Also on bubblews news/2027468-rebirth-a-kannazuki-no-miko-fanfic
AN: Edited. There were a few places that I slipped from present tense to past. I hardly ever write in present tense. I also changed up some of the wording so that it flows better.
Old revised AN: This is different than anything I've written before. I wrote in first person and present tense. I also am writing about the afterlife. This is from Chikane's pov. In the afterlife they refer to her as Ulma, because that is the name of her soul, while Chikane is the name of her lives.
I open my eyes to bright white. White is the only color I see, but gold keeps flashing through my brain. The color feels familiar, but I have no recollection of what it is. White is the only thing I know now. I focus onto a building I can now make out within the endless white. It is also white, but visible distinct. Just by thinking about going there I begin to hover toward it. As I enter I see a swirling dark blue-white cloud. I remember blue suddenly.
Welcome Ulma.
"Why is he a cloud?" I think.
You are also a 'cloud.'
"You can hear my thoughts?" I say.
Yes Ulma. There are no secretes here. There is no need for them. You can also read my thoughts if you wish.
Where is this place?
This is the place you have come from, the place you return to, and the place you never leave.
But if I never leave then how can I return here?
You think that you have been someplace else, and you have. You think that you left here, and you have, but a part of you will always remain here. That is why you always are longing for this place from Earth, even though this is a very vague memory while you are there.
A ball of blue and white flashes in my mind. The spinning mass was a planet floating in the depths of space. But this place feels so real. Earth seems like the dream now.
Ulma, everything is a dream. The only important thing is to learn and grow. It does not matter if you are here or there. They are both illusion, but also very much real. But I am not here to give you a lesson on reality. I am here to ask you what it is you desire.
What I desire?
Yes, Ulma. You have been self-sacrificing in all your past lives. Now is the time to indulge. To live a life where you can truly experience joy. So, Ulma, it is up to you. What is it that you want? What is it that will make you truly happy? Gold flashes again and my heart begins to race.
That. Of course. What would you want besides that? I am confused. What is this gold? The cloud seems to know, yet I cannot recall it.
All right, Ulma. For all your hard work you shall be reborn in a matter of moments. Usually you would become a baby now, but that would ruin your chance at happiness, so you will have been born sixteen years ago. You may be a bit disoriented because of that, but I wish you luck.
My eyes fluttered in the morning sun. My drapes had been pulled back so that the light spills into the room. This is my house. I've lived here since I can remember, but it feels unfamiliar somehow. I wonder why as I walk to and open the wrong door. The bathroom stares back at me through the doorway. Why is it that I can't remember my own house? I must be disoriented from sleep I decide.
I open the other door and go down the stairs. My mother stands near the refrigerator. Some cereal and a glass of orange juice is sitting on the table. As I begin eating, Mom asks me what my plans for the day are. I reply that I do not have any.
"Don't high school girls love to go out with friends on Saturdays? You never go out much anymore. Don't you have a girlfriend you could go out with?"
Girlfriend? Gold flashes and my head starts to spin. Why is that one word is giving me this strange feeling? I know that mom doesn't mean it romantically, but I know that if she had said friend instead my head wouldn't be spinning. I think about it hard, but I get no further enlightenment.
I decide to go for a walk and clear my head. Mom seems pleased and aggressively pushes me out of the door. I head toward the park. As I walk within the crowd of people my problems seem to evaporate.
Then I see gold again. It is real this time, not a mirage. It is the glowing hair of a petite girl. She stops, eyes wide. Time seems to stops in our little bubble of space. However, outside the bubble a flood of people still rush by. I can feel her. We are a yard apart, but her heat radiates toward me. Her beating heart pulses in my ears. I am getting images. Memories.
The reason I was disoriented was because I had not really been here till today. My real yesterday had been when this girl had murdered me. I had forced her to. How much time has passed on Earth since my death on the moon? Does she recognize me? I'm sure that she does by the way that she is gazing at me. It is either a look of terror or surprise. I hope it is the latter.
A magical-like wind blew my blue hair around my face. Every other second my view of her is blocked. In that second my breathing stops because I am scared she won't still be there when my hair is blown back again. I am afraid that she is merely a phantom. Then she spoke.
"It can't be." Her voice is so frail. I know I am not imagining her. She stumbles forward and loses her balance. I catch her up in my steady arms as she tumbles downward. I can hear her breathing and my heart pounds. My hand goes up and brushes through her silky hair. I can smell the faint scent of strawberries. She grips my shoulders and snuggles into me.
"It is you. I'd recognize your arms anywhere. Only you hold me like this." My eyes close, and I sigh in relief. I am with her finally. Nothing stands in our way now. "Chikane, how did you get back here?"
"I'm not entirely sure. I was in some weird world of white. I was told some confusing things about past lives and sacrifice. What I do understand is that we are free now. We don't have to die this time." She lets out a joyful squeal and I kiss her. Her arms hold me tighter and I know everything will be fine.