24~ The Dragon

Mira

We were all gathered in a small hut behind the main house watching Bokuden place the last of the pork dumplings in a wicker basket to steam the food prepared for us.

"There," He said as he faced us again. "The preparations are finished. Wait a little while."

"Cool!" Luffy leaned closer.

Usopp took in a deep breath of that heavenly smell of pork. "Smells good!"

"I see... This is the real deal." Sanji walked behind Bokuden to get a closer look. "Old man, how long do we have to wait?"

"Hm? Well..." He thought for a moment. "Maybe four to five hours."

"WHAT?!" Usopp and Luffy cried out in horror.

I shrugged. "It's not that long of a wait."

"Come in side." Bokuden led the way to his home. "This way." We followed after him and claimed spots in the main room. I sat next to Zoro against the wall, and Luffy by the window. The others were scattered about.

"Man..." Luffy complained. "I'm starving..."

"Bokuden-san," Nami faced him. "Why is the Navy after Apis? Do you have any ideas?"

"Apis, do you have an idea?" He asked his granddaughter.

"Not at all!" She replied.

"You said there was a reason, but you didn't want to tell," Nami said.

"Oh that!" She chuckled. "I lied..."

I groaned and hit my head against the wall. "I had a feeling it was like that..." Or she's hiding something...

"Then none at all," Bokuden picked up his glass and sipped from it.

"None at all?!"

"Usopp, sit down... I don't wanna stare at you butt..." I called over to him. He glared at me, but sat.

"Really, there's nothing on this island." His voice took on a more mysterious tone. "Nothing but a legend."

"Legend?" Zoro asked.

"The residents are said to be descendents of Lost Island people," I glanced over at Apis. She seemed bored out of her mind. "Who prospered but sank into the sea tens of thousands of years ago. On Lost Island, there lived dragons called Milennial Dragons. Those bones of the dragons are called Dragonite." Bokuden stood and paced over to the other side of the room. "And it's said to be an exlir of immortality."

"I see..." Sanji let out a puff of smoke. "But a legend like that is no reason for a Navy to get involved." Bokuden put a glass cover over a small flame of a lamp to keep the wind from hitting it.

"Yeah," Usopp agreed. "Why is the Navy doing this in the first place?"

"Maybe because they have nothing else to do?" I suggested. "They want to chase an old legend just to say they're doing something 'productive'." I air-quoted.

"Doesn't this legend hold some sort of clue or something?" Zoro questioned as Bokuden paced back to his seat and sat.

"To begin with," Something tells me this is going to be a long story... "The first king of Lost Island was Iscardunk. Now, King PokePortes had three children. The oldest was BokeHontas, the second eldest was BokeBonBoko, and the third was BokeBokepon. One day, the king said to these three, 'Listen. Go find the tree that grows stars, which is said to be in Dragon's Valley.' So, BokeHontas, BokeBonBoku, and BokeBokepon blah blah blah blah..." I tuned him out near the end of that little speal and closed my eyes.

My head slipped over and lightly thunked against something. I didn't think anything of it as I let sleep consume me.

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

Zoro

I groaned to myself, wishing I hadn't opened my big mouth to ask about the legend. This old guy was gonna speak for hours, and he's just spouting off nonsense about three sons, a star tree, and some weird fish that fell out of the sky. At least, I think that's what he said... I wasn't paying attention anymore.

I jerked and stiffened when I felt Mira's head rest on my right arm. My heart was beating pretty hard as I fought to control my emotions around her. My cheeks heated up slightly as she snuggled in closer to me. Did she really just fall asleep that fast? I think she fell asleep faster than I can!

I bit my lip as I stared down at Mira's peaceful expression as she slept. What is it about her that makes me act this way? Is it the way she talks? The way she walks? The air of confidence around her? The way she's willing to head into a fight, no matter the outcome? In a way, she kinda resembles me... Is that what drew me to her?

My breath caught in my throat as Mira slid down off my arm and practically crawled half way into my lap and curled up like a real neko would. I swear she was purring softly in her sleep. Her hair was sprawled out on my lap and a little on the floor. Her tail came from under her skirt and draped itself across her legs.

I tried my hardest to relax and sleep myself, but it was proving to be a bit difficult with her right there in my lap. I swallowed hard and lightly placed a hand on her head, right below her ears. I could feel the purrs coming from her throat, which was comforting.

I do believe this could be love. Am I entirely sure? No. Am I willing to find out? Yes.

Eventually, I fell asleep myself.

"Now, the 132nd king, IncrestLio wound his way to the water's edge..." Was the last thing I heard from the old man.

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

Mira

Birds chirping outside woke me from a nice, sound sleep. Morning already? Slowly, I stretched myself awake, a small squeak coming from my throat. I opened my eyes and saw I was laying on someone's lap.

W-wait a second...

"EEK!" I flung myself out of Zoro's lap just as the door burst open.

"There's a problem!" A guy from the village shouted. "Bokuden-san! Where's Apis!" He didn't wake up.

"What's wrong?" Nami asked him.

"You guys're pirates, right?" His eyes clouded over with anger. "There's a Navy Fleet blocking the harbor!"

"And that's our problem... how?" I asked around a yawn as I tried to make myself forget that I was sleeping in Zoro's lap.

"Mira!" Nami snapped at me, then addressed the guy. "That can't be right. Just to get Apis?"

"Why are they after a girl like that?" Usopp wondered.

"Hey!" We faced Nami. "Everyone, come with me!"

Sanji was on his feet in less than a second. "Certainly, Nami-chan~♥!"

"Why?" Luffy asked as he stared up at her.

"Just do it!" She said through gritted teeth.

I shrugged and stood, stretching out full length. "Alright, let's see what Nami has to show us. Come on, Lazy Butt." I got Zoro to his feet.

"What do we do with the old man?" We turned our attention to said man. His head was bobbing slightly as he muttered the story in his sleep.

"Looks like he's sound asleep, so we'll leave him." Nami suggested. She focused on the man who entered the hut. "Hey, when Bokuden-san wakes up, tell him that we'll protect Apis."

"Okay..." He said softly.

"Let's go, then.." I gestured toward the back door. "We're wasting time."

"Right," Nami led us out the back and past the hut where the dumplings were. The smell of pork wasn't coming out, and I was a little disappointed. Luffy probably ate them all last night...

We went through the forest and around some bends as we climbed a few hills. We came to a dead end later.

"Now what?" Nami moved some of the vines away to reveal a new path. "Oh." We crouched down and went through there. The next obsticle was a large cliff. The road started up on the other side. Luffy stretched across and made a bridge. While Nami and Usopp were carefully crossing, I found a long strand of rope secured to a tree branch. I took ahold of it and swung across.

"It'll be faster this way!" I called over as I swung the rope back. Sanji took it and swung over and passed it back to Zoro, who in turn swung over with us. We waited for Usopp to get across, then for Luffy to snap back to his original form before we continued on up the incline of the hill. Or is this now part of the mountain?

Eventually, we made it to a cave. "In here, everyone," Nami walked in and I followed behind her, then Usopp, then Sanji, Luffy, and Zoro last.

"What is it you wanna show us, Nami?" I asked as I glanced around. "All I see is rocks, water dripping from the walls and-" WHAT THE HOLY HELL IS THAT THING?!?! I stumbled back and fell on my butt, my mouth hanging open to my chest.

This... creature before me took up room from floor to ceiling. It was covered in brittle, green feathers. Teeth stuck out from it's long mouth on the top and bottom. Even though they were turning a yellow color, they looked like they could still tear a limb off in one bite.

What in the world am I seeing right at this very moment?

"Hi, everyone!" I snapped my gaze up to the top of this thing to see Apis on top of it, a bright smile in place.

"This is the Millennial Dragon Grandpa Bokuden was talking about," Nami informed us.

"D-dragon...?" I barely whispered.

"See?!" Luffy quivered with excitement. "Isn't he cool?!"

"Don't talk like he's yours!" Nami scolded him.

I gulped. "If what you mean by cool is nearly shitting my pants at the sight of this beast, then yes... I wanna go now... I knew we shouldn't have stayed..."

"Why are you being so negative?!" Nami sighed heavily.

"When you get closer to the Grande Line, you see more things like this, huh?" Zoro asked just above a whisper.

"Since there are Sea Kings, I guess this is possible..." Sanji agreed.

"Can we go now...?" I asked fearfully.

"No!" Nami stopped my retreat. "He's harmless!"

"I-is he really harmless?" Usopp asked. The dragon came right up close to Usopp and stuck it's tongue out.

I screamed. "OH MY GOD! HE'S EATING USOPP!!"

"Ah!" Apis pulled on some of the dragon's feathers. "He can be senile sometimes! If he acts like you're food, get away!"

"It's too late!" Usopp cried out as the dragon took him by his head.

"Usopp!" I backed away as far as possible. "NO!! He was a brave soldier..." I laid on my side and let tears flow down my face and onto the rocky ground.

"It doesn't hurt, right?" I heard Luffy ask Usopp. He then laughed at his misery. "I guess you call it soft-mouth?"

"What're you saying?!" Usopp began to squirm around to get away. "He's not a puppy!"

I stood on my feet and wiped away my tears. "Shall I say a few words for our fallen friend?"

"I'm not dead, Mira!" He began to squirm harder.

"O great and powerful Universe that surrounds us and controls our very lives-"

"Mira, this isn't funny!"

"We hope and pray that our comrade Usopp is now in a better place where he can tell all of his adventures to those who will listen."

"Mira!!" Finally, he got free. After yelling at me for a few minutes, he hid behind a rock away from the dragon.

The dragon blew steam out of its nose and stared at Usopp.

"What the Navy is after is this Millennial Dragon," Nami said as she crossed her arms. "Frankly, the reason I brought you all here is that we'd like to bring this dragon back to Lost Island."

"Isn't there a reason as to why it's lost?" I asked. "I mean, it's lost! As in, not there anymore! How're we supposed to find it?"

"Mira's right!" Usopp stood from his hiding place. "Besides, the Navy is closing in on us! We're gonna have enough trouble just getting away, how in the heck are we supposed to take such a big creature..?"

"Grandpa Ryu... wants to go home..." Apis said softly. That shut Usopp up. "So..."

"Don't tell me, Luffy..." Usopp glanced up at him with hope in his eyes. "That you promised her, like, 'Yeah! I'll bring him home!'..."

"Yeah," Luffy looked down at him from his perch on a rock. "I promised and said 'I'll bring him home.'"

"Don't do that!" Usopp flailed his arms. "We don't even know where that island is, right?! How are we supposed to get there?!"

"If we go, it'll work out somehow." I wanna slap Luffy.

"The world doesn't work that, idiot!" I sighed and slowly walked up to the dragon. "So, you're a dragon, huh?" It stared at me deep into my eyes. "I've never seen one before... You know, now that I'm up close, you don't seem as threatening... May I...?" I reached a hand out towards it and lightly stroked its neck.

I felt my eyes widen, and I fell into a sort of trance.

I'm in the sky, and I feel free. I can see many dragons flying below me migrating to this one spot. I feel... happy. Happy to see them all going into one spot and that I'm with them. These other dragons are magnificent and its breath taking to see them all together.

I pulled my hand back and the scene faded away. "Wow..."

"Alright!" I hissed, started at the sudden noise. "Oh, sorry, Mira. Didn't mean to scare you..." Apis laughed awkwardly.

"Mira," I looked back to Nami. "We need your help in making a cart to get Grandpa Ryu down the mountain and away from the Navy. You, Luffy, Zoro, and Sanji are gonna go into the forest and chop down as many trees as possible."

I stood and saluted her. "Hai! Anything for a friend in need." I ran from the cave to the forest where the others were and began hacking down trees left and right. By the time we were done, we had five piles of neatly trimmed logs ready to make a cart.

I stretched and put my katana away. "That wasn't so hard."

"Is this enough?" Luffy asked Nami.

"Yup!" She held up a thumb and winked. "OK!"

Usopp groaned. "Since you all did this, I guess I have no choice... Alright, alrght... I'll do it... I'll help..." And so the construction began. We got as many of the logs ready for Usopp as he began to build the main body structure for the cart. He hammered in woden nails that I carved into the wheel to keep it in place on both sides.

After an hour of constructing and making sure everytihng was stable, we stepped back. Usopp wiped sweat from his face. "Phew! I guess that's it."

Apis was dancing on the cart while Luffy was hitting his foot on it to check if it was sturdy enough. "This won't break even when Grandpa Ryu rides it!" She gave a giggy sounding laugh and I smiled.

"But wait," We turned to Sanji. "Isn't the harbor blocked by the Navy? What will we do this the ship?"

My spirits fell a bit. "He's got a point..." Apis stopped jumping around. I thought I saw tears in her eyes.

"Isn't it gonna work out?" Luffy asked.

"No, it won't." Sanji said bluntly.

"Shall we make a raid?" A huge smile lit up my face at what Zoro just said. I turned to face him.

"I'd love to!" I cheered.

"Yeah, let's do it." Sanji agreed.

"That's not gonna work since we have Grandpa Ryu." Nami sighed.

I was deflated once more. "Way to kill it, Nami..."

"Hush, Mira! I have a plan." Plan? "A plan to get Grandpa Ryu out of here."

"What kind of plan?" I asked.

"It's a plan to carry him out of here." She replied. "By the way, I want the Going Merry to be brought to the rear of the island."

"Okay!" Usopp stepped forward with a determined look on his face. "It's the precious ship Kaya gave to us! I'll do it! However!" Oh great, a however... "Zoro has to come with me! And Mira!"

"Eh?" Did I just hear him right. "I have to go?"

"Me too?!" Zoro wasn't too happy.

"Then I'll leave it to you guys." Nami concluded her little speech.

Usopp gave a triumphant laugh. "Okay, so... how about we wait until nightfall?"

I groaned loudly. "Night isn't until several hours! It's only late morning!"

"No!" His idea was shot down instantly by everyone.

"So, where shall we pull the ship around to?" I asked Nami.

"See that?" She pointed clear down the other side of the mountain. "Bring the ship to the edge of the cape that looks like Usopp's nose."

Luffy chuckled and moved to get a better look. "You're right! It is his nose!"

Usopp scratched the side of his nose. "So what're we gonna do? Just bringing the ship around won't-"

"Don't worry about it," Nami interrupted him. "I don't think they'd find this place so easily. But in any case, you three should hurry up."

I shrugged. "Alright, let's go."

I stopped when Usopp started complaining once more. "What?! Doing things on a hit-or-miss basis isn't-"

Nami wasn't listening. "Sanji-kun! Luffy! Put Grandpa Ryu on the cart!"

"Okay!" "Yes, Nami-chan!"

"Let's go, Usopp." I took a protesting Usopp by the back of his shirt and began dragging him back the way we came. "Acting like a big baby isn't gonna give you your way."

~~

After a quick hiking trip, we made it behind a home and carefully peeked around. Marines were surrounding the docks.

"This is why I said we should await until night..." Usopp whined.

I rolled my eyes. "Quit complaining, Usopp. I know how to get on the ship. Both of you, take my hand." Zoro didn't hesitate to.

"What're you planning, Mira?" Usopp asked suspiciously.

"Just take my hand!" I snapped. He quickly took it.

Slowly, I shut my eyes and concentrated. Soon, the sound of the waves, birds, and little activity in the village stopped, as if there was no sound at all. I opened my eyes and glanced around. Everything was so still, it could have been a painting.

I stood and pulled the other two with me. "C'mon. I don't know how long I can keep this up! Don't touch anything!" We jogged right past the Marines and right up to the ship. "Okay, we made it. Now, when I let go of your hands, all motion and sound will flood your senses all at once. Try not to freak out."

They nodded. "Alright, I'll go up first, then Zoro, and Usopp takes up the rear. Any questions?" They shook their heads. "Okay, on the count of three. One... two... three." I let go and everything was in motion once more. I quickly and quietly went up the ladder, Zoro soon after me.

Usopp was a little slower. When he was half way up, a breeze of wind caught the ladder and he squealed.

"H-hey!"

"AH!" Usopp cried as he quickly climbed the rest of the way up the ladder. "He saw me!"

"Zoro! Get that anchor up now!" I snapped my fingers in the directoin of the anchor and Zoro ran off. "Usopp! Quit acting like a wuss and help me ward them off!" I shoved my hands into his side bag and pulled out handfuls of his different stars he made.

"Don't let them escape!" They tried to dodge them. "Fire!"

"Duck!" I shoved Usopp to the floor of the deck as bullets sailed above our heads. Just then, the sails quickly unfurled and we caught our wind. The ship began to sail away.

"Wh-what?!"

"There's a third one?!"

I stood and threw one last egg at a Marine. "Eat it, Marines! Ack!" I clutched my arm and fell to the deck. "Damn it, it hurts!" I pulled my hand away from my upper arm to see blood coating my hand and running down my arm.

Usopp screamed like a little girl. "Z-Zoro! Mira's been shot!"

Zoro was at my sidde in an instant. "Where?! Where did you get hit?!"

I swatted their hands away from me. "Stop it! Stop! I'm fine! Just get me a wet washcloth!" Usopp scampered off to get one. Zoro went around to where he was and carefully took up my arm.

"Mira," I met his gaze. "Why do you keep getting hurt? Why didn't you wait until we were a fair distance from the Marines before you stood up. Had that bullet hit you any closer to your heart, you'd be dead!"

I sighed softly. "I thought I could get one more egg thrown at the Marines and be able to duck back down in time, but I wasn't fast enough. But there's nothing to worry about. I can already feel my wound closing up." My eyes widened a bit. "Oh shit. The bullet's still in my arm." I made the nails of my index finger and thumb lengthen and sharpen.

Just as I sliced my arm open to get the bullet out, Usopp came back. He screamed. "Mira! What're you doing?!"

Heavy amounts of blood flowed down my arm. I gritted my teeth and caught the startled expression on Zoro's face as he watched me. "G-getting the bullet out... I c-can't have my arm heal if it's still in there..."

"But you're making it worse!" Zoro tried to pull my hand away from my arm, which was now covered liberally in blood. "Stop it, Mira! Stop!"

"B-but I almost... got it!" My nails connected with metal. "I got it! Zoro! Let go of my hand! Before you make this worse for me!"

"How the hell can you say that when you're making a huge puddle of blood on the deck!?" He shouted, but reluctantly pulled his hand away.

"S-so much blood..." Usopp took shaky steps toward me and held the cloth out.

"J-just a second..." As slowly as I could manage, I pulled my fingers from my arm, the bullet grasped firmly between my index and thumb. I gave a gasped sigh of relief once my fingers and the bullet were out of my arm.

"Th-there..." I dropped the bullet into the pool of blood around me. "I got it... Give me that cloth." Usopp handed it to me and I pressed it to my open wound. "Zoro, Usopp, you guys better get this ship going in the right direction, or we'll never get the dragon off this island." They both left, but they were very reluctant. "I promise I'll still be awake when you return."

Soon, the ship began to shake violently as we tried to steer away from a Marine ship. As it was, we scraped right up against one of the ships, leaving what looked like huge claw marks, forever scarring the Marine ship.

Given the angle we were leaning at, the blood around me trailed along the floorboards and to the edge of the ship.

We zipped past all the ships in the harbor as the shrill ringing of bells sounded around us.

My vision began to dim from the lack of blood. "Come on, blood..." I gasped out. "Hurry up and heal me..." I pushed the cloth closer to the wound, even though it was already soaked all the way through with my blood.

"Come on..." I begged for my body to co-operate with me once more. "Please... Please heal soon..."

"I see the cart!" Usopp called from above. "We're almost there! AH! The Navy's right behind us! Damnit! After all we went through to escape!"

"We haven't escaped yet." Zoro stated as a ship started to pull up right beside us.

"Zoro Zoro Zoro Zoro! Take care of the sail!"

"Leave it to me!" He called out. "You check on Mira!"

I winced and clutched at my arm. Just as Usopp made it to me, I could feel my body finally beginning to heal.

"Mira!" He tipped my head back and gasped softly. "You're so pale... Are you alright?!"

I gave him a weak smile. "I'm fine, Usopp... I can feel myself beginning to heal... Don't worry about me... Can you help me to a safer spot?" Usopp helped me to my feet and brought me to the front of the ship and leaned me against the railing.

"Stay here!" He ordered. "I gotta steer the ship!" He ran off below deck.

The second he was gone, I removed the cloth from my arm and grimaced. "It's not that bad..." I said to myself as I watched the skin slowly stitched itself back together and close. "It's not that bad... I've had worse injuries... I've survived from worse... I even came back from dying!" I sniffed and tears began to roll down my cheeks. "Damn it... It hurts so much... Why does it hurt so much?"

I coughed and replaced the cloth again. "I didn't cry when I was being whipped... I didn't cry when Morgan nearly cut my tail off... I didn't cry when Helmeppo's stupid wolf bit me... nor when he tried to tear my ears off... I never shed a tear when fighting Buggy's crew, or when I had my side stabbed by my own katana... My eyes were dry when I fought with Arlong! Why am I crying now?!"

I looked up towards the mountain and saw  huge plume of dust coming at us at a rapid pace. "What in the world...? AH! Zoro! Usopp!" I shouted as loud as I could. "They're coming down the mountain now! Get ready!"

"Ready for what?!" Zoro called back.

"I don't know! Just be ready for anything!" I looked back up and watched as they got closer and closer to the meeting spot. We're almost there as well. Given the speed at which we are both going, we should reach the spot at the exact same time.

"Nami said to come to the edge of the cape, right?" Usopp asked as he and Zoro came to where I was.

"Yeah," Zoro and I said at the same time.

"Darn... We couldn't get rid of them..." I looked back up just as we were starting to pass right under the cape.

"Yeah..." My eyes widened as Zoro spoke. "Well, after all, we do get to raid them. Huh? What's- Crap!!" The cart came right over the cape and smashed into the Marine ship's mast that was beside us, making the ropes snap and sending the mast plummeting to the water. The ones on the cart were cheering and enjoying themselves as they flew over both ships and into the water.

They landed in the water and skipped across it a few times before they landed with a tremendous splash and drifted a short ways. "That was a crazy plan!" Zoro shouted down to them as we sailed over to them then came to a stop so we could connect the cart to the ship.

"Well, it worked!" Apis gave us a thumbs up.

I slowly rose to my feet and shuffled over to the edge of the railing. "That was pretty cool, but you guys gotta be careful!"

"We were careful!" Luffy insisted as he looked up at me.

"I'll go get some rope!" Usopp ran off below deck to grab some.

"Oi, Mira." Luffy called up to me.

"Yes?"

"What happened to your arm?"

I pulled the cloth away from my arm and stared at the completely healed skin. "Oh, just a minor injury on my part. Nothing to worry about."

"I've got rope!" Usopp tied strands of sturdy rope to the Going Merry, then jumped down to the cart to secure it in place. He stood and admired his work. "Phew! I think this will do." Sanji helped Nami back onto the ship while Luffy simply stretched his way back up.

"That was so much fun!" Apis giggled as she retold the exciting ride they had down the mountain.

"Apis!" She looked up to Nami. "Are you alright?"

She nodded, a bright smile on her face. "Yep!"

Nami turned to Luffy. "Luffy, we can leave any time now."

"Okay!" He leaned back a bit. "Set sail for the Lost Island!"

"But which way is it?" Usopp asked from the cart.

"Um... That way?" He pointed in a random direction. "Or that way? Or that way? Maybe this way?"

We're gonna be here all day until he decided which way to go...

~~Later~~

"There!" I wrang out the last of the water from the cloth I used to clean off all the blood on me and draped it over my sink. "I'm completely blood free." I turned my left arm towards the mirror and lightly ran a finger over the faint scar. "Can't even tell it happened."

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the bullet I was able to save, the one that was in my arm. "Seems like an ordinary bullet to me..." I mused. "I don't know what's so special about it that made it hurt so much..." I turned it over in my fingers a few times to look at it from different angles.

A knock sounded at my door. "Come in," I called to the person.

Zoro entered my room. "Hey, Mira..." He huffed as he flopped onto my bed.

I rolled my eyes and stuck the bullet back in my pocket. "Please, just go ahead and make yourself at home. It's not like I was gonna go to sleep soon." I walked out from the bathroom and crossed my arms.

He shrugged, kicked his feet up, then crossed his hands behind his head on my pillow. "Okay. Thanks Mira."

My eye twitched. "I was using sarcasm... Idiot..."

He opened an eye at me. "Oh, you were?"

I sighed heavily. "Yeah, I was. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna change into my pajamas." I reached under my pillow and grabbed them.

Zoro closed his eye once more. "Whatever."

I went into my bathroom and shut the door to change. When I came back out, I found Zoro snoring loudly on my bed. I began to contemplate all the ways I could wake him up and get him really pissed. But he looks so peaceful and cute in his sleep... I decided against waking him and tossed my clothes in a corner of my room.

I went over to my desk and dimmed the lamp flame to a dim light and pulled out a small notebook. I opened it to the page I was working on and pulled out my pen. I read over the current lyrics to a song I had written down, then began to write out the rest.

Once it was written down and edited, I lightly tapped a steady beat and began to sing it.

I'll keep believing in the future, not caring if anyone laughs at me

The passion running within you makes you shine

It's too dazzling, but I want to keep watching you

Somehow, sensing those aesthetics makes me really really stuck on you

Chasing, chasing after the one in my dreams

That is like no one else

With a feeling that burns like it's kindling the dawn

I don't know yet what the consequences will be

Instead of these boring times, it's gotta be dramatic

Until we achieve that, believe in wonderland!

Under casual rules, we've avoided a mountain of problems

But because of your pride, you can't turn back down this road

On your weak nights when troubles keep coming

I will hold you tight, I wanna wanna be with you

Holding on, we keep holding on

To a dream that no one else can see

Because I'm with you, we have such hot feelings

We don't really need consistency

Instead of a mundane routine,

Run towards paradise and believe in wonderland!

Chasing, chasing after the one in my dreams

That is like no one else

With a feeling that burns like it's kindling the dawn

I don't know yet what the consequences will be

Instead of these boring times, it's gotta be dramatic

Until we achieve that, believe in wonderland!

I smiled to myself and left the book open so the ink could dry. I pushed the book away from me a bit and laid my head down on my arms and soon fell into a deep sleep.