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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/MelodiesofLifefin.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
     1.3 @@ -0,0 +1,157 @@
     1.4 +This story is a songfic about ChibiUsa a while after Hotaru has died in 
     1.5 +a battle. The song is ‘Melodies of Life’, a beautiful song from Final 
     1.6 +Fantasy 9 sung by Emiko Shiratori and written by Nobuo Uematsu. The 
     1.7 +gorgeous characters were created by the wonderfully talented Naoko 
     1.8 +Takeuchi.
     1.9 +
    1.10 +Melodies of Life 
    1.11 +By Amazoness Quartet
    1.12 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com 
    1.13 +----------------
    1.14 +
    1.15 +~Alone for a while I've been searching through the dark
    1.16 +For traces of the love you left inside my lonely heart
    1.17 +To weave by picking up the pieces that remain
    1.18 +Melodies of life--love's lost refrain~
    1.19 +
    1.20 +Why did you have to leave me? I loved you so much. I still do. 
    1.21 +That’s why it still hurts so badly whenever I think about you. My mom 
    1.22 +says I’ve been growing distant, that I’m always lost in thought. That 
    1.23 +can’t be good for the next Queen of Crystal Tokyo. But I can’t help it, 
    1.24 +Hotaru. I miss you. When I close my eyes, I can still see that shy 
    1.25 +smile of yours, hear your soft voice calling me. I’ll always love you, 
    1.26 +even if we can’t be together. Why wouldn’t you let me come with you? 
    1.27 +Maybe I could have helped. And even if I couldn’t, at least we would 
    1.28 +have died together. You told me when you had grown up again that it was 
    1.29 +to fight alongside me. Why couldn’t I fight alongside you then? I know 
    1.30 +you wanted to protect me, but it hurts so much without you. It’s so 
    1.31 +hard to keep going. But every time I falter, every time I fall, I can 
    1.32 +feel you there with me, helping me make it through.
    1.33 +
    1.34 +~Our paths they did cross, though I cannot say just why
    1.35 +We met, we laughed, we held on fast, and then we said goodbye
    1.36 +And who'll hear the echoes of stories never told?
    1.37 +Let them ring out loud till they unfold~
    1.38 +
    1.39 +You were always so sad, Hotaru. Just lurking under the surface, 
    1.40 +like you could never completely escape it. Even when I could lure that 
    1.41 +smile out of you or hear your laugh, it was still there. I could never 
    1.42 +completely cure that sadness inside of you. I told you that we’d be 
    1.43 +together forever and you smiled a little sadly and didn’t say anything. 
    1.44 +I always wondered why you looked on the dark side of things so often, 
    1.45 +but I was determined to show you that things could work out. That you 
    1.46 +could have a happy ending. But now as I look back on it all, was I just 
    1.47 +naïve? Did you know all along that it would come to this? All the 
    1.48 +dreams we had shared will never take place now. All the promises I had 
    1.49 +made of our beautiful future together. I wanted to keep them so dearly, 
    1.50 +Hotaru. And I’d probably promise you them all over again if you were 
    1.51 +here, even after all that’s happened. 
    1.52 +
    1.53 +~In my dearest memories, I see you reaching out to me
    1.54 +Though you're gone, I still believe that you can call out my name~
    1.55 +
    1.56 +Looking around feverishly, I find myself once again in my bed. 
    1.57 +Looking next to me, I almost expect to see you there, asleep after a 
    1.58 +passion filled night, or maybe just reading a book as you watched me 
    1.59 +dozing. Your beautiful pale body seemed to shine in the moonlight, 
    1.60 +though I needed no such prompting to go to you. I swear I can hear your 
    1.61 +voice sometimes, even though Diana says she doesn’t hear anything. 
    1.62 +Careful not to wake my guardian cat, I sneak outside to the balcony. 
    1.63 +Its cold out, but I don’t care. Not anymore. I remember when I used to 
    1.64 +find you out here late at night, staring at the stars. I’d ask you to 
    1.65 +come back inside but you’d always say you weren’t tired. I would go 
    1.66 +back in for a few seconds and come back with a blanket for the two of 
    1.67 +us to share. Sometimes I’d ask what it was and other times you’d look 
    1.68 +like you didn’t want to talk about it. But it didn’t matter because we 
    1.69 +were together. Is that what you were trying to teach me whenever I’d 
    1.70 +feel bad about not being able to fix things for you and you’d tell me 
    1.71 +that wasn’t what was important? I hug myself tighter as the cold starts 
    1.72 +to set in. I don’t want to go back inside now. Not yet.
    1.73 +
    1.74 +~A voice from the past, joining yours and mine
    1.75 +Adding up the layers of harmony
    1.76 +And so it goes, on and on
    1.77 +Melodies of life,
    1.78 +To the sky beyond the flying birds--forever and beyond~
    1.79 +
    1.80 +When I look back on things, it seems like a blur sometimes. When 
    1.81 +we first met, when I saw you smile for the first time, when you 
    1.82 +returned to me, when we first kissed, when we would share our hopes and 
    1.83 +dreams in each other’s arms, when I saw you for the last time with that 
    1.84 +determined look on your face... I’m crying again, I realize. I should 
    1.85 +hide it before mother sees, but I can’t find the will. She wants me to 
    1.86 +be strong, to work my way through this, but I’m not as strong as you. 
    1.87 +You suffered through so much, Hotaru. You took it all and yet you 
    1.88 +continued on. You would never admit it. You never saw the strength in 
    1.89 +yourself that I always saw in you. 
    1.90 +
    1.91 +~So far and away, see the bird as it flies by
    1.92 +Gliding through the shadows of the clouds up in the sky
    1.93 +I've laid my memories and dreams upon those wings
    1.94 +Leave them now and see what tomorrow brings~
    1.95 +
    1.96 +Sometime later, I find myself sitting barefoot on the hill where 
    1.97 +I spent so much time as a child, leaning against an old tree that has 
    1.98 +grown there. Here I can lose myself in my memories and forget all 
    1.99 +that’s happened. The birds are beautiful, Hotaru, but not as beautiful 
   1.100 +as the fireflies. Sometimes I’ll come out late at night and watch them. 
   1.101 +Sometimes I even think I see you amongst them, carefree and happy at 
   1.102 +last. It may last for just a split second out of the corner of my eye, 
   1.103 +but that sight alone gives me the strength I need to push forward. I 
   1.104 +know I can’t have you back, but sometimes its nice to pretend, ne? I 
   1.105 +smile a little as I watch the city in the distance. I don’t know what 
   1.106 +lies ahead of me, but I promise I’ll always remember you, that I’ll 
   1.107 +always love you.
   1.108 +
   1.109 +~In your dearest memories, do you remember loving me?
   1.110 +Was it fate that brought us close and now leaves me behind?~
   1.111 +
   1.112 +I’ve lost you so many times. I had thought that this time would 
   1.113 +be no different, that we’d find ourselves in the other’s arms before it 
   1.114 +was through. But it didn’t work out that way. It was such a cruel trick 
   1.115 +fate played, letting me fall in love with you before snatching you away 
   1.116 +from me. But I would do it all over again if I had the choice. It was 
   1.117 +so painful, but the joy you made me feel was worth so much more. I know 
   1.118 +we’ll be together again. Because... because I know that you love me, 
   1.119 +too.
   1.120 +
   1.121 +~A voice from the past, joining yours and mine
   1.122 +Adding up the layers of harmony
   1.123 +And so it goes, on and on
   1.124 +Melodies of life,
   1.125 +To the sky beyond the flying birds--forever and beyond~
   1.126 +
   1.127 +	“ChibiUsa-chan..?”
   1.128 +I hear a soft voice whisper behind me, ripping me from my 
   1.129 +thoughts. That voice... My heart starts beating furiously as I sit up 
   1.130 +on my knees. It’s almost impossible to breath as I struggle to turn 
   1.131 +around quickly enough. It’s.. you... Standing up, I almost fall back 
   1.132 +down again. My vision blurs as tears start to form in my eyes. “Hotaru-
   1.133 +chan?” I ask weakly as I stumble towards you. You merely smile, dark 
   1.134 +eyes shining with the inner beauty that made me fall in love with you 
   1.135 +in the first place. I throw myself into her arms, you stagger back 
   1.136 +under my assault. Sobs wrack my body as I hold onto you tightly. I’ve 
   1.137 +missed you so much. There’s been so much I wanted to tell you, but 
   1.138 +words escape me right now. I want to hold on to you for eternity, to 
   1.139 +never let go again. I can feel your fingers brushing through my hair 
   1.140 +and I feel myself sobbing more uncontrollably at the memories. Looking 
   1.141 +up, I see tears in your own dark eyes. Oh, Hotaru...
   1.142 +
   1.143 +~If I should leave this lonely world behind
   1.144 +Your voice will still remember our melody
   1.145 +Now I know we'll carry on
   1.146 +Melodies of life
   1.147 +Come circle round and grow deep in our hearts
   1.148 +As long as we remember~
   1.149 +
   1.150 +I want to hear you promise me that we’ll always be together, that you’ll never leave my side again, 
   1.151 +but its enough for me just to have you here with me now. I know that this time we don’t need promises like 
   1.152 +that. Because this time I know that we’ll always be together, even if one of us dies. Because you were with 
   1.153 +me through every step I took while you were gone. Just as I’d be there with you. But I’m so glad to have 
   1.154 +you here like this nonetheless. Clutching onto you tighter, I bury my face against your shoulder.
   1.155 +Your answer to all of my unasked questions sends a warm spark through my body as your lips 
   1.156 +press against my own. I feel myself kissing back with all the strength I can muster as the tension from the 
   1.157 +past few years drains away from me in the space of seconds. I feel alive again in your arms. Truly alive. 
   1.158 +“How..?” I ask softly. 
   1.159 +You just smile again and kiss me softly. “I love you, ChibiUsa-chan.”
   1.160 +I love you, too, Hotaru. And I always will.