"Lord Van?"

Sunlight danced across the stone floor as a gentle breeze stirred the leaves of the great tree outside the window of what was once his parent's room, now his by right. The days on Gaea had been warm as the standard spring chill was rushed out by the coming summer sun. Already the trees and flowers were in full bloom, bringing rich and vibrant colors back to the world. Staring out his window, brown eyes regarded the land he loved, reborn and nearly whole once more. It had been two years since they had started rebuilding the great kingdom of Fanelia: two years, and the summer sun seemed to chase away the ghosts of the past, making the great War of Fate seem almost like a dream. But some parts of the dream, he knew, absently running his gloved fingers over the small pendant around his neck, would never go away. Some parts of the dream he wished would come back.

"Lord Van?" tried the voice again.

Stirred from his thoughts, he blinked, and turned his head towards the door, where the young cat-girl stood, regarding him with a bouquet of white flowers in her hands. Even where he sat perched in the window, he could see her concerned expression. They had both grown up in the last two years, but some things would never change between them. She would always be his closest childhood friend, and she would always worry about him.

"Are.. you ready to go Lord Van?" she asked, looking at him. Her long pink hair was tied back in a ponytail, with bangs that framed her face cutting along her cheek bones. He remembered not so long ago how it had been short.

Two years..

"Yes, sorry," he replied, unfolding his almost six-foot-frame from the window. Merle wasn't the only one that had changed. The years of work, and training, had seen more muscle accumulate on his form, and it seemed like his height finally decided to stop increasing somewhere just shy of six feet. He had been lax with proper grooming as of late, so while his face remained clean shaven, his hair had grown out a bit more, maintaining its ever wild look. He was still dressed from the morning's activities of dealing with the more bureaucratic side of being king: that was only to say, he wasn't wearing armor. Dark brown leather pants that matched his jacket tucked themselves into black boots, the deep red sleeveless shirt beneath his jacket the only splash of true color he wore.

His stride was calm as he made his way to Merle, the young cat-woman donning loose red dancer's pants and a top to match for her work as a waitress in the local tavern. Her tail twitched side to side as she watched him, unable or not bothering to hide the worry in her eyes. He had been quiet lately, contemplative. It was a change she had watched come over him in the recent months..

The two left the vast room, moving down the hall in silence, passing the occasional armed guard on duty. Though the king of Fanelia's eyes stayed ahead of him, Merle's eyes were on the man beside her. It was only once they stepped out into the sunlight of the courtyard that she looked away, focusing on the well worn path beneath her feet. It was a path that she knew he walked often, though it was unguarded. They left the castle behind, passing through the line of trees on the West side of the large stone fortress, and into the forest itself. The massive trees had stood guarding the edges of the large valley that the kingdom found itself in, holding strong even when the kingdom had faced near destruction two years ago. He often found them a comfort, a reminder that the war was over: peace, and life, had returned to the valley after so long. The people had returned to help their king rebuild, and Fanelia was near to what it had been when his father had ruled.

After a few moments of walking in silence, both pairs of feet came to a stop before the fenced off area in the middle of the small clearing, and Van regarded the tall structures before him, as he had many times before.

".. Mother.. Father... Brother..."

The graves of his family were well kept, almost aglow in the filtered sunlight between the trees. Everything was quiet in the clearing, as it often was, as though even the creatures knew that this was a sacred place. A place where he could be with his family, and seek their guidance. Merle looked at him, offering the small bouquet of flowers to him. One gloved hand reached out, taking them from her with the familiar kindness that Van had shown her through her life.

He moved forward, passing through the gap between the fences, approaching the three tall monuments. Two years since his brother had died, leaving him as the sole heir to the throne, and the last remaining royal blood of Fanelia. Two years since.. He knelt in front of the monoliths on one knee, placing the flowers before the middle and largest one.

Merle watched as Van bent his head, shaggy black hair blocking his face from view. She looked up, between the limbs of the reaching trees, green with foliage.

The Mystic Moon hung high in the sky, almost transparent against the rich blue heavens. A reminder of what she suspected weighed on him so much lately. He had changed in the last two years: the duties of a king to a rebuilding nation were heavy to bear, but he had done so, and as a result, he had grown. The War of Fate had ended, and the girl from the Mystic Moon had returned to where she came from. She turned her feline gaze to the large, silent figure standing nearby the graves, an ever watchful guardian of the house of Fanel.

Escaflowne.

It had not moved since the day that Hitomi had left, the need for the powerful guymelef being so little in times of peace. And yet it was always there, dormant until there came a day when it would be needed again. As Van started to rise, she returned her attention to him, her tail twitching slightly from side to side.

"... you're thinking about her, aren't you, Lord Van?" she said softly, as he passed through the fences once more. He looked at her, apparently not surprised by the question. Merle had always been able to read him like a book: one of the side-effects of having grown up together. His hand went to rest on the sword which hung at his side, an idle gesture. The sword had belonged to his father, and once he had completed the ceremony and become king himself, the sword had gone to him. He tilted his head up, looking at that eerie yet beautiful sphere in the sky, waning as it was.

"It's hard to believe it's only been two years," he said, his voice a tone deeper than it had once been, thick with memories. His free hand went to the pendant around his neck, gloved fingers touching its smooth surface gently. He remembered standing in that very grove, the day she had given it to him. The day she had left..

"I'm sure she thinks of you, Lord Van, just as much as you think of her," said Merle, approaching him, her hands behind her back. "I'm sure she misses you.. very much."

"I wish I could have shown her a peaceful Gaea," he said, looking at the Mystic Moon. "I would have liked to have shared that with her." Although his face remained calm, a familiar, dull ache made itself known in his chest, faint and almost unnoticeable.

Distant, just like the sky.

"... Lord Van--" Her ears twitched slightly, and whatever else she might have said was lost with the approach of footsteps running towards them down the path they had come from. While she tensed, Van's grip on his sword became more firm.

"My lord!" spoke the sentry, dropping to one knee immediately before Van, a hand over his heart. "Urgent news from the West!"

A frown touched Van's face, his dark eyes lighting with a seriousness that had not been there before. Something did not feel right.

"Go on," he said. The sentry regarded him.

"Traders en route to Asturia reported that one of the villages they usually rest at has been razed!"

Both figures were stunned into a momentary silence. Van blinked. Raids were not uncommon, but they usually took place further North, closer to the former Zaibach empire, and even then, to have an entire village destroyed was..

"Which one?" he demanded, anger making his calm demeanor crack slightly.

"Belcour, m'lord," replied the sentry. "It was part of an independent region just West of our boarders." Van knew the one. Though it was not in their territory, the neighbouring towns had all done trades with each other: allies in a sense. He knew too that Asturia had towns that did trades with them as well.

"Were there any survivors?" he demanded, the question he had not wanted to ask, but had to know.

"None that were reported, my lord," said the sentry grimly, bowing his head. Van's fist tightened at his side.

"Call a meeting of the generals," he said. Even though it was not in their boundaries, their traders often stayed there. It was unlikely that there had been no outside merchants there at the time of the attack, which made it the business of Fanelia.

"Yes m'lord!" The man stood, bowing once before running back the way he had come.

Merle regarded Van, shivering slightly. The loss of life of an entire village was no small matter; such a sizable loss had not been seen since..

"What will you do, Lord Van?" she asked quietly.

He was silent a long moment, before looking up at the sky again. He didn't want to see the concern on her face.

"I'll call a meeting of the generals," he said, eyes searching the sky. "We'll discuss the right course of action. This is a matter that concerns not only Fanelia, but Asturia as well-- I suspect it won't be long before we hear from them as well." He looked at her finally, grim determination in his eyes. She realized then just how much he had changed: once he would have just leapt into the fastest course of action, rather than sit and plan.

"Who would do such a thing?" she asked him, hugging her arms to her body.

A chill breeze moved through the clearing, making the leaves dance and rustle as he looked to the skyline.

"... I wish I knew," he replied at last.