only

“Chise.”

*grumble*

“Chise...”

She found the voice familiar. Could it be? Waking up, she saw the faint light of a firefly, and a familiar figure.

“Minami?”

“No,” she thought. “This is ridiculous. He’s not here anymore,” she thought sadly.

“Then who is in front of you now? That much you cannot deny, can you?” a little voice whispered in her consciousness. She followed the trail of soft light.

It brought her to the little brook a little way up the forest path. After all, it was a small suburb next to the wild. She loved that place; Nature had everything her heart could wish for. The fireflies in summer, snowflakes in winter, the smell of life in spring, and the wonderful shade of orange and brown in autumn. It was also here that she met him for the first time. He was sitting by the brook, sketching. She smiled, musing on the fact that he nearly fell in because she had commented on it, abruptly breaking the silence, and catching him by surprise.

And in that manner, they met. They would often play there, share stories, sometimes secrets, and tickle fish. He tried to teach her to sketch, but she was such an impatient student that she would rather go swim or play with the fishes or play with the squirrels or birds that dropped by to see them.

As seasons passed, they continued meeting, right on till high school. Their sanctuary was never found by anyone; he could leave his sketchbooks there and still find it at the same spot days later, although sometimes there was an occasional sparrow or ladybird on it. But now things were different; there was always a gap between them now and there was always something to hide. She was pained by it. Why couldn’t they be just like before? They even met less now. It seemed so empty now, as he rarely came by.

She never realized she needed him that much. She wanted to hear him laugh as she related to him silly stories, she wanted him to argue with her whenever they found something that they disagreed on – in fact, they still hadn’t resolved the issue between the better band, Laruku or Orange Range. She voted for Orange Range, but that didn’t really matter now, did it? Of all the many things that she missed him for, most of all was his words of encouragement and his uncanny ability to read her trail of thought. And she wanted to see him sketching like he always did, or ask her to sit still while he actually tried to draw her.

Together with the reminiscence, the feeling was coming back. Nostalgia, the cunning wisp of air that seamlessly blended into the background of their sanctuary, crept up and into her.

“Dance with me.”

Entranced by the silhouette of what seemed to be an orchestra playing, the dancing lights, and his careless smile that she could never say no to, she complied. He took her hand, and slowly led her through the dance. Though it seemed now that there was no need to; for she seemed to know what to do.

The music was wonderful; it illustrated the night sky like painters pouring their heart and soul into their paintings. They danced like courtesans would in a royal ball, with life and with the spirit of festivity. Although it never occurred to her that on normal occasions, her two (or three) left feet would cause her to trip and step all over his feet, she danced well.


As the number continued, slowing its pace, their bodies came closer to each other, and she thought she could feel the warmth of his body. He put an arm around her waist, and the sensation tingled within her as her breath quickened. She wanted it to continue forever; and realizing that forever never exists – and at that one doubt, fear gripped her. She did not want to let him go just yet. She wanted to savor this feeling, as instinct told her she might never feel this way again.

She had so much she wanted to tell him, but did not know where to begin. Part of her wanted to be angry with him for playing such cruel tricks on her, and part of her wanted to just tell him her true feelings and get it over with. She felt so confused at her mixed feelings, never having felt them come together this way before.

“Before you start being silly all over again, clear your mind. And treasure the present moment.”

He pulled her closer to him, so that only their breath separated them physically. She closed her eyes, and he bent down to kiss her. In that one simple kiss, she felt it. His bottled up thoughts, that one gap that separated them both then. She knew, at that moment, it was love that enveloped them both, and destroyed their friendship.

Before the kiss was quite finished, and before she could say anything else, she realized he was, as impossible as it seemed, disappearing. “Minami! Minami! What the hell is happening?!”

He smiled sadly. “It is as you see it. Forgive me, Chise, I just had to see you one last time before I go.”

“I had so much I wanted to say to you! Not now, not now!” She wildly tried to grab hold of his disappearing figure, but in vain. “Don’t do this to me, Minami. DON’T! YOU IDIOT!”

“Good-bye, Chise. And thank you so much.”

What could she do? There was nothing left but their sanctuary, and her, alone again. She wanted to cry, but no tears came. She looked up, and thought, “That was all you wanted to say? I suppose it was silly to expect a straightforward answer from you.” She smiled to herself. From the corner of her eye, she spotted a 笹舟.

In it, she saw a scribble: チセ を 俺 は スキ に なる。

~終わり~

Note: Haha, this last part I really was thinking about 魔法 遣い に 大切 な こと, since I have no idea how the heck to end it. I just had to use Jap in the end… Having English names somehow seems weird. To me anyway. Are you happy now hou? T___T I really don’t know how to do this kind of thing; if I did, I would be a fanfic writer.

Oh; Translation, translation!

笹舟(ささぶね // sasabune) is a little leaf boat where you write a wish, and let it set sail in a river in hopes that your wish will come true.

チセ を 俺 は スキ に なる。(チセ を おれ は スキ に なる// Chise wo ore wa suki ni naru.) = For Chise to love me.

終わり(おわり // owari) = End.

魔法遣いに大切なこと (まほう つかい に たいせつ な こと // mahou tsukai ni taisetsu na koto) = things precious to a magic user (literally; I don’t know how else to translate it nicely. And things not as a physical thing, rather, more to things closer to the heart). It’s an anime and a manga (which ai-chan presented to me as a 誕生日プレゼントX3) released sometime in 2002 / 2003.