To Gwuinivyre: I forgive you for not reviewing. It's okay. I'm just glad that you are reading. That goes for the rest of you too.
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"Noooo!"
Mecale sat straight up in bed, the terrified wail stopping when she did. Her entire body was drenched in sweat and she was shaking uncontrollably just like the morning before. She took deep breath in order to slow her thumping heart and ease her ragged breathing. Once she had calmed down, she noticed the sunlight streaming through the window. She looked at the bedside clock and saw it was way past the time when Kouji normally woke her up. Confused, she got up and walked into the living room.
Sure enough, Kouji was gone. The blankets and pillows he used were stacked against the side of the couch to wait for nightfall. Mecale went back into the bedroom and saw that Kouji's jogging shoes were gone from their normal place in front of the closet. He had obviously gone jogging without her.
Mecale decided to take a shower to rid herself of the sticky sweat that clung to her as a result of the nightmare. She got a clean set of clothes out of the drawers and went into the bathroom.
As she showered, Mecale thought about the nightmares. The same, or almost the same, nightmare in two nights. Was it just a coincidence? Or did it mean something? She wasn't psychic but as a Draconian, she was prone to more "feelings" and a higher intuition than humans. Mecale shook her head, dismissing the thought. Siri had visions like her mother, Mecale never had. Why would she have a prophetic dream now?
After the shower, Mecale dressed and went into the living room to wait for Kouji. He arrived about five minutes later, fresh from his morning jog.
"Hey, you're up," Kouji commented as he placed his Discman on the counter, "Sorry I didn't wake you up but you were sleeping so peacefully and I thought you were tired from yesterday…"
"It's okay," Mecale assured with a grin, "thank you for being so thoughtful."
Kouji blushed. "It wasn't that big a deal." He cleared his throat and looked away. "Anyway, I have a kendo class to go to today. You can stay here if you want or you can come with me. You'll probably get bored sitting there but there are a bunch of stores around that you can check out. Either way is fine."
"I think I'll go with you," Mecale told him, "I wouldn't mind wandering around a few stores."
"Okay," Kouji agreed, "We'll stop at the bank before we go and I'll get some money for you."
"No," Mecale insisted, "I don't need any money. I'll just look around."
"Yes you do," Kouji said, "I'll probably be in there for a few hours. You might get hungry or something."
"But Kouji…"
"Uh uh." Kouji held up his hand, "What did I tell you?"
Mecale sighed in defeat. "No buts."
"Exactly," Kouji smiled, "I'm gonna take a shower, then I'll make breakfast."
Kouji disappeared down the hallway and Mecale turned on the TV. Ten minutes later he reemerged, toweling his hair dry. He walked into the kitchen and started on breakfast. Mecale wandered over and sat down at the counter.
"Kouji?" Mecale called. He turned from the stove to face her. "What's kendo?"
"It's a Japanese sport, I guess you could say," Kouji answered, "It involves fighting with wooden sticks."
"Oh," Mecale nodded. "Are you good at it?"
Kouji shrugged. "I'm okay I guess. I've been doing it since I was a kid."
Kouji continued to make breakfast and Mecale set out the plates and silverware. They ate breakfast quickly and then got ready to go.
"It's about an hour drive to the place," Kouji informed, "so we better get going. We still have to stop at the bank too."
Mecale started to argue but Kouji held his hand up, signaling that he didn't want to hear it. Kouji grabbed a few things he needed for his class and the two of them got into his car. They drove to a nearby bank where Kouji withdrew some money for Mecale and then they got on the freeway to head to a nearby city where Kouji's class was held. As he drove, they talked and listened to the radio. After about forty-five minutes, Kouji got off the freeway and drove down a few surface streets until he came to a shopping complex. He parked near a building that said "Kendo" on the front. They both got out of the car.
"I should be done by about 1:00," Kouji told her, "If you get bored, you can always come back and lounge around inside."
"Okay," Mecale agreed.
"See you in a few hours," Kouji said.
"Bye."
Kouji disappeared into the kendo building and Mecale began to make her way around the shopping center, checking out all of the stores. About an hour later, she had finished going through the shops near the kendo building and decided to head down the street a little ways to a shopping center she had seen when they drove in. Mecale was entranced by the closed-in markets that were so different than the open-air bazaars on Gaea.
After wandering around the new area for a while, Mecale became thirsty. She bought a soda and continued on her window-shopping spree. The second center had twice as many stores and it took Mecale an hour and a half to fully explore the area. When she looked down at her watch, she saw that it was getting close to one o' clock. Mecale decided to head back to the kendo building.
She got the kendo building and saw that Kouji was still inside. Mecale decided that she wanted to see what kendo was so she walked into the building. Inside, there was a group of women standing at the back of the building by the door. The only men visible were two in the middle of the room, swinging wooden sticks at each other. Mecale looked around the building for Kouji but when she didn't see him, she joined the group of women to watch.
Next to Mecale stood a short brunette. She turned to Mecale when she noticed her join the group. "I don't think I've seen you here before. Who are you with?"
"Uh…Kouji," Mecale answered.
"Really?" the brunette said loudly, drawing the attention of a few of the other women. "I don't think Kouji's ever brought anyone with him before. Nice to meet you. My name is Jill."
"I'm Mecale."
"So, you're here with Kouji?" another woman, a redhead, asked.
"Yes," Mecale nodded.
"Are you his girlfriend?" yet another woman, this one blonde, inquired.
Mecale felt her cheeks grow red. "Um…no. We're just friends."
"Oh," the woman nodded, "right."
Before anymore could be said, the two men fighting were stopped by an older, well-built man. "Okay, just one more fight and you can all go home," the man announced, "Kouji! Ken! It's your turn."
Kouji and another man emerged from behind a screen near the back of the room. Kouji smiled when he saw Mecale and stopped with the other man in the center of the room. Both of them were holding wooden sticks like the men before. The older man nodded and the two began to fight. Mecale watched in surprise as Kouji wielded the kendo stick with skill and grace. He was very good with the stick and suddenly, the image of him dressed in Fanelian armor and wielding a sword popped into Mecale's mind. She closed her eyes, willing the image to disappear even though the sight of it gave her butterflies. The vision disappeared but when Mecale opened her eyes, Kouji had defeated his opponent. The man was laying on the mat in front of Kouji and Kouji's kendo stick was pressed close to his throat. The older man congratulated Kouji and then dismissed the class. Kouji gathered his things and walked over to Mecale.
"Did you have fun shopping?" he asked.
"Yes," Mecale smiled as he led them out of the building. Kouji put his equipment in the trunk of his car and they got in.
"So, what did you buy?" Kouji inquired as he pulled the car into traffic.
"Nothing," Mecale replied, "Well, a soda but that was it."
"You were supposed to spend the money I gave you," Kouji told her.
"I didn't find anything I liked."
"Don't lie to me," Kouji ordered, "I'm already mad at you. Don't make it worse."
"Mad at me? Why?" Mecale questioned.
"Because you didn't spend the money," Kouji answered.
Mecale rolled her eyes. "Oh please."
Kouji chuckled at her reaction and then spoke. "I'm completely worn out. What do you say we watch some movies and order take-out when we get home?"
"Sounds good to me," Mecale answered and they continued down the freeway.
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"What kind of movies do you like?" Kouji asked. They were both standing in front of Kouji's movie collection in the living room. He had just taken a shower and his hair was still wet, making it catch the light and shine like polished obsidian. The red streaks looked like fire reflecting off the black. For some reason, Mecale's attention kept getting drawn back to him when she was trying to look for a movie to watch.
"I don't know," Mecale answered, pulling her gaze away from him. She thought for a second. "I know. Let's watch you movie, the one you wrote."
"Okay," Kouji agreed. He pulled a movie off of the shelf and put it into the DVD player. The two of them sat down on the couch with the Chinese food they had ordered and Kouji pushed play on the remote. "I have to warn you, this movie is a fantasy/romance flick."
"That's fine," Mecale insisted as the title of the movie, "World's Apart," came on the screen.
"It's actually based on a story my mother told me when I was a kid," Kouji informed as the opening scene of the movie began to play out. It showed a teenage girl reading her friend's fortunes with Tarot Cards at her school. "She swears it actually happened to a friend of hers."
Mecale nodded and focused on the movie as the girl who had been playing with the Tarot Cards earlier was now hurrying to track practice.
Two hours later, Mecale was completely and utterly speechless. She had no idea what to think. The movie she had just watched, the one Kouji had written, was the story of her aunt Hitomi and her uncle Van. Of course, the names were different but it was definitely their story.
"Hey Mecale," Kouji called, "Are you okay? You look sick."
"I…I'm fine," Mecale stammered. She turned to the man next to her on the couch. "You wrote that story?"
Kouji looked at her strangely. "Yes."
"And you got the idea from a story your mother used to tell you about a friend of hers?"
"Yes," Kouji replied, "That exactly how she told it. I changed the names, of course and had the story set in America instead of Japan where it supposedly happened. And I had to make up the ending, you know, the part where the war ended and then they got married, had a baby, etc., because my mom says her friend stayed on Gaea."
"Gaea?" Mecale choked out.
"That's the name of the planet where my mom's friend supposedly went," Kouji informed.
Mecale's mind was reeling. Hitomi had only told one person about Gaea when she had gone back to the Mystic Moon. Yukari must be Kouji's mother. But who was his father? "Kouji, what's your father's name?"
"Amano."
Mecale's eyes nearly popped out of her skull. "Your father is Amano Susumu?!"
"Yeah," Kouji confirmed, "Have you heard of him before?"
Oh no, Mecale thought, How am I going to get out of this one? "Um…"
"I'm not surprised," Kouji continued, "He was an Olympic runner when he was younger."
Mecale sighed, relieved that she had been saved from the predicament. "So, do you believe the story your mother told you?"
"I don't know," Kouji shrugged, "I hate to think of my mom as a liar but it's a little far-fetched, don't you think?"
Not really, Mecale thought. "I guess."
Kouji gave her a questioning look. "Why are you so interested in all of this?"
"I was just curious," Mecale replied. She wanted to tell Kouji everything but she was afraid that he wouldn't believe her, despite his mother's story. She hadn't realized until now just how much she wanted him to know who she really was. "I'm kind of tired. I think I'm going to go to bed."
"Are you sure?" Kouji asked, "It's only 8:00."
"I know but I'm tired," Mecale told him. "I'll see you in the morning. Good night Kouji." Mecale got up and walked down the hallway.
"Good night Mecale," Kouji called, still puzzled as to why she had left so suddenly.
Inside the room, Mecale changed into her pajamas, fighting back tears the entire time. What's wrong with me? she thought as she climbed into bed, Why am I so sad? Why do I want to tell Kouji the truth so bad? Why does it hurt so much that he doesn't believe in Gaea?
Mecale laid down and fell asleep while tiny, crystalline tears soaked her pillow.
Mecale closed her eyes, trying to shut out the image of the churning shadow and the eerie face. To her horror, when she opened her eyes, she was standing right in front of the evil entity. She tried to run but found that her legs were stuck to the ground. To add to her terror, Mecale could feel the presence of something coming closer to her from inside the shadow. She didn't now what it was but she knew it was pure evil and was getting closer to emerging into the light.
Mecale continued to struggle but the paralysis in her legs remained. The evil in the shadow grew closer and closer until it was standing just across the threshold in the darkness. Mecale was desperate now, chanting "no" over and over again while she frantically tried to move her useless legs.
Suddenly, she sensed the evil move. It had decided it was time to reveal itself. Mecale watched in horror as it stepped through.
"Nooooo!" she screamed but it was cut off when she saw what had emerged. It was a man. He was dressed all in black and was as least as tall as her father, maybe taller. He had pure white hair streaming down his back and his handsome face showed no signs of age. The man turned toward her and took a step forward.
"Mecale," he whispered gently.
Surprised by his gentle voice and handsome features, Mecale stared up at him. "Who are you?"
"I am you destiny, Mecale," the man told her. His voice was soft and melodic and Mecale found some of her fear dissipating.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean what I say," the man answered cryptically. He held out his hand. "Come Mecale. It is time."
"Time for what?" Mecale demanded, angry that he wasn't giving her any straight answers.
"Time for your destiny," the man replied and smiled.
Suddenly, Mecale felt all of her fear disappear and she smiled back. She felt as if she was floating and watched detached as her hand stretched out to meet his. A voice inside her head was screaming at her to pull back, to turn and run, but she didn't listen. The voice was full of fear and trepidation. The only thing she felt was bliss. With one smile this man had ended all of her problems and given her happiness. He was right. It was time, time for her to meet her destiny.
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I don't really like the way this story is going. The reason that the last few chapters (and probably the next few) have been so short is because they are boring to write, yet they have to be written. I'm sure they are probably equally as boring for you to read. There will only be 2-3 more chapters before they go back to Gaea and then hopefully things will pick up.
I have a question: In the next chapter, Mecale is going to realize that she is in love with Kouji while they slow dance on the boardwalk. I need to know if you think it should be mutual and they should kiss or if you think it should be one-sided and Mecale just doesn't say anything. I was leaning towards the kiss myself, but I'd like to know what you think. Thanks!