Hey! Thank you so much to those of you who have reviewed my story. It really means a lot to know that people are actually reading something that I've written and liking it so far. Please don't loose patience with how slow it's coming along-I promise it will be worth it in the end!
Disclaimer: I don't own Sailor moon. -_-,
Chapter Two: I'll Paint You in My Dreams
The engine of the jet slowed to a dull hum as the pilot shut it off. Seiya yawned and stood up, stretching out his aching arms and legs. He hated being cooped up on a plane for so long without anywhere else to go.
Taiki was sitting calmly, writing away in a blue book that he brought everywhere with him, his brow wrinkled in concentration.
Yaten had pushed himself to his feet, sighing in relief. He was never at ease unless he was completely sure his surroundings were safe. Planes made him nervous. He caught Seiya's glance and raised an eyebrow in question.
Seiya shook his head. "I'm getting off this damn thing."
Yaten nodded in agreement. "I'm ready to get home. Is all of our stuff already moved in?"
"Yes. I called before we left New York. They said everything is arranged, and ready." Taiki had stood up slowly, tucking his book away into his black satchel, and was standing with his hands pushed deep into his jacket pockets.
"Good." Seiya bounded down the steps of the plane, sliding a pair of dark glasses on. The sun was bright and even with the dark sunglasses, he had to squint and close his eyes until he was adjusted to the bright light. Heat hit him in a wave and he was glad he had worn a t-shirt instead of a warm jacket like Taiki.
He paused at the bottom of the steps on the runway, and murmured to Yaten when the shorter man with white hair stopped next to him. "I'd forgotten how hot it gets during the summer. I've missed it."
Yaten nodded. "I've missed the people. This is the only place I've truly felt at home."
Taiki joined them. "It's a pity we had to leave here for so long. Do you suppose anyone we know is still around?"
Seiya shrugged. "Probably not." He secretly wondered if his childhood friend was still in this city. Images of her bright golden hair and cheerful grin had helped him through many difficult times, and he somehow felt as if he owed some of his fame and fortune to her.
Seiya decided to try to look her up as soon as he was settled. After all, he reasoned, her family had been the ones to take him in after the accident. He could at least offer them some money in return for their earlier aide.
Usagi.
He sighed and walked toward the limousine that was waiting to take them to their new home.
Usagi put the final touch in her new room. It was the framed photo of Seiya with his arm wrapped around her shoulder. It had been taken by Usagi's mom the day Seiya had left, in front of Usagi's house. Seiya's deep blue eyes had been luminous and a small, sad smile had been playing on his lips. Usagi's own eyes had been bright with unshed tears and the smile on her own face was forced. Usagi remembered talking to him before he had left, pleading with him to run away with her instead of leaving her.
"Usa, you know I can't run away." He had told her, his dark eyes deep with sorrowful shadows. Usagi had thrown her arms around his neck, her small, child's body quaking with sobs.
"But Seiya, you're my best friend. I love you. You can't leave me!" She had cried out.
His eyes had softened and he ran a gentle hand over her cheeks.
"Cheer up, Dumpling. I'm not going to forget you and someday, I'll come back to you."
But Usagi had not stopped crying, although her sobs were silent, tears were still rolling down her plump face. "I promise, Usa." He had pressed his forehead against hers. "Someday, Usa, the world will hear about you from me."
Usagi had sniffed and wiped her eyes, the tears no longer falling from their endless blue depths. Then she had kissed his cheek, and stepped back, her eyes so full of wisdom, which was so out of place in such a young girl. "I'll paint you into my dreams. Look for yourself there."
Usagi ran a wistful fingertip over Seiya's face, before turning away to glance at the photo next to it of Mamoru standing behind her at the park. He wasn't smiling; his dark features solemn and Usagi thought her own smile was strained. The picture had been taken shortly after the first time Mamoru had lost his temper. The purple bruise along the side of her face had been successfully hidden by layers of makeup and she had worn her long hair down so that the ugly bruise was covered.
No one had noticed. That was the thing that Usagi had been grateful for. They would have all jumped to the same conclusion and then Mamoru would have gotten even angrier with her. Usagi had felt the blunt of his anger so many times before that now even the slightest mistake she would make would cause her to fear about Mamoru finding out. Usagi sighed and walked into her newly finished art studio.
Her easel was set up by the windows, where she could listen to the sea gulls crying as they wheeled endlessly over the endless blue of the ocean. Stacks of blank canvas were propped against the wall, finished paintings were lined along one wall, each waiting to be framed and sent to the art dealer, who, in return for keeping Usagi's identity as an artist a secret, received unlimited attention from the media, who were all dying to know who the new artist who was making waves in the art world was.
The dealer, an American by the name of Jon Davis, didn't even know who Usagi was. He knew where she was living and that the artist was a female but he didn't know her by any name other than T.U., which was how she signed all of her letters and paintings.
Usagi stood before her easel, looking at the painting she had yet to finish. The smooth brush strokes of blue melded into grayish green. Usagi took a deep breath and picked up her paint brush. As soon as her brush touched the canvas, she felt her soul lift off and she was soaring, her mind gone from her body and everything disappeared except for the story coming to life on canvas before her.
Seiya waited impatiently as Taiki unlocked the door to their apartment, eager to get into his room and settle in. After what seemed like an eternity, Taiki finally got it and the door swung open soundlessly.
A breath of cool air brushed Seiya's arms as he walked into the apartment, breathing in the clean, fresh smell. The entry hallway led down to an open dining room and living room, a fireplace against one wall. The deep red couches were already arranged and on top of the glass coffee table were magazines, the daily newspaper, and black coasters. Seiya walked in, admiring the room when his gaze encountered the painting hanging above the fireplace, his heart skidding to a halt.
"Who—who…is that?" He choked out, his voice harsh, and his gaze unwavering.
Taiki, who had been inspecting the kitchen turned to look. "Oh. You don't like her?"
"Who is she?" Seiya asked again, his voice caught in his throat.
Taiki shrugged, coming to stand beside the black haired man, crossing his arms, he gazed up at the painting. "Beautiful, no? Supposedly this painting is a self portrait of the famous painter T.U. I highly doubt it though. No one has ever seen her, although she has stirred up the art world with her paintings. Her first and most famous piece is on exhibit in an art gallery in New York."
"You saw it?" Seiya asked his voice no louder than a whisper.
"Hai. It was incredible, although I have no real taste in art. It was this beautiful painting of a woman and a man, the woman was reaching out to the man from her knees but her fingers only touched a clear barrier. His head was knelt against it, and you could almost see his shoulders shaking as he called out her name. It was as if they were naked but they were both clothed in wisps of color, and it was…amazing." Taiki paused, his eyes becoming distant. "You could actually feel the emotion—the pain, the longing—that both of them were feeling. The odd thing was, neither of them had any facial features, except for noses. All the rest was blended away, so all you could feel was the emotion behind the painting." Taiki shook his head, as if to clear away the haunting image. "I nearly started to cry. The next day I tracked down the dealer, and asked to be sold one of her other paintings. The one in the gallery had already been sold for half a million."
Taiki turned to glance at Seiya who was staring at the painting as if he had just seen a ghost. "Are you okay?"
"Hai." Seiya nodded.
Taiki glanced at the painting. "I can put it in my room if you don't like it…"
"No-no…I just…It startled me…its so…." He couldn't find the words to describe the way he was feeling, just from viewing the painting.
Taiki nodded. "I know. It's a pity that a woman could never be that beautiful nor paint a person's soul the way she does. If there was such a woman, she would have already been discovered." With that he turned to inspect his room, wanting to make sure all of his books had made the plane ride.
Seiya was left standing alone before the portrait, his heart aching with pain and longing. This woman, he knew her, it was if he had seen her somewhere before.
She was glancing over her shoulder at him, her deep blue eyes endless with wistful longings and deeply buried sorrow. Her delicate white shoulder was curved up to meet the soft angle of her chin, and her long, golden hair was flowing loosely down her back and strands were blowing across her face and shoulder. The woman was so stunning in her pain that she took his breath away.
There was something so familiar about her but the memory was lost somewhere in his mind.
"I'd say you are developing an unhealthy obsession staring at that painting for so long." Yaten said sardonically, his bright green eyes taking in Seiya's far away look. "You might want to check things out before you glue yourself to the fireplace."
Seiya stood up, and made a face at his friend. "I'm not obsessing. I was simply looking."
Yaten gave him a skeptical look. "I've seen you look that way before, though never about a painting. It's normally the look that you get when you've thought of a really nice song and you don't stop chewing on it and beating yourself over the head until the song is complete."
"Well, Mr. Sunshine, you'll be happy to know I'm going to go out for a walk. I'm not obsessing." Seiya grabbed his sunglasses and walked out the door.
Yaten went to stand before the painting, staring at the woman's expression for a moment before smiling. "No wonder. You are exactly the type of girl Seiya could fall for."
Seiya stood in the stuffy elevator with the elevator boy named Toki. The chime sounded and the doors swooshed open, and he stepped out into the lobby. The desk clerk smiled at him as Seiya passed, and walked out the front doors, his black hair catching the light as he strode confidently into the sunshine.
As he waited for his bike to be brought around, his mind drifted back to the painting. She seemed so real, as if he had known her before and should know her again…so why couldn't he place her?
Seiya shook his head and climbed onto his Ninja, the blue one he had purchased in the States. It was his baby and as he started the engine, he pulled the helmet down over his head and slapped the visor shut.
Soon he was out on the road, the wind whistling by him as he sped along the nearly empty streets. Trees and people were blurs as he drove by, his mind intent on maneuvering his bike smoothly along the bumpy road. He lost track of where he was going and soon he was in a small neighborhood, with houses lining the street. His heart started when he recognized the road and memories of childhood came rushing back.
Images of a young girl with golden blonde hair piled on top of her head in two odangos danced in his mind, images of the same girl squealing as they both dashed through a cold sprinkler on a hot summer day. Images of the girl crying when she tripped and fell, scraping her knee; so many images of his childhood friend, Usagi.
This was her neighborhood, he realized with a start. Her house was the next one.
Seiya stopped his bike and stood in front of the house, afraid to go to the door and see if she was still there.
Making up his mind to just go up and ring the bell, Seiya hopped off his bike and pulled off the helmet, tucking it under his arm.
The bell rang and echoed through the house and Seiya waited for the door to swing open. But all he heard was silence from inside and he didn't want to ring the bell again.
His heart sank as he climbed back onto his bike. He realized he'd been hoping that she would come to the door, looking as she did so long ago, and that she would readily welcome him into her home.
Seiya sighed and started for home, unaware that his childhood friend was so much closer than he had ever thought.
TA-DA! Hehe, I'm not done but my fingers are getting tired and I have finals I need to cram for @_@ I'm going to be so tired by the end of this week but oh well-at least school will be done! I'll work on having chapter three up soon but who knows-if no one reviews and tells me they want more, maybe I won't! ^_^
