Chapter 2: A Dream
I'm sure this is a dream, Charisse thought as she stood on the edge of a cliff that overlooked the city.
The heavy wind was chilly and the clouds began rolling in. Everywhere she looked, she saw something out of the ordinary like buildings floating in the sky. Her eyes widened when she felt the wind tugging at her nightgown, which was thankfully long-sleeved. Suddenly, the wind lifted her off the ground and her heart began beating fast. She was scared!
"Baron!" she screamed as she held onto a pole. "Help me!"
She felt a strong hand wrap around her wrist and there stood Baron, looking distinctly ruffled by the breeze. He appeared as a person of complete integrity and trust. Charisse could trust him, and she did. She trusted him with her life. With sudden strength, he pulled her back to the ground and held her steady. When she looked at him, she realized that he was taller than her. Either he was taller, or she got shorter.
"You're actually here," she whispered, clinging to him tightly, afraid of being swept away again. "You saved me…"
The Baron gave her a kind smile and stroked her windblown hair. "Of course I did," he answered in a husky British voice. "I promised I would be there for you, didn't I?"
Too dumb to speak, Charisse just stared at him with wide eyes and nodded.
Baron smiled widely and took her hand in his gloved one, which felt very warm to Charisse. "Come," he said loudly over the breeze, "let us fly! We will rise on the updraft! Now, off we go!"
The two leapt off the cliff and Charisse let out a fearful scream because she was afraid that they were jumping to their deaths but then they were lifted up the wind current. The girl's grip on Baron's hand tightened and she closed her eyes. However, she heard Baron's voice next to her ear.
"Don't close your eyes," he said gently, "or you'll miss this lovely adventure."
Charisse forced her eyes open and she stared at the city below them. It looked so much smaller now but it still looked just as pretty. She then looked at Baron and saw that he was smiling at her. Her cheeks flushed a bit but she returned the smile and she let out a joyful squeal.
"This is amazing!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. "Baron, thank you for showing me this!"
He gave her a gentle look. "You're welcome, my dear," he said politely. "Now, wake up! Wake up, Charisse!"
…
With a gasp, Charisse's eyes snapped open and she sat up in bed. For some reason, she felt winded like she just ran a long distance. Was it all a dream? She asked herself, feeling her heart sink a bit. She so wanted it to be real because she always wanted to fly in the sky like the birds did. Baron, the cat statuette, was there with her, encouraging her to fly. Was he real or not? When she looked next to her, she saw that the said statuette was lying in the bed with her.
"This wasn't where I put you last night," she said out loud, picking the cat up and placing him on the bedside table. "There, that's better."
With a smile, Charisse got up and decided to get ready for the day, starting with a shower.
…
After a nice, hot shower, Charisse got dressed in warm clothes and walked downstairs to eat breakfast but before making her way to the kitchen she stopped to admire her house. Instead of embracing the Japanese culture like most foreigners would, Charisse's mother kept the western influence that they had in America. Instead of a kitchenette table, they had a regular American wooden kitchen table. Instead of dropping their shoes off at the doorway like most Japanese people did, they had a shoe basket in the living room that held all the shoes they weren't using. Instead of eating the rice, fish, and ramen that Japanese people ate, Charisse and her family continued eating the food they ate in America. Thank goodness Japan had the fast food restaurants and Raley's that America had.
Charisse pulled out a bowl and some cereal. She dumped some Cinnamon Toast Crunch into the bowl and poured milk in. Then, she began eating it down and sipped water to finish it up. Finally, she dumped the dirty dishes into the sink and noticed the note on the fridge. It was from her mom and dad, and they were out at work. With a shrug, Charisse walked over and sat down on the couch. Grabbing the remote, she turned the TV on but realized that it would all be in Japanese so she turned a movie on.
I feel lonely, she thought, placing her chin in her palm dolefully. I miss my friends…and my family…
"Don't be sad, dear," said that familiar British voice that Charisse recognized as Baron's.
Great, I'm lonely and slowly becoming Schizophrenic, she thought spitefully.
She heard the voice in her head laugh and then he said, "You're not becoming Schizophrenic, dear. If it helps, the reason you can hear me is because we're connected. That dream you had wasn't a dream."
Forgetting her feigned deafness, she said out loud, "You mean that I really went flying in the sky? How?"
"I came to life and took you from your bed to take you on an adventure," answered Baron, sounding amused.
"How can you come to life?" she asked, feeling like a freak for talking to relatively nothing.
"It happens when I use Engel's Zimmer," answered Baron, "also known as Angel's Room. You see, the sunlight refracts off my eyes and it brings me to life. I was first brought to life by Shizuku Tsukishima. When she wrote her story of me, I was given a soul but because I've been around for so long, I have the intellect of a professor."
"Interesting," said Charisse, nodding like she understood. "So you come to life? I'd like to talk to you face to face instead of mind to mind."
Another laugh. "I suppose so," he answered politely. "I'll see you in about five minutes, my dear."
Charisse began tapping her feet in irritation but the sound of small footsteps on the wood floor and she looked up to see a small cat that resembled the statuette from her room. Her heart jumped and her eyes widened. He was real! The Baron was real!
"How?" she gasped, staring at the cat. "How are you real?"
"I already told you, dear," he said politely, hopping up on the couch with her. "I'm a Creation."
"If you please," said Charisse breathlessly, "what's a Creation?"
"When someone creates something with all of their heart, that Creation is given a soul, see?" he replied. "Like me."
"I see," said Charisse, nodding, making sure she still was sane. "So are we friends now?"
"If you want to be, we can," answered Baron politely.
Charisse smiled wistfully. "It would be nice to have a friend, even if they're Creations," she said quietly. "I don't have any friends here in Japan."
Baron gave her a sad smile. "I see," he whispered gently. "Well, I'd like to be your friend, Charisse, if you let me."
"That'd be great," said Charisse, smiling brightly. "Friends?" She offered him her pinkie.
He linked pinkies with her and said, "Friends."
And so this began the great friendship between a girl and a Creation.
A/N: Took a while but I hope you like it! Please leave nice comments!