Fan Fiction ❯ chase after the wind ❯ Chapter 9

Notes; First, as always, thanks for the reviews... I can not put into words what they mean... A few things here, first the intro is slow, but I liked it so... Second, Paradise lost is one of the greatest books ever, if you have some time on your hands read it ( it is really hard to get threw though)... Finally, let me know if I was too long winded or preachy... This came out to be 11 pages which makes me happy and worried... Other than that, enjoy...

"Life is not a dream. Beware! Beware! Beware!"
- Frederico Lorca

"I still don't understand this passage... Lucifer claims that he could, with a simple apology, return to heaven. Why would he stay in hell... He knows now it can never be as good as heaven and that his mind can't overcome reality with perception, so why fight?"

She looked again from the work to her guide. She still could not understand the contrast within this person. Whenever she even came near him his checks grew red and he looked at the ground but when he began to discuss this type of thing, he changed. He became more assertive and strong and yet somehow more distant. It was as if he was carried away on the echo of his own voice to mystical realms and worlds to pure for this one. He got a look in his eye that seemed as though he was looking at a beauty that he could see alone. There was another quality he had when he took on these fits of genus, a certain loneliness. It was as if because of his ability to see so far, he lost what was close at hand. Even his voice took on a powerful but empty tone. It was as if he became so lost within the text, that he lost himself. There was something truly kindred in David's eyes to her own. They were both outcastes and the longing that only a reject can know had transmuted itself within each of their empty glances.

"That's the tragic part of the story. Aristotle said that a truly tragic hero is one who is a good person and simply has one fatal flaw. Macbeth had his thrist for power, Oedipus his stubbornness and Lucifer his pride. He gave up everything and led an army into hell for the sake of his pride."

"But why?" She asked, though she somehow knew the answer.

"Because he became to petty to see past his own reflection in the mirror. Look at how Milton's story goes, Lucifer, instead of being grateful to exist, becomes filled with spite at the prospect of not being the best. That, in the end, is the biggest mistake we can ever make, to get caught up in this..." He waved his hand around, as if indicating the world.

"What's this?"

"Oh, it can be anything. Love, pride, hate, beauty, sex drugs and rock and roll. That is the point Milton is trying to get across, we all need a focus of life, something to make existence meaningful. We need to feel that there is some reason we are here, some point to our being. I mean fuck, if all we are meant to do is breed and die, then why are we cursed to think? What a sick joke if, in the end, our ability to think is nothing more then a delusion. Even if it is a lie, we all have to feel as though there is more to being human then being a monkey with a bigger brain. And so we search for meaning, for purpose. Some look high and some low. Lucifer found his purpose in being the most beautiful of all the heavenly hosts, that's how he defined himself. That became all he was, the point he lived on. When that came under threat, he did the only sane thing he could, he fought to save his idea of meaning..." The rythematic voice pounded in her ears, much like thunder. It was regular, distant and alone. And yet within it's rhythm there seemed the innate ability to weave a picture. It was as if ideas, questions, emotions, were all given a physical form. He painted a tapestry not from earthly dirt, but from heavenly ether. It was as if he weaved a picture to beautiful to be contained with the pigments and colors of this world.

"But where can you get this meaning?" She looked into his eyes again. He had grown progressively more distant until now he was no longer within the stuffy library. He was among the angels and the demons, watching the war and the fall. She envied him and his ability to escape the harsh reality of his world. A part of her recognized that she herself had the same look when she fought. She had come back because she wanted to understand why someone wouldn't choose heaven over hell. Somehow his words seemed to strike her to close to home and as she listened, she felt a sadness. Such a noble soul was destroyed and over something so stupid as birth order. Lucifer was created second and so would always be second and yet something about the assuredness of that formula bothered her. She felt, for the first time since her father's death, like shedding a tear. Not for a fictional character, but for herself and for all the members of her race. It hurt so much to be human and to live, and she wanted to weep for that.

"That is the question, no? Where can we find meaning, how can we be happy. I can't tell you because only you can know. That is not to say that you do know, I sure as hell don't know what I want, but that you have the potential to know. It is this hope, this chance to meet myself one day on some dark alleyway, that keeps me going. There is one thing that almost everyone seems to agree on, you need something bigger. You need to believe that life is about more then just the transient things like how much you make or what you have. Kierkegaard, a great philosopher, once wrote that ` faith', in his case, `in god can fill your life with grace.' It isn't so much what we believe, simply that we believe. Lucifer believed in something changeable, something temporary, and he used it to define his existence. In the end, that is what caused his fall from grace, it was his own smallness..."

She glanced down at the rays of light that fell through the window. They poured through and seemed to take on a quality not unlike liquid spilling onto the ground and spreading out to cover as much of it as possible. Within the lights beams were illuminated thousands of grains of dust and it appeared almost like snow to her eyes. They danced within it's translucent beam and seemed to recite, over and over, a hymen to existence. The dust moved with a refined eloquence that it would take years for a human to master.

The beams had steadily progressed across the wooden floor and had now nearly reached the table that they both sat at. She would guess she had been there for nearly three hours, exploring the depths of her soul. She would have to leave soon, for her brother would want to return to their own hotel and he would surely leave her if she was not back at his convenience. Yet there was some quality contained within that library that was hard for her to leave. She felt more at peace there, listening to the haunting rhythms of David's voice, then anywhere else, said the battle field of course. She slowly became aware that this place was a great port into an entirely different realm. It was a port into a world of ideas and emotions. Yet she knew she must rip herself away from the transcendent beauty. So she cast one more gauze at her guide and prepared to leave.

His eyes were quickly returning to the normal meekness that they held and she knew soon he would be cognizant enough to blush and look at the ground again. There was something truly poetic about that simple gesture, something beautiful. She knew this would be the last time they would meet, for she was returning the book today. The tournament was ending and her chance at salvation fast approaching. She would miss this place though, the old but friendly smell, the creaky wood, and yes, she would miss her guide, David. She would fight the perfect one soon, the one who had everything she had always wanted. She was both excited and replied by the notion though neither feeling made much sense to her. But the chosen one would fall and she would rise up in that one's place. In any case, this was the last time she would set foot within this temple of knowledge.

She slowly pushed her chair back and it made a screeching noise that echoed endlessly within the eternal halls. The sound revived her guide fully from his trance like slumber and he immediately looked at her, blushed, and looked away. She slowly raised her body, which objected to the idea because of it's soreness, to a stand. She then began to walk slowly away. Each step fell on the bare wood floors and echoed into the distant halls. Yet these steps reaffirmed her faith in her existence, it was through them she knew she was walking. Then she turned round to look at David one last time. When she stood opposite of her guide, who still looked away, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder, knowing that this jester would say more then her mere words ever could. Then she proceeded on. She had reached the door, when she heard her guides familiar voice resonating through the halls. This voice, however, had a quality that was somehow different then the 2 she was used to hearing. It was somehow like it was from him but not of him, like he had become a mouthpiece for something far more sublime, something far more pure. The world itself seemed to tremble under this new tone.

"Remember, Lucifer chose hell. He could have gone back at any time. All you have to do is stop, that is it. Hatred is a fire that will destroy everything that is in it's path, especially the one who bares it. Past wrongs are no excuse to do future ones. You have a choice, that is all you have, don't be afraid to use it." He then turned and walked away from her.

Ayane wasn't sure what he meant as she got into the taxi and began her trip to the hotel. Yet there was something disturbing within his hallow words. She felt, for the first time, aware of the weight of her past, of her habits and doubts. Yet something deep inside was grateful, for this meant that she could change it, for she saw her chains and could free herself from them, much as Scrooge had done a century earlier. The cab began to move, the engine roaring to life and the voice of the driver saying "Where you headed?"

` I wish I knew' she thought, "To the D resort hotel."

The cab driver then turned back in his seat and began to go. The cab sputtered several times and the cabby uttered various profane chants to conger it back to life. Then he headed out of the gravel driveway and for the main road. The woosh of the wind indicating that they had set out from the library towards the hotel. The sea air smelled fresh, in spite of the cabs odorers and Ayane glanced out the window.

The sun beams fell from the sky as holy manna, saturating the world with life blood. They had turned a deep red and it seemed to her that the sun itself bled, as if from some invisible wound. The onset of darkness was an inevitability yet by it's defeat was promised a new life, within it's wake of destruction was promised rebirth. The clouds moved quickly away from the glorious sunset, as if fleeing in fear. Ayane kept her eyes turned to the heaven and watched as the receding light became less and less, till little was left. The redness of the rays turned everything else a deep shade of blood red and it was as though it knew that soon blood would be spilled. The entire world had been transmuted into a realm of death and hell. And yet there was still freedom and, in the end, there was hope. The ocean faithfully reflected the beautiful calm before the storm and the waves seemed to only add to the changing reality. The wind, which moved from the oriental to the occidental, seemed to whisper to her things no other person had heard. She was going to Gethsemane to met her fate.

Her car arrived to the hotel and pulled into the drive. She set her foot on the earth and cast a glance around. The scene was as serene as when she had first arrived and yet something seemed out of place. Something was wrong and although she couldn't identify it, she could sense it. Inside the stained glass windows light flickered, apparently from one of the T.V.'s warm and radiant artificial glow. She walked up the short walkway between the drive and the door. It had regular and ornate patterns and it seemed a bit of shame to treed on them. The sunlight had tinted them and the stained glass with a menacing air. She felt as though she gauzed upon a fallen temple, which due to it's own deterioration, had fallen into misuse. It seemed a menacing mockery of it's former beauty, a place where great gods die and are reborn as demons.

Then she felt someone behind her. She turned around and there was Kasumi. Their eyes met and Ayane felt hatred welling up in her heart. She looked upon her sister's perfect figure, silluted in the sunlight. Her curved body forever wrapped in the gentle embrace of the sun. Her hair blew freely in the wind and she gave off the most pleasant smell of strawberries. She looked, to Ayane's eyes, perfect pure and sinless and it made her sick. Ayane hated her for her perfection, for her beauty, for her eyes. Even now they looked on her with nothing but compassion. In spite of the years of hate, in spite of her excommunication, in spite of Ayane's attempts on her life, Kasumi's eyes held nothing but love. There was something else within her gauze, a certain wonder. Ayane felt as though she looked into the same innocent and pure eyes she watched when she was young. Kasumi had never grown up and, in spite of her current hardships, she still had a child-like tranquility within her eyes. Every motion, every movement, every breath seemed to cry out that ` I am real and know what I am.' For one lost for her entire life nothing upset her more then Kasumi's self assuredness.

They faced each other for what seemed like eons. There eyes piercing each other with invisible daggers of the soul. It was not that her eyes accused Ayane but the fact that they shone the way they did shamed her. Kasumi's eyes, for even existing, seemed a mockery of her very being. They seemed to say, look at what you could have had, you foolish girl. Then Kasumi looked away, though why Ayane would never be sure. Ayane found herself quietly thinking that the first thing she would do to Kasumi's corps was cut out her eyes. Let such orbs never again cast their glance upon her. More time seemed to pass and neither moved until finally Kasumi made a sound.

It was a quiet sound, the one a person makes when they are attempting to ward off the demons that invariably come with an awkward silence. It sounded like the coo of a dove, somehow. Even this quiet sound she made seemed to be pure and poetic. Then she spoke, in a low whisper, Ayane's name.

The sound of her name uttered by that bitch, the only thing she really had in life, was enough to madden her with rage. And yet her heart jumped to hear that word from her sister's lips again. It was as if it's sound could, in and of itself, ward off the demons that tormented her. It was as if all the hope and poetry of all humanity had been captured by one voice and whispered to Ayane of her salvation. There was something so soft and tranquil, something so nice within it. After what seemed to be an eternity, Kasumi spoke again, in a normal tone, but a soft voice.

"I would like to get into the hotel, please..." Was all she said. Ayane realized that she stood directly in front of the main entrance and must have been blocking it.

Ayane slowly yields the right of way, opening the door for her sister to walk through. She did not take her eyes off her sister because Ayane was not entirely confident in Kasumi's intent. Her sister nodded in gratitude and walked through the open door. Ayane made to walk through the door herself when she heard her sister cry out. She quickly entered what would quickly become a place of death.

The room looked as though a gateway to hell had yawned up and consumed the hotel. Blood splatters stained the white wall, defiling the temple and plunging the purity of this place into a world from which nightmares come from. What had caused the horror Ayane did not see. She did see, however, it's aftermath. The furniture lay broken and destroyed holes of force had indented the solid marble floor. The ceiling seemed covered in blood and the walls, or what was left of them, had begun to cave in. Strangely the windows to the outside world remained unbroken and undisturbed. It seemed wrong that such a fair facade should house such inner horrors. The puddles of blood stained the floor as well, each leading to the broken and twisted body that produced it. She recognized some as fighters and some as innocence, collateral damage. The place seemed to wreck of death and destruction, but something seemed wrong.

Ayane had seen places like this before and had indeed caused such unbridled destruction, yet she felt that no human had could have wrought this end. There was something far more menacing then a man or woman behind it. The miasma that encircled the scene seemed to be trying to suffocate her and draw the life our of her. It was as if evil had became real and taken on a form all it's own. Her eyes scanned quickly, looking for the cause and her concentration was broken only by a sound that seemed to come from an angel crying out because it had forever lost it's wings. Her eyes slowly turned to look at the spot where, logically, her sister would be.

Kasumi was there all right, but there was something wrong with her. She seemed to flicker back and forth between the normal purity and something far more malevolent. It seemed to Ayane as if Kasumi's body emitted darkness and that the gentle sun that had always guarded her had forsaken her. Her head was looking up into the vast ceiling, and the rest of her body had grown stiff as a board. It was as if she saw something casting it's shadow upon the ceiling, something so horrible that she couldn't rip her eyes away. Some distant part of Ayane noticed that the room's smell had substantially increased and it was now as if she had entered a tomb that had been walled up for centuries.

Kasumi again began to cry out but something happened. Ayane was just moving towards her when the screams of agony gave way to a laugh. Now Ayane had known her sister since she was born and she had never thought it possible for Kasumi to laugh like that. Here she was, a trained shinobi and an assassin, tutored in the arts of shadows and yet she trembled at this horrible sound. It was not a noise that any person was capable of making and the fact that whatever had made the sound had used Kasumi's virgin mouth seemed a mockery of her purity. Then Kasumi's head lowered from the ceiling and, for the first time since the cry for help, Ayane looked into those eyes.

They seemed much like the hotel's stained glass windows, masking unspeakable horror with pleasant beauty. But Ayane knew Kasumi's eyes to well to be fooled by this falsity. She saw within that seemingly placid glace horror. She also saw a spark that seemed to battle this stain, but was quickly loosing. The darkness was overrunning it. There was, of course, still a purity there, but it had shifted. It was not the purity of creation, but that of destruction. She saw a new kind of purity, a horrifying abomination. Then the last sparks of the once great fire that had been her sister's true nature left and all that remained was an empty shell. This thing, for it could no longer rightly be called Kasumi, looked right on her and seemed to pierce her soul.

"So, this is the one called Ayane... This body does not wish to harm you, in fact it is doing all it can in it's feeble existence to prevent me from laying a finger on you. Of course this is futile, for my kind has always triumphed over the sons of men. You will die here, my dear... Does that scare you?"

"Who... What the hell are you? Leave her alone, she has done nothing in her whole goddamn fucking life to warrant this!!! Get out of her!!!" Ayane's voice echoed nobly through the halls, though no one was there to hear it.

"Ahh, but I like it here. According to angelology, the higher up the angel, the more powerful a demon it becomes. This body pulses with energy and soon it will be turned on you. She never knew the depths of her powers and it is ironic that it is with these forces that I will destroy you and, ultimately, her."

"No... She and I may have had our differences, in fact I hate her... But not even she deserves this... I was merely going to take her body, but you threaten her..."

"Soul? Foolish child, there is no such thing... You think death means something, that life means something? I pity you and your ignorance. There is no point..."

"Your wrong... Even if we give life meaning, that meaning is still real. She didn't choose this fate and so it's wrong for you, demon, to force it on her" Ayane said, in a low and dangerous whisper.

"Oh, I am far worse than any demon... In fact, far worse then even that foolish old man you call father"

"Don't you ever mention him..." She said, through locked teeth. Her voice was progressively growing in intensity, but the volume, at this point, was barely audible. Yet there was some quality to it that could not be replicated by any amount of sound. It had a strength to it.

"Hit a nerve, did I? HAHAHA. I know what she, this `Bitch' sister of yours knew. Don't you see yet, your fate was decided by forces so far above your comprehension that you have no hope. Anything you turn will always turn to ash and be blown away on the wind. That is your fate and I suggest you accept it, bastered." The beast had formed an evil smile on the once delicate lips of Kasumi. The voice spoke loudly, yet seemed empty of something. It was as if it spoke the words but didn't have some human quality to it's tone. It sounded more like a force of nature.

"I can still choose how I die!" Was Ayanes retort. And, for the first time, her whisper became a roar.

She charged and, as she did so, she felt the sensation again. Her, the moment, both merged into one being and one action. She wanted this, the world wanted this and soon both would have their way. All she heard in her ears was the sound of her breath and the rythmatic falling of her feat. Click, echo, clock, echo. The world seemed to slow down to a near stand still and the hotel lobby fell away, leaving nothing but the defiler and her. Click, clock. She was carried away by that sound of steps, it seemed to validate her life, prove her reality. Click, clock. Her heartbeat began to drown out even her steps and soon she stopped thinking completely. She threw herself into a corkscrew, defying the law of gravity for a moment, and spun into eternity. She twirled through the air beautifully. The hit seemed a sure thing when.

Back to reality. A pain, an intense searing heat that not even her mental ecstasy could expel. She opened her eyes to find herself leaning on one of the crumbling walls. She looked at her shoulder and realized that, in all likelihood, it was broken. It burned with such intense pain. Then her glance fell on it. It had barely moved it's hand and yet it had...

"You see? You are not dealing with a human, your dealing with something far more powerful. But your not ready to accept that, are you?" It allowed a sick laugh, cracked it's knuckles and then, "It isn't enough that I kill you, I want you broken first. There is a point in every being existence where it will beg for it's own extermination and I want to see you at that point. The tenacious bastered, reduced to tears. A fitting end for a child no one wanted, no?"

Ayane's pain suddenly gave way to a new force, much stronger then the aching. It was a blind rage and it washed over her in a wave. She felt all her muscles tense up and, within that horrible facade of a human voice, she heard everyone who had ever hurt her. The fury, the hate she felt, was enough to consume her and indeed it did. She was not thinking anymore and, forsaking the stone cold logic conditioned into her by her training, she flew into a thoughtless attack. It was different though, there was no longer the merger of actions and she, somewhere inside, knew that to attack this thing head on was pointless. Yet her body raged out of control and flung itself upon the beast.

It laughed and easily side stepped the ill thought out plain to destroy it. Then it effortlessly raised it's right hand and Bamb. Ayane's body flew through the air. It was a breathtaking display, as it flipped over on itself and bent in ways that one would normally think impossible. It turned in space as if there was no gravity and it's shadow faithfully followed it's master. The wall was quickly approaching and all Ayane could do was rotate so her back bore the blow. She then slid down the wall, leaving only a trail of blood behind her.

"You see? You can't win."

Again Ayane stumbled to her feat, her back and arm both crying out for her to stop. She walked towards the creature, feigning more injury then she had. ` If I can get it off it's guard, there may be a chance, but I don't want to kill Kasumi, not like this. Still, I don't have a choice.' She chuckled internally as she realized the irony. ` This is twice I have had to take a life without my consent. I have killed before and I will probably do it again, but these acts belong neither to me nor those I killed. It isn't right.' She felt her left hand wrap around the blade that her father had left her, his parting gift. Perhaps this was it.

"Pathetic little Ayane, fell off the log again? Hurt your footise again?"

Ayane looked up, unable to hid her shock. And then a rush of memories that she only allowed herself to keep in dreams rushed into her waking mind. She saw the log and watched as Hayate, Ryu and Kasumi walked over it, into the forest where they weren't allowed to go. She watched as her younger self began the climb, but fell. Her leg had gotten caught in some branches and, when she fell, it dislocated itself. She hit her head, hard, on the rocks that rest within the river bed. When she came to the first face she saw was that of Kasumi. It held such a worried look within those eyes and Ayane, for the first time, felt as though someone cared. ` Ayane, you mustn't ever do that again. I was so scared.' Kasumi whimpered. Ayane slowly became aware of the tear streaks that stained her sister beautiful face. ` Kasumi, I so sorry.' Was all the young Ayane managed out. Kasumi wiped her eyes and allowed a small smile to form. She then dried her eyes and, in a fake mature voice said. ` Your head is bleeding, little Ayane, let me help.' Kasumi then wrapped a black cloth around her head. This was the first and last time Ayane ever let anyone help her with anything. ` I can't fix your poor footise, but Hayate said he'd carry you. You'll be alright....'......

"How did you know that? I never told anyone about that... I even lied to my mother... How?" She asked bewildered. During this her grip on her father's blade loosened.

"I know all that this vessel knew. Little Ayane"

"Don't call me that!!!!" She screamed in desperation. "Don't call me that!!" She felt tears welling up "Don't...." She whimpered out as the tears, for the first time since her father's death, fell freely.

"Ohh, my poor little sister. Poor Ayane" The voice of Kasumi, once filled with the promise of salvation, now mocked her. "Let big sister make it all better, by snapping that delicate little neck of yours. Then you won't be able to stand up anymore... Like a bird with broken wings."

It slowly drew closer to Ayane, yet it's footsteps left no echo. Ayane felt the blade behind her back and suddenly became reassured in this choice. The creature took it's time, slowly drawing inexorable closer, like an impending storm on the horizon. Soon It's shadow fell on Ayane and then it's form loomed over her. It began to reach for her neck and then...

Ayane felt the warm blood fall down from it's side. She looked at her hands and saw that the blade had wedged itself into Kasumi's side. The blood flowed freely from the wound. Ayane plunged it still deeper into her sister's side and then rolled to the right of It.

Then the most horrible thing imaginable happened. Rather then letting out a scream of terror, the thing began to laugh it's unholy laugh. It echoed throughout the vast hotel, cascading endlessly off the walls. It mocked Ayane. The the creature reached towards the wound and, rather then pulling the blade out, forced it deeper into the open cut.

"MMMM... You have no idea, little Ayane, how good this feels. I have spent more time then you can image in a dark place where feeling anything is impossible. TO feel again, ohh the agony and ecstasy of it all." She turned the blade, causing more blood to gush out. "Now that I am in this sphere, I can easily have a new body any time I want, but you, my dear little sister, don't have that luxury, now do you?" She removed the blade in one sick gesture.

"Your... Your sick" Ayane stammered out, in a state of shock.

"And I am also done playing." At that Kasumi's eyes yielded completely to whatever had taken her. There soft brown glow was replaced with blood-red, much as the sunset had been. It's hair began to spin about it's head and Ayane knew that It was absorbing the ambient energy from around the room. Then, with a flick of it's wrist, Ayane hit the wall, this time without hope of getting up. She lied there struggling pathetically and watching as each step brought it closer. She tried with all her might, and yet she could only move an inch or so. The creature then reached down and, lifting her head by her hair, asked "Any last words as we watch you die?"

Ayane could no longer think. The pain was to much and so her logic fell away. What rose up in it's place were things she had hidden for years but no longer had the will to suppress. Secrets she wouldn't dare trust any with, not even her waking self. In short, the true Ayane was allowed to spring to life. In a trembling and broken voice, she whispered "Kasumi, whatever of you is left, I am sorry... I was...I was" Tears began to fall, though not out of self pity, but something entirely different "Wrong to try and hurt you. I am... proud to have you as my sister and I... I love you..."

Rather then the death blow she expected, she felt her head hit the pavement again. Looking up, she saw the creature grabbing it's head with both hands, as if preventing something from breaking her scull open from the inside out. It let loose, for the first time, a cry of agony. It whipped and whorled itself about so violently that it threatened to break it's own neck. It steadily mumbled something under it's breath and Ayane slowly began to hear it...

... "No!! how dare you!! Your mine now, mine!! Do as I say!! Obey me!!" And then a black mist poured forth from Kasumi's nostrils and dissipated into the air. A hidden camera slowly panned out to show the scene in it's entirety.

"So, the experiment is a failure then?"

"No, not at all. we have completed the work that Himler began in the 30's, we have raised a demon with our neo magic. We controlled it not with weak minded spells but with the power of the microchip and we have the ability to seize control of anyone on earth whom we feel necessary... Hardly a failure...." Echoed Donivan's dark voice. The camera then watched a scene completely different then the battle and bloodshed it had seen before.

Ayane had propped herself up on her arms and managed, somehow, to crawl over to Kasumi. Her sister's head placed gently in her lap, Ayane did the only thing she could think of, she began to sing the song that her mother had always said to rouse them from slumber. ( WARNING; I am not a poet, so this will probably suck... sorry....)

"It's a new day, open your eye. Don't sleep life away Today is a new day for work and play Don't sleep life away You must always give it a try Don't sleep life away And even if you die Don't sleep life away Know that your life meant something simply by Don't sleep life away You being here, my eternal ongoing maricals"

Kasumi's eyes gently fluttered and, as her blurry vision cleared, she said only one word, "Ayane"....

Authors notes; Cheesy? Yea, probably, but that is the way it goes. We all need something to hope for, right?? I hope you liked this... I am toying with writing another alternate ending, but whatever... Thanks for all the reviews and thanks for taking time out of your life to read this, I hope it wasn't poorly spent... Peace...

Ohh yea Gethsemane- according to Christian theology, the place where Christ endures his final temptation...