Rise Again - The Rankins

Notes: I did it for the gender switch. Well, actually, in all seriousness, it was because I was trying to figure out what each of the three boys might believe in and I'd been doing some thinking on the subject for what direction each would take and why... After that: it was totally for the gender switch.

As a further note, this fic is temporarily drawing to a close. I may be continuing with more altered circumstance shots later, or I may go back and start the whole cycle from the beginning. I plan to keep this open and incomplete, as a repository for all my musical one-shots and drabbles, but right now I am running out of ideas to go with the songs, so it may be awhile before I post again. Two more chapters to go - both alt-circ shots - and then I can't promise when the next update will be. Just to let those of you who are reading this know what's going on. I've had a lot of fun writing these, and I hope you enjoyed reading them. Thanks for the alerts and the faves, and to my small group of reviewers.

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"What do you think there is after we die?"

"That's a rather morbid question, don't you think?" Near said from his spot on the windowseat with his Transformers. It was raining out; for once, there was peace between the three top students of Wammy's, as they were too bored and depressed with the weather to summon any amount of energy for fighting.

"No, seriously, what do you guys think?" Matt insisted, flopping over backwards onto the ground so he could look up at both Near and Mello, who was sitting at the table in the common room trying to read a book.

Near paused, considering this. "I don't think there's anything," he said, finally. "I think that what comes after we're dead is exactly like what comes before we are born and lasts for the same amount of time. Like falling into a dreamless sleep. We don't know what happens because we just end. And that's all there is to it. There's never been any definitive proof that there's anything else beyond this world, so I don't see any reason to believe in it. What we are is a physical thing, and so nothing remains behind when we die. When we die, we're gone, forever, and that's it."

"That's kind of creepy, if you think about it," Matt said. "Mel, what about you?"

"You know what I think," Mello grumbled from the depths of his book, gesturing to the cross hanging from his neck. "Heaven and Hell. Something in us that will go on long after our physical bodies die. Clearly there's something in each of us that makes us unique, and it demonstrates the continuity needed throughout one's life to suggest that it will last eternally as well. As moral beings, we should be judged and be judging our own actions at all times... it's our responsibility as human beings and God's children. So it follows that that won't end when we die, either; our worth will be judged, finally, and we'll know exactly where we stand. Stop bothering me, I'm at an important part."

Matt stared at the ceiling, a funny half-smile on his lips.

"So what do you think, then, Matt?" Near said.

"I think Heaven and Hell are comforting lies," Matt said, and Mello suddenly slammed his book shut to glare at him. "But I do think that there's something in us that goes on after death. What, I don't know. But it's like deja vu. Sometimes you remember things that you know you can't have seen or known before. So what I believe in, is reincarnation. We don't need Heaven and Hell because we travel from body to body. Somewhere, someone or something is being born all the time, and we might spend many lifetimes as something other than human before we come around again. And most of us forget. Remembering that much stuff over that many lives would be an enormous pain in the ass. But some things we remember. The people, mainly, which I think explains why we hate some people before we ever meet them, and how you can meet someone and feel like you've known them forever in a very short amount of time, why people still believe in love at first sight and soulmates."

"That's crap," Mello said.

"Conservation of matter and energy," Matt said. "It really does work."

"That only works if one thinks humans have souls," Near said. "I agree that conservation of matter and energy may indicate that many of the elements that make up you today may some day be part of a great tree in the forest, and the energy that is yours today may belong to a rabbit one day, but the rest of it..."

"For once," Mello said, "Near and I agree."

Matt stuck out his tongue at them, then sat up and went back to his game.

-

At thirteen years old, Madison Jefferson didn't understand why, when the new girls, the vivacious blonde and her mousy little fraternal twin sister, walked into her seventh-grade classroom and introduced themselves as Melanie and Natasha, respectively, she couldn't take her eyes off them.

And she had no idea why she walked up to them at lunch and sat down beside them, asking questions, introducing herself, and generally being just sunny and polite. It felt, she was sure, almost like she'd known them both before, somewhere, sometime, but of course that was ridiculous; she'd never met either of them in her life.

There were a lot of things about her life that didn't make sense, such as a craving for cigarettes every now and again even though she'd never smoked in her life, and a natural talent for video games that bewildered her four older brothers. So when she saw Melanie munching contemplatively on a chocolate bar, she found herself thinking: Yes, that's absolutely right, and didn't understand it for a moment, and she was perfectly OK with that.

The day she discovered that she had a crush on Melanie didn't totally come as a surprise either, and when Melanie cornered her, and demanded to know how she'd known what her favourite brand of chocolate was and why exactly was she buying her her favourite brand of chocolate anyways, it was with utmost honesty that Madison said: "I don't know."

"Well, anyways," Melanie muttered, tossing her hair over her shoulder, looking faintly pink. "It's still weird, but... thanks."

Madison grinned foolishly at her. "You know what I think?" she said.

"What, Madison?"

"I think we must have known each other in another life," she announced, and Melanie rolled her eyes. "No, really. I have this enormous urge to say 'I told you so,' and I don't know why."

Melanie's eyes widened, then softened. "You're still full of bullshit, Mat -" Caught herself, bewildered. "Madison," she corrected herself, but she was staring at Madison now, and there was something like curiosity and respect in her eyes. "But maybe you do have a point."

"Is this a point we could discuss over ice cream in the park after school?" Madison said eagerly, and Melanie gave her a strange look, and then smiled, almost sweetly.

"Sure."

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