Disclaimer: I do not own Samurai 7 or any characters affiliated therewith. I only own Aya, her family, and friends.
Chapter dedicated to Paris. Everyone's writing is their own, so yours is unique.
"Aya! Aya, wake up!" Two voices pushed themselves into Aya's darkened mind. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Akio and Kai looking bewildered at her.
"Uh? … Kai? Akio? Didn't you disappear? What happened…?" She sat up, looking around with wide eyes. Everywhere she looked, there were strangely dressed people: moving robots, hundreds of people walking by in brightly colored kimonos, men in armor, and food vendors in stalls by the side of the road. Aya's mouth dropped open as she saw the towering stone walkways supported by wrought-iron pillars and the millions of people going about their daily business. Closing her mouth as well as her eyes, Aya thought hard.
"This can't be happening… I'm not where I think I am… This is only a dream, a good dream, but only a dream…" She pinched and slapped herself hard, but when she opened her eyes again, she was still sitting on the ground of a brightly lit alley between two shops.
"Um… Aya? You do know where we are right?" Akio said, holding onto a scared Kai, who was clinging to his sleeve like a burr. Aya stood up on wobbly legs and stared at the scene in front of her with amazement.
"It's… Kougakyo," she breathed. Kai and Akio's mouths dropped open.
"KOUGAKYO! But that's in Samurai 7 isn't it!" Aya nodded, still in a daze.
"Um… Sister…" Kai said, hesitantly. Akio and Aya looked immediately at their little brother, who was pulling something out of his T-shirt. Both bent closer to get a better look. They saw that it was a brightly glowing green pendant. It was shaped like a teardrop and had green glittering pieces of metal floating in it. There was also a tiny flask of clear liquid dangling next to the teardrop pendant. Suddenly, a bright light shone from under Akio's shirt. He reached into his shirt and pulled out an identical glowing pendant. Only his was red and had a shell carved into the shape of a phoenix.
"Sister, do you have one?" Kai asked, clutching the pendant to his chest. Aya felt her neck and found that there was a leather cord around her neck. Carefully, she drew out a clear pendant. Looking at it, Aya could see that every few seconds, the water and metal within became dark as night, like the way a puddle of water will become dark if dirt is disturbed in it. On either side of the clear pendant was a small white feather.
"What does this mean?" Akio breathed, touching the small shell-phoenix. Aya shook her head and replaced her necklace.
"I have no idea. But you remember who we have to find in order to see the samurai right?" She asked, bending down so Kai could get on her back. Akio nodded.
"Masamune. We were watching the episode where Gorobei met Heihachi right?"
"Mmm." Aya replied. "Akio, make sure you stay right by my side. And we all remember our martial arts in case somebody attacks us, right?" He nodded and she could feel Kai nodding. She took a deep breath and started walking to the nearest food vendor.
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A/N: So. Is it better than Love Over A Rice Ball? All flames are welcome. I don't mind.