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author	rlm
date	Fri, 19 Feb 2010 06:24:59 -0500
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+:ed1308d04df2
+Dreams Part 2
+	Megumi shivered as the cold night wind lightly blew against her and
+Kumiko. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, Kumi-chan. It’s late, it’s
+cold, and I’m tired. My parents are going to expect to see me in bed
+in..”, as she looked at her wrist, Megumi remembered that she
+actually didn’t wear a watch. She could hear Kumiko giggle slightly
+as if she knew that would happen. “Well, I need to be there in a few
+hours.” Not like they’d actually be home, but she wasn’t feeling very
+well and that pain in her chest was getting stronger again. It was a
+good enough excuse at any rate. At least, she hoped it was.
+	Kumiko sighed. “I know. I really don’t want to be here either, but
+I just have to learn something about those people in the tape.
+Remember, in the tape? That Sakura girl said that she always was
+recording her. So, if there was a tape in the camera, maybe there was
+another tape? Maybe there are a lot of other tapes. Maybe that could
+explain why I felt so..” she shook a bit, not wanting to think about
+it. “Maybe that could explain why I felt so attached to those girls
+in the video. That wasn’t just some normal deja vu. That was
+something.. special. What do you think, Megumi-chan?”
+	“Hmm?” Megumi looked up from the lamp she was toying with. “Well, I
+think that we shouldn’t be digging through some rich person’s trash
+can. That’s what I think.”
+	Kumiko stuck her tongue out at her. “Oh sure. I’m having lots of
+fun digging through the trash. Luckily, they’ve only seem to have
+thrown away most of the yard sale stuff so far. Seriously, what do
+you think? About the tape?”
+	“I.. I don’t know. I feel so many things about the tape. I feel the
+pain from falling, I feel the happiness from being with her, and so
+much more. It seems so sad when I think about it, though. Like
+something tragic happened to those people. Even though I don’t know
+them, and don’t even know what happened, it hurts. Like I lost
+something dear to me, but found it again. Like if you moved away and
+then came back, I guess.” Megumi ran her arm under across her eyes
+and was surprised to find that her eyes were wet.
+	Kumiko looked concerned and pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s
+okay, Megumi. I feel pretty much the same way.  It’s really confusing
+to feel that way about someone you don’t know. I wish I had the
+answers, but I don’t. So, I’m looking for them. Do you think we’ll
+find anything? If we do, should we even look at it? With how one tape
+was, I couldn’t  imagine how a collection of them would be.” Kumiko
+slowly pulled away from Megumi. With a deep dramatic sigh, she threw
+her arms down in defeat. “Well, I give up. I’m not going to find
+anything digging around in the trash in the dark.” Kumiko started
+forward, but tripped and fell into Megumi’s arms, knocking them both
+off balance and sending them into the cold hard ground.
+	Both girls just looked into each other’s eyes, curious if the other
+was thinking the same thing they were. Kumiko opened her mouth in an
+attempt to say something, but stopped herself. After a few seemingly
+everlasting moments of silence, Megumi spoke up. “Are you okay Kumi?
+Aww.. you scraped your knee. Should I kiss it and make it better?”
+Kumiko blushed and nodded weakly. Megumi ever-so-slowly leaned
+forward and kissed the slightly injured knee. “There. All better? I
+really can’t stand to see you hurt, you know, Kumi-chan.” Megumi
+smiled proudly at the dark blush on Kumiko’s face. Quickly, she stood
+up and offered out her hand. Kumiko grasped her hand and squeezed
+reassuringly and let Megumi help her to her feet.
+	“I’ll come over to your house early tomorrow, okay, Kumi? Do you
+think the library will be open on the weekend?” Megumi asked
+curiously. She regretted saying the words shortly after they were out
+of her mouth. She -really- wasn’t feeling good. She needed to get
+home soon. And she really didn’t know if she’d be up to checking out
+a library the next day. The blonde was thankful for the darkness in
+masking her increasingly pale features.
+	Kumiko nodded thoughtfully, brushing back a lock of brown hair
+behind an ear. “Yeah, it should be. We’ll head there in the morning
+and see what we can find. There has to be something on the girls in
+that video. Or at least I hope so.” Sighing, the teenager yawned
+exaggeratedly. “For now I’m gonna get some sleep. Do you think you
+could stay for a bit? I need to sneak back in anyway. Mom and dad
+still think I’m sleeping.” She smiled over at the blonde girl
+hopefully. “I always sleep better after I talk to you.”
+	Megumi returned the smile weakly and shook her head. “I’d love to,
+Kumi, but I’m not sure how appreciative your mother would be of me
+teaching her daughter all sorts of strange things this late at night.
+And I already know she likes me, so I can’t jeopardize that.” A laugh
+accompanied the hug she gave Kumiko. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kumi-
+chan. You have beautiful dreams in the meantime. I know you’ll be in
+mine.”
+	The wind picked up slightly, blowing Kumiko’s hair around as she
+returned the hug. “Okay. Maybe some other time then. I’ll be thinking
+about you, Megumi-chan. Sleep we...” Before she could finish that
+thought, Megumi’s lips pressed tightly against her own. Her cheeks
+darkened as her eyes fell closed and she kissed back.
+	“Goodnight, Kumi.” And with that, Megumi was off.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+	Wet tears spilt down Megumi’s cheek to the bathroom tile beneath
+her. The tile was cold against the bare skin of her legs peeking out
+beneath her jumbled nightgown, but she’d long since given up on
+caring about such trivial discomforts. Her whole body was screaming
+at her, fire burning maliciously at all of her senses. Even taking
+her medicine hadn’t helped in the least. She should be in bed, but
+she couldn’t make it the short distance back to her bedroom. So she
+knelt on the floor in the bathroom, her head leaning against the
+cabinets under the sink. Her skin was deathly pale, nearly as white
+as the tiles underneath her.
+	“Daddy... Mommy... Somebody... please...” Her voice barely reached
+her own ears, seeming no more than a whisper. More cold tears fell
+down her face. Her parents weren’t there. Again. They were always
+working these days. To get away from her. No, that wasn’t true. That
+couldn’t be. They were both working to afford all of the medicine and
+the treatments and the doctors. Megumi shuddered violently at the
+memories. It always hurt so much. And the doctors had been pretty
+grim whenever they talked to her parents. She didn’t need to be a lip
+reader to know that she was dying. A cold hand was gripping her soul,
+frightening the poor girl even more. She didn’t want to die. She
+didn’t want to leave Kumiko. Kumiko... Of course she hadn’t told the
+other girl about any of this. It would only make her worry. And
+Megumi had long ago found out that there was nothing that she could
+do about it. So why worry Kumiko when it was so much nicer to see her
+smiling, happy face?
+	A sudden fit of coughing shook the blonde girl’s small body as she
+reached up to her trembling lips. When she pulled them away, they
+were wet with fresh blood. The sight sent her into more tears. She
+was so scared but there was no one who would come comfort her. If
+Kumiko found out, she would be right over, but then she’d worry
+herself to death. Her parents were nowhere to be seen, so she was all
+on her own. Be a big girl, her mother had told her, several years
+before. Be a big girl and you’ll make it through this. Megumi didn’t
+want to be a big girl. It hurt too much.
+	Kumiko yawned tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her violet eyes. Her
+long, dark brown hair was done up in braids today. Sleep had not been
+easy in coming to her the night before. Her mind kept going back to
+the girls on the tape and why it had seemed so familiar. Had
+something similar happened with her and Megumi, explaining the shared
+sense of deja vu? Or was there something deeper behind all of it? “I
+really hope we can find something here. And soon. I’m hungry. I
+didn’t get any breakfast before we left.” Megumi winced at the
+mention of food. The blonde girl really didn’t look very good this
+morning. Her skin was paper white and her lips were drawn tight. The
+sunglasses she wore looked cute on her and they hid her bloodshot
+aquamarine eyes well, but Kumiko could see them occasionally as the
+sunglasses almost slipped off. She sighed as they entered the
+library. Megumi looked like she was getting sick, but she looked like
+that so often these days. Her lover would always deny that anything
+was wrong besides a slight cold when Kumiko would ask her about it.
+	Megumi shivered in the air conditioned building, rubbing her arms
+as she tried to keep warm. “It’s freezing in here. Let’s just try to
+get the information and get out of here. Mom wants me home early
+today so I can’t be out long.” It always pained her to lie to Kumiko,
+but she really didn’t feel like being out of bed at all today. She
+kind of doubted her mother would be home at any rate.
+	“Well, if you’re tired, you can always take a nap at my place when
+we’re done with all this, Megumi-chan.” Kumiko smiled brightly as she
+took her best friend’s cold hand.  A sigh escaped her lips as she
+looked for a good place to begin their search. “Something tells me I
+should have just tried to look up all this stuff on my computer
+anyway.  At least then I could go make some lunch.” Another uneasy
+look on Megumi’s face told her to drop the subject of eating. But she
+was sooooo hungry. “Here we go.” Finding a free terminal, she began
+searching for relevant information.
+	Pulling up a chair, Megumi relished the feeling of being off her
+feet. The entire way there, she had felt ready to collapse. Her body
+was still aching from the night before, but she couldn’t let it show
+through. She didn’t want Kumiko to start worrying about  this,
+especially when her heart was so set on finding out who the people on
+the videotape were. The sick girl wasn’t really sure she wanted to
+know, herself. It was all just too freaky. Who cared who some people
+on an old, dated video were? All she needed was Kumiko. As long as
+she had the other girl nearby, everything would always be all right.
+“Find anything?” she asked after realizing she had nodded off for a
+bit. She tried to suppress a yawn, but to no avail.
+	Giggling at her friend, the brown haired girl nodded. “Yeah, I
+think so. Apparently the mansion had been owned by the Daidouji
+family previously.”
+	Megumi gasped. “Daidouji? The Daidouji Company kind of Daidouji”
+	Nodding again, Kumiko grew more serious. “Yeah, it looks like the
+place belonged to the Daidouji family for quite a while, but recently
+it had been sold by Daidouji Maya, the current head of the company.
+She went there to move out some of the things that were important,
+but it looks like some of it got left behind and the new occupants
+are getting rid of it.”
+	“So does that mean that one of the girls on the videotape was from
+that family line? Is there any information on them? Maybe we could
+find some pictures.” Megumi’s heart was pounding in her chest. Part
+of her wanted to reach over and turn off the power on the computer,
+to tell Kumiko it didn’t matter who was on some stupid videotape and
+that she was the only one that mattered to her, but she was
+paralyzed. She didn’t want to know. She was too afraid to find out.
+But she couldn’t get herself to keep from hearing more.
+	“Yeah, that’s what I’m checking right now. They’re a pretty
+powerful family, so there should be a fair amount about them. I think
+one of them is in our class. That Sumire girl? The one with the
+glasses and the scary looking dark haired girl that’s always
+following her?” Glancing back at Megumi, she saw the blonde nod in
+response.  “Come to think of it, she does look a bit like the girls
+in the video. Though I can’t tell which she looks more like, so I
+don’t know who she’s related to. And I don’t know how she could
+possibly be related to both.” Oddly enough, the idea sounded right.
+She shook her head and kept looking at the screen. “Here it is.” A
+list was on the screen, showing the family line back for quite some
+time. “Yep, there’s Sumire. It looks like the first Daidouji on
+record is Daidouji Sonomi and she founded the company. She had a
+daughter, Daidouji Tomoyo. Apparently she had a daughter named Bara.
+And she had a daughter named Maya, the current head of the Daidouji
+Company. And she has a daughter named Sumire. Yeah, she’s in our
+class. There’s her picture.” Kumiko pointed at the picture of a
+frustrated looking girl in big glasses with dark hair done up in
+pigtails.
+	Megumi nodded slowly, not sure if she could take much more of this.
+The anticipation was maddening. The sunglasses had slipped off her
+nose, but she hardly noticed. “Can you find any other pictures? What
+about the rest of them?”
+	Typing in another command, Kumiko looked back up at the screen.
+Pictures began appearing by the names, as well as links for more
+information on each member of the family. First a determined looking
+businesswoman with a slant style hair cut and then a beautiful pale
+woman with long dark hair that ended in curls with the same stormy
+blue eyes as her mother. The braided girl stopped there. “That’s
+her!! That’s the one from the videotape!” Her violet eyes went wide
+in shock as she stared at the screen. She was much older in the
+picture, a full grown woman as opposed to the teenager in the video,
+but it was obviously the same person.
+	Feeling sick to her stomach, Megumi heard her ask a question she
+was dreading. “Does it have any information on her? Or who that
+brunette might have been?”
+	“Let me see...” Biting her lower lip, Kumiko continued looking
+through the information. A summary of the woman’s entire life up on
+the next page was briefly skimmed through as her whole body
+threatened to shake. Being so close to all of this was exciting. She
+knew that what she was looking for was near, an answer to the
+question posed by the videotape. “Kinomoto Sakura! Right here. It
+says that she got married to Daidouji Tomoyo. Wait, that can’t be
+right. Yeah, it says that they got married and had a daughter. That’s
+bizarre. But here she is.” The slightly shorter girl moved to the
+side to give her lover a better look. On screen was a woman with
+fairly short brunette hair and a happy smile, looking out with
+emerald green eyes. It had to be the other girl from the videotape.
+	“How’d they die?” Megumi blurted out. “Maybe it was really tragic
+and they possessed the videotape or something. I thought they
+wouldn’t have lasted much longer past the videotape if it seemed so
+important.”
+	Skimming the information, Kumiko shook her head. “It looks like
+they lived long, happy lives by all accounts. Daidouji Sakura... Oh,
+she must’ve changed her name when they got married. Anyway, she fell
+down the stairs when she was a grandmother. Daidouji Tomoyo died a
+few days later of no explained cause. Her daughter seems to have
+thought it was heartache over the loss of Sakura.”
+	Megumi shook her head, running hands through her curly blonde hair.
+“None of this makes any sense. We know who these people are now, but
+that still doesn’t explain anything. Why do we know them at all?
+Maybe it was the camera angle. Maybe we just got so caught up in
+watching the old thing that we started thinking there was more to
+it.” She was shaking now, afraid. This was all too strange for her.
+	Kumiko took Megumi’s soft hand, trying to comfort her. “Megumi...
+There has to be something to all of this. I know there is. It’s just
+too much to be a coincidence.”
+	“How do you know, Kumi? Maybe that’s all it is...” Megumi’s voice
+was unsteady and she couldn’t meet the braided girl’s gaze. She
+squeezed Kumiko’s hand.
+	“Then why do I know things about them that I shouldn’t? Things that
+video couldn’t have told me. That they came up with the baby’s name
+while strolling through a rose garden. That Tomoyo loved to sing to
+Sakura. That Sakura liked to cook for Tomoyo even though they had
+people who could do that for them. That the world looked all tumbly
+when she fell down the stairs.” Kumiko shuddered at the unbidden
+images in her mind. It all looked so real. Like she was reliving old
+memories. Even slipping down the stairs...
+	“Stop it!!” Megumi stood up suddenly, tears starting to form in her
+eyes. “Just stop it, Kumi! You’re scaring me...” Her voice went from
+a scream to a barely audible whisper in seconds. Shaking hands wiped
+at her eyes as she took a few weak steps back. Kumiko reached for her
+seconds before she collapsed.
+	“Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Kumiko demanded of the
+prone girl in her room.
+	“I didn’t remember..?” Megumi ventured after a moment’s hesitation,
+trying to smile in an attempt to lighten the mood.
+	“Hmph...” Turning away from her, the slightly shorter girl crossed
+her arms. Megumi could tell that she was fuming.
+	“How did you find out?” the blonde asked quietly, almost ashamed.
+	“Your mother told me when I called and told her that you had
+collapsed at the library. I thought you’d just fainted from too much
+shock. But she said you’ve been sick off and on for the past three
+years. And that you’re getting worse.”
+	“That’s technically inaccurate. I’ve been sick since I was a little
+girl. It’s just been getting progressively worse for the past three
+years.” Megumi tried another smile, but it seemed to have no affect
+on Kumiko’s back. Sighing, she shook her head. She felt defeated. “I
+didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about all
+this. I know how hard it is to know that you’re dying and that no one
+can help. I know how bad that feeling of helplessness is. And I would
+never want you to have to experience it. It makes you feel all sick
+and twisted up inside. Besides, your smiles have always been the best
+therapy for me. I don’t want them to be tainted with worry whenever
+you look at me.” Closing her eyes, the wind from the fan rustled the
+blankets over her. “It’s not like I could have hid it from you much
+longer anyway. It’s starting to get to the point where I can barely
+hide the pain sometimes. You would have found out sooner or later.”
+	“But you’re supposed to tell me everything! I’m your girlfriend! I
+love you! I can’t...” The anger in Kumiko’s voice drained away as she
+released a choked sob. “I don’t want to lose you... I... I need
+you... Megumi...” She collapsed to her knees, burying her face
+against Megumi’s side as she clung to her raggedly. “I love you... I
+love you too much to let you go..”
+	Megumi couldn’t hold back her own tears as she gently stroked
+Kumiko’s back. “Kumi...” she whispered softly. This was exactly what
+she’d feared would happen if Kumiko found out, but she found herself
+oddly relieved to know that her love finally knew of her personal
+pain. It felt so much freer. Like it was finally all right to cry. To
+stop being a big girl.
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+	Sitting in the tree adjacent to the window, a woman watched the two
+girls in silence. She had been there for some time, but no one seemed
+to notice her presence. Her eyes sparkled from behind her glasses as
+she continued her silent vigil. She had a keen interest in the
+futures of the two girls inside the small room. But revealing herself
+would be troublesome. They weren’t supposed to know about her.
+Especially not yet.
+	Lavender eyes fell upon the sleeping form of Megumi. “Tomoyo-
+chan...” the mysterious girl whispered softly. She had this all
+planned out, but now it was almost impossible to continue on. Her
+heart ached too much to continue on this way. But it was because of
+her that this was happening. Well, most of it. She had never planned
+on Megumi getting sick. Or the girls finding out about their pasts.
+They were supposed to be oblivious to what was really going on. That
+was their single goal in life that she had set out for them. To eke
+out lives for themselves, together. They weren’t supposed to get
+involved. But seeing her lying there, being held by the brunette was
+almost too much for her. How she longed to go inside there and take
+Kumiko’s place. She had been so sure of her plans when she’d set
+everything in motion years before. But now after all that she had
+endured, she was having second thoughts. It wasn’t fair that she was
+supposed to be alone. That she was only here for a very specific
+purpose. And the most painful part of it all was that she had brought
+it all upon herself.
+	“Tomoyo-chan... I miss you.” Long fingers wiped at the tears
+building in her eyes behind the glasses. It was a bad idea to come
+back. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Why
+had she come after all? Because she had to see her again. But
+watching her in the arms of the other girl, dying, was just too much
+to bear. A mournful sigh escaped her lips. This was stupid. She never
+should have come. Standing on the branch she had been sitting on,
+long wings unfurled from her back. “Sleep well, Tomoyo. I’m sorry for
+hurting you.” Blowing a kiss through the window, she got ready to
+push off when Kumiko turned around. Her heart skipped a beat. No, she
+hadn’t noticed her. Her magic was still shrouding her. There was
+nothing to worry about. Then their eyes locked.
+	Kumiko stared wide eyed at the red haired angel floating outside
+the window. An uneasy feeling had been building in her chest for the
+past few minutes and it had just reached a deafening crescendo. Her
+instincts had finally taken over at the feeling of being watched. But
+she certainly hadn’t been expecting that. Kumiko had led a rather
+normal life for the short time she had been alive. Nothing stranger
+than a slightly eccentric girlfriend. But now there were videotapes
+of long dead girls and deja vu from some past life and strange
+feelings she couldn’t pinpoint. And now this. Her heart seized up at
+the sight, as if her mind wanted to deny the very existence of this
+girl. ‘No, she’s not there! Ignore her! Pretend that you’ve never
+seen her and everything will go back to normal,’ her mind screamed to
+her. And part of her knew that it was true. Everything could be the
+way it used to be. All of this craziness could be forgotten. But as
+she watched the girl outside her window, she found herself being
+drawn closer. The angel knew. She knew all about what was going on.
+And Kumiko needed answers. She bolted to the window.
+	The angel could easily have flown away by now, but she stayed where
+she was, perched atop the branch and peering in. Her eyes followed
+Kumiko’s every movement. The large, white wings moved ever so
+slightly behind her as she shifted her balance. “You weren’t supposed
+to see me, Kumiko. You weren’t supposed to see any of this. I should
+make you forget about all of it.” Her voice was calm, even. Her eyes
+narrowed through the glasses, giving her a slightly menacing look.
+	The whole thing sent a shiver through Kumiko. She knew that the
+angel in the tree could very well back up her claim. “Who are you?
+What’s going on? Why is all of this happening?” she asked, heedless
+of whatever danger she was putting herself in. It didn’t matter. She
+couldn’t sit back while all of this washed over her. The only girl
+she had ever loved lay dying in her bed and she was still so confused
+about everything. And the firey haired angel was the key to it all.
+	The angel looked back at Kumiko through her glasses, lavender eyes
+meeting violet in an intense stare that neither was willing to back
+down from. The angel finally sighed, shifting to the side as her
+wings stretched out behind her. “Kumiko-chan, you really aren’t ready
+for any of this. Just go back inside and hold onto Megumi tightly.
+Love her. Hold her. Comfort her. That is why you exist.”
+	“So I can watch her die?!” Kumiko shouted, rage burning in her
+heart. Her hands shook as tears threatened to spill down her cheeks.
+Her violet eyes were ablaze with the pain and anger that clung to her
+heart like needles. “I exist so that I can watch my only love slip
+away from me?! So that I can be there for her while she dies so
+young?” Hot tears fell past her chin as she shook her head intensely.
+“No!! That’s not it!! That’s not how things are supposed to work!”
+	The angel’s beautiful face turned cross as she flew up next to the
+window in one long, graceful movement. The wings beat slowly,
+luxioriously as she remained aloft in front of the startled brunette.
+“Will you please be quiet? You’re going to worry Tomoyo-chan. She
+needs her sleep right now.“ Closing her eyes, she chanted something
+under her breath before motioning with her hand.
+	Kumiko watched in shock as a gentle blue wave surrounded Megumi
+before fading away. “What the hell did you do to Megumi-chan!?!” she
+demanded furiously. She reached out and grabbed hold of the angel’s
+blouse, holding on tightly.  “You leave her alone!!”
+	The angel just watched Kumiko for a silent moment, her lavender
+eyes betraying a deep loneliness in her heart. “I was simply putting
+her to sleep. She’s in enough pain as it is. Now she’s dreaming, far
+away from the pain. She doesn’t need you waking her up and
+frightening her about all of this. All she wants is to be with you.
+Don’t you understand? That’s all she ever wanted. And that‘s what I
+gave her.”
+	Kumiko’s hands fell uselessly to her sides as she took a half step
+backwards. “You... You planned all of this... You know what’s going
+on, don’t you..? So, you know all about the videotape and the
+memories and everything... Right?” The angel nodded slowly,
+thoughtfully. “Then... Then you have to tell me! I need to know
+what’s happening!! I have to!” She asked anxiously, her eyes welling
+up as she collapsed against the window sill, barely supporting her
+weight on her hands. “Please...?” she asked pathetically, her eyes
+begging the silent angel. “You have to...”
+	Closing her lavender eyes, the angel sighed, shaking her head. “It
+wasn’t supposed to be this way. You weren’t meant to find out. You
+were simply supposed to live your lives, to be happy.” Her eyes
+fluttered open, looking directly into Kumiko’s soul. She could see
+every nuance of the girl before her, everything that made her what
+she was. In a way, it was like looking into a mirror. Of course, her
+life had changed certain things, forcing her to grow up very
+differently than the girl before her.
+	Kumiko waited nervously through the scrutiny she was receiving from
+the angel. It was with some surprise that she realized the angel was
+younger than her. She looked no more than fourteen years old. But
+even then, it still frightened her to see those piercing lavender
+eyes focused so intently on herself. “You said... You said that it’s
+why I exist... What do you mean?” she ventured, hoping that  her
+pleas wouldn’t go unheard this time.
+	Sighing, the angel pushed up her glasses, her red hair moving
+slowly as the wind caressed it. In the blink of an eye, she
+disappeared, Sakura blossoms floating gently to the grass below.
+	“No! No! Come back!! Please come back!!! There’s so much I need to
+know!” Verging on panic, Kumiko leaned out the window and called
+again and again for the firey haired angel. A tap on her back
+startled her, almost to the point of falling out the window. Her
+heart pounded in her chest in shock as she finally turned around. The
+angel stood before her without a trace of her beautiful wings. Kumiko
+blushed in embarrassment, staring at the floor. “I thought that you’d
+left...” she admitted sheepishly.
+	To the brunette’s amazement, the angel smiled softly. “Don’t worry.
+I probably would have done the same. Which is why I know that I can’t
+leave. You can’t hide from the truth, even if it is safer that way.
+You would continue relentlessly pursuing it until it finally consumed
+you.”
+	“You make that sound like a bad thing to be a little determined now
+and then,” Kumiko said, frowning as she crossed her arms. This girl
+knew all the right buttons to push.
+	“It can be. Especially when others are trying to protect you from
+the truth. You don’t understand how brutal it can be.” The angel
+looked over at the blonde asleep in the bed. “But you’re beginning to
+get a taste.” Her glasses glinted in the sunlight as she turned
+around. “My name is Meishi. I am the reincarnation of the sorceress
+Sakura Daidouji.” She smiled again, gesturing to the mirror.
+	Kumiko’s eyes traveled quickly to it. Rather than the firey haired
+angel, the girl Kumiko had seen on the computer earlier that day took
+her place. She looked to be about the same fourteen years as the
+angel. Confusion gripped her heart as she tried to make sense out of
+what was going on. “But I thought... I thought that I was Sakura,”
+she said quietly, her voice no more than a ghost. Wasn’t that what
+her memories were telling her? What she had seen in the video? Wasn’t
+she that girl?
+	“You are a dream. Born from my love for the girl that you know as
+Megumi. You are here to love her always, to be with her throughout
+all her life. That is your lot in life. And I would give anything to
+trade places with you.” Her small body shuddered almost imperceptibly
+as she closed her eyes. When they opened, her lavender eyes shimmered
+with unshed tears. Kumiko couldn‘t utter a word in response. A dream?
+She was only a dream? Some sort of puppet? “I knew that one day I
+would have to set things in motion, that I would need to return to
+finish what started with the Cards. But I also knew how difficult
+that would be. I knew that I couldn’t leave Tomoyo behind. She means
+everything to me. But I didn’t want to get her caught up in what I
+needed to do. Too often she was nearly hurt because of my
+carelessness. Her heart suffered the worst because of me. I wasn’t
+going to let that happen again.” She took the brunette’s hands and
+pulled her gently closer until they were both in front of the mirror.
+To Kumiko’s surprise, neither were present in the mirror. There were
+instead two Sakura’s standing there, in the same positions that she
+was in with Meishi. “So I created you to take care of her, to love
+her, to be with her while I handled the magical side of things. It’s
+something that I’ve come to regret now.” Her eyes once again settled
+on the peacefully sleeping form of the blonde girl. “I never expected
+her to get sick. I didn’t think she would die like this.”
+	As if snapping out of a trance, Kumiko took a step forward. She
+couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So even though she’s your
+Tomoyo, you’re still going to let her die? With all the magic at your
+command, your not even going to try and save her life?” All the fear
+and worry that had entered her heart at the mention that she was
+created of a dream for Sakura’s purposes dissipated in an instant as
+fury returned. “How could you say you love her if you aren’t willing
+to do anything for her? How could you stick her with a dream and then
+leave her to die?” Her voice was frantic, pained, but she forced out
+the words.
+	Meishi slumped to her knees at Megumi’s bedside, holding her pale
+hand tightly. Kumiko’s brazen words had cut her deeper than any knife
+could. “You don’t understand. I’m the one who brought her back. My
+magic is too strong. I can’t die. Not completely. But Tomoyo-chan...
+She can die. She did die. So I brought her back. I reincarnated her.
+Because I got scared. I couldn’t bear to be without her. She’s always
+been there for me. Without her love and support, I’m nothing. I
+couldn’t go on if she wasn’t there. So when I died and was
+reincarnated, I brought her with me. I didn’t let her move on. I took
+her with me. It was selfish. I came back in two bodies. This one,”
+her free hand indicated herself before motioning towards Kumiko. “And
+that one. You were supposed to find Tomoyo-chan’s soul in whichever
+body it wound up in so that we could be together once more. I was
+supposed to put everything in order with the Cards. But Tomoyo... She
+came back in this body, but now it’s dying. I have to wonder if it’s
+my fault. If she wasn’t meant to come back like this. I used my magic
+to bind her here, to bring her back to life. She wasn’t allowed to
+move on. Because I couldn’t go on without Tomoyo-chan...” Tears fell
+down from under her glasses as she watched the sleeping girl
+intently. “So now she’s hurting because of me. Now she’s dying all
+over again because of my selfishness. So I can’t try and make her
+better. Part of me wonders if I should let her live in such pain.”
+	“No!!” Kumiko shouted, reaching Megumi’s side in seconds. “I won’t
+let you take her away form me! I know she’s in pain, but I...” Her
+voice trailed off as it hit her. She was saying the exact same thing.
+“I... need her...” she whispered, her eyes still wide. “I’m... I’m
+doing the same thing... I’m hurting her, too...”
+	“Because we’re the same,” the red haired girl finished.  “You can’t
+live without her anymore than I could. The thought of going on
+without Tomoyo-chan by your side doesn’t make any sense. It’s like a
+world without love or without air. It would be completely desolate.
+Her heart warms you up that way, brightening everything in your life
+to the point that you take her wonderful light for granted, not
+seeing just how wonderful she makes it. Her love and support keep you
+going when you would rather give up in defeat. It’s just the way she
+is. Just as it’s the way we are to need her.” She sighed, looking
+infinitely older than the young girl that rested against the side of
+the bed. “If I end her pain, I would send you along with her.” She
+shook her head quickly at the look Kumiko gave her. “You wouldn’t
+want to live without her. Trust me. The last fourteen years have been
+like a nightmare. My only happiness was knowing that the two of you
+were out here. Besides, I wouldn’t want Tomoyo-chan to be lonely on
+the other side.”
+	A cold chill traveled up Kumiko’s spine at Meishi’s words. Despite
+her confusion and her own fear of seeing Megumi in any more pain, she
+steeled her resolve. “I don’t care. I don’t care if you did make me
+for this reason or if you screwed up when you brought Megumi back. I
+won’t let you take her from me. She’s here now. That’s what matters.
+I won’t let you or anyone else take her away from me. I love her too
+much.” Determination glittered in her violet eyes, her gaze never
+wavering as the sorceress looked back at her.
+	Giggling softly, Meishi stood up. “I’d almost forgotten what that
+looked like. You really do have all of her love and support, don’t
+you? I remember that determination from long ago. It took me a long
+time to understand that she was the cause.” Her fingers trailed
+gently along Megumi’s pale cheek before brushing back some of her
+curly blonde hair. Her heart seized up as she looked down at the
+sleeping girl. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan... I miss you so much...” A half sob,
+half sigh escaped her lips. Her head nodded weakly. “All right. I’ll
+leave her with you. But you better make sure that she’s happy. She’s
+already in enough pain. I want her to die happily.”
+	“But... I don’t want her to die...” Kumiko whispered. She silently
+berated herself. Her vision blurred as burning tears stung her eyes.
+She clenched her fingernails into her palms in an effort to focus
+past the tears. Meishi was right, the thought of living a life
+without Megumi was a bleak as walking through an endless desert.
+Megumi was her best friend, the girl that she loved. They were
+partners. Neither was complete without the other.
+	“I don’t want her to, either. Please take good care of her for me.”
+Hesitating for only a second, Meishi leaned down and kissed the
+sleeping beauty, her firey red hair kissing Megumi’s beautiful blonde
+hair. Her heart surged as she felt Tomoyo in the all too brief kiss.
+She smiled sadly down at her love, her fingers trailing gently over
+the blonde’s cheek as aquamarine eyes slowly blinked open.
+	Megumi strained to make out the blur in front of her as she finally
+woke up. “Kumi?” her groggy voice asked. As her vision slowly
+cleared, the figure that had been above her faded away. If she didn’t
+feel so sick, she may have thought there had been someone over her a
+moment before. “Kumi-chan?” she asked tiredly, trying to keep the
+panic out of her voice as she searched desperately for the brunette.
+	“I’m right here!” Kumiko said quickly, taking Megumi’s cold hand as
+she sat next to her on the bed. The jealousy she had felt when the
+sorceress had kissed her best friend quickly faded away, replaced
+with concern for her slowly awakening friend. “I’m right here, Megumi-
+chan. I’ll always be right here for you.” She still didn’t know quite
+what was going on with Meishi or what she had in mind, but that
+hardly mattered at the moment. It didn’t even matter if she was
+Sakura or just a dream. All that mattered was her best friend and
+what lay before her.
+	Megumi offered a weak smile before coughing  for a few moments. “I
+know, Kumi. It’s part of why I love you so much.” She didn’t know
+what had happened, but at least Kumiko wasn’t mad at her anymore. She
+didn’t know how much more of that she could have taken before just
+dying of a broken heart. Wet, cold tears splattered against her
+cheeks from up above. Her arms wrapped around the brunette’s waist,
+even though they felt like overcooked noodles.
+	Leaning down on top of her best friend, Kumiko kissed Megumi softly
+again and again, sobbing quietly as she did. “I love you so much...
+I’ll always love you... I promise... I promise we’ll always be
+together... No matter where we are...” she whispered, giving Megumi’s
+lips more feathery kisses.
+	“I know... I know, Kumi. Always.”

Mercurial > moonlitnights

comparison stories/dreams2.txt @ 0:ed1308d04df2 moonlitnights