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Escaflowne6



Unrelated to the story note! I just saw Moonchild (foreign film starring Gackt and HYDE who are J-POP people) and it was possibly one of the best films I've ever seen. It's depressing and happy at the same time (yes, that is possible). But don't take it just from my opinion, go rent it at Blockbuster (which is where I got it from) and watch it. Okay, now onto the story.

Dream Desire: Chapter 6
Family

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"Why does Van have to like her?! I knew him first, he should have liked me! And now with this weird memory thing. . . she doesn't even remember that he's so devoted to her. She doesn't deserve him. And tonight he's finally gonna tell her he loves her," Merle finished. The short girl had come barging into Millerna's room, sullen and brooding until she finally collapsed into Millerna's arms, crying about the unfairness of it all.

"I like Hitomi, I really do, but sometimes I wish she would disappear so that Van could see me instead!"

Millerna sympathized with Merle. She had felt the same way about Hitomi back when Allen had decided to go after the former track star. Throughout the time Allen had been dating her sister and up until this very day, Millerna had a desire for the man. He was everything Millerna had ever wanted - a knight in shining armor to be by her side. And there had been times Millerna thought Allen would actually fulfill his role, but then another woman always came along, or he would just back away. He had never dated a younger woman though, so Millerna thought he had just been hesitant over the age factor. That had been dispelled when he began dating Hitomi. When they started dating, it had proven Allen just didn't want Millerna. Merle wasn't in the exact same spot, but it was similar how Hitomi had broken a dream.

It wasn't Hitomi's fault though, and that just made the problems worse. The short haired girl never really tried to steal either man, she just acted like herself. She just had some sort of attractor to men her friends desperately wanted.

Millerna was about to share some of her thoughts to try and console Merle when the phone rang. She was expecting a call from Dryden that night, but she wasn't about to abandon Merle in her time of need for a silly phone call. The smaller girl felt Millerna tense.

"You can go answer it if you want. It's okay," she squeaked out, voice hoarse from crying. The slightly pathetic sound was even more incentive for Millerna to not answer the phone. Instead, she hugged Merle close and let the machine get it. Besides, Merle liked to be a snoop sometimes so maybe hearing a private message would cheer her up. Millerna just hoped it wouldn't be too private a message.

"Hey lovely, you said to give you a call tonight, but obviously something came up," a door could be heard opening over the phone and some muffled conversation followed. "You're missing a lovely show. Allen just got out of the shower and he's in naught but a towel," then they heard Allen asking who he was talking to.

"I'm just leaving a message for my sweet little 'lady-friend'. Call me later if you still want to do something, okay princess? Bye now."

The good news was the plan had worked and Merle was looking supremely satisfied, like the cat who caught the canary. The bad news was Merle now knew a dangerous piece of information.

"Sooooo, the infamous Dryden charm caught you after all, hm?" Merle cajoled, wiping the last of her tears away and pulling back so she could give Millerna the full effect of her catty smirk. The blonde flushed bright red and looked anywhere but at Merle.

"It's not what you think. I mean it is, but -" Millerna blurted out, stopping herself so she could gather her thoughts together in a cohesive fashion. Merle waited patiently for the juicy information she knew was coming her way.

"I was getting lonely waiting for Allen, and Dryden just wouldn't give up trying to court me. So we have an arrangement. We're kind of dating, but if Allen ever finally gets interested in me, then we'll split. And if Dryden finds another girl, then we split. But we have to keep it secret from Allen so he'll feel free to come after me if he wants to," she explained, then stared at Merle with pleading eyes. "Please don't tell anyone Merle. It would ruin everything."

Merle would normally put anyone through hell first if she knew a secret they didn't want out. Merle was good with secrets, she never told unless it was really bad news and would hurt someone. But she liked to hold that power above the individual and lord it around for awhile. And Merle would have done it for this secret too, no doubt, except for the fact that Millerna had just sat through Merle pouring out her love problems for the past half an hour or so. It just wouldn't be fair. So Merle closed her mouth, cutting off any teasing remarks, and gave Millerna a hearty nod.

"I guess we're both in pretty sad shape, huh?" Millerna said after a moment of silence. Merle hmmed in agreement. "You want to go out for ice cream to cheer us both up?" The redhead glanced at her with a raised eyebrow.

"My treat."

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"Hitomi?! HITOMI?!" In a flash of light Hitomi had disappeared and two strangers fell onto the bed in her place. Van scrambled up and grabbed the collar of the nearest figure, a girl with long silver hair who seemed very bewildered. He shook the girl and brought his face up against hers in a threatening manner.

"What did you do to Hitomi?! Where did she go?!" Van was unprepared for the other figure to yank him away from the girl. He was flung into the wall but back up in an instant, the many years of martial arts and police training making themselves apparent in his now wary and smooth movements. He was so ready for battle he didn't even remember to cover himself up. He wasn't ready for the stranger's reactions though.

"King Van!"

"Your Highness!"

And then. . .

"Oh my."

The woman turned away and the man threw a sheet to Van. He was too confused at first, but when neither made a move to attack and the girl was blushing, he figured out what the sheet was for. Van quickly snapped the blanket up and wrapped it around his waist. Safely covered now, the woman felt it safe to look at Van.

"King Van, if you're here, is my brother here as well?" she asked, a desperate gleam in her eyes. Van didn't answer, he just stared at the complete strangers on his bed. Something glimmered on the bed next to the woman. It was the same color as the necklace he gave Hitomi. And these two had appeared when she had disappeared. Taking a long look at the two, he was amazed to see very odd clothing and. . . swords? The situation resembled Hitomi's fantastic dream all too well.

Van was jostled out of his thoughts by the man placing a hand on his shoulder. When he ducked away in a combat stance the other man put up his hands in surrender and backed a few steps away. Van was torn between looking at him or the woman so he backed himself near the doorway in order to see them both and have an avenue of escape if necessary. But not until he found out what happened to Hitomi.

"Who are you people? And where have you taken Hitomi?" he half demanded in a gruff voice. Glancing down quickly he found his pants laying crumpled on the floor. Useful information for later. The woman followed his quick glance and blushed once again, but she also had a confused look at Van's questions.

"What do you mean, 'who are you people'? More importantly, where is this place? And where is my brother?" the woman asked, a panicked tone making its way into her voice. She seemed very tense and anxious. The man took a good long look around his new surroundings then focused on Van.

"Are we on the Mystic Moon? Your Highness, do you truly not recognize us at all?" he asked, mysteries somewhat clicking into place. Both the strangers stared at Van waiting for an answer. The raven haired special forces trainee stared right back, searching his memory for any recollection of the pair. There was only one thing he could even put in relation to the two. One hand still tightly keeping the sheet around his waist Van ran his other hand through his unruly bed-head, somewhat smoothing out the spikes.

"I don't know who you people are at all. Only that you appeared when Hitomi vanished. But you," he said, looking at the woman, "you look a lot like Allen."

The woman's eyes lit up and she leaped off the bed. "So he is here! Oh thank goodness! You have no idea of the trouble that's happening in Gaea after the five of you disappeared," she blurted out excitedly. At the word Gaea, Van's eyes widened and he almost let go of the sheet. He was put back on guard when the woman approached him, but the other man stepped in and held her back.

"Celena, stop. He doesn't recognize us. Something's definitely fishy here," he told her, ignoring Van and focusing all his attention on the girl.

"But he said that my brother is here-" she started, but he shushed her with a quick shake of his head. When she closed her mouth he turned his attention back to Van.

"I'm Gaddes and this is Celena. We're from the world of Gaea, and you are too, but obviously something happened so you don't remember. Celena has a brother named Allen, and the others missing were Princess Millerna, Merle, and Prince Dryden. Do you know anyone by those names? Let's try to help each other," he explained calmly. Van's reaction was one of amazement. This was either one outrageous dream, or the story Hitomi told them was really true. Either way, Van wasn't sure what to think. Hitomi. . .

"So if you are here, has Hitomi gone back to 'Gaea'?" he wondered aloud.

"That seems pretty likely," Gaddes answered. Van breathed a sigh in relief. He had no real idea what Gaea was, or how in the world any of this was happening, but if Hitomi's Gaea story was falling into place, then he had somewhere to start from.

"All right. You two stay here. I'm going to call Allen and we're going to figure everything out." Celena and Gaddes nodded, sitting down on the bed. Van scooped his pants up and headed out the door, revealing the pair of pure white wings tattooed on his back. He closed the door behind him. Ditching the sheet and pulling on his pants, Van made his way to the phone in the kitchen. It was about two in the morning, but he knew Allen and the others would forgive him the time when they heard what happened. He quickly dialed the number to Allen and Dryden's house, keeping an eye on the door to his bedroom. It rang five times before someone finally picked up.

"Hello?" Allen muttered groggily.

"Allen, we have a problem."

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Hitomi gave a brief shriek as she landed in freezing cold water. Opening her eyes slowly, Hitomi looked down at the water, then up at the strange domed area. Though the area was badly damaged, she recognized it almost instantly. Bringing a hand to her head, Hitomi let out a gasp when the pendant fell out of her grip and splashed into the shallow water. It glowed fiercely as she stared at it, then slowly died down to a light glow before going completely dark. Hitomi picked it up gingerly and returned it to its rightful position around her neck. It was then Hitomi realized she was completely naked.

"Ah!" she gasped, curling into herself and strategically placing her hands so nothing could be seen. She glanced around the inside of Dornkirk's flying fortress to see if there was anyone watching. Not seeing anyone she breathed a sigh of relief and began to relax, but out of no where she heard a man chuckling. Quickly hiding herself again and glancing around frantically, Hitomi spotted a softly glowing figure approaching her. She stared at the tall man in fear, trying to scoot away while maintaining her dignity.

"You need not worry, Hitomi. I pose you no harm. And as a spirit you don't need to worry about your modesty," the man told her. She recognized the voice. . . but who? Hitomi remained where she was and let the silvery figure approach her. He came into view and Hitomi's mouth widened in surprise.

"Folken!"

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Ha ha! Another cliffy. . . kind of. And I know this was very late, but this last week was crazy! I'm going back to college soon and it seems everyone wants to do something! I have a coworker who actually calls his significant other "lady-friend". The two of them don't like commitment, but they basically are together, so I thought the term fit Millerna and Dryden's situation. ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it! Until next time!

Mako3