Here it is: The chapter I promised you explaining the dream that Tasuki had. I hope you enjoy it!
Disclaimer: What do you think?
Warnings: Yaoi. Just like the other five chapters.
---------True Happiness---------
I was standing in a field full of flowers. Butterflies were fluttering around them. The sun was shining, and the sky was completely clear. Those should've been my first clues.
Oddly enough, it wasn't until I saw the purple-haired man a few feet away that I realized I was dreaming. "Nuriko..." I whispered. He didn't turn.
"Nuriko!" I called.
He turned to me, a brilliant smile on his face. "Tasuki! You wouldn't believe how good it is to see you!"
I grinned. "Of course I would."
He laughed. "You haven't changed."
"Well, I'd say ya hadn't either, but...yer dead...ain't ya?"
"Still just as tactless, I see..." His smile slipped slightly.
"Ahh, gomen, I didn' mean t'offend ya..."
"It's all right. You weren't thinking." He grinned slightly. "Not that you often do..."
I put on a wounded expression. "Did'ja come here just ta insult me?"
"Hardly." His face turned serious.
"Oh, I get it." I was still grinning. "Y'missed me."
"That's not it, either..."
"Aw, c'mon. Admit it, ya did miss me."
"All right." He rolled his eyes. "I missed you. But that isn't why I came."
"Then...why're ya here?"
"Just to give you some friendly advice."
I raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"
"Advice from a friend, baka!"
I whacked him. "No, I mean, what's yer advice?"
"Open your eyes."
"What, now? I'll wake up if I open my eyes now!"
"Not now, and not literally!" He sounded annoyed.
"Well, then, what th' hell d'ya mean, 'Open yer eyes'?"
"Think for a minute." He looked thoughtful. "What do you think you'd see if you opened your eyes right now?"
"Um...my...room?"
"No."
"What, somebody moved me?" I tried to look shocked. I knew that couldn't be what Nuriko meant, but I liked to tease him. I always have.
"No!" Nuriko smacked his head in frustration. He took a few deep breaths. "Let me rephrase the question. Who do you think you'd see if you opened your eyes right now?"
I blinked. I didn't share a room with anyone... "I dunno...nobody, I guess."
"Wrong."
"Well, then, who'd I see?"
Nuriko smiled. "I'll show you."
He pointed over at a stream a little ways away. I could have sworn it hadn't been there before...
I moved closer to it. As I approached, I could see that there was a chair set by the edge of the stream. In the chair...
"Chichiri?!" I couldn't believe it. "Why's he in my room?"
"Go closer and look at him."
I walked up to Chichiri's chair and looked him in the face. There were tears running down his cheeks.
"He's cryin'...? He's in my room an' he's cryin'?" A sudden thought hit me. "Ne, Nuriko, I know th' time t'clarify this's passed, but...I ain't dead, am I?"
"No, you're still alive, though if Chichiri had let you drink much more sake, the answer to that question might be different."
"Sake...?"
"You were drinking sake and you passed out. Chichiri's staying with you while you sleep it off because he's worried."
"He's...worried abou' me?" That came as a surprise.
"Of course he's worried about you. He's your friend, isn't he?" The word 'friend' carried the slightest possible stress, as though Nuriko knew it would strike a nerve.
"A'...a'course he's my friend." I frowned. Why did that bother me?
Nuriko smiled. "Friends worry when you drink yourself into a stupor. It's natural."
"But why's he cryin'? He can't be that worried abou' me, I'm still breathin',"
"Think about it," he said, and then he turned away and disappeared.
Which left me in the middle of this field, with Nuriko's advice still bouncing around in my head.
Open your eyes.So I did.
-----To Be Continued
Ok, originally I was going to have this chapter be a bit longer, but I decided to put that into the next chapter, which also ought to be up pretty soon, though probably not as quickly as this one. Sorry if I'm making Tasuki seem stupid by not letting him realize how he feels about Chichiri. Tasuki's just still devastated over Nuriko's death, and still a little confused over how he felt about Nuriko. He doesn't think he's ready to love anyone else yet.
Fortunately, I do, which is why I wrote this. ::grin::
~Mikazuki
