HAPPILY EVER AFTER
Let me riddle you a ditty, it's just an itty bitty, little thing on my mind.
About a boy and a girl, trying to take on the world one kiss at a time.
Now the funny thing about, ain't a story without it, but the story is mine.
And I wish you could say, that it ended just fine.
Happily Ever After - He is We
Lantis looked at her expectantly. But the silence won the battle and his violet eyes languished in sadness.
Hikaru watched undaunted how he turned and began to walk back to the city, without adding a single word, while she was anchored to the floor, lips sealed.
No. This can't be happening.
It was night, and the breath of thousands of stars filled the sky. The wind, constant companion of that day, hit her skin, violent and cold.
Do not go away.
Her eyes burned, but it was not due to the impact against the icy blanket that covered the air. She was crying because she could not move; because a part of her needed to reach for him, but the muscles of her body did not respond. She was crying because each step he took, sinking into darkness, a blizzard penetrated through her body stopping her blood, freezing her heart.
Come back. Please.
For all her desire to run after him, she didn't. Lantis was lost in the shallow lights, until his shadow disappeared.
Freed from the spell that had stopped her from reaching the love of her life, she collapsed on the pavement. The night closed around her, feeding on misfortune. The curtain fell, and the words "THE END" were written in pale calligraphy.
The sunlight, intense, illuminated the landscape, as if someone had turned on a switch. Hikaru awoke from slumber. She had served the last call of a Mexican writer, and now she had returned. The story had been beautiful!
"But it should not have ended like that"- she said loudly, with a long sigh, and focused all her mind onto the clouds while floating gently –
She did not struggle to get used. That clearing was the place of Cephiro where she always returned after each story. It was a high place where she could oversight the three towers'castle that rose in the distance, obscured by the bright green foliage of the verdant woods of Cephiro.
20 years had passed since her creators finished the story. But also 20 years had passed since all of them were living among the ideas of those who had loved the tale behind a TV screen, or through manga's pages. Thanks to them, she and her friends still existed. Sometimes she felt like one of the Peter-Pan's little fairies, those whose life depended on someone who "believed".
Happy, and somewhat tired, she fell back. Crying was exhausting, and in that last story she had mourned for a lifetime. The lawn received her smoothly, tickling her. Some dandelions dropped their fruit after the impact, and her eyesight was plagued by thousands of small iridescences, making her sneeze. She laughed, looking at her hair, full of those little white things that were similar to tiny paratroopers. The calm came by as a welcome sedative to ease her mad pulse.
She shouldn't worry anymore. The story was over.
The funny thing was she could remember all of them. All possibilities, all the worlds. They were part of her, but in a peculiar way, they did not affect her. She wiped tears that no longer existed, a reflexively act of her last trip.
She closed her eyes and concentrated. She can perceive Umi and Fuu's energies. Mokona was also with them and talking with Presea in her characteristic monologue. Soon she would meet with everyone, and they could discuss the latest plots and endings, languages they'd learned and strange experiences. But first ... Lantis.
Always, after each end, they tried to find each other, and if possible, they climbed to the top of a tree, to watch the sunset. It was a ritual they had created over the years, even if they finished apart, dead or with a dozen of children. It was a physical need impossible to stop.
Following her instinct, she leaped up and ran off.
As she passed swiftly through the grass, she was blissful of excitement and anxiety. The next story was close, she could feel it. What might it be about?
She remembered that time when they got her drunk. She had never tasted whiskey and it had reached to her head quickly ... but neither had helped her to drink it like it was orange juice. At the end of the night, Umi, Fuu and Hikaru sang loudly as if they were in a karaoke. That one was really funny.
She was never prepared for what was coming. Before falling she inhaled, exhaled, even Fuu had lent her a Yoga book, but it was always the same! Her anxiety was skin-deep, and always wanted to skip directly to the end. She wanted to scream from the rooftops, waiting to be heard: Author of the moment, will I have a happy ending?!
But she couldn't. Such madness was never in the plot. Knowing would have to wait. Meanwhile, the author's voice was law. She lived furtive kisses, faraway looks, unnecessary confessions, endless battles and passionate nights. Sometimes she suffered too, without being able to control it. Blood and tears. In moments like those, she always thought: And the happily ever after? Is it so hard to achieve?
It didn't matter. Chapter by chapter, a thousand lives were hers. Thousand ways to embrace and thousand ways to kiss. While there was a story, she would not be forgotten.
Lantis was close, but without warning, she slid into a new story. Cephiro disappeared and a white light replaced the meadow. The scent of summer came suddenly and the salty breeze ruffled her long hair loose. Hikaru looked forward, hoping it would be easy this time, hoping the road would be straight, without deviations. Nervously, without knowing what the author had planned, she walked down a paved path, whose steps led her straight to the beach. The sea melted into the sky, among the fanciful afterglow of a sunset.
A tall figure caught her attention. There, contrasting with colored rain was Lantis, lost in his own thoughts.
She can tell it was the first time in the story that she approached to him. She knew by their reactions: her stomach filled with butterflies, and her heart thundered angrily. They knew who each other was, but they had never spoken. Their families had an unforgivable bloody past. Nobody trusted the sons of the captain who had brought the plague to that port. She approached gently and stopped right next to him, feeling incredibly stupid, and unsure of herself.
"Goo..good evening" – she began-
Lantis didn't answer, but turned to see her.
"I was told you're the only one who has returned alive from that place. I would like to ask you for a favor"
Hikaru reached into the front pocket of her dress until she found a pure silver necklace with three small red gems. In the center, an aged mirror reflected sunlight. The jewel had belonged to her great-grandmother.
"This is the only valuable thing I have. I need to go there. But I do not know the way"
He looked at her questioningly. It seems like he recognized the necklace. His eyes were a violet mystery. A wild island, full of cliffs where a fall could last forever.
"You need not pay me"- he said diverting his attention and focusing again in the sight of the ocean-
Hikaru smiled in amazement. Nothing of what she had been told about this man was true.
She pressed the jewel against her chest, and right after she put it away. The truth was that she treasured that family memory and offering it had been a harsh proof.
"Let's go"– he said-
The story had begun. It was an unstoppable process. The best of all was she was with Lantis. What else could she ask for?
I feel this story will be wonderful. But…
They walked toward the pier, between the crowds of a market day. Strong scents of spices, soaps and greasy food came and went across the stalls. Carts full of chickens and pigs circulated with difficulty, crackling the hinges of wooden wheels. Shopkeepers shouted, announcing their wares to passers-by
"Bread! Garlic bread! Take your garlic bread!"
"The best fish! Best Fish in town"
"Chinese silks! Brought directly"
Hikaru could not know, but among all the commotion disapproving glances were hiding; whispers which arose when someone saw them together.
"Little miss, would you like to try this beautiful scarf?" - asked a merchant, approaching to her, who was in trouble, trying to keep pace with her new guide- "brought directly from Chinese coasts"
"No thanks"
She ran trying not to stay behind, even if it was not hard to distinguish him because of his height. In his eagerness she pushed a middle - aged lady, who was walking lazily with a basket full of corn.
"Watch out! Do you want to throw me against the floor, girl?"
"Excuse me please!"
She was presenting excuses, when a rumble shook the ground. It was the roar of the earth. Everything started moving side to side and the paved road began to undulate without control. A wagonload of oil barrels lost one of its wooden banisters and the content of the load was released uncontrollably toward passersby.
Hikaru saw the huge barrels rolling toward her. She might dodge two, maybe three, if she moved quickly. But before she could react, she was raised in the air, weightless, to fall away from danger. A shadow passed by her side and she saw Lantis running toward a dark - skinned man, who had been remained petrified, to push him beyond the scope of the disaster.
It had indeed begun. A new adventure, a new journey. Everyone has a story to tell. She knew that. But…
Author of the moment ... Will I have a happy ending?
Lantis successfully managed to save the man after a maneuver which stunned the few who witnessed it .Without a word to anyone, he returned by her side.
"Are you alright?"
"I ... I could have avoid them" - said without intention to berate his actions, trying to make him aware she didn't want to become a burden for him"
"I know"
Something choked in her throat. She was speechless. All she could mumble was
"Thank you"
Author of the moment, I beg you, give me a happy ending
"The road is long, let's go"
"Yes"
This time he waited for her. They walked together, getting lost among the people. Would this story be one of those with a "happily ever after"? She could not know. Not now. The story should continue, and the end, had not yet been written. She wondered if the author would know that sometimes she acted on her own.
She smiled and walked. She had a trip to go. She had a new story to live.
Ahead.
AUTHOR'S NOTES
Greetings from the mystic world!
This is my first story in English. Obviously it was translated from Spanish, so if you find grammatical errors or some weird/odd expression I swear in Spanish it sounds pretty! lol (or at least decent)
Thanks to my friend Antoinette Veronica for helping me as my beta-reader. Thanks a lot for your corrections and advices :') This fic wont be here without your help.
Also thanks also to my friend Leo who helped me also correcting grammar, spelling and...everything else. Arigato Gozaimasu
This story was written in 2013 as a drabble, but I wanted to improve it for #hikaruxlantisweek. It corresponds to "Journey" day. I hope you tell me what do you think. I know it's a bit short, but my skills in this language still don't go so far. Maybe someday.
Hugs!