Disclaimer: I do not own the manga or the anime of Prince of Tennis. Blah, blah, blah… you get the rest.

Believing Dreams of Little Skies

By: Seiano

Chapter 2: Reunion

"Where's mommy, daddy?"

"Over the rainbow."

"Will she come back?"

At that point in time, my father just averted his gaze from the beautiful painted mirage in the sky and gave me a smile. I thought it was a smile of hope when I was five. But now I know that it was, indeed a forced smile with so much pain. Who knew that that smile would also journey over that same rainbow eight years later?

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The birds chirped and wheeled in the cobalt blue sky. The wind hardly blew, as if it were holding its breath. The morning was still.

Bright sunlight streamed through open window, alighting the brown hair of the Seigaku captain into flames of honey gold, auburn and coffee. The restrained light kissed the pale skin of his face, his neck, his hands and his collarbone. His chest rose and fell slightly, in rhythm to the silence around him. Tezuka Kunimitsu sat at his desk in his quietly absorbing the scene with his naked eyes. He had just woken up.

Suddenly the silence was shattered as his alarm clock rang.

Wake up!, wake up! It's 6:30. Today is February 3rd. The beauty of a programmed clock.

His masculine figure lifted from its previous stance to walk over to his nightstand. He let his fingers search for his glasses as the other hand silenced the electronic disturbance.

Today is February 3rd.

Kunimitsu slid out of his room with fluid grace as he quietly made his way to the bathroom. The sounds of his sleeping family members echoed through the hallways. He creaked open the bathroom door and flicked on the light. Slipping out of his cotton blue pajamas, he turned on the water in the shower. He let the warming drops of water dance on his dance on his skin as he stepped in. He faced the showerhead with lidded eyes. Tears. Suddenly, he twisted the knob shut, halting the flow of water and stepped out and dressed rapidly.

Today is February 3rd.

Without eating any breakfast, he left the house in a suit of casual clothing, leaving nothing behind but a note.

Okaa-san, Oto-san,

I've gone to the cemetery. I'll be back very soon.

Kunimitsu

Today is February 3rd.

The Seigaku captain exited the small bus on the tenth stop. He gazed up to meet a cemetery sign and sighed as he proceeded to walk to the small flower stand on the side. He quickly bought seven white carnations wrapped in a simple red ribbon.

Today is February 3rd.

The sun began to rise higher and higher into the sky as Tezuka trekked up the path in the cemetery. A half hour later, he reached the desired spot: a large granite tombstone that looked into the sky. Tezuka smiled softly as he readjusted his glasses.

The tombstone was engraved:

Aizawa Yume (1968 – 1996)

and, a fresher graving under it:

Aizawa Kaito (1968 – 2004)

The honey hair-colored male put his two hands together and closed his eyes in silent reverence. Then, he opened his eyes and knelt down to place his flowers on the grave. However, a bouquet of seven white carnations wrapped in a red ribbon already lay upon the grave. A small white card protruded from the flowers. Next to it, in the incense burner, a freshly burned note lay in the flames. Tezuka squinted as he made out the remaining letters in the smoldering ashes.

To my beloved parents who have begun their journey across the rainbow…

Tezuka placed his own flowers next to the ones already there.

"I would like seven carnations wrapped with a butterfly knotted red ribbon."

"Nande? Why are you so specific?"

"The seven white carnations are the seven colors of the rainbow and the white of the clouds of the sky. The red ribbon is luck and a good journey, Tezuka."

"So much thought in a simple bouquet."

"All for my okaa-san and oto-san."

"All for 'okaa-san' and 'oto-san', ka?"

"Unh (1)."

"All for 'okaa-san' and 'oto-san', ka?" Kunimitsu whispered as he walked away.

Today is February 3rd, the day of those who go across the rainbow.

------

Pant, pant! Tap, tap! Blurs of red, black, brown, white and blue sped around the tennis courts. Suddenly, two black haired students emerged from the crowd and lead the pack.

"Momoshiro, Kaidoh!" the red head exclaimed in a whiny voice. "Come back here! I don't want Inui's 'New and Improved Version IV Inui Special Juice'! Hey, are you listening? Come back! Buchou, tell them to listen to their senpai!!"

As the red head exclaimed on the top of his lungs, the rest of the group sped in front of him until he was left next to the cobalt-eyed, brown haired third year: no other than Fuji.

"Fuji, help me get these morons back. I don't want the juice! I'm not thirsty!" Eiji exclaimed.

"Then, go on ahead, I'll take the juice," Fuji replied with a bright smile on his face.

"Huh?" the bouncy acrobatic regular asked.

"I like the juice."

Eiji stared at the tensai in disbelief. Kami-sama, help me. Fuji is pure evil. An image of a looming Fuji with his eyes open on an eerie background popped into Eiji's head. In his picture, the tensai had a smirk and devil's horns and was laughing maniacally while holding none other than a bubbling chemistry flask labeled: NEW AND IMPROVED FUJI SPECIAL POTION with a beautiful dripping skull head with two cross bones sign under it. The ruby headed boy shuddered and ran ahead to join the crowd crossing the finishing point where Inui's shining chemicals awaited. As he exhausted the last of his systems to regain his position, the brown haired tensai sped past him, finishing tenths of a second before his whiny friend.

"Eiji, you are last," Inui announced unceremoniously. "Come receive your reward!"

"Why did you pass me Fuji?" Eiji whined once more as the rest of the team dragged him to his punishment. "Fuji, I thought you liked the juice!"

"I do," the tensai replied with a grin. "I just don't want to drink it today."

Inui loomed over the now sullen third year. Eiji fretfully writhed, trying to get away but Echizen and Momoshiro pinned his limbs down. Kikumaru turned his head to gaze up at his buchou. His eyes seemed to cry out in pain but Tezuka took no heed but was shadowed in a smirk as he walked away to talk to Ryuzaki-sensei. A garish yet eerie glare glinted off Inui's glasses as he poured a large amount of the thick green liquid from the container. Eiji gulped, clamping his mouth shut.

"Come on, Kikumaru-senpai, I had my share yesterday," Momoshiro chided as Echizen and now Oishi pried open the unwilling third year's mouth.

"I thdont ahnt to…!" Eiji protested as the green liquid was poured into his open mouth.

"Swallow," Oishi commanded, his partner obediently did so. Within the next two seconds, Eiji twisted out of the crowd and sprinted to the building… in search of a bathroom, leaving the rest of the regulars in their own fit of laughter.

"What was Eiji doing?" a voice asked in the midst of the crying and knee slapping. The jubilee stopped short, as if caught in breath. The voice sounded so familiar and yet so foreign. Heads slowly turned to look over shoulders.

"Oh, there you are, Ryoma," the voice continued, growing louder as the footsteps approached the group.

"Why are you here?" the addressed replied.

"Papers, exams for high school," the unknown spoke in a bored tone, but polite tone. "Why are they so quiet?"

A slender finger pointed at the gaping group. They seemed to sit there like dumb statues on the side of the court as the rest of the world ran its course. Dumb statues. Interesting way to say it.

"Hello?" the newly arrived asked, waving her hand in front of the blank faces. She wondered what would happen if she pushed one of the guys over. Would they fall and crumble to pieces? She giggled at the thought. Shuffle, shuffle.

"Aizawa…Kane?"

The girl turned around to face the speaker to find a wide-eyed gawking young man. His brown haired swayed in the light breeze as he tried to discern the image before his eyes. He swallowed slightly and continued to breathe through parted lips of awe. His chocolate eyes met wide bright golden brown ones. Rebellious strands of raven hair flew from the tight bun atop her head, blowing across her face and hiding her open mouth. Time seemed to stop. Suddenly, the pale feminine lips cracked into a small smile.

"Kunimitsu, it's good to see you."

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The moon was a creamy pearl in the azure blue sea dotted with bright crystal gems. It was beautiful, such that the wind stopped at the demanding command of beauty. The streetlights fluttered on, spilling its white rays upon the dark streets. Today's practice had really gone out of hand. Two male figures proceeded down the lane with long shadows obediently mimicking each move. The two auburn haired students walked in silence. One of them turned his face to the sky with a smile and opened his cobalt blue eyes to the moon.

"Neh, Tezuka, you're quiet today," the student spoke keeping his gaze on the moon.

"No, I'm like this all the time Fuji," the addressed replied stoically.

"I wasn't talking about that, Tezuka," Syuusuke replied quietly as he averted his face to the one he was addressing. "I mean, you're unusually quiet for a day when Kane's around."

Aizawa. Tezuka's glasses flashed slightly as he picked up his head to face his friend. He smiled lightly.

"Don't you think it's amazing that she came back, Tezuka?"

"Unh."

"Who thought that she would come back? She made it sound like she was going forever that time."

"Unh."

"What am I talking about? You should know that the best, Tezuka. You were the one who asked her to run with you today. Even I haven't had that privilege yet."

The run with Aizawa, ka

---------

flashback

"Kunimitsu, it's good to se you again."

"Kane? Hountou ni?" Eiji asked, blinking as if he were dreaming.

"Unh. In the flesh." Kane smiled a close-eyed Fuji trademark smile. It was like someone took a photo of Fuji and photo shopped it.

"23 percent that I am dreaming things and 77 percent that Aizawa Kane is really standing in front of me." Inui buried his head in one of his notebooks, scribbling calculations and data.

"I'm the real thing, Inui." Kane poked Inui on the shoulder.

"It's really Aizawa-senpai!" Momoshiro exclaimed as he clung to Ryoma.

"Urusai, porcupine head." Kaidoh hissed at his opponent.

"You shut up, mamushi!"

"Old rivalries never do die down, do they?" Kane sweat dropped as she attempted to break the two up. The two obediently did so when she pushed them both away by placing a hand of each of their chests. Kaidoh and Momoshiro immediately blushed and bowed deeply in apology.

"Kane." Oishi stood behind her, as if expecting something. The girl turned around and gave him another Fuji trademark smile. It was a wonder the tensai and her weren't related.

"Konichiwa, okaa-san." The female bowed deeply to the vice captain, leaving him blushing and nervously laughing.

"Kane is commanding," a feminine voice cooed at the side. Kane turned her head to face the speaker. Cobalt blue eyes met hers as the male neared where she stood.

"Open wide, Kane." Deft fingers stuck something in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed and suddenly began to tear.

"Fuji, you and your wasabi sushi!" Kane raged after the tensai. Fuji smiled. Pay back for stealing my trademark smile. Know never to mess with Fuji Syuusuke.

Fuji suddenly stopped and allowed the pursuing Kane bump into him and drape her arms around his shoulders. She laughed.

Tezuka stood on the side, stunned. The world seemed to whirl around him. Why did he feel so misplaced when she came back? He suddenly heard a female's laughter. It sounds like the tinkering of bells in the Eastern wind, he thought. He viewed as his companions ran around and laughed.

"Do you understand this, buchou?"

Kunimitsu let his eyes wander to the capped boy standing next to him. Ryoma returned the gaze with his questioning eyes. Tezuka smiled.

"Oi, why are you guys slacking?" the buchou yelled, clapping his hands in search of attention. "Twenty laps around the court!"

"But we just finished running!" Eiji complained in defiance. Other grumbles chorused and supported the red head with nods for once.

"Go on," Tezuka commanded and the regulars obeyed for fear of a greater punishment. As Fuji prepared to start on his run, he turned to see Kane and Tezuka.

"As for you, Aizawa, for causing this disturbance," the buchou stated, "forty laps around the school property."

"Wizu," the girl responded with a smile and stretched to begin her run. Tezuka stood beside her.

"Naniyo, Tezuka?" she inquired as she tied her shoelaces.

"Forty laps for me," he replied looking down at her, "for not doing anything at the right time."

She quirked an eyebrow at the third year. When she saw his face shadowed by a smirk, she smiled and took off. Fuji smiled as he, too, turned around for his run.

Lap thirty-six. The Seigaku tennis team captain eyed the panting girl beside him. He smiled between pants. The card in the carnations had one word on it: kane. Indeed, today was a reunion. After all, today was February 3rd.

-------

Fuji: Oooooo. Tezuka likes someone.

Tezuka: You're the more likely one.

Fuji: No, see how Tezuka acts?

Tezuka: You're too loud, Fuji. You're giving me a headache. Go and be be the devil that you are to someone else.

Fuji: I actually got permission! sneaks up to Kaidoh (who just came back from his run) and puts a large piece of ice down his back

Kaidoh: AHHH!!

Tezuka: rubs temples I didn't mean it like that, Fuji!

Tsuzuku

– Denoting of simple reply that is basically used in oriental Asian languages

A/N: Hope this was okay. I've had a blockage of ideas for a bit. Please R&R!!