Chapter 27: This Time Around
Don't be afraid to be weak
Don't be too proud to be strong
Just look into your heart my friend
That will be the return to yourself
The return to innocence…
Miaka stared out of the window at the falling snow. It was almost midnight on Christmas Eve. Suddenly, she was overtaken by melancholy, feeling terribly lonely. Tamahome and the others…she missed them all. Especially Tamahome. She would always love him. Always. Aishiteru…
Aren't you forgetting someone? Admit it Miaka, you miss Nakago too, a voice in her mind said snidely.She smiled sadly, Who would have thought? She actually missed having him insult her. Am I masochistic or what?
To other people, they may have just been no more than characters in a book, a figment of someone's imagination, but to her, they had been her friends. And they had been real...as real as she was. At least her brother, Tetsuya and Yui understood, although Keisuke still had the tendency to refer to Nakago as "that blonde bastard". Strangely enough, he always said it with a ridiculously wide grin…
"Minna…How I wish you were here…" she sighed wistfully as she made her way back to her bed.
She was about to turn off the lamp on her nightstand when her hand bumped against something. Yui's gift, she realised, picking up the small gift-wrapped box. Yui had given it to her a short while ago. She smiled as she caught sight of the card attached to the gift. It said: Do not open until Christmas!
Turning the card over, it read: Don't even think about it! It's not Christmas yet!
Miaka could not help laughing, Yui-chan always thinks of everything…Oh Yui, what would I do without you? She glanced at the clock on the nightstand.
11:57 p.m.
Close enough! By the time I unwrap it, it'll be Christmas! she thought gleefully as she began peeling away the brightly coloured wrapping paper.
Inside was a small jewellery box. With trembling hands, she slowly lifted the lid. She held her breath, even though she knew what she would find inside.
On the dark velvet, a single earring gleamed in the moonlight streaming through her window. A small smile touched her lips as she allowed the tears to fall, "Thank you, Yui." She looked out the window, past the falling snow to the darkened sky beyond. Reaching out, she stroked a finger over the cool blue stone.
"Merry Christmas, dear friend…wherever you may be…" she whispered.
Don't care what people say
Just follow your own way
Don't give up and use the chance
To return to innocence…
Half a world away, across the boundaries of international datelines and continents, a young man stood alone, watching the snow slowly drifting down past the window of his apartment. He was the envy of many; young, successful, charismatic, handsome…With his dignified good looks, blonde hair and blue eyes, he could have had his pick of women if he so chose, or none, if he wished, as was presently the case.
He was someone who had always been confident, who had always been so sure of what he wanted, yet… He wondered why he had agreed to this new reassignment. Undoubtedly, it was an excellent career opportunity, but that was not the reason he had accepted it. Neither was he dissatisfied with where he was right now. He liked New York well enough. Just have to remember not to walk through Central Park after dark, he thought, smiling mirthlessly.
Yet, he had taken his employers up on their offer to transfer overseas almost immediately because he had felt…compelled. It was strange, for a person who always thought everything through carefully… for someone who always planned ahead for the future.
Turning away from the window, he looked around his penthouse apartment. Most of his things were already packed into boxes, ready to be shipped out.
Suddenly, he froze. For one brief moment…something had brushed against him. It had felt almost as if…something—no, someone had brushed a featherlight kiss across his cheek. His eyes widened in surprise as snatches of a conversation he did not remember having filtered into his mind.
Something about a promise…of friendship?…And the summer sky?
He frowned, trying to make sense of the elusive memory, but it flitted away, as volatile as quicksilver, remaining just beyond his grasp. It was as if the memory was taunting him, mocking him with its presence; retreating into the shadows every time he reached out for it. So close, and yet so far…
He could almost swear that the lingering scent of freshly picked strawberries had drifted through his apartment. Why did that seem so strangely familiar?
He shook his head, chiding himself for his foolishness. Stress, he decided, and probably anxiety at his new job. In a few days, everything would be all right, and he would settle into his new posting. In Tokyo, Japan.
Regardless, he could not help lifting a hand to his cheek…
It still tingled from the phantom kiss.
Miaka ran as fast as her legs could carry her…as if she was being chased by demons. Discerning pedestrians deftly made way as a vision of russet hair and green high-school uniform blazer streaked past them.
She was LATE, with a capital L. Again.
It isn't my fault, she consoled herself, that the batteries in my alarm clock decided to die on me in the middle of the night. Something like that could happen to anyone!
She shot around the corner…
…and collided with someone. Hard.
The force of the impact sent her books, pencils and other assorted stationery flying in opposite directions.
"Oh no!" she groaned in dismay, quickly bending to retrieve a wayward pencil. "I'm going to be late!" she wailed, completely ignoring the fact that she was already a good twenty minutes late for school. The school administration, headed by a particularly humourless individual, was NOT going to be pleased…
"Gomen nasai…Aren't you supposed to yell 'Fore!' or something before you come barrelling around a corner like that?" The words were said in perfect Japanese, but the smooth, deep voice was laced with the faint accent of a foreigner.
Miaka froze. That voice…
The last time she had heard it had been in another world, in another time and place…in what seemed like a lifetime ago. She held her breath and slowly looked up for the first time at the person she had crashed into, almost afraid to believe…
And found herself staring into a pair of eyes of a colour so unique that she had only seen it on one person…
A tall blonde-haired man stared back at her with something akin to shock.
His eyes were the exact colour of the sky on a cloudless summer day.
"Gomen nasai… Aren't you supposed to yell 'Fore!' or something before you come barrelling around a corner like that?" The words had trailed off the moment he had gotten his first good look at that person who had nearly plowed him down when she had suddenly rounded the corner at high speed.
He had the oddest feeling that he somehow knew her from somewhere, although he could not recall ever meeting her before. There was something about this girl…Her voice…
The delicate scent of fresh strawberries wrapped around him.
One day…we'll meet again. And this time around… we'll be friends! The words echoed in his mind, startling in their clarity. A promise of friendship…
"You…" he whispered, as a myriad of images flashed past his mind's eye, almost faster than he could see them. Images of him…and her. In another world, in a life before this one.
In his world, they had been enemies, reluctant allies, acquaintances…but those labels didn't really matter anymore. They were in her world now, and the promise she had made to him had finally been fulfilled, against all odds. Perhaps she really did have the power to make wishes come true.
And his life definitely just got more interesting.
Infinitely slowly, as though he was only just remembering how, the corners of his mouth lifted in a smirk…in that all-too-familiar gesture she remembered so well.
Miaka was still in shock. Just when she had least expected it, there he was, standing right in front of her, looking almost exactly like he had in the Shijintenchisho. His hair was shorter now, and a little darker…more honey blonde than golden blonde. And he was slightly tanned, his skin no longer as fair as it had been. However, that was where the differences ended.
The handsome, finely-chiselled features; that intense, enigmatic blue gaze which seemed to be able to look right into her soul…and yes, even that deplorable smirk. None of that had changed.
He took a step closer to her. Before her mind had a chance to fully process what was happening, he had swiftly bent and lightly brushed his lips across her cheek.
She gaped at him in astonishment, opening her mouth, closing it, then opening it again; trying to say something, but no words came out. Instead, all she actually succeeded in doing was to give a very convincing impression of a goldfish out of water.
He chuckled at her predicament. "Just returning the favour," he said softly, amusement glittering in his sky blue eyes. "It's good to see you again."
If you want, then start to laugh
If you must, then start to cry
Be yourself don't hide
Just believe in destiny…
--THE END--
Notes:
1) The song featured is "Return to Innocence" by Enigma.
2) A huge thanks to all the people who have been reading this story and lending your support by writing such encouraging reviews. I hope you enjoyed reading this story as much as I enjoyed writing it (and torturing Nakago and Miaka)!
