Every Time We Touch

This was where she belonged; where she felt controlled, safe, untouchable. In the middle of the club's dance floor, the colorful flood lights distorting all the people around her, she was lost in crowd, unnoticed and unfeeling.

She was lost to the music, her arms raised over her head as she swayed to the trance like rhythm, her unique brown hair with thick white layered bangs whipped around her face in a frenzied way, silky waves brushing her bare shoulders softly. She wasn't sure what had possessed her to dye her hair in such a way, an image from her dreams perhaps, but it had felt right after she had done it, so right that she refused to let the bangs grow back to their natural brown, bleaching them whenever the roots dared to show.

The song she was dancing too ended, quickly fading into a new one, leaving her breathless and giddy. She weaved her way through the bodies on the dance floor and forcefully shoved herself at the bar through another group of bystanders, drinking and watching. She ordered a shot from the bar, not bothering to leave the counter as she downed it in one gulp, slamming the tiny glass down as the bitter alcohol burned down her throat. She glanced over her shoulder slightly towards the doors that led to the stairwell out of the club, her head starting to spin and her feet feeling as if they were floating from the booze. She wondered if she should head back to the dorms now, where she was sure her friend Jean and her foster brother Kurt were waiting to lecture her on being out so late on a night before a presentation.

"Not planning on leavin' jus' yet are ya, chere?"

The smooth, thick southern accent burned through her with a familiarity she couldn't place. It wasn't just that it quickly reminded her of her home down south, there was something more, as though she had met this particular man behind her before.

The soft whispering in her ear had been barely audible but it had taken her by complete surprise. She whirled around, gasping as she laid eyes on the person who had taken up such close proximity to her.

It must have been a trick of the lights, or maybe the alcohol was taking its toll on her, but for a split second she could've sworn that his eyes had been glowing a deep red, the whites behind them black as night. She blinked and tried to refocus. No, they were dark, normal, maybe a brown or a hazel, she couldn't tell in the dim lighting of the club.

Before she could answer him, he grabbed her hand and tugged her away from the bar, pulling her towards the dance floor. She followed him without objection, somewhat stunned, but before he pulled her into the crowd of vibrating bodies, they halted and he turned to her, a lopsided grin on his face. He leaned down slightly, his lips parting only centimeters from her ear. She could've sworn she felt electrified by his presence. She closed her eyes for a moment trying to clear her head.

"Haven't we met before?"

There it was again; that shiver down her spine, as though she knew him for far longer then a few moments. As though, perhaps…

She shook her head rapidly, trying to clear the clutter, her lips turning upwards into her own cocky grin. She knew what he was really asking, that he was trying to place her in his memory as much as she was trying to place him. It wasn't impossible…but she didn't believe that she would forget someone like him, not when, for whatever reason, her whole body longed to be close to him. She had never felt such a physical attraction before.

"Ya'll mean, haven't you slept with meh before?" her own accent came out thick, slightly slurred with a slight laugh behind her words.

He pulled back, no doubt with more then a slight bit of shock at her bluntness, his eyebrow cocked. She cocked her head at him. The fact that she was teasing him dawned on him and he smiled again as his uneasiness at being caught left him.

"Non. I'd have remembered a belle femme like ya. Especially wit dat horrible Mississippi accent." He teased her.

"Look who's talkin', swamp rat."

He grinned at her angry glare and once again grabbed her hand, pulling her into the crowd. He swiftly placed his hands on her hips and swayed with the music the DJ was playing, forcing her to move with him. Her own uneasiness quickly fading as she felt the vibrations the bass was causing beneath her feet. She closed her eyes, letting the music wash over her, the energy of everyone there taking over. She felt hypnotized as she swayed with the rhythm, her hips moving with the beat. She turned and her partner's hands encircled her waist, pulling her tightly to him. She could feel his body heat against her back as she moved against him and something strange happened.

She had been here before. Well not there exactly, but she had been with him before. She could feel it. Something wasn't right though, she could not piece together what it was exactly. It didn't matter though. She felt safe in his arms. It was right to her.

His hands moved up her body, then down again, finding their way beneath the flimsy fabric of her shirt before slipping back around her waist. Her eyes widened as she jumped at his touch, as if it were electrified. He stopped. Did he feel it too?

She turned to face him; his eyes were full of confusion and he held her at arms length. So he had felt it too. That feeling…

"What's your name?" he asked over the noise. She could barely hear him.

Before she could stop herself, her voice floated from her lips, as though in a dream.

"Anna." She bit her lip in hesitation, unsure of why she had revealed her true self to this…familiar stranger. Did that even make sense? Was she going insane?

Her name seemed to have struck a nerve with him. Surely he had heard the name Anna before, it was fairly common, wasn't it?

No. Something about it caused him distress. He dropped his hands from her shoulders and began to turn away from Anna as his whole face contorted into that of someone trying feverishly to remember something he had lost long ago.

"It be late chere, I-I have ta go now…" he managed to stutter before disappearing into the crowd.

Anna stood there stunned for a moment. No, this wasn't right. She wouldn't let him leave her here, not when they both felt it. Not when it felt like the millionth time they had separated like this.

Anna shook herself from her trance and began weaving herself through the bodies of the dancers as fast as she could manage without intentionally knocking them over. She had to catch up to him, had to at least find out his name.

She saw him slip through the door leading to the stairwell that would take him to the street. She hurried after him, pushing herself against the railing of the top platform.

"Wait!" but he didn't stop, didn't look back. Just kept going. If she didn't run after him she'd lose him to the night.

So she ran down the stairs. Never once did it occur to her that she was acting crazy, that she was chasing after a complete stranger for no better reason than she thought, maybe, she knew him. In another life….another time.

Anna skidded to a stop when she reached the street, looking both ways, searching for his tall lanky form. She barely felt the cold sting of the rain as it began its descent, soft at first, but gaining momentum with every drop. He hadn't gone far; in fact he had stopped to light a cigarette, the rain gleaming on his tied back auburn hair. He took a drag, wisps of smoke escaping his lips. He began to walk again.

Anna jogged up to him, catching his wrist in her hand, causing him to turn suddenly, trying to rip his arm away from her, but she held on.

"Your name?" she whispered breathlessly, her green eyes holding his. He stared at her, confused.

"Ah told ya mine, but ya'll left befoah Ah could ask yours." Anna's hand slipped from his wrist, but to her surprise he caught her hand in his, entangling his fingers in her own. For a moment she could have sworn she felt a warm static feeling climbing up her arm, warming her very soul.

"Ya hands are so soft petite…" he said more to himself then to her as he examined her hand in his, his thumb softly travelling over her palm.

"It's as though…nah, but dat be impossible…" he examined her hand a moment longer, before lifting his eyes back to hers. He was hesitating, unsure of the whole strange situation.

"Don't look at meh like that. Ah ain't crazy. Ah just…Ah feel like Ah know ya…or something."

A strange smile crept to his lips. He leaned down after a second, as though he was unable to help himself.

"Remy, petite. My name be Remy."

That was all Anna wanted to hear. She had never met anyone by that name, but somehow she knew. She knew, deep down, that they had met before, whether it be in this lifetime or another.

"Ya'll have to forgive meh, Remy, but Ah don't know why…" Anna started. She never finished only leaned forward to press her lips upon his. Remy returned the jester with a force that mirrored her own passion. She closed her eyes, and she could've sworn that she was flying. That they were no longer in downtown, in the middle of the pouring rain, but somewhere…else; somewhere they both remembered, but had never been to. Anna wondered if Remy could feel how fast her heart was beating at that moment.

Remy pulled away first, he didn't drop her hand or move away from her. It looked as if he too had been somewhere else, lost in a dreamlike memory. He shielded his eyes with his other hand as he looked to the sky, the rain coming down harder now, soaking them both.

"We best be getting' outta dis rain, non?" Remy asked with a smile on his face.

"Oui." Anna answered in the same French he seemed to use on and off, but before they moved Remy pulled her to him again.

"Sure we never met before, Anna?"

Anna smiled, her lips just inches away from his.

"In anotha world, anotha time, a dream all togetha…" Anna whispered before pressing her lips to his once more.

xXx