Okay, here's Meanwhile... again. It took me forever to get around to 
revising this 'cause I had classes all summer, and hardly had any time to 
do anything. I didn't change too much, a few minor points. I left it 
anachronistic, 'cause that's the way I like it. ^.^
C&C always welcome. :)

Meanwhile...  By Jan Sacharuk

Somewhere in the distance, a bell tolled.
And they ran. He had lost track of how long they'd been running, or even where 
they were right now. He just knew they had to keep going.

"Run, dammit!" he shouted to his companion. She merely nodded, too out of 
breath to yell back. 

And they ran.

The debris was scattered all over the street. Footing was precarious, 
especially when they had to move quickly. For now, there was no other speed 
they could move. 
Another building toppled to their side, and both started, but ran on. Chunks of 
wood and stone scattered across their path as the building fell, dashing itself 
to pieces on the ground. He lept easily over the debris, but his companion 
cried out as her foot hit a skittering chunk of masonry. 

"Akane! Are you okay?" He trotted back to help her up. She nodded, but rose 
slowly. 

"Please, just a minute. I'm tired..." Akane slumped against him, and he wrapped 
his arm around her wordlessly. His eyes shifted nervously, but he nodded 
slowly. "Okay. But we have to keep walking. I think we're safe for now. Just 
lean on me."

He looked up into the smoky air. Fires lit the city, and ash glowed red as it 
was carried through the sky on the hot night wind. He sighted the moon, low, 
that night. <What is it called again...harvest moon?> He shook his head, trying 
to clear his head of such meaningless thoughts. He sighed softly as his view 
was obscured by an explosion of flame from another bomb.

"We can start again, I think. I'm feeling a little better..." He nodded, and 
without a word, took her hand and started to jog forward again. He stopped, 
though, when he noticed she wasn't running with him. "What's the matter, 
Akane? Are you okay?"

"I'm sorry...I think I twisted my ankle...I can't run..." She looked pained. 
"Maybe it's better if you go on ahead...I'll catch up, if I can."

He looked are her sternly. "Forget it. I'm not doing this for my benefit. If it 
weren't for you, I'd be long gone. C'mere." He walked over, and hoisted her 
easily in his arms. 

"What're you doing?! This is gonna slow you down!"

"I told you, this isn't for me. Now hush, and hang on." He started his slow jog 
forward, and gradually picked up speed. He lightly hopped from clear area, to 
pile of rubble, to clear area again, all the while clutching his precious cargo 
close to his chest. 

And he ran.

Forever, he felt. He couldn't remember the last time he *wasn't* running. He 
didn't even know where he was going. Just away from here. From the ruins and 
the fire and the danger. He didn't know if he'd brought enough. He had a large 
bamboo umbrella, and his backpack. But would that be enough to survive? He 
shook his head again. He had no choice. It would have to be enough.

He slowed his running to a halt and stood, watching.

"Is anything wrong?" she asked, her arms wrapped tightly around the back of his 
neck, clutching for dear life. "Why'd you stop running? Am I a burden?"

"Yes, you are. But I have no choice. I need you. Quiet for a minute...I'm 
looking..." 

She nodded silently, and gnawed on her bottom lip. She knew she was just extra 
weight, but he kept on saying that this was for her benefit. What was he 
talking about? 

Her thoughts were cut off suddenly as he lept to the side, and threw her high into 
the air.

"Take a deep breath!" he shouted to her. "It'll help keep you afloat! Don't 
fight the water! I'll be right beside you!"

She mindlessly followed his orders, and gasped in a large gulp of air, a mere 
moment before she hit the water. She nearly gasped at the cold, but she managed 
to keep it in. The water closed over her face, and she nearly panicked, but she 
remembered his words, and let herself relax. The water roared in her ears, 
and she started to thrash, but he wasn't far behind. She calmed down a little 
when he nodded, and gave her a thumbs up. He held them under water as 
long as he could, and then let them slowly come up. He looked around as he came 
out of the water, gasping. Wood and ash floated on the water of the pond, and 
he covered her head protectively as she came up beside him. She coughed, and 
struggled for air, eventually managing to gasp enough in so that she could 
talk. "What...?"

"Bomb," he intoned. "Right in the middle of the street. Nice of them to leave a 
flashing timer on it. We barely made it in. Lucky for this pond...."

She smiled weakly. "I remember a time when there would be nothing that would 
put you in this pond."

He looked grimly at her. "Yeah. Once. C'mon...let's get going." He helped her 
out of the water, onto the shore. They wrung themselves out a little, and he 
started to pick her up again. She collapsed beside him. "What...? C'mon, 
Akane...we don't have ti.." He gaped at her. A long arrow protruded from her 
back, and seemd to have gone all the way through her body. "Akane! Hang on!"

She looked up weakly at him with a soft smile. "I never understood you, 
you know. Especially this..." She coughed, blood washing over her lips.
"Thank you...so much.." Her eyes closed slowly, and he clutched her head 
protectively to his chest. 

"Akane! No! Don't go!"

Her lips moved almost inperceptably, and he had to lean forward to hear. "You 
can go on...now. I won't be a burden anymore..." She let out one last, sighing 
breath, and died there, in his arms. He didn't scream, he didn't speak. He 
stared wordlessly at her still face, and cried.
He sat, and he sobbed, crying like a baby, unable to stop. He shuddered with 
the force of his sobs, and great tears rolled down his face and into his mouth 
and fell on her face and breast. After a time, he stopped, a looked about with 
bleary eyes. A form walked up to him from the distance.

"Can you help me?" it asked, tentatively.

He glared at the form. "No! I can't! She's dead! She's gone! She was 
everything! Let the city burn, for all I care! Nothing matters anymore!"

The form was taken aback by the ferocity of his words. It nodded wordlessly, 
and backed up a couple of steps before turning, and running on.

He sat.

He sat, and did nothing. He couldn't even think or remember. All that mattered 
was her. And now she was dead. And that's all that mattered. 

His silence was interrupted by the crunching of gravel under shoes. He looked 
up, squinting. The fires and the light of the moon were all he had left to see 
by. A new figure, silhouetted in the moonlight. His red and teary eyes couldn't 
quite make out the face, but he knew the form.

"I failed, mother. I'm sorry...I couldn't do it."

The new form nodded.

"They're all gone. I couldn't save them. You're lucky you left early... Dad, Kasumi, Nabiki..." He slid the 
umbrella off of his back. "This was too tough even for Ryouga. He gave this to 
me, and asked me to protect Akane with it...I even failed him!"

He started to cry anew, but he stopped abruptly. "I've failed, mother. I tried 
to be a man...I even found the cure to my curse...but it wasn't enough..." The 
backpack slid down off of his arms, and he halfheartedly rummaged through it. 
He slowly pulled out a knife, with an ivory sheath. Wordlessly, he handed it to 
her, handle first. "Her last thoughts were that she was a burden...that above 
all I can't forgive myself for.

"I'm tired, mother. I can't do it myself. Please..."

Again, the form nodded.

He bent his head to touch his lips to hers, still warm. "I never even told her 
I loved her. Forgive me, Akane. Forgi...*"

The long sword flashed down, and ended his life. Quickly. But full of pain. As he died, his 
life didn't flash before his eyes, hers did. Her face, he body, her life. Their life.

The form shuffled away, leaving the knife and the sword behind as tributes, 
their purpose served. But the tributes would go unnoticed in the morning. The 
two lovers, their bodies pressed together in a sad embrace, were just two among 
thousands. Their story, a tale that would fill a dozen, dozen volumes and bring 
tears to the eye of even the hardest man, would go untold. They were two more 
for the evening news tomorrow. Not even names, but numbers. Because nobody 
cared.

And meanwhile, the city burned.

=======================cs95315@wolfcreek.cs.ualberta.ca========================
GCS d- s++:- a--- C++(++++)>$ USX++>++++$ P+P L>++ E W++>$ N++ o? K--? 
w---(++++) !O !M V-- PS+(+++)>$ PE(-) Y+ !PGP>+ t--- 5+++>++++ X++ !R tv- 
b++(+++) DI+>++++ D+ G++ e>++++ h r y**

Sorry, but I'm still alive...and I won't let you take our princess away!
                             -Kiddy Phenil, Silent Moebius: Movie 2
=================================Jan Sacharuk==================================