"Love never dies a natural death. It dies because we don't know how to replenish its source. It dies of blindness and errors and betrayals. It dies of illness and wounds; it dies of weariness, of witherings, of tarnishings."
-Anais Nin
7:00 a.m.
The sounds of rushing feet passed by a little girl sitting alone in a waiting room frightened her. She was unsure of what to do. She was unsure of what was happening. She was isolated from the truth.
Her impetuous five year old mind could not grasp the situation around her, yet it craved answers. Her strong personality would never accept these cruel occurrences. She had to know what was occurring all the time or else she would remain restless until she knew.
7:30 a.m.
Her questions were still unanswered. Her mother and father were still in the small locked room at the end of the bright white corridor with checkered white-and-blue floors. The dull turquoise door lay there temptingly, waiting for her to be bad and try to open it. She knew she could not, but her mother's screams emanated from it.
Se simply called her 'Mommy', but others referred to her as Kaien. Kaien, such a pretty name; it directly translates to ocean depths, which really suited her. She had beautiful long straight sea-green hair that flowed beautifully, but casually in the gentle breeze near their cottage which was right off the vast ocean. Her amethyst eyes sparkled when it looked into the colorful sunset, which might as well be a grand masterpiece of the artist commonly called Mother Nature. Her personality was intriguing yet equally lovely. Her kindness and shyness struck curiosity to all her friends and family. There was only one who really understood her; Nagisa.
8:00 a.m.
Finally the door which imprisoned the little girl on the outside freed her curiosity. She knew that the reason why she had to come was because her Mommy was having a baby sister for her. Her mommy had been growing bigger and glowing, balanced with mood swings and constant cravings.
Her daddy, Genjuu, emerged from the room unhappily with a bundle of rose blankets in his hands. His stern red eyes glared at no particular thing or person, just glaring. His name meant strong, which suited him as well. He never gave up, and he always did what he thought was right. Although he was impatient, like little Nagisa, he still always had the upper hand of reason. His short maroon hair covered his sturdy face that was accented by his tall muscular body.
"Daddy! Daddy! Is this the new baby, huh, huh is it?" Her high energetic voice echoed through the depressingly plain corridors, somehow adding more color to the walls.
"Yes." He responded, never looking at either one of his children once.
"Can I see her? Please, please, please, please pleeeeeeeeeeeease!!!!"
"Fine, just don't drop her." He carefully handed her the baby who had recently woken from her slumber. She was whimpering lightly until she was placed in her sister's small, weak arms, where she seemed to find confidence. Nagisa was astonished by her similarity to their mother. Her stubs of straight aqua hair that cutely went well with her amethyst eyes showed clearly under the bright lights. She made an adorable sound that could only be described as cooing at her elder sibling. Although her skin was a bit red and wrinkly, she still looked adorable to the older girl.
"What's her name Daddy? What's her name?"
His face stared blankly at the ground until he finally answered in a solemn voice.
"Zuruzuru," Nagisa's face turned to that of disgust.
"Unwanted? That's a terrible name! Why would you name her that?"
"It's because of her that Kaien died, making her unwanted. It simply suits her, just like yours does, water's edge."
Three years had passed since the tragic entrance to the world Zuruzuru made. Nagisa, whose aqua-green hair had become more curly and unruly, stayed strong in these times of despair. Zu, which instead of unwanted translated into picture, had become much more beautiful over the years, even though she was only living her third year. Her hair had grown longer and her eyes were softer, having a little beauty spot under her left eye. Her adoration of her sister had not changed whatsoever.
Nagisa sat on their shared pink futon flipping through the pages of their book. They called it their secret book. It contained drawings, figures, of things they would someday invent together. One was a machine that would clean your room for you, while another was a toaster that could put just the right amount of peanut butter and jelly on the morning toast of the picky Nagisa. But their most desired one was a robot that resembled a grown woman. She was a mother clone. She would love and care for them and never turn away from them. She felt no pain and never needed sleep so that she could care to their every need. They still had not quite decided how they would accomplish that one, though they had been close on several occasions with the toaster, still breaking them every time.
"Nagi!" Zu shouted enthusiastically as she pounced on the unsuspecting eight year old girl. Their book went flying behind them, but that was completely ignored during their tickle fight. Finally, Zu gave up and relaxed, cuddling into Nagisa's arms. Nagisa caringly wrapped her own growing arms around the small innocent child who had seen too much in her short lifetime still.
Sometimes their father came home drunk. He would kick them if they got in his way. Other times, he would blame Zu for everything wrong in their family, hitting her with something and ordering Nagisa to clean it up. A few times, he came home with erotically dressed women and slammed doors behind them, and left his daughters cold, hungry, and sleepless.
They relied on each other, and each other only. No one else could be trusted. No one else would be trusted. Nagisa was for Zu as Zu was for Nagisa. That was that, solidly written in their secret book, which was still hidden underneath the futon.
"Nagisa?" Zu asked as she began to doze off into a world of sleep.
"Yeah Zu?" Nagisa too was beginning to fall asleep.
"Do you promise to stay with me forever?"
"Forever?"
"Forever."
"Why do you even need to ask me that, you know I will. I'd never leave you. You're my sister, and we're supposed to stick together always. That's what sisters do."
"Thanks. I'll stay by you forever too." The 'W' sounds she made on her 'R's were accustomed to Nagisa by that point, so they did not bother her at all. Their father was still a different case. Just as they fell into a light sleep with the other close to them, they heard a loud excruciating beeping sound coming from the halls outside. Both startled children woke up immediately and ran to the main room of their tiny dirtied apartment to see their father lying unconscious on the floor with a bottle of vodka in on hand, empty, and in the other, a cigar which had just set their carpet on fire.
Nagisa cried at the sight. That was no ordinary carpet. That was the first carpet their mother had weaved on her own. Weaving was her passion that she could not often fulfill. They could not afford a loom and even if they could, there would never be enough space for it.
Two large men covered in heavy dull yellow clothes rushed in yelling in demanding tones.
"Quick get the kids outta here! Put out that fire! Get that guy out and try to salvage as many things as possible if we even can!" Before either girl could say anything, two more men in matching suits came in, each taking on girl and running in opposite directions.
"ZU!"
"NAGI!!!" Both girls struggled fustily, never giving up. They were being separated. If one died, the other had to die too. If one lived, the other had to live too. But how could they know when they were not together?
Both girls on opposite sides of the building stared at the large bright flame before them. It reminded Nagisa of purification, of perhaps of a harvest moon. Zu, on the other hand, just cried, thinking her precious sister could be burning to ashes inside.
After two hours of long waiting, the fire had died down and the men emerged, each holding boxes filled with salvaged items of owners. But neither Nagisa or Zuruzuru cared about the possessions of their fathers fate. They just cared about finding each other.
"Nagi! Nagi! Where are you Nagi?"
"Zu! I'm over here! Zu!"
Both girls' faces lit up when they saw the other one looking in their eyes. They ran together immediately just to sit there in a long, relieved embrace.
"I was so worried about you Zu!"
"Me too!" They both cried tears of happiness into the other sister. Yes, they would never separate again. Nothing could tear them apart. They were bound by blood and by the secret book, which not even the fire could diminish.
Two weeks had passed since the fire and their father's death. Neither one was particularly shaken by the so called tragedy, as neither was very fond of their father. The only one of their possessions that could be retrieved was the secret book, which Nagisa held tightly to her chest, along with Zu.
The girls stood beside each other as they gazed upon the glorious new house they would be living in. A caring family would take care of them. But the thing Nagisa enjoyed the most about this magical place; the water just beyond the rocks in the backyard. She and Zu would spend hours at a time just staring into the open waters, observing the tide, sunrises, sunsets, waves, and birds that flew over head.
They adored their new life together. They wrote in their secret book constantly and never held back their thoughts. Everything was going to be alright together. Nothing would ever tear them apart. One day, however, that all changed.
"What are you doing on my shore?" A young boy's voice asked from behind Nagisa.
"It's not your shore, it's its own shore. The shore and sea can't belong to anybody. It's not tame enough! Duh! Everybody knows that!" She stuck her little tongue out at the naïve boy in front of her who just smirked at her.
"You're bold, I like that. I think I'll be seeing a lot more of you… what's your name?"
Nagisa hesitated, but decided it be best to politely answer.
"Nagisa…"
"Really? Water's edge, that suits you. I'm Ritsu."
AN: YAY! First chappie of my first Loveless story done! I think I'm rushing a bit into things, but hey, I can fill in other touching moments. Just a warning though, ratings may change later on, but I don't know who would get this warming because seriously, does anyone ever read the author's notes anyways? Well, if you do, thanks, I love you and will give you personal comments and read your stories IF you give me proof that you read them. I'm just kidding don't worry, but seriously, I will read you stories though, and review! That's what all nice people do:P