A/N: I know that I should be working on my other story and I swore that I wouldn't start more than one project just to leave another one hanging. But I couldn't resist this one! It just flew from my fingertips (therefore, there may be a few type-os. Review and let me know if I need to go back and fix them.)

The story is complete, just a one-shot, that was how I justified writing it while I'm still working on Fallen Angel.

I was trying to get it out in time for Halloween, but I end up being just one day shy. Oh well. I hope you guys are still in the mood.

Warning: Some characters are out of character and some of you may hate me for the ending. I mean really hate me.

I don't own anything of real value.

A Ghost Story

He had found her picture when he was just a little boy playing in his grandmother's attic. The giant chest seemed to hum with life and you couldn't help but touch the polished oak with his fingertips. Gliding his hands across the top, he was compelled to open the chest. At first he only inhaled the dust that assaulted his face, but once the dust had settled, and his eyes had stop tearing, a treasure trove laid open in front of him.

For the next few hours he played dress up in the dim light streaming through the single circular window. Through careful maneuvering, he had positioned the dusty and cracked mirror into the stream of light so he could carefully admire himself in his grandfather's heavy wool army uniform. Though the sleeves and legs pooled at the floor, he found his image to be quite handsome.

As he patted his jacket down and tugged to check the fit, his fingers felt a slight lump in the breast pocket. Tucking his chubby and clumsy fingers into the pocket, he felt the crisp edges of a photo. Just as he was about to withdraw the picture, he heard his name ring and echo across the walls.

"Van!"

His mother's call from downstairs sent him hurtling down the attic stairs, nearly tumbling down at multiple times. When he stood on the first floor landing in all his uniformed glory, he met twin faces, altered from each other by only the creases of age, with completely different expressions. His mother's face paled when she recognized the wool suit from various photos scattered around the house she had grown up in. In direct contrast, his grandmother's face wrinkled even more as she broke into a large grin.

"Van Fanel! Take those off immediately! You had…"

His mother's rant was quieted by a small, fragile, and wrinkled hand on her shoulder. Stepping in front of his obviously irate mother, his grandmother smiled lovingly at him.

"I think you look quite handsome sweetheart. You look just like your handsome grandfather when he was young."

Beaming with pride, Van thumbed the lapels of the suit and cocked his head upwards in satisfaction.

"Ha! Now you look exactly like him!"

Hurtling himself from the third step, Van threw himself towards his grandmother's open arms. Wrapping himself in her warmth, he buried his face deep into her stomach. Standing slightly aloof, his mother watched the pair with a mixture of love and anger at having her authority so obviously thrown out the window.

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That had been the last time he had seen her, his grandmother. The following fall he clung to his mother's leg while his father and brother stood nearby, watching the oak coffin lower slowly into the ground. Wrapped around his still small shoulders, the heavy green wool of his grandfather's coat kept out the bitter cold, but didn't help the cold clenching around his heart.

That morning, his mother had given him the coat while he laid curled in a ball weeping into his sheets.

"Grandma would have wanted you to have this. She loves you very much sweetie and she wouldn't want to see you this way. She's still watching you know. She watches us from above and she always well."

Raising his head, Van clutched the scratchy wool to his cheek.

"Grandma's not a ghost is she?"

"No sweetheart, she's just not in her body anymore. She watches us from heaven."

"Oh."

"Is something wrong sweetie?"

"If she was a ghost, I would've been able to see her again."

Suddenly his mother's arms had wrapped around him tightly and he felt her shaking body against his. Widening his eyes in fear and understanding, Van wrapped his own short arms around his mother in comfort. Before he had been blind to the pain of everyone else around him. His mother must have been just as upset as he was, possibly more! He had never seen his mother sob like this and it frightened him more than anything ever had before.

"I'm sorry mama. I don't want Grandma to be a ghost. I want her to be in heaven."

His mother's reply was muffled by her cascade of black hair, but he felt the fear subsiding just a bit as she spoke. "I know pumpkin. I know. Grandma is in heaven and we should be happy, but it's always hard to be the one left behind."

Together, the two stay huddled in Van's bed, the green wool coat smashed between their two sobbing bodies. Neither spoke again until they were called down to attend the funeral. Words were not necessary anymore, nor were they sufficient to express their loss.

To everyone else, the way in which Van clung to his mother appeared as if Varie was comforting her son against his first experience with death. However, in truth, they were equally relying on each other to get them through the day.

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That night as he laid in bed, alone for the first time that day, he wrapped himself in his grandfather's heavy army coat. He had never met the man, but he had been told he bore a striking resemblance to him. His grandmother, whom he loved, had always been so happy when she told him how much he reminded her of her loving husband. Together the two of them would flip through her old photo albums, seated on her overstuffed sofa and gorging themselves on tea and gingersnaps, looking at pictures of grandma and grandpa when they were young. In those pictures, they were forever captured in black and white, beaming back at the camera. She would point out the exotic location they had meet at when he was stationed in Japan.

"Do you miss Japan grandma?"

"Ah, yes. But I never regret that I left. Otherwise I would not have such a beautiful grandson."

Brushing his hair from his eyes, she would peer deeply into his maroon orbs. "You have his eyes." Her face would shift from nostalgic mourning to a soft and serene smile. "Therefore, you will be my favorite grandson!" Van would always reward her with a beaming smile.

Because of those warm afternoons, laced with the scent of cookies and tea, he now associated the green wool not with his grandfather, but with his grandmother. Wrapping the coat tightly around him, he fisted his hands into the fabric. Against his left hand he felt a stiff clump. Searching the fabric, he found the left breast pocket. Numbly unbuttoning the brass button, he withdrew a faded photograph. Flipping it over in the palm of his hand he saw a gorgeous face staring back at him.

The woman in the photograph wore the most beautiful and serene smile he had ever seen. Her blond hair was pulled back in an old fashion coif and her lips were painted a deep dark color. Though he couldn't tell the color of eyes from the black and white photo, he could tell they were a brilliant light color. Something in the picture called to him and he found himself gazing lovingly to the picture. Running his fingers down her face, Van momentarily forgot about the coat as he focused on the picture.

Eventually, he set the picture down on the low table next to his bed and quickly fell asleep. That night he dreamt of a beautiful blond woman with vibrant green eyes.

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The years had passed and Van was entering his first year of college. Though he had grown up into a handsome young man, who really was the spitting image of his grandfather, Van kept to himself and did not socialize much.

He had also since grown into the wool coat that belonged to his grandfather. Despite many subtle hints in the form of fashionable jackets as gifts, and not so subtle teases from his brother Folken, Van had persisted in wearing the green wool exclusively.

Currently, the wool jacket was slung over his arm, along with a large duffle bag, and the picture securely tucked into his back pocket.

"Hi, you must be Van!"

"Hey, Amano, right?"

"Yeah! Um…I kinda already put my stuff down on that bed, but it doesn't have to be mine if you want it."

"Naw, it's cool. I like sleeping by the window anyways."

Van trotted over to the empty steel bed and aged desk. Dropping his bag and jacket on the bed, he fished the picture from his back pocket and secured it to the cork board over the desk. The rest of his things were still in boxes on the grass outside the dorm and he need to get them before he did anymore unpacking. Turning, he saw his roommate seated Indian style on his unmade vinyl mattress, playing the already unpacked and set up playstation. Chuckling under his breath he scooted around Amano to keep out of his line of vision.

When he came back with the rest of his storage boxes, he found Amano peering at the posted photograph.

"Girlfriend?" He teased. Luckily, Amano didn't turn around or he might have spotted a slight blush spread across Van's face. "No, seriously, is it your mom or grandmom or something? She's really pretty." Turning around, Amano studied him for a second before shaking his head. "Doesn't look like she passed many of her genes down your way though bud."

Van smirked. "I've been told I look like my grandfather."

"Cool." Pulling his head back and studying Van up and down, Amano replied, "Damn you and your good genes." Muttering under his breath about the unfairness of the housing authority he stalked back to his bed and resumed his game.

Once Amano's attention was diverted, Van gazed at the picture, now worn around the edges from years of wear and handling. However, the smile on the woman's face never wavered, and her constant gaze comforted him.

That night, as he laid in bed listening to his roommate toss and turn on the noisy vinyl mattress, he turned towards the picture posted on the corkboard. Gently throwing the covers off, Van padded over to his desk and carefully pulled the photo down. Just as he was about to return to his bed, his hand ran across the rough wool of his coat draped over the back of his desk chair. Clutching the photo in one hand and the coat in the other, he drowsily made his way back to his bed. Carefully, he shoved the photo into a jam of the steel bed frame and folded the coat over his sheets.

Wearily, he closed his eyes and welcomed his dreams.

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"It's been a long time"

Whipping his head around, Van found himself face to face with a beautiful blond.

"What took you so long?"

Van cocked his head in confusion, her heavy brogue made it difficult for him to decipher her words. Before he could reply, she came forward and grasped his hand in hers.

"James, I've been waiting for so long."

"I'm sorry. I'm, I'm not James."

The woman dropped his hands and stepped back slightly in shock. "I was so sure. I was so sure that he had finally come for me."

Studying her face Van realized suddenly who this woman was.

"You're her. James. Is his full name James Fanel?"

"Fanel! Yes, the American soldier."

Looking down at his now empty hands, he followed the green wool of his sleeves to his grandfather's jacket draped over his shoulders. Swiftly, his right hand flew towards his left breast pocket and dug into it. Although he hadn't kept the photo there for years, he found the crisp edges against his fingertips.

"Here! Look at this. It's you isn't it? James. He was my grandfather, this is his coat and he always kept this right here, in his pocket." As he produced the picture, the woman carefully stepped forward and took the picture from Van.

"He kept this, always?"

"Yes."

For just a moment, he saw the same gleaming smile he knew so well spread across her face. Suddenly, her smile faded. "You are his grandson? He married?"

Van suddenly realized the pain he would cause this gorgeous creature if he answered honestly. However, her clear green eyes stared straight into Van's eyes and he was compelled to tell the truth. "He meet my grandma when he was stationed in Japan in 1944."

"1944?"

The woman sat down on the stone bench overlooking the sea. "He was here, in 1942. I told him I would wait, and I've been waiting ever since. What year is it?"

"2006"

"64 years is a long time isn't it?"

Ignoring her question, Van sat down next to her on the bench. "What is your name?"

"Hitomi Kanzaki"

"A Japanese name?"

A small smirk graced her full crimson stained lips. "Very far back on my father's side. But my mother thought the name sounded exotic. Father hated it, use to say it wasn't a proper catholic name. Everyone else on the Island called me Heather. Just your father called me Hitomi, he thought it was pretty."

Taking her hands in his own he smiled at her, "I think it's pretty too."

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The next morning, Van awoke refreshed and with a smile breaking across his face. Hitomi Kanzaki, he had a name now. After years of wondering and guessing he finally had a name.

Once, when he had been young he took the picture down to his mother and asked her if she knew who it was. A strange look twisted her face before she replied. "I think your grandfather use to talk about a woman he knew when he was young. It was near the end of his Alzheimer's, and much of what he said did not always make sense."

From the look on his face, Van knew that his mother had not disclosed the entire truth, but he could also tell it pained his mother and he did not pursue the matter anymore. Leaping out of bed, Van slid into his desk chair and popped the lid of his laptop. Opening google he punched in "Hitomi Kanzaki". He didn't really know what he was hoping for but his searching didn't bring anything up that was reliable. Closing his laptop in frustration, he leaned back and took the photograph from the jam he had lodged it in. Squinting his eyes, he peered at the picture closely. Something wasn't quite right.

Holding the photograph closer to his face and turning the lamp on over his head, he blinked rapidly to wet his eyes. No, it wasn't an illusion. There was a slight coloring to the photograph. Holding the light directly over the photograph he thumbed over the faded honey hair and stared back at the light green eyes. Her lips were a faded pink, not quite the vibrant red he remembered from his dream.

Leaning back in his chair, he tossed his head back. I'm going crazy. No matter how he thought about it, nothing made sense! Why should he believe a dream he had? Aren't dreams just figments of your imagination? There was no way he had actually meet the woman in the picture in his dreams!

But how did he explain the picture? He knew the picture far too well to know that it had never been colored.

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"You wanna tag along tonight? The SigPi's always have the best Halloween parties, at least that is what I was told by Yukari."

Amano adjusted his large sombrero hat as he studied his reflection, speaking to Van who sat behind him on his bed.

"Naw. Thanks for the invite though. I don't really like crowds, ya know? I'll rather just stay in tonight." Outside a whopping yell and a chorus of slurred declarations of inebriation punctuated his point. Van screwed his face up in disgust and Amano only grinned.

"You're an old man Fanel and you're only 18."

"19."

"Whatever. Well, I really think you should come. You know, that hot chick Merle is gonna be there. She's really into you. Flash a smile or two her way and she would probably be at your beck and call."

Van stiffly smiled in response. "Give my best to Yukari and have enough fun for the two of us."

"Always man, always."

Once the door clicked closed behind Amano, Van returned to the open text in his lap. Although Ireland remain neutral during World War II, American troops were stationed there briefly in 1942.

It had been a long time since he had dreamt of her, but now she was all he could think about. It started when his World History 202 course began the unit on WWII. As the professor spoke, the powerpoint flashed images of soldiers, USO performers and WAC girls. Each girl had their hair pulled back in a similar coif as Hitomi in the picture, and each wore a deep shade of crimson lipstick. At one point, Van nearly fell out of his seat during lecture as he strained forward to get a better look at one blond in the picture.

Putting the text down, he reached for his cell phone and dialed his home phone number.

"Happy Halloween!"

"Mom?"

"Van! I wasn't expecting you!"

"Oh, well, I'm doing this paper for my class on World War II and it made me think of grandma and grandpa."

"Van, as much as I love the idea that we are not wasting our money, it's Halloween! I remember Halloween when I was in college…"

"Well, it's due tomorrow, so I need to finish it before I can go out." Van chewed his lip as he waited for his mother's response. In the past, she had always been able to catch him in a lie.

"Well, okay. What did you need to know?"

"Was grandpa ever stationed anywhere else beside the pacific?"

"Um…he was in Ireland for a bit when he was first drafted. Training, I think."

"Did he ever talk about Ireland? I know loads about what he did in Japan because of grandma."

"Well, he never really spoke about it until near the end of his life. And with the dementia, it wasn't always coherent."

"Well, what did he say? I can probably double check it against my textbook."

"He talked a lot about the sea, watching it from a bench. I think he use to think I was someone else, because he would always tell me how much he loved my green eyes. He used to say some really strange things, like how I looked like the sunset over Ireland. Hey Van, what does all this have to do with your paper anyways?"

"Well…"

Quite literally, Van was saved by the bell, the Fanel doorbell to be specific. In the background he heard a chorus of "Trick or Treat!!"

"Oh Van, tricker-treaters are here! I need to…"

In the background he heard the muffled cry of "Varie! You gotta see the cutest little pumpkin I've ever seen!"

"Coming Gaou! Bye Van, I'll talk to you later."

Van grinned into the phone as he heard his mother shout that she was getting the camera before he heard the click and then buzzing over the line. Standing from his seated position, Van dragged himself over to the photo, now nearly hidden amidst a clutter of schedules, post-its and due dates. Taking the picture in his palm and leaning back in his chair as he studied it, he thought of his mother's words. Sunset over Ireland. With her bright sun-spun hair, lush green eyes and crimson lips, he had to agree with his grandfather. She did look like sunset over Ireland.

---------------------------------

That night, he placed the picture under his pillow and laid his green coat over his thin sheets to keep the cool air at bay. Just as sleep claimed him, he whispered a plea to meet her in his dreams again.

"It's been a long time, again."

Turning towards the soft chiming voice, Van found himself once again clad in his grandfather's uniform and standing in front of the mysterious woman who was beginning to haunt his dreams and days alike.

"It's Van, right? Before I embarrass myself again."

Van nodded mutely. Slowly coming forward, he grasped her hands in a gentle grip and guided her over towards the stone bench, over looking the lapping and churning sea below.

"James, my grandfather meet you when he was here training for duty, didn't he?"

"Aye. I fell for him right away, the first time I set eyes on him in town." She paused for a second, studying Van's face critically. "I had believed that he felt the same of me."

"He did. Near the end, he spoke of you a lot."

"He's dead?"

The shock was evident in her voice and Van felt like an idiot for disclosing the information so callously.

"I'm sorry. I forgot you didn't know. He passed before I was born, early onset Alzheimer's, as well as other health complications. He liked his cigarettes a little too much."

"I remember. I should have know it wasn't James the first time I saw you. You didn't have the right aroma."

"Honestly though. I believe he loved my grandma, but it was you he thought of in the end."

Hitomi's eyes began to water and she turned her head away, towards the sea. "He was what I thought of too."

Van didn't catch her whispered words as they were carried away by the wind. Eager to see her face again, he gently reached out to tilt her chin back towards him. "He said that you looked like sunset over Ireland."

Hitomi's eyes widened and a sad smile broke across her face. Suddenly, she catapulted herself into Van's arms and wept against his chest, clinging to the soaked green wool. They stayed like that for the rest of their time together, clutching each other. One clinging to an old dream, and the other grasping at a new one.

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Van awoke to a soft cotton fabric being launched into his face. Grasping at the offending object, he opened one eye to find a blue hair scrunchie in his hand.

"What the hell was that for?"

Amano stood over him, with his arms folded over his chest, and though he tried to look stern, a smile was threatening to crumble the façade.

"It's our signal. Remember? When one of us has a girl in the room, we leave the scrunchie on the doorknob."

"Okay. I remember, but why the hell did you just fling this at me?" grumbled Van, muttering some choice expletives under his breath.

"Because you should have used it yesterday!" At this point, the smile can crashing through and Van soon found himself locked in a headlock with Amano rubbing the top of his head like an older brother.

"What?"

"I came in last night to find you cuddling with some gorgeous blond and you say 'what?' Come on dude! I'm gonna kill you for not telling me! Who is she? Huh? Ohh..Merle's gonna pitch a fit."

"Wait, you came in…"

"And saw you macking with some girl! And here I was starting to think maybe you were in the closet or something. Anyways, don't worry. She didn't see me either."

Suddenly, Van was roughly pushed from Amano's side as Amano quickly stood up.

"Wait till Yukari hears about this!"

Before Van had a chance to stop him, Amano was hurtling through the door, shouting down the hallway, towards the girls' side that Van Fanel had finally gotten laid.

Groaning, Van shoved his face into his hands. Eventually he cracked his eyes open and through his fingers he saw the photograph on the floor, where it had fluttered to during his morning attack.

Picking the picture up, he frowned in confusion as he realized that her hair was more honey than the faded version had suggested. Her eyes were closer to the correct shade that he remembered and her lips were now a vivid red. The background however was still a dull gray. Standing up, he searched around the room in confusion. There hadn't been anyone in the room at all last night, except for himself. Scanning the room, he didn't find anything missing, and the windows were still securely shut and locked from the inside.

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The second semester was nearly over, and many students spent the warm and sunny spring days locked away in the dungeons of the library, cramming for their finals. During the last few months, Van had denied all rumors that he had a mysterious girlfriend and just shrugged whenever Amano brought up the subject.

"Maybe you were so drunk you were just seeing things." He would respond.

"No. No way, I wasn't that drunk. I mean, yeah, I was drunk, but…" eventually Amano would squint in frustration as he tried to remember any other details about Halloween night. And Van would just walk away.

As his finals neared, Van found himself thinking more and more about Hitomi. Since Halloween, he had only had brief dreams of her, and usually he was watching from the outside. He had not been able to interact with her as he had in past. Instead, he would find himself on the grassy cliff, watching her as she sat on the bench, the wind whipping through her golden locks. Sometimes, she was standing at the cliffs edge, peering down into the churning waters below. But now matter how loudly he called her, she never turned around.

One night, Van fell asleep at his desk, his green army coat draped over his shoulders and her picture clutched in his hand as he studied for European History 301.

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The wind ripped through his hair, making it difficult to see past the curtain of ebony locks that rustled against his face. When he finally pushed them back, he saw her figure standing near the cliffs edge. Van called her name, but she didn't response. Rather, his words were carried off by the wind.

Van began to trot towards her when her motion brought him to a sudden stop. Slowly, as if unsure, she edged herself closer to the ledge, shuffling one foot in front of the other. Realizing her intention, Van took off into a full run towards her slender face, outlined against the raging and darkening gray sky. Just as she was about to send her foot over the ledge of the cliff, Van wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her roughly against his body, sending the both of them to the ground.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?"

Hitomi only opened her wide eyes and stared into Van's face before launching herself against him, nudging her head in the crook of his throat.

"You didn't come. You didn't come for so long, just like him."

Van pulled her away from him and stared at her at an arms length.

"You were going to…just because…I've been here so many nights, calling out for you, but you never heard me."

"You wanted to see me?"

Van could only think of one thing and roughly pulled her back against him, smashing his lips against hers. It was a desperate kiss, one building since a little boy discovered a picture in his father's coat, and another who had been pining for decades. Her arms had snaked around his neck and pulled him closer against her body. Van groaned into her open mouth as he felt her curve crush against his frame.

"Do you want me?"

"Desperately."

"Do you love me?"

"Since the first time I saw you."

"Then don't leave me."

"Never."

"Promise?"

"Promise."

As they spoke, Hitomi had pulled upwards and Van had followed, keeping them in a tight embrace as they stood off of the ground. Wherever Hitomi pulled, Van followed, and soon they were standing precariously at the edge of the cliff.

"He left me."

"I won't."

"But you are him, you are his soul."

"He didn't want to leave you, I don't want to leave you."

"Then stay with me, forever."

"Forever."

"Together we will be the sunset and the night. Remember?"

"Like a sunset over Ireland, my love."

As Van spoke, Hitomi pulled one final time, and Van complied, sending their two bodies over the cliff and plummeting towards the churning waters below. Neither broke from their embrace, and their lips never parted. The only sound was the howling of the wind then the two were suddenly gone from sight.

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Amano peered around the packed dorm room. Van's mother had come early that morning, her eyes still red and puffy from the news. Van had just disappeared one night. The last Amano had seen of him was when he was heading off to cram with Merle during finals week. Van had told him that he was going to stay in and study for his history exam the next morning. When Amano had returned the next morning, after an all nighter, Van was gone. Amano had assumed it was to take his exam and hadn't thought much about it. However, when the evening rolled around and Van still didn't show up, Amano had begun to worry. Van was a loner and Amano could count on one hand all the people he knew Van hung out with and none of them knew were he was. Eventually the days had passed and the authorities had all but given up on the mysterious disappearance of a college freshman.

Now, all that was left of Van was a couple of boxes that held his possessions. Draped over Amano's arm was the green wool coat Van had worn religiously. At the sight of it, Van's mother had broken out into a new weeping session. When she could speak through the hiccups and sobs she told Amano that Van wore that coat since the time he was five and he took it everywhere with him. The fact that it was here, while Van was gone solidified the fact that she was never going to see her baby again. Amano had taken it out of the room to ease her pain while she had finished packing all his belongings.

When he returned, she told him that she was giving his stuff to Red Cross and they would be coming to pick up the boxes. However, she wanted him to have the coat. It was too dear to Van and his grandmother to give away to a complete stranger, but it was too hard for her to keep it. Amano had simply nodded. As she was about to leave, he told her that he would keep it for her, and when she was ready to have a piece of him back, she could call up and get the coat anytime. Varie had smiled at him through watery tears and left without a word.

Clutching the coat in one hand, he felt a stiff crunch under his fingers. Unfurling the coat, he sought the breast pocket and stuffed his hand in it. From the left breast pocket he withdrew a single photograph. The picture looked familiar, but Amano couldn't quite place it. The woman in the picture was strikingly beautiful and her honey gold hair gleamed even in the matt finish. Her bright green eyes stared back at him and her crimson lips curled into a seductive smile. Even the old-fashion hair style seem to suit her. In the background, lush green rolling hills only brought out her brilliant eyes. Flipping the photo over, he read scrawled across the back in a feminine hand,

Forever.

Fin.

A/N: Tell me what you think! How'd I do at my first attempt at eerie? I know that it's more of an old fashion ghost story, the kind that is more strange than spooky, but I found that type kinda hard to write. But let me tell you, I tell awesome ghost stories! But it's kinda hard to emphasize mood just right using only words.

As I was writing, I found myself thinking that I could extend some details and plots and make it into a serial. Tell me what you think about that. Of course, it would only be done after Fallen Angel is complete (which is still only about 25 complete).

Thanks in advance for the reviews!