Megumi shivered as the cold night wind lightly blew against her and Kumiko. “I can’t believe we’re doing this, Kumi-chan. It’s late, it’s cold, and I’m tired. My parents are going to expect to see me in bed in..”, as she looked at her wrist, Megumi remembered that she actually didn’t wear a watch. She could hear Kumiko giggle slightly as if she knew that would happen. “Well, I need to be there in a few hours.” Not like they’d actually be home, but she wasn’t feeling very well and that pain in her chest was getting stronger again. It was a good enough excuse at any rate. At least, she hoped it was. Kumiko sighed. “I know. I really don’t want to be here either, but I just have to learn something about those people in the tape. Remember, in the tape? That Sakura girl said that she always was recording her. So, if there was a tape in the camera, maybe there was another tape? Maybe there are a lot of other tapes. Maybe that could explain why I felt so..” she shook a bit, not wanting to think about it. “Maybe that could explain why I felt so attached to those girls in the video. That wasn’t just some normal deja vu. That was something.. special. What do you think, Megumi-chan?” “Hmm?” Megumi looked up from the lamp she was toying with. “Well, I think that we shouldn’t be digging through some rich person’s trash can. That’s what I think.” Kumiko stuck her tongue out at her. “Oh sure. I’m having lots of fun digging through the trash. Luckily, they’ve only seem to have thrown away most of the yard sale stuff so far. Seriously, what do you think? About the tape?” “I.. I don’t know. I feel so many things about the tape. I feel the pain from falling, I feel the happiness from being with her, and so much more. It seems so sad when I think about it, though. Like something tragic happened to those people. Even though I don’t know them, and don’t even know what happened, it hurts. Like I lost something dear to me, but found it again. Like if you moved away and then came back, I guess.” Megumi ran her arm under across her eyes and was surprised to find that her eyes were wet. Kumiko looked concerned and pulled her into a tight embrace. “It’s okay, Megumi. I feel pretty much the same way. It’s really confusing to feel that way about someone you don’t know. I wish I had the answers, but I don’t. So, I’m looking for them. Do you think we’ll find anything? If we do, should we even look at it? With how one tape was, I couldn’t imagine how a collection of them would be.” Kumiko slowly pulled away from Megumi. With a deep dramatic sigh, she threw her arms down in defeat. “Well, I give up. I’m not going to find anything digging around in the trash in the dark.” Kumiko started forward, but tripped and fell into Megumi’s arms, knocking them both off balance and sending them into the cold hard ground. Both girls just looked into each other’s eyes, curious if the other was thinking the same thing they were. Kumiko opened her mouth in an attempt to say something, but stopped herself. After a few seemingly everlasting moments of silence, Megumi spoke up. “Are you okay Kumi? Aww.. you scraped your knee. Should I kiss it and make it better?” Kumiko blushed and nodded weakly. Megumi ever-so-slowly leaned forward and kissed the slightly injured knee. “There. All better? I really can’t stand to see you hurt, you know, Kumi-chan.” Megumi smiled proudly at the dark blush on Kumiko’s face. Quickly, she stood up and offered out her hand. Kumiko grasped her hand and squeezed reassuringly and let Megumi help her to her feet. “I’ll come over to your house early tomorrow, okay, Kumi? Do you think the library will be open on the weekend?” Megumi asked curiously. She regretted saying the words shortly after they were out of her mouth. She -really- wasn’t feeling good. She needed to get home soon. And she really didn’t know if she’d be up to checking out a library the next day. The blonde was thankful for the darkness in masking her increasingly pale features. Kumiko nodded thoughtfully, brushing back a lock of brown hair behind an ear. “Yeah, it should be. We’ll head there in the morning and see what we can find. There has to be something on the girls in that video. Or at least I hope so.” Sighing, the teenager yawned exaggeratedly. “For now I’m gonna get some sleep. Do you think you could stay for a bit? I need to sneak back in anyway. Mom and dad still think I’m sleeping.” She smiled over at the blonde girl hopefully. “I always sleep better after I talk to you.” Megumi returned the smile weakly and shook her head. “I’d love to, Kumi, but I’m not sure how appreciative your mother would be of me teaching her daughter all sorts of strange things this late at night. And I already know she likes me, so I can’t jeopardize that.” A laugh accompanied the hug she gave Kumiko. “I’ll see you tomorrow, Kumi- chan. You have beautiful dreams in the meantime. I know you’ll be in mine.” The wind picked up slightly, blowing Kumiko’s hair around as she returned the hug. “Okay. Maybe some other time then. I’ll be thinking about you, Megumi-chan. Sleep we...” Before she could finish that thought, Megumi’s lips pressed tightly against her own. Her cheeks darkened as her eyes fell closed and she kissed back. “Goodnight, Kumi.” And with that, Megumi was off. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Wet tears spilt down Megumi’s cheek to the bathroom tile beneath her. The tile was cold against the bare skin of her legs peeking out beneath her jumbled nightgown, but she’d long since given up on caring about such trivial discomforts. Her whole body was screaming at her, fire burning maliciously at all of her senses. Even taking her medicine hadn’t helped in the least. She should be in bed, but she couldn’t make it the short distance back to her bedroom. So she knelt on the floor in the bathroom, her head leaning against the cabinets under the sink. Her skin was deathly pale, nearly as white as the tiles underneath her. “Daddy... Mommy... Somebody... please...” Her voice barely reached her own ears, seeming no more than a whisper. More cold tears fell down her face. Her parents weren’t there. Again. They were always working these days. To get away from her. No, that wasn’t true. That couldn’t be. They were both working to afford all of the medicine and the treatments and the doctors. Megumi shuddered violently at the memories. It always hurt so much. And the doctors had been pretty grim whenever they talked to her parents. She didn’t need to be a lip reader to know that she was dying. A cold hand was gripping her soul, frightening the poor girl even more. She didn’t want to die. She didn’t want to leave Kumiko. Kumiko... Of course she hadn’t told the other girl about any of this. It would only make her worry. And Megumi had long ago found out that there was nothing that she could do about it. So why worry Kumiko when it was so much nicer to see her smiling, happy face? A sudden fit of coughing shook the blonde girl’s small body as she reached up to her trembling lips. When she pulled them away, they were wet with fresh blood. The sight sent her into more tears. She was so scared but there was no one who would come comfort her. If Kumiko found out, she would be right over, but then she’d worry herself to death. Her parents were nowhere to be seen, so she was all on her own. Be a big girl, her mother had told her, several years before. Be a big girl and you’ll make it through this. Megumi didn’t want to be a big girl. It hurt too much. Kumiko yawned tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her violet eyes. Her long, dark brown hair was done up in braids today. Sleep had not been easy in coming to her the night before. Her mind kept going back to the girls on the tape and why it had seemed so familiar. Had something similar happened with her and Megumi, explaining the shared sense of deja vu? Or was there something deeper behind all of it? “I really hope we can find something here. And soon. I’m hungry. I didn’t get any breakfast before we left.” Megumi winced at the mention of food. The blonde girl really didn’t look very good this morning. Her skin was paper white and her lips were drawn tight. The sunglasses she wore looked cute on her and they hid her bloodshot aquamarine eyes well, but Kumiko could see them occasionally as the sunglasses almost slipped off. She sighed as they entered the library. Megumi looked like she was getting sick, but she looked like that so often these days. Her lover would always deny that anything was wrong besides a slight cold when Kumiko would ask her about it. Megumi shivered in the air conditioned building, rubbing her arms as she tried to keep warm. “It’s freezing in here. Let’s just try to get the information and get out of here. Mom wants me home early today so I can’t be out long.” It always pained her to lie to Kumiko, but she really didn’t feel like being out of bed at all today. She kind of doubted her mother would be home at any rate. “Well, if you’re tired, you can always take a nap at my place when we’re done with all this, Megumi-chan.” Kumiko smiled brightly as she took her best friend’s cold hand. A sigh escaped her lips as she looked for a good place to begin their search. “Something tells me I should have just tried to look up all this stuff on my computer anyway. At least then I could go make some lunch.” Another uneasy look on Megumi’s face told her to drop the subject of eating. But she was sooooo hungry. “Here we go.” Finding a free terminal, she began searching for relevant information. Pulling up a chair, Megumi relished the feeling of being off her feet. The entire way there, she had felt ready to collapse. Her body was still aching from the night before, but she couldn’t let it show through. She didn’t want Kumiko to start worrying about this, especially when her heart was so set on finding out who the people on the videotape were. The sick girl wasn’t really sure she wanted to know, herself. It was all just too freaky. Who cared who some people on an old, dated video were? All she needed was Kumiko. As long as she had the other girl nearby, everything would always be all right. “Find anything?” she asked after realizing she had nodded off for a bit. She tried to suppress a yawn, but to no avail. Giggling at her friend, the brown haired girl nodded. “Yeah, I think so. Apparently the mansion had been owned by the Daidouji family previously.” Megumi gasped. “Daidouji? The Daidouji Company kind of Daidouji” Nodding again, Kumiko grew more serious. “Yeah, it looks like the place belonged to the Daidouji family for quite a while, but recently it had been sold by Daidouji Maya, the current head of the company. She went there to move out some of the things that were important, but it looks like some of it got left behind and the new occupants are getting rid of it.” “So does that mean that one of the girls on the videotape was from that family line? Is there any information on them? Maybe we could find some pictures.” Megumi’s heart was pounding in her chest. Part of her wanted to reach over and turn off the power on the computer, to tell Kumiko it didn’t matter who was on some stupid videotape and that she was the only one that mattered to her, but she was paralyzed. She didn’t want to know. She was too afraid to find out. But she couldn’t get herself to keep from hearing more. “Yeah, that’s what I’m checking right now. They’re a pretty powerful family, so there should be a fair amount about them. I think one of them is in our class. That Sumire girl? The one with the glasses and the scary looking dark haired girl that’s always following her?” Glancing back at Megumi, she saw the blonde nod in response. “Come to think of it, she does look a bit like the girls in the video. Though I can’t tell which she looks more like, so I don’t know who she’s related to. And I don’t know how she could possibly be related to both.” Oddly enough, the idea sounded right. She shook her head and kept looking at the screen. “Here it is.” A list was on the screen, showing the family line back for quite some time. “Yep, there’s Sumire. It looks like the first Daidouji on record is Daidouji Sonomi and she founded the company. She had a daughter, Daidouji Tomoyo. Apparently she had a daughter named Bara. And she had a daughter named Maya, the current head of the Daidouji Company. And she has a daughter named Sumire. Yeah, she’s in our class. There’s her picture.” Kumiko pointed at the picture of a frustrated looking girl in big glasses with dark hair done up in pigtails. Megumi nodded slowly, not sure if she could take much more of this. The anticipation was maddening. The sunglasses had slipped off her nose, but she hardly noticed. “Can you find any other pictures? What about the rest of them?” Typing in another command, Kumiko looked back up at the screen. Pictures began appearing by the names, as well as links for more information on each member of the family. First a determined looking businesswoman with a slant style hair cut and then a beautiful pale woman with long dark hair that ended in curls with the same stormy blue eyes as her mother. The braided girl stopped there. “That’s her!! That’s the one from the videotape!” Her violet eyes went wide in shock as she stared at the screen. She was much older in the picture, a full grown woman as opposed to the teenager in the video, but it was obviously the same person. Feeling sick to her stomach, Megumi heard her ask a question she was dreading. “Does it have any information on her? Or who that brunette might have been?” “Let me see...” Biting her lower lip, Kumiko continued looking through the information. A summary of the woman’s entire life up on the next page was briefly skimmed through as her whole body threatened to shake. Being so close to all of this was exciting. She knew that what she was looking for was near, an answer to the question posed by the videotape. “Kinomoto Sakura! Right here. It says that she got married to Daidouji Tomoyo. Wait, that can’t be right. Yeah, it says that they got married and had a daughter. That’s bizarre. But here she is.” The slightly shorter girl moved to the side to give her lover a better look. On screen was a woman with fairly short brunette hair and a happy smile, looking out with emerald green eyes. It had to be the other girl from the videotape. “How’d they die?” Megumi blurted out. “Maybe it was really tragic and they possessed the videotape or something. I thought they wouldn’t have lasted much longer past the videotape if it seemed so important.” Skimming the information, Kumiko shook her head. “It looks like they lived long, happy lives by all accounts. Daidouji Sakura... Oh, she must’ve changed her name when they got married. Anyway, she fell down the stairs when she was a grandmother. Daidouji Tomoyo died a few days later of no explained cause. Her daughter seems to have thought it was heartache over the loss of Sakura.” Megumi shook her head, running hands through her curly blonde hair. “None of this makes any sense. We know who these people are now, but that still doesn’t explain anything. Why do we know them at all? Maybe it was the camera angle. Maybe we just got so caught up in watching the old thing that we started thinking there was more to it.” She was shaking now, afraid. This was all too strange for her. Kumiko took Megumi’s soft hand, trying to comfort her. “Megumi... There has to be something to all of this. I know there is. It’s just too much to be a coincidence.” “How do you know, Kumi? Maybe that’s all it is...” Megumi’s voice was unsteady and she couldn’t meet the braided girl’s gaze. She squeezed Kumiko’s hand. “Then why do I know things about them that I shouldn’t? Things that video couldn’t have told me. That they came up with the baby’s name while strolling through a rose garden. That Tomoyo loved to sing to Sakura. That Sakura liked to cook for Tomoyo even though they had people who could do that for them. That the world looked all tumbly when she fell down the stairs.” Kumiko shuddered at the unbidden images in her mind. It all looked so real. Like she was reliving old memories. Even slipping down the stairs... “Stop it!!” Megumi stood up suddenly, tears starting to form in her eyes. “Just stop it, Kumi! You’re scaring me...” Her voice went from a scream to a barely audible whisper in seconds. Shaking hands wiped at her eyes as she took a few weak steps back. Kumiko reached for her seconds before she collapsed. “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?” Kumiko demanded of the prone girl in her room. “I didn’t remember..?” Megumi ventured after a moment’s hesitation, trying to smile in an attempt to lighten the mood. “Hmph...” Turning away from her, the slightly shorter girl crossed her arms. Megumi could tell that she was fuming. “How did you find out?” the blonde asked quietly, almost ashamed. “Your mother told me when I called and told her that you had collapsed at the library. I thought you’d just fainted from too much shock. But she said you’ve been sick off and on for the past three years. And that you’re getting worse.” “That’s technically inaccurate. I’ve been sick since I was a little girl. It’s just been getting progressively worse for the past three years.” Megumi tried another smile, but it seemed to have no affect on Kumiko’s back. Sighing, she shook her head. She felt defeated. “I didn’t want to tell you because I didn’t want you to worry about all this. I know how hard it is to know that you’re dying and that no one can help. I know how bad that feeling of helplessness is. And I would never want you to have to experience it. It makes you feel all sick and twisted up inside. Besides, your smiles have always been the best therapy for me. I don’t want them to be tainted with worry whenever you look at me.” Closing her eyes, the wind from the fan rustled the blankets over her. “It’s not like I could have hid it from you much longer anyway. It’s starting to get to the point where I can barely hide the pain sometimes. You would have found out sooner or later.” “But you’re supposed to tell me everything! I’m your girlfriend! I love you! I can’t...” The anger in Kumiko’s voice drained away as she released a choked sob. “I don’t want to lose you... I... I need you... Megumi...” She collapsed to her knees, burying her face against Megumi’s side as she clung to her raggedly. “I love you... I love you too much to let you go..” Megumi couldn’t hold back her own tears as she gently stroked Kumiko’s back. “Kumi...” she whispered softly. This was exactly what she’d feared would happen if Kumiko found out, but she found herself oddly relieved to know that her love finally knew of her personal pain. It felt so much freer. Like it was finally all right to cry. To stop being a big girl. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sitting in the tree adjacent to the window, a woman watched the two girls in silence. She had been there for some time, but no one seemed to notice her presence. Her eyes sparkled from behind her glasses as she continued her silent vigil. She had a keen interest in the futures of the two girls inside the small room. But revealing herself would be troublesome. They weren’t supposed to know about her. Especially not yet. Lavender eyes fell upon the sleeping form of Megumi. “Tomoyo- chan...” the mysterious girl whispered softly. She had this all planned out, but now it was almost impossible to continue on. Her heart ached too much to continue on this way. But it was because of her that this was happening. Well, most of it. She had never planned on Megumi getting sick. Or the girls finding out about their pasts. They were supposed to be oblivious to what was really going on. That was their single goal in life that she had set out for them. To eke out lives for themselves, together. They weren’t supposed to get involved. But seeing her lying there, being held by the brunette was almost too much for her. How she longed to go inside there and take Kumiko’s place. She had been so sure of her plans when she’d set everything in motion years before. But now after all that she had endured, she was having second thoughts. It wasn’t fair that she was supposed to be alone. That she was only here for a very specific purpose. And the most painful part of it all was that she had brought it all upon herself. “Tomoyo-chan... I miss you.” Long fingers wiped at the tears building in her eyes behind the glasses. It was a bad idea to come back. She should have known she wouldn’t be able to handle it. Why had she come after all? Because she had to see her again. But watching her in the arms of the other girl, dying, was just too much to bear. A mournful sigh escaped her lips. This was stupid. She never should have come. Standing on the branch she had been sitting on, long wings unfurled from her back. “Sleep well, Tomoyo. I’m sorry for hurting you.” Blowing a kiss through the window, she got ready to push off when Kumiko turned around. Her heart skipped a beat. No, she hadn’t noticed her. Her magic was still shrouding her. There was nothing to worry about. Then their eyes locked. Kumiko stared wide eyed at the red haired angel floating outside the window. An uneasy feeling had been building in her chest for the past few minutes and it had just reached a deafening crescendo. Her instincts had finally taken over at the feeling of being watched. But she certainly hadn’t been expecting that. Kumiko had led a rather normal life for the short time she had been alive. Nothing stranger than a slightly eccentric girlfriend. But now there were videotapes of long dead girls and deja vu from some past life and strange feelings she couldn’t pinpoint. And now this. Her heart seized up at the sight, as if her mind wanted to deny the very existence of this girl. ‘No, she’s not there! Ignore her! Pretend that you’ve never seen her and everything will go back to normal,’ her mind screamed to her. And part of her knew that it was true. Everything could be the way it used to be. All of this craziness could be forgotten. But as she watched the girl outside her window, she found herself being drawn closer. The angel knew. She knew all about what was going on. And Kumiko needed answers. She bolted to the window. The angel could easily have flown away by now, but she stayed where she was, perched atop the branch and peering in. Her eyes followed Kumiko’s every movement. The large, white wings moved ever so slightly behind her as she shifted her balance. “You weren’t supposed to see me, Kumiko. You weren’t supposed to see any of this. I should make you forget about all of it.” Her voice was calm, even. Her eyes narrowed through the glasses, giving her a slightly menacing look. The whole thing sent a shiver through Kumiko. She knew that the angel in the tree could very well back up her claim. “Who are you? What’s going on? Why is all of this happening?” she asked, heedless of whatever danger she was putting herself in. It didn’t matter. She couldn’t sit back while all of this washed over her. The only girl she had ever loved lay dying in her bed and she was still so confused about everything. And the firey haired angel was the key to it all. The angel looked back at Kumiko through her glasses, lavender eyes meeting violet in an intense stare that neither was willing to back down from. The angel finally sighed, shifting to the side as her wings stretched out behind her. “Kumiko-chan, you really aren’t ready for any of this. Just go back inside and hold onto Megumi tightly. Love her. Hold her. Comfort her. That is why you exist.” “So I can watch her die?!” Kumiko shouted, rage burning in her heart. Her hands shook as tears threatened to spill down her cheeks. Her violet eyes were ablaze with the pain and anger that clung to her heart like needles. “I exist so that I can watch my only love slip away from me?! So that I can be there for her while she dies so young?” Hot tears fell past her chin as she shook her head intensely. “No!! That’s not it!! That’s not how things are supposed to work!” The angel’s beautiful face turned cross as she flew up next to the window in one long, graceful movement. The wings beat slowly, luxioriously as she remained aloft in front of the startled brunette. “Will you please be quiet? You’re going to worry Tomoyo-chan. She needs her sleep right now.“ Closing her eyes, she chanted something under her breath before motioning with her hand. Kumiko watched in shock as a gentle blue wave surrounded Megumi before fading away. “What the hell did you do to Megumi-chan!?!” she demanded furiously. She reached out and grabbed hold of the angel’s blouse, holding on tightly. “You leave her alone!!” The angel just watched Kumiko for a silent moment, her lavender eyes betraying a deep loneliness in her heart. “I was simply putting her to sleep. She’s in enough pain as it is. Now she’s dreaming, far away from the pain. She doesn’t need you waking her up and frightening her about all of this. All she wants is to be with you. Don’t you understand? That’s all she ever wanted. And that‘s what I gave her.” Kumiko’s hands fell uselessly to her sides as she took a half step backwards. “You... You planned all of this... You know what’s going on, don’t you..? So, you know all about the videotape and the memories and everything... Right?” The angel nodded slowly, thoughtfully. “Then... Then you have to tell me! I need to know what’s happening!! I have to!” She asked anxiously, her eyes welling up as she collapsed against the window sill, barely supporting her weight on her hands. “Please...?” she asked pathetically, her eyes begging the silent angel. “You have to...” Closing her lavender eyes, the angel sighed, shaking her head. “It wasn’t supposed to be this way. You weren’t meant to find out. You were simply supposed to live your lives, to be happy.” Her eyes fluttered open, looking directly into Kumiko’s soul. She could see every nuance of the girl before her, everything that made her what she was. In a way, it was like looking into a mirror. Of course, her life had changed certain things, forcing her to grow up very differently than the girl before her. Kumiko waited nervously through the scrutiny she was receiving from the angel. It was with some surprise that she realized the angel was younger than her. She looked no more than fourteen years old. But even then, it still frightened her to see those piercing lavender eyes focused so intently on herself. “You said... You said that it’s why I exist... What do you mean?” she ventured, hoping that her pleas wouldn’t go unheard this time. Sighing, the angel pushed up her glasses, her red hair moving slowly as the wind caressed it. In the blink of an eye, she disappeared, Sakura blossoms floating gently to the grass below. “No! No! Come back!! Please come back!!! There’s so much I need to know!” Verging on panic, Kumiko leaned out the window and called again and again for the firey haired angel. A tap on her back startled her, almost to the point of falling out the window. Her heart pounded in her chest in shock as she finally turned around. The angel stood before her without a trace of her beautiful wings. Kumiko blushed in embarrassment, staring at the floor. “I thought that you’d left...” she admitted sheepishly. To the brunette’s amazement, the angel smiled softly. “Don’t worry. I probably would have done the same. Which is why I know that I can’t leave. You can’t hide from the truth, even if it is safer that way. You would continue relentlessly pursuing it until it finally consumed you.” “You make that sound like a bad thing to be a little determined now and then,” Kumiko said, frowning as she crossed her arms. This girl knew all the right buttons to push. “It can be. Especially when others are trying to protect you from the truth. You don’t understand how brutal it can be.” The angel looked over at the blonde asleep in the bed. “But you’re beginning to get a taste.” Her glasses glinted in the sunlight as she turned around. “My name is Meishi. I am the reincarnation of the sorceress Sakura Daidouji.” She smiled again, gesturing to the mirror. Kumiko’s eyes traveled quickly to it. Rather than the firey haired angel, the girl Kumiko had seen on the computer earlier that day took her place. She looked to be about the same fourteen years as the angel. Confusion gripped her heart as she tried to make sense out of what was going on. “But I thought... I thought that I was Sakura,” she said quietly, her voice no more than a ghost. Wasn’t that what her memories were telling her? What she had seen in the video? Wasn’t she that girl? “You are a dream. Born from my love for the girl that you know as Megumi. You are here to love her always, to be with her throughout all her life. That is your lot in life. And I would give anything to trade places with you.” Her small body shuddered almost imperceptibly as she closed her eyes. When they opened, her lavender eyes shimmered with unshed tears. Kumiko couldn‘t utter a word in response. A dream? She was only a dream? Some sort of puppet? “I knew that one day I would have to set things in motion, that I would need to return to finish what started with the Cards. But I also knew how difficult that would be. I knew that I couldn’t leave Tomoyo behind. She means everything to me. But I didn’t want to get her caught up in what I needed to do. Too often she was nearly hurt because of my carelessness. Her heart suffered the worst because of me. I wasn’t going to let that happen again.” She took the brunette’s hands and pulled her gently closer until they were both in front of the mirror. To Kumiko’s surprise, neither were present in the mirror. There were instead two Sakura’s standing there, in the same positions that she was in with Meishi. “So I created you to take care of her, to love her, to be with her while I handled the magical side of things. It’s something that I’ve come to regret now.” Her eyes once again settled on the peacefully sleeping form of the blonde girl. “I never expected her to get sick. I didn’t think she would die like this.” As if snapping out of a trance, Kumiko took a step forward. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “So even though she’s your Tomoyo, you’re still going to let her die? With all the magic at your command, your not even going to try and save her life?” All the fear and worry that had entered her heart at the mention that she was created of a dream for Sakura’s purposes dissipated in an instant as fury returned. “How could you say you love her if you aren’t willing to do anything for her? How could you stick her with a dream and then leave her to die?” Her voice was frantic, pained, but she forced out the words. Meishi slumped to her knees at Megumi’s bedside, holding her pale hand tightly. Kumiko’s brazen words had cut her deeper than any knife could. “You don’t understand. I’m the one who brought her back. My magic is too strong. I can’t die. Not completely. But Tomoyo-chan... She can die. She did die. So I brought her back. I reincarnated her. Because I got scared. I couldn’t bear to be without her. She’s always been there for me. Without her love and support, I’m nothing. I couldn’t go on if she wasn’t there. So when I died and was reincarnated, I brought her with me. I didn’t let her move on. I took her with me. It was selfish. I came back in two bodies. This one,” her free hand indicated herself before motioning towards Kumiko. “And that one. You were supposed to find Tomoyo-chan’s soul in whichever body it wound up in so that we could be together once more. I was supposed to put everything in order with the Cards. But Tomoyo... She came back in this body, but now it’s dying. I have to wonder if it’s my fault. If she wasn’t meant to come back like this. I used my magic to bind her here, to bring her back to life. She wasn’t allowed to move on. Because I couldn’t go on without Tomoyo-chan...” Tears fell down from under her glasses as she watched the sleeping girl intently. “So now she’s hurting because of me. Now she’s dying all over again because of my selfishness. So I can’t try and make her better. Part of me wonders if I should let her live in such pain.” “No!!” Kumiko shouted, reaching Megumi’s side in seconds. “I won’t let you take her away form me! I know she’s in pain, but I...” Her voice trailed off as it hit her. She was saying the exact same thing. “I... need her...” she whispered, her eyes still wide. “I’m... I’m doing the same thing... I’m hurting her, too...” “Because we’re the same,” the red haired girl finished. “You can’t live without her anymore than I could. The thought of going on without Tomoyo-chan by your side doesn’t make any sense. It’s like a world without love or without air. It would be completely desolate. Her heart warms you up that way, brightening everything in your life to the point that you take her wonderful light for granted, not seeing just how wonderful she makes it. Her love and support keep you going when you would rather give up in defeat. It’s just the way she is. Just as it’s the way we are to need her.” She sighed, looking infinitely older than the young girl that rested against the side of the bed. “If I end her pain, I would send you along with her.” She shook her head quickly at the look Kumiko gave her. “You wouldn’t want to live without her. Trust me. The last fourteen years have been like a nightmare. My only happiness was knowing that the two of you were out here. Besides, I wouldn’t want Tomoyo-chan to be lonely on the other side.” A cold chill traveled up Kumiko’s spine at Meishi’s words. Despite her confusion and her own fear of seeing Megumi in any more pain, she steeled her resolve. “I don’t care. I don’t care if you did make me for this reason or if you screwed up when you brought Megumi back. I won’t let you take her from me. She’s here now. That’s what matters. I won’t let you or anyone else take her away from me. I love her too much.” Determination glittered in her violet eyes, her gaze never wavering as the sorceress looked back at her. Giggling softly, Meishi stood up. “I’d almost forgotten what that looked like. You really do have all of her love and support, don’t you? I remember that determination from long ago. It took me a long time to understand that she was the cause.” Her fingers trailed gently along Megumi’s pale cheek before brushing back some of her curly blonde hair. Her heart seized up as she looked down at the sleeping girl. “Oh, Tomoyo-chan... I miss you so much...” A half sob, half sigh escaped her lips. Her head nodded weakly. “All right. I’ll leave her with you. But you better make sure that she’s happy. She’s already in enough pain. I want her to die happily.” “But... I don’t want her to die...” Kumiko whispered. She silently berated herself. Her vision blurred as burning tears stung her eyes. She clenched her fingernails into her palms in an effort to focus past the tears. Meishi was right, the thought of living a life without Megumi was a bleak as walking through an endless desert. Megumi was her best friend, the girl that she loved. They were partners. Neither was complete without the other. “I don’t want her to, either. Please take good care of her for me.” Hesitating for only a second, Meishi leaned down and kissed the sleeping beauty, her firey red hair kissing Megumi’s beautiful blonde hair. Her heart surged as she felt Tomoyo in the all too brief kiss. She smiled sadly down at her love, her fingers trailing gently over the blonde’s cheek as aquamarine eyes slowly blinked open. Megumi strained to make out the blur in front of her as she finally woke up. “Kumi?” her groggy voice asked. As her vision slowly cleared, the figure that had been above her faded away. If she didn’t feel so sick, she may have thought there had been someone over her a moment before. “Kumi-chan?” she asked tiredly, trying to keep the panic out of her voice as she searched desperately for the brunette. “I’m right here!” Kumiko said quickly, taking Megumi’s cold hand as she sat next to her on the bed. The jealousy she had felt when the sorceress had kissed her best friend quickly faded away, replaced with concern for her slowly awakening friend. “I’m right here, Megumi- chan. I’ll always be right here for you.” She still didn’t know quite what was going on with Meishi or what she had in mind, but that hardly mattered at the moment. It didn’t even matter if she was Sakura or just a dream. All that mattered was her best friend and what lay before her. Megumi offered a weak smile before coughing for a few moments. “I know, Kumi. It’s part of why I love you so much.” She didn’t know what had happened, but at least Kumiko wasn’t mad at her anymore. She didn’t know how much more of that she could have taken before just dying of a broken heart. Wet, cold tears splattered against her cheeks from up above. Her arms wrapped around the brunette’s waist, even though they felt like overcooked noodles. Leaning down on top of her best friend, Kumiko kissed Megumi softly again and again, sobbing quietly as she did. “I love you so much... I’ll always love you... I promise... I promise we’ll always be together... No matter where we are...” she whispered, giving Megumi’s lips more feathery kisses. “I know... I know, Kumi. Always.”
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