All right, got off my lazy butt and wrote the second part
:P  Took me pretty damn long considering this isn't very
long ^^;;  Ja ne!

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Based on the Anime "Vision of Escaflowne"

We Present to you...

Hitomi's Wish

Part 2
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Hitomi landed with an audible **thump** on the ground.  The
pink glow slowly faded and the heat subsided, leaving Hitomi
shivering slightly in the cool evening air.  She rubbed her
pain filled back from the fall and stood to her feet.

Gaia.  It was definitely Gaia.  The fact that the Earth and
Moon hung in dimly lit sky was proof enough.

Hitomi wrapped her arms around her middle and could feel the
tears well up in her eyes.  She was back.  It was almost as
she floating through some wonderful dream, but this was far
more real than any dream.

"Well," She said to herself, "I guess I should find out
where I am."

Taking a quick survey of the land she spotted a large grave
marker just to her left.  Her stomach tied in knots as she
read off the stone.

"Folken Fanel,"  She finished.  It was Folken-san's grave,
Van's brother.  He had fought Drunkak to save the people of
Gaia, even when Hitomi had told him of the fate that lay for
him.  She wasn't sure whether to trust him at first, but he
was related to Van, there had to be some good in him.  And
only when she saw him plummet to his death after being
stabbed through with the end of his own sword did she
actually trust him fully.  But by then, it was too late, and
Folken had given his life to protect the world, he just
before wanted to destroy.

Hitomi ran her fingers over the smooth surface, tracing the
letters as she went.

"Folken-san... Arigatou...." She smiled slightly.

"YOU THERE!"

Hitomi nearly jumped out of her skin and whipped around to
see her approacher.  It was a royal guard, but from what
country she was not sure.  The symbol on his shield was
unfamiliar.  A double headed phoenix rising from ashes.  The
man stood protectively in front of a richly decorated
palanquin, obviously for the leader of the country he was
from.

"I..I'm sorry sir.."  She stammered out, not sure of what to
do.  She looked up to see a hand reach out from the gold
cloth of the palanquin.

"What is the matter?"  The voice inside asked.

"Sire!  We were just questioning a villager about visiting
Folken-sama's grave!"  The guard returned.

Hitomi looked down at her clothes, *Villager?*  "Now wait on
second!"  She said while stalking forward.

Hitomi soon found herself on the ground, knocked down by a
second guard.  She could feel the pain throbbing through her
left arm.  Dislocated shoulder maybe.  All the while the
guards were yelling something about 'Attacking the King' or
something along those lines.  She tried to protest but the
men kept yelling at her and roughing her around.

One grabbed harshly onto her shoulder and she let out a
scream of pain and dropped to her knees.

"What's going on here!?"  The king demanded while stepping
fully out of the protection of the palanquin.

"Sire!  This girl, looked as if she was threatening you, so
we took measures."  The guard answered.

Hitomi writhed in pain on her knees, her hand clutched to
her shoulder, *Damn,* She thought to herself, *I've been
here a total of ten minutes and already I'm in trouble.*
She looked up again when a soft hand touched her good arm.

"Are you all right?"  The man asked with warmth flooding his
voice.

Hitomi's breath got caught up in her throat as soon as she
took one look at him.  Tears welled in her eyes and her
hands shook slightly, "V....Van..... It's really you...."
The tears finally slipped down her paled face and her hair
spilled down over her shoulders.

Van looked down to the girl with confused eyes, "Do...do
I.... my god.... H-Hitomi?"  He said while running his hand
over her tear stained face as if thinking she was only a
dream, "Hitomi.....You're really here.  How did you... no I
don't care, you're back!"  He said while gathering her up
into a fierce hug.

Hitomi yelped slightly as Van held her tight, putting more
pressure on her shoulder, but tried her best to forget it.
It was him, actually him.  Not some delusion she had while
on Earth that he would hold her like this.  It was actually
Van.

The guards witnessed this scene in absolute horror,
"Y-y-you're Hitomi-sama?!"  They promptly got down on their
knees and bowed before her, "We apologize, Hitomi-sama!  We
d-did not know..it..we..."  They stuttered.

Hitomi smiled in embarrassment, "It's all right.  It was a
misunderstanding."  She said, then turned her attention back
to Van.  His eyes shone bright and almost teary.  She leaned
her head into his chest and sobbed lightly.

"Van.. I'm.. so glad.."  She choked out.  Finally exhaustion
and pain won out and she collapsed in his arms.

"Hitomi?  Hitomi?!"

    * * * * * *

Hitomi woke to a bright light in her eyes.  She closed her
eyes and waited for the light to go away.  Unfortunately it
didn't, and she got used to it's bright shine.  She blinked
a few times and sat up, letting out a muffled squeak to the
pain that shot up through her arm and shoulder.  She wait
until it subsided some and took a deep breath.

*Van, I did it,* She thought in disbelief.  She was back,
plain and simple.  And now, she could stay with him
forever.  She couldn't wait to see her old friends again.
Merle, well sort of, Princess Millarna, Drydan-san, Prince
Sid, Serena..... Allen.

She frowned as she thought about the last one.  Her feelings
for him had changed for Allen so drastically in the last few
days of her first trip to Gaia.  She still loved him, just
not in the way she had once.  Van was the only one how could
own that.  But still, it must have been so hard for Allen.
First, he had lost Millarna's sister, even after having a
child.  He had lost Millarna to Dryden.  And at last he had
lost Hitomi.  For such a playboy, he sure got dumped a lot.
Hitomi winced at the last comment.  That was much too harsh
to even think about Allen.  But, he had found Serena once
again and Hitomi sincerely hoped he would find happiness
once more.

Hitomi was shaken out of her thought when she heard soft
snoring just beside her.  She turned to see Van, sitting
what looked like quite an uncomfortable position, in a
wooden chair.  She stifled a laugh as she crawled across the
double king sized bed to him.

She sighed.  He looked so cute just like this, but she
longed to hear him talk so she gently shook his shoulder
with her good arm.  He stirred a bit and brought a hand to
rub his eyes.  He blinked a few times before everything came
into focus.  Hitomi was seated in front of him, staring
intently.

"Oh, it's just you," He yawned, hiding a smile.

"Vaaaan!"  Hitomi whined playfully.

Van grinned lopsidedly, "Welcome home."

Hitomi leaned in a gave him a gentle kiss, "Tadima."

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