There and Back again

SD: It's the end of the world; you finally got off your butt and finished writing that damn part…

GA1: Kinda… now you just got to wait for me to finish the longer one for the next chapter…

SD: glares You are on break for the next two weeks.. I think you can finish it.

GA1: he he

Disclaimer: We poor college students own nothing but the clothes on our backs….I think. Escaflowne and all its characters are owned by Bandi, etc. We do however own our respective characters:

Spirit Dancer: Aiko, Shiva

Glass Angel1 Ayane, Fira, Merlin, all the Province 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 girls' 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. 31 For Destiny's Sacrifice

What happens when you trap eight people in one big room aboard some crazy merchant's ship, and try to have them put their heads together to figure out what to do next? Nothing really, especially when two of them have a problem with each other, the rest are sort of clueless except for one, and another has no clue who the new comer is. So in other words they all sat in silence in one of Dryden's big rooms that were on his ship. The only ship in this convoy that he kept, the others the little Ewok wanna-be's took. The walls of the room were like an aquarium. There were strange fishes of different shapes, sizes and colors swimming about in the clear water. Van was leaning up against the glass wall away from most of the group, his arms crossed over his chest without any gloves to cover his hands. Merle was sitting down on a small pushy chair next to him. Dryden was stretched comfortably on a couch that was set against the glass walls. Ayane was sitting in another chair that was near a small table. She was dressed back into the clothing she had been wearing when she was in the guymelef. It looked like she had repaired it during the night. There was a small plate in front of her with cut up fruit and cold slices of meat, along with a small mug of something hot. Millerna was standing over her, clearly worried. Ayane's miraculous healing unnerved her, that was clear by the way the pink princess choose to treat her. Aiko was leaning on the back of the chair looking over shorter girl's shoulder without any interest. Allen was looking into the water as he leaned against another part of the glass walls. Given that the room was circular, they were kind of close together.

"Why did Zaibach need the Atlantis thing in Freid anyways?" Aiko's voice broke the silence that had taken hold of the room. Ayane moved her hand to the plate in front of her to pick up a sliced of what looked like to have been a strawberry. Was it just Aiko's imagination, or did Allen look angry about something? Dryden was the only one to answer her question.

"Well, historically, Atlantis was said to have been a paradise for the Gods, and had brought peace and prosperity to all of Gaea. The Draconians destroyed the city in hopes to gain the power of the Gods, throwing Gaea into war and turmoil." Aiko looked over her shoulder at Van as Dryden spoke with ease. The young king looked tense as he kept his eyes shut. "That's the jest of story, but there are some old legends about the citizens of Atlantis having sealed away some great power somewhere in Gaea away from the Draconians so that they could become Gods-"

"'Here we rest the power to control Fate from who seeks to destroy Destiny.'" Ayane cut off the rambling merchant. It was probably the first thing she had said since this morning's interrogation. She had force to explain and then re-explain several times why she had done what she did to Allen, the crusaders, and Millerna. As far as Merle had been concern, the gray-eyed woman was alive and that was all she needed. Dryden on the other hand had been clueless about the woman who had piloted the Zaibach guymelef, and thus had no ideal why everyone had been fussing over her. Ayane turned the small cut strawberry in her hand as she continued to study it. "Atlantis held the power to control the fate that led to a certain destiny. The emperor wants that ability to create his ultimate future."

"And how do you know that little miss?" Dryden asked, Ayane did not look up at him.

"Since my capture, I have been a personal maid to both the Dragonslayers and the Strategoes. I was present at the official surrender of Freid. The four generals of Zaibach were rambling on about it when the Strategoes unsealed that power. Emperor Dornkirk wishes to create a world without war by using the power of Atlantis in order to control fate so that it will lead this world to his version of a distorted utopia, his ultimate destiny." Ayane discarded the slice back onto the plate uninterested in eating it. She moved a hand to push some of her hair over one of her ears as she talked. "Though, your version of the legend on Atlantis is completely wrong. Atlantis was never on Gaea, the city was on Earth, and the moon you refer to as cursed. On the walls of that room it's written in an old version of Latin, a language on our planet," she waved her hand up at Aiko as she talked her other hand picked up the mug that sat next to the plate, "that the city was destroyed over a dispute among its inhabitants and thus destroying the utopia that was on our world. In hopes to save it Gaea was made in a reflection of our world of what it was before the dispute. The remaining inhabitance of Atlantis sealed away the power use to do that in Fortuna so that the tragedy that happened before wouldn't happen here. Given that Dornkirk has now released this power, I'm pretty sure you can get the jest of what may happen now. A world where if your desires are strong enough can be answer may leave this world in flames like it did the city of Atlantis."

The room was silent as she took a sip of the hot liquid in the small mug. Aiko stood frozen behind her. Ayane tended to talk way too much at times. Dryden was sitting up on his couch now, mouth dropped open like an idiot who just found something totally unexpected but completely exciting, a dream come true. Or some weird, creepy fantasy, which ever came first.

"You two…….are from… the Mystic Moon?" All of what Ayane just said was completely forgotten. Aiko growled as she glared at Ayane.

"(You Idiot!)" Aiko bent over Ayane's chair and slammed her hand on the table, causing the plate to bang against the wood. "(Why the hell did you tell him that?! I didn't want the dirty creepy merchant to know that for a reason! I don't trust him! And now that he knows, he's never going to stop going on about it… He's probably going to tell all of his buddies now that he's seen how fucked up the people from the Mystic moon are! We might as well tell all of Gaea and get it over with!)"

The whole room had gotten quiet and every eye was staring at the green-eyed girl as Ayane continued to sip her cup calmly, like nothing had happened. Van couldn't stop from staring. Aiko had never spoken in that language before…He heard Merle shift next to him. Their eyes met for a brief second before turning back to Aiko. The girl was still glaring at her friend, as if she had been speaking in Gaiain the entire time.

"In Gaiain please, Aiko. Not everyone can understand Japanese."

xXxXxXxXx

There were some days that she just hated herself. One of them would probably be this one. Ayane sighed to herself as she looked out the rather large windows in the merchant-Dryden's- ship to the now dark sky of the night. The stars had just begun to come out, not that she could see them really well for the moons were glowing rather bright tonight. She must have agitated something again, the gray-eyed girl sighed as she ran a hand through her unbound hair. She had forgotten to get something to hold it out of her face from Aiko this morning, being interrogated over the same thing again and again really did shoot one's concentration. How many times would she tell one lie to get everyone to believe it?

How had you been able to escape?

No one had been watching me.

Why were you fighting in that guymelef?

I didn't mean too, but it happened too fast. I was trying to defend myself.

Words battered her mind as she shut her eyes trying to forget the lies she had told to the blond knight. It was only fair wasn't it? She couldn't tell them the truth, not even Van and Aiko. She wasn't fighting to save Van from some dangerous future. Hell, he wasn't even on her mind when she stepped into the cockpit. All she could thing about was those six boys, no men, who had become somehow a part of her life these past few months. All she could think about was those red eyes she could possible never see again. The young king wasn't her problem; he wasn't the one she would risk so much to save. Ayane banged her head against the glass, as she gripped down on the window seal.

She really was pathetic.

Must you bet your head?

Ayane snapped her head up to look into her reflection at the sound of that voice in her head. The image in the glass wasn't hers, true it looked close but the woman there was far older then she was, black hair a lot longer. Grey eyes looked tired, and worn. After her interrogation from Allen, Ayane had spent a lot of time in her head talking to this woman. It seemed there were a lot of things that needed to be done for her to do whatever it was she was seeking to do. Atlantis thought it was funny to be stuck in the head of another human; her keeper on the other hand seemed agitated about something. Ayane knew what it was, ever since she agreed to be their holder, she had felt some…pull to some place on this world. Keeper (for the lack of a better name for the woman) explained it as the machine Dornkirk had created; it was trying to pull in all the power of Atlantis. So, Ayane not only had been able to save the lives she wanted to, but she was also playing messenger to push Van in the right direction. She really hated doing that. She was turning into something she didn't want to be.

You think too much.

Ayane sighed as those tired eyes became more focused on her. It was really creepy sometimes, it only had been two days since Folken unlocked that seal, but having voices in her head was getting a little annoying. No matter if she wanted to be alone, it appeared she would never really be alone.

Voices in her head… Well it looked like she was finally going crazy.

Do you plan to stay here?

Did she have a choice? Ayane pointed them in the direction to go, but it wasn't the direction she needed to go. She had to follow the pull in order to find more answers. Besides, she still needed to lecture Dilandau about not listening to her.

Then tell me when you are ready.

Ready? Ayane glared at the reflection in the glass as she Keeper disappeared, melting back into her own reflection. Ready was a really strong word. She was never ready for anything, going in blindly was about the best she could do at times. Act before thinking all the way through. That was the way it normal worked here for her. Couldn't she go back to banging her head again?

"No it'll just give us all headaches…" She sighed out loud while shifting her weight to the other foot. Life really sucks when all the answers were crammed into your head. The gray eyed girl was so deep in the train of thought that she didn't even notice the blond princess who happened to come walking up on her. She seemed troubled by something that had actually been troubling her for a long time. Now that she was really faced with it, Millerna was so lost all she could do was wonder to herself with out anyone to talk to. The only other females she could even talked to weren't very high on her list of self-comfort. Merle wouldn't understand any of her problems or have sounding advice and Aiko… The girl had more mental problems then Millerna really cared for. So who would you know shows her face again to the light? The young princess may have had a strong dislike for the woman when they first met back in Asturia but it seemed now she was the only person she could talk to. Millerna stopped walking when she was a little more then arm's reach from her.

"Isn't that dress uncomfortable?" Grey eyes snapped up to stare into amethyst ones. The silence drug out before the girl placed her forehead back on the glass. There was a slight sigh before she finally said something to her.

"More or less… The designer could have measured me before making it. One should never let males guess the size of a woman's body…" Ayane shrugged her hands a little bit before turning her head to the side to look at Millerna. "But I've dealt with worse." Millerna nodded, not really knowing how to reply. The conversation seemed to have stopped without her even realizing it. How were you supposed to talk to someone who gave short curt replies? Most of the people she was able to talk to back home knew that there was something wrong and had always asked her, making it so that Millerna herself didn't have to start the conversation. So how was she supposed to talk to a girl who's eyes seemed to see more then the girl was letting on? A sigh escaped her lips before she could stop it.

"Ayane? Do you…think you can help me? I… Have a friend who needs some advice, and I'm having trouble giving it to her." Millerna shifted uncomfortable, looking down at the ground as if it had become the most interesting thing in the world. For a moment, there was no response so the blond princess looked back up into those tired gray eyes. The expression on her face had not changed much, but her eyes seemed to read much like 'and…?'.

"You see, she is engaged to be married to this one guy, but she loves this other guy, but she recently found out that he had an illegitimate child, and she doesn't know who to go with." Her hands had begun to wring together. Her eyes were still glued to the floor, not to mention there was a slight coloring on her cheeks. "I mean she really has to marry the one guy, and it's not like he's a bad guy." A small smile graced her lips as her hands began to fidget even more. "I mean he's…handsome and smart, and rich. But the other guy…she's known him for the longest time, and she truly loves him, but she's being forced to marry the other guy for…responsibility reasons. So…what should she do?" For the first time since she had begun her little speech, the Pink princess's eyes rose to meet Ayane's gray ones. They looked at her with no interest, more like someone looking at something through a spyglass to magnify any faults that could be found. Ayane pushed herself off the wall and turned towards the taller princess, unjudgable eyes looking at her.

"Well…Millerna, you could always marry the man you're bound to and have an affair on the side that would rock the natural structure of generations to come…" Blue eyes grew wide at the cold words that slipped pasted the porcelain beauty's lips before her.

"I…" The young princess took a step back as Ayane walked slowly forward. "I…d-didn't-"

"Or you can keep running, running away from the responsibility that has been trusted to you. Running into the arms of a man that will leave you the moment something prettier walks by. But that's ok, isn't it? As long as you can say he was yours, as long as you can say it's what you wanted and nothing else mattered?" The gray-eyed woman stopped a few steps way from her. " 'All I ever wanted was to be happy. I don't want to be a princess, I don't want any of this. I want to be a doctor so I can help people. Is it wrong for me to want to be with him?' Isn't that what you've always thought?"

"I…"Millerna started to say as she looked at the woman before her. How? Why? The purple-eyed princess blinked back the threatening tears as she looked into the emotionless face of the steel gray eyed woman. But tears were not something she knew how to hold back. Slowly but surely they fell along her cheeks as she broke down before those very eyes. "But I never asked to be a princess! No one cares about what I want! I want to help people not live locked up in a castle where nothing matters to me! I love Allen, I want to be with him. I don't care what you and everyone else thinks, he won't leave me because he loves me t-"

Slap

Millerna stood looking to the right, out past the open window into the night as the stinging sensation burned in her cheek. Her hand slowly rose up to it, turning her head slightly she looked down at the hand that dared to cross her face. Grey eyes burn into hers as the woman before her stood still, as if the movement wasn't even her own.

"A doctor can only help a few, but a princess… No, a Queen can help the lives in all her country. Do you understand that Princess Millerna? As a doctor you could only help those who could pay you, because you too have to survive." Ayane looked out the window, away from the shaking woman before her. The slow clouds moved past through the dark sky, shimmering of light silver from the smaller moon's light. "Fate's can change easier then destiny, all you can change is the means by which you get there. You were born because your people need you, not Allen. Sometimes, for the happiness of the whole, individuals must make some sacrifice. In the end, what is more important to you, Princess Millerna?" Steel gray eyes once again burned up into the purple ones of the blonde woman before her. Millerna, still holding the side of her faces, looked on the verge of tears.

"I-I-" The tears slowly fell down the side of her face, as the young princess stuttered slightly before turning on her heels. Ayane watched the retreating figure of the broken girl as she took off down the hall, running away. It wasn't until the woman was gone for her view did gray eyes close slightly, fighting poorly the will to keep herself from shaking, a hand rested on the windowsill to keep her balance. Opening her eyes again she looked at nothing particular as she let her mind return to her own question. The words left her without a second thought.

"What is more important to me?" The hand on the sill let go and clenched over her heart as the pain surge through her body, sending her down to her knees gasping for breath. The images in her mind fought hard to be seen as Ayane tried to keep them at bay. No I don't want to see! Her plea was left unheard.

The two of them stood in a poorly light room; the fire was dying in the elegant fireplace. The desk on the far corner was covered in organized piles of papers, a tall male, with his hair pulled back in a small pointy tail was pouring brandy into two small glasses. The look on his face told anyone who might see he knew what was coming from the blonde woman the stood away from him by the chairs was going to say. The dying fire danced its light over her face as she looked into it emotionlessly. He picked up on of the glasses of brandy leaving the other alone on the desk with the glass bottle.

"I don't love you……" The words left her beautiful pink lips coldly, unlike the warm flame that danced before her. The man looked at her back, seeing that it was the only thing of her facing him. Pain was written in his face as he continued to look at her. The small gold ring on his hand seemed to loose its natural shine as he downed the whole glass. The man placed the glass back on the table, away from the other. Looking at them for a moment before looking down at the small ring in his hand, there was a low sigh of defeat as he took it off and placed it too on the desk. He said nothing to her as he turned to leave the room. His hand touched the doorknob before the blond woman turned to look at him. "Wait……"

"For what Millerna?" He didn't turn around to look at her; he kept his hand on the door ready to leave.

"Dryden, I don't love you, but…." Dryden turned his head slightly at the sound of hesitation in her voice this time. Brown eyes looked into solemn amethyst ones as she took a deep breath. "But, for the sake of Asturia, I'll learn to."

She didn't want to see the path Millerna would take; she didn't want to see any of it anymore. Ayane gasped for air as her vision focused again on the red carpet of the hallway. For the sake for the gods, she didn't want to see anymore, but the pain in her chest did not cease as the images forced their way forward again.

Her eyes fluttered open to look up at the delicate canopy of her bed. The soft blankets were pulled up about her thin frame as she lay limp, unable to move. Pain danced in her body, behind her tired eyes as she tried unsuccessfully to sit up. Sighing, admitting her defeat she turned her head again to look at the young child that stood next to her. His red hair fell slightly over his red eyes as he looked at her. The question he wanted to ask, the question he dared to even think danced on his lips still. It was the rest she tired to sit up, so she could hold him. Assure him it wasn't true, even though she knew it was. Impossible as anyone had thought, as anyone would think of their loved ones. The darkness was true. Red eyes met hers as the question he dared left his lips, the sadness and pain made her heart ache.

"Daddy and the others are telling the truth, aren't they? You are dying, Mother..."

She was coughing now; choking on the lack of air was she fought to stop them. No more, she didn't want to see it anymore. Her hand clenched hard onto her chest as she tired to stop them but to no luck. The images played once more behind her steel gray eyes.

"Ayane!"

"So at last, you finally show me your face!" He laughed in an insane glee as he turned to her. Six vibrate wings spread from his back, three of them however were black as the night as the remaining three were as white as snow. The long, wrapped sword swayed in his right hand as he looked away from the two people on the ground next to him. One of them was an older woman; her long black hair fell over her jade eyes, eyes that knew wisdom, love, and pain from the decades of her life, looked up at gray ones in disbelief. She held closed to her the bleeding, broken body of a male much younger then her. Red hair looked like blood against the light green dress she wore. It was once probably a beautiful dress, but the dirty and rips in it made it seem other wise now. Another young woman, dressed in an elegant white dress stood next to a throne behind the man with wings. Chains fell own off cuffs on her hands, light brown eyes looked vacant at her. The young girl's long vibrant brownish black hair fell around her body.

"Kyna! Mother!" She turned her head away from the girl to the young man that stood behind her. The ruff, uneven cut black hair was pulled up out of his face by a red bandana. His chocolate eyes reminded her of a man who was by far much older then him; he pulled a sword from his sheath. "Bastard, you will pay for what you have done!"

"Prince Andre, don't be rash!" A female voice called from behind him, even though she too pulled out her katana. The leather black dress parted about her knees, on the two sides were an elegant pattern made from a see through material to look like butterfly wings. The black boots she wore came almost up to her knees the rest of the way to her mid thighs were covered by black stockings. Light reddish hair was pulled up into a high ponytail; her bangs however fell over her golden eyes. Devotion, love for the young prince burned in her eyes. "We can't take him on!"

"She's right, nephew…." Grey eyes turned away from them to the man with wings, he was ignoring the two of them, his eyes, one brown and one of blood red burned into hers. The desire, the hungry, it was all the same, no matter who it came from. "I didn't bring you with me so you could get yourselves killed." She took a step forward to the man before her.

Air flooded her lungs as her breathing returned to normal. Steel gray eyes burned into the carpet, while she slowly counted the seconds. The pain in her chest stopped, but not so much from were her fingernails had been digging into her skin. Slowly, Ayane pushed herself back onto her feet, resting her hand once again on the windowsill to keep her balance. Calmly, she looked back into her reflection into the window. Though, the reflect was not hers, she still looked at it. The hooded figure of death took at her in return, one brown and one red eyes burned into hers as she lifted her head in slight defiance.

"For their happiness, I will sacrifice my own time, my life. I will break your curse, Caim, destroy of Atlantis. For the sake of our children."

xXxXxXxXx

Aiko grumbled as she walked down the hall of the Crusader. Something had been going on for the past twelve hours that she didn't really care for. After Ayane's little lecture of hers about Zaibach's plan (Aiko still didn't get how she knew all that, but then again, Ayane had always had a thing for different languages), something had been going on that had Allen completely pissed off at the creepy merchant. Apparently it had something to do with Allen's father's journals. As Gaddess briefly explained to her, Allen's father abandoned his family for some crazy dream of finding the lost city of Atlantis and to 'discover' it's true past. And apparently he found a way to it, but he never came back to his family. Allen's mother had his journals though before her death. How she got them, the blond knight didn't know but after his death he kept them. Why, again the blond knight didn't know and rather didn't care. Dryden wanted them, and thus some how it was decided the best thing they could do was find Atlantis. Why, Aiko didn't know and rather didn't care. At the moment she wanted to find Ayane. After the whole 'thing' in that big room, Ayane had disappeared on Dryden's ship somewhere. As Merle had told her, Millerna had found her before the merchant ship departed for Asturia, leaving the Crusader where it was. So Ayane was back on the Crusader for sure, Merle had come aboard with her. The only problem was Ayane wasn't in her room like she was supposed to be. The girl was supposed to be taking it easy, not all her injuries were healed. Grumbling about her newly found friend's annoying habit, Aiko almost walked past the door to the hanger, missing Ayane's voice.

"She doesn't need me anymore, I should go back. There is no point in me staying here, I've set them on the right path. She can guide them the rest of the way…" Aiko froze out side the door when she heard Ayane's voice. Was the woman talking to herself again or was she talking to someone? Aiko stepped into the hanger, quietly to look for her. Ayane was standing facing the broken blue Zaibach guymelef. It had been loaded onto the Crusader when they realize Ayane would have to be cut out of the cockpit. Merle had been nice enough to inform her when she first saw it in here. The Escaflowne was not that far from it, the moon light from outside was shining down against it. The battered unit was half hidden in the shadows. Ayane's back was to her, so Aiko couldn't see anything. But there defiantly wasn't anyone else in the room. "Besides, I have another path of Destiny to change…." Aiko's boots didn't make a sound as she continued to walk towards the steel-eyed girl.

"So you're leaving huh?" Ayane didn't respond right away as Aiko stopped a few feet short of the woman. She supposed she should be angry…even hurt. But for some reason, she didn't feel anything at the moment. She supposed she'd feel it later, after her friend had left. There was no reason to get angry…Aiko knew that she couldn't keep her friend from going, even if she had Ayane locked in a tower. The idea itself was laughable, but Aiko wasn't in the mood. She should be used to Ayane not being around…It was rare now if they were together for more then a couple of days now it seemed. And as she had said, she had stuff to do. Ayane seemed frozen for a moment before she turned around, smiling slightly. She looked different dressed in that kind of clothing, more settled, and well determined.

"I figured you be the one to see me off." She tilted her head to the side. "You're not going to yell at me?" Aiko shrugged, and walked up to her.

"It won't keep you here, so why waste the energy?" Aiko added a little smile of her own; however it never reached her eyes. It was always like this at home. Whenever Aiko had to go back home, Ayane would have to either push her out the door, or Aiko would stall until the last possible second before leaving. And the fact that Aiko was leaving Ayane and going back to her own personal hell didn't help her feel any better. That same feeling came back to her as she looked at her friend. It was the same, yet the roles were reversed. Ayane was the one that would be leaving, forcing her friend to stay behind. "And besides, it sucks to leave right after an argument. I'd feel bad if I yelled at you, and when you left, you never came back…" There was a slight laugh in her voice was she walked up to her. Ayane was always weird at times, but if there was one thing Aiko knew it was this: together, their smiles and their laughs were never real. To Aiko, Ayane's laughter was always hallow, no matter how well she hid it from the world around them. Their masks to the world were perfect, years of practice well mastered. But when Aiko looked down into those gray eyes she knew so well, something seemed….different. A soft hand touched the sides of her face.

"Never come back? Come now, since when has that been the case?" She patted her cheek slightly before she laughed again. They stood like that for a few minutes, the little smile on her face fainted away as she looked away from Aiko to the open hanger. "Wouldn't this world have been wonderful, had we come when there wasn't a war?" Aiko followed her gaze and looked at the two moons.

"Ya… I think it would've been really nice…." Silence filled the hanger for a few moments before Aiko sighed. Silence always got to her. She wasn't sure why, but she hated it. Probably the stronger the silence was at her house, the worse the beating would be. "I'm sure they're worried sick…" Ayane laughed again.

"More like angry with me…." She sighed as she looked away for a moment to the guymelef behind her. There was a pull of loneness in Aiko's heart when she realized the shorter girl would be leaving. This time more willingly then last time. At least they weren't parting on bad terms. "Aiko….. I'm glad you don't need me as much as you use to anymore. I'm glad you have given this world a chance even though we are entangled into this war." Aiko rolled her eyes.

"Ya well…No one knows what the future holds…" A smirk made its way across her face. It was amazing actually. Aiko had always hated that lecture with an undying passion, and yet here she as quoting it. But if it made Ayane smile, Aiko would quote the whole damn thing.

"And yet, there is a way to know…." Aiko looked down at her friend confused; she looked really serious when she said that. Ayane was looking down at her hands as she clenched them together.

"How…what do you mean by that?" Ayane looked over to the Escaflowne as she let her hands fall to her sides.

"Our visions…." She looked away from the white armor to the ground again. "Always pay attention to them, ok? What we see can become a possible reality." The seriousness of her friend's tone scared her. What had been happing to Ayane to make her say something like that?

"…..ok…" The shorter girl patted her cheek.

"Good girl….Now I must go!" She chirped in her weird fashion as she turned around to the blue unit. "Because there is no point in having both 'Wing Goddesses' together now is there?"

Huh? Aiko stared at her friend in utter confusion. What the hell was the girl talking about? Her brows came together as she tried to make some sort of sense with what she had heard.

"What? Do you like to confuse me?"

"Confusing you is the simplest thing to do, Aiko…" Ayane walked away in her 'chirper' manner towards the battered melef. She carefully climbed into the cockpit before looking down at her again. "In Atlantis, you'll find out there. You and I are a strange pair, Aiko. A strange pair that may just save, or destroy, this world." The unit stood up shakily, given that there wasn't much to it now. With two large steps it fell out the hanger. Aiko ran to the edge, frightened. The thing did look like it wouldn't work at all. In a moment the thing came back into view, flying away form the Crusader. Ayane was one crazy woman. Something in her left pocket began to vibrate, scaring her to death.

"Jesus…" She pulled on the string that always hung out of her pocket, and flipped the phone open.

1 Text Msg

The number was Ayane's. How the hell could the girl pilot that broken melef and send a text message at the same time?

I'm still here.

Why did she always make her feel like crying? Aiko laughed slightly at the left out words as she shut her phone. She knew the girl would always be there, even if they were apart.

GA1: HAHA! I like to see all those damn people who called this a Mary Sue to eat their own damn words now! Dances in insane happiness

SD: the WTF look you didn't just…? How the hell!

GA1: O ya, the connection for the other two stories has been made sudden dies in chair

SD: You… And this crazy plot…

Edited: 08/05/07