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To Dream of Dreams
Warnings: A very OOC Baan
Wandering through the stone halls of the rebuilt Fanelian castle, with no work to keep his mind occupied, he finally found himself once more lost in that wonderful world where he was carefree and happy... where Hitomi was still by his side. Perhaps he had dreaded it, perhaps he welcomed it. Nonetheless, he was becoming lost... and that was becoming a concern to his Council.
"His Majesty is in withdrawal... the vanishment of the girl from the Mystic Moon has finally caught up to him... I'm afraid he is confabulating [1]... what should we do?"
"Find him a bride... quickly... get his mind off of that girl..."
"But where should we find such a girl?"
"Anywhere..."
And princesses and noble ladies flocked into the Fanelian castle within a few months, among them the Lady Celena Schezar...
"You resent this, don't you?"
"Hn."[2] It was a beautiful evening, with the stars twinkling brightly and the moonrise just beginning. The aroma of a hundred flowers waltzed in the light, cool zephyr, and the aura of tranquility shimmered like the auroras of the north and south.
He could see her face, deep emerald eyes sparkling with joy, whirling gracefully in synch to the music; her outstretched hand, waiting to be accepted by him as they dance the night away...
"Then you should do what you want to... try to find her again..."
Find her again? How? He looked up to the waxing appearance of the Mystic Moon, and knowing, in the reasonable side of his mind, that it was never possible... never...
Damn his mind. Damn reason.
"As cliché as this sounds..." She smiled and twined her slender fingers together behind her, bowing her head slightly as she looked down; "Love will always find a way... always." And she left him to his thoughts.
Yes, that was true... and in a way, he had already found her. Whenever he closed his eyes, he saw her... but he could not feel her. He wanted to stroke her soft cheek, to hold her hands again, to kiss those lips he knew would taste sweeter than anything he had and will ever know...
There she was again. Standing right in front of him, smiling, arms outstretched, waiting for his embrace...
Fearful of it being another illusion, he simply stood there, waiting for it to vanish...
And she laughed, voice sweeter than he remembered, and said affectionately, "Baka." She walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist, resting her head on his chest. She sighed. "I've missed you... so much." He felt hot moisture slightly dampening his shirt, and realized she was crying. "Did... did you miss me?" Her voice was muffled, but he could still hear the hopefulness, uncertainty, and fear lingering in that one question.
It was then he realized that the body he held was warm, was tangible, and carried that light fragrance Hitomi always had... and he felt a tear run down his cheek as well. "Yes, yes, of course! Of course I missed you!" And he tightened his embrace, burying his face in her light brown hair, which, he noted unconsciously, seemed to be a bit longer.
"Honto ni?" He felt the happiness rolled off of her in waves.
"Hai," he answered. She slowly pulled away from him, and they shared their first kiss...
And he vowed to never let her go.
"So, boss, you're really gonna let that kid stay here?" Matthew, the raven, asked.
"Yes," his master replied, a tall, thin, pale man with rather unkempt dark hair.
"But... why, boss? You've never let anyone else stay before... no one from the waking world, in any case."
"Because... I can... sympathize with him."
"Oh?" Matthew rustled a bit, curious. "I see..."
Lord Morpheus, King of Dreams, Prince of Stories, bowed his head, and did not reply.
He followed her to a small cottage nearby (Where in the world did that come from? he had wondered briefly), where she said she had a surprise for him. She led him by the hand, and would have been dragging him if he had not been coming along so eagerly.
Distantly, deep in his subconscious, he knew that once he entered the cottage, he would leave the world her knew behind; he would leave behind the place he was born and raised in, the country he had wept for, fought for, labored for... but all that does not matter.
They arrived to the cottage, and she opened the door.
I have Hitomi.
He stepped inside.
Even if she isn't the real one.
"Oniisan!" Celena cried. "Oniisan, come quickly!"
The Heavenly Knight came running to where his sister was, worried. "What is it, Imouto?!" Then he saw Baan's body,[3] pale and unmoving. He inhaled sharply, and kneeled beside the Fanelian king. He first tested to see if he was breathing, then for a pulse. "Call for the royal physician, quick!"
Others came running to see what happened, and gasped in shock. A couple of the ladies even (pretended to) faint.[4]
"Baan-sama?" Meruru pushed herself through the crowd. "Baan-sama!"
The royal physician was right behind Meruru, and quickly tested (again) for breath and a pulse. He tried several different revival techniques, but none were effective. After examining Baan's body, he sighed and shook his head. "I'm afraid Baan-sama has... passed away. There are no apparent external nor internal wounds, nor any signs of being poisoned... I will make a more thorough autopsy, but I believe Baan-sama's spirit had simply... left his body."
As Meruru wept besides Baan's body, Celena looked up at the Mystic Moon, eyes shimmering with unshed tears. "You've found her..."
[1] For "confabulating", I was leaning towards the definition "to replace fact with fantasy unconsciously in the memory".
[2] *grins* A characteristic of Heero Yuy, but ah well... ^_~
[3] After watching Tsubasa no Kami, I turned to using the original Japanese names of the characters. ^_^;;
[4] A little, tiny, itsy bit of humor to lighten this up. :)
A/N: Very short and weird, I know, but I thought that wouldn't be a surprise anymore. ^_~
Author's email - akiyineria@hotmail.com