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     1.2 +++ b/old/stories/anna.txt	Fri Feb 19 20:53:12 2010 -0500
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     1.4 +Hello! ^-^ This is a story about Anna Respighi from Battle
     1.5 +Athletess, easily one of my favorite characters from anything. ^-^
     1.6 +This takes place after the OAV episode where they discover that Anna
     1.7 +is a boy, though it borrows several elements from the tv series, such
     1.8 +as Anna’s lapses into insanity, what happened to her sister, etc. Oh,
     1.9 +and as far as Anna’s roommates names go, I’m not trying to force in
    1.10 +English sounding characters into a Japanese series. The characters
    1.11 +from Battle Athletess are from all over the place, so their
    1.12 +nationalities reflect that. I was simply trying to do the same with
    1.13 +the boys. I really hope you enjoy it. ^-^ If you have the chance,
    1.14 +please e-mail me any feedback you may have. Thanks! ^-^ 
    1.15 +
    1.16 +
    1.17 +One Dance Left
    1.18 +by Amazoness Duo
    1.19 +amazonessduo@hotmail.com
    1.20 +
    1.21 +
    1.22 +	Looking out the window into the dark emptiness of space, Anna
    1.23 +Respighi had to wonder which was truly emptier, space or herself. She
    1.24 +felt like a brittle shell, having long ago spent the last of her
    1.25 +tears. Her carefully trained athletic body felt weak now, unable to
    1.26 +perform the simplest of tasks like closing the window she was staring
    1.27 +out of. But she didn’t have the will to close it even if she could
    1.28 +muster the strength. Her life felt like it had ended. They were
    1.29 +shipping her off already. They hadn’t listened to her pleas, her
    1.30 +frenzied explanations. They hadn’t cared at all that they would be
    1.31 +taking her away from her only two friends in the entire galaxy. The
    1.32 +headmaster had been all too eager to get rid of her, seeing her as
    1.33 +unfitting alongside his all female students. No matter how much she
    1.34 +cried, how much she tried to dissuade them, her arguments fell on
    1.35 +deaf ears. And now she found herself hurtling away from what she had
    1.36 +come to see as her home, from the two girls that had been closer to
    1.37 +her than mere teammates, from all the hopes and dreams that her
    1.38 +mother had instilled in her from the time that she was a child.
    1.39 +	Why hadn’t she listened to her mother? Why hadn’t she been more
    1.40 +careful? Because Akari had told her it would be all right. Because
    1.41 +she said that everyone did it. Shy, introverted Anna had been all too
    1.42 +willing to go along with her friend’s words, not wanting to seem
    1.43 +awkward. The look of shock on Akari’s face was still painfully
    1.44 +emblazoned in her mind. She felt such bitter betrayal at that sight.
    1.45 +Everyone had run away from her, crumbling what little self-esteem she
    1.46 +had managed to garner in her time at the University Satellite. She
    1.47 +had run to Akari for help, but even Akari had reacted terribly to
    1.48 +seeing her. It was a bathing area. She was supposed to go in naked.
    1.49 +Akari had told her so. So why had everyone ran away as if they were
    1.50 +frightened of her? It had hurt Anna so much to see that. Like she was
    1.51 +some sort of monster. Even Akari...
    1.52 +	The problem for the lonely yet gorgeous blue haired girl was that
    1.53 +she wasn’t a girl at all. At least not physically. But she hadn’t
    1.54 +known that. Her entire life had been led as a girl. She had always
    1.55 +been raised as one by her mother along with her twin sister. Her
    1.56 +childhood had been one of lace and ribbons, dolls and cooking, all
    1.57 +interspersed with intense training by her mother. Her mother’s dream
    1.58 +was that one of her little girls would one day become the Cosmo
    1.59 +Beauty. That had been a source of rivalry between the twin sisters.
    1.60 +Both wanted nothing more than to please their mother, to win for her,
    1.61 +to fulfill her dreams. Whenever one would achieve in sports and
    1.62 +athletics, they would be praised endlessly, given all the warm
    1.63 +attention their mother could muster. So they had both fought
    1.64 +tirelessly to win their mother’s attention. Until one day back on the
    1.65 +earth training school, their usually friendly rivalry had turned
    1.66 +tragic. Anna had heard her mother telling her more outgoing sister
    1.67 +that the last event to decide which of them, equally matched thus
    1.68 +far, would be going to the University Satellite. Anna's twin, Ellene,
    1.69 +was better at tennis than Anna was and her mother had told her to
    1.70 +win when Ellene began to consider whether or not she should
    1.71 +use her advantage. Anna had been devastated. Ellene would win,
    1.72 +she would receive all of her mother’s praise and attention and her
    1.73 +mother already knew it. She was nothing. She would forever be in her
    1.74 +sister’s shadow, never able to get her mother to truly see her.
    1.75 +Something inside Anna had snapped that day. She wouldn’t let anyone
    1.76 +stand in her way. No one would stop her. Not even her own twin. When
    1.77 +the sisters faced each other that fateful day, that darkness inside
    1.78 +Anna lashed out, and in the end, her sister lay in a coma, making
    1.79 +Anna the winner by default. Yet even then, tasting the madness that
    1.80 +had overcome her, Anna still didn’t have her mother’s attention. Her
    1.81 +mother had left to the hospital with her comatose twin. She hadn’t
    1.82 +been there when Anna had left for space, though Anna had waited till
    1.83 +the last possible second before boarding so that her mother might see
    1.84 +her off.
    1.85 +	All of this Anna knew to some extent, though she still didn’t
    1.86 +understand the full implications. Her mind had glossed over how badly
    1.87 +her sister had been hurt, had tried to make up for the fact that her
    1.88 +mother wasn’t there to see her victories and her losses. But what she
    1.89 +hadn’t known was something that had been with her for the entirety of
    1.90 +her life. They had told her there, in the headmaster’s room, not
    1.91 +caring at all for the pain it caused her. She was a boy. That was why
    1.92 +the girl’s in the bathroom had been lacking something of their
    1.93 +anatomy. Or rather, why she had something different. They had
    1.94 +explained to her that her mother had so wanted her daughter to be the
    1.95 +Cosmo Beauty that she had raised Anna as a girl as well, hoping that
    1.96 +one of her twin children would make it that far. This had torn apart
    1.97 +Anna’s small world. A boy? How could she be a boy? She had always
    1.98 +been a girl, had in fact been more feminine than her twin sister. Yet
    1.99 +they didn’t listen to her as she tried to explain this simple fact to
   1.100 +them. They wouldn’t listen to her as she tried unsuccessfully to tell
   1.101 +them that she was, in fact, a female, and that she belonged at the
   1.102 +University Satellite. That damned perverted headmaster had sent her
   1.103 +away, telling her that her athletic record would make her an
   1.104 +excellent student at the boy’s satellite. She had been aghast, unable
   1.105 +to utter a word to the headmaster as he sent her off to pack her
   1.106 +bags. But her mind screamed clearly into the abyss. She didn’t belong
   1.107 +at the boys’ school because she wasn’t a boy. 
   1.108 +	The blue haired girl had been in a state of shock as she had been
   1.109 +escorted to a shuttle to be shipped off to a boys’ school that she
   1.110 +knew nothing about nor cared to be at. She had grown up wanting to be
   1.111 +the Cosmo Beauty, not whatever the best boy athlete was supposed to
   1.112 +be. How could she get her mother to look at her if she couldn’t even
   1.113 +compete for the prestigious Cosmo Beauty title? Her sister had beaten
   1.114 +her again. She couldn’t even attempt her mother’s dreams now. Her
   1.115 +heart clenched up as the familiar feelings of worthlessness and
   1.116 +despair overtook her once more. But she had no more tears to cry. She
   1.117 +had been crying ever since she had gotten on the shuttle. No more
   1.118 +Kris and her odd yet always comforting ways. No more Akari and her
   1.119 +energetic spirit. Her only two friends, ripped from her without even
   1.120 +so much as a goodbye. But did Akari even care? The girl with the
   1.121 +rabbit eared hair had been just as disturbed by Anna being a boy as
   1.122 +everyone else there. No, Akari probably didn’t care. And Kris
   1.123 +wouldn’t mind as long as she was with Akari. So she was truly all
   1.124 +alone. In a place that she didn’t want to be. Surrounded by boys that
   1.125 +she didn’t understand. It had always been just the three of them, her
   1.126 +mother, her sister, and herself. 
   1.127 +	Anna burst into tears again, finding that she hadn’t cried all of
   1.128 +her tears after all.
   1.129 +
   1.130 +	Taking her few bags with her off of the shuttle, Anna slowly walked
   1.131 +down the steps. She had changed out of her girls’ uniform when they
   1.132 +had told her she wasn’t allowed to take it with. She had protested
   1.133 +strenuously, but they wouldn’t let her take it with. The last symbol
   1.134 +of her mother’s dream had been ripped from her clenched fingers. The
   1.135 +woman who had pried it from her fingers had stared at her oddly for
   1.136 +the longest time as she finally walked away, muttering something
   1.137 +about how crazy ‘he’ was. The blue haired girl had barely had the
   1.138 +strength to change into a short, pleated skirt and a button up blouse
   1.139 +with a small tied ribbon before they had taken her off to the shuttle
   1.140 +bay. 
   1.141 +	Brushing back some blue green hair from her eyes, Anna looked
   1.142 +around the expansive shuttle port. She got several odd looks from
   1.143 +some of the staff servicing the shuttles and the rest of the
   1.144 +equipment, but she tried to ignore it. She just wanted to find out
   1.145 +where her room was so she could hide. ‘Roommates,’ an inner voice
   1.146 +added quickly, ruining even the small solace that idea had held. She
   1.147 +lowered her head miserably as a man approached. 
   1.148 +	“Anna Respighi?” he asked quizzically, as he looked at the notepad
   1.149 +he held. He looked up at the girl in front of him and down at the
   1.150 +notepad once more. This was certainly awkward. He had thought the boy
   1.151 +merely had a strange name when he’d first received the report that a
   1.152 +new student was being flown in from the girls’ university, presumably
   1.153 +having been sent there by mistake. But upon seeing the new student,
   1.154 +he sure thought the boy looked like a girl as well. 
   1.155 +	Anna nodded shyly, not looking up as she held her bags tightly. She
   1.156 +could feel the rough material cutting into her palms. Her vision
   1.157 +blurred momentarily, causing her to blink furiously in an attempt to
   1.158 +banish the tears. “Hai...” she said quietly. 
   1.159 +	The man looked at the new student one last time before turning.
   1.160 +‘Well, this has to be the strangest student I’ve met yet,’ he thought
   1.161 +to himself. Aloud, he said, “Please come this way. I’ll show you to
   1.162 +your room. We’ll send by some uniforms in a bit after you have a
   1.163 +chance to get settled.” He started walking out the door and down the
   1.164 +hallway, listening for the footsteps to signify that he was being
   1.165 +followed. He nodded in satisfaction as soft footsteps rang out behind
   1.166 +his own. “I took a look at your statistics. It sounds like you’ll be
   1.167 +giving quite a few boys around here a run for their money,” he said
   1.168 +with a smile.
   1.169 +	Rubbing her eyes with her palm, Anna took in a shuddering breath
   1.170 +and held it for a moment. “I don’t want to be here...” she whispered
   1.171 +hopelessly. “I... Thank you..” she replied, louder this time. Her
   1.172 +mother had always taught her to be polite. Even if she was shy, she
   1.173 +could still retain that at least.
   1.174 +	The two stopped in front of a room very similar to the rooms back
   1.175 +at the female University. A placard was placed near the door,
   1.176 +signifying the occupants. Stahl Ivon, Emmerich Dave, Respighi Anna,
   1.177 +it read in sharp letters. Just looking at it made Anna feel homesick,
   1.178 +remembering a similar placard when she had first found her room at
   1.179 +the girls’ University. And finding it had been no easy task. She
   1.180 +shuddered in remembrance of Mylandah Walder. But Kris had come and
   1.181 +saved both her and Akari. And shortly thereafter she had found out
   1.182 +that they were all roommates. She choked back a sob, her two friends
   1.183 +smiling faces returning unbidden to her mind. Whoever occupied this
   1.184 +room, she didn’t know. And she didn’t want to know. She wanted to be
   1.185 +back with her friends, to be striving for her mother’s dream once
   1.186 +more. 
   1.187 +	“Good luck, kiddo,” the man said casually as he walked down the
   1.188 +hallway, waving at Anna with his notepad before disappearing into the
   1.189 +maze of corridors. 
   1.190 +	Anna slumped against the door, sliding down to her knees. The cold
   1.191 +metal seeped into her bare legs as she collapsed onto them. Her bags
   1.192 +fell next to her, standing sentinel in front of the door. A weak sob
   1.193 +escaped her trembling lips as she sat there in a rising storm of
   1.194 +grief. It battered continually at her heart, it’s winds tearing apart
   1.195 +her sail, the waves crashing down around the bow. She was drowning in
   1.196 +agony. Some of the boys walking down the hallway stared at her oddly,
   1.197 +but said nothing, whispering amongst themselves as they gawked at the
   1.198 +new boy. The pretty new boy. Their stares burned her flesh, like the
   1.199 +eyes of hunting jackals or sinister demons. This got her to her feet,
   1.200 +grabbing her bags with shaking hands. Part of her just wanted to
   1.201 +leave the bags, to just get inside and get away from these frightful
   1.202 +beasts. But she knew that all of her pictures and important keepsakes
   1.203 +were inside. She had to take them with. 
   1.204 +	The door took an eternity to open. Even with 50th century
   1.205 +technology, it was far too slow for Anna. She scraped her arm against
   1.206 +the metal as she pulled herself inside before it was fully open. The
   1.207 +door closed quickly behind her. In the darkness of her new room, her
   1.208 +knees threatened to give out. She so wanted to collapse where she
   1.209 +stood, to wrap the darkness around her like a blanket and try to cry
   1.210 +herself to sleep. ‘Roommates,’ that persistent and sometimes
   1.211 +frightening inner voice repeated. Anna simply nodded, dragging her
   1.212 +bags further into the small dorm. 
   1.213 +	“Oh, so you’re the new guy? Nice to meet you?” A boy startled the
   1.214 +girl with the sea green hair as he popped up from the couch. He had
   1.215 +messy blond hair and glasses and his right hand was still clutching a
   1.216 +book he had been reading. How he had gotten up to this prestigious
   1.217 +sports university was anyone’s guess. “My name’s Dave. Dave
   1.218 +Emmerich.” He paused as he noticed her skirt and the red ribbon in
   1.219 +her hair. He pulled his glasses up and rubbed at his eyes for a
   1.220 +moment before pulling them back down. There must have been a mistake,
   1.221 +because the boy they were supposed to send in to room with him
   1.222 +couldn’t be this shy looking girl. Of course, there weren’t any girls
   1.223 +around the boys’ University, so seeing one was always a very, very
   1.224 +welcome surprise. Many of the boys’ had started up relationships with
   1.225 +other boys while they were segregated up here in space, as he had
   1.226 +heard happened oftentimes at the girl’s University as well. But that
   1.227 +didn’t mean he wasn’t pleased to see a female member of the species
   1.228 +in his room. In his room. Wow... He quickly ran his fingers through
   1.229 +his blond hair, hoping that he had it in some semblance of order. “I
   1.230 +really hope you haven’t gotten the wrong room, ma’am. I’d be happy to
   1.231 +help you with whatever you could possibly need. Books, directions...
   1.232 +ummm... anything at all.” He nodded quickly, laughing nervously. How
   1.233 +long had it been since he had seen a girl? Two, three months? And
   1.234 +that had just been his sister when he had been about to get shipped
   1.235 +off to the University.
   1.236 +	“She’s a boy, you moron,” another voice interrupted, causing Anna
   1.237 +to drop her bags in fright. A silver haired boy with sharp, angular
   1.238 +features stepped out of the shadows. He was soaked with sweat,
   1.239 +obviously having chosen to train in his limited free time. “Either
   1.240 +that or she’s flat as hell.”
   1.241 +	“She looks curvy enough to me,” Dave replied conversationally,
   1.242 +adjusting his glasses. His face burned in embarrassment seconds later
   1.243 +as he realized the subject of their discussion was still present. “I
   1.244 +mean... err... Not that I’d be looking or anything..” he supplied
   1.245 +lamely. “Anyway, this is Ivon Stahl. But you can call him Shard. No
   1.246 +one else does, but hey, maybe we can start a nickname for him.”
   1.247 +	Ivon sighed, brushing sweat from his brow as he walked past Anna.
   1.248 +“You don’t really think they’d send a girl here, do you, Dave? You’ve
   1.249 +been out in space too long. Those genius brain cells of yours are
   1.250 +starting to misfire.” Grabbing something to drink from the small
   1.251 +kitchen area they had, he turned to take a look at the cute new
   1.252 +arrival. “So you’re a crossdresser?” he asked mildly.
   1.253 +	“I’m not a crossdresser!!!” Anna screamed angrily. Her fists
   1.254 +clenched as she turned towards the silver haired boy. The voice
   1.255 +inside of her was trying desperately to break through what few
   1.256 +barricades Anna had against it. Rage, humiliation, and agonizing pain
   1.257 +accompanied the boy’s words as they echoed again and again in her
   1.258 +mind. That was so degrading, that she was just dressing up in these
   1.259 +clothes, that she was anything like the two boys in the room. It was
   1.260 +like she was just some performer, wearing this for thrills, not
   1.261 +because they were what she felt comfortable in, what she had always
   1.262 +worn. Tears threatened to spill down her lovely cheeks once more, but
   1.263 +this time they were tinged with red hot hatred. Hatred for the
   1.264 +headmaster, for all those that had sent her away from her mother’s
   1.265 +dream and her only friends. Hatred for this boy who would so
   1.266 +callously disregard her as obviously not a woman. Hatred for herself
   1.267 +for not being able to achieve her mother’s attention. She barely
   1.268 +noticed the blood dripping down to the floor from her cut palms. Her
   1.269 +fingernails dug deeply into her flesh. 
   1.270 +	“Calm down, man. Geez. I’m just wondering what’s up with the
   1.271 +feminine clothes. Hey, if it’s a fashion statement from the
   1.272 +Biginners, then that’s good for you.” Ivon put his hand on Anna’s
   1.273 +shoulder, trying to calm the obviously agitated boy down. He
   1.274 +immediately wished that he hadn’t. Pain shot through his wrist as
   1.275 +Anna moved with blinding speed, twisting his wrist as she yanked his
   1.276 +hand away from her. 
   1.277 +	“I AM NOT A CROSSDRESSER!” Anna shouted, holding the silver haired
   1.278 +boy’s hand in a death grip as her body shook. The pain, the anger all
   1.279 +ate at her, pushing forward in a frenzied path towards freedom. Anna
   1.280 +was usually a very calm, shy, introverted girl. She was very sweet
   1.281 +and kind, though she always had trouble with people because of her
   1.282 +shyness. But she could also be very volatile. Sometimes all of that
   1.283 +pain and anger she held inside was just too much for her and she
   1.284 +lashed out in a psychotic, maniacal rage. That had brought about her
   1.285 +sister’s extended hospital visit and the coma she was in after the
   1.286 +stress of competing with her sister and the knowledge that she
   1.287 +wouldn’t be able to get her mother’s approval had become too much.
   1.288 +Now Anna was very close to breaking. She had lost her only two
   1.289 +friends, had been yanked away from her only chance at finally getting
   1.290 +her mother’s attention, had been told that she wasn’t even a girl,
   1.291 +and now she was in some strange place all alone with someone telling
   1.292 +her that she was only a boy in drag. And inside, that angry voice,
   1.293 +that pained, psychotic voice cried out, drowning out Anna’s usually
   1.294 +soft spoken and quiet words. She finally let go of the boy’s hand
   1.295 +just short of breaking it. Grabbing her bags, she stormed back to her
   1.296 +room, dragging her bags with her.
   1.297 +	Ivon collapsed in pain, clutching his wrist as he fell to the
   1.298 +floor. His wrist was smeared with the blood from Anna’s palms.
   1.299 +“Fuck... What the hell...” He tried to catch his breath as he watched
   1.300 +Anna disappear into the free room, the door swishing shut behind her.
   1.301 +	
   1.302 +	Several hours later, Anna’s hand shook as she punched in the
   1.303 +numbers to call her house back on earth. She needed to speak to her
   1.304 +mother. She needed to know that things would be all right. She
   1.305 +couldn’t handle it here. She didn’t want to be here at all. This was
   1.306 +a boys’ school and she certainly didn’t belong here. The poor,
   1.307 +frightened girl needed her mother. It had taken her forever to work
   1.308 +up the courage to hurry out of her room to find a communications
   1.309 +system that would let her call Earth. Her two roommates had avoided
   1.310 +her for some reason, though she couldn’t quite recall why. But it
   1.311 +hardly seemed to matter. She wasn’t good with people. Of course they
   1.312 +wouldn’t like her. And she was too shy to try and get to know them.
   1.313 +Which is why she had been so thrilled to find that she, Kris, and
   1.314 +Akari really had been a team, that they had grown to be friends. Her
   1.315 +only friends. Fresh pain washed over her heart, but she pushed it
   1.316 +down deep inside of her, unknowingly feeding the pain and anguish
   1.317 +within her, as the communications request was sent. 
   1.318 +	“Mama!” Anna said happily, smiling into the communications screen.
   1.319 +“I’m so sorry! I.. I wanted to talk to you, but they wouldn’t let
   1.320 +me...” The blue green haired girl sniffled as she wiped at her eyes.
   1.321 +“Mama, they sent me away.. They sent me to the boys’ University...
   1.322 +I’m not a boy, mama... I’m not..” Tears trickled wetly down her
   1.323 +cheeks as she began to cry weakly, leaning against the communications
   1.324 +system. 
   1.325 +	“Of course you aren’t, honey,” her mother’s voice stated softly.
   1.326 +“You’re my little girl. You’ve always been my little girl. I love
   1.327 +you, Anna.” The older woman smiled her motherly smile, placing her
   1.328 +hand on the screen directly where Anna’s was placed miles and miles
   1.329 +away.
   1.330 +	“I know... I love you, too, mama... I just... I don’t know what to
   1.331 +do... I can’t win the Cosmo Beauty here.. I don’t want to be here...
   1.332 +I hate this place...” She looked around hatefully at the walls that
   1.333 +surrounded her. She wiped tears away from her blue eyes with her
   1.334 +fingertips. “I want to come home..” she whispered painfully. It was a
   1.335 +relief to finally see her mother, to hear her voice, but the anguish
   1.336 +of the last few hours still weighed heavily on her, dragging her
   1.337 +deeper and deeper into the abyss. 
   1.338 +	“I’m sorry, honey. You can’t come home yet. Not yet. There’s still
   1.339 +more that you have to do. You still have to become the Cosmo Beauty,”
   1.340 +her mother’s voice replied, as if she were speaking directly to
   1.341 +Anna’s heart instead of through the communications system.
   1.342 +	“But.. Mama, I can’t... I can’t become the Cosmo Beauty from
   1.343 +here... They won’t let me back to the girls’ University because they
   1.344 +all think I’m a boy...” Anna shook her head, tears sparkling through
   1.345 +the air as she tried to focus past the despair. When she opened her
   1.346 +blue eyes, she could see several crystalline teardrops on the screen
   1.347 +in front of her. She took a deep, shuddering breath as she watched
   1.348 +her mother. 
   1.349 +	“I know. But you’ll get your chance, my dear. You just have to keep
   1.350 +training. You’ll eventually get your chance at Cosmo Beauty. And I
   1.351 +know you’ll win, Anna. Because you’re my daughter. And I know how
   1.352 +strong you are inside. You just have to wait for your chance,” her
   1.353 +mother explained calmly. Her mother’s voice sounded so much like the
   1.354 +voice inside of her, that angry and pained one. Like she was talking
   1.355 +to Anna from inside, where the voice was. 
   1.356 +	Nodding, Anna tried to smile weakly. “Un... You’re right, mama..
   1.357 +I’ll try to get better... I’ll wait for my chance,” she said softly.
   1.358 +Her mother was right. Her mother was always right. She wasn’t a boy.
   1.359 +And she would get her chance to be Cosmo Beauty, to win the honor
   1.360 +that her mother so longed for one of her daughters to achieve. ‘My
   1.361 +sister,’ Anna thought to herself. Was she doing all right? Was she
   1.362 +feeling better? From what? What had happened again? A soft, velvety
   1.363 +blanket wrapped itself around Anna’s thoughts as she tried
   1.364 +desperately to make sense of them. ‘My.. sister?’ Anna thought to
   1.365 +herself. But by now, even the emotions behind that thought were gone,
   1.366 +wrapped away and swept back into her subconsciousness. Whatever she
   1.367 +had been thinking of was gone, and she couldn’t even recall that hand
   1.368 +that had gently pulled the thoughts away. 
   1.369 +	“You’ll be fine, Anna. I know you will. I’ll be cheering for you in
   1.370 +ever event, honey. Do your best for me,” her mother finished, smiling
   1.371 +brightly.
   1.372 +	Anna nodded, determination gleaming in her still bloodshot eyes. “I
   1.373 +will, I promise, mama! I’ll win for you. Please watch me. I’ll win
   1.374 +everything for you,” Anna promised, desperate for her mother’s divine
   1.375 +attention, that which she had striven her entire live for. With that,
   1.376 +the monitor blinked out and her mother was gone. But what Anna failed
   1.377 +to notice was that her mother had never been there at all. Her mother
   1.378 +was still at the hospital with her sister, keeping an eye on the
   1.379 +comatose girl in the hopes that she would recover. What Anna had just
   1.380 +spoken with was her own inner voice, the person she was talking to
   1.381 +merely a product of her own mind. But the sea green haired girl
   1.382 +walked off feeling happier nonetheless, still believing that her
   1.383 +mother would be watching her as she continued to train.
   1.384 +
   1.385 +	“I thought you would know Kris-san’s heart by now, Akari-san,” Anna
   1.386 +said, giggling softly at her friend’s embarrassment. It was the
   1.387 +tournament between the boys’ University and the girls’ University and
   1.388 +she had just been in a very close match with Akari. The match had
   1.389 +taught her quite a bit. No matter how much one trained, there was a
   1.390 +certain amount of will, or heart, that went into it. It was something
   1.391 +she would have to understand more clearly if she could ever stand a
   1.392 +chance at the title of Cosmo Beauty. Of course, she would have to get
   1.393 +out of the boys’ University first. “You had Kris-san’s heart with
   1.394 +you, so there was no way you could lose,” Anna continued. She was
   1.395 +wearing the boys’ uniform and her hair wasn’t in its usual single
   1.396 +pigtail style. Akari, on the other hand, was in a very skimpy outfit
   1.397 +that was supposed to wreak havoc on the male players playing against
   1.398 +the girls’ team. The boys’ headmaster had foreseen this, though, and
   1.399 +had prepared by sending in a boy team that consisted of two
   1.400 +homosexual boys and Anna herself, three people who wouldn’t be
   1.401 +bothered by the skimpy outfits in front of them.
   1.402 +	“Anna-chan...” Akari said in obvious embarrassment. But she looked
   1.403 +secretly pleased at the thought of having Kris’s heart near her own.
   1.404 +She and Kris had grown even closer as of late and although the idea
   1.405 +of falling in love with the other girl was definitely disconcerting
   1.406 +for her, it was a very pleasant topsy turvy feeling that accompanied
   1.407 +it. Almost like getting off a carousel on a bright and sunny day. But
   1.408 +she quickly pushed away her discomfort at Anna’s words, happy to see
   1.409 +her friend again, even if she was dressed up in boys’ clothes this
   1.410 +time around. “How are you? It’s not the same without you here. We
   1.411 +were a team, so it doesn’t seem right continuing on towards the Cosmo
   1.412 +Beauty without you.”
   1.413 +	Anna felt a painful stab in her heart at Akari’s words. Oh, how she
   1.414 +longed to be there with Akari and Kris once more, eagerly straining
   1.415 +for the greatest title a girl could ever hope to be granted. Anna
   1.416 +smiled a little sadly. “I really miss you two. You were the best
   1.417 +friends I ever had. I wish I could come back for good, but we have to
   1.418 +leave again when the Universities separate.” She sighed, brushing
   1.419 +back blue green hair from her misty eyes. “But I’m fine. My roommates
   1.420 +are nice, I guess. And I’ve been trying my hardest in all of the
   1.421 +events.” She didn’t continue past that, only hoping that that would
   1.422 +be enough for Akari. Truth be told, her only friend at the boys’
   1.423 +school was the headmaster’s pet dog. And she couldn’t tell which
   1.424 +headmaster she hated the most, the slave driver at the boys’
   1.425 +University or the perverted one at the girls’ school who wouldn’t let
   1.426 +her stay just because of what happened to be between her legs. She
   1.427 +blinked in surprise. Well, maybe she knew which one she hated more
   1.428 +after all. She hated the pervert infinitely worse. Rage bubbled
   1.429 +simply at the sight of the smirking bastard. Her fists clenched in
   1.430 +anger as she watched him smugly feeling up female students with his
   1.431 +eyes. She didn’t know if she felt like bursting into tears or tearing
   1.432 +out his throat. ‘Kill him,’ that inner voice whispered seductively
   1.433 +into her ear. ‘Tear him apart.’ “Mama...” she whispered, holding her
   1.434 +head as she tried to think straight. She had already injured a boy in
   1.435 +one of the final rounds of the boys’ University’s program. She was a
   1.436 +much better athlete when her dark side was unleashed, but it
   1.437 +frightened her. There was almost a limitless amount of strength at
   1.438 +her call when she snapped, but she always found herself lost, barely
   1.439 +noticing what happened while she was in that state. She didn’t even
   1.440 +remember hurting the boy, only knowing what Dave had told her. 
   1.441 +	“Anna-chan?” Akari asked worriedly. The bluish haired girl looked
   1.442 +so out of it, like she was grappling with some inner demon. She
   1.443 +hadn’t seen or heard from Anna since she had been transferred and she
   1.444 +was concerned about how the shy girl was coping.
   1.445 +	“Are you all right, Anna-chan?” Kris reached the group quickly, her
   1.446 +face marked with concern as she watched the fragile girl in front of
   1.447 +her. She reached out, gently pushing away some of Anna’s hair from
   1.448 +her face.
   1.449 +	Slowly looking up, Anna looked from Akari to Kris, the concerned
   1.450 +faces of her friends watching her intently. Just seeing them both
   1.451 +made her feel more at ease. She smiled softly and stood up straight.
   1.452 +She bowed to Kris, nodding. “Hai, I’m fine, Kris-san. I just didn’t
   1.453 +get much sleep last night. I was very eager to see the two of you
   1.454 +again.” Her smile brightened visibly as she looked from one to the
   1.455 +other. 
   1.456 +	Kris laughed, grinning. “We missed you, too, Anna-chan. It’s good
   1.457 +to see you back.” She hugged the smaller girl tightly, surprising
   1.458 +Anna. “It doesn’t matter how far I get in the competition. I’ll
   1.459 +always remember this for the experiences it has given me. Meeting you
   1.460 +was one of them, Anna-chan. I’ll always treasure our friendship.
   1.461 +Thank you so much for giving me that token. That’s much more valuable
   1.462 +than any trophy or title.”
   1.463 +	Anna shyly hugged back, feeling genuinely happy for the first time
   1.464 +since she had been transferred away from her friends. It felt so nice
   1.465 +to know that someone cared about her, to feel her friends near.
   1.466 +Seconds later, she felt Akari’s arms wrap around her as well. A
   1.467 +peaceful sigh escaped her lips. There was no anger, no pain to bother
   1.468 +her now. It was locked away, deep inside. Hot tears trickled slowly
   1.469 +down her cheeks as felt the group hug. So they hadn’t forgotten her
   1.470 +after all. They still cared about her. They were still her friends.
   1.471 +Her very best friends. When it finally ended, she quickly wiped at
   1.472 +her eyes, smiling brilliantly. “Thank you both so much. I’ll always
   1.473 +remember you both, no matter where we wind up.” 
   1.474 +	Returning the smile, Akari laughed. “It’s a small universe. We’ll
   1.475 +see each other again. We have to. Because we’ll always be friends.”
   1.476 +	Nodding, Kris wiped away one of Anna’s tears. She held it on the
   1.477 +tip of her finger for a long moment, contemplating it. Anna
   1.478 +sweatdropped as the taller girl licked the teardrop away. “So that
   1.479 +we’ll always share in each others’ pain and joy, wherever we may go.”
   1.480 +	Anna lunged forwards, hugging the taller woman and then Akari
   1.481 +again. She clasped her hands in front of herself, looking from one to
   1.482 +the other. There was so much she wanted to say to them, to tell them
   1.483 +how important their friendship was to her, but her shyness was a
   1.484 +difficult hurdle to cross. “Akari-chan, thank you for being my
   1.485 +friend. You helped me understand how important your heart and soul
   1.486 +are even in sports. And Kris-san, I had a lot of fun reading manga
   1.487 +with you and watching you try my cooking. You taught me a lot about
   1.488 +the Biginners and about friendship. Thank you both.” She bowed
   1.489 +quickly to the two of them as the final call came for the boys to
   1.490 +return. She took a few hurried steps away. “I’ll never forget you!!”
   1.491 +Without looking back, Anna ran off, blinking through a haze of tears.
   1.492 +
   1.493 +	The new school year had started at the University Satellite and
   1.494 +Akari Kanzaki was the reigning Cosmo Beauty. She had returned for the
   1.495 +new year, thrilled at the prospect of once again returning to this
   1.496 +place of fond memories and the heart and soul she had thrown into
   1.497 +everything while she had been there. Friends and enemies, joy and
   1.498 +heartache, it had all happened here. She had even received her first
   1.499 +kiss at the Satellite. Blushing deeply, she recalled Kris’s tender
   1.500 +lisp against her own. They had stayed together all that night, not
   1.501 +wanting to leave each other’s side. It had been so painful to know
   1.502 +that they would soon be parting. Akari had grown to need Kris, to
   1.503 +need her presence. The taller woman made her heart beat quicker, made
   1.504 +her soul soar. She made her reach further and fly higher than she
   1.505 +possibly could on her own. 
   1.506 +	There had been so much tension back them. Akari had been so
   1.507 +embarrassed about her twisted feelings for the other girl and how
   1.508 +Kris acted around her. But she couldn’t deny her feelings on that
   1.509 +last night, as they kissed amidst starlight. She hadn’t quite
   1.510 +understood what her feelings were at the time, but in the time they
   1.511 +had been apart, she came to realize that she loved Kris. As Anna had
   1.512 +said long ago, their hearts were entwined. Even apart, Akari could
   1.513 +feel Kris’s heart singing their song. Which is why she had hurried
   1.514 +back, taking the first shuttle she could upon learning that Kris had
   1.515 +returned to the University Satellite. She had nearly flown to the
   1.516 +moon to see the tall woman, her need to explain her feelings, to be
   1.517 +in Kris’s arms almost unbearable. The only thing that had kept her
   1.518 +from going insane was the help of her best friend, Ichino. Without
   1.519 +her, Akari would never have been able to survive their time apart.
   1.520 +And now Ichino had managed to get to the Satellite as well. So many
   1.521 +returning faces. Jessie, Mylandah, Lahrri, Tanya, Kris, Ichino. There
   1.522 +was only one person that remained absent, leaving a small hole in
   1.523 +Akari’s heart. 
   1.524 +	A sudden glimpse of blue in the crowd of students caught her
   1.525 +eye. Pausing after a moment’s hesitation, the brunette turned around
   1.526 +and scanned the crowd. She was probably just imagining things. There
   1.527 +was no way Anna could be here. She would be at the boys’ University,
   1.528 +wouldn’t she? But there it was again, that same flash of sea green in
   1.529 +the crowd. Akari hurried past the new students, struggling past to
   1.530 +reach the girl she finally spotted. “Anna-chan!! Anna-chan!” she
   1.531 +called out, waving in excitement. The girl looked around curiously,
   1.532 +her eyes settling on Akari as the brunette rushed up and hugged her.
   1.533 +“Anna-chan!! I’m so happy to see you!”
   1.534 +The girl blinked in confusion, looking at Akari as if she had gone
   1.535 +mad. “Anna-chan?” She paused for a moment before smiling. “You must
   1.536 +be Kanzaki Akari-san! You’re the whole reason I’m here. Well, your
   1.537 +mother, at any rate. Anna-chan met you last year, didn’t she? I’m her
   1.538 +sister, Ellene. I finally made it up to the Satellite this year. I’m 
   1.539 +really eager to prove myself. I can’t wait to play against you. I’ve 
   1.540 +been training a lot with my sister during the break just for this.”
   1.541 +“Oh..” Akari nodded slowly, a little disappointed. This was Anna’s
   1.542 +twin sister? So Anna didn’t get to come back to the girls’ University
   1.543 +after all. She smiled all the same, glad to see that familiar face.
   1.544 +“I’ll be happy to train with you sometime if you’d like. I’d love to
   1.545 +know what Anna-chan’s been up to.” 
   1.546 +	Ellene agreed happily. “Sure! I would be thrilled to train
   1.547 +with you, Kanzaki-san. And I’d be happy to tell you anything you want
   1.548 +to know about my sister.”
   1.549 +Akari quickly said goodbye to the girl that looked startlingly like
   1.550 +Anna and hurried towards her own room. It was a little disconcerting
   1.551 +that Anna had been replaced with her sister, but she was happy about
   1.552 +it even if it was bittersweet. If she was anything like Anna, then it
   1.553 +would be a pleasure to get to know her. 
   1.554 +All of Akari’s thoughts came to an abrupt halt as she saw the woman
   1.555 +standing ahead of her, ice blue hair framing her beautiful face.
   1.556 +“Kris..” she whispered breathlessly. “Kris!!” She ran to the taller
   1.557 +woman with all of the strength she could muster, reaching her arms
   1.558 +almost immediately. Kris reeled back but held on fast. “Oh, Kris, I
   1.559 +missed you so much! You don’t know what it was like..”
   1.560 +A smile broke across Kris’s features as she looked down at the
   1.561 +brunette, her hands on her cheeks. “I know, Akari-chan. I felt it
   1.562 +along with you. I was always there, even if we weren’t side by side.”
   1.563 +In a moment spawned of months of heartache and the loneliness of
   1.564 +constantly imagining the one she loved, Akari pushed up on her
   1.565 +tiptoes and returned the kiss that Kris had granted her such a long
   1.566 +time before. That spinning carousel feeling was gone, replaced by a
   1.567 +crystal clarity that soothed her soul. Her heart was enraptured by
   1.568 +the taller girl’s presence, her mind just incredibly relieved to once
   1.569 +again be in her arms. “Kris..” she whispered, resting her head on the
   1.570 +blue haired woman’s chest as their lips finally parted.
   1.571 +“Akari-chan..” Kris said softly, gently stroking Akari’s brunette
   1.572 +hair. Her eyes closed as she took a deep breath, savoring Akari’s
   1.573 +scent, her feel, the sound of her breathing. It was all better than
   1.574 +she could possibly have dreamed. “This is why I came back. Akari-
   1.575 +chan, I want to be by you side. I want us to go through all of this
   1.576 +together, playing with our hearts side by side.”
   1.577 +Blushing slightly, Akari nodded eagerly. “That’s what I want, too,
   1.578 +Kris.” Resting her head on Kris’s shoulder, the two women made their
   1.579 +way back to the dorm that they’d be sharing with a third party
   1.580 +member. They were both too absorbed in the moment to bother reading
   1.581 +the placard. The door whooshed open and they entered, but what met
   1.582 +Akari’s eyes caught her completely by surprise. 
   1.583 +Ichino was sitting at the table, a large plate in front of her. She
   1.584 +was quickly devouring the appetizing platter, obviously enjoying
   1.585 +herself. But what surprised Akari more than seeing her best friend in
   1.586 +her room was the sight behind the dark haired girl. Anna stood in the
   1.587 +small kitchen wearing a cute pink and white apron with frills around
   1.588 +the edges, busy cooking for the ‘fastest girl in Japan’. She was
   1.589 +humming something to herself, completely in her element and seeming
   1.590 +to enjoy herself just as much as Ichino was.
   1.591 +“Hey, Akari-chan!” Ichino said after choking down some food. “I was
   1.592 +wondering where you were. This place is huge! I almost got lost. I’m
   1.593 +glad Anna-chan knew where to go.” Ichino looked back at the blue
   1.594 +haired beauty who was slowly turning around to face her former
   1.595 +teammates. “Oh, sorry, Akari-chan. I should introduce her. This is
   1.596 +Respighi Anna-chan.” Ichino placed a hand behind her head, laughing
   1.597 +nervously. “She’s my girlfriend.”
   1.598 +“G..gir..girlfriend..?” Akari asked, suddenly taken even further off
   1.599 +guard by Ichino’s words. 
   1.600 +Anna blushed a deep scarlet, clasping her hands together as she
   1.601 +looked down. “Ichino-chan..” she said, embarrassed. Her foot moved
   1.602 +back and forth on the floor as she stared at it. Finally regaining
   1.603 +some of her composure, she looked up to see Akari and Kris standing
   1.604 +in the doorway. A bright smile flashed across her face as she saw her
   1.605 +roommates again. “Kris-san! Akari-san! I’m so glad to see the both of
   1.606 +you!”
   1.607 +Grinning happily, Kris nodded. “I knew we’d meet again, Anna-chan.
   1.608 +It must have been Fate. We really are a team.”
   1.609 +Akari simply nodded quickly, still taken aback by the recent events.
   1.610 +She shook her head, confusion spinning her around until she felt
   1.611 +dizzy. “Wait, I thought Anna-chan had to go to the other University
   1.612 +because she’s a bo..”
   1.613 +“Akari-chan, could we not talk about that right now,” Ichino cut her
   1.614 +off, fighting a dark blush that lined her cheeks. She had found out
   1.615 +for herself about Anna’s male anatomy, but she could certainly vouch
   1.616 +for the blue haired girl’s femininity nonetheless. “We met at the
   1.617 +Training School in Australia. She was so shy around everybody that I
   1.618 +kinda felt like I had to look out for her. She paid me back by
   1.619 +cooking for me. We got to talk a lot during that. And what can I say,
   1.620 +I absolutely love her cooking. And watching her cook.” She grinned.
   1.621 +Anna blushed at Ichino’s words and turned to address Akari’s
   1.622 +question. She rested her hands on Ichino’s shoulders, standing behind
   1.623 +the dark haired girl’s chair. “My mother found out that I was kicked
   1.624 +out of the school and brought it up with the school board. It seems
   1.625 +that it violates the Equal Races act from several decades ago. She
   1.626 +argued that I was still female no matter what they said and that I
   1.627 +didn’t belong at the boy’s school. The school board reviewed my case
   1.628 +and finally agreed. So I got to come back. We get to be a team
   1.629 +again.” Anna smiled happily. Her pain was gone. Her anger and
   1.630 +frustration that had eaten at her soul had finally faded away some
   1.631 +time ago. That pained voice had left her. Her sister was fine and
   1.632 +they were both at the University now. She got to be with her friends
   1.633 +once more. Her mother had been more than happy just to see her again
   1.634 +when she had returned to Earth. And she had a beautiful girlfriend
   1.635 +that made her feel all bubbly inside. She felt wonderful. For once in
   1.636 +her life, she felt complete and fulfilled inside. No matter where the
   1.637 +winds took her sailboat this time, she was prepared. She would ride
   1.638 +the wind with her friends, and with her love.
   1.639 +
   1.640 +