Chapter One - Unquiet Spirit

She had been having the same dream for as long as she could remember. As a child it had frightened her, the feeling of being pursued by a monster through the woods was so real and so terrifying. As she grew older, the sadness of the dream was what affected her the most. She would wake from the dream weeping and filled with a terrible sense of loss.

Sometimes she would have it night after night for a week, other times she wouldn't have it for months. It was agonizing, heart-wrenching, and yet, for some reason the nights that she didn't dream were almost worse. Any night that he didn't come to her, doves rising up in alarm at his intrusion, was a night she felt cheated.

She didn't know who he was, the boy in the yellow jacket, but she lived for the nights that she dreamt of him, even though they tore her heart in two.

Tsubasa slammed his fist into the punching bag and watched it shudder from the blow. Jun-Sensei, his trainer, made an approving noise, but didn't tell him to stop so he kept on. Fists hammering into the bag, his breath starting to come fast, sweat pouring down his back, he put his full energy into his imaginary opponent.

He kept winning fight after fight. He was the bantamweight champion right now and at the top of his game. He had money, fame, and had achieved his cherished dream. He ought to be incredibly happy.

And yet…

He still thought about her, still dreamed about her, he missed her smile, her voice, the feel of her hand in his. He had girls throwing themselves at him and all he could think of was Rei. She was all that he wanted and she was dead and gone.

It made everything else seem flat and lifeless. She had told him to live; to live for both of them, but it was so hard sometimes.

He pounded out his grief into the punching bag, venting his feelings in the safest place he knew. He wanted to live again, but he just wasn't certain that he could do it without her.

Urara wandered through the library at Magitopia with an uncertain feeling. She loved being Hikaru's wife, she was happy to live here with him in the clouds, but she was worried. Her family was so far away and she had always, along with their mother, been the one to take care of everyone.

Aniki was getting married soon to his tree spirit and Urara was happy for him. Sakura-san seemed to truly adore her big brother and was utterly devoted to him. Kai was now seriously dating Yuka-chan and it looked as though things were going well. Those two brothers were happily paired off and she had no worries about either of their futures. Well, she was a trifle nervous about Aniki's wedding; she wasn't sure about the idea of a bunch of trees coming to the wedding.

But, that still left her with Tsubasa and Houka to worry about.

Houka was going to be difficult to deal with. She never seemed to settle on any one man for any length of time. Finding her a date was easy, but getting her to settle down was the hard part.

Then there was Tsubasa. For a long time, Urara had thought that her little brother was never going to fall in love, he was so cynical and sharp tongued. It wasn't until he had fallen for the ghost of the idol singer, Mamiya Rei, that she had understood the truth. Once he gave his heart it was forever and so he did not give it easily.

He was probably the most sensitive of her siblings, besides herself. He seemed to have an intuitive understanding of people's feelings that rivaled their mother's. She wanted more than anything to find him a girl he could love for himself. She wanted all her siblings to be as happy as she was, but Tsubasa most of all.

The problem was how to go about it.

Yumi sighed and watched the clouds drifting across the sky with a feeling of melancholy in her heart. The dream had woken her again this morning, tears on her face and the terrible feeling of loss that always came with it. She picked up the tea cup and sipped at it, letting the soothing warmth fill her up inside.

She always felt so cold in the dream; his hands were the only warmth that touched her in that place. She found herself flushing a little at the memory and set the tea cup down carefully in the saucer. She checked her watch and sighed again. She had to get moving or she would be late to her session.

She stood up and dropped the cup in the sink, then grabbed her purse and headed out the door. She paused and grabbed a scarf, wrapping it around her throat. She had always disliked the feel of fabric around her neck, but it looked a little chilly outside.

Tsubasa listened to his manager as he explained the strategy for his next round of matches. He had already beaten everyone in his weight class in Asia and Higa-san wanted him to start taking matches with European boxers.

"After that, we will try America, they have some good fighters there, but none like you!" Higa-san assured him and Tsubasa nodded his agreement. He was eager to try himself against the best in the world, he relished the challenge it would give him.

Higa-san was an ex-boxer himself, in the middle-weight division, and he still looked the part. His black hair was cropped short in a military cut, his nose was crooked from being broken so many times and he had a face that had hit too many fists in its time. Tsubasa had long ago decided that he would quit the ring long before he got to that stage and spend his life training younger boxers, but he was deeply grateful for Higa-san's experience. The man was an encyclopedia of past boxing lore.

"Humph, let's see how he does against Arakaki, next week, first." Jun-sensei interjected. If Higa was exuberance personified, talkative, loud and full of life, Jun was his exact opposite. Even in appearance they were each the antithesis of the other. Jun was thin and tall, ascetic in looks, like he would do well as a priest. He dressed in French-cuffed silk shirts, and beautiful suits, when he wasn't in a t-shirt and sweats for training, while Higa would wear his shirt collar unbuttoned and often forget his suit jacket.

"He'll do fine!" Higa-san assured him. "Hasn't he got the best trainer in Japan?" The hearty laugh that accompanied this, made Jun-sensei frown, but Tsubasa had to hide his own tiny smile. The two men were actually the best of friends, though it had taken him a long time to figure that out.

"Humph," Jun-sensei grunted and Tsubasa leaned back against the couch and let the sounds of their argument wash over him without really paying attention to it. He looked out the window and saw a cloud floating by in a pale blue sky and wondered if he would every have anyone to share that sight with.

Urara found the book finally but only after a long and determined search. She pulled it down and laid it out with some difficulty. It was very old and rather stiff, requiring a certain amount of coaxing to get it to open at all.

When she finally did have it spread before her, she found that the pages were heavy vellum and hard to turn. There was also no index, which made her snort in irritation. The dust that rose up at her exhalation choked her and she was soon coughing and waving her hand in front of her face.

When at last the dust had settled, she carefully began turning the pages. She really hoped that what she was looking for was in here.

Yumi's shoes clattered down the stairs as she ran for the door. It was just closing and she managed to snag it in time before it did. If she arrived at the studio on her own, she had to go through the long process of ringing the doorbell, identifying herself, and then being buzzed in. It wasn't too arduous, but it was time-consuming.

"Morning, Yumi-san," the receptionist caroled out to her as she strode by and she waved back with a smile. Her bag banged against her hip as she jogged down the hallway to the studio. She moved quickly, waving to various friends as she went, but not pausing today to chat.

"Kimura-san," intoned the disapproving voice of the Studio's head. "You are five minutes late." Checking her watch, and then looking at the clock on the wall showed that she was in fact three minutes early, but one didn't argue with Sato-buchō, especially when he was in a mood. Today, he was obviously in a mood.

"I'm sorry," she replied apologetically and bowed deeply to him. Without another word she slipped into the studio and went to the piano. Chi-chan, this year's latest idol, gave her a sympathetic smile and Yumi returned it.

Most years the girl was some spoiled talent-less bubble head, who needed a lot of "correction" by the engineers after the session was recorded, but Chi-chan was different. Yumi actually liked the other girl and her voice was excellent. Chi-chan was also always cheerful and funny. She was just turned seventeen and Yumi, being a lofty twenty felt a certain sisterly concern for her.

The rest of the musicians waited for the engineers to signal their readiness and then they launched into the seventh song on Chi-chan's new album. With her black hair in ringlets and an oversized white sweater, she looked more like twelve than seventeen, as well, which made it even harder not to like her. They exchanged another smile as they heard Sato-buchō chewing out an intern.

Yumi concentrated on her playing after that, letting herself fall into the music, melding her instrument with the others and letting the rest of the world just disappear.

Urara finally found the spell she had been looking for. With a slightly guilty feeling that she was meddling where she probably shouldn't, she pulled out her Magiphone and with a wave of her hand, she cast the spell.

Tsubasa pulled his jacket on and pushed through the door. The wind had picked up and it was getting a little blustery. Traffic was bad and he sighed, wondering if it were worth it to try and get a cab, or if walking would be faster. A tangle of cars up the road convinced him to forgo the cab in favor of a far less stressful trip.

Something sent a frisson of energy across his skin and he felt his heart speeding up for no reason that he could understand. Turning his head, he spotted the women crossing the street. The shorter one had a crepe in one hand and was laughing, head thrown back, her black ringlets bobbing. The other, slightly taller, woman had a smile he would have known anywhere.

The face was different, beautiful, but in a different way. Rei had been ethereally beautiful, with porcelain skin and sadness about her that drew one in. This girl had warmer colors and more pointed chin, she seemed more pixyish than angelic. Yet, he knew her, knew that somehow that girl was Rei.

She stepped forwards into the street and he heard rather than saw the car as it approached. Without thinking he ran forwards, throwing himself at her. He crashed into her, pushing her to one side as the red sports car zipped past, honking at them. She turned her face up to him and her mouth dropped open.

"You!" she cried out in shock and he grinned down at her.

"Hi," he said with a breathlessness that had nothing to do with his sprint across the pavement.

"Hi," she replied and they stood there a long moment, his arms still around her, their eyes locked together and they were both smiling at each other, as if there was no one in the world but the two of them.

"Oh wow! You're Lightning Fist!" squealed the other girl, breaking the moment. He suddenly realized that he was holding a complete stranger in his arms and released her immediately, jumping back in embarrassment. "I am a huge fan of yours!" the other girl continued. Now that he was closer he recognized her as a singer his little brother liked. Chi-chi, or something like that.

"Ah, great, thanks," he managed to articulate despite his embarrassment. What had he been thinking to just stand there like that?

"Lightning Fist?" asked the woman he had just rescued, her face blank.

"He's a famous boxer, Yumi-san!" Yumi, he repeated it over in his mind, her name was Yumi. He was smiling at her again, completely forgetting the other girl.

"I'm Ozu Tsubasa," he informed her and she smiled back.

"The boy in the yellow jacket," she murmured with a dreamy tone and he froze in shock. She suddenly blushed bright red and then clapped her hands over her mouth. "I mean, nice to meet you, I'm Kimura Yumi!" she corrected, but he knew what he had heard. Could she really be Rei? Could she somehow know him, the way that he knew her?

"I'm Chi-chan!" the singer put in, trying to draw his attention to her. He bowed politely to the two women.

"I'm pleased to meet you both," he assured them, but his eyes never left Yumi's.

She couldn't believe that she had just blurted that out, her humiliation was complete. Not only had she almost walked out into traffic and gotten herself killed, but she had acted like a complete idiot in front of him. It was just that seeing the boy from her dream just standing there, smiling down at her had made the whole moment seem utterly unreal.

"We're just getting out of a session recording," Chi-chan continued, chattering happily while the two of them stood there, tongue tied.

"Are you a singer," Tsubasa-san asked her. She laughed and shook her head.

"No, no, I write the songs and play on the albums, but I don't sing." She gestured to her friend. "I leave that to Chi-chan." He looked surprised at her admission and the dream returned to her. In it, she had been singing.

Of course, there was no way for him to know that, was there? He looked a little different and she was having a hard time figuring it out. Finally it hit her.

"You changed your hair!" she murmured and he blinked at her his face surprised.

"Do you like it?" he asked with a slightly insecure tone and ran a hand over it self-consciously.

"It suits you," she soothed and his smile came back, making her heart flutter again.

"Do you two know each other?" Chi-chan asked, suddenly looking between them with confusion. She opened her mouth and then closed it again, not knowing how to answer.

"Not really, but sort of," Tsubasa answered, looking as flustered and confused as she felt.

"I have to get home, I'll see you later, Yumi-san," Chi-chan murmured with a grin and then skipped off towards her car and driver. She shot a significant look at the two of them before she bounced off and Yumi was left staring up at the hawk-like visage of the young man who had haunted her dreams for so long.

Tsubasa noted the long black hair, the simple pleated skirt, black boots and turtleneck sweater with interest. She dressed with understated good taste, nothing flashy or shabby about her. Her eyes were wide and luminous, filled with curiosity and intelligence. Her pixie face was endearing and he found that he was deeply pleased to be just standing there beside her. She was studying him with equal intensity and he wondered what she was seeing as she looked at him.

"Would you like to get some coffee?" he asked, suddenly shy, wondering if he were a little mad. This girl looked nothing like Rei at all, except that she smiled her acceptance and he knew that smile. It was like sun coming out from behind the clouds and it caused the exact same flip flopping of his heart.

He swung his bag up behind him and walked silently beside her towards the nearby café. He wasn't sure what to say to her, he just knew that he couldn't lose sight of her just yet. He had waited so long for Rei to come back into his life that it was just impossible to let her walk away from him just yet.

They sat down in the little iron chairs and ordered their coffee from a waitress that he barely even noticed. In fact, it seemed to him as though the entirety of the world had narrowed down to include only the two of them. The pale blue sky stretched above them both and together they watched the clouds pass by, both of them smiling.