DISCLAIMER: I don't own ccs, if you don't realize that by now, your wierd.




The things a mind imagines




"She suspects doesn't she?"
"Yes, she's still got a while to go though."
"What do you mean?"
"I mean she still has a ways to go before she realizes."
"I don't even know why I'm having a 'civil' conversation with you."
"Because you have to in order to find out what you need."
"Remind me again why you're willingly telling me all of this."
"Because I get the girl and you don't."
"Oh, that's right. Now that you've won the arguement, you can afford to be cooperative."
"You do realize that if it weren't for the fact that we're bound by rules, I'd kill you right now."
"You aren't the only one who's thinking murderous thoughts."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She cried herself to sleep that night.

And she cried herself to sleep every night after that.

Everything around her was perfectly ok, but at the same time, things were all wrong. Somehow, somewhere, something was put in the wrong place. But Rika couldn't firgure out what. What was going on that she thought was so off?

Her friends had stopped eyeing her where ever she went because she stopped having dizzy spells. That was good. Now she could actually go places with out feeling like she was under the witness protection program.

Sakura and Syaoran had stayed in Japan. Rika remembered thinking how interesting that was. Her gut feeling was that those two should have gone back to Hong Kong, but it was nice having Sakura around still.

She had never felt more in love in her life.

In fact, except for the insane feeling deep in her heart that things were amiss, life was treating Rika Sasaki very well. And yes, never before had she been so in love with Yoshiyuki.

She felt like she didn't want to leave him. He might disappear is she did. Rika voiced this fear to her beloved who simply shrugged it off. "Don't worry about it too much. You know what Rika? I think you're too stressed out right now. We should go somewhere so you can unwind."

"We?" she asked, eyebrows raised. Yoshiyuki had never said that to her before, even in jest.

"Yes. We."

"We," she repeated again, just to be sure.

"We."

Rika started at the wall. "You still there?" Yoshiyuki smiled and put his hand on her arm.

She moved to cover it with her other hand. "Yes. Just thinking."

"About?"

"Stuff..." She had been thinking about the feeling; she had been thinking about how interesting things were now - so wrong, yet so right.

After a while, Yoshiyuki spoke up again. "So where do you think we should go?"

Rika blinked and looked at him as if seeing him for the first time. "You were serious about going somewhere together?"

"Did you think I wasn't?"

"I guess so," she smiled. "Let's go somewhere where there's not a lot of people."

"Not a lot of people? Like the mountains?"

"How about the countryside?"

"I got it, how about a spa?"

"A spa?"

"Yeah, so you can relax. Remember? The whole point of this trip is so that you can relax."

She smiled dreamily. "A spa would be nice. And relaxing."

"Exactally," he agreed, smiling.

"Oh, one thing though. Parents."

"Oh, that's right," he remembered. "Don't worry, I'll talk your parents into it."

A week later, Rika found herself at a quiet spa in the middle of the mountains. She was actually there! Some how, Yoshiyuki had talked her parents into letting her go with him. Odd. Her parents had always been strict whenever she went places with just Yoshiyuki. But then again, who was she to question what had so neatly fallen into her lap?

"Do you like it?" he whispered when they got there.

"Like it? I love it!" she cried and kissed him heartily on the lips.

As she did though, something in her woke up. She scrutinized her boyfriend.

It was such a cliche scene. Like something out of a movie. Light mist, a remnant of the early morning fog, was only just beginning to disappear in the mountains. The birds were trilling their hearts out, and seemingly in tune with each other. The sun hit everything at just the right angle to give everything a striking and dramatic look. An arm hugged her around her shoulders. "Isn't it perfect?" Yoshiyuki asked.

Yes, yes, she answered in her head. It was perfect. It was a little too perfect.

She shook the thoughts out of her head. "Let's go in!"

"So tell me really," she demanded playfully while they unpacked in their room. "How did you get my parents to let me come?"

"I'm a lucky guy," he started and then kissed her.

Rika broke the kiss. "I'm sure you are, but that still doesn't answer my question."

"Don't you want to know why I'm lucky?"

She pretended to think about it. "Ok. Tell me why you're so lucky."

"Because I have you. And," he paused to kiss her nose. "I'm continuously amazed at how you're willing to spend your life with me."

"Why?"

"Because I'm a good fifteen years older than you. I'll be an old man before you're even out of your thrities."

"I don't care."

"And that makes me lucky," he concluded.

Rika forgot what had even started the conversation and left the room. The rest of the day passed surreally for her. Everything she did was a blur. Everything happened so fast. It was like she was like her mind wanted to get to something. Fast.

As the sun was setting that day, everything seemed to slow down. Dinner with Yoshiyuki lasted a life time and a half. But in a good way. She could have sat there forever with her beloved.

Then...

Then the almost unthinkable happened.

"Will you marry me Rika?"

And suddenly, her surroundings assaulted her senses. Everything overwhelmed her so much. The people sitting around them, the music coming from the piano in the corner, noise of waiters serving, the smells of the foods, all that was too much for her to handle, and then Yoshiyuki Tereda in front of her. His shining eyes, the diamond ring he was holding out to her, he was on his knee, all that was too much for her to handle.

Rika gripped the corners of the table. He breath came in short gasps as she tried to steady herself. Other guests were starring. She didn't care. And all the thoughts she had been trying to sort out, about how off everything seemed to be, about how in love she was with Yoshiyuki, about how she wanted her life to be normal again, flew out of her head. Her energy forcused on piecing together the five words that had fallen out of his mouth. Will you marry me Rika?

She stood up, still keeping her grip on the table. She was vaugely aware that Yoshiyuki was calling out her name, and that some waiters were walking over to see what was wrong. Nothing mattered anymore. Rika ran out of the building and into the frosty night.

The night air in the mountains was much cooler than in the city. It cleared her mind of the chaos inside the resteurant.

What had just happened? Rika couldn't remember a thing. Something sad had just happened. It was curious though, that she couldn't remember. She looked up at the sky, at the thousand points of light that dotted the black canvas called night. Yoshiyuki touched her arm; a light shone in the distance. He called her name; the light was calling her.

Entranced by the light, Rika moved towards it. Something was restraining her, pulling her by the arm. She brushed it away. The light was calling her.

And the faster the walked towards the light, the bigger and brighter the light got. Rika felt a nostalgic tugg at her heart. She wanted to stay in the illusion. It was an illusion?

No, she wanted to leave the illusion. She needed to leave behind her dreams. The light was calling her.

Rika didn't recall ever reaching the light, all she could remember was the light overwhelming her.

Then the light was gone. The light was gone. All that remained was a small condensed ball of the intense light. Hovering. It was hovering above her face.

But it wasn't the light she was interested in anymore. It was the face behind the light. Letith.

"So, you're finally awake..."

Rika blinked. Who was this? Her memory flooded back, and she lunged. "You! Damn it! You did this too me!"

The light created a wall between them. An ethereal voice said, "don't take out your anger on him. If you're going to be anygry at anyone, be angry at me."

"Wha-?" she voiced breathlessly. This ball of light. It could talk!

"I'm sorry I had to trap you in your own mind, but it was necessary. It was my way of testing to see if you were strong enough."

"Strong enough?" she questioned as Letith tried to help her stand. She shook him off and got to her feet by herself.

"Yes. If you were strong enough to be the Child of Light."

"Well, did I pass?" she asked wryly.

"You got out of the illusion didn't you?"

"Yes."

"You surpassed expectations."

"How long have I been here?"

"Three weeks. About," Letith supplied.

"Which brings me why Letith is here," the light said. "There isn't a moment to loose. Your friends. They're in danger!"

"What?!" Rika moved to the door. The door opened before she touched it. Rika paused, startled, and then started out before she stopped again. "Wait. I don't know the way out."

"There's an easier way," the light said. Before Letith or Rika could ask, the two found themselves outside Letith's large mansion.