In between the scenes ...
This is something I've been working on, and it just popped out ready to go. This is little bits and pieces of what happens between the scenes of a certain anime, and I tie it into another. I'll tell you right now, most fans should know one of these, most will have heard of the other, and neither has ever had a fanfic done for them as far as I know. So this is an experimental bit, I've probably twisted a few facts from both animes, but not knowing about the smaller one has always been an annoyance, so here's my answer. If you can't figure it out, I do tell at the end, but you'll probably go Huh? if you haven't seen either of them. For the few brave souls that don't watch that much anime, I'm so sorry, if you found this interesting, go watch the two animes! You won't regret it. Note, hane is a japanese word, and is pronounced ha - nay. It means down, feather or wing. Oh, drat, that's a major clue. ^ ^
IN BETWEEN THE SCENES ...
By Charles Hurst, who finds this writing thing to get more and more addictive and time-consuming the more he tries it.
Midori lifted her hood to get a better look at the prisoner. Her hand was sweaty were it held the small pistol. Kei had insisted she have it. Someone had heard the police had increased their patrols, and everyone had been ordered to resist them until He had come for the prisoner, to offer the sacrifice to bring the End and the Beginning. She shivered a little as she stared at the stranger, and wished this would all end soon.
***
The director smiled coldly. His eyes came up from the report on the screen before him to fix on the grim man in the dark uniform standing at attention in front of him.
"They're all in one place, and our inside informant says they are planning to kill the prisoner. Per regulation 43-1-a, you are hereby authorized to use deadly force if any resistance is offered." He paused for a minute, then continued as his eyes bored deep into those of the officer. "I would prefer that the only person that comes out of there alive be the prisoner."
The officer hesitated but for a second, then resolution hardened his face. "Perhaps we should inform the troops that this is a military action to suppress a group of dangerous insurrectionists threatening to blow the main reactor core," he suggested.
The director nodded. "That will work. You have your orders."
***
She stared out from beneath her hane, a tear rolling down one grubby cheek. She had been sent to tell them, a very important message, her first assignment. But the air burned her throat, and instead of clear, ringing, dulcet tones only unintelligible croakings would come out. Surely he had wanted her to convey the message - Meikeru had given it to her personally!
The iron burned her ankle were it bound her, and her arm ached from where the old man had grabbed it after they threw the net over her. She coughed and felt something give inside her. Surely Meikeru would be told to send someone to rescue her! She wrapped her hane close about her and tried to sleep. Only in her dreams did the pain in this world go away.
***
Ginta grinned through his visor at Hiroshi. "Nothing like a couple of old-timers getting dragged along to babysit a bunch of rookies. How'd you get us off street duty for this?"
Hiroshi grinned back. "They had a couple of guys turn up with major hangovers and I just happened to owe their sergeant a few favors. Besides, its easy duty, we're just going to arrest a few religious wackos."
"Still, I wish we could have sat in on the briefing," Ginta muttered, checking his gas mask's filter for the millionth time.
"You heard the sergeant, there was too much risk of someone realizing we weren't a part of his unit, and you know what kind of trouble we would have been in then, especially with Ohara being the officer in charge. He still hates your guts plenty from the last time."
Ginta shrugged. "That's one guy the force could really do without." The pitch from the hopper's engines began to climb, and he grinned wildly. "This is it!" he yelled gleefully, and both men grabbed onto something solid.
***
The building trembled beneath her, and she could hear faint screams intermixed with loud sharp noises.
"Meikeru," she tried to whisper, but her vision began to dim as something else gave inside. *I wonder were we go when we die,* she wondered to herself just before the darkness claimed her completely.
***
Midori tried to say something as she felt someone lifting her by her arm. Her hood fell off. Nothing seemed to work anymore, but the pain had finally gone away.
It had all gone terribly wrong, everyone falling about her then the terrifying cold pain that slammed into her middle, knocking her legs out from under her, leaving her lying on the floor, unable to move.
"This one's dead," she heard the man holding her say, and then she was falling ... falling with nothing to stop her, plunging into the eternal night ...
***
"DAMN IT, Hiroshi! Most of them are kids! We're killing children again." Ginta slammed his fist into a bullet-scarred pillar. Hiroshi used a shaking hand to knock a cigarette out and lit it up, taking a deep drag to steady his nerves.
"Here," he said, offering another to Ginta.
"And then ... how they treated her, the prisoner! She was just a scared little girl."
"They'll keep her locked up for the rest of her life," Hiroshi muttered. There was a long silence.
They both looked up at the same time. Ginta grinned. "See you at my place in a few hours. I have to take care of a few things first."
***
She could breath again, but is was still cold and dark. She wondered what had happened to the nice man who had given her the drink of water.
Lights flared and something stabbed her tsubasa. She shrieked and thrashed about blindly.
***
Thank God Hiroshi had known about the jets. And that he had been able to hold it together long enough to crash them into that complex before the fuel gave out.
***
Free at last, the earth below, the sky and sun above, the air clear and fresh. But it was empty. No matter how she called, no one responded. Despair enfolded her and she began to slowly circle towards the ground.
***
Ginta stared hard at Hiroshi's friend. "Explain that in words I can understand. What exactly are you going to do to her?"
The scientist glared back. "Don't they teach you anything in school these days? Okay, to keep it basic - that unit over there is a special biogenetics/cryogenics unit of my own design. The two units attached to it are a power cell which should last the better part of 3000 years if necessary, and the other is a specially-tailored AI program. Its job is to monitor the surrounding environment and modify the inhabitant of the cryo unit so they can survive when they finally emerge."
"Explain to me again why we're going to do this to her, Hiroshi." Ginta's pain-filled eyes turned to his friend. "We could take care of her, couldn't we? Or just use this cryo gizmo to change her now into an ordinary girl, right?"
Hiroshi shook his head sadly. "It takes too long, decades for even the smallest change. And with a man like the director, and some of the things we saw them developing in the army, the world may not be that nice a place for her in the short haul. We have to do this, Ginta, for her sake. You heard her, all her friends, the people of her kind, she can't find them, they're gone."
Ginta spun on the scientist. "How can you be sure this will work on her? She may not even be human!"
The scientist nodded his head. "That's a valid point, but the principles of genetics and the modification there of that I have imbued in this creation of mine work on all creatures, regardless of species. And the basic scan of her code that I did indicates that if she isn't human, she's very closely related."
Ginta scowled, but his shoulders slumped. Then his head snapped back and he glared at them. "One thing then, we put it in a safe place I know of, I don't want to leave it here where it will definitely be found. Anybody disagree?"
Hiroshi smiled, for the first time since they had watched the little girl go free. "You mean the place down on the coast, near the little fishing village? The abandoned bunker? I think that's a great idea!"
***
There was a light shining in her eyes, and then warm hands picked her up and pulled her out of her comfortable spot. She tried to voice a complaint, but all that came out was a feeble wail of distress.
"Look, dearest, there are feathers beneath her in the crypt. She's been sent us by the gods!" The pretty young queen held the small girl close, brushing her hair back from her face. A moment of pain brushed the woman's face as stiff fingers did little but push the wisps of brown hair aside.
"Yes, she's lovely," the king whispered, but he wasn't looking at the child, and the pain that filled his eyes went deep into his heart.
She looked up at him, a silent communion passing between them. "Thank you, beloved," she whispered, "she's beautiful. You did promise me a daughter, didn't you?"
He snorted, rocking back, his heart twisting in agony, but he would not burden her with his grief. "What do you want to call her, this god-given child of ours?"
She closed her eyes, her face softening for just a minute, then her eyes flew open. "I have a wonderful name for her! But first, promise me, promise me you'll," she stopped, and he grasped her hand, pulling her against him, the child wedged between them.
"She is my daughter, a gift given me by you, and I will treasure her the rest of my life. She will be the child we never had, and will rule one day in my place. You have the promise of the king. What name, then, my morning star, my first taste of spring?"
She smiled at his flowery speech. She once again touched the little face before her in wonder. The crypt must have been designed for a much larger person, someone the size of a 14-year old girl, but when they had opened it, there was a small child inside, not more than 3 or 4 years of age.
She whispered softly, so softly he was forced to lean close and hold his breath. "Call her ... Nausicaa."
The End
You can watch the happy parts of the anime yourself. If you can't guess which two animes, for shame! There are two of the greatest, in my opinion. I'll tell you if you really want to know, but here's a clue, you've already heard half the title of the movie, and the other is very short, and its name is something you would hear at the beginning of a race. What can I say, it struck me in a moment of fancy, to fill in the holes, and then what? My brain wanted to know, so I told it a story to make it happy. Enjoy!
Okay, for those who really want to know, the first part of this fanfic is based on the On Your Mark music video animated by Ghibli/Miyazaki for Chage and Asuka (the copy of this I saw was from the complete Ghibli LD set, the one that is the complete collection of movies and extras by Ghibli/Miyazaki. The second and last part is sort of a prequel to Nausicaa and the Valley of the Wind, the movie by Miyazaki/Ghibli. Both are beautifully animated, and easily touch the heart. If you haven't seen them, do!
Ja ne!
Charles Hurst
charlesh@teleport.com
