Disclaimer: Two words…I wish.

To all who reviewed: THANKS A LOT! (sends love) I can't express my thanks is words! You guys are amazing! (sends chocolate) Anyway, hope I didn't keep you waiting!

Chapter Twenty

Throughout the rest of the day, Hitomi continued to drift in and out of sleep. Van was rooted in his spot and while the others walked around to get food from the hospital cafeteria, he ignored his stomach and sat there, watching her.

Every so often, the pendant around his neck would glow faintly. We've tired it out… Van was close to losing his control when he realized that the pendant was no longer around her neck. He had asked the other three with a frantic tone and the mother replied that she had it. With her permission, he asked if she could give it to him. Apparently, the doctors had removed it when they stitched her up and her mother had held it during that time.

Since that bit of movement, Van had stayed immobile by Hitomi's side, watching her wake up and then fall asleep again. He did not want to miss a moment. He wanted to make sure that every time she fell asleep, she would wake up again.

He would never forgive himself if she didn't.

His head rested on the bars surrounding her bed with his arms as his cushion. Although the position was a bit uncomfortable, he drifted off to sleep as well.

"Sir," Yukari mumbled, "do you want anything?"

She had disrupted Van's light sleep with her gentle voice. He was not even aware that he had fallen asleep in the first place. "…No…" He responded, although his body screamed at him. You need food!

Yukari frowned at him, but went off without another word with Amano. Hitomi's mother sat opposite to Van, eating her own light lunch that Amano had brought for her. The way he studies her…She thought as her eyes gazed at his position, …Even if he did hurt her, he is shows extreme remorse for it. He grieves over her, even though she is going to be okay. He also has his share of wounds…Mostly bruises…Where they in a fight together? Did he try and save her from her attacker and got hit too? How do they know each other? This man can't be a stranger…or else, he would not be acting like this. If he was crazy…

Her thoughts changed as she noticed the pendant. That pendant…How did he know about that pendant? Why did he care about it so much? That was from my mother…It was Hitomi's…How does he know about…? Suddenly, she remembered a talk with Yukari and Amano when they were still in high school. Gasping quietly, her eyes opened wider. The days Hitomi had disappeared…is he the one from that place? Is this man one of those people? My mother told me about that time…Oh, what did she say?

Hitomi's mother continued to try to remember the past, but could not get any information. What is it about that trinket? She looked at the man by her daughter's side and spoke softly. "She's going to be okay, you know."

He remained silent, eyes stuck to Hitomi's sleeping form.

"Please, have something to eat…Do you like pineapple?" Hitomi's mother outstretched her arm, offering the said fruit from her lunch tray. Van regarded the fruit suspiciously.

"But, that's yours."

"That's alright; I'm not a big fan of pineapple anyway." She smiled lightly, still holding out her tray.

Van reached over and plucked a piece of the triangular yellow fruit with his hands. It was cold and slippery in his fingers and he waited some time before putting it in his mouth. The fruit was very sweet and juicy and Van took an immediate liking to it. "Thank you." He whispered as he swallowed it.

"Here, have the rest. It's going to go in the trash if you don't eat it." Giving him the other pieces of pineapple, Hitomi's mother watched as the foreign man eat it quickly. If he is from that place, he probably doesn't know what a pineapple is…or any food from here. Perhaps that's why he does not wish to eat from the cafeteria.

"Thank you." Van repeated as he finished the rest off quickly.

"Would you like to try some others?" Hitomi's mother held out the rest of her tray. Van looked over at the colourful objects that she had been eating and pointed to an orange wedge. "Do you want that one? It's called an orange."

"Why is it named after its colour?"

She chuckled. "You know, I don't know…"

He took it in his hands and noticed that it wasn't as slippery as the pineapple was. As he chewed it, a mixture of sweet and sour flew into his senses. Van's lips puckered at the sourness of the orange, but he liked the tangy flavour. He repeated his thanks to Hitomi's mother, but did not take another piece of fruit from the tray.

"No, please, I insist. It's not healthy to stop eating…"

Van smiled sadly. "It's okay…really, I'm going to be fine." It's everything else that we should be worrying about…

"Tell me, now, you worthless waste of flesh!" Shina shouted, grabbing Merle's face with her talon-like nails. She dug her nails in deep, making little red indentations on her furry face.

The cat growled sharply. "Don't touch me, you whore!" With that comment, Merle earned a slap in the face.

"Bite your tongue. In case you haven't realized yet, I'm in charge here…"

"No! No you are not!" Millerna shouted from beside Merle. Tears were streaming down her face. It had been too long since she had been separated from Yuki. "Stop this! Let us go…Let us go!"

Shina smiled at the distressed mother and prisoner started to sob. "If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times, you are not leaving these cells until someone tells me the information I require."

"We told you that we don't know how Escaflowne works!" Allen lied. If we tell her, she'll wreck more havoc on Gaea than her men can…

"Stupid man. Don't you know that I can tell when you are lying?" She chided him, wagging her finger. "When will you see an opportunity when it is shown to you? All you have to do is say the magic words…"

"And then what? You'll kill us later rather then now?" Merle hissed, seeing through Shina's false logic.

Shina turned her head and glared at the cat. "You will get what is coming to you."

"Yeah? And so will you, Shina!" Merle pulled up and out against the chains that bound her arms to the wall. "You're gonna burn in hell for all of this!"

As the chains rattled, the creature smiled. "I will never die…"

Her black pendant glowed.

After a few more moments of twisting and struggling, Merle finally sat back. "Just….Just wait until Van gets his hands on you…" She mumbled, breathing loudly.

The grin grew. "I'd like to see him even lay a finger on me…"

She strode out of the room with a sick smile on her face and locked the heavy door behind her. Fools…it'll only be a matter of time…

"Allen…" Millerna sobbed, "…what has she done to Yuki?"

The blonde king turned to his wife who was chained next to him in the cell. "I don't know…"

"How can you say that! This is Yuki! Our daughter! Tell me!" Fresh tears of frustration poured down her face. Millerna's thoughts were nothing but irrational words.

"Millerna! He doesn't know!" Merle shouted from beside her. "All we can do is hope now…"

"For what?" She yelled, turning her attention to the feline. "Do you expect me to wait here until Van comes to save us? He is NOT coming! He's not returning to us! It's been so long since she brought us in here! It's been TOO long! Don't you think he would know about this? That he would feel it? If he was coming to save us, he would of done so by now!"

"Shut-up!" Merle growled. "Do not talk about Lord Van that way!"

"He's n—not coming back!" Millerna cried. "He—He…" Her sentence trailed off as she sobbed. "…I miss Yuki…" She mumbled some time later.

"Please, stop this…" Allen replied softly. "We have to be strong…"

Merle sagged back in her chains. "Van would never leave us…he's not like that."

Allen nodded. "We have to wait…We need to wait for him. If it's the Draconian she wants, he will not back down from a fight. I know so…"

Their quiet chatter was abruptly silenced when a loud scream carried from the adjoining cell. Allen's head snapped in the direction of the scream. "CHID!" He shouted. Millerna screamed along with the other prisoner and Merle started to cry.

"Van…please come back…" She whispered. Gaea needs you…We need an angel…

Hitomi had finally drifted into a peaceful sleep. Whatever drugs she had been given were sure working in her favour right now. Although there was no dream, she was content in just letting her mind swim around in the darkness.

After all, the darkness had some soothing effects on her. It wrapped protectively around her in a comforting hug.

But, as always, in the darkness, there is light.

A pink light to be exact.
The pendant
Huh? Hitomi's mind tried to register what she saw, but the effects of the medicine did not allow for some coherent thoughts. Slowly, but surely, Hitomi got away from the darkness and towards the pendant.

She watched as it started to pulse. My vision! Forcing a clear image into her head, she remembered that muddled vision from before. I know this part…Hitomi quickened her pace. I have to reach the pendant before it stops pulsing…But there's something else…
Lub-Dub
Lub-Dub
Soon, Hitomi was standing right in front of the pendant. Aren't I supposed to fall at this point? She bent down and picked it up with her hand. It's steady heartbeat did not pick up or slow down…even though it was supposed to. This isn't the same vision…There is something else…

Putting one foot in front of the other, she walked forward slowly. What am I looking for? Is Shina going to appear again? Hitomi held the pendant out in front of her. Which way?

The pendant swirled around in the darkness and pointed to the left. She turned in a haze and walked in that direction. If it was even possible, the darkness that surrounded her seemed to get darker. I must be going the right way…

Once again, the darkness embraced Hitomi tightly.

Too tightly.

It was as if the darkness was squeezing her to death. No! Stop it! It was as if it didn't want her walking in this direction. When Hitomi took a step backwards, the feeling lightened. What exactly doesn't it want me to see?

Still holding onto her pendant in her hand, she put it in front of her. From her own light, Hitomi peered into the darkness to see…nothing.

She mentally groaned. Impossible! I know something is there! Hitomi squinted her eyes again. For the second time…

There was nothing there.

Her eyes continued to search for something, anything that would indicate a presence.

And finally, without warning…

A gray light shined in her path. There!

Fighting all resistance, Hitomi ran forward, clutching her pendant as she moved. The darkness was suffocating, but she trudged on. I will not let it win this time…As she ran, the darkness became more than just darkness. Hitomi noticed that it was slightly different…What is it? What is this feeling I'm getting?

Horrible screams of pain and agony filled her mind. Such…Such suffering…Green eyes darted back and forth as she ran to see where the voices were coming from.

But there was no one threre.

Whoever I'm hearing, they're being tortured…The screams and wails got louder and more persistent and Hitomi thought she heard the sounds of chains rattling. Oh God, what am I hearing? Tears fell down her cheeks as the sounds were almost unbearable. Are these the people who Shina had killed? The people from Atlantis?

The people from Gaea?

She swallowed thickly and moved faster. Oh God, please, she couldn't have won! The gray light got closer and closer to her. She paused in her run and noticed that the gray light was being emitted from a similar black pendant on the floor. That's Shina's!

At her pause, the darkness started to get tighter. Hitomi had not felt the full effects of it when she had been running since she was in motion. Realizing that moving quickly is the best way to avoid compression, she took off towards Shina's pendant.

When she was close enough to pick it up, she understood what that presence was she felt when she was running. Such dark powers…An evil aura…Shina…Hitomi stood in front of it and this time, she no longer felt the affects of the darkness. She stared at it for the longest time, studying the gray light that swirled within the pendant.

Just coming near the gray pendant caused Hitomi's to beat erratically.
Lub-Dub
Lub-Dub
It twirled and pointed in all directions. What's happening? Both pendants were acting strangely in the presence of one another. Conflicting powers…

Faster and faster.

Looking up from the dark pendant, she saw the blue eye again. "SHINA!" She called out as loud as she could. The figure did not turn around. The eye started to glow brighter as the black pendant did.

Faster and faster.

This pendant fuels her powers…The conclusion came to her quickly. Hitomi bent down to pick it up to rid Shina of whatever power she has. The screams got louder and louder until all Hitomi could hear was an increasing ringing in her ears.

But before she could touch it…

It stopped.

All the light in the vision disappeared, including the blue eye and all the sounds suddenly went mute. Hitomi felt the dizzy feeling come back and the floor beneath her feet crumble. NO!

She felt the winds pass by her as she fell without a scream. Hitomi knew that soon, she would wake up from this…She shut her eyes and did not bother to reach her hand out…All she had to do was wait for the bloody hands to reach out and pull her down…Just like that muddled vision had told her.

But this was a different vision.

This time, she only felt one pair of hands encircled her waist.

With a gasp at the different feeling, Hitomi opened her eyes abruptly and noticed white dots dancing in the darkness as they fell.

The total darkness was littered with millions of soft white feathers.

Van felt a pain in his heart. It must have been guilt because soon, it engulfed his entire body.
You belong in Gaea

Shina is hurting them…I know it…As he sat and watched Hitomi, ideas started to pop in his head about his home.

They were not good ideas.

Shina must be waiting for us to return…She must be…What has she done with her time? Van looked at Hitomi's bed sheets with quiet contemplation. Merle…Allen…Millerna and Celena…Chid too…Have they escaped her wrath?

Or are they suffering because of my absence? My cowardice?

His heart clenched in his chest and he barely realized that Hitomi had awaken. "Hitomi!" Van's inner turmoil was interrupted by Yukari's friendly call.

"Hey…" Hitomi muttered weakly.

"Have a good sleep, honey?" Hitomi's mother smiled.

At this comment, green eyes locked on to maroon ones. "Yes."

Van took Hitomi's hand in his and rubbed her fingers. The corners of his mouth turned upwards in a sad smile. "Good. That's good." He muttered softly, hiding his eyes in his hair.
You belong in Gaea
"Hitomi, the doctor says you're going to be fine in a few days…" Amano continued. "All you need is plenty of rest and a few hours of rehabilitation…That was…uh…some nasty scratch you got there…"

A few days? Will they last that long?

Hitomi closed her eyes and smiled as wide as she could. "Sounds great. When?"

"As soon as you feel up to it." Yukari added.

Looking at Van again, Hitomi saw the pain he hid from her. "How does today sound?" Hitomi's mother almost started to cry at her daughter's determination and bravery. It had only been two days and already she wanted to move around. She was always so active…

"A—After all…I'm an important person…" She paused to take a deep breath in. "…I have things to do…people to see…places to go…"

At this comment, Van's eyes flickered with some hope.

And the pendant began to glow again. Let's hope it's soon…

WOW. Sorry for the long update…Philosophy is killing me this semester…Too many written assignments…

Anyway, terribly sorry for the horrible filler chapter. I know, it sucked. But, I had to have some random transition chapter, right? Besides, how ELSE am I going to open up the idea of what exactly Shina IS doing?

Remember, that the time difference between these two places is whack. In the show, when Hitomi goes back to Earth after being on Gaea for like, a week, she's put back in time…when she first met Van…So, I'm trying to follow that…sort of…

Hope you enjoyed it…I'm sorry for the crapiness…

PLEASE REVIEW