Title: Come Back to Me

Pairing(s): Misty/Aki friendship, Yusei/Aki.

Rating: K+

Warning(s): Religious philosophy.

Note(s): Let's see how many people flame me for this.

I don't know if I can wait this long
To be what I used to be
And I don't think I can wait much longer
For the tide to come back to me
Come back to me

--Train, "I Wish You Would"

The phone call came out of the blue, really.

It had been nearly two years since I had seen her; she had been busy traveling all over the world, promoting her modeling career. And even when she was in Neo Domino city, it was only for a week or so, sometimes even less. Of course, there was the occasional e-mail to give an update on what was going on in our lives. However, words flounder in comparison to the sound of a voice.

"I'd like you to visit me at my apartment," she had said casually, as if we were old friends. "We have a lot to catch up on."

But nevertheless, I agreed to visit her. After all, she was only here for three days, until she left for America again. It's strange though, as I sit here across from her in her living room; I feel like I barely know her now. But then again, did we ever really know each other? After her days as a Dark Signer had ended, we had managed to reconcile, but when did we ever become friends?

I wondered if perhaps it because Misty didn't have any friends. It seems like a laughable concept, for someone of her stature to have none. However, with how often she traveled, with how busy she always was...

"Terribly sorry I missed your wedding," she said apologetically, pouring herself a cup of tea. "I had really wanted to go, badly. I thank you for the photos you sent me though, you and Yusei looked lovely."

Lovely; she used that word an awful lot, lovely... the word rolled off her tongue with ease everytime she said it, each syllable sliding in the next, like a song.

"How are you two doing, by the way?" she asked suddenly as she set her teapot down, looking up at me with her usual charming smile. I blinked, slightly taken aback; it really didn't bother me that it was an intimate question... just that she seemed to be headed after something, simply with how her sultry voice drew me in, her bondi blue eyes watching my every move carefully.

"Uh... fine," I replied hesitantly, not quite sure how I should respond. The older woman remained silent for a moment and then took a sip of her tea.

"Your face tells me otherwise."

I blushed, embarrassed. "Oh, that's right, you're capable of physiognomy," I mumbled aloud, voicing my internal realization. The model just smiled and set her tea cup down, uncrossing her legs as she leaned towards me.

"So, then how are things going?" she asked again, lacing her fingers together and rest her chin on them. I hesitated; somehow, she knew something was wrong, but now I did worry that I would be sharing too much with her...

"Well, it's not that Yusei and I are fighting or anything like that..." I began slowly, wary of each word that I said. "It's just... something has come up."

"The loss of child?" she inquired suddenly. I gasped.

"Wait, how did you--?"

"--I knew from the moment you walked in that something was wrong," she said, her lips curving into a frown. "There was just a different air around you... more melancholic, as if the very life of you had been sucked out. I then figured you had recently experienced a miscarriage or, at least, something related; your chest is larger than usual, but your belly is flat." I wasn't sure whether to be awed by her observation, or disturbed.

"I... I see," I replied, depressed at the memory. I closed my eyes and sighed, opening my heart to pour out my sorrow. Why? Perhaps because could never seem to bring myself to talk to anyone else about it; not even Yusei, or my parents, or any other of my close friends. "... When Yusei and I discovered that I was pregnant, we were thrilled. We had been trying for a couple of months by then, with no success, so it felt like a miracle. At first, everything was fine; a perfectly happy and healthy pregnancy. We found out during our first ultrasound that we were having a son."

I paused to wipe away the tears that had formed in my eyes. Misty continued to watch and listen, sympathetic. "Then... at six months, Yusei and I noticed that I had stopped growing. We returned to get another ultrasound and discovered that our son had died in the womb." The tears had returned, and I tried to blink them back. "... I was heartbroken. Both of us were heartbroken. And even now, it just... hurts so much to think that he'll never get a chance to live... and that we'll never get to meet him."

"I don't believe that."

I glanced up at her, incredulous. "Excuse me?"

She pursed her lips and closed her eyes, leaning back into her chair. "Tell me, Aki," she began very plainly, "Do you believe in the human spirit?"

Her question shocked me. It was a general rule in society there were two things that you never discussed with your friends: religion and politics. Otherwise, to say in the very least, things could get ugly. After all, it's amazing how far a person will go to stand by their beliefs and opinions, even if by cutting the ties of friendship.

"I... suppose I do," I answered finally. "Do you?"

"To a certain extent," she said, cradling her tea cup as if it were a precious gem, "but that's not the point. Tell me, what is a human spirit then? How are they made, where do they come from?"

"Well..." I began, sitting back and deciding to give her question some thought. Truthfully, I only vaguely understood what she was actually talking about; I hadn't known her too long, but I understood her enough to know that she would occasionally come up with her own strange theories on how the world operated. Kind of like a philosopher, except more impressionable. "... A human spirit... is a soul that is created by... ehm..."

"A higher being?" she she said, rasing her eyebrow.

'Sure, let's go with that,' I thought to myself silently. "Uh, right... And, um..." I stopped, unable to say anything else. Misty waited for a moment longer, before clearing her throat to speak.

"A human spirit," she began quite simply, "is what I believe to be the center of each person. They are created by, as you said, a supreme being. When they enter the body, whether it be at conception or at birth is, in my opinion, debatable." She paused as her eyes glazed over in thought, and I only watched her, waiting, listening.

"Either way, however, the spirit that was to inhabit your son never got the chance to live."

"Exactly, so--"

"--I wasn't finished," she said, sounding a bit sharp. "If that spirit originally intended to come to you through you and your husband, than what makes you think that it won't try to come back?"

Sor the first time in a long time, I found myself speechless. I had never thought of it in that way; that a child's spirit would return to its intended parents. I had no way of knowing whether it was true (This was Misty after all; she could have made this entire theory up last night in less than five minutes while soaking in her bath, or even as she drifted off to sleep). Nonetheless, it brought comfort to me. Therefore, I believed it.

Almost immediately afterward, we moved on to several different subjects that only women would ever discuss: how uncomfortable it is to live with swollen breasts while pregnant, why blood smells like copper, and who created the scented tampon (we both agree that it's one of the most pointless products ever). Soon however, the clock struck noon and we had to kiss good-bye until she returned from America; Yusei would be expecting me home in less than a half-hour.

It was funny though, that by the end of the hour I felt like I was talking to someone I had known my entire life; maybe because I was just a little bit lonely too. Still, the one part of our conversation that stuck out me the most was that off our own odd religious discussion (Misty was probably the last person I would have ever thought to talk with about religious philosophy). And on the car ride home, I constantly found my hand moving down to my lower abdomen, and hearing myself muttering, "come back to me."

Fin.

Comments: Oh boy. My first spiritual-esk thing, which is honestly really hard to do. Not only is it case-sensitive material, but it's hard to draw religious beliefs into a story where religion is practically non-existent. But for whatever reason, I wanted to take the challenge. And a challenge it was: which is exactly why I failed. Epicly.

And no, this isn't supposed to be advertising my religious beliefs, but is supposed to reflect what Misty/Aki would believe (If that makes sense). I've always imagined Misty as being this aloof type of woman, who doesn't belong to a specific religion, nor is she particularly religious, but she's kind of got her own philosophy thing going (like most celebrities do, lol). Aki is the common man, who also doesn't follow a religion, but believes in a supreme being nonetheless.