*Kamakura, Japan, Mystic Moon*
A drop of morning dew fell silently from a leaf and into the crystal water of the small lake. The sun was already high in the cloudless sky and a pleasant breeze was blowing through the tall trees of the park. A young woman was walking leisurely by, holding a small girl of about five years of age in her arms... In passing she smiled kindly at two women sitting on one of the bright red benches of Kamakura Park... She then concentrated back onto the dusty path in front of her and resumed walking.
As soon as the girl was out of earshot the two women started talking... talking about the accident that had happened five years before...
"Poor girl..." whispered one of the women as she eyed the retreating form of the young girl...
"She looks so distant; did anybody ever find out what really happened to her?" the other nodded sadly and brushed a stray lock of her long black hair away from her eyes...
The older looking woman shook her head in apparent desolation "No, and the bad thing is she actually believes what she says..."
"It was the shock." The woman sighed heavily and then added; "I wonder what they did to the poor girl... raped her probably."
The wrinkled hand of the eldest flew to her mouth in disapproval "Don't say it! But you're probably right... Have you seen the child though? She looks so adorable... but with a mother like that I don't know what will become of her!"
"True." another dramatic sigh "and the poor little thing has no idea of what type of person her father really is..."
"Tsk... Dragons, angels, and the lost people of Atlantis... poor girl! Drugged her out of her mind... that's what they did!"
Both women simultaneously sighed and shook their heads sadly. With a final look in the direction the girl had been walking in they returned to their usual gossips...
Windflowers...
By: Koneko Kamiya
*I'll never forget you Van!*
*Hitomi...*
Those words were forever engraved in her mind... the last words that had escaped his lips... the last time she had ever heard his voice or seen his face; the last time she had been warm and safe in his strong arms...
With a sigh Hitomi flipped over the book she had been trying to read and closed her eyes letting the warm, spring breeze caress her face... caress her face as gently as Van would. The breeze even smelled like Van... the smell of freshly cut grass, damp earth and the warm rays of the sun...
Like the sun's rays that were gently warming her... the rays from the sun that shone both on Earth and on Gaea.
Gaea.
She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight and gazed at the clear sky... wishing she could see the Earth's twin planet, the planet that had been created by the wishes of people...
*Just once... I'd like to see Gaea again... once...*
But the lush green planet remained hidden behind veils created by people's hearts... hidden behind our will not to see... not to see the darker side of our race...
But He was different... he was a descendant of that darker side, but to Hitomi... to Hitomi he was the light. The only reason she woke up in the morning, the only reason she continued to breathe... but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so...
He... he was so far away... on an other world... a world she was not sure even existed. Everybody had told her that Gaea was just a fragment of her imagination... a fantasy that had bloomed to cover up the scars that had been left by her disappearance.. But she would not... could not believe them. He existed, he was real... and she missed him terribly.
*Van... how are you doing now?*
*I wish I was there with you... I wish you could hold me close and tell me that everything will be alright... tell US that everything will be alright... oh Van...*
Hitomi blinked to clear her eyes from the tears that were threatening to fall, and then she grabbed the book again and with her free hand pushed a lock of her long sandy-blond hair behind her ear.
*Life has been so hard lately, so... disappointing. I used to have dreams, Van. I used to dream of my future. A good job, a husband, children... That was all forgotten once I met you, Van. Now you have become my only dream... my unreachable angel...*
The leaves above her head rustled and a little bird flew out chirping noisily, his fragile wings allowing it to soar into the sky...
*Wings... just like V...*
"MAMA!"
Hitomi turned round, surprised, but then her expression softened and her smile widened at the sight of the young girl.
"Ran" she shook her head and chuckled lightly when the girl tripped over her own feet while running towards her, and landed with a thud on the soft grass.
The girl stood up sheepishly, dusted her short dress off, and reached to retrieve her fallen teddy bear; Then she smiled at her mother... "Mama!"
Hitomi stretched as the little Ran plopped happily next to her and rested her head on her lap, trying to cover up the grass stains on her knees from her mother's eyes. Once she was sure that her mother hadn't noticed, or didn't seem to particularly care, Ran grabbed the hem of her mother's skirt and gave it a little tug.
"Can we go and see the swans mama? Please mama! Are we going?" the little girl was practically oozing excitement as she explained where she wanted to drag her mother.
"Ok honey, calm down. Why don't you run along...? I'll follow" Hitomi smiled and patted the little girl's head.
Ran jumped up and broke into a sprint for the lake throwing a "Race you there!" over her shoulder...
"Be careful, Ran! RAN!"
Too late... the girl was long gone, her short black hair flowing behind her...
Hitomi sighed and looked fondly at the retreating figure of her child.
*She looks so much like you Van...*
Little Ran indeed possessed her father's looks... raven hair, shy reddish eyes and tanned skin. Personality wise, Ran had demonstrated she possessed the same rebellious, independent and reckless attitude that were a characteristic of her young father...
*No. You MUST be real Van... because every time I look at Ran I see you. I see your face, your eyes, your smile...*
Hitomi plucked a primrose from the ground and used it as a bookmark for the collection of poems she had been reading; she then stood up lazily and smoothed her short skirt and blouse ready to go and keep an eye on her four-year-old daughter...
Casting a last glance at the ancient tree she had been resting under, she started walking towards the little lake that was situated at the center of the park. Even if it was just early spring, the weather had been fairly mild lately and the flowerbeds at the sides of the path were in full bloom...
*How are the flowers in Gaea, Van? Are they as beautiful as the Earth's? Or can you feel the same sorrow radiating from them as I feel now? Can you hear them whispering, Van? Can you hear their lost words carried by the wind?*
Shading her emerald eyes with her hand, Hitomi looked into the azure sky and sighed...
*Can you hear me, Van? Can you hear my voice calling you? Can you feel my heart beating with yours? *
It was then that she saw it. She saw the familiar pillar of light descending towards the Earth. Her eyes widened as she realized it wasn't landing near her... it was landing between the tall trees that surrounded the pond... The pond!
*Ran!*
" RAN!" Hitomi broke into a sprint towards the pond... her heart hammering against her rib cage she tried to reach her daughter in time... tried to reach her daughter before they took her away too...
*No... Please! God, please! Don't take her away from me too... don't take Ran from me... Please... if she leaves I will die... oh please let this not be happening!*
Hitomi ran faster, if that was possible. She reached the trees just in time to see the white light engulf her daughter and slowly lift her off the ground...
A scream rang through the air and Ran's teddy bear slipped from the girl's hands. Ran's eyes widened as she felt her weight leave her and saw her mother's grief stricken eyes staring right at her own...
"RAN!"
"MAMA!"
Little Ran then saw her mother rush towards her and reach her hand upwards; she stretched her little fingers to try and grasp hers but failed... and could do nothing but watch as her mother and the whole park became smaller and smaller and smaller....
*Mama! Mama help me!*
Ran saw her mother slump to the ground, defeated; and she saw her tears... her crystal tears falling to the ground.... And then heard her cry. Heard her cries echoing through her whole being, heard her whisper words full of sorrow and then felt her pain. Felt the pain in her mother's heart, in her soul... then suddenly it vanished.
It vanished as her mother shakingly stood up, and white wings spread from her back. Her wings fluttered; insecure at first but then the beats gained confidence and her mother flew.
Hitomi felt the wings shredding her shirt and stumbled, unaccustomed to the weight on her back... Then, recovering from the surprise, she smiled and, with a cry of joy, she uncertainly flew towards her daughter.
When she reached the little girl, she gathered her into her arms and held her close.... The presence of her mother seemed to calm Ran and her sobs subsided as she held on tightly to her mother's shoulders, feeling the comforting warmth that was radiating from her form.
Then, Ran's eyes peered questioningly into Hitomi's...
"Mama... are you an angel?"
Hitomi just smiled and stroked the girl's raven hair...
Ran's eyelids dropped as she saw the tears drying from her mother's cheeks... she snuggled closer and reached out a hand to stroke one of her mother's pure white feathers... but as soon as she touched her wings they disappeared, retreating into Hitomi's back.
Ran shrieked, expecting them to fall to the now very distant ground... but, to her immense surprise, the column of luminous particles seemed to pull them upwards... pull them towards the moon... actually _beyond_ the moon...
"Where are we going mama?" Ran's frightened whisper startled Hitomi...
She looked at the moon, now visible, shining in the dark sky... then she looked behind it... and, appearing suddenly like reality after a dream, at the planet Gaea...
"Home..." came her simple answer... but Ran didn't hear her for she had fallen asleep, the fabric of her mother's blouse still held tightly in her closed fists...
Hitomi smiled as she to felt herself drift into unconsciousness...
*Home...*
To be continued....
I have _finally_ written this. I have been thinking about this continuation of the Escaflowne series since I saw the ending... and that was in December... _
It took so long to start because I keep changing my mind... when I first came up with this, Ran shouldn't have even been born in the first chapter... and Hitomi should have returned to Gaea the month after she left... but, as you can see, it evolved.
And here it is... my first Escaflowne fanfic.
I'm warning you all now... this will be looooooooooooooooooooong... I have the details for chapter 26 or so... and it's not yet finished.
BUT it will probably take a long time to write it all out... Forgive me if this chapter wasn't really good... I'll try and make the next chapters more interesting....
Oh, and as I said before... this story is always evolving so I'd appreciate your suggestions since they could influence the future plot a lot...
Thanks for reading this... =^.^=
Disclaimer: I know you are all dying to hear the snappy and funny disclaimer but I can't think of one right now... so all I can tell you is that Tenkuu no Escaflowne and all its characters does _not_ belong to me. BUT Ran does... Ran is my own creation and I'd appreciate it if you asked before using her in any way (yeah! like that will ever happen! ^_^) ...
I will try and make a page with all the descriptions and stats for MY characters (and, I can assure you, there will be a LOT of new characters) so that you can understand all the relationships better...
Alas, it is now time for me to go to bed since I have school tomorrow...
See you all with the next chapter...
Love,
Serena a.k.a. Koneko Kamiya.... =^.^=
A drop of morning dew fell silently from a leaf and into the crystal water of the small lake. The sun was already high in the cloudless sky and a pleasant breeze was blowing through the tall trees of the park. A young woman was walking leisurely by, holding a small girl of about five years of age in her arms... In passing she smiled kindly at two women sitting on one of the bright red benches of Kamakura Park... She then concentrated back onto the dusty path in front of her and resumed walking.
As soon as the girl was out of earshot the two women started talking... talking about the accident that had happened five years before...
"Poor girl..." whispered one of the women as she eyed the retreating form of the young girl...
"She looks so distant; did anybody ever find out what really happened to her?" the other nodded sadly and brushed a stray lock of her long black hair away from her eyes...
The older looking woman shook her head in apparent desolation "No, and the bad thing is she actually believes what she says..."
"It was the shock." The woman sighed heavily and then added; "I wonder what they did to the poor girl... raped her probably."
The wrinkled hand of the eldest flew to her mouth in disapproval "Don't say it! But you're probably right... Have you seen the child though? She looks so adorable... but with a mother like that I don't know what will become of her!"
"True." another dramatic sigh "and the poor little thing has no idea of what type of person her father really is..."
"Tsk... Dragons, angels, and the lost people of Atlantis... poor girl! Drugged her out of her mind... that's what they did!"
Both women simultaneously sighed and shook their heads sadly. With a final look in the direction the girl had been walking in they returned to their usual gossips...
Windflowers...
By: Koneko Kamiya
*I'll never forget you Van!*
*Hitomi...*
Those words were forever engraved in her mind... the last words that had escaped his lips... the last time she had ever heard his voice or seen his face; the last time she had been warm and safe in his strong arms...
With a sigh Hitomi flipped over the book she had been trying to read and closed her eyes letting the warm, spring breeze caress her face... caress her face as gently as Van would. The breeze even smelled like Van... the smell of freshly cut grass, damp earth and the warm rays of the sun...
Like the sun's rays that were gently warming her... the rays from the sun that shone both on Earth and on Gaea.
Gaea.
She shielded her eyes from the bright sunlight and gazed at the clear sky... wishing she could see the Earth's twin planet, the planet that had been created by the wishes of people...
*Just once... I'd like to see Gaea again... once...*
But the lush green planet remained hidden behind veils created by people's hearts... hidden behind our will not to see... not to see the darker side of our race...
But He was different... he was a descendant of that darker side, but to Hitomi... to Hitomi he was the light. The only reason she woke up in the morning, the only reason she continued to breathe... but it was becoming more and more difficult to do so...
He... he was so far away... on an other world... a world she was not sure even existed. Everybody had told her that Gaea was just a fragment of her imagination... a fantasy that had bloomed to cover up the scars that had been left by her disappearance.. But she would not... could not believe them. He existed, he was real... and she missed him terribly.
*Van... how are you doing now?*
*I wish I was there with you... I wish you could hold me close and tell me that everything will be alright... tell US that everything will be alright... oh Van...*
Hitomi blinked to clear her eyes from the tears that were threatening to fall, and then she grabbed the book again and with her free hand pushed a lock of her long sandy-blond hair behind her ear.
*Life has been so hard lately, so... disappointing. I used to have dreams, Van. I used to dream of my future. A good job, a husband, children... That was all forgotten once I met you, Van. Now you have become my only dream... my unreachable angel...*
The leaves above her head rustled and a little bird flew out chirping noisily, his fragile wings allowing it to soar into the sky...
*Wings... just like V...*
"MAMA!"
Hitomi turned round, surprised, but then her expression softened and her smile widened at the sight of the young girl.
"Ran" she shook her head and chuckled lightly when the girl tripped over her own feet while running towards her, and landed with a thud on the soft grass.
The girl stood up sheepishly, dusted her short dress off, and reached to retrieve her fallen teddy bear; Then she smiled at her mother... "Mama!"
Hitomi stretched as the little Ran plopped happily next to her and rested her head on her lap, trying to cover up the grass stains on her knees from her mother's eyes. Once she was sure that her mother hadn't noticed, or didn't seem to particularly care, Ran grabbed the hem of her mother's skirt and gave it a little tug.
"Can we go and see the swans mama? Please mama! Are we going?" the little girl was practically oozing excitement as she explained where she wanted to drag her mother.
"Ok honey, calm down. Why don't you run along...? I'll follow" Hitomi smiled and patted the little girl's head.
Ran jumped up and broke into a sprint for the lake throwing a "Race you there!" over her shoulder...
"Be careful, Ran! RAN!"
Too late... the girl was long gone, her short black hair flowing behind her...
Hitomi sighed and looked fondly at the retreating figure of her child.
*She looks so much like you Van...*
Little Ran indeed possessed her father's looks... raven hair, shy reddish eyes and tanned skin. Personality wise, Ran had demonstrated she possessed the same rebellious, independent and reckless attitude that were a characteristic of her young father...
*No. You MUST be real Van... because every time I look at Ran I see you. I see your face, your eyes, your smile...*
Hitomi plucked a primrose from the ground and used it as a bookmark for the collection of poems she had been reading; she then stood up lazily and smoothed her short skirt and blouse ready to go and keep an eye on her four-year-old daughter...
Casting a last glance at the ancient tree she had been resting under, she started walking towards the little lake that was situated at the center of the park. Even if it was just early spring, the weather had been fairly mild lately and the flowerbeds at the sides of the path were in full bloom...
*How are the flowers in Gaea, Van? Are they as beautiful as the Earth's? Or can you feel the same sorrow radiating from them as I feel now? Can you hear them whispering, Van? Can you hear their lost words carried by the wind?*
Shading her emerald eyes with her hand, Hitomi looked into the azure sky and sighed...
*Can you hear me, Van? Can you hear my voice calling you? Can you feel my heart beating with yours? *
It was then that she saw it. She saw the familiar pillar of light descending towards the Earth. Her eyes widened as she realized it wasn't landing near her... it was landing between the tall trees that surrounded the pond... The pond!
*Ran!*
" RAN!" Hitomi broke into a sprint towards the pond... her heart hammering against her rib cage she tried to reach her daughter in time... tried to reach her daughter before they took her away too...
*No... Please! God, please! Don't take her away from me too... don't take Ran from me... Please... if she leaves I will die... oh please let this not be happening!*
Hitomi ran faster, if that was possible. She reached the trees just in time to see the white light engulf her daughter and slowly lift her off the ground...
A scream rang through the air and Ran's teddy bear slipped from the girl's hands. Ran's eyes widened as she felt her weight leave her and saw her mother's grief stricken eyes staring right at her own...
"RAN!"
"MAMA!"
Little Ran then saw her mother rush towards her and reach her hand upwards; she stretched her little fingers to try and grasp hers but failed... and could do nothing but watch as her mother and the whole park became smaller and smaller and smaller....
*Mama! Mama help me!*
Ran saw her mother slump to the ground, defeated; and she saw her tears... her crystal tears falling to the ground.... And then heard her cry. Heard her cries echoing through her whole being, heard her whisper words full of sorrow and then felt her pain. Felt the pain in her mother's heart, in her soul... then suddenly it vanished.
It vanished as her mother shakingly stood up, and white wings spread from her back. Her wings fluttered; insecure at first but then the beats gained confidence and her mother flew.
Hitomi felt the wings shredding her shirt and stumbled, unaccustomed to the weight on her back... Then, recovering from the surprise, she smiled and, with a cry of joy, she uncertainly flew towards her daughter.
When she reached the little girl, she gathered her into her arms and held her close.... The presence of her mother seemed to calm Ran and her sobs subsided as she held on tightly to her mother's shoulders, feeling the comforting warmth that was radiating from her form.
Then, Ran's eyes peered questioningly into Hitomi's...
"Mama... are you an angel?"
Hitomi just smiled and stroked the girl's raven hair...
Ran's eyelids dropped as she saw the tears drying from her mother's cheeks... she snuggled closer and reached out a hand to stroke one of her mother's pure white feathers... but as soon as she touched her wings they disappeared, retreating into Hitomi's back.
Ran shrieked, expecting them to fall to the now very distant ground... but, to her immense surprise, the column of luminous particles seemed to pull them upwards... pull them towards the moon... actually _beyond_ the moon...
"Where are we going mama?" Ran's frightened whisper startled Hitomi...
She looked at the moon, now visible, shining in the dark sky... then she looked behind it... and, appearing suddenly like reality after a dream, at the planet Gaea...
"Home..." came her simple answer... but Ran didn't hear her for she had fallen asleep, the fabric of her mother's blouse still held tightly in her closed fists...
Hitomi smiled as she to felt herself drift into unconsciousness...
*Home...*
To be continued....
I have _finally_ written this. I have been thinking about this continuation of the Escaflowne series since I saw the ending... and that was in December... _
It took so long to start because I keep changing my mind... when I first came up with this, Ran shouldn't have even been born in the first chapter... and Hitomi should have returned to Gaea the month after she left... but, as you can see, it evolved.
And here it is... my first Escaflowne fanfic.
I'm warning you all now... this will be looooooooooooooooooooong... I have the details for chapter 26 or so... and it's not yet finished.
BUT it will probably take a long time to write it all out... Forgive me if this chapter wasn't really good... I'll try and make the next chapters more interesting....
Oh, and as I said before... this story is always evolving so I'd appreciate your suggestions since they could influence the future plot a lot...
Thanks for reading this... =^.^=
Disclaimer: I know you are all dying to hear the snappy and funny disclaimer but I can't think of one right now... so all I can tell you is that Tenkuu no Escaflowne and all its characters does _not_ belong to me. BUT Ran does... Ran is my own creation and I'd appreciate it if you asked before using her in any way (yeah! like that will ever happen! ^_^) ...
I will try and make a page with all the descriptions and stats for MY characters (and, I can assure you, there will be a LOT of new characters) so that you can understand all the relationships better...
Alas, it is now time for me to go to bed since I have school tomorrow...
See you all with the next chapter...
Love,
Serena a.k.a. Koneko Kamiya.... =^.^=