It's still 4:53.  Yet the sun is setting.  Must be late in the year.  Hitomi wakes up in the school infirmary with Amano standing over her
Hitomi: "Allen...?"
Amano: "Kanzaki."
Hitomi: "Amano!"
She sits up, startled
Hitomi: "I, umm..."
Amano: "You'd better stay in bed."
Hitomi: "Is this a dream... or have I returned?"

In the locker room, the girls are packing up for the day
Girl 1: "I'm so thirsty."
Girl 2: "Wanna stop somewhere?"
Girl 3: "Yukari, are you going out for tea?"
Yukari: "Sorry, I have to finish editing the records, so I'll go home with Hitomi."
Girl 3: "You shouldn't bother them."
Girl 2: "Really, you shouldn't."
Yukari stands up
Yukari: "It's okay.  I'll bother them."
Girl 1: "You're mean, Yukari.  Let's go."
Girl 2: "Bye!"
Girl 3: "See you tomorrow, Yukari."
Yukari: "Goodbye."
Yukari is left alone in the locker room.  She leans against the desk for a while and thinks, looking down at the records

Amano: "Planet Gaea, where the moon and the earth appear in the sky.  Escaflowne...  You're a romantic, Kanzaki, because you had a dream like that."
Hitomi: "Dream?"
Eh, let's change the subject
Amano: "You have a beautiful pendant."
Hitomi: "This one?"
No, your other one :P
Hitomi: "This is a memento of my grandmother.  It's interesting.  When I swing it, it keeps swinging once ever second like a pendulum clock."
Amano: "Wow, let me see it."
Hitomi goes into "Vision of Impending Doom" mode, but this time, it's just a sense of deja vu
Hitomi: "I know what's going to happen next."
Amano takes the pendant
Hitomi: "He'll swing the pendant."
And, lo and behold, he does, facing the clock
Hitomi: "One..."
tick
Amano: "...two... three... four... five... six..."
Both: "...seven... eight... nine... ten... eleven... twelve... thirteen... fourteen..."
Hitomi: "I know."
Yeah, we all know how to count
Amano: "Kanzaki.  To tell you the truth..."
Hitomi: "Amano..."
Amano: "I..."
At that point, Yukari barges in to bother them, just like she said, and sees the two together
Yukari: "Hitomi...!"
She looks a little disappointed (the scene seems a lot more dramatic than it did the first time around.  Probably because "Empty the Pocket" isn't playing in the background)

Hitomi and Yukari walk home from the school
Hitomi: "Yukari.  Hey, Yukari.  Say something, Yukari."
Yukari: "Strawberry cake at Yugetsudo..."
Hitomi: "Huh?
Yukari: "Kamakuraya's cheesecake, Pancake Shonan Honpo's pancake, Jerrat Classic's peppermint ice, and one dessert every day.  That'll be enough to forgive you."
Hitomi: "This is the same as that day... the day before the day of destiny."
Hey, are you ignoring Yukari now?  She's talking again
Yukari: "...do you know?  Akane said that Shonan Dock's Hayashi Rice is so tasty.  And..."
Yup, she is ignoring her.  Or just too caught up thinking to pay any attention
Yukari: "What's wrong?  You look pale."
Hitomi: "D... do I?"
Yukari: "Do you already know?"
Hitomi: "What?"
Yukari: "It's okay.  It's nothing.  Let's go, Hitomi."
Hitomi: "Yukari... could you be..."

The two are under a bridge, and the song "Hikari no Naka E" ("Into the Light") starts playing in the background.  Pretty, pretty song ^_^
Yukari: "Hitomi... have you ever read the future between you an Amano?"
Hitomi: "No."
Yukari: "Why not?"
Hitomi: "If it turns out bad..."
Yukari: "I see."
Hitomi: "What's wrong, Yukari?"
Yukari: "If you love... if you love him, you should say so."
Hitomi: "Yukari..."
Yukari: "I heard already.  Hitomi, I overheard a conversation between our seniors.  Amano is going abroad.  He has to go to England because of his father's job.  He can't participate in the prefectual event.  Because you're my best friend, Hitomi, I know how you feel, so you should tell him.  Otherwise, you'll regret it.  You'll regret it if you don't."
Hitomi: "Yukari.... you care deeply for Amano..."

Hitomi continues on by herself, and wanders through the city at night.  She ends up on a train home, and sits by herself, thinking
Hitomi: "I..."
She looks at her reflection in the window.  She looks tired.  Then, she notices a white feather on the seat next to her.  She reaches out to touch it, and it disappears

So what's going on on Gaea during this?  Let's head back to Asturia
Millerna: "Hitomi's disappeared...?!"
Dryden: "Damn, I don't understand this.  What the hell's going on?"
Millerna: "Did Zaibach do something..."
Folken: "That's impossible.  Even if they use Dornkirk's science, it's impossible to create a column of light."
Millerna: "Then, where did Hitomi go?"
Van: "She went home.  She wanted to return to the Mystic Moon, so..."
Aww, he seems so sad about it
Van: "But this is fortunate for us, because Zaibach can no longer use the Fate Redirection machine."
Well, yeah, but they can still do some stuff.  Like...
Gaddess: "Boss!  Zaibach has... Zaibach has taken up positions near the border."
Dramatic downbeat.  Buhm buhm!

And, sure enough, Zaibach's hanging out at the border.  Well, the troops are.  The city's still where it was.  Speaking of which, let's go there now
Sorcerer: "It's no use, Lord Dornkirk.  We can't detect an echo from the girl anywhere."
Dornkirk: "The uncertain element... Why doesn't my dream become a reality?"
Because if it did, that would be the end of the show!  And we've still got two episodes left

Outside of Asturia, a pillar of light just kinda randomly comes down.  Has Hitomi come back?  Or is this... someone else...?  It appears to have dropped off a red guymelef.  Someone stumbles out and aimlessly wanders away from it.  The person is wearing nothing but black pants and a blue-gray shirt, and happens to stumble upon a house out there.  Wonder who's it is?

It's Hitomi's!  No, actually, we've switched back to earth.  Hitomi's finally gone home
Mom: "Hitomi!  Hitomi, the bath's ready!"
It's about five after nine.  Hitomi's laying in bed, staring at the ceiling.  She looks over at a picture on her desk of herself, Yukari, and Amano at a track meet
Hitomi: "Yukari... you've been in love with him for a long time.  I..."
She sits up and hugs her knees
Hitomi: "... thought I was serious."
The wind blows through the window and blows one of the tarot cards off the top of the deck and onto the floor next to her.  It's the Falling Tower card

Back in that house in the woods we saw earlier.  It's Allen's house!  He's hanging out, talking to himself
Allen: "Father... I've decided to protect Hitomi forever.  But she's gone.  However, my heart is so calm for some reason.  It's true that I feel lonely because she's not here, but I'm also happy that she returned to her own world.  I might have been seeing the figure of my sister, Celena, in her."
Strange you didn't see it in a certain someone else... (cough).  But I guess Allen's not talking to himself, as a phantom of his father is sitting in the chair across from him
Allen: "Father."
Allen's owl reacts to something.  The door opens, and there stands that person from before
Allen: "This can't be...  Celena!"

Since that's a tad twisted (and it only gets screwier), let's head back to Hitomi's house.  She's looking at her Falling Tower card
Hitomi: "Why did this card..."
She then has a... vision of Escaflowne!
Hitomi: "Escaflowne...?"
She looks up at the rest of the tarot deck.  So, what's the next card she would have pulled?  She reaches out and lifts off the top card
Hitomi: "Why?"
It's the Ace of Serpents again
Hitomi: "I'm not going back to that moment.  I don't want to."
She looks at the card and sees an image of Van in it.  A tear runs down her cheek
Hitomi: "Van..."

Speak of the devil, there he is, hanging out on the roof of his windmill, looking up at the earth
Merle: "Lord Van..."
Van: "Oh, Merle?"
Merle: "Lord Van, what's wrong with you?  You look depressed."
Van: "It's nothing."
Merle: "You care about Hitomi, right?"
Van: "No I don't."
Merle: "You're lying!  I've been with you the whole time. I know you very well.  You care for Hitomi.  You love Hitomi, don't you?"
Van doesn't respond, but Merle hugs his arm
Merle: "Lord Van, you haven't noticed your own feelings.  I've known for a long time.  Remember, Hitomi always said, 'your feelings will reach each other'?  Your feelings will surely reach her.  Reach Hitomi."
Eh, okay, go for it

Now we're in the graveyard again.  And who's in the graveyard but Allen and Eries!  Man, they sure like to hang out there.  But Allen brought Celena with him this time, to their mother's grave.  Celena's kneeling at the grave, just sorta staring blankly at it.  A butterfly flits by, and she finds that more interesting
Eries: "Is she really Celena?"
Allen: "Yes.  It's been ten years, but my sister has... I wouldn't mistake her for another."
cough
Allen: "I wonder where she's been.  The poor thing has lost her memory."
Eries: "Memory...?"
And Celena's darn fascinated with that butterfly
Allen: "Princess Eries, while I'm gone to war, please take care of my sister.  You're the only one I can ask."
Meanwhile, Celena gets a scary grin.  She reaches out and grabs the butterfly out of the air.  She then happily opens her hand and lets the little butterfly pieces float away on the wind.  Hm, destruction... why's that so familiar?  Celena makes a choked gasp
Eries: "I understand.  She's the sister of a Knight Caeli.  I'll take care of her at the palace."
She might be a handful, though.  Suddenly, Celena screams and clutches her stomach, doubling over.
Allen: "Celena?!"
She chokes a couple more times, as her shoulders broaden and her hair changes from wavy and blonde to straight and silver.  (S)he looks up, and we see a rather familiar face ^_^*
Allen: "Are you all right, Celena?"
Dilandau: "Celena?!"
How's that for a plot twist?  :P
Dilandau: "Where am I?  What am I doing?"
He yells in frustration, and maybe at the fact that he's wearing a girl's blouse :P
Allen: "Are you a doppleganger?"
Dilandau: "Jajukaaa!  Jajukaaa!  JAJUKAAAAAA!"
The wind blows, and there's a ripple in the air
Allen: "What the?  Princess Eries!"
Yup, that's a Zaibach guymelef decloaking in front of them.  What a snoopy dog.  :P
Jajuka: "Lord Dilandau!"
Dilandau looks all cute and happy
Dilandau: "Jajuka!"
Allen: "Dilandau...?  Wait, Dilandau!"
Too late.  Jajuka's already picked Dilandau up and promptly vanishes

Folken: "Dilandau...?"
If ya wanna know what's going on, why not ask the guy associated with him?  ^_^
Folken: "I'm sorry, I don't know the details about his past.  However, it seems to be true that there are Sorcerers behind him."
Allen: "Sorcerers...?!"
Folken: "They are the scientists of Zaibach who are under Dornkirk's direct command.  There were rumors that they did experiments on the living bodies of kidnapped children to change their fate."
Allen: "Experiments?!"
My sister, the lab rat
Allen: "Celena was... Then, Celena was....?"
Poor kid

On a lighter note, Hitomi's back in school.  I wonder if she still remembers the lecture from the day before?  :P
Teacher: "You know that Newton discovered gravity by looking at a falling apple.  But Newton was also interested in alchemy and magic.  Interesting, isn't it?"
The teacher tosses an apple into the air.  As a side note, the blackboard behind him reads "aizakku nyuuton" (Isaac Newton), along with the atomic symbol for iron (Fe).  Remember how Dornkirk was also called Isaac?  Eh, I think I already mentioned this, though.  It's not important.  However, Hitomi sees a falling feather rather than a flying apple.  The feather falls on her notes and disappears
Hitomi: "It's calling me."

And I think the aforementioned Isaac is plotting something
Sorcerer: "Lord Dornkirk, it's ready.  If we raise the gravity between the Dragon and the girl, it should be possible to generate the elemental particles of fate."
Dornkirk: "Yes, the gravity exists.  The girl with appear on Gaea once again."

Meanwhile, Hitomi's hanging out in the school locker room, remembering her request of a first kiss from Amano (er, but it's not her first kiss anymore ^_^*).  Yukari comes running in to get her
Yukari: "Hitomi, what are you doing?  You've gotta hurry before Amano goes home!  Hitomi!"
Hitomi: "I'm sorry, Yukari... I didn't notice at the time, even though you're my best friend.  But I have to go, because I want to see him.  I want to see him again."
Hitomi hugs her
Hitomi: "I'm sorry, Yukari."
She then runs out of the door
Yukari: "Hitomi..."

And back on Gaea, Van's decided that he's gonna get on Escaflowne and just fly to the Mystic Moon.  Merle watches from the roof of the windmill
Merle: "Lord Van..."

Sorcerer: "The elemental particles of fate have reached critical.  Activating the device."

And Van's still heading up.  And up
Van: "Hitomi, once again, you and I..."

On the track, Hitomi's prepping for her fated thirteen-second run
Amano: "Kanzaki, are you ready?"
Hitomi: "Yes, on your call!"
The lights go on over the track, and Yukari waves from the bleachers
Hitomi: "Yukari."
Hitomi sets herself up on the starting block
Amano: "Get set!"
Hitomi: "Take courage..."
Amano: "Go!"
The pendant starts its swing.  And we've got a ton of scene switches in a matter of a second.  Hitomi takes off from the block.  Dornkirk watches.  Van flies towards the earth.  Hitomi runs.  Van flies.  Hitomi runs.  Van flies.  And it switches between those two a few more times.  Suddenly the pendant glows, and Dornkirk's ball zaps all the Sorcerers.  It also makes Escaflowne turn into a pillar of light
Amano: "Seven... eight..."
And there's that pillar of light, just like in the first episode.  However, this time, Van comes flying down the pillar on Escaflowne.  He reaches his hand out
Van: "Hitomi!"
Hitomi: "Van!"
She grabs his hand, and Van pulls her up onto Escaflowne.  Things seem to go in slow motion as they share a look
Van: "Hitomi, I'll never let you..."
Hitomi: "Van!"
She hugs him, and Van gets a cute bewildered look (awww).  Escaflowne starts rising back up the column of light, and Amano runs to it
Amano: "Kanzaki!  Kanzaki!"
He reaches out, but the pendant floats off his hand and up the pillar of light with them.  The pillar disappears, leaving Amano alone on the track

Somewhere on Gaea, the pillar of light chucks them off
Van: "No doubt, this is Gaea."
How do we know?  Because there's burning carnage in front of them!
Van: "What the..."
Hitomi: "I've returned to Gaea, the world of battle."
And she's got her pendant, so life is good