Unfortunately, I couldn't find
any lyrics to go with this song.
I'm really sorry.
If anyone can find lyrics, or can come up with a 4-line poem
please send it to me.
Thank you.
One, How to Find Your way Back Home
"He finally replied! Su!" Misha declared as she burst into the townhouse, proudly flashing off her most recent letter from Takashi.
Despite the fact that she and Takashi had been corresponding for a little over three years, Misha never failed to treat each and every letter that he sent her as if it was the very first from him. And despite the fact that she had said "finally", the truth was that this letter had come less than two weeks after the last one that she had sent to him. It went that way often, though. Once a month they each sent a letter to the other, replying to questions that were in the last letter, giving small updates on what was happening in their lives.
Though, while Takashi's letters were always honest, Misha found herself having to take an extra day or so to alter what had been going on in her life. Takashi's life was full of normal human teenage things; Misha was a half demon in training. She doubted that if she was completely honest with him that he would listen, and if he did, he probably would want to stop having anything to do with her. So while the process of altering her life was more complicated, it was worth it.
"Yahoo! Su!"
"Hey, Misha! Stop yelling! The neighbors will complain about us again!" Mango complained from inside the kitchen.
"Aya-chan! It finally came! Su!" Misha declared as she burst into the living room.
A young teenager sat on the couch in the living room. Her aqua hair was tightly tied back into a pony tail and hung in curls behind her. Her red eyes were filled with an everlasting curiosity, much like a cat's. She smiled at Misha when she entered the room, and the smile was absolutely devilish, as if she had secret plans to do something.
"So it's finally here is it? Nyah?" she questioned.
Misha bounced onto the couch, and snuggled herself into a good reading position. Aya, of course, did the same, except for the fact that she was snuggled against Misha so that she could read over her shoulder.
Misha smiled as she opened the letter, and that smile broadened as she read through it. There were details about everyone's lives in each of his letters. He obviously took great care in making sure that she did not miss out on a single detail of their lives. After all, she had promised to return one day. She still wanted to be a part of their lives, even though she had cut off all contact to anyone else. She wanted that, and he knew it. That was why he always took such care in letting her know everything.
And as usual, his letter ended with the same question that it always did: "When are you coming home?" She never replied to that question. She couldn't. At first it had been because she had no clue when she was going to come back, but then it became about the fact that she did not want anyone to know when she was coming back. She wanted to surprise him, and everyone else.
"It's good that this one came when it did," Aya commented with a laugh. "Any later, and we would have missed it."
"Tee hee hee hee… Yeah. Su," Misha agreed.
Aizou had announced it only two days ago, that the Haven was going to move to Japan. According to her, Misha had finally completed her training, and she was ready to return to Japan. She could make up for all of her mistakes now. She could see Takashi and the others. She could tell Kotarou that she was sorry for hurting him. She could finally give making him happy another try. She had finally reached her goal, and now she could do everything that she had wanted to get done as an angel, but couldn't.
That was why she had become a half demon, after all. She wanted to be able to do all of those things, but as an angel she had been unable to do them. For whatever reason, she just couldn't. Now, with all of the training that she had received, she would be able to do it.
"I can't wait," Aya admitted, biting her lip. She looked away. "I've never actually been to Japan before."
Misha tilted her head. "Really? Su?"
She smiled a little, embarrassed. "Y-Yeah. Even though I'm Japanese, I was born here in America, so I've never been there."
"She's hardly slept these past few nights," Mango sighed as she came into the room. She's been so excited about the trip."
Misha glanced over to Mango. The silver-haired woman was smiling softly as she watched them.
Every member of the Haven was different. Aya was a half-demon, half-human, and had been born that way. Aizou had been born as a demon, but became half through the same methods she had used to turn Misha into a half-demon. But Mango, she was different from them. While she had the capabilities to become a pure angel in cycles, she was not a half-demon. Rather, she was a fallen angel. Somehow she had managed not to be destroyed by Heaven and God in the process.
Of course, Mango was different from what Misha had thought a fallen demon was. She was so much like Shia in that way. Despite the fact that she was not in God's good graces, she was kind, and was always ready to make someone happy. She was the image of the perfect angel… except for the part where she had abandoned God.
"I've barely slept, too," Misha confessed. "Su."
"Well, be sure to get a good night's rest tonight," she instructed as she turned to walk back to the kitchen. "Tomorrow's going to be a busy day for us all."
Misha smiled sheepishly and nodded. Mango was right. Tomorrow, after a lengthy flight, she would be reunited with everyone again. The thought made her nervous, but also very excited. She would get to see everyone again. She could try to correct everything.
She would.
"Tee hee hee hee hee… Suu…"
"Nyaah…"
----------
Kotarou sighed heavily as he pushed himself to his feet. A glance at the clock on the wall told him that it was well past eleven. He sighed again. He had an unusually large amount of homework for the night, and he had barely been able to start. Already, he knew that he was going to have to pull an all-nighter just to get it all done in time for class.
Again, he sighed.
The apartment was empty, except for his own presence. His father was pulling another all-nighter at work, he guessed. Honestly, he had not heard from his father for the past two or three days. He would have been worried if he had not known that he was working on a really big project.
Kotarou made his way out of his bedroom and to the kitchen. If he was going to be up all night, then it would be best to get something to snack on and a drink now so that he could focus for the rest of the night.
He hesitated at the kitchen door, and looked around.
For some reason, it was nights like these that made him think of Misha the most. It had been three very long years since her abrupt departure, and still he found himself constantly reminded of her. Whenever he was up late, studying, he remembered the times when she would come to his bedroom window to bother him. Of course, in Misha's mind she was always just trying to help. She never stopped for a moment to think that she was bothering him. She just wanted to help, and to make him happy.
That was just Misha.
Kotarou shook his head as if that would clear away all of the thoughts he had of her.
She's not coming back, he reminded himself.
A few months after she had left, he came to that conclusion. Misha had sent no messages, and made no attempts to keep in contact with Shia or with himself. She left all of them behind, and went on with her new life.
If she even had one.
Shia faithfully believed that Misha would return to them again. The night that she placed on that strange necklace from Misha was all the more proof, she claimed. Despite that fact that she had removed all of them from her life meant nothing more than she was trying her hardest for them. It did not matter how negatively he saw the situation, she would say the complete opposite. She could not be persuaded to think otherwise.
Silently, he wished that he could have believed that. He wished that he could have had more faith in Misha. If she really did return to them one day, she would find out that he had not waited for her.
She left, he told himself. She didn't even say goodbye. Why should I wait for her when she didn't even say goodbye…?
Kotarou ran a hand through his now shoulder length hair, and froze. He had grown out his hair so that it looked exactly like Kotaroh's had when he was alive.
It did not matter how many times he told himself that he would not wait for Misha, or how hard he tried to move on, he was waiting for his angel. He wanted her to come back so that he could show her how much he loved her. He would do anything for her. He would even make himself look like the love of her life, if that meant that she would come back to him.
He missed her.
"Misha-san…" he said softly, bowing his head. He loved her so much that it hurt. She was the one person that could hurt him so much and he could only love her in return. The thought tore a ragged chuckle from his throat and brought tears to his eyes.
"I hate you so much…"
----------
"I'm tired. Nyah," Aya whined as she bounced alongside Misha.
They had been in Japan for three days already. The days had been spent inside their hotel room as they tried to adjust to the time differences between the two countries. Misha and Aya had been the only ones to go out in that time, however. Both had too much energy to stay indoors for long, and eventually Aizou and Mango became annoyed with their antics and kicked them out.
"The sun feels good," Misha declared as she raised her arms towards the sky. "Su!"
"Yeah," Aya agreed. She smiled a little. "It rained the past few days. I almost wondered if we would ever get to see the sun again…"
Misha laughed at that. The smaller demon could be so dramatic at times.
She glanced over to Aya, and caught her reflection in a store window. The sight made her stop for a moment.
When she had become a half demon, Aizou had fully explained what would happen. They had to perform an old demon ritual, which had been slightly altered. Originally the ritual allowed demons to drain angels of their life, and tainted that Holy blood so that it could be safely consumed by them. By altering a few details of the ritual -- Misha had no idea what it was that was altered -- the effects changed. Demons and angels could exchange their life forces, and somehow they became human.
There was one side effect that came from using the altered ritual: her body would not be stable. Swayed by the moon's cycles, her body would easily switch over between being demonic and being angelic.
Every month, for a handful of days, she became a demon. There were no changes to her personality in that time, as she had expected, but there had been a few physical changes. Both her wings and her hair became black during those few days. As time passed after the cycle had ended, they slowly lightened and returned to their original colours.
Despite the fact that the moon had been full well over a week ago, her hair was still a shade too close to black for her liking.
There were also other changes to her appearance, though those ones had been conscious. She still wore one of the bunny clips in her hair, though these days she had been wearing it less and less. When she did wear it, it was usually attached to a hair elastic. She had also stopped wearing anything that could be considered "cute" -- especially when it involved ruffles. She also preferred darker colours and jeans to anything white, bright and dressy.
If she was lucky Takashi would still recognize her when she saw him.
"That's it, isn't it?" Aya spoke up suddenly, pointing to something ahead of them.
Misha looked to where Aya was pointing. A large sign hung above the street. Written on it was "Café tricot". She smiled a little and nodded.
"That's it, Aya-chan. Su," she confirmed.
"Are we going in?"
"Huh?"
Aya tilted her head to the side in an attempt to be cute. "I said, 'are we going in'? You know Aizou wants you to see them some time in the next few days. Since we're here, why not right now?"
Misha sighed softly. She had a point.
"Alright. But, school just got out a little while ago. Su," she agreed. "So I bet no one's there yet."
Takashi's letters were coming in handy now. Because of all of the details that he had placed within them, she was well aware of the group's activities. Even now, three years later, they all came to the Tricot every day after school. Shia still worked there, too. At the very least, she could greet her now.
"We're going in, right? Nyah?" Aya asked, looking at Misha questioningly.
She smiled again, and nodded. "Yup."
She hesitated a moment, feeling her gut twist nervously, before leading the way towards the café.
She was going to see Shia in the first time for three years. Would she be greeted with open arms, or would she be coldly turned away? She had left every one quickly, and she had not bothered to keep in touch with everyone. The only one that she had kept in contact with was Takashi, and that had been done in secret. If he kept his word to her, then none of them knew that they had been "pen pals".
Aya raced ahead of her suddenly and burst into the café.
"Hiyo! Aya-chan's in da house!" she declared.
Misha came in a moment later. The café was almost empty, having only three other customers besides Aya and herself. Behind the counter was Takashi's uncle, and Shia stood almost next to Aya. Her best guess was that the young half demon had nearly rammed either herself or the door into the dark-haired woman when she burst in.
"Welcome to the Tricot," Shia said in her soft-spoken voice. She glanced at Misha and smiled. "Welcome to the Tricot."
She was silent for a moment, staring at her. Shia had aged a few years since they had last met. She had always wondered if the ritual had made Shia human, as Aizou had promised. Because Shia had lacked a lot of demonic energy, there had been less to take, and it would have been easy for the ritual to complete on her side.
"I'll take your order in a moment."
"Ah, yes," Misha squeaked, bowing slightly.
Shia gave her a strange look before walking over to Takashi's uncle and handing him the order of the other customers.
"Nya ha haa…" Aya chuckled and she spun around to face Misha, blushing a little. "I made everyone look at me."
Because of her strange appearance on her demonic cycle -- the blue hair and red eyes -- Aya had never liked being stared at. She always said that it made her self-conscious, and she hated it.
"Let's sit down and wait, okay?" Misha suggested.
Aya smiled sheepishly and nodded in agreement.
"I guess she didn't recognize you. Nyah," Aya commented once they were seated in a booth.
"I guess not. Su."
"So, what do you wanna get? Nyah?"
"Cake. Su."
Aya smiled at that. "Cake sounds good. How about cheesecake? Do they have it here?"
"I think so," Misha replied.
Aya's eyes traveled around the café and at the other customers, while Misha settled for keeping her eyes directed at the table before her. She could not make herself feel comfortable. What would Shia say when she realized who she was?
"Can I take your order?" Shia's voice snapped Misha out of her thoughts.
Both half-demons glanced up at the dark-haired waitress and smiled.
"You order," Aya said.
"Y-Yeah." Misha nodded meekly. "Ah… oh… um… Cheesecake?"
Shia nodded and scribbled it down before asking, "chocolate or strawberry sauce?"
"I-chi-go!" Aya chirped. "Strawberry! Strawberry! Can we? Pretty please, Misha-chan?"
Misha's heart skipped a beat when she heard her own name being called by the smaller half-demon. Shia would know. She had to know.
"Mi… sha-chan?" she repeated, staring directly at her.
"Tee hee hee hee hee… Suuuu…" Misha laughed nervously. She rubbed her head and continued to laugh. "Um, hiyas, Shia-chan. Su."
"Misha-san…" Shia repeated her name. She looked thoughtful for a moment, then smiled softly. "Welcome home."
"Ah, thank you! Su!"
"Kotarou-san and the others will be here shortly," she mentioned. "If you're waiting for them, that is."
"Yup. Thank you!" Aya, feeling a little left out, broke into the conversation. "Hey hey, can I have a milkshake, too?"
"Of course," Shia replied, smiling at her. "Would you like anything, Misha-san?"
Misha smiled back, feeling relieved. Shia's response was so casual, she almost felt as though no time had passed since they last spoke.
"Just water. Su."
Shia smiled, nodded, then walked away to deliver their order.
When she was gone, Misha smiled at her companion. So far things had gone better than she had expected. Maybe seeing the others now would be just as warm and open as hers had been.
"I'm so nervous," Misha confessed, biting her lip.
"You'll do fine," Aya encouraged her. She perked up suddenly as the front door's bell jingled loudly.
"Hey, Shia-san!"
Heheh. I'm sorry that this one took so long to get up. The response this time is really encouraging. I'm working as hard as I can to get the newer chapters up and done. I'm also about halfway done the third chapter of TDS.
Angelic Tales now has a message board/forum. More often than not you will find my fanfiction has been updated on there before this site. Please go take a look at it. The link is in my profile.