Chapter One
My sweet little baby
rest your head on my breast
feel my breathing in your chest
If only I had stayed
I love you so much
It's hard to go on
I need you to be strong
against the wind and the rain
There will be losses
a shining heart
you can fall apart
but you must come back together again
My sweet little baby
rest your head on my breast
feel my heart in your chest
If only I had stayed
Ryou was dreaming. He could tell because it was all a haze. He was two, in his first house. He had just fallen, or so he thought. He wasn't sure. But he was on the floor and crying. His mother picked him up, hushing him.
"My little baby, hush," she breathed. "It'll be all right."
"Mommy, I'm drowning!" he heard himself cry. Confusion struck Ryou. He wasn't drowning! "Mommy I can't breathe!"
"Then stop crying," she said gently, smiling at her baby. Ryou tried to stop, sniffing hugely, mucus running onto his upper lip. Tears streaked his face. It was so vivd, so real, and yet so hazy.
"Mommy, where is daddy?" Ryou sniffed.
"Shhh, don't speak. Daddy will be here soon. Now baby," she set him down, "go back."
"Mommy?" Ryou asked again.
"Go back, baby. Go back... go back..."
Ryou sat bolt up right, gasping for air. He was cold, and wet, and alone. The Millenium Ring stopped glowing. He looked around wildly for his father. "Dad!" he called, struggling to his feet but falling again and again.
He was on the river bank. It was dark, and cool out, but there was no freezing rain and the dark asphalt was not slick with ice or water. In fact, there was no asphalt at all. The moon, hidden behind clouds previously, shone brightly from an incredible distance that seemed almost impossibly close. I mean, it was HUGE. The river lapped gently on the slope of the sandy shore.
Ryou managed to stand. The river also seemed impossibly wide- he could hardly see the other side. "Dad!" he called again, stumbling along the shore. Everything was sand, in all directions. After a while of walking, Ryou collapsed. "Dad," he whispered, beginning to shake. "D-dad... you never... never said you loved me before then... why?"
And he curled up, and went to sleep.