LI

“You’ll be a star now, whether you want to be or not,” Amanda said, a hint of triumph in her voice. “I have broken you down and I will build you back up and you will be almost as good as Midori was. Then it will help me. When you dance the way you should. The way she would have if you had never been it will help me.” I shook my head.

“No,” I replied, shaking my head sadly. “I won’t dance for you. I won’t be a replacement. I’m done.”

“You’re done when I say you’re done, Akari,” Amanda’s voice was menacing in the half darkness.

“You have nothing left to threaten me with, Auntie,” I replied with a smile. “I’ve lost everything. I’m finished.”

“You’re wrong there,” Amanda smiled, reaching into the drawer beside her bed and pulling the gun she’d carried earlier from it.

“Am I?” I asked with a smile. “Do you honestly think I care if you kill me? Do you honestly think I care if you hurt me? Do you think I care if you ‘break’ me? You can’t break someone who’s already shattered, Auntie. I wanted you to know something, though. After everything, after all of this, I still can’t find the place in my heart where I hate you. I never could find that spot. I knew you loved mama and I knew she loved you and I could never bring myself to hate you. I forgive you, Auntie.”

“What?” Amanda demanded.

“Goodbye, Auntie,” I said. I turned painfully away from the doorway and began to make my slow way toward the front door.

“Akari,” Amanda warned, coming to the doorway of her room. I ignored her and continued. I reached into the light jacket I’d put on and pulled the door key I’d taken from Amanda’s purse from it. Amanda followed me angrily. “Akari!” I put the key into the lock and turned it, opening the door onto the night. “If you go through that door I will kill you.”

“Then you’re going to kill me, I suppose,” I said without looking at her. I made my way down the stone path toward the front gate. Odd, I thought as I stepped through the iron gate and onto the long drive leading toward the highway, it looks like headlights coming down the road.

“Akari! Stop!” Amanda yelled stalking behind me. I heard her cock the gun but continued on. Suddenly I heard a scuffle from behind me. I turned slowly to find Amanda face down on the ground, a blonde woman holding her firmly in place.

“If you struggle, I will hurt you,” the woman said to Amanda in broken Japanese. “Please. Struggle.”

“Eh?” I said; my brain failing to process what was happening.

“Akari!” I turned back around slowly toward the voice to find someone who looked remarkably like Sachi running down the road toward me, her arm in a cast.

“Eh?” I said again as the dream Sachi folded me in a hug. The figure even smelled like Sachi, I marveled. Figures that looked like Mari, Yukiko and Rei with two other people I didn’t recognize appeared around me and held me tight. This is a remarkably detailed dream, I thought.

“I love you, Akari,” Sachi said. “I love you so much!”

“I love you more than anything, Sachi,” I sobbed. Please, I thought, please don’t let me wake up. I buried my face in her chest and held on for dear life.

“I won’t let you go, Akari,” Sachi whispered, stroking my hair tenderly. “I’ll never let you go.”