Hi, everyone! Sorry this took so long to put up. I was kind of hoping (and waiting) for a couple more reviews, particularly from Maria and Vicki since they seemed to have been reviewing each chapter, but that's all right. But thanks to Damien for the very nice review! It's very appreciated!
Anyway, this is chapter 7, the second to last chapter in the story! It's, again, another Lum, but mostly Ataru focused chapter (although both Shinobu and Mendou are in it), and the title of the whole story (Return to Me) actually comes originally from this chapter, although the title could be interperted in other ways. Anyway, a lot of the parts in this chapter are cute and funny, and I really enjoyed writing a lot of this chapter, especially the ending. Also, (finally!) there will be some explanations to everything that's been going on (and another UY cameo, to boot!). Since I don't want to give anything away, I won't say anything more. I just hope that everyone likes this chapter as much as the rest and they won't be disappointed (with the explanation or anything), and I also hope that chapter eight (the ending) won't be disappointing either, especially since everyone who's reviewed so far seems to really like the story...but I'll try not to worry about that now, lol!
So, I hope you all enjoy chapter 7! Have fun reading!
Episode 7: Not Romeo, Not Juliet
Subtitle: (Love: The Problem with Losing Your Beloved)
The Tomobiki Summer Carnival, Part Nine (An Explanation to the Cerebral Stupidity)
"Ah!" Ataru cried in surprise as the bright lights of the carnival flashed into his eyes, blinding him, and he fell backwards, falling off the bench and to the ground with a thud. "Ow…" he muttered, rubbing his rear end as he felt it begin to bruise.
"Well, at least I woke one of you up before it was too late. Unfortunately, it had to be you."
"Huh?" Ataru looked up to see Sakura standing in front of him. "Sakura? But what are you doing here?" he asked as he got to his feet. "And when did it get so dark out…?" he asked, noticing the night sky and all the florescent lights shining brightly on the rides as people cheered and laughed as they spun around.
Sakura sighed and put her hands in her pockets. "I sensed a disturbance and so I came by to check it out; I should have known it had something to do with you, though."
"Me?" Then, growing frustrated, he questioned, "What are you talking about?! What's going on?!"
"Take a look," Sakura said and gestured to his right.
Ataru curiously turned his head and let out a startled cry to see Lum, Shinobu, and Shutaro all sitting at the table in the food court, eyes wide, unblinking, and hollow, and their bodies unmoving other than to breathe. Their food from earlier that evening was still on the table, where they had left it, and the music box broken on the ground. The three looked like statues sitting there, and Ataru pointed at them in a panic and shouted, "What's wrong with them?!"
"There in a catatonic state…or something like that," Sakura answered. "It's sort of like a coma."
"A coma?" Ataru asked with a frown and then went up to Lum, and snapped his fingers in front of her eyes. Yet she did not flinch.
"You were like them, too, only a moment ago, actually, until I broke you out of it; they all seem to be permanently locked in it, however. And you were close to being permanently stuck there, too, but I luckily woke you up before it happened."
"Stuck? Stuck where?" Ataru asked.
"In your head," Sakura answered. "In a made up world of illusions."
"What?!" Ataru exclaimed and he looked to the others with a panicked face. "You mean to tell me that they're all stuck inside their own thoughts?"
"No, that's not entirely it," Sakura corrected him. "It's seems that, somehow, all four of your subconscious merged together to form one subconscious, one world that you all created together and none of you ever even realized it. You've been all slipping in and out of this subconscious world throughout the whole day, although you were all unaware of it, and it grew progressively stronger as it fed on your thoughts until you were no longer able to get out of them. I pulled you out, however, right before you were trapped there yourself. It's pretty much an alternate dimension made up of all four of your minds mixed together."
"Oh…" Ataru trailed off, frowning as he looked at the others with their blank, dull eyes. "So…it's like a mix of all our biggest fears and desires?"
"No," Sakura again corrected him. "Yes, that's there and might be the most prominent, but it really comes from anything any of you have seen and heard throughout your entire life. Parts of it might be something pointless and silly that you don't even remember - it's everything that's in your mind - all four of your minds - whether it be something always on the top of your head or something that's been lost to the recesses of your subconscious years ago."
"But…how did we do that?" Ataru asked, still confused.
"A small, formless, and personality-less apparition," Sakura replied matter-of-factly. "It's more like an undefined ball of energy really. Anyway, it latched onto all four of you, it seems, and from a combination of all of your thoughts, you helped it grow and created it's form and personality, and eventually you all created it into a monster that trapped you into an eternal comatose state, frozen in your own minds. It's what you all somehow molded with your subconscious thoughts from a small piece of energy that eventually got out of control."
"We created it?"
Sakura just gave him a nod and said, "Now, tell me what you remember from the world."
"Uh…" Ataru trailed off to think for a moment. He then replied, "I kind of remember a valley…and a talking goldfish with wings."
"Talking goldfish with wings, huh?" Sakura said with a chuckle and a smirk. "Well, you kids sure have one strange imagination; not that I shouldn't expect it. It's good, though, that you're starting to remember some things. That means if you can remember things from your imaginary world here in reality, then you should be able to remember reality when you're in the subconscious world. And, hopefully, by the time this is over, you'll all be able to remember everything, whether it be from your subconscious world or not."
"But…how do we wake them all up?" Ataru questioned now.
Sakura casually replied, "We don't."
"What?!" Ataru shouted in outrage. "You can't be serious! We have to wake them up!" He then turned frantically to the three and took hold of Lum's shoulders, shaking her wildly. "Wake up, Lum! Wake up! You have to wake up!" But Lum's body remained lifeless.
Sakura let out an annoyed and frustrated sigh. "You idiot! That's not going to work and that's not what I meant!" she shouted, taking Ataru by the ear and painfully yanking him away from Lum and onto the ground. He let out a groan of pain, but Sakura just scoffed as she glared down at him. "What I meant was, YOU have to be the one to wake them up; I can't."
"Why not?" Ataru asked looking up at her from the ground before he started to get to his feet.
"Because I don't have access to this subconscious world," Sakura explained. "The only people that have access to it are you four, and since you're the only one that now has a basic understanding of reality, it's up to you to pull them out of their, since now it has to be done from the inside out, as opposed to when I pulled you out from here, in reality. The only words they can hear is in this new dimension that you all created and so the only way they'll snap out of it is if you can get them to remember reality while they're still inside their subconscious world."
She then continued on, "As for all the other people you may or may not have saw in this cerebral dimension of yours was simply you all giving the apparition different forms, whether it be one person or a crowd of people. And even when you thought you saw Lum, or Mendou, or Shinobu, it might really have been the apparition taking on a form of a memory or an imagined memory you have of them, or a combination of your memories and one of the others' thoughts.
"However," she then began, "it will be dangerous for you to go back in there, because, as soon as you do, your subconscious will become your reality again, and you'll forget that this reality - the real reality - exists. That's why I'm waiting for that stupid fortune teller to come back…"
Ataru blinked in surprise. "Fortune teller…?"
It was then that the infamous Wazuka Nozomi Suzambo III came running up, with her bushy hair, thick-round hair, and long gray robe. In her hand she carried a necklace with a white crystal hanging from it. "Here it is!" she exclaimed as she approached. "I found it!"
"Good," Sakura said. "Now let's get on with it."
"What's that?" Ataru asked, pointing at the crystal Wazuka was holding.
"This is so you know what's really going on when you go back into your subconscious - well, all four of your subconscious," Sakura answered, snatching the necklace from Wazuka and tossing it to Ataru. She then sternly warned, "Don't take it off." Ataru caught it and looked down at it for a moment as it laid in his palm. He then gave Sakura a nod and put it around his neck.
"I don't know why I'm actually helping you all," Wazuka commented and then shot a glare at Shutaro. "Especially HIM." She leaned over and whispered to Ataru, "Maybe you could, I don't know, forget and leave him there?"
"AHEM," Sakura cleared her throat, giving Wazuka a stern look.
Wazuka immediately stood up straight with a nervous laugh and scratching the back of her head. "Just kidding!" She then said, "Still, after you all blamed me about your fragmented futures when it was really your own fault to begin with because of this whole screwy subconscious mind thingy you created! Don't you know that creating another dimension always ruins the balance!" She let out an exasperated sigh and muttered, "And to think I gave you all half price!" Then, shaking her head, she marched over to Shutaro and pulled his wallet from the back pocket of his pants.
"Hey, what are you doing?" Ataru asked curiously.
"Getting the rest of my fee, that's what I am doing!" she exclaimed. "And, of course, having you pay for the necklace and for the rest of my help here. After all, you can't get something for nothing, you know!" She chuckled at her own choke as she pulled out a couple hundred yen from Shutaro's wallet, shrugged, and left it on the table next to Shutaro, and then taking his otherwise immensely stuffed wallet into her robe pocket. "Well, it's been great doing business with you, and good luck in your whole rescuing kick. Hope I never see any of you ever again, but, hey, that's just me!" She gave Ataru a wry smirk before casually walking away.
"Hmm…I really should think about charging…" Sakura commented to herself as she rubbed her chin. She then turned to Ataru. "Are you ready?"
A determination flickered in Ataru's eyes as he gave her a nod.
Question Number Three: Is this the Valley of…?
Ataru found himself standing in a beautiful valley, the sun brightly reflecting off of the crystal that now dangled from his neck, and the flowers colorful and vivid. And he could see the others, Lum dancing with solemn eyes, Shinobu weeping by a grave, and Shutaro laying in the grass, looking up towards the sky. Ataru immediately ran up to Lum, grabbing her shoulders and shaking her. "Lum! Lum! It's me, Lum! Can you hear me?" But Lum silently pulled away from him and continued her melancholy dance. Ataru frowned as he gazed into her lifeless, suffering eyes. "Come on, Lum," he whispered. "You have to stop dancing and snap out of it! Lum…" he trailed off, feeling a sob choking his throat, and he shook his head, clutching onto her shoulders again. "Lum!" he exclaimed loudly, yet it was as if she didn't hear him; she just pulled away form him once more and kept dancing with her dejected eyes gazing toward the blue heavens.
Ataru, frustrated, turned away with a scowl on his face, angry tears burning in his eyes and he looked toward Shinobu. Having no choice but to leave Lum for now, he ran over to Shinobu, and stood behind the gravestone. "Oh, Ataru!" she exclaimed, sobbing as she looked up to see him. "I did a horrible thing! I killed Shutaro!"
"Huh?" Ataru walked around the tombstone then to see the name "Shutaro Mendou" written on it. He frowned in confusion, "But, Shinobu, Mendou isn't dead. He's right over there," he told her in his bewilderment and pointed to where Shutaro was laying.
"Don't try to make me feel better, Ataru, because it won't work!" she cried before lowering her head and starting to sob.
"But - " Ataru tried to protest, but her sobs just got louder, and Ataru cringed because of it. He let out a sigh and then looked to Shutaro. "Well, I guess I really have no choice…" He then walked over to him.
"Hey, Mendou, get up," Ataru demanded when he reached him, standing behind his head and looking down at him.
Shutaro gave him a scowl and then turned over on his side in the grass. "Go away, Moroboshi."
"Mendou - "
"Can't you see I'm trying to be dead?!" he questioned in annoyance before muttering, "I can't even be dead without you trying to screw it up for me…"
Ataru screamed in frustration and exclaimed, "Will you all stop being stubborn idiots and snap out of it!" Panting, he fell to the grass besides Shutaro, already feeling defeated. "Now what am I supposed to do?" After a moment of contemplation, his determination returned to his eyes, and he let out a low growl as he stood up. He glared down at Mendou, a fight flaming in his eyes, and he grabbed him by the arm and started to drag him up.
"Hey!" Shutaro protested as he tried to pull his arm from Ataru's grip.
"You're getting up, whether you like it or not!" Ataru protested as he yanked at Shutaro's arm with all his might.
"Let go, you moron! Moroboshi!" he growled furiously as Ataru dragged him to his feet. Finally, when he was standing, Shutaro managed to rip his arm from Ataru.
"There! Now was that so bad, eh, Mendou?" Ataru asked with a smirk, but Mendou just scowled furiously.
"Moroboshi!" he snarled, raising his hands as if to strangle Ataru. "I swear to God I would kill you if I wasn't dead already!"
"You're not dead!" Ataru argued. "And you call me the idiot!"
"Can't you see that Miss Shinobu has asked me to stay here?" Shutaro then asked and pointed toward the sky.
Ataru scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Um, Mendou, that's not Shinobu; that's the sky," he replied, a few snickers escaping his lips.
"Well, that shows how much you know then," Shutaro snapped angrily and then, in, his huff, crossed his arms and laid back down in the grass. "Now, if you would excuse me, I'm trying to be dead PROPERLY."
With an aggravated sigh, Ataru exclaimed, "Fine! Be a moron!" and then marched back over to Shinobu. "Come on, Shinobu, you have to get up," he told her, taking her arm and pulling her up.
Shinobu's remorse left her for a moment and was replaced by rage. "Ataru!" she scolded as she yanked her arm from his hand. "Will you leave me alone, you jerk!"
But Ataru refused to give up and then bent down, taking her by under both of her arms and dragging her up, Shinobu letting out a cry of both surprise and protest. However, when he got her to her feet, she immediately pulled away from him, and then, with her incredible strength, swung her across the valley. He landed head first, his face skidding across the ground, and he landed a few yards away from the dancing Lum.
"Hmmph!" was all Shinobu remarked as she wiped off her hands and then fell back to her knees before the grave.
Meanwhile, Ataru groaned angrily as he pulled himself up off the ground, dusting off the dirt on his clothes and arms. He gave Shinobu a glare, but said nothing to her, deciding to turn back to Lum.
However, when he did so, the valley disappeared all around him and he was face to face with the a cruelly grinning red-haired man.
Ataru's Overture, Full Version
Ataru cringed and took a step back into the gray nothing, fearfully looking at the red-haired man. But he shook his head and then demanded, "Where's Lum?"
"Don't worry; you'll be with her soon," he told him as he walked toward him. But Ataru took another step back, cautiously clutching onto the crystal that he wore. But the red-haired man laughed. "Don't you get it?" he began as his body began to morph into the man that had given him and Shutaro hats at the parade. "I know what that is. I know everything you know, and all the things you've forgotten as well." He then changed again, into the Queen, and continued on, "There's no use fighting this, fighting yourself."
"You're not real!" Ataru protested, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "None of this is!"
The Queen now changed into Mr. Bean, and he asked, "Is it? How can you be so certain? If your thoughts tell you it's real, doesn't that make it real? And who are you to say that this is the made-up world and that your supposed reality is the real one? Maybe it's the other way around." Ataru, however, continued to shake his head, and tightened his grip on the necklace.
"Where's Lum?" he demanded again. "I want you to let her go! And the others, too!"
"Me?" Ryuunosuke now asked, Mr. Bean having changed into her now, and she gave a cruel laugh. "You idiot! Haven't you figured it out by now?" Ryuunosuke then changed into Megane, "By asking me, you're simply just asking them - and yourself."
Ataru looked up now to see Ryuunosuke change into Shutaro and he took another step back. "Moroboshi, are you that stupid? Don't you get it - I'm all of you. Miss Shinobu…" He trailed off as he transformed into Shinobu.
"Shutaro," Shinobu continued, "Lum…"
Shinobu then transformed into a smiling Lum, who finished with a giggle and arms wide open to him, "And you, Darling!"
"Lum!" Ataru exclaimed, and released his hand from his crystal, reaching out to her.
And then the red-haired man suddenly appeared behind him and yanked the necklace off his neck. Ataru stopped and gasped as he slowly watched the crystal fall to the ground and shatter into a thousand tiny pieces that each shattered into dust, whatever memories he had left of the real world shattering with it.
"Happy Birthday, Darling!" Lum, wearing an apron over her leopard bikini, oven mitts, and a bit of flour under her cheek, declared happily as she placed the cake on the kitchen table of front of Ataru. Ataru immediately winced in disgust as he stared at the lopsided cake, globs of icing dripping off the top and to the table, and raw carrots protruding out of the sides and slices of lemon sliding about on the watery top. "It's a lemon-custard carrot cake!" Lum explained proudly.
"Lemon-custard…carrot cake?" Ataru asked, placing a hand over his stomach as his face turned green at the sight.
Lum nodded with a giggle. "I made it myself, just for you, Darling!"
"I can see that," Ataru noted, having been a victim of Lum's notoriously atrocious cooking too many times before.
Lum gave a pout now. "You don't like it, Darling?"
Ataru frowned. "Well…"
"Because I can try and make another one, if you don't like this one," Lum insisted, picking up the cake again.
But Ataru quickly took the tray from her and said hastily, "No, no! That's all right!" And as he placed the cake back onto the table, the top of the cake imploded with a loud "glop," leaving a large crater in the center of the cake. Ataru cringed and Lum frowned.
After a moment, Lum let out a nervous laugh, scratching the back of her head, and said, "Well, nobody's perfect, right, Darling?" She laughed a bit more and Ataru frowned. "Besides, even if it doesn't look the greatest, it might still taste good! Here!" She then handed Ataru a spoon. "Try some!"
"No way!" Ataru exclaimed, shaking his head and refusing to take the spoon from her. "I'm not eating that!"
"But, Darling! It's your birthday cake!" Lum protested. "You have to at least try some!"
"But…" he trailed off as his fearful eyes fell back onto the cake.
"Come on, Darling!" Lum insisted, wrapping his fingers around the spoon. "Please?" She leaned close to him with pleading eyes and Ataru sighed in defeat.
"Fine…" he muttered.
Lum clapped happily as she stood up straight. "Yay!" she cheered with a grin. "Now, go on!"
Ataru gulped as he looked back down at the cake with a cringe. Then, he took a deep breath, and said, "Well, here goes nothing!" and took a spoonful of the cake. Lum peered curiously down at him with her hands clasped hopefully, anticipating what he would say as Ataru put the spoon in his mouth. After a moment, his face turned green, and he immediately began spitting the cake out on the side of him. "Bleh!" he exclaimed as he tried to get all of the cake out of his mouth.
Lum frowned and asked, "You didn't like it, Darling?"
"Like it?" Ataru asked in disbelief. He then declared, "That cake was disgusting!"
Lum scowled angrily, sparks flying from her. "Disgusting?!" she questioned.
"Well, you try some then," Ataru said, as if oblivious to her anger, and offered her a spoon full of cake.
"Hmm?" Lum asked, her anger quickly subsiding as she inquisitively took the spoon from him. She looked down at it for a moment before taking a taste herself. She winced and frowned, before beginning to spit it out in disgust.
Ataru started laughing at this and Lum frowned, her cheeks turning pink with some embarrassment. But then, after awhile, she couldn't help but start laughing along with him.
Ataru sat in the living room of Shutaro's lavishly decorated mansion for Christmas Eve along with Shutaro, Shinobu, and Lum, presents all around them, some open and some closed. Ataru and Shinobu sat on the couch, Shutaro in his armchair, and Lum sat elegantly on the floor, facing the couch, and besides the twelve foot Christmas tree, it's bright lights twinkling brilliantly in her eyes.
"Who's going to open what next?" Shinobu asked.
Ataru gave Shutaro a smirk and asked, "Hey, Mendou, why don't I open your gift to me?"
Shutaro gave him a glare and crossed his arms. "My Christmas gift to you is actually allowing you into my home, Moroboshi," he replied coldly. "And you're lucky that I was charitable enough to give you that."
"Well, that's a crappy gift," Ataru commented. He then offered, "Can't I just leave and you can give me money instead?"
"Moroboshi!" Shutaro snarled, already growing frustrated.
Luckily, Lum interrupted before their tiff got any farther, exclaiming, "Open mine, Darling!" She then reached up and placed a gift on his lap with an excited grin. Ataru grinned himself as he tore open the wrapping paper, opened the box, and threw off the tissue paper.
He frowned, however, upon seeing what was inside, and he pulled it up for the rest to see: a wooly bright yellow turtle-neck sweater with purple polka dots. Shutaro cringed at the sight of it while Shinobu had to cover her mouth with her hands as to suppress her giggles.
Lum then asked innocently, "Do you like it, Darling? I picked it out especially for you; I thought it was perfect for you!"
"Perfect…for me?" Ataru asked with a grimace.
"Well, I suppose they're both ugly," Shutaro muttered to himself, but then cleared his throat and turned to Lum with a charming grin. "I think it's a wonderful gift, Miss Lum. Really quite…stunning…" He faltered on the last word, however, as he winced. He quickly added, "Well, let's just say you have a unique sense of taste." Lum frowned at this as Shinobu's giggles grew louder. Shutaro even was having difficulties holding back his own chuckles.
"Put it on, Darling!" Lum then said, not noticing Shinobu and Shutaro snickering; all her attention was excitedly focused on Ataru. "You can put it on right over your shirt! I want to see it on you!"
Ataru cringed both at the sweater and at the sound of Shinobu and Shutaro's quiet giggles. But, looking down at Lum's pleading eyes, he sighed and reluctantly gave in, pulling the sweater over his head and his arms through the sleeves. As soon as he did, Shinobu and Shutaro couldn't help but burst into an uproar of hysterical laughter until tears were in their eyes, and Ataru's face turned bright red in embarrassment. He gave them both a scowl and shouted, "Hey! Shut up!"
"Oh, Darling! You look so adorable!" Lum exclaimed happily, completely oblivious to Ataru's embarrassment and Shinobu and Shutaro's laughter. She jumped up from the floor to swing her arms around Ataru's neck. "I'm so glad you like it!"
"Well, I didn't say that…" Ataru trailed off, but then couldn't help but smile, even with the pink still in his cheeks, as he looked down at the happy Lum that rested her head on his shoulder, the warm glow of the Christmas lights shining on her face.
Ataru ran through the rain, holding a thin bouquet of withering flowers that had begun to fall apart in his hands, the rain beating down on it. He glanced down at his watch. "Almost midnight!" he exclaimed in a panic and then tried to run faster.
"Lum!" he called as he ran through the streets of Tomobiki, running through the puddles as the cold water soaked through his sneakers.
"Lum!" he called out again as he reached the park. It was then that he tripped, his feet going to fast for his body, and fell forward into a large puddle. He groaned as he looked up to see the bouquet was drenched in the mucky water along with himself and he suddenly heard the chimes of midnight coming from the clock tower. "No!" he exclaimed, tears in his eyes as he pulled himself up. "Lum! Where are you, Lum?!" Yet, as the last stroke of midnight came to an end, he lowered his head in defeat; he was too late. He began to sob, his tears mixing with the rain, as his hand trembled around the dying bouquet that now hung by the side of his leg. "Lum…"
"Darling?"
Ataru gasped and spun around to see a puzzled Lum standing a couple of yards behind him in the rain, wearing her green sweater poncho over her leopard bikini. He laughed in relief. "Lum!" he cried, running up to her with a big grin. "Happy Valentine's Day!"
"Huh?" Lum peered down to see Ataru was holding a bouquet of flowers, brown and shriveled up and wilting.
"Sorry that it's a little late," he told her with a hopeful smile that she would accept them. But he then frowned as he looked down at the dying bouquet. "And that the bouquet's not the greatest…"
But Lum just smiled now, warm tears in her eyes, as she gently took the bouquet from his hands and brought it close to her chest. Ataru gazed up at her in surprise. And she said quietly as she smiled down at the bouquet, "No, Darling; it's beautiful."
And Ataru then realized how much he loved to see her smile.
"Lum!" Ataru cried as he knelt in the schoolyard as he had before, right before Sakura had pulled him out of, sobbing as his fists clenched tightly around the grass. "Lum! Where are you, Lum?!" He closed his eyes tightly. "It can't be that you're not real! I can't be that none of that was real!" he exclaimed before falling into uncontrollable sobs.
"No," he then told himself. "No!" he shouted even more firmly, forcing himself to get up off the grass. "What do stupid Mendou and Shinobu know, anyway?" he questioned bitterly as he wiped his tears away with his sleeve. "Just because they're too stupid to remember her doesn't mean she isn't real!"
"Darling!" Lum's cheery voice cried and Ataru turned around to see her smiling at him, a white glow all around him.
He laughed. "I knew you were real, Lum! I knew it!" he exclaimed as he ran up to her and threw his arms around her. Yet, as soon as he did, she disappeared, breaking into . He blinked in puzzlement as he looked down at his empty hands. "Lum…?"
The sound of her giggles came from behind him and he looked over his shoulder to see her again, standing their, basked in silver light like a smiling angel for him and him alone. He grinned. "Lum!" he exclaimed and went running up to her. But as soon as he put his arms around her, she disappeared just like the last. He could feel a hole forming in his heart as tears began to stream down his already wet cheeks. "Lum?" he asked through his sobs.
"Darling, what's wrong?"
Ataru turned around to see he was standing to face with a brilliantly shining Lum, who looked at him with worried eyes. With a sniffle and a loud, painful sob, he slowly raised his hand to her. As soon as his fingertips touched her forehead, she, too disappeared into nothing but silvery dust that quickly faded away into nothing. Ataru sobbed, shaking his head and closing his eyes tightly, not wishing it to be true. "She has to be real…she has to be…" he told himself over and over again as he wept.
"It is a bit ridiculous, don't you think?" a voice then spoke up and Ataru's eyes flickered open to see, to his surprise, himself leaning nonchalantly against the outside wall of Tomobiki High School. "A blue haired alien? In love with me?"
His other self than let out a chuckle in spite of himself and Ataru felt something break inside of him, realizing that he was probably right.
Ataru stood at the edge of the cliff, a dark gray sky hanging over him and cold black rocks resting far beneath him. His feet stood at the edge, the tips of his sneakers dangling off as a few miniscule pebbles broke off from the cliff and fell to the jagged abyss below. Ataru's eyes watched as far as they could as the pebbles dropped down, although in a short moment they were gone from sight, overwhelmed by the darkness with their tiny size. He thought he heard them patter, though, as they hit the rocks, but then he thought again about it, and figured it was probably just his imagination - or maybe just the wind.
"Darling!" a voice cooed and Ataru, with desperate hope in his eyes looked up from his dark fate toward the gray sky. There was a light there - a light amongst the cold ash that plagued the sky - a light that had taken the shape of a smiling Lum.
"Lum!" Ataru called back and reached a hand out to the brilliant white shadow of the blue-haired alien that floated a few yards above and away from him. A few more pebbles tumbled from under his sneakers and his body froze as the figure's light danced in his eyes. But although the light danced, there was nothing but darkness in Ataru's forlorn eyes as he dropped his hand to his side, knowing full well that the girl or light or whatever it exactly was that stood before him was not Lum. Lum did not exist; she was just a figment of his imagination, just like everything else. And if she did exist, the glowing shadow before him certainly wasn't her. That's right - it was a shadow, a beautiful shadow, but a shadow nonetheless; a shadow of a memory of something that may or may not have been real. But that certainly wasn't Lum.
And what if she was a memory of something that had been real, rather than the other more frightening possibility? Ataru had been toying with that question for some time now as he stood upon the cliff. There was no reason to trust what had been told to him, after all; Lum could very well exist and it could simply be his imagination telling him she didn't.
Ataru frowned and looked back down the cliff to the jagged rocks. There was little left to do now, except to do the only thing he could do; it would be the only way he could find out the truth about Lum, he knew. And if he were to discover she wasn't real, death was a much brighter fate than living a life not only without Lum, but living a life knowing that all the memories he ever had of Lum were really just illusions. Besides, it was the only way Ataru could think of.
Raising his head again, Ataru glanced back up at the illustrious shadow above before shaking his head resolutely and dropping his eyes from the image so his gaze was set straight ahead. Then, he took a step back, took a deep breath, and, with fear clawing in his stomach and a running start, jumped off the edge of the cliff. Darling! (Memories of…)
Lum danced. The wind rustled through her hair as she slowly twirled about, raising her hands up toward the sky. Memories of Ataru flashed through her head; she could see her pulling his arm at the Carnival, leaning next to him on the Ferris Wheel, waiting on line with him in the food court. Yet her eyes remained hollow and cold to these memories, and she slowly turned again, following along with the wind as she continued on with her somber dance.
And then other memories - made-up memories mixing with the real ones - came to her, and she saw herself dancing with Ataru in the ballroom, then gazing up at him on the train, and then shaking his hand as she introduced herself to him for the first time, with her black hair swaying in the wind…
Lum stopped and dropped her arms to the side. She lowered her despairing eyes to her pale palms, and she stared at them for a long time, searching for something that she did not know. Her eyes glistened, wet, yet no tears dropped from them, and she raised them longingly to the warm sun. But as she stared up at it, as bright as it was, it seemed dark and cold to her, just as she felt, and she started her dance again.
But Ataru's face remained in her mind, images flashing faster and faster across her memory. Yet her face was unmoved by it, somehow detached from it in her despair and guilt. Her lips, however, began to whisper, quietly at first, as if only a small breath, and the growing louder, "Darling… Darling… Darling…" forming a melody for her to dance to, as opposed to the lonely silence. But even as she whispered, her eyes still refused to remember her beloved Ataru, despite how desperately heart wished they would. It was as if all her memories were trapped inside her, and crushing her heart - only her pain reflecting out of eyes. Something wouldn't free it - her guilt wouldn't free it for she no longer deserved to remember the real Ataru Moroboshi anymore, and so she continued her solemn dance alone. Yet her whispering gradually grew louder still, as the different memories, real and fake, flashed more rapidly in her heart, and still she couldn't hear her own words.
"Darling… Darling…" she whispered over and over again, dancing still as new memories came into her mind; memories that didn't belong to her. Instead, she saw Ataru talking with Sakura, then placing a crystal around his neck, shaking her shoulders as she danced, and the necklace falling off of him. The, she saw him with a birthday cake, a yellow sweater, and, lastly, standing in the rain, holding a bouquet of dying flowers just for her. Then, she watched him swallow hard and jumped off the edge of a cliff…
"LUM!!!"
Lum gasped, her head jolting up as she abruptly stopped her dance with the cry, "Darling!" Everything broke free then, her memories flooding into her eyes and filling them with love and life and spirit, and the sunny valley shattered all around her as she soared upward, a gray sky and a dark cliff side taking its place.
She could see Ataru falling toward her as she traveled upward, still screaming out her name, and she narrowed her eyes determinedly, speeding up to meet him.
"Darling!" she cried again and spread out her arms, fiery tears flinging from her eyes. Then, she caught him in her arms, wrapping them around him safely and warmly.
Ataru's tightly shut eyes fluttered open to see he was floating, Lum's arms tightly embracing him, her head resting on his shoulder as they hung over the jagged darkness together. He let out a laugh and grinned wildly, swinging his arms around her in his joy as he closed his eyes again and exclaimed, "Lum! You do exist! I knew you'd come for me if you did!" He laughed again, joyously and in relief, hugging her even tighter.
Lum giggled, her bright smile returning to her, and she squeezed him tighter. "And you're the real Darling! I was so scared that I had lost you, but you finally came back to me!" She then raised her head and pulled away from him a bit, although her arms still remained around him, so that she could look into his eyes. "Don't ever change, Darling," she told him with a smile. "Promise me?"
He smiled back. "I promise, just as long as you promise not to ever not exist again, all right?"
Lum laughed, a twinkle in her eyes. "All right. I promise."
Then, Ataru asked, "Do you remember everything now, Lum? Do you remember the real Tomobiki and the carnival?"
She nodded and replied with a giggle, "I even remember some of the things you remember! You?"
"I remember now," he told her. "And I won't forget; not again. Not ever."
"Me neither," Lum agreed.
"All right then," Ataru then said, a glint of fight flickering in his eyes. "Now let's go find the others!"
Lum gave him a nod, the same determination in Ataru's eyes flashing in her own, and then they began to fly upward - back toward the valley.
What's Next:
Episode 8: As the Houselights Dim...
Subtitle: (Growing Up: The Problem with Everything)
Featuring:
-The Red Curtain Falls...and now, the Encore!
-The Tomobiki Summer Carnival, Part Ten (Couple One, Take Two)
-The Tomobiki Summer Carnival, Part Eleven (Couple Two, Take Two)
-The Tomobiki Summer Carnival, Part Twelve (The Last Step Towards...)
