Mon Autre Vie
2
in which Tohru dreams
The warm light of the sun wrapped around Tohru and hung over her shoulders like a blanket. It tickled, this digging her toes into wet sand. But there was water, water that lapped at her ankles. A swimsuit, plum colored, supple and sleek and altogether sexier than she felt inside. Fingers, running lightly over her stomach, feeling the material. Eyes, far out to the sea.
"There you are, plum-berry. You have been missed."
Turning just slightly. A boy. A stranger.
"Plum-berry?"
A smile. A smirk. "If you were an onigiri you'd have a plum on your back, because you're sweet and everyone likes plums and everyone likes onigiri."
That wasn't right. She knew this; it was her job to know this.
"I'm very sorry to tell you this, but that's just not right you know. One shouldn't put plum on onigiri. It takes salty foods, not sweet foods."
Laughter. Mocking her. Sun on his smile, her bangs in her eyes. Wind lifted sand against her legs and water bucked around her feet. He was facing the beach, watching her.
"Don't stand like that."
"Why not, plum-berry? I can stand any way I want."
She began to fret. Bit her lip, tugged on her braid. Strands of brown hair like gossamer fluttered around her face. "You have to face the sea. You have to show respect. If you look away from the sea, the sea will punish you."
"I'd rather look at you. We would all rather look at you than the sea."
Water to her knees now. Wind at her back. Must make him understand.
"You can't look away from the sea! Can't you feel it? Please, turn around. Turn around before something happens."
A grin, shy. A gaze, unwavering. And then the waves came, like a curtain falling, and there was no stranger, no laughter.
Only Tohru standing on the beach, with grey clouds obscuring the sun.