Let Us Dance Among The Stars

Chapter 6

Midnight. The death/beginning of day. Mikage did not want to sleep that night. Fake death is not needed to him anymore. He would sleep in the morning with a less than obvious death atmosphere and scene.

After his romantic meeting with Mamiya, and that waltz he would never forget in his lifetime, Mikage had so many things on his mind.

'Drat', he thought in bed. 'I forgot to fix that fax machine. I will see to it tomorrow.' The sheets were wrapped around his legs, his torso bare. His train of mind, at a rate of 1,000 mph in the wrong lane, kept him awake and gazing at the stars, the same ones that Mamiya promised that he would become in order to love and never leave Mikage.

Clearly, Mamiya wanted nothing more than to see Mikage happy. Mamiya had nothing else in the world now except for Mikage's love and his love in return, and Mikage knew that.

'What must it feel like, Mamiya? To really and truly have...nothing? Not even memories to visit, even in the dead hush of night? I have had memories, good and bad, but they are what they are nonetheless. However...I feel an empty space. Empty, yes...that is what it is. A void that needs fulfillment. Your fragile heart, Mamiya... thin and delicate as glass...stained glass. Rose-stained glass and all the other emotions of ink. Mamiya...do not fret, we will fill that void in both our hearts. Whatever it may be.'

Mikage's thoughts paused as he faintly whispered: "Deus Ex Machina."

How could Mikage reach Him in a time like this when his mind was driving him to a million different decisions? Reaching God was done by letting Mikage's hands do what Mamiya and his lips did earlier that evening. He prayed, but in the middle of a holy thought, Mamiya tossed beside Mikage in his bed. Mikage didn't finish the prayer. He felt for a moment, looking at the younger boy sleeping peacefully next to him, that a prayer of his was already answered, no need to bother God for more right now.

Mamiya was dressed in a pale blue gown and slept with a half smile, so angelic, mikage wanted to hold him close but dread at the possibility of waking him.

The rose petals were hanging and blowing off of the rooftops and high buttresses of the academy. Mikage's hands shivered; cold and weak, he blew on them for warmth. He tried to put his mind to rest but instead tossed to face Mamiya, with his big, turquoise eyes staring into dark, red ones. Mikage stopped breathing; his heart ceased; nothing moved.

"Did I wake you?" Mikage asked gently.

"No," Mamiya replied with a smile.

Pause. Stillness in still darkness was bliss. Silence was golden. Nothing was better than the silence shared between the two adolescent boys as they gazed into each other's eyes. Silence, once again, was golden. No sound, forte was absent. Leading the army of anticipation and future happenings, Mars rode on his golden chariot, past Mikage and Mamiya to make the rose if night blossom into an event that would mark their acceptance, their newly birthed friendship, love, and honor. Whether it would be in a second or an hour or a day, Mikage and Mamiya now knew they had the embryo of Eternity, they have made the conception of a miracle. They waited until that would birth-it was all they could do.

On the other side of the room, in a corner of black painted light, Mikage's fax machine was turned off. Although off, the message END OF THE WORLD still was there. Events have turned, the fax stood still for now. The floor was a sea of papers, courtesy the fax's constant messages.

If you listened carefully, you could hear the two rose maidens breaking the glass that kept them bounded in this perpetual world where every princess and person needed a prince. They are now free, their manifest destiny has begun-to the outside world. Stripped of the characters they once were, they are soulful beings past the world's end together and forever.

UTENA. That name passed through Mikage's mind. He remembered what Anthy had advised him. All he could pray to her mind was "Thank-you." She had said that she left Ohtori Academy for her search for something eternal...she had succeeded. Mikage though of Anthy's emotionless eyes as he first saw her in the rose garden. It stung his heart as Mamiya posed familiar parallels. Darker and darker grew the night; it continued until they saw the white of their eyes.

Bong-bong, rang the bells from the center of the school. The bells that usually started a duel, started the waking of the aftermath of the moment, the time,...Mikage's eyes opened and swished to the corners.

"I-It's late, y'know," he said addressing someone who, at this time, I cannot reveal. "Very late. Though I could not sleep, I never imagined we would be up this late doing this...this...um, just this. I've felt this way, far back when everything was the way it was before all this play drama came along; we are mere actors fulfilling roles to world's end. Parts for Eternity. We...are machines that can breathe and perform various tasks. What is tomorrow's schedule? Let me see...the seminar meeting...then the exam. I studied...did I? I can't remember. Usually I would come straight home for you, then...well, now I have been at school with exams myself and papers all about nothing I can remember now. Why? All the papers on the floor. What a mess. My...oh, my." Mikage felt a strong loving urge. "Ah...! Uh...m-maybe...something I can read up on about what I'm feeling. Am I feeling ill? Like you said...no, it-it is nothing, nothing at all. I remember seeing you, and I would stay here with you and talk of dreams. Dreaming for us was all we had, I'm afraid. Now...ah! we can do more...! Nothing will become of our determination and goals. Just...what are they in reality's stained eyes? Let's see...for both of us, I can...I can.. I can...no, it's no good. We have done what we wanted to achieve tonight. We are one, body and soul. Can I ask for more? I don't know. What will I do? The test, what was it on? Astronomy? Mathematics? Philosophy? I can't remember. What to do now? What else is there? ...ah!..(moans) I always read when I'm distraught...but, what about today? We would pick roses all the time, you and I. And...take walks out to the rose gardens. But, what about today? Where's out path? Where do we go? Today...where?"

Pause.

He concluded: "Please, tell me...what is our Eternity? In your eyes, I see myself, and I know you see yourself in mine. Tell me, where does Eternity dwell?"

Fax machine(silently without notice or heed): STOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOPSTOP!!!

Dead. For the remainder of the night.

Mikage's hands laced with Mamiya's for solace. Mamiya kissed the place where Mikage's neck and shoulder met, passionately. Mamiya smiled a smile that was most different from ones he had shown before. Looking at Mikage from the position under him, Mamiya's smiled like that of an evil witch. He was happy, at least, but the smile begged to differ.

"I gave you myself, Souji," he said smoothly. "You did too. We have a promise. We shared love tonight. Can you-"

"Mamiya!" Mikage said at shock, and pulled the smaller boy against his body. "No...! I see it! I see it! I see what you mean, my love. Oh, Mamiya! Tell me, what is Eternity? I have to know. It's the world that which we seek, is that correct?"

"Souji?"

"I know, you want a piece of heaven, a miracle. There's plenty of that in tomorrow. I shall find a way to reach the far ends of this world. You have my word." Mikage stroked Mamiya's cheek and their smooth legs were tangled like a fly in a black widow's web.

If Mikage was sure that his dreams would not backfire him, and if he could keep his promise to Mamiya, then the future would guarantee that the black widow's web would be an evanescent mirage in the face of a self antebellum.

"Sometimes the most fiercest adversary in the world is yourself," Mikage said to Mamiya, now wrapped in his arms from the neck down. Cuddling against Mikage's warm body, Mamiya hummed "mm-hmm." Trailing a mix of kisses and caresses around Mikage's arm to his neck then chest, Mamiya whispered: "If yourself is a worthy adversary, then I simply must play the nurse and treat you. You do not want to lose your strength for the battlegrounds, do you?" Mamiya continued. Mikage's hands soothed Mamiya's bare back gently and Mamiya kissed Mikage whispering between each kiss: "Can I keep you?" Yanking Mikage's pink hair, Mamiya's request seemed like begging.

"Yes," Mikage answered between a kiss as their mouths moved in different rhythms.

Mikage had to prepare for the worst. End of the World may have provided him a trustful ally in Mamiya, but will an army of two be strong enough to face world's end without getting killed in the process? There was only one way to find out. Mikage decided: A declaration to world's end, I'm leaving, and I'm taking Mamiya with me. This world of mine, the old world of past despair and grief, is no more.