Rain poured from the sky, sliding over the face and soaking the long brown hair of the young man standing at the lamppost, watching the sky. A girl in her late teens saw him standing there and recognized him immediately. She walked over slowly, carefully, not minding the rain drenching every part of her. Her blonde hair was turned a light brown by the water's permeation. She reached up a hand to touch his arm, and then decided against it. Feeling him there didn't mean that he was actually there.
"Hey," she greeted instead.
He turned to face her, "Hey. Long time no see." She nodded, and leaned on the adjacent side of the pole. Her eyes misted slightly with tears, but she let the rain pour down her face and cry for her.
"You're not real, are you?" she asked softly. He grinned and laughed. Even though she wasn't facing him, she could see it. So it was a dream, then. She wasn't seeing nonexistent people in the real world.
"No, I'm not."
"I had a... crush on you."
"I know. You told me."
The two stood in silence for a while, letting the rain thoroughly waterlog them.
"You didn't care about me as much as the others, though," he commented, "I'm just a symbol. You loved your enemy, and those four you called your flesh and blood."
"I still always envisioned you, holding out a rose to me."
"It's not my thing to do something like that. Besides, even in the story I was in love with someone else."
She sighed and nodded, "I know."
The young man disappeared, replaced by a woman in her early 20s. She bore an odd resemblance to the girl. She smiled and made a comment.
"You idiot."
The girl turned to face her. She recognized the woman's black spaghetti-strap shirt and tan shorts. She recognized the steel glint in her eyes. Their silver dragon-Pegasus medallions matched perfectly. In her left ear, the woman wore a small, pale blue hoop earring. She was smiling with easy familiarity. The girl was startled. She recognized the woman, but the person she knew her as was much younger. Then again, this was a dream. The rain took a moment before beginning to fall on the woman.
The girl said her name aloud, "Combo."
"You need to let go," Combo instructed, putting an arm on the girl's shoulder, "Even if I ever existed, I'm dead now. I died in the story. There's a reason for that. I'm a part of you that you no longer need to survive day to day."
"But, I really--" the girl protested.
"Cared about me? Get over it. I'm a cold person. I'm that part of your personality that sealed up your heart to all emotion."
"But you cared about us!"
"I would have left any one of you to die without regrets."
"That's because we all would prefer to die and reach heaven sooner rather than later."
"True. Very true. Stay that way, not being attached to this world. But..." Combo shifted a wet strand of hair out of the girl's eyes, "Don't try to find rest in illusion worlds, either. They'll fall into chaos like my world did -- it's a mental guard to drive us back to reality."
The girl nodded, "Yes, sist--"
Combo stopped her by clapping her over the mouth, "I'm not your sister. I don't exist. Do not forget that. Every person who believes and follows the Lord God and his son Jesus is your sister and brother, and they exist. Remember that." Combo kissed her on the forehead again, "I'm going to go, now. You're not going to see me again. Ever. Not on earth, and not in heaven. And if you truly want to keep your heart free of ice, you won't want to ever see me again."
"Goodbye."
"See you."
The woman bowed and turned, fading into the mist as she did so. The girl stood, letting the rain cry for her. She took joy in the ability to feel the imagined rain as it fell around her and on her, turning her hair even darker brown and making the entire world smell of life-giving water. The dream faded into darkness, leaving behind a peaceful feeling.