Epilogue

6 years later...

Ayumu

     Everyone was happy. It was now 6 years after our incident, and Sari, Hemu, and Muri were now 19. I however, was still 17. Things had changed a lot. Sari and the other two had their driver's license, and now drove around themselves. I also knew that Sari and Hemu were secretly going out. I heard them talking about a movie they saw around midnight as I passed their bedroom. And midnight was about the time when Muri and I went searching for the two, who always went "missing" together. Eventually, they'd turn up two to three hours later. 

     I groaned as I rode in the backseat of the car. Sari and Hemu were holding hands, Hemu driving with his free one. I prayed silently in my head. Please don't crash, please don't crash, don't crash, please! I braced myself as we swerved around the corner. I still didn't know where we were going. All I had heard was that it was going to be a surprise. I didn't think Muri even knew. I looked at him now, trying to read his face. He stared ahead, frowning. His head swiveled around to face me and he caught my eye, smiling. I grimaced back and turned to face the road. 

     "The airport!?" I screamed, gasping. "We're going to the airport? What for?"

     No one answered. I looked at Muri and gave him my best pleading look. He snickered and leaned out his window, sighing. We got out of the car, and walked into the airport. It was huge. I had never been in an airport in my entire life! Hemu and Sari each had their own personal luggage, and I realized with shock I didn't have one. 

     "I forgot my luggage!" I gasped, racing for the door.

     Muri caught the collar of my coat, pulling me back. He frowned. "We didn't pack your luggage, silly. Only Sari and Hemu are going to California!"

     "California? What for?" I asked, mystified. I was confused.

     "For tomato's sake, Ayumu!" Hemu turned, grinning at me. "College! We're attending college in California!"

     "Ooo-ohhh!" I breathed, nodding. "College." Everyone nodded, relieved that I got it. "Wait!" I said, looking at Hemu and Sari, then Muri, "Why isn't Muri coming?"

     "'Cos I'm gonna watch over you, silly!" Muri grinned, ruffling my hair. 

     I smoothed it out, smiling. "Thanks!" 

     "Well," Sari said. "It's time to say good-bye."

     "Not for forever." I whispered as she squeezed me tight.

     "No," she grinned, "Not for forever."

     I smiled up at her as Hemu swooped down and picked my up in his arms, snickering. I frowned playfully. "I'm not so little anymore, Hemu." I giggled.

     "Nope," he said, pretending to struggle under my weight. "You're as light as a feather!" he grinned, putting back on the ground with a peck on the cheek.

     I hugged them both smiled. "Remember my smiling face, okay?" I said, smiling as big as I could.

     "Of course," Sari responded, Hemu nodding in agreement. 

     "You just remember to keep smiling!" Hemu said, patting my head.

     "I will! Bye!" I said, giving one last hug before taking Muri's hand and heading to the car. Tears flowed down my still smiling face I turned around to see Sari and Hemu walking around the corner, hand in hand.

     

   

Chapter 11: Celestrian Vision

"Achoooo!" Charismi sneezed into Sari's face, waking her up.

"W-what?" Sari said, pushing Charismi off her chest and rubbing her eyes groggily.

"TIME TO WAKE UP!!!!" Ayumu shouted from the kitchen.

"Ugh. Few more minuets." Sari said pulling the covers back on.

Footsteps pounded up the stairs. they stopped at Sari's doorway. "I said: IT. IS. TIME. TO. WAKE UP!!!!!!" screeched Ayumu.

"Okay, jeez. You don't need to act so stingy. And you don't need to shout either. I was just getting up already."

"Uh-huh" Ayumu responded, smirking triumphantly, "Sure you were."

Sari looked up into Ayumu bright purple eyes, then suddenly looked away. "Is it happening again?" she asked, not daring to look into the eyes while Ayumu was seeing.

"It's over now." Ayumu whispered, still staring straight ahead.

"What did you see?"

Ayumu looked away, hiding her face. "I'll tell you later. Let's just go eat."

~|*-*|~

Ayumu

That vision in my head, it keeps repeating itself. The screams, the agony. I can't bring myself to tell anyone. Not Hemu, not Muri, not even Sari. Not even myself. "It's not real! It can't be!" I say to myself over and over again in my head. I try to keep my composure as I force my fork stiffly into the pancake on my plate. A tear falls onto my lap, and I wipe my eyes quickly, hastily; anything to hide the pain.

A concerned voice drifts to my ear, "Ayumu, are you all right?"

It breaks into my concentration; and I jump a little, startled by the sudden sound. I look up to see Sari staring at me with hard, intense eyes.

"I-I'm fine." I stutter back, stuffing a piece of pancake into the mouth.

~|*-*|~

After breakfast, I walk outside and sit underneath a cherry blossom tree. A single petal spirals down and land on my lap. Just as I pick up the petal to examine it closer; I hear bells jingling faintly in the distance, and I know another vision is about to come.

I was flying. Just floating. I was suddenly aware of an old man sitting in front of me, and my wings lower as I drop a few inches to the ground. Sari is standing next to me, with a look of confusion in her face. She has wings. And a halo. I look up to see that I have a halo too. I look back at the old man, and the only word I caught was: "Celestrian" before my vision ended.

Chapter 10: Night Meeting-Hemuri

Sari lay in bed, smoothing her hair out against her pillow. It had felt good to take a real shower after so long. Sari smiled, she liked the way her hair felt against her fingers. So fine and smooth, long and silky. She stared up at the bed above her, thinking about Charismi, who lay on top of a pillow next to her. Charismi opened one eye to check on Sari, then closed it and went back to snoring peacefully. Sari sighed, trying to roll over and close her eyes. The door creaked open and a head poked in.

“Still awake?” a voice fluttered in. It was one of the twins. His blue eyes pierced the darkness, bright and curious.

“Yeah.” Sari whispered back, turning to look at the boy more closely.

The boy walked over and sat on the edge of Sari’s bed, next to Charismi; who opened both eyes and snorted, tongue flickering.

“Hey! He’s just here to talk!” Sari said, scolding Charismi. Charismi looked at Sari, then the boy, then closed both eyes again and went back to sleep.

“Nice dragon you got there.” The boy whispered, staring at Charismi, “Sure a feisty one.”

“Yeah, I found Charismi in the woods not far from here. She has been with me ever since.”

“A girl, huh? Wow, must be cool.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, sorry for not introducing myself earlier, I’m Hemu; my brother’s name is Muri. Together we’re Hemuri. You’re not the only ones with superpowers, when me and brother are together, we can morph into anything and anybody we have seen. Also, we know everything and anything our object might know. All their knowledge, tactics, crime fighting skills, everything. So you better watch out, I’ve seen you know. You can’t hide.”

And with that, Hemu got up and walked out the doorway, closing the door softly behind him. Sari thought hard about what Hemu had said: morphing powers? Knowledge stealing? And what had he meant by “you can’t hide”? It was too much to think about. Sari sighed and muttered to herself quietly.

“Are you okay?” A tiny voice floated down to her ear. It was Ayumu.

“Yeah. I’m fine.”

“Don’t listen to him. He’s joking.”

“About the morphing part?”

“No, about the last sentence. He doesn’t really mean it.”

“Mean what?” Sari asked, her voice rising with concern.

“Nothing, go back to sleep.” Ayumu whispered, and Sari heard her lie down and roll over. She put her head back on the pillow just as Charismi opened her eyes again, this time with questioning.

Sari looked deep into Charismi eyes, knowing she was thinking the same thing as her: “What?” Sari shook her head, sighing deeply. “I don’t know Charismi, I don’t know.” Then Sari curled up, and went to sleep.

Chapter 9:Sisters-Future & Past

“Hello child, what is your name?” The woman asked her kindly, her face tilted towards her with bright blue eyes.

“Sa-“ Sari opened her mouth to speak, but the girl interrupted her.

“Her name is Sari,” The girl said, turning around, “She’s my sister.”

Sari looked into the girl’s bright purple eyes, and saw her own horrified self staring back at her. How could this girl be her sister? How could she even know her name?!? Sari felt herself freeze, a statue before the girl’s gaze. Then something clicked, and the girl’s eyes dimmed to a light lavender. Sari felt that she could move again, but she stayed still, staring at the girl. What had just happened? The girl looked at her with knowing eyes, then jumped out of her chair, grabbed Sari’s hand, and together they went into the courtyard. The girl lead Sari over to a bench beneath tree with red flowers and together they sat down.

“I’m so happy!” the girl cried, hugging Sari; who flinched away. “I have a sister! A real sister!”

Sari stared at her, mystified, “How on Earth can you be my sister?”

The girl pulled back, alarmed, then relief crossed her face. “Oh, I almost forgot, you don’t remember.” She pulled a stand of Sari’s hair forward, “First, I’ll give you some proof that we’re sisters. We both have the same hair color, see?” She whispered, rubbing the hair strand between her fingers. “Second, we both had the same mother, remember her? Her name was Semuri.” The girl whispered, letting go of Sari’s hair. Her eyes dropped down. “They named me Ayumu after the dreams and visions that I have….” Her voice dropped down to a whisper, “Before they died.”

Sari’s heart sank. Even though they abandoned her, she still cared for them. “Why?!?” She asked herself, sobbing.

“They loved you, Sari.” Ayumu whispered looking down, “They never stopped thinking about you. I always heard them cry about you at night and murmur about you through-out the day. Momma never stopped blaming herself for never having enough money…” Ayumu looked up, her eyes filling with tears, “But at least we have each other, right?”

Sari hugged Ayumu, squeezing her tight, “Yes, we do. Thank you.”

“Sari?” Ayumu asked, stuck in her binding hug, “There’s something I need to tell you. It’s about me.”

Sari quickly let go, dropping her hands to her sides. “What is it?”

“Ummm, okay; so you know how you saw my eyes turn bright purple earlier?”

“Uh-huh, that was freaky, I felt like a statue.”

“Well, the truth is, when my eyes go bright like that, I’m actually seeing the future.”

“What?!?”

“It’s true, Sari; I’ve never told anyone but I get scenes that happen, and they’ve never been wrong. Also, don’t stare into my eyes because they say if you look into a future-seer’s eyes while they’re seeing something; you could get sucked into the future.”

Sari stared in awe at her sister, “Wow!”

“I know; it’s cool. By the way, I heard from Benny earlier that you had a dragon. Where is it?”

“Oh, it’s somewhere around here…” Sari said standing up. “Charismi! Come out! I want you to meet my sister!”

Charismi came swooping out of the sky and landed on Sari’s head. Charismi flicked her tongue, little flames shooting out.

“Wow! She’s soooo pretty!” Ayumu said, gasping in awe “Isn’t that one of the ancient dragons said to rule the earth 1000 years ago? Amazing!”

Sari shook her head. “I don’t know… I’ve never been to dragon school or anything.”

“Well, anyway; that’s a cool dragon. Come inside for supper, it’s getting late. We have a big day tomorrow.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” Sari said, following Ayumu back inside the house.