Wasn't I afraid?

Isn't the dark… bad?

Why am I running back?

Noiz set his head against his old bedroom's door. He punched it without much enthusiasm, and smiled with even less.

Is the dark all I know? Was I meant to be alone?

It'd been at least a half hour since Noiz bolted upstairs. For all he knew, Symphony was downstairs cowering from her demented older brother that freaks out over sunlight. He couldn't blame her. Noiz blamed himself. It was his fault that he couldn't handle the outside world. It wasn't his parent's fault for locking him away, it was Noiz's fault he let them break him.

Am I going to let them break me more?

Is there anything left to break?

The boy had already promised himself he would never cry again. He wasn't quite sure he could if he tried. It didn't seem likely. Noiz's once luminous green eyes were dry. Everything about him was dry. There was no juice, no energy left, nothing to give or pour out. All that seemed to be left was his desire to return to the one thing he knew in a world of mystery and insecurity.

My cage.

As Noiz's fingertips grazed the doorknob, with the lock only on the outside, he heard young footsteps thumping up the stairs. Noiz didn't move an inch and kept his eyes on the wood by his nose. She stopped a few feet away.

"Noiz, don't!"

"Why."

"You can't go back!"

"There's nothing else."

"Yes, there is!"

"Symphony - - "

"No!" Symphony ran to him and pulled him away from the door. Noiz stumbled, somewhat broken of the trance. He blinked at his sister with wide eyes, "Darkness is bad, Noiz! You can't embrace it at all. I forbid it!"

"Symphony…"

She gripped Usagi and Modoki, "It's bad. It's really bad. It twists you, it changes you! It takes away your heart. Noiz, heros are afraid of the dark."

"They are?"

"Yes, because they know liking it means giving in, and losing. They still face it, but with fear in their hearts. I am afraid of the dark. That's a good thing."

Be afraid… Must I be afraid? "Fear is all I know. Of them."

"Mama and Papa?"

"Yeah. I thought I was strange, to be afraid of them. Kids shouldn't be afraid of their parents."

Symphony struggled for words. She held no ill feelings for their parents. Perhaps she did now, after discovering Noiz, though she hid them extremely well, "That's true. But… maybe, it's good you're afraid of them. That way, you won't end up like them when you have children of your own."

Kids of my own? I can have kids?

"As long as you're afraid of them, you'll be a good papa, one day."

Me? A father? "I could?"

"You can have a life, Noiz!" Symphony's gap-toothed grin made Noiz feel better, "You can get a job, get married, have kids, everything!"

"... I just need to go outside."

"Exactly!"

"Can you show me how?"

That smile, missing a few teeth, gave Noiz a little jolt. It was like being slapped in the face after daydreaming. Noiz's little sister took Noiz's hand and he did not resist. In a matter of seconds, the two were back downstairs in front of the back door. There was a mundane curtain hiding the other side of the sliding glass pane. Symphony glanced at Noiz, got an affirmative nod, and reached her tiny fingers forward. Ever so slowly, she pulled back the drapes.

Noiz's breath caught. The backyard didn't seem real. The green grass, the blue sky, were they different than the ones in his video games? His eyes settled on a little flower bed of various hot colors. Pinks, reds, oranges, yellows, all twinkling at him "hello!"

"Noiz? Is this enough?" Symphony reassured him quickly, "You don't have to go outside yet. We can go when you're ready."

In response, Noiz grasped the door's handle. He slid it to the side. Now there were no barriers. There were no walls, no windows, no nothing. Noiz experienced a rush through his body. Whether it was joy or adrenaline, he could not tell. Whatever it was manipulated his feet through the threshold, and onto the grass.

… Oh.

Of course. Noiz could not feel the grass tickling his toes, or the wind ruffling his hair. He didn't even notice the butterfly that kissed his shoulder and flew off. For a dull moment he stood there, until he brought his eyes up, and winced.

Was the sun always this bright?

Was the sky always blue?

I can hear something.

A high, sweet sound chirped in his ear. Above, dancing with the clouds were what appeared to be birds. They were always a background sound, a faint animation in the simulated sky. Noiz had always wondered if birds were real animals.

"Noiz, are you alright?" Symphony asked, now standing at his side.

He took her hand, "Yeah."

She giggled, "I'm glad."

Symphony took a deep breath in, "Smell that?"

Noiz inhaled, detecting a tender smell, "What is that?"

"Mom's flowers. And the fresh-cut grass. Smells lovely, doesn't it?"

"Yeah, it does. Hey, Symphony?"

"Yes?"

"Can you tell me about the sky?"

"Sure!"

The little girl skipped farther into the green grass, and flopped down onto her back, beckoning Noiz over. He joined her eagerly, laying opposite of her, touching the side of her head with his. Symphony pointed up, "See those big white puffy things?"

"What are they?"

"Clouds. They're reeaallyyyy big, and change size all the time! When they get sad, they cry a lot, and that's how we get rain! The rain makes the flowers happy, but it covers the sidewalks in worms."

"Is the sky always blue?"

"Not always. Sometimes during the day. Sometimes it's grey, sometimes it's white. When the some comes and goes, it explodes into different pretty colors. Then at night, it's deep deep blue, with little white balls of light called stars. But, if it's cloudy at night, you don't get to see the stars…"

"What's the big star called?"

"Oh, that's the moon! It's like the night's sun."

"I like the moon. It's very pretty."

"Yep! My favorites are sunrises though. I want to see the sunrise on Mountain Fuji."

"Where's that?"

"On the other side of the world, in Japan. It's supposed to be really colorful and fun there."

"I'll go with you. I'd like to see it too."

"We'll go together!"

"Yeah."

Noiz smiled, taking it all in. For the first time, in a very long time, he felt at peace. Then he heard the glass door open, the angry man coming at them, and it faded away as swiftly as it had come.