For the love of dreams

Chapter three: welcome to my mind, please wipe your feet.

By androidK18

For the first time in a while Motoko felt at peace, she didn't know here she was or how she got there but it was calm. She was in a Zen garden enclosed by an old and rather impressive mansion. The sky was hidden by clouds heavy with the promise of rain so she couldn't determine her position by the sun, and there weren't any identifying features that could help her figure out where she was, but for some reason she didn't care. She felt at peace sitting on her rather large rock in her rather small garden and she really didn't want to leave.

After a period of time that seamed like both an eternity and instant her peace was finally disturbed by voices, some sounded panicked while others were angry, they all seamed to be talking about someone who was hurt. They were coming from inside the mansion so she couldn't really make out what they were saying, but from what she could tell the "someone" would probably die if they weren't helped soon. Then there came another voice, one that held a tone of both authority and supplication. It seemed to both ask and demand something at the same time, whatever they wanted though they didn't receive it.

Unless it was a resounding "NO" and to be kicked out into the garden…

Motoko looked at the newcomer to her garden. She was a female around her age but about ten or so centimetres shorter with extremely long mousy brown hair. She was obviously not a slave to fashion as she was dressed conservatively in tight black pants and a purple sweater, her long brown hair reached down to the small of her back. Her eyes were hazel and had a strange vacant and innocent expression to them. They were directed right at her.

'Did they kick you out too?' Motoko looked around to see if the girl was talking to someone else, but when she found no-one she thought it was best that she said something.

'Me? Uh, No… I think I've been here the whole time.'

'Really?' asked the girl 'they must be angry with you if they wouldn't let you in. don't worry though, they'll forgive you soon enough, then you'll get to see the rest of my house'

'Wait a second' asked Motoko confusedly 'if this is your house, why are they kicking you out of it?'

'Oh that?' the girl asked as she pointed to the door she just came out of 'they say that I'm dying. I asked if I could watch and they all said that it was for the best if I didn't. I guess they're right. They say I was stabbed and all that blood would make me kinda sick if I looked at it.'

'They say you're dying and you just believe them?'

'Why shouldn't I?' asked the girl. 'They're all my friends; if they weren't then they wouldn't be in my house. And a couple of them have even died before so they know what to expect'

She made the idea of people coming back from the dead sound so commonplace that Motoko felt too ignorant to ask how that was possible.

'So… how is it that you have been stabbed and are now dying when you're standing right there talking to me just fine?'

'Silly, this isn't my body' answered the girl smiling broadly. 'This is…' the girl paused trying to remember something. 'Ah! Now I remember! It's a "projection of my conscious/ subconscious mind compiled to form an avatar of myself for communication on a mental plane" or something like that, that's what my friend Anna says anyway.' There was something about the way that girl said that that reminded Motoko of Kaola.

'And what does that mean in laymen's terms?' asked Motoko, a little tired of being confused by this mysterious girl.

'well I guess the best way to put it is that its an illusion of me that's made up of who I am and what I think about myself projected into your mind so that we can communicate here.'

'You're a mental projection? How are you doing that?'

Before the girl could answer though, she was interrupted by a young man entering the garden. He was a little taller than Motoko his body seemed well built and slim under his loose pants and jumper. His blue-grey eyes were accented by his long blue hair which framed his effeminate face that showed an expression of concern as he shut the door behind him.

As soon as than the door was shut he was tackle-hugged by the girl, apparently she not only knew the boy but had a very close relationship with him as well.

'Marcus!' shouted the girl burying her face his chest 'I'm really glad you're here the others are being mean!'

'If being mean translates to kicking you out here than they were well within their rights. Why on earth would you want to watch yourself bleed?'

'And miss out on watching Seed do her thing? You know I wouldn't want to miss something like that!'

'Not unless watching would mess up Seed's healing abilities.' He reasoned pulling the girl away so that he could look into her eyes. 'If you started freaking out from all the blood you could trigger an asthma attack or something, and there's no way Seed could stop something like that and clear the toxins out of your blood at the same time. We all care about you too much to lose you like that' he pulled her into a hug 'I'm just sorry that I couldn't get here sooner.'

'And allow you to start World War II? I know those guys you have to work with, they'd take any excuse you give them to pull negotiations and start with the explosions!'

'Heh… you make my work sound so dangerous.' The boy called Marcus looked up with a smile on his face. Then he saw Motoko and the smile changed into a glare that conveyed a sense of utter loathing.

'What the hell is she doing here?' he yelled pointing at Motoko and pulling the girl around so that she'd look in the right direction.

'What her? I'm not really sure actually I'm guessing a new friend. Hey that's kinda weird now that I think about it-'

'She's the girl who stabbed you!' he exclaimed 'how in the name of hell could you be friends with her?' he started glaring at Motoko

'Really, you think so?' Motoko stiffened as the girl gave her a once over. 'She seems too innocent for that. I think it was an accident' Motoko flinched when the blue haired boy pointed at her accusingly; she only just noticed that he had pointed ears, fangs, and the ability to grow to three times her height.

'She called you into her world ( three stories above ground I might add) set her gun-nut friend and the psycho-drunk off after you, blamed you for the whole thing and then hunted you down and stabbed you before you had the chance to defend yourself!' he had now grown so large that he was now blocking out the sky. More disturbing was his eyes that were now come aflame, a strange visual representation for his anger.

With the fire came other changes. Blue hair grew all over his body his face lengthened to form a snout his ears pointing into triangles, his clothed disappeared while a tail grew between his legs. Somehow in his fury the boy had transformed into a giant wolf right in front of her,

Using his rage like a physical force he bored her into the ground. Feeling around she found out that she was without her sword and was therefore completely defenceless. Realizing this, she felt herself shrink from the boy/monster as she tried to think of a way to escape. She was preparing to run when the girl walked up to her and set herself between Motoko and her assailant.

'That's enough Marcus.' Motoko could not understand how the girl could be so calm before her angry friend.

'Everything's a little foggy in my head right now; I'm guessing nearly dying can be a little disorienting.'

'But- 'She raised her hand to stop her friend from continuing his interruption.

'BUT, I do remember bits of what happened.' She paused, Motoko couldn't see her face from behind but it looked like the girl was trying to remember something again 'I remember a girl with a sword…taller, more confident… she was angry with me… called me a daemon… said I tricked her.' Her voice was quiet as she struggled with her reluctant memory, the wolf …Marcus that was his name, shrunk back to a normal level, his anger deflating with his size.

'She said I was dangerous… She believed it too, you could tell when she chased me, she was cautious.' The girl turned to look at Motoko, her eyes intense yet still strangely vacant, as she seemed to look into her soul. 'If this small, scared little girl is the one who attacked me than I forgive her, she thought I was something I wasn't and really couldn't find out. If she hesitated and was wrong… if I was a daemon, I could have hurt her and her friends and it would be all her fault.' The girl turned back Marcus (who had turned back into a human with pointy teeth) 'She was doing what she thought she had to. It wasn't the right thing; she made a mistake, but since there aren't any serious consequences beyond right now I don't see any reason to get up her for all of this.

The blue haired boy stared at her incredulously for a few seconds before he broke into a grin.

'You had to go and defend the little girl from the big scary wolf didn't you?'

'Yup, can't be a real Australian if I don't cheer for the underdog!' Marcus smiled down at his friend before he pulled her into a hug.

'I'm glad you're opening up again.' He said 'just don't get killed ok?' he looked up at Motoko. 'Aoyama, if you let her get hurt I will personally hunt you down and open your guts to the world. Do you understand me?' Motoko nodded not willing to arouse the wolf in the strange boy.

'Seed!' shouted Marcus 'How's she doing?'

'Better.' Said a voice that came from nowhere. 'I patched up her internal organs and purified her blood. I had some trouble with the new girl siphoning of Ki but I fixed that up, she's good to go now.' Marcus looked relieved at the news 'the new girl better go back to her own body if she wants to finish healing' the voice continued 'and you better do it Marcus, everyone else is either busy or after her blood'

'You want to do it?' Marcus asked the girl looking hopeful.

'Nuh-huh.' Replied the girl shaking her head 'I'm gonna have to explain this to her when she wakes up.' She finished thinking for a second she perked up 'and on the subject of waking up… Bye!' waving farewell the girl jumped into the air and jack-knifed into the ground. Instead of hurting herself however, she disappeared into the pavement.

'I hate it when she does that.' Muttered Marcus to himself, he spent a few seconds in reflection before snapping back to "reality". 'Well, lets get you back home before my fiancé starts poking you with pointy sticks shall we?' before Motoko could reply he leaned over and (to Motoko's surprise) picked her up. At first Motoko merely spluttered at the idea that a perverted male was manhandling her in such a way, but after a moment she realized that he was only holding her with one arm. And he wasn't doing it with any difficulty either. When she looked closer at herself she realized that if she were standing up she probably only reached up to his lower thigh trying not to freak out Motoko decided that it was probably best that she got some answers before she beat Marcus senseless.

'Did you just grow tall again, or did you shrink me?' asked Motoko trying to act casual. Unfortunately her question broke Marcus's concentration and caused him to stumble. Luckily he managed to right himself before they fell.

'Dammit! Sorry what did you say? I'm not very good at this so I wasn't listening, what?' The boy seemed distracted as he opened the door and carried her inside so Motoko decided not to punish him for his clumsiness instead she decided to look at the interior of the mansion.

It was a place of simple elegance, the furniture was comfortable looking and stylish without being flashy. The floors were bare showing the polished hardwood floorboards. There were assorted knick-knacks placed tastefully on the bookshelves and hall tables ranging statuettes of dragons to autumn leaves piled in a small bowel. There were pictures of landscapes hanging on several walls, when Motoko inspected them closer she noticed that they moved; disturbed she moved her attention to a full-length mirror that showed a smaller younger version of herself being carried by a rather preoccupied looking Marcus. The image in the mirror shocked her out of her inspection of the house and reminded her that she still didn't know why she was now so short.

'I just asked you how you caused the difference in our heights; usually I'm quite a bit taller than this.' Finely answered Motoko as she gestured to her reflection.

'Hmm? Oh I didn't do that you did.' He didn't even look at the mirror when he answered; instead he opened a door to a rather dimly lit and shoddily-built hallway

'How could I change my own size without my noticing?' asked Motoko incredulously

'Not that hard,' replied Marcus as he shut the door behind him and started groping forward 'We're in a mindscape, a representation of someone's conscious and subconscious mind shown in a way so that we can interact with it.' He paused to duck under a low-hanging beam. 'In places like this you're usually represented with an avatar, if you don't have any skill in manipulating your view of yourself than you usually end up looking like how you see yourself.'

'What does that have to do with me being reduced to this size?' asked Motoko

'Apparently you see yourself as a weak child.' Motoko thought about that, while it was true that she didn't think that highly of herself she couldn't believe that her opinion of herself was so low.

'Couldn't I just be a big fan of Tenju Tenje?' her question seemed to startle a laugh out of Marcus.

'Heh… well, yeah that too I suppose, Just don't do the whole "grow to big for your clothes" thing. I'm not sure who would kill me first: you or my fiancé.' The boy continued to chuckle as he set her down before a rather ornate door that seemed out of place in the ramshackle hallway.

'Is that the girl I just met? She didn't seem that violent to me.' Asked Motoko curiously, his reaction was rather amusing. First he froze completely still, his jaw hung between his knees and his eyes widened as the colour drained from his face. Than he completely changed as he broke out into a blush and started to babble

'Me and… engaged? I mean just… dating is so… it's like incest… Eww!' Motoko couldn't help but giggle at the wolf-boys antics. She stopped giggling when she realized something.

'Hey, what is that girls name anyway? You all seem to avoid saying it outright' that managed to stop the bluenettes blustering. Instead he paused, staring at her for a few seconds in shock before breaking out into laughter.

'You mean you don't know? Oh gods that is RICH!' his mirth was beginning to grate on her nerves

'I would if you just told me.' She grumbled as his laughter dissolved into giggles

'No way' he said as he inspected the door 'I'll let her introduce herself,' he started laughing again 'oh man she had no idea what she's got herself into!' he crowed

"Who doesn't know what they've gotten themselves into?" hollered Motoko, frustrated that the bluenette wouldn't tell her something as simple as the girls name. Unfortunately all her yelling made him start laughing even harder.

'nuh-huh ,' he said shaking his head and chortling 'I said I'll let her tell you and I will, although I can promise you something' he stopped speaking to her to open the door, it apparently took some effort as the hinges groaned and the door only moved grudgingly. When it was open he paused to catch is breath before he directed her to the black nothingness on the other side 'If you want to go back to where you belong and find out what is going on, you better step though here'

'I'll find out her name if I step into a void? Isn't that a little unfair?'

'Yep!' he answered cheerfully 'I'm too lazy to go with you the rest of the way, not that it would change that much anyway, all you have to do is step inside and you'll return to your real body where my nameless friend waits to answer all your questions' a smug came across his face as he bent down into a challenge 'unless of course your scared?'

Motoko glared at M arcus, not even seeing fit do dignify his challenge with a verbal response she lifted her head in defiance and stepped into the mist-like darkness beyond the door, feeling her mind being overcome by the void around her she vowed to herself that the next time she saw the lanky wolf-boy, he'd be reduced to a pile of blood and gore.

'She doesn't seem too bad' said Marcus as he closed the door. 'a bit of a temper and some self-esteem issues, but all in all more sane than the rest of us when we were her age' he turned around to face a blond young man who seemed to be around the same height and age as Marcus 'don't you agree Joel?'

'Cant you just pretend that you don't know when I'm sneaking up on you?' said the blonde as he started following his friend out the door.

'And spoil the fun of it all? No thankyou, anyway you haven't answered the question yet. What do you think of her?'

'Me? I think she's a pretty interesting kid; she'll fit in pretty well after everyone forgets that she tried to stab our best friend'

'That might be kinda hard; Caryen wants to leave her for a pack of sharks to devour.'

'Kara's kinda pissed too. 'Says that her technique is an insult to swordsmanship and that that alone is reason enough to disembowel her' Marcus sighed hearing the news

'I guess the best solution is to distract our girlfriends until the new girl learns how to defend herself against our lady-friends.'

'Heres hoping we can pull it off.' Said Joel as he disappeared; presumably to placate his irate girlfriend.

Marcus continued walking through the mindscape wandering through the hallways of his "nameless" friends mind until he came to a painting. It was a favourite of his, showing a young girl reading a book that was at least five centimetres thick. The look in her eyes was that of awed wonder, Marcus remembered that it was one of her favourites "the Rivan Codex" by David and Leigh Eddings. He remembered. It was a combination of loneliness, that book, and a dream that had allowed himself and his friends to link their minds to the small brunette. Now, after so many years without any new people being included in their rather special friendship circle, this girl appeared. Motoko Aoyama. She had barely been linked for three hours and she was already shaking things up.

'I hope this all works out for the best' he thought to the picture 'because if it doesn't, if that Aoyama girl hurts you, for any reason… you might never heal this time' Marcus sighed one last time before he too disappeared. He had a lot of work to do if he was to see any harmony between his friends and the new girl.

Hey wow that's a long chapter! Are you confused yet? Don't worry; it only gets worse from here! I'll probably be spending forever trying to explain everything. Ah well, it's my fault for trying to insert my Australian psychic-dyslexic mutant into the Love Hina storyline.

Sorry if it took too long but I usually only write when I'm suffering from insomnia so this whole writing while feeling sane thing is kinda weird for me at the moment, thanks for the reviews so far its nice to know that people are actually reading this.

I'll see you all later!