Gomen minna- I know I haven't updated in about a month, but things have been really hectic what with school and tennis practice. Thanks go out to b. aka-chan, Saranghae-Minnie, LollipopRockaholic and moani-sama for their wonderful reviews. Without further ado, the next installment of Call It Fate!

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Sora was at peace; there was nothing around her save for utter darkness. There was none of the distractions that reality presented; here, when she was alone, things were simpler. It was easy to see where she had made mistakes- the biggest one had been thinking her brother was above lying to her. Betrayal attempted to wash over her, but the darkness held it off. As long as she stayed here, nothing could hurt her- not even her own emotions.

"Sora… Baby, please wake up… For Mom and Dad…"

Sora looked up into what she thought was the sky. Up above her was a faint light, and through it she could hear the faint whisperings of reality. Sora curled in on herself. She didn't want to hear it. She was fine here! She wasn't hurting- wasn't that enough?

"Sora…"

Sora heard sobbing, and from the slight gruffness she assumed it was her dad- it could've been Ryo though…He always sounded so much like their father….

She flinched at the thought of Ryo- the darkness didn't cover her quickly enough to prevent the immense wave of pure sorrow from taking her. Ryo… her true non-romantic other half; her brother. Her supposed 'ally'! A tear fell down her cheek, falling down into the darkness and disappearing into eternity. The tears kept coming; she couldn't believe that Ryo had hit her. No matter how low he had sunken to keep her by his side, Sora would never have thought that his fist could ever make contact with her.

The darkness turned a dark shade of blue, not quite losing it's opacity but losing some of the pitch tint that it had, but turning lighter nonetheless. Sora couldn't bring herself to wonder what that meant.

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Rui watched his daughter's unmoving form; it had been six hours since she had been conscious. After the first hour she had been pronounced to be in a coma. Rui buried his face in his hands, tears spilling down his cheeks- he couldn't remember ever crying this much.

He had cried quite a bit on the various occasions that Tsukushi had been kidnapped, but somehow this time it was different. Sora was literally a part of him; he helped bring her into this world and now to watch her, lying still on the bed… unmoving…. It pierced him like a thousand knives. Rui looked up, feeling Tsukushi shift next to him. They had brought a bed to Sora's hospital room, not willing to leave her side for even a moment. To both his and Tsukushi's amazement, Ryo had elected to go home and sleep there.

Ryo had been more or less catatonic since Sora had become unconscious; the only sign of life he had shown was when he yelled at the doctor for asking him if he wanted a sedative that would 'calm him down'. After the doctor had left, metaphoric tail between his legs, Ryo had sat down in the farthest corner from the bed, and stared at his sister for hours on end. His face was expressionless, betraying nothing of what was going through his mind. Rui had had little to say to his son though. What could he say anyway?

Tsukushi hadn't blamed him though. On one of the short breaks they took to go eat, she commented on Ryo's surprising detachment from the entire situation. Rui had explained to her in turn that he didn't know what to do. Should he yell at Ryo and possibly make the situation worse? Or should he just let him slide by, and focus on Sora waking up? Neither of them knew what the twin's were fighting about, but it had to have been something big- really big.

Rui turned so that he was facing his wife's sleeping form and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her close enough so that all he could feel was her heartbeat against his.

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Ryo stared out the window, forehead pressed against the cold glass pane. Despite what everyone thought, he wasn't numb- he was in fact the exact opposite. His senses were open to the point where anything but the highest pitch of noise hurt his ears. It wasn't the product of any mental trauma though- it was the product of his immense conversation.

Sora…

Nii-chan, I don't think I want to leave this place- it's so calm… so quiet… almost as though the entire world is on mute. It's so peaceful…

Ryo shook his head, trying to clear out the wave of worry that threatened to overtake his concentration. He and Sora had been able to communicate with each other silently for years- it had always been very tenuous, but they had discovered (through much trial and error) that they could hold a connection if they concentrated enough. This time though, with Sora in a coma, it was that much more difficult. When he tried to reach for her, it was like he was swimming against a current and lost ground every time that he lost his concentration. He had almost lost the connection completely when the doctor at the hospital asked him if he wanted to go to sleep.

No, Sora... You can't stay there. If you stay there, then you might not ever see light again!

Sora had told him about the darkness around her- he wasn't a scientist or anything, but it was probably the product of the fact that she was in a coma. If she gave into the darkness… Ryo gulped; in any case, he couldn't live without his sister. The world would be a darker place without her insights, and without her smile- the smile that never failed to clone itself onto another person's face. When Sora laughed, nobody could resist laughing along; when Sora spoke, everyone listened. Sora was a bigger part of everyone's lives than she realized.

Nii-chan... The color is changing again... This time it's light blue- what do you think that means?

I don't know... Maybe you're waking up?

There was silent and then a shrill scream so piercing that Ryo felt his ears throb from the force of it.

NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! IDON'T WANT TO GO BACK- I KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING; EVERY MOMENT I SPEND TALKING TO YOU, YOU'RE BRINGING ME BACK A LITTLE BIT. GO AWAY!

Ryo didn't even have a chance to try to calm her down, the connection closed completely, leaving him in silence; even then all he could hear was his sister's shrill scream of horror.

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Rui stared out the window of Sora's hospital room, picking up his violin case. The doctor had told him earlier that if he repeated some of the things that he done when Sora was a baby, she might wake up sooner…

He unclasped the two silver buckles and opened up the leather case, marveling at the instrument that lay inside. His grandfather had given it to him for his eighth birthday- after they had gorged themselves on cake, he had gotten his first lesson. Rui put the instrument under his chin, relishing in the cool feel of the pad. He lifted the bow, running it across the strings; he started to play- something soft and low. He closed his eyes letting his mind drift with the music.

"Rui…"

Rui opened his eyes slowly, taking in Tsukushi's slim form against the moonlight. He smiled somewhat wryly when he remembered the first time that he played for Tsukushi- it had been under extremely different circumstances, but the scene wasn't that unfamiliar. The years had done little to change Tsukushi, sure she had a few more gray hairs than she had when she was a twenty year old, but both of them attributed that to the fact that she dealt with teenagers on a daily basis.

Rui finished the song, letting both his hands drop; he wrapped his arms around Tsukushi, feeling immediate comfort. He wasn't alone and neither was she. Though the circumstances were harsh, at least they had each other.

"It'll be okay… Rui… I know it will be….Sora will wake up and we can get things back to normal..."

Rui was speechless so he just hugged his wife closer to him.

"Mnnn…M-o-om…D-a-a-d…"

Rui's eyes widened and both he and Tsukushi turned simultaneously to stare at their daughter. Sora looked at them, eyes wide and filled to the brim with tears. She reached out for them like she had when she was younger; they both rushed towards her, tears of their own streaking down their faces.

"Sora… we're so glad that you woke up…"

"We were so worried…"

Their murmurings became one and the same, and Rui pulled both his girls into the tightest hug he could muster. If Sora hadn't woken up… Rui let the tears roll down his cheeks, and just relished in the fact that she had.

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Ryo stood outside the door of his sister's room, heart thudding wildly; he knew she didn't want to see him. Even though she was awake, she wouldn't answer any of his thoughts- all he got was a sort of angry silence. She had every right to be angry at him- he had interfered with something that was none of his business… He was the reason that she distrusted more people than she did trust. He was the reason that so many boys had gotten turned away. He was the reason that she had never gone on a date or been out with Minami alone. He had been so selfish- he had always wanted Sora by his side. The thought of someone taking Sora away from him in any way repulsed him. He had never even stopped to consider what she wanted- or how she felt about the growing intimacy between him and Midori.

Ryo shook his head as if to clear it- Midori was a separate thing. She was not involved with what he had to tell Sora. Ryo sighed. It had been two days since she'd woken up- she'd gone to school with Minami, and passed him up every time they were around each other without so much as a glance in his direction. He had crossed the line too many times and now he was paying the price.

Still Ryo lifted his hand and knocked on the nondescript white door that led into Sora's haven of blues and greens. The door opened a bit, creaking softly… Ryo's eyebrow arched a bit. Sora hadn't closed her door? Even when she wasn't ignoring him that wasn't normal.

"Sora?"
Ryo pushed the door open a bit more, and felt his jaw drop at the scene that assaulted him. Sora was kissing someone- and that someone was Minami.

(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)(Call It Fate)

Dun, dun dun dun! Dramatic turn of events- what shall happen next? Review?