Beyond the Façade
Prologue
By Ariel
Ratings: PG-13
Warnings: car accident, deaths of non-major characters.
Disclaimers: General mention of the car accident that killed Darien's parents in Sailor Moon. That's not mine, neither are the implications of who the nameless boy is. Ariel and all other characters are mine.
A handsome young man with black hair and piercing blue eyes walked into the kitchen, grabbing a couple of cans of soda from the refrigerator and placing them in a small cooler he had prepared with a picnic lunch. His lovely wife joined him at his side, kissing him softly and telling him that she had already awoken their children. He smiled at the content look in her big brown eyes and couldn't stop his fingers from running through her long brown, almost black hair. They moved around their house, making sure they had all they needed for the special day together ahead.
A short while passed and a little boy came out of a room, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes with the back of one hand while holding his twin sister's hand securely with the other. The little girl was a mini replica of their mother just as her brother was the spitting image of their father. The twins shared a smile as they caught sight of their parents hiding two identically-wrapped boxes in a blue backpack, knowing well enough what August 3rd was.
Together they walked down the hallway and into the living room, beaming at their parents when they turned around and saw them. The mother squealed in delight seeing her precious babies, pulling them both into a big hug and wishing them a happy sixth birthday. The father grinned and told the kids that they were going to spend the entire day together as a family since he had taken the day off just to celebrate.
Within minutes, the young couple had gathered all the bags and were making sure the twins were secured in the backseat of the car. Once they were all set, the father pulled out of the driveway and onto the street. Neither mother or father noticed the way the twins looked back at their home in Tokyo, now growing small with the distance, or the way they kept a firm grasp on each other's hand during the hour-long trip to the fair.
The day at the fair passed on as one would expect: with loads of fun. The twins bounced around happily with their parents, indulging themselves with sweets that they normally didn't eat and going on rides that they seldom went on. Their father won them each a small stuffed brown bear with a black bow around its neck. After that, they all left the fair and made their way to a small park across the parking lot.
The picnic was filled with surprises. The couple had made sure they had each of the kid's favorite foods, delighting themselves in the looks of joy on their children's faces. After they ate their late lunch, the young man brought out a cake from the car, having lit up 6 candles and placing it on the picnic table. They sang the birthday song to their son and daughter and cheered when they put out the small flames.
Soon, it was time to open the presents. Neither child really expected gifts since they were both always very humble but they were gracious in whatever they got. Their parents taught them that giving was better than getting and when they received something to always be grateful for it because someone had made the effort to remember them. The kids picked up on this quickly and time and again made their parents proud.
The boy opened a box and pulled out a picture frame of him and his parents that was taken by his sister a couple of weeks earlier at the park. He smiled remembering how his twin had wanted to make sure it was just perfect and he was very happy to see that it did come out right. No other adult had been around to take the photograph and was content that his sister had volunteered her services in doing the small task. He quickly got up and gave his parents a kiss on the cheek before hugging his sister tightly, giggling when she said whispered in his ear that she had hoped it came out okay and not messed up because she was small.
Once the boy sat back down next to his sister, she opened up a small box and gasped in surprise. There, on a small black pillow lay her mom's necklace with the blue topaz teardrop pendant wrapped in gold. She blinked back a couple of tears and then beamed happily when her mother told her that her father had given it to her when he first tried to woo her several years earlier. The parents had both decided to give it to their little girl. She scrambled over and hugged both the man and the woman before she sat back down, pulling her dark hair over her shoulder when her brother moved to put the necklace around her neck.
The next hour flew by. The twins ran around, playing tag and other random games they knew or made up. The couple watched them with pride. They loved to see that the bond of being twins was very strong and was very obvious even to people who had just met them. They hoped that the bond would remain as it was and grow even more as they aged. After speaking quietly to themselves, the man and the woman began to pack up, smiling when the kids stopped their play and offered to help.
The sun had long ago set when they piled into the car. The little boy and girl helped each other settle down before taking each other's hand. She leaned her head on his shoulder, one hand playing with her pendant while he held the small box with his picture. They knew the ride home was going to seem long, especially since they were all tired.
An hour later, the car pulled into the driveway and stopped. The couple turned around in their seats to see their twins fast asleep, snuggling against each other. The father got out to open the door to the house as his wife carefully began unbuckling the seat belts. Soon, each parent had managed to pry a child off of the other before carrying them inside and into their bedroom. Shoes were gently taken off and both children were tucked into bed. The man and woman smiled upon their sleeping kids before they turned off the lights and began preparing themselves for their own rest.
Stop.
One would normally think a story like this has a happy ending. A day full of fun and excitement for a set of twins who turned a year older on August 3rd. But no. In all actuality, the last part didn't happen that way at all. The two children were never tucked into their own beds a little over an hour after they had gotten in car to leave the park. In fact, the car never even made it to the house.
Darkness filtered into the sky as the father drove home, trying to hold back his yawns. He squeezed his wife's hand, smiling softly over at her as he drove up the steep curvy hill that lead towards the city. Turning his eyes back out to the road, he gasped as he saw a truck going down at full-speed on the wrong side of the road. Hearing his wife's cry of horror and barely sparing a glance to watch the way his twins cuddled together in fear, he swerved to the left, aiming to drive along the shoulder. The car crashed through the side railings and soon dove down several hundred feet into the ponds that were below.
The impact of the car landing in the water made the waves crash against the rocks and back onto the shore. The screams that came from the car sent chills down the spines of some of the campers that saw what had happened. Quickly, they called for help and soon began trying to make their way towards the sinking car in hopes of saving whoever was inside.
Help came right away since there was a town closeby. The car was pulled out from the water and witnesses were telling their accounts of what had happened. The final report was made by one of the police officers:
August 3 at 9:47PM.
Family car pulled out of lake after having crashed through sidings when approached by truck in wrong lane for a head-on collision.
Total Victims: 4
-Two adults, one male (driver) and one female (passenger), dead on impact - heads crashing through glass of side windows.
-Two children, one male and one female (found huddled against each other despite injuries), alive with possible concussions and other minor injuries. Being taken immediately to hospital in Tokyo, fifteen minutes away.
Several hours passed and two children were finally taken out of the emergency room. Bandages wrapped around their heads to stop the bleeding from the cuts and abrasions they sustained from the impact of the concussions they obtained during the accident. Bandaids were placed over small cuts over their small bodies. Both were deep asleep and the doctors, worried as they were, let them rest for a couple of hours, waking them both up every hour as a standard check for their serious injuries.
The Police began searching to find out if they had any living relatives. Everything was coming up negative. The few items that were saved from the car had only showed that the couple, presumably the children's parents were celebrating their birthday. The little boy and girl were twins and had turned six that day. This fact had upset the doctors in the Tokyo hospital but what had happened another few hours later, deeply tore the hearts of those who had tried to help out.
A nurse had remained in the room with the kids in case any of them woke up during the night. She immediately called the head doctor once they began stirring. Before either of them could say anything, the twins sat up, wincing at the pains they felt throughout their bodies and stared at each other with blank expressions on their cute faces. The nurse moved closer to the bed and was surprised when the kids asked each other the same question. "Who are you?"
The update of the two children spread quickly throughout the hospital. The twins had amnesia and could not remember anything at all of what had happened and who they were. Soon, social workers from a couple of orphanages came by and a few short days after the accident, the twins were separated.
This is the story of my life - well, as I remember it. Hi. I'm Ariel Chiba. But please, just call me Ariel. I lived most of my life just going by Ariel. That's what the social worker who took me away from the hospital told me my name was. Anyway, this is how I grew up. I'm going to warn you. It's not really pretty and believe me, I'm not really thrilled with it either. But hey, I guess this is what makes me, well, me, and everything is thought to happen for a reason. So sit back, enjoy what you can. You can learn a lot if you care to look past the facade I allow to be seen.
TBC...
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