By Viola Ophiuchus
Disclaimer: I don't own Wolf's Rain.
The sun, the moon and the stars would have disappeared long ago... had they happened to be within the reach of predatory human hands.
-Henry Havelock Ellis
The sky was so beautiful. It was a canvas of God, where he skillfully mixed light orange and red, creating a gradation of gold. There were hardly any clouds that obscured the beautiful painting. It was exactly one of the kind of skies Cher liked.
I remember her saying that the orange tinted sky gave her a feeling of warmth. That was part of the first conversation we had together, when we first met, when we were still oblivious and carefree. I had just entered the Police Department of Freeze City, and she was a student in the Science Field. We had met through the introductions of one of my friends, who often pitied me for not having dates.
We were having trouble conversing that day. I wasn't a witty lad, unlike my friends. She seemed to be really uncomfortable with me, since I kept on stumbling over my words and the palms of my hands were sweatier than of an athlete's. On the top of that, I kept on sneezing because our first date was in the park, and dog owners came to walk their dogs.
She was a truly intelligent person; much more intellectual than me. I was confused already when she started talking about compounds and mixtures. But Cher never jeered at me for not matching her in the Intelligence Department. She explained everything thoroughly to me until I understood it. She was so patient. I knew she would be a great mother.
"Isn't the sky beautiful, Hubb?"
"It is, isn't it?"
"Ah, I love the color of the sky right now...the orange color always makes me feel warm...I wish I had a blanket like the sky...I'd never feel cold..."
"I...I can be t-the blanket for you, Cher! I'll make sure you'll never feel cold!"
"Oh Hubb, you're so funny!"
I still remember her crystalline laugh. It was so clear, so smooth, and so beautiful. I'd dance in my underwear if that's what it took for her to laugh. Her entire face would light up like a light bulb, and she seemed to glow every time she laughed. I never got tired listening to her laugh.
On our next date, I got her an orange blanket. She laughed and placed a light kiss on my lips.
That was my first kiss.
We decided to gaze at the stars that night. We were both happy that it was a cold night. Cher was happy because she would be able to see the stars more clearly on a cool night. I was happy because I would be able to hold her tightly under the orange blanket that we shared. We were the only two that day in the park, sprawled onto the green grass as we gazed at the star-stricken sky.
The sky that we gazed was absolutely magnificent. The stars were so clear that it looked like if I reached for them, I would be able to grasp them. Cher laughed at my actions. She told me not to be so greedy, and that the stars would always watch over everyone. I laughed sheepishly and placed my hands on her hands instead. Together, we were sky gazers.
Cher explained that she loved the starry sky. She said that it was the other kind of skies she liked. The starry skies always made her feel that she was part of the world. That she was one of the stars in the skies.
Cher said that I was like both of the skies she loved. She said that I made her feel warm, like the orange sky, and that I made her a regular woman yearning for love instead of a scientist. I don't know if I really made her feel warm and loved, and I don't think I made her a regular woman. She was always a special woman to me, because I loved her.
We got married the next year. Our wedding was simple, but Cher said that it was the best moment of her life. She looked beautiful in the white gown, with her golden hair down. The priest had to nudge me in my ribs because I kept on staring at my new wife-to-be, and he couldn't continue with the ceremony. Cher had simply laughed.
We moved into a simple white house, and we got a bird. We would wake up at the same time, and would eat breakfast together. Then, we would get out of the house at the same time, and would get into the car together and go to work. I would always pick her up, and we would sometimes go out to fancy restaurants for dinner. Other times, Cher would make delicious meals. Life was simple, but it was happy. In fact, they're one of my fondest memories in my entire life. Just taking a glance at Cher made me happy. It still makes me happy.
About a year later, Cher was appointed to work on "Project Cheza", where they made a girl out of a lunar flower. I was really happy for her. She looked so happy when she got into the car, talking about how wonderful Cheza would be.
But then, the entire cycle started to break. Cher started waking up earlier, and even if I woke up at the same time with her, she didn't stop to eat breakfast. Even if I skipped breakfast, she would get one of her colleagues to drive her to her office, and I would be left alone in the garage of our house, standing next to our car. They were petty things, and I didn't mind. She had her own job, and I had mine. Sometimes I was sad, but I knew it was one of Cher's desires to complete this project, so I didn't say anything.
Sometimes, there would be days when Cher didn't have work. On those days, I would take a break from my job, regardless of how much my boss yelled at me the following days. She was usually tired on those days, so we didn't do anything drastic. We would just have a small picnic outside, and stare at the sky for a long time.
"I don't like the blue sky, Hubb."
"Why not?"
"Well...it's really beautiful, but it seems so...trite, I should say."
"What do you mean?
"We think of the sky as being blue...but it can be so many different shades! It can be pink, purple, orange, black...so many different hues...
That's why I accepted the project of Cheza...I wanted to make something different of Science...so many people think of Science as being, well, mixing test tubes and the concoction blowing up...."
"Isn't it something like that?"
"Hubb!"
"What?"
"Never mind...anyway, I don't like the blue skies..."
"If you don't like it, then we can move north. Then the skies won't be blue. We would be able to see stars every night, since it's so cold. Maybe we could even see auroras!"
"Oh Hubb, you know I can't do that. I'm working on Cheza, remember?"
"I know, I know. How about we move after you're finished? Up north?"
"I'd love to, but I don't know when the project is going to be over, Hubb. But I'd love to see auroras...they must be so beautiful..."
"Not as beautiful as you, Cher..."
Cher never minded my sappy lines. She would just smile like an angel, or would laugh with her beautiful laugh. Truthfully, I didn't want to move up north. It seemed really cold, and Freeze City was cold enough for me. But if Cher wanted to, I was willing to go north. It was a cheap price to pay for Cher's happiness. But we never moved up north.
Then Cher got busier and busier with every week. She would be so occupied with Cheza that she never really came home. She would stay in her office for a week, come home for an hour, and go back. Sometimes I wouldn't see her for two weeks. She never let me inside her office whenever I tried visiting her.
I didn't complain, though. If Cher wanted to work on Cheza, and she was happy, then I didn't mind. I didn't mind when she snapped at me when I asked her if she was okay. I didn't mind when she yelled at me when I visited her at work. I didn't mind when she never came home on our anniversary. In fact, I let everything go.
But then, Cher asked me for a divorce. I minded that. I loved Cher. Cher was supposed to love me. If two people loved each other, and were married, why do they have to get divorced? I was confused. I told her that, and she sighed impatiently, explaining hastily that she was too busy with Cheza and her studies.
I told her that I didn't mind her never coming her. I told her I didn't mind her snapping or yelling at me. I tried to do everything in order to keep our marriage alive, but she kept on asking for a divorce, saying it was the best for both of us. But it wasn't.
"Why, Cher? Why?"
"Because, Hubb, I need to be alone. I need to think alone. I can't study Cheza when you're around. I need solitude, Hubb. Don't you understand?"
"Cher, think rationally. You don't want this, do you? Don't you remember, we promised each other that we would never be alone?"
"Oh Hubb, I'm so sorry. But I...I can't take this anymore. I don't want to yell at you. I don't want to see your sad face when I don't come home. I don't want to hear your broken voice when you call me. I don't want to hurt you any longer, Hubb..."
"You're not hurting me, Cher! You're not!"
"I am, Hubb. You're just blinded by your love."
"I love you, Cher. Even if I'm just a stupid detective without any knowledge of science, I understand that I love you. Even if I might be an idiot compared to you, I understand that I love you. Isn't that enough? Me loving you, and you loving me?"
"Hubb, it's not that simple. Nothing's every so simple like that. This isn't going to work out."
"Cher..."
I tried to salvage our marriage in any way I could. But it didn't work in the end, just as Cher said. She was right, and I was wrong. But she was always the smart one, the one who was always right.
We got divorced. Then Cheza was completed. She was now an eminent scientist, which was her dream. I was just a police detective that was divorced.
I still dreamed of us getting together. But she wasn't a fool who only dreamed. I was the fool, who continued to gaze at the skies everyday, hoping that she could come back. I would cry whenever God painted the orange skies on his palette, and I would shiver in the cold as I gazed aimlessly at the starry skies. All I could think about was Cher.
But the clock started winding again when the wolves appeared before us. Cher left me the "Book of The Moon". She left Freeze City in her pursue of Cheza. I found out that our marriage was never officially recorded in Freeze City. Our divorce was invalid as well. Quent Yaiden and I went on a crazy journey to get back the people most important to us. I wanted to see Cher again, and I later learned that he was looking for Blue, a half-breed that he loved like a daughter.
I'm surprised I didn't go crazy.
I'm surprised I didn't choke Cher to death when I found her.
I told her that we would never part. I told her I'd stay by her side, no matter what. I told her I didn't care if she had to go look for Cheza, because I'd go with her. And Cher laughed her beautiful crystalline laugh, kissed me on the lips, and that was probably the happiest moment of my life.
But then, Cher died.
She never got out of that car.
And all I could do was stare as my beautiful wife fell down the cliff, her eyes still locked onto mine. Until the end, I was a foolish police detective.
The wolves took me down the cliff. She was still alive, but barely. And all I could do was weep for my wife as I hugged her lifeless bodies, while the wolves watched me. They must've though, "What a wretched human." I was a wretched human, though.
I couldn't give her a proper burial. I watched as my wife sank into the depths of the cold water, her golden hair flowing. Her clothes were chalked with dust, and it looked white. She had a soft smile on her face. A smile that was so beautiful. It was a smile that screamed Cher. She looked so much like the day we got married.
She said that it was the happiest moment of her life.
How ironic. This was the worst moment of my life.
I kept on staring at the water until the wolves got exasperated and left. I couldn't see her anymore. She was gone.
"Cher, if you die, want do you want to be?"
"If I'm dead, I can't be anything, can I? I'd just be a decomposing organism."
"I want to be your husband when I die. And I want to be reborn as your husband."
"Then...I want to be your wife when I die. And I want to be reborn as your wife."
"We'd be up in the stars when we die. We'd be one of those shiny stars."
"We'd be up so high that no one can reach us, right, Hubb?"
"Are you going to do something so naughty that you don't want us caught, Cher?"
"Of course not, Hubb! What are you thinking?"
"Ow, don't hit me, Cher. I was just joking."
The wolf, Kiba, asked me a question. It puzzled me. But now that I'm here, looking at the auroras, I finally found out the answer to his question. Or I think I have.
"Why...why do you look to the sky? Why do you not use what you have?"
I look up at the sky...because that's what Cher left me. She left me the memories of what we had in the past, and what we have in the present. I have nothing left, other than my memories of Cher. I'm just as good as naked.
Cher was a sky gazer. I was a sky gazer. All humans are generally sky gazers. We look to the sky because it's so much bigger than us, but it's closer than we think it is. It's one of our instincts to try and grab anything that's near us, because we don't have anything. We're naked animals, without fangs, poison, or claws. All we can do is to grab anything near us.
Cher always wanted to see the auroras. She told me. I can still hear her voice telling me so. That's why I'm once again looking to the sky, memorizing the patterns of the auroras so that I can tell Cher about them. They were beautiful, just as she said. She was right, once again.
But then, I was right, too.
They weren't as beautiful as Cher.
A/N: I watched the last episode of Wolf's Rain, and I was surprised that I didn't cry that much. I only cried when Tsume died. But he only appeared for like, five minutes. He died in about three minutes, and I was like, "Geez, don't kill him so quickly"
I mean, the last episode only focused on Darcia, Kiba, and Cheza. They should've focused more on Tsume, Hige, and Blue. I mean, they were supposed to go to Paradise as well. They were part of the group.
But the ending was great. It took a lot of thinking, and Tsume looked great on a motorcycle. I didn't know why they didn't put Blue, Quent, Hubb, and Cher in the endings though. They should have. Being a Hubb fan, I'm pretty disappointed.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my story. I've always wanted to write a Hubb Lebowski fanfic. I hope he didn't sound too weird. I really hope Cher didn't sound weird. Please RR!