[Day: October 27? Time: Sometime at night! Scene: Luana and Hotaru/Ten's room, with them asleep! Night's like that, you know. Don't worry, we won't stay there for long.] [Mini start!] * Keiko 's ghostly head pops out of the wall, above Luana's head. Well, except it's not really there. But it looks like that to the viewers. She's a little ghostly and her black hair hangs down through the bed. How's Luana sleepin? * Luana is curled up on the top bunk of her bed, asleep and hugging her blanket and, oddly enough, her holocomputer. * Keiko looks ghostily puzzled a moment, at the holocomputer <3, but at least it doesn't look like she's nightmaring. Which is good because the ghostly form raises its hands and presses them against Luana's body, seeming to oddly meld with it... and changing our viewpoint from 'outside world' to Luana's dreamland. * Luana is sitting in the middle of a very large bedroom, which has been tastefully decorated without adding any sort of personality to the room. The only thing worth noticing is what looks like parts of a computer, some of which Luana is fitting together. Oh, and the ring of fire at the edges of the room. * Keiko manifests herself, after a few moments, just inside the edges of the fire, becoming the Keiko we all know and, uh, know, in the dreamspace. Well, almost. She still looks a little... off, especially because she's floating. * Luana looks up and shrieks. "Are you dead, did I kill you!? Get closer before you burn!" * Keiko floats a bit more towards Luana and says, in an echoing voice, "No... no, I'm not dead. I'm visiting... do you know who I am?" * Luana tilts her head to the side. "No. No one's ever come in here before. Are you from school? Have I ever set you on fire?" * Keiko shakes her head. "No, but you tried once." She smiles a little oddly and floats down to the ground, in front of her. "So... where are we?" * Luana grins broadly and stands up. She says excitedly, "This is my safe place! The flames can't get any closer than they are, see?" She points to the fire flickering along the walls. "So you're safe if you're in here. I'm glad I have someone else with me now. I was worried no one would ever be safe from burning." * Keiko blinks and says, "This is your safe place?" Beat, then a slightly more understanding, "You like it here, then?" She sweeps her arm around, small bits of her slightly spectral form wisping off as she does. * Luana nods absently as she sits back down and starts messing with the computer parts again. "Mm, yeah. It's furthest away from where my parents are usually screaming." As if in response, faint screams echo from outside, but it's impossible to tell if they are from fear or anger. Oh, I'm being rude! I'm Luana Hall, it's very nice to meet you. * Keiko floats around her. "Parents...?" she trails off, then counter-introduces, "Keiko. I'm Keiko." I didn't think anyone else was safe from burning. Do you know much about computers? I adore computers, they're so lovely and magnificent and just... just beautiful! * Keiko shakes her head and says, "I'm... not much of a computer person. I know people." A small smile crosses her face a moment, then, "I'm safe from burning here. Because I'm only sort of here." * Luana 's face lights up. "We should be best friends, then!" she says eagerly. * Keiko laughs a little and murmurs, "Even in your dreams... you're too nice." She looks away a moment. "Why should we be best friends?" Because you don't burn, and I don't burn, so one day we'll be the only ones left. Everything turns to fire and ashes eventually, so we may as well start getting along magnificently now. * Keiko looks back to her, puzzled, and then swallows nervously, biting her lip a moment (but not really) before saying, "If you want me to really be here, you have to open your brain up to me. In the back of it." * Luana is still smiling happily. "As long as you don't burn, it should be okay. Do whatever you want." * Keiko licks her spectral lips, and then suddenly gets a lot more substantial. Her dress is blue, and high necked, going from her shoulders to her feet, and covering her arms completely. She's not actually carrying the duck here. Weird. "There." She glances to the fire and then says, quietly, "Very hot here, Luana." * Luana nods. "Probably 'cause the house burned down. " She wrinkles her face up in an annoyed expression as the screams can be heard again. "I wish they'd stop doing that." * Keiko wraps her arms around herself, then clenches her fist a moment, quashing the sound. This is what you get for letting a telepath into your mind! No more screaming. "So... if you could do anything, or go anywhere, what would it be?" I think... I'd like to talk to the twins again. But they would burn, so they can't come in here. And I can't leave, so that's that. * Keiko swallows, then says, "I can... make anything happen here, Luana, as long as you let me. Because of your mind." * Luana says sternly, "They're not allowed in here." The next things she says sound like she is repeating something that has been memorized for a long time. "This is my safe place, where I am free from the prejudice of those who do not understand. This is my safe place, where nothing burns unless I consciously will it so. Here in my safe place, I am free." * Keiko shakes her head. "That's not what I... I can make here not-here." She gestures with her hand, forming a crysanthamum out of nothing and showing it to her. "Like magic. See?" I don't think you understand. There are rules here. There have to be rules. ...It's a really pretty flower, though. How'd you do that? * Keiko hands her the flower. "Would you believe it's a dream?" * Luana nods as she takes the flower and studies it. "That makes sense. I don't have a real safe place outside of my mind. Does your existance mean that I'm developing schizophrenia?" she asks curiously, carefully holding the flower close to her. * Keiko laughs faintly and says, "No, I'm from the outside." If you remember this tomorrow, you'll understand. Oh, that's a relief. * Luana waves a hand at a window, making the fire die down in that area and showing a rising sun outside. "Almost morning. Do you need to leave?" * Keiko replies, "Is it really?" It might not be. I can't really see the sun, you know. * Luana taps her temple. "Since you said I'm dreaming, my eyes must be closed, right?" * Keiko forms a second chrysanthamum and throws it into the fire. "Yeah, they were." She smiles a little. "Dreaming's funny like that." I'm glad you're here, Keiko. I was starting to get really lonely. * Keiko looks at the fire, the smile fading a moment, then she says quietly, "Doesn't everyone..." she trails off, then looks back to Luana. "If you can believe it, I'll even be around when you wake up." * Luana asks eagerly, "Really? That's great!" She laughs and watches the window, where the sun finishes rising and sets again in the same view. Then, her smile fading into something sadder, she says more quietly. "Don't make promises you can't keep, okay?" * Keiko walks over to her and puts her hand on her shoulder. "Well, I'll be the next room over, but I'll be around." * Luana looks at Keiko curiously. "You know, I'm not sure you really seem like fire. Are you ice instead?" * Keiko smiles a little sadly and looks off a moment, before saying, "Maybe. I'm not really fire, though." Robert Frost once said in a poem, "I think I know enough of hate to say that for destruction, ice is also great and would suffice." I memorized that one; it's my favorite. * Keiko pauses a moment, then says, "I hadn't heard that one before." Beat, then more quietly, "Ice and hate... they do go together, sometimes. I have seen it." * Luana sighs. "In the poem, fire is associated with desire. Fire and ice are the two things that might destroy the world." She grasps Keiko's hand and smiles at her. "Best friends forever, right?" she asks hopefully. * Keiko chuckles and says, hesitantly, "Forever? I can't even... think of forever." A pause, then she squeezes her hand back. "We're friends, for sure. Even out there." * Luana says, "Good." She pauses before saying matter-of-factly, "I have to go into a different stage of sleep now." Everything except for the fire begins to lose focus. "I'll see you when I wake up, right?" * Keiko chuckles and says, "You're... really aware of your sleep, for someone who isn't really aware of their sleep." A pause, then, "I'll be around, yes. But if you remember, this is a secret. Okay?" * Luana waves. "Sure! Bye Keiko, it was really nice meeting you." * Keiko waves a little as she becomes translucent again. "Bye, Luana, and hello..." she then fades out of the dream, and back into the real world. [End!]