Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Love (1/?)
by M is for Mars
E-Mail: MCW717@hotmail.com
Rated: PG
Disclaimers and the like: The characters mentioned in this story do not
belong to me, and I'm not making any money with this.
Hi again. :) This story is a sequel to "Cycle of Our Souls". While it
isn't absolutely necessary to have read that one, it would be helpful. I
know I said this one would be about Lita, but I listened to this Dave
Matthews song and I decided it would work really well in my story, but not
with Lita. So Mina it is! :)
Anyway, this is similar to the first one in that all text between the lines
of "@-" symbols takes place in the Silver Millenium, and in those sections I
use the Japanese names except for Serena/Usagi and Malachite/Kunzite. And,
also, the text between the lines of "*" symbols is Mina's thoughts and takes
place a few weeks after the end of Sailor Moon R, and before Sailor Moon S.
Like I said, the song in here isn't by me, but by Dave Matthews. The lyrics
I use are *not* the ones you would find on a Dave Matthews lyrics website,
but are the ones I took directly from listening to the version of this song
on "Live at Luther College". The reason I went to all that trouble? These
lyrics are better (if a little garbled since enunciation isn't Dave's strong
point) and they fit the story more closely. I used most of the little speech
he made before singing the song in here, too.
Oh... one more little thing. If any of you have read Angela's Ashes by Frank
McCourt, then you know that "Malachy" is the name of the author's father and
younger brother, so I didn't just make it up! And for those of you who
*haven't* read it, do so! It was marvelous: they don't give out Pulitzer
Prizes lightly, ya know.
I enjoyed the feedback I've received for the original "Cycle of Our Souls",
and I hope I get some on this one, too. So... write me! :)
--------------------
Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Love (1/?)
"Oh, Gods, I'm going to be late!" Mina Aino cried with a glance at the clock.
If she didn't run, she was going to be late for school... it was creepy how
much like Serena she was getting to be. Grabbing up her bag, Mina hurried
from her house, a piece of toast in hand. "This is the third time in a week!
Artemis, what's wrong with me?" she asked her guardian cat.
"Save your breath for running, Mina!" he yelled back.
The blond ducked her head and sped up, running with everything she had and
not paying a bit of attention to where she was going. Suddenly she hit
something and fell sprawling, her bag flying through the air one way, her
toast the other.
"Oh, gomen nasai! I didn't see you!" she cried, jumping to her feet and
helping the man up as well. Her breath caught in her throat as he shook his
strange silvery hair back to reveal a truly beautiful face - fine, but
strong, features, darkly tan skin and silver-violet eyes. "I... gomen... I
should've been paying attention..." she stuttered.
He smiled slightly. "It's alright, I wasn't watching either. Actually, I'm
a little lost. Perhaps you could give me directions?"
Completely forgetting that she was late, Mina smiled as brightly as she
could. "Hai, of course. Where are you going?" He told her, she directed
him, and then Artemis nudged up against her leg. Glancing down at her cat,
the girl suddenly remembered the reason for her earlier haste. "I'm glad I
could help!" she called to the rather startled young man before hurrying off.
He continued on his way but stopped after only a few steps. Turning around,
he was about to call the girl back, but she was gone. He frowned sadly and
shook his head. "I didn't even ask her name," he said to the empty air
before him. "I should've asked her name."
*******************************
Gods... what a day that was! I was late for school, of course, and then late
for the Scouts' meeting *after* school... I spent all day listening to
everyone yell at me! I even, if you can believe it, forgot about running
into him. I forgot all about those strange, magical eyes and that shiny
silver-mint hair... how in the world could I have forgotten? I *was* turning
into Serena.
It was those dreams. Everyday for a month I overslept because I'd spent the
night tossing and turning my way through some stupid dream I could never
remember when I woke up. That was the strangest part, actually... I woke up
so happy, but completely clueless as to what the dream was about. It was
frustrating. I wish I could've remembered... I wish I had *known*... but oh
well. No point in spilling milk just to cry over it.
Later, when I remembered running into him on the street, I wished I had asked
his name or told him mine or *something*, not just run away like a fool. I
wanted to see him again, but I figured he must've been a tourist or something
since he didn't know where he was going. I moped, then laughed at myself.
That was before the coffee shop, of course. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
*******************************
"Thank Kami-sama it's Saturday!" Serena Tsukino cried to the group in
general. "I'm so sick of school I could scream."
"Me too!" Mina agreed brightly. "I've been late almost every day this week."
"I remember," Artemis grumbled under his breath.
"Hey, where do you want to sit, minna?" Raye Hino asked them, gesturing at
the parkland spread out before them.
"Ohhhh, by the lake!" Serena squealed. "Look at the sun reflecting off of
it! It's just like a postcard!"
"Jay, Darien, come on! We're gonna sit by the lake!" Raye called over her
shoulder. "Those guys are so slow... what's taking them so long?"
"Well, Darien wanted to ask Jay about this miniature rose bush he's trying to
get growing in his apartment. He's had to throw out two of them because they
died, and the third looks to be on its way," Serena explained.
"The food's gonna get cold!" Lita Kino said, indicating the giant picnic
basket in her arms. "I worked all morning to make this stuff, so they better
hurry up."
"Lita, I think they should be more worried about Serena eating it all than it
getting cold!" Raye said with a laugh.
"Raye!" Serena cried hotly, sticking her tongue out at the dark-haired girl.
"Hey!" Mina suddenly said, startling them all. "I know that guy! I ran into
him on the street the other day and he asked me for directions." She pointed
and the other girls followed her arm, squinting.
"Are we bird watching?" Jay Dalinger, Raye's boyfriend, asked as he came upon
the small group.
"Mina says she knows that guy over there," Amy Anderson explained. "The one
with the white hair."
"Nai, Amy, not white... silver... silver with a greenish tint to it," Mina
said dreamily.
The other girls shared a knowing glance, but Jay was staring at the man
intently. "He looks... vaguely familiar..."
"Familiar?" Raye asked sharply. "Familiar from where?" Jay had been, at one
point in his life, their enemy Jadeite. None of the girls knew whether the
other three Dark Kingdom generals were alive or if they could be considered
friends... or foes. They had been on very careful watch ever since
discovering Jay's true identity.
Suddenly the spell was broken and Jay shrugged and shook his head. "I don't
know... I think it was my imagination. So where're we eating, firefly?"
"By the lake," Serena said grumpily, "but the food is going to be ruined if
we don't get over there!"
Darien Chiba laughed and threw an arm over his girlfriend's shoulders. "Then
I guess we'd better hurry along, huh, meatball head?"
"I know where you've seen him before," Amy said to Jay as they walked. "I
think he plays at Jackson's Java in Osaka."
"That coffee shop?" Mina asked, perking her ears toward their conversation.
"Hai, I bet that's it," Jay agreed after a moment. "He's their house
musician, ne?"
"Something like that," Amy said with a nod.
"I have an idea!" Serena cried, knowing exactly what was on Mina's mind. "We
could all go over there tonight and hear him play!"
Mina's grin was so bright it threatened to blind them all. "That's a *marvy*
idea, Serena! I've heard that place has really good coffee... and that...
oh, what's his name? I don't remember, but everyone says he's really good.
Have you heard him play, Amy? What about you, Jay? Darien, you know people
who live in Osaka, don't you? Do they think he's good? I bet he's great.
He just looks like he'd be a good musician, doesn't he?" Mina prattled on
and the others shared a secret smile. It was going to be an interesting
evening.
-----------
The group arrived at Jackson's Java on the dot of eight o'clock. Mina
pointed to the sign outside the door. "'Malachy Levinworth, tonight at eight
o'clock'! That must be him! Oh, minna, we're perfectly on time."
"Yeah, for once," Raye commented with a wry grin in Serena's direction.
The girls found the group a table fairly close to the stage while Jay and
Darien went to order. "I don't even *like* coffee," Serena was explaining to
Lita, "but Darien says they have really yummy cinnamon-flavored stuff, so I'm
gonna take his word for it."
"That's right, Serena," the brunette told her, "it's good to expand your
horizons."
"Shhh," Mina hissed, "he's about to start!"
"Malachy's kind of a strange name, don't you think?" Lita whispered to Amy.
"It's Irish," the blue-haired girl whispered back, "but he doesn't look very
Irish."
Just then the guys returned, so everyone was busy fixing coffee to his or her
exact tastes - for Serena that meant dumping nearly the entire sugar
dispenser into her cup and then still making horrible faces after the first
sip. "It's disgusting!" she choked out. "Darien, are you trying to *kill*
me??"
He laughed, apologized and went back to order her some tea.
"This next song," Malachy was saying, "has a little story behind it. See,
the other day I was walking down the street over in Juuban and this girl ran
into me at a hundred kilos an hour. Knocked me right on my ass, to tell the
truth." There was a smattering of laughter, but at the Scouts' table
everyone was listening intently.
"This girl, she was tiny... not young, just tiny," he continued, "and
absolutely gorgeous... lots of very blond hair. I was lost, so I asked her
directions... I don't remember where I was going... but she said, 'Go down
here, over there, around there, go over there, then you're there' or
something," - a little more laughter - "so anyway, I walked away, and I got a
few paces down the sidewalk and I stopped and thought, 'Damn... that girl was
kawaii!' So I turned around to tell her so, and ask her maybe her name or
for coffee or something, but she was gone.
"I mean, I was sure if I turned around she'd be standing there, but..."
He'd been lightly strumming his guitar through the whole story, but now he
began to sing,
"She talked so good,
But when I turned around,
She was gone,
Oh, she was gone...
I didn't even get her name,
But I thought,
'Goodness, girl, oh your face is in my mind,
And your voice in my ears still echoes.'
Oh, I bought you lovely flowers
And went to stand where we met that day
In the hopes that you would return,
But no, no, no, no..."
Mina, at this point, was about to jump up out of her chair. "Kami-sama,
minna!" she whispered to her friends. "I think he's talking about *me*!"
"Shh!" Serena said. "Let's listen!"
"I can't remember where I was going.
I can't remember where I was leading to,
Or what lead me to you,
But you made yourself in my head,
The look of you, the sound,
The way you cackled at me for not knowing where I was going.
But always I love this way!
And hands you pull,
My hands are on you again.
Please, I beg you, oh I beg of you,
See me, please find me again, love."
"He's gotta be talking about me! Can you believe that? Gods! Should I yell
at him!?"
"Calm down, Mina! Wait, let him finish the song," Amy told her.
"I'm lost again,
And I sit here drinking coffee or water,
Depending on the time of day,
But, oh, you're always with me like a ghost of a mother,
Oh, you're with me like the pain of a father.
I wish I could call you something other than 'The Girl That I Saw Then.'
I would recognize you in a second
Even though I only saw you for a minute, maybe less.
I don't hold my hand where, but I held an angel
And I lost her, lost her.
I can't remember what I used to be,
But I'm laid in, laid in by the memory of a love that never got born."
"Oh!" Serena breathed. "Isn't that just the sweetest thing you've ever
heard? What if he *is* talking about you, Mina?"
"How many beautiful little blond girls can there *be* in Juuban?" Darien,
having returned with her tea, countered. "Two is plenty, and you haven't
reported running into anyone recently, meatball head."
"Other than you, Muffin," she said, "and that was on purpose."
"Oh, lady, do I even cross your mind with more than just a laugh?
Did you think as you walked away, my dear, you were in love?
Oh, I hope you did, because then you would be feeling the same thing as I am
now.
Ohhhh, you little thing."
As he sang the last line, Mina sat back in her chair with wide, delighted
eyes. "It *is* about me. As soon as he finishes this set, I'm gonna go talk
to him!" she said excitedly.
"Can you imagine how many girls must come up to him after hearing that song?"
Lita asked dreamily. "He's so kawaii... I bet he gets a couple zillion
claiming to be the girl he's singing about."
"Hai, and not just blondes," Raye agreed.
"You a little jealous there, firefly? Gomen nasai, but music just isn't one
of my talents," Jay said teasingly.
"Iie, but you have plenty of *other* talents that more than make up for it,"
she said with a wink.
Mina giggled and stirred her coffee with a sigh. "It might not be me,
though. Or maybe he doesn't mean it, he just thought it would be a good
thing to write a song about. Or maybe it *is* about me and he's some hentai
who just wants... well... *you* *know*."
"That's it for me tonight, minna," Malachy was saying, "but I'll be back
tomorrow, same time. You've been great! Arigato!"
"Well now's your chance to find out," Lita told her over the applause. "Go
talk to him!"
"Yeah, girl," Raye urged, "you've got nothin' to lose!"
"And if he tries anything, we're right here," Jay said, twisting his face
into his version of a Frightening Glare.
"Go on, Mina. Remember what he said? He's haunted 'by the memory of a love
that never got born.' Do you want to be haunted by the same thing?" Serena
said reasonably.
"Ok," she said with a grin, "I'll do it!"
"Ganbatte!" the others cried as she walked toward the side of the stage. She
cast a smile over her shoulder at her friends, cleared her throat, and tapped
him on the shoulder.
-------
It had been a damn long day. First, he'd been stood up that morning at the
park, then he'd broken three guitar strings writing his new song... the new
song... about the girl from the street. Malachy Levinworth sighed and shook
his head. He knew he'd never see her again - there were zillions of girls in
Tokyo - but he couldn't let go of that small glimmer of hope.
That's why he had written the song. He figured the girl *might* come into
the coffee shop one night and she *might* hear it and the story *might* sound
familiar... and, hell, she might even recognize him. There was no doubt he
would recognize her: that long, pale blond hair held back by the cheerful red
bow; those sweet, wide blue eyes so full of light and laughter... he sighed
again and turned around to put his guitar back in its case.
That's when he felt the gentle tap on his shoulder.
*******************************
I still laugh when I remember the look on his face. He turned around all
annoyed, ready to snap at me, but then he stopped and his eyes got all wide
and his jaw dropped open; I thought he was going to faint, really! He stood
there for the longest time like that, just staring at me, and I had no idea
what to say or do... I was so nervous! Finally he smiled and I just... I
*melted*.
I looked up into those gray-violet eyes of his and I felt my heart in my
throat, and then in my stomach and then pounding in my head... how could I
have ever thought any little crush was the same as *this*? It hurt, and it
felt wonderful, and it scared me, and it made me feel so safe. Frankly, I'd
never been more confused in my life. At least, not that I could remember.
And that was another thing. He seemed so familiar! It was alarming, but
when I looked at him, and saw that smile, that flash in his eyes, I could've
sworn I had seen it before. It warmed me and chilled me at the same time,
and that was the most frightening thing of all: how could I feel so drawn to,
yet, strangely, so... almost *repelled* by... this man at the same time?
*******************************
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