~ Sorry for the delay in posting this chapter! Anyway, hope you enjoy. ~
The whole village seemed vacant. Doors had been slammed shut and windows were barricaded. The decorations were ripped and torn down in the villagers' panic. Even the sky had turned gray. It looked like McGarden Levy was in a nightmare, but she couldn't wake up.
She wandered around, looking for some sort of fugo; a sign. Something, anything, to tell her that she still had friends within the Yosei Village. Surely there was at least one person who didn't hate her? She clung to that hope, even if it wasn't much. She searched for a long time, losing more and more of that kibo by the minute.
Hazel eyes watered and shed tears as the small girl's legs collapsed under her. She let herself drop, her palms slapping the ground the second her knees made contact with it. Her light blue hair was dirty and knotted as it slipped out of its pretty headband. The heddo bando fell from the bluenette's head.
Levy opened her eyes, her vision slightly blurry from the tears. Thunder cracked above her, lightning joining in not a moment later. She looked up, and her dirty face was met with heavy drops of rain. She blinked, tears still running down her face.
She looked down and saw the heddo bando her best friend had given her when she forgot her own. But of course, that was so Levy would look nice for the ceremony. And the wedding shiki had long been over.
She stared at the orange ribbon for a while. The pink and white flower petals were dull and ripped. Levy's heart sunk, seeing a small puddle form around it. It was very important to her; it might as well be her and Lucy's last memory together.
The bluenette picked it up to save it from getting too wet. The ribbon laid still in her small palms. She rubbed the orange material gently with her right thumb, remembering the good times she had with Lucy.
As little girls, the two would run through the meadow on the outskirts of the mura; the village. It wasn't too far, but they let their parents know where they were. More often than not, an adult would accompany them and watch them play.
In the sunlight, the meadow seemed to glow in a golden color. To them, it was like they were in a different world, one that had miles and miles of the same golden grass they played in. They loved spending time together in the meadow. It was their own little paradise. Somewhere to retreat to when they had free time.
They felt safer in the golden meadow than anywhere else, as if an invisible guardian was watching over them. One day, Lucy had an idea.
"We should name her!" the little blonde had suggested with a big smile.
"Name who?" the bluenette had asked, giving her friend a confused look.
"Our guardian, of course! Let's give her a pretty name."
"How do you know it's a girl?"
"I don't know," the younger version of Lucy had replied, shrugging and looking at the sky with those big chocolate eyes. She looked like she was daydreaming with her eyes open. "I just have a feeling... Now what should we name her?"
"W-wait! You can't just go around naming people, Lu-chan. What if she already has a name?"
The blonde had turned to her yujin; her friend. "I don't think she does."
"What makes you say that?" The small bluenette had looked into Lucy's deep brown pools, trying to figure out what her friend knew that she didn't.
Lucy had given Levy a warm smile. "I think she's trying to talk to me."
The bluenette's face had cracked, and she burst out laughing. "Lu-chan, that's the funniest thing I ever heard of! An imaginary ghost talking to you? I mean, come on. All the books I've read say that ghosts aren't real."
The blonde had huffed, crossing her arms indignantly. "She isn't a ghost! I know she's real! Levy-chan, have I ever lied to you? Have I ever tried to tell you something if I didn't know for sure if it was true? So believe me now. Our guardian is real, and she's trying to tell us something."
What her yujin said was true, that she never lied to her. She never said anything without thinking it over first. The blonde never gave her a reason not to trust her. Still, Levy never really believed Lucy about an invisible guardian trying to talk to her. There was no proof that what she said was true. But then again, there was no proof that it wasn't.
Levy blinked, bringing herself back to the present. She put the orange headband in her kimono's sleeve, right next to her fan. She got up off the ground, then wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She bent down and grabbed the bottom of her kimono, bringing it up and to the left, tying it as best as she could. When she felt that she would be able to run, she turned in the direction of the meadow.
She started off walking fast, then faster, and faster, and faster. She kept speeding up until she was in a dead run. The wind was pushing on her back, helping Levy go even faster. She thought it felt like someone was pushing on her back, encouraging her to keep going.
And she did. She kept running as fast as she could until she could see the meadow not far from the edge of the Yosei Village. She slowed down when she got closer to it. The wind seemed to stop pushing her as well. So there the bluenette stood, breathing heavily and eyes wide. She couldn't believe she was doing this.
She took a deep breath, straightening her back and looking directly ahead. There sat the meadow, her favorite place as a shojo; a little girl.
She hesitated for a moment. Is this the right thing to do? Will this really help? What will happen to the Yosei Village? Her family, her yujin; her friends? What would the emperor do to them?
Finally, she opened her mouth. Her words were louder than a whisper, but still soft and gentle. The bluenette remembered all the days she and Lucy came here. The memory that stuck out the most was the day Lucy decided to name their invisible guardian.
Up until this moment, Levy had forgotten what name had been decided. But now, after all the memories came flooding back, she remembered. She knew in her heart that she would never forget her name again. "I need your help, Mavis."
