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Hello everyone! Pixie here. This story was sent to me by my good friend, who was gracious enough to let her work be posted here. I suggest you get out a box of tissues and a nice cup of tea. This one’s a tearjerker. Buckle up and enjoy the ride guys! You’re in for a real treat!
*****
Forget-Me-Not
“Is he doing any better?” Nausicaä asked the healer.
He looked down at the ground before looking at her. “No, he is not. He is the same as yesterday, and the day before, and the day he was wounded.”
*Flashback*
"Asbel!" Nausicaä's voice rang above the yells and shouts. "Asbel! Come on!
We've already won! We don't need to fight anymore!" She knitted her eyebrows when her companion didn't respond. She could see that he was yelling something, but she couldn't quite hear it, so she pushed her way through the fighting to get closer.
"THIS is for my mother!"
"Asbel!"
Asbel was shouting at the officer lying at his feet.
"THIS is for my father!" With each statement, he slashed at the wounded man.
"THIS is for my sister!"
"Asbel, STOP!!!"
He did not stop, though anyone could clearly see the officer would soon die.
"THIS is for my people!"
Tears welled up in Nausicaä's eyes.
"THIS is for my city!"
A single drop spilled over and rolled down her cheek.
"And THIS, is for me!" With that, he walked away, leaving the barely living officer to slowly, painfully die. As he neared Nausicaä, she could see that he was definitely not the man she knew so well. She stepped in front of him to get his attention, but Asbel shoved her aside and walked away.
Nausicaä stared after him for a few seconds, and then walked over to the officer. She knelt over him and looked at what her friend had done with a cold heart. Another tear slipped down and landed on her finger. She looked at it before pulling out her sword and shutting her eyes. When she opened them, the deed was done, and the poor officer's soul was free. Then she turned and looked for any survivors she could find.
As her eyes swept past Asbel, she noticed that he was slowing in his walk, and stumbling just a bit. Suddenly, a man came running at Asbel and hurled a spear at him. Asbel quickly turned and killed the soldier. He then looked at his stomach and collapsed.
Nausicaä ran to him, tripping a few times over dead bodies. She dropped to her knees beside him and inspected his wounds. The spear was deeply embedded in his stomach, and some blood was starting to ooze out. She grabbed the spear and yanked it out of Asbel's body, then quickly wrapped his waist in her cloak. Slowly, she lifted him up and began the walk back to her camp.
*That Night*
"I'm not sure, Nausicaä. He was wounded very badly. If he does recover, he will never again be able to walk again, as the spear punctured his spinal cord. I'm sorry."
The healer looked sympathetically at Nausicaä. She nodded her head sadly.
"Don't be sorry, it wasn't your fault." She murmured. Silently she added: It was mine.
Nausicaä went to her tent and lay down, trying for sleep. But the only thing that came to her was a blatant accusation. It’s my fault.
*End Flashback*
She nodded, and turned to walk away.
“Are you feeling alright?” The healer asked her from behind. “You don’t look so good your self.” He moved in front of her as he said this.
“Yes, I’m fine, just a little tired is all.” Nausicaä smiled a teeny bit. “I haven’t been getting much sleep.”
“Okay, as long as you’re feeling alright.” The healer looked uncertainly at her, but stepped aside and let her pass.
*That Night*
Nausicaä lay in her bed, tossing and turning. She could not fall asleep. Finally, after a while, she nodded off.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“You’re one of this world’s better people, and you don’t know, that’s why you’re special”
Nausicaä opened her eyes. Everything around her was golden. She was lying in a field of Forget-Me-Nots, and their blue color was so pure, that at first she thought they had been stained with Ohmu’s blood.
“And I cry so I can talk like this, from a downbeat existence, and I know that you can make my wish, if my wish is pure”
She looked around for Asbel, for she was sure it was him singing. Suddenly he appeared a small distance away from her, walking towards her, smiling. She ran to him, but when she tried to hug him, she went right through his body.
“But I don’t know, I just don’t know, I don’t know, let me love you so”
Asbel sat down and patted the ground beside him. Nausicaä sat down next to him.
“Asbel?” She asked. He looked at her and smiled.
“Asbel, why are you here, in my dream?”
He just shook his head and stood up. She stood up with him and he grabbed her hand and started walking.
“I can’t live this without you, I’d die without you, without you, without you”
“Asbel, why are you singing?”
“You’re one of this world’s better people, and you don’t know that’s why you’re special”
“Asbel, please talk to me! Where are we going?”
“It must hurt to see your favorite man lose himself again and again, and I know that you’re my only friend”
Nausicaä stopped walking, trying to get Asbel to answer her. But he just gently tugged her hand and smiled at her. She moved on.
“From way back when my wish was pure, it was oh so pure, it was pure, I
couldn’t love you more”
“Why are you doing this?”
“I can’t live this without you, I’d die without you, without you, without you
I can’t live this without you, I’d die without you, without you, without you”
“Asbel, please talk to me! What is going on?”
“And everybody’s gonna step aside as you spread your wings and you will fly, and take me to the other side where they know”
They came to a red door with a silver handle. Asbel gently pulled and the door opened.
“‘Cuz I don’t know no more, I just don’t know, no more, I don’t know, let me love you so”
On the other side of the door was another field, and in this one, there was nothing golden, no blue Forget-Me-Nots. There was nothing but fighting and dying. Nausicaä turned her face away.
“I can’t live this without you, I’d die without you, without you, without you”
Asbel lead her through the fighting to another door. This one too, had a silver handle, and Asbel opened it with the same ease as before. On the other side was a hall, very richly decorated. There was a small group of people listening very intently to a man wearing glasses and fine clothing. As they got closer, Nausicaä could hear the man. What he was saying sent shivers down her back and made her toes ache.
“This door, "The man said, pointing to a beautiful blue door, “Gets its gorgeous blue color from the pure Ohmu’s blood it was painted with.”
Asbel looked at Nausicaä and she could see her face reflected in his eyes.
Like twin mirrors, they showed two images of her face, and the tears running down it.
“I can’t live this without you, I’d die without you, without you, without you”
They walked through the group of people, and through the Ohmu’s blood door.
Nausicaä looked around and saw that they had gone full circle, and were now back in the golden field. Asbel turned and smiled at her. She smiled back at him, though for some reason she didn’t think smiling was right for the situation. But those thoughts vanished when Asbel pulled Nausicaä in for a bear hug.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
“Nausicaä!” A voice whispered urgently. “Nausicaä!” She opened her eyes and lifted her head in the direction of the sound. She could barely make out the face of the soldier speaking to her.
“What is it?” She questioned groggily
“You are needed immediately! Come!”
She quickly pulled on a robe and followed the young man out of the tent. He led her to the center of the camp, where a fire was burning. Nausicaä sat down by the fire and rubbed her temples. When she looked up she met the eyes of the healer and she knew.
“He’s gone, isn’t he?” She asked, though it was more of a statement then a question. The healer nodded somberly.
She stood up slowly, and walked to the tent where the wounded were kept. As she walked down the row of cots, her eyes rested on every sleeping man. Asbel’s cot was at the very end of the row, and when she reached it, she saw his body, lying there as if he was sleeping.
Tears slid down Nausicaä’s cheeks as she remembered all the things they had been through together. She cried for a long time. Endless tears streamed from her eyes. There were tears for his good times. There were tears for his bad times. There were tears for the sorrow of losing him. There were tears for everything. Even tears were because he had no family to grieve for him.
When all her tears had been shed, Nausicaä stood up from the cold ground and left the tent. The sun was just rising, and no one was awake yet. She walked through the camp and to the field surrounding it. She sat and drew her knees up to her chest. And she thought. She thought about everything.
When the first slice of the sun came over the hills, the field turned golden, and Nausicaä could now see the small flower bud that was at her feet. And as the sun climbed higher, the tiny bud opened as she watched. Slowly, a blue Forget-Me-Not opened and its petals glistened gold with the sunlight, and as she lifted her eyes to the golden field, a clear voice floated over the wind and danced into her ears.
You’re one of this world’s better people, and you don’t know,
that’s
why
you’re
special…
Lyrics from 'That's Why You're Special' by Robbie Williams
Copy write Danielle Gaarder 2001 ©
*****
Well’ that’s it for this story. I personally couldn’t have written anything better. Danielle is an amazing and talented writer. It you liked her story,
E-mail her at moxie86@hotmail.com. I can safely say she’d love to hear from you!
~Pixie
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