A/N: This has, in all seriousness, got to be one of my absolute favorites of this collection of fics...possibly because I manage to make Roda sound fluffy. I'm really not sure why, but it is. However, this fic does take place a LOT later in the manga. I can't remember the exact chapter, but it's up in the 40's and references events from Chapter 22, Film Noir, so yeah...if you aren't there, or have watched the anime, this either contains spoilers or may completely baffle you like it did Chibi while she was betaing in spite the fact she said she didn't mind the spoilers...so to clarify: Roda is NOT dead! XD That being said, thanks again goes out to Chibi...oh! And all the fans of this fic, too, though I'm sure how many of you there are. Anyway, enjoy the double-update and hope you guys like it!

Disclaimer: This time around, I own nothing but the idea. :) Tegami and everything in it belongs to Hiroyuki Asada.

Falling

The worst part about falling, Roda decided, was that you eventually had to hit the ground. The fall itself was almost fun, but panic set it when you took one good look at the ground and realized that you would most likely die when you hit it. She had fallen often enough in her life—at least, in her short memory, and often times the scariest moments of the whole ordeal was landing on your feet in one piece. It was kind of like the deceiving nature of dreams; the worst thing about them was that no matter how beautiful it was, you always had to wake up from them. Then you remembered that pretty, perfect world for the rest of your life, knowing you could never have it.

There were lots of things Roda knew she could never have.

She dreamed once that she was a dog, a pretty white dog that looked much like a wolf and followed her master around because she loved her master. That master was Noir, only in the dream he was called Gauche Suede like he used to be and he was cheerful, more expressive, and kind. He was a Letter Bee, and she was his dingo who proudly fought to protect him from harm. At the end of the day, they would return to Central Yuusari to a little house that Gauche called home and where his wheel-chair-bound little sister waited for them with smiles and hugs and sometimes nasty soup. Dog-Roda smothered the cheerful little girl with kisses as soon as the opportunity presented itself because she loved to hear the little girl, Sylvette, laugh. The life they lived was simple, but it was also nice.

When she had woken up, human-Roda had found herself in tears over the sense of massive loss gripping her heart, whether or not the dream was lost memory or fantasy. It was a life they would never have or get back, no more happy Gauche or Noir, no more being a dingo in the sense it was meant to be used in, no more little house in Central, no more Sylvette and her cheerful greetings or smothering the laughing child with kisses… It really bothered her; she could have lived in that dream forever and been happy, even as a dog, but it appeared she just wasn't meant to live there.

She couldn't have that life, just like she couldn't have Noir. He was treated as property of the Reverse; he couldn't just go anywhere he wanted even if had someplace to go in mind. They couldn't just leave; the Reverse would hunt them down because as far as Roda could tell, they needed Noir to do anything and everything remotely important related to their plans to take over the government and put out the man-made sun. Their lives had been one big jump from the moments they had woken, she a fair bit earlier than he. She had been falling since she woke up and Laurence began loading her with information about the identity of the man she now called Noir; the man who meant everything to her. He had told her about herself as well, but he gave her no name to go by, only the knowledge that she was the result of experimentation in Akatsuki and that she was supposedly born in his homeland—where that was, she had no idea. She landed on a ledge for a moment the day before he woke, as Laurence seemed to run out of information to fill her with.

Then he woke up, and she was falling again. She ran to the edge of an endless abyss as Laurence announced to Noir (then Gauche) that he would be in her care. Before then, she had watched from the hallway leading into the room; what she saw tore her heart in half. He didn't know who he was, the battered boy on the table who could barely hold himself upright and had to fight to speak. She took the leap as she stepped past Laurence and into the room with him. She almost couldn't speak, what was there to say? She couldn't introduce herself as she had no name, and she was still torn over his appearance, yet it was his appearance that prompted her first words. Eyes full of confusion and helplessness focused on her, he lay waiting for her to speak with one hand outstretched… Suddenly she found words and could move again. "Your hand…" She murmured, and took his much larger hand in hers. In that small motion, she had pulled him off the ledge and into free fall with her.

Their first year with the Reverse had been spent in that free fall, touching ground for mere half-seconds before they were falling again. They hit the ground for maybe a few minutes when after a year of teaching, learning, and traveling had passed, Laurence was confident enough to return Noir's (Gauche's) Shindanjuu, Gymnopedies, to his possession. That was when Noir became Noir and things really began. It was shortly afterward that he named her Roda, a name that sounded somehow all too familiar to her, a name that sounded just right to her. They fell through their second year as well, stalled a bit from time to time as they met members of the Reverse, but it didn't stop them much. From then on, they fell and fell without interruption for the next three years.

And then they hit rock bottom, courtesy of a young boy (he might have been as old as Sylvette from her dream should be now) named Lag Seeing who knew Gauche and was determined to bring him back, even though Noir told him that Gauche didn't exist any more. The boy made her heart feel warm like being with Noir did, brought back "memories" from that dream she had years ago. It seemed Noir would have to fall on his own for awhile as their paths diverged…

Roda looked away from the house window, smiling faintly. Inside the house, a scene that could have been from that long-ago dream played out; Noir sat at a small table beside Sylvette, with Lag Seeing and his dingo sat across from them, eating dinner. Sylvette was talking animatedly, much like she had in the dream, while Lag looked more subdued though he spoke up now and then. The room was filled with the soft glow of flames and she imagined it was probably just as warm inside as it looked. The only thing that convinced her that her dream had not come true was that she wasn't there with them, which saddened her—grabbed her heart and squeezed tight because she wanted to be there with them. She wanted to run through the door and hug Sylvette, tell the girl she was sorry she hadn't protected Gauche better, then think Lag Seeing for bringing them both home where they belonged…

But then again, there were lots of things Roda wanted to do that she never would. For now, she would simply be content with the knowledge that he was truly happy for the first time that she remembered. He was falling on his own for once, and she knew it would be a short fall—beautiful, but short. She wasn't falling with him, no, but that just meant that for once she could catch Noir before he hit the ground.

~End~

A/N: So, yeah, this one is a lot happier than Pretend, but oh well! XD Hopefully you guys enjoyed it in spite it's short length... Anyway, again, I love hearing feedback/comments/questions, so please review! See ya' next update! ...Which should, provided I decide to go out of order for another one I love, be on Noir. :)