Another 'today'…

‘Almost…there-’

“Where do you think you’re going, my lady?”

The servant rushed up to his mistress, stopping short several feet away from her. “You know you’re not allowed to go there! Come back here this instant!” he called, stamping his foot in an effort to emphasise his point.

“I just want a closer look,” returned his mistress, who didn’t seem inclined to obey him immediately. “I won’t go into the water, I promise.”

The servant wrung his hands at her reply. “You’re already close enough! Don’t go any further, please!”

They were standing at one end of an abandoned orchard, one of the many that had fallen into ruin during the war. Time and neglect had caused the orchard to grow wild, and the surrounding orchards had grown together to form a large, fruity forest. It was her favourite place, not only because of the fruit, but also because of the-

“Don’t go near the lake!”

She turned to find her servant literally on his knees. He would have pulled her away forcefully, but he was too afraid to go any closer…so this was all he could do in his desperation.

“Ahh…”

With a sigh of regret, she went back reluctantly, trying to ignore the azure blueness of the lake’s waters. Her servant leapt up as she approached, prepared to give her a stern scolding, but he softened as he caught sight of her disappointed face.

“Let’s go back to the house,” he said, patting her arm, “I’ll prepare something nice for you to eat.” He was fond of his mistress, even though she had given him many gray hairs. ‘A good child,’ he thought, as they walked back side-by-side, ‘A good child with a kind heart.’

They went up a pathway that snaked down from the houses above. The orchards lay on lower ground and had grown closer to the waters, while the houses had moved away from these places gradually.

“I don’t quite understand you, my lady,” said the servant, when they paused on a level part of the path for a short rest, “the waters are dangerous. After all,” he said, shuddering, “one never knows what might come out of them.”

His mistress smiled. “Fish,” she said teasingly, “Or seaweed, perhaps.”

He shook his head. “You may laugh, my lady, but I’ve heard that these moeans attack in formless figures, like water that has come to life!”

“I’m sure they would not inhabit the lake,” she replied, laughing, “Unless they’ve grown gills as well.”

“You never know, my lady…you never know.” He shook his head gravely, as if his words carried a grave premonition. “It’s a pity,” he said, sighing, “That they will not allow you to stay in the town where it’s safer.”

“I’m quite content to be here,” said his mistress, looking up at the blue sky with a smile, “The waters don’t worry me, and it’s very peaceful.”

The servant sighed again. “Too peaceful, I believe. No one wants to live here, what with the lake and the orchards. Since the war started, almost everyone has moved into the town, or as close to the town as they could.”

His mistress looked thoughtful. “I don’t think it is that much safer in the town,” she mused, “We have heard plenty about all those incidents…” It was her turn to shudder. The rumours that had filtered down to her ears from passing townsfolk were very graphic in their descriptions of ‘those incidents’.

“Well, I’m sure we’re quite safe where we are now,” said the servant comfortingly, as they neared the back entrance of the house. “I’m afraid you’ll have to go around to the front, my lady. You know how your grandmother disapproves of you using the servant’s entrance.”

“Yes,” she said, smiling as she recalled the many lectures she had been given on this issue, “I know that a little too well.” As she headed to a side gate which led to the front garden, she turned back suddenly and called out to the servant.

“Thank you for coming to fetch me!”

The servant was startled, though he recovered quickly enough to bow. “You don’t have to thank me, my lady. It’s my duty to look after you.”

“And you do it well. It just occurred to me that I’ve never thanked you before, and…for some reason, I felt that I needed to do it at once.” She herself looked somewhat perplexed at this unusual sense of urgency, though she didn’t let it bother her for very long.

With one last wave and a parting smile, she slipped through the gate and shut it gently behind her, leaving the old servant to shake his head wonderingly at her strange behaviour.

“My lady, did you hear?!”

“Whh…mfhdm?”

The maid placed her hands on her hips and looked exasperated as a muffled reply came from under a pile of bedding. “Still in bed? Why…it’s the third time this week and today’s only Thursday!” The heap of blankets only shuddered slightly in reply.

Rolling her eyes, the maid strode out of the room. “You’ll be sorry if you don’t get up at once, my lady,” she called, “especially since your father is due to come home today.”

When she had left the room, the blankets rolled aside to reveal a tired young woman. She sat up in bed and pushed several plush pillows to the floor. “It was still worth it,” she murmured, rubbing her eyes drowsily, “I’m so glad I went to meet him.”

She set her blistered feet tenderly on the floor. The maid’s high voice filtered in from the outside as she scolded yet another unfortunate servant who had happened to be passing by. The girl smiled.

‘It really is a new day,’ she thought, stretching contentedly.

Ignoring the splendid breakfast which had been set out for her, she headed straight for the bathroom, where there was a tub filled with wonderfully warm water. She allowed herself to sink luxuriously into the steaming water, until it covered her completely from head to toe.

When she finally emerged from her bath, her fingers and toes were wrinkled and pink. Her maid scowled and shook her head. “You should know better, my lady! You have to take care of your skin.”

She continued nagging as she dragged her mistress to the breakfast table and sat her forcefully down with a firm order to “eat everything”. Her mistress complied good-naturedly for several reasons: she was used to this kind of treatment, the sweet food was to her liking, and…she knew her maid would keep her secret.

Her maid continued talking as she ate, which wasn’t unusual, since it was stranger by far for her not to hear this continual chattering. Fortunately, her maid didn’t know that she was not truly listening, or she would probably have to put up with several days’ worth of scalding bath water and dirty laundry.

“…and then there was a great commotion, of course! That girl always makes such a fuss about every little thing. Why, I -!!” A sudden gasp from the maid caused her to look up. The short silence which followed that gasp made her feel a little worried; it was rare enough for her maid to stop talking, but it was much rarer for her to pause in the middle of a juicy story.

“I almost forgot,” said the maid in a whisper, “how could I forget?”

“What is it?” asked her mistress, “What’s wrong?”

The maid’s face paled. “It’s awful. Those-…they…”

“Tell me, please.”

“They’ve attacked a house in the outskirts…less than two miles from the town!”

A fork dropped from her mistress’ hand.

The cake had turned to dust in her mouth.

"They...won't come here, right?" she said, a slow and uncertain smile forming on her lips as she looked to her maid for assurance.

Her maid shook her head, and laughed nervously. "Of course. Of course they wouldn't. There's nothing to come here for...isn't that so, my lady?"

“I heard something terrible today, my dear.”

The old woman drew her shawl around her more tightly, as if the news had chilled her to the bone. A young girl laid one of her smooth hands over the wrinkled ones that lay trembling on the table.

“What is it?” she asked quietly.

With full eyes, the old woman gazed fondly on the girl’s face. She was like a daughter to her, though they were not related either by blood or by marriage. “You’re a kind one, child,” she said, clasping the warm hands within her own, “a good girl.” She smiled faintly. “Perhaps now is not the time to say such things, but I really must tell you...”

Trailing off uncertainly, she studied the girl’s face with a pang of anxiety. How would she take the news?

“Please go on,” said the child gently, “Don’t worry about me.”

With a heavy sigh, the old woman shook her head sadly. “I’m afraid…they have come.” A short gasp caused her to look up.

“Is…is it true?” asked the girl. Her eyes had grown wide with fear and her hands gripped the side of the table so tightly that her knuckles had gone white.

“I’m afraid it is, child.” The old woman coughed. Her constitution had not been very well the past few days and this news had wrought an extra strain on her nerves.

The girl frowned. “But this town…we should be safe here, shouldn’t we?”

“We are no longer safe. Not even here.”

“That can’t be!” The girl started up in dismay, but calmed herself immediately when she caught sight of the old woman’s face. “I’m sorry, grandmother. It…it’s just so hard to believe…”

“I understand, my dear, I understand. That is why…” The old woman drew in a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She could hardly bring herself to say it, but she had to try, for the sake of this precious child, to keep her safe…

“That is why you cannot stay here, my dear.”

The girl’s face paled. “What…do you mean?”

“You will have to leave for the outskirts, where it is safer.” The old woman blinked tears out of her eyes. “I’m afraid I cannot come with you, child. This old body cannot make that trip.”

“But I can’t!” the girl protested. “I can’t leave you here alone!”

“You must,” said the old woman firmly, “I will not let you stay here.” Her face softened as she took the girl’s hands within her own again, stroking them fondly. “You’ll enjoy it there, I’m sure. There are many things that you will learn to love.”

The girl shook her head vigorously. She couldn’t speak, and her lips were trembling.

“I want you to remember, child,” said the old woman softly, “Remember everything that I’ve told you. You must never hate the moeans; they are a part of us, a part that we could have been.” She smiled kindly, and her voice grew slightly stronger, as if she was drawing courage from her words.

“Don’t trouble yourself with your fears, child, for tomorrow never knows. And whenever you feel sad, remember that there are many people in this world.”

“Many...people?”

“Yes, dear. Many people, all who are different. Some you may come to meet, most you may not, but all of them are here with us, in this place. It will take a while for you to understand, but someday you will. I know it, because it is you. And when you finally realise that it is so...” her smile brightened, and she rubbed the girl’s face lovingly. “You will see a great many things, child. I know it in my heart.”

The girl nodded, tears filling her eyes.

Barely a day after that, she left, trying to wave cheerfully at the wrinkled face by the window. She was brought to a small house prepared for her, but she couldn't stay in it for long. Intrigued by the orchards below, she went down to them, though her heart was filled with homesickness even as she explored her new home. Stumbling over a large root, she found herself by the side of a lake. The waters were strangely calm and before she knew it, she had waded into the sparkling blue coolness.

Standing there, with the wind in her face and her feet ankle-deep in the water, she grasped tightly at her heart.

Nothing was certain anymore.

Everything was changing.

What would happen?

In just a year’s time would there be something about today that she missed?

The answer was whispered by the wind in the trees: Tomorrow never knows…

She smiled.

‘There really are many people in this world.’

Special thanks to Buri-kun, Eun Ai Hoshi and MistyRose for reviewing! In a totally unrelated side-note: I like long reviews!, though all reviews make me really happy, so thank you so much for taking the trouble to review :)

'Another today' is actually a backstory which I've been writing simply because I've always wanted to write one, and since all the main characters have appeared in the story, I though this might be a great time to put this chapter in. It's also as a sort of apology since I'll be going away for a week and I probably won't be able to update. Unfortunately, it's not a very good sort of apology since it turned out to be a little disconnected, but I hope you like it anyway!

A/N: 'There really are many people in this world' is actually something I say to myself on a regular basis.

Aside from that useless bit of trivia, it's probably quite obvious that this chapter is set within the human community. Though research on the moeans were started by humans, not much was known to the humans about the moeans. One reason for this collective ignorance is the fact that only a select few were actually involved in the research, while the rest of the general public were kept in the dark about its existence (human research is and will always be a controversial issue).

Though I'm not able (at this time) to explain the other reasons in detail, this eventually led to the creation of several terrifying 'urban legends'. Stories about moeans that rise from the water were particularly popular, though there were other notorious rumours, such as the one about 'moean shadows' (an elongated shadow meant that a moean was concealing himself within it) and the 'moean vampires' (moeans who dyed themselves with human blood, forming red puddles). Sad to say, the effects of the war were probably heightened by paranoid overreaction on the side of the humans.

Thanks for reading!