Chapter Two: A Flicker Of Hope
~@~
Hitomi couldn't help but smile, and obediently pulled her small black brush out of her purse and handed it to Skye. She was still speechless - mostly from shock at the knowledge that Skye... whatever she may be... was a psychic, in her own way as well as Hitomi. Frowning, she watched Skye while she neatened up her hair.
She was so lost in her own thoughts, that by the time Skye had finished, she didn't notice her standing there staring at her, the brush upon her palm being offered back to her.
"..Hitomi..? Helloo??"
Blinking, Hitomi started slightly, "Huh..? Um... What..?" She glanced at her brush on Skye's outstretched hand. "Oh..." She grinned. "Sorry. I'm not all here, am I?"
As Hitomi took back her hairbrush and placed it back in her bag, Skye remarked randomly, "No... its almost as though you were on another world altogether." She smiled teasingly, but Hitomi didn't notice.
Trembling, she stared at the floor. Quietly she asked, "What do you mean, on another world? Did you see something else that you're not telling me?"
Frowning, Skye replied puzzledly, "Huh..? No, of course not. You were just so distant a minute ago, that's all. Why? Did I offend you?"
Hitomi let out a small breath, "No, no... but... I think we should go outside. You know, just to talk." She paused. "I don't know about you, but I don't feel too much like watching the movie anymore."
Skye's curiosity got the better of her, and besides, she didn't feel too much like watching the film after what just happened, either.
"Sure. I don't think I'd be able to keep focused on a film right this moment, anyway."
Her hair now back to its normal state, Hitomi noticed it was actually slightly wavy, and not completely straight as she had suspected. As she turned to leave, the single golden streak in her hair glinted in the bright light from the fluorescent tubes overhead.
Pursing her lips thoughtfully, Hitomi followed Skye outside.
~@~
The outside of the cinema was fairly quiet, or at least where they stood. The night air was cold, almost chill, and the clear sky above was dark, lit with thousands of glittering stars. The two girls shivered, both silently wishing they had gone back for their coats.
Hitomi looked up at the moon... seeing something that Skye could not discern. She turned her dark eyes upwards too, following Hitomi's gaze. She smiled at the perfectly round glowing sphere in the sky, and murmured sighingly, 'A full moon.'
'Where Van is from, the Earth hangs twinned with the moon in the sky. They call our planet the Mystic Moon. Their planet is called... Gaea.' Hitomi turned her green eyes to Skye and waited to hear her reply.
Puzzled, Skye didn't have an answer. In other circumstances, she would have been almost afraid, and would probably have thought Hitomi insane... but she had seen Van for herself. How else could he be explained?
She spoke slowly, uncertainly, 'The Mystic Moon...?'
Hitomi nodded, and her auburn hair swayed at the motion.
Skye inhaled carefully, and then continued, '...What is it, exactly, that you want? Why are you trying to explain this to me? I have nothing to do with it.'
An awful nauseous feeling seeped into her stomach as Skye had an idea. 'Hitomi... please... tell me, what do I have to do with what's been happening?'
Skye heard her sigh, almost tiredly... and Hitomi turned her head to meet Skye's brown, intrigued gaze.
'Van said...' She faltered slightly, then continued, 'Van said, that there was someone else. He asked me to come back to Gaea - no, he pleaded for me to come back to Gaea... and he said that there was someone else. The only other person that I can possibly think of, is you. Since you saw the... the vision I had.' Hitomi lowered her eyes finally, then added quietly, almost shyly, 'Skye... what other abilities do you have?'
Skye couldn't help herself -- she was gaping at Hitomi yet again. She stuttered, 'Whoa, wait a minute..! How do you know that... that the person Van was referring to was me?' Hitomi opened her mouth to answer, but Skye continued obliviously.
'...we've only just met! And as to other abilities... Well, I'm just a normal Uni student. I don't know what you mean... I don't even have any idea why I managed to see Van and you back in the bathroom...'
Skye trailed off, finally running out of things to say. She sighed deeply, and lifted herself onto a nearby wall; it was only waist-height for her. She clutched her arms, still shivering, then lifted her gaze to Hitomi finally, her expression weary, as though she already had an idea of the eventual outcome of what she was about to confess.
She began, slowly, softly, 'I...' She let out a soft sigh. 'I have dreams. Incredibly vivid dreams. Not about the future... sometimes about the past... but mostly, I have dreams about... about...'
Hitomi watched her gently. The expression on Skye's face was one of pain, loss. She could almost see the events that were replaying themselves through her head across Skye's distraught features.
'...About dead people, animals, so far I'd assume it can be anything that I once knew in life, but died.
'It started only a few months ago. Before that... I... hadn't experienced much death in my life. Perhaps that's why this... 'ability', if you want to call it that, has sort of surfaced. Anyway, its nothing special. I have no control over it, and whatever they're trying to tell me makes very little sense. I could explain it more... but it would only be what I think happens, that is, I just haven't had enough... what? Experience? Practice? What am I supposed to call it... Experience of death, I suppose...'
Her forehead creased as she tried to think of anything else paranormal that she had experienced. Her hazel eyes were clouded, distant.
'Other than that... I hear the odd voice calling me, when I'm alone... and what happened with Van today. That's all I can remember.' She looked at the floor awkwardly, 'I've never told anyone about this before.'
She wondered, just what exactly she was getting herself into... and whether it would mean she could leave this god forsaken place. There was nothing here that she really wanted to stay for. Cathy would be alright. Her other friends would be fine. Her... foster parents... oh, they would get on just wonderful without her. She closed her eyes.
-I'm not meant to be thinking about this today. No, no, no... Let it go, forget it. Don't think about it...-
Gently, a feather-soft touch on her cheek. Wet... she hadn't known she'd been crying. She opened her eyes. Hitomi was smiling at her, very slightly, her green eyes were warm, full of compassion. 'I don't know what it is you need to escape from, Skye, but I'm afraid we'll probably be taken whether we want it or not. So, you can view it as a good thing... or maybe you'll change your mind when you get there. Either way, I don't think that we have a choice.'
As she lowered her hand, the tear from Skye's cheek glittered, then trembled. It slid down her finger... and fell.
Simultaneously, the heavens lit up with an incredible flash of pure white. It enveloped everything... or did it? No, it surrounded only the two of them. Utterly and completely, Skye felt herself be lifted slowly, effortlessly, as though gravity just.. melted at the pure touch of the pillar of white light.
Skye gasped, scared as hell as she felt her feet clear the ground. Next to her, Hitomi merely closed her eyes, her hands clasped in front of her, upon her chest, her face showing her longing to go to this Gaea as clearly as the moon hung above them. She heard her murmur, and there was so much feeling in that one sentence, it almost made her heart hurt, 'I want to see you again, Van...'
She heard someone call her name.