I finally decided to write the story I've had in my head.
This follows the same time line as my one-shot series, Koi no ABO. Pairings are the same. Mainly SayaxHagi and LuluxRiku and a few others, that's all I'll say.
I'll be explaining some of the things that are present in Koi as well. And I will have another twist,( they didn't say it was impossible in the show/novel or in the manga soooo… XP I got free reign!) It IS my story after all.^^ but I will try to make it as reasonable as possible. No magic, snap your fingers, and poof sort of thingy.
Names are chosen the same as before, but there will be English songs this time^^ woohoo!(maybe…) The story name comes from a translation of Ai Otsuka's song 'Kimi ni Kaeru'. It means 'Returning to You'. This song will play a recurring role in this story^^ you'll see what I mean.
Kimi ni Kaeru
Chapter 1: Kimi ni Kaeru
As I awaken from my sleep, I see an image that starts to move
The pupils of our eyes have the same pattern
It's the smell of a new bud
It ends, it starts...once more, I'm returning (to you)
Black.
It was everywhere. Like always.
It's warm.
She moaned softly and shifted her position. Something soft brushed against her skin. Her fingers gripped at the surface beneath her, it was silky. It felt oddly familiar.
Wait… Am I in my cocoon? I'm waking up?
She was aware of her surroundings. She could distinguish between sensations and identify objects. She could consciously move the way she wanted to.
And she could smell something, a delicious aroma mixed with pleasant musky sent. Something was coming closer to her.
"Saya?" A deep, well-known voice said her name.
Saya? That's my name.
"I hope your sleep has been pleasant."
Saya forced her eyes to open and she saw a silhouette moving before her in the dim light. Tall and thin. She had seen it before, the form was etched in her memory. I know you…
"I have been checking on your family for you. They are doing well. Your nieces are growing, they look very much like your sister and Riku."
My sister… Diva… and Riku. The girls…
"Kai is still successful in running your father's restaurant."
Kai. She imagined her brother in an apron and wearing a chef's hat. It made her want to laugh but she was too tired.
"They miss you." The voice paused a moment and then continued "I miss you, very much."
He sounded like he was hurting. Saya didn't like it. This person shouldn't be in pain. Why are you so sad? Don't be, please.
He came closer to her. Something pressed on the outside of her cocoon. A hand? It was large and it looked as if the fingers were wrapped together.
I know that hand!
A flood of memories came rushing back to her.
A person.
A thin pale face, framed in wavy, brown locks that fell to broad shoulders, elegant eyebrows over heavily lidded, piercing blue-grey eyes. High cheekbones, a strong chin, the high bridge of the nose, a full bottom lip.
Something sad happened.
Monsters and fire. Screams and blood. The man, he looked scared. He shivered and the skin of his right hand changed into a strange claw. A swinging sword shattered a dagger and lopped off the man's monstrous limb. He cried out in pain.
Saya felt her heart wrench.
Many sad things.
"I want to stay me, the person I am today. I don't want to go back to whoever I was then." She heard her own voice and she saw a ripple of sorrow cross the his face.
A long pike tearing through his stomach and pinning him to a tree as he tried to protect her.
As she struggled against a wall trying to stand, a monster, James, fired red spears at her. The man jumped before her and blocked the attack with his own body.
She begged him to end her life, but he refused. His rough hand caressed her face and he said, "Please, live." She kissed him. Oh, how she remembered the feel of his lips!
His sad face as he gazed at her from afar, Amshel's crystallizing form holding him prisoner, "I will always love you." No! No, no, no, no! He vanished in a waterfall of debris.
NO! HAGI!
HAGI! That was his name! How could she forget it? He had been with her since the beginning. He was her best friend. Her Chevalier. She loved him.
But he died. How was he here?
Another memory. Laying in a bed in a dark room. A small purple haired girl said confidently. "He isn't dead…" Lulu. She was right?!
Hagi! Hagi! She tried with all her might but her mouth wouldn't move. I've missed you, too! So much! She wanted wrap her arms around him and never let go. How she longed to capture his face between her palms and pull him to hers so their lips could meet again.
"I must go now. But I will come back soon, I promise." Hagi's other hand came to rest on the silky fiber and he leaned his upper body against her cocoon.
No! Don't go! Please! I don't want you to leave!
"I love you…" he whispered.
Her eyes stung. I love you, too! Please, you have to hear me!
The pressure on the outside of the woven barrier disappeared. Hagi's shadow moved away. The fingers of her limp hand reached for him weakly.
"Farewell, Saya. I will see you when you wake up." There was an immense heartache in his words.
No…
For the first time, her cozy, protective shell felt like a torture chamber. She couldn't escape. She was trapped inside, away from the one person she so desperately wanted to see.
Move! MOVE! Why cant I move!?
Something warm ran down her cheeks. Tears were finally falling.
She cried.
It was all she could do.
--
She had no idea how much time had passed since Hagi had left. It seemed like forever. But she didn't lay there, moping.
Saya was trying to escape.
Forcing her limbs to work, she managed to crawl closer to the front of the soft cocoon, and slowly, ever so slowly, her fingers crawled their way up the cotton like wall. She dug her long nails into it and pulled. The fibers stretched and parted. Cool air rushed into the tiny space and bit at her naked skin.
She shivered and tried to get away from the cold. Saya pressed her self closer to the cushiony surface.
There was a loud rip.
It was like the ground disappeared from beneath her and Saya found herself falling head-first onto the hard stone below. She tumbled over and landed flat on her back, one limp arm flung across her chest at an odd angle. The absence of pain told her noting was broke, but she would be lucky if she didn't have a bruise.
The effort she had used to break free of her bindings had exhausted her, so she rested there attempting to catch her breath.
A sweet sent found her nose and she turned her head to look for its source. There. On the floor a few meters ahead of her lay a light pink rose.
Why is that there, in the middle of the floor? Someone must have placed it on the dais near her cocoon, and when she fell, she probably brought it down with her. For no one would lay something so beautiful in the floor to be trampled. But who…? She thought she knew.
Fighting her fatigue, Saya rolled herself onto her stomach and wriggled her way over the uneven blocks to the flower, ignoring the scrapes the rough surface left on her bare skin. Pinching the stem delicately between her fingers, she lifted it up to take in its lovely fragrance. She felt something tickled the back of her hand and her eyes traveled down to see a blue ribbon, tied in a bow.
That's Hagi's! It was him! He really is alive!
She had to find him! Saya tried to lift herself up, but she fell back down, her strength was gone. Suddenly she wanted nothing more than to go back to sleep.
Just a quick nap. Hagi couldn't have gotten far… Her cheek pressed against the cold rock beneath her.
There was a thump just outside the door but she was too sleepy to see who it was.
Hagi? Is that you? I knew you would come back… Her heavy lids drooped. Through thin slits she saw the dark figure come inside and then she drifted back into a light slumber.
-------
Beep. Beep. Beep.
What is that annoying sound? Saya was roused from her slumber by a mechanical noise. Moving slightly to ward of stiffness, she felt something attached to the crook of her arm. And she was on some cushy something. A bed. She could smell the detergent from the sheets. She groaned and opened her heavy lids to examine her surroundings.
There was a machine to her right. It was the source of the racket. The screen was black and there was a little green line bouncing up and down. Scanning the rest of the room she realized it looked very familiar.
A hospital?
"Rise and shine, sleepy head!"
"AH!" Her red-brown eyes widened in shock and she jumped, nearly falling out of the bed.
A familiar musical laugh filled the room.
Saya looked to her left. There, with her elbows resting on the edge of the mattress, sat a green-eyed girl with a toothy grin and wild purple hair pulled high on the sides of her head. And standing behind her, smiling, was a lovely blond woman in a white lab coat. Lulu and Julia.
"Welcome back, Saya."
"'Bout time you're sorry butt woke up!"
"Lulu!" Saya grabbed the small girl into a hug. "I missed you so much!" She looked to the woman beside the bed. "And Julia-san, I…?" She pulled away from Lulu and studied the woman. Her appearance had barely changed from the last time Saya had seen her. "Julia-san? You are not… old?" Julia laughed. Saya dropped her gaze to Lulu and gasped.
The young girl smiled widely.
Saya extended her hand to Lulu's face and her fingertips met a puffy cheek. "What happened?"
Lulu had been so thin and frail when Saya had gone into her hibernation. Sunken eyes, a hollow face, pale in the extreme, dull hair… all characteristics of her malnourishment as a Schiff.
But now she had a pink tint to her ivory skin, a sparkle in her dancing orbs, her hair shined even in the dimmest light, and her child-like form was much more feminine. She looked like a normal sixteen year old girl should.
"It's amazing what a few decent transfusions will do for a Chiropteran! Thanks to Julia-san I'm Thorn free! And my new look isn't too bad either." Lulu did a showy pirouette.
"I'm happy you are doing well. It would have been really lonely around here without you." Saya smiled. "But I still do not understand. Julia-san? How have you not changed?"
Julia sat on the bed beside her. "Saya, you have only been asleep for three years."
"Nani?"
"We found a way to wake you up early!" Lulu chimed. "Julia-san has been very busy!"
"Hai. I have."
Saya looked up at Julia. "How did you…?"
"I was going over the results of a DNA scan I had run on you, Saya, and I noticed some of the readings were off when compared to the results of previous test. The level of one particular enzyme was drastically lower than it had been. So I ran the test again, this time with samples of Lulu's and Hagi's DNA. When I compared their results to yours, I found the enzyme present in both their DNA, but in a higher concentration. Hagi's levels were through the roof. Lulu's were much more normal."
"What was the enzyme?"
"I had a hunch what it was, but I needed to be certain. I ran one more test. This time on human DNA. And I realized my hypothesis was correct. The enzyme affected sleep patters."
Saya's eyes widened. "Sleep patterns…"
"I realized that this must be the reason for your hibernation. Your body only creates a limited supply of this enzyme, just enough to keep you awake for a short period of time. And when it is used up, you go into your hibernation to build your supply up again, its just like with human beings, only it takes longer for your body to produce enough to wake and sustain you. This is also why Hagi cannot sleep. His body produces so large an amount, sleep is unnecessary."
"Oh…" So that was why Hagi had lost his ability to sleep. She had always wondered why it was so. "And that's why you cannot sleep either?" She looked to Lulu.
Lulu blinked in surprise at being brought into the conversation, but quickly collected her thoughts. "Well, it's why I couldn't before."
"Before?"
"The cure for the Thorn I developed changed Lulu's genetic structure." Julia answered. "I found the Thorn tended to attack a certain part of a Schiff's DNA and I found away to rearrange it, making it immune to the Thorn. But in doing so, it changed most of her Chiropteran makeup. Whereas a Schiff, she was designed on the terms of a Chevalier, now her abilities are more along the line of a Queen's."
"Huh!?" Saya looked intently at her small friend.
"Hai! I can go out into the sun now, and I can sleep and I like to eat human food! And my blood no longer has any characteristics of Diva's. Julia tested it and your blood doesn't have any affect on mine anymore."
"The only difference I could find in her now, is her blood lacks the ability to crystallize other Chiropterans and it lacks the Chevalier gene."
"That's… amazing. And it made you look older as well?"
"Iie. That is the result of an aging serum I developed for her." Julia informed her.
"People were starting to notice I wasn't getting any older."
"I gave her a growth hormone injection, I only altered it a bit to make it more powerful, so it would take effect. It took better than I anticipated. In only a few months she aged nearly as many years. Where before she was at the maturation level of a thirteen year old, she is now physically a sixteen year old."
"Wow."
"Isn't it great, Saya?" Lulu laughed, leaning towards the older girl.
"Hai." Saya's eyes caught a glimpse of something pink on the bedside mantle over Lulu's shoulder. The rose. "Um, where is Hagi?"
"Hm?" Lulu blinked in confusion. Even Julia looked perplexed.
"You where right Lulu! Hagi is alive! I never should of doubted you!"
"I know I was right. But… why would you think he's here?"
Saya leaned towards Lulu. "He was at the tomb!" At the younger girl's slight frown, she added meekly, "He brought me here. Didn't he?"
Lulu shook her head sympathetically. "He wasn't at the tomb, Saya. There was no one there but you."
Sadness washed through Saya. Had it all been a dream? No! The rose was here! "But…!" She looked longingly at it again.
Lulu followed her gaze.
"So those are from Hagi?" Julia asked.
Saya gave a stiff nod.
"We figured as much." Lulu said cheerily. "They started showing up right after you fell asleep."
"I was so sure it was him…" Saya mumbled sadly, her downcast eyes focused on her clenched fists.
"I wouldn't doubt it was. It's about time he made a visit. He hasn't been around for a few months. And I am so going to let him have it for not dropping by to say 'hi'." Lulu crossed her arms and puffed out her cheeks.
"You've seen him!?" Faster than a blink, Saya grasped Lulu's thin shoulders a little too tightly. "When? Was he alright?"
"Calm down, Saya. There's no need to get all worked up." Julia said coolly.
Saya's hands released Lulu and she returned them to her lap.
"Of course he's fine. Everything was intact as far as I could tell. Still as unsociable as ever." Lulu answered, massaging her freed shoulder. "He showed up right after you went to sleep but he didn't stay. He dropped by every now and again to check up on you and everyone else. But he hasn't been back for about three months. Until tonight, anyways."
"But why didn't he stay?" Surely he knows I've woken up. Saya chewed on her bottom lip.
Lulu shrugged. "Beats me. I would have thought he'd already be here, kneeling at your bedside, waiting for you to wake up like always." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "It might have something to do with you waking up early. He didn't really hang around long enough for us to explain it to him."
"No one told Hagi?" Saya's voice was disappointed.
Lulu sighed. "I tried to tell him when he came but he never really gave me a chance. He'd ask how everyone was doing, then he'd vanish. I meant to tell him when he was here three months ago, but we were all preoccupied. And after that, Hagi hit the road."
"So if it wasn't Hagi, who brought me here?" She watched as they exchanged looks. "Well?"
Lulu giggled. "Don't freak out!"
"N-nani?"
Julia got to her feet and walked to the bedside table were a phone sat.
"As Lulu said, I have been busy over the past three years. Aside from the cure from the Thorn and the cure for your sleep, I have also been working on… another little project." She smiled as she pushed a few buttons.
Saya was thoroughly confused.
"I thought Julia-san had done so well with all of her other projects that I suggested we try… de-crystallizing… Chiropterans." Lulu said in a rush.
"IIE!" Saya screeched in surprise.
"Don't worry! We didn't even think about trying it on Diva."
"Hai. You can come in now." Julia said into the receiver of the phone.
Saya strained her ears to try and hear who was on the other line but it had already disconnected.
"He'll be here in a minute."
He? It was a he? Who was it?
"Saya, we did this for you and the twins."
She looked up.
"We felt bad because the twins didn't have a biological relative around."
"You are their aunt Lulu."
Lulu laughed. "Maybe technically, but to them, well… you'll see when you meet them."
"Back to the point, Saya," Julia interrupted, "Lulu suggested we try and bring one of their family member's back."
"And you succeeded?" Julia nodded. Saya was overcome with dread. Who is it? Not one of Diva's crazy servants? Then who did that leave?
There was a soft knock at the door. "Can I come in?"
The voice! The timbre of a young man in his late teens. It was familiar some how, but Saya was sure she had never heard it before.
"Don't look so scared out of your mind!" The green eyed girl giggled. "You're going to be very happy! And so is Hagi, whenever he comes back!"
Hagi knew him, too? Who is it!? Saya felt she was about to go insane from impatience.
Julia kindly placed her hand on Saya's shoulder. "There is nothing to worry about."
Saya gave a feeble nod, sitting up a little straighter.
"Come in." Julia said calmly.
The golden knob on the door turned and the door creaked open.
Saya let out a gasp. She felt her eyes widen and her lower jaw seemed to unhinge itself.
"R-Riku?"
A/N: Hope my explanation for waking Saya up wasn't out there. I really did try to keep it as reasonable as possible. I know enzymes do crazy things to your body... seemed an acceptable excuse to me^^' And the explination for what Riku is doing back will be up in the next chap.
Chapter 2 is already in the works. I wanted to wait until I had it completely finished but… I hated not updating at all. I have no idea when it will be up. Probably when I get it finished, or after I start on chapter 3. I will also get started on a new chapter for Koi! It usually doesn't take but a few hours to a day to do one of those^-^
Review onegai...