"People ask me to predict the future, when all I want to do is prevent it." --Ray Bradbury

Red. Red blood. It was all she could see.

It covered the ground, draining from the bodies that littered landscape. It cascaded from the melefs as their pilots died within them. It fell from the sky, coating the survivors as they struggled to get away from the battlefield.

And there were so few survivors. Zaibach sliced through Freid's forces with overwhelming ease. Like Fanelia, it was a massacre.

'No more,' she begged. 'I don't want to see anymore. I've seen enough!"

But she couldn't avert her eyes.

Suddenly the Duke of Freid was before her. He stood defiantly before Zaibach, armed only with his sword. His men were pleading with him to seek safety. Hitomi begged him as well.

However, the Duke seemed deaf to their cries. His eyes never moved from the enemy before him. With a battle cry, he drew his sword.

'No!' she screamed. She again tried to turn away. But she was forced to keep watching.

The Duke gasped as the arrows found their mark. Slowly he lowered his sword as he fell to his knees. Hitomi watched helplessly as life faded from his eyes.

* * * * *

She sat straight up in the bed, panting. For a moment, the image of the dying duke lingered before her eyes. Hitomi closed her eyes tightly, shaking her head to clear her vision. When she finally opened her eyes again, she only saw her room bathed in moonlight.

She tried to get up and almost fell to the floor. The damp sheets were tangled hopelessly around her legs. With shaking hands, she struggled to free her legs.

Once free, she left her room. She didn't know where she was going. All she knew was that she had to get out of there. She soon found herself outside, staring up at the moons.

Earth, or the Mystic Moon as it was know here, glowed in the midnight sky. She had been gone for so long. It seemed that she had been on Gaea for forever.

What was it about this place? She had never had visions with such clarity before coming here. And all she had seen was battle, suffering and death.

As if beckoned, bits from her visions flashed through her mind. She saw the burning ruins of Fanelia. It quickly changed to the slaughter at Freid. She closed her eyes, trying to banish the images.

"Hitomi?"

She spun around. "Van?"

The young king of Fanelia stepped forward into the moonlight. He was staring at her, his expression unreadable. "What are you doing out here alone?"

"Couldn't sleep," she replied. She turned her attention back to the sky, missing Van's slight frown.

"Do you miss it?" he asked quietly.

"Miss what?"

"The Mystic Moon." He now stood beside her. "Your home."

"Sometimes," she admitted. She clutched her pendant in her hand. "But I feel that I'm here for some reason. I just can't figure it out yet."

She smiled. "I'm not making much sense, am I?"

"It's late," Van replied.

He had a point. "Yes, it is. Good night, Van."

She left him there as she headed back to her room. She didn't notice the concerned eyes that followed her. All she was concerned about was the possibility of more visions.

* * * * *

Hitomi immediately noticed the sunlight when she woke up. She was thankful to see her room instead of a battlefield. She rose to get ready for the day.

She quickly found the others. Van was finishing his repairs to Escaflowne as Allen supervised his men while they resupplied the ship. Merle unwelcoming growl announced her presence.

"Hitomi, good morning," Allen greeted with a bright smile.

At the mention of Hitomi's name, Van stopped his work and glanced at her. She was smiling at Allen as she returned his warm greeting. But the smile didn't quite reach her eyes. A haunted look still lingered.

As if she sensed his thoughts, she looked up at him. He fought the urge to blush as he quickly went back to his work. He missed Hitomi's frown as she faced now his back.

'I don't get him,' she fumed. With a sigh, she resolved to ignore the young king's behavior. Marshalling a smile, she resumed her conversation with Allen.

"Oh, Hitomi," Millerna said, "one of the maids would like for you to do a reading."

"No."

Hitomi was just as surprised as the others. "Van?"

However, his eyes were focused on Millerna. "Hitomi said that she didn't want to do any more readings. We should respect that."

"Oh, Hitomi, I'm sorry," Millerna cried, having the grace to blush.

"It's okay," she stammered but her attention was still on Van. They exchanged a brief look before he resumed his repairs. Did he actually just stick up for her?

She fought the urge to shake her head as she resumed her conversation with Allen and Millerna.

* * * * *

She could hear the clash of weapons and the groans of the dying as she surveyed the battlefield before her. Scherazade was taking out enemy melefs with apparent ease. In the distance, Escaflowne was also thinning the numbers. However, Van's moves lacked Allen's grace.

Yet, something wasn't right. The battle almost seemed too easy. The enemy melefs were hardly putting up a fight.

She caught a hint of movement behind Escaflowne but saw nothing there. Clutching her pendant, Hitomi focused her attention. There it was: a horribly familiar shiver in the air.

"Van, behind you!"

Somehow her voice reached him. Escaflowne turned and attacked. She breathed a sigh of relief as the enemy exploded. Van immediately moved on to the next visible opponent.

She was so intent on searching for more hidden Ziabach fighters that she was startled when a shadow suddenly fell over her. She looked up in horror to find a Zaibach guymelef standing over her. She heard both Allen and Van call her name as the machine raised its blade.

"You're mine!"

Hitomi could only brace herself as the blade began to fall.

* * * * *

She woke up in a panic. She tried to calm down as she waited for a moment for Merle to appear. However, like the previous night, the cat girl seemed to be elsewhere.

Hitomi immediately felt better when she was back outside. Taking a deep breath of the cool air, she gazed up at the moons. She was still admiring their glow when she heard footsteps behind her.

She turned and found herself facing Van. "What are you doing here?"

"Thinking," he replied. He walked past her to gaze at the moons. "You?"

"I couldn't sleep," she admitted as she joined him.

"Again." It was a statement, not a question. "Millerna shouldn't have asked you for that reading."

"It's okay," she said. "She didn't mean anything by it."

They fell into silence. Each was lost in their thoughts as they gazed at the moons. Then Van said her name.

"Yes, Van?"

"I won't ask you for another reading," he said.

"Van, I'm . . ."

"No," he interjected. "It was wrong of me to keep taking advantage of your powers. I've got to do this on my own. So I won't ask you to use your powers again."

He studied her for a long moment. "Sleep well, Hitomi."

She watched him as he walked away. She never expected this of Van. A bit later, she headed back to her room. She hoped Van would be right.