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Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply.

Chapter 1: Chance

I wish I could still remember what it was like, to dream of the possibilities of the future, to await each day with eager, apprehensive anticipation, not knowing what the next day would bring.  I wish I still cared.  There's nothing left now but an endless emptiness.

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The breeze rustled the leaves on the ground and drifted through crimson hair, sifting gently through the silken strands like a lover's hands.  The man tilted his head towards the direction of the breeze and closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of the crisp autumn breeze on his face.  The light wind brought with it the subtle smells of fading summer, of changing seasons. 

There was something unique about the smell of autumn, something none of the other seasons possessed.  He loved autumn.  There was just something about it that appealed to his nature.  Perhaps, he thought wryly to himself, it was the melancholic side of him that loved a season so closely associated with death and the end of things. 

Pretty ironic eh?  Considering who I am, and where I am now.

The breeze grew stronger, and for the first time, the man felt in the wind, the onset of winter.  He shivered and huddled deeper into his coat, still reluctant to leave.  The calm he felt in this place was why he liked coming here.  This place, this cemetery, was situated on a hill that faced away from the city, bordering a small wooded area.  It was a small place, mostly overgrown, but here and there, were plots that were well taken care of, and with obvious loving hands.  It was a personal place, a place where loved ones were laid to rest and sincerely mourned.  To say that it was a cemetery was too cold a word to describe it, he thought to himself.  He had once heard somebody speak of, in that long forgotten past of his, of a garden of remembrance.  Yes, a garden of remembrance.  That was the perfect description for this place.  And isn't that what places like these are for?  Somewhere for loved ones to mourn the passing of other loved ones, and in that mourning, to learn to accept and to let go, but not forget.

He sighed to himself as he laid the flowers he had brought with him on the smooth marble headstone.  Violets for remembrance.  He knelt down and rested his head on the cold stone, enjoying the cool tranquillity of the moment, and the peacefulness of his surroundings.

Will anyone care enough to grieve for me if I die?  I doubt it. 

"What are you doing here?", a hard voice barked at him, snapping him out of his maudlin reverie and startling him enough that he jerked his head up so fast he saw stars.  What the fuck!  How'd I not notice anyone approach?  He rose slowly to his feet in one graceful motion, and looked with narrowed eyes at the intruder.

Cold amethyst eyes met his, and raked over him, burning in their disdain.

He smirked.  "What do you think I'm doing here?"  He taunted the other man.  His smirk grew wider at the annoyed perplexity that sprung into the amethyst eyes of the other before it was masked by its usual blankness.  He could well see the thoughts that sprung into the mind of the man standing so near to him, and most of them had to do with katanas, and shouting of 'Shi-ne!'.  He sniggered.  Very amusing, he's such fun to provoke.

"So sorry to disappoint you, sweet cheeks, desecrating graves for my regular devil worshipping rituals just isn't on my itinerary today.  Check again tomorrow, maybe!  Ja!"

Aya blinked, and with that parting gibe, Schuldich was gone.

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[TBC]