The Necklace: Part Three

"Thank goodness, you're alright! I was so worried about you!" Aya, her friend, exclaimed as she entered their little hut.

"Why wouldn't I be alright? And why worry about me?" She asked.

"Why worry about you?!" Aya exclaimed unbelievably.

"Well, let me see…" Aya pretended to think, "Uhmm… I didn't see you all day yesterday, I didn't see you go home last night and I didn't see you at breakfast this morning. That's strange you know, considering that we live in the same house. And there's also this fact that you never told me where you were going and what will you be doing! So, help me here, I'm lost. I can't figure out why I'm so damn worried!"

"I just did something, okay? Stop worrying. I'm alright. See?" She said, smiling at Aya.

"Well, I don't think you're alright. Look at you. Goodness, where have you been? You're all muddy and filthy! And, yaiks! What is that smell?!" Aya said as she covered her nose.

"So, I got dirty. Big deal? We all get dirty you know." She answered a little defensively as she lowered her eyes on the floor.

"Yeah, but not that dirty and stinky." Aya sensed that her friend was up to something. She isn't good with lying. Her voice usually gets funny and she can't look at you straight in the eye.

"Well, uhmmm… Don't worry. I plan to take a bath after this little talk is over." She said, forcing a smiling.

"And by the way, here's your sword." She continued before Aya could ask what it is that she did yesterday to get her all muddy and stinky. And she doesn't plan on telling her that she had followed the thieves that stole her necklace the other day.

"Oh! I thought those thieves also stole it! Thank goodness its safe!" Aya said as she rushed to get her sword from her friend's hand.

"Wait a minute… Why is my sword with you?" Aya asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I used it. Sorry I wasn't able to tell you yesterday."

"But you don't do swords." She was getting more and more curious on what her friend was trying to cover up.

"Well, yeah. But not really. I started to try out this new technique yesterday. I needed a sword and I saw your sword. And I used it. That simple." She explained matter-of-factly.

"New technique, huh? How 'bout showing it to me now?" Aya wasn't convinced that that was all she was up to. Whatever it is, she has got to know.

"Right now?" Her voice got a little shaky. Give it to Aya when it comes to catching her lying.

"Uh-hm." Aya nodded as he crossed her arms in front of her chest.

"I can't… " She said as she smiled weakly at her friend.

"Why can't you?"

"Uhmmm… I'm tired. And I'm going to take my bath right now. Got to go." She reasoned out desperately as she start to head to get clean clothes. Why can't Aya just leave the issue alone?

"Hey, you got your necklace back!" Aya commented, changing the subject. She couldn't allow her friend to get off without her knowing what she was really up to.

"Yeah. It wasn't stolen after all. Isn't that just nice?" She said as she continued towards her clothes.

"Goodness, Elena! Spill it out!" Aya exclaimed in exasperation.

"What?" Elena stopped to face her friend.

"What were you up to?"

"Nothing. Really nothing." Elena said as she once again lowered her eyes.

"You're not good at lying. I know you. Now, spill it out or I'll force it out from you!" Aya threatened her.

"Okay, okay. You get too pushy. I followed those thieves who stole my necklace and got it back." Elena finally confessed.

"You what?!"

"You heard me. I followed those thieves and got my necklace back." Elena repeated. She prepared herself for one of Aya's long, tiring you-are-so-stupid-for-doing-something-so-stupid-like-risking-your-life-over-one-necklace sermon. Aya usually plays the parent part on their house, and she plays it quite well.

"You are so stupid for doing something so stupid like risking your life over one necklace!" Aya exclaimed.

Elena didn't say anything. She just continued staring at the floor and avoiding her friend's eyes.

"How did you manage to get it back?"

"I got it from those thieves." She answered quietly.

"Yeah, that's pretty clear to me. I'm asking you 'how'?"

"I got it back the old-fashioned way."

"You beat those thieves?"

"No, I got it by just taking it."

"You sneaked in to their house and got it?"

"No, I got it from his neck."

"From his neck? From the youko's neck? How did you manage to do that without being killed?"

"Well, I attacked him with your sword. I pretended to not to know how to fight and just throw kicks and punches clumsily at him."

"And just by pretending you're inept you got the necklace back?"

"Yeah. He thought I was a waste so he didn't fight me seriously. If I appeared to have some tricks hidden up in my sleeves, he would have fought me and beaten me in no time. So, I pretended that I was just another girl trying her darn hardest to hit him even once."

"And?"

"When I got the chance to be really close to him. I snatched the necklace from his neck. He was too busy ego-tripping to even notice."

"But you could have been killed!"

"But I wasn't killed. It's over. I got my necklace back."

"Elena, that youko you were talking about should be feared. I heard he could kill mercilessly, he's a cruel thief."

"But I need to get it back." Elena explained.

"So, you're like saying that it's more important than your life?" Aya asked.

"Just try to understand that I need to get it back."

"Why? What is it with that necklace?"

"It's… it's personal."

"Goodness Elena! How can you expect me to just understand without even telling me why that damn necklace was so important to you?"

"Don't you trust me enough?" Aya continued.

Silence.

"Okay. But promise me you won't get mad." Elena said after a while.

"I promise."

"Remember that time when we first met?"

"Yes. Quite clearly."

"I told you that I never knew my parents, that I was like you. I lied. I lived with my mother. She just died when we met."

"Why didn't you tell me then?"

"I thought you wouldn't let me live here if you knew that I just lost my mother."

"Why would I do that?"

"Because you might see me as someone you have to take care of and you might not want to have that responsibility. "

"Elena, when I offered you my home I didn't do it because I just want you in my home. I did it because I saw the grief in your eyes. I wanted to help you get over whatever it is that happened to you. You were like a helpless little child that day, and I know that I just couldn't leave you there. From the look in your eyes that day, you're one centimeter away from suicide."

"And besides, I knew you were lying when you told me you didn't know your parents." Aya continued.

"You knew?"

"You're not a good liar, Elena. You're so transparent." Aya said with a smile.

Silence.

"My mother gave this necklace to me with her last breath. My mother's name is also Elena. It was her necklace. She told me that as long as I have this, she'd always be by my side. Always. She told me to take care of it as if it were my own life."

"And she... she told me that like her I should give it someone. Someone who could make the greatest of torture turn to the utmost of pleasure. Someone who could make the purest of pain turn to the ultimate of bliss. Someone who could turn my hell into my heaven. Someone who could turn my worst nightmare into my most wonderful dream. Someone who could make me cry and make me smile at the same time."

"She told me that if ever I found that person, I should never let that person go. Because finding someone like that would be rare. And if I should go, I shall leave this necklace to that someone, for it is the equivalent of my life, of me. That way, I won't actually be leaving. Through this necklace, I will stay with that someone."

"I was all that to my mother. Those were her last words." Elena said as she looked out the window. Her eyes welling up with tears.