There and Back again

GA1: Ya ok…. We've been on the dead side...

SD: We or you?

GA1: glares

SD: Thought so. Anyways sorry for like the three month delay, wont happen again as long as she stops sleeping.

GA1: I'm sick!

SD: You're always sick. That's not an excuse for you anymore.

GA1: Shut up……

Disclaimer: ………………………………………………………………………………… (Insert own disclaimer now) We do however own our respective characters.

Spirit Dancer: Aiko, Shiva

Glass Angel1: Ayane, Fira, Merlin, The Providence Children and any other character that I must create for the production of this story.

All rights reserved.

Summary:

Not just an ordinary retelling of Escaflowne. Two girl's wish away their lives of family abuse, only to find their wish answered. Destiny plays its hands hard as these two friends find themselves caught up in a war of a world they barely know, only to be torn apart along the way. Will they be able to overcome their trouble pasts, and save this new world for its own destruction? Or will their pasts become its means of destruction?

Category: Action/Adventure/Romance

xVxVxVxVx; same place different point of view

xXxXxXx; scene change

italic; vision

XoX; Flashback

Chpt 13 Dark little Secrets

Sitting at around a rectangular table, Aiko had her hands in her lap, and was staring at the table in her own little world. It was the only place that was actually interesting, since the King, his advisor, Allen, and Millerna were all in private conversations. A butler came around, and set wine glasses in front of everyone. Aiko made no effort to drink; instead she glared at it for a few seconds before returning to some thought deep in her mind. Leaning back in her chair, Ayane listened half mindedly to the conversation jumping around the table. Princess Eries, Millerna's older sister, made the announcement that the younger princess of Austria was engaged to Meiden's son, Dryden. Millerna didn't seem to be too happy about it being made public, and was brushing it off, with an 'I haven't consented to it yet, sister'. Slipping a smile glance around the table, she could see Aiko was ignoring the world around her, and Van, who was sitting next to her, was trying oh so hard not to look bored. At the head of the table sat King Aston, someone Ayane would choose to describe as someone in the need of exercise, and maybe to shave off the mustache. There seem to be a cold wave of silent hatred between him and the Heaven's knight, Schezar. But beside that, and the quarrel happening between the two sisters, nothing the really interesting was happening. Picking up the glass in front of her, Ayane took a sip of the red liquid before looking down the other end of the table to the Escaflowne that was being put on display. It didn't seem like the right thing to do, it wasn't mean to be some ornament in a dinning hall. The look on Van's face when he saw it there supported the thought. Ayane frowned at the taste of the drink as she swallowed. Lovely, sweet wine... Just what I need... Merle looked at the two Mysticers as Ayane put the wine glass down.

"What's the matter?" Merle asked her before smiling evilly. "You don't like Alcohol huh?" Aiko glared at her, and looked at Ayane with troubled eyes. Ayane just smiled innocently back at Merle and picked up her glass again. Swirling the almost full glass in her hand, Ayane lifted it up in a silent cheer to the cat girl a cross the table before draining the glass completely. Merle's jaw nearly hit the table, as Ayane just held the glass up to be refilled again. The look on her face dared the cat girl to do the same. Merle looked at her glass nervously as Ayane watched her. Taking a deep breath, she picked up the glass, drank the whole thing in one gulp, and set it down. The feline looked at Ayane with a smirk. Looking at Aiko with the same challenging smile that Ayane had given her before, she silently challenged Aiko to drink her wine. Aiko stared back at her with an expressionless face before finally picking up her glass, and looking at the red liquid as if she really didn't want to drink it. Aiko took a sip of wine, and put the glass down. The look that crossed her face wasn't a very pleasant one as she tried to swallow.

"Though, your highness, do you not think Zaibach will take notice of its beauty as well?" Van could hear Meiden say to King Aston as they spoke on what to do with the Escaflowne. At the moment the young king was trying to keep from jumping down they're throats. How could they display the Escaflowne like that? It wasn't some armor built just for show, having it there was degrading. He could hear the Austria King say something, but he wasn't listening. There was a sudden 'BAM' sound next to him, turning his head sharply he could see Ayane smacking Aiko on her back, who seemed to be choking on something. Across the table Merle, was trying to keep herself from laughing. It seemed to Van had probable missed the most exciting thing on the table so far.

"What's wrong?" was all he could manage to say. Ayane just looked up at him, startled as if she didn't realize he was there. She smiled at him and waved her other hand in the air.

"Everything is perfectly alright!" Then she looked back down at Aiko and snarled. "Swallow!" Aiko swallowed, and started to cough. After about a minute she stopped, and looked down at her hands, blushing slightly.

"I think I'm going to be sick..." She whispered to Ayane so that only she could hear it. Merle couldn't hold it back anymore and quietly chuckled to herself. Ayane rolled her eyes as she turned back to her own glass. Van looked at the two questionably as King Aston continued to talk to him, now that the young woman next to him was no longer choking. Sighing at missing his chance to get out of there, Van turned his head back around to her him and the advisor. Merle smirked at Ayane.

"Ok, so you rank one measly little glass...I bet you can't drink two..." Aiko rolled her eyes at the cat girl's challenge to her friend. Returning her smirk, Ayane picked up her glass once again. Swirling it in the opposite direction then last time, she once again held her glass up in a silent cheer before draining the glass again. She held it up for Merle to see, now empty of its red liquor and placed it down on the table.

"We'd be two to one now, my little cat friend. Can you hold your own?" Merle's eyes widened as she watch Ayane drink the second one. Aiko was watching, since everyone else was boring her. Merle picked up her glass, and drank it all, but Aiko could see that she couldn't do another glass. The feline had no idea who she was playing this little drinking game with. Merle looked at Ayane with a smirk, placing her empty glass on the table.

"Your turn." This time Ayane held the glass up for the waiter to 'top it off'. With a full glass, Ayane carefully held it in her silent cheer so not to spill a drop. Aiko sighed, and slumped down in her chair as she watched Merle's jaw nearly hit the table for the second time, as her friend set the empty glass now before her. From the conversations going on at the other end of the table, this small drinking game was unseen. Therefore, no one could see the poor cat girl get her butt kicked.

"Thus we be three to two, my little cat friend." Aiko could hear the slur in the voice of the girl next to her. Aiko looked over at Ayane with a 'if you don't stop I'm going to kill you' look, hoping the feline wouldn't press this game any further. Merle grinned as she drank the next glass, and surprisingly empting the glass before she placed the glass down on the table and smiled at Ayane.

"Now it's even..." Slurring also, Merle looked at Ayane. Aiko glared at her hard. Lifting her now refilled glass in her a not so silent cheer, for Ayane mumbled something that made Aiko turn her head in shock.

"Ye be as Gods." She watched as Ayane drained the glass of its red liquor, draining it slowly. There would only be one reason why Ayane would say that little 'cheer' thing of hers out loud, Ayane was drunk. Shit...Aiko looked around and counted all of the guys in the room. Let's see, there's Van, Allen, the butlers, the guards, the king, the advisor...Aiko kept counting till she stopped because of the sheer number. She poked Van in the shoulder.

"Um...Van...I need to get Ayane out of here..." The sudden jab in his shoulder pulled Van out away from his half sleep attention to whatever was going on in around him to again, the young woman next to him. For a moment it took him a while to catch what she had said, as he watch Merle try to swallow a whole glass of wine in one gulp, but couldn't seem to do it. The slow realization hit him what again seemed to probably the most interesting thing going on, not only was Merle on the verge, or probable pasted it, of being drunk, but so was Ayane. The girl was giggling behind her hand at Merle's failed attempted and hick upped.

"O dear lord..." He whispered under his breath, but just loud enough for Aiko to hear.

"No, I'm serious...Ayane needs to be were there are no men around..."Aiko lowered her voice, so that Van could barely hear it. "Because if one man looks at her in the wrong way, consider all of the men in a 5 mile radius dead..."

"What do you mean by that?" Van responded. By now, Allen registered that something was wrong from the way Van and Aiko were whispering. Looking away from the glare Princess Eries was currently giving him, down to the end of the table to could see the half drunken cat girl across the way, and a probable equally drunk Ayane.

"What the...?" Aiko growled at Van's dumbness for not catching on. Though how could he if he had never seen Ayane in an anger mood, or worse a drunk one.

"That means that you and every other man within a 5 mile radius will be eligible to get castrated if one male gives her the wrong look..." She whispered loudly, but not loud enough that anyone else could hear her. "So I need an excuse to get her out of here!"

"I thought you said... dear lord... Give me a moment..." Van turned back to the conversation taking place on the other end of the table. Aiko just rolled her eyes as she looked back at her friend. Ayane was slumped down in her chair hand over her mouth trying to hide the fact that she was giggling, and had the hick ups. Moving himself to the edge of his seat, Van prepared to stand up once King Aston took a breath from whatever it was that he was saying. Taking a quick moment, he glanced at Allen who was looking at him questionable. Call this a moment of revenge of leaving me with your princess. "King Aston..." Van said as the Austria king paused for a moment, standing slowly he looked at Aiko for a second before turning his attention back to the other end of the table.

"Yes, Van-dono?"

"I apologize for cutting this evening short, but I and my companions have had a ...stressful passed few days."

"O that's right!" Millerna suddenly chipped in. Her hands clapped together as she spoke. "You're all probably exhausted from the long journey!" Nodding, Aiko rose from her chair and bowed. She ignored whatever was said next as she quickly helped Ayane put of her chair, and gently push her down the hallway. Following Aiko's quick example, Van turned his attention to Merle, who was having a bit of a hard time standing on her own two feet right. As they disappeared from the dinning hall, in the opposite direction of were Aiko was pushing Ayane, Van almost felt sorry for leaving Allen to listen to the rest of the nightly gossip. Almost...

"Hey, where are we going? I haven't finished yet..." Ayane complained, words slurred, as Aiko kept pushing her in the direction of the hall. She was starting to be a bit hard to push now that she was more aware of her surroundings. Aiko kept pushing her.

"I don't care...you've had a bit too much sweet wine for today..." She said pushing her past the guards. The guard on the right looked at Ayane, but quickly looked away at the glare that Aiko gave him. For a moment, there was not argument as she got Ayane almost to the corridor. Though, with only four steps to spare, Ayane became totally still, not giving into Aiko persisting pushes. Growling, Aiko stood up straight to look up at her friend to find her head turned back in the direction of the table.

"The advisor..." Aiko's eyes narrowed as she caught on to what Ayane was about to say.

"No he didn't, now let's just go back to the room..." Returning back to her original task, Aiko began to push Ayane even harder down the hallway. With in a matter of seconds, she was welcomed by the darkness of the poorly lit hallway. At first the girl in front of her didn't struggle against the process and pushing, but that little victory didn't last very long as Ayane began to sing out loud to herself.

"They're coming to take me away! Hah hah!" Clearly, Ayane was finding some bazaar amusement with the whole situation.

"Oh will you stop it with that song already!" Aiko shouted as she continued to push her down the hall, having left all of her manners at the table. "Do you have any idea how annoying that damn song is!"

xVxVxVxVx

Millerna could barely control her own laughter as the two girls disappeared down the hall. She maybe clueless at times when things are happening around, but she wasn't dense enough not to see the small drinking game taking place down at the other end of the table. Now, as the taller of the two girls pushed the shorter one down the hall, she was having a hard time maintaining her composer. The 'pretty girl' that Allen had been watching most of the evening had drank herself drunk. There was no way she was going to let some foreign girl take him away from her. The evening would have gone well too, if her elder sister hadn't announced her engagement. But still, she would savor this small little victory over this girl.

"They're coming to take me away! ha-ha!" The black hair, blue tipped girl's voice shouted down the hall, in a singing voice. Her friend yelled something back but it was too muffled to hear. Practically chocking on her wine, Millerna snuffed down a laugh that was trying so hard to rise. It looked like the girl wasn't done humiliating herself yet. The two voices carried into the dinning hall.

"They're coming to take me away! He he!"

"Ayane, if you so don't stop singing that!"

"To the FUNNY Farm!"

"I wish!" Slam! A door was slammed shut; the voice of the singing drunk girl was lost behind it. There were a lot of bewildered looks on the faces of several of the men in the hall, also on her sister Eries'. Smiling to herself happy, Millerna took a glance at Allen, and nearly dropped her glass. There was a strange little smile on his lips as he looked down the hallway where the two girls had disappeared to, not even a flicker of shock. BAM! Something was thrown against a door down the hall.

xXxXxXx

Aiko sighed as she leaned back against the door, Ayane standing a few feet in front of her with her back to her. If there was anything in the world Aiko wanted to do right at that moment, it was to strangle her until she wasn't breathing anymore.

"Damn Ayane...if you ever sing that song again I will kill you..." Aiko got off the door, and started to walk towards her bag to get changed. "Man, I will never wear a dress again..." She stopped short from her bag when she heard Ayane giggling. Turning back around to look at her in anger, and to smack her drunken friend across the face, she stopped for a moment. Ayane still had her back to her, but from the way she was holding herself up looked different from when she was drunk. Looking at Aiko from over her shoulder, Ayane smiled.

"I think I play drunk well, don't you?" Aiko stared at her.

"Y-you were...playing it? After four glasses of sweet wine you were playing it!" Smiling, she turned around and winked at her.

"Sweet heart, didn't I ever tell you I was the queen of cheating at drinking games?" Aiko shook her head and sighed

"Remind me to never challenge you to a drinking game….as if I could drink that disgusting beverage in the first place..." Searching through her bag, Aiko pulled out her black cargo pants, black hiking boots, black tank top, and last, her compass. She had to clean it for the next time she wanted to use it.

"Oh you are such a poo head..." Ayane rolled her eyes, but as they caught the sharp end of her compass she frowned. "While we are on the subject of sharp pointy objects to kill yourself with, where is my switch blade?" Aiko looked up at her confused until she got an idea and smiled nervously.

"Awww shit…. I think I left it in Fanelia..."She said, smiling nervously, acting as if she really did.

"You WHAT!" Ayane slammed her up against the door, pinning her there by her shoulders. "You did what with my switch blade! DO you want me to burn you compass into none existence!" Aiko winced from the pain in her back.

"OK OK lied! Its not in Fanelia, Van has it..."

"Good girl. Don't lie again..." Ayane patted her on the check before letting her go completely, walking over to the balcony. She moved the curtains aside to look out onto the night sky. Aiko fell down onto the floor by the door. Thank god, she didn't kill me...wait... DAMN IT! Aiko hit the door so hard there was a slight dent in the wood. Ignoring the pain that was now surging through her arm, she glared at Ayane and headed towards where her clothes were and began to change. Letting go of the curtain, she looked at Aiko as she struggled out of the dress to put on her own clothing. Looking down at the floor, she sighed inwardly before heading back to the door.

"Hey, Aiko...I'll be back in a while..." Looking up, all Aiko saw was the door closing behind her friend, leaving her along in the large bedroom. Aiko looked at the door for a few minutes before shaking her head.

"O...k..." Picking up her CD player, she put her Evanescence CD into it, and turned it on the volume to full blast. Drowning out the world around her as she fell onto the bed.

xVxVxVxVx

Walking down the dark halls, Ayane listen to the patter of her feet as she made her way along. She had probably embarrassed a few people with her little act, and was probably going to have to apologize to Van in the morning, and maybe even Allen. Looks and impressions went along way with people, and those who you are with make even a deeper impression. Sighing she looked up at the small torch as she passed it, the halls were dimly lit during the night it seemed. Every now and then she would see the star light night through some open window. This place didn't seem really big on glass. True there were glass windows in the dinning hall, and in their bedroom, but really big windows in the inner part of the palace? Nope, no glass. Wow, I must be really depressed if I'm thinking about windows... Ayane sighed as she came around another corner and into a darker hallway. Things were swirling in her head a mile a minute. This world was a mystery wrapped in mystery. He had called him brother, so it made Van and Folken family? Two siblings at different ends of the battlefield. Maybe that's why he seemed to be somewhat sad when he was speaking to her. Not that she could tell it by the way he talked; it was just the look behind his maroon violet eyes. Sighing, she pulled her arms around herself to keep herself warm. The cool night air was seeping through this part of the palace, maybe she was getting closer to the gardens. The question still whirled in her head unrested. Why was Folken in Zaibach and not with his younger brother? And while she was on the topic, wasn't the eldest son that was the heir to the throne? Well, at least it was back in the medieval days on Earth.

Earth, home... It seemed to be such a far away place now; she missed the salvation of her own room, and the pen house. Well 'apartment' to Aiko, as she had always called it. Sitting around in the gardens that her mother had planted when she was younger. Mother, right that was a topic she hadn't thought about in a while. Shaking her head clear, she continued around another corner. Why was she running? And running to where? The image of the silver haired, red-eyed pervert popped into her head again. This time she didn't banish it like she had done the others. There was something strange and mysterious about him as well. True, the only time she really saw him was in the room she was being held in, and at the hanger where he didn't listen to her warning. And yet, there was something that pulled her mind back to him...Him and Folken. Maybe I should stop wondering about it and ask Van tomorrow... When I apologize to him. She sighed again, Him AND Merle. The cat girl was easy to trick into that little game. Ayane knew that Aiko was uncomfortable in public things, especially dinners. Merle had provided her with a means to get them excused. She had cheated, yes, but she did have the four glasses of wine. It was just; with years of drinking now she had the resistance to the alcoholic effect, and was able to with stand it for a time. Placing one hand on her stomach as her insides turned, she quickened her step a bit. There was also another thing she had learned to do, but that just came with being Bulimic. Tossing the alcohol back up before it had a chance to run through her system. She had eaten most of the heavily rich food that they had been severed before the sweet wine. So it won't just run through her system right away. The other problem at the moment was, trying to keep that rich food down. She didn't want to do this in their room, were Aiko could see.

True, for the past few months this had been a problem she had been trying to fix on her own. Being bulimia wasn't something rare in the line of work she did with her father. In fact he had been the one to MAKE her start doing it when she was fourteen. Odd, weren't the parents suppose to be worried when they found out that their children were doing such things, not making them do it? She hadn't purged her food in a while now, but at the moment, she wouldn't mind doing it again. The 'clicking' of her boots of the stone floor died away as she stepped out on to a gravel path. She had made it to the gardens, or well the outside of the palace anyways. Looking up around her now, instead of at the ground, Ayane contained walking down the path towards the line of trees she saw, some surrounded by small little bushes. It didn't seem like she was going to reach her goal of getting there first, when her body began its own process of pushing the rich foods back up her esophagus. Falling to her knees, as she reached the first tree, the branches of the small bush scratched her face as she held it down. The sound was sickening itself, as she threw up the food. If it wasn't for the fact that she was the one doing it, Ayane could have sworn it sounded like someone dying. The better sweetness of the wine she had forced down seemed to make the process shorter. At least she had enough liquid in her body to make this easier. Gods, this was something she wanted to stop being, but if she kept eating foods like this, she wouldn't be keeping much food down. At least, when she was on the Zaibach Fortress she could keep that food down. It wasn't quiet rich, and unlike this meal, most of it consisted of fresh fruits and cold pieces of cooked meat.

That she didn't mind. For a few more moments, her body finished pushing out the food and dumping it out on to there ground beneath the thick little bush. Ayane hung her head down a little longer, to see if anything else pushed its way out. The last thing she needed was to get something besides grass and dirt on her clothing. Explaining those to Aiko would be easy, explaining regurgitated food? Not so easy. After a few seconds of waiting, Ayane sat up a bit and leaned against the tree that was next to her, that she had been using as a support to keep herself up. The reaction to wipe her mouth didn't come like it did most people. By doing that she would get it on her gloves. When she had the strength enough to move some more, she would pull the small handkerchief out of its hiding place. But, at the moment, she felt tired, and wanted to sleep even if she did it outside in the cold sea air. Her steel gray eyes closed, shutting out the starlight world around her, the darkness beckoning her to sleep. There was a rustle of the grass next to her as something moved.

"Are you done?" Her eyes flew open again, as the beckoning stopped at the sound of the familiar Heavenly Knight's voice.

xXxXxXx

She sat on the small bench looking down at the small little handkerchief that Allen had handed her earlier. At the current moment of silence, he was running his left hand up and down her back in a circular motion as he sat on the small stone bench next to her. He hadn't said anything to her since he helped her up, and moved her further down the garden path to this small bench. Either it was a little disturbing to him, or he was at a lost of words at the moment. This was not something she was planning on, he must have already been out here and had seen her, or he had followed her out here. Being the characteristic man that she had labeled him, it was hard to tell. Both were quiet the equal possibility. Ayane closed her hands over the small thing between them. Even though what he was doing was making her stomach feel a bit better, and the silence was quiet welcome, she had to break the ice.

"I don't think I like Austria foods... It's a bit rich for my taste."

"Makes two of us..." She could hear the smile in his voice even though she wasn't looking at him. "The food served in this palace is always a little rich from some of us. I've gotten use to it by now, food outside the Palace though, you may find easier to keep down." Ayane nearly smiled at the comment. He was thinking she had a sensitive stomach. Well, at least it was a little easier to cover up here. True, she probably did have a 'sensitive' stomach. At the moment though, she wouldn't mind candy or something sugary. Sugar sound good at the moment. Unclosing her hands she stared down at the white cloth again. At least all the food here wasn't that rich, it was nice to know. The only problem she had at the moment was she didn't have any money in the currency of this world to pay for anything outside the Palace walls. There was always the option of pawning some of her things, but she wasn't THAT hungry. She had seen some fruit in the bedroom she and Aiko shared, those she could probably keep down, but this throwing back up of the food she couldn't was going to cause some problems. Looking up slightly, she could see a row of plants a crossed the way, vibrated red flowers in the starlight oddly remembered her of there red eye general. Frowning, she looked back down at her hands. She defiantly needed some sugar. As if to answer her thought, her stomach rumbled. Now empty, it demanded to be full. She could hear Allen chuckle slightly, probably from the look that crossed her face as she glared down at her midsection.

"Stupid stomach. First you don't like the food I give you, and now your want more?" The snuffled chuckle became a down right laugh. Looking away from her irritable stomach she glared at the knight. "My stomach's misery amuses you, Sir Knight?"

"No..." He smiled down at her for a moment before something clicked in his mind. Standing up suddenly, he searched his pockets for something. It seemed to take him a few minutes but when he sat down again he handed her a small round item wrapped in a colorful piece of paper. "Eat it..."

"What is it?" Ayane looked at it questionably for a moment before unwrapping it. There was a small round red ball that fell out of it on to her hand. It was somewhat see through when she held it up.

"It's a type of candy, suppose to taste like strawberries I think..." At the word of 'candy' Ayane popped the small thing in her mouth and began to suck on the rock-like candy she had been giving. Smiling in content she slumped down on the bench. Sugar was good, no matter its form. One point for the Heavenly Knight, now that two were even. The two fell back into the silence they had before, the only sound was that of the waves far off hitting the shores. For a while, Ayane amused herself with the small piece of candy in her mouth. It may not be the best thing in the world to be eating, but at least it settled her stomach. Inwardly she sighed, knowing that once again she would have to break the ice. Turning her head slightly, she could see the young man sitting next to her looking up at the star filled night. True, she had to say that Allen was quite beautiful for a male, even if her thoughts crossed the line of feminine. He had probably inherited the traits from his mother. A, a topic worthy of speaking of. Pushing the small hard candy into one of her cheeks, Ayane quickly choose her words.

"Your mother must be quiet proud of want you've become... Am I correct in thinking a Heaven's Knight is the highest honor in this country?" Surprise seemed to pass through his eyes before he looked back down at her, and small sad smile on his face.

"I guess she would have been. Yes..."

""Would have been?"" Ayane frowned at what he said, thinking for a moment. "O dear! I'm sorry, I didn't know!"

"It's alright."

"What about the rest of your family?" He looked away from her to the moon and Earth that loomed in the sky.

"When I was a child, my-good-for-nothing father left my mother, my sister and me to chase some wild dream of his. A few years later, my little sister, Celena disappeared." He turned his head down to look at the gravel path before them. "My mother dead with a broken heart a few months later." Ayane frowned slightly from his story and looked back down at her hands. So, these two worlds weren't entirely different. She looked up at the night sky around her, the twinkling of the stars so forbidden to her.

"A sad tale, Sir Knight..." She said as she leaned against him, growing tired again. "But I fair, Aiko and I beat you."

SD: You…..are pathetic…

GA1: You know what?

SD: What?

GA1: You can edit the next ten chapters…..

SD: WHAT!

GA1: laughs as SD runs around room crying. Turn in next time, when all hell breaks lose!

Edited: 11/19/06