http://clampfix.fanworks.net/kenichi/rayfic15.txt </head><body><pre>"I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith." BIBLE, II Timothy 4:7 Chapter Fourteen: Magi Lights flashed before my eyes. White, harsh blasts of sheer brightness. "...Doctor, he's still in critical condition..." Damn, can't anybody keep quiet in here...? Something... a mask... put on my face... The light went away as I inhaled the sweet-smelling mists. =================================== I awoke in a kind of hard bed, staring at a large white square floating above my head. A light fixture of some sort... Light? Where am I...? Try to move my head... "UGH...." Pain tore me up all over. Must have suffered some pretty badly broken bones to feel like this. My right arm was numb, as if it had been stuffed in a freezer for a good three weeks. I knew I shouldn't have woken up. Wait... I remmebered falling into Cephiro... Why am I even alive...? =================================== Try as I might, I couldn't move my head; there was a thick collar around my neck. No, not a collar; a cast. My left hand groped around my neck area and then my right arm. Both were in thick plaster casts. I felt my head, and it too had a thick swath of bandages around it. Oddly enough, my legs were untouched, but I was still far from mobile... "Where am I...?" I heard a voice. Mother's voice. "Ken...!" Mother's stern but caring face came into view. Her eyes were bloodshot-red, apparently from crying. "You stupid boy! Why didn't you let me know where you were going earlier...? I was worried sick... And then I get this call from the hospital..." I heard her voice crack as she said the last word. "Mom... What th..." I yelped as I once again tried to turn my head. "Ken, your'e lucky to have survived the fall..." Fall...? "M...Ma...What fall...?" "If your three young lady friends weren't there... I'm sure, you would have..." Mother started breaking down again. Wait...Mom is here...? Then where... "Ma... Where am I...?" "You;re in Tokyo General Hospital, son, and you've been unconscious for nearly three days! I almost thought I'd lose you..." I let out a painful smirk; smiling alone tensed my pained muscles. "Don't worry, Ma. I'm tougher than that..." She smiled back, tears still in her eyes. "Your'e just as hardheaded as that Nippon father of yours. Ki Si eh... Tsi Ge Ki Na..." Mother's Fujien cursed, but I could tell she was thankful I was alive. I wasn't too sure, however, until Mother adjusted the bed to allow me an upright position. "Your three friends are here, Ken. I think I should let them be alone with you awhile. theyv'e been very concerned..." Friends...? Mom turned to the room door, smiling now. "Especially the little red-haired one." I swallowed hard and it hurt. Red haired... =================================== Hikaru walked in silently, a relieved smile on her lips. Fuu and Umi wore relaxed expressions on their faces as they followed her in. Mother, in the meantime, winked and left me... At least I didn't need to explain things to her... Left me alone.. Alone with the three Magic Knights. The first thing I noticed was Hikaru's right arm in a cast. When I asked, she simply blushed. Umi, however, was more specific. She declared the truth to me with a glitter in her eye and a smile (I don't quite think it was a sneer) on her lips. "You owe her one, Kaeda. She grabbed you just as you fell." I turned to Hikaru. Did she really care, then? "You did that... for me...?" Hikaru merely blushed, grinning widely. "I'd do it for anybody." Anybody. I felt utterly diminished by that one thought. "Kenichi..." My neck strained as I tried to look at Fuu. "...When you fell... We saw a light that..." Fuu did not continue. I looked at her eyes. Then at Hikaru's. Umi's too. They knew something happened. "Hikaru-San, Umi-San, Fuu-San... I have something to admit..." =================================== I told them everything. From the moment I met Clef to the second I fell from the sky. The unnecessary deaths I caused, and the hurt I brought about. Umi was visibly shaken when I told, in painful detail, what I had done to Clef; If I were not already in stitches, She most certainly would have made sure I needed them. Hikaru was especially pained to hear of Mira's death; It seemed the Nar really was a special person for Hikaru to remember so fondly, and it gave me no comfort to see the pain on her face as I told her of it. I could not recall when I last made people cry. But as I ended my tale, Hikaru's tears flowed like a river from her tender eyes. "Ken-San..." Fuu put her hands on my shoulders. "Ken-San, it's not your fault. You did what you believed was right. As we did, when the three of us first went to Cephiro. Don't be angry at Clef or anyone else, for what's done is done. And now..." Fuu looked at Umi and Hikaru knowingly. "...Now, you do know what we have gone through. You're one of us, in a way. You will always have friends like us...." In that moment, I felt that Fuu was the elder sister I nearly had and so dearly wanted... Umi's voice, normally high-pitched, was sober now. "Kenichi Kaeda, I'm sorry for slapping you and being so mean... I guess I still have to learn to be sensitive to other people's feelings." "No, Umi-San. I should have been the one with more tact. I hadn't known what you three went through..." Umi's voice cut in smoothly. "But now, you do. And I'm sorry that you had to go it alone." Alone. Yes, that was the key word. I was alone. Fuu, Hikaru, and Umi had each other. "I had nobody." I hadn't intended to let it out vocally. "Ken-San..." Hikaru looked at me with sad eyes. "I wish that I was there to help." There were many things I could have said to her. I love you, for one. But I couldn't. Fuu, Umi, and Hikaru huddled close to me as I broke down in their arms, soaked with my own, painful tears. =================================== Weeks had passed since I awoke. The doctors had just recently relieved me of the plaster casts that plagued my arm and neck, so I was now free to walk around. The good doctors said I would be able to go home by tomorrow. Home, and school, I thought with distaste. I used the opportunity to sit on the Hospital rooftop and stare at the dusk. It was a sunset like this, back on Cephiro, when Mira and I looked at the stars as the winked into the coming night sky. The thought bit into painfully. Mira. "Ken-San..." I whirled around to see Hikaru Shidou. "H... Hikaru-San. Sorry, you startled me." I let my best smile out, but it came out as feigned. "I guess you heard, I'm leaving tomorrow." The little red head nodded. "You and your mother are going to Okinawa right after you're released, right...? I just...well..." Hikaru was nervous... to see me? Now there was a twist. There was a soft little laugh inside of me as I realized that, somehow, this time, the tables had been turned. "...You wanted to wish me goodbye." Hikaru nodded again. "And take care, Kenichi. I don't want you to be hurt again..." Hurt. Yes, Pain. My lifelong companion. The red braid whisked around as Hikaru turned to reach into her skirt pocket. "Oh, your Mother wanted to know if this was yours... she found it in your jacket pocket..." My heart stopped a beat. Not the Black Orb! No! Hikaru's small hand brought out a pendant. Encrusted in gold, it was small, but meaningful. Mira's pendant. So I really didn't dream it up, then... "Yes. It was given to me by someone special." Hikaru smiled tenderly. "It's like what Lantis gave me. here, I'll show you..." A small pang of envy bit at my heart. It was a circular disk, with a mirror-like object in it. A pendant, as well. "Lantis said his Father gave it to him, to ward off evil. It's really special; It helped me out of a lot of fixes before." Dis... Realization. Dis wasn't really evil, just driven mad by the demands of destiny. As Zagato was in his vain attempt to subvert the legends. And me? The only person to subvert destiny. My eyes focused on Hikaru. No matter what happens, I can't let what happened on Cephiro happen here. Mira died because of me.... I can't let Hikaru be hurt by what I've done. She loves Lantis. I can't hurt her by taking that love away. Mira's pendant still rested in my palm. I turned to Hikaru. I wanted to tell her. But there was something more important for me to say. "Hikaru-Chan, do you know the story of the Fourth Magi?" "Neh?" I smiled. "It's this Christian legend. When the Christ child was born there were three Magi, magicians or wise men, depending on you view, who went to give him gifts..." Hikaru listened intently as I went on. "There was a fourth Magi, who at first didn't believe in the three, but who later went in search of the Christ child, too. He swore he would bring even better gifts to the Christ child, so he packed his camels full with all sorts of gifts." I paused a second to catch a breath. "But along the way, he found that the Christ child had moved from the stable to Nazareth. This fourth Magi wandered around looking for him. As he traveled, he found people in need. This moved his heart, so he did all he could to help them, giving away his gifts, his riches, teaching them, even selling his own camels to help them. Eventually, after forty years, he comes to see the Christ, but at the crucifixion. At which point, he has nothing left to give to the Christ, not even a drop of water, or a piece of bread. The Fourth Magi then felt that he had failed the Christ because he did not keep his promise...." I looked into her eyes sternly. "Do you think that the fourth magi is to blame?" Hikaru looked me in the eyes as she spoke, apparently not needing any debate over what was right and what was wrong. "But there were so many people that needed his help more urgently! You couldn't blame him if he helped those people first!" I smiled. Hikaru passed my test. I recalled the story to her, in order to test her feelings. No, she definitely was not selfish. So why should I be? Then I realized. That was the answer to my dilemma and guilt as well. "You're right, Hikaru-San. The Christ Jesus told him that, and that all that he did for the needy people, it was the same as giving to him, as well. I'm glad you understand." I put my hands on her shoulders as gently as I could. "The fourth did the most for the Christ, even if he didn't realize it at first. Thank you for helping me see that, Hikaru-chan..." She had a mildly shocked expression on her face as I brushed my lips onto her forehead. "Goodbye and take care of Lantis, Hii-Chan..." I turned away from her. Best to leave now. If I stayed, I would never again have the strength to leave... "Ken-San!" I turned just as my foot entered the stairwell. Hikaru, her cheeks blushing. "Take care of yourself, Ken-kun..." I nodded. "I'll..." A bit my lip, but decided to tell her. "...I'll write you." The smile on her face was mature now, not childish, and it suddenly reminded me of the difference in our ages. "So will I." I took my first steps into the stairwell and into the uncertain future of my life.</pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>