"If truth is built on lies, then what are lies built on?"
"Onee-chan! Look what I found!" a voice called out to five year old Saya. She turned a lazy gaze to her younger twin and smiled as Amaya brought her a daffodil. "Look, it's a lady bug!" she continued as Saya glanced closer at the flower. There in the middle, a tiny red dot moved around, crawling over the flower. Saya smiled as she grabbed the flower from her sister's hand. Before she could grab the small bug, a woman's voice filtered through the air. It was soft and gentle, unlike the voice she was used to.
"Coming Oka-san!" Amaya shouted as she tumbled away towards a woman with no face. Saya stood in her spot, the flower still in her hand as the lady bug flew away. That wasn't her mother. That woman, Saya had never seen her before. The woman, in a way, resembled Saya. Her auburn locks were flowing gently in the wind as a hand outstretched to her. Saya was afraid, and took a step back. Amaya glanced at her sister with confusion. "Onee-chan? Mama's calling us, won't you come?" she stated as Saya ran.
Darkness consumed her vision.
That was all she could see: darkness. A pair of gleaming red eyes pierced Saya's own gaze, almost as if it were staring into her soul. She could see herself in a glass mirror, a younger version of herself holding onto a slender hand along with Amaya. She frowned, the person in front of her was the same woman only she had shoulder length auburn brown hair, but her face; Saya still couldn't see the woman's face. A melodic laugh spilled from the woman's lips and caressed the young girls head, kneeling down in front of her. She could make out faint words, but couldn't understand them.
The woman rose, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand, staining the white gown a crimson color as Saya watched her younger self fall to the ground. She tried to shout at the woman, but her voice was restrained, constricted almost and she found herself gasping for air. The woman slowly turned around, her face hidden beneath a veil of darkness as she faded into ash. The last thing Saya saw was the bloody tears falling to the floor, forming a small puddle before consuming her younger version. Saya screamed into the silence, shattering the mirror in front of her as people began to flood her vision.
They were unrecognizable, fleeting heapes of flesh waltzing around a small baby carriage. There was a man standing off to the side with a woman by his side. They looked...familiar but Saya couldn't put their faces together. They shared similar brown hair and crimson red eyes, and for a moment; they tore into her gaze, holding it with such ferocity that it caused Saya to feel as if she were suffocating. She pushed the people around her away and turned to run, only to have a hand clasp over her wrist and pull her back. As she felt her head slowly jerk towards the person, a painful feeling shot through her as the hand faded away.
You must forget this life Saya. Do not let them take who you are away.
Saya took in a sharp intake of air, her lungs screaming at her for the lack of oxygen provided. She immediately regretted opening her eyes to the bright lure of the sun peeking through the windows of a room she didn't recognize. She groaned, placing her hand on her forehead and noticed slight scarring on her wrists and arms. She remembered little of the events that took place, but those sapphire eyes: they were plaguing her. She had never seen eyes so cold as the ones the boy had. Then, a sharp pain shot through her head as she doubled over on the bed, craddling her head as she refused to let the tears fall. Kiyoshi, she thought as her eyes snapped open once more, allowing the lights to assault her senses as she wiped away the tears.
"Where am I?" she questioned to herself. She knew the place, or at least she thought she did. The room was familiar in a sense and she tore the covers off of her, revealing the bandages around her arms and legs. She placed her feet on the floor, allowing the cold sensation to attack her senses before she took her first step towards the door, only to fall on her knees. She clenched her fists together as the images played over in her mind, Kiyoshi's fallen form and his ashes flowing with the wind.
"In the infrimary," a groggy voice called out to her, startling her in the process. Satoshi stared at his sister, sadness and regret coloring his jade eyes as he glanced away from her. Saya could only stare as she saw the emotions flicker through his eyes, and for a moment, she felt angry. Where had he been? He could have stopped this from happening. He could have stopped Kiyoshi, or even the others...she paused in her anger as her gaze softened. She could see that he was hurting on the inside as well and she had no right to be angry with him.
"I'm sorry Sai...I wasn't there. I should have," he was stopped by Saya as she shushed him. She crawled into her brother's lap and lay her head on his shoulder. She didn't want him to blame himself for something that neither of them could have forseen. She was tearing up inside, the one man she loved was gone now. There was no getting him back, no changing his light. Gone. She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she burried her face into Satoshi's shirt. He could feel his shirt becoming soaked with her tears as he rubbed his hand against her back in an attempt to sooth her. Whether it was working or not, he couldn't tell.
Kiyoshi was the only one on her mind. She had loved him, so much that she was still willing to follow through with their promise, even if their family had cancelled their arrangement. He was important to her, he was...she paused in her thoughts, as she grabbed the dragonfly pin and ran it through her fingers. He had given the pendant to her when they were kids. It was his promise ring in a sense. She smiled as the memory played in her mind. They were at a pond, fishing with their toes sinking into the cool liquid.
He had been so nervous and dropped the pendant into the pond and fell in after it. Of course he couldn't swim so Saya had to jump in after him. She was so engrossed in her thoughts, she completely ignored her surroundings, no longer focused on where she was. Rather, she was focused on the outside of the window, the pendant clutched so tightly she drew blood from her hand. Satoshi tried to release her clutch on the pendant but she only grasped tighter onto it. All he could do was sigh as he felt her cry herself to sleep again.
He glanced out the window, staring at the students who scurried around trying to avoid the rain that seemed to come out of nowhere. A flash of memory crossed his mind as a woman with beautifully long crimson hair stood beside him, hiding beneath the umbrella as he sheltered the both of them. Those loving gray eyes staring up to him as he held her. He pushed the memory aside as Saya finally allowed the tears to stop falling. The pain of a lost loved one would never heal...and it was a pain Satoshi knew all too well.
"You can shed tears that she is gone, or you can smile because she has lived. You can close your eyes and pray that she'll come back, or you can open your eyes and see all she's left. Your heart can be empty because you can't see her, or you can be full of the love you shared. You can turn your back on tomorrow and live yesterday, or you can be happy for tomorrow because of yesterday. You can remember her only that she is gone, or you can cherish her memory and let it live on. You can cry and close your mind, be empty and turn your back. Or you can do what she'd want: smile, open your eyes, love and go on." - David Harkins