By Kia
The air still smelled strange to Lin, even after a few days up here. Not bad, no – it was, after all, what they had always wanted, wasn't it? No, just unused, new. It lacked the traces of smoke, of dust and oil she had breathed in all her life. Instead it smelled of the plants that grew everywhere – Lin had never, ever thought that so many plants were even existing! And it smelled of earth and water and rain.
The rain was falling heavily, steadily against the roof of their tent when Lin woke up that night, and she lay motionless for a while, staring into the darkness that was still so bright compared to darkness she was used to, and listening to the sound of the rainfall. When she moved, she saw Nina sleeping soundly beside her, Buki in her arms and a soft smile on her lips that expressed so much more than words ever could.
Ryu was gone. But Lin wasn't worried. Somehow, she wasn't even surprised. If she left the tent to look for him, or because she just felt like moving she couldn't tell.
Being outside was another thing she still had to get used to, and maybe she never would. It made her shiver, just like the water that fell from the sky and remained in her hair, and in the fur of her tail. All her life she had been surrounded by walls, and now that all walls were gone she found that she was scared of the open.
There were not stars this night, just dark, heavy clouds that lay over the world like a roof. The thought brought little comfort for the young woman, but still she hoped she would get used to it, in a while. For even though she couldn't imagine a life without walls, she also couldn't imagine missing it ever again.
Looking back she saw the tent that seemed to misplaced in this wide, untouched nature. Soon, it would not be untouched anymore. They would go back in a few days and tell all the other people that the world was now open. Then they would come, but for now that world was theirs alone.
There was a forest nearby, a place Lin liked much more than the open field, but this time her steps lead her in the other direction, to the cliff where she found Ryu sitting on the edge. He didn't move when she came, didn't give any sign that he took notice of her presence. Lin's tail twitched, but she did nothing while he was staring at the abyss in front of him and she was staring at him. The rain fell.
"He would have hated the rain." Ryu suddenly said, as if he was just continuing a conversation and she'd know exactly who he was talking about. She knew, and didn't ask.
"It makes the ground all slippery and lessens the view. Bad conditions for a fight. He wouldn't have liked that." His voice sounded as if he was smiling. "He was always like that."
Lin looked away and didn't know what to say. She said nothing.
Finally Ryu's form seemed to sink in a bit and he lowered his head. "I… I'm sorry…" he whispered, not to her but to himself and the darkness, and suddenly Lin wished he would step back from that edge a bit. "I didn't mean to…"
He fell silent the moment Lin's hand touched his shoulder and maybe that had been her intention after all. Maybe not.
'It wasn't your fault', she wanted to say, but she didn't, nor did she remind her friend that the one he was grieving for had repeatedly tried to kill him, because she knew that for him it didn't matter. Stupid boy, she thought. Stupid little boy. And she swallowed a few times to ease the tightness of her throat.
There was no wind this night and the rain fell almost soundless. At some spot the moon became visible through the clouds but still that rain fell. There was a silver shimmer now, on the wetness that covered everything. The voices of the animals that filled every other night where gone. It was just them, and the water that fell from the sky.
"I like it."
It took Lin a few seconds to realise that he had spoken and what he had said. Finally Ryu turned his head to look at her. He smiled.
"The rain", he said.
The woman only nodded without even noticing it. With all the water running down his face it was impossible to tell weather or not he was crying. But somehow she knew he was, and there was nothing left to be said.
She knew why he was doing his crying in the rain, and she accepted it. And so she left him alone with the sky and the rain and went back to the tent, to see if Nina had woken and was now worrying about them. But the girl still lay in deep slumber when she arrived, and the smile didn't leave her face the entire night.
-end-
May 27, 2004