Icarus Reborn
by Bambi Eloriaga [email protected]


She wakes up in the middle of the night, drenched in cold sweat,
shivering, a silent scream painfully lodged in her throat. It's the dream.
"That dream again", she mutters to herself. Safely, albeit rudely, drawn
back into the realities of the waking world, the details of the dream have
now become fuzzy to her. Except one: Il Fusco, the tarot which bears the
image of the dragon. "Dragon."

"Why?", she asks herself. Why this premonition after all this time. The
visions, like her penchant for reading tarot cards, have left her ever since
she returned from her journey roughly 7 years ago. Now they've returned
and as always they fill her with dread.

Her thoughts focus on him-her own mechanism of dispelling melancholy
and dread. But this time, her memories of him are of no comfort to her.
They only fill her with sadness and trepidation.

Il Fusco. Dragon. Van. "What are you trying to tell me?", she asks the
darkness that envelopes the room. "Van, if you need me.Please send me a
sign.I've missed you."


2

Elsewhere, in another dark-filled room, in a world that-although it exists
in the same space as the blue planet-cannot be observed from the Earth, a
young monarch stirs in his sleep. He is weak and racked with fever.
Although red-hot needles of pain shoot up his arm whenever he tries to
move it, he nevertheless grits his teeth and reaches for the one thing that,
though he won't admit it to anybody, can comfort him-her pendant. A
keepsake, a reminder of what he holds most dear. Like his memories of
her, he keeps the pendant close to his heart. Holding the pendant firmly
now, cradling it in the palm of his hand, he reaches out with his mind.
Longing and then envisioning the one person whom he knows can finally
bring him peace and comfort. When he notices that the pendant is finally
giving off that red glow he has come to miss, he does something he
hasn't done for a long time now. He smiles. Eventually, he falls into a
deep slumber, rest that has been eluding him. But not before one word
escapes his lips, her name: "Hitomi". 


3

Tears are silently streaming down her face. She has become accustomed
to crying quietly, careful not to disturb the one sleeping on the futon next
to her. But with him running into an accident and with the doctors
deciding to run more tests on him, she is left alone to deal with her
desolation. Tonight she is alone and she lets the tears come, hoping she'll
feel better after a fit of weeping.

She cries for she perceives what he is feeling right now and she realizes
that it is pain. "Van is suffering."

She utters the words again: "If you need me.please let me come to you. I
want, I want to."

The prayer having been spoken, the light comes. She thinks she is
dreaming again, she is seeing what she wants to see, but then she feels
the familiar warmth and serenity that the light brings and she welcomes
it.

"Il Fusco. The beginning of another journey.", she thinks aloud and then
smiles to herself. She embraces the brightness as it engulfs her and
steadily lifts her up. 


4

The sounds of the forest awaken her, she blinks and her eyes gradually
become accustomed to the darkness. She looks around, the forest is both
alien and familiar to her at the same time. With her heart pounding she
looks up at the night sky, her breath gets caught in her throat as she sees
it, rather, them: two moons illuminating the otherwise coal-black sky.
The smaller disc gives off a soft silvery glow while the other one throws
an ethereal bluish gleam.

"That's it!", she squeals delightfully. The sight shaving off the years and
bringing her back to her youth, her moment of destiny. "That's
it.Maboroshi no Tsuki.", she says.

The scenery isn't the only thing familiar to her, she also recognizes the
smell. It's the smell of the sea. "Which means.", she thinks to herself as
she moves forward towards a patch of clearing. She stops and stands atop
a small rise of land. Looking below, her vision falls upon a sprawling
seaside community. Bounded by ports and the ocean on one side, the
city's row of houses, lights and streets are framed and intersected by
numerous waterways and canals. Her heart warms up to the sight.
"Asturia", she says, "I'm in Asturia." 


5

She is stopped by the palace guards but she isn't surprised. "After all",
she thinks, "what soldier in his right mind would let a strange-looking
woman waltz right into the palace?"

"Please, if I could just speak to Allen Schezar or Millerna maybe."

"What business have you with the queen?", one of them gruffly cuts her
off in mid-sentence.

"The queen?" She tries to reason with them again: "I'm an old friend of
Mil.er, `Queen" Millerna. If you'd just tell her that Hitomi is here to see
her."

"Hitomi?", the smaller mustachioed guard looks at her in amazement.
Getting a hold of himself, he then slaps his more muscle-bound
companion on the back and informs him that she is the one they speak of
in the legends.

"We apologize madam," the bigger one says, "but then how are we
supposed to know how someone from the Mystic Moon is supposed to
look like, eh? Heh, heh.heh." The fact that his laugh is tinged with
nervousness doesn't escape her.

"Aherm.Anyway, we will see to it that you be granted an audience with
the queen right away." Amused, puzzled and also a little bit dazed by all
she's heard, she follows them into the castle. 


6

Millerna's receiving room remains unchanged except for a few details,
she notes. Old King Aston's portrait is now graced with a black ribbon on
one corner. "Are they still in mourning?", she asks, "I wonder if the
king's death was fairly recent?"

Other portraits have been added to the room as well. On the wall
opposite the one with Aston's picture is a painting of Millerna with a
young boy.

"Blonde hair, blue eyes. Is this Sid? No, his nose and mouth are
different.(gasp!) her son perhaps, and the father."

But her thoughts are interrupted by the arrival of the subject of her
contemplation. Both of them stare at each other awkwardly for a few
seconds, each are unsure as to how to act towards the other. She breaks
the silence first.

"Hello. My name is Hitomi Kanzaki."

"Are you really?", the boy asks and stares at her in awe. "You know my
tutor told me about you when he was teaching me the history of the
Zaibach Wars."

"History.really, you make me sound like I'm ancient.", she protests,
feeling flustered.

"Show me how you do it," he says, "show me the magic you use to see
the future."

"Arden, really. You embarrass me, show some respect to our guest.", a
voice from behind Hitomi suddenly admonishes the boy.

Hitomi turns towards the doorway, towards the direction of the voice.
She is greeted by Millerna's beaming face. Millerna, obviously delighted
beyond words, opens her arms to receive her friend. Hitomi runs to the
friend she hasn't seen in years and gives her a bear hug, playfully lifting
Millerna off her feet.

"Hitomi.I.can't breathe."

"Oh sorry Millerna-san, I'm just delighted to see you. I guess I got too
excited.uhhm, Millerna- san, why are you crying?"

"It's nothing Hitomi.", Millerna replies, "I'm just delighted to see you
too."

Hitomi hugs her again, gently this time, kisses her on the cheek and tells
her: "I know, I know, I missed you too."

"Um, mother.may I please be excused? I'm feeling sleepy already." The
teary-eyed moment is interrupted by the boy tugging at his mother's skirt,
yawning and rubbing his eyes at the same time.

"Of course, go on to your chambers and rest.", Millerna replies and bends
to plant a kiss on her son's forehead.

"Good night, Hitomi-san.", he bids Hitomi as he leaves the room.

Noting the hint of pride on the face of Millerna as she watches her son
take his leave, Hitomi comments: "He's a fine boy. How old is he now?"

"He's just turned three. (sigh!) How fast he grows. I apologize for his
being rude. His teacher fills his head with these grand and exaggerated
stories of the past and he gets to thinking that war is one great adventure.
It's not his fault really, it's just that he doesn't know and can't yet grasp
what it's like to actually be caught up right in the middle of a war."

Hitomi shrugs it off. "You don't have to apologize. It's just a bit
overwhelming to realize that you're part of a people's history. Besides,
I'm sure his mother helps him sort out the truth from the hogwash."

"And you're right," Millerna replies, "it does make us seem ancient
hearing him say it like that." At this, they both laugh but the mirth soon
passes and they're both left with an awkward silence. Each of them
bearing years of experiences to relate but both are rather unsure of where
to start.

Millerna is the first to break the silence. "Oh yes. I'm afraid I have to ask
for your forgiveness again for making you wait here. I was feeling a bit
dizzy. You see fighting bouts of nausea is part of.uhhm, being pregnant."

"Oh Millerna-san, you're going to have another child! Oh no.now it's my
turn to apologize. You were probably resting already, I'm sorry for
causing such a commotion. Do you want to go back to bed?"

"Hitomi stop. You're being silly, of course I'd get out of bed for you."

Another awkward pause follows after which Hitomi gulps and braces
herself to ask the question which has been running around her mind ever
since she saw the painting. "Um, Millerna-san, who.where."

Millerna cuts her off, noting how flustered her friend is. "About three
years after you returned to the Mystic Moon," Millerna begins, "Asturia,
Fanelia.well, Gaea in general had more or less risen from the ruins
wrought by the war. Though I'm not completely sure if it has healed itself
even after all this time. Anyway, during that period of reconstruction,
Dryden kept himself busy travelling the length of Gaea. Tortured by the
fact that he was powerless to prevent the war, he convinced himself that
the least he could do was to pick up after it."

"Dryden tasked himself with reinfusing new life to this battle-scarred and
weary planet using the two things he has amassed over the years: wealth
and knowledge. Falling back on these, he journeyed from place to place
helping to build schools and hospitals, lending capital to people whose
businesses were affected by the war, re-establishing and setting up new
trade routes. He believes that before you can heal emotional wounds, you
first have to ensure your survival-those things he did were to make sure
that people wouldn't have to make too much of an effort to acquire basic
necessities."

"More than three years passed", Millerna continues, "and Gaea indeed
has been resurrected. Witnessing this seeming rebirth, Dryden finally felt
satisfied and declared his quest finished. It was then that he came back
here and told me that not only was he wealthy, learned and handsome, (at
this both women smile, noting how typical it is of Dryden to say such a
thing) but he was also now worthy of me. Now he can attend to his
husbandly duties."

"Wow, how did you react to that?", Hitomi asks.

"Well, remember when you were here and I was unsure about my
feelings?", she asks Hitomi and Hitomi nods. "For the longest time,"
Millerna continues, "I had been in love with Allen and when Dryden
came, I began to question my feelings. When Dryden left, I tried to
resolve my confusion by trying to get closer to Allen. You know what I
discovered? I realized that for all those years, I had only been fascinated
with Allen. Do you understand? I loved him not for who he was but
because of what he was. What girl wouldn't be in awe of a dashing, kind,
brave and handsome gentleman and a Tenkuu Knight at that?"

"I know exactly what you mean.", Hitomi replies with a pensive smile.
Millerna, however, isn't done with her story yet, she holds Hitomi's
hands, looks into her eyes and says: "Besides, even if I really did love
him, I'm afraid it would be unrequited because Allen himself has loved
only two women in his whole life."

Uncertain as to how to respond to this, Hitomi instead changes the topic.
"Um, you still haven't told me what you told Dryden-san when he came
back."

"Oh yes. Well, he didn't have to prove anything to me but to tease him I
told him to give me time to decide if I'd take him back or not. I guess I
also did that to punish him for leaving me but it's not his fault really, he
needed to get that out of his system."

"What!", Hitomi exclaims, "and Dryden-san agreed to that?"

Millerna smiles at the memory. "Of course not. You know Dryden, he
wouldn't leave me alone. He kept telling me that he's the only man for
me, that his love would be enough for both of us. So I admitted that I was
only teasing him with that `give me time' speech I gave him."

"Although I understood fully the reasons for his quest, I still told him that
he didn't have to prove himself worthy of me, knowing that his love is
true is enough. And do you know what he said? He said: `I knew you'd
come to see it my way and fall for me sooner or later.'

"You see, that's the thing with Dryden. He may say or do something
annoying, sometimes even vilifying, but that's just a veneer he keeps up.
Deep down, he's a good and noble man. He does these little things for
you that make him endearing and make you feel special. (Watching
Millerna talk about her husband like this fills Hitomi with joy-her friend
has finally found happiness and love.).so I told him what he wanted to
hear that I indeed do love him and he insisted that we get married again
since our first wedding ceremony was.well, you know what happened.
And that's how I became a wife and soon to be mother of two."

"And where is Dryden-san? He wouldn't go and leave a pregnant wife
behind would he?"

"Oh, he doesn't know yet. I wasn't certain until today, when a wave of
morning sickness hit me. Dryden's gone to Basram to negotiate some
deals with a local merchant. I'm afraid not even his being king can stop
him from being a businessman (sigh!)."

"Allen-san," Hitomi asks, "how is he?"

"His sister Serena has lapsed into a catatonic state after she remembered
the things she did as.uhhm, her other persona."

"But how can that happen?", Hitomi asks, "as you've said, it is another
persona."

"Although they were two separate individuals, they were, nevertheless,
contained in only one body. I believe that the mental barrier separating
the two personalities broke down. Though she didn't revert into
Dilandau, without the barrier, her experiences as Dilandau were no
longer held separate and in check and the sudden onrush of those horrible
memories has become too much for Serena to bear."

"I told Allen that she requires more than my skills as a doctor and now he
is scouring Gaea for former Madoshi or any other person who can help
her. It's been a year since I heard from him last."

"How unfortunate for Allen-san. To find his sister again after all those
years and now to possibly lose her again.", Hitomi remarks with obvious
despair.

"Uhhm, pardon me Hitomi but I should've told you what I'm about to say
first of all but I just didn't know how to break it to you." Hearing this,
Hitomi holds up her hand and says: "I know, I was avoiding it too
because somehow I can sense it's not good. But please, don't mince any
words. Just tell me.how is Van?"

Millerna draws her breath in and then begins. "When I saw him last, he
was complaining of pain in the left side of his chest, radiating outwards
towards his shoulder and arm. He even said that sometimes the pain
would be so great that he couldn't do anything, not eat, not even sleep, all
he can do is lie in bed."

"But when I examined him, I couldn't find any signs of external and
internal injuries. I consulted with Van's own court physicians and they
told me the same thing. I think it's all in his mind. Van is a strong person
who would not fall under the power of suggestion that easily but he has
been having bouts of depression lately and that makes him susceptible."

"That's why it's fortuitous that you've returned at this time because if
anybody can bring him back to his old self, you can. You know how he
keeps to himself, it took hours before I got him to speak about what was
ailing him. But he'll listen to you. Although, you have to be prepared
because I'm afraid Van has.lost his will to live and if this continues, then
he'll."

Through it all, Hitomi remains still, her face blank. Seeing her
expressionless, Millerna becomes unsure of how to continue. Thankfully,
Hitomi speaks up.

"Can you please arrange for someone to take me to Fanelia?"

"You don't have to ask.", Millerna answers, "I've already taken care of it.
Somebody's coming to pick you up."

(Author's note: Okay, I know I dragged on about Dryden but I think he
kinda got neglected and it seems that people don't pay much attention to
him. He's a very interesting character because of what he's gone through
to be worthy of Millerna and what he's about to go through again and
because of all his contradictory traits. Anyway, on with the story.) 


7

Hitomi takes her leave and heads for the castle courtyard telling Millerna
that she'd rather wait there alone. Besides, she said, Millerna should rest,
the baby needs it. So there she sits solitarily, wondering what could be
wrong with Van and anxiously scanning the skies for the arrival of the
designated vehicle. It comes soon enough-what looks, to Hitomi, like a
giant flying schooner. Before it's even safely anchored, a figure jumps
down and starts running towards Hitomi. She gasps as the person draws
nearer. "E-E-Eriya?"

Her confusion quickly dissipates when she hears the cat-girl shout:
"Hitomi!" while simultaneously pouncing on her then licking her face in
seeming abandon.

"Merle," Hitomi says, "how you've changed. I didn't even recognize you
till I heard your voice."

"Look who's talking.", Merle retorts, "You may still wear your hair short
but I'm afraid you've grown a bit pudgy."

"Oh stop it! I take it back, you haven't changed a bit. How have you
been?"

"Busy.", Merle answers, "as busy as the major domo of an entire castle
could get. But we can't just stand here and chat. We have to hurry.
Please, I think you're the only one who can help him. Van- sama needs
you." 


8

She is delightfully shocked by what she sees as they get nearer and nearer
to their destination. It is so different from the scene of destruction she
remembers. The castle and central plaza are surrounded by hundreds of
houses and other structures but not in a haphazard way. Rather, they're
patterned like the ripples made when you drop a stone into water.

All the shops and business establishments are all gathered on one side of
the community while the other houses the residential area. All the streets
are paved and wide, allowing three wagons to pass side by side at the
same time. Each street is lined by what looks like canals, veins of
pristine, running water. The place is also well lighted, she had already
spotted the glow it radiates a few miles back. Outside the city are
orchards and yards and yards of fields for different crops. Nearer the
mountainside, she could spot enclosures and corrals for animals. "Oh
Van, you did it.", she thinks to herself, "Not only has Fanelia risen from
the ashes, you've brought order and prosperity to it. Your brother
would've been proud." 


9

The double doors bearing the Fanelian logo are slowly drawn back and
she enters a large darkened room. She shudders for the air is thick with
sickness, fear and despair. A group of middle-aged and elderly men have
taken vigil, surrounding the bed in various stages of rest. All of them
snap to attention as the room is flooded by light from the outside. Each
of the men utter words of protests, some even try to restrain him, as Van
struggles to sit up. Then he speaks: "My friend here has traveled a long
way to see me. Please give us a few moments alone."

The worried group starts to object again but falls silent soon enough
when they notice the look on their king's face, a look that conveyed
rather strongly that he doesn't have the patience for this. One by one, the
men shuffle their way out of the room, their heads hung low. All of them
are much older than Van but it's obvious that he holds sway over them.

The door shuts and Van relaxes. He exhales and draws his knees up,
letting his arms and chin rest there. He smiles at her but the grin soon
dissipates as he sees that Hitomi is crying.

She can't help it, she has always dreamed of the moment when they'd
meet again. But for it to happen like this is cruel. And seeing him like
this-gaunt, haggard and obviously suffering-makes the pain even worse.

"Hey," Van says, "years ago I told you that I didn't want to see your face
so sad." He smiles again, "Besides, I get enough sad and worried looks
around here. I don't need it from you too."

Her tears, however, just continue to flow. Not knowing what else to say
to make her stop, he instead opens his arms to receive her. She moves
closer, sits next to him on the bed and buries her face on his chest. Still
smiling down upon her, he wipes the tears from her cheeks.

"Van, I.", she starts to say but he cuts her short, saying: "Shhh.we don't
need any words right now. Let's just stay like this for a moment." And so
they sit there, finding warmth and solace in each other's arms. 


10

He wakes up to find her still by his side, looking down on him, concern
written all over her face. "I fell asleep?!" He sits up and starts rubbing his
eyes with his right hand, the one which he can move without any
difficulty.

She reaches out and starts stroking his cheek. "How long have you been
sporting the beard and mustache?"

"Oh, it's just that I've been too weak to take care of it.", Van answers.

"Don't shave it off.", Hitomi remarks, "It's perfect, not shaggy but also
not sparse. I like it, it adds to your character."

Van starts shaking his head. "You haven't changed a bit. You're still
trying to tell me what to do.", he says mirthfully.

Hitomi turns a bright shade of crimson and starts to get up from the bed
but Van quickly grabs her arm. "No, not a bit.", he says, "I can still set
off that temper of yours."

"I don't see what's so amusing.", Hitomi retorts sulkily, pouting at Van.

"Uhhm, why don't you tell me what you've been doing all this time?",
Van asks.

"I've been coaching the school's track team and well, there's something
else."

She was about to tell him something important concerning the both of
them but his puzzled look threw her off. "Coach?", he asks.

"Oh, what I do is", Hitomi answers, "I train and give my team pointers on
how to improve their running and stuff."

"I see," he says, "yes, I remember how swift you were. Like the wind."

"Yes, well enough of that.", she says, "Van what is wrong with you?"

"I don't know.", he answers, "Except this happened." He bends forward
and lets out a long drawn-out moan as he sprouts his wings. Hitomi's
eyes widen and she gasps in fear for she can see that his wings had
turned black.

"They're black the way his brother's were.", the thought keeps running
around her head. "Van," she says aloud, "they're black, that means."

"I know.", he answers, "It won't be long now."

"Okay, you may feel pain and you do look really, really stressed.",
Hitomi says, becoming increasingly desperate, "but Millerna says there's
nothing physically wrong with you. And being with you now, it seems to
me that you're still your old arrogant and insensitive self. You've even
managed to develop a sense of humor, for heaven's sake!"

Van shakes his head, amused. "I am good-natured because I've accepted
it. When I first felt this mind-numbing pain and then discovered that my
wings had turned black, I was enraged. After the war I dedicated my life
to rebuilding Fanelia and improving the lives of my people. And as
you've said, there's nothing physically wrong with me.so what could I've
done to deserve this?"

"I became increasingly frustrated because I couldn't understand it all.
Soon my frustration gave way to despair. For a long time I was depressed
because I was going to be deprived of my chance to finally be.uhhm,
well, with you."

"Finally, it dawned on me. Instead of lying around, letting the pain
consume me and wasting whatever precious seconds I had left beating
myself up for things I couldn't change, I should just spend my final days
with the only woman I've ever loved. And now you're here and I'm happy
and I'm at peace because I've accepted my fate the way my brother
accepted his." With that said, he reaches out to take her hand in his but
she flicks it away.

"No!", she says, "the Van I fell in love with would never accept a fate as
cruel as this. He would fight it the way we fought the destiny being
determined for us by some madman's machine. He would not give up,
dammit!"

He frowns at this, uncertain as to how to reassure her.

Then she remembers the thing she was about to tell him before he
brought all of this down upon her. "If you don't want to live anymore
then I'll give you something to live for.", she tells him, her voice
trembling. "You can't die, not before you've even met Folken."

"Folken?", he looks at her puzzled.

"Our son."

"Son? My.my son?" His entire being then becomes flooded with
memories of that night, the night they shared before he sent her home.
His memory of it is made bittersweet by time but hasn't dulled it. He can
still recall every detail that filled his senses that night: the smell of her
hair; the way her skin felt, so smooth and supple under his touch; her
green eyes, so big it was like being in a sea of green whenever he looked
into them; her breath, hot and ragged as she lay against his chest.

He starts to speak but falters. Seeing this, she lays a finger on his lips, a
sign that she understood the feelings raging within him. He doesn't have
to say the words.




11

"Hitomi-chan, where have you been?", her mother asks as she enters her
son's hospital room. "I've been calling the house all morning but there's
no answer."

"Why mother? What did the doctors say?"

"That's the problem," her mother answers, "they can't say. They don't
know what's wrong with him. They've patched him up as best they
could."

At this point, the surgeon enters the room. "Ms. Kanzaki," he says, "I'm
afraid we've done all we can for him. To tell you quite frankly, we've no
clue as to why he's ended up like this. He shouldn't even be in a coma in
the first place, he's received no head trauma, or any injuries to other vital
organs for that matter. All the tests turned out negative."

As the doctor continues to blab, Hitomi tunes out, lost in her thoughts.
"My son, first you and now Van."

Looking at the boy with his heavily bandaged and cast left arm and side,
it suddenly dawns on her. "Of course!", she thinks to herself and then
slaps her forehead. "Am I becoming baka as I grow older?"

"Give me the release forms.", she says aloud, addressing the doctor.

"What?", her mother exclaims, "Are you sure about this? What are you
going to do?"

"It's okay mother," she says calmly, "I'm taking my son home."


12

Folken is your typical hyperactive 7-year-old boy whose curiosity
sometimes gets the better of him. He knew that Kaa-chan and Oba-chan
wouldn't let him do what he was about to do, so he didn't tell them that
he was going with his friends to explore the newly-discovered network of
caves on the outskirts of town.

However, as soon as they stepped into the mouth of the nearest cave, the
roof suddenly collapsed on them. Folken was the first one in so he wasn't
able to get out fast enough. He was soon pressed face down on the cave
floor, unable to wriggle out because his left side had been pinned down
by a huge chunk of the cave wall. It is this same portion of the wall
which prevented the ceiling from coming down on his head. Thereby,
saving his life.

The final thing he perceived before passing out was the voices of his
friends directing the rescue workers to the place they saw him last.


13

Hitomi lays her son gently on the couch and remembers what Millerna
had said: "He was complaining of pain in the left side of his chest,
radiating outwards towards his shoulder and arm."

"Damn! Why hadn't I noticed this sooner?", she chides herself again.
"Van is feeling pain where Folken's injuries are."

"When Escaflowne was damaged in battle, Van felt the pain because they
were bound by blood. What more then the bond between father and
son?"

"Blood.Ryougin blood.", Hitomi shudders, "The blood that flows in
Van's veins is the same as the one that flows in his son."

"But now that I know," she wonders, "what am I supposed to do with the
knowledge? How will it help?.I guess I'll just have to see." With that
said, she takes out the pendant she `borrowed' from Van and closes her
eyes. The pendant begins to swing. 


14

She pushes back the double doors and approaches the bed, carrying
Folken.

He looks upon his son for the first time. "The same hair, the same mouth,
the same nose as.me!", he realizes in wonder. She places the child on his
lap and he starts stroking the boy's hair.

"I'm sorry," Hitomi tells him tearfully, "I didn't take good care of him."

He looks at her and shakes his head. "No," he says, "I know you. You
know well enough how to take care of the people you love."

"Van, the doctors said that he didn't suffer any major injuries and they've
already treated him as best as they could. So he shouldn't be in this state
and you shouldn't be feeling any more of his pain much less die from it."

He, however, doesn't have any explanations either. So he just remains
silent, takes her hand, places it on their son's forehead and puts his own
hand on top of hers. They are together as a family for the first time but oh
how they wish they could be whole. He squeezes her hand and they begin
to hope. 


15

Minutes later, Van lays Folken on the bed so the boy could rest properly.
He bends over and places a kiss on his son's forehead. Straightening up,
he notices that the boy's eyes are open, a pair of twinkly green orbs
looking up at him curiously.

"Hitomi!" is all he could manage to say.

Hitomi looks over and smiles. She addresses Folken and says: "Folken,
this is the man I've been telling you about. He's your father."

"Tou-san?", the boy says then closes his eyes again.

"Is he?", Van asks.

"He's asleep.", she answers. "Let him rest, he must still be weak and
exhausted."

"I think that though you had no conscious knowledge of your son, you
nevertheless knew that somewhere, there was a missing piece of you and
that this piece was hurting. The harm that happened to him also brought
pain to you. The damage wrought upon both of you could not be repaired
until you were whole and together."

Hitomi walks over to Van and embraces him, placing her arms around
his neck. She whispers against his ear: "Don't worry, you'll be okay and
he'll be okay.all he needed was his father." 


Afterthoughts:
During the course of the 26 episodes of The Vision of Escaflowne, Van
and Hitomi-both were forced into situations where they had to do a lot of
growing up. By the end of the series, the two had become mature enough
to decide their own fates.

Hitomi had gained enough self-confidence to not rely on her tarot cards
anymore. (A year after her ordeal, while she was waiting for a
train-before she `saw' Van-a couple of schoolmates asked her to read
their fortunes and she replied that she doesn't do that anymore.)

Van, on the other hand, built up enough self-confidence to believe in his
own abilities. (When Escaflowne developed a few problems while they
were flying to Dornkirk's fortress to rescue Hitomi, Van chose to
continue on his own. Discarding Escaflowne in favor of his own wings.
He also chose for Escaflowne to not play a part in the rebuilding of
Fanelia, letting the protector god sleep instead and inviting Folken to
witness what he can do on his own.)

The couple had also grown comfortably secure enough in their love to let
each other go at that point in time. They had to deal with the stress and
after-effects of growing up too fast separately. Because, to paraphrase
Keanu Reeves in Speed, relationships borne out of stress never prosper.
When the situation returns to normal, the necessity to remain together
decreases-the crisis having been averted. So not only have the two
become wiser and mature, they were being realistic.

Van and Hitomi are still young. Van has his kingdom to rebuild and
Hitomi has school and stuff. It's important that they lead some kind of
life separate from each other before finally deciding to stay together. If
they did decide to be with one another right then and there, the
relationship would probably suffer because they'd be racked with doubts.
Hitomi would start wondering about stuff at home and Van couldn't
really claim that he could take care of Fanelia on his own with her by his
side. They knew it wasn't yet time to live happily ever after, too many
unfinished business still.

Besides, before letting Hitomi go, Van said that they could always see
each other if their feelings will it so.

Despite all these reasons, there are still some people who gripe about
Escaflowne's non- romantic ending. I happen to be one of them. (Why'd
you think I came up with all these rationalizations on their parting in the
first place? No Da!) So forgive me if this work of fiction tends to become
mushy at times.

I have been watching anime ever since I was a wee kawaii toddler, I've
seen good ones and I've seen bad ones but nothing has inspired me to
come up with a fanfic. Until I saw Escaflowne. With that said, please
send your comments here ([email protected]). But please, be gentle.
As I've said, this is my first time and I bruise easily. (That's not what I
mean, hentai!)