Poem: Longing by Matthew Arnold
"Conan-kun wake up or you'll be late to school!" Ran screamed from the kitchen as she set their breakfast on the table. Kogoro was already face deep in a newspaper as he absent-mindedly ate the food his daughter had prepared. Conan groaned, having no will to leave his bed
Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
It happened more often than not, Shinichi would dream of expansive landscapes and joyous times whether past or yet to occur. And always in these dreams was the love of his life, his rock, his muse, the reason he pressed onward with unfailing conviction toward justice
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.
She was always the focus of his dreams, and he was always himself. Never yet had he dreamt of himself as Conan, for doing so would have stripped away any purpose he had in dreaming at all
Come, as thou cam'st a thousand times,
A messenger from radiant climes,
His dreams were the rare and cherished time he had when he could be himself, in body and mind. He could impart on his love every truth he had to say and she would accept him, usually through a cloud of tears and choked sobs
And smile on thy new world, and be
As kind to others as to me!
But that's how she was, strong and independent yet fragile and endearing. That was the woman he loved and that was the woman that came to him in his dreams almost every night. The strangest part of all though was that he remembered almost all of his dreams. It was as if his subconscious knew he needed the memories.
Or, as thou never cam'st in sooth,
Come now, and let me dream it truth,
Every night, every dream he always knew it was as so. Kudo Shinichi was nothing if not rational, and as such he was always swift to realize his dreamscapes were nothing than that: dreams. Yet, deep in his heart of hearts he wanted them to be reality, every single one of them. It was sad really, even in his dreams there was still a degree of pessimism and heartache
And part my hair, and kiss my brow,
And say, My love why sufferest thou?
And every time when his thoughts abraded him, she would come like an angel. She would come to him and embrace him, causing his heart to flutter even while he laid silently in his bed. Although they had yet to share a kiss, Shinichi had replayed the moment hundreds of times in his head.
Come to me in my dreams, and then
By day I shall be well again!
It was always a similar situation, she would look at him with concerned eyes and ask him why he looked so sad. He would shake his head and deny ever having looked that way, but of course his Ran knew better and she would swiftly bring her hand to his cheek. It was then that he would release the stress of his life, imparting every last ounce of pain he had bottled up onto her. She would smile and nod and listen to every word until he had finished
For so the night will more than pay
The hopeless longing of the day.
Then she would kiss him softly, like a feather dancing gently over his lips. He would savor every millisecond until she parted from him. Then she would fade back into his imagination and he would awaken. For this reason Ran had decided he was not a morning person. But it was hard for Shinichi to dislike the morning too much when he got to wake up and see the woman of his dreams every day
Poem: Love is Enough – William Morris
"Ran, you're coming with me to my beach house this weekend right?" Sonoko asked elatedly as the two girls walked hom "There will be so many cute guys we won't know which one to pick!" Ran's cheeks were tinged with a light shade of pink as she chuckled half-heartedly and waved her hand sin from of her
"Gomen Sonoko I can't I have to uh…." Sonoko raised an eyebrow and looked at Ran incriminatingly
"What are you staying to watch that little brat that lives with you or could it be that you and Kudo-kun are having a secret romantic outing?" Ran's face went beet red at the insinuation
"It's not like that I told you, and besides I haven't seen Shinichi in months. The last time I saw him was in England…" Sonoko shook her head in disapproval
"Did you tell him you like him yet?" she inquired, this time less mockingly and more out of sheer curiosity
"I…no" Sonoko sighed at her friend's lack of brashness
"You know by now he probably thinks you don't like him at all" Sonoko stated matter-of-factly, causing Ran to leap and spin around to face her friend his frantic concern
"What do you mean?" she solicited, having somewhat regained her composure
"Well, if you told Kudo-kun you liked him and he didn't return your feelings after months and months wouldn't you think the same?" the idea deeply troubled Ran, even after she and Sonoko separated and Ran arrived at home
Love is enough: though the world be a-waning,
And the woods have no voice but the voice of complaining,
'Maybe I should call him…' Ran thought as she sat alone in the apartment. Kogoro had gone out on a case and Conan had somehow weaseled his way into accompanying him. Despite the simplicity a phone call presented, Ran couldn't help but overcomplicate it. It was always the same debate in her mind, 'Should I call him or should I wait for him to call me?'
Though the skies be too dark for dim eyes to discover
The gold-cups and daisies fair blooming thereunder,
Most of the people she knew and confided in told her she should give up on him. Whether it be Sonoko, Kazuha or even her mother, they all agreed on the topic.
"that Kudo-kun, if he's just going to up and leave like that then hardly call you, I say you move on and find a new guy" Kazuha would say, causing Heiji to rant and rave about how ignorant she was
Though the hills be held shadows, and the sea a dark wonder,
And this day draw a veil over all deeds passed over,
She had to admit, it did get hard every now and then. Having to worry day and night about him, never knowing where he is or what he's doing. It did come with a degree of stress. And yet, the thought had never crossed her mind to stop
Yet their hands shall not tremble, their feet shall not falter:
The void shall not weary, the fear shall not alter
She never gave in to the pain or the sorrow ir the loneliness or the frustration. She was always dedicated to him, always awaiting his return. She had waited so long, running solely on feelings she wasn't even sure were requited. Now she knew for sure that he saw her the way she saw him, all she had to do was tell him
These lips and these eyes of the loved and the lover.
She dialed the number she had memorized long ago, biting her lip nervously as a thousand thoughts cascaded through her head. One, however, rose above all the others in magnitude and relevance: no matter the circumstance or the obstacles ahead, love would be enough to sustain her, just as it always had been.