AN: Hello again. First of all, I would like to dedicate this chapter to my friend Krissy whom helped me through my writer's block and gave me some awesome ideas for the next chapters. Second, I would like to thank all the wonderful reviewers who reviewed the preface of this story, and who also encouraged me through my writer's block.

kichis-sarjilian, AmethystWings, Rina, Missing White Wings 15, bluetreeleaves, kiwi, Snowtigress, angel of new beginnings, and AnImE-and-kRiSsY.

Here's the first chapter! Enjoy!

Disclaimer: once again, I sadly own neither Twilight nor Escaflowne. –sighs-

-.:Twilight of Escaflowne:.-

Chapter 1

Arrival

The drive to the airport didn't last long enough. Before I knew it, I had already gone through the baggage check and was now seated on the plane ready for takeoff.

Every second was agony as I realized the insanity of my decision. I wanted so badly to grab my things and run off the plan and beg my mother to reconsider.

Reconsider what? It was your decision to move to Fanelia with Shoji anyway! My inward thoughts reminded me.

I sighed as I realized that my fate was sealed, so I pulled out my mp3 player and put in my ear buds. I might as well make myself comfortable and enjoy what little time I had before we reached Fanelia.

VvvV

I was in a dark room surrounded by several dark faces. I couldn't make out whom the people were, but I could tell that they were looking at me like I was something to eat.

Suddenly I realized that I was in immense pain. I looked around to find the damage and wished that I hadn't. I had a huge gash in my leg that went all the way from my mid calf up to the back of my thigh. Looking at it made me queasy, and the slightest movements made my head spin. I think it was broken. Not only that, but there was a sharp pain in my side and I was having trouble breathing. My right wrist was lacerated and there was a burning sensation that came from it.

What in Hades had happened to me!!!!

I began to panic as one of the dark figures moved towards me. I whimpered a tried my best to back away but realized that there was no way I was going to escape.

"What should we do with her?" One of the figures asked another.

"I don't know. She's banged up pretty badly. I think this is beyond me…She needs to go to a hospital," the figure answered.

Ok, so they weren't going to hurt me…so who are these people?

Suddenly the burning sensation coming from my wrist was too much to bear and I cried out in pain "it burns! It's burning!! It's like fire!!!" I screamed.

The dark figures exchanged a few more words that I couldn't make out as I was too preoccupied with what was happening to me. My ears were buzzing, and my vision had gone out. I could tell that my body was convulsing as the pain in my side and leg flared each time I moved. I just wanted it all to end…to go away…and before I knew it…I was engulfed in flame…

VvvV

"Miss? Miss? Are you alright? Miss?!"

I woke from my nightmare to find a flight attendant looking worriedly into my face.

"Are you alright?" She asked once more.

"Uh…y-yes….I was just having a nightmare is all…" I stammered.

"Oh. Well we have arrived at the airport and everyone else has exited. Can I help you with your things?"

"Oh! No…I just have one carry on but thanks…" I gathered my things, embarrassed.

"Then have a good day, miss."

I quickly walked through the off ramp and into the airport. Shoji was waiting for me by a pillar in the walkway. He waved me down as he noticed me.

"Tomi. How've ya been?" He awkwardly asked me as he moved to take my things.

"I've got it," I protested his act of kindness. "And I'm good…just a little jet-lagged."

"Oh, well…shall we go get your things?"

Shoji has always been unsure of me. He doesn't really know how to act around me as if he's afraid that he's going to say the wrong thing or make the wrong move. But that's just my dad for you. I really don't blame him as I've only gotten to spend three months out of the year with him through my 17-year existence. These next few months were definitely going to be awkward…

We walked in silence to the luggage pickup. I was grateful that he had the decency to not bombard me with questions. But I that's why Shoji and I get along; he gives me space.

Nevertheless, the silence that hovered while we waited for my bags to come down the conveyor belt was awkward. I could tell Shoji was nervous. He always stuck his hands in his pocket and rocked back on his heels when he was nervous. It was the same routine that we went through every year, but this time, the feeling was practically palpable. I suppose he was anxious by the fact that this time I wasn't staying for only three months, but on a more permanent basis instead. That very thought made me hate myself even more.

Once we had gathered my bags we headed for the exit to the parking lot. As I walked out the door, I wasn't surprised to see that it was raining. You see, I had chosen the dreariest place in all of Gaea to exile myself. Literally. Fanelia is recorded to receive the most rainfall of any other place in Gaea, and compared to beautiful, sunny Basram, this place was the epitome of gloom. What little complexion I had managed to get during my years in Basram was sure to go away within the next month here in Fanelia, as sunshine was a rarity.

We hurried across the lot to the cruiser to get out of the rain. Shoji opened the door for me and then went around to the back to put my bags in the trunk. He rushed around to the drivers side and the sighed as he secured his safety belt and turned the key into the ignition.

The drive to his house took about 30 minutes as the airport isn't exactly in Fanelia. To pass the time and to break the overbearing awkward silence, Shoji asked about mom. I informed him that she and her new husband, Phil, were doing fine, and that she was travelling with him to his games.

Phil is a minor league baseball player and is the reason why I decided to punish myself by moving to Fanelia with Shoji. Don't get me wrong; I like the guy, it's just that I understood how mom wanted so badly to go with him and support him, and dragging a 17-year-old girl along for the ride wouldn't exactly be the best thing for the newly-weds. Thus here I am, in cold, rainy, dreary, gloomy, Fanelia, for the remainder of my time as a minor.

"I took the liberty to get you a car," Shoji interrupted my brooding.

"You what?" I asked confused.

"I bought it from Billy Black—you remember him? He has a boy your age named Jacob—well anyway, he was selling his truck and offered it to me for a good price…"

"Sh-uh-dad…you didn't have to do that…I've been saving up to get car myself…" I said, touched. Shoji was the chief of police in Fanelia, and being chauffeured around in his police cruiser would have definitely been a problem; nothing slows down traffic like a cop.

"Consider it a, uh, welcome home gift, and I know you're gonna need a vehicle and you don't have enough to get one yourself anyway, and I'm pretty sure this one will do you good…" he rambled, embarrassed.

"So what kinda truck—you said it was a truck right?—is it anyway?" I asked, genuinely curious.

"Oh it's nothing fancy, just an old Chevy pickup…"

"How old?" I asked, a little wary.

"Old enough," he replied.

"Dad! You know that when it comes to automotive-related things I'm illiterate! What am I gonna do if I break down or blow a tire out? I don't know how to fix vehicles!"

"Don't worry. The truck may be old but Billy just put a brand new engine in it and Jacob checked everything over and gave I a seal of approval," he assured me.

About that time, we pulled into the front drive and parked on curb in front of house was an old, beat up, dinosaur of a truck. The rain had let up since we got to the house, so Shoji gave me the grand tour of the truck before we unloaded the cruiser. I got in the driver's seat and checked out the gears and specks. It was automatic--thank God as standards were beyond me!—so it must have not been that old. And it even had a CD player in it! The possibilities were getting better by the minute!

"So…what do ya think?" Shoji asked uncertainly.

"Dad, I love it! It's perfect for me!"

Embarrassed, he began to shuffle his feet and mumble that it was starting to rain again so went and got my things out of the cruiser and put them in the house.

I decided to stay out for just a little bit longer to acquaint myself with my new truck.

When I decided that I was going to discover all that I could without actually driving it, I went inside the house to see Shoji taking his coat off and un-strapping his belt.

"Your things are upstairs in your room already. You can go ahead and unpack while I whip us up something to eat."

I went upstairs to the room at the end of the hall nearest to the bathroom that had been mine since birth. I walked in to see it unchanged from the last time I had been here. It was a quaint little room with one window by the bed. My dresser was next to my closet, and the only addition had been a desk with a computer at mom's request. She felt that we needed to stay in touch through e-mail. The rocking chair that my mother had nursed me to sleep in still remained in my room by the closet, along with the yellow curtains and the clouds mom had painted on the walls when I was born. I suppose I wouldn't have it any other way.

As I walked into my room and sat on the bed, I began to think of the day's events, and what was to come. I hadn't had much time to ponder on my nightmare as I was so embarrassed and then things were awkward with Shoji to where I had forgotten all about it.

There were hardly any dreams that I had ever had that had no meaning. So I was reluctant to brush this one off as one of those. But what was odd is that the star of my dream was I, which had never happened before.

Was it a vision of what was to happen to me in the future? Was it just another strange nightmare? Or was it just a nightmare conjured from my nervousness and unease due to moving here to Fanelia?

The possibilities were endless and I'd rather not dwell on some of the more disturbing ones. Therefore, I busied myself with unpacking my clothes and putting my cosmetics in the bathroom and shower. I thought about my new truck, my new/old room, and the new school that I would now be going to that is filled with new people who don't know me.

Perhaps I shouldn't look at my life here in Fanelia as an ending, but a new beginning. Things just may not be so bad here in Fanelia, even if it does rain all the time. Hey, at least I got a new vehicle out of it.

Perhaps there is more to Fanelia than meets the eye.

VvvV

AN: Ok. Here's MY version of chapter one. I was so ashamed of how I'd copied it practically directly from the book, that I couldn't stand to let it stay is it was. Everlast is my story after all, so I might as well make all of TofE mine too if I'm going to merge the two.

There are some things that are the same, but quite a few things that are different and completely my own. I'll tell you now that this chapter is relevant to what is going to happen in the later chapters.

I redid the Preface if you haven't already noticed, and it's important to the plot as well. I'm not going to put up any new chapters until I've revised all the previous ones to make them fall into place with Everlast. So you might as well go back and re-read the whole story thus far, otherwise you may turn out to be completely confused halfway into the story.

If you don't want to re-read the previous chapters, that's ok with me too…I don't think you will necessarily need them to catch the basic plot of this story in the new direction it's going to change, but I'm adding things to the previous chapters that are going to make my future chapters make a lot more sense. So I'm apologizing to my reviewers and readers now for the inconvenience, but I promise that you won't regret it.

So I think I've babbled enough for one chapter…Just a few more memos: I'm going to be busy for the next few days traveling and whatnot, so I can't guarantee that I will be able to have the new chapter 2 and 3 up by Thursday, but by golly sure am gonna try ;)

Also, I have decided that I am personally going to answer any questions asked in your reviews, so don't be afraid to ask me questions. What I won't do, however, is give you spoilers. I figure that if you take the time out of your day to review my excuse of a fanfic, I should at least have the decency to answer your reviews. And this is a long time coming, I know, so if you get a reply from me for a review that you left two or three years ago, don't be surprised.

That's all for now, so stay tuned for the new and improved chapter 2!

Ja Ne

TEE

p.s. if you find spelling or grammar errors, I'm terribly sorry as I don't have a beta reader, and once again, I wrote this at midnight ^^;;