Disclaimer: I will not write another disclaimer for this story again. For the last time, I do not own EscaFlowne or any of its characters or places etc. But I do own a few select characters, as well as cities and other locations, mentioned in this fiction.

Fortune 3-Vision

"It's beautiful," Hitomi gasped at the sight of the city below her. It was true, after all, the last time she had seen this place it had been destroyed by Melefs. "It looks better than before." Which wasn't a lie, it indeed looked very similar to how it had before, but something about it made it look different, brighter, happier even.

Star took this moment to reveal her sarcastic cynicism, "Great for you," she said in an all-too-obviously falsely cheery voice, "I'm so glad for you, Fanelia." The false cheeriness died quickly, "Now, let's get going. I can only stare at one thing for so long…" she pretended to gag.

Van stared a moment, stunned. He opened his mouth to snap back at her, but Hitomi laid a hand on her shoulder, "We're not in Japan anymore," she said, suddenly completely responsible. "Things are done differently here."

"Really, I never would have guessed," the teenager said dryly, "Besides," she regained her rude, snappish tone, "I don't give a damn about where the hell we are. I'll act the way I always act. And I need to get home," her voice suddenly softened, which took the others by surprise. "There's something important that I need to take care of tomorrow. If I miss it, I will…" her voice trailed off menacingly. "I need to get away; you guys are making me sick."

Once again, Van opened his mouth to say something, but Hitomi just shook her head and gave him a meaningful look. With obvious difficulty he closed his mouth and led them to the castle in the center of Fanelia. Oftentimes he found himself throwing agitated, yet curious, glances back at the younger girl from the Mystic Moon. He had assumed that all the people there were like Hitomi, how wrong he was.

"Blai," Van was obviously struggling to keep a civil tongue, "why don't you show…umm…" he didn't recall having ever been told the girl's name.

"Star, she's my cousin," Hitomi said quickly, before her sharp-tongued cousin could say anything else to dig her deeper into the trouble she had already begun to be submerged under.

"Show her a room, will you? We all need to talk, join us when you're done…"

The boy who looked like a younger Van, but for his bright blue eyes, shrugged, looking about as enthusiastic as the girl, "So," he said, trying very hard to be friendly, "your name's Star? That's definitely original," the two of them walked into the castle, a little bit behind the others who were chatting unconcernedly, apparently catching up on however many years it had been since they had last seen each other, "did your parents…?"

"Shut up!" The girl yelled, Blai turned around and he quailed under her icy cold glare, "I don't give a damn who the hell you are, but you have no right to go meandering into my private life. You know what? I don't give a damn which room you were planning on giving me, I'm perfectly fine here," she flung open the door to the nearest room and walked in.

Blai watched as she slammed the wooden door in his face, completely stunned. "What's her problem?" He was sure that no matter what, the two of them would never be able to get along. The sooner she got out of Gaea, and out of his hair, the better. For all he cared, he never wanted to even hear her name again. He put his hands behind his head and walked down the hall to where he knew his father and the others would be waiting.

-Another part of the castle-

They heard a knock and all heads turned towards the door as Blai walked in, his hands folded behind his head. The boy looked slightly annoyed; then again, anyone would be after spending any amount of time alone with Star. They had apparently been catching up on the time lost before the boy had arrived. Now that he was there, they decided to get back to the matter at hand.

"So, why did you call me back, Van?" Hitomi asked. She knew she was pretty much useless without her pendant, the one she had given Van so long ago. "I thought everything was over, Zaibach was stopped…what's going on?"

"It isn't Zaibach," said the blonde woman, she shifted slightly, after all, she had been part of that 'Zaibach thing.' "Things have started happening about seven years after you went back to the Mystic Moon," she said vaguely.

Hitomi looked questioningly at her? "'Things'?"

The man next to her spoke, his long blond hair tied in a loose ponytail, "Disappearances, new Guymelefs, towns being destroyed…"

"Seven years?" Hitomi asked more to herself than to anyone else, "I wonder…" she shook her head. The others looked at her, expecting her to clarify herself. Instead she said, "Thanks, Celena."

Van looked slightly worried, "A few neighboring cities have been attacked. We haven't so much as seen a glimpse of one of these new Melefs yet, but without the EscaFlowne we might not be able to protect Fanelia. I couldn't last time, even with the EscaFlowne…"

"That's why Van invited me here," the blond man said, "to help him protect Fanelia. I couldn't leave my sister behind," he smiled at Celena who grinned back.

No one spoke for a moment, but most eyes flickered uncomfortably to Chid. "Freid was one of the first to have been attacked," he said mournfully, "now I know how you must have felt during the battle against Zaibach, Van. Fried was destroyed, even Asturia was attacked."

"It took a great deal of damage," the blond-haired man looked pained as he said it.

Chid nodded sadly, "Even with Allen at their side."

It took a moment for the news to sink in for Hitomi, "Asturia?" She gasped, "What about Millerna? Is she alright?"

"She is fine," Allen smiled at Hitomi's evident sigh of relief. It was strange, when they first met she hadn't really liked the young woman, but as time went on she couldn't help but to become attached. "She should be meeting us shortly."

Before anyone could say anything else, Van decided this would be the perfect moment to cut in and completely change the mood of the entire conversation, "Hitomi, we need you to help us find the EscaFlowne again." Everyone suddenly became tense.

"What are you talking about, Van?" she had seemed least affected by the change in conversation, "Don't you remember where you hid it?"

"He should," Blai spoke suddenly for the first time since the discussion began. "But the EscaFlowne disappeared a little after we heard the news about Asturia from Millerna. No one has any idea what happened to it, that's why my father called you back from the Mystic Moon." His eyes glimmered suddenly, "They said that you can find anything. You can find where things are and even tell the future," Van shot his son a warning look and he quickly changed the subject once again, "What is the problem with that other girl…Star? I mean, I heard all about you when I was younger, I thought everyone from the Mystic Moon was like that…She definitely doesn't fit that idea."

Silently, the others all agreed, they had just been too polite to say anything before. They were all slightly relieved at the young prince's bluntness. "Star is my cousin," Hitomi started very carefully, taking her time to choose the right words. "She's lived with me for the past ten or so years. She also happens to be an amazing psychic, and she knows it. I don't think she'd appreciate my saying anything, but she went through a horrible ordeal when she was younger…

"And as for the way she acts," Hitomi went on, "it might just be her way of showing that she cares." Van and Blai were the only ones that weren't too polite to look incredulous. "I found her on the street in front of my house hoping to die after her mother died in a fire that destroyed her house. She's probably just afraid of getting hurt again."

A long silence followed Hitomi's words. They all suddenly changed their attitudes towards the young girl and now they pitied her, all but one. "Yeah, right," Blai said rudely, "If you really cared about someone you wouldn't hurt them, no matter the circumstances."

"I guess you'd have to ask her," Hitomi smiled, "I have a feeling you're going to be able to break a lot deeper into her shell than I ever could." The woman yawned widely, "It's getting late and it's been a pretty long day. Do you remember which room I stayed in last time?

"Merle will show you, and I'll have her wake you up for breakfast tomorrow, too," Van said, also trying desperately to hold back a yawn.

"Lord Van!" Merle whined as he left the room. One by one the room emptied until only Hitomi remained standing in the very center, the lights flickering around her. "I'm sorry, Star, it's my fault that you're stuck here."

-The next day-

Star awoke submerged beneath a sea of silk bed sheets. She wasn't awake enough to register the change. Nor had she remembered even falling asleep. "Wake up, Star!" Hitomi? "It's time for breakfast," that had to be Hitomi's voice. Star took a moment to check her internal clock.

"What time is it?" It felt late, very late. School would have started at least an hour ago, what was Kanzaki still doing there?

A pause, then, "About nine, why?" she asked.

"Nine!" Star hopped up from beneath the covers, "What's wrong with you, Kanzaki? You're going to be late for…" she stopped, taking in her surroundings and suddenly bombarded with memories of the night before. She was no longer at home. Hell, forget being home, she wasn't even on Earth anymore.

Hitomi ignored her cousin's question, interpreting correctly the abrupt silence, "Will you eat with us?" it sounded more like a desperate plea than a question. "Put on some nice Fanelian clothes and come down to join us. Then you can do whatever you want. Just try to be nice, we are their guests after all."

Star snorted, then sighed, and mumbled incoherently, "Fine."

The older woman must have heard it through the door. "Great!" she said, enthusiastically, "Merle and I put a lot of different Fanelian clothes at the foot of your bed, we weren't sure what you would like best…I'll wait outside."

The teenager looked at the pile of clothes at the foot of her bed and sighed. What a hassle. She picked up the first thing on the pile…a pink skirt…Star shook her head, apparently her cousin didn't know her as well as she thought she did. She dug around a bit and pulled out a comfortable black tee with red laces going half-way down the front and a pair of baggy black pants.

She pulled the clothes on and opened her pocket in space to grab a bit of eyeliner. When she was done she admired her image in the large, full-length mirror. Star nodded slightly, the black dragon's wings she had just painted onto her face were definitely a nice touch. She put the eyeliner back into her pocket in space and pulled out her sword, which she strapped comfortably to her side.

"After this breakfast thing," Star said as she emerged from the room, "I'm going out back." Hitomi jumped up from her seated position on the uncomfortable, hard floor.

Excited, the older girl ran down the hall, she stopped about halfway down and called, "You'd better hurry up or you'll get lost!"

"Somehow, I doubt that," Star muttered under her breath, definitely not loud enough for her cousin to hear. Though she hadn't heard, Hitomi had stopped running and waited for the younger girl to catch up with her, completely aware of the fact that Star did not feel much like running. They walked in silence, side-by-side, until they came up to two large doors, which Star pushed open with ease.

Stars eyes scanned the room and immediately rested on the large table laden with piles of magnificent looking, and even better smelling, food. Though she would never admit it, the girl was starving and would have very much liked to shove as much in her mouth as she could hold. She managed to restrain herself from the impulse and glided easily over to a chair as far off from the others as she could manage to find while still having access to the food.

Van looked up when he heard the chair scrape against the floor and his eyes met Hitomi. They flickered quickly to Star and back. "What? Merle didn't wake you up?" he joked.

"Very funny, Lord Van," the cat-girl pouted slightly.

On the other side of the table, Blai had neglected his food and stared at Star, dressed in Fanelian clothing as if trying to mock it. He shook his head, how could this girl, with her black hair died blood-red at the tips and dark dragon wings painted around her eyes, ever look even remotely Fanelian? Just her wearing the clothes was a complete and utter insult.

"You're still wearing those clothes from the Mystic Moon," Van laughed. Blai shook his head, she obviously wasn't. He was going to point this out when he caught sight of Hitomi. Oh, that was what he had meant. It took a moment before the thought dawned on him.

Star grabbed something that looked like a bright red apple, but when she bit into it, it tasted like a ripe mango. "Eat something," Van said the moment the girl had bitten into the strange fruit. He eyed her, intense annoyance flashing on his face, but he restrained himself from saying anything. Hitomi nodded and smiled while she, too, helped herself to the delicious looking food in front of her.

The teenage girl stood up and her chair fell backwards. She took another bite of the fruit before walking over to the door and saying, "See you later, Kanzaki."

It wasn't too hard to find the courtyard at the very center of the castle garden. By the time she had gotten there, though, she had completely finished the fruit and was wiping her now sticky hands on her dark pants.

She caught sight of the King-Van-wanna-be whose name she couldn't quite remember and called out to him. "Do you have any dead roses?" Preferably red, and long dead, but she didn't think he'd listen to her specifications.

The boy raised an eyebrow, he didn't look too thrilled and neither did his little group of friends. "Yeah," of course, roses didn't last forever; wherever there were live roses there would be a few dead ones.

"Good," she turned and before saying anything further on her motives, she walked away. Blai and his friends watched her retreating back.

When they thought she was out of earshot they started talking about her in hushed voices. "Who's the freak?" one of them laughed cruelly.

Blai shrugged, "Some piece of trash Hitomi accidentally dragged down from the Mystic Moon."

"What's her deal?" another asked rudely.

Blai shrugged again, "As if I care," before he knew it, he felt someone punch him in the face. He blinked back a few tears and Star blurred into focus. She had punched him, but apparently he had it the easiest of the three. His other two friends had been kicked in places that Blai did not want to think about.

"You bastards," Star hissed before running back off in the direction of the rose garden. Blai looked at the ground and what he saw took a few moments to register with him. Tiny wet spots in the dirt where bitter tears had hit the ground.

Star found the rose garden fairly easily, and by the time she got there the tears in her eyes had dried up, for this she was grateful. For some reason she always felt so much closer to everyone when she was surrounded by roses, as if they were watching over her, could see her. She did not like the idea of them thinking she was weak; she would not let them see her cry.

She was so preoccupied that as she searched for a few select red roses she didn't even notice that she was being watched, nor did she pay any mind to the cuts and bruises that were forming from the thorns.

After Star had gathered her dozen and one roses she made her way back to a pond that she had passed on her way to the roses. She sat; her legs crossed, and stared out at the water. Suddenly she straightened up a little, as if just now realizing that she had a handful of flowers. One by one, she threw the long dead, faded roses into the water and watched them float on the surface.

Thirteen roses…one for each person that had died for her, trying to save her and two for the person whose life mattered the most to her, dear, sweet Aiichirou.

All this time she had managed to bottle up her tears, saving them now for the ones that counted, the last four roses.

Behind a clump of bushes, Blai and his friends struggled silently for the best openings in the leaves, curious to see what the stranger was doing, and why she had wanted those dead roses so desperately as to ask for help. As the girl sat down, they noticed old scars underneath the sleeves of her shirt and around her ankle. The saw no more as she planted herself firmly on the ground. She paused at the ninth rose and Blai wondered what kind of thoughts must have been going through her head. All this to throw a bunch of dead roses into the water and watch them drift by. He was starting to get bored.

Star put the remaining roses down, all except for one. She finally let herself cry, feeling the tears flowing down her cheeks. She caught a lone tear in the center of the rose and watched it for a moment before leaning forward and gently, lovingly, placing this rose on the water's surface. "Arekusa," she said, fighting to keep her voice as steady as possible through the sea of tears that was leaking from her eyes. This was the one day of the year she would let herself cry, the one day of the year that she was closest to all of the people who had sacrificed themselves, the anniversary of the day she had received the scar on her wrist. "It's been ten years," she tried to laugh, "it feels so much longer. I'm so sorry I couldn't protect you, I'm so sorry that I was so weak back then. Maybe I'll be able to meet you again before you can add an eleventh rose to your collection."

"What's she doing?" one of the boys whispered behind the bushes, hoping that the girl wouldn't be able to hear them.

"You're asking me?" Blai asked sarcastically. How in the world should he know what sort of deranged thoughts were flying through her head?

"Sh!" Blai's other friend hissed from his other side, "If you listen really carefully you can hear what she's saying." Blai and his friends quieted and listened.

She looked at the tenth rose and watched as she caught two tears in its center. They died it's already dark petals and make them look velvety and welcoming. As she placed the rose on the water she said, "Papa…I'm so sorry, I couldn't keep my promise." She could almost hear his voice in the wind…no, wait, that wasn't her Papa. Damn, she thought, I knew I should have checked more carefully before I started. Oh well, can't stop now, only a few more to go. "I couldn't be the kind of person you wanted me to be. I just wish," she felt as if she was choking on something deep in her throat. Words failed her for a few moments, then she took a deep breath and went on. "I just wish you did have to leave me like that."

Unbeknownst to her, as she reached for the eleventh flower, the rose had fallen onto its side, its tears mingling with the water of the pond.

"Why's she doing that?" Blai asked curiously, more to himself than his companions. Apparently, they hadn't caught on to that.

"I haven't the foggiest," said the first boy. "Do you think she notices us?" he asked when she paused for a long moment.

Blai shook his head, "Of course not," he said knowingly, "if she had she would have chased us away."

She lifted the eleventh rose and let three tears fall into its center. "There's no way," she started as she watched this rose drift out onto the water, "there's just no way I am as important as you said I am, Mama. I just…I just wanted to go home where I knew you would be there to tell me it was alright. I just wanted you to say everything was going to turn out okay. Why did you stay during the fire? You could have gotten out, then everything would have been alright. We could have gone on living like a family, just the two of us…"

As Star picked up the twelfth rose the one that she had dedicated to her mother had fallen on its side, also leaking its contents into the water. "She keeps talking to people when she puts a flower on the water," one of the boys pointed out.

"If those are all people that she's lost in her life…" Blai let his voice trail off.

"Yeah, but does that excuse her from her rudeness?" the boy asked apprehensively.

The other boy, the one on Blai's left, hissed angrily, "Of course not. No one has the right to treat the Fanelian prince that way." But Blai remained silent, intently watching the scene playing out before him.

The girl unsheathed her sword and the boys drew in their breath. She had finally noticed them. But no, instead she pulled all the petals off the twelfth rose. In a swift motion, Star had sliced her arm with the sword and let the blood run down the blade, to its tip. She then stabbed each of the petals, just lightly enough that a trace of her blood was left on every single one.

She gathered the petals in one hand as she lay her sword down gently on the grass with the other. She lifted her hand with the rose petals over the water and opened it, letting them drift slowly, silently to the water's surface. "These are for the wounds that made their way into my heart that day so long ago, these are the wounds that will never heal," she said as she watched them fall. Star looked wistfully at the sky for a moment before picking up the last rose, the thirteenth.

The young woman took off one of her gloves and held the rose firmly in her hand, letting the thorns dig deeply into her skin. She cried harder, though still silently, than before and let all the tears flow into the center of the rose. Then she gently held the flower with her other hand as she let a few drops of blood from her palm trickle into the rose and mix with the water. She watched it swirl together a moment before once again placing the flower on the water. Miraculously, and against all laws of physics, it remained floating.

She slid the glove over her hand once more and wiped the remaining tears from her eyes. "Aiichirou," she said softly. She had thought that her eyes were dry, but she must have been wrong. Just the sound of his name cause more tears to fall down her face. "I'm a lot stronger now," she laughed a little, but it sounded strange through her tears. "But I'm still not nearly as strong as you. I'll get stronger. I'll be like you; I will never forget you as long as I live, big brother…for now I will live for the both of us. Until the curse that I must have finally catches up with me. Until I meet up with the curse that took you away…" Her voice trailed off and she couldn't speak any more.

Star was silent for a moment before she stood up and wiped her face on her shirt. The dragon's wings she had drawn so carefully around her eye were smudged and lines of black and red streaked down her face where the eyeliner met with her tears. Considering what they had just seen, the boys remained still, now afraid of the disheveled, yet still menacing, looking girl.

The teenager spun around to face the bush that Blai and his friends had taken shelter behind. She glared at it as if it had offended her somehow. The fact that her eyes were red from crying managed to make her look all the more terrifying. "I know you're there," she growled, her voice raspy and hoarse yet frightening, "so just get up."

Blai and his friends stood wearily, quailing slightly under Star's gaze. She looked at the young prince, "Should have known you were behind this," she said coolly.

"What was that about?" one of Blai's friends asked curiously, after he had mustered up the courage to speak.

Star glared at him and he shrunk back, "Why the hell should you care?"

"Why didn't you say anything before if you knew we were here?" Blai asked, hoping to turn her attention from his friend to him.

It worked, "I can't stop in the middle," she said, her voice softening slightly and surprising the boys to no end.

Somehow, Blai sensed her oncoming tears, and subconsciously wanted to make her feel better. His wings sprouted from his back and feathers danced around them in the wind. Star looked up at the sky and held out a hand, by this time the two teenagers had completely forgotten the others. A shining silver feather fell into her gloved palm and suddenly Star felt as if she was on fire and the world went black.

In her mind's eye, Star saw Fanelia, engulfed with death and destruction. The blood red sky of the setting sun was reflected in the sea of blood that flooded through the once beautiful city. The crimson red liquid splashed around the girl's feet and she chanced a look up, into the distance. Giant robots clashed and the sound of their swords against armor rang through the air. Star looked frantically around, her footsteps splashing in the blood that surrounded her. Anyone, any friendly face. Suddenly, her eyes caught Hitomi's familiar brown hair and brilliant green eyes, the girl sighed with relief. She tried in vain to stop the relieved grin from spreading across her face and ran towards her cousin. Try as she might, she never seemed to get any closer. In fact, Hitomi appeared to be getting farther and farther and Star took each step, though the older girl was not moving an inch, her eyes locked onto Star's. The blade from a sword of one of the great machines pierced through Hitomi's stomach and both girls fell to the ground.

The image dissolved around her, as if it had been made of a shower of water droplets, and one thought immediately crossed the young woman's mind. She had to warn Hitomi and the others. She jumped up and pushed Blai and his friends out of the way. Ignoring the falling feathers as well as the stunned boys, she sprinted back to the castle.

Van and the others were discussing what to do and how best to defend Fanelia in case of attack when Hitomi gasped and her eyes became diluted. "Hitomi!" Van cried as he watched her fall into her trance, something he hadn't seen in such a long time but would never be able to forget.

Hitomi stood in the midst of a Guymelef battle in the once lovely Fanelia, its buildings now tinted with the red of the setting sun. She looked down at the blood-red liquid around her feet. When she noticed that what it was she screamed; so much blood, so many people must have died. She caught sight of her cousin, running toward her in vain. Hitomi tried to reach out to the girl, but found that she couldn't move, she tried to say something, but she could not speak. With each passing moment, Star seemed to get further and further, and the look of desperation on the girl's face pained her older cousin. She felt a sharp pain and looked down as the tip of a giant blade tore through her stomach.

Hitomi screamed and fell to the ground just as Star burst through the door, looking a little worse for wear.