Sweet Dreams
I felt a small puddle of drool formulate around my cheek. I immediately wiped the saliva off my face. I got up, vaguely remembering I had somewhere to be. There was a light knock on my door. I went back under the covers. An unfamiliar throbbing began along my rib cage while my senses seemed to dull, I sneezed. That couldn't be right. I never got sick.
"Come in," I said, without meaning to, like if I was a following some prerecorded message. Yusei came in, and I jumped a little. This was different. He was holding a little tray that had a cup of milk, a knife, fork and one plate full of pancakes. He put the tray down in front of me and checked my forehead.
"How are you feeling?" he asked. I coughed in response. Finally, I pulled myself together enough to answer.
"Sick," I said. He smiled and laid down beside me.
"I told you not to go out last night," he said.
I couldn't place the memory. Besides he'd snuck into my apartment last night, I'd tackled him an everything. Nothing was making sense but the scenario seemed familiar. I shook my head. He laughed and went under the covers with me. I scooted away from him although the curvature of the bed did not allow for an immediate exit. In fact, I was trapped as I'd retreated further from the opening. The firm pressure of his arm pressed against my waist.
"Yusei, what are you doing?" I said. He kissed my forehead. Wait, but yesterday, he ran away from me I know he did. I covered my face to prevent further ambushes. He . . . He . . . was helping me out that's all.
"It's cute that you still get so nervous after all this time," Yusei said. If he were to take my temperature right now, it would have risen a couple of degrees, and it would have nothing to do with me being sick. Think Carly. Don't just accept it.
"Yusei don't you think your being a little forward, after all we are just," I said planning to permanently label us as friends, no matter what minor hiccup our rendezvous last night had caused.
"You're my wife,"he said. No way, I was asleep for that long. Before I could vehemently protest and demand explanation, there was a brief black interlude, almost as if I were in a play and the next scene wasn't ready.
It was eerie how the vast void changed. A light turned on above me, one of those box shaped ones that had two long strips of lights inside. I was at a table. I held a brightly wrapped box in my hand that had recently been torn apart, probably by me. I wasn't sure anymore. There was a locket inside. I held it up to light. My name was inscribed on the front. I grinned.
"Happy Birthday," Yusei said.
Finally, I became aware of him and everything else. He wasn't wearing his usual lab coat. I don't know why, but it never occurred to me that he would ever wear anything else. The black suit was oddly formal, but it was my birthday. The candles have been conveniently pushed aside. Probably, so I wouldn't set anything on fire. Except, our table was already dangerously close to the fireplace. At least, there was a chance however slight the trail of my long dress would find its way there. Despite my confusion, I'm impressed. This is the best table in the restaurant, and one look tells me, it serves couples exclusively.
Funny how similar this was to one of my dreams where Jack would . . . I dropped the locket. I get up abruptly, feeling ashamed. So this what it comes down to, I get smitten with whoever was more convenient. I try to rationalize the situation so I don't feel so rotten. Jack had given me a bracelet I think so it's not like its completely the same. I expect to wake up. You're suppose to wake up when you know it's a dream right? The restaurant fades away. I keep walking. I hear the clacking sound of my feet as they hit the tile. The extremely ornate tile from the dream I have when . . . No, no, I'm stopping myself from going through with this. And yet, I feel the impulse to run forward, and try to open the massive stone doors. I have difficulties. They're too heavy. The standing guards offer their help. I was the empress in this scenario after all.
How embarrassing to relive all these dreams with someone filling in for Jack, albeit, so far, each had Yusei's distinct touch. Jack had always been afraid to go near me when I was sick, and he had certainly never taken me to a fancy restaurant. Still, I had no business thinking of him in the first place. I face myself or rather the mirror. My hands on my hips and I frown at myself disapprovingly. The creamy white make up of a geisha covers on my face, and magically, my glasses were gone showing off my grey-blue eyes. The tight albeit gorgeous pink kimono assented my best features and trailed off another few feet across the floor besides.
The mirror's reflection allowed me to see Yusei step in. To my surprise, his clothes were not that of an emperor's as I expected from my previous erm experience in the palace. He wore a dark blue Yukata with a blue sash covering his waist. It suits him I think. In retrospect, I supposed Jack would always be the emperor to me.
He walks toward me, and the guards begin to close the door. It occurs to me in this scenario, if I let the doors close and go through with this, I would be cheating on the emperor with a peasant. I should say something, but I try run out the way I came like a coward. He caught my sleeve.
"Heaven is high,"he said. My eyes begin to water as I finish a well known saying.
"And the emperor is far away," I choke out. Please, no more, don't remind me he isn't here and will likely never return.
His steps are slow and deliberate. I back away and shake my head, no, fiercely. My rejections were half hearted, and escape is only a fanciful fairy tale. Why try? No one was watching really. My kimono wasn't helping the situation either. It's bunching together and acting as a buffer between me and the door. Getting close enough to touch, he embraced me, and I stand there limply. He undoes the elaborate up do that likely took hours, and I've likely been wearing for weeks. I scold him, telling him the emperor will know.
He doesn't answer and keeps pulling the strands apart with deliberate care, until my hair cascades down my shoulders, an instant relief and raw tenderness come from my scalp. He strokes the strands so they fall into place. He puts a hand on my obi, but I pull his hand off. He kisses the crevice of my mouth. It's brief and formal. My lips pursed involuntarily.
"Just say the word and I'll help you," he promised. He retreated and prepared to go out the door. I panicked and grabbed his sleeve. Yusei turned around and picked me up off the ground. I slid onto the slick silk sheets easily. He undoes the first of many elaborate layers of my kimono. I press my lips against his and let myself fall into the fantasy because no one was watching really.
Yeah, this is the dream sequence Carly has after the almost kiss in Shutter Fancy. It just never seems right to add dream sequences so I don't, but I really did want to write this one out. Enjoy.