Addelyn Lotus Crystal
 
Title : GC's Official Nephrite Posts : 8024 Join date : 2012-08-04 Age : 34 Location : Canada
![February Writing Contest ~Special Edition ~ Writing Twins Category [Winner Announced] Empty](https://2img.net/i/fa/empty.gif) |  Subject: February Writing Contest ~Special Edition ~ Writing Twins Category [Winner Announced] ![February Writing Contest ~Special Edition ~ Writing Twins Category [Winner Announced] I_icon_minitime](https://2img.net/s/t/21/09/42/i_icon_minitime.gif) 23rd February 2016, 2:08 pm | |
| ![February Writing Contest ~Special Edition ~ Writing Twins Category [Winner Announced] Writing%20contest%20main%20site_zpsl1yodoga](https://2img.net/h/i312.photobucket.com/albums/ll340/musicxxangel/gc/writing%20contest%20main%20site_zpsl1yodoga.png) - Entry 1:
2062 Blood pounded against her skull and she took a long, shallow breath, but it was too late - discomfort had set in. Releasing her breath in a gusty, groaning sigh, she flipped over onto her stomach, the picture across from her going right-side-up just as it changed to the next landscape: a beautiful waterfall scene from some unknown lush forest, with beautiful blue skies and puffy white clouds. Wistfully, she scooted back on her bed and put her chin in the palm of her hands, watching dreamily as the water fell over the cliff edge and crashed upon the rocks below. Glimmers of multi-colored light flashed as a bird flitted from tree to leafy tree, and she reached for the remote to turn on the sound, only for her com to blip at her. She frowned, blue eyes on the device and back to the serene image, letting the device sound off for a few moments as she considered just letting it go and pretend she was doing something important, but then she saw the name of the caller flashing at her wrist and extended her arm to grab the earbud and fit it into place, pulling herself onto her knees so she could speak properly. “Hi Raven!” she greeted cheerfully, lifting her finger over the earbud -- “You forgot, didn’t you?” the deadpan voice accused. She decided not to initiate a video convo. “Forgot? What do you mean?” she laughed nervously, flipping her wrist around to take a look at her watch again, tapping the screen to change functions to calendar and schedule and ‘important notes!’ and finding, in the latter category, pinned with a yellow star, a note that sent her flying off of her bed and towards her closet for her jacket and boots. “I mean you forgot, rockhead! You’re going to be late – don’t bother coming!” “Raven!!” she cried, kicking on her last boot as she flung her door open and ran up the stairs to the living pod, past her mother, who looked up from a botany experiment just as the front door slammed shut behind her. “Raven I’m almost there! Hahaha, see I was kidding!” she implored, taking heart that she hadn’t been hung up on yet as she dashed around a corner, past a neighbor with their arms filled with green goods, and down the long corridor, back towards the public spaces. “Don’t lie to me!” Raven exclaimed, then quieted, her voice a whisper in her ear, “Listen, the doors close in five minutes – I’ve got to go. Don’t be late or I’ll stop covering for you in the morning.” The line went silent just after, so Raven never heard her pitiful whine of a response. She hated running - she hated the entire experience of running – and yet she was always running! Up a ramp and finally out of the “neighbourhood”, into the wider corridors of the various stores and shopping and a few of the citizen-scientist labs – the performance dome wasn’t that far, she might actually make it! With a fresh wave of determination, she flew around another corner, her long hair almost sailing out behind her with how sharp she took it, and ran straight into someone. Her nose hit something hard and she and her assailant jolted; hands wrapped around her shoulders in an attempt to stop both of them before they fell over backwards completely, both staggering, fighting for balance. Her wordless exclamation of something-like-“Oh!”-meets-something-like-“Ah!” was drowned by their – er, his – exclamation of “Hey!” but they managed to stop before it was too late. She disengaged, holding up both hands in a surrendering move as “Sorry!” burst from her lips, but with nose pounding she doubled over, putting her hand to her face to see if it was bleeding, unable to help herself, “What are you doing wearing an EXC indoors anyway?!” “I – “ he sounded close, and flustered – had he bent over to see if she was okay? That was kinda sweet – “Me?! What are you doing tearing around corners?!” he shot back, much less sweet. “None of your business!” she snapped at him, pulling back and inspecting her hand. No blood. She straightened, her alarm finally going off on her watch – which meant Raven’s event was starting – and groaned. “I’m late!” she exclaimed, dancing out from in front of him, “Listen, buddy, no blood, no foul!” and kicked off again – Only to hear heavy footfalls following her. “’Listen, Buddy’?!” he called, easily catching her, “’No blood, no foul’?! I didn’t hear an apology in any of that!” They dashed up a short staircase, heading for the tunnel ahead, “You were the one walking on the wrong side of the hallway!” she returned heatedly, glancing over and immediately regretting it. He was cute. Too cute. Black-hair-and-blue-eyes-perfect-face cute. She immediately looked away, focusing on the path ahead. She would not let her resolve weaken! Her righteous indignation fueled her sprint! The doors were so close! “You think this is my fault?!” he questioned incredulously, his deep voice lilting up in disbelief towards the end, “You’re running at break-neck speed around corners – what if I had been some poor old lady you knocked over, huh?” “Then the old lady would’ve been on the wrong side of the hallway!” she insisted, her voice rising. She ignored the port-hole windows in favor of rushing to the entrance, skidding to a stop so she could pull open the large glass doors – to her surprise, he actually helped her – and then squeezed through and ran for the winding staircase. Her lungs burned, her legs ached, all of the weariness coming on at once as she jogged painfully up the stairs, whining as she went; she reached the landing she needed and loped to the door, huffing and puffing painfully towards the closed barrier. She was so close. So close. She leaned up against it and softly pounded, barely able to make her arms move; maybe they’d let her in. Maybe they weren’t as strict as Raven had led her to believe. Maybe – The door beside her opened slightly and she could have cried with relief. Before they could change their mind she stuck the toe of her boot in the door and offered the girl a tired smile, “Sorry I’m late!” she wheezed. The girl – an usher? – put her finger to her lips and opened the door a little wider to let her in, then pointed to a string of empty seats on the far end near the back. She nodded and dragged herself over, the thought of a chair overpowering any notion of looking for a seat closer to the front or the aisle. With a sigh she settled into the plush audience chair, her eyes closing finally relaxing... until someone took the seat right next to her. She sat up straight, thinking it could be an organizer – or worse, a professor – there to chastise her, but instead it was him. She narrowed her gaze at him, then looked forward, crossing her arms as she slouched in the seat. “You didn’t have to follow me in,” she whispered. He paid it no attention. “So what is this?” he whispered instead, looking forward curiously, far less winded than she was – which wasunfair, but then she had run farther and he looked like he was fresh out of some sort of training program or something that probably had him running for hours. No one else would wear an EXC suit this far in. She looked over again, wondering if it had any dirt still on it, and couldn’t help but notice the strong angle of his jaw, or his straight nose, high cheekbones, long fingers… No! He was definitely annoying and she was not attracted to that! “Talent show for the summer festival,” she replied anyway, despite herself. He surprised her then by looking over, but while his dark blue eyes looked to her at first, they were continually pulled behind her, through the thick glass between them and the pale-tinted ice-wall that separated them from the Martian landscape. The way his eyes moved, taking it all in, softened the stubborn line of her lips; his actions were so honest, and yet he attempted to cover them, like he wasn’t enthralled by what he saw. It was endearing. Well,almost endearing – she certainly wasn’t falling for it. Putting on her cheekiest expression, she asked, “You’re new, aren’t you?” He looked guilty, seeming to sink in his seat a little, and she almost regretted the tease. It wasn’t even a tease anyway, right? Just the truth, but he seemed self-conscious about it and it made her feel weird. He took a breath to speak when someone turned around andshh’d them loudly; she blushed, he seemed to bite his tongue, and they both huddled farther into their seats as a younger kid sat down to their cello and began to play. While they didn’t exchange a single word for the remainder of the show, she felt like she had gotten to know him a little, the way his breathing matched the measures of the music, his foot or fingers tapping out the beat to the up-tempo numbers; they both laughed at the same things when a would-be comedian tried out their material – even the less than mature punch-lines that had her in stiches seemed to get him, too. When Raven came on stage to sing, she was up on her feet cheering her on from the back row, and when she finished and took a bow, she made a point of yelling out, “That’s my friend Raven!! She wrote the lyrics and composed the music!!” loud enough to make Raven bow a second time with the fresh wave of applause (and a bit of laughter at the enthusiasm). The show didn’t have too much longer after that; a few more musical routines, another comedy act – this one wasn’t very good, but she laughed at the jokes to make the performer feel better – a dance routine or two, and finally all performers were brought on the stage to sing an anthem to call it a night. The audience stood and sang along to the old tune; her “friend” stood respectfully, but didn’t sing. As the song ended and everyone applauded again, she made to make her way to find Raven at the front of the auditorium before the rush of people, but found herself almost trapped, the EXC suit guy with those intense blue eyes was staring out the window again, blocking the quicker route down the row to the aisle. She looked over her shoulder and saw what he was staring at – the sunset. “Different from Earth’s, isn’t it?” she asked quietly as the crowd worked their way out, leaving the two of them isolated, like an island in the sea. She turned to look at it with him, seeing what he saw, but comparing it to the image window back in her room. “The colors are swapped, right? On Earth the sunset is red and orange, instead of blue…” she trailed off; ‘red and orange’ didn’t fit the description atall. Sunsets on Earth were filled with color and light, all pinks and oranges and yellows and reds, with dark purple or light orange clouds, fading out like a rainbow from the light blue sky; what she would give to see one of those in person – “It’s beautiful,” he said openly, and her reverie broke around those simple, heartfelt words. She looked at the sunset again, how the butterscotch sky faded to reddish-pink, then then blue around what was left of the sun, almost purple at the horizon today. Utopia Planatia’s red sand looked almost brown, the darker rocks were pockets of darkness spotting the otherwise calm sand-sea; it was pretty, sure, but it was also cold, whereas Earth’s sunset was like the embodiment of warmth. But then, through the blue glow, she saw two bright stars come shining out of the darkness, and smiled. One was bright yellow, the other deep blue: Earth was out tonight. If they waited for the sun to completely set, they might even be able to see Earth’s Moon. She smiled at the thought, staring at the pale blue dot in space, imagining the planet’s surface, the sights, the sounds, the freedom of being able to walk on ground that didn’t always crunch under your feet, to be surrounded by air that wouldn’t suffocate you, to roam without an environmental suit. While she couldn’t be there, the idea of Earth was sometimes enough. “Yeah, I guess.” “So I see you made it, Pandora,” a somewhat cocky voice teased. She turned and grinned when she saw Raven standing there, all sophisticated with her long black hair pinned stylishly into place, wearing a red and black performance dress that looked amazing on her – she was about to pose dramatically to accept the veiled praise when Raven’s purple eyes fell on – well, whoever he was – and her brows raised mischievously, “And you brought a date?” She gasped, her jaw dropping, and immediately stepped away from the EXC-suit guy and exclaimed forcefully, “He is not my date!” barely resisting the urge to point at him when she said it! “He’s far too annoying to be my date!” she continued, feeling a little toouncomfortable with the notion, her heart beating quickly due only to the idea that she could be somehow connected to this guy in a romantic fashion – which would not, could not ever happen! He snickered, “Your name is Pandora?” Typical. “See?!” she exclaimed, crossing her arms, “Far too annoying.” “Whatever you say,” Raven shrugged dismissively, and she knew she wasn’t going to live this down anytime soon. “So, Not-Pandora’s-Date, do you have a name along with that Excursion Suit?” She loved how Raven could be so bold so effortlessly, and come off so cool doing it. Her confidence was practically legendary – she could do anything she put her mind to and make it look easy; she admired her tremendously, even when she was making her life challenging. “Aurelius Triston,” he replied smoothly, barely ruffling at Raven’s prod. She couldn’t help the eye roll – Aurelius? How pretentious could you --- “Like Pandora is any better?” he stated flatly, calling her on thoughts and making her blush. She crossed her arms and sniffed, “Conquered any nations recently?” “Opened any boxes recently?” he quickly rebutted. “Both of your names are unfortunate, can we move on?” Raven cut in quickly, folding her arms impatiently. Pandora backed down, pouting her lips and looking away from Aurelius – really though? Aurelius? – and nodded. A silent beat passed before Raven asked, “Why are you wearing that, anyway?” motioning, she guessed, to the excursion suit. “I had just taken my first tour of the colony when I was nearly bowled over by this one; I hadn’t made it back to my quarters yet to change,” he explained, the ‘this one’ designation not lost on her. He apparently didn’t know that the EXC suits were typically stored in lockers near the main airlock. “He was walking on the wrong side of the—“ she heatedly began in her defense, but Raven waved her off – “That’s typical of her; listen, have you eaten?” She pouted further at the ‘typical’ part, but the mention of food kept her interest. A quick glance caught him shaking his head no, and Raven continued on, saying the best sentence: “Want to join us for dinner?” – not that part, the next part – “My name’s Raven and my parents had to go, but they left me their card; I was thinking of going to the Hall of Aries for some Italian.” She loved the Hall of Aries!! It was so much nicer than the cafeteria! They make your food to order instead of going off of the menu schedule – whatever you want, exactly when you wanted it – including desserts! It was usually reserved for birthdays and special occasions but Raven’s father was a bigwig in the colony so of course he could go whenever he wanted! What was she going to order?! Pasta? Oooh, a meatball sub?! Pizza?! Maybe they had breadsticks – oh and dessert! Ice cream or cake?! Ice cream and cake?! There were so many options!! But Aurelius hesitated – newbie mistake – and Raven added, “Think of it as repayment for whatever she just put you through and a welcome to the Colony; I’m sure you’ve got questions that we could answer?” “… Sure, actually,” Aurelius agreed – really though? That name. “That sounds nice.” Raven nodded crisply and led the way, “We’ll stop by your quarters first so you can get out of that suit and freshen up; I know it’s not as comfortable as some would lead you to believe.” [……………..] Half a bell later they were being seated at Aries and the menus were delivered and she was pouring over the options as Raven was giving Aurelius a quick history of the base, and if he had heard it before he was being really polite in letting her retell it. Pandora remained quiet, studying her options – not his interested expression – and was trying to decide between a side of rice or a side of macaroni and cheese, but was getting distracted by the little interested noises he was making. Oh-Really-us – just thinking his unusual name gave her a mental mouthful – he needed a nickname if he was going to continue hanging around. Lee, maybe? Lius? Auri? Maybe just his last name – that hadn’t sounded nearly as weird: Triston. Almost normal, really. … but then he was a weirdo and weirdos deserved weird names – “Can I take your order?” a familiar voice asked, and she jumped but was ready with her answer! “I’d like the cheesy-fries appetizer with a personal pepperoni pizza and a side of macaroni and cheese!” she declared with a big smile. She ignored Raven’s mixed look of repulsion and embarrassment – the waitress was an upperclassmen of theirs – and EXC-suit-guy’s (he wasn’t wearing his suit anymore, but anything was better than Aurelius until she could pick out a nickname) look of confused curiosity and just waited, sipping on her carbonated beverage – really though, Aries was great! – as they made their much more boringmeal choices and the waitress left. “So, what brings you to Aries Colony?” Raven asked, putting her elbows on the table and lacing her fingers together, resting her chin daintily as she watched him; menus out of hand and the possible mention of Earth coming up, Pandora payed attention, too, though not so obviously: she looked at the murals rather than at him as he responded, but his response did draw her attention back occasionally. For example, he didn’t answer immediately, which was weird – usually people came right out with ‘I was transferred’ if they were military, or ‘My application was accepted’ if they had actually wanted to come to Mars, like if they were a scientist, but he looked almost uncomfortable with the question… almost like he didn’t know how to answer it, unsure of what to say. “Transfer,” he finally said. “Military or Scientist?” Raven prompted, poised and cool and confident, but not letting the subject drop. “Both, I guess,” he replied uneasily. “What’s your field?” Raven continued; Pandora was getting a little curious at this point, wondering if her wild theories were anything like Raven’s at this point. Maybe he was a spy, or maybe a replacement for somebody who didn’t know they were going to be replaced? “Physics,” he said easily, “With some astrodynamics and aeronautics thrown in for good measure.” Both she and Raven nodded absently, “Pilot?” “Pilot,” he confirmed. “Here to test the new plane, I presume?” Raven leaned back in her seat, the mystery gone now; one of the colony’s primary experiments was designing a more efficient plane that could transfer not only cargo, but people, between colonies across Mars. They were finishing the first prototype now, and while they had a good number of pilots within the colony, a few more had been periodically trickling in as the project neared completion. He was just one of them – probably the youngest they’ve seen come through yet, but still, just a pilot – “New plane?” he repeated, and just like that, they were interested again. “What brought you to Mars, then?” Raven inquired, leaning forward. Pandora often wondered what Raven would choose to do with her future; part of her hoped she either became an investigative journalist or a detective with law enforcement – she’d be so good at it, and then maybe she would be reassigned to Earth and she’d take her best-friend/trusty side-kick with her and let her in on all of the secrets she was finding out while bringing her along on a whirlwind adventure across Earth’s seven continents – “I was transferred,” he answered, but it… didn’t seem that simple? She couldn’t pinpoint exactly why that struck her as a little off, but maybe how long he took with admitting that earlier versus how easily he admitted it now, or how his shoulders sunk a little, almost like a shrug, or how he wasn’t meeting their eyes but staring down that the complimentary bread – or what was left of it. Sadness tugged at her, looking at him. “Was it your choice?” she asked quietly; he looked up, like he hadn’t expected her to say anything, and those startling blue eyes caught her for a moment, until he abruptly looked away without a word. Raven’s voice was low, her body language changed drastically from interested to anything-but, looking at her red nails and brushing the polish absently, “Does it have anything to do with what’s going on on Earth?” She had no idea what Raven was talking about – what was happening on Earth? Why hadn’t Raven told her something was happening on Earth? Looking from Raven to EXC-Suit so quickly her pigtails hit the back of the plush booth with a thunk, she waited to see what he had to say before demanding answers from Raven, but he kept his mouth shut, looking away uncomfortably. “It is, isn’t it?” Raven prompted, but he didn’t say anything. She was about to say something when Raven finally got him to talk, asking, “How bad is it?” At this point Pandora’s head was jumping from one terrible conclusion to the next. Another World War, maybe, or more of an environmental breakdown that was forcing people who could leave to leave – what if that was what drove the plane project? – more transportation to all the Mars Colonies that were to come because of some catastrophic event on Earth? Could they even support themselves without the fresh supplies from Earth? How long had they been keeping this a secret from everyone? Did Raven know because her dad knew? What other changes were coming? What about planet Earth itself? “It’s getting bad,” Aurelius replied softly, wrapping his hands around his coffee mug, catching her attention completely. As though he could feel their eyes on him, he eventually continued, “The attacks are becoming more frequent and more hostile all over the globe; their rhetoric is either catching on and spreading, or key people in power have been talked over to their side, or converted, or whatever they call it – either way, one day someone would be standing up against these people and the next they’re all for this change, spewing the same hate-filled stuff as the others. The confirmed monster sightings have increased – there’s a new one every day; sometimes it’s taken down, other times it escapes and pops up elsewhere in another mob of unconscious people. The original reports of the knock-outs being caused by some fast-acting super-virus spread by the creatures is still widely accepted, despite survivors having no such indicator in their blood; it’s saved more people, making them run at the first sight of these things, but still… it’s not enough. It’s like whatever is behind this is growing in power the more damage is caused, the more victims it takes. Local police and military have had some success, but the people doing the most good – the people who were actually responsible for survivors who completely recovered, are in hiding or keeping their identities a secret – it’s a smart move, but it’s hard to contact them because they refuse to take coms on the off-chance their locations could be tracked. I don’t blame them at all for keeping so quiet and off the grid, especially with how often people in power seem to flip-flop on the issues, but if they shared what they were doing, told the right people how they were defeating the enemy so quickly and effectively, this war could be going a very different way.” As he paused, her mind raced, trying to put together what he said and connect the dots to make a full picture, but what was standing out to her didn’t make sense. Monsters? Crowds of people unconscious without any sort of viral tracer? Was he speaking in some sort of colloquial? Were “Monsters” the new buzz word for terrorists? Were they using a biological weapon, and that was what was knocking people out? The people in power flip-flopping – being ‘converted’ – did that just mean they had been bought? Her heart pounded uncomfortably, squeezing in her chest, her mind processing what he had said even as it remembered that serene scene from her picture window with the birds and the waterfall. Earth was in trouble, but it would survive, right? It had made it through three world wars and an entire era of people not caring about protecting the environment – it could survive this. … but would people be around to admire it afterwards? She wanted to help – she wanted nothing more than to help, to leave right then, go to Earth, and do something to stop whatever was going on, but what could she do? She was still in secondary school. She wasn’t making the best grades, she wasn’t particularly inclined to science or mathematics – she couldn’t help with figuring out what was going on, except, maybe, in a research assistant position, but there were bound to be thousands of people researching the same thing. What could she do that would actually help? “I was transferred off planet because some friends in high places learned something and wanted me as far away as possible,” he stated sourly, then took a long drink. “What did they find?” Raven prompted. “I don’t know. They were keeping quiet about it, and just as I was catching on that they were hiding something my transfer papers came in.” He put his drink down and sat back in his seat, his hands in his lap as he looked away, his face in profile to her. His friends must have been trying to look out for him; she liked that he didn’t seem to appreciate it. She glanced to Raven, a frown forming on her lips. She didn’t like it, either. “What about those other people,” Raven said, ignoring her look if she had even noticed it, “the ones that are actually making a difference – the ones with the survivors that won’t get in contact – who are they? What are they like? Who do they stand for?” He shrugged again, almost dismissively, like talking about this was disheartening enough for him. “It’s strange – they’re strange. They wear costumes, like super heroes from old comic books, and while they have never been directly filmed doing so, some survivors from incents they were involved in say they can use magic. My guess is they’ve created some insane technology they should be sharing with others, but then again if it got into the wrong hands it’d be chaos.” He paused, and in a small movement, shook his head. “They call themselves “Sailor Guardians” and claim to fight for “Love and Justice.” In one account they vowed to protect the Earth; so far they’ve been doing that, I guess, but the other side is just wiping the floor with them with the sheer volume of independent attacks.” “Sailor Guardians,” Raven repeated quietly, rolling the title around in her mouth. Sailor Guardians. Magic, costumes, fighting this uprising without help… maybe that’s what she could do on Earth – maybe she and Raven could go there and figure out who these people are, and try to convince them to share what they knew. EXC-Suit didn’t seem to enjoy his situation – maybe he could pilot them back there covertly. Maybe they could make a difference. Maybe they could save Earth. Their waitress returned with their food, breaking the tense atmosphere and forcing conversation back to less-clandestine topics, but she wouldn’t forget. [………………….]My name is Pandora Arcene, your average teenage girl. I was born on the Lunar Station of Mare Serenitatis on Earth’s Moon, but have lived here, in Aries Colony of the Utopia Planitia on Mars, my entire life. I go to school with Raven and other colonist kids, studying science and math, primarily. My father is a geologist and my mother is a botanist, but my dream is to return to Earth and see the world, or what’s left of it.The day Raven and I met Aurelius was the first day of the rest of our lives; after that, everything changed. We soon came to find that the troubles on Earth had, for some reason, followed him to Mars, and we learned that the only way to stop it was for us to go to Earth and nip the problem in the bud. As it turned out, if we didn’t, no one else could, because we had been granted strange powers and abilities that could transform us into Sailor Guardians and the three other Guardians on Earth needed our help to defeat the Dark Kingdom threat. It’s going to be hard. Fighting is not something I really look forward to, but it’s something I have to do. We need to work together to protect our Earth.
- Entry 2:
Cherry pie “I’m so sorry, Makoto. I had an urgent work that I need to finish today. I’m sorry I can’t make it to our picnic. I’ll take you out some other time to make it up to you, ok?” and then he hung up without even waiting for my response.I looked at all the food in the picnic basket, a variety of sandwiches, rice balls, salad, two cans of apple juice, and cookies. I spent the whole morning making them. I even made a cherry pie, which was something I usually didn’t do on the first date. But I thought this guy was special. I guessed I would have to take it to the girls.So this was the story of my life. Met a guy, asked him out and then got stood up, or worse got rejected before the date was over. Well, what did I expect? I was too tall. I was too strong, at least that’s what others saw me. The girls always said I was sweet, but if others didn’t see me like that, what’s the point? I guessed just being good at cooking was not enough to erase my tough exterior in others’ eyes. But there was one person, one person outside the Moon Palace that saw me not only as a competent warrior, but as a kind-hearted woman.NephriteNow that I thought about it. I always asked a guy out to a picnic for the first date. I thought it was because I wanted to show him that I could cook, that I was feminine enough to be someone’s girlfriend, but it might be because of him.It was different though. We always had our picnics at night as it was the only time we could meet. —————————————Nephrite was looking at the sky, waiting.“Good evening, my lady,” he turned around and kissed me on the cheek.“You always know the exact time I’m coming.”“The stars told me, love. They want us to be together.” “I miss you, Nephrite,” I said as I put my hand and placed it along his cheek. He grabbed my hand and then gave me a kiss there.“I miss you too, Jupiter. I know I should be grateful to see you every Thursday, but once a week is not nearly enough.”I looked at him fondly, and brought my lips to his.“Let’s just enjoy our time, general,” I said with a smile. “I made a lot of food for us. The usual, sandwiches, riceballs, salad and cookies, but I have a special today,” I smirked. “Don’t give me that look. Spill it already, dear.” I opened the white box that I bought with me and opened it, “I present to you my first cherry pie.”“Wow! Are you sure this is your first one? It looks amazing!” “Of course, it is my first one. You gave me cherries last week, and I liked them so much that I had to figure out how to make a dessert out of them. Just take this as a thank you for introducing me to my new favorite fruit.” I kissed him on the cheek.“Well, that’s certainly a dessert worth looking forward to at the end of the meal. We both sat down. I handed him his favorite sandwich.“How are things, Nephrite? I hear it is a pretty tense situation you have lately,” I asked.“Unfortunately, yes. People are fearing the Silver Alliance. The negotiation between the Alliance and earth hasn’t gone as well as we hope, and people fear that the Alliance will attack us.” Nephrite said.“That is an absolute nonsense. The Alliance will never attack anyone first,” I said.Nephrite continued, “I know, but there are Resistance leaders trying to spread the rumors that the Silver Alliance are planning a sneaky attack on us. They want to instill fears in people, so that they can control them.” He started munching on the sandwich. “That’s a disturbing news,” I said.“Don’t worry, love. Jadeite and I will lead the force to destroy the Resistance next week,” he said.“Be careful,” I said while stroking his arm.“It is not going to be difficult. We hear that there is this witch, Beryl, that are using dark energy to control people. We’ll just have to take her down, and their number is presumably small. There shouldn’t be any problem.”“I know how capable you are,” I said, looking at his eyes. “Still I can’t help but worry.” “That is sweet, love. But I assure you. I will be fine,” he said while using his hand to lift my chin up and kiss me softly. “I will be back before you know it.”I wanted to enjoy our time together, so I dropped the subject. We spent our time as usual. We ate, then he laid his head on my lap. I kept stroking his silky hair as we talked. He told me stories about stars, I told him about my life in the Moon Kingdom, he told me about his works, we talked about how lucky we were to serve Serenity and Endymion, we made jokes about my fellow senshi and his shitennou, he told me how he loved working with animals, I told him how I loved working in the garden. Everything seemed right with the world, and the moon.He held his head up from my lap, and kissed me. “We have to get going soon,” he said.“Well, not before trying my cherry pie, general,” I said.“I have not forgotten that, love. I’ve been looking forward to it all night.”He took a spoon, cut a bite, and put it in his mouth. “How is it?” I asked, fearing that my first attempt would be a disaster.“Hmm,” he looked troubled, making me feel nervous.“I know it’s bad, isn’t it? I’m sorry. I will try better next time,” I said, looking at my failed creation.“I’m just kidding, love,” he laughed. “It’s delicious, like everything you make.”“Don’t scare me like that! I really thought you hated it,” I playfully punched his arm.“How can I hate your food? Clearly you don’t know me as well as you should have.” He smiled.“Let me try it too,” I said while reaching for a spoon in his hand.“Here I’ll help you.” He planted a kiss on my lips. I felt the sweet taste of the cherry pie with a lingering bitterness at the end.“It’s actually the right balance between sweetness and bitterness. I like it,” I said.“I think we have our new picnic food, cherry pie!” He said with a smile.“I already used up all the cherries you gave me, so you will have to get me more.” “Anything for you, dear. I promise next time we see each other I will bring you as many cherries as I can carry.” He smiled fondly at me.——————That was our last picnic. Yes, even in this life I always liked cherry pies. It was bitter and sweet. It reminded me of our time together. In Silver Millennium, we got to meet, but we never got to spend a lot of time together. Our picnics were the only time we could be alone together. Every time, it was sweet, but bitter as we said our goodbyes, knowing that it would be at least another week before we could see each other again. In this life, we spent most of our time fighting each other, not knowing that we were each other’s halves. Then we got to taste a sweetness of remembering each other for a second before Metallia ripped him away from my life, leaving nothing but bitterness.I sighed and as I was about to gather the food and leave, a large dog came running in and peeked his nose into my picnic basket.“Hey! Don’t do that!” I said as I tried to lift my basket up from the ground. But when I look at two large brown eyes, I caved immediately. “Are you hungry?” I looked fondly at the dog. It was probably a Labrador, a chocolate one. It was quite rare to see such a large dog in Tokyo, so to see one was really quite shocking.As I was about to break off one of my sandwiches to give to the dog, I heard a handsome voice shouted. “Thunder! Thunder! Where are you?”I followed the voice and my gaze met with a familiar set of eyes of a tall, auburn-haired guy. NephriteHe ran up to the dog and hooked it back with the leash. “I’m so sorry. He normally doesn’t run off like this. I don’t know what happened today,” he bowed and apologized.“Did he bother you? He didn’t make any trouble, did he?” he said.“No, not at all.” I was still processing the familiar sight in front of me. I hadn’t seen any of the shitennou after Metallia killed them in the cave in the Dark Kingdom. It had been four years since then, so I didn’t expect to see Nephrite-look-alike here with me today.“Miss, are you ok?” he asked and waved his hand in front of me. I must have spaced out.“Oh, sorry.” I snapped back out of my trance.“I think he’s just hungry. He’s sniffing my food,” I said while smiling at Thunder“Well, bad boy,” he told Thunder. “You don’t beg strangers for food, ok?” “I’m so sorry, Miss — “Kino, Kino Makoto.” I shook his hand.“I’m Nathan Becker. Nice to meet you, Miss Kino. I normally feed him before our walk, but today I forgot. He must be really hungry now.”“Seems like you are going to have a picnic. We’ll leave now. Enjoy your lunch,” he pulled on Thunder’s leash and prepared to leave. But being Salior Jupiter, there’s no way I was going to let this look-a-lot-like-Nephrite guy get away without knowing what’s going on.“Actually, my friend just cancelled. If you don’t mind, you and Thunder can have lunch with me,” I offered. He turned back and said, “Really? Are you sure we won’t be intruding?”“You’ll actually be doing me a favor. I made a lot of food and I hate to see it go to waste.”“We’ll take up your offer then,” he said while sitting down beside me.“I’m actually really hungry, so you’re my lifesaver, Miss Kino,” he said with a small laughter.“Please call me Makoto.” “Only if you call me Nate.”I smiled and handed out one of my sandwiches to him and a small bite for him to give to Thunder.“Wow! This is amazing. You made this?” I blushed a little and looked down at the ground. I always did that when anyone complimented my cooking.“I think you’re just hungry. Everything tastes good when you’re hungry, right?” “I know a good food when I taste one, Makoto. And this is one of the best sandwiches I’ve had here.”“What do you mean ‘here’?” I asked.“Well, I just moved here from the U.S.,” he said while munching on the another sandwich.“That explains why your dog is so big.”“I know it’s a bit tricky to keep him in a city like Tokyo, but I had him for so long, I had to bring him with me.”“So why did you move here?” I asked casually.“I study veterinary science here at the university,” he pointed at the nearby university.“That’s great, but if you don’t mind me asking why this university? In Tokyo? Surely you didn’t move here just for school,” I asked.“For the record, a lot of people moved to another country for school,” he smirked. “But you are right, that wasn’t the only reason I moved here.”He sighed and looked at the sky. This reminded me so much of Nephrite. He loved looking at the sky, although I’d only seen him looking at the sky at night because that was how we always met, at night, on earth. He said, “It’s weird but I just got the feeling that I had to be here. It’s illogical really, but after my accident four years ago I feel that I want to follow my heart when I still have a chance.”“An accident? Four years ago?” I asked. My heart was beating fast while my head was full with speculations.“Yeah, I had a car accident and was in a coma, for like, 6 months.” Four years ago. That was when we fought the Dark Kingdom. Could this guy actually be Nephrite?“I’m sorry to hear about your accident,” I said, still wondering what was going on.“Yeah, I was lucky to be alive,” he said. “So from then on, I’ve vowed to always follow my heart.“You must think I’m silly.” He chuckled.“No, I think it’s romantic,” I said. “When I moved here, I didn’t have a reason either. I just felt that the wind told me to be here.”He looked at me as if he’s seeing a long lost friend. “I wouldn’t say this to a person I just met, but since you said that about the wind, I guess I can tell you that the stars have been telling me to move here since I came out of the coma.”“The stars?” I asked. My heart was beating even faster. He nodded, “Ever since I came out of that coma, every time I look at the sky, I always feel like the stars are talking to me.”He laughed, “But don’t worry. I’m not crazy! I don’t actually hear the sounds in my head. I just feel them.” I chuckled, “I didn’t think you were crazy. I just think it’s a special skill to have.”“You don’t think I’m crazy? Everybody else does, well, everyone that I told anyway, even my closest friends. They think I might have been hit too hard or was in a coma for too long.” He smiled.I smiled at him. He looked so much like Nephrite. His eyes, his hair, his broad shoulders, the way he carried himself, how he talked about stars, how he treated his animal companions. Everything reminded me so much of him. “Your girlfriend must be devastated that you moved here,” I said. Well, I actually wanted to ask, but I really couldn’t muster the courage to.“I don’t have a girlfriend.” He looked at me.“Really? A handsome guy like you is still single?” I tried to play it off as a joke.He smiled at me. “Why is that so surprising? What about you? Do you have a boyfriend?” he asked.“No.” “See? I can make the same comment to you. I can’t believe such a beautiful girl like you, and a good cook too, doesn’t have a boyfriend yet.” He said to me jokingly.“Beautiful? Really? Most guys think I’m too tall,” I said.“What? Are they blind? You are tall, yes, but not too tall.” “You are the first guy who said that.” If I didn’t count what happened a lifetime ago.We talked and finished almost all of my food. I still couldn’t be sure if this guy was Nephrite. There’s one more thing that might help.“Would you like to try my cherry pie?” I opened the box, revealing my homemade cherry pie inside.“That looks amazing,” he said.“Here’s a spoon.” I handed it to him.He cut a chunk and ate it. “That’s so good, Makoto. Anything you cook is delicious!” “Well, you haven’t had that many of my dishes,” I blushed and looked down at the ground.He tilted his head to follow my eyes, “I look forward to trying more.” I blushed even more. I’m pretty sure my cheeks are as red as tomatoes right now.I tried to change the subject, “So why did you name your dog ‘Thunder’?” “Hmm, I got him four years ago after I came out of the coma. I remember that when I was in the hospital, I kept having these dreams that I was fighting with roses and thunders. Weird, right? But it felt so real that I hardly believed they were just dreams.” I felt a pinch of guilt over me. Was he really Nephrite? The Dark Kingdom Nephrite that I fought against four years ago?“So when I got him, he was a boy, so I named him Thunder. If it was a girl, I’d probably name her Rose,” he chuckled.“And I —“What is it, Nate?”“I also had recurring dreams about a girl,” he said.“A girl?” “Yes, I can’t see her face, but in my dreams, we were always on a picnic.” He looked at me intensely.“It’s usually at night though. In my dreams, I mean.” He looked away. I looked at his profile. It was that look I had four years ago when I didn’t know I was Sailor Jupiter, when I didn’t remember my life purpose, when I didn’t know my soulmate, but the feeling was there. I’d always felt my duty, my purpose and my other half.“Sorry for babbling. Makoto,” he said. “It’s just so comfortable talking to you.”“Me too.”He looked at his watch, and said, “I’m sorry I have to run to class soon, but I had a really nice time.” “Me too.” I muttered and nodded, didn’t know what else to say.He looked like he was mustering up his courage for something, and then he said, “Could we go on a picnic like this again some time?”“Sure, I’d love that.” I nodded and smiled at him.We exchanged our numbers. He helped me gather utensils and leftover food and put them in my basket. “This has turned out to be the perfect afternoon. Thank you very much, Makoto.” He smiled.“Stop it! You said thank you too many times already.” I chuckled and waved my hand in front of him.“I’ll call you and we’ll get together. Next time I’ll bring some drinks.”“Apple juice,” I said.“Apple juice, got it,” he said.“See you, Nate.”“See you, Makoto.” He gave me a small nod.Just a few seconds later, as I was turning in the opposite direction to walk back to my place, Nate called out.“Makoto!”I turned back, “Yes.”“Are you open to have a picnic at night?”“That sounds wonderful.” I gave him the biggest smile I could.He smiled back at me. The familiar smile that, for four years, I had been longing to see again.Yes, my cherry pies would get a lot sweeter from now on.-----The end------
Last edited by Addelyn on 7th March 2016, 5:47 am; edited 1 time in total |
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