Two pink lines. Two innocuous little lines stared at Hitomi from the innocent little window. Oh how could there be two of them. Now what was she supposed to do? It wasn't as if she could simply ignore them. This was definitely one problem that she could not, in any way, ignore. Her whole future was now changed. She didn't need to do a tarot reading to know that nothing would ever be the same again.

Two little lines. Oh couldn't it have just been one? So much easier to feel the relief, to realize a fear was unfounded, than to face these feelings of terror. What exactly was she to do now? Everything she did now had consequences she hadn't dreamed could exist. Every action, every inaction affected more than just herself. Did she eat enough? Did she eat too much? Was the food healthy enough? Was she getting enough exercise? Were her emotions steady enough? What music should she listen too? Everything could have an adverse effect . . . or a beneficial one. Oh what was she to do now?

Vaguely through the locked bathroom door she could hear raised voices coming from down stairs. Her parents were fighting again. She could barely hear her mother's soft voice trying to calm the storm her father had some how developed. His voice was indistinct enough that she could not tell what they were arguing about, but loud enough for his deep voice to make the floor beneath her feet vibrate slightly. He always seemed to be yelling about something, more so it seemed in the two months since Hitomi had returned from Gaia, or maybe she was just noticing it more.

Oh god, she had to tell her parents. There was no way she was going to be able to keep this a secret, at least not for too much longer anyway. What were they going to say? How would they react? How exactly was she supposed to try and explain this, any of it?

Two little lines . . .

A knock at the door, suddenly pulled Hitomi from her thoughts and when she didn't immediately reply it was more forcefully repeated. "Hitomi?" Her brother called from the other side of the door, "How long are you going to be in there?"

"I'm finished, give me a sec." Hitomi stood from the toilet seat and started to throw away the messenger of her demise, before thinking better of it. She might need proof. With a sigh, she turned and unlocked the door. Outside her brother stood scowling.

"Geeze, took you long enough," Yukio turned and started to enter the bathroom, but when his sister made no response to his comment he turned. "Hey, you okay?"

Hitomi paused at the door to her room, and glanced back at him, "Yeah, why?"

"You just don't seem like yourself and you look kinda pale," Yukio's eyes glanced over his sister before noticing a slim white object that Hitomi seemed to desperately be trying to hide.

"I'm fine, just short on sleep," Yukio walked up to her and could tell his sister was hiding more than just the white object.

"You sure?" Hitomi nodded, and nervously brought her hand up to brush a strand of hair away from her face, giving Yukio a clear view of the troublesome object. Before his sister realized what she had done, Yukio managed to reach out and snag the thing. "What's this?" Hitomi stared in horror as her brother began closely examining the slim white rectangle, too shocked to try and take it from him.

"It's nothing," Hitomi reached out and snagged it back from her brother, truth be told he was kinda impressed at how easily she got it back. "Didn't you have to use the bathroom?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm going. Not like its anything you need to worry about." Grumbling and thankfully not asking any further questions, Yukio turned and headed into the bathroom. Breathing a sigh of relief, Hitomi entered her room, and placed the offensive messenger into a drawer. Right now, she had bigger problems to sort out. Primarily how was she going to tell her parents, and when should she tell them. The continued raised voices from downstairs, suggested now was not the best time. Perhaps by dinner everything will have calmed down.

Hitomi sighed and turned to her desk where her homework awaited her attention. She doubted she'd be able to concentrate with her recent news haunting her, but at least she'd be doing something.

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All afternoon Hitomi had tried to come up with ways to begin this conversation, her homework sitting ignored upon her desk, nothing useful had come to mind and now here she sat, eating dinner and knowing that this was the best time. There would probably not be a better time than now, but uncharacteristically, words failed her.

Nervously, Hitomi glanced up from her half-eaten plate, "Hey Mom . . ."

"Dad, they're having tryouts for the soccer team in three weeks." Yukio said, seeming to not notice the fact that he had just interrupted his sister. "This year we are going to have the best team ever, and I was going to try out," their father grunted in response, paying very little attention to what his son was actually saying. "Would you and Mom come to watch?"

Another grunt from their father, "Thanks Dad you have no idea what this means."

The interruption seemed to shake Hitomi, forcing her to realign her thoughts and screw her courage back up before she could open her mouth again. This was hard enough to do without being interrupted. Her luck was no better than last time, as Yukio spoke up before she even made a sound.

"Sota got a pet turtle the other day. I thought at first that turtles were boring, but he got a snapping turtle and says that you can stick a piece of celery into his cage and watch it attack it. I never realized just how cool turtles could be." Yukio continued to expound on the wonders of turtles, every thing he had learned about them from Sota, up to and including how the larger varieties could take your finger right off. Thankfully a look from their mother stopped that particular train of conversation.

All through dinner, it seemed as if every time she opened her mouth to start the conversation, her brother would interrupt and start talking away about his day. The games he played, things his friends had said and done, things he'd seen on television, even things about his homework and school work. She had never heard the boy talk so much or so excitedly.

Dinner was nearly over and Hitomi had decided that she would just have to tell him to shut up so she could get a word in edge wise. She opened her mouth, but didn't even make a sound before her brother launched into a story he'd read on the internet a few weeks back. Enough was enough, and she turned to glare at him where he sat across from her at the table. She opened her mouth about to give him a piece of her mind when, to her shock, he kicked her under the table. He didn't even pause in his recital. What was going on here? Was he doing this intentionally?

Hitomi looked him over, he didn't appear to be trying to be malicious, there was a sort of pleading in his eyes. For some reason he didn't want her to talk, at all. Did anyone else notice? Her mother was staring at her plate, listlessly pushing food around, it didn't appear as if she had actually eaten anything. Her father was eating, but there was a scowl firmly etched into his features, he was still in a bad mood it seemed. Perhaps now was not a very good time to talk about this, but the longer she waited, the more likely they would find out on their own and the harder it would be to tell them. She really needed to tell them, but her brother seemed insistent that she didn't tell them anything.

Unfortunately, or perhaps fortunately, she trusted her brother's instincts. He always seemed to know when to stay out of the way and when to talk. He could read their father like a book and knew when pranks would be laughed at or severely punished. If he insisted that she hold her tongue, than for now she would, but after dinner she was going to get some answers of her own.

-------

As it turned out she didn't have to hunt her brother down, he came looking for her when she finished with her chores in the kitchen.

"Yukio, what's the big idea? You wouldn't let me get a word in edgewise. I had something very important to tell everyone." Yukio didn't stop walking as she spoke to him, instead leading her upstairs and towards their rooms.

"Yeah I know, but now was not the time to tell them. Dad's still really pissed off and Mom's wore out from fighting with him all day. If you'd have told them now, things would have been real bad."

Hitomi paused on the landing and looked her brother over. At twelve he was entering a lanky stage, his arms and legs seeming too long for his body and he had started to grow his hair out, much to their mother's chagrin. He looked young, but at times, times like this, he seemed to take on an ageless quality. "Just tell me one thing," he continued looking up at her beseechingly, "who was he?"

"He?" Hitomi was confused for a moment before she recognized the look in her brother's eye. The look that said he was going to go get into a fight, most likely to defend his sister's honor. "What do you know?"

"Obviously more than you think I do. I'm not stupid I recognized that thing you were trying to hide. I watch TV, I've seen the commercials." Yukio launched into a decent imitation of an advertising announcer, "'Now get results sooner that you ever expected.' 'Fast, easy to read, one line means no, two lines . . .'" the imitation stopped abruptly, "Two lines means yes. You're pregnant."

Hitomi felt a moment of sheer shock as she stared at her brother. He knew, and now he wanted to know who 'He' was so he could go knock some sense into the stupid high schooler he was convinced knocked up his sister. How was she supposed to answer that question. He wouldn't believe the truth: Well you see, there's this world nearby. We can't see it but they can see us. The world is called Gaia, and they call Earth the Mystic Moon. Well there is a king up there. He's the king of a small country, small but strong. Descendant of a cursed race, he had stolen her heart, though they could never be together. She sees visions of horrible destruction when she is on Gaia. And him? Well he has a country to rebuild and a people to lead, and could never be happy here, knowing he left them on their own. When did she visit? Oh about three months back, she was on Gaia for nearly six months but no one noticed she was gone because she got back before she left. Yeah that was not going to work at all.

Yukio was not taking her pause very well, growing more and more impatient the longer she stood silent. She knew though, that he'd never accept the truth and she couldn't bring her self to lie to him. "He's a friend. A very dear friend, who lives very far away," Her voice trailed away as she thought of Van. God how she missed him. She hadn't realized how much she enjoyed being around him, until she couldn't see him. Oh he checked on her every now and then, but they couldn't talk, they couldn't sit and enjoy the sights together or share ice cream or jokes or anything friends did. A tear slid down her cheek, bringing Hitomi out of her thoughts.

"He hurt you didn't he?" Yukio asked, and edge to his normally cheerful voice.

"Only in the fact that he's not here now, that he let me go when I asked him to. That he took no for an answer," the last was said in an undertone as if Hitomi herself were just realizing it for the first time.

"Look, I don't know who this guy is, but I really think he should be there when you tell Mom and Dad." Hitomi looked over at him in shock. "It's just not something you should do alone. Dad's going to be really mad. . ."

Hitomi nodded, their father had quite the temper on him. Yukio had once brought home a puppy he had found on his way home, hoping they'd be able to keep it. Their father had been very clear on his opinion of pets and had pitched the dog out the door. He hadn't meant to cause the puppy to get scared and run out into traffic, but he also hadn't seemed to care that it had happened. Least to say neither of them ever asked for a pet after that.

Hitomi was feeling less and less sure about how to break the news to her parents as time continued to pass.

"I can't tell him," Hitomi sighed and sat down against the wall.

"Sure you can, just call him up, he'll be more likely to understand then say Dad will."

"No you don't understand. I don't have a way of contacting him. I mean we run into each other occasionally, and see that the other is doing well, but we have no way of talking." That seemed to sum up the situation without lying. Unfortunately Yukio just looked confused. "It's a lot more complicated than you realize."

"Maybe, but this is important . . . He isn't married is he? Oh my god he's probably old? Oh the mental images . . ." Yukio looked to be in severe distress as he held his head and shook it from side to side, but Hitomi knew her brother too well to be fooled.

"No he's not old, nor is he married. Look just accept the fact that we can't contact each other and be done with it." With that Hitomi rose and before her brother could say another word she had entered her room and firmly shut the door behind her. Yukio was right about one thing. Having Van here right now would really make things easier, he was her pillar. He always seemed to be there, always trying to protect her. Some how, he always seemed to make things better, even if it was only by distracting her.

Tears, again, began to coarse down Hitomi's cheeks as she lay on her bed staring at the ceiling. Her hand lingered over her belly where a new life had begun to grow. A life Van would never hold or interact with. At best he'd see it at worst he'd realize what he was missing and be left feeling horrible. God, maybe she never should have left Gaia.

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Here you have it the first chapter of an Escaflowne fanfic. I've been trying to get this chapter read over but have recieved no interest in the beta position.

The first four chapters are already written and waiting for upload. Tell me what you think, I really want help with my writing. I tried something new with this chapter and I'm not sure it worked as well as it could have, but what do you think? Love it? Hate it? Kept your interest? Lost it early? Want to read more? Let me know what you think.