~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her eyes like windows, trickling rain--
Upon her pain, getting deeper.
--Cat Stephens, "Sad Lisa"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Five: The Girl in the Rain
Afterward, Serena never could understand how she got home. All she remembered was being outside the hospital, desperately wishing for a way to get away, and then suddenly being in her own room again.
Luna was pacing the length of her bedroom, and greeted Serena with a worried meow. The cat was very confused when this caused her owner to break down into wracking sobs and slide to the floor. She bumped her head against Serena's clenched fist in concern, but the sobs only increased in volume and intensity.
Serena's life lay, once again, in shambles around her feet. All she had wanted was for it to work this time, for her to finally have a stable family. And now, yet another home was lost to her because of the strangeness that she could neither explain nor control. As soon as the Tsukinos returned, she would once again find herself in the social worker's office, being shipped off to another house, another opportunity to have her heart broken. She was seventeen, for God's sake! When was enough, enough?
Suddenly, her head came up from her arms, and she met the worried, blue- eyed gaze of her cat. That's right. She was seventeen. Almost eighteen. Hadn't she just been thinking the other night that she could probably take care of herself, if only she weren't still a legal minor? Her overtaxed emotions immediately latched on to this thought, and began spinning a wild plan from it.
"Luna," she whispered feverishly, "we should get out of here. You and me. We don't need anyone else, and they sure as hell don't need us…" Serena jumped up and retrieved her shabby traveling bag from its forgotten corner in the closet. "I can't go back again, not again. It's just been too many times, that's all. I can't take it again," she continued to distractedly explain to the cat as she threw random possessions and articles of clothing into the bag. Luna regarded her with a troubled expression.
Serena quickly glanced around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then lifted Luna into the leftover space in the bag. The cat let out a small mew of disapproval.
"Don't worry, everything will be all right. I promise," Serena assured her, ignoring for the moment the fact that all apparent evidence pointed to the contrary.
~----------~
It didn't start getting really bad until the rain set in. Before that, Serena had only been tired and hungry and sad, but when the rain added cold and soaked-through to the list of her afflictions, she had to admit that the sum total was utter wretchedness. Luna's muffled complaints told her that the threadbare bag was not doing a very good job of keeping the cat dry.
Why didn't I think to bring an umbrella? she thought miserably. But, then again, why didn't I think to bring some money or some food? And, while I'm at it, why did I run away in the first place instead of just facing another home? At least I would be warm and dry and fed there…
Serena berated herself constantly, until it became a mantra with every step. Why didn't I? Why didn't I? She stumbled, and caught herself just in time to prevent falling headlong into a curbside puddle. A car swerved to avoid hitting her, its horn blaring in her ears. She noticed vaguely that she was in the city now and should stay away from the streets. A half- formed idea about evading possible pursuers occurred to her, and she turned down a side street. The mantra shortened itself as she stumbled yet again. Why? Why? Why?
She kept going, not really sure where or why anymore. Her mind was fogged with fatigue and raw emotions, and it was hard to focus on any one thing for more than a few seconds. Finally, her legs gave out under her, and she collapsed to the pavement. She managed to drag herself and the bag under a set of stairs with the vague idea of hiding, and was faintly surprised to find the majority of falling water held off by the metal overhead.
Feeling grateful for this relative dryness, she immediately succumbed to the darkness hovering at the fringes of her brain, blocking out the acute pain in her empty stomach and the desperate cries of her distressed cat.
~----------~
Darien Chiba sighed in annoyance when he stepped outside to find it raining. It figured that the first rain in months would come on the one day he had decided to walk to work. He forked over fifteen bucks to a grinning vender in front of the building for an umbrella, cursing at the rip-off, but knowing it was that or catch pneumonia walking the six blocks to his apartment in the rain.
Darien had only just turned twenty-one years old, but he considered himself to be unusually mature for his age. Fresh out of college, he had already managed to land himself a job in a big corporation and a nice apartment not far from where he worked. He was no stranger to the business world, as he had worked constantly since the age of eighteen to help put himself through school and keep a roof over his head. He had built an impressive résumé, and after four years of smooth self-sufficiency, he had acquired a certain amount of what he liked to think of as confidence, though others might say something more like 'arrogancy' or 'stubborn-ness'.
Holding his umbrella and briefcase in one hand, he reached into his pocket for his keys as he approached the metal stairs leading to his apartment building. He was distracted from selecting the correct key from the ring he carried, however, by a thin, high sound, rather like a cat in distress.
He almost shook it off and continued inside out of the rain, but his better nature got the best of him, and he went back down the stairs to locate the source of the sound. Looking around, he didn't see anything.
Feeling foolish, he called out, "Here, kitty, kitty."
A desperately hopeful yowl answered his voice. Darien frowned. It almost sounded like the cat was right beside him. But upon turning to his left to look under the stairs, all he saw was someone's ratty old traveling bag and a girl stretched out on the pavement.
A girl stretched out on the pavement!
Darien gasped and bent down to her, quickly setting his briefcase down beside the bag. Her blond hair was coming lose from its ties and was plastered against her skin, as were her clothes. He almost didn't breathe himself until he detected the small rise of her chest that indicated her lungs were still working. She was alive, at least, if half-drowned. He marveled at the print of blue stars across the yellow background of her short cotton shorts beneath the gray sweatshirt she wore. They almost looked like pajamas. He panicked briefly at the sight of blood on her sweatshirt, but it was long-dried and there was no evidence of any open wounds. He reached out carefully and gently turned her head toward him with one hand, holding the umbrella with his other. His breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful. Her hair was pressed flat and straggly against her face, her skin pale and her nose red from cold, and yet, she was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His fingers lingered against her rain-wet, silky cheek.
A very annoyed yowl expressed displeasure at his distraction, and the bag next to the girl shook. Darien looked at in surprise, then opened it to find a pair of blue eyes peeping out at him. The cat he had heard was in the bag. Her bag, he supposed, and, therefore, her cat. The cat's black head peeped up over the edge of fabric, took in the sheets of water pouring just beyond the edge of the stairs, and decided that maybe the bag was not such a bad place to be, after all. Darien looked back to the girl's closed lashes, dotted with clinging raindrops, and debated with himself. He could not hold the umbrella, the bag, his briefcase, and her all at the same time…
He closed the umbrella and set it down under the stairs, then gently slid his arms under the girl's prone body, lifting her against his chest. Her head rolled to rest against his shoulder. The rain was a shock of cold and wet on his skin when he straightened, but somehow, her body felt warm through the layers of clothing that separated them. Grabbing the bag with the cat, he started up the stairs, wondering what had come over practical Mr. Chiba to make him abandon a fifteen-dollar umbrella and a genuine leather briefcase full of important papers in favor of a wet, bedraggled, unknown girl and her cat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Yay, Darien finally makes the scene! And here is where it stops, for now… there is more, lots more, but I'll only put it up if people want me to. So, if you like this so far and want to know what happens next, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW OR EMAIL ME AND TELL ME THAT YOU WANT MORE!!!!!!!!! email: ryo-chan@mindspring.com ^_^ bye for now…hopefully only for a little while…..*waves with starry hopeful eyes*
Her eyes like windows, trickling rain--
Upon her pain, getting deeper.
--Cat Stephens, "Sad Lisa"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter Five: The Girl in the Rain
Afterward, Serena never could understand how she got home. All she remembered was being outside the hospital, desperately wishing for a way to get away, and then suddenly being in her own room again.
Luna was pacing the length of her bedroom, and greeted Serena with a worried meow. The cat was very confused when this caused her owner to break down into wracking sobs and slide to the floor. She bumped her head against Serena's clenched fist in concern, but the sobs only increased in volume and intensity.
Serena's life lay, once again, in shambles around her feet. All she had wanted was for it to work this time, for her to finally have a stable family. And now, yet another home was lost to her because of the strangeness that she could neither explain nor control. As soon as the Tsukinos returned, she would once again find herself in the social worker's office, being shipped off to another house, another opportunity to have her heart broken. She was seventeen, for God's sake! When was enough, enough?
Suddenly, her head came up from her arms, and she met the worried, blue- eyed gaze of her cat. That's right. She was seventeen. Almost eighteen. Hadn't she just been thinking the other night that she could probably take care of herself, if only she weren't still a legal minor? Her overtaxed emotions immediately latched on to this thought, and began spinning a wild plan from it.
"Luna," she whispered feverishly, "we should get out of here. You and me. We don't need anyone else, and they sure as hell don't need us…" Serena jumped up and retrieved her shabby traveling bag from its forgotten corner in the closet. "I can't go back again, not again. It's just been too many times, that's all. I can't take it again," she continued to distractedly explain to the cat as she threw random possessions and articles of clothing into the bag. Luna regarded her with a troubled expression.
Serena quickly glanced around the room to make sure she hadn't forgotten anything, then lifted Luna into the leftover space in the bag. The cat let out a small mew of disapproval.
"Don't worry, everything will be all right. I promise," Serena assured her, ignoring for the moment the fact that all apparent evidence pointed to the contrary.
~----------~
It didn't start getting really bad until the rain set in. Before that, Serena had only been tired and hungry and sad, but when the rain added cold and soaked-through to the list of her afflictions, she had to admit that the sum total was utter wretchedness. Luna's muffled complaints told her that the threadbare bag was not doing a very good job of keeping the cat dry.
Why didn't I think to bring an umbrella? she thought miserably. But, then again, why didn't I think to bring some money or some food? And, while I'm at it, why did I run away in the first place instead of just facing another home? At least I would be warm and dry and fed there…
Serena berated herself constantly, until it became a mantra with every step. Why didn't I? Why didn't I? She stumbled, and caught herself just in time to prevent falling headlong into a curbside puddle. A car swerved to avoid hitting her, its horn blaring in her ears. She noticed vaguely that she was in the city now and should stay away from the streets. A half- formed idea about evading possible pursuers occurred to her, and she turned down a side street. The mantra shortened itself as she stumbled yet again. Why? Why? Why?
She kept going, not really sure where or why anymore. Her mind was fogged with fatigue and raw emotions, and it was hard to focus on any one thing for more than a few seconds. Finally, her legs gave out under her, and she collapsed to the pavement. She managed to drag herself and the bag under a set of stairs with the vague idea of hiding, and was faintly surprised to find the majority of falling water held off by the metal overhead.
Feeling grateful for this relative dryness, she immediately succumbed to the darkness hovering at the fringes of her brain, blocking out the acute pain in her empty stomach and the desperate cries of her distressed cat.
~----------~
Darien Chiba sighed in annoyance when he stepped outside to find it raining. It figured that the first rain in months would come on the one day he had decided to walk to work. He forked over fifteen bucks to a grinning vender in front of the building for an umbrella, cursing at the rip-off, but knowing it was that or catch pneumonia walking the six blocks to his apartment in the rain.
Darien had only just turned twenty-one years old, but he considered himself to be unusually mature for his age. Fresh out of college, he had already managed to land himself a job in a big corporation and a nice apartment not far from where he worked. He was no stranger to the business world, as he had worked constantly since the age of eighteen to help put himself through school and keep a roof over his head. He had built an impressive résumé, and after four years of smooth self-sufficiency, he had acquired a certain amount of what he liked to think of as confidence, though others might say something more like 'arrogancy' or 'stubborn-ness'.
Holding his umbrella and briefcase in one hand, he reached into his pocket for his keys as he approached the metal stairs leading to his apartment building. He was distracted from selecting the correct key from the ring he carried, however, by a thin, high sound, rather like a cat in distress.
He almost shook it off and continued inside out of the rain, but his better nature got the best of him, and he went back down the stairs to locate the source of the sound. Looking around, he didn't see anything.
Feeling foolish, he called out, "Here, kitty, kitty."
A desperately hopeful yowl answered his voice. Darien frowned. It almost sounded like the cat was right beside him. But upon turning to his left to look under the stairs, all he saw was someone's ratty old traveling bag and a girl stretched out on the pavement.
A girl stretched out on the pavement!
Darien gasped and bent down to her, quickly setting his briefcase down beside the bag. Her blond hair was coming lose from its ties and was plastered against her skin, as were her clothes. He almost didn't breathe himself until he detected the small rise of her chest that indicated her lungs were still working. She was alive, at least, if half-drowned. He marveled at the print of blue stars across the yellow background of her short cotton shorts beneath the gray sweatshirt she wore. They almost looked like pajamas. He panicked briefly at the sight of blood on her sweatshirt, but it was long-dried and there was no evidence of any open wounds. He reached out carefully and gently turned her head toward him with one hand, holding the umbrella with his other. His breath caught in his throat. She was beautiful. Her hair was pressed flat and straggly against her face, her skin pale and her nose red from cold, and yet, she was beautiful, the most beautiful girl he had ever seen. His fingers lingered against her rain-wet, silky cheek.
A very annoyed yowl expressed displeasure at his distraction, and the bag next to the girl shook. Darien looked at in surprise, then opened it to find a pair of blue eyes peeping out at him. The cat he had heard was in the bag. Her bag, he supposed, and, therefore, her cat. The cat's black head peeped up over the edge of fabric, took in the sheets of water pouring just beyond the edge of the stairs, and decided that maybe the bag was not such a bad place to be, after all. Darien looked back to the girl's closed lashes, dotted with clinging raindrops, and debated with himself. He could not hold the umbrella, the bag, his briefcase, and her all at the same time…
He closed the umbrella and set it down under the stairs, then gently slid his arms under the girl's prone body, lifting her against his chest. Her head rolled to rest against his shoulder. The rain was a shock of cold and wet on his skin when he straightened, but somehow, her body felt warm through the layers of clothing that separated them. Grabbing the bag with the cat, he started up the stairs, wondering what had come over practical Mr. Chiba to make him abandon a fifteen-dollar umbrella and a genuine leather briefcase full of important papers in favor of a wet, bedraggled, unknown girl and her cat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
AN: Yay, Darien finally makes the scene! And here is where it stops, for now… there is more, lots more, but I'll only put it up if people want me to. So, if you like this so far and want to know what happens next, PLEASE WRITE A REVIEW OR EMAIL ME AND TELL ME THAT YOU WANT MORE!!!!!!!!! email: ryo-chan@mindspring.com ^_^ bye for now…hopefully only for a little while…..*waves with starry hopeful eyes*
