Sailor Moon Fan Fiction ❯ An American Boy in Tokyo ❯ Dreams of the Same Color ( Chapter 5 )

When I came to, I was in my bed with several bandages on my head. Mina and the others were looking through my Archives. I stayed silent listening to them through my closed eyes.

"Oh, look at that one, did he draw that?" Serena asked. "He's quite an artist. Look, Mina, he even gave you a really gorgeous gown."

"Poor guy, I can't even imagine what it must be like to suffer like that." Amy asked. "To not only be unable to be with the one you love, but to be punished so harshly for it? That's just horrible."

"So what do you think, Mina?"

"And what does that castle have anything to do with you?"

"It's Magellan's Fortress." I said, sitting up and sighing. "The home of Sailor `V'." Mina snapped her fingers.

"I knew it looked familiar." She said. Then her gaze shifted back to the sketch I had made of us dancing.

"This artwork is amazing, Alex!" Serena said. "You should be a professional artist." I opened the drawer quickly and flipped through the remaining folders until I came across one inside a plastic container with a lock on it and sighed.

"What's up?" They asked.

"I was just checking something." I said rolling back over and flopping back on the bed. They turned the page, saw the next picture and gasped. "That was what I saw in my mind just before being rushed to the E.R. that night." I said. The picture showed the battle in which Mina was supposed to have been killed. It showed me jumping and shoving her out of the way as the monster's final blow struck me in the chest.

"Wow, that's devotion." Lita said. "He's got it bad!"

"No kidding." Amy said. "Hey Alex, what happened to the rest of us in that RPG?" She asked. I smiled.

"They were such rookies, they not only failed in their mission parameters, but got themselves killed as well. Even Gregg Ryo, he and I constantly argued over who was the bigger fan of the Sailor Moon series."

"Gregg Ryo?" Amy asked. Her eyes got wide.

"I know, the really coincidental part was that he was assigned to you too, but anyways, I was the only one who succeded, died in doing so, but Sailor Venus launched a Crescent Beam at the monster at the last second that knocked it into oblivion." I said. "That's when they started calling me `Maniac'." I said. Mina's finger traced the picture and a tear rolled down her cheek.

"I remember that battle vividly." She said softly. "At first I didn't, but after Artemus gave me my powers back, it came back with them. Would you have really done that?" she asked. "You know, had you been here?" I looked up at the ceiling.

"Carpe Diem." I replied. "Yes, I would have." I replied. Sure enough the words written at the bottom of the page were clear as day: `Carpe Diem, who cares about yesterday or tomorrow, just sieze today.'

"What is that, a motto?" Raye asked. I shook my head.

"Nope, it's not a motto, it's a way of life. People get so caught up in planning for tomorrow, that they forget to live today." I said. "I don't make plans for the future very often, and when I do, they're only half hearted. That way should the plan fail, I'm not so disappointed."

"Wait a second, then what's this?" Lita said, pointing to a picture I had sketched of me in a tuxedo, Mina in a white gown, and a man in a preacher's shirt standing in front of us." I chuckled when she held it up for me to see it.

"The reason I don't make plans." I replied. "I had that day planned down to the very last detail." I told them, smiling slightly. "The colors would be traditional black and white, maybe a few dashes of orange here and there. It would be outdoors, on a hill, We'd surround the area with a white picket fence, and put up the podium on the very peak of the hill, facing east, the people would sit on decorated folding chairs to the left and right, but not a lot of people would be there, just the important people, you know parents and siblings. Friends, and any loved ones who would actually be interested in the wedding." I started motioning with my hands, and closed my eyes. "The ceremony itself would take place at six o'clock P.M. on the Vernal Equinox, so that we could be married in front of one of my idols." I said.

"Who's that? And what difference would time make?"

"All the difference in the world, Lita, The sun begins dipping below the horizon at exactly 6:00 on the Vernal Equinox, my grandfather was a painter. Before he died, he used to tell me that sunset was Michaelangelo's hour, and that he was up in heaven painting the skies with the brilliant arrays of colors that we see on a daily basis, when he was diagnosed with a brain tumor, we were visiting him in the hospital one day, and after my parents left he asked me how Michaelangelo had been doing, because the tumor had taken his sight away. I told him that the skies were happy skies, because Michaelangelo couldn't wait for him to get up there and start helping him. He smiled and took my hand, telling me to tell him that he'd be up soon enough, and wanted to spend just a little more time with us. He had been such a fighter before that day, the doctors told us that it was futile though, his tumor was inoperable, and there was nothing that any amount of fighting would do to stop it. Well, after we had our conversation that night, he smiled and pulled me into a hug, and just stopped. About thirty minutes later, my parents came back and I asked them to help me, that he was asleep and I didn't want to wake him. When they lifted his arm to move me out, my mom dropped it because it felt really sponge like. He hadn't gone to sleep, he had gone home." I smiled and a tear rolled down my cheek. "So I made it a point, every year, to watch as many sunsets as possible, but the one sunset that I will never miss, is The Vernal Equinox, because even though I know now that it was just an expression, sometimes I feel that by watching the sunsets like I did back then, I might catch a glimpse of him painting them." I stopped and shot up right suddenly as I heard someone burst into tears. It was Mina, Serena and the others had a few black streaks down their faces where their mascara had run, but Mina had turned into the Niagra Falls replica, sobbing her eyes out. After a few minutes had passed, and a new box of tissues had been emptied, everyone was okay again, Serena looked at her watch.

"Oh no, Darien's going to be worried sick!"

"Call him from here." I said.

"Are you sure it's okay?"

"Not like I'm expecting anyone to call me." She made the phone call and told Darien where she was, what was going on, and that she'd be home in a little while. Then she put me on the phone at his request.

"Is this Alex?" He asked.

"Yeah, that's me." I replied.

"Okay, make sure she stays off her feet as much as possible, don't you dare let her over exert herself or pick anything up that weighs more than ten pounds, got that?" He asked. I smiled and nodded.

"Understood, Darien, I'll keep an eye out." I said.

"Hey, do you really know everything about them?" He asked.

"Yup, that's the general insanity of it all." I replied.

"Everything?" He asked.

"What exactly do you count as everything?" I asked.

"Carnal knowledge?"

"Darien, that's just wrong." I asked.

"Well, answer the question." He said. "Do you know everything or not?"

"I guess not." I said. "hmm, well not all of them anyway."

"What?" He asked. "Which ones?"

"That's for me to know, and you to maybe find out, someday when they're not all standing around me." I said. He started laughing.

"Okay, that was just an intelligence check, you passed with flying colors." He replied. "Remember, ten pounds."

"Right, Ten pounds."

"Okay, back to your conversation then, see you later."

"I'm sure I will." I replied hanging up and chuckled. "Which ones, he's such a crack pot." I said smiling and shaking my head.

"Anyways, continue, there had to be more to the wedding plans than that." Raye said smiling broadly.

"Yeah, come on." Lita chimed in. "It was just getting interesting." I smiled.

"Well, okay." I said sitting down and taking a drink from my pop. "Well, the vows would be self written, I had even written mine in the form of a poem."

"Wow, you planned this down to the vows?" Amy asked.

"I told you, every last detail was as clear in my mind as everything real is to everyone else's eyes."

"So where are they, I didn't see them in the book anywhere."

"The paper was burned, shortly after I went to the E.R." I said. "I committed them to memory, but that's where I'm going to draw the line for now."

"Oh man, so we can't hear them?" Serena asked. "This is sounding even more romantic than my wedding was."

"Well anyway, after the vows had been read, we would exchange the custom made rings, which I have in the plastic box in the same drawer."

"Well go get it." Lita said. "I want to see this."

"No, I can't." I said.

"Oh come on, Alex, we're all friends here." Serena said.

"No, I'm serious, I can't open it, the key was thrown away."

"Well then let's just see the box." Lita said. I smiled and went downstairs getting the box out of the drawer and holding it gently as I went back upstairs. The others watched as I quietly and gently set it down on the counter and grabbed the knife sharpener from the case bringing it to Lita.

"I don't have the brute strength to do this." I said handing it to her and showing her how to put it in the shackle. I carefully held the box, keeping it from moving too much while she broke the lock off. I then turned it to face me. "I haven't seen the contents of this box in almost four years." I said.

"Come on, show us the rings." Raye said. I smiled.

"Two wedding bands and an engagement ring, coming up." I said. I held up three small plastic bags, each with a golden ring inside.

"You didn't!" Serena said shooting to her feet and dashing over to the table with the rest of them. Mina sat across from me, staring at me silently, her expression was hard to read. "Mina will you look at these things?" She sat them down in front of her.

"I tricked my dad into having these made for me, he thought they were actually from the show." I smiled. "That's three thousand dollars worth of gold and diamonds you're looking at.

"What?!?!?" Mina said finally. "Can I see them?"

"Sure, they won't do anyone else any good, they're engraved." I said. Mina quickly took them out of the bags and slipped one on her finger.

"It's a perfect fit." I smiled and nodded.

"Size six and a half, I knew it." I said. They all looked at me.

"How could you know that one?" Raye asked. I shrugged.

"I didn't, it was an educated guess. When I had the rings made, the lady asked me what size, she told me that normal hands would fit a size seven. However given her slender build and small hands, I knew it would be slightly smaller than that." I said.

"Anyways, go on ahead." Serena said. "The suspense is killing me!"

"Well, after the ceremony was over, I'd have a white horse waiting for us just outside the picket fence. We'd take that to the reception, which would have a D.J., not a live band." I said.

"Why not?"

"Because, I like a variety of music, a little bit of everything from death metal to classical and everything in between." I said. "If we did have live music, it'd have to be someone capable of playing everything. Anyways, the wedding cake would be shaped like Magellan's fortress..."

"No way, they can't do that can they?"

"For a couple of thousand dollars they could."

"Two grand for a cake?" Lita asked. "You do have it bad."

"Believe me, Lita, should that day ever arrive, the memories made that day would be well worth the cost, every last cent would be more than justified."

"Okay, and that's it, right?"

"For the actual wedding yes." I said. "My plans didn't stop there, but we'll just cut it off before I get myself in trouble."

"You mean to tell me that you had even planned the following night too?" Raye asked. I started laughing so hard that I almost fell out of my chair.

"What's so funny?" Serena asked.

"What's wrong with Mina?" Lita asked. I shook my head and held up my hand.

"No, I wasn't laughing at the thought, believe me, but that question...you girls really are totally oblivious aren't you?" I asked them. "the five of you are sex symbols where I come from. There isn't a red blooded american male that has ever watched an episode or read a comic that has not wanted a piece of you, unless they were gay, or comatose." I said. "You had better believe I had planned for that night." I said. "But like I said, that's a subject I definitely do not want to touch right now."

"Okay, we won't make you go there." Lita said. "Well, it's getting late, we should probably be going." Mina sat there, tears silently flowing down her cheeks as she flipped the wedding band over and over again in her hands.

"Mina, are you okay?" Serena asked.

"How did you know that?" She asked, looking up at me. "How could you have possibly known that?"

"Known what?" I asked.

"The wedding I've had planned for myself ever since I was five years old." She said. "How could you possibly know those details?"

"Whoa, Mina, I just took the information supplied by your trading card, and applied it to my own imagination, how close was I?"

She didn't reply, she just stared at me for a few seconds with her lower lip quivering before she threw the ring down on the table and darted out the front door. I turned around.

"Did I...offend her?" I asked.

"I don't think so, Alex." Artemus said looking up at me from the floor. "She's probably just spooked, I'll talk to her."

"Hey, Alex, what are you doing tomorrow?" Raye asked.

"Nothing that I know of, why?"

"Maybe we'll drop by then." She said. "Who knows, maybe Mina will have calmed down by that point." I watched as they all walked out, then buried my head in my arms and started crying.