Disclaimer: I own nothing in the escaflowne universe.... I do own Donte and another character you'll see at the end of this chapter, but everything else is the property of their respective owners...Whaaah...

(I'm back! More on my cool fanfic! . Hee hee. Not! I know it isn't cool. Really, more on Donte! Oh, and thank you all for reviewing! I will take a short break from Van and Hitomi and give you a little bit of a character I like a lot! Yeah!)

Merle made her way to the garden, pondering the nights events.

What if Van came for Hitomi only to discover her changed? What if she no longer cared for him, and had no desire to help them?

How could she help?

How could the Alliance even use her? Merle never saw Hitomi's gift as a tool, but the Alliance did, and what if she did come only for her to be taken away again, this time by greed and want of power?

Her musings led her through the cool night air to the small garden just inside the west gate of the castle, and at the sight of Donte under a nearby tree nervously awaiting her arrival temporarily drove her dark thoughts from her mind.

She ran to Donte and stopped just short of running into him at the foot of the tree.

She managed to frown despite the hilarious look on Donte's blushing face and yelled, "Donte, I have to get to work! What is it? I'm not in a very good mood right now and this better be good!"

Although Donte was at least two heads taller then Merle, he recoiled at her anger, even if she was just playing.

The young cat-man, was of a similar breed as Merle with brown fur and black strips on his cheeks and the head of the shoulders and tail, but had dark blue, shaggy hair instead of pink, and was wearing his usual green tied down shirt and faded buckskin pants. His physical appearance looked quite good to Merle, but she thought the outfit he wore was verry funny. Especially the pants, because they were much too large for him.

Donte was from Austuria, growing up by the sea and had a fondness for anything wet. Something else weird about him to amuse her, and tease him for. Merle had never met a cat that liked water. His quick reflexes were better than even hers, and he was a very smart man. His oddities were very attractive to her and she would never tell him, either, that he was the hottest person she had ever met. His cute, odd appearance and ability to make her laugh were great to her.

Better yet, Van liked him.

She had a very big crush on him, and secretly, she knew he did too.

She suggested more than once to Van that he was made head advisor instead of Gothel, but unfortunately, the last time, Van laughed it off saying, "he wouldn't be happy as head advisor. To much time with me and not with you. He's already declined it twice."

Merle was sure to give Donte a good hit on the head when she saw him after that, but quickly apologized by giving him a little wooden boat to put in the fountain in the garden.

His childish enthusiasm was another of his qualities she liked about him.

She stepped up to him as the cool night air beat against her back, trying to hold her laughter as he leaned against the tree in a mock macho routine.

"I wanted to talk with you about something." Donte said in a would-be casual voice.

"What about?" Merle replied, stepping close to his brownish orange face and looking into his yellow green eyes.

She placed her hand on his blue hair, giggling at the slight blush under the black strips below his yellow eyes. She loved to play like this with him, thinking it funny that Donte was almost as strong as Van now and cowering at her.

"Uh…I-I… I wanted to talk to you about…" He was trying very hard to look down and not at her face.

He stepped back from her and looked up again.

"It's about us."

Merle was taken aback. "Huh?" She replied, confused.

At the sight of her confused face, Donte seamed to loose his concentration.

"I mean, uh…the wolves. Yeah… Do you think they'll take up swords?"

Merle cocked her head, examining his expression.

She supposed he was trying for a friendly conversing expression, but he hadn't pulled it off and looked disappointed. She decided to play along.

"I guess they want to be left alone, you know? They have their own ways of protecting themselves without our weapons."

His facial expression now was hard to read, like he secretly wished she hadn't pressed the subject, but replied, "Well, now they can have the added help of swords and guymelifs, right? Isn't it odd they chose to ignore our new freedom?"

He stood up from the tree and suddenly looked very confident with himself. Merle couldn't help but laugh at this.

Not so long ago it was odd for beast men to have lethal weapons like quymelifs. They weren't allowed. After the war, Van tried to offer the beast men in his country an alternative to the norm, allow beast men weapons without persecution, and offer positions in the government and army.

Because of this, beasts from the surrounding forest and nearby countries flocked to Fanalia seeking relief from the hatred for their kind and hope for a normal life in peace. The wolf men remained in their refuge in the dragon forest however, to the surprise of everyone but Merle and Van.

They liked it where they were, not bothered with the changes of the world. They liked to pretend the were blind, but remained loyal to Fanalia and it's inhabitants, always watching for suspicious news from the north or spies from the south that would love to attack Fanalia for it's newfound power.

Their loyalty was the best thing for Van now in the trying times when all he had built up could be lost again.

"You and your ideas!" she cried, throwing her hands in the air to mock him. Why don't you get ideas about other things? Politics are boring. I hear them all the time with Van! Tell me why you really wanted to see me!"

She pointed a sturdy finger at him, shaking it vigorously in another successful way of intimidating him.

After a few minutes of bickering and laughter, Donte tried tickling her, her only weakness, to get her to listen to him. It ended with Merle soaking wet in the fountain, Donte picked the struggling Merle up from the water, laughing at her now drenched face.

He sat down with his feet in the cool fountain water, placing Merle beside him. She got to her feet and turned her back on him, saying, "You, DONTE, NOT only did you MAKE ME WET, but also LATE! What do you have to say about that?!" She moved to walk away, but something very odd happened next.

Donte grabbed her hand and held it firm, pulling her back toward him until she lost her balance and almost fell onto his lap, making her blush, her head almost barely touching the surface of the water. Donte's eyes flashed the color of late summer grass, the moon's reflection on the pool of water bouncing off them.

His free hand caught her shoulder before she hit the water again, and he pulled her closer to his face, a look of something like passion or concentration etched across his blushing face.

" Merle I-I need to tell you something that has been on my mind…" Donte said, his grip tightening on Merle's shoulder, as he moved his other hand, still holding hers, to rest against his rapidly beating chest.

"W-what?" She whispered, her face turning red again. Donte moved closer.

"Ahem."

Both looked up.

"Excuse me," A young woman with long, wavy, purple hair questioned in a sort of airy manner, holding her head slightly down, her eyes the color of sunset, looking at the two in a stuck up fashion, not looking directly at them.

"My father has informed me that a young man named…" she screwed her face slightly in thought, trying to remember. "Donte Ashima, would escort me to the great hall."

She looked up, and a small smile flashed across her pale face for a moment then continued, " He has told me that Sir Van Fanel was waiting for me there."

Merle had gotten up and was looking at the girl with disgust on her face.

"Well, you're out of luck, because Sir Van isn't there."

The girl's face suddenly when pink, and her eyes narrowed in anger.

"What do you know of this? My father just told me he was there. Why would I believe you, a cat, over my own father?" She looked away, disgusted to have even laid eyes on Merle.

"Where is Sir Ashima?"

Donte stepped forward, although he too looked disgusted to have seen this woman stand before him, and answered her curtly, "I am Sir Ashima."

She looked back on him, almost past him, then looked away again.

"Please…ugh…escort me to the great hall."

He laughed; taking a step back towards Merle, who looked ready to kill.

"Madam, if you are looking for Sir Van, he isn't there I'm afraid. He has left the castle. I have reason to believe he is…uh…training, in the dragon forest. He will be gone for a few days."

She looked back at him again, this time with disappointment, and turned to walk away. "Fine." She said, rolling her eyes before she turned past the hedge and out of sight again.

"Who was that?!" Merle said, angry. "She was really annoying."

She started walking away, waving to Donte as she went toward past the tree.

"Tell me later okay? I'm really late." She walked away, leaving Donte to his thoughts.

(That's the end! Donte and Merle, sitting in a tree, k-I-s-s-I-n-g! Hoped you liked this chapter! Oh, and you won't see the purple haired girl again for a while, so don't worry, she won't interfere. Hope you enjoyed this chapter! I know you all want to know how the alliance is planning on using Hitomi, and maybe I can explain soon. Or not. R&r!)