Disclaimer: I do not own NNT, its characters and/or its plot. I also do not own the cover image.

oo. The Sound of Miracles

'Where am I…?'

Her body felt dead to her. It was more than just the heaviness of her limbs and the numbing in her bones. Her senses were sharper than broken glass and they seem to register everything around her like some sort of hazy dream. If she didn't know any better…she was really dead, bound to the grave a few hours later. Her soul appeared distant and it was as if it was beginning to leave its discarded shell to the ashes.

'That's right…I died a few hours ago…'

But if the girl was leaving for heaven or wherever, it'd be nice if the people who managed those places would at least give her directions to get there. There wasn't a door to the afterlife panning across her vision, no elevator or escalator colored gold, there wasn't a gate of bronze or lakes of fire. Not even a cent of dimly patched light would rise above her.

It was dark, like the feeling of emptiness. But the darkness almost felt natural in a way, it wasn't something that'd make her uneasy. Listening past the silence was what seemed like steady breaths. It was the sound of life against her ears. Her brows furrow in confusion as the sensation drew closer, caging her in with inconsistent thoughts. The sound of lungs squeezing and inflating was so distinct that she was almost convinced that it came from inside her.

But there was no time to process that –all of sorts of things start piling up on her age old soul, it made her think of how closely she was being pulled back into the real world. She could sense the ruffle of cloth under her skin and the dryness of the Sahara desert in her mouth. The silence isn't just the sound of breathing, there's the humming of a fan, and the tickle of sunlight. There was that annoying beeping noise stabbing her right ear and bits of whispers drifting from a distance.

Then the girl realized how her heart wasn't as tense as it was before. It felt normal and at peace inside her ribs as it pressed against her ribcage with each steady thump. Each unsuccessful attempt to count her heartbeats lead her to thoroughly believe that she was….alive.

'How is this possible -?!'

Everything seemed so unbelievable and unreal and vague. She didn't know what to think of it. It confused her and it made her weary, but more so, it beckoned her to accept and believe that she still had a chance. Reality wanted her to forget that she was a sickly girl named Diane, who grew up with a hole in her heart. It wanted her to forget that she saw the hospital as her home. It wanted her to erase the freshest memories of a doctor telling her that she'd die, her father saying goodbye to her over and over again, how she never had friends because she didn't want to see anymore sad faces when she left.

The machine that monitored her pulse made a noise that rose up with each beep, the screen displaying sharp streaks across a green line. In her hospital bed, Diane realizes that the darkness really was just the skin of her eyelids forcing the light away. The sharp white paint they used for the ceiling made it troubling to adjust to, it took the girl three long sets of blinking to get the blurry after-effect and the bright light all together.

Her pale fingers flexed slightly under the gripping tightness that held unto her hand. It was a heavy kind of warmth, forming beads of sweat between her fingers. But the traces of dry skin and the sensation of hard-work strewn across the tightness was all she needed to know who it was without batting an eyelash or tilting her head. The hand loosens its hold on her hesitantly.

"Good morning, Diane…" her father squeezed her hand again, restoring the gentle grip he had on her, "…How're you feeling?"

He had his back against the window that poured the sunshine in, his face was bone dry, and his eyes were rimmed with dark circles. But there was a smile on his face, the type of smile that spelt hope and happiness and relief in the way it curved his lips. She knew she had to say something, but her voice felt so unused for so long that it croaked and rattled at the bottom of her throat.

Her lips move, but there isn't a sound, just the lapses of her hot heavy breathing and the nervousness that made her lips quiver against themselves. But her father didn't need to pester; being with her all throughout those long years of torture without a mother had him at a point where he knew more about his daughter than himself.

"We found a donor Diane, just in the nick of time." he released a sigh, a breath that looked heavy as his shoulders sag. "You're….you're alive, Diane, it's…a miracle."

Her lack of words was an understandable thing. Both of them could read actions as much as they could read words. So she cried. Her eyes were doing the talking for her, and her father hugged her out of his own happiness, and out of habit. He always hugs her when she cries, but this time was different. He was crying too.

She didn't know who the donor was –but she still pressed a shaking hand to her chest, her gratitude was almost directed to it, as if Diane had a connection with that person through her chest.

'Thank you so much…' her fingers thread through the material of her hospital gown, '…whoever you are….you're a….a hero!' She contented herself with how the heart sent out tiny thumping rhythms to her hand regardless of the wall of skin. It felt like she was reading a secret code. It felt like replies from the original owner.

The sound of tears was the happiest sound they had ever heard in a long time. But the beat that sent blood through her veins was the sound of miracles at work.

End notes:

[1] I've decided to release Heart rate first. :) It'll be an Modern AU fic, obviously. I actually planned out 3 major fics I'm going to write. Two AU including this one, and one canon one. I planned the canon one a long time ago, but I went with this first because I wanted some type of confirmation on Diane and King's relationship in the manga before releasing it to avoid myself getting demotivated. Something that'll make me safely say, 'Aye, it's time to release that one.' I think this AU would buy me some time while waiting for the right moment :D.

[2] About the oneshots, well...I haven't really posted the poll just yet since I wanted to post the first chapter first before putting it up. Plus I went through a type of posterior hurt that involves your hamstrings from sitting cross-legged on my chair...ahehe. Anyways, please don't stress your rear muscles or they'll hurt like hell. XD

[3] There might be some of you who don't enjoy AU. I'm not pressing you to read this fic. :3 If you're really patient, you can wait for my canon fic. But if not, then maybe this isn't the right fic for you. :) I'll understand that. But those who can at least bear with AU, then I hope you'll enjoy this.

[4] I'll update this weekly, or possibly whenever I can, but I hope to finish it while I still have summer to write it XD.