Disclaimer: EscaFlowne is not mine. Its characters, its storyline, and its world are not mine either, though I wish may wish they were. Many characters you will meet in this fiction, however, are mine, so I would appreciate it if no one used them without my permission.

Author's Notes: I've finally gotten a review that will help, no offense to all you reviewers. It's just that, not so recently, I received a review that criticized my work. I thank whoever wrote it, seeing as to how I'm on this site not only because I like to write but also because I want to become a better writer. So, because of that review from an alleged drunkard, who made more sense than many of my friends when they're sober, I've decided to rewrite completely this fic. It will have essentially the same storyline, but it'll be much more interesting if you reread the whole thing because I'm going to be dropping some clues as to what will happen later on. Thanks a lot for reading and please read and review. .v

Fortune 1-Rememberances and Ordeals

"Van, I'll miss you," Hitomi said quietly, choking back tears. The wind blew her school uniform around her and her short brown hair tickled her face. She blinked her magnificent green eyes in another futile attempt to keep the tears from coming.

After so long in Gaea, after so long away from home, Hitomi had decided that she wanted to become stronger and, though she had yet to realize it herself, she had. "There has to be another way," Van's voice matched Hitomi's. The young woman stared at the horizon; the two moons were just starting to rise, their majestic faces reflected in the water under the bridge she was on. She couldn't bring herself too look at her companion; it hurt her enough to be hearing his voice and knowing that this would be the last time.

After what felt like hours, Hitomi answered, "There is none… I don't want to leave. Not now, not yet, not ever." Hitomi sighed, a sound that reflected the sadness she felt inside of her. She wasn't only going to leave the world that had been home to her these past months, but she was also going to be leaving the man whom she had fallen in love with, the young man that stood behind her now and whose very presence was torturing her silently.

Hitomi felt Van's hand on her shoulder before he spun her around to look at him. "Then don't," he breathed, his face was hopeful, but deep beneath that hope Hitomi could sense that he knew it was impossible.

The young woman looked down, "I know that it would be selfish if I stayed." Van loosened his grip on Hitomi and she took the opportunity to once again lean against the side of the bridge and stare at the rising moons. "This is the only time I can leave, when our worlds are closest. I still have people waiting for me back home; there are so many people I can't bear to leave behind…my friends, my family… I can't just forget about them," Hitomi looked down at her pendant and was hit with a sudden stroke of genius. She turned around to smile at Van, it felt like the first time her lips had moved in that way in such a long time, but it was a welcome feeling.

"I'll give you this to remember me by," Hitomi said as she unclasped her necklace and placed it in Van's hands, her smile faded. Van's gaze remained transfixed upon the pendant, glowing with the faint light of the moons. A slight breeze ruffled the young king's hair and he looked up only to find that Hitomi had disappeared just as suddenly as she had appeared.

Van leaned against the edge of the bridge and watched as the Mystic Moon, Hitomi's world, disappeared from view. As the young man bent his head low a glittering light in the water caught his eyes. Without thinking, the impulsive young man jumped into the water. He surfaced and wiped the wet hair out of his eyes to see the object that he now had clasped in his hands. A silvery feather glowed in his palm and Van smiled in a way that he didn't think he would be able to any more. "I'll never forget you, Hitomi. Someday, I will find a way to bring you back…"

---Japan seven years later---

Five-year-old Sayako was skipping home from school. Her long, thick, silky black hair fanned out behind her in the gentle autumn zephyr. The young girl's bright blue eyes were closed and her face was lit up with an angelic smile. Sayako was quietly humming the tune to a song that her best friend, Arekusa, had shown her earlier that day. Suddenly, the young girl slammed into something. Her pink lunchbox flew out of her hand and slid across the ground as she fell backwards.

"Hey, kid," said the person that Sayako had bumped into.

"I'm sorry! I'm really, really sorry!" the young girl shouted. "I didn't mean to." She felt extremely bad about hitting someone. Sayako didn't take the chance to look at the other person until she had stood up and brushed most of the dirt off of her clothes. She couldn't do anything about the stinging scrape on the palm of her hand from the fall.

Sayako looked up, her angelic blue eyes looking at the person through her long eyelashes. She had bumped into a frighteningly beautiful young girl. She must have been thirteen at least; Sayako was never very good at judging people's ages. The teenager had piercing brown eyes that were focused into a cold, hard glare that chilled the younger girl to her bones. Her short blonde hair framed her face, but at this moment it was floating around her in the breeze. The older girl blew a bubble of gum, somehow the feat only managed to make her look even more frightening than before.

"Are you Hirada Aiichirou's sister?" came a voice from the shadows of the nearby alleyway. A young boy, probably about the same age as the girl, sat atop a pile of boxes. He was with two more boys, one was leaning against a dumpster and the other was sitting on the lowest of the pile of boxes. They were even more intimidating than the girl, if that was possible.

The boy who had spoken wore a red bandana. His black hair was spiked in a way that Sayako did not think possible. His cold, dark eyes seemed to look through Sayako, and, unknowingly, she hugged herself trying not to let him see inside of her. The one that was casually leaning against the dumpster had spiked brown hair tied in a short ponytail in the back. He wore sunglasses that hid his eyes, Sayako was afraid to see what they were like anyway. But the last boy, sitting on the boxes with one leg up and the other one swinging on the side, was wearing a kindly smile. He had kind amber eyes and long red hair tied back in a ponytail at the nape of his neck.

Sayako couldn't help but grin, the red-haired boy's smile was infectious. And besides, intimidating though the group was, they could not have been bad, they knew Aiichirou by his first name. "Yup!"

The blonde girl smiled and stepped backwards a little and snapped her fingers. For a few seconds, Sayako stared, confused, at the girl, at least until the older girl's smile turned into an ugly smirk. The younger girl felt something slam into her and she fell forwards onto her knees. She quickly got up and turned around only to be hit again, in the stomach this time. She doubled over, this time she decided not to get up. Someone kicked her over and she curled up into a ball. Tears streamed her face as she felt each blow make contact.

Sayako heard someone screaming. It took her a moment to realize that it was her. It seemed like such an unearthly sound, nothing that had ever come out of her mouth before. A series of sounds suddenly burst through her own; a gasp and an unearthly shriek, someone talking and the sound of fists making contact with a person's skin. The young girl desperately wanted to look up, to see what was happening, but her muscles refused to move. She just lay curled up on the ground with her eyes closed, trying to catch her breath.

She felt herself being lifted off the ground. The first thought running through her mind was that she had died and was being carried to heaven, but then opened her eyes a little. She felt someone's arms around her, she saw the blurred outline of a face, and she smelled something so familiar and comforting that she imagined curling up near a fire and falling asleep. It was Aiichirou…it had to be, it could be no one else. Little Sayako knew her brother all too well; his feel, his smell, everything.

Sayako loved her brother unimaginably. She followed him around like a puppy, imitating his actions. The two of them were inseparable, one could never be found without the other.

The little girl waited a moment to regain her sight, not that she needed it to see her brother. She had all his features locked away in the safest part of her brain. She closed her eyes and imagined her brother in her mind's eye, carrying her back to their house. Aiichirou and Sayako had the same hair, their father's thick, black hair that shone like raven's wings in the sun. Aiichirou had his mother's chocolate brown eyes and a voice that was like honey for the ears. The boy had decided to spike his hair for the day, and two unruly strands of his bangs were died a bright fiery red.

"I'm so sorry," Aiichirou said quietly. His voice sounded strained oddly strained, as if he was trying to hold back tears. Unfortunately, his attempt was in vain. Sayako felt his tears hitting the side of her face. She buried her face into her brother's chest, not wanting any of this to be real.

Aiichirou's strength was the one thing she could count on. Papa was busy, so he always came home at a different time and Mama was always meeting with her many brothers and sisters, of whom Aiichirou and Sayako had never met. Aiichirou was always there for Sayako; a shoulder to cry on, a pat on the back. He never cried. He was always smiling and laughing, no matter the circumstance. Hearing her brother cry, more unsettling was feeling the cold reality of the tears, shattered Sayako's view of the world.

"Don't…cry…!" the little girl shouted, tears now streaming down her face, streaking the dirt that already masked her visage. She clutched her brother's shirt in her fists and buried her face still deeper into the now completely soaked material. Aiichirou stopped and hugged his sister tighter.

"Don't worry, I won't anymore, I promise," he said with a smile, a few rebellious tears still glistening in his eyes. Sayako looked up, her brother's face was blurred by her own tears, but she still managed a weak smile. And so, she fell asleep, still clutching her brother's soaked red shirt, the smile starting to fade from her lips…

---

I awoke and slowly waited for my vision to focus. I was faintly aware of being strapped tightly to an uncomfortable hospital-like bed, I say faintly aware because I was in that half-conscious state of one who had just slept for a very long time. I could tell that I was someplace different, because I didn't smell Aiichirou. I know that sounds a little strange, but that was one way I always identified him. It was a distinct smell, somewhat like vanilla and a little like crème brulée. There wasn't even a trace of him; this new place smelled of hospital, that dreadful smell that scarred its way into the memories of those who had ever experienced it.

It did not take long for my eyesight to return to me. I turned my head left and right, not only to take in my surroundings but also to test whether I could or not. It was difficult; my neck was strapped to the bed, though much more loosely than my arms, legs, and abdomen. It was an interesting place that seemed to fit so well with its smell. The walls were of such a pure white that, had the lights not been so dim, would have blinded me. Large windows covered the walls, but black drapes were drawn closed over them so as not to let in the slightest ray of light. Entrancing, yet grotesque and horrifying, pictures were pinned to almost any parts of the wall that did not have a window. There were images of people being tortured, of bloody massacres, and of fires so terrible that they could only have come from hell. But the thing that was branded the deepest into my impressionable mind was the door. I could see it clearly from where I was so uncomfortably laying without having to move my head. It was huge, twice the size of a normal door, and made of a dark beautiful wood. Elegant phoenixes, vines and dragons were engraved into the door in such a way that they seemed to be telling a story.

A burst of pain buzzed up my left arm. Some people might find it strange that I can remember such things, but it is only due to the fact that the pain has yet to leave me. Still sometimes, a sharp pain will run across my arm from the scar on the underside of my wrist.

The scar…that was the source of it all. The pain that I felt shooting up my arm... and everything that happened to me afterwards. From what I could see (due to the limited movement of my neck, just trying to look down at my immobile arm caused my eyes to water) it looked like a triangle. Inside of it was another, smaller, triangle, its tip the midpoint of the base of the other. It kind of reminded me of something I had seen in one of my brother's videogames. My head snapped back onto the bed once more, the searing pain from the impact made me feel as if my head had split in two.

Suddenly, I felt another burst of pain shoot through my arm. I screamed, I couldn't help it. It was probably one of the stupider things I'd done in my life, including everything that happened after it. As soon as the first hint of a noise left my lips the door flew open. Light streamed through for an instant until it was loudly slammed shut, I would have expected such a nice door to be treated better.

I stopped screaming and noticed the group of people around me. I assumed they were all men, but I couldn't be too sure. They each wore ambiguous masks over their faces and hoods over their heads. Cloaks covered them from head to toe so that not even an inch of skin was left visible. Though the styles were the same, they all wore different colors. It reminded me slightly of a bad fashion magazine, the kind that showed the same clothes over and over on different people and in different colors. As I was studying their wardrobes, I noticed that each of them had a blade of some sort. Some had daggers or swords strapped to their sides, or a long sword strapped across their backs.

I didn't have time to study them more. "She woke too soon!" one of the people closest to me yelled, a hint of panic creeping into his voice, at least it sounded like a he. This man was dressed in yellow, as were quite a few of the, what I guessed to be, a hundred figures.

"It has failed," said another figure, whom I also assumed was male. He wore black and was speaking so coolly that I felt the chill creep up my bones and freeze the marrow.

Another figure stepped forward, gazing intently at me rather than the others. In the dim light it looked to be wearing deep red, but it could have been a strange shade of orange. "We cannot risk it," the person said, this one sounded female. "We must dispose of her."

At the time, it had taken me quite a while to realize that 'dispose of' meant 'kill,' just in fancier terms. I refused to take that lying down, not to be meant literally of course. I did not want to die then and there. "NO!" The word forced its way out of my mouth before I had even thought to say it.

I got the distinct impression that the woman was smiling at me, though I couldn't say for sure why I thought that. All heads turned toward me as my shout echoed and died in the cold, dark room. "So, she is awake enough to speak…" said one of the figures in white. It sounded like an old man, a very pleased and surprised, yet somehow proud, old man. Just as the words left his lips the man in black, whose voice made the hairs on the back of my neck stand on end, unsheathed his dagger from his side and held it up to my neck.

It hovered there a moment as the swoosh of the other figures' blades surrounded me as they leapt out of their sheaths. I shivered, a reaction that I did not wish to take place. The man in black chuckled to himself, as if thinking back on an inside joke. His laugh made me want to shed my skin and run. It was, if possible, colder than his voice. It not only chilled the marrow in my bones and raised the hairs on the back of my neck, but it also gave the impression of someone who enjoyed making people suffer.

"I can't die yet!" I found myself yelling, the tears were starting to blur my vision again, "I'm not even in the first grade!" Stupid? Definitely, but effective all the same. The man drew his blade from my neck, if even for an instant. At this time, every instant was precious to me.

The man laughed. It was soon echoed by every person in the room, not including myself of course. Just from this, I could tell that they regarded him with respect, that or he ruled them as a fierce dictator who only managed to keep his position by instilling fear into his subordinates and people. The chilling laughter stopped abruptly and was echoed through the forbidding room. The dark figure once again held his blade up to my neck. Just as I could feel it with the woman in red, I could tell that this man, too, was smiling. Well, at least one of us would be enjoying himself when I died.

I felt the blade piece my skin, just lightly enough to cause a thin line of blood to trickle down my neck and onto my hair, which was fanned out in all different directions. I screamed. I didn't hurt, it just scared me.

An image of my brother flashed in my mind's eyes. For an instant I thought I smelled him, that sweet aroma which I always identified with him. Oh, how the mind tortures the innocent, or something like that. I thought I was going mad, delusional from fear, until I heard his voice, that is. Actually…I thought I was going mad even after I heard his comforting voice.

Just hearing Aiichirou's voice, and of course smelling his sweet fragrance, tortured me more than anything else they could have conjured up. Then I heard something else, another familiar voice, "Sayako!" it shouted. My eyes flew open and I turned my neck to the side a little. I knew that voice anywhere, just as well as I knew Aiichirou's. It was my Papa!

His blue eyes seemed transfixed around his face. At that moment, I no longer felt as if I was in the disturbing white room, though I could distinctly feel the leather straps cutting into my skin. Everything around me was black, but for a few people who chose to make their way to the scene. My Papa was one of them and he stood, his bright blue eyes seemingly transfixed upon my dirty face from behind his square glasses, next to my brother. They were a few steps in front of everyone else, which included all the family members I knew and met, as well as Arekusa.

Arekusa stood in the back, her face towards the ground, and her back toward me. I couldn't understand why, and at the time I didn't really care. I was just so glad that they had all come to save me. Looking back on it now, I suppose I should have paid more attention.

My gaze shifted back to my father and brother. Aiichirou's head was bent low, his hair covering his eyes. "I let those kids hurt you," he balled his hands into fists and his voice seemed strained again. He lifted his face so that I could see his tear-filled eyes. "I won't let it happen again, I promise. I'll protect you."

I tried to speak, but couldn't manage anything. Everything was starting to blur and I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "You're a very special little girl, Sayako," my father said. My eyes snapped back to him. "Not only to me, but to the fate of the world. You must promise me to live through the darkness and shine brighter than ever, brighter than the brightest star in the sky."

Everyone said something to me and my gaze shifted to each of them in turn as they spoke. Well, everyone except for Arekusa. She looked so grief-stricken and disheveled that I wondered how she was able to stand at all. Her eyes were slightly out of focus as she continued to stare at the black ground.

Suddenly the room slammed down around me, and there was everyone, standing beside the bed while the masked figures surrounded it. For a few seconds nothing happened, but then that's when it began…the image that was burned forever into my memory.

Blood of loved ones touched my flesh, each droplet burned as it made contact with my skin. Aiichirou ran over to me, pushing friend and foe alike out of the way. He quickly undid the straps that bound me to the table, and before I could get up myself, he whisked me off the bed and ran through the scene that could have been easily mistaken for hell.

I hugged him tightly, hoping that, when I opened my eyes, everything would be back to normal. Aiichirou tripped and dropped me. I skidded painfully across the floor. Slowly I started to get up, but then a calming voice deep in the back of my mind spoke out. "Don't move, don't get up," it said in a sweet, deep voice.

Aiichirou jumped up and starting running toward me. I saw the man in black appear behind him. "Aiichirou!" I shouted, knowing already that it was too late. My brother saw him out the corner of his eyes. Aiichirou dove toward me and landed, kneeling, beside me. He smiled reassuringly, his dark brown eyes closed. Suddenly a sword blade emerged from his stomach. Instantly his eyes opened wide with surprise, and, since he knew that it would be the last thing he would ever do, he smiled in an attempt to comfort me and tell me that it was all right.

The man in black pulled his blade out of my brother's stomach with a horrible sucking sound. He looked at me a moment, not even the slightest hint of pity in his eyes, and then turned away, back to the battlefield. I got onto my hands and knees and crawled over to my brother's body. He was laying face first on the ground.

As I knelt next to my brother's lifeless body, the world seemed to fade away around me. I just kept seeing my brother falling, his last smile still on his lips. He just kept falling, never hitting the ground. He was dead, Aiichirou was dead. He would never smile again; he would never laugh again, or comfort me again. He was dead and it was my fault. I kept thinking, 'if I had done this,' or 'if I had done that…' I blamed myself for the death of the person that I loved most.

"Arekusa!" My father's voice rang through the chilling silence that had infected me. "Take Sayako and run!" It sounded so far away. I felt someone grab my arm and drag me up and across the room. I felt as if I was floating above my body, taking in the whole scene from someplace far away. Even Arekusa's touch felt so far away.

I saw a blade run through Papa's stomach, exactly the way it had when I watched Aiichirou's murder. He gasped for breath and fell forward, his hands holding the bloodied tip of the blade.

"Come on! Wake up, Sayako!" I snapped back to reality at the sharpness in Arekusa's voice. A glowing beam of light descended before us, and there was a clear path leading to it. I found myself sprinting to it, dragging Arekusa along behind me.

We were almost there and I sensed something. I sensed that this strange light was calling to me. I felt someone push me, hard, from behind. Just as I stumbled into the path of light, I turned around and saw a blade run through Arekusa's heart. She didn't gasp for breath as my father had done, she didn't smile as my brother had done; she just fell over, instant death. "Arekusa!" I looked frantically around to room, everyone was dead. The bodies of my loved ones were strewn across the floor and I noticed that one was missing, my mother.

---

Sayako's angelic blue eyes fluttered open. She was lying on her back in front of her house. She dragged herself up and dusted herself off. She was covered with cuts and bruises, but there were no signs of the terrible ordeal that she had just witnessed. It had been nothing but a horrible nightmare.

The little girl flung open the door and ran inside. "Mama!" she cried as she burst into the kitchen where her mother was sitting. Her eyes were red, as if she had been crying, and her skin was blotchy, but she was smiling broadly.

The woman rose from her seat, the chair crashing to the ground behind her, and swooped down onto her child like a hawk. She held Sayako in a tight embrace, as if she was afraid of letting go. "I'm so glad you're alright," her mother said. Sayako took it to mean that she was worried since she had been out so long, it was nearly dark.

"I'm fine, Mama," Sayako said brightly, an innocent smile lighting her face. "Where are Papa and Aiichirou?" she glanced quickly around the room, as if expecting them to step up and hug her, too.

"They're visiting one of your aunties and they won't be back for a very long time." Her mother's voice sounded a little strange—congested maybe?—but it wasn't enough to alarm the little girl. That just proved it; everything that had happened was a dream. Sayako could not imagine that her mother would ever lie to her…

---Two months later---

Little Sayako was skipping down the street, just as she had been that day so long ago. She had grown taller and her hair was longer than before. The child was swinging her pink lunchbox back and forth, thinking about her father, brother, and best friend, as she made her way down the street. A quiet tune made its way past her lips; she was once again humming the song that Arekusa had taught her.

It was two months now, and she still had no word of her father or brother. They must have still been visiting her auntie. But, the strangest part of it was that Arekusa had been missing for a long time, too. She hadn't seen her best friend since the day she had that horrible nightmare.

A sharp, distinct pain shattered through Sayako's thoughts. She dropped her lunchbox and clutched her left hand. Her whole right hand was circled around the wrist. The young girl was afraid to look down, though she had convinced herself that the nightmare wasn't real, it still haunted her dreams at night and would not leave her mind.

Slowly she looked down and a horrible image was etched into the underside of her wrist. She gasped and fell over. This couldn't be happening! It was supposed to have been a dream!

Thousands of thoughts swarmed through her head, the most prominent few: her mother had lied to her, Arekusa and Papa were dead, and she had killed Aiichirou. A horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach told her that something bad was going to happen, just as it had done in her nightmare.

Sayako looked up; she was still sitting uncomfortably on the ground, and noticed the dark clouds invading a small part of the sky. That was strange, the day had been clear so far, not a cloud in sight. This couldn't have been normal. It took the girl a few moments to realize that the distant clouds were hovering near her home.

She got up and sprinted, leaving her lunchbox abandoned on the ground. As she drew nearer to the source of the foreboding dark clouds an acrid stench surrounded her. It was the smell of fire, and she was immediately reminded of the painting of the hellfire in the white room that haunted her dreams.

Not only were the flames near her house, they were in her house! When Sayako drew near enough to see the source of the clouds, she realized that it was her own home that was being burnt to the ground. Desperately, she hoped that her mother had made it safely out and was alright.

A crowd was gathered a safe distance around the house. Sayako ran through the people, searching for even the slightest glimpse of her mother. "Mama!" She screamed. There was no answer. The girl found herself beside the fire truck. Without thinking, she sprinted forward, trying to get into her house. Her mother was still trapped inside.

Someone grabbed her arm by the elbow and held her back. Sayako struggled and tried to twist out of the person's strong grasp. "Let me go! My mama's still in there!" but in the commotion no one paid any heed to the girl's cries, and she felt warm tears streaking once again down her face.

"Sayako…" the girl dropped to her knees and buried her face in her hands. "Sayako…" she looked up, and in the smoke she saw her mother's face. She looked wildly around her; surely someone else must be seeing this. "Sayako, I love you," she said slowly, as if relishing the feel of the words on her tongue or the sound of them resonating in her ears.

"Mama?" Sayako whispered, she tasted a few salty tears on her tongue and she licked her dry, cracked lips.

"I'm sorry, I lied to you," said Sayako's mother. "I didn't want to hurt you…" her voice was starting to sound strained. "Aiichirou, your father, Arekusa…they're all gone. They all died to protect you. I couldn't do anything for you, I'm so sorry."

"That's not true," the girl said quietly, then louder, "that's not true!"

"Listen to me, Sayako," her mother said sternly. "You can change everything. You're special; you have the power to change the destiny that we've all been forced into. You have a greater reason for living. Don't you ever forget that. Please, Sayako, keep on living, for all of us…" At those last words, Sayako watched her mother's face fade and disappear in the smoke.

She got up and started walking away from the scene, she didn't know where she was going, she just wanted to get as far away from the fire as possible. And so, alone, little Sayako wandered the streets.

---

"Mom, I'm home!" Hitomi Kanzaki opened the door to her house. She carefully slipped off her shoes and walked into the kitchen, shuffling through the mail. The young woman now found herself teacher, as well as track coach, at her old school. She was waiting until she had saved up a lot of money before she moved out of her mother's home. "Guess she's not here again." Hitomi flung her bag onto the floor.

Before she could finish shuffling through the mail, she noticed a note from her mother on the table. "I wonder…" Hitomi said curiously as she picked up the paper and read. The handwriting was messy and looked rushed.

Hitomi,

I'm going to be home late tonight. There was a fire on the other side of town; your aunt was caught in it. She didn't make it out. I've already asked the firemen if they've seen her family, but they all seem to be missing. Someone said a little girl tried to run in earlier, I think that might be her daughter. I'm going out to look for her.

There's some instant ramen in the cupboard, it's the kind you like, chicken. I'll be home as soon as I can.

Mom

"Aunt Torura died? That's horrible," Hitomi couldn't bring herself to feel too badly over her aunt's death. After all, she never really knew the woman that well. She was worried about her aunt's children; her young son and even younger daughter. "I hope they find them…" she muttered.

Hitomi made her way to the cupboard and took out some instant ramen, all the while still shuffling through the mail. One letter caught her attention. She placed the box of ramen on the counter and sat at the table. The young woman ran her fingers over the envelope. The paper was stained, as if it was old, and the writing was extravagant, not to mention written in shiny, dark purple ink.

She tore open the envelope and two things fell out: a letter and a picture. Hitomi grabbed the letter and examined it. It was written in the same flourishing handwriting and purple ink, and the paper seemed burned at the edges. She had to read over it a few times before she could fully absorb its meaning.

Lady Hitomi,

We are aware that there has been an accident today involving your aunt. I apologize for being blunt, but we are running short on time. Your aunt did not make it out alive. Your uncle, Akusuru, and their son, Aiichirou, are no longer a live as well, though their deaths were under different circumstances.

Your aunt left one thing behind, one very important thing…her five-year-old daughter, Sayako. The circumstances of Akusuru's and Aiichirou's deaths were involved in a great ordeal that the girl had to endure. She will now be granted amazing powers, much like yours when you endeavored to Gaea, only more powerful and burdensome.

Your cousin has no one left to turn to. She has no family to turn to but yours. Please, find her. She is more important than even she may know. Attached is a photo of her. By the time you find her she will have changed her name from 'Sayako' to 'Star.' Take good care of her, quite a lot is riding on that girl's shoulders.

Hitomi looked at the letter. All traces of her skepticism vanished. Why? Well, because the letter mentioned things that only someone close to her would know, such as her aunt's death. Also, they had called her 'Lady Hitomi' something that only those in Gaea had done. And lastly, because of the mention of Gaea; know one but her closest friends and family knew of her venture in the other world all those years ago.

The young woman ran her hand through her short brown hair, and her eyes fell on the picture that had fallen out of the envelope. Slowly she picked it up. There was a young girl with bright blue eyes and long, disheveled black hair. She was sitting on the sidewalk, her eyes unfocused, and her clothes tattered. Hitomi pocketed the picture and ran out the door.

She drove around the street a couple of times, but she did not catch even a glimpse of the young girl for whom she was searching. Exhausted, Hitomi pulled into her driveway and got out of her car.

She sighed and looked across the street. She couldn't quite explain why she felt so disappointed; she hadn't even really known the person from whom she had received the mysterious letter. But its words echoed through her mind, she has no family to turn to but yours… Quite a lot is riding on that girl's shoulders…

Hitomi gasped and her eyes widened. She grabbed the photo from her pocket and looked at it a moment. Her gaze shifted back across the street again. The young woman smiled before pocketing the photo again and crossing the street.

---

"Mama," I said quietly. I went over everyone's names in my head, the names of everyone who had died on my behalf. Not a tear leaked from my eyes. I couldn't cry, I couldn't do anything, I just felt so empty on the inside. Like a hollow shell, my spirit had floated away. At least, that's what I felt like until I reached the end of my list and said the last name to myself, "Aiichirou." I couldn't stop the tears from coming as his last moments replayed themselves in my mind. His desperate leap, the first smile, his eyes widening and the blood-soaked blade, his last slow, lazy smile, and the figure clad in black who had killed him.

I let my feet wander on their own; my head was too busy swarming with all those angry thoughts. I had no idea as to where they were leading me, nor did I really care at that moment.

I knew I didn't have the cleanest of images; I had been wandering through the maze of streets for what felt like centuries, but must have only really been an hour or so. I suppose this was why people were starting to stare, or it might have been because I was alone and crying. It didn't matter either way. I paid them no mind, just as no one had listened to me when I cried that Mama was still in the house in the fire. Everything was just too far away. I felt as if I was no longer wandering through the familiar streets, but instead I felt like I was in a completely different world. I was living in a world so far away from everyone else because I had experienced things that they never had, things that separated me from the rest of the world.

It took me a moment before I realized that I was no longer walking, but instead sitting on a curb in a peaceful section of town….a section of town that was not touched by the deadly fire. I tried to stop the tears from coming, I tried so hard to stop crying, but I couldn't. I tried to be strong like Arekusa and Aiichirou, but I couldn't. Just thinking about their strength and courage made more tears come.

I don't know how long I was sitting there, crying, before I felt it, that sharp pain in my left wrist that always seemed to indicate something bad about to happen. I didn't need to look at my wrist to know that the dreadful scar was back. And in a fleeting moment, I wondered if it meant that I would be next. In that same instant, I decided that I didn't care if I was. I had nothing left to live for anymore, I had nowhere to go and no family to turn to. A world without Arekusa, Papa, Mama, and Aiichirou just seemed too empty, and so I didn't care if it was now my turn to die as they all had before me.

I lifted my head and looked across the street. A young woman stood there, she looked strangely familiar. Then I realized why, she had the same build as my Mama did, when I had seen pictures of her when she was younger. The woman got out of her car and turned in my direction, her short brown hair whipped around her face. She caught sight of me and her bright green eyes grew wide in recognition.

I was too far away to really care, though. I was seeing everything as if it was through a tunnel. I saw the woman take something out of her pocket. She kept looking from it to me, and back, under normal circumstances it would have annoyed me greatly, but at that moment, I didn't really care.

She crossed the street in a few easy, confident strides. Maybe she was the reason my scar turned up, maybe she would kill me or something…

"Hi, I'm Hitomi. Why are you all alone?" Hitomi…that name sounded oddly familiar, but I didn't bother to think of why. I didn't want to answer the question, how do you tell a complete stranger that your family and friend died trying to protect you and your mother just died in a terrible fire? So I sat and watched her silently from my place so far away. When I didn't answer she tried again, "What's your name?" she asked this time.

My name? I wanted to shed my name and be someone completely different. I no longer wanted to be Sayako. Sayako had killed Papa, Arekusa, and Aiichirou. Sayako had witnessed Mama die without being able to do anything. Sayako only caused death and danger in her wake.

I couldn't quite figure out why, but I found myself trusting this girl, however unwillingly. "Star," I said quietly, remembering my father's last words to me. She smiled, it was unnerving…she had the same slow, lazy smile as my brother. I suppose that was why I trusted her; she was so much like my brother. She walked with such confidence and she gave off the aura of having great inner strength. This Hitomi woman was so much like Aiichirou…

For a moment I wondered why I hadn't told her my real name, too. Why I hadn't told her everything that happened, why I hadn't opened my heart. I realized that I wanted to harden my heart. I never wanted to get hurt again; I never wanted to care for anyone again. Being lonely was better than the pain of losing a loved one. I just didn't want to be alone anymore…

---

Hitomi held out her hand for Sayako, now Star, her smile still playing on her lips. Star grabbed the woman's hand to pull herself up. Once she had regained her balance she quickly let go and shoved her hands into her pockets. They walked back to the house side-by-side and they both thought of how their lives had changed.