Gravitation Fan Fiction ❯ Yuki ❯ Dreamer, Lover, Stranger ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer: Gravitation does not belong to me. Ne, I doubt Gravitation would be as good if I owned it anyway. I'm not making any money out of this either and am just borrowing its characters….

A/N: And I'm putting response to the lovely people who reviewed this fanfic (THANK YOU!) right here… as well as my random babble…

PurpleBitch - Uh… I'm not sure if this won't turn out as one of those Mary Sue fanfics… at least it won't be eecky! At least… I hope not. But, saying more than that will... ruin stuff? Oh um… reading this chapter will definitely answer your question, I think.. XD And I know I'm such a fan of ShuichixYuki fanfics! Ahh!

FFgal - I'm just glad how the descriptions came out in the last chapter! I know I'm not so good with descriptions myself, but oh… when inspiration strikes and when the muses are good it just works! I'm not sure about this chapter though… >_< As for the anime - I actually spent half of the day watching the anime before sitting down and writing this chapter! I'm so glad to have seen the anime (I got it yesterday, ooh.. bounce bounce! It was just awesome seeing Ryuichi going 'Pika Pika!')! Ne, I think though, I'll be basing this off more on the manga… loosely anyway. There's just too many weird things happening in the manga…err… like big Panda-mechas wrecking havoc in the streets of New York… I think I'll sit down sometime to write down the differences between the anime and the manga… Wah, and giving long reviews (and replies XD) is fun ^^

Raven Lee Devonshire - Aiee… I'm glad you loved it ^_^! Here's the next chapter and I hope I'll be able to finish it…XD

Ooh.. um.. long replies up there. And long chapter down there. Sorry everyone, this is long and…. Full of *looks away* original characters. (Looks like it's going to be a Mary Sue afterall? XD) This chapter though, should give an idea where I'm headed…. Next chapter, according to my muses, should have Tohma, Yuki (Eiri *coughs*), Tatsuha, Ryuichi and basically the rest of the Gravi crew (Rage too maybe...) … unless ideas change. As a guideline, the first part is set more or less two months after Shuichi's death while the second part is set about a year and a half after the first part. Enjoy reading ^^;; (I hope people still read this after this chapter.. O_O)

Two: Dreamer, Lover, Stranger

Long, drawn out breaths escaped his dried and cracking lips as he ran deeper into the thick darkness. Vaguely, he could hear the crunching of grass underneath his feet but whenever he stole glance down the path he was running on he saw nothing but the stagnant darkness.

The sound of engines roaring cut through the deafening silence that seemed to envelop him and he stopped and turned his head instinctively to where the sound came from, to his right.

"Wait…"

A speeding bright light rushed past him and a second later, before his brain could register the action, he was running and, by far, faster than he had been before in hopes of catching the bright light.

"Wait… please!"

He felt like he was one with the invisible wind that was running through his hair and teasing it as he ran and pushed himself to unbelievable limits. He dared not close any of his eyes in fear of losing sight of the bright light and already tears were welling in them.

"Wait… No… No!"

A loud screech caused him to gasp and at the edge of his sight he saw a thin line of neon purple out of nowhere. It was chasing the white light, like he was, but unlike him it was rapidly gaining in speed. It was not very long until it had caught up with the white light and, to his surprise, it became one with it.

"No…Wait…Wait!"

He reached a hand out into the darkness, wanting to grasp the fickle white light in his hands and hold it back from whatever the endless darkness had in store for it. He wanted to stop it, stop it its doomed flight to nothing, knowing and at the same time not knowing what was going to happen next.

His mind became muddled and his breathing became erratic as his body slowed down, unable to keep up with what he demanded from it anymore.

"No."

His legs gave out and as if on cue, the bright white light he had been trying to chase crashed into an invincible wall in the darkness with a loud bang. Seconds later, all that was left of the bright light was the cold darkness it had crashed and disappeared into and the unmistakable sound of fire crackling and hissing.

"No… no... No! Wait! Wait!!…"

He let out a sharp cry suddenly as a searing pain ran through his small body and his eyes clamped shut.

"Please… wait… wait…"

Tears rolled freely down his cheeks as he opened his eyes and he let out a pained scream when a white nothingness exploded before him and engulfed him whole. His last thoughts seemed to have appeared in a text of fading black, against the blinding white, before him even as he said them out loud in his mind:

I'm not…. Wake me up…

...I want to wake up…

He woke with a start, gasping and panting while clutching at his chest. He swallowed hard before staring up at the ceiling above him. For a few minutes, the only sound that came from him was the sound of his ragged breathing as he struggled to calm himself down and have a solid footing of reality.

"It's just a dream…" he whispered slowly, sitting up, before running a hand through his damp hair. "Just a dream…" he assured himself before turning to his right and smiling when he caught his reflection in the full-length mirror there.

He looked so disheveled, even in the darkness he could see himself clearly, with his reddish-brown hair in an unruly mess, his face glistening with sweat and matted with hair and his clothes looking very much 'slept-in'. Every bit of his appearance in the mirror told him he'd been thrashing in his bed while dreaming, which wasn't exactly a good thing from what doctors had told him.

He took a deep breath and pushed the sheets off him before sitting on the right side of his bed and slipping into his slippers. He reached for the lamp set on the drawer beside his bed and turned it on before walking towards one of the tightly curtained windows of his room. He drew the curtains open ever so slightly, just enough for him to have a peek of the world outside without letting moonlight flood into his dimly lit room.

Curiously, he watched as the lights from the roads down below moved and flickered, almost wishing he could hear the sound of those vehicles, as they echoed along the near-empty streets, from where he was but knowing that just wasn't possible. At night, New York was still pretty much alive and he expected just as much from the city that never slept.

He liked to think of himself now as like New York after midnight, alive but not as alive as it is at peak hours.

He liked to think his memories were like those many tiny lights that made up New York's impressive skyline and that there was a time when all those lights were lit, and his skyline was shining brightly and beautifully with so much life.

Briefly, he wondered if he'd stood at the same window before, marveling at the beauty of New York's skyline like he was now and, if so, then for how many times in the past.

He sighed as he leaned against the window that separated him from the outside world, his palm pressed on the glass' smooth surface.

He just wished there was an easier way he could take to remember everything he had lost.

There was a slight creak, which his ears picked up all too easily, and without turning he was able to tell who it was that had just entered his room just by the soft voice that spoke afterwards.

"Yuki…"

With a sigh, he turned around and gave the blonde young woman, standing at the doorway in her nightgown with an extremely worried look, a tender smile. "Good Morning, Anne," he greeted the woman in his slightly accented English.

The woman gave him a smile and a nod before padding towards him and throwing her arms around him. "You had a nightmare, didn't you, Yuki?" she asked him in a soft whisper as she buried her head in his shoulder. He gave her a silent nod as he ran his hand through her long blonde hair and began stroking it.

Anne remained in his arms for a few minutes in silence before breaking away and planting a kiss on Yuki's forehead. Anne was taller than Yuki, by a few inches to be exact, and it became evident when she stood up straight, to her full height, in front of him.

"You shouldn't think too much, Yuki." Anne told him as she stared him in the eye with her intense emerald eyes. "Remember what the doctor said about stressing yourself?" she reminded him and he nodded silently before turning to window and opening his mouth.

"I… I just…" he started before closing his mouth and sighing.

"Ne?" Anne asked, waiting for what Yuki wanted to say.

Yuki smiled and his face became wistful, "I just wish I could… remember everything."

Anne nodded in understanding and she placed a hand on his shoulder.

"You know…" he trailed away and thought for a while, "…like... how we spent New Years together, what we did… running through the streets of Kyoto in autumn… all that!"

He hung his head then before adding quietly, "I just… don't think I deserve you anymore, Ai. After having forgotten… everything… ne, it's just… makes me feel gui-"

"But you don't have to remember." Anne said softly before leaning forward and resting both of her hands on his shoulder and then her head. "You don't have to remember…. I don't need you to remember. All I need to know is…is if you love me now." She closed her eyes and slowly lowered her hands down to his waist to wrap them around it in a tight hug.

Yuki closed his eyes and leaned his had on hers, "Ne….. I do love you, Ai. Love you… so much. But-"

"Shh.." Anne whispered, placing a finger on his lips. "That's all I need to know, I told you. Yuki, ne… and me… I love you, for you... ne, no matter what. With, or without your memories…" she told him and he nodded, satisfied.

They remained like that in silence for a long while until Yuki spoke, his voice in a barely audible whisper.

"Ne… Ai, I just decided I want to go back to Japan and finish my studies there. Once I'm well enough to do so anyway…" He looked to his left, searching Anne's emerald eyes for a reaction. "Ne, how's that sound?" he asked again.

Soft laughter, almost music to Yuki's ears, came out of blonde's soft lips, "That sounds great!"

"I'm glad you think it is." Yuki said with a grin before winking at her.

"Ne, that way I won't have to leave you behind when I go to one of those tournaments and conventions!" She nodded at herself, liking the idea of it all, "Ne, and you'll go to that private school near our place too!"

Yuki nodded, "Mmm!"

"But you'll have to get better still, though! But... we'll go back to Japan as soon as you are!" Anne paused and looked out of the window before continuing in dreamy voice, "And then… we can stay there all we want…"

"Ne… Anne."

"Eh?"

"I…" he paused, hesitating, "I want to… learn more… playing the keyboard… a band maybe. That's… not a problem with you, right?"

Anne pulled him closer to her, "Nah… not at all, Yuki... not at all…"

"I can't wait to go back to Japan! Get better and go back to Japan!"

---

"muku na mama de sarasarete

hanabira o chirasu hana no you ni

migaku houseki te no naka no

HIBI ni sae kizukihajime-"

The music stopped just as abruptly as the vocalist had stopped singing and the two other members of the three-member band turned to the raven-haired vocalist who stood unmoving at the center of the room.

"Sorry, sorry… I missed right there, I know." The raven-haired young man said, running a hand through his long, stark black hair with an apologetic look. He sighed and turned to the brunette behind the keyboards.

"Ne, Ryu-chan, we should stop here, you look drained…" he said walking towards the brunette with a look of disapproval.

The brunette shook his head. "Mah… mah.. nah, Takumi, I'm okay, don't worry! Just a few more go's, I'm sure you'll be able to get it by then!" He smiled in an attempt to show his teammates he was fine but the action merely betrayed just how exhausted he was.

"Ah… Chibi, we stop here and that's that." Their guitarist said finally, "Ai will chew our heads off if she finds out we're overworking her beloved Yukito …"

"Ruka!" the keyboardist cried in protest, cheeks reddening.

Takumi laughed, patting the shortest member of their group on the back, "Ruka has a point there. Eh, we're done for today then!"

Yukito's shoulders slumped in defeat and he heaved a heavy sigh. "But… but…"

"Na, chibi," Ruka said, "The Festival isn't until… what? Almost two months from now-"

"It's one month, two weeks and two days, Ruka-chan." Yuki reminded before casting a pointed look at the redhead's direction. Ruka looked away, not wanting to meet the keyboardist's gaze.

"Eh… eh? Even so, nothing to get hyped about-! Come on, we have a lot of time to practice!"

Takumi grinned, "I think Ryu-chan's motto isn't 'Practice Makes Perfect' for nothing, Ruka. Other than that, Ryu-chan has a point. And we do have our own performance to worry about…"

"Speaking of which, Yuki, how's the composition going?" Ruka asked, dropping his previous argument with the brunette.

Yuki nodded at himself before replying, "Pretty good. I'm having a bit of a problem with the chorus and… some parts of the song, but all in all I'm pretty sure I'll come up with a hit before the Festival!"

"Heh… work hard, chibi, and we might just end up getting discovered-"

"Eh? We'll get discovered, for sure!"

"Uh… Yuki, I meant that as a joke… I was being sarcastic…"

"But didn't the school invite big label companies for the Festival, though?" Takumi asked suddenly, easily catching Yukito and Ruka's attention.

"Yeah, definitely! N-G, XMR…. all those big name companies are sending scouts for the Festival." Yukito confirmed before adding, "It was the school's idea... since this year we're going to have bands and talents from other schools too to join in for the Fes. That's why we have to work our hardest!"

"Ahh… now I see why the chibi's so eager…"

Yukito began nodding immediately just to show just how eager he was.

"Ne, I wish I didn't have to go in front of the crowd like that though… all I'm going to do there is act like Ryuichi Sakuma… not sing. I can't even sing! It's your voice, Takumi." Yukito told Takumi sincerely, "It's going to be embarrassing too! And it's all just because I look a bit like Ryuichi Sakuma and… I don't think so... at all!"

"Sure." Ruka snorted.

He stopped and shook his head almost morosely before adding finally, "I belong right here-" he pressed his fingers on the keyboard's keys, the feeling of his skin against its smooth surface comforting. "…behind the keyboard." He finished, but not without a tiny tinge of sadness.

"Yuki…" Takumi trailed away before breaking into chuckles and placing a hand on the keyboardist's head and ruffling the hair there, "You complain too much!"

"But! But!"

"Yukito! Just do your part! I'll do mine and together we'll kick Setsuna's ass!" Takumi winked at him, knowing very well how the said schoolmate of theirs had it against the brunette keyboardist, before grinning at Ruka. "I hear he's going to be the one to do ASK."

Ruka grinned, "Fits him, you know."

Yukito laughed.

A/N: Uh… comments and criticisms are welcome so drop in a review! The last part was weird, I know, I'm not even sure if schools can do that… err… or maybe they can… To clear stuff out: The little lyric bit there is from Sleepless Beauty (we know where that's from right? Right ^^) and I chose the name Yukito because of this Gravi fanfic I read at mediaminer.org (Sanity's Boundary) - one of the guys there was named Yukito and it just sort of inspired me. Err, there's also a reason to that name, but I'm sure you're getting the idea… Maybe next time I should just insert those nifty [1]s and [2]s in the fic to make explaining random stuff better? XD Ne, and done… I just don't do romance good…