::The Dance::

Looking back on the memory of
The dance we shared 'neath the stars above...

Shizuru stared at the glowing entity in front of her. It seemed to have no form, just a general human silhouette amongst the blinding blue light. One hand was extended towards the human woman, expecting her to take it.

Shizuru hesitated.

"Take my hand..." the ethereal being repeated for what must be the tenth time. Shizuru hadn't moved...

"My hand...take it...the pain will go away..."

The young woman had a sudden urge to reach out and take that glowing, welcoming hand. All the pain...the loss...the very hole in her heart...it would all be healed with one touch. If she could only really bring herself to touch it.

Flashbacks suddenly began running through her mind, like a video tape on Play without a Stop button.

'Lemme guess...human?'

"Yes, but remember we're in the minority here, so be careful.'

'...no, Sakyou...wait! NO!'

A cold chill ran up her spine as the last scene of Sakyou's life played through her mind...again...and again...and again...

"I understand the trauma this must cause you...it is why I am here..." the being's voice was so soft it was impossible to discern gender...if it even had a defined gender. Right now all Shizuru could indentify it as was light...light with mass, light with voice.

For a moment all the world was right
How could I have known that you'd ever say goodbye...

Shizuru suddenly felt a pang of guilt resound in her chest at the memories of her meetings with the gambler. After all, he was the one causing her brother and his friends so much pain, possibly death. He enjoyed watching the morbid scenes and bloody battles...others' pains, their dreams crushed with the shot of a rei gun or crack of a whip.

But she refused to deny the feelings she felt for him. Despite everything, maybe she expected to somehow turn him around, show him the absolute horror he caused without so much blinking an eye.

Again, the glowing entity spoke, "Please...hurry...take my hand."

This being was offering a change in time. In history. It - for it could only be described as such - was offering to erase Sakyou's memory from her mind. Wipe the pain of a lost love forever from the horrifingly vivid memories.

Ah...but what about the happiness she felt with him? The feeling of someone who cared, on a completely different level than Kazuma or her parents could. Would losing the pain be worth losing everything else?

No...

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end, the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance...

She opened her mouth to speak to the being. The only place Sakyou could live on was with her. The whole corny line of "they're in your heart forever" was so true it was sickening.

"No," the word came out of her mouth in an uncharacteristally high pitch. The being laughed softly.

"Really...you want to..."

Holding you, I held everything
For a moment wasn't I a king

"No...I really don't," Shizuru countered, now having found her voice completely.

"Ah...so why?" the entity questioned.

"You're offering to take away his loss," it wasn't a question.

"Precisely."

"But you're also going to remove everything else about him. Maybe I'm spending too much time with Keiko, but...I don't want to lose that..." closing her coffee the eyes, the young woman slipped into a conscious daydreaming state, letting her emtions finally show in a very uncharacteristic manner, "I'll get over his death. I'll never get over losing him completely."

"But you've lost him already. Can you not see that? He is gone. Gone forever, and I am offering you a way out."

"You say you know me."

"Yes, I know you very well, Shizuru."

"Then you should know I'm tough enough to get over it the old-fashioned way."

But if I'd only known how the king would fall
Hey who's to say? You know I might have changed it all...

"If you would've visited me after the first time I met Sakyou. Maybe I would have agreed, to avoid all that...but not anymore," Shizuru's deep, feminine voice rose in force this time, not in pitch as she fixed the glowing being before her with a hard stare.

And now I'm glad I didn't know
The way it all would end the way it all would go
Our lives are better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

"He's gone. Face it, Shizuru!" the glowing being no longer seemed welcoming and warm anymore. It suddenly turned cold and sadistic...Shizuru could feel the sudden change of ki wavelengths.

"You should face it..."

"What?"

"Heh..." Shizuru idly ran a hand through her silky brown tresses, suddenly calm and casual as the entity's temper rose out of control.

"WHAT?!"

Yes my life, its better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance

Shizuru rested her left hand on her hips. Raising her right fist, she flipped the being the third and snorted lightly.

"Face that, hon."

Pivoting swiftly on her heel, Shizuru strode out of her house, leaving the being screaming at the top of it's lungs. She vaguely wondered why no one else heard it, but really didn't care...

The past wasn't meant to be change. Hey, everything happened for a reason, right? Shizuru knew she would have to live with an even emptier hole in her heart if she erased Sakyou's memories. She may even go insane, never knowing why she felt so incomplete, like a void that could never be filled.

She may even find another love...who knows?

Something told her she'd have to wait till she got to heaven to find, though...
Yes my life, its better left to chance
I could have missed the pain
But I'd have had to miss the dance...

::End::

Meh...too short. Oh well, I hope you enjoyed it, though I may rewrite it later. I know Shizuru was a bit OOC in this, but she's never been confronted about Sakyou, has she? I've done my best, so be kind.