Disclaimer: I don't own the Vision of Escaflowne, but I will one day obtain the right when I conquer the world… Oh wait- no one was supposed to know about that…

Chapter 2

A twilight setting had fallen upon the small Japanese campus as Hitomi managed to pull out her key to her dorm room. It was useless; she looked all day long, forgetting about her exam and everything. It had to be just a dream- a wild vague dream in which seemed more real than the other ones. So, she missed her exam, probably forcing her to fail this entire semester, and she had exhausted herself by looking for a pillar of light she had dreamed up. Why was it that after five years, the memories of Gaea still haunted her? If she knew that in a few years she would be this miserable, Hitomi wouldn't have left. She wouldn't feel this empty.

Defeated, Hitomi pulled out her keys from her duffle bag. Today could easily be filed away in the past as Hitomi's worst day in her entire life. She was going to fail her majoring class, and her dreams were destroyed in her face. Unlocking the door, Hitomi was greeted with the darkness of her empty room. "Yukari?" she called out. Then she remembered where her friend probably was. Amano, she thought bitterly. But the more she thought about the animosity in her thoughts, the more she regretted it. No, Yukari deserves to be with the person she loves.

Hitomi realized when she returned exactly how much Yukari was in love with Amano. However, the red head also knew that her best friend was in love with him too. But Hitomi was too blind before, seeing her own happiness before her friend's. Just before, her hasty words were her thinking about herself first. Hitomi fell onto her bed, disappointed and exhausted. She felt horrible and wanted to just curl into a ball and cry herself to sleep.

In an attempt to brighten the darkness around her, both mentally and physically, Hitomi turned to the window and pulled the curtain. The orange glow from the setting sun radiated into the room. Hitomi closed her eyes.

Today was nothing special, but why did it seem like today everything came spiraling downward? Before today, she was the best runner on the track team, she had a high B in her history class. She had been accepted to a great school and had most of it paid with a scholarship she gained with her track team. Yukari managed to get in the exact same college, even the same dorm room. Her position had elevated on the track team from assistant to manager, and life was like before, when she was in high school and everything was normal. But it also wasn't normal, there was one major difference between those many years ago and today—she had witnessed Gaea.

It's been a bad day, Hitomi told herself. I just need to sleep all of this off. Maybe tomorrow, I won't think about it near as much…

Hitomi sighed as she turned to lay on her side, her eyes gazing out the window. Why couldn't she go back to the way life was before; where her and Yukari laughed over trivial things, and guys were far from their minds.

But deep down, Hitomi knew why this was. It was all because of that planet beyond people's sight. A planet where the earth and moon hung in the sky-- a place called Gaea. Emerald eyes closed and darkness began to encompass her. Maybe in her dreams, she could see it. Just one more time, she could see the place where her heart had been held captive all these many years.

She tried, but Hitomi could not fall asleep. Her dreams were her only place of comfort, and they couldn't even come when she beckoned them to. If she wished them to come, they probably would. But those wishes would be those from anxiety, causing trouble for those on that lush green planet. When did Hitomi's life become so confusing?

The door clanked as the bolt lock began to turn. Hitomi thought nothing of it, although her senses should have flared. After all, it was probably just Yukari, coming to pick up something, or to change clothes for her and Amano to go out and eat.

The door didn't open and Hitomi just lay there, awaiting her childhood friend to appear and tell her about the adventures her and Amano would be facing today. But even after minutes of waiting, the door didn't open. Hitomi began to fear the worse as she sat up, clutching her pillow. No sound- nothing. Not even a shadow casted upon the light under the door.

Trying to maintain her calm, Hitomi turned to hang her legs off of the side of her twin sized bed. She faced the window and the orange twilight glow radiated onto her face. Something wasn't right. The unnerving silence was proof enough for her statement. If her pendant was with her, it would be pulsating a pink glow to warn and protect her. What was going on? What was so completely and utterly wrong?

Finally, the door behind her opened, resonating a screech from the rusty hinges. A chill ran up her spine as Hitomi realized that it was now or never. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, gaining her complete focus. Sighing, she opened her eyes. "Yukari?" she asked once again to the darkness behind her, turning around.

The cushion fell from her hands as Hitomi stared back at intense maroon eyes.

The navy Yaris screeched to a stop as those last three words left his mouth. Yukari's feet were firmly pressed to the floorboard as her head turned to that of the man beside her. The raven haired male was clutching onto the sides of his seat, his maroon eyes wide at the abrupt stop. Of course he was confused beyond all belief, but so was Yukari. She refused to believe those words that had come out of his mouth.

"Who?" she demanded, this time in a more angered voice. Van looked at the red-head, confused, but determined.

In a louder voice, he said the words again. "I am Van Slanzar de Fanel, King of all Fanelia." Instead of winning the red head over, however, he only managed to anger her even more as Yukari's cheeks puffed out in irritation. She locked her chestnut brown eyes with his, searching intently for some kind of truth that lay hidden behind the burgundy screen.

"Where did you hear that name?" Yukari demanded, as a light before them turned from red to green. Earlier, although abrupt, they had in fact stopped for traffic reasons, but her shock had lain and effect.

She pressed gently on the accelerator as the car began to move in a more steady speed. People on the outside thought she was driving like a mad woman. Who knew, maybe she was. After all, it's not every day that you are faced with the facts that your best friend since childhood may have in fact went to another planet and was now about to leave again. "Did Hitomi tell you? Are you that one guy from the Ren Fair? Is this Hitomi's trick to make me believe her weird little story?"

Van looked at Yukari with obvious confusion. "I seriously have no idea what you're talking about," he stated, relaxing his grip on the chair, and staring out the window to his left. Why didn't Yukari, Hitomi's best friend, believe him? Was it that Yukari didn't believe in the story of Gaea?

Or maybe, it was the fact that Yukari didn't want to believe. She didn't want to believe that Hitomi had in fact disappeared for months at a time in a war-torn planet. Of all people, he understood that. After all, it was he who claimed for years that his brother didn't run away from the right of dragon slaying, when in fact he saw the same Folken Fanel, years later, as a traitor to his country.

When the car stopped again, this time at a hexagonal sign, Van looked over at Yukari. He had to find out what was going on her head if he wanted to gain no only her trust, but his path to Hitomi. "I'm serious, Yukari," he began, adverting his attention from her angered expression. "Hitomi wasn't lying. I really am Van Fanel—Gaea really is another planet created from the draconian of Atlantis. And I'm proof that the Atlantians did in fact exist…"

The red head snorted. "Yeah, and I'm Cinderella loosing my glass slipper." Yukari managed to pull the navy vehicle to a parallel park a few blocks away from the dormitory. She hadn't even truly planned to take him to Hitomi. No, she wasn't going to fall into whatever little plan her friend had laid out so perfectly. She had hired a great actor. It was almost like 'Van' really did believe he was the King of Fanelia. But Yukari wasn't that stupid. There was no way this guy was the real deal—even if the real deal had in fact existed.

Van had no idea what she meant with that comment, but he let it slide over his head as he stared at Yukari in obvious confusion. Why wouldn't she believe what he was saying? Van never had much patience, but what little he had was running thin. Van placed a gloved hand over his eyes as he continued to think of his next plan of action. As something came to mind, Van leaned back into the seat.

"Ask me a question."

Yukari looked at him with an annoyed look. "What?" If this was going to continue any longer, Yukari knew a vein in her forehead would pop from pure anger was being developed. Her blood was pumping as her thoughts were running rampant. She was not happy.

Van smiled, obviously sure of himself. "Ask me a question—any question. If you want to establish my background, ask me where I came from. My relationship with Hitomi, ask me a personal question about her I should know." He was obviously confident, and it bugged Yukari. Sure, Hitomi had described him as a self assured, hard-headed king, she still said it with compassion, and made sure that Yukari realized how great of a man Van was. This wasn't entirely prince charming material.

But then again, Van wasn't a prince charming.

"Come on," he egged her. The red head sighed as she continued to fall into his plot. What was she going to do? Throw him out onto the street. That's actually a very good idea.

"Color of Hitomi's eyes."

Van smiled. "Their like emeralds," he recalled, remembering the image of Hitomi. "I remember because Merle once mentioned to me randomly about how her strange foreign clothes brought out her eyes."

Yukari sighed. That wasn't a hard question. Her eyes did stand out, but they were beautiful. And from the way this guy talked about it, if he did in fact know the Hitomi, he would have thought so too. But she wasn't about to let him go this easily. There were still many questions for him to answer.

"How about her favorite color?" the red head questioned, a fire in her eyes.

"Blue," he stated simply. Yukari opened her mouth for another question as he began to elaborate. "But she made sure it wasn't just any kind of blue. Although she looked best in green, she was absolutely in love with this "steel blue" color."

"Birthday?"

Van had to think about this one. It was hard for him to translate it. "It's purple, 9th moon," he recalled to himself. "I think the words were 'december 9th 'though?" he questioned himself, not entirely sure of the answer. The woman before him looked absolutely astonished. No one believed that Hitomi was in fact a winter child, considering she loved the summer months the best. However, this man got it perfectly right first time.

"Age?"

"20—21 by the end of the year."

"favorite food?"

"She loves strawberries."

"Little brother's name?"

"Mamoru."

"Hates?"

"Sour and spicy foods. With a passion might I add."

She continued to ask questions that he answered perfectly, and sometimes elaborately. The red head looked at him. He sat there perfectly still. Even now to the point as to where he closed his eyes as she spoke. Only if he really knew her would he know the answer to this one. No one- not even her own parents, had been able to figure this one out. "When she's nervous?"

"Her pattern switches. She tends to look around the room, but when she realizes she's doing that, she begins to rub her hands. If her hands are occupied, she rubs her feet against the floor. Either way, she has to move, whether it is her eyes, her hands, or her feet. Something has to move," Van stated, opening his eyes a little to see Yukari's reaction.

Of course, she was dumb found. Her face dropped from a confident smirk, to an absolutely lost expression. At first, he thought he may have answered incorrectly. After all, given five years, that may have in fact changed. Yukari sighed as she grabbed the shift and switched it to "D".

As the car began to move, Van sat up straight. He tried to look Yukari in the face, to try and decipher what was happening in beneath her red hair. But he couldn't get anything. Her hair hung to the sides of her face and her eyes were distant. So, the Fanelian settled for staring out the window, and watching the inhabitants of the mystic moon make their daily routes. Going in and out of stores, it was almost like the market of Fanelia instead of wooden stalls, they were on the inside of building, huge windows of glass to allow sight inside.

Yukari managed to park next to a building. She sighed as she pulled the key from the ignition. Van looked over at her. She was staring at her lap. The silence between the two of them had been unbearable. She refused to ask another question, and he was afraid that he had answered something wrong. However, that fear was wiped away when she raised her head to look at him. "Why are you on earth this time, Van?"

For the first time, she not only used his name, but recognized there was another place besides earth.

The cushion fell from her hands as Hitomi stared back at intense maroon eyes.

She was absolutely speechless. Hitomi opened her mouth to speak, but the words she wanted to say just wouldn't come out. There was no mistaking who the person in front of her was; however, she couldn't do anything to verbalize her racing thoughts.

As if that wasn't enough, her entire body froze right there. Shock had taken its toll on her body and was causing her to relapse into a frozen state. But she couldn't sit there frozen forever. The fire of determination in his eyes managed to thaw her down to her bones. Tears threatened to fall from her eyes, as her hands made their way to her mouth, as if they could hold back the words that she knew would stumble out.

"V-Van?" she questioned to the darkness. The maroon eyes before her, once widened in shock, had managed to soften at the sound of his name.

The raven haired king took a few steps forward, bringing himself into the orange cast light. Twilight was always a beautiful sight, but in Hitomi's eyes, no sunset scenery was as beautiful as the one before her. The man before her was strange and different yet familiar all the same. His charcoal black hair had grown out slightly since she had last seen him. But it was still the same messy style, and the bangs still hung over his eyes. His skin was still its same tan hue. And although he had grown considerably in both build and height, Van still managed to maintain his lean appearance—even through all the male testosterone.

At that moment, all Hitomi wanted to do was to run up to him an embrace him. However, she couldn't move. Her body wouldn't let her. What if he was just a dream, a vision she had created? She would end up running right through his intangible body, and that would hurt more than anything at the moment. The tears that were building up silently began to fall. "Th-this is…," she whispered to herself, in complete denial, "Th-this is just a- just a dream, isn't it?"

Van saw the pain in her eyes, but more importantly, the tears that were falling from them. He took a step closer, and saw her distraught beyond all belief. When he heard what she barely managed to voice, his tense and nervous muscles began to relax.

Van walked over to the bed. Hitomi's emerald eyes widened her senses and confusion reaching a new level. Van sat down on the edge of the bed, about a foot away from the college girl. Taking his callused hand out of its leather glove, Van cupped Hitomi's chin. A chill went down her spine at the feel of his touch. He wiped a tear from her cheek as he brought her face to look directly at his. "I'm right here Hitomi," he breathed, locking maroon with emerald.

At the sound of his voice, Hitomi just entirely broke down. Her tears fell fluidly and her weak and tired body began to shake violently. Van immediately wrapped the woman in his arms, as she cried into his chest. After five years, his smell was still the same. He smelled like the depths of the forest, the grass of a field, and the wind of the sky. It was a scent she would remember for the rest of her life.

Hitomi continued to cling to Van's shirt. "I saw that pillar of light," she rambled to herself. She wasn't even aware as if to Van was listening or not. "But then I couldn't find you. I was afraid this was just another dream…"

As her voice faded away, Van continued to subconsciously stroke her hair. Hitomi was an absolute mess. Tears were streaming down her face, soaking his red shirt. She was trembling from her sobs. This wasn't the strong Hitomi he knew back on Gaea. Did something happen? Van silently asked himself, as he pulled Hitomi closer to him. No, nothing should have happened… yet.

Once Hitomi managed to stop her own tears, she looked up at Van with a look of confusion and hope. She had so many questions, that much Van knew. Hitomi always had questions, and now wasn't any different.

"Why are you here Van? Is something wrong?" she questioned, managing to hold herself stable again. Van smiled. That's the Hitomi I know…, he thought to himself. However, the fear that was set in her eyes hadn't managed to vanish.

Hitomi continued to look into his deep red eyes. He sighed. "Nothing," he said softly, turning his eyes away from hers. He's lying.

Hitomi always knew when Van was lying. First he would sigh. And although while he was speaking, he would look directly into her eyes, he would always advert them almost as soon as he had finished speaking. Although she had in fact only been with Van for a few months, she learned some things about him. Probably, just as much, as he learned about her.

"It's not 'nothing'," she said. She didn't even have to explain herself. Van knew immediately as he turned his head to argue back. His easily agitated fire ceased as he looked into her eyes. He could perfectly read what was in her eyes, because he had the same thoughts running through his head. I wouldn't be here if it was 'nothing', or else I would have been here sooner. Van stood up, walking towards the window. The twilight setting outside cast off an orange tone to everything it touched; his shirt, his face, his hair. It was the perfect lighting.

Hitomi watched him, both confused and relieved. Confused as to what was going on in his raven head, and relieved that he was no longer looking into hers. She draped her legs over the edge of the bed, almost in an attempt to get up. She wanted to know what he was thinking. She had been five years without seeing him, where as before he left, she knew almost everything about him; His voice, his smell, his thoughts, his anger. Out of anyone there that was there during the great war, Hitomi was the one who knew Van the best.

Her thoughts continued, but were abruptly stopped. Van had turned to face her, a shy smile plastered on his face. The blonde woman felt the blood rush to her cheeks as he spoke. "We want you home…"

"We?"

Van laughed. "Yeah, all of us," he said, "Merle, Millerna, Allen, Dryden, and me." He confirmed, sitting down next to Hitomi. He looked down at his tan pants in thought. He knew what he wanted to say, but the words in front of him just wouldn't appear. "I-I-mean, everyone just misses you so much Hitomi, it's obvious." He stood up again, his anxiety taking over. Whenever he was anxious he could never keep still, and as such, he was pacing. "But I mean, the Mystic Moon is your home right? So I don't mean to take you away from friends and—"Hitomi wouldn't let him finish.

Slender arms wrapped around his abdomen, and a childish blush appeared as he could feel Hitomi's body against his. She smiled into his shirt, as tears came pouring down, making more tear stains on his shirt.

"Take me home, Van…"

Nine thirty at night, and Amano had finally finished unpacking. Running a hand through his dirty blonde hair, he smiled. "Maybe it'll start feel like home these now," he contemplation aloud.

He had arranged it with his parents he would spend the break from school at his grandparents, as an attempt to reflect with old friends, and catch up on his Japanese past he left behind five years ago. After all, he did feel horrible about leaving only a few days after Hitomi's return. And during her disappearance, he had came to realize the feelings he had actually developed for the blonde's best friend—although he knew she'd never look at him that way.

They were just friends after all. And more importantly, she was best friends with Hitomi- the girl who just admitted her crush on him. A friend never went behind a friend's back. But then again, that same week, Hitomi had said she was wrong about her feelings for Amano, leaving him with no words really to say. It gave him an opening to know Yukari Uchida a little better. However, with a whole ocean separating them, they could only remain good friends. But that's about to change. This summer is for you, Yukari…

As if on cue, the doorbell to his grandparent's house rang. He sighed as he walked towards the door.

The elderly couple had left hours ago to a restaurant, however, Amano had wished to stay behind and rest. He had travelled for the past 18 or so hours, and he was exhausted. So a nice shower, and time spent unpacking his suitcases helped him relax just a little bit more.

He opened the wood paneled door to the traditional styled house. "Hello?" he called out, before he even opened it. The sight before him made him quickly drop his jaw. He quickly picked it back up at the sight of the tears streaming her face. "Yukari?"

The red head looked up, and her eyes connected with his. Without even thinking, she ran into his arms, crying onto his shoulder. "She's gone, Amano…" were the only words she could whimper out.

Amano had managed to set them on the ground as Yukari curled in his arms. She was absolutely distraught, that much he understood. But what she was talking about, he couldn't understand. It was only when she had managed to calm down Yukari began to explain in a voice mixed with sadness and fear.

"She's gone. Hitomi left with him, I know," immediately, Amano understood. He hadn't believed her story either, but he at least understood it. The blonde opened his mouth to ask why and how, but the red head managed to stop him. "I had a choice," she whimpered, the tears having stopped. "I could have let him wandered the streets, or lead him the way to her—to take her away. But I saw the way he looked as he spoke of her."

Hitomi had no more faith in this world. Her heart, her happiness, was somewhere else. On that planet she called Gaea. He knew as well as Yukari what their friend would choose. He knew where Hitomi's true happiness was. And Yukari had the chance to be selfish, and keep Hitomi all to herself, regardless of how Hitomi longed for Gaea.

"Amano," she breathed slightly. "I had a choice and I let her go."

WewtHow did you guys like my random conversation between Yukari and Van. I had to give Yukari something considering how I'm basically removing her from the series! XD Man, if I have to watch the series over and over again to get inspiration, I should have the story memorized. Anyways, I plan on doing an update once every week or two weeks, unless stated in here for future reference. However, don't entirely plan me to follow that guide, unless you guys decide to keep my inspiration going, and more like bother me until I get it finished!

And wow, I'd just like to comment on the wonderful response I got to the first chapter. 3 reviews may not be a lot, but I found so many author/story alerts. It was a nice feeling! And I was going to wait until Saturday to post chapter two, but your response just got me fired up again!

TehDono has left the building!