Author's notes: I know this will be slightly different dialogue from the series. I'm doing my best, but one of my friends has commandeered my series. There's no telling when I'll be getting it back. Yes, I'm having a Pirates of the Caribbean moment. Sorry this took so long to get out. *Ducks under flying weapons* I'm really writing as fast as I can. Honestly!

Drifting Destiny: Chapter 2

I couldn't help but smile weakly at the pitiful soldiers before us. They would take my king away from me, but I had to let go at some point. "If the King of Fanelia, who pilots Ispano's guymelef, helps us, our morale would rise." I'm sure their morals would rise. I'm also sure mine would pummel into black oblivion if he left for battle. Every wound Escaflowne took, Van would take as well. I wasn't sure I could handle his pain.

"We beg you to help us!" I'm really sure they need the help, but what about us? War has never served to build anyone up? It only destroys everything and everyone in its path. Has Gaia ever seen true peace? I know I'm being selfish, but I don't want to see Van hurt. If Dorkirk's fate alteration machine has anything to do with this, Van isn't likely to make it out of this at all. Why do they have to drag him back in?

"Let's fight together. I, Van Fanel, will lead the main attack force." No. His words stung at my heart more than anything else. He was always ready to fall into battle. Oh, Van. Why do you have to be so headstrong? I could feel the world around me shatter the silence I built around my heart. The breath caught in my throat and I felt as if I couldn't breathe. As the soldiers thanked him, I knew what was coming next.

"I have one request. Take her to Asturia." I won't go. I'm staying right here with you, Van Fanel. I love you too damn much to let you go. I step up to him and plead silently with my eyes. He turns away as the soldiers agree. I show my betrayal, but before I let my tears blind me, I kiss him one last time. I might never see him again, and I don't think I could bear the pain. I tell him I might be able to help him here, but he refuses my help. He says he would rely on me too much.

"Van…." I whisper He presses something into the palm of my hand and I let myself be dragged to their ship. I clench my hand shut as I enter the bridge. I'm mostly left in solitude on the way back. I open my hand and smile sadly down at the pure white feather resting there. Its glow is resonated through my pendant and I close my eyes to revel in the sensation. I can feel Van's worry, and I try to place my faith in him.

"Don't worry, miss. I'm sure your Lord Van will be fine." I turn the soldier who has spoken to me. He is one of the soldiers who will take Van into battle, but I can no longer feel anger towards him. He's fighting for something he believes in, and that may be a just cause on this world. I feel slightly jealous because he will fight beside Van in my place. I will not be able to help him from the sidelines.

"I'm sure he will," I answer absentmindedly. I can almost feel the tension in the air. I don't need to do a reading to see Dornkirk guiding Gaia to its doom. Once I arrive at Asturia, I will do everything I can to stop the world from ending at his hands. I walk away from the ship and thank the men who brought me here. They wave cheerfully back, and I watch them for a moment before they reload their supplies.

The rise of the Zone of Absolute Fortune will take place shortly. I can feel the tension deepening in the world. Time is running out and the war will end before too long. Allen comes up behind me as I stare out the window into the sea. "It's sad because it wipes out everything." I wish the rain would wash away all my pain and anxiety. I almost wish it would wash away all the battles, but it won't. I can't use the power of my wishes to bind Gaia any further.

I turn to him. "Allen... I..." What do you say to a person you thought you loved? I hope he can understand. I love Van, and it took me long enough to figure it out. I'm sorry it took so long for me to understand, but I won't lead Allen on any longer. I try to express myself, but my words are like the falling rain. They're expressed more through actions than actual words. Maybe if I slap him he'll get the message.

"Van's love brought you back to Gaea. You answered him. You're probably the first to refuse my advances." I think I need to wash out my ears with some very hot water. Is this Allen talking? The playboy knight of Caeli? I think someone hit him with a gallon of reality. Maybe this would have been the perfect opportunity to set him up Millerna. We could have had a girls' night out, and I could have done his hair… Well, as close as 'girls' as possible.

I whisper his name. Has he really accepted it? "Don't worry. Van will definitely return, because you, his beloved, are here." Well, the man does have some compassion behind his charms. I must say I'm impressed. How does Millerna find all the good men in the world? Had Allen shown me this side of him before I met Van, we might have been able to work it out. Although, I can't really say I regret my decision.

I leave Allen to prepare for battle himself, as I start to wander around the palace. Folken's back is to me when I find him, but knows I'm there. It must be an instinct for him. "You want to help Van?" Of course, I want to help Van! Tell me to jump, and I'll pull out the trampoline. The only thing I won't do is stay here. Everyone has told me to stay out of the way, and I won't do it anymore.

"Folken, please tell me how to create a column of light, and go to Zaibach. I want to see Dornkirk and ask him to stop this war." Me to the rescue! I could just use the pendant, but I want to see what Folken's machine can do. I know Folken will try to go without me, but I'm going. There's no way around it; if he creates a pillar and light and goes without me, I'll go after him. He has no choice in the matter.

"He isn't a person who listens to others. Besides, if something should happen to you, Van would feel sad. I'm going to confront Dornkirk." I'm going with you, Folken. Stop being as stubborn as Van for one moment and listen up. Or, er, read my thoughts. We're both going to Zion. I have no idea how your machine works, but I'm sure it can transport the both of us to Zaibach.

I say his name before getting a vision of his death. Why do these visions always give me headaches? If he goes to Zaibach alone, he'll die. Ok, now, you're definitely not going to Zaibach alone. I snap out of it and stare at him mournfully. I know I'm now set in grim determination. "He can't be... If he confronts Dornkirk, he'll die," I whisper while he turns back to the machine. I have a strange feeling he already knows.

I shut the door behind me quietly as I search for Merle. I whisper Van's name as I turn to open the door to my room. I see her curled up on my bed crying. Despite all she's done to me in the past, I feel worried for her. "Merle...? What's wrong, Merle?" She doesn't immediately answer me as I move towards the bed. Her tail is swaying slightly with her sobs. I sit down on the bed in front of her.

"Can I stay here? I'm scared! I feel like Lord Van may not return!" I know, Merle. I also feel as if I should get rid of these feelings. Why would they matter to Van? My worry won't break his concentration. "I'm so scared!" I am too, Merle. I'm scared for his life, I'm scared for Allen's life, and I'm scared for the fate of Gaia. I also know the helpless feeling of not being able to do anything.

"Believe in him. Van will come back. Okay, Merle?" Despite what I'm telling her, I'm not so sure anymore. I hug her to me tightly and bury my face in her hair. She cries silently on my shoulder, but I stiffen as a vision unlike any other comes to me. She asks me what's wrong, but I can't hear her. Not this time. Dornkirk finally decided it was time to use his alteration machine.

"Van's... Van's suffering. I have to end this war. Van's suffering," I say. I can feel his emotions surge through me, and I want to cry out from his pain. I want to go to him, and cradle his head to me. I want to stroke his and reassure him everything will be alright. I swallow hard and pull back from Merle. She looks at me with tear streaked eyes, and I can see the realization dawn in them.

"Hitomi!" she yells after me. There's no time, Merle. I have to go to him. I race out the door, and towards Folken. I yell out to him as I get there. "Folken! Van's suffering! I want to help Van," I say I as pant. I know I'm a sprinter, but my desperation pushed m adrenaline forward. I wish someone had been timing me with the pendant. I probably broke my own record.

"I was certain you'd come." 'Then why didn't you stop me before?' I wanted to scream at him. I could almost feel the battle raging around me as Van fought with his intensity. He didn't want to be there, and I didn't want him to be there. All of this could have been avoided if Dornkirk hadn't gotten greedy. I knew he was mad, but not all people on Earth were. Couldn't someone else have come from my home planet?

"But, I saw... Folken... you might die in Zaibach, Folken. I saw something terrible," I plead with him. Why can't he see I'm trying to save his life? I've never been a heroine before, but if Folken dies, Van will feel the pain. I couldn't stand to see Van in pain over losing his last family member. Folken, you can't die just yet. Would going to Zaibach solve anything for you? I'm sure it won't put you at peace. Or, maybe it will. You might die. Then, you'd really be at peace.

"You don't need to worry about that. I don't have much time left in my life." What do you mean, Folken? You'll die if you go. You aren't going to commit suicide, are you? Your black wings unfold from your back. I gasp as I finally realize what he meant. It didn't whether he died in Zaibach or not. He'd die anyway. "A reversal of fortune is shortening my life. These black wings attest to that." No.

"Black wings..." I shake my head in denial. "I'll atone for my sin of serving Dornkirk with my life. That is my fate," Folken says. At this point, I don't think he knows what he wants. Fate can be changed. Dornkirk proved it, so why can't he see it? Is he really giving up this easily? I can't let him give up. I won't let him leave behind a brother I love with all of my being. If it can be stopped, I'll do everything in my power to stop it.

"No, if you die, Van'll be alone! I don't want to see Van sad!" How can I make him see this? "Van will be able to overcome it, leaving me behind, for a new world." You're as thickheaded as your brother is! It must run in the Fanel bloodline because I don't think Varie had this impatience. Sorry, Folken, but you are not dying on my watch. If I have to stop everything in the world, I'll do it.

"That's not right! I'll change such a sad fate!" I really should stop saying things like this. The pillar of light sweeps up both up and takes us to Zaibach. Folken's wings are still, and I have the strangest impulse to hide him. I ask where we are and Dornkirk gives me a cryptic answer. I never trusted him in the first place, but he could at least give me a straight answer. What do you mean 'everything is in place?'

"All elements are in my hands. It is time to fully activate the Fate Redirector. Everything is going as I wish." Oh, so it was just his wish to change everything. Everyone else were just pawns laid out on his metaphoric chessboard. Folken beats me to him to asking about the wish part. "Yes. I guided fate so you'd bring the girl from the Mystic Moon here." Excuse me? I believe I was the one who brought Folken here.

"How much are you going to twist fate?!" Folken asks. I think I know the answer to this one. "Stupid question. You know what I think, don't you?" And I thought I could be sadistic. They were both evil; couldn't they find common ground on this one? Maybe I could keep Folken from being killed after all. We could change the poisoning done to him, couldn't we? I would at least try.

"Then, you know of my determination, right?" Folken, if you get yourself killed, I will skin you alive. I'll even let Merle use you as a scratchpost once I get done with you. "You came to kill me, right? Go ahead; kill me. There's no one to stop you!" I believe this is my cue to intervene. Folken is drawing his sword, and there is nothing I can do to stop him from leaping into the air.

I shout his name, but he can't seem to hear me. If he does, he completely ignores me. "Come on, Folken," Dornkirk taunts him. I can't hear what Folken shouts at him because I'm concentrating. My pendant is glowing brighter, and it rises slightly in the air. Folken aims his sword and cuts down sharply at Dornkirk. As soon as I see the shard break off, I shout as loud as I can, "No!"

The blue column appears and takes Folken….somewhere. "Folken!" I yell. I have no idea where I just sent him, but I hope he survives this. The shard hits the ground with a clang and I reach down to pick it up. I throw it over the bridge as I feel Van's pain. "Van's crying. Van... Why... why is this... Why is he crying? I stopped Folken from being killed? Has something else happened? I can't stand a fate like this!"

"It has begun." Someone has materialized in front of me. "Who are you?" Wasn't Dornkirk enough the first time around? I guess he decided to come back from the dead to gloat. At least he didn't get the satisfaction of seeing Folken die. "Miss, observe the Zone of Absolute Fortune with me." I start to say something to him, but he whisks us off in the middle of battle. Why do these things keep happening?

Author's Notes: *cough* I made this sound more like a commentary than a fanfiction. *sweatdrops* Sorry if Hitomi seems Americanized to anyone else. I did try to keep her in character. Oy, this is the last time I type a chapter straight through. I have to continue with this screenplay, and I can't do it yet because my hands hurt so much. *sighs* Ja ne ~Insane Pineapple from Naboo

(Oh, and I finished Let Go. So, this'll now be my focus!)

Responses to Reviews:

Jossi-31: Thanks. This was as fast as I could update this with everything else going on in my hectic life.

oOatariOo: Thanks, I take any reviewers opinions. You could give me the strangest review on the planet, and I'd be happy.

Nightheart: Not much romance in this chapter, but as for the next chapter….

Momiji-chan Wa Baka: Wow, I just got smacked. *glomps reviewer* I've never glomped anyone before. *looks sheepish* Hope you liked this one. I know much didn't happen, but wait until next chapter ^_~

Lady Laran: There'll be quite a few more kisses by the time this fic is over. Just wait and see.

jess131346: OK, ok, I wrote more. *sighs* Looks like this will be one of my longer ones….

SkyeLight2x1: Thanks for the comments. One more episode, then it'll break off into entirely my story. I still don't know exactly where I'm going with this, but I will soon enough.

storm_warrior_91: Fanfiction does seem to be addictive, doesn't it? Glad you're enjoying this.

SabineballZ: It may not seem like it, but this was ASAP. My life is too hectic at the moment. Thanks for the encouragement!

Kotuku: When I said horrible, I meant horrible for me. No, no, my friend. This is definitely not a one-shot. I don't write very many of those. ^_~ Remakes of Episode 21? Hm, I'll have to go find some of those.

Kitsune100: Thanks!