Disclaimer: I do not own anything of Escaflowne…If I did, that series would have continued.

To everyone who reviewed: OMG! Thank you SO MUCH! I've never felt so appreciated! I'm glad this story has gotten a gathering…OMG. THANK YOU!

Reviews for Chapter Five
mysisterisasquijum: Ohhh…Maybe it IS her who's sending the visions….Or maybe, she's just a puppet for something greater….Hmmm...
sirladyknightDon't worry…Everything's going to be okay. Van ain't leaving…And the princess will play a bigger role later.
Storm-MakerThanks for the comments! I hope I didn't keep you waiting long!

Chapter Six

Silence. There was a long silence since the vision. Hitomi wasn't talking and Van wasn't going to ask. They had a meal together, but still, there was too much quiet.

The vision must have been another one of me…Van thought as he stared at Hitomi as she washed the dishes. "Hitomi?"

No answer. She continued to scrub away.

"Hitomi?"

"….Yes?" Came the small reply.

Van swallowed. "Was it me?"

More silence.

"Was it?" Van walked behind her as she continued to scrub dishes in the sink. He wrapped his arms protectively around her and rested his head on her shoulder. Right next to her ear, he whispered, "Why won't you tell me?"

In a quivering voice, Hitomi answered, "I don't want you to know."

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want you to leave."

He breathed out softly which tickled her. "Why would I do that?"

"Because….Because something's going to happen."

"What is?"

"I don't know…"

"You should know that I would never leave you to face something alone."

"I…Van…?"

"Yes?"

"Someone is making me see these things."

Van hitched in a breath of surprise. She knows something. That vision must of let her see something she didn't see before in previous ones… "Who is?"

"Something powerful. I wish I knew exactly, but I didn't see its face. I just felt it there. I touched its shoulder before that vision ended." Hitomi explained, finally opening up.

"Was I there?"

"No."

"Why were you so frightened?" Van asked, concerned. "You've seen scarier things than people's shoulders…"

"No…It wasn't just that…It's power sent me backwards so I couldn't discover more. Even when I tried, something pulled me down."

"What did?"

"I don't know."

"Hitomi, why did you see this now and not before?" Van whispered, hugging a little tighter. She has to go through so much to get answers…Why can't she let me help?

"I forced myself to move and search. Someone, apparently, doesn't want me to."

"I…I don't want you doing that again."

"Why not?" For the first time since the start of the conversation, Hitomi turned her head and looked at him.

"Your getting hurt." He reasoned.

Hitomi twisted out of his grip to face him. "It's the only way I'm understanding."

"It's only causing you to lose your sleep and your mind…"

"I'm doing it because I don't want to lose YOU, Van!" She shouted at him. "These visions are all part of a bigger picture. Each one is its own puzzle piece! In order to get the whole picture, I have to understand how the individual puzzle pieces fit together!

"The only two visions that I have had so far are the one with the pendant and the…the one with you. The one with the pendant has come up more than once so it is more important. Each time I see it, it becomes different because I look for answers. Once I solve that vision, it will help me find the connection between the other one!"

Van could only look at her. She…she's doing too much. This is too much stress on her… "Hitomi, let me help you then…"

She breathed out slowly. "I'm the only person who can see these things…"

"Hitomi, I want to figure this out as much as you do. I may not be able to see what you're seeing, but I might see what you forget to look at. Two heads are better than one." Van returned his hands around her in a hug and placed his head on her shoulder again. "Let me help you."

Hitomi was frozen in place. He wants to help you! Let him! Her mind scolded. But something told her that she shouldn't. Something deep inside her told her not to make that mistake. She had no idea why. "Van…"

"We're in this together." He replied softly. Van lifted his head from her shoulder and stared into her eyes. "Trust me." And with that, he leaned in close and pressed his lips against hers.

Hitomi blushed madly, eyes wide for a second; all the doubting thoughts from before left as the excitement from the kiss overwhelmed her fears.

Van pulled away, also blushing a little bit. "You just have to trust me." He whispered, a touch breathless. He rubbed her shoulders and looked her in the eye. "Okay?"

She looked at him, totally blown away that he had just…kissed her. "O--Okay…"

"Merle! Please! Her majesty is arriving from Yoshidara to seek Lord Van's presence! Where is he!" The servant cried, frantic that Lord Van had not arrived home yet. Merle and him were currently in the kitchen. Merle was perched on a stool while the servant was pacing.

"I told you already, he's at the Mystic Moon." The feline repeated for the umpteenth time that day. She got off the stool and proceeded to walk out of the area. I'm getting REALLY sick of this guy…

"What will we do?" He asked, following her out and into the hallway.

"We wait."

"But what is he doing there anyway!" The servant pleaded for answers. What trouble he would be as Lord Van's personal servant if he was missing for an important meeting? This is not good! They both continued to walk, Merle ahead of him by a few paces.

Merle growled deep in her throat, and snapped her head back. "Just stop already!"

"Please just tell me! I need to tell her majesty something about his absence!"

She sighed out of defeat. Turning around, Merle stared at the man. "Lord Van is on the Mystic Moon because he has finally returned to Hitomi." I already told him this! Why must I keep repeating myself?

"Hitomi?" He asked, confused. Shaking that from his mind, he continued. "When will he be back?"

Merle paused in thought. "Hmm…I guess, whenever they feel like it." She chuckled and turned around, leaving the man in his place with his jaw on the floor.

"You mean that they might never come back!" He yelled. Merle did not stop. The man waited for an answer, but gone none. "The Yoshidarians will not be happy about this!"

Van had certainly gotten a mouthful. Hitomi told him every detail, every sensation and every idea she had to solve the visions. There was much collaboration between them, but they only ended up where they started; more questions than answers. They worked until they could no longer put sentences together.

The sun had set hours ago and the entire apartment was cast in shadows. No matter how many times Hitomi forced herself to sleep, her eyes would continue to stare at the ceiling. Why can't I fall asleep! I want that vision to come back! She sighed out of defeat. Maybe it doesn't want me to see anymore…

Sitting up in bed, she ran her hands through her hair in frustration. Hitomi threw the sheets off the bed and walked to the kitchen for some water. Just as the glass was full, she realized that Van was not on the couch.
Do you promise to be here when I wake up…?
Oh God, where is he! Her eyes scanned the room and her frantic thoughts of him leaving her alone vanished when she noticed that the balcony door was left ajar. She saw his silhouette sitting on top of the rail. Van…

She changed out of her pajamas into something a little warmer; a pair of old aqua track-pants and an orange T-Shirt. Jeeze, it's cold tonight. Hitomi thought as the cool night air surrounded her as she walked closer to the balcony door.

"Van?" Hitomi peeked her head through the opening and stepped outside. She saw him sitting on the rail, swinging his feet…she also saw the pendant around his neck glowing. It was bright pink and shedding a lot of light in the darkness of the apartment and in the darkness of the street.

At the sound of his name, he turned his head slightly. "Hitomi." He acknowledged her presence and motioned her to sit with him on the ledge. She sat cautiously and stared at the tips of the trees in front of her. Don't look down…She was not deathly afraid of heights, just a little. "Couldn't sleep, neither, huh?" She smiled.

"Yeah…. The pendant was keeping me awake." Van said, grabbing on to the said object. "It just kept glowing. It wouldn't let me fall asleep."

"Do you know why it's glowing?" Hitomi asked. It's telling us something…

"No."

"Has it said anything to you, recently?"

"…Umm..." Van prolonged his answer.
You belong in Gaea.
The pendant hadrepeated that same phrase over and over again, getting more demanding each time. The constant talking was the reason why he couldn't sleep. But he wouldn't tell Hitomi. She didn't want him to leave, and frankly, he didn't want to leave her. I hope Fanelia is okay…Maybe that 'something' bad that's going to happen is happening on Gaea right now! Maybe that's why it's telling me I belong there, because that's where the danger is! His eyes lit up. Gaea is the danger! Since I'm from Gaea, that's why Hitomi saw me as a threat to her life…That's why she saw me! Because I'm from the place where the bad stuff is going to happen!

What is he thinking? Hitomi thought as she noticed his facial expression change. "Van?"

"Hitomi…" He started. Here goes nothing… "The pendant has been telling me that I belong on Gaea…Maybe the bad thing that's going to happen is going to happen there, you know? Maybe I was sent here to tell you that we need to go back there to help the people on Gaea because something is coming…"

"Open your doors, Fanelia! Princess Shina from Yoshidara has arrived!" The guards shouted at the gates to the palace.

"My, my, what a pretty place. Not as big as most palaces, but pretty." Shina smiled, her thin lips curling. Very nice.

The gates opened and the Yoshidarians were greeted with the guards and advisors of Fanelia.

"Welcome!" They shouted and bowed in front of her majesty as she exited the carriage. One elder pulled a servant aside and whispered to him, "Go help her majesty with her baggage!" The servant obeyed and followed the whole herd back into the palace.

The men led Shina through a maze of corridors to end up in front of two large wooden doors. Unlocking it, they entered a spacious room. "This will be your living quarters for the duration of your stay here." The elder smiled. "You'll sleep here until more…appropriate rooms are given…" He added shortly after. A man and his bride should not sleep in separate rooms!

"Merle, please!" A voice sounded from the hallway beside them.

"Hiroshi, I don't know anything else about—" Merle's voice stopped short when she saw that the Princess had already arrived. "Uh…Your-Your majesty." She bowed quickly, not making eye contact. So this is Princess Shina…Wonder what she's doing here…

Lord Van's personal servant, Hiroshi, also bowed. An advisor on Lord Van's council looked at him. "Go tell Lord Van that Princess Shina has arrived and that I'd like to—"

"—Lord Van is absent, sir." Hiroshi whispered.

"I beg your pardon?"

"He's not here." Merle said, louder. "Lord Van is absent."

"Well, where is he?" The advisor asked, amused.

"Not…here." The feline mumbled. Some of the men questioned the two further while other men from Fanelia and Yoshidara began to talk amongst themselves in a nervous chatter while another advisor from the council pulled Princess Shina aside.

"Your majesty, I'm sorry about this. I'm sure he'll be back soon….I wonder where he has gone…"

"That's alright. I'm sure he'll be back. He's probably off doing something…important." Shina smiled.

"Your most likely right, but he never leaves here without telling someone." The advisor stroked his beard in thought. "Especially when he knows that someone is arriving. We told him that you were coming to meet him days ago…"

"Don't worry about it. He will be back."

There was a long pause between the two on the balcony after Van finished his idea about the pendant, about the visions, about everything. Hitomi broke the silence with a simple question, "Will you go back?"

"What?"

"Are you going back to Gaea, Van?" She repeated. "If the danger is happening on Gaea, shouldn't you…go back?"

Van stared at the moon in the sky. "I…Hitomi, I don't know."

"Gaea is your home. Don't you want to help it?"

"Yes. Of course I do. But if Gaea was the place in need this whole time, why am I here, on the Mystic Moon?" Van asked her, looking at Hitomi. Before she could answer, it came to him. "Because I need you…You're the one who's going to help me solve it, aren't you?"

"Makes sense, doesn't it?"

"Hitomi…But you said that someone is making all those visions happen. Doesn't it look like a trap?" Van asked. "I mean, what if it wants us to go back to Gaea to complete whatever it needs?"

"But what if it wants us to suspect this exact thing so that we stay here, on the Mystic Moon, and do nothing but watch as it does what it needs to do on Gaea?" Hitomi countered. She sighed heavily. "We're damned if we do and damned if we don't. We don't know what's going to happen either way."

He grumbled in frustration. "What are we going to do?"
You belong in Gaea
The pendant pulsed.

"Van, what--?" She was not able to finish her question as a familiar pillar of light shone down on Van and her abruptly. It covered both of them completely and the pendant began to float from Van's hands. The light was so bright it blinded her. She felt safe in the column of whiteness but afraid at the same time. What's going on? Hitomi could not see anything. Where's Van?

She squinted as hard as she could and finally, she saw Van's figure. Her arm, feeling as heavy as lead, reached out to him to meet up halfway with his own.His grip was hard, but necessary.
I'm not leaving you alone
She held on and soon, she felt lighter. Just like when I was sixteen… Her hair flapped over her face, her shirt ruffled and her body levitated…Hitomi no longer felt herself sitting on the ledge of her balcony. She only felt Van's hand on her wrist.

Using his strength, Van pulled Hitomi closer to himself so that they were hugging. I would never leave you to face something alone. He looked up into the seemingly vast white column and closed his eyes. Please, gods, grant us the strength to fight this.

Van's wings erupted from his back and he began to fly faster to Gaea, where the white column led.

Hitomi looked down at her shrinking apartment. Good-bye Mystic Moon…She thought quietly to herself. I belong in Gaea, now.

The people who were awake to witness this phenomenon were in awe. People in their cars stopped, people walking by paused. As fast as it came, it went and the two people on the balcony were no longer there. The people could not believe their eyes. Two people simply vanished into thin air. There was nothing left…
Except for millions of soft white feathers

In the darkness of the shadows, the creature smiled.

The gray light of its pendant faded and stopped swinging back and forth. "Good."

It followed the column of light with its eyes, noticing that the angel was holding on to someone. The creature growled in its throat. This will only complicate things…

Silently, it rethought its previous predicament. Perhaps, I'll use this to my advantage…

WOOT WOOT! Hope you all enjoyed that!

Now, for some bad news: I won't be able to update for at least, like, two-three weeks. I'm going into surgery and I'll need time to recuperate. I hope you'll all stay tuned. I'll update ASAICM. (as soon as I can manage).

PLEASE REVIEW!