Disclaimer: Brigadoon: Marin and Melan are the property of Yoshitomo Yonetani and SUNRISE. I hold no claim to the show or characters whatsoever.
Sometimes, Marin would dream of him.
Sometimes they would be in Brigadoon, overlooking the golden city from a floating platform. Sometimes they would be in Submaton Color, or even Japan a handful of times. She would recline against him, and he would wrap his arms around her protectively as they watched the sun rise or set, or observed the countless number of stars suspended in the night sky.
Marin would sneak glances at the red ribbon tied around the base of his sword arm. It was a miracle it hadn't worn down yet. She placed her head back to its spot on his chest and listened to his heartbeat.
They did all this without so much as a single word uttered; there was no need.
Eventually, the dream would come to an end and Melan would fade away, along with their little world. Marin would wake up with tears in her eyes and a strange vacant feeling in her chest. She sighed quietly as she threw an arm over her face.
Four years. It had been four long years since he left her behind. However, at 18 years old, it was rather pathetic to keep behaving as a clingy child. "I'm being stupid," she muttered.
It still didn't make the emptiness disappear.
She took a steadying breath before throwing the covers off herself. It was still rather early and the tenement was quiet. Marin, however, knew she wasn't going back to sleep.
She walked downstairs and quietly slid the door open.
Outside, she leaned on a wooden support and gazed at the gray predawn sky, shivering slightly from the cool air. After a few minutes, Marin picked up the muffled sound of someone padding towards her. A quick look behind her revealed it to be Jun, her adoptive cousin.
She smiled kindly, "good morning, Marin."
"Good morning," Marin grumbled.
"Is something wrong?" Jun could always pick up when something was bothering her.
"Does something always have to be wrong?"
"Well, you don't come out here at five in the morning for fun," Jun answered, not being able to resist teasing her a little.
Marin huffed - she had a point. "I've been having those weird dreams again," she confessed.
"...The ones about Melan?" Jun received a soft "uh-hm" in reply.
Marin fidgeted, picking at a string on her sleeve. "I keep getting the same dreams every few weeks or so," she said.
"Are they bad dreams?"
"...No. It's really nice actually. It's always quiet."
Jun watched her for a minute. Marin gaze had dropped to the wood paneling under their feet. Jun reached out for her and wrapped an arm around her. Marin went slightly stiff before relaxing into the hold.
"I wish I could stop thinking about him," Marin mumbled into Jun's shoulder. "Every time I think it'll get better, I either get that stupid dream or something reminds of his stupid face, or..."
Marin realized too late that her voice had grown thick and her throat was burning. She decided to stop before she burst into tears again. Jun was smoothing her hair, and something about the gesture helped to put her at ease.
"You're angry with Melan." Jun's statement - though soft - was blunt and more than enough to catch her off guard a little. Marin hesitated before answering, pulling away from her.
"I just... I get why he had to leave - I really do. He has to get ready for the next Day of Pasca, and make sure Earth and Brigadoon don't smash into each other again. And... and when he's not doing that, he has to protect his own world from other bad people. And he didn't want to leave his friends behind again. I get it, but..." She trailed off, unsure how to voice the next part of her statement.
"I feel like he just... abandoned me. Even after everything we went through." Marin sighed, defeated, "nothing I said was going to change his mind."
"Marin," Jun started, "I've always known Melan to be someone who always had your best interests at heart. Abandoning you is something he would never do."
Marin somehow looked even more deflated. "I know," she mumbled. Then she smiled, though it was devoid of any humor, "I tried to go with him, you know."
Jun suddenly snapped to attention. To think of how close her younger cousin had came to disappearing forever from their lives almost took her breath away. Marin showed no obvious signs of any discomfort at being the target of Jun's stare.
"Melan very nicely shot me down," Marin remarked dryly, "it wasn't in my best interest or something like that."
"...Is a life on Brigadoon really what you would have wanted?" Jun quietly asked.
"I don't know. I never would have seen you guys or Moe ever again, and even if I came back after a hundred years I wouldn't recognize this place. Maybe not. But then again, it feels like I left a piece of myself there..."
Marin watched as the first rays of the sun began to pierce the horizon. "Brigadoon wasn't so bad," she admitted softly, "maybe I would have learned to be happy there too."
Jun said nothing for a long while, choosing to watch the sunrise as well.
"Marin... if you can't accept that what happened has happened, there's no way you can move on with your life and be happy..." Jun cautiously stated.
Marin said nothing.
Jun pressed on, "Melan would pay any price to keep you safe, even at his own expense. Perhaps that's what he was thinking four years ago. He wanted nothing but the best for you."
A dark look spread over Marin's face as she crossed her arms, her fingernails digging small grooves into her skin. Jun furrowed her brow - whatever was going through Marin's mind probably wasn't pleasant if she was taking the frustration out on herself like that.
When Marin did speak, it was so quiet that Jun had to strain to hear.
"Maybe it was a mistake to fall in love with him..."
A/N:
This was meant to be a short writing exercise in subject matter that I have no experience in.
Writing grief and describing relationships are a weak point with my skills, so I'd thought it would be a good idea to write something small - since I hadn't written anything in well over a year - and blow off some steam. It's not meant to be a serious plot; I might keep it going for another chapter or two.
As I'm sure you've noticed, it's minimally edited, so there's probably some mistakes that I overlooked or some sections of this chapter didn't mesh as well as I hoped. Oh well.
If you feel so inclined, please leave a review. I always appreciate hearing any sort of feedback.
- Winterbornbree