Hey guys, how are you all? Thanks so much to all of you who reviewed. I love you all. I am such a review whore. Special mention must go to juicy- sweetness, Aoi Tenshi and Summer Angel, because they are such sweet darlings. To Mindy, they probably should realise that she's sick, but they don't. I think I'm going to do something with that idea in a later chapter. Maybe. If I can figure out how.
Chapter 4 - Time Past and Time Present
Mimi sat on one of the worn red seats. Her heavy head resting on her hand, she tried to concentrate on their streams of questions. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Attempting to focus her fuzzy mind on their inquiries was unimaginably difficult. Her head throbbed with pain, the dull ache pulsing as if somebody was playing a song with a heavy bass on the drums right next to her ears. Her throat hurt just as badly. It felt like there was a fire swirling down there. But she tried to ignore these symptoms and answer the questions that she was being bombarded with.
"I am sixteen years old. My birthday was the eighth of February." She croaked in reply to a query of Tai's. These questions were all so pointless. Mimi could sense that they were tiptoeing around the one that actually mattered, not quite daring to bring it up in case it was too horrible. Wanting, but at the same time not wanting to know what had happened in her past. Finally, somebody gathered the courage to just ask.
"So, Mimi. Uh... what exactly made you want to run away from your home?" It had been Sora who had broken the unspoken rule not to ask about personal histories. She was really curious to know why this girl, who seemed to have had the perfect upbringing, would want to leave it all behind. Why would she choose this completely undesirable life, over the one that had paid for her French nails?
Mimi smiled, and decided to tell the truth. She had always been taught that it was wrong to lie, and besides that, she was in no state to make up an entire life story on the spot. Her brain was as useful as cotton wool at that moment. "I know that it looks to you like I have had a wonderful life," she started. "But that really is not true. Sure, my parents could buy me just about anything. In fact, they bought me everything. Beautiful clothes to wear, delicious food to eat. Everything. Except the one thing that I truly wanted. Love. My parents never cared for me at all. They only saw me as another possession to showcase. They did not even talk to me. Not even on my birthday." Here Mimi's voice cracked. That had been the worst day of her life. They couldn't even take the time to say 'Happy Birthday' to their only child. Mimi felt like she was going to cry at the very memory, but she contained the tears just like she had been taught, and continued her story. "Anyway, life was horrible. I was not even living really, merely playing the part of a bystander. Well, life is not a spectator sport. I simply had to get out of that horrible existence. So I did, and now I am here."
She finished her tale with a cough that shook her whole body, and then glanced around the room at her audience. Looks of pity and understanding stared back at her. As good as she had felt after getting all of that off her chest, Mimi suddenly felt awful. She did not deserve their sympathy, nor had she been seeking it. They had suffered far worse than she had. She was just about to explain this to them, when TK piped up.
"So... what are you going to do now?"
Mimi looked confused. "Well... I thought I was going to stay with you. Unless that is inconvenient of course."
TK shook his head. "That's not what I meant. All of us are looking for something. Trying to accomplish something. Matt and me are looking for our family, obviously. Tai and Kari want a real place to call home. Sora is trying to prove to her mother that she can become somebody great without her help. Izzy just wants to learn to use words again. I mean, he already talks a bit, but he really desires to use words the reckless way we do. So... what do you want?"
Mimi thought for a second before replying. She had believed that she only wanted friends, but now that she delved deeper into herself, she realised that was not all. She wanted to prove to everybody that a princess did not have to be a porcelain doll, made for style and not substance. "I truly do not know. I want to do something meaningful, but I would not have a clue what."
"Well, you should think about it," advised Sora. "I mean, wandering around blindly is no help to anybody. You need goals in life. Otherwise you're likely to let what you want most just pass you by."
Mimi smiled and nodded. After her long speech, she doubted whether she could talk at all, and she wasn't willing to try. She didn't want that pain that was like a colony of fire ants biting up and down her throat. She turned away from the pairs of inquisitive eyes and stared out the window into the grey world outside. She put on the pretence of being lost in thought, hoping that they would turn away from her and go back to whatever they had been doing before. She was sick of being stuck in the spotlight. Eventually it worked. Sora and Kari left to go and prepare a meal for their lunch. Tai and TK began talking about what their favourite sport was, and Izzy went back to his dog-eared book. The only one still watching her was Matt. His eyes were locked on her, something blazing behind them. Mimi couldn't tell exactly what it was that was burning so brightly, but there was definitely something there. She tried to avoid meeting his eyes, scared of his intensity, but it was to no avail. Finally he was able to connect with her honey coloured orbs, and instantly that unseen thread was back. Both could sense it, and both were paralysed by its strength.
After a few minutes being lost in Mimi's stare, Matt was at last able to speak. "You know what you should do?" he said, his tongue feeling like he had never spoken before. It kept tying in knots, and caused him to stammer. This had never happened to him before. He never lost his cool for anybody. He ran a hand through his hair and told his tongue to calm down as he continued. "You should go and see the guardians."
Mimi was still finding it hard to breathe. This coupled with her sickness did not help her voice. She sounded as if she was being strangled as she asked, "Who are the guardians?"
Matt's surprise to hear this neutralised the effect of the invisible connection, and he was able to speak quite coherently. "Don't tell me you haven't heard of them!" Mimi shook her head, looking slightly embarrassed at her naivete. "Well... okay. Their names are Hope and Liberty, and they live in a huge palace on the top of Mount Theisa. They are famous oracles. They can tell you anything. Who you are, what your past is, what your future is. All that you need to know to find what you are searching for."
Mimi was confused. Deciding that her question was important enough to warrant the use of her voice, she cleared her throat then asked, "Then why have you not been to see them about your mother and father?"
Hearing this, Matt turned away from her. Staring at a candelabra that sat on a slightly dusty bookshelf, he almost whispered his response. "Because I don't want to hear what they have to say."
Mimi didn't know how to break the seemingly impenetrable silence that followed this statement. "Well... I think that going to see them sounds like an excellent idea. I mean, for me." She hastily added.
Matt turned back from the candelabra to smile at her. "Okay then, we'll go." He replied.
How was that chapter? Please review and tell me what you think. I need to get reviews to live.
