For lack of a better way of putting
it, that time in her life was over. It was
time to make a change... To take a chance...

To be herself.

The pack slung over her shoulder
was heavy with rain water as she ducked into
the crowded, dirty bus station.

Yes, it was time to move on.

-------------------------
The Direction of the Wind
By Kate B
-------------------------

Her short, sandy hair was sopping
wet from the torrential downpour as she
strode quickly into the bus station. A
small amount of money, only enough to get
her to where she so longed to go, weighed
heavily in the pocket of her blue jeans.
It was exactly 1500 yen, most of it in
change, and it would get her where she
wanted to be.

It would take her to Tokyo.

An old woman, her hunched form
covered in sooty old rags, pressed past the
tall, dripping girl. Brown eyes peered up
at her through wrinkles. "Out all alone?"
she paused to ask, scratchy voice sending a
shiver up the teen's spine.

Swallowing the pebble of fear down
her throat, the tall teen smiled and
shrugged noncommittally. "I'm going to
Tokyo," she responded in the most friendly
manner she could muster. "I'm going to make
a name for myself there."

The old woman snorted. "I was gonna
make a 'name' for me, too," she chuckled,
once again starting across the station. "I
think we were all gonna make names for
ourselves."

A puzzled look followed from gray-
green eyes. She hadn't the foggiest what
the woman meant, and had every intention to
ask her just that...

Thunder crackled. Lightning lit up
the sky. The teen jumped involuntarily, and
the lights in the bus station flickered
unexpectedly. Her heart was racing. Her
head was spinning...

Her eyes darted to the windows.
The rain was pounding harder, now, than
before, and the wind was blowing the fresh
green leaves, not yet touched by the browns
and golds of fall, every which way. She
raked a hand through her hair as she watched
the trees sway beneath the force of nature.

It awed her just thinking about it.

"You like the wind?" asked a soft
voice from her side.

She did not look down. There was no
reason too, for nature held all of her awe
and the storm all of her mind. She did not
even notice the girl beside her, nor the
fact that she'd already begun to ask her.

"I wish I was the wind," she was
saying, her pale pink lips moving without
accord, unbidden thoughts verbalizing before
she could stop them. "I wish that I could
change direction on a whim, change my mind
as I pleased, accompany the rain clouds and
the smell of sweet flowers..."

Her companion chuckled. She glanced
down at the source of the other voice. It
was a girl, shorter and thinner than she,
with wavy hair and smiling eyes. She was...

Beautiful. Like a summer at the
sea, she was beautiful.

"To be the wind is a noble wish,"
she smiled, azure eyes sparkling up at the
taller teenaged girl. "Never lose that need
to change direction. It's a wonderful
wanderlust."

The blonde one snorted. "My parents
would argue otherwise."

There was silence, and then a shiver
ran up her spine. The smaller girl had
placed a gentle hand on her forearm, and
for some reason, it made her feel warm...and
yet cold. She glanced down.

"You are your own person." The
soprano lilt of the stranger, so soft, well-
bread, and yet so piercing and determined,
echoed through her ears. "You cannot be who
others need you to be if it means losing
yourself."

She snorted, turned away. "I'm
running away."

The smaller girl shook her head,
and sighed. Her hand disappeared. "You are
not running away. You're just--"

Thunder cut her off. Lightning
flashed. The blonde jumped involuntarily.
It was that kind of storm.

And, when the lights were done
flickering and the roar died down, the
other girl, the smaller girl, was gone.

The sandy-haired teen girl felt a
lump of sheer terror grow in her throat
just then. What had been a pebble was now
a boulder. Her hands were cold, and suddenly
the almost-comfortable dampness of her white
linen shirt felt too cold, too uncomfortable,
too clammy.

But she had no time to dwell on this.
The bus was at the station, now. It was old,
gray, and rather a depressing sight, but
it would have to do. She pulled out her
change, counted out the 1500 yen, and waited
for her turn to board.

The wind shifted directions, and
the rain began to let up.

"Are you running away?" asked the
bus driver in a rather doubtful tone as she
boarded the bus. "You look a little young
to be out on your own, you know..."

She shrugged and handed over her
money. "I'm all I have," she responded with
a slight smile, taking her pass from the
man and starting down the aisle toward
the last empty seat. "And that's why I'm
going to Tokyo."

The bus driver nodded, and the
old vehicle began to pull away from the
station.

Gray-green eyes glanced out the
window as the bus started on its way down
the road. The station, the flickering lights,
and the old lady were all just in the past
now, behind her, and the road lied ahead.
The storm had died down, the wind had
calmed, and it looked as though that night
would bring a crisp new day.

She smiled. She was not running
away from anything.

She was holding on.

----
End.
----

Author's Note: I got angry at Lunar 2:
Eternal Blue Complete, and I decided that
I needed write a fanfiction... Because, after
all, my little brother wouldn't have been
pleased had I busted up his Playstation.
Said fictional work was the result. I don't
know where it came from, or why I wrote it,
or how it fits on an allegorical level... It
has nothing to do with me or my life, I
don't think. I guess it's just another
Haruka-fic that I plugged out... Go figure?

We all know who this is to. Yes, I'm talking
to you. ^_^;

3.1.01

Everyone, celebrate One-Year Anniversary of
the end of Galactic Sailors Season One on
the 10th of March! ^^; PLEASE. For my
sake, at least.