalk soothe her.

Her parents were out of town at her brother's international soccer tournament. Since she was having midterms, she couldn't go with them, but it was the weekend so she had the house all to herself with nothing to do but study. She'd already exhausted all of her brain cells cramming all the information she could find into her head, so she'd decided to take the afternoon off before she went completely insane.

She gave her feet free reign to take her wherever they wished as she lost herself in her thoughts of nothing in particular. She had quit track soon after that night. Everyone had wondered why, but she didn't really even know the answer herself, but every time she started running on that track, she'd think of him. She'd wonder why he hadn't come. She just couldn't take those doubts anymore. Still, she didn't give up running completely, liking to go on an easy jog every once in a while to clear her mind.

Her life was normal. She had friends and went to college. She lived in a dorm but was close enough to home that she could go back for the weekends. She did relatively well in school, receiving mostly A's or B's. She'd grown out her hair so that she could tie it in a ponytail now, tired of constantly having to brush it out of her eyes.

Yukari had gone to the US to study a few months ago, or at least, that's why her parents let her go. Hitomi knew that there was also a certain former track captain waiting for her there. After Hitomi had realized Yukari's feelings for him, she made every effort to put them together and, as she'd expected, they'd hit it off right away. Hitomi was happy for them. One look and even a halfwit could tell that they were meant to be. Still, their moving away had made her feel even lonelier and not a little bit jealous of what they shared. Sure, she'd made new friends, but none of them were as close as Yukari.

She suddenly realized that it had grown late. The sun was almost setting and gray clouds hovered ominously above. Better start heading back, she thought to herself. She looked around to get here bearings and decide on a way back and was surprised to find herself at her old middle school. She checked the sky again and looked at the fenced off campus. A little peek around won't hurt, she thought. I'll just sprint home. It's not that far.

She walked around a bit to find the door, but it was locked. Of course. It's a weekend. What did I expect? She considered turning back, but then she remembered an opening in the fence that she'd accidentally discovered a while ago. I wonder if they've closed that up… She walked around the school a bit farther and found the bush that she was looking for. Pulling aside a few leaves, she found the opening. With a bit of difficulty, she climbed through and emerged on the side of the school. She brushed herself off and looked around, amazed by how little had changed.

She explored a bit and discovered everything to be more or less exactly how she'd left it. She arrived last at the track. Looking down on it from the bleachers above, the rusty brown oval with clear white lines separating it into different lanes seemed so familiar, as if she'd only just left yesterday. She had the sudden urge to go down and look around more closely. She made her way to the track, but as soon as her feet felt springy yet firm track beneath her, she felt the urge to run.

The sky was growing darker and darker. The sun had already disappeared below the horizon and the last rays of its light were beginning to fade from the sky. Still, she paid it no heed as she placed her foot at the starting line and bent to take the ready position. There were no starting blocks out for her to use, but that didn't matter much.

She imagined the gun sounding and she took off, her legs pumping steadily as she easily fell into the pattern that she'd repeated everyday for years of her life. Her breath came steadily as she shot past the 200-meter mark and kept going.

Suddenly, an image appeared in front of her. It was a young man. A man who's face she knew altogether too well. It was the same one that haunted her dreams every night. Yet, it had changed. The sharp, boyish features from before had hardened and gained a confident boldness. His shoulders had broadened and his messy raven hair had grown into a wild mane. He was taller. All of this occurred to her within seconds, but she was going too fast and could not stop her self from running straight through the apparition. The last the she remembered was feeling herself drowning in those maroon pools conveying a mixture of surprise and, somehow, hurt.