The Reality of a Dream
"Goodnight." whispered Ryuhou as he kissed her cheek. She snuggled into his chest, and smiled at him warmly. But little did she know that would be the last time she'd see her husband for many years. Because when she awoke the following morning he was gone. And for seven long years she searched. To find nothing but dead ends and a heart filled with sorrow.
" But Daddy, how can you ask me to get married again so soon!"
" Maya I just want what's best for you, and besides… it's been seven years." Responded Commander Jigmar.
" Mom died over twenty years ago, and you never bothered to get back out there!" she screamed.
Maya could tell what she had said, broke her father's heart in two. So she quickly turned on her heels, and rushed out the door. All she could think to do was run from her father's office, as tears streamed down her alabaster cheeks. But no matter how hard Maya tried to stop, her feet kept going, until she reached the door of her quarters.
She quickly wiped away her eyeliner, and opened the door. But what Maya saw brought her to her knees. The form of an almost dead Ryuhou, lay in a puddle of crimson blood, in front of her.
Maya jolted forward, and pulled Ryuhou gently into her torso.
" Ryuhou. Ryuhou! C'mon baby, are you in there?" stuttered Maya.
Afraid of hurting him anymore, Maya gently slipped off his bloody shirt, and tended to his wounds to the best of her ability. Once that was done Maya grabbed a t-shirt for him to wear, and sat with his head in her lap, while she stroked his hair. And in what seemed like seconds, Maya heard a knock on the door.
"Come in."
But to Maya's surprise, her father walked through the door.
" Maya-," Jigmar sputtered, " Is that?"
" Daddy, it's him. It's Ryuhou, he's returned." Maya declared as she stared down upon Ryuhou's war scarred chest.
We've got to get him out of here. Now. If he comes to, he'll tell her everything, and our plan will be ruined!
Jigmar ran to the intercom box beside the door, and Maya heard her father's voice over the loudspeakers.
" We have a code black in room 397."
What the heck is a code black?
Within seconds, two doctors burst into the room, they carefully placed Ryuhou on a gurney and wheeled him away to the ICU.
Soon hours had passed, and Maya continued to feel as helpless as ever. All she could do was grasp Ryuhou's hand as an IV was placed in his arm, and a ventilator tube stuck down his throat. But what pained Maya the most was that Ryuhou was put in restraints. The doctors said it was to help keep him still when he convulsed. But all Maya thought, was that her husband was being treated like a rabid beast. And after a few days, Ryuhou was weaned off the ventilator, and came too soon after.
" Ryuhou. Ryuhou. Sweetheart, it's me. It's Maya."
" Ma-ya… where am I?"
" Your in the Intensive care unit at HOLY, there's no need to worry every-."
Suddenly Ryuhou burst up, breaking free of his restraints, and tearing the IV from his arm.
" Maya, you-."
Ryuhou was cut off midsentence by a tender finger placed against his trembling lips.
"Shh. Lay down, we'll have plenty of time to catch up later."
" But."
Maya's gentle hands pushed him down, and were placed over the wound on his arm. Ryuhou closed his eyes, and slowly drifted off.
The last time he felt a touch so gentle and tender was on his wedding day seven years earlier. He remembered Maya draped in white, and that moment when he saw his beautiful fiancée come through the doors of the church. When he stared into those emerald green eyes, which somehow pierced through his soul, he felt alive. All the doubt that had clouded his mind disappeared.
Ryuhou partly opened his eyes, to see a blue aura emanating from Maya's hands, and his eyes burst open.
" Maya! You've learned to control your alter powers!" blurted Ryuhou.
" Well, when you travel to places overpopulated with bandits, and you're a girl," chuckled Maya, " You have to be able to take care of yourself."
Once Maya broke the ice, they both began to ramble on like an old married couple. But when Maya asked where Ryuhou had been all those years, the room went deafly silent.
" I-I was held in a facility on the lost ground. They used me as a guinea pig in over a hundred different, and very painful experiments, trying to discover a way to extract alter powers from their users," stuttered Ryuhou as he choked back tears, " Jigmar certified the plan twenty-one years ago… and your mother was the 1st test subject."
And that was all it took, the tears began to roll down his cheeks.
But when he looked up at the face of his beloved, all he could see was a waterfall of tears falling onto Maya's hands.
" Sweetheart, pack your things. We'll run away, far away. And we'll never return." Sobbed Ryuhou as he placed his hands on Maya's.
Maya raised her head to stare upon Ryuhou with a look of utter despair.
" The me before I married you could have easily dropped everything and ran. But after I got married, it opened my eyes, for us to be safe for years to come, and to start a family. I have to complete the most important mission of my life."
Maya gently rose from her chair, and walked over to place her hand on the doorknob. And uttered one sentence as she left her spouse, " Don't forget me."
All Ryuhou could do was sit and hope, as his true love made her way to fight the toughest battle anyone ever has to face, confronting her father.
But as Maya continues on, she begins to feel a deep sense of determination, even though she was doubtful. She knew she must carry on.
I have to keep going. For Ryuhou, for all of my comrades dead and alive, but most of all for my mother who died because my father mind was clouded by power.
With that thought etched in her mind. Maya calmly entered her father's office, prepared for the worst.
" Father! Turn and face me!" demanded Maya as a sweat drop rolled down her cheek.
Jigmar turned around in his chair, and what Maya saw made her body go numb.
Who is this man? This can't be my father. No-. Maybe this is my father. But how can I fight someone I care so much about?
Her father's eyes that were once filled with peace and benevolence were now filled with insanity and agony.
Maya quickly glanced down at the diamond ring on her right hand, and all the fear and doubt that was holding her back, became nothing but a distant memory.
" I must fight! For everyone I know and love. But more importantly, I must fight to free my father from the shackles the bind him." She muttered under her breath.
" Foolish girl! You truly believe you can defeat me. I taught you everything you know about fighting!" cackled Jigmar as he rose from his chair.
" Maybe you did, but I have more passion and heart, than you'll ever hope to have. And aside from that I have a reason that drives me… I know you killed my mother!" she snidely remarked.
Maya's hand rose to the gunsen, carefully holding her hair in a bun. She gently pulled the gunsen from her hair, and what seemed to be raven blue silk cascaded to the floor.
" After Ryuhou disappeared, and my powers first emerged. I said that I would make H.O.L.Y a place where we could teach young people to control their powers. That is my nindo. My way."
She flicked her wrist, opening the fan, to reveal a scene of Japanese cherry blossoms falling from their branches. Then Maya silently fell into her fighting stance.
Commander Jigmar pulled a silver saber from its sheath still hanging from the wall, and he charged forward. Maya quickly separated the fans into two. She caught the saber between the ribbings of the fan, and snapped it shut, while she delivered a strike that sent her father flying into a bookcase across the room.
Maya took that chance to finish her father off. But her father grabbed the other sword off the wall, and slashed Maya across.
" NO!" Maya screamed as she jolted up. She looked around the room to find that she was in her bedroom, drenched in a cold sweat.
Was it just a dream? How could it of been? It all seemed so real?
Suddenly Maya felt something rustle beside her, and a very distinctive snore.
No…it couldn't be. Could it…?
Maya slowly turned to he left, only to see the form of her black haired beloved, Ryuhou lying beside her.
He still has the war-scarred chest, but judging by his snore, he's fine.
She had just snuggled into Ryuhou's shirtless chest, when she heard a knock on the door. So Maya quickly pulled on her robe, and opened the door. But to her surprise no one was there, just an envelope lying at her feet. She clutched the letter in her hand, and sat down on the bed to read it.
Mrs. Maya Kuzuki,
On this day on November 23. We are proud to inform you, that you have been chosen as the new commander of the H.O.L.Y organization. Because of your father's sudden disappearance, we will need you to take your post at 0600 hours tomorrow morning.
Sincerely, Mimori KahokaWhen Maya turned to lie back in bed. To her surprise, she was greeted with a mind-blowing kiss.
" Maya, I'm so proud of you!" remarked Ryuhou.
After that Ryuhou quickly drifted off to sleep. But Maya lay awake for an hour or so in shock, until she finally joined her husband in the land of dreams.
" It's hard to believe it's been six years since the incident."
" Uh-huh. But we've been able to go on with our normal everyday lives since then.
" Isn't that right Kagali?" Ryuhou asked the little girl bouncing on his knee.
" That's right Papa!"
Even though she's only four years old, Kagali has already a spitting image of her father from head to toe.
" Kagali, can you and Athrun take this book to Aunt Mimori?" Maya asked as she looked down at her children.
Even though he's small. Athrun has always stood up to his sister, although he's two years younger. He's truly his mom's child, he look almost exactly like her. And aside from that, he has a mean left hook.
" Yes mam. Alwight Athrun, let's go."
Kagali quickly grabbed her little brother's wrist, and they both sped out of the room.
With both children gone, Maya rose from behind her desk with a sigh, and walked over to the window to stare out at the luscious green landscape beneath her.
It's hard to believe we've been married fourteen years. Maya's already had two kids, and she just turned thirty. But even though she's seven and a half months pregnant with twins to boot. I still believe she's a beautiful as she was the day we first met. And that was over fifteen years ago.
Ryuhou walked over to her, and wrapped his arms around his wife.
And Maya looked at Ryuhou with that same warm smile.
" Well, I guess everything turned out ok." She muttered.
" I guess so."
And with that Ryuhou leaned down, and kissed Maya just the same as on their wedding day.
So in the end I did fulfill my nindo, and much more.