I'm back with a new chapter! I'm sorry that last chapter was so confusing. I didn't mean for it to be, it just sort of turned out that way. But I promise, I think by chapter...7, maybe, almost everything will be sorted out. Hopefully earlier (I suck at estimating).
Like I said, this chapter is long! 15 pages on Open Office. 15! That's without a doubt the longest I've ever written for one chapter, and I'm sorry to say it may be one of the last ones of its kind for a while. Long chapters just aren't my specialty. This chapter has some OC's and Ukitake, who I love! Once again, the characters may be a bit OOC.
Once again, gigantic thanks to the people who reviewed. I love you all!
Not Normal
Chapter 3
Hitsugaya
I stared up at the building in front of me with a mixture of disbelief and apprehension. I was (according to Ichigo) standing in front of the headquarters of the organization he worked for, and I'll be honest, I was surprised. Openly shocked and staring was probably a better definition of the feeling. After all, I was staring at the building I'd had lunch in less than two hours ago. The headquarters of a secret government organization that was only known to a few…was the tiny Chinese food restaurant, the White Lily. Yeah.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked Ichigo.
"You were expecting something different?" He sounded amused.
"Well, yeah,"
"Like what?"
"I don't know. Something more impressive, or bigger, or-"
"Completely obvious?" he finished.
"…"
"Toshiro," he began to explain slowly, as if it was the simplest thing in the world. "The organization I work for is, for all intents and purposes, police for the supernatural. Do you have any idea how many creatures wish we weren't here, so they could do whatever they wanted? The last thing we need is to have a big, shiny building advertising our whereabouts. I may as well wear a flashing neon sign around my neck saying, 'Hey, I'm a shadow cop! Who wants to beat me up?'"
"That's Toshiro-san to you," I snapped, ignoring the sarcasm. I just met the guy, so why the hell's he using such familiar terms with me? "What's a shadow cop?"
"Follow me and you'll find out," he walked towards the door, and I had to jog slightly to catch up.
After the fight with the vampire (I'd stopped trying to rationalize the situation and just started going with the flow) Ichigo had asked me my name. "I gave you mine, now you give me yours," were his exact words. After I'd told him, he'd told me to follow him to headquarters. I'd followed out of curiosity, not any real feeling of obligation. After all, it was his fault I was in this situation in the first place. Why had he felt the need to drag me along with him?
He led me into the restaurant/HQ. The building itself was made of white wood, with a black, shingled roof. There were a lot of windows, and the door was glass. Over the door hung a sign. It was shaped like a lily, and painted white. Across the center, in curling gold and green letters, was the restaurant's name.
The inside of the building was lit with what looked like paper lanterns, but were probably just paper shades over light bulbs. Still, it was a nice touch. A few people were scattered throughout the establishment, but it was mostly empty. The walls were painted a light brown, almost tan, color, and the floor was carpeted in forest green. Dark wood tables took up most of the space, but there was a sushi bar in the far corner. A young Asian man behind the bar handed what looked like a plate of spicy tuna rolls to an equally young couple, who seemed more interested in each other than the food.
Ichigo walked past the sushi bar, completely ignoring all this. I hurried after him. He led me to a private room in the back. The color scheme was the same as the main part of the restaurant, and in the center of the small room stood a long wooden table, probably big enough to seat ten or fifteen people. He maneuvered around it and pressed his palm to a Chinese painting, depicting mountains, which was hanging on the far wall. The picture glowed faintly, and the room started to shake. Rumbling, grating sounds could be heard from the walls, and my stomach lurched. I had the briefest sensation of falling, and then the elevator, for that's what I think it was, shuddered to a halt without warning. I fell back on my butt at the sudden stop. Ichigo, who had been leaning on the wall next to the painting, looked at me with raised eyebrows, his look clearly conveying, 'Couldn't you at least act a little more graceful?'
"Shut up," I grumbled.
"I didn't say anything," he answered innocently.
"I know what you were thinking."
"I doubt that."
He smirked at me, and then walked back to the door. He turned the knob and pushed it open.
"What's that supposed to…!" I stopped short when I saw what was on the other side of the door.
'Black and white.' That was my first thought. The hallway in front of me was just that. Harsh white lights on the ceiling glinted of the shiny, coal black floor. The white walls reflected the light back at us, momentarily blinding me. I squinted slightly.
"Is blinding your guests one of the shadow polices' customs?" I asked rhetorically. "Or is it to intimidate the criminals?"
"Interesting choice of response," was the amused reply. I hadn't been expecting an actual answer, so I wasn't disappointed.
He started down the hall, and I trailed after, still blinking spots out of my eyes. Doors of all shapes and sizes lined the hallway. I read a off a few of the names from black plaques nailed to the doors. "Testing Room One" marked a big steel door on the left. "Armory" marked another, this one slightly smaller and made of a lighter metal. "Training: Hand-to-Hand Combat and Swords" was a medium sized, wooden door on the right. My gaze wandered from left to right as I tried to memorize what door was where. I was so engrossed that I didn't notice that Ichigo had stopped until I ran into him.
"Sorry," I mumbled.
"This one," he motioned towards the door in front of him, labeled "Ukitake's Office." Under the plaque was a much messier sign made of paper, with the words "Go away. I'm busy." scrawled in red letters.
"He has such a way with people," Ichigo commented after seeing the sign.
"Um, are you sure?" I glanced at the sign with apprehension. "I don't want to get my head bitten off because I didn't pay attention to the sign."
"Don't worry," he assured me. "He only bites if you wake him up when he's sleeping."
I stared at him in shock, and he burst into laughter.
"You should see your face!" he managed to get out.
"Jackass!" I yelled, and punched him in the arm. "Don't scare me like that!"
He continued laughing, and I felt the heat rising in my cheeks. I turned towards the door and pushed it open angrily.
"Hello?" I asked nervously, my anger dissipating the second I stepped into the room, leaving only nervousness in its wake.
"Hello," came the blunt response. I stared at the speaker.
He was a thin man, probably in his early thirties. His long hair was white, and his skin wasn't much darker. Calm brown eyes studied me from across the room. His chin rested on his folded hands, while his elbows rested on the desk in front of him. The desk was shiny and black, like the floor, and like the rest of the sparse furniture in the room. The bookcase, the chairs in front of the desk, the laptop resting on the desk: all black. The only thing colorful things in the room were the walls, which were painted a light blue color. The office revealed nothing about the person occupying it, except possibly what his favorite color was. Nothing was personal, only cold and uniform.
"Ichigo, you can stop hiding behind the door," Ukitake, if the plaque outside was correct, sighed. The man seemed to relax a bit, and as he did, so did I. I turned around, and sure enough saw the orange haired teen stepping out from behind the door frame and into the office.
"Hey, Ukitake-" he was cut off by the pen that lodged itself in the wall by his head, missing him by an inch. His eyes widened in shock.
I turned back to the man, but he appeared not to have moved since I walked in.
"What the hell was that?" I heard Ichigo cry from behind me, but was instantly silenced by the pencil which whizzed past his head and imbedded itself beside the pen. This time, I had caught a tiny flash of movement, but it had been so quick that I had to convince myself that I'd seen it.
"Ichigo," Ukitake started calmly. Somehow, it seemed scarier than if he'd yelled. The temperature in the room seemed to drop a few degrees.
"Yes?" the boy asked hesitantly.
"What is the number one rule when dealing with ordinary humans?"
"N-never let them see what's on the 'other side'."
"Good," Ukitake continued icily. "The words themselves seem to have made it through to you. However, the concept of the rule seems to have escaped you."
"Has not!"
"Really? Then would you please be so kind as to explain to me what he," he motioned to me, never once taking his gaze off of Ichigo, "Is doing here?"
"Um…"
"No excuses?"
He stayed silent.
"I didn't think so," the man stated with a note of finality. "We'll discuss your punishment later. Now, onto the matter at hand." His gaze moved to me, and I suddenly had the urge to hide from the intense stare. I stood my ground though, and met his eyes evenly. I saw a small smile of approval ghost across his lips, but it was quickly gone, leaving me wondering whether it had ever been there to begin with.
"You must be very confused, Sir…" he let the words hang in the air, an obvious question.
"Toshiro Hitsugaya," I answered. "And you're right, I am. What's going on? Why did that group of," I searched for a word.
"The Espada's men," Ukitake supplied
"What?"
"You were attacked by a group of rogue creatures, working against us, under the supernatural crime lords known as the Espada." he explained.
"Who gave them that name?" I asked, wondering at the odd choice.
"They did," Ichigo answered. I looked at him questioningly. "When they began to grow in power, that's just what they started calling themselves."
"So this stuff, this ridiculous, fairy tale stuff, really exists?" I asked incredulously.
"Yes," Ukitake confirmed. "Though we prefer to call them supernatural creatures, or just supernaturals."
"Vampires are real?"
"Yes."
"Werewolves?"
"Yes."
"Ghosts?"
"Yes."
"This is insane," I decided.
"Yes," this time, it was Ichigo who answered. I turned to glare at him. He smiled. "Well, it is. You just get used to it after a while."
I decided to ignore him.
"So, everything I heard in those fairy tales when I was three," I emphasized the last word. "Are real?"
"Not exactly." the white-haired man answered.
"What do you mean?"
"Faeries, dwarfs, elves, dragons," he listed. "They don't exist."
"Dragons don't exist?"
"Do you see them walking around in the streets?"
"I didn't see the vampires either," I retorted sulkily.
"They don't exist." He said firmly, ending it.
There were a few moments of awkward silence. Eventually, I broke it with a curious, "So what now?"
"What do you mean?" Ukitake asked.
"I'm not supposed to know about any of this, am I?" I questioned. He shook his head in response. "So what do we do now? Do you erase my memory? Or make me swear to an oath of secrecy?"
"Something tells me you're not taking this seriously," Ichigo commented dryly.
"Gee, how'd you guess?" I asked, annoyed. He just shrugged.
"Call it intuition."
"Call it lucky. Or dumb."
We were interrupted by a muffled laugh, and turned to face the room's other occupant.
"Ukitake," Ichigo started hesitantly. "Are you...laughing?"
"Am I not allowed to laugh now?" the man composed himself quickly, but he seemed to be in a more playful mood than before.
"Huh? No! I mean, yes! I mean..." I smirked. He shot me a dark look. "I just almost never hear you laugh," he finished lamely.
Ukitake dismissed the poorly-worded comment with a wave of his hand. "I'll disregard your apparent inability to form proper sentences for the moment," he said with dry amusement. The redhead looked like he wanted to say something else, but decided against it. Most likely a wise move. Instead, he settled with grumbling angrily to himself in the corner. The man watched him with raised eyebrows for a moment, then smiled at me.
"I like you," he declared. "Want a job?"
"What?" The words had been so unexpected that it took me a minute for the words to fully register.
"I'm offering you a job," he clarified. "We're low on personnel, and I think you'd do well here."
"What's the catch?"
"Does there need to be one?" He looked genuinely surprised.
"There's always a catch."
He thought for a moment, then, "Well, you'd probably have to be his partner." He pointed to Ichigo.
"Partner?"
"All of our agents work in pairs. It's a necessary precaution," he explained. "As you've seen, some of our missions can get a bit dangerous, so it's good to always have someone to watch your back."
"Oh yeah!" I exclaimed, suddenly remembering Ichigo's wounds. I turned to him. "Your arm and leg. Don't you need to get them looked at?"
After the fight, he'd ripped off the other sleeve of his jacket and wound it around his leg. He barely limped on the way here, so I'd forgotten about it.
"You hurt yourself?" Ukitake asked, looking for the wounds. Ichigo shifted uncomfortably under the searching gaze. He turned to glare at me.
"It's nothing," he tried to brush it off, but by then, his white haired superior had already found the bandaged areas.
"Maybe it is, maybe it isn't," the man mused, then pointed at the door. "Go get those looked at."
"But-"
"Now!" He'd barely raised his voice, but it had the desired effect. Ichigo walked to the door and opened it. He sent one pleading glance over his shoulder, but his superior stood firm. With a sigh, he exited, slamming the door behind him.
"Did I get him in trouble?" I asked, sort of caring despite myself.
"No, not really," he leaned back into his chair wearily. "He just doesn't want people worrying about him. I can't believe he didn't tell me about them sooner."
"I see," I said, sympathizing with the man. My cousin Hinamori was like that too. The thing was, where she would get some scratches and cuts from falling out of a tree, Ichigo was taking bullet wounds. I think there was a bit of a difference.
"Anyways," he continued, rubbing his temples to try and rid himself of the headache that dealing with Ichigo always brought. "The job offer still stands."
"What if I say no?" I asked.
"Then we erase your memories of today's events, and leave you alone," he said simply.
As tempting as the memory wipe was, there was something about the way the man had looked when we were discussing Ichigo that made me hesitate. The boy needed looking after, there was no question about that, and it was obvious that Ukitake couldn't always be there to do it. He seemed to think of the redhead as an annoying younger brother, or a son, and didn't want to see him get hurt. I was definitely sympathizing with the guy now. And I hated it.
"Stupid conscience," I muttered to myself.
"Excuse me?"
"Nothing, nothing," I said dismissively. "Can I have some time to think about this?"
Ukitake looked surprised that I was even considering the offer. I didn't blame him. I was surprised that I was considering the offer. My traitorous mouth had decided to make the decision for me. Wonderful.
"Sure," he consented. "I can give you a week."
A week to decide whether or not I wanted to change my life, permanently and forever.
"Alright." My mouth betrayed me yet again.
"Please, let me escort you above ground," Ukitake stood. "I trust you can find your way home from there?"
There was a faint trace of mockery in his voice, but I brushed it aside. My mind was occupied with other thoughts at the moment. I nodded, then followed him out.
Thanks to my lack of attention, I stumbled on the way out of the office, and jammed my toe into the door. I stared at it in annoyance, then sighed.
"This is going to be a long week."
I walked into the classroom feeling exhausted. That's right. Second day back at school, and I was already wishing it was summer again. I couldn't get to sleep last night, thanks to a certain job offer plaguing my thoughts. I walked to a seat next to the window and slumped into it. It was blissfully quiet. Yesterday, the minute I'd walked into school, I'd been bombarded with questions by Matsumoto and Renji. I'd managed to come up with a semi-acceptable story, telling them that the boy had indeed saved me, and had then panicked and rushed me to a hospital to check if I was okay. Matsumoto believed me, that I could tell, but I wasn't completely sure about Renji. I thought he may have had his doubts, but hadn't been able to voice them at the time, because luckily one of my other friends, Grimmjow, had come to my rescue at that moment.
"Morning, Toshiro," called a gruff voice from behind me. Speak of the devil.
I turned to smile at Grimmjow, one of my only friends who was actually my age. Then again, you wouldn't know we were the same age just by looking.
"Morning," I replied. He smiled in response, or rather, lifted the corners of his mouth slightly out of their seemingly perpetual scowl. Grimmjow was usually scowling. That's not to say that he was unhappy, it was just...actually, I didn't know why. He was just weird like that. The guy even looked kind of weird. His messy blue hair was an unusual color on anyone, yet he insisted that it was natural. His eyes were the same electrifying color. He was well-built, and one of the best athletes I knew, but still nice in his own way. He was a good friend once you got to know him.
Not that I was one to talk about how weird other people looked. I was pretty exotic looking myself. I had white hair, that's right, white. No, I didn't bleach it, as everyone seemed to think. My eyes were a teal/green kind of color, not really unnatural, but definitely not common. Also, I was short. Like, really short. I'd been mistake for a grade schooler before, and it pissed me off.
"Enjoying the quiet?" he teased. I rolled my eyes.
"You have no idea," I said. I started to say something else, but was cut off by a loud, "Good morning, guys!"
"Guess Matsumoto decided to stop by this morning," I commented. Grimmjow nodded.
Renji arrived shortly after, his red hair brushed back into it's usual spiky ponytail and his tattoos showing out from under his short-sleeved shirt. We talked about how our summers had been until the second bell rang, signaling the start of class. As soon as the teacher began to talk, I let my mind wander. It was the second day since I'd met Ichigo and Ukitake, which meant that I had five days left, not including today. And I was just as torn as I had been on the first day.
The school day passed uneventfully. We didn't get too much homework, and I had a study hall last period, so I managed to get it all done. But throughout the entire day, I couldn't focus on a single class. My mind kept wandering back to superantural stuff. The two times I'd been called on, I'd had no idea what we were talking about, and one of my friends had had to show me. I knew I was acting spacey, but I couldn't help it. It was frustrating!
Finally, school ended. I was searching my jacket pockets for some money, and my hand closed around the glasses from the other day. I pulled them out in shock. I'd completely forgotten about them. Ichigo hadn't remembered to ask for them before Ukitake sent him to get his bullet wounds checked, and I was wearing the same thin jacket as before. I guess I'd taken them off at some point and put them in my pocket. Huh. The things you forget when you're following a supernatural cop to his restaurant/HQ.
Out of sheer curiosity at what I'd see, I put them on. I was standing near the vending machine (which is why I was looking for money in the first place) just in front of the school's main door. My school was made of some sort of yellow brick, with windows and doors placed along the walls every few feet. The double doors behind me were big and metal, with four glass planes breaking up the otherwise solid surface. Between most of the windows in the front side of the school were slim trees, with green and yellow leaves clustered densely on the branches. That would change once fall rolled around, but for now, the foliage still clung to the trees, completely oblivious to what was ahead. Students milled around on the sidewalk that wrapped around the school, some chatting with friends, others running to catch their buses. I should have been one of the latter group.
I started off towards my bus, but the crowd was big and disorganized, so I had to keep going out of my way to avoid bumping into other people. I was almost there when someone accidentally pushed me, sending me stumbling into a little girl. She was young, probably no more than six or seven. In the back of my mind, I wondered what she was doing here.
I managed to pull myself to an ungraceful stop right before I bowled her over, but one of my arms swung forward a little too far. It bumped into the kid's arm...or, at least, it should have. Instead of hitting her, my hand passed through her arm. My eyes widened, just as the glasses slid down off my face. I caught them before they hit the ground and looked back towards the kid, but she was gone. I looked down at the glasses. Did ghosts exist? I vaguely remembered Ukitake saying something about them. I donned the eye wear once more, and the girl was there again. This time, though, she was walking away.
"Wait!" I called out, but I wasn't really expecting her to listen. After all, nobody talks to the ghost they don't know exists.
I ran after her, but unlike the girl, who could pass through the crowd (literally), I had to shoulder my way through, and that took much longer. By the time I reached the outside, the girl was already walking into the woods that surrounded the school. I followed. She was easy to keep track of through the thinning trees, and with her light blue dress and bright hair, she was hard to miss. For me.
I trailed behind her for a few minutes, wondering when she was going to stop. The forest was cooler than I expected, but the sun still broke through the gaps in the interlocking boughs of the trees in places, bringing warmth. I'd never been this far into the woods. It was soothing, almost peaceful, and it calmed me. I could have been taking a relaxing nature walk, not following a ghost girl through the trees. I should come out here more often.
Too soon though, it seemed, the kid stopped. I stayed within the tree's shadows for the moment, watching her. I'd kind of followed her out of curiosity, and now I was unsure of what to do.
The girl was standing in a small clearing, probably no more than ten feet wide. A carpet of grass covered the clearing floor, with colorful wildflowers popping up all around the edge, where the clearing met the forest. In the center of the clearing stood a single pine tree. Under the tree was a small gravestone. Oh. The girl was kneeling in front of the grave, looking at it blankly.
I walked over to her.
"Hi," I said. She didn't turn. I waved my hand in front of her face. She started, looking up at me in a mixture of surprise and fear. "I'm talking to you."
"Y-you can see me?" Her voice was quiet, but that's not why it was hard to hear. She sounded like she was talking to me through a radio, with static and tinny-sounding patches breaking up her speech.
"Yeah, I can see you, but you might want to speak up. You're kind of hard to hear." I advised.
She nodded, then asked (in a slightly louder voice), "What's going on?"
"Uh," I didn't know what to say. Luckily, she supplied the information herself.
"It was dark and cold," she said. "I-I was scared. I didn't know where I was. Then, I saw this ball of light, and I followed it. It brought me back here. I went to find my mommy." Here she paused, and I noticed for the first time the tears glistening in her eyes, threatening to fall. "I found her, but...but, she can't hear me!" The tears that she'd been holding back began to fall, but she didn't seem to notice. "I call to her every day, but she doesn't notice me! My daddy died along time ago, so I don't want her to be lonely. But she's so sad, and I think it's my fault, and I don't know why. She's not eating right, and she always stares at my pictures and cries. She comes here every other day. I don't understand. Why's my name on this stone? Why's mommy so sad? Why?"
She was crying in earnest now. I don't know what to say. How do you break it to a little kid that they're dead? I didn't want to do this! But I also realized that it might be crueler for the girl to find out in a different way. Still, how do I start?
I moved to hug her, like I used to do when Hinamori cried, but my arms passed through her. She stared at me in confusion.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
I would have rather been anywhere else on Earth rather than there.
"I don't know how to tell you this," I started. I was on my knees, so our eyes were level. Her eyes were big and trusting, and I almost caved then and there. But my resolve held firm. "But, I think," I stopped and took a deep breath. "I think that you died."
She just stared at me, eyes confused and uncomprehending. Then, slowly, painfully slowly, realization began to dawn. Her eyes widened in shock and horror.
"No," she stared down at her hands, then at her grave. "You're lying. There's no way."
Her eyes were screwed shut. I could tell she knew I was right, but I could also sense the strong feeling of denial radiating off her. She stood in a flash, and swung one of her hands at me. I just stared at her sadly as the appendage passed through my head. She stared at her hand as if it had been burned, then her eyes flashed to me, and the disbelief and hurt I saw in them almost made me start crying too. But I just knelt there, staring at her back as she ran off into the woods, sobbing. This time, I did not chase after her.
I don't know how long I sat there. I don't know when the tears of regret started sliding down my face. When I finally came to my senses, I brushed the tears away and took out my cellphone. Before I dialed the number, I took a minute to compose myself. When I was finished, I punched in the number. They picked up on the second ring.
"Hey mom," I said, pleased at how normal I sounded. "Yeah, I kind of missed the bus. Can you come get me?"
I returned to the clearing the next day, and the day after that, but I didn't see the girl. I wasn't really expecting to, and I didn't even know what I would've said had I met her again, but I still went. I knew my time was running out, but that had quickly stopped mattering, and had faded to a small annoyance in the back of my mind.
"Two days left," I reminded myself absently as I walked there yet again. I'd taken to sitting in the clearing and waiting for the girl for an hour or so after each day (in vain, I might add). I had told my mom that I was helping one of the teachers after school. I felt kind of bad for the lie, but it wasn't like I could tell my mom what I was actually doing. She'd probably freak, then send me to a therapist, and I did not need that right now. Or ever. So for now, I was helping the new school librarian arrange the books in the library.
I wasn't really expecting to see anyone in the clearing that day, considering nobody had been there the others. So I was surprised to see a woman sitting next to the grave. Her back was to me, but I could tell right away that this was the girl's mother. They had the same strawberry-blond hair, and honestly, who else would be here? I coughed lightly, to alert her of my presence. I hadn't really expected her to start as violently as she did. Like mother, like daughter, I guess.
"Who are you?" she asked quietly. Her face was drawn, making her look much older than she was. She was probably really pretty before the girl's death. She still was, but in a haunting, ghostly way. She looked more like a dead person than the girl did. I realized that the girl probably would have looked like her if she'd had the chance to grow up, and that sent a sharp stab of pain through my chest.
"Me?" I winced inwardly at my response. Genius, Hitsugaya, pure genius. Who else would she be talking to? "I'm a student at the school over there," I pointed in the general direction of my school.
"What are you doing here?"
"I usually take walks around here after school," Not really a lie, but not really the truth either. I was surprised at how easy it was for me to tell the half-lie. Lying wasn't something I was strongly against, but I'd never really made a habit of it. Too much trouble, and too many chances to be discovered.
The woman seemed to accept my answer, as she turned back to the grave. There were a few minutes of silence, which I soon broke with a question.
"So, what happened?" I already knew the girl was dead, but I didn't know how it happened. I knew it was a personal question, and probably rude too, but I couldn't help it. I needed to know, and something told me that even if I saw the girl again, she wasn't likely to tell me. Besides, in two days, I might forget all this, and as weird as this sounds, I don't want to just move on with my life without doing anything.
The woman studied me, wondering why I asked, and why I was still here in the first place. Finally, she asked, "Why do you want to know?"
That threw me. I'd kind of been expecting either a yes or a no. I searched for an answer, and decided on another half-lie. "You just seem really torn up about it, and I think talking about these kinds of things usually helps."
Now it was her turn to be thrown for a loop. She did finally decide to tell me though. Apparently, my reasoning was better than I'd first thought.
"My daughter, Harmony, she died a month ago. She was only six." she said. So the girl's name was Harmony. "We were playing ball out on the lawn, and it rolled into the road. I went to go get it, but Harmony was faster. I told her to stop, but she told me it was okay, there were no cars. I followed her to stop her, but I should have been faster," her voice picked up a note of hysteria. "The car came without warning. Neither of us saw it. It tried to swerve, but it still hit her." She'd started crying, and she was definitely in hysterics now. "And it was my fault. If I'd been faster, if we hadn't been playing so close to the road, if, if..." the rest of what she was saying was lost in the tears.
I started to walk over to comfort her, but that's when I noticed the head of strawberry-blond hair sticking out from behind the pine tree. I didn't know how long she'd been here, but there Harmony was, listening to her own mother tearing herself apart with guilt, guilt that the little girl probably thought was her fault. Her eyes were swollen and red from crying, but right now, they were dry. I wondered how long that would last.
The girl ran to her mother, but she stopped just in front of her.
"Mommy," the girl called. The woman didn't respond. "Mommy," she tried again. No response. The girl's shoulders drooped.
I couldn't watch this anymore. I was wearing the glasses now, which was why I could see Harmony. I knew normal humans weren't supposed to know about ghosts and everything, but I couldn't just continue to sit back and do nothing anymore. The rules could go to hell. I was taking matters into my own hands.
"Excuse me?" I tapped the woman on the shoulder. She looked up at me. I handed her the glasses. The woman opened her mouth to say something, but I shook my head. "Don't ask questions, just put them on."
She stared at me, surprised by my authoritative tone. I surprised at myself. I smiled slightly, and then I guess she decided to humor me. Just like I'd decided with Ichigo. Hopefully, they'd work for her too. I watched her slip them on, and I smiled when her jaw dropped. I guess they worked.
"Harmony!" she cried. I looked over to where the girl was standing, and got a pretty big surprise myself. I could see her!
Well, I couldn't really see the finer details, but I could see her outline, and that was a gigantic difference from a week ago. The place where she was standing was shimmering slightly, and I could just make out her hair and dress through it. Interesting. I guess I'd been wearing the glasses so much that they'd started to rub off on me. Was that possible? Whatever. I'd add that to my list of questions to ask Ichigo the next time I saw him.
I turned my attention back to Harmony and her mother just in time to see the woman go to hug her. She passed through, of course. She just sat there, staring at the girl that she could no longer toch with sorrow.
"Am I finally going crazy then?" She turned her face up to the heavens, tears streaming down her cheeks. "Is this my punishment?"
"Mommy," Harmony said with all the seriousness that a six year old can muster. "You're not going crazy. I'm really here."
"Then why can't I touch you?" the woman asked.
"Because," the girl replied calmly. "I'm dead. I came back to see you again. So why are you so sad?"
"Of course I'm sad!" the woman exclaimed. "How can I not be? You said it yourself: you're gone. Your dad's gone! What do I have to live for?"
"Live for yourself!" I was surprised. The girl was wiser than her six years let on. "Live for me! Don't throw your life away. You're right, I'm gone, and I can't come back. But that doesn't mean that you should fall apart because of it. Don't let this control you. I don't want you to forget about me, but I also don't want to be the reason why you're always sad. If nothing else, think about how that makes me feel!"
The woman stared at Harmony, shocked at her daughter's sudden outburst. The girl moved and sat down next to her mother.
"I'm right and you know that," she said gently.
The words seemed to strike something within the woman. She sat up a little straighter, and brushed a few tears from her eyes.
"Yes, you are right," she admitted. "And it took me this long to see that. I'm so sorry, Harmony."
The girl smiled up at her mother, then down at her hands, which were folded in her lap.
"I can't stay for long," she said sadly.
"What?"
"I came back to Earth to see you, and to make sure you're doing well," she explained. "Now that I know you are, my time's beginning to run out. Even now, I'm fading." She held up one of her hands. The shimmering haze that still surrounded the rest of her body was indeed fading around it. It must have been even more shocking for the woman, who just stared. Poor lady. It had been a very shocking day for both of us, and she was probably worse off than me.
"No!" the mother cried. "You can't leave yet! I just now saw you again!"
"I don't have any control over it." The girl's voice was getting even harder to hear. The entire left side of her body was going out of focus. "I'm sorry our time together was so short. I'll miss you."
The woman was sobbing again. "Please don't leave me again!"
"Remember what I said today," The girl's voice was barely over a whisper as she uttered her last words. "I love you, mommy. Goodbye."
The last traces of the sparkles disappeared, and I knew without a doubt that Harmony was gone forever. Forever. I hate that word. It carries a bittersweet feeling with it no matter what. In this case, it just carried sadness.
I walked over to the woman, who seemed to have fainted. I couldn't blame her after today. Hopefully she took Harmony's final words to heart. Final. Another word I hate.
Throughout this entire scene, I'd felt like an outsider, but at the same time, I was glad I was here. If her mom woke up and thought the entire thing was a dream, then I wanted there to be someone who remembered what was said here. Someone who knew that the entire thing had been real. Someone like me.
...Which of course meant that I couldn't get my memory erased. This experience had made my decision for me. The realization came as no surprise (that in itself was a pretty big surprise to me), and it felt good to get the burden off my chest. So with a heart that was both greatly saddened and at the same time light with hope for the future, I took the glasses off the woman's face, and slipped them into my pocket. And then I started off towards the White Lily, trying to think of an excuse to tell my mom for why I was there.
The girl's mother woke up an hour later. She searched around the clearing, confused as to why she was here. Then, she remembered the strange white-haired boy and Harmony. She stood up, filled with new resolve that she was a bit confused about. It had just been a dream.
The woman looked around the clearing, trying to memorize everything about it. After all, she didn't know when she'd be back. She walked up to the gravestone and sat down beside it, running her hand along the sun-warmed stone.
"Harmony," she murmured. "I'm sorry. About how I acted after your death. I really am going to try harder from now on. Also," she paused, uncertain. What was she uncertain about? It wasn't like her daughter could hear her now. "I'm moving away. This place holds too many sad memories. I don't know when I'll be back, or if I'll ever come back. But I promise, I'll never forget you. I'm just moving on. I think that's what you'd want for me."
She leaned down to kiss the top of the stone, then stood and walked away. She turned back only once, at the edge of the clearing.
"I love you," she said. As she began to walk again, the wind picked up. She thought she felt small lips brush against the skin of her cheek, and a quiet, "Please be happy." But when she looked around, she saw nothing. Must have just been the wind.
