Dream Star

"I can a.s.sure you that no matter how far away we are. Our dreams will always connect us."

Many people have asked her over the years, " What is your real dream?" Yumeko has never been able to answer this. She has so many dreams; why does she have to limit herself to one? But now Yumeko understands, this whole time she was only running away. She was trying to escape. After what happened with Atsuya, a part of her shut down and closed herself off from reality. She didn"t want to live in reality with no Atsuya - so she tried to escape. A world of several different dreams, nothing concrete. If it"s like that, then she doesn"t have to worry.

...
The last thing Yumeko expected was the thundering applause that followed an eerie silence. Yumeko looked up, eyes widened. Sure enough, people were standing up and clapping.

Ah….

Her thoughts broke off when Maikchan suddenly pulled her into a hug, "Maikchan?"

"Thank you for that beautiful stage, and I"m sorry about before."

Though the girl abruptly joined their team, Yumeko and her had yet to talk about what happened before properly. The girl named Yamamoto Maika has always been strong, brave, and beautiful. But right now the girl was crying; no these are not sad tears but happy ones.

"Pointers for a good stage? Well, when your audience bursts into tears. Or your friends. It means your feelings have reached them."

It truly is a beautiful thing, isn"t it Lilchan. Her feelings have reached everybody.

------

Lila wiped the tears from her eyes; she felt genuinely happy for Yumeko-chan. She there are still many things the girl needs to sort out. With this new mindset, and her feelings sorted out. Lila knew the girl would be just firm. She waited for the judge"s statements and watched as they gave their comments alongside their score one by one.

Haruka, however, was the only one who gave them a slightly lower score. Her sweat fell, "Is he grumpy about something?" Sure the performance wasn"t a complete success, some of their steps weren"t in sync, and Yumeko almost fell over several times. But this is a group stage, in terms of a group, the three did very well. Rukchan and Maikchan followed up for Yumeko"s clumsy mistakes so quickly that seldom anybody noticed.

"Just one thing," Haruka started, " If you were to dedicate this performance to anybody, who would it be for?" To others, it looked like he was addressing the whole group, but Lila knew that Haruka was asking Yumeko.

The other two must have noticed since they looked over at Yumeko.

"This performance wouldn"t have been possible for the friends and family who have been with me this whole time. However, there is one person I"d convey this too. Somebody who is no longer here, but I know who is watching over me now. Somebody I love dearly and will continue to do so no matter how much time pa.s.ses by."

....

After Yumeko"s performance, it was Jae-hee, a few others and then Yori"s team. Lila had to admit that the other two didn"t lose out, and when it came to skill, they were undoubtedly better. But that did not matter. The performance that stood out the most was still Yumeko"s team. During this third round, they score as the compet.i.tion goes along. So far, Yumeko"s group is in first place.

Spotting Haruka in the judge"s panel, she lets out a relieved sigh. Lila really did think that he would leave her. If Haruka willingly left her side. She wonders what would happen to her. She spoke about becoming independent from him and all that. But in the end, just the mere thought of him leaving her side is painful.

She is sorry, Kiryu. He isn"t to blame at all. If only she had been honest with her feelings from the very start. He is always thanking her, always expressing his grat.i.tude for everything she has done for him. But in the end, she fell in love with somebody else, somebody different. Even if that"s the case, Lila will never forget it, during her harshest times the one who was there for her was Kiryu. She"s very restful that she met him. Back then, even though she had mother and Ren-san. It felt as though something was missing.

" I"m sorry Lila, you miss your father, don"t you?"

Mother"s words echoed in her head, Lila wonders how many times she heard that.

It may have been precisely that. Back then, Lila probably missed her father. Even though as a child Lila only had vague recollections of him. The warmth of that person"s hand was something she always sought for. Her mother noticed it. Even though she had been stubborn to admit it, after she met Austin Kiryu, it felt like that whole in her heart filled up.

If she didn"t have Kiryu by her side when Ren-san left this world, when her mother left, then she"s pretty sure she would never have made it this far.

"Perhaps if she continued to sing, she will one day meet Mother again," those thoughts have supported her for seven whole years and helped get her where she is now. But what happens next? Mother came back last year returned now despite how slim the chances were. Her mother is now back in her life. There are still issues that need to be resolved. But her mother has more than shown that she won"t back away anymore, that she will fight through the pain. She will return to the stage to music. And indeed her mother has been very successful in that department. Slowly she is regaining the influence - no regaining peoples trust again.

That left her, what about her? What does she truly desire? Does she desire for someone to hold her tight? Or does she desire for an affectionate kiss? To be held until her body and thoughts are dizzy with only thoughts about that person? Yori keeps pointing out how much she"s changed, keeps muttering things like love and music is no longer separated for her. Perhaps that truly is the case here,

Her thoughts broke off when she felt somebody hug her from the back, "Haruka? What"s the matter?"

"..No matter what, sing," he murmured. Lila immediately understood what he was getting at. He"s telling her not to hold herself back, even if she does end up singing about Kiryu. Keep doing so without hesitation. He is so very silly. But this is the man she loves.

Lila placed her hand on his, "Yes, I will. So listen carefully," because even if her feelings for Kiryu show up. The one she has for Haruka will overcome it. She understands her heart well; the person she loves is Karas.h.i.+ma Haruka. It isn"t Kiryu, "Haruka?"

"No matter what," he repeated in a trance.

Lila turned around then and hugged him, "Why won"t you believe in me? Is it that difficult to put your faith in me?"

"It isn"t; you"re the most honest person I know. But then again, I don"t know any honest people, so it"s hard to make comparisons."

"The one who stood by me the longest is you, if it weren"t for you, I wouldn"t have gotten this far."

"Is that so?" He didn"t seem convinced, "Your so amazing, so dazzling, and can have anybody you want. Why did you pick somebody like me?"

Why he asks, Lila thought about the list of reasons why she loved him that she made recently. But even then, Lila figured that there was something wrong. It felt like something was missing, "Um, it would take me a month."

"A month?"

"To give you the list, it"s very long."

Haruka looked puzzled for a moment before he burst into laughter. Eh, why is he laughing? She"s very serious here. Why is he making fun of her? Haruka drew her closer, "Silly girl," he murmured in her ear, "But thank you, your the only one who would give me this much love. I"m glad I was the one who stood by your side from the start of this journey."

Despite his serious words and declaration, Lila was distracted by his scent and his arms around her. She didn"t know what it was, but a sudden wave of comfort hit her the moment he pulled her closer into his arms, "Haruka, I like it when you hug me. Can we do it more often?"

Why does she feel so safe with him?