Someday, Sometime
By: Jaya
Started: 1/07/'01
Finished:
1/07/'01
~~ * ~~
Slowly he moved along the lake side, staring out
across the golden waters, that reflecting the bright sun light back into his
eyes. His slate gray colored hair, looked a dark blue/gray in the late evening
sunlight. It was the first time in nearly two years that he'd been back to this
place. -Back at the mansion.- It felt strange being back again, even more so,
now that one of their midst's was gone, one of them would never come
back.
Shu sighed, pausing on the shores of the lake, to watch the gentle
waves brush against the long grass that hung down into the clear waters. He
could see them all swimming in that shimmering surface, chasing each other about
the clear blue waters on some hot summer's afternoon. He could even hear the
laughter that had echoed about the place. But it was something of the past
something not of the present. A ghost of something that had once been a vivid
reality, almost as real now as it had been then, but never quite real
enough.
His body seemed slow and his mind, tended to wonder as he tiredly
sat down among the roots of an old cherry tree. He wondered aimlessly how long
the tree had been there, though he had no clue. But from the size of the tree
and the spread of its crown, it had seen them come and go, even before that it
had seen more. The large warrior stared up at the drooping branches of the tree,
wondering how much the ancient tree had seen in its time.
"Why did it
have to be like this?" Shu whispered, tearing his gaze from the tree to stare
back out at the lake. It didn't feel like it had really been two years. -It
feels like only yesterday since I was here last. Since I left... God has it
really been two years?- He closed his eyes tiredly. -Why did it have to be like
this? Why?- Shu did nothing to check the few tears the slide down his cheeks, he
was tired emotionally, physically, and mentally.
When his eyes opened
again, they were heavy with the sad weight that pulled upon his soul upon his
being. Threatening to drag him down, beneath the waters of his emotions. Unlike
Seiji he'd never had the control over what he felt and what he showed others,
then again he'd
never really wanted it. Though sometimes when his temper got
out of control, sometimes... Someday... Blinking back tears, Shu remembered the
last time he'd seen his friend.
It had been only a few months ago, they'd
all gotten together, like they did every couple months. Just to talk about old
times, catch up on the recent times. To be together with others who understood.
Only this had been the first time that not all of them had been able to make it.
Ryo's plane had been laid over in Australia for nearly five hours so he arrived
about ten hours later then was planned. Seiji was punctual as ever, even managed
to drag Touma away from his studies. After his accident a few years back he'd
given up his dream of ever going into space. Now he was studying to get his
teachers degree, so that perhaps he could share with others. Then here was Shin.
He'd been a little late, having gotten stuck in rush hour traffic, but we'd all
arrived safely in the end. Except for Nasuti, who hadn't been able to get away
from her work in France.
I remember watching Shin as he walked up to the
door, a unusually cheerful look on his face. He still looked almost the same as
he had the day I left. A little bit older perhaps but not much, still that
boyish look about him. Still I never expected the news he had to tell us all.
Neither did the others from their reaction. They were just as surprised as I
was. But he was still the same old Shin I knew, with a smile, a hug, and a laugh
for everyone.
"I'm getting married." He'd announced later that day, as we
were finishing up dinner.
"What?" I asked in surprise, too shocked to say anything else.
"Who is she, Shin?" Touma asked grinning.
"What's her name?" Ryo put in a minute later.
"Congratulations." Seiji said, leaning back in his chair at the other end of
the table.
He just stood there and smiled at us all. "Her name is Leona.
I meet her while I was working on my projected in Hawaii." I could tell from the
look on his face that he was totally taken with her, from the pictures he showed
us, she was defiantly a lovely woman. She even sounded really nice, I don't know
what it was though, I couldn't really feel happy for Shin. Just couldn't find it
in my heart, even though he was one of the best friends I'd ever had.
It
was only what... About a month later when the phone call came. Shin and Leona
had been in a car accident a few days earlier, for some reason they hadn't been
able to get in touch with any of us before now, I was the first one they'd
called... -God why did it have to be me? Why did it have to be Shin? Of all of
us... Why Shin?-
Even now I don't remember a lot of what happened after
that, I guess because I really don't want to remember. Shin was dead before any
of us even got there, we never even got to see him... His mother had made the
arrangements, before the rest of us got there. They'd already sealed his body up
in the coffin. -I just wanted to say good bye... But no of course not.- I do
remember that, Leona recovered but she would never walk again, she was paralyzed
from the waists down. We never got to talk to her either though, her family came
and collected her a few days after I got there. I tried to see her a couple of
times, but the nurse only let me in once, she was sleeping... After that I don't
know what happened, sometimes I don't think I really care, and yet. I guess the
other guys were there. It's all a blur...
We buried Shin after that the
way he would have wanted it. At sea. I can see that picture so clearly in my
mind. It's the only part of those events that's clear. The rest of it, it's like
it never happened. But I know it did.
And now. Now we're back here... All
of us but Shin...
"Shu?"
He blinked slowly turning to see who had
called his name. Finding Touma standing a ways down the lakeshore near where the
dock had once been. Only the posts still stood sticking up out of the water
though, the rest having sunk into the lake, from disrepair.
The blue
haired archer, looked a lot older then he had before, his hair was lighter now
to, no longer the same shocking blue shade it had been when they were younger.
Shu always attributed it to his accident only a year before. Though it felt like
a lot longer then that, and yet at the same time it felt like only yesterday.
Even those days after Touma's accident, they were vague to Shu, as if he'd filed
them away in the back of his mind as something to forget about. Like so many
other horrid events, that made their homes in all of their minds.
"Shu
are you down here?!" -He's worried...- Shu sighed.
"Over here Touma." He shifted with a sigh, realizing that the lake was
now dark. -The sun has set... Sometimes...-
"There you are." Touma, stood a few feet away watching him. "Are you ok
Shu?"
"Yeah, just thinking..." He looked away. "About Shin."
"Oh." Touma sat down next to him. "It's strange being back here."
"I know." Shu nodded. "You know I never told him."
"Never told him what Shu?" Touma asked quietly.
"I loved him Touma-kun... But I never told him, and then..."
"And then Leona." Touma finished softly.
Shu nodded sadly. "I guess it's better I didn't."
Touma sighed sadly.
"Perhaps. I think perhaps he would have wanted to know though. You two were
always close in a way that you and I never were."
"I know." Shu looked
over at Touma and reached out to put a hand on his friend's knee.
"How are you doing Touma? We haven't talked in a long time... I've missed
that."
"So have I." Touma met Shu's gaze for a few minutes before turning
away.
"Hanging in there, I guess... Tired lately, always seems like too much to
do. You know I never imagined I'd be a teacher. I'm still not sure it's really
what I want to do. Yet I don't know what to do anymore...I'll never obtain the
one thing I really wanted..."
"It was hard for you after the accident."
Shu paused.. "You always wanted to go into space so bad... I'm sorry. If there
was something I could have done..."
The archer looked away. "There wasn't
anything anyone could have done Shu-kun. Not for me or for Shin... But I think
Shin wouldn't have wanted us to be sad like this. He would have wanted us to go
on..." Touma stopped, with a sorta lost look on his face for a few minutes.
"Perhaps someday in another time you'll get to tell him. No one knows for sure,
afterlife, heaven reincarnation... Who knows?"
"Perhaps." Shu said
softly. "Sometimes knowing that he wouldn't have wanted it isn't as easy as
doing it." He saw Touma nod in agreement, knowing the other understood. Somehow
Shu felt that Touma understood even more then he let on, in regards to many
things. "How are Ryo and Seiji doin?"
"They're talking at the mansion."
Touma looked at the dark lake. "Nasuti just called from the airport she'll be
here in about an hour... We can do what we planned tomorrow."
Shu nodded
sadly, with a sigh. "We should go back."
"It's getting dark." Touma agreed absently. "I guess we
should..."
Slowly together the two old friends, made their way back along
the lake shore, pausing near the cabin, and the dock. Both paying a last mind to
their friend and comrade as they took one last look out across the lake. As they
headed up the hill to the mansion, Shu paused now and then to help his friend
over a couple of especially rough places. Touma no longer being as spry as he
had once been.
The End?
Jaya
