Woodland Ghosts

Megara blinked. Maybe...

"I...I haven't loved Rory in a long time. I...Runi, I love you.."

She had never in her life been more afraid of words.

Her eyes widened.

"Could you...could you say that again?" she whispered, already reaching a hand up to pinch her arm - this had to be a dream, right?

Megara swallowed hard. She didn't know if this was a dream or a nightmare. It didn't much matter, her heart was going to give out any second judging by the rate it was beating.

"I love you."

A tear suddenly rolled down her cheek.

It was abrupt and without warning, but Runi wasn't really concerned with why it had happened. She didn't even care that she was crying. More tears followed the first one, and she found that her voice was shaking just as much as it had before she got the confirmation.

"O-Oh," she managed to get out. "I...I thought it was Rory that you loved. Not me. But you were saying that to me."

She took a big, deep breath.

"I love you, too," she said. She gave her a small smile. "And you being you, not Nissam."

Runi was crying.

Megara might have felt the urge to cry herself if she wasn't so intent on comforting Runi. She hopped to her feet and pulled Runi into a hug. It would be easier to hug her if Megara was a bit taller, or if Runi was a tad shorter, but she made it work.

She eagerly returned the hug.

"I fell in love back at the dance," she admitted, tears still streaming down her face. She wasn't sure how clear her words were between the tears and her speaking too fast, but she hoped Megara understood what she was trying to say. "It was so hard when you wanted to pretend to be girlfriends, and then the kiss wasn't really for the act, because I really wanted to kiss you then. And I really wanted to kiss you earlier, too, but I also thought it would help-"

She paused, sniffled, and looked down at Megara.

"...Is it bad that I want to kiss you now?"

Megara looked up at her, searching her eyes, on instinct, for a lie. She couldn't believe this. She couldn't afford to be wrong.

Why not?

She didn't bother to argue with that.

"Kiss me." It was almost a demand.

Runi gladly did as asked.

She wasn't sure how long they were kissing, but she didn't really care. She just couldn't believe that Megara actually felt the same way - what were the chances of that?

Megara's mind was reeling and standing still. Her head was in the clouds and buried underground. She sensed everything and nothing and everything was everywhere and nowhere, but mostly she was happy. She found herself smiling through the kiss, pulling Runi down to deepen it. She never wanted it to end.

For a moment, Runi thought that she saw a glimpse of the actual Megara - not the copy of Nissam standing before her.

But the glimpse was too quick to see what Megara was like.

Runi suddenly found herself standing in her apartment, looking very much like herself. She was wearing the outfit she remembered wearing before she ended up as Rory: an old t-shirt, jeans, and a pair of mismatched socks.

And when she frantically looked around, Megara was nowhere to be found.

She checked her phone - it wasn't that long since she last remembered being in her room. Runi shoved her phone into her pocket, grabbed her purse and threw on a pair of sneakers.

She was going to find a way to get to Megara.

She had to.

Megara saw Runi for a moment. The real Runi, for a split second, then she was gone.

Megara was in her room, half-dressed in the gown she'd been getting out of after...whatever she'd been doing. She looked around. Runi? She knew better than to ask aloud. Runi wasn't there.

Eddie trotted into her room, hardly paying her any mind as he hurried over to the wall where he placed a single black pebble and scampered off again before Megara could say anything. She was home.

She discovered she didn't quite want to be.