A/N: First off, I did not write this alone. My friend T4 and I co-wrote this. The only thing was that it was not meant to be fanfiction. It was just a story (our 5th, I believe) about made up people, this time gang members. So the names have been changed along with some minor details that really don't effect the story at all. I got the idea that it would make an interesting Esca AU from my sis, who would not let me live if I did not write her an Esca fanfic. So I kinda cheated, but here it is! We'll see how this goes. ^_~

Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne, although I paid for half of the 8 VHS tapes (subbed) that we bought off ebay, so I technically own half of them.

Chapter 1

"Hey you! What do you think you're looking at, punk??"

"N-nothing, sir. I was j-just moving along," a short, hunched over man stuttered.

"Geez, man, you are such a wuss, you know that?" said the taller man next to him. "You really oughta learn how to stick up for yourself."

"Don't you know who that was!? ...moron..."

The taller man sighed. Sure, he knew who he was. That was White Dragon, the most vicious gang leader on this side of town. He was known to suddenly beat up people if they so much as looked at him wrong. "And your point is...?"

"You're so annoying," the shorter man replied, rolling his eyes.

Dragon narrowed his eyes and ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. He had too much on his mind to worry about scrawny, little dorks. He looked at his watch. "Rats, I gotta go." As he jumped off the fire escape on their abandoned warehouse base, he bumped into someone.

"Owww!" shrieked a shrill voice.

"Move it, lady," he growled, "I ain't got time for this right now."

As he ran past her, she mumbled to herself, "People! So inconsiderate. Never have time for even small apologies."

He stopped and turned to look at her. "You must be new, right? Do you have any idea who you are talking to?"

"Undoubtedly someone with very poor manners."

"Oh, you think so?" he said with a smirk, "Well, you'd be awfully surprised." He grabbed her wrist. "See? I'm even gonna give you a ride for knocking you over." Dragon began dragging her to his car.

"Hmph, an '86 Camry. I'll bet you think you're cool."

"Shut up, will ya?" With that, he opened the door and threw her in the backseat. He quickly jumped in the driver's seat and took off before she could get out.

She sat herself up in the back and took a good look at her abductor. The man was tall with dark, shaggy hair and peircing red eyes. He wore a worn out leather jacket over a black shirt and jeans. What caught her attention was the gold ring he wore on a chain around his neck. She kept looking at it in the rearview mirror until he suddenly turned a corner, causing her to fall out of the seat. He smirked.

"Dude!! Who do you think you are??"

"You can refer to me as Dragon, miss...?"

Ignoring his question, she requested, "Would it be possible to be dropped off at the library, Mr. Dragon? Please?"

At this, the driver merely laughed. "Right, wench. Can I call you that? You don't mind do you, since you obviously aren't providing me with a better one? Why in the world would you want to go to the library, anyway? That's on the other side of town. Why were you in the ghetto?"

"What is this? 20 Questions?"

He shrugged. "You don't have to answer now, although I can guarrantee that I'll get the information I want later if that's how you want it."

"What I really want is to go to the library. Could you please oblige? You seem to be headed that way anyhow..." she said. Who did this guy think he was anyway? The Czar of Russia? The Shah of Iran? ...

"Hmm, no."

"Fine." She scootched over to the far door, unlocked it (thank goodness for the lack of power locks), and, as he slowed to avoid a random pedestrian, she jumped. Fortunately, she fell in a pile of mulch around a tree. She stood, brushed herself off, then headed to the nearest subway entrance to get herself to the library. She had places she had to be.

Dragon just laughed as she rolled on the ground. He may not have gotten much of a chance to intimidate her, but that would just have to do. He looked at his watch again. "Dang! I have to be there in five minutes!" He sped past the pedestrian and hurried toward his destination.

After making the appropriate copies at the library, the girl made her way to her very important engagement. Today, she was interviewing for a job - a much needed job. Times had gotten tough for her family... well... what was left of it. She jogged to the grocery store a few blocks back. Man - she was running late.

"Hey Van! What's up?"

"Hey Gaddes."

"Late again, I see. It's not like you have anything else to do other than working here," Gaddes chided.

"Riiight," Van replied as he grudgingly adjusted his cap and clocked in.

"Yes sir, I would try my utmost to be on time," she assured the manager.

"Well, Hitomi, it seems that we could find a place for you here. We are in need of cashiers around here. I'll have Marlene get you all settled in."

After Marlene had her sign the appropriate forms and gone through the explanation of the union and its dues, she was given a smock, a name tag with "My name is Hitomi. May I help you?" typed on it, and instructed to go shadow Eries on register five for the rest of the day. For the first hour, she merely packed behind the seasoned cashier while the cashier explained the ropes and the way the computer worked. Then, she was given a chance to run it. It all went fine until she got to the vegetables. The codes! Ah! The codes! There were so many. Everytime, she had to ask or look it up. She felt horrible that it took her so long. As nicely as she could, she asked the customers to excuse her. Most were pretty nice about it. Only a few were annoyed. For two more hours everything went fine, but then Eries had to go home, but Hitomi had two more hours. Nervous, she said good-bye and thank you, then faced the line with determinance.

'This family must have like twenty people in it!' she thought as she tried to bag and check out this lady who was trying to keep her annoying three-year-old from the candy rack, but failing. 'Why are all the baggers over there talking to each other when I need help!? The nerve!!!' She eyed them, totally ticked. After about another twenty minutes of this, she was about to scream when she heared: "Paper or plastic?"

At the sound of the voice, she jolted. It couldn't be.... She turned. It was - well, sort of. Was it? It had to be.

"Paper in plastic, please," the customer asked. "I like to have the security of the paper but with the handles of the plastic."

But, Van wasn't listening as he gawked at the cashier, not believing his eyes. It was her. He couldn't believe it - anyone but her! He noticed that she was also staring at him. "Do you need my help or not?"

Brought back to reality, she responded, "Yes. Please." Her eyes looked at him. Why weren't they red like before? Contacts? And what had happened to his hair? Oh - he's stuffed it under the cap. This was just too creepy.

At that, Marlene came on the loud speaker and said, in the necessary nasally voice that using a PA system requires, "Hitomi, take a break. Hitomi."

Hitomi sighed for joy. A break was much needed. She walked over to the counter to pick up her purse.

Van finished bagging the order and walked up to the woman in charge of breaks.

"Can I go on break yet?" he growled.

The woman glared at him for a second. She then looked down at the schedule in her hands. "I suppose," she answered, realizing that she had indeed forgotten to let him go earlier. As soon as he heard her response, Van rushed over to the time clock, clocked out, and headed to the back room where he sat down and flipped the TV on. Moments later, the door opened again. This time it was Hitomi. He looked up at her. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm on break, of course. They called it over the loud speaker. Can't you hear?" Van groaned.

"Right, Mr. High and Mighty Dragon. My name is Hitomi. Question one answered."

"I think you have mistaken me for someone else," he replied as he turned back to the TV.

"Oh, I see how it is. Trying to play it all innocent? Don't want your coworkers to know that you abduct innocent strangers in your rusting '86 Camry!?"

Van pushed the chair he was sitting in back and stood up. He slowly walked up to the new cashier, stopping a few inches from her face, a smirk on his face. "Now, why on earth would I do that? I am merely a well-mannered bagger at the local grocery store." He grabbed her arm. "Isn't that right, Hitomi?"

"Oh my word. You need help. Medical help." She tried to yank her arm out of his grip, but he was pretty strong, probably from lifting all of the beer, dog food, and top soil.

When she stopped struggling, he lowered his voice and said, "My name is Van. You got that? Another word from you about earlier and I can promise you that you will regret it." He let her arm go as he walked back to his seat, focusing once again on the TV.

"Will I now...? Whatever," she muttered as she walked out of the room. She wasn't afraid of him, per se, but she needed this job and didn't want to ruin anything.

The bagger just sat in the room, thinking. If she really did report him, he'd be on the run from the police... again. That was the last thing he needed right now. He clutched the ring under his shirt and grit his teeth, unwanted memories rushing back. He quickly pushed them away, realizing that it was about time for him to get back to work.

"Why does five hours feel like eternity here?" Hiomi thought as she had to look up the code for Bing "*bing*" cherries yet again. "Fifteen more minutes... will it ever end?"

Van glanced at the clock. He then continued his staring at the new cashier's back. If looks could kill, she would have been very dead by now. She knew his secret and nothing was keeping her from telling everyone, including his manager. Then he'd be kicked out for sure. After another fifteen minutes of staring, he finally made his way to the time clock. Just as he got there, Hitomi was clocking out. Without acknowledging his presence, she left to go home.

Even though her home was on the other side of the city, the subway was expensive, so she decided to walk home.

"Hey, babe, you need a lift?" The girl groaned as she recognized the voice. "I'm just trying to make up for earlier," said Van, or White Dragon now that his contacts were out and he had his leather on.

"No thanks," she said coldly, keeping her eyes ahead of her as she walked.

"Oh, but it's the least I could do," he replied as he walked up beside her.

"I don't need any sarcasm from you." She turned to face him. "And, for that matter, why would I ever get into a car with someone who abducted me just a few hours ago? I'm not a moron, thank you kindly." She rolled her eyes.

"Ouch. No need to be rude." Dragon put his arm around her shoulders. "And like I said, I'm just trying to make up for the earlier incident."

"Which one?" she asked, annoyed.

"Take your pick."

She looked at her watch. She did need to get home - dinner had to be prepared. But, did she trust him enough for a ride? He was creepily moody, and honestly, she barely knew him. Biting her lip, she looked him over again. The smirk on his lips wasn't exactly reassuring. "I gotta go." She started walking, this time at a fairly brisk pace.

"Oh, come on," he insisted, grabbing her arm.

"Let go of me!" She pulled her arm away. Her green eyes looked at him seriously. "You need to not touch me."

Dragon held his hands up in mock defense. "Take it easy! Alright, fine. A guy tries to be nice..." He slowly turned and headed for his car, glancing back at the cashier.

"Oh my word..." She mumbled as she headed home. 'Who did this weirdo think he was anyway!? ...' were the thoughts running through her head as Dragon sped by in his car.

She rounded the corner to her apartment building which was on the other side of the alley from Dragon's warehouse. It was always depressing coming home. Life had changed so much in the last few months. Getting up her courage, she headed up the three flights of stairs to meet her brother. Opening the door to the bare room with only two chairs and a bed and plenty of unwanted rodents and bugs, she saw her brother reading a book. "I'm sorry I'm late, Momaru. I got the job at the grocery store."

"Really? That's nice." He hadn't taken his face from the book, but who could blame him? Why would you want to look around at this mess? But, life would go on - if she had anything to do with it.

"I'll make dinner, okay?" He grunted as she went to the counter. 'What can be made with a half a loaf of bread, an apple, yogurt, and peanuts? I guess we'll just have to eat them separately,' she thought.

They sat down at the table together, not talking much, but just eating what they had. After dinner, they read, in silence. Anywhere was better than that apartment. While Hitomi lived the life of hope through Jane Eyre, Momaru rode on the seas with Charlotte Doyle. Soon, they fell asleep and awaited a new day's dawn.

to be continued...