Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne or any of the characters. And, yes, I do know that there is a spelling error, but that's kinda the joke.

:: Kismet ::

Kindergarten was a magical time for me. I had chubby cheeks, dimples and a haircut that was a cross somewhere between a mullet and Jim Carrey's bowl cut from Dumb and Dumber. Acid wash jeans, an obscene amount of chunky, plastic jewelry and side ponytails were all the rage and I whole-heartedly embraced all three of those trends. And, in addition to being a budding fashionista, I was also simultaneously one of the best colorers and make-believers in the class. The girls of my class constantly begged me to draw them pictures of ponies and flowers, and my prowess with crayons also allowed me to convince the vast majority of the class that I had seen a real, live angel on Christmas Eve who had stayed still long enough in my window for me to draw a very convincing picture of (In all honesty, I hadn't actually seen an angel, I just really wanted to draw one and it turned out so good that my classmates believed I had really seen an angel with messy black hair and white wings). The boys, on the other hand, deemed me cootie-free and allowed me to play Knights with them because I was both a good princess and a good sword fighter in a pinch to make the teams even as well as fast enough to keep up without crying.

But the best thing about kindergarten was that it was where I met him.

Van Fanel.

Transferring into our classroom around Christmas, he was quiet and kept mostly to himself. I never stood next to him in line to go anywhere, as he was taller than me by almost four or five inches. He had this thick, messy black hair that we would later teasingly refer to as "Harry Potter meets Jonas Brothers" hair and these deep brown eyes that seemed to see everything at once and yet nothing at all.

Ours was a whirlwind romance that many only dream of having, coming to fruition in under a minute. Our engagement happened towards the end of that school year, on one of those perfect, cloudless spring days when the sunshine was so warm on your skin you felt like you were wading through it.

Up until then, I had only spoken two words to Van before; a stuttered and confused "thank-you" when he helped me back to my feet after Dilly had knocked me down into a mud puddle after I had beaten him at a race during recess. I had been crying, as my favorite pair of shorts were now covered in mud and I thought for sure I was going to get in trouble when I went home. Van didn't said anything in response after he helped me up, and instead, he wordless stalked over to Dilly, punched him in the stomach and then spent the rest of recess at his desk in Time Out. We hadn't spoken since then…. Mostly because I had been afraid of him. So, I was surprised when he came up to me that morning, before story time.

"My family went to Asturia this weekend on vacation," he told me in lieu of a greeting, his eyes focused on something interesting about a foot above my head and behind me.

"Cool…?!" I wittily replied, rocking from foot to foot, nervous about talking to him and having absolutely no idea where Asturia was. By the park maybe? Or the grocery store?

He laughed and shook his head, promptly sticking out his hand and twisting it so it formed something like a map of our state.

"It's here," he said, pointing to a spot near his pinky, "We went swimming."

"Ahhhh," I responded sagely, looking up to spot my best friend Yukari over his shoulder watching curiously. Our eyes met and she made a kissy face at us.

I rolled my eyes at her.

"I got this out of a gumball machine while I was there," he continued, looking down now as he jutted his hand into the pocket of his khaki cargo pants and pulled out something.

He opened up his hand to reveal a tiny silver ring, made out of a series of hearts.

It was the prettiest ring I had ever seen, almost as pretty as my mom's ring, which I had always begged her to let me wear, but she never would.

"I saw it and I thought that you might like it," he said, placing it gently into my open and expecting palm. I took the ring, still warm from his hand, and my mouth fell agape as I examined it closer.

"Really? To keep? Like forever?" I asked, turning the shiny thing over. No one --- especially not a boy --- had ever given me a ring before. My stomach twisted with butterflies. This felt very important and grown-up, but I didn't know why.

"Yeah. My mom said that I could buy it for you."

"Oh," I looked up from the ring, puzzled and slightly embarrassed, "But I didn't get you anything."

He was looking directly at me now, his eyes darkly intense and somehow older than his mere six years, "That's okay. I was thinking you could wear it. You know, so that everyone would know that you're my finance."

""Your finance"?" I repeated, tilting my head to the side at this new word, "Is it like a best friend?"

He nodded in affirmation, scuffing a foot across the carpeted floor as the blush began creeping up his neck.

I thought it over for a moment. I already had a girl best friend, Yukari, and a boy best friend, Amano. But I didn't have a finance, and as far as I knew, no one else in the classroom had one either.

"A finance isn't like a girlfriend, is it?" I asked, suspiciously. I didn't want to be a girlfriend. Allen and Millerna were "boyfriend" and "girlfriend," and they would sit by each other and hold hands during story time. Everyone thought that they were weird, though, and I didn't want anyone to think that I was weird.

"No. It means we're better than girlfriend and boyfriend, because now we don't have to kiss or hold hands if we don't want to and we get to live together."

I bit my bottom lip, rocking back on my heels as I thought it over, "I don't know… I just got my own bedroom. I don't know if I want to share it."

"--- I have a tree house," he added hastily, stepping closer.

A smile lit across my face.

I didn't have a tree house. That sealed the deal.

"Okay," I said, and promptly jammed the ring on my finger, the same way that I saw my mom wear her ring, and stuck my hand out for him to admire.

I frowned. The ring was too big.

His mouth tilted down into a frown as well. He reached out and took my hand, gently squeezing the two ends of the ring together; making it mold to the size of my tiny finger better.

"There. Now everyone will know that you're my finance," he proclaimed, smiling down at me.

I smiled widely back at him, pleased with this new alliance. His face colored again, and he turned and almost ran back to his desk on the other side of the room. He pulled out his chair and began furiously scribbling away at a piece of paper with one of the crayons that where strewn across his desk, his shaggy hair covering his face almost entirely.

I looked down, dazed, at the tiny metal band around my left ring finger.

Hitomi Kanzaki, Van Fanel's finance.

I smiled.

I had liked the sound of it, even then.

Little did I know, as I skipped about the rest of that school day, proudly displaying my finance ring to every corporal being that could spare twenty seconds that thirteen years, two months and four days to that very day, he would asked me again.

It wasn't in a classroom this time, with Yukari gaping at the side, but in a park, after pretending to pause during our daily run to tie his shoe.

Yes, the shy, "Harry Potter meets the Jonas Brothers" haired Van Fanel got down on one knee and asked me not to be his finance, but to be his fiancée and to spend the rest of our lives together; tree house or no tree house.

I said yes, throwing my arms around him as I laughed and cried at the same time.

And we lived happily ever after.

:: Fin ::