Minna, I'm just writing stories left and right anymore, ne? That's
okay. The 'net needs more Escaflowne fics anyway. ^_^! This story
brings together two of the most unlikely characters (well, at least
from my point of view). It should be interesting though. Hope you all
enjoy it! This takes place in the middle of "Operation Golden Rule of
Love" but there's a little change, so bare with me, onegai shimasu.
Dilandau isn't in the care of the sorcerers. Okay? Ja ne! HAI, THERE
ARE SPOILERS HERE IN CASE YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS. YOU'VE
BEEN WARNED.
***********************************************************************
Escaflowne is not mine and never will be. It belongs to a lot of other
companies who's names I can't remember right now. Including Emotion,
Sunrise, TV Tokyo, and distributed by AnimeVillage.com etc.
***********************************************************************
Author: Hitomi-sama
E-mail: Hitomi_sama@hotmail.com

			RAIN WASHES EVERYTHING AWAY


"Once feelings are suppressed the bend 
Breaks the gears of destiny..."
Two-Mix, "Time Distortion"


	"Baka." Hitomi whispered to herself as she aimlessly walked
down the muddy path leading out of Asturia. Her damp bangs hung in her
eyes and rain began dripping into her dim emerald irises. She couldn't
see exactly where she was going, nor did she care. It had begun to rain
a while ago. To Hitomi, time seemed to fade into oblivion. How long had
it been since Van had crushed her heart so easily? An hour? Two hours?
It didn't matter. The point was that Van had doused whatever flame of
affection had been burning within her heart. Nothing else mattered.
	Walking along, Hitomi continued to mutter to herself. "Baka."
She said, strolling straight through a muddy puddle that soaked her
white socks and stained them with mud. "Baka." The girl said once more,
referring to the raven haired boy who's face was permanently etched
into her mind.
	*This is the second time.* Hitomi thought sadly to herself.
*First I thought Allen liked me and now . . .* Her muses trailed off as
tears streamed down her cheeks and mixed with the misty rain that fell
even harder from the skies of Gaea. *I was so stupid to think Van could
have like me too . . .*
	The scenery continued to pass by the soaked girl who took no
notice of it. Large trees swayed gently on either side of her, their
leaves dancing as raindrops fell upon them. A few sleepy squirrels
peeked their furry heads out of the comfort of their tree hollows to
see how could be traveling the road in such horrible weather.
	"Baka." Hitomi said. *Him or me?* She asked herself mentally.
*I think I'm more of a fool than he is. I was the one that thought he
had feelings for me. I should be mad at myself more than anyone else.*
The girl continued down the road for quite a while.
	Hitomi let the rain kiss her palm. It managed to produce a
faint smile on her numb, frowning lips. *The angels are crying.* She
thought to herself. *I always use to think the rain were the tears of
the angels. I wonder what they're sad about.* The girl asked herself.
*If they saw what happened . . . I bet that would give them cause
enough to cry.*
	The girl wiped her tearstained cheeks with the damp sleeve of
her uniform jacket. Hitomi looked around her and found herself far from
the edges of Asturia. *Am I still in Palas?* She wondered. Looking
behind her, she couldn't see the capital any longer. There were no
buildings around her at all.
	Turning around several times made Hitomi dizzy and in the end
she was unable to tell which way she had came from. In the distance,
the girl saw a river flowing through a grove of trees. *That's the
river that runs through Palas. I bet I can follow it back.* Hitomi
walked through the wet grass over to the bank of the river.
	*Why am I heading back? There's nothing for me there. No one
would care if I ever went back.* Hitomi remarked sadly. *I suppose
having a direction to follow is better than being lost.* She followed
the river's edge, not knowing that she was in reality heading away from
Palas instead of towards it.
	Hitomi frowned and watched the raindrops make ripples upon the
water's crystal surface. *I wonder if I'll ever go back home.* Her
heart beat with homesickness as she thought of her mother, her
classmates, Yukari, and Amano Sempai. *I miss them all so much.*
	Overcome with exhaustion and unable to see due to fresh tears
welling up in her eyes, Hitomi sat down in the wet grass. She drew her
knees to her chest and hugged them as she rocked back and forth. The
girl cried as reoccurring thoughts of the day played themselves back in
her mind. *I was such a fool. Of course Van doesn't like me.* Hitomi
began to sob.
	"Van, how could you not like me?" She asked brokenly. "How
could you?" Hitomi sobbed.
				***
	"Shimatta!" Dilandau spat angrily. He was gulping in air as if
he was drowning. The silvery haired Zaibach sucked it in between his
clenched teeth. His icy garnet eyes regarded the wreckage of his
Guymelef. "Damned machine." He hissed to himself. "Repair crews really
screwed up this one." The Zaibach clutched his forehead with his icy
hand and threw his head back in an effort to calm himself. "SHIMATTA!"
	In a fit of uncontrollable rage, Dilandau kicked the smoking
metal of what had once been the Alseides. "Worthless piece of junk!"
Never in his wildest dreams had he ever imagined his trusty Guymelef
would disappoint him so greatly.
	Regarding his surroundings with displeasure, Dilandau began
muttering to himself in an irritated tone of voice. "Where the hell am
I now? This doesn't look like Palas." Dilandau hauled off and stuck the
wreckage once more for good measure. "How am I going to get back to the
Vione now?!? I'll have to walk all the way to Palas on foot!!!"
	Dilandau reached into the control chamber of his damaged unit
and retrieved his sword. "Good for nothing 'melef. You aren't even
worth saving. Stay here and rust!" He snapped.
	His boots stomped through the tall grass. The Zaibach wiped
blood from the corner of his mouth and nursed his bruised arm as he
walked. The crash had remarkably done him little harm, there were a few
scratches on his skin, some muscles that promised to be bruised later
on, and a split lip.
	The silvery haired Zaibach walked along the edge of the river.
"Palas is that way." He said to himself under his breath. "I walk in
there and I'm home free. No questions asked. Good thing Folken's got
that dope of a king in his pocket." Dilandau chuckled at bit at the
thought of Asturia's gullible ruler.
	His blood made a rather coppery taste in his mouth. It mixed
with the rainwater that fell on him from above. "Damned rain." Dilandau
remarked to himself, brushing some wetness disdainfully off of his
leather jacket.
	*Rain washes everything away.* Dilandau heard a voice from the
past that he couldn't recognize sound in his head. The Zaibach's eyes
went wide in surprise.
	"What was that?" He asked himself aloud. "I'm losing my mind.
Always hearing these voices." Dilandau commented. He paused and let a
wave of nausea pass him. Then he continued on his way, remarking that
the rain had just about stopped.
	Far in the distance, he could see a figure of a girl, huddled
by the edge of the river. Dilandau paused until he recalled where he
had seen such a strange outfit before. "Of course! That girl Schezar
was trying to lie about . . . that girl that caused me and my Dragon
Slayers so much trouble . . ." He thought about the comment the Knight
of Caeli had made to him. "His new lover, ha! That scrawny little
girl?"
	Dilandau licked his lips like he had spotted a delicious
delicacy he couldn't resist tasting. His thumb played with the hilt of
his sword, coaxing it out of the sheath. Dilandau pulled the blade out
half way from it's resting place as he quietly inched through the grass
toward where the girl sat, utterly oblivious to anything.
	*I shouldn't kill her now. She'd be so much more valuable to
Dornkirk-sama alive.* He thought to himself. *I'll just use this to
scare her a bit.*
	"You're mine." Dilandau whispered with a chuckle. He was about
to unsheathe his sword the rest of the way when the girl suddenly
turned around. The Zaibach froze as he looked up on her grief stricken
face.
	Hitomi's eyes swam and overflowed with warm tears. She looked
like she had spent her entire life crying. She let out a whimper and
scrambled to her feet, trying desperately to run away from the Zaibach
with the sword. Her movements were too fast and her ankle turned slower
than the rest of her body did. Hitomi fell to ground with a dull thud
and an exclamation of surprise.
	Dilandau heard the girl cry again, this time because of the
pain in her ankle that she had just twisted right before his eyes.
Hitomi's tearstained face and sad, frightened eyes were still in his
mind. The Zaibach heard the girl's whimpers as well as those from a
long forgotten memory. Unconsciously, Dilandau released his hold on the
sword's hilt and the blade slid back into it's sheath.
	Thoughts flooded back to him . . . unclaimed memories from a
past he was unfamiliar with . . . a child . . . huddled in a
corner . . . crying . . . sobbing uncontrollably . . . with no one
around for comfort . . . Dilandau's heart throbbed with pain just
remembering it. *Were those my memories?* He wondered.
	He tried shaking the horrible feeling of loneliness that was
taking hold of his heart. *The girl!* Dilandau walked over to where
Hitomi lay and squatted beside her. He smiled down at her, flashing his
white teeth dangerously at his frightened captive. "Gotcha." He
laughed.
	"Onegai . . ." Hitomi pleaded in a trembling voice.
	"You've caused a lot of trouble for me and my men, you know
that don't you?" Dilandau said. "I'm afraid meaningless pleas won't
help you now. You're coming with me, back to the Zaibach."
	Fear filled Hitomi's heart. "Iie!" She sobbed in reply.
	"Enough!" Dilandau shouted in an irritated voice. He brought
his open palm swiftly through the air and struck Hitomi's cheek with
such force even he flinched momentarily. The Zaibach paused, almost
stunned that he had stuck the girl so hard. After a moment of silent
reflection, Dilandau shrugged it off. He grabbed the dirty white collar
of Hitomi's school uniform and pulled her along.
The girl stumbled through the grass, her sneakers kicking up dirt.
Hitomi made a choking noise and struggled to free herself from the
Zaibach's grasp.
	"Hurry up!!!" Dilandau barked as he wiped another trail of
blood from it's origin in the corner of his mouth. He yanked Hitomi
along so forcefully one of her shoes came flying off.
	"My ankle!" Hitomi painfully protested. She tried hopping along
as Dilandau pulled her. "My ankle! Onegai shimasu!"
	The Zaibach continued on his way, dragging the flinching Hitomi
along behind him for some time. After a while she began making choking
noises as her lagging caused her uniform collar to prevent her from
drawing a breath. Finally, the pain becoming too much for her, Hitomi
sank to her knees. Irritated, Dilandau growled to himself. Before she
could let out a cry of surprise, the Zaibach threw her to the ground.
Hitomi didn't have enough time to break her fall. She landed on her
side, her nose striking the ground with enough force to cause it to
start bleeding.
	Dilandau plopped down in the grass with an exhausted yet
irritated, angry sigh. Out of the corner of his eye he watched Hitomi
slowly wipe the blood from her upper lip. She, with a tremendous amount
of effort and pain, pulled herself up into a sitting position and
nursed her swollen ankle.
	Hitomi touched a fresh wound on her knee and flinched in
response. She searched her muddy outfit for a scrap of clean cloth to
rip off and wrap around her bleeding knee. The girl looked up to see
Dilandau, handing her the red cloth that had once been her uniform bow.
It had fallen off when Dilandau had begun dragging Hitomi around as a
hostage.
	She slowly took the ribbon for fear some unseen force would
suddenly come down upon her. The girl continued to stare at Dilandau
while she wrapped her knee, still unable to comprehend the gesture of
goodwill from the Zaibach.
	"A . . . arigato . . ." Hitomi stammered weakly. Dilandau
ignored what the girl instead. He turned his head away from her and
began judging the time it would take to drag his hostage all the way to
Palas. Hitomi looked up at the sky that had once shown signs of
clearing but now seemed to be clouding up even more. A misty rain began
to fall once again.
				***
	Hitomi struggled to open her eyes. *I fell asleep.* Her
grogginess left her expecting to awake in the comforts of her guest
room in the castle of Palas. As drops of rain fell on her cheeks, she
knew this wasn't the case. Forcing her lazy eyelids open she saw
Dilandau, glaring at her with displeasure. At first it shocked Hitomi,
but as the pain of her twisted ankle hit her, everything rushed back.
She watched Dilandau fight off a bad case of the yawns.
	"You aren't going anywhere." Dilandau snapped suddenly,
arrogant dismay pulling his lips into a frown. He grabbed Hitomi's
wrists and began to bind the girl's arms with a long piece of his torn
violet undershirt.
	"I can't run on this ankle." Hitomi protested. Dilandau wrapped
the makeshift set of handcuffs around his belt that held his sword. The
girl was suddenly face to face with the Zaibach.
	The silvery haired Dilandau paused a moment as he realized how
close the emerald eyed girl was. All of the arrogance in his garnet
eyes melted away. He tried to form words as Hitomi gazed at him with
her innocent and pleading irises.
	Dilandau tore his eyes away from Hitomi's. "I'm not taking any
chances." He mumbled as he coughed lightly and cleared his throat. The
Zaibach laid down on the long grass of the field. "I'm not going to
have you run away while I sleep." Dilandau said as he closed his eyes.
	Hitomi laid beside the Zaibach, restricted by the bonds. She
attempted to sleep in any position that placed her as far away from the
Zaibach as possible. The girl's muscles jumped and twitched in
displeasure at the uncomfortable positions. In the end, Hitomi was left
with no more options and rested her head on Dilandau's chest.
	The Zaibach's eyes snapped open in surprise. He looked down to
see Hitomi close her eyes and sigh. Dilandau, too exhausted to protest
and realizing she had little movement as it was, closed his eyes and
drifted off to sleep.
				***
	"Help me! Help me!"
	Dilandau turned around and found himself in a dimly lit cell,
watching a little girl cry. Her chubby hands gathered her tears as she
buried her tearstained face in the straw on the floor. The Zaibach
began feeling the familiar wave of nausea wash over him.
	"Don't leave me alone! Onegai!!! Okaasan!!! Oniisama!!! Help
me!"
	The Zaibach felt himself gasping for breath as he watched the
child sob and cry out for help that never came. Each horror-filled plea
caused Dilandau's entire body to tremble.
	"That's you, isn't it?" Asked a new voice coming from behind
him. Dilandau turned around to meet the questioning face of his
captive, Hitomi. "That's you when you were young."
	He tried shaking off his obvious signs of fear. "Me? The best
warrior the Zaibach have . . . a little girl? Ha! That's not me . . ."
Dilandau answered rather unconvincingly. "Where are we? Why are YOU
here?"
	"We're in the memory of your past." Hitomi replied.
	"Liar!" Dilandau shrieked, turning his attention back to the
sobbing child. "You're lying!" He pointed to the hysterical girl.
"That's NOT me! It's NOT!!!" The silvery haired Zaibach protested.
	Hitomi approached the Zaibach. "What happened?" She asked. Her
emerald eyes were calm. Dilandau was almost comforted by them. "Tell me
what they did to you."
	Dilandau gasped as the scenery immediately changed. They were
in the middle of a grassy field in Asturia. Petals from various wild
flowers blew in the wind like natural confetti. A little girl with long
blond hair and a contagious smile, held out a bouquet of flowers.
"Oniisama!"
	A boy with long blond hair smiled down at his sister. "Celena."
He said with a smile, touching the tips of the flowers with his finger.
	Hitomi smiled faintly. *That's Allen.* She thought to herself
as she recognized the boy. *That means Dilandau and Allen are related.*
It still seemed a little perplexing to Hitomi as to exactly how the
Zaibach managed to change Allen's little sister, Celena, into the
ruthless male warrior, Dilandau.
	"It's going to rain soon, Celena. Rain washes everything away."
Allen said to his little sister who regarded the clouds that gathered
in the sky above them.
	Dilandau's garnet irises regarded the image of the past with a
glimmer of warmth, unlike the icy coldness that had always been deep
within his eyes. *That's where I've heard that before . . .* He
thought. His voice trembled as he continued to stare at little Allen.
"O . . . oniisama . . ." Dilandau breathed. He reached out with a shaky
hand, straining to touch the young boy. "Oniisama . . ."
	Hitomi could see the sky above them darkening until it was
black with storm clouds. Thunder crashed and lightning ripped through
the sky as rain pelted the ground below. Dilandau watched as Allen
began frantically calling out to his sister.
	"Celena!!! Celena!!!" He shouted in between gigantic booms of
thunder. "Celena!!!"
	Dilandau's trembling hand shook even more. "I'm here . . .
oniisama. I'm right here. Look behind you, oniisama . . . oniisama."
Hitomi gasped as she saw there were tears in the Zaibach's eyes.
"ONIISAMA!!!"
	"CELENA!!!" The young Allen yelled, sinking to his knees and
disappearing in the rain.
	"ONIISAMA!!!" Dilandau shrieked, collapsing on the very spot
his brother had stood seconds before. "ONIISAMA!!!" He beat the ground
with clenched fists. "Why'd they have to take me away?!? I wanted to
stay with oniisama!!!" The silvery haired Zaibach admitted in between
incoherent sobs and moans of sadness.
	Hitomi bent down beside Dilandau and put a comforting hand on
his shoulder. Surprised, his teary garnet eyes regarded her with a
curious wonder. "It's okay." She said. Hearing this, Dilandau began
sobbing uncontrollably like a child. He felt Hitomi pat his head and
take him in her arms. "It's okay. Shh, it's okay."
	*Hahaue used to do this for me when I would cry about missing
chichiue . . . or when I fell and scraped my knee . . .* Dilandau
thought. *I remember she'd always promise everything would be okay.* He
closed his eyes and felt his tears melting away. *Hahaue was always
right. And I'd always kiss her . . . and then everything would be just
like she promised it would.*
	Dilandau's sobs had calmed. He remained silent and unmoving for
a moment. Then, Hitomi's eyes went wide as she suddenly felt the
Zaibach's lips gently brush against her cheek. The rain that fell on
Asturia became harder until it suddenly stopped all together.
	"Jajuka!!!"
	The silvery haired Zaibach looked up, fear once again prominent
in his garnet irises. He heard Celena's horror-filled pleas echo in his
head. "Iie . . ." Dilandau stammered. Hitomi gasped as the Zaibach
jumped out of her arms and immediately press against the wall, stopping
his ears with his hands. "Iie!"
	"Jajuka! Jajuka!"
	Hitomi and Dilandau watched as two Zaibach soldiers forcefully
dragged the hysterical Celena away from where they beat a protesting
dog-man. "Leave her alone!" Jajuka argued.
	Dilandau squeezed his eyes shut. "Iie!!!" He shouted. Hitomi
saw the Zaibach fall to his knees once again. "Jajuka!!!" A sob burst
from his lips and tears streamed down his cheeks. The girl rushed to
his side and watched as the Zaibach soldiers led Celena to a
restraining table. Hitomi was filled with horror as she observed the
sorcerers of Zaibach fate alter Celena into Dilandau. The little girl's
screams turned into those of a boy. They echoed in Hitomi's ears and
caused Dilandau to writhe as if he was in pain and sob even more
hysterically than he already had been.
	"So that's what happened." Hitomi said to herself under her
breath. "Oh, Dilandau . . . Celena . . . gomen nasai . . ." She
apologized. The girl smoothed the Zaibach's silvery hair in an attempt
to comfort him.
	Dilandau felt Hitomi's hand brush against his cheek and wipe
some of his tears away. He looked up at her with uncertainty and
confusion in his garnet irises. "Doshite?" Hitomi looked at him as if
she didn't know what he meant. "Why are you doing this?" Dilandau
asked. "I work for the Zaibach now . . . I caused destruction
everywhere . . . I've taken you hostage . . . I've even thought about
killing you . . . so why are you comforting me?"
	"Because after seeing what happened to you . . . seeing what
the Zaibach did . . . I know you aren't really a bad person. I feel so
bad for what the Zaibach did to you." Hitomi replied. "How could they
do that to a little girl? Taking you away from your family . . . that's
just wrong . . ."
	The Zaibach wiped more of his tears away with his hand. "What's
done is done." Dilandau answered. "I can't help the way I am now.
Zaibach made me a monster and that's just the way I am."
	"But you don't have to be!" Hitomi shouted back. "You aren't a
bad person!"
	Dilandau spread his arms out and choked on his sobs as he
laughed. "Look at me. Look me in the eyes. Remember that I'm the one
who burnt down Fanelia . . . and the fort in Asturia . . . and Palas! I
killed everyone that got in my way! Now look me in the eyes and tell me
I'm not a bad person!"
	Hitomi approached Dilandau until she was toe to toe with the
Zaibach. Her emerald eyes held an intensity Dilandau was surprised to
see. "You are NOT a bad person." She paused and then continued. "You
have the power to change who you are. Stand AGAINST the Zaibach. Show
them you aren't the killing machine they programmed you to be. Show
them that you aren't a weak puppet who'll let them determine your
destiny for you. You have the power to be whatever you want to be."
	The Zaibach shook his head. He laughed lightly at the thought.
A single tear trickled down Dilandau's cheek at the sweet thought of
what Hitomi had said. The freedom of choice . . . taking back the life
that was so wrongfully stolen from him . . . How would he ever be able
to do such a thing?
	"Shinjiteru." Hitomi added.
	Dilandau's garnet eyes went wide at what the girl had said. She
believed in him? He'd never given her cause to believe in him and yet
here she was saying it with such honesty in her voice. It brought tears
to his eyes. *She believes in me . . . she thinks I'm a good
person . . .* He thought, tears spilling down his cheeks.
	The Zaibach cried, this time in happiness. He laid down and
felt Hitomi lay her head on his chest. Dilandau smoothed the girl's
short hair with his ungloved hand. "Arigato . . ." He said before
closing his eyes.
				***
	A bright burst of sunlight shot through the clouds and
mercilessly blinded the sleeping Dilandau. He struggled to open his
eyes and when he was greeted with the white hot light, shielded his
garnet eyes with the back of his hand. Coming out of his groggy
sleepiness, he saw Hitomi asleep with her head on his chest . . . and
his hand smoothing her short hair.
	*It wasn't just a dream then.* Dilandau thought to himself. He
saw Hitomi open her eyes. The Zaibach, with a bit of confusion, untied
the girl's bonds from around his belt and watched as she sat upright
and smiled down at him.
	"Shinjiteru." She said.
	Dilandau, for once in his life, smiled an honest smile. His
garnet eyes danced with a twinkle Hitomi, nor anyone else had seen
before. The Zaibach, with renewed determination, wanted to set off
immediately for Palas. Only, his reasons had changed. He picked Hitomi
up, much to her surprise, and began carrying her on his back. It
reminded her of when Amano Sempai had carried Yukari after she had
sprained her ankle.
	They were silent the entire way but both were in good spirits.
When at last they entered Palas, a few people regarded them with raised
eyebrows and confused looks. Dilandau headed straight for the harbor
where he knew there was bound to be a coach waiting, headed for the
Vione.
	Hitomi was set onto her own two feet and watched Dilandau smile
at the coachman. The Zaibach then turned his attention to her. "I'll
never forget what you've done for me." He said. "Your believing in me,
it means the world to me." Dilandau said, a hint of tears in his eyes.
	"Dilandau-sama." The coachman shouted. "Folken-sama is
waiting."
	"Hai!" Dilandau replied. "Arigato." He said to Hitomi. "I'll
never forget this. Never." Dilandau closed his eyes, and brushed his
lips against Hitomi's.
	The girl watched as the silvery haired Zaibach smiled one final
time, ran into the coach, and rode off toward the Vione. She smiled
herself and sighed a bit, touching the tips of her fingers to her lips
as a slight blush crept into her cheeks.
	A misty rain began to fall on the city of Palas once again.
Hitomi watched the coach until it was no longer in sight. "Shinjiteru,
Dilandau." She whispered.
				***
	"Where's Folken?" Dilandau shouted. "I don't wanna hear any
excuses!" He yelled at two Zaibach soldiers. "Get me an audience with
Dornkirk, now!!!"
	Four cloaked sorcerers regarded the ranting Dilandau from the
shadows. "He's hysterical. He's lost his mind. His fate altering is
becoming unstable." They commented amongst themselves. "We must remedy
this."
	"Bakayaro!!! Dornkirk!!! Folken!!!" Dilandau shouted.
	The sorcerers quickly made their way over to where the
hysterical Zaibach stood shouting and issuing angry orders. "Dilandau,
come with us. We need to see you." They said in their most calm voices,
attempting to win him over.
	"I'm NOT going ANYWHERE with you!!!" Dilandau shrieked. He
resumed pounding on the door that led into the room where Dornkirk's
projection screen was held.
	"Restrain him." The sorcerers instructed two nearby guards.
	"Nani?" Dilandau felt his arms be pinned behind his back. He
tried fighting against the soldiers but to no avail. "LET ME GO! I
won't let you experiment on me anymore! YOU'RE WRONG!!!"
	Dilandau was dragged into a dark room with a restraining table.
Though he fought desperately, in the end he was tied down and at the
mercy of the four sorcerers. They took out a large hypodermic needle
and filled it with fluid. "Hold him." One sorcerer said to the rest.
	"IIE!!!" Dilandau shrieked inhumanly. "YOU'RE WRONG!!! I WON'T
BE CONTROLLED BY YOU!!! I'M NOT A BAD PERSON!!! YOU'RE WRONG!!!" He
screamed, attempting to wriggle free and fight them off.
	*Shinjiteru.* The Zaibach heard Hitomi's voice in his head.
*I'll never forget what you've done for me.* He heard himself vow.
*Gomen, I so wanted to take my destiny back . . . gomen . . . maybe
I'll find a way to remember what you've done for me . . . or at least
remember the way you smiled when you said you believed in me . . .*
	The four sorcerers congratulated themselves with faint smiles
as they injected Dilandau and watched as his body stopped fighting
against them. They nodded to each other in affirmation as they watched
his garnet eyes become icy once more . . . and lost the warmth they had
gained by the river bank on the outskirts of Palas, with a girl that
had believed in him so much it brought him to tears.

				The End


© 2000 Hitomi-sama