Title: Promise Me Anyway

Rating: PG

Disclaimer: Escaflowne is NOT my property, nor can I take any payment for this story -sorry, everyone, but your reviews are payment enough ;)

Summary: Future fic, multi-part WIP. Hitomi is a student of international politics, determined to bring peace to Earth too, and already making a difference. Van is king of a happy, prosperous, peaceful rebuilt Gaea. They're still in love and still in touch. So what's the problem?

Developing subplot: Allen's student, a young woman with fierce blue eyes, is determined to become her teacher's equal. Devoted and serious, Arashi is certain to make her presence known in the fight to save King Van- whatever the cost.

Dedication: To Sarah, who is at times more into this story than I am. Also to Kyle, who years ago cried while watching the parts about the tragic Fanel family.

A/N: I got nothing to say. Just read and review, please.

Chapter 10

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"It is Arashi!" Allen exclaimed. "Of all the stupid- Arashi! Hold on! Can you reach the rope?"

"No!" his student yelled from below. "Swing it back and forth!"

"Got it!" Arashi screamed after a moment. "Pull me up, pull me up!"

With six men pulling on the rope, Arashi was on the deck in seconds. She collapsed in a heap there, breathing hard and shaking all over from effort and adrenaline, unable to speak for the moment.

"Are you alright?" Allen asked urgently, crouching by her side.

She nodded. "Thank you," she managed finally.

"Arashi, what were you thinking?" Allen reproached her angrily. "You could've been killed!"

"I'm… sorry, Allen-sensei. I wanted… to help. I couldn't… make you recognize… I know it was stupid."

"We'll discuss this later," he promised, his voice stern although he was nearly overcome with relief.

She bowed her head. "Yes, sensei," she sighed remorsefully.

"Now… what are we going to do about your skycraft?"

Arashi winced. She never had been good at planning ahead.

…

With a nod Lano relieved the other guard and took his place outside the room where their prisoner was being held. He settled down to watch the clouds pass by, completely confident that it was all he would have to do for his shift other than feed her.

"Where are you taking me?" the girl inquired. Lano was startled. She had barely spoken since they'd captured her the day before, let alone asked any questions. In his surprise he found himself answering her.

"To the Strategos in Zaibach."

The girl gasped quietly and seemed to think for a while.

"Why?" she asked then, very simply. Her intonation in its innocence reminded him of his two-year-old daughter.

"I'm not at liberty to say," he replied a little less harshly than he would have liked to. "We were hired by the Strategos, and they don't want you to know why."

"Oh," was all she said. That was the extent of their conversation; after a few hours Lano could have forgotten she was even there.

…

"At least now we know where Hitomi is, and I think we can get her out. What next?" Merle inquired in the muted tone they'd been speaking in since boarding the enemy ship. The night before, they had prowled the decks and had found where Hitomi was being kept. They had not been able to communicate, however, and had a close encounter with one of the crew members. Evading notice so far seemed to be a product of sheer luck.

"We have to find out if she knows where we're going and see what she wants us to do. If she doesn't know, we'll just break her out and improvise."

"But how are we going to do this? We can't send her a note. I can't write. Can you?"

"Of course not. Writing is for scribes. I am an artist."

"Well, what does an artist do then?"

"There are other forms of communication. I can draw something. Why don't you put your pick-pocketing skills to work, my dear, and find me some parchment and ink?"

"Great. Send the lady into danger. Very manly of you."

"You're not a 'lady', and if you were I'd have nothing to do with you."

Merle affected a growl, but smiled and snuck out into the darkness.

Left behind, Osha relaxed. He felt no need to worry; Merle was the sneakiest individual he had ever met, and would never be caught. If there was anyone to worry about, it was himself. He considered it a miracle that he hadn't been caught thus far.

…

"I don't think I need to tell you that what you did was extremely dangerous, stupid and unnecessary."

"No, sir."

"Or that it cost me and my men time and energy better spent pursuing the king's attackers."

"I know, sir." Arashi lowered her gaze even further.

"Or that you scared me nearly to death." His tone changed at this, losing its severity. Arashi dared to look up at him with a questioning frown. She wasn't sure what to say.

"Never, ever risk your life like that again," he continued. "The only time a warrior risks his… or her life, is when there is no other choice. It is better to live for your cause than to die for it."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry. Be better."

She nodded, feeling small under his disapproval. At the same time though, she resented this lecture. Hadn't she been brave and loyal, after all?

"You have some chores to do," he informed her, standing up. "For the remainder of this trip, you are the lowest ranking crew member. Gaddes will give you your orders."

"Yes, sir," she grumbled. The punishment was expected, and she was relieved to have the chance to make things up to everyone, but she was still annoyed. With an exaggerated sigh that was mostly for show, she left Allen's quarters and went to find Gaddes.

…

Stretching up to her tiptoes, Millerna hung the crossbow on a nail in her cabin. With all they'd been through, there was no telling when she would need it again. Her shoulders slumped as she stepped back, and the floor seemed to tilt up towards her. The princess realized she had remained awake throughout the night, that indeed she had not slept since she'd heard of King Van's mysterious condition. Was that two days ago, or three? Unsteady as she felt, she wouldn't doubt it had been three. At any rate, the past few days had been filled with stress, and Millerna knew she and the rest of the crew needed time to recover. Allen had agreed to take the medicine she'd given him, but she was worried that it would only mask the pain. If the knight didn't feel any pain, and didn't rest, he'd end up doing himself more harm in the long run.

With a sigh, Millerna sat down on her bunk and felt her eyelids drooping shut. All her thoughts and worries swam behind her eyes, melting into a senseless blur when there was a knock at her cabin door.

"Come in," she murmured, sitting up and trying to look awake.

It was Arashi who opened the door.

"Have you seen Gaddes?" the young woman asked without preamble. Millerna stared at her, still shaking off her drowsiness. Arashi looked rather sullen, the princess thought. She hadn't had a chance to take a good look at her yet, as Allen had ordered his student below deck nearly the moment she'd been pulled up on board. Now she had the chance to take a long, appraising look at the woman who had gotten so close to Allen Schezar in such an unexpected way.

Not that Millerna was jealous.

Arashi was wearing a long brown cape that seemed to be made of a heavy, durable material. It was swept backwards out of the way, revealing black pants and a sleeveless tunic that came down to just above her knees. Over the tunic was a belt and sash for a scabbard. The princess noted wrist guards, the only accoutrements with any decoration to them. They were simple silver gauntlets etched with symbols Millerna didn't recognize. The sword pupil's hair was left down, probably not long enough to be tied in any particular style, but kept in place with a thin leather headband with tassles hanging down in the middle of her forehead. That reminded Millerna of Allen, the first time she had ever seen him. Master Balgus had brought the young scoundrel before King Aston, and asked to have him pardoned for thievery. Millerna had been very young at the time, but she remembered it clearly. The similiarities between Arashi's clothing, stance and facial expression, and Allen's at that time, were striking.

"Excuse me," Arashi asked, the sullenness not directed at the princess but thinly veiled nonetheless, "could you please tell me where I can find Gaddes? I'm supposed to report to him for duty."

"I'm sorry," Millerna replied, embarassed by her blatant staring. "I believe he went back above deck."

"Thank you," Arashi replied with a nod that might have been a bow. She closed the door, and Millerna found herself smiling. She didn't have time to realize what she found so amusing, though, because in a few moments she was solidly asleep.

…

"Sgt. Gaddes?"

"Hey, kid. You can drop the title. What'd the boss sentence you to?" Gaddes' knowing half-smile of sympathy would have been irritating on most people, but not him.

Arashi finally relaxed her countenance a little, and gazed vaguely off into the distance. "He said I'm now the lowest-ranking member of the crew," she reported, grateful for the oppurtunity to pout a little. "He told me to report to you for duty."

"Figures. It's your pride he wants to punish, you know."

"I know. He thinks I was headstrong."

"Well, were you?" Gaddes asked.

"Of course! But only because I was worried, and I wanted to help. I mean, he told me he was leaving to take care of an emergency in Fanelia. Everyone in Asturia knows what happened to King Fanel. News travels fast. Did he really think I wouldn't know where he was going? I owe a great debt to Fanelia. All of us from Zaibach do, whether we choose to recognize it or not. He should have known that… he should have let me come with him from the start," she concluded, lifting her chin defiantly.

"I'm not surprised you followed us," Gaddes surmised. "I'm just surprised at how you did it. And how fast you caught up. You've got a lot of guts, kid."

"Thank you," Arashi said sincerely.

"It's only half compliment," Gaddes replied by way of apology. "Anyway, I guess I have to give you some work to do now. We lost two crew members, so there's a lot to be done. I don't suppose you know much about how to work an airship?"

"Not really, no."

"Well, you'll learn. Until then… there's rags and a bucket in the storage cupboard over there," he said, pointing. "Better start swabbing the deck."

Wordlessly, Arashi grabbed her supplies and headed out the door.

"Kid?"

"Yes?" She hesitated in the doorway.

"You really worried him back there. I hope you apologized about that. But just so you know, I think deep down he's kinda proud of you too."

A rare smile was Gaddes' reward for that leak of intelligence.

…

It was almost disgustingly easy for Merle to make her way towards the holding area where Hitomi was being kept, so that's where she went first. From there she found a vantage point that allowed her to watch the goings-on around her captive friend. Only one guard was anywhere in sight, and that guard was so drowsy he looked like he might even be sleeping with his eyes open.

Even though the sun had come up, it was such an overcast day that Merle could still use the shadowy areas of the ship for cover. It would probably rain soon, maybe even storm, but for now the skies were calm. The effect of the cloudy sky and droning engines combined in such a way that even the catgirl felt she could soon be lulled to sleep if she weren't careful; she would keep close vigilance on the guard to see if he might succumb to his lethargy and nod off. Then, it would be an easy task to break Hitomi out. What they'd do from there, the catgirl had no idea- certainly a fast escape would be necessary, since the pirates would no doubt search the ship on learning that their captive had gone missing. She, Hitomi and Osha could not stay hidden under such surveillance for long.

The catgirl set her mind to work on possible ways to make their getaway, supressing a yawn. She would not fall asleep! Not when Hitomi depended on her, and Van depended on Hitomi. She wouldn't allow anything bad to happen… to either of her friends. Resolve thus strengthened, Merle crouched a little lower and kept her eyes fixed on the guard. Eventually, she would get her chance. She just knew it.

Merle had completely forgotten her original mission to get her pen and paper. She had bigger ideas.

…

It was entirely unexpected. One minute Osha was dozing against the side of one of the barrels, the next he found himself yanked to a standing position by the hair. A surly looking mercenary sneered in his face, the breath that emenated from him so rotten that Osha winced from the smell more than anything else.

"Well, looky here- a stowaway," the miscreant drawled in mocking tones. "Wonder how you got on board. Couldn't have been from that Asturian ship we boarded, could it?"

Osha merely swallowed, knowing he was completely helpless. The pirate's greasy, hairy arm showed no sign of strain from dangling a bard by the hair. His biceps seemed to have biceps of their own. Briefly, he wondered about Merle. Had she been caught?

"I thought those knights had some sense in them, letting us take the girl like that," the pirate remarked, and took a moment to spit. "Seems like you sure don't, though. Know what we do to stowaways?"

The bard tried to shake his head, but as he was still hanging painfully by the hair, he was unable. "N-no," he managed. He was still worried about Merle. It doesn't matter what happens to me, he told himself, as long as she's okay. I must put her out of my mind. I can't let them know.

"We use 'em for decoration," the looming ogre grinned broadly. Osha could see a few of his teeth were missing, and his face puckered in revulsion. His mouth was probably rotted out. This of course should not be his primary concern, as from the menacing sound of his aggressor's words, Osha was about to undergo something unpleasant.