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     1.4 +Dreams Part 1
     1.5 +
     1.6 +By Amazoness Duo
     1.7 +Amazonessduo@hotmail.com
     1.8 +
     1.9 +She smiled gently as she ran a hand through the other girl’s long blonde hair. Bright aquamarine 
    1.10 +eyes looked deeply into beautiful violet ones as if they were in a world all their own. She felt the other girl 
    1.11 +push a lock of her dark brown hair away from her eyes.  She felt as if the other girl could see right through 
    1.12 +her, as if she could see into the depths of her soul. That feeling sent shivers through her, the feeling that the 
    1.13 +other girl truly knew her better than she knew herself. They didn’t need to say anything. They both knew 
    1.14 +the other far too well to need any words right now. She let out a contented sigh as those soft, sweet lips 
    1.15 +brushed gently, almost cautiously against her own. How she longed to kiss her lover deeply, passionately. 
    1.16 +But she could wait, and that was part of the joy in this moment. The leisure of spending this time with her 
    1.17 +one true love. It felt boundless, as if they weren’t confined to this world or to any other, a feeling that they 
    1.18 +could just bask in the glow of the others warmth. 
    1.19 +Bringing a hand up gingerly to the other girl’s warm cheek, she tilted her head to the side as if to 
    1.20 +ask ‘You or I?’ Who was it to be this time? Who would be the one to begin their endless dance again. 
    1.21 +Before she knew who had begun this time, she felt the other girl’s lush lips push against her own. This time 
    1.22 +the kiss was longer, more drawn out, evoking a gasp from her lover. She brought her hands to the sides of 
    1.23 +the other girl’s head, watching the other girl smile sweetly back at her. Her fingers slowly moving across 
    1.24 +her lover’s silky skin, she gently caressed her soft lips with her own. 
    1.25 +If her entire life had been leading up to one specific place, one specific time, this would be it. But 
    1.26 +that was not the case. ‘We’ll be together, you and I, no matter where fate leads. No matter what path we 
    1.27 +take, we take it together.’ Pouring her entire being into one kiss, she tried to convey every feeling she was 
    1.28 +having to the blonde girl. The other girl matched her point for point as they stood together, both needing the 
    1.29 +other to be whole. 
    1.30 +
    1.31 +Kumiko stretched luxuriously, basking in the warm sunlight that filtered through her bedroom 
    1.32 +window. She opened her blinds wide to let in the coming day. She smiled at the sounds of the birds 
    1.33 +chirping outside her window. She froze when she heard a groan coming from her bed. Turning quickly, she 
    1.34 +caught sight of long blonde hair peeking out from beneath one of Kumiko’s pillows. 
    1.35 +	“Turn off the light, okay?” Megumi’s tired voice sounded muffled from underneath the pillow. 
    1.36 +“Megumi-chan? What are you doing here?” Kumiko asked surprised.
    1.37 +“You don’t remember last night? I came over here late last night because I wanted to see you and 
    1.38 +you told me not to go after that. I didn’t.”
    1.39 +Kumiko laughed. “I thought it was a dream.”
    1.40 +“I never have dreams that nice.” Megumi smiled sweetly over at the brown haired girl, watching 
    1.41 +her try to adjust her pony tail. 
    1.42 +“Megumi-chan…” Kumiko said quietly, crossing the few feet between them with a couple steps. 
    1.43 +Leaning down, she kissed the blonde girl for a few blissful moments. “You really better go before my 
    1.44 +parents catch you.”
    1.45 +“Kumi, what would be wrong with that? I like your parents. They’re very nice. I’m sure they 
    1.46 +would be happy for you,” Megumi said.
    1.47 +“Yeah, maybe, but I still don’t want them catching you in here,” Kumiko gestured to the bedroom 
    1.48 +around them. 
    1.49 +A knock at the door startled both girls. “Kumiko-chan, breakfast is ready, dear. Hurry up before it 
    1.50 +gets cold,” Kumiko’s mother yelled. 
    1.51 +	“Hai, mom. I’ll be right there.” Turning to Megumi, Kumiko pointed to her closet. “You can 
    1.52 +borrow one of my uniforms and I’ll pack a lunch for you.” 
    1.53 +Megumi nodded. “Thanks. Today’s cheerleading practice, though.”
    1.54 +Kumiko thought for a moment. “You should have thought of that before you came over,” she said, 
    1.55 +sticking out her tongue at the other girl. More seriously, she began to think again. “Could we stop off at 
    1.56 +your house on the way to school to pick up your cheerleading uniform? You live close enough that if we 
    1.57 +get going soon we should be able to make it in time.” Walking to her closet, Kumiko put her own 
    1.58 +cheerleading uniform in her backpack. 
    1.59 +Megumi smiled happily. “Thanks, Kumi. I’ll try to get ready quickly then.”
    1.60 +“Okay. See you in a minute.” Giving the blonde girl a soft kiss on the lips, Kumiko picked up her 
    1.61 +backpack and hurried out of the room.
    1.62 +“There you are, Kumiko-chan,” her father said as she walked into the kitchen. “We thought you’d 
    1.63 +slept in.”
    1.64 +“No, I’m up. I just had to finish some things before I was ready,” Kumiko explained, taking a bite 
    1.65 +of the fresh pancakes. They tasted marvelous, but she didn’t have the time to savor them. She made her 
    1.66 +way to the refrigerator. Taking a brief look inside, she started grabbing food for two lunches. 
    1.67 +Her mother laughed when she looked over at her rushed daughter. “You must be hungry today.”
    1.68 +“I’m making lunch for Megumi-chan, too. Sometimes she forgets,” Kumiko said, wrapping some 
    1.69 +leftovers. 
    1.70 +“That girl’s sweet. You’re lucky to have a friend like that,” her father said.
    1.71 +“Yeah. She’s the best.” Kumiko smiled. She almost dropped the lunch she was making when she 
    1.72 +saw Megumi standing next to her mother in the kitchen. “Megumi-chan?”
    1.73 +“She was right outside. It looks like some people can wake up early,” her mother laughed while 
    1.74 +she ushered Megumi inside. Megumi just smiled and waved to Kumiko. “Would you like to stay for 
    1.75 +breakfast, Megumi?” 
    1.76 +	“She’d love to, mom, but we’ve got to get going. Thanks anyway!” Taking a hold of Megumi’s 
    1.77 +arm, Kumiko headed for the door. Her parents sweatdropped as they watched their daughter hurrying off.
    1.78 +	“Goodbye!! Arigato!” Megumi said to Kumiko’s parents before heading out the door. 
    1.79 +	“How’d you get there?” Kumiko asked as they started off towards Megumi’s house. 
    1.80 +	“I climbed out your window and knocked on the front door. Your mother let me in after that,” 
    1.81 +Megumi smiled. 
    1.82 +	“I know what you’re thinking.”
    1.83 +	“I like your parents. They’re really nice,” Megumi said. 
    1.84 +	“So are yours.” Kumiko smiled.
    1.85 +	“When they’re home.” Letting out a sigh, Megumi looked over at Kumiko. “Besides, I thought 
    1.86 +you said your parents liked me, too.”
    1.87 +	Kumiko laughed, brushing some hair out of her eyes. “As another daughter, yeah. You are over at 
    1.88 +our house enough to be.”
    1.89 +	“See? Your parents should have started guessing with that.  And I’m always going places with 
    1.90 +you. When you and I are going places Friday nights, you dress up for it. Last time there was a dance, your 
    1.91 +parents asked you for over a week who you were going to go with but you kept saying you didn’t know 
    1.92 +until you wound up going with me as ‘friends’.” Turning to Kumiko, she grinned. “So maybe they already 
    1.93 +know. Or they have to have guessed a few times.”
    1.94 +	“Oh, stop it. That’s not funny,” Kumiko said. “Anyway, we better hurry if we want to get to your 
    1.95 +house and school on time.”
    1.96 +	“Thanks.”
    1.97 +	Starting to walk faster, Kumiko blinked as her eyes adjusted to the bright day. “For what?”
    1.98 +	“For lunch. That was sweet of you,” Megumi said happily.
    1.99 +	“That? Oh, that’s alright.” Kumiko winked at the blonde girl. “Just make sure you eat all of it.”
   1.100 +	Megumi giggled. “Of course I will. You made it.” Stopping in front of her house, Megumi pulled 
   1.101 +out a house key and unlocked the door. “Would you like to come in, Kumi?”
   1.102 +	Kumiko looked at her watch nervously. “No, that’s okay. Just be quick.”
   1.103 +	Megumi nodded and headed swiftly into her house. A few moments later, she came out the door, 
   1.104 +putting her cheerleader uniform in her backpack.
   1.105 +	“Is that everything?” Kumiko asked worriedly as she took another glance at her watch. 
   1.106 +	“That should be.” Grabbing Kumiko’s arm just above the shoulder, Megumi looked into her eyes. 
   1.107 +“Kumi, don’t worry about it. If anything happens, we’ll tell your parents that it was my fault because I 
   1.108 +forgot something at home.”
   1.109 +	Kumiko shook her head. “No, I wouldn’t say anything like that. Let’s just try to get there on 
   1.110 +time.”
   1.111 +	“Hai.” Megumi made sure the door was locked before she and Kumiko started running to school.
   1.112 +
   1.113 +“So why did you both show up so late?” Asahi asked, pulling on her shoes. She was eager to get to 
   1.114 +cheerleading practice so she had dressed hurriedly. 
   1.115 +“Oh… We…” Kumiko started. She turned to Megumi and shrugged helplessly. She busied herself 
   1.116 +with fixing her pony tail.
   1.117 +“I was waiting to walk to school with Kumi, but by the time we were on our way, I remembered I 
   1.118 +left my uniform at home.” Megumi gestured to the cheerleading uniform she was now wearing.
   1.119 +“No wonder. Well, at least you got here. Chisa was betting you wouldn’t and Akari thought one of 
   1.120 +you was sick.” Picking up her baton, Asahi checked to make sure everything was perfect. “But I thought 
   1.121 +Kumiko-chan just wound up sleeping in again.”
   1.122 +Megumi nodded. “Kumi must have been tired after last night. I did want to get up myself.” She 
   1.123 +smiled mischievously at the brown haired girl.
   1.124 +Kumiko blushed and nudged the blonde none too gently. “Megumi-chan…”
   1.125 +Megumi merely giggled and stepped to the side. “Your cranky, Kumi. You didn’t sleep much last 
   1.126 +night, did you?” She winked at Kumiko while their friend looked on in confusion.
   1.127 +Before anyone could say another word, a woman in her early twenties entered the room, her dark, 
   1.128 +shoulder length hair offsetting calm blue eyes. “You girls almost ready?” She asked.
   1.129 +A faint blush spread over Asahi’s cheeks. She clutched her baton tightly and nodded. “Yes, 
   1.130 +Coachie.”
   1.131 +The older woman smiled gently at Asahi. “Good. I’ll be waiting for you.” She paused for a 
   1.132 +moment before she turned to leave the room. 
   1.133 +Asahi slowly let out a sigh. “Coachie…” she said dreamily. Without looking back, she hurried 
   1.134 +after the other woman.
   1.135 +Kumiko turned to Megumi. “That still frightens me.”
   1.136 +Megumi shrugged, looking after their friend. “Coach is really nice, and Asahi’s seemed to like her 
   1.137 +since the first day she showed up for gym class. I’m just wondering if they’re going out or if Asahi-chan’s 
   1.138 +still pining away,” the blonde girl said thoughtfully.
   1.139 +Kumiko eyes widened. “Going out? But the coach is so much older than Asahi-chan. Do you think 
   1.140 +they might be?”
   1.141 +“Maybe, I’m not sure yet. And age doesn’t matter, anyway, so that’s not important.”
   1.142 +“Well, if they’re not together, I wish Asahi-chan luck,” Kumiko said, taking Megumi’s hand in her 
   1.143 +own.
   1.144 +Megumi smiled. “Me too. For now, we better get out there before they start worrying about us.”
   1.145 +Kumiko nodded agreement and the two girls headed outside.
   1.146 +
   1.147 +“How did you do on the test, Kumi?” Megumi asked as they walked vaguely towards Kumiko’s 
   1.148 +house. It was a beautiful cloudless day and they had the whole weekend in front of them. 
   1.149 +Kumiko slung her backpack on one shoulder. “I did okay, I guess. It helps that we studied for it. I 
   1.150 +wouldn’t have been ready at all otherwise.” She rolled her aquamarine eyes. “They could have at least 
   1.151 +tested us on something we already knew.”
   1.152 +“We could try to study more next time,” Megumi suggested.
   1.153 +Kumiko thought for a moment. “No, that’s alright. I did pretty well and we’d probably just get off 
   1.154 +track next time we study anyway, like we usually do.”
   1.155 +Megumi smiled at the other girl. “That’s true.” 
   1.156 +The two girls walked along for a few minutes, talking about this and that. Megumi came to a halt 
   1.157 +when she spotted something. “Hey, looks like they’re selling some antics over there.”
   1.158 +Kumiko turned to where Megumi’s gaze led. “See anything you want?”
   1.159 +“Maybe…” The blonde said before walking over to the items spread before them. The items were 
   1.160 +all set up in front of a large metal gate. Behind the gate lay a rather impressive mansion. The sight of the 
   1.161 +mansion sent a chill through both girls.
   1.162 +Kumiko rubbed her arms, the feeling she got from the house almost physical. “Can we go, 
   1.163 +Megumi-chan?” She felt odd seeing that place.
   1.164 +“In just a minute,” Megumi said quietly. Many of these items, these personal belongings of 
   1.165 +someone long gone, seemed familiar to her. Some she could nearly remember. Try as she might, she 
   1.166 +couldn’t stop the familiarity she felt.
   1.167 +“Cool! Megumi, look at this,” Kumiko said, her gaze settling on a small video camera. 
   1.168 +	“Wow! It looks pretty old.” Megumi walked over to the desk on which it lay, side by side with 
   1.169 +Kumiko.
   1.170 +“It would be great to have it, wouldn’t it? I’d love to record you with it.” Kumiko laughed as she 
   1.171 +picked it up, pretending to video tape Megumi. The other girl giggled and posed for the video camera.
   1.172 +“You girls find something you want?” A girl around their age walked up to them, seeming to 
   1.173 +come from nowhere. They had been so caught up in the house and the items that they were both startled by 
   1.174 +her arrival.
   1.175 +Regaining her composure first, Kumiko turned. “Yeah, we’re interested in this video camera. How 
   1.176 +much is it?”
   1.177 +“You are? No one else has even looked its way yet.” The girl stood in thought for a moment. “If 
   1.178 +you want it, you can have it.”
   1.179 +“Really?” Megumi asked excitedly.
   1.180 +“Yeah, sure,” the other girl smiled. “My mom and I just moved in. We need to get rid of some of 
   1.181 +the stuff that was already here.”
   1.182 +“Thanks!” Kumiko said happily.
   1.183 +“Don’t mention it.” The girl nodded to them before returning to watch over the sale.
   1.184 +Kumiko grinned as she held up the video camera again. “This should be fun.”
   1.185 +“We have to see if it works first, though,” Megumi pointed out. 
   1.186 +“Yeah, you’re right. I hope it does.” Kumiko gave the video camera a quick glance to make sure it 
   1.187 +looked like it was in working order. “It looks like whoever owned it took really good care of it.”
   1.188 +“We can check it out at my house.” Megumi smiled at Kumiko and brushed some of the other 
   1.189 +girl’s dark brown hair away from her eyes.
   1.190 +	“Looks like there’s still a video in it, too,” Kumiko said, still toying with the video camera.
   1.191 +	“Good. Now, let’s go back to my house. This place is giving me the creeps.” Megumi took 
   1.192 +Kumiko’s free hand with her own.
   1.193 +	Kumiko waved to the girl who had given them the camera before they left. Neither Kumiko nor 
   1.194 +Megumi understood the significance of the video camera they held or the history it possessed. Both tried to 
   1.195 +push off the strange feelings they’d had while near the house as they got further and further away from it.
   1.196 +
   1.197 +
   1.198 +	As they approached Megumi’s house, Kumiko broke the silence that had been following them 
   1.199 +ever since they left that scary mansion that had given them such odd feelings of déjà vu. 
   1.200 +“This really is a cool camera, isn’t it?” Kumiko smiled excitedly, trying to be patient and wait till 
   1.201 +they could see what was on the video tape. 
   1.202 +	“I guess so, Kumi, but I don’t see why you’re so amazed with it. It’s so old. They probably don’t 
   1.203 +even make tapes that are compatible with such an old model video camera.” Megumi sighed, trying to 
   1.204 +brush that scary feeling she got from the mansion away.
   1.205 +	“Aww..” Kumiko frowned. “I’m sure that they’re sold somewhere.”
   1.206 +	Megumi giggled and leaned forward, lightly kissing Kumiko’s lower lip. “I’m sorry. I’m just a 
   1.207 +little shaken by the old building.”
   1.208 +	When they stepped inside, Kumiko noticed that Megumi’s parents weren’t there. “Where are your 
   1.209 +parents, Megumi?”
   1.210 +	“They’re gone. Like usual. I don’t see why you’re surprised. They’re hardly ever here.” Megumi 
   1.211 +sighed, angrily.
   1.212 +	 “Don’t worry about it, Megumi-chan. At least we have the place to ourselves. And we can check 
   1.213 +out this video in peace,” Kumiko smiled, trying to cheer up her best friend, schoolmate, and girlfriend.
   1.214 +	“You know that the video’s probably just an old empty tape left in by the owner a long time ago 
   1.215 +and they never used it, right?” Megumi tried to let her down gently, noticing that Kumiko had such high 
   1.216 +hopes for the camera and didn’t want to crush them.
   1.217 +	“For some odd reason, I just know that there’s something on that tape. Like destiny’s calling for 
   1.218 +me to watch it. Like there’s something or someone very important on it.” Kumiko shook her head trying to 
   1.219 +clear away all of the overwhelming thoughts that rushed through her as she connected the video camera to 
   1.220 +the television so they could view the contents of the tape. 
   1.221 +	Megumi laughed, hugging Kumiko from behind. “Kumi, its just an old tape. Probably of 
   1.222 +someone’s birthday or family.”
   1.223 +	“What if its for us?” Kumiko asked half seriously. She blushed when she thought about how 
   1.224 +foolish that sounded. “Well, I still want to see what its about.”
   1.225 +	“Want me to get some popcorn?” Megumi asked, still smiling. 
   1.226 +	Kumiko sat down beside Megumi, pulling her legs up to her chest. She felt the warmth of the 
   1.227 +other girl sitting next to her. She could smell the sweet scent of Megumi’s long, soft blonde hair as it 
   1.228 +brushed her cheek. Smiling to Megumi, she received a brief kiss from the blonde before returning her 
   1.229 +attention to the television. Her heartbeat quickened as the video started. 
   1.230 +	Megumi sighed. She had an odd feeling about this. She wasn’t sure she wanted to see what was on 
   1.231 +the video. She felt that maybe, just maybe, Kumiko had been right about the video being for them. That 
   1.232 +thought scared her. What if it changed things? Maybe there were certain things they weren’t meant to know 
   1.233 +about.
   1.234 +	The faint outline of a girl could be seen amidst the static as someone tried to fix the camera so 
   1.235 +many years ago. After a short time, the silhouette started to come into view. She was a girl about their age 
   1.236 +with long dark hair and dark stormy blue eyes. Her skin was very pale, as if made of alabaster. She seemed 
   1.237 +to have a perpetual smile that followed her as she continued to check the camcorder. Both Megumi and 
   1.238 +Kumiko caught their breath as they watched the dark haired girl on the video. A strange sense of nostalgia 
   1.239 +filled the room. The dark haired girl winked at the camcorder after she seemed fairly certain that it was 
   1.240 +working. 
   1.241 +	“Tomoyo-chan,” another girl called from offscreen. “You don’t have to worry about that.”
   1.242 +	“It’s okay, Sakura-chan. Its working now,” Tomoyo said happily. The camcorder turned suddenly, 
   1.243 +now being held by the dark haired girl. A girl with short brown hair and large green eyes stood in view of 
   1.244 +the camcorder. She was wearing the same school fuku Tomoyo was wearing. 
   1.245 +	Sakura sweatdropped and put a hand behind her head nervously. “I just meant that you don’t have 
   1.246 +to videotape me right now, Tomoyo-chan. I’m not even doing anything interesting like card captoring right 
   1.247 +now.”
   1.248 +	Tomoyo’s quiet voice spoke up warmly. “Sakura-chan’s always interesting. You know there’s 
   1.249 +nothing else I’d rather videotape.”
   1.250 +	Sakura sighed in defeat. “Okay. I just thought that we were going to go for a walk.”
   1.251 +	“We are,” Tomoyo replied. “I wanted a video to remember it by.” Megumi’s hand absentmindedly 
   1.252 +went to her left cheek as she watched the events unfold. This whole things seemed so familiar. She knew 
   1.253 +these girls. She was sure she knew them.
   1.254 +	Kumiko felt her breath catch in her chest. She felt like she was actually there, watching everything 
   1.255 +as if it were through her own eyes rather than the camcorder. As the two girls onscreen talked, Kumiko 
   1.256 +tried desperately to remember what happened next. Remember? How could she remember something she’d 
   1.257 +never seen?
   1.258 +	The dark haired girl behind the camcorder giggled as she ran to catch up with Sakura. Sakura 
   1.259 +smiled brightly at her as she caught up. “I don’t think I’ll ever understand why you do that, Tomoyo-chan.” 
   1.260 +	“Because you are the most beautiful thing for me to record. Because you are the most interesting 
   1.261 +thing for me to record. Because I love you,” Tomoyo explained.
   1.262 +	Sakura smiled brighter and looked over at Tomoyo. “I love you, too, Tomoyo-chan.”
   1.263 +	“Watch out…” Megumi whispered. Tomoyo was too busy following Sakura with the video 
   1.264 +camera to notice the tangled root in front of her. Her foot got caught, throwing her off balance. The 
   1.265 +camcorder tumbled from her grasp, but by now the images weren’t needed. They both knew what 
   1.266 +happened. Sakura looked on in alarm when she heard Tomoyo’s gasp. She quickly lunged forward, 
   1.267 +catching the dark haired girl around the waist and under an arm. They both stumbled the rest of the way to 
   1.268 +the grass. The camcorder was on its side, pointing at the two girls holding each other. Both were breathing 
   1.269 +heavily from the shock. They looked at each other for a long moment, passing a silent thank you between 
   1.270 +them. Ever so slowly they leaned towards each other, their lips meeting passionately. 
   1.271 +	Kumiko gasped as the television turned off. For a moment she thought the video was over, but 
   1.272 +looking up she could see Megumi had pressed the power button on the television. Megumi stood there 
   1.273 +silently, looking off into the distance. She seemed to be thinking. Or maybe she didn’t want to think. 
   1.274 +“Tomoyo…” Kumiko pleaded.
   1.275 +Megumi turned to the other girl, her eyes wide. “Why did you call me thatt?” 
   1.276 +“Call you what?” Kumiko asked nervously.
   1.277 +“Tomoyo.”
   1.278 +“I meant… I didn’t mean you, Megumi-chan. I was caught up in the video.” Kumiko tried to 
   1.279 +explain it away.
   1.280 +	Megumi shook her head. “You can’t lie to me, Kumi. I know you too well. Why did you call me 
   1.281 +that?” She swallowed nervously. ‘Please just say I reminded you of her, or that you were daydreaming that 
   1.282 +was us. Anything. I’ll believe you, Kumi,’ Megumi thought to herself.
   1.283 +	“I… I don’t know, Megumi-chan,” Kumiko said softly. 
   1.284 +
   1.285 +End part 1
   1.286 +