Story takes place, obviously, somewhere after Vol. 18 of the manga. (I haven't read Vol. 19 yet, so I don't know if it would still fit with the storyline, but I think it's not that important. I am, anyway, not so sure about some words I used her – if I have used them correctly and all. English isn't my first language, so please forgive me for all the errors I made.)
Once Upon A TimeBy Kia
A soft wind is blowing, finding its way between the high, faceless buildings of the city. It travels soundlessly, moving the air that is smoky and dirty in this small alley where no-one will ever pass through if there is a way to avoid it. The wind does not comment on what it just saw, does not judge, does not mourn. It passes in silence, gently playing with the hair of the man in the black coat, tenderly stroking the skin of the woman that is lying on the hard ground, staring at the sky as if searching for the lost stars that can never be seen from inside the city. It carries away the faint scent of cherry blossoms.
Once upon a time, it must have been possible to see the stars from this very spot on earth. But those times have passed, like so many.
It is a good term, 'once upon a time', the man decides, and mismatched eyes close for the briefest of seconds. Stories that begin like that all tell of times that were long ago, of events no living person is connected to and that won't hurt anyone. The persons from these stories all are so very far away, so unreal, and they all live happily ever after.
-"Come on, Subaru! We'll ask Oba-chan to tell us a story!"
Maybe that's why they are called fairy tales.
Once upon a time the stars could be seen even in Tokyo.
Once upon a time the world was a flat plate and it was painted in black and white, and after they died heaven awaited all the good people, while every sinner went to hell.
Once upon a time there was a boy who would have done anything for others, a girl who always told her brother never to give up his dreams and a man who was always there when he was needed.
Once upon a time the boy had believed in happy endings.
-"Now hurry up a little! You don't want to make Sei-chan wait, do you?"
The girl is gone now.
Once upon a time the boy had been sixteen, and in love.
A gloved hand clutches a bloody handkerchief. The man does not move and neither does the woman on the ground, her blood slowly running cold.
Once upon a time there had been a girl
- incomplete, lost, nothing without her -
that had believed in fairy tales. Had believed in happy endings, in true love, and that even the most evil of persons had a heart.
-"Let's go fool people, Subaru! When we wear the same clothes no-one can tell us apart."
Does he have a heart, the man wonders. He looks into himself and finds nothing but the reflection of his face in the blood at his feet.
The handkerchief had been one of her very first work for him and she had been so angry when she found out it was gone. And he, feeling sorry and embarrassed, never found the voice to tell her where it was. What would she say if she could see him, now that it has so unexpectedly returned to him? Surely she would be disappointed, and sad, and if he was lucky she would even hate him for that's what he deserves for betraying her by becoming what he is. In any case she would cry, because of him. He seems to be the only one ever able to make her cry.
-"I'm your only sister! Of course I have to worry about you, stupid!"
And He? He would only smirk and say something that would hurt him, because everything He said and did ended up hurting him sooner of later. In the end, both of them would show him, in their own way, that he does have a heart, still, because both of them would break it. But none of them is here now to judge him and what is left of his heart is safe from anyone but himself, somewhere in the crumbling, broken remains of his soul.
-"You… smoke? How unhealthy, Subaru-kun."
Do you hate me now, he asks the woman he has killed and she answers, Of course. You were my hero. I always dreamt of you. I loved you. You let me down. You killed me. You betrayed me. How could I do anything but hate you?
The man nods and bids the woman farewell. He wishes his own love would have been like that.
-end-
August 23, 2004
Yeah, that woman… Do you remember Kuniko Hashimoto from the Tokyo Babylon Save-arc? Well, I couldn't resist…