s h i d a r e zakura
【花見】
hanami
A thin ray of moonlight illuminated the stretch of field as he paced up and down, trying to understand how in the world he had arrived there. His mind blurred as he strained to remember what had happened before, but only to come to a blank. Oh well, it might have not been that important after all if he couldn't remember it.
The wind played with the branches of a tree that arched over like a weeping willow, yet bore blush pink flowers, their petals falling over the road curving up a hill. What were they called again? Zakura? Something like that, Roxas couldn't remember.
Petals swirled along with the wind like white snow, obscuring his vision from what was ahead. The breeze died down, and a figure sat among the dipped branches, handling them with care. He never noticed that the person had been there before. Well, this wasn't a time for random questions, he needed to find out where he was and go back.
"Can you tell me where I am?" He tilted his head, blue eyes turning their attention away from the pink blossoms and onto the person. He found her staring at him and couldn't help but ask, "What's wrong?"
The woman stifled a small laugh as she looked at the naïve and clueless expression on his face. "No, it's just, you remind me of someone I miss. Come, sit. The cherry blossoms are beautiful this year." A good natured smile lit up her features, green eyes sincere. It was a good change of scenery from the harsh eyes of his father and slanted cat eyes of his mother.
She smiled even wider as he sat down beside her, watching her handle the flowers with care, petals intertwining with her brown hair. "Where am I?" She let go of the branch she had been examining abruptly, her gentle face being replaced to that of a mild shock. Almost instantly though, the shocked look faded and she smiled again as if nothing had happened.
"Even I don't know where we are, if I were to speak honestly." There was a mere shrug and another smile. It all seemed too blissful to Roxas. Too peaceful. What was happening with the chaos outside? He remembered vaguely of everything being pandemonium.
"My name is Aerith, by the way. How about you?" There was a brief silence as they kept looking up at the falling blossoms. The woman named Aerith shook her head, letting the petals fall onto her dress that was the color to match the flowers.
Roxas blinked. Why was she so calm if she didn't know where she was? This wasn't making any sense. Shouldn't you be worried when you were lost? Not that he worried, but she clearly didn't seem to live around this field, so she should care. "Roxas. I'm Roxas."
"We're losing him."
Aerith gazed up, extending her hand out to him with a smile. "I assume you're hungry? Do you want anything?" There was a small voice in the back of his head that insisted no, but instead his mouth opened and let the word 'please' slip out.
Pretty red seeds dotted the palm of his hand, mimicking little droplets of blood as he pressed a few against his lips, all the while the voice in his mind grew louder and louder. 'Stop, stop, stop!' the voice screamed as he swallowed.
"He's gone."
"I'm tired…" Roxas murmured, the brunette turned to hush him, gesturing him over to her. "Sleep then. Well deserved sleep." She pulled him closer, letting him rest his head on her la.
All the while stroking his hair, she murmured as his eyes shut close, "You know, Roxas, sometimes falling cherry blossoms are only meant for the eyes of the dead."
A woman mourned, a man cried, two boys and a girl sat there broken as the man cloaked in white appeared in the hall. "We've lost him, I'm sorry."
footnotes: for mahou. whom i hope does not mind me ruining her favorite pairing. i do not know what happened when i wrote this, it sucks, go ahead and sue me. xD if you want me to rewrite with as you sleep's plot, mahou, i'll gladly do. au, i suppose.
original kh cast © square enix/disney
text © waraenai 2007