This chapter is a submission for the fanfic challenge at LJ.

Disclaimer: Refer to disclaimer in chapter eight.

Chapter Twelve: Au Revoir

Letting out a heavy sigh, the street performer seated herself up on to the thatched roof top. She adjusted her body to press her back against the cool red sponge-like bricks of the chimney. The cool brisk air caused the girl to shiver while the straw would occasionally prick her skin. Glancing up she could see the clear sky full of twinkling stars. Naoko could only ponder in thought of when was the last time she took the time to appreciate nature's beauty from up above. Yet the sound of pitter-patter could be heard and her brows knitted into a frown at first. When she looked down her eyes soften.

"One, two, three, one, two, and three…" the brunette in the black dress murmured to herself as she juggled a cascade of three balls. One by one the ball would fall into her hand and then be tossed up again into the air in a steady rhythm. It was only until she heard a distant stir she began to falter. Tension and nervousness coursed through her veins and soon enough the three colored balls fell and hit the ground with a soft thud. Quickly Bluenda whipped around only to see Naoko reply with an apologetic grin.

"You're getting better," Naoko said hoping Bluenda wasn't too upset.

"Thanks, I've been practicing all day. Well, I guess I'll just start over and try again," Bluenda merely replied showing that she was not at all mad.

Naoko sat quietly as she watched Bluenda go back to her practice. She admired how much patient her partner had and could easily pick herself up when she fell. Sometimes she would envy at how independent Bluenda was. Though the thought sadden Naoko when she realized her life could have turned out differently as well as for someone she mournfully missed from her past.


"Didn't even get the job done…" growled a man who concealed himself in the shadows at a safe distant from all the police cruisers surrounding the house with a shattered broken glass window.

"Sapporo…I don't want to do this anymore. How can we keep living like this if other people are going to suffer at our expense?" Naoko questioned. She cringed remembering the sight of devastation. Turning around Naoko tried to meet his gaze. Without warning she turned away with a hand on her cheek.

"Pack your things. We're moving to Johto first thing in the morning," Sapporo ordered with an emotionless tone.

"But can't I say good-bye to my family and friends?" Naoko pleaded. She got her answer a moment later.

Of all the places in Johto, Naoko found herself in Goldenrod City. She walked gloomily behind Sapporo with one foot in front of the other and held with both hands a heavy brown suitcase. Her head was done and from the brim of her bowler hat, her face was hidden behind the cast shadow. Mindlessly she followed through the bustling street, feeling homesick to the stomach.

"Oof!" Naoko stumbled onto the ground after being bumped into a stranger out of the blue. Her suitcase lay stranded beside her.

"Ikiru, watch where you're going! Those sun stones aren't cheap! Are you even listening to me? The contest can't wait forever!" Naoko could hear a young woman scold from a distant.

"I'm terribly sorry! Are you all right?" Ikiru asked tenderly yet his voice was full of concern. Gently he helped Naoko get back on her feet and retrieved her suitcase with his other hand.

"Y-yes," Naoko choked out. She was shocked at the gentleman's kindness. Naoko could still hear the woman from a distance but this time she was giving out a sigh and Ikiru chose to ignore it. Her hand was still in his.

"Naoko! Must you be so clumsy? Hurry up!" Sapporo harshly spoke, grabbing Naoko by the shoulder. He snatched the suitcase out of Ikiru's hand in an instant. After she felt herself being pulled back and torn away from the gentleman's grasp, quickly her loneliness and shame returned to her side. Naoko looked away from Ikiru's gaze as her golden locks shielded her face from him. The expression of question, concern and worry on his face was unbearable to see.

Throughout the walk Naoko followed behind Sapporo once again in silence. They found residence at a run-down apartment. Looking up Naoko took in the sight of her new 'home'. Strangely enough it reflected her emotion. Gloomily she was with each passing moment. She turned to Sapporo only to see him devour some kind of liquid he kept in a small canister. In a way she felt relieved that for the rest of the day Sapporo would ignore Naoko's existence but she could never let her guard down.

Nightfall finally came and Sapporo was fast asleep. Carefully Naoko slipped out of the room as a glow of lights passed before her eyes. Desperately wanting to escape her reality she walked out onto the city street. She didn't care where her feet took her. All she wanted to do was get away from there and away from Sapporo.

Before she knew it Naoko had walked through route 35 and into the Relaxation Square National Park. Finally feeling the tiredness in her legs, Naoko seated herself onto one of the park benches. She buried her face into her hands wondering what to do with her life.

"What's a princess doing out here at this hour?" Ikiru teased from behind. Naoko could only smile slightly at his comment. She certainly didn't feel anything like the sort of fairy tale. It was then she noticed Ikiru didn't come alone. Beside him floated a round blue-ish purple creature with glowing white spores.

"Oh, how rude of me! I'm Ikiru and this is my companion Jumpluff at your service," Ikiru formally introduced giving a slight bow.

"Naoko, please to me you," Naoko replied feeling more and more comfortable in Ikiru's presence. He then took a seat beside Naoko on the park bench as Jumpluff continued to merrily float around the two.

The three of them looked up to the sky that held a blanket of a million stars. One could have easily lost themselves in their own world at some point. It truly was a sight at the panoramic view of the evening sky and the park.

"It's nice out here," Ikiru said breaking the silence.

"Yes, it is," Naoko agreed. 'It's nice not feeling lonely for a change,' she thought.

"Are you all right?" Ikiru asked catching Naoko off guard.

"Oh, yes of course! Why wouldn't I be?" Naoko replied a little too quickly. She gave a nervous laugh trying to hide any signs of being troubled. He decided not to challenge it.

"Oh, what happened to your arm?" Naoko asked turning her attention to the gnash on Ikiru's arm.

"Ah, it's nothing more then a flesh wound. The little monster that won the contest went wild," Ikiru explained.

"Ol repth," Naoko whispered as she stretched her hands over Ikiru's wound. White sparkling lights fell onto the injury. Before long the wound had closed up and was completely healed.

"You're studying the art of magic too?" Ikiru blurted out, barely holding in his excitement.

"I guess you could put it that way. I just get by being a street performer."

The two softly chatted away. Whatever the reason was, Naoko felt she could tell Ikiru anything. Perhaps it was the way he intently listen to her every word and occasionally nod in understanding. She felt like she existed and in a way, loved.

Eventually, Ikiru yawned about how late it was and Naoko would yawn back in agreement. They parted ways with an au revoir. It was a promising goodbye that they would meet each other again some time in the future.

Night after night, Naoko would carefully slip away from the sleeping shark to meet Ikiru and Jumpluff in the park. Each reunion built a stronger bond between them. Yet somehow the thought of this liberty seemed to slowly disappear as Naoko found it harder and harder to escape from Sapporo's grasp.

Until one night, it finally happened.

Naoko's feet were beating down onto the cobble stones of the street. The air was too thin to breathe. Her emotions were spilling over the edge. She dodged her way through the busy street of the vicinity of the city.

In the corner of her eye, Naoko noticed one of the front doors to one of the houses open. Immediately she turned her face away. Stepping out of the house, Ikiru was sweeping away the dust out. When he looked up he saw Naoko running by.

"Hey, Nao-," he stopped midway when he caught sight of the pain in her face as she passed by him. She continued to run away.

Literally exhausted emotionally and physically, Naoko collapsed onto the park grounds in front of the pond. Sobbing she wiped away her tears with the back of her hand. She jumped a little when she saw Ikiru's reflection behind hers in the waters of the pond.

"Please, Ikiru…don't look at me. Not like this…" Naoko voiced averting her eyes away from him. She couldn't stand to see him look at her the same way he did when Sapporo tore her away from him the day they first met.

"Tell me, what is the reason for your tears?" Ikiru asked putting a hand on Naoko's shoulder. She flinched and he caught it.

"You can heal others but you can't heal yourself?"

"Sapporo forbids it…He demoralized me…and stripped me away from my magic."

"Naoko!" Ikiru and Naoko got up and turned around hearing Sapporo's shout from a distant. She hesitated at first but took a step towards Sapporo's voice.

"Wait!" Naoko turned to see Ikiru's eyes searching for hers.

"You don't have to go back to him. There's no need to have your wings clipped when you can spread you wings and fly," Ikiru said as he entrusted Naoko with the broomstick that was in his hand.

"But I-"

"Don't worry, Jumpluff will go with you. I'll cover for you. But first…" Ikiru then placed a hand over the broomstick. He mumbled a couple of inaudible words causing shimmering lights to sink into the grains of wood in the broomstick. He then motioned Naoko to get going.

"But Ikiru…why?"

"Because," he leaned forward as his lips grazed her cheek. Ikiru then whispered three words into Naoko's ear that caused her to blush.

"Naoko!" Sapporo yelled in rage as he caught sight of the two. Summing up all her courage she quickly got on the broomstick and soon felt her feet lift off from the ground.

"Go, Naoko! Don't look back! Au revoir!" Ikiru waved with a sad smile as his two friends were drifting away from him.

With Jumpluff by her side they raised up towards the sky. Naoko strongly debated with herself if she should turn back or keep going and not let Ikiru's efforts go to a waste. Down below she could faintly hear the quarrel between Sapporo and Ikiru as she advanced away with great speed.

"Get out of my way! She belongs to me!"

"She doesn't belong to anyone! She's not property! She's a living breathing free woman!"

"Hmph! How chivalrous? Well, I guess it's like they say 'till death do us part'."

At the outskirts of route 36 Naoko's eyes widen but then glistened with tears. An icy-cold wind passed through her. She then felt the broomstick violently jerk about. The next thing she knew she was falling with Jumpluff frantically going after her. As she looked down, she could see the rooftop of one of the houses coming closer a little too quick. Tightly holding onto the broomstick she closed her eyes and braced herself. When she opened her eyes she found herself safely on the ground without a scratch. Shimmering lights danced around her while Jumpluff let out a sigh of relief.


Naoko continued to watch Bluenda juggle the three balls in a trance. Jumpluff poked his head from behind gaining a gently pat on the head while the purple creaturelooked up towards Naoko with its tiny worried red beady eyes.

"Ikiru…As long as we live, we keep you from dying your real death, which is being forgotten," Naoko softly said.

In another part of the town, a girl with short black hair and dark auburn streaks stood looking up at the sky through her bedroom window. Tears streamed down her cheeks. Misa wiped them away not understanding why she was suddenly engulfed with the feeling of grief.

End of Chapter Twelve

Ok I think that's enough drama and trauma for one day.

2. "As long as we live, we keep you from dying your real death, which is being forgotten." – After Your Death, Lisel Mueller

"Anaylsis Synopsis!"

Today Eefi and I will discuss some of the underlying tone in this chapter.

Let's see where to start? It's kind of ironic that Ikiru means to live. Sapporo is a name of some kind of liquor.

"It was on one of those menues they put in the corner of the table in a restaurant."

Symbolism is definitely in this chapter. Actually there's a lot of symbolism throughout this story. So where are the symbols in this chapter? Well, how about I let you guys guess away.

Hm… I never thought I'd touch on something serious like this. You'll notice in the beginning of Naoko's flashback she walked behind Sapporo. I tried to portray Sapporo as a dominating type of man who constantly puts down Naoko. Yes, it's sad but I have to show how much of a villain he is. The beginning of Naoko's flashback takes place right after the break in, in Misa's memory in chapter ten.

"So what were the words Ikiru whispered into Naoko's ear?"

You mean you don't know? I thought I made it obvious. 1-4-3 Ok, so he didn't say it in numbers but if you've read chapter five and nine, you'll know what it means.

"I sure hope so."

About the juggling thing…did anybody see that episode in Joan of Arcadia 'Friday Night'? If not, then how about the riddle involving a man who crosses a bridge with all three of his boxes?

"What does a riddle have to do with this story?"

I'm getting to that Eefi. The riddle goes like this. A man is trying to cross a bridge with his three boxes. The bridge can only support 200 pounds. However each box weighs five pounds and the man weighs 190 pounds. So the man's weight and the weight of the three boxes will weigh to a total of 205 pounds. That's five pounds over the limit! Oh and by the way, the man can't just leave one box on one end and come back for it later. So how on earth does he make it to the other side with all his boxes?

"So you're saying he keeps one box in the air by juggling? I still don't know why you put that in the story."

Like I said, this chapter is full of symbolism. And like this riddle there's an underlying tone. Just as Ikiru's name means life so does the bridge. The boxes literally hold your feelings. That's why the man couldn't come back for one of them.

"Feelings like anger, love, pain, and loss?"

Yup, I like how they explained it in Joan of Arcadia. "Everyone carries more weight then they can bear. So you juggle."

Misa's appearance at the end of this chapter ties into the future chapter.

"Mostly likely it will be chapter 14."

Although there are three stories going on in this story, they all relate to each other in one way or another. Feel free to ask any questions regarding the story so far.