Mirror
by keruseyu
chapter 4
===
Kel sat up quietly. She couldn't see; a silvery-white, filmy haze hung before her eyes. She moved to sit up, tensing as pain ran through her battered body.
Finishing the motion, she reached to feel what masked her eyes. A thin ace bandage was wrapped around her head.
Wait.
A bandage? 'What the hell!' The injured girl thought, fear coursing through her body. 'No... no, no, NO!!!!'
She swung her legs over the side of what she was laying on. A bed, but it wasn't hers. '
'My father wouldn't do this for me!'
Kel ripped the bandage off her head, wincing slightly as a trickle of red ran down her cheek. "At least I know what the bandage was for..." She murmured sarcastically. She wadded the bandage and placed it over the cut, applying firm pressure. She held it there for a while, then pulled it from her skin. It was slightly drenched with the red liquid that was so familiar to her. Laying it carefully on the bed, she surveyed the room.
Light blue walls, with slightly darker carpet and bed linen. She smiled faintly- blue always had been her favorite color.
Regular furniture; a door led off to a bathroom. She turned to finish her inspection. A red-haired form in the corner... WAIT!
"What the HELL?!" She yelped, staring at Alanna- the girl who hated her so much and called her 'bitch.' Sinking slowly to the floor, she let herself breath steadily to regain her calm.
A hand tapped her shoulder and she flinched, instantly curling up into a protective ball.
The hand tapped once more, and a soft voice accompanied it. "Get up, chibi neko..." It whispered.
Kel shook her head violently. "Iie!!! Iie... iie!!!"
The voice floated towards her again. "Hai, chibi neko. Hai!"
The hand pulled her from her position and up on her feet. "Are you okay?" The raven-haired Japanese girl who spoke smiled apologetically.
"Gomen nasai. Please excuse us for startling you." Taking Kel's hand, she dragged the girl carefully out of the room. She led the dazed Kel into a small, quaint room that looked rather Japanese. "These are my personal chambers. Now, tell your story."
The brown-haired girl shook her head violently. "Iie." She murmured.
"Why not?" The smile never left the girl's soft, round face. "There is no one here to hear you aside from myself-"
"Iie."
The girl questioned silently.
"Because if I do, you'll hurt me."
Her smile turned to a frown. "Hurt you!?"
Kel flinched back, expecting a blow. Instead, a soft hand patted her on the head. "It'll be okay... no one in this household with ever hurt you..."
'That doesn't mean he won't.'
Yukimi sighed and withdrew her hand. "Tell me when you're ready..." she murmured. "Now, stay here. I'm going to get you something to eat."
===
Kel wandered absently through the house.
(A/N: Stay? Hah! As IF!!! .^!!!)
It was larger than it seemed, with vaulted ceilings and lots of windows, though most of these were covered in heavy drapes. Looking blankly into every room, Kel stopped immediatly when she saw the treasure sitting on the other side of the room.
She walked over to it, tracing its black and white features before slipping her finger onto one if its keys. The beautiful 'pang' flew through her, and she sat down on the stool.
A piano.
//flashback (Kel's POV)//
"Mommy?"
My mother knelt down beside me, smiling brightly. "What, dear?"
I flushed. I covered my face with my tiny, plump toddler hands, peeking shyly through my fingers. "Could you teach me how to play the paino?"
She laughed; a sound that filled the air cheerily. "It's 'piano.'" I looked up. She was smiling, a bright, sunny smile that filled me with happiness.
"Sure, baby! Of course I will!" Picking me up in her arms, she carried me over to the piano, and proceded to teach me which keys were which.
//end flashback//
A tear splashed onto the piano's elegant keys. Kel touched another note, sending it wafting through the air, pulling bacl her memories.
//flashback//
"K-kel... play me something..."
The weak voice came from the bed, where Kel's mother lay in a heap. Kel smiled brighly at her mother, hiding her tears. She held Kel's sister, rocking the child slowly. Kel masked pain and sorrow behind her mask. Her mother hadn't talked to her at all in the weeks since her baby sister was born.
Turning back to the piano, Kel thought back to when she was little. Her and her mother, sitting together, playing songs and laughing, dancing.
Kel started out soft, pulling her emotions into the song. She sang quietly inside her head. 'I long to feel real, to belong to the world.'
'But life doesn't like me enough. If for moment, my heart could be seen-' Kel's inner singing was interupted when a baby's cry split the air. "Damn it, Kel! You woke the baby!" Turning back to the wailing child, she quieted her. "Don't ever do that again!" Getting up, her mother stormed out of the room, holding the baby with a tenderness that Kel had known.
Tears plunked down her cheeks, landing on the black-and-white notes and splotching them.
She put her head down on the keys and sobbed.
//end flashback//
Kel plunked each note in turn, both reveling and writhing in them as they took her.
Seeing her father burn her mother's piano in the backyard.
Playing at a concert while her mother cheered her on and her father grinned that huge smile of his that was so luminant whenever he was close to his wife.
Sneaking into the music room during lunch to play the piano.
Getting caught for it and being punished by her father.
Her mother frowning as she refused to let her younger, evil sister play her electric keyboard that was a birthday present from her late grandmother.
Sobbing as her sister banged her keyboard to pieces on the concrete.
Watching her grandfather play smoothly and gracefully on the hospital's piano the day before her died.
Many more painful memories flew through her head.
She plunked the keys in patterns now, forming the melody of her favorite song.
"When one forgets to put the emotions that overflow in her heart to rest, they burn the color of passion. I used to believe without a doubt that I could reach my dreams, no matter how far off they were. But that me from long ago now sleeps inside my heart. Dreams are more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose, so then why are we destined to dream?" She sang softly.
"Nice." a vocie commented from behind her. Kel spun, ending her song abruptly.
"It's true."
Alanna shook her head. "If that's what you want to think."
Kel turned back to the keys.
"One more thing."
"What?" Her voice was icy.
"Though dreams are 'more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose,' hope lives within those dreams. And though hope is frail, it's hard to kill."
by keruseyu
chapter 4
===
Kel sat up quietly. She couldn't see; a silvery-white, filmy haze hung before her eyes. She moved to sit up, tensing as pain ran through her battered body.
Finishing the motion, she reached to feel what masked her eyes. A thin ace bandage was wrapped around her head.
Wait.
A bandage? 'What the hell!' The injured girl thought, fear coursing through her body. 'No... no, no, NO!!!!'
She swung her legs over the side of what she was laying on. A bed, but it wasn't hers. '
'My father wouldn't do this for me!'
Kel ripped the bandage off her head, wincing slightly as a trickle of red ran down her cheek. "At least I know what the bandage was for..." She murmured sarcastically. She wadded the bandage and placed it over the cut, applying firm pressure. She held it there for a while, then pulled it from her skin. It was slightly drenched with the red liquid that was so familiar to her. Laying it carefully on the bed, she surveyed the room.
Light blue walls, with slightly darker carpet and bed linen. She smiled faintly- blue always had been her favorite color.
Regular furniture; a door led off to a bathroom. She turned to finish her inspection. A red-haired form in the corner... WAIT!
"What the HELL?!" She yelped, staring at Alanna- the girl who hated her so much and called her 'bitch.' Sinking slowly to the floor, she let herself breath steadily to regain her calm.
A hand tapped her shoulder and she flinched, instantly curling up into a protective ball.
The hand tapped once more, and a soft voice accompanied it. "Get up, chibi neko..." It whispered.
Kel shook her head violently. "Iie!!! Iie... iie!!!"
The voice floated towards her again. "Hai, chibi neko. Hai!"
The hand pulled her from her position and up on her feet. "Are you okay?" The raven-haired Japanese girl who spoke smiled apologetically.
"Gomen nasai. Please excuse us for startling you." Taking Kel's hand, she dragged the girl carefully out of the room. She led the dazed Kel into a small, quaint room that looked rather Japanese. "These are my personal chambers. Now, tell your story."
The brown-haired girl shook her head violently. "Iie." She murmured.
"Why not?" The smile never left the girl's soft, round face. "There is no one here to hear you aside from myself-"
"Iie."
The girl questioned silently.
"Because if I do, you'll hurt me."
Her smile turned to a frown. "Hurt you!?"
Kel flinched back, expecting a blow. Instead, a soft hand patted her on the head. "It'll be okay... no one in this household with ever hurt you..."
'That doesn't mean he won't.'
Yukimi sighed and withdrew her hand. "Tell me when you're ready..." she murmured. "Now, stay here. I'm going to get you something to eat."
===
Kel wandered absently through the house.
(A/N: Stay? Hah! As IF!!! .^!!!)
It was larger than it seemed, with vaulted ceilings and lots of windows, though most of these were covered in heavy drapes. Looking blankly into every room, Kel stopped immediatly when she saw the treasure sitting on the other side of the room.
She walked over to it, tracing its black and white features before slipping her finger onto one if its keys. The beautiful 'pang' flew through her, and she sat down on the stool.
A piano.
//flashback (Kel's POV)//
"Mommy?"
My mother knelt down beside me, smiling brightly. "What, dear?"
I flushed. I covered my face with my tiny, plump toddler hands, peeking shyly through my fingers. "Could you teach me how to play the paino?"
She laughed; a sound that filled the air cheerily. "It's 'piano.'" I looked up. She was smiling, a bright, sunny smile that filled me with happiness.
"Sure, baby! Of course I will!" Picking me up in her arms, she carried me over to the piano, and proceded to teach me which keys were which.
//end flashback//
A tear splashed onto the piano's elegant keys. Kel touched another note, sending it wafting through the air, pulling bacl her memories.
//flashback//
"K-kel... play me something..."
The weak voice came from the bed, where Kel's mother lay in a heap. Kel smiled brighly at her mother, hiding her tears. She held Kel's sister, rocking the child slowly. Kel masked pain and sorrow behind her mask. Her mother hadn't talked to her at all in the weeks since her baby sister was born.
Turning back to the piano, Kel thought back to when she was little. Her and her mother, sitting together, playing songs and laughing, dancing.
Kel started out soft, pulling her emotions into the song. She sang quietly inside her head. 'I long to feel real, to belong to the world.'
'But life doesn't like me enough. If for moment, my heart could be seen-' Kel's inner singing was interupted when a baby's cry split the air. "Damn it, Kel! You woke the baby!" Turning back to the wailing child, she quieted her. "Don't ever do that again!" Getting up, her mother stormed out of the room, holding the baby with a tenderness that Kel had known.
Tears plunked down her cheeks, landing on the black-and-white notes and splotching them.
She put her head down on the keys and sobbed.
//end flashback//
Kel plunked each note in turn, both reveling and writhing in them as they took her.
Seeing her father burn her mother's piano in the backyard.
Playing at a concert while her mother cheered her on and her father grinned that huge smile of his that was so luminant whenever he was close to his wife.
Sneaking into the music room during lunch to play the piano.
Getting caught for it and being punished by her father.
Her mother frowning as she refused to let her younger, evil sister play her electric keyboard that was a birthday present from her late grandmother.
Sobbing as her sister banged her keyboard to pieces on the concrete.
Watching her grandfather play smoothly and gracefully on the hospital's piano the day before her died.
Many more painful memories flew through her head.
She plunked the keys in patterns now, forming the melody of her favorite song.
"When one forgets to put the emotions that overflow in her heart to rest, they burn the color of passion. I used to believe without a doubt that I could reach my dreams, no matter how far off they were. But that me from long ago now sleeps inside my heart. Dreams are more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose, so then why are we destined to dream?" She sang softly.
"Nice." a vocie commented from behind her. Kel spun, ending her song abruptly.
"It's true."
Alanna shook her head. "If that's what you want to think."
Kel turned back to the keys.
"One more thing."
"What?" Her voice was icy.
"Though dreams are 'more fragile and fleeting than a glass rose,' hope lives within those dreams. And though hope is frail, it's hard to kill."