Chapter 2
"What? You can't be serious!" Aranel yelled while jumping up in surprise. "Calm down… It is not for a while. I will visit….
Aranel?" Wufei inquired, looking down at the little face whose eyes were slowly filling with tears. He tried to calm her down and
comfort her with, "It will be okay sis. This is important. I have to be trained. It is my place as a boy, to be trained to be a strong
man. You are a girl and don't understand these things, but you might someday." The bad news, combined with other stress
caused her to react stronger than she might have if she was in a better state of mind. So she replied with, "You know what! I
can be strong too; and just because I am a girl doesn't mean that I am stupid! I will train and be stronger than you someday.
Then we will see how great men are!" With that, the little girl ran off, as fast as she could into the woods. "Aranel,…ARANEL!"
Wufei shouts and jogs after her….
Later
The sun is setting, and its fading rays are hitting a lake and making it shine beautifully. There is a corner of the lake with a
waterfall. There is a ledge protruding from about the top right of the waterfall. The ledge is large enough to hold a small child.
This is all set far back in the woods. It is that ledge that Aranel headed to. She always headed there to think or when she had a
bad day. It was her place. She sat there for an hour after sunset, and then lay down and fell asleep.
Back at the House
Wufei took one last glance at the sunset, sighed, then turned and walked into the house. His father and mother were talking
quietly at the kitchen table. They turned to him when he walked in. "Where is she?" his mother questioned. "I looked for her, but
she is hiding, I think. I can't find her. I angered her and she ran off." Wufei replied. "That girl! She should start learning the
proper place for an onna. She should be punished. She left her chores undone." The father ranted angrily. "Father, I can finish
her chores, please don't punish her. I said some things that upset her." Wufei plead. "Wufei, you need to let her learn to take
responsibility for her actions, and mind her place." His father admonished. "Yes, Father." Wufei sighed. "Well, get to bed. We'll
wait for her." The mother ordered. "Yes mother." He headed back towards his room and hoped that his little sister was okay.
Back at the Lake
The small form of a child shivers violently. It was the middle of the night and the temperature had dropped drastically. Despite
the coolness, a bead of sweat rolls down her forehead. She moves around, whimpering, and occasionally kicking or swatting at
something not quite there. "No…No!" An earsplitting scream can be heard as far as the house.
Dream
She is in a space shuttle. It is weird. She can see her colony a little ways away. She smiles to herself. "Hmm…Almost home. This is
great. I can't wait to see father and mother, and Wufei. I wonder how he is doing…" A lady starts talking on the intercom. Ten
minutes until arrival at Colony L5 She smiles again, then looks back down at the book she had been reading. Suddenly there
is a bright light coming from her window. She looks out in time to see the last remains of what had been Colony L5 disappear.
No. It wasn't possible… "No…No!" She screams, banging on the side of the shuttle. Arms wrap around her, and then all goes
dark…
End of Dream
She wakes up, looking around and trying to convince herself that it was just a dream. She was on the colony. It had to be a
dream. She then lays back down and goes to sleep.
Several Hours Later
Silence…She is home alone for a few hours. She had gotten home before sunrise. When she had seen her parents that morning, strangely, neither had mentioned anything of the previous night. She walks around her house, straightening things and performing her normal tasks.
She hears a bang and looks up quickly, startled. She grabs her brother's katana and walks towards the front door.
Suddenly there is a hard knock on the front door. She jumps and very slowly approaches the door. She yanks it open and
points the katana out the door. "Who's there?" She meant it to sound tough, but it comes out more like a yelp. Silence…She
pokes her head out the door… No one is there. Puzzled, she goes back inside, shutting and locking the door. She stands there
for a second, then turns around to walk back to the living room. She stops. 'Something is not right' …She can sense
someone else in the room. "Hello?"….