It's the GeniusVampire here with another lovely love letter, this time with a little twist to it. What is it, you ask? I'm not going to tell you'll just have to read! Well just one spoiler, I like to play with the idea of Azure Kite being able to reformat data so he can probably just think it.
Okay enough out of me.
My Pride on the Line
Chapter 3
The World was becoming one confining place to live in, but it is an even harder place to live in when a person is unable to leave it. That includes the AIs that reside within it as well. One such AI was Azure Kite; he burned as brightly as the flames he was named after to leave the World. He knew he would be leaving one world full of obstacles for another one, but he would rather be in a harsh world next to the ones he cared for most than a world that would beat him down in the pixilated dust. Besides that, those two people were not even here.
He drew himself up and looked up at the sky. 'The days are getting longer . . . darker . . . lonelier . . .' the field was brightly laminated by the sun and the grass was a refreshing green, however, the AI's mind was buried in a deep, dark quagmire. His mind could be nowhere else without Haseo or Endrance around, they had not logged on for about a month, and he needed desperately to be around them. 'It's raining . . .' he thought sadly.
As soon as the thought came by, the sky darkened fog layered itself around the field, and the grass dulled. A thick rain hammered down on the stitched knight. His hair fell flat on his head despite his thick hat. 'That's not enough, that's not nearly enough . . .' as the thought crossed his mind a hard wind began to blow, knocking his cap off and thoroughly drenching him. 'Heh . . . maybe I should add a little hail . . . no I'm no fan of pain or the cold . . . but I feel cold anyway, so perhaps a little snow . . . but no wind or rain.' As the thought came the wind and rain stopped and a light snow began to fall.
For the first time in a while, Azure Kite smiled faintly as a few flakes fell into his hand. 'It's . . . pretty . . . I wish it were real though . . . I wish I were real too . . .'
"That lonely look doesn't suit you, Kite." A distantly familiar voice chided in his ear.
The knight jumped quick enough to butt the voice's owner in the chin. 'Ouch . . . oh!' He turned around to face Haseo who fanned his tongue frantically.
"Ouch! Geez you have a hard head! I almost bit my tongue off!" he laughed lightly. "Well at least it didn't fall out, so no harm done."
A stricken look passed though the AI's bright jade eyes. His shoulders shook and he backed away then in a flash he was the other side of the field.
"H-hey! I didn't know this was gonna be a chase!" he began to run after Azure Kite; however, he warped away when Haseo was just close enough to touch his hair. After doing this for about five minutes, Haseo began to tire out. "A-all right . . ." He panted. "You . . . win . . . Kite . . . now could you come to me?"
Even from that sizeable distance, he saw Azure Kite shake his head.
"What? Why not?"
He shook his head again.
"Hm? Are you sad?"
Azure Kite shook his head.
"Cold?"
He shrugged and gave a half nod.
"Oh? But that's not the case is it?"
Another nod.
"Then . . ." an odd look formed in Haseo's crimson eyes. "Are you . . . angry at me?"
The AI nodded for a final time, even more vigorously than the other times.
Haseo stepped back 'I didn't expect to be right!' He thought bewildered. "Uh . . . why?"
The latter replied with an offended and hurt look then he sank to the snowy ground shivering.
"Huh?" Haseo walked slowly towards Azure Kite, but he did not touch him, in fact he stopped mere inches away. He seemed taken aback when the AI fixed him with a bit of a pleading expression and wrapped his arms around his shaking limbs; his shivering breaths materialized in small, white clouds. Haseo let out a breath of his own, looked around, and then wrapped his arms around his shivering companion. "If you hate the cold then maybe you ought to make warmer climate alterations." He pulled him closer.
'Haseo . . . no I can't let him off the hook so easily!' He slipped out of Haseo's arms.
"Aw c'mon, Kite don't be that way. I have a pretty good reason for . . . eh . . . not seeing you for so long. I wanted to, believe me, but . . ."
With his back turned, Azure Kite glanced back briefly only to advert his eyes.
"Kaoru, I mean, Endrance is sick."
Stricken, Azure Kite wheeled around.
"That's right . . ." Haseo's voice began to shake. "I don't know how it happened, but a couple of weeks ago, he went overseas, and barely came back . . . he got pneumonia . . . so much for exotic scenery . . ." He sighed. "The first day he returned we thought it was just a little cold and that the change in scenery had contributed to him not improving sooner; and a few days' rest would do the trick . . . it seemed to have worked, he got out of bed and moved around. However, two days after that I logged in and he called me then . . . he collapsed over the phone . . . He's being picky about who'll attend to him, in fact those people are limited to . . .me."
Azure Kite sighed 'So he's alive and Haseo's been caring for him this whole time. I can't be mad at them for that.'
A sudden alarm went off, it was not an e-mail, nor was it a text message. Haseo sighed in worried/labored sort of way. "I'm sorry Kite but I kinda timed my visit, I'm really sorry!"
The stitched knight shook his head and placed both hands on the rogue's shoulders and shook his head; he shook his head over and over and over again as if to shake something from his mind. His emerald jewels for eyes appeared to mist over then he hugged Haseo around the neck. 'I'm glad he came at all.'
'Kite . . . Kaoru was right . . . you really are sensitive to loneliness . . .' He held Azure Kite at arm's length. "Don't worry I'll be back when I can, all right, and I promise it'll be sooner than a month . . . By the way . . ." Haseo fumbled around for something in his pocket. "Endrance strained himself to type this for you, so you better read it, got it?" He winked then warped away.
'And like that I'm by myself . . . well . . .' He looked down at the ornately decorated letter in his hands. 'Not entirely . . .'
Dear Kite,
I know you have been burning to open a letter like this, 'to' just sounds so cold and businesslike, don't you agree? It is much easier to open this way because later the words will not feel so impersonal. And yes, I fully believe that a mere greeting will do that much to a person, the same way I believe a single person can change the course of the life of another, and sometimes they do not even realize it.
I am sure Haseo has told you by now that I have been ill for the past few weeks and refuse attention from no one else but Ryou (Haseo in The World). It sounds a little strange, but I assure you that I am taking every necessary precaution possible. Believe me Haseo is not alone there are people who deliver what I need and an expert physician on my case every other hour; therefore do not worry too much about me, we will see each other soon. I would have preferred to meet sooner, but both my doctor and Haseo had my cell phone, terminal, and laptop under chains and surveillance cameras.
This has to have been a loathsome and lonely burden for you to bear alone, and I feel responsible for that. After all, your letter revealed (to me) that you only felt any real connection to Haseo and me. I will admit even I felt overwhelmed I thought that I meant something . . . anything to you. Then I felt relieved, it alleviated some of the stress I felt (amazing as that sounds I have felt stressed before). It meant that you no longer just tolerated my presence; it also meant that you did not merely accept it, but you actually wanted it. You wanted me, needed me even.
Much like you that is all I ever searched for in another person, be it male or female, human or otherwise, all I ever wanted was to be needed. At one point I did not care if I was being used, if it meant not being disposed of like a ghastly piece of nothing then I would gladly be used until there was nothing left to use. Had Haseo not called out to me when and how he did, I would not have known the difference between being needed, as in being valuable; or needed as in wanted for a second and discarded when beaten only once. Haseo taught me that difference, and I am learning another form of it from you, Kite.
Even now do you know how much we have in common? When I was younger I had even less confidence than you. It seemed as though everyone else around me had something special about them, something that made them special to themselves and everyone else around them, but I always seemed to fall short, even now a part of me thinks I fell short back then. However, I learned the hard way that if there is something truly detestable about yourself that you want to . . . need to change then no one else can change it but yourself. I changed my insufferable shyness, whether it is for better or worse is for me to decide and for the ordinary people to deal with. Believe it or not Kite you went through several of these changes in the span of a few months in addition to our . . . exaggerated rivalry.
However, there are things that are more important than fighting to have other people notice you. There will also be the people who notice you for simply being in their line of vision; and I am not talking about when you jump in their face and force them to look you in the eye but when you happen to be in the same area and they see you. You chose Haseo, but in that same respect Haseo naturally chose to notice you. Choices like this happen because there is something about the both (or three) of them (meaning us) have a connection to each other. If it is meant to be then it happens if not, then I doubt you would be reading this letter right now.
In several ways you are the one holding the three of us together. There is much for you to learn about as far as life itself is concerned, but there are things that we learn from you as well. Since there are things that you are unaware of you are more open and more expressive with your feelings. In several respects, you are innocent and that innocence allows us to reinvent the very definition of being human. You reinvented the definition of feeling, following one's own destination, belonging to or with only the one's you want to be with; those who accept you for yourself and do not expect you to be anyone else. I know there have been times where you are unsure of your place in this World or any other and there is no way anyone (including myself) can truly say that the feeling has never reared its awful head, but it is good that you know not to stay there, and that is one of your most admirable traits. You not only keep up with what you know and see, but you also stay ahead of it and even when you see your limits you see them through surpass them. You even know that there is such of a thing as victory within failure (although I am positive you know nothing of losing to me.).
Kite of the Azure Flame . . . azure . . . the bluish violet color of the base of the flame. Did you know that the bluer the flame the hotter it is? It is also the purest. Believe me not even a white flame can compare, white is not a color it . . . it is nothing. Your color is mellow, it is shy, it can be bold, and it has always been beautiful.
Kite, continue to burn brightly, and know that your flame is not the only thing that burns. Your heart is both warm and pure and it lights the hearts of those closest to you. It did it to Haseo and it has done it to me as well. Once again I know this illness will leave me in no time at all and we can meet again. Be prepared for a surprise that day. Until then all I can say is:
I Love You
Endrance "The Temptress"
Or Kaoru Ichinose
Azure Kite's first reaction was that of surprise. 'Forget waiting until you get better this letter is enough to keep me surprised for a few months' He thought. '. . . Ryou . . . Kaoru . . . their real names are just as attracting as their PC names.' He sighed. 'I've been sitting here thinking about what it must be like to feel real . . . all this time . . . they think I'm as real as any other human being on the other side.' He reached out his arm, and few snowflakes fell in his outstretched hand. 'All of a sudden this world looks a little brighter . . .'
The snow glistened as a silver moon began to rise.
A/N: -faint- The GeniusVampire is soooo tired so she apologizes if this chapter did not come out quite as coherent as the first two. However, she hopes that you will drop her a review line anyway. Please?
-Oh and about Azure Kite thinking about long, dark days well, like most game addicts he's always in the game and has a weird concept of night and day . . . In fact, that statement stems from a question I have had for a while, does Azure Kite have a concept of night and day at all considering the time in the World can be altered depending on the area words. In short he was assuming it was night . . . It also comes from the fact that he was depressed. The moon at the end was kinda for the same reason, and because snow at night just looks more beautiful, don't you think?