Echoes of the Past

By: Ishikawa Ran

Rating: MA (XD)

Summary: Ruka (Ari) wakes from an odd dream one year after Stan sets him free as a 'reward' for helping him to full power… Somehow even though now he is free, he can't seem to tear his thoughts from the pointed eared Evil King. The dream, however, proves his ever-growing suspicion… StanxRuka. Yes this is Yaoi. Ruka's POV. Now, I have yet to beat the game, and if I get anything wrong, don't yell at me for it, I thought it was a cute idea. XP So there!

(-o-)

I don't know how it happened. I really don't want to know why. I'm currently lying on my floor, staring up at the ceiling, face red as a beet, and twitching ever so slightly. I've just had a dream. I'm not sure whether I should call it the best dream of my life, or the worst dream of my life… either way…

It scared me.

My last memory of the dream is throwing my head back and… and… Agh! I can't even say it! It started out innocently, the same as it always had. I'm running in the dark and NORMALLY Stan, as a shadow, catches me and scares me you-know-what-less. I've been having the same dream since I was 'freed'. But THIS time, however, he was in his real form… and he had something else in mind besides scaring me. I remember… he laid me down on the ground… It was cold… but, oh, he was so warm. He-… he pulled my pants off… slowly, as if to torture me… and I didn't fight it. I just lay there like I was frozen or… like I wanted what he was doing to happen. I tried to wake up but… it was like he was holding me in that dream. He leaned down and kissed my neck. I think I may have squeaked, but it may have just been in my mind. What ever sound I made, I hadn't had time to think on it as he descended lower… and lower… and…

Agh! Enough!

I sit up quickly and wipe the sweat off my forehead, standing on my weak legs and bracing myself against a wall. I quietly make my way through the halls of my home. Since it's early, no one else is up, thankfully. I dare a quick glance down at my pants and, sure enough, there's an obvious, glaring stain that has worked it's way through. I walk faster and soon am alone in my bathroom. What I need right now is a very, VERY cold shower…

(-O.O-)

"Ruka? Ruka!"

My head jerks up from looking at the ground and I turn to look at one of the many towns people… well one of the brats anyway… "What…?" Wow, I sound so pissed off. I wonder why?

"Why won't you show anyone that stupid shadow trick anymore?" Oh yeah… that's why… "I mean it's been a year, you think you'd be nice enough o show up at least one more time. You didn't forget how, did you?"

"It wasn't a trick…" I hear myself say.

The boy scowled. "Sure it wasn't… Now come on show me the stupid shadow!"

I think, since I'd become so close to Stan in our journeys, something had snapped with all this 'stupid shadow' business… I turn quickly and grab the kid's collar, shoving him hard against the tree. "STAN WASN"T STUPID!" I snarl, glaring the boy down like the very enemies I defeated one year ago…

"G-Geez, Ruka, I just wanted to see it again, you don't have to be s-such a dick about it…" I hear him say.

Then it clicks… What am I doing? I let go. "S-Sorry…" I bite my lip and turn to run the other way.

"Wait, Ruka!" I pause and cringe. "So… you can't do it anymore…?"

I frown and look at my feet. "No…" I whisper, I can hear my voice cracking under the weight of sadness. "I can't do it anymore…" I sprint quickly to get out of the kid's hearing range… that way…

He can't hear me cry…

(-TT.TT-)

Ah yes, and again, fate finds me in my bed… that traitorous bed that let those horrible dreams fill my head… the bed that, for a few choice nights, one year ago, my shadow and I shared… He would scold me for being afraid of my nightmares, and would often give me one just to build up my immunity to them… No slave of the great Evil King Stan will be afraid of a mere image in the mind! That's what he'd said… but every time I'd wake up screaming, he'd be right there… almost… comforting me…

'Stupid human tears…. What silly things…' He'd said… 'Here, let me dry them and we'll try again. We must get you to be stronger than these delusions! If you're going to be my permanent slave, than we best get you as brave as possible. Stop crying, come on…'

He, for some reason, when we were alone, he'd never blame me for being scared… at all… Yet, when I did the tiniest thing wrong when the others were around it was 'Bad slave!' or 'What did you do that for, you fool!'

He apparently had forgotten all of the horrible things he'd said to me. He also apparently forgot how much he'd sworn that I was going to be his personal slave forever…

'Slave? Since you worked so hard to get me back to my normal state, I'm going to reward you…' My heart had begun pounding at this… reward? Me? I found it hard to believe… but I listened anyway. 'Ruka…' My first name… not 'slave', as usual… this was beginning to look grim… 'I, the Evil King Stan… am setting you free.'

Of course I acted happy. Everyone thought that I hated being a slave… but I'd loved being by Stan's side… I admit I was afraid of him at first. Nothing pleased him more than to have the ability to scare me senseless. But… the more I traveled with him and listened to him yammer on about how horribly evil he was… the closer I got to him… to he point that I didn't want to leave… But he was still my master. I wanted to obey. And I did. I am now no longer Stan's slave.

And that mean that nobody's here to dry my tears… Tears, which were currently very disobedient and trailing endlessly, down my cheeks.

"Ruka…?" Oh great… my mom… that's all I need… "Honey, are you all right?"

Of course, this is my mom… she'll understand everything… So it's normal that I just break down and collapse against her, burying my face in her dress, right? …Right? "Okaasan… O-Okaasan…"

My mother wraps her arms around me and rubs my back. "Oh sweetie, what's wrong…?"

I hate that question… the question that makes me have to explain everything. "S-St…" Not to mention after you've been crying till you're dry, it incredibly hard to pronounce anything. "I-I... I miss S-Stan…"

My mom sighs and hugs me tighter. "I figured you would… after spending al that time with him, it's normal for a boy your age to get attached… I wonder why he didn't stay with you…"

"H-He had a world to conquer, Okaasan…" I mutter.

"Yes… but didn't he say that you were his permanent slave?" She asks, still hugging me.

I bite my lip. "H-He said that… he freed me… as a reward…" I whispered. "S-Some reward… I feel completely and utterly miserable…" I buried my face in her dress again. "And Imouto's pink shadow only makes me sad… I can't even talk to her without crying…"

I can almost feel my mother's suspicion. "…As a reward…? Didn't you tell him that you wanted to stay with him?"

My heart skips a beat and I look up… Should I have…? "N-No… I didn't want him to think… that I-I didn't like the reward…"

"But you DON'T like it, do you?"

I look down. "No…"

My mother smiles. "Than why don't you go and tell him that you want to come back?"

I blink… and flinch away. "O-Okaasan! I can't do that! What if he gets angry?" I shake my head. "You don't get it 'kaasan, he's a very prideful person! If I come back and tell him that I didn't like what he gave me, he'll… he'll take it personally…"

Mom's eyebrow rises. "I didn't tell you to tell him you didn't like it… Just find him… and tell him that you want to be his slave again."

I think about it… "O-Okaasan… I-I…" I pause… and laugh silently, tears coming to my eyes again. "…You haven't a clue how odd that sounds coming from a mother's mouth… But all right… Thanks…" I hug her tightly. "So… y-…you're really okay with this…?"

My mom laughs. "I only want the best for my boy… not to mention the fact that he DID save your sister…" And evil sort of smirk comes across her face and I pale. "Not to mention the fact that, checking up with one of the Love Fortune Tellers that traveled in to make sure that my true love was still your father, they let me in on a little secret…" I'm sure my skin is white now. "They said they pitied me for the fact that my SON'S love had ALWAYS come up as the Evil King Stan."

And now my hair is white as well. "O-Okaasan, l-let me e-explain…!"

She giggled. "Oh, you don't need to! I understand completely!" And now the color has returned… a bit too much… A blush paints my cheeks.

"Y-You do…?"

She nods. "That's why you're so tied to him. I figured that much… and I still love you anyway."

I sigh and hug her again. "Thanks Okaasan… Thank you so much…"

"Any time…"

(-.-)

I'm staring at my ceiling once again. My mom has convinced me to leave to today… and I suppose I'm just trying to memorize the crack in my ceiling before I go… I sigh and sit up as I here voices from downstairs. "Come on Ruka! We need to give you a send off!"

I twitch slightly. "Oh joy… Something to make me miss you…" I mumble. I grab the small bag I packed and head down the stairs.

I make it to the foot of the stairs and look around at my family… My mother looks at me as if I'm going off to get married. My father smiles proudly, seeing his young man going off to live on his own. My grandparents smile happily and almost sadly seeing me go, knowing that they might die before I come back to visit… My sister's shadow is still pink. I smile at that. "Hey Ani…" I smile lightly. "Still happy with your shadow?"

She smiles happily. "Yes I am! And I hope it never goes back!"

I smile and hug her. "Oh, it won't, I promise."

She hugs back. "Oh, it had better not! If it ever does, I'm coming to get it back! Do expect me in that case dear brother."

"Count on it." I wander over to my mom and she smiles brightly. "Hey Okaasan…"

She pulls me into a tight hug. "I'm so happy for you Ruka… Please remember to come visit again sometime."

"I will… Trust me… I need to come back for your cooking… I'll miss that too much…"

She smiles and ushers me over to my dad. I smile up at him… well down. I've gotten a bit taller by an inch. He smiles back. "My son…" He pats my shoulder. "If you ever need help you know straight where to go… Oh, and if you see that nice man, Kisling, do tell him to visit as well."

I laugh and hug him lightly. "I will, Otousan…"

Finally, I head to my grandparents. Both look sad and happy all at once… and I hug them tightly. "You'll both be… forever in my heart… I promise…"

My grandfather smiles and hugs me with one arm, as does my grandmother. "Thank you. We hope you live well… We love you."

"Uh huh… that's right honey." I chuckle and hug my crying grandmother.

"I love you both too. Bye…" I say quietly… great, I knew it, I'm gonna start crying… I turn to the door and turn back.

"All right everyone!" My father smiles. "One… Two… Three!"

"Good Luck!"

(-TTTT-)

End Chapter 1.

Me: Yes, Rai, you can hit me whenever you want… But this IS a chapter fic! XD Love you too. As for everyone else, please review! I'll put the next chapter up whether or not you do… but review anyway! Flames will be laughed at, and spit on by Stan.