A Soft Touch To The Heart

12/28/06

The best and most beautiful things in the world,

Cannot be seen or even touched,

They must be felt with the heart.

Helen Keller

'It's all over, everything is done, and I am free…free at last.' The young Sophomore thought to herself as she collapsed upon her bed, feeling the troubles that had lurked within the shadows of her mind the past couple of days slowly began to melt away. It was now officially the beginning of Summer Vacation, and she was now a Sophomore no more…but a newly blossomed Junior in High School. Ally was so excited that she could hardly contain it within her; she felt that if she did not have skin then her emotions would be everywhere at once. Feeling a triumphant grin slowly spread across her lips she rolled onto her side and absentmindedly sought out her sketch book when she realized it was downstairs, due to her habits of carrying it around with her wherever she went, just incase if there was anything that caught her artistic attention.

Felling a ting of annoyance prickle her eager fingers she then decided to look for some other source of entertainment. Her MP3 player was downstairs as well, due to the fact that she had probably left it beside her sketchbook. Sighing rather heavily Ally was about to give up, when suddenly her eyes traveled towards her bookshelf. Books of every genre were stacked upon her shelf, but she had always preferred Fiction like any other teenager who got bored of reading biographies and desired a place where the imagination could wander into the realms of wizards and elves and magic. Ally crawled over to her bookshelf and traced her fingers over the countless spines that enticed her to read the story within its pages. Nothing seemed to take her fancy at the moment, when she remembered an abandoned box of books that she had stored on the top shelf of her closet. Scrambling to her feet she thrust open her closet doors and sought out the box of memories.

It was a shoebox, and most of her childhood memories still lingered within the sanctuary of its cardboard walls. There was a jewelry box with a few precious trinkets and baubles inside as well as a key that Ally never really did figure out what it unlocked. And there were four books, each carrying the title of Fushigi Yugi. She smiled as she picked up the small pile and began to flip through the four chosen books. Ally remembered that she had gone to a garage sale down the street, surprisingly enough it had been her best friend's garage sale. Ally's best friend had been a huge manga consumer at the time…but some obsessions die at some point of another, and apparently Kate's had. Ally immediately spotted the manga books, recognizing them as one might an old childhood stuffed animal in the basement. Flipping through them she remembered Kate saying that she bought them because they mainly focused on her favorite character, Chichiri the monk. She had always liked Chichiri herself, not only because he was one of the Suzaku Senshi, but because he was compassionate and protective, as well as secretive. He bore a scar, which he kept hidden from the rest of the world, in fear of being thought dangerous. Kate had approached and smiled,

"I see you found the books."

"I can't believe you're giving them away."

She shrugged, that 'not really caring about them' smile still plastered to her face.

"I just didn't want them anymore."

"Then I'll buy them."

"Why would you do that?"

"Because we used to laugh over this series and cry when it ended. It's a precious memory, seeing as how you're moving this summer…."

Ally remembered Kate's expression during that moment, sad, gentle and understanding all at once. She placed a hand on Ally's shoulder and told her that she could have the books for free, if she'd keep them safe.

Blinking a couple times Ally returned from the memories of the past and back to the present. She was still holding the book within her hands, and it was open to where Miaka first met Chichiri, his innocent cat-like smile that only a mask could bare. Ally smiled as she continuously turned the pages of the manga, eager to drink in the story of the young and handsome monk with a dark past. Little did the girl notice…that her body was slowly becoming transparent to the point that she had fallen into the hands of fate and a turquoise light.

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