Kari was escorted home, and placed on the couch. Tai and Yolei went to work making some lunch, while TK called home saying he'd be late. Kari's heart was still beating from her latest near death dream. This one was started while she was awake, and not on her period. 'Scratch that theory,' she thought.
Tai and Yolei came over with sandwiches, and TK joined them. They sat and ate in silence. Each one rolling thoughts around their head about a course of action. Tai, Yolei and TK all started making suggestions. But each plan had massive holes and little chance of success. Kari set her head in her hand out of frustration.
"Oww." She said.
"What now?" Yolei asked. Kari just stared and her hands. Each of her ten fingers was on fire, but she felt no pain. Just as she was about to speak, the flames burst in a huge explosion. Kari screamed, but didn't feel any pain or heat. She looked up, and saw her apartment. It looked like it had been gutted by a massive fire. But it looked like it had happened years ago and was never repaired.
"Tai!" She yelled. No answer came back other than a cold breeze in her face from the window. The world in her apartment and outside looked gray, but she couldn't tell if that was the colour, or if she just couldn't see colour. Kari ran out of her apartment and down the few stairs to the ground. The inside of the building was similarly gutted by fire. She burst out onto the street. Every building up and down was broken and run down. She was surprised that Tokyo could reach such a state. Some buildings were fire gutted, others partially collapsed. Kari walked a few steps and heard glass crunch under her feet.
She bent down and saw a shattered family picture. Her brother, mother and father easily visible. But where her smiling face should have been, there was a void. Nothing, as if she never took the picture. A tear rolled down her cheek thinking of her family, of TK and Yolei, and of all of Tokyo. Kari looked up sensing something above her. It was a bird, a small swallow. She looked closer and saw that it had a whistle around her neck. The same she wore years ago. It chirped at her and flew off. Kari felt she had to follow it and did.
She ran as hard as she could, following the bird through the streets of the abandoned, dead city. When the lost sight of the bird, it would perch and wait for her to catch up. Before she could stop and catch her breath, it was off again. Kari followed it around a corner, and faced the park. She stopped in her tracks. The grass was green, the trees lush, and the air fresh. Kari felt like now she would finally get some answers.
She walked into the park. Although she couldn't see it, she felt the sun on her back. Aaron was sitting at a bench holding a baseball, looking at the ground. He looked so small and vulnerable. She didn't feel the fear she normally did, instead felt confident and energized. She walked over to him. Before speaking she saw teardrops in the brown dirt below him, darkening the ground.
"What's happening Aaron?" She asked. "Where are we?"
"This is halfway between my home and yours. It's about as far as I can go. I can go further, but it hurts and is really tiring." The answer was so cryptic, but she didn't press further. "You wanted to know what I wanted, Kari?" She sat on the ground facing him.
"Yes, I still do."
"You. I want you." She pulled back in disgust slightly. "Not like that Kari. I mean I want to be in your arms, and just be with you." He hesitated, stood and turned away from her. "I remember the first time I saw you. That pink scarf and whistle. You sat near me in school but never saw me. I knew I loved you, but I couldn't tell you. I watched and loved you from afar for a long time. But then I died, and I knew you were beyond me forever."
Kari looked confused. "Died? Why didn't I hear of that?"
"Every piece of information about was hidden in your mind. An easy skill. When you leave her today you'll remember the newspaper articles, and the ceremony at the school. I was killed by a drunk driver who ran off the road into that park. I just turned for a second to throw a friend a ball." Kari understood now.
"Anyway. Heaven and Hell are the same place. Did you know that? It's nothing like anyone knows. I can see why different religions think what they do, but they're all wrong. There is no god, just this environment of thought. It's hell if you don't like it, heaven if you do. One and the same. I thought I could be happy if I could get you to join me. So I started making you have those dreams. I almost had you once. But I decided its not right to take you away from your life, just because I lost mine. But now you know. I love you Kari."
Kari sympathized with him. She could feel every emotion he was feeling. There was no reason to doubt him. She knew he loved her, he would do anything for her. She could also feel the horrible sadness. "Aaron. What can I do?"
"Live your life. Think of me sometime. That's about it. I'll see you when you're supposed be here." Kari saw some more tears fall from his eyes, and moved towards him. "Go home." His words left his mouth and shocked Kari back to reality.
She was sitting back in her apartment; TK, Yolei and Tai still sitting there as if nothing happened.
