Summary: Seeing death through the eyes of a little girl.
She remembers the dull electronic beeps continually sounding off her life. She remembers warm hands enveloping her frail ones. She remembers seeing her big brother towering over her bedside whispering promises with tears clinging to the corners of his eyes. She remembers being afraid and wanting daddy by her side too.
Then she remembers nothing at all and that terrifies her.
She sits in a garden of roses and daffodils and daisies. She wants to look around and cry and look around for daddy and big bro because-
"Who…?"
She stiffens and turns around. Sees a boy that looks kind of like Naoto-kun, but instead with slicked back hair and a long yellow scarf tied around his neck. She doesn't want to be near him because she knows not to be around strangers. She wants to run away and look for big bro, but…
"You're…" He sounds hesitant, almost scared to finish the end of that sentence. She doesn't want to hear him talk.
"Umm…I'm sorry, but I don't know you."
He's clearly taken back at hearing her speak, but that shocked look fades quickly into a rather strange expression.
"Don't be afraid. I'm a friend."
No he isn't. Big bro would have said something. Daddy would have said something. There is something not right with the situation. She takes a step back towards the garden behind her.
The tentative expression he has on his face changes into another unreadable one and she stops walking back. The look he's pinning her with looks…miserable.
"I'm sorry. I wish we could have met over more favorable times."
He has a sad sort of smile on his face. She should know what that looks like. After all, it's the one that she taught herself.
"Dojima Nanako…correct?" A numb feeling of fear throbs through as she absentmindedly nods her head. Who is he? How does he know her? "Do not be afraid. I am…Ryoji. I am here with you until something happens."
He takes a seat on a bench (when did that get there?) and watches her with the sad smile still on his face. She watches him and then, against her better judgment, slowly walks toward him. Eventually, she makes it to a seat next to him. He doesn't give off a bad feeling or anything, so she deems it safe enough. (Besides, if something happened, big bro would save her. He always did.)
"I see you like me enough to sit next to me. I'm honored." He plays with a stray piece of fabric on his scarf and closes his eyes. "I think a cute girl like you should be wary of who she sits next to. You might make a guy think and feel like he's worth something more than what he really is."
She doesn't understand anything beyond the first sentence and that is enough to make her blush. Only big bro and his friends could say that.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I'm probably making you uncomfortable. I just, I haven't been talking to anyone else for a long time now. I'm…waiting with a friend of mine here for something to happen."
And that was it. The unreadable expression becomes something she recognizes in an instant.
"I suppose you could say I'm…sad."
"I-it's okay. I'm sure you'll get whatever you want." Her voice sounds raspy as though she has had a sore throat for a week. "Your friend too."
He smiles again, a light grin on his face that brightens his entire demeanor. She's feeling slightly more comfortable around this strange boy and somewhere deep down inside, she thinks that she shouldn't be doing that.
"My friend…he's waiting for something that'll probably never happen. He's kind of an optimist sometimes when it's about certain things like this." He's looking up at the sky with a weary expression. "Never thought he was one to start with, though I guess saving the world does make one's mindset change for the better."
"Saving the world?" She thinks to herself for a minute. "You mean like Neo Featherman?" It's the only reference she understands, but it works fine as he nods in agreement.
"Yeah. Sort of like that."
She kicks her feet for a bit, slightly hesitant at asking a question. She's afraid of completely trusting him. "W-where am I?"
He's sad now. A crease on his forehead reminds her of daddy when he thinks too hard about mommy and tries to hide tears from everyone.
"A place…where one sees an end."
"Huh?"
He looks down at his hands now, a torn expression tearing apart his face. "Damn it…I have this power and I can't…I can't even do anything to save a little girl."
Concern builds up inside her as she asks him if he's okay.
"I…no, I'm fine. I'm just waiting for their next move." She's even more confused now. What is he talking about? "When they make their next move, I'll do what I have to."
He stops moving and it scares her to see a body go so still. It seems almost unnatural, something that didn't fit the definition of human. "Umm…why am I here?"
He glances at her, sad blue eyes drowning in grief and misery. "Because…fate is a cruel mistress."
Before she gets the chance to ask her next question, something happens. A light blue glow fills a room. It takes her a few seconds to realize that blue light comes from her. It takes her a second to orientate herself because she's floating away from the strange boy.
"I see they've made the right decision."
He's starting to sound farther and farther away and she's starting to rise and rise up. His pained expression disappears, replaced with a pleased grin that makes her happy too.
"I'll take you back safely, okay? I hope I won't have to see you again until the time is right."
Just then, a massive gate stands before her. She's scared of the eyes frantically moving about on the door, but she then notices a figure chained in front of it. Her attention though, moves away from that to a boy. He materializes before her and this time, he looks exactly like Naoto-kun. (Is he related to her?)
"When you go back, please tell your brother that he has nothing to fear. He will make the right decision."
Before she can answer back, the world around her fizzes out into nothingness.
She's weak, but she manages to hold a small conversation with her big bro.
"So…don't worry. I'm…sure you'll…make the…right…choice."
Her eyes close wearily because they're heavy with sleep. She misses the light in his eyes as something finally clicks.
"We'll keep waiting, right?"
He doesn't have a corporeal form to nod with, but his counterpart knows the answer.
"That girl…she shouldn't have been up here."
He knows.
"You…did something." It wasn't a question.
"I did."
Ryoji's true form flickers between a human and a being of death. "So, was that your way of intervening?"
"Because the world doesn't deserve to end based on lies and misconceptions."
He looks away from his precious person. "Was that a stab at my…intentions as Nyx?"
No answer.
"Well…they have another chance to avoid the deceit. Let's hope that they'll make it."
Minato hoped for that too.