Haibane Renmei Fan Fiction ❯ In The Fall ❯ Nutcracker ( Chapter 1 )
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By: Love-is-god 
She was falling in Autumn, with small stones dropping through the still waters of her heart.
Anime/Manga: Haibane Renmei Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Vignette | Uploaded On: 03.19.2008 | Updated On: 03.20.2008 | Pages: 1 | Words: 511 | Visits: 860 | Status: Completed
She was falling in Autumn, with small stones dropping through the still waters of her heart.
Anime/Manga: Haibane Renmei Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance | Type: Vignette | Uploaded On: 03.19.2008 | Updated On: 03.20.2008 | Pages: 1 | Words: 511 | Visits: 860 | Status: Completed
It was early autumn, now, the lightest of chills swirled through the clear midnight air. Leaves not yet whithered swayed in the breeze and added their gentle whistling hum to the music of the crickets. She stood alone in the forest, her always unruly rusty hair yet more disarrayed, nightgown flapping around her ankles. She breathed slowly out the scent of the loam as she sat on a forlorn stump, absently flapping her diminutive wings behind her. It wasn't often she felt like this, only during a particularly restless night, when the stars and the moon turned the inky black night into a long, pale-blue dawn that never seemed to come.
She always had to come outside on nights like these. There were far too many memories in Old Home. With every breath she took, she could smell the lingering scent of cigarettes, and the shadows played tricks that she always saw an undulating line of smoke from the corner of her eyes. In her bed she could still feel that touch, gentle hands bathing her fevered brow, and still hear that delighted laughter as her halo first fell from her head.
On nights like this she felt like crying, but she never did. It wasn't right to miss the ones she loved so much, that she could only feel bad when she thought of them. That wasn't good for her, and it wasn't what they wanted. She learned that with Kuu. So when Nemu had gone, and Hikari and Kana, she had been saddened, but still happy for them.
Something deep and important inside her had gone with Reki over the Wall, though. This she knew during these long, pale-bright midnight hours. She could only think of Reki, and she could only feel that hole. She wanted that cold place gone, and to feel warm and happy again. Her eyes squeezed closed and she bit her lip, fighting back a threatening deluge of tears that came gushing from that place. As they swirled within her, she was drawn down inexorably to the bottom of this vacancy, and there she found a warm truth as hidden as had been that long-dead crow.
I love you, Reki, she thought, and finally allowed those warm tears to course down her cheeks. They warmed her, more than her face, down to her toes and the tips of her feathers.
Then stop your falling, Rakka, and come home, she heard a gently chiding voice speak to her. She looked up in surprise, and saw the strangest light, quite apart from the moon and stars. The warmth in her wings suddenly made them feel strong. She flexed them once, and she was in the air again, like her dream. Now, though, there was no falling, no crow of regret trying to hold her back; she was going up, going home, and could almost see the hand of her love reached out to pull her close.
She always had to come outside on nights like these. There were far too many memories in Old Home. With every breath she took, she could smell the lingering scent of cigarettes, and the shadows played tricks that she always saw an undulating line of smoke from the corner of her eyes. In her bed she could still feel that touch, gentle hands bathing her fevered brow, and still hear that delighted laughter as her halo first fell from her head.
On nights like this she felt like crying, but she never did. It wasn't right to miss the ones she loved so much, that she could only feel bad when she thought of them. That wasn't good for her, and it wasn't what they wanted. She learned that with Kuu. So when Nemu had gone, and Hikari and Kana, she had been saddened, but still happy for them.
Something deep and important inside her had gone with Reki over the Wall, though. This she knew during these long, pale-bright midnight hours. She could only think of Reki, and she could only feel that hole. She wanted that cold place gone, and to feel warm and happy again. Her eyes squeezed closed and she bit her lip, fighting back a threatening deluge of tears that came gushing from that place. As they swirled within her, she was drawn down inexorably to the bottom of this vacancy, and there she found a warm truth as hidden as had been that long-dead crow.
I love you, Reki, she thought, and finally allowed those warm tears to course down her cheeks. They warmed her, more than her face, down to her toes and the tips of her feathers.
Then stop your falling, Rakka, and come home, she heard a gently chiding voice speak to her. She looked up in surprise, and saw the strangest light, quite apart from the moon and stars. The warmth in her wings suddenly made them feel strong. She flexed them once, and she was in the air again, like her dream. Now, though, there was no falling, no crow of regret trying to hold her back; she was going up, going home, and could almost see the hand of her love reached out to pull her close.