To all my friends, and other Escaflowne lovers.
Special thanks to someone who we'll call Lady Marmalade, who besides being my editor is one of my greatest friends.
Also, thanks to one of my other great friends named Connie. You gave me the idea to start writing fanfics! Thanks! P.S If any of you know how, could you tell me how to use real dividers? I'm probably being stupid butI can't figure it out.
The Power Within Chapter 1
It had been three years since Hitomi had last stepped foot on Gaea's surface. Most importantly, it had been three long years since Hitomi had last seen Van. She missed all of her friends on Gaea – Allen, Milerna, Prince Cheid, Dryden – and even the goofy little cat girl named Merle.
Out of all the people on Gaea, she missed Van the most. Hitomi missed his scent, and even his stubborn and arrogant ways. He had grown on her. Overall, she missed being with him all together. She longed to be back on Gaea's surface with all the sights, sounds and people.
When Hitomi had left Gaea three years ago, she had promised Van that she would never forget him and she never had.
For the first year of their separation, Hitomi would quite often feel that Van was with her. The feeling used to be so strong that she could almost see Van watching her. As time wore on, Van was with her less and less until he was never with her at all.
When Van had left her she had started to wonder if he had forgotten her. After all, what was she to him anyway? Did he think of her as more than a friend? Could he think of her as more than a friend? He had probably completely forgotten her by now. He's probably already married with children; he is a king after all, with duties and all. Hitomi thought to herself.
This thought had lead Hitomi to try to forget Van and move on with her life when Van had stopped coming to her. After all, she would never be able to go back to Gaea. Would she?
When she tried to move on with her life, she started to date. In total, she had dated three excellent guys. They were excellent guys but none of them were right for Hitomi. All three guys had been extremely nice and good looking. Sure, they had been good looking, smart, and any girls dream but at the same time Hitomi had known that all of them were not meant for her. She could only remember one guy who she truly cared about but he seemed long gone…
"Hitomi! You're thinking about him again, aren't you?" Yukari asked in a quiet and concerned voice. Yukari had beautiful long red hair and was of average height and weight. She had known Hitomi since they had both began school, and she was the manager of the high school track team, and also Hitomi's best friend as well.
At that moment Hitomi realized that she had been sitting on the roof of the high school, looking at the beautifully coloured sunset. In response to Yukari's question she just shook her head as if to say that she had not been thinking of Van.
"Don't lie to me, you were thinking about him" Yukari replied sadly.
"Yeah, I was thinking about him. I was back in my silly fantasy." Replied Hitomi as she began to sigh and avert her eyes back to longingly staring at the sunset.
"Tomi, if you really feel that way about him, you should go back to Gaea. No one would really mind as long as that is what makes you happy. We all want to see you be happy again. You haven't been the same since you came back from Gaea. There used to be a happy spark in your eye but since you have returned to Earth that spark has been replaced with sadness and longing. Your parents and I, and everyone just want you to be happy, even if you're not with us. " Stated Yukari supportively.
"Oh Yukari…" Hitomi sighed, "But what if he has moved on? What if he's actually married with kids? What if he doesn't want to see me? He would have kept on visiting me and checking up on me if he really had felt anything about me," said Hitomi desperately.
Quickly Yukari gave Hitomi a hug. "Don't worry, Tomi", said Yukari supportively. "By the sounds of it, Van probably cares about you just as much as you care about him. I'm sure of it. He probably didn't check up on you as often because he was probably really busy rebuilding his castle or whatever. And besides that, wasn't it that he as you would say, stopped 'visiting' you when he came to check up on you and discovered that you were out on a date with Karro? He probably thinks that you stopped caring about him and that's why he stopped 'visiting'.
A great realization came to Hitomi. It was all her fault that he had stopped coming, he probably thought that she had moved on and so he stopped coming. "It's all my fault, how could I be so stupid?" Hitomi said with an anguished voice. Tears started to fall from her eyes.
" It's alright. It's not your fault. It's just a misunderstanding, I'm sure it could be worked out if you just went to him. I'm still positive he will feel the same way about you, and that's why he left after he thought you moved on," replied Yukari wisely.
"What if he has moved on Yukari?" asked Hitomi in a small voice.
"That's enough 'what ifs'. 'What ifs' never get you anywhere! What if he does feel the same way about you? Wouldn't it be worth just finding out whether or not he cares? I mean if it turns out I'm wrong (which I never am)", Yukari said teasingly, "You can always find a way to come back home. If you don't go see him you could miss finding out how he feels about you. Not only that, you could miss a chance being with your only true love." Said Yukari with a little bid of sadness.
Quickly Hitomi gave Yukari a big bear hug. Hot tears ran down both of the girls' faces. "I will never forget you. You mean so much to me. Thank you for everything. Please have a great life, I wish that somehow we could stay in touch, but there is no possible way. Please tell my parents, k? I really want them to understand." Hitomi said slowly.
"Don't worry Tomi', everything will be fine. Your parents already understand. When you grow up tell your kids about me okay?" said Yukari in a pained yet cheerful voice as she forced herself to smile and break their embrace.
Hitomi forced herself to smile as well. "Don't worry, I promise I will. You tell your kids about me too, k?" At that, Yukari nodded and continued to smile.
At that, Hitomi turned around and walked away from Yukari. Hitomi turned around and gave Yukari one last smile before yelling, "Take me back to Gaea! I want to see Van!"
Quickly, Hitomi was bathed into that familiar white light and lifted off the ground.
Yukari stared and watched as she saw her very best friend for the last time. After a long while of staring at where Hitomi had just stood, she walked away while tears still ran down her eyes. This is what would make Hitomi happy, and that was what was most important. She just hoped that Hitomi and Van could have the happiest and fulfilling lives possible.
Van sat on top of the roof of the castle, staring up into the sky. He was thinking about Hitomi.
He was thinking about how much he had missed her in the past years. In the time that Hitomi had been gone, about half of Fanelia had been rebuilt. Everyone in Fanelia had been working tirelessly, including Van.
Van vowed that he would rebuild an even better Fanelia. He just wished that Hitomi could be by his side and be with him while he and his people rebuilt his beautiful kingdom. Regretfully, Van knew that could never happen because she was on the Mystic Moon, and he was on Gaea. She did not want to come back to Gaea, she was happy on the Mystic Moon. Besides that, Van knew that she had moved on. The last time he had 'visited' her, she had been with a guy. She had forgotten about him.
"Oh Lord Van, you still miss her after all these years. I can tell. Why don't you just bring her back to Fanelia? Or, if you're not gonna do that, why don't you just move on?" Merle said with in a concerned voice as she latched onto Vans arm.
"Because it's not that simple. I can't just simply bring her back, no matter how much I want her to come back. Besides she has moved on," answered Van in a melancholy tone of voice.
"Oh Lord Van…why must you dwell on the past? I know she still feels the same way…she'd come back," replied Merle sadly.
At that very moment a beam of white light shot down from the heavens, onto the very roof that Van and Merle were standing on.
The white light faded away as quickly at it had appeared. Emerging from that white light was a young lady with honey brown hair that was about shoulder length. She was regular height for a woman and she had beautiful emerald coloured eyes. She was wearing a white blouse and a black skirt. These were strange clothes for women from Gaea to wear.
Van knew immediately that this beautiful woman that now stood in front of him was Hitomi.
When the light that had surrounded her had faded away she had seen a man in front of her. The man was tall and muscular and had unruly black hair. Hitomi knew it was Van. He wore black pants and a white shirt. Hitomi looked into his face she could tell that he had matured and become stronger. He was more handsome than the last time Hitomi had seen him, three years ago. His eyes still held that arrogant and stubborn air that they always had. That had not changed a bit. Latched on to the Vans arm, was a faithful cat girl: Merle.
Before Hitomi had the chance to say anything, she found herself on the ground, being licked by Merle.
"Hitomi, you've finally come back to us. You've come back to Lord Van! He's missed you so much! I've missed you too" Merle squealed excitedly as she hugged Hitomi.
"I've missed you too, but could you let me up now?" asked Hitomi in a happy voice as she hopped off of Hitomi. It had been a long time since Hitomi had felt this happy. She could feel joy welling up inside of her.
As Hitomi stood up, she looked straight at Van. She did not know what to do. He stood there, staring straight back at her with a type of gentleness in his eyes.
Briskly, Van walked up toward Hitomi and gave her a short and awkward hug that had only lasted a few seconds. Both Hitomi and Van began to blush.
Hitomi had long imagined being back on Gaea, with Van. Now that she was actually back on Gaea it seemed really awkward to her because she did not even know if he felt anything for her.
After a moment of standing in awkward silence, she caught a glimpse of that partly rebuilt Fanelia. The sun had almost set and there was only a little orange that was left in the sky. In the far corner of the city, Hitomi could see the construction that was still taking place. On the other edge of Fanelia, there were many farmers' fields. Even with all the construction on Fanelia, the view was still breath taking and beautiful with all the buildings, people, and gardens. Everyone was working together for a common good.
"It's beautiful Van. You and your people have done such a great job rebuilding Fanelia so far." Gasped Hitomi.
"It's not done yet and won't be done for another three years or more but we're working at it. It has been a lot of work but the part of Fanelia we have finished is about as good as it was before it got attacked by Zaibach." Van said with pride.
"Umm Van… I have a question to ask you," said Hitomi in a nervous voice.
"Hmmm?" He replied.
"Am I still welcome to stay here at your castle with you? If something has changed and you don't want me here I'll understand. I'll just leave."
"What happened to that guy that you were with? Why are you here?" Merle asked suspiciously.
"We were not meant for each other. He's not the guy that I wanna be with." Slowly Hitomi turned here gaze toward the ground. "I'm here because I want to see Van. That is if Van wants to see me after all of these years…"
Van had a stunned look on his face. He could not believe his ears. His face started to turn scarlet.
"Oh and so that guy?" Merle retorted once again. She wanted to make sure that Hitomi was not going to hurt her precious Lord Van again.
"That guy is nothing to me." she replied again with embarrassment.
"Hitomi, you're welcome to stay here as long as you want," said Van suddenly. He looked right into Hitomi's eyes. He saw a look of relief pass through Hitomi's eyes.
"Good, you've finally come back to Lord Van. It's about time! I was starting to think that you were never coming back! You better not break Van's heart!" bellowed Merle.
She stared at both Van and Hitomi. It was just like it had been before Hitomi had left for her home. Merle knew that it was best for Lord Van to be with Hitomi. She just had to make sure that Hitomi was here to be with Van instead of having an alternate purpose. Quietly, she watched as Van and Hitomi stared at each other. They would need time alone together to catch up and poor Merle had to quickly search her brain for an excuse to leave the two alone.
"I'm going to go have a room arranged for Hitomi! You two have a nice time catching up!" yelled Merle cheerfully as she rushed down the stairs, into the castle before either Hitomi or Van could object.
For a long while Hitomi and Van stood together, saying nothing. They both stared off into oblivion. It took a while, but finally Hitomi decided to break the silence.
"So Van…how has everything been?" asked Hitomi as she began to get frustrated at herself because of how stupid that sounded to her.
"Everything has been fine. Fanelia is half way to being rebuilt and we've taken more defence measures in case something like Zaibach happens again." came Van's reply.
"Ohh I see… Better safe than sorry I suppose…" said Hitomi shortly as she began to look for something better to talk about.
"So what's happened since I was gone? Are you married? Do you have kids? Do you have a girlfriend?" blurted Hitomi as she began to blush. The question of whether or not Van had moved on had plagued Hitomi for such a long time. This caused her worries about him moving on. Then it all came out at once in a string of questions.
"No. What about you? " asked Van quizzically.
"No. Nothing like that." replied Hitomi sullenly.
Suddenly, out of nowhere, Van put both of his hands firmly on Hitomi's shoulders and looked straight into her eyes.
Hitomi was almost so surprised by Van's movement that she almost stepped backward. She found herself staring straight back at him. His eyes burned with determination, as they stood there, looking straight into each other's eyes.
"Hitomi… I want you to stay with me… from now on. I don't… I don't…" The words had been burning in his mind ever since she had left. He did not want to lose her again. Her face had turned red as soon as he had taken hold of her shoulders. Fear welled up inside of him at what she might say to him. The last time he had tried to tell her how he felt, she had got mad at him and went off with Allen. She just stared back at him with surprise in her eyes.
"I don't want to lose you again…" said Van sullenly.
"Queen Nola, the girl has finally come back to Gaea." said one of Nola's underlings.
"Finally! She has come back! Set a trap in place for her! We need her to come to Asturia and we need her to get away from that king. But how and when?" Questioned Nola, in her nasally voice. She needed to get Hitomi into Asturia so she would be easier to kidnap.
"If I may, your Majesty, I think I know of a way to get the girl into Asturia." boasted Captain Boren, the leader of her guards.
"Well spit it out." replied Nola excitedly.
"The celebration of the day Zaibach fell and peace came back to Gaea is in a about a week. I'm sure that Lord Van will get an invitation to Asturia for the national holiday. It is tradition that all the kings go to Asturia, you see. I'm sure that when he comes to Asturia he won't leave Hitomi behind. We can cause a distraction and when everyone is busy, we can kidnap her. Simple as that." Captain Boren said with his deep and burly voice.
"Excellent idea! We will prepare at once!" replied Nola. Her plans were all coming together, now that the girl was here. If the girl had the power that all of the stories had said she had, all of Nola's dreams would soon come true. She would soon be the supreme unquestioned ruler of Gaea, and everyone would accept her leadership, or die.