There and Back again

SD: Sorry it took so long to upload. It was the end of the school year, and both GA1 and I were busy...

GA1: No…GA1 was busy…SD had all the time in the world, but chose not to edit chapters…

SD: Well, I kinda couldn't…it was on your computer…

GA1: You could have asked me to send it to you…

SD: …I did……

GA1: ……

Spirit Dancer: Aiko, Shiva

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

Disclaimer: We DON'T own Escaflowne. So please don't sue us…for we have nothing worth of value…except for our one lone brain cell that we are forced to share and GA1's dilly doll…… We do, however own our respective characters.

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

Chpt. 19: Dragon bones

The wind ruffled her hair as she hugged onto the back of Van's shirt. They had left the forest a lot later then he had planned, but Aiko hadn't been feeling quite all together at the time. Now for the past two days, they had been flying west, Van had said something about having to become stronger, and then mumbled something about the Escaflowne. So now, they were head towards Freid, which Merle had to explain was a monk-ish like country. It was a little weird (compared to Fanelia that was), but then again, so had Austria been. There was little time to think of much, Aiko was too tired and worn out. She had hoped to stay that way for a little longer; it kept her from thinking about Ayane. The world with out her seemed a bit… empty. Even if the girl was over bearing at times, once she was gone, people could see the holes in their days. Van hadn't said a word about her, whether he didn't want to, or had no clue to handle her if she broke down again like she did last night after they got back to the camp. Again, something Aiko didn't want to do in front of everyone, but it was kind of hard not to with the stupid cat girl. Who at the moment was curled up in a ball behind her sleeping. Sighing, Aiko looked up at Van. It felt funny to be around him too. Sure, she was use to the quietness when she was around Ayane, but, Ayane quietness and Van quietness? They weren't the same. Aiko looked back down at the ground.

"I'm sorry……" She said suddenly, making Van look up at her. "I'm sorry……I shouldn't have run off like that………and to add to it, I put your life in jeopardy." She looked down at the world passing by below them. "I hope you can forgive me……" Aiko couldn't look at him, She was too afraid of what his reaction would be. I'll have to apologize to the fur ball when she wakes up as well.

"It's alright……" His voice was sort of muffled out in her ears by the gust of wind. He yanked on one of the controls in his hands, and the Escaflowne dived down a bit. "Just…don't run off like that again, ok?" Aiko didn't answer right away. Wrapped up in her thoughts she muttered a small 'Kay'. She didn't think that after all that had happened that she would be worlds away from the place that she had always wanted to leave. To a point, Ayane was a way to help her take her mind off of home. Even if it was just the span of 30 minutes, Ayane had been there when she needed someone. Then I go off, and beat the shit out of her……Aiko closed her eyes for a moment feeling the gusts of wind on her face. I'm such a baka…

"Hey, Lord Van what's that?" Merle's tired voice pulled her out of the trail of thought that purged her mind, long enough for her to look down at the ground again. They had passed the green forest and were now flying over what looked to be a canyon. Well, it looked like a canyon, but there where things (mostly black dots since they were so high up) moving about in it. Diving down closer, she could make out railroad tracks, carts, and what looked like to be bones on the walls of the canyon. A mine?

"Dragon Grave yard… Looks like someone is digging out dragon Energists." Van said his voice seemed a bit harsh as he readjusted the controls in his hand. He looked farther a head at a set of Guymelefs sanding around. "It's Zaibach." Aiko looked down at the mine with confusion clearly written on her face. Why would Zaibach need Energists? Aiko watched the ground go by below the Escaflowne. Wait, what are Energists anyways?

xXxXxXxXx

"Order from General Adelphos. Energists in short supply. Speed up production and transport." The pink haired Commander stared off over the valley where men were removing drag Energists from the skeletons of Dragons that have already died. "Commander? The soldier felt a pressure on his chest as the Commander kicked him back.

"I heard you, soldier…" The soldier got up, bowed slightly and turned on his heel to leave. He went back to looking over his crew working in the heat with very little complaints. "Sheesh…people don't know what it's like in the field……" A huge shadow past over the valley, making the commander look up to the skies with curiosity. "Hm……just another dragon."

xXxXxXxXx

"Dragon graveyard?" Aiko frowned as she studied the side of Merle's face. They were hiding behind a set of highly risen rocks which overlooked the large canyon below. Van was a little further down; standing atop another set, behind them was the Escaflowne still in its dragon form. The cat girl turned her head to the side was that she could see the woman standing next to her, eyes sort of frowning at the question.

"Yea, it's where dragons come to die." A predictable answer to a stupid question. Her eyes slightly rolled as she looked back out at it, from where they were one could see black outlines of the workers chipping away at the rock face. Sighing, Aiko peered over the rocks again.

"What are they doing?"

"Digging up the Energists..." Merle responded a little quickly, as if she was expecting the question. Turning around to lean against the rock, the pink haired cat girl looked down at her claws for a moment. "It's the heart of a dragon, their used to….ummm... Their used to…er..."

"To power Guymelefs." Van finished for her as he jumped down next to them, still looking over the canyon below them. His mind wasn't totally on the conversation the two girls were having, but more on something that he was planning on doing. "An Energist, or well the proper term is Drag Energist, are used as the power source for all Guymelefs. Remember that red 'rock' that I put into the put into the breast chamber on the Escaflowne back in Fanelia?" There was a slight nodded for Aiko. "That's what they look like… Well, Earth Drag Energists… They differ in color depending on the dragon that they come from."

"Yea, what he said!" Merle clapped her hands together; Van was now looking in a different direction then before. Chocolate colored eyes narrowing at something in the distance. The cat girl seemed to pick up were he left off. "It's said in the battle tactic, that a winner of a war is already decided before even the first battle. The country or the side with the most Energists always seems to win." Aiko made an 'o' and looked back into the valley. She spotted a pink haired man with a huge snake crawling around him. He didn't seem frightened at all. Shivering, she quickly looked elsewhere. I HATE snakes…Merle looked over at her, and was about to ask her why she was shivering when it was so hot outside, but then Van got up.

"There's six Guymelefs in all..." For a moment he seemed to be talking to himself, he looked over at them for a second before turning towards the Escaflowne. "Stay here…"

"Van-sama?" Merle started to say as he jumped up on the white dragon.

"Stay here Merle! I'm not going to let them use these Energists!"

xXxXxXxXx

"Don't just stand there, do something damn it!" The commander kicked the nearest thing he could reach, which just happened to be a poor innocent soldier standing off to the side. He took a moment to pat the head of his pet snake which had wrapped itself around his body. As he turned around to walk further down another huge shadow passed over the valley, making the commander look up again. "Hm……another dragon……" He sighed, the days were getting boring with nothing but dragon bones, and seeing live dragons wasn't much more interesting. He looked down at the ground and watched the shadow to see it pass by like the last had. But, the shadow wasn't passing along, it was just growing bigger. "What the?"

There was a violent shake as something hit the ground not to far from where he was standing. The violent shutter of the ground sent him forward; he could hear shouts, and orders being yelled around, 'It's a Guymelef, send out the Jarisen!' There were other ones too, but he didn't bather with them as he took to his feet. There fighting or well, trying apart a set of the Guymelefs that were used to guard this area, was a large white Guymelef.

"That must be the Guymelef Dilandau is after!"

xXxXxXxXx

They watched that battle unfold below them. From behind the rocks they could see the whole thing. Van was moving quickly to destroy that guymelefs that were protecting this area, but what he was planning to do next was something Aiko didn't know. She had asked Merle, but that cat girl didn't know what he was planning on doing either. They watched for a little longer before a red lizard came onto the rock diverting both of their attention from the battle. Merle smirked and grabbed its tail. The lizard squeaked and managed to leave the tail behind as it scurried to safety. Aiko was about to have fun taunting Merle about hurting animals, but a sound behind them sent them both looking behind them. There was a soldier who was watching them. It took them a second for the three of them to react. The soldier grabbed Merle and Aiko's arm tightly. Aiko sucked in her breath as his hand hit a bruise. Merle scratched him, and he let go, letting her bound away towards freedom.

"Merle you coward!" Aiko shouted as she tried to kick him in the shin. Unfortunately, the guard had metal armor on, knocking her boot back easily. "Shit that hurt!" Aiko bit her lip and yanked her arm away from the soldier and made a dash for it. She wasn't as fast as she had wished because of the throbbing pain in her foot, and the soldier caught her easily, pinning her arms behind her. DAMN IT!

xXxXxXxXx

Van growled as he forced the Escaflowne's sword through the breast chamber on the apposing Guymelef. How could he have missed all of these other guymelefs? It didn't matter much anyways. There wasn't anything that he could do about it. Though, he did now have the time to notice that the controls were responding too slowly to his reactions. He needed to become better 'in tuned' with this ancient armor, or the next time he crossed paths with that red-eyed demon boy he would lose for sure. There was a slight wonder in the back of his mind, if the wound he dealt to the young man's face had left a scare, it would be a shame if it had. Growling for the thought of pitying his enemy, Van slashed the closest Guymelef. He shouldn't pity his enemy! He should be grateful if it scared, leaving the boy a small reminder that the he had won that round. Something shimmered to his right that caught his eye. Turning his head slightly, he saw a large building with several train tracks coming out from it.

"The Energist store house… If I can get to that…"

"Alright that's enough!" The voice came from the left. Turning again to see who was speaking to him, Van froze in the controls. There surrounded by a small platoon of armored men was the weird guy Van had noticed earlier before he started his attack. Pink hair was something he always associated with Merle, not humans. That wasn't what got him though; it was the fact the man had his sword resting not a few inches from the neck of a tied up Aiko. "Come out of there!"

xXxXxXxXx

It was too much of a long day, with the last set of meals made and delivered, it was time to finish those last few touches in Dilandau-sama's room. After that, then she would be able to see Folken-sama and give him what she hoped to be sweet cakes. Ayane leaned against the broom for a moment as she looked at the back of the young man's head that was sitting down at the table. He had said nothing to her when she arrived with his food, and continued this silence thought out most of the time she was in here. The whitish haired boy seemed tired to her, on top of that there where dark lines of perspiration on his red shirt. At the moment Dilandau was eating the fruit salad that she had made for him, and the small bowl of curry and cucumber rice (the evening meal's secret meat, duck). Along with that he was reading a small stack of papers. It seemed that both he and Folken had a lot of those. Shaking her head, Ayane returned to the task of sweeping the dirt off the floor into the small dustpan. After this, all she had left was picking up his dishes and returning them to the kitchen. Tomorrow would be a lot easier, not so much to clean in the Dragonslayers' rooms.

"Ayane?" Her head snapped up at her name. Dilandau was laying down the piece of paper on the table, his chop sticks forgotten in the small wooden bowl. "I have something to show you once you're finished." She nodded her head as he looked at her. His red eyes studied her for a moment before he stood up, pushed the chair in, and disappeared into the bathroom. Sighing, Ayane laid the broom against the dresser. Well, at least the silence had been broken. Her steel gray eyes settled down onto the closed closet doors. Well, she had the time to do it out, best to see what shape his closet was in. So far she had been surprised with how much some of the boys could clutter junk into theirs.

The door slide open easy enough, unlike Viole's and Miguel's (which took her a good ten minutes to get open enough to were she could get her upper body in), and to her surprise is was far neater then any of his men's. There was several different kinds of shirt, iron and hung up on their respective hangers. To the far right in she could see a set of armor jackets that were exactly the same, except one was duller then the other in shine. Then there was several well iron black slacks too, they seemed to be the one kind of pants that lived in this closet space. Her eyes dropped to the floor, there had to be some of discarded clothes somewhere, or why else would there be a point in a maid. The room itself was already well kept and cleaned. Maybe it was only his slayers that where slobs? Well, except for Shesta and Gatty… and maybe Guimel. It made her a little happy to see the edges of a shirt that had been kicked back away from the light of the room. At least she had something to clean. Though when she knelt down to pick it up, her hand never made it to the discarded shirt, as her eyes settled on a black bag. Her black bag.

Well at least she now knew what had become of it. Maybe now would be good idea to get a few things out of it that she would need. Or maybe she should do that tomorrow when he wasn't here? Regardless of the fact that the one who had probably ordered this removed from her room was only behind the door to her far right, her hand fell onto the zipper. There were several smaller bags inside; nothing seemed to have been disturbed though she wasn't looking for any of them. When she pulled her hand back out of the bag, she was looking down at the small black flip phone. Rezipping up the bag and pushing it back to where it had been, Ayane absently mindedly closed the closet door. The small light on the phone blinked, letting her know that it still had power, though whether it had service was another thing. Slowly, she sat down on the edge of the bed, hand slightly shaking she flipped it open. There on the corner to the right, were a set of small bar. Even though they were one another planet, it seemed she had enough service somehow to make a call she wasn't sure she wanted to make. She doesn't need me worrying about her anymore, do I even had the right? Her finger hovered over the small button; speed dial had always been her friend in the past. I could…just call to let her know I'm alive… Right? Before she had chance to argue with the thought she pushed down onto it. Holding it up to her ear she could hear the rings, holding her breath she counted each one. Four…Five…Six…Seven…

"…..Beep….Ya, ya, ya we all know the drill…leave a message and I try to call ya back when I can…..Beep..." Aiko's voice came one, it was low, and sounded slightly annoyed. There seemed to be an eternity between each breath she took, her thoughts running in circles unable to allow her to speak.

"Have you finished?"

xXxXxXxXx

The sound of hard wood against fresh was sickening. Each time they slammed the thing against Van, the knot in Aiko's stomach grow even bigger. Captured, he had been captured because of her and Merle's mistake of not be careful. And now here she was, arms held out to keep her still by two armed men. Standing not to face from her was the pink hair creep that turned out to be the commanding officer of this place, with a long green snake that had wrapped itself around his body. Van was suspended barely off the ground by a rope that was tied around his wrists. Two other soldiers were present; one stood not to far from the young king holding his sword, the other was making good work of the young king with the wood club looking thing.

"No! Stop! He didn't do anything! He doesn't deserve it! "Aiko yelled trying to get away from the guards that held her where she stood. Tears were streaming freely down her cheeks. "He doesn't deserve it! I SAID STOP DAMN IT!" The commander held up his hand and the soldier stopped taking a few steps away from Van.

"This is quite interesting, young man." He said as he looked down at him. Van glared at him sideways but said nothing. "You would mind telling me how you found this place would you um?" Again Van stayed quiet, eyes focusing down on the ground that his feet were not allowed to touch. The pink haired commander frowned, 'stretched' and brought his elbow down on the back of Van's neck. "Pity."

He walked away from the young king towards her. Aiko tried to get away from the men to try to help Van out, but was unsuccessful. She stopped when the man with the huge snake came walking towards her unable to do anything but shiver and try to walk backwards The guards kept her in place. Oh god…please…not the snake…… god I hate snakes…… The pink-haired male came ever closer with the snake hanging off of him. She couldn't help but let out a small high-pitched noise, still trying to get away from him. The Commander stopped within two feet from her, and knelt down so that he had to look up at her.

"Well hello there Miss, may I introduce my lovely companion here," He knelt down in front of her, holding out his hand. The large green snake's upper body uncurled and followed out along his out held hand. Its head froze at the palm of it, tongue slithering in and out for a moment before it moved a little further. "This is Nina…"

"No, stop, leave her out of this!" Van's voice was weak at first, but with each word became stronger. Struggling against the rope the soldier with the club hit him to keep him quiet. The commander ignored the first words to come out of his prisoner as he held out his hand close to her legs.

"She's a very poisons snake you see, one bit from her and your dead..." Aiko moved her legs away from the snake as it came towards them; a small cry escaped her lips. Nina hesitated for a moment until her master 'bumped' her body so that she would continue. "Though now need to worry, she always listens to me," the snake made one curl around Aiko's legs and began it's ascend up her body. "Go on Nina, give our guest a kiss." Aiko closed her eyes and tried to pretend that there wasn't a five foot snake wrapping its body around hers. Another small cry escaped from her lips as the snake got closer to her head. She shook from head to foot as her eyes remained closed.

"Put a little love into it..." The commander's voice was taunting. Aiko knew that he was still knelt down and she would have probable kicked him if it wasn't for the snake. Cracking her eye open slightly, Aiko stared into the green, scaly head of the poisons snake. The cold tongue touched her cheek, making her shiver.

"Stop! Leave Aiko alone!" Van's voice yelled again. The pink haired commander seemed no longer interested in him as he stood up again; his cruel laughing eyes looked at her for a moment before they were pulled again as a odd sound echoed in the canyon.

Beep, beep, beep, beep.

"What's that?" one of the soldiers said, chaos began to unfold.

"A spy's whistle!" All the noises and sudden movements were startling the snake that was wrapped around her body. Aiko couldn't seem to close her eyes as it began to flex its jaw. Shouts and the sound of metal to metal were barely heard as she watched the reptile's mouth slowly open, teeth drawn out to bit. The scream had built up in her throat to cry out, but before she could, a 'shimmering beam of silver' sliced its head off. The two soldiers holding her arms were no longer there, she stood free on her own two feet now that threatened to collapse. A brown gloved hand took hold of her wrist, and made her move. Once the sudden shock had worn off Aiko was able to look up and see her savor that was once again Van. His back was to her, the 'shimmer beam of silver' which was his sword was in his other hand to his side as he faced the pink haired general. Aiko was still shaking from being so close to a snake. She started to feel dizzy, but shook it off and glared at the pink haired Commander. Van had his back towards her, but she could see all the cuts and bruises that he had gotten from the beatings. It was all because of her and Merle being careless about being alert.

"Why you little…." He breathed as he drew out his sword. There was a set of steps that Van pushed Aiko along behind him. Without realizing it the pink hair commander and stepped to close tot eh edge of the slanted cliff that they were on. The ground beneath his foot gave way sending him tumbling backwards. The two of them stood still for a moment after he disappeared over the edge, before Van let go of her wrist.

"Hide Aiko! I'm going to destroy the warehouse!" Unable to say anything as the young king ran over to the Escaflowne, Aiko stood still holding her hand watching him go. Someone grab her wrist again, the hand felt a little fuzzy, but the few moments shock had placed on her had worn off and she struggled for a second.

"Aiko it's me, come on!" Merle's voice hissed, which sounded slightly afraid. Aiko looked at her, and relaxed a little. She followed Merle to the closest thing to a shelter…a bridge. The two crouched down next to the bridge, and peeked over the rim of the hill to watch the chaos that now filled the valley. Unnoticed by both, the ground beneath Aiko began to crumble. As Escaflowne flew closer in their direction, the ground gave way due to her weight, and the sudden movements of the earth itself. Shock took over her for the first few seconds before she let out a blood shrilling scream. Why am I so scared? I want to die……I have a death wish… So why am I so scared? As she continued falling, fear gripped her hard…I'm really going to do it this time….I'm going to die… There was no Van to intervene at the perfect time… No Ayane to scold her about not giving this planet a try before going off and killing herself. For some reason that scared her. The girl who wanted to die…the girl who tried to kill herself at every chance she could get… That girl was afraid to die. Her voice started to get horse as gravity pulled her downwards. All of a sudden, a figure flew downwards towards her at a fast rate. At first all she could see was angel's wings. Then, the image began to become clearer. Again shock had settled in on her. She was only able to say one word before she blacked out.

"V-van?"

xXxXxXxXx

Tweet.

Dilandau blew the whistle as he walked around the patted floor. The men spread out on it moved to another position holding their swords. Drills, that's was about all he had be doing these few past day. With the armies gathering here in Austria for the attack on the kingdom of Freid, there wasn't much he could do. Without orders to withdraw from the city, Dilandau couldn't hunt down the dragon nor was he able to get his revenge on little boy wonder. He let another short breath run though the silver whistle in his mouth, allowing another short tweet. Second and third string moved to the next stands, at least now he had the time to train this group. Stopping a few steps from the end of the mat, he pulled the whistle out of his mouth.

"Refina, you need to spared your legs out more, and hold your sword higher up." The brown haired girl moved slightly but quietly to fix it. The only female officer in his platoon, it was a shame really he would have liked to have a few more. Realistically in the outer countries female soldiers weren't even thought of, but in Zaibach, they were common. They made for good officers, though rarely got any higher then third mate. In hand to hand combat they were more flexible and swifter. In Guymelefs, they had good distance judgments, and could work in the arching units. Replacing the whistle back between his lips, he blew on it again. They move to the next stands quietly, and Dilandau continued his pacing on the floor again. That was about all he had been doing really, mindlessly blowing on the little whistle. Though, this pacing of his was short lived as the little black haired healer appeared at the door to the training rooms. The black choker was clearly seen of the collar of her uniform. He had given it back to her earlier in the morning, before he instructed her on how to shine his sword, along with this armored jacket. She had been a bit quiet the whole time; on top of that he seemed to have surprised her when he walked back into his bedroom.

"Dilandau-sama…"Ayane's voice was a little low, though he heard her. He nodded for her to continue on whatever brought her down here. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Miguel standing outside. The only way she would be allowed in the lower levels of the Vione, by escort. "Strategoes wishes to speak with you…."

xXxXxXxXx

"This had better be good…." Dilandau growled at the blue haired man that sat down near the circular table. The books of this room marked it to be his study, the only place the red-eyed boy could never image the man without. Dusty books, with years of old history and culture, something that Dilandau never held much interest in. What was the use of learning about it, when Zaibach was just going to change it all?

"I would image that it would be…" He motioned for him to sit, and Dilandau plopped down in a chair, placing his legs on the table. Folken frowned at that, but he didn't move them off. "Three hours ago, Allen Schezar escaped from his 'imprisonment'."

"You called me all the way up here for THAT?"

"Let me finish… His airship has disappeared off the radars, but his last projection was towards Freid..." Dilandau frowned at him, what did he care about the run away knight? Though the blond bastard was probable on his way…

"He's running to tell the Duke!" Folken frowned again at the length of time it took the young general to figure out the problem. "What are the four generals planning on doing…?"

"We are to stop them…..at all costs... The surprise attack on Freid can not be uncovered." Dilandau's feet dropped down off the table as if he was about to stand up. "There is also something else you probably should know..."

"What?"

"The Escaflowne has been sighted on Freid's boarder as well..." The red-eyed general looked at him for a moment before the chaotic smile crept across his lips. "We are to retrieve it…"

GA1: Yay! Summer is here!

SD: But we still have to work…

GA1: ……

SD: And I get all of next week off! Dances

GA1: Glares…. Don't rub it in!

SD: Smirks and huggles Van plushie

Edited: 12/29/06