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______I heard Dornkirk's generals calling my name. The Fate-changing device must be ready. It was rare that Dr. Dornkirk ever became excited about anything. But I knew he was for this project. Just another way to get the Dragon into his clutches. I didn't exactly understand how it would affect the Dragon's direction, but I knew something interesting would eventually come about from this manipulation. I entered the laboratory. Naria and Eriya were there waiting for me, identical smiles on their faces. I gave them a small smile back and Naria began walking towards my direction. I figure she had picked the longest straw. I watched as her sister sat back, feigning happiness over the choice, but I knew deep inside she was cursing her own foul luck. That's what it's all come down to now. A test against each other's luck. The person with a better karma always wins. Whenever they lost a battle they blamed themselves or used the reason that their luck was weaker than that of the White Dragon. I almost lost them because of that obsession. I stood back as Naria went into position and watched the both of them. They were both very attractive cat-girls, there was no doubt about that. And I loved them both equally. There was no picking favorites among them, although I often noticed that they wished I would. How can I? They were both dear to me and remained so, ever since I saved them from the hunters a long time ago. Ever since I took them under my wing and took care of them. I always wanted a friend like what Van had in Meruru. Those two seemed inseparable. At least to Meruru they were. I guess you could call it envy, or jealousy perhaps, that my brother had the faithful affections of that small little cat-girl. I wanted something like that. Badly.

______I never really had that much childhood friends when I was young. Palace rules restricted me from going out to play with other children most of the time. Not, of course, that my parents were strict. It was just those stupid rules that had to be followed. I had Van, I know. But when Van came into my life I was way past games and silly little childhood pranks. Silly little childhood pranks that I never really experienced. People seemed to expect more from me so my time was spent studying and training instead, seldom having time to play with my younger brother. When I was able to spare a few moments though we had the best of times. Of course, that wasn't really enough. And that was when Van found Meruru.

______He was still a devoted brother, of course, and took time off from playing with Meruru to visit me in my room once in awhile, to see how I was doing. And that proved even harder for me to swallow because Meruru was always there beside him, that adoring look in her eyes. I never had that. All I really wanted was a friend.

______And that's what I had when I found Naria and Eriya. I made them trust me and turned them into my friends. Things were going well for a while and we enjoyed each other's company immensely. We had great fun together, until they started, one by one, falling in love. I did not notice it soon enough until it was too late. I considered them close friends but I knew they had something deeper for me. Could it be love? I could only hope not. As I have said, they grew up to be attractive cat-women. Beautiful that any man would eventually fall for them. Any man.

______Except me.

______Why? Because they did not have what I longed for. Their eyes were not the sad blue eyes I saw every night in my dreams. Their hair could not compare to the soft, silken mahogany locks my fingers itched to run through. Their skin... not the soft tender flesh that I longed to touch all my life. And it was not any one of their faces that I kept close to my heart all these years. Did she still remember me? I thought to myself as I climbed the platform. Even after all those years, her face still remained fresh in my mind. The serenity on her face from which I left her in as she slept. It was my fondest memory. And I knew then that no beauty could ever compare to hers. But it was all a dream for me now. She became as a dream to me, flitting in and out of my nights like a ghost. Or an angel.

______I figured I would never see her again. But I was glad to have spent at least some moments with her in my life. And that thought consoled me the most.

______The soldiers hurried to their positions as the bridge was being raised up and the device was suddenly in motion. " Ready!" someone shouted from behind me and I stepped up to Naria, looking deep into her eyes. " Hitomi," I said softly.

______"Eries." my mind echoed as I drew closer to Naria.

______" Allen," she replied as equally soft and began closing the space we had between us. Dornkirk began getting excited again. " Yes! Go on! I can see it now," he crowed from his position atop the eye glass device. I could see that Naria was a bit tense though and halfway through she broke down, giving the manipulated recipients time to think. Something had interfered with the machine. I seemed to have felt it also. The scientists went mad and started trying to fix up the problem. In minutes the device began running again.

______"Naria," I told her tenderly," I know this is hard for you but concentrate please. Focus you mind. Think about how much you love me." She nodded, her eyes shining brightly. " Yes, Folken."

______" Hitomi..." I started again and Naria moved closer to me once more, her face inches from mine. " Allen," she breathed. We were at the final step and the device accelerated its speed. " I love you...Hitomi," I heard my voice say, when my heart wanted to say another name. Naria tilted her face up to mine. " I love you...Allen."

______I closed my eyes and leaned down to brush Naria's lips with my own. I pictured Eries' face in my mind, trying to make believe that it was her lips I was touching, wishing it was her body that was in my arms instead. I almost believed it; the fantasy taking hold of me then and there as I crushed her body against mine. I smothered her with kisses, my tongue rimming the edge of hr lips, creating a passageway for me to enter her soft warm mouth. I couldn't control myself. The kisses were becoming so heated and passionate it was too hard to stop. Eries, I groaned in my head. My hands moved down her back and suddenly I felt something I knew shouldn't have been there. A tail?!

______I pulled away quickly, panting, as Naria did the same. She looked down, her cheeks flushed red. I looked around and seeing that they didn't need anymore of my help, I excused myself and retreated from the eyes of both Naria and Eriya. I was grateful for the cool, darkness in the hallway, relieved that no one could see the flush that the kiss had created on me. What was I thinking? Entering my chambers I closed the door and banged my fist on the wall. Now I had given Naria something to think about. And I knew I had hurt Eriya's feelings also by doing so. I sighed, putting my head in my hands. I would just have to explain to them both that the kiss meant nothing. But there was no telling whether they would believe me or not.

______Dornkirk had formed a plan of attack. His scientists had come up with and Absolute Good Fortune Machine that could change someone’s luck. Remembering what Naria and Eriya were constantly complaining about I decided to give them one last chance to capture Escaflowne. By increasing their luck, we all figured that they would be unstoppable. Naria and Eriya both agreed readily and the plan was set to ambush the Royal Astorian Wedding. Dornkirk forbade me to go along but the cat-girls were obviously very trust-worthy in a mission. They always did their best for me. What worried me though was the good luck formula that was injected within them. I could not trust the Zaibach scientists and I feared the worst.

______My fears had been confirmed when only one of them was able to return and Eriya had been captured. At least we thought she had been. It came as quite a surprise to find her heading towards the Zaibach ship with the strange girl from the visionary moon behind her. But as I watched her, talking with the girl, I had a feeling that somewhat, Eriya had been changed by something. It showed in the way she moved and I stood, fascinated, as the strange girl worked her wonders upon my cat-girl.

______Eriya made the big mistake of not covering her tracks though and I stood there, feeling unusually calm, watching as the enemy troops descended down upon the ship. I saw Naria reach down to help Eriya, pointing in my direction. I knew they were going to try and save me but I was surprised to see Eriya hesitate as the girl, Hitomi, tried to convince her otherwise. Even from my vantage point I could almost hear Naria convince Eriya to go and the Hitomi-girl trying to pull her away. I couldn't help but smile. Go Eriya, I said silently, Go with her. Listen to the girl. Save yourself and forget about me.

______I had hoped she made the right decision as I turned away from the window to await the impending destruction. Debris was falling all around me and I waited for death to come swiftly. But it was not death that crashed through the ceiling and saved me from being hurt. My cat girls had saved my life. Eriya had, after all, chosen to keep by my side, gratitude for some things in the past still weighing down on her heavily. They both had given their lives up for me, in order for me to survive. And as I sat down, holding both their bodies in my arms I realized the big mistake I had made. A mistake I knew I would regret for the rest of my life. I had thought joining the Zaibach troops would create a better world; that Dornkirk's dreams were for the good of mankind, not just some crazy, disillusioned madman's dream! Right then and there, I made a promise; a promise that I would do everything in my power to make all this madness stop. Even if it was going to cost me my life.

______I left the ship in sorrow. My cat-girls had stayed faithful until the very end. And it hit me. Hard. Like a punch in the gut, just how it was like to have friends. Not just ordinary friends but two of the best of them...

______I tried to have a meeting set up with my brother. I was surprised when I realized he had brought the girl with him. I tried to explain to Van why exactly I had reformed, along with an apology, of course. But somehow, in the middle of everything, things got messed up and I ended up saving them both from a dragon. I tried to get my message through him, what I really wanted to say, using the dragon as my example. I retold how the dragon almost killed me but instead gave me this bionic arm. And I explained Dornkirk's dream. The girl seemed to understand what I was saying but Van remained expressionless. They brought me back to the castle and locked me up inside one of the cells. I knew a war was about to begin as sounds of preparations outside reached me from my window.

______I don't know how long I stayed there, sitting on the bed, thinking, when I began to feel restless. The guards allowed me to go out, probably figuring I couldn't do much harm anyway and for the first time I realized where they had brought me. I rubbed my eyes, hesitant to believe it was true. But there was no mistaking that pillar with its familiar window. It was the place I often saw in my dreams at night; the very place I thought I would never see again. Sure, I conducted meetings with the King as a Zaibach consort but it was the first time in a long time that I stood, like long ago, under the window that served as my refuge on all those lonely nights. A face peered out at me and I saw the startled expression in her blue eyes, right before a cold one took its place. She was gone before I could blink an eye and I stood there, even after she had left, looking at the curtain fluttering in the breeze. And I stayed there, under her window, for as long as I could, my heart aching to hold her. But I knew it was too late. Ten years ago things would have probably been different. But those ten years have come and gone, swiftly as the wind. And I knew that now.

______It was just too late to tell her that I loved her.