There and Back again

GA1: Well… lookie, lookie I'm actually updating faster!

SD: Um ya... Except now you have to break up the chapters again... you ran out of already separated ones...

GA1: ……… cries Don't remind me!

SD: Please note there is some violence in this chapter, and for once it's not Dilandau…

Dilandau: What! Who dares to-

SD: Oh will you shut up? Glares

GA1: ANYWAYS….on with the chapter..

Disclaimer: Neither of us own The Vision of Escaflowne, we've tried to buy it from Bandi but they said they won't sell it to crazy Fans. So ya if you try and sue us, I will send out my Dilly-sama plushy. We do how ever own out 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

xXxXxXxXx ;scene change

italic; vision

XoX ; Flashback

Chpt 15 Torn Paths

He leaned back against his arms as he used them to keep him up. Van sat on the roof above his room, studying the night sky since he could not sleep. His conversations with King Aston could get him nowhere; the king seemed to change the subject every ten minutes. It was aggravating and annoying. With Zaibach only looming in the distance, Van could sense that something was wrong, even through the blond Austria knight would not tell him anything. He heard something move to his right, but he did not have look to know that it was Merle moving down the roof towards him. It seemed he wasn't the only one who couldn't sleep.

"Van-dono?" her voice was low and soft as she sat down next to him, a questionable look in her blue eyes. He just smiled as he looked at her. Smiling in return she leaned against him as she joined him in his star watching. At least not everything was lost to him. He had the Escaflowne, and he still had Merle. Even though his world was closing in on him, at least he could count on Merle always being there. Even if it was because she loved him, though Van didn't think he could return that feeling. He had always seen her as his little, cute sister. They were able to enjoy the silence on the roof for a little longer before Merle suddenly perked up, ears slighted back as if picking something up. Van frowned at the expression o her face.

"Merle?" He asked as she stood up. She was facing further down the roof, at the room next to his. Van slowly stood up, hand resting on his sword. "That was Ayane's voice...' Merle whispered suddenly as she dashed down the roof on all fours to the room next to his. Van stood in her wake for a moment before the sound of something crashing reached his ears.

"Ayane... Aiko!" He sprinted down the roof after Merle, and jumped down onto the girls' balcony. First he found Merle frozen by the opened door staring at something with in. When he followed her eyes, he frowned confused by what he saw. Ayane was dropped against the dresser, with an angry looking Aiko inching towards her hands balled into fists. There was something written in Ayane's steel gray eyes that he couldn't catch until Aiko yelled.

"I hate you! I wish you would just disappear and leave me the fuck alone!" Fear, Ayane was afraid of Aiko. Van stood froze, baffled with what was unfolding before him. What was going on here! Merle moved slightly making a noise that caught Ayane's attention she looked up at Van as soon as her eyes saw him.

"Van, help me, Aiko is sleep walking!" Aiko glared at Ayane as she ran over to her, picked her up by the shoulders, and threw her against the small table that stood next to bed. It toppled over because of her weight.

"I hate you! But I'm in control now ... and there's nothing you can do about it" Snickering, she stood over Ayane, the crazed smile got bigger. "How does it feel to be thrown across the room, huh bastard? How does it feel to finally be the hunted instead of the hunter?" Aiko glared at Ayane as she started to punch her repeatedly. Periodically froze to the spot he stood, Van watched as Ayane blocked the first few punches before Aiko scored one against her right shoulder. With a cry of pain, Ayane fell to her knees barely missing the next hit. From her cry, Van was released for a spell that held him still as he darted across the room, grabbing Aiko from behind. She struggled against him, screaming something fierce and undoing his balance making both of them fall to the floor. The sudden contacted with the ruff carpet, and the weight of her coming down on top knocked the wind out of him, his grip loosened just enough for she to move out of it. Aiko rolled of him to get back to her feet, but couldn't as Ayane pounced on her. Straddling over her waist, using what weight she had to keep Aiko down, Ayane grabbed for her hands to pin them down on the floor. The bathrobe fell down her shoulders as Aiko struggled against her. Moving quickly, once his lungs sucked in the lost air; Van pinned down her upper half by pressing down on her shoulders. He was now able to see the vacant look in her angry eyes.

"GET THE FUCK OFF OF ME!" Aiko tried to struggle as hard as she could, and almost succeeded getting Ayane off of her...Almost. Thrashing about her head banged into Van's trying to get him off of her but it didn't succeed. After a while, Aiko's struggling went down a little, but she was still trying to get up. Her black hair stuck to her forehead while she tried in vain to get Van off of her at least. One would have to admit, the boy was stronger then he looked. "NO! GET OFF ME! I WON'T ALLOW YOU TO BEAT ME AGAIN! Aiko yelled as tears rolled down her cheeks.

"What...?" Was all Van could managed to say as she struggled harder. He tried not to let go even though the pain for his forehead was pulsing through his nerves.

"Aiko, we're not them, snap out-" SMACK.

"Wake up, you stupid girl!" the sound of Merle's voice echoed, as she slapped Aiko a crossed the face. Stunned by the sudden attack, Aiko blinked a few times, vacant eyes coming to life. Van slowly loosened his grip, and lifted a hand to feel his forehead, just to make sure there wasn't a cut. From the struggle, Van had managed to pull her shirt down off her right shoulder exposing the half healed dagger wound. He looked up at Ayane to see if she was alright, for her hands had disappeared off of Aiko's arms. At the moment she was pulling the bathrobe back over her right shoulder. Now exposited to the world, Van could see an excepted wounded to the one Aiko had, there was also a light scare that ran down her hand all the way to her wrist. Her other hand quickly covered the first as Ayane jumped to her feet. Aiko blinked a few times before rubbing the back of her head where it had collided with Van's. Sitting up, she looked to the anger catgirl that was hunched down next to her and then to Van.

"Huh?...what's going on?" Finally looking at Ayane, she gasped. There were a few cuts here and there, things that look to have been created from some sort of impact. "And what the hell happened to you?"

"What do you mean what happened to her?" Merle's head popped into her view, blocking the one of Ayane as she moved away from them. Van was now sitting on the floor behind her, still rubbing his injured head. "You don't recall throwing her about the room, raving on like a lunatic?"

"WHAT?" Aiko's eyes widened and looked at Ayane to see if it were true. One look at Ayane told her that it was true. There was no need to try and get some sort of nod from her. "Oh my god, Ayane….I'm so sorry…..." Aiko spoke so softly, that Van could barely hear her. Aiko went up to her trying to hug her, but Ayane took several steps back from her, arms wrapped around her thin frame.

"What is the matter with you! Why were you throwing Ayane around, yelling like a mad man!" Aiko didn't look at Merle. Her hair fell to the sides, blocking her face form view.

"I really don't want to talk about it……" If it wasn't for Merle's good hearing, she wouldn't have been able to hear what Aiko said. She blinked back tears, however one managed to escape. Aiko quickly brushed it aside. There was no way she was going to allow Van or anyone else for that matter see her in this vulnerable state. She took a deep breath trying to calm her nerves, but that only made things worse.

"Hey! I'm not going to except that! You-" Merle started to say again but was cut off when something fell, crashing down to the floor. Aiko's head shoot up just like everyone else to the door as something in black fabric disappeared through it into the dark hall way, an unsuppressed sob echoing in the room. Before she knew it, Aiko was chasing after her friend leaving Van sitting on the floor, confused at what was happening, and an angry Merle. The catgirl was frozen for a few minutes before running out the door after the disappeared Aiko. "Hey!"

xXxXxXxXx

"O for goodness sakes, Shesta! It's freezing out here!" Miguel growled as he rubbed his arms, careful not to disturb the cloak that surrounded his body. With this, the outside world could not see him or the second-in-command. Though, without the heavy armor jacket the cool air of the Austria night was nipping at his bare arms beneath it. They had been sitting out in the garden area for almost three hours, most of the lights in the surrounding rooms had gone out, but Gatty had insisted that they waited a little longer. Miguel, on the other had who was tired, just wanted to get this over with. He had spent the day with the other three slayers trying to fix up on of the older rooms on the upper floor into a bedroom. Not as easy as one would think, sure it had all the right stuff to make it into a descent room, but the thing looked like it hadn't been used in ages. Fixing broken tiles, cleaning out dirt so thick that it looked it was part of the floor, and trying to fix the door was not some fun day task. Shesta and Gatty got out of the deal by getting all the furniture for the room. Which he and Viole had the lovely honor of putting together. Now here he was, playing a part in the second kidnapping of the young woman, Ayane.

"O stop your whining Miguel..." Gatty's voice reached his ears. Having cloaks like this was great; you could get around without anyone seeing you. The only problem with this was that NO ONE could see you at all, even your own men. Miguel had to guess where the other two were. Shesta was no doubtfully leaning against the tree near from where he stood, and Gatty was knelt down on the gravel path. Every now and then, their cloaks would flux, which allowed him to confirm it. "Shes, how much longer until Folken notices us gone?"

"Don't know… Last time Dallet checked in, he was still in the meeting with King Aston…" Shesta replied, he was the only one with a com to the Vione. The idea of Dilandau's was to have her retrieved before anything could happen. They already knew that the Dragon was here. King Aston was no doubtfully going to try and 'sell' it to Zaibach. The bastard had no ideal what Folken was planning on using his country as. The only problem was, for the damn man to ask for Zaibach's help. He was planning for something there to, but Dilandau's only concerned with this right now. Something about the girl peeked his interest in having her back on the Vione. There was no doubtfully in Miguel's mind that it was because it had to do with the reason she had for been able to fix Shesta's hand, which barely had a scar on it from the cut. So here they were, hiding out in the Palace garden's waiting for the chance to sneak in and grab the girl. Now if only Miguel could get the two of them to move. "We should be moving soon, the commotion in the room stopped. Wonder what was going on… There was a lot of movement…"

"Right, that was nice to hear, Shes… Next you're going to say-"

"Miguel, mind out of the gutter please… It's bad enough we get that from Viole we don't need it from you too…" Gatty half laughed. "I think he's rubbing of onto you…" Miguel glared through the cloak at where he hoped Gatty was, if he moved closer he could kick him down into the dirt. But then again, that would result in having bathroom duty for another week.

"Right lets-" Shesta started to say, but stopped when the sound of unsuppressed sobbing reached their ears. Someone was running out of the Palace into the gardens. They all moved, Gatty to his feet, Miguel pulling out his sword somewhat, and Shesta moving his binoculars to see who it was. "Looks like we got it easy, it's her…"

xXxXxXxXx

Damn, Ayane…..where are you going in such a hurry? Aiko thought as she tried to catch up with her. For a short person, she sure was fast. Usually, Aiko could out run Ayane any day, but for some reason, she couldn't even get close to her. She followed the short girl out to the gardens, but froze at what she saw. A ways off, Ayane stood, surrounded by three Zaibach soldiers….or at least…that what Aiko thought that they looked like. Ayane was leaning against a confused blond, looking like she was sobbing. There was a light brownish blond haired one saying something to the blond. They hadn't noticed her until the third, a redhead, looked over his shoulder and saw her. She recognized him then, he was one of the soldiers that she saw back at Allen's fort, one of the bastard's men.

What…the………hell…? Aiko slowly backed up heading towards the door as question after question flew through her mind. Why was Ayane near Zaibach soldiers? Did she know them? Why are they here in the first place? Just as Aiko was about to turn around and get Van, when something grabbed her from behind. She struggled to get free. But the hold was too tight for her to use her arms. Two dark figures with yellow eyes jumped in front of her, and grinned. She closed her eyes, and set her head back as fast as she could, knocking into the thing behind her. As soon as she brought her head back up, she began to see stars. She still hadn't gotten over the ordeal that had just happened in the room.

OK………that wasn't the smartest thing to do……… The two figures in front of her moved to help the thing behind her, tied her arms to her body, and her hands together so that she couldn't move. Then the figures let go, sending Aiko to the ground. Trying to get up, and clear the blinking stars from her vision, something was slipped over her head, and all went black. She could hear them talking, but the sounds of their voices were muffled out by whatever they had put over her head.

xVxVxVxVx

Merle ran around the hall, chasing after the two run away girls. Aiko had a lot to answer for, how dare she smack her head against Van-dono! On top of that, where was Ayane in such a rush to get to, the only thing this hall lead to was the gardens. Maybe she was trying to get away from the "Evil Aiko", who was now in hot pursuit of her. Merle's short pink hair fell in her face as she came around a corner, planning on the mean things she could do to get back the tall black haired Mystic Mooner. As she was about to come around another corner, she froze to the spot at the sounds of struggling. She could hear Aiko mumble something at her attackers, Merle slowly peeked her head around the corner to see what was happening. There were three geckos standing around a bag that sat on the floor. It moved slightly as Aiko slumped to one side.

"What the?" the words were whispered to no one but herself.

"Meiden had better pay us in full this time…" One of the geckos said as he rubbed his injured head. "This one was a lot of work..."

"Don't worry, if not, we could always sell her to the highest bidder if he doesn't…" Another said as he picked up the bagged figure of Aiko, and threw if over his shoulder. "Let's get out of here. Seems like Zaibach beat us to the other one…" Merle pulled her head back around the corner, just in time for them not to see her.

"She got sold off?" There was a slight pull for her to find Ayane, and forget about telling anyone of Aiko's kidnapping. But then again, Merle sighed as she turned around to run back the way she came to find Van, neither of them would forgive me if they found out…

xXxXxXxXx

Folken leaned back slightly in the chair as he listened to the Austria king try to weave his web of lies. It wasn't a very good attempt; the Escaflowne had already been sighted in the arena the other day. On top of that, he had already spoken to his little brother. Where Van was the Dragon wouldn't be too far behind. Then there was always the fact that Ayane was with him; along with the other girl that Folken could only guess to be Aiko. He hadn't told Dilandau that she was there, no his Dragonslayers had already done that. While down on the marketplace Shesta and Gatty had run a crossed her, now he had to keep an eye on all of them to make sure they didn't try anything. The last thing he need was a failed kidnapping on Dilandau's part. That would show Zaibach's interest in having the girl back. Not that it was already evident. Folken had told Aston that the girl had been on the Vione when Allen had 'attacked' it. The arrogant king continued to talk, not taking notice of the clear uninterested look Folken had. If this kept up they weren't going to get anywhere. Maybe he should have had Dilandau try and retrieve the girl. That might smoke the Escaflowne out into the open again. Abruptly, there was a knock at the far door, hidden in the shadows of the half light room. Without waiting to be commanded in, a soldier in silver armor opened the door and stepped through.

"Strategoes…" King Aston stopped speaking as the soldier cut in. The man walked across the room and handed Folken a shadowgraph, along with a small piece of folded paper. He looked down at the shadowgraph. It was hard to believe, but the Guymelef picture on it was what they were looking for, covered in the most ridiculous disguise that he had ever seen. One could have laughed, and probably had with the look the soldier was trying to cover up. It was time to end this little game with the King.

"I think you will find this interesting, King Aston…" Folken handed the overweight man the small shadowgraph. The expression of surprise was written across his face, even though it was not from the fact that the Escaflowne was there. But from the fact, that all this time he had known it, and now his little lies were exposed. Aston's head fell into his left hand as he placed the picture down.

"I would have never guessed that it was disguise as one of my own…" Liar… Folken had to fight to keep his expressionless face from frowning. You were the one who ordered it done. I can read it on your face.

"I will have to ask that Zaibach keep its part of the treaty…" Now Folken had to hide from smiling, whatever had forced his brother out of hiding was now playing into his favor. With these next words, he would be able to put Emperor Dornkirk's plans into action. "I request the dispatch of Zaibach's soldiers." Folken stood up, face now hiding in the shadows, cloak concealing his body from view. The Austrian King was now looking down at the shadowgraph in his lap, practical frowning to hide his anger.

"Have Dilandau wakened. " He ordered the soldier, who just frowned at him.

"Strategoes, Dilandau has already left the Vione..." Sighing slightly, Folken walked out of the room. Leaving King Aston with his advisor Meiden, at least he was free from them, and would not have to deal with that again. As the door slide shut behind him, Folken made his way down the corridor towards the bridge, cursing Dilandau for being such a light sleeper. That was when he remembered the small piece of paper that the soldier had him. Unfolding it, he studied the neat handwriting of the Dragonslayer Guimel.

We have the little Healer.

Five simple words, just enough for him to know what the slayer was talking about. This time a small smile graced his normally emotionless face.

GA1: Well… looks like…

SD: You have work to do! Takes out paper fan and starts hitting Glass Angel1 So get to work!

GA1: Ow! I'm going, I'm going!

SD: Grins

Editing: 11/23/06