RIVET: Fall Into Dreams
By: NightCracker [also Artie, formerly Coffee and Milk]
(As I forgot this in my previous publish, Le Disclaimer)
This story involves elements from Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Places or events and other symbols comprising the story are originally recreated and manipulated by the author only for the purpose of artistic display and do not stand to represent any of the real story from which they have been borrowed from, and/or in any case with which the real world, per se, can relate to, may it be people, events, places, and/or others, thus, seemingly otherwise is purely coincidental.
By psyche, be psyched.
I am the Night Cracker. Thank you for giving time in exercising possibilities and realizing existent destinies. Thus, NanoFate over the years.
This sort of inspiration came to me while I was hallucinating under a thirty-nine-point-one-degree fever on top of span-high of research materials (and under a certain someone's nursing *blush*).
Yes, I was taken into the horizon as I was unable to move further down my workloads about Cognition and what-not MPDs.
Alternate Universe, alternate timeline. In no particular College University setting whatsoever. NanoFate 19-20.
RIVET: Fall Into Dreams
As she lay awake on her bed, with balls pulsing beneath her closed eyelids like billowed flames, numbly, the hot droplets ran down her temples. With her tight and dried throat, the deep hot breath exited through her nose like she was a mythical fire breathing dragon. She wanted to slake her thirst but her limbs felt numb with her intensifying fever.
How she prayed someone could stay beside her now.
Before she was slowly engulfed by the drowsiness, a light touch, a soft graze, a sensation against her temples woke her. She slowly opened her eyes and there, the pair of mirrors that reflected her feelings resurrected her to reality with a tinge of passion and anger and bloodlust, all the same curtained with golden shimmering locks reflecting the bright day beyond her windowsills.
"How are you feeling?" She asked her as she brushed a palm over her over-heating forehead, replacing it right after with a damp cloth.
"How did you get in?" She inquired back.
Both voices were low but hers was rather with hoarse and husky dryness. The blonde, wearing a checkered blue shirt on top of a white sleeveless tank, slowly drew back and took a glass of water from the nearby bedside table. She came back, wordlessly, wrapping her arm around the shoulders of the sick and pulling her up to sit.
The pale copper-haired redhead limply took the glass of water and drank it down to half. The blonde sat beside her as she slowly did so, adjusting the orange jacket to cover the shivering body suffering with colds.
"I came before your sister went out." The blonde finally responded to her hanging question as she aided her back to the bed.
The redhead stared at the clock on the wall as the blonde placed the glass back to the table. She stared at it with a chilly sensation climb up her spine.
"You've been here all morning then. Have you eaten breakfast yet? Lunch?" She inquired more in disbelief before coughing.
The blonde gal clicked her tongue to reprimand as she rubbed her chest comfortingly. "I'm not sick, you are." She pointed out and then returned the damp cloth back to her forehead. "I should be asking you the same. So you tell me."
The feverish lass shook her head to respond. "I've been asleep."
"I know. I've been watching." Her fever seemed to rise even further. "Your mother asked me to feed you well. So I cooked."
"You cooked?" The redhead lifted a brow sheepishly.
"I'm already not as good as you are but for a sick person, you really are strict."
The redhead sheepishly smiled, "don't get too good that you will grow to be over with my cooking then."
The blonde leaned over to plant a kiss on her nose bridge before replying, "Tell me so after actually cooking for me and tasting mine."
They stared at each other for a while. Then the redhead turned away to cough softly. "You'll get my fever if you get too close."
The blonde caught her cheek and made her look back to her. "They say body heat cures faster than any medicine."
"Geez…" She averted her gaze again with her flushed feverish face now becoming even redder.
Shortly, the blonde had lain down next to her, placing her arm over her at a very comfortable position, with its very perfect weight. Her head nestled against the side of her head and her breathing tickled her profusely burning ear.
"You're very hot." She whispered low.
"I always am." The other replied with raspy confidence then coughed lightly.
"Hmmm." The blonde cooed closer against her. "Somehow a little too chilly?"
She chuckled sickly. "Aren't you feeling uncomfortable with hugging a fireball in the middle of the summer?"
"No. It's tingly to feel you in heat like this." She said and kissed her cheek.
"Stop it." She cocked her head to push her gently.
She chuckled and sighed, "Okay, okay… sleep now."
"I don't want to." The redhead took the blonde's hand and squeezed it tightly.
"I won't go anywhere." She promised but her hand was squeezed even tighter and the redhead turned to face her.
"I love you." She said, meeting her eyes, not letting go, melting more than she already did.
"…I love you too." Came her reply that rang so, so sweet. "Now close your eyes."
Okay… don't… go away. Like you usually do. She thought.
The redhead slept and her hand slowly loosened up. Tears in her eyes forming as the vanishing tightness dissolved in the back of her mind. You're… leaving again.
The leaving reality consumed her thoughts into empty white. She feared this. She feared that this moment is once again leaving her… she feared that this has already… gone.
She opened her eyes thinly and observed her now empty side. The tears that flowed remained there unwiped.
Leaving me again to reality.
The soft touch of firm security was there no more. No more the ire, passionate red hot gaze behind the golden filtering locks.
Were your touch and… your kind stare and your whole existence never real?
She thinly stared at the blurred tabletop. She thinly stared at the half-empty glass. She thinly stared at the wallpaper. And right above, the ticking wall clock.
And she closed her eyes.
And she dreamt of their first meeting.
That was real.
You were real.
We were real.
It was in the middle of the rain. The beast of summer's rain.
I remember how it all began. I remember how you saved me then… and many other times more afterwards.
The usual day started as the torridity tormented my skin. The always prepared Takamachi Nanoha had, for once, forgotten her umbrella when I viewed the open morning skies. It was rather breezy so I figured going an umbrella would be unneeded. By the time I would be coming home from lengthy college lectures, night would have already cooled down the middle day heat.
But I was wrong. The middle of the city four miles of train ride away from home is swelteringly five degrees higher. And on top of that, halfway here, it started pouring. I hurried towards the bus stop upon realizing what utter ignorance leaving my umbrella had been.
And while I cussed at my own stupidity while scurrying through that narrow sidewalk full of people, that narrow, steep-edged, slippery sidewalk, only four steps at length, a huge van passed by me.
I was lucky enough not to get taken in by the monster at speed that could've chipped off my arm from my shoulder's joints. But I wasn't lucky enough to miss that chipped off cement I'd always been so careful with whenever I walk on this path.
My foot swiveled and the other simply slipped. By the instance, I saw myself falling right to the busy road of the city. And as if that wasn't enough to make me realize that I was dying, a loud honk from another van coming my way blurred my vision in an instant déjà vu. But this time, it's not only my arm that would be run through. My whole body will be smashed against the tinted windshield. My flesh and blood will mesh with an impact with the steel bumpers.
And I know death to come.
But it didn't come.
I was lucky enough that a stranger pulled me at the right moment, by the right hand, with the right, perfect motion. Then I found myself being pulled closer in the body of my savior. I, literally scared to death, moved in tighter to that security and comfort from the horizon flag, to that faint smell of the living and the fulfillment of life, to that warmth of an embrace.
I heard other strangers hush by, rush off, and went and disappear. But this stranger's voice never seemed to leave my ears.
"Are you alright, miss?" She asked me with fluttering voice of concern, under the pattering feel of the rain . And as I looked up to meet her gaze, I saw the red pair of rubies, curtained with golden strands, sticking to her forehead, to her cheekbone, to her jaw. All of her, merely a centimeter or less.
All of a sudden, the sidewalk didn't seem too narrow any more. The shadows of the busy road and the busy people passed swirling around us as if we weren't part of that world. The rain seemed to have stopped only for the two of us. And I, scared enough to forget to thank her, cried onto her heaving chest.
"That was close." She sighed as she ran her hand on my shoulder and led me to the waiting shed.
What did you do after that again…? I was too traumatized to remember…
Ah…
That's right…
Days and more after, you and I crossed paths…
At dusk while I entered the bus to the station, you and I crossed paths. You'd have to be seated, you'd have secured a chair and you'd offer it to me when I walk up to you. You'd bother to stand instead and keep the rest of the crowd away.
Once amidst the busy day in the station, you and I crossed paths. I hurried up for the closing doors but I didn't make it. I couldn't have if it wasn't for you who, hurriedly from behind, swept me off the floor and ran with me inside.
In the middle of the night, while I walk towards the station, you and I crossed paths. We would talk aimlessly. We would comment about our first encounter as we passed the broken sidewalk. We would comment about the first stars to come and we would spend the rest of the moment together holding hands.
I love you…
Even if those crossing paths led to one sudden end.
Once amidst our day together, we went to see a movie. Your hand was in mine and I squeezed yours at comfort. But then my watch struck twelve. You cupped my cheek, whispered to me softly but it was a word that felt no different from the ending sound of the movie.
…You'd disappear after every twelfth hour of the clock. Everything of you would.
But I continued loving you…
Even if the clock ran in only one direction, with one point a beginning that meant its every end.
On that night, under the lone tree, under the filtering moonshine, you and I were real. As we counted the stars and their shimmering reflections in our eyes…
I wholly grasped that true feel.
I love you, you said. And you stared at me for long. And all I did was stare back. I couldn't tell you how much I love you to. Because I was very scared you'd disappear soon. I was scared that you weren't real.
But then you kissed me softly. And after short, you kissed me again. With oozing tears, with caught breathing, with raspy voice, I recognized your true touch and softly, I—
"I love you too."
—kissed you again.
She turned on the bed weeping in silence. Her tears dropped on her cheeks hotly like lava on ice. And then she gasped for the inopportune realization of how it had always been. The grasp of the truth from which she was escaping.
"You were not real. We were not real…" She choked and coughed and stifled her moans.
I remember clearer now. I remember how that was so…
Because then, and even now, I figure…
I've yet to know your name.
We were strangers. And today, yet we are.
I've never asked your name.
I've never. Why?—
On that day, on that rainy summer day, on that narrow, slippery sidewalk, while I was falling towards the fast approaching messenger of death, you pulled me out of to safety. I saw the fluttering eyes of fear behind the golden curtains.
And the black consumed me before I could feel any pain.
Because you failed to pull me in…
You failed to save me.
And you failed to save yourself.
We were strangers. And today, yet we are.
I've never asked your name.
I've never. Why?—
—because I hadn't the chance to.
On that rainy summer day, from that narrow, slippery sidewalk, while two bodies were falling towards the fast approaching tinted van, screams of panic shaded the busy roads with the sound of the deathly honk. And two bloody bodies, on the pavement, dropped down.
Thinly, she opened her tear-damped eyes. The ceiling was blindingly white, whiter than the long bulb in the middle. She moved her eyes slowly and there, on her left was her sister crying. Beside her was her brother and his wife, both smiling with tear-edged eyes.
"Nanoha…"
The sounds gradually felt true to her as the voice from her right rang in her ears. She felt a warm hand caress her face and she struggled to speak.
"Mo…m?" She asked huskily and the woman cried louder and hugged her on her bed. Behind the mother was her man. And she smiled at him as he wiped his eyes dry. "…hey dad."
"Hey." He replied as she squeezed her hand tight. "Thank goodness." Deeply, thankfully, her father sighed.
Her mother drew back to kiss her on the forehead.
"You were out for a week and a half now." Her sister informed her, putting back her glasses on her now dried eyes.
"That's so long." She replied in a whisper.
The copper-haired moved to sit but her mother insisted her down. She looked at her and says she's fine and when her argument proved futile, she helped her up, stacking the pillows behind for her to lean into.
Shortly, she received a glass of water and a couple of pills. That's when she saw her hand still wrapped in bandages. A vague image of what it previously looked like flashed in her mind but it didn't remain for too long, thank goodness.
"It is but we're glad," the brother continued. "Plus, you have been keeping a visitor waiting."
The patient in her white robe crossed her brows and swallowed the water in with the medicines, "Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan?"
"They won't be here until tomorrow afternoon. Their course seminars dragged a little longer." His wife told her.
"That feels lonely." She managed to reply with a sigh. Her brother seemed to make a guilty expression and stared to her eyes.
"We actually need to head back quickly to Midori'ya to help with the rest of the café's crew," her brother answered.
"Yeah." Her sister added, "I was dragged into the mess of a booming business somehow that I need to go too."
She chuckled softly at the face they were wearing. "Come back with muffins then." She nodded and they all chuckled softly then she tuned to face her parents. They smiled at her and she smiled thinly back. Then her sight fell on the bandages on her arm yet again.
"What happened to... what happened to her? The lady who saved me."
"She…" Her father and brother shared a grim look. She gasped silently for the implied news. But then her father turned to her with a reassured smile. "…woke up earlier than you."
"I can't believe you slept in even at a time like this." He sister commented. "Her case was worse, you know?"
"So… she's alright?" Nanoha grinned, forgetting the dull pain behind her hand and head's bandages.
"Actually, she's—," her brother's words was interrupted with a soft knock that came through the door and he turned to come to get it.
Right then, her mother smiled at her kindly and she stood. "We'll get some lunches ready…"
She glanced up to meet her husband in the eye. He nodded at her and he kissed his daughter on her forehead.
She nodded, "lunch…" and she watched them round the bed. That's when she caught of the time revealed by the clock hanging on the wall. "…!"It was no more than ten minutes before noon. And there was a rush of coldness that climbed up to her spine. She knew those were all just but from a dream but she couldn't help the tension from rising.
She turned towards her left where her parents and brother are animatedly greeting some guest behind the half opened door.
At that exact moment as the visitor was finally revealed, her world seemed to halt. Only her tears that have formed rivulets on her cheeks ran rightly with the ticking time. She continuously dried them up and they remained continuously oozing out.
Approaching her was her brother, aiding the woman who walked beside him. Her expression held a little pain but she smiled when she looked her way. She was just a little shorter than her brother, thinner, and paler. She was a red-eyed blonde in white, pulling an IV pole from where a thin transparent tube extended, its tip injected into her hand.
As the door slowly closed behind them, she faced the two women and whispered,
"I'm sorry for disturbing again…" This was the first time she heard her speak but her voice was as low as how she remembers it from her dreams.
The sister of the patient came to get her to a chair as she replied, "We should be the ones apologizing and thanking you at the same time for looking after her."
Nanoha's lips remained agape as they continued with their genial conversations. She was the same stranger in her dream. The same stranger as before she slept.
Isn't she?
And when her brother spoke again, "we'll get your doctor on our way down," she nodded without looking away from the pair of blood-red eyes.
Alone now, the blonde stretched her lips into a weak smile and reached to wipe the last of the patient's tears. She asked in a low voice,
"Are you hurting somewhere?"
"…Why are…" She shook her head slowly and took the weak hand with hers.
"They said you've been looking after me?" She curled her brows.
"It's a little boring staying in my room. I've bee doing so since three days ago." She replied with her calm tone.
"You don't look so well." Caressing her pale face, Nanoha's lips quivered.
"I get better. I managed to live after that. A few more days of rest towards assured health won't hurt." She smiled like a stranger would never smile at her.
That was real. And now that she squeeze her hand, interlacing her fingers with her like a stranger never would,
"Thank you for… for saving me." She said, controlling her sobs.
"I should be the one thanking you." She returned a squeeze to the hand that held hers warmly and she moved to sit on the bed. "I don't know how to thank you for saving my life." She said in an uncontrollable whimper.
Nanoha looked at her with a bewildered stare. She was just about to ask when the blonde started talking again,
"I… dreamt of you. And in my dreams, you…" she retracted and sighed, unsure if her words mattered. Unsure if her words would make sense.
Before this could become an ending dream again, Nanoha swallowed strongly and spoke, "…you and I?"
The blonde pressed her lips tightly, trying to contain the emotions that flowed out of her eyes. She gasped and sighed. "You too?"
Then Nanoha nodded tearfully and she glanced at the remaining minutes until noon. —Remaining seconds… fifteen…
Fourteen.
She took the blonde by her cheeks and hastily, she said, "Tell me your name. I'm…"
Twelve,
"Takamachi Nanoha." For a moment, she grinned. Her name rings in with all the right tone, all the right volume when she's the voice it speaks.
She's a stranger I grew close to in the dream, Nanoha thought, but she fits to be her in this reality much, much more.
"My name is Fate. Fate Testarossa Harlaown."
Nanoha parted her own trembling lips.
"Fate Testarossa-Harlaown…" The blonde chuckled softly and nodded. "Fate-chan…"
Eight.
"Nanoha… In my dream, you saved me. And from the same dream, you called me back to life." The blonde whispered as she moved closer and rested her head against her.
Four.
"I…" Nanoha stared at her eyes, searching. "…searched for this. To be with you for real. And never fear that you'll disappear."
They were strangers who were in the same place at the same time, detached from the rest of the world by the thin line of life and death, by the thin glass of reality and dreams.
Yet they both desired the same things—
One.
—For the dreams to end.
For reality to begin.
"I love you."
"I love you."
And for this life to matter as they share it even after one more threat of death.
It all were just a dream that tied two person's red strings tighter, stronger.
And now, for real, they share their lives and begin it with one gentle touch that told them everything of now is more than just a dream. A kiss that, for once, made both feel that this is not going to end, never going to disappear.
This is real. She is real. They are real.
The clock on the wall struck past the noon's first minute. And they remained silently weeping as they stared at each other's eyes with a smile and the words that never needed be told, yet always, forever, over and over again, silently, declared.
~Ende
Thank you for being more than just a dream.
Afterword
I refuse to give hints on the perspective change because later on, they become obvious and that was the main point was there: make readers think of whose perspective it was. At any case, I'm open to critics so feel free to leave a review for tomorrow is a better fanfic!
May dreams define our realities.