Lupin III, Fanseries I
Episode VII: Dreams
(c) Tiffany Swartz

Disclaimers: I do not own Lupin III
Notes: Flames not permitted.

Lupin watched her sleep. She was so beautiful when she slept, almost like a child-like angel, yet at the same time, a most womanly moon goddess, with her beautiful skin so pale, and her eyes so blue-green that he felt that he was falling into endless enchantments and luxeries of the night flesh. She was so enchanting, so hypnotising with her beauty. It made him feel so intense, just looking at her, that he wanted nothing more than to sit by her side, do nothing more than watch her sleep. No, she wasn't just an angel. She was a goddess. A pale, delicate, beautiful goddess. Yes, he felt that he could sit there, 'til time and times were done, just wasting away to nothing watching her. He dare not touch her, for fear of disturbing her peaceful slumber.

She was quiet at first, the sounds emerging from her lips mere mewing. But then she started whimpering, and then groaning with fear; and all this rose up to a bitter boiling point: she began to scream. Lupin was so afraid for her well-being. The sandman was doing no favors by giving her these nightmares, these images in the dark.

Lupin dove down onto the bed where he currently sat, wrapping his arms tightly around her. "Yuma," his voice rose in concerned note, "Wake up, you're having a nightmare. Yuma, it's alright!"

Her eyelids shuttered open, her eyes brimming with tears. "Lupin," she whimpered pitifully, like a scared child.

"Shhhhh," he kissed her forehead, "It's okay. I'm here now, and nothing's going to hurt you. You're going to be alright." He gave her a little peck on the forehead and held her tightly. "What was your dream about?"

"I don't know," she murmured, still scared, "It was all so fragmented. I saw all these images and scenarios that I didn't understand. It didn't really have a plot to it. It was just there." She clung to his chest, "There were so many images, so many scenes, I can't remember them all. Lupin, I think I saw my own birth!"

"What do you mean?"

"It was so scary," she shuddered, "I saw my dead body on the table, and they cut me open. Only, when they cut me open, there wasn't a human body there. It was all robotic with wires and circuts ... I don't know exactly what they put in my body, but I looked and there were all these tubes with psuedo blood with all this red mixed with silver bits ..."

"It's okay, Yuma," he said softly, "You can tell me."

She started crying, "I don't know what happened after that. It was like I was having an out of body experience. They opened my head up and there wasn't even a brain! Just a hard-drive and wires and circuts and ... the pain! It hurt so bad, like fire, and it kept getting worse and worse. I tried to tell them to stop but the only sound that came out of my mouth was a weird computer sound and they kept going, as if this were just normal. They wouldn't stop. Wait! Some of me was human, but they kept replacing the parts with computer parts. They just wouldn't stop, and there wasn't even blood there. I didn't even bleed!"

"And?" he said gently.

"And that was it!" she wept, "This is why I don't know what I am! I'm a weird monster! Nobody'll want me, something that's not even human!"

"Yes, you are," he said softly, "Listen to me, Yuma. It takes more than a human body to become human. Like I said before, the body is just a shell in which we reside. You are one of the most human women I know. Nothings going to change that. Understood? Whatever they did to your body, it isn't your fault. It was a violation of your privacy, and your bodilly rights. I know that it's hard, but you don't need to worry. I'll always care about you."

"I ... I feel like some sicko's fantasy! It's just not fair!"

"I know. I know how it feels and it's not right. But you're not someone else's dream, Yuma! You're a member of my gang, and a lady with class, and you should be treated like one."

"Really?" she looked into his eyes as if she almost didn't believe him.

"I swear, it's the truth." He stroked her cheek, "Maybe it would be a good idea if you just took the day off, huh?"

"Yeah, maybe."

"If you have anymore dreams, let me know, okay?" he said, "We might be able to use this information."

"Alright," she said quietly.

"Good," said Lupin, "If you need anything, I'm right here."

"But what about the plans for our next job?"

"Don't worry about it, Yuma-chan," he said assuringly, "I'll fill you in on the details."

"Where are we going?"

"Someplace special, where they can help you."

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!" she let out a sonic boom shriek.

"Calm down, Yuma. Look," he said, holding her face, "I know this guy that works with AI. He knows everything about people like you. He's going to help us find out what all those extra parts are for."

"Lupin?" she asked softly.

"Yes?"

"Even if I were in my android form, would you still want to make love to me?"

"As long as it's no different from your human form, that shouldn't be a problem," he smiled warmly at her. She held onto him and he held her back.

"The plan sounds good to me," murmured Yuma, "But what are we gonna steal?"

"He's coming with us so that we can utalize both your hacking skills. We're going over to his place and trying out the program, okay?"

"Okay."

"Hell, maybe you might have some stuff that can hook you up to the internet and we could possibly use that instead."

"Hook me up?" she asked quizzically, a little scared.

"I've heard of humanoid robots that can be connected to the internet from any line, the kind of super computer prototypes that aren't even out yet. They're selling them in the black market, and I was thinking about getting myself one, one with quality, but I don't want to have to pay anyone to do the research for me."

"What do you mean, 'do the research'?" she asked.

"Find the best quality and watch out for flaws," he explained, "You, knowing what little you do know about- say, Yuma?"

"What?"

"How much do you know about robots?"

"Enough to know how to repair myself from minor injuries and do small updates in my programming," she said.

"Damn," he muttered.

"Why?"

"Well, I was hoping you could help me pick out a quality com., one that would have the latest high tech gadgets and the least flaws."

"Well, I would help you, if I could, but I'm warning you, I don't like the idea one bit."

"Why?"

"You talk about them as if they were just computers," she said in a huff, crossing her left leg over her right and facing in the opposite direction of Lupin, "They're not, you know. Some of them might actually have emotions, feelings, souls. Minds of their own. And it makes me feel inadequate as a human to hear you talk like that."

"Well, I didn't mean to, baby," said Lupin, sitting next to her. He held her chin and kissed her. "Feel better now?"

She nodded, "Yes, but..."

"But?"

"There is one more thing."

"Really?" Lupin looked wolfishly into her eyes, obviously interested.

"This," she layed down and as she was doing so, pulled his body over hers.

Lupin began kissing her and she breathed a sigh of relief into his mouth. Life wasn't as bad as it seemed.

Jigen walked by and as he was doing so, he heard heavy breathing. "Oh for Christ's sake, Lupin, couldn't you at least shut the damned door!?" he complained loudly so that Lupin could hear.

"Sorry, Jigen," said Lupin between kisses.

"Nevermind," grumbled Jigen as he shut the door to Yuma's room, "Forget it. Just try shutting the door next time, okay? God, you would think it was mating season with the way you two were going at it!" He heard Yuma giggle from inside the room and Lupin giving a muffled laugh. Jigen smacked a hand over his face and muttered darkly as he walked past the now shut door.