1Chapter 9

Kita wasn't sure if she should be afraid of the forest because of her dream, or because of the wild animals she could hear making noises just beyond every tree. She jumped when she heard birds calling out, she was used to pigeons, and when they went to the beach, sea gulls, but whatever lurked in the forest, she was not used to, and it gave her the creeps. Meilin, however, looked right at home, bouncing along the beaten down paths, or making her own by clamoring through the overgrowth.

"Miss Mother Nature, please wait, or stick to a clear path," Kita whined as she swatted at the bugs hovering about her head.

"Oh, does Miss Pessimism not like trees and bugs and wild animals?" Meilin teased.

Kita frowned while Meilin smiled, but Kita gave up and sighed. "Just don't go and get eaten by a bear or anything, otherwise I won't have a way of knowing how to get back."

Meilin continued to bounce around through the forest until Kita begged her to stop. She was out of breath from trying to keep up, and she was scared out of her wits by the growing darkness as the sun began to set.

"Please can we stop for the night, it's getting dark, and creepy. There, over there is a little bit of a clearing, we should rest there for the night." Kita pointed off to her left, Meilin's right, and tripped her way through the shrubs to the opening. Meilin bounced over the low bushes and rolled onto the grass in the clearing.

When she got up, Meilin looked around her, her eyes wide. They had found themselves in the middle of the ruins of a small village, or at least a few buildings of a small village. The buildings were made of stone, that had once had woven branches for roofs, Meilin assumed. However, now the stones were cracked and slightly crumbling, and the roofs had either blow away or had decomposed. There was a small shrine with a tall stone erected in front of it at the other end of the clearing from where the girls stood.

"This looks like a good place to camp for the night," Kita smiled, proud at herself for finding something more protective than trees and shrubs.

Meilin ignored Kita and made her way over to the shrine. "I think our best bet would be to stay in there for the night," she said absent mindedly, staring at the carvings on the stone. She couldn't make out everything that was inscribed, but she was able to decipher two words, 'Li' and 'Yue'.

Kita was unable to sleep, and to her good fortune, Meilin was not one to go to sleep very early. The two girls sat up and stared into the flames of the small fire they had built at the small steps of the shrine.

"Does the forest really frighten you that much, Kita?" Meilin asked, poking the fire with a stick she had picked up when she hunted for firewood.

"I've never been in a forest before, so I didn't really know what to expect. There's a lot more wildlife here than there is in the city, well, at least there's a lot scarier wildlife here." kita found herself relaxing while she spoke to Meilin. She figured it was the thought of having to spend time with either Meilin or the wild animals, she decided Meilin was the lesser of the two evils. "Why do you think it is that we don't get along so well?" Kita asked, unsure of why she even asked it.

"I don't really know to be honest with you. Perhaps our personalities are just too different for us to get along, or perhaps it could be the way we were raised, or where we were raised. To be honest, it could be just about anything."

"Do you think that perhaps it just wasn't meant to be?"

"No, I don't really believe in that sort of thing. I mean, you can always change things for better of for worse, based upon how you feel, and how you act upon those feelings. I mean, look at the two lovers from the tombs yesterday. Just because she didn't act upon her feelings of love, they weren't buried side by side, they weren't together forever. Perhaps if she would have acted differently, things would have ended up for the better. Right now, I know that I'm tired, so I am making the decision to go to sleep."

Meilin yawned wide and stretched out. She curled up into a ball next to the fire and soon Kita could hear her deep breathing. Kita watched Meilin sleep for a little bit, then she rose frm her spot and exited the small shrine.

She stopped for a moment to look at the tall stone outside of the entrance. She tried to read it as well, and just like Meilin, she could only make out 'Li' and 'Yue'. However, these words seemed to matter so much more to Kita than they did to Meilin. Again, she felt sad, but she also felt regret, and perhaps a little bit of anger. Yue, the word seemed so familiar, the memory seemed right there but wasn't.She felt like she was groping about in the darkness for something she had placed just beyond her reach. Instinctively, she knelt on the steps to the shrine, oh how she felt she had sat like this before, but something was out of place, something was missing. For a long while, Kita just sat, staring from the stone monument to the steps, then to the crackling flame. The flame danced in Kita's eyes and in her mind for a long while. She didn't think of anything in particular, she didn't know what to think. A few tears slid down her cheeks, but she did not stop to wipe them or question their presence. For being so uneasy about being brought into the forest, Kita found it quite easy to relax and let these strange emotions swell inside of her. She felt like she was somewhere else, like she was someone else. As the fire danced and crackled, it soothed Kita in a way she couldn't explain. Kita didn't even notice the fire fading from her eyes, and her eyelids growing heavy until she was caught up in a dream.

The circle of buildings stood around her, bathed in light, but silent as the grave. The leaves on the woven roofs rustled quietly, and even the animals seemed to quiet down for her. The shrine stood before her, but it was not empty, and no tall stone stood before its entrance. A woman with short dark brown hair knelt over a figure lying on the steps. She wore all black, a sleeveless coat with long tails, and short black shorts. Red buckles clasped the coat over her chest, and she wore one thigh high boot, the other was an ankle boot. She wore black bands on both of her legs and arms. A set of long black gloves sat by her side.

"Please, you must understand, it wasn't meant to happen, it was an accident," a voice in her ear cried softly. She felt the brush of feathers on her cheek, but brushed them away bitterly. She stood and watched the woman in black care for the figure on the ground, she was afraid to move closer, she was afraid of what she knew was there.

Kita shifted in her sleep to ease her aching legs and let herself sprawl out across the steps.

Tears flowed down her cheeks, sad, terrified, angry tears. The steps were now empty, except for herself, and the memory of the person who had laid there. Why hadn't she stepped forward, why hadn't she said anything, she asked herself over and over. It didn't matter now, she decided, what mattered was that an injustice had been done, he claimed it was an accident, the woman in black pleaded with her to have mercy, to forgive the accident, but who could forgive and forget death?

Kita awoke with a start and stared at the dying flame. It wasn't something that was missing at all, it was someone, and that someone she had loved very dearly once, a long time ago. She rose shakily, letting the feeling come back to her sleeping legs, and stumbled over to the tall stone monument. She placed her hand over the words on the stone and closed her eyes, trying to draw a picture to her mind, but failing to do so. However, she could remember the names, and she could remember the people. Why she did not know, but they hurt nonetheless.

"Li," she whispered into the dark and silent night. "Syaoran Li."