Cycle of Our Souls: Heart's Thunder
Part I
M is for Mars

As promised, it's about Lita. And, yes, once again my inspiration came in the form of a song, this time by
Del Amitri. It'll be in here somewhere later on.
This section is really, really angry... and Lita's language isn't exactly pristine. I'm almost ashamed to admit that this is because I wrote it when I was particularly pissed at this guy I know who is a lot like Neil
Forrester. Coincidence? Damn it... probably not. Another reason is because the other two were so sweet and sappy almost from beginning to end, and that isn't usually how I write. I got sick of everyone being so happy all the time, so I decided to shake things up a bit. Life offers a variety of spices, as Mina would say. :)
Oh, almost forgot... per usual, text between the lines of "*" symbols is Lita's thoughts and takes place in the present, right between SMR and SMS. Anything else is a few weeks in the past.
Write me! I love letters letters letters! Thanks. :)

It was such a beautiful day, the type that makes the heart ache with longing... longing to be a part of it, longing to share it with someone. The latter was most prevalent in Lita Kino's heart as she stared out the window of her apartment. She sighed and ran a hand through her long brown hair, down from its ponytail for once, and turned back to stare at the Post-It stuck to her refrigerator. "Freddy..." she whispered, the name calling up images she had been struggling to forget for years.
There had been a message from him that afternoon on her answering machine, and she had written his number down and stuck it to the door of her fridge. She told herself a thousand times not to call him, but she couldn't keep her eyes away from the yellow square of paper. "He broke your heart, you idiot!" she muttered. "He left you standing in the rain! He told you he didn't like tall girls. You're still tall, stupid... even taller now!"
It was no use. She knew the moment she heard that familiar voice on her machine that she was going to call him back. She knew she would agree to meet him if that's what he wanted. Hell, despite what she kept telling herself, she knew she'd never really gotten over Freddy. Weren't her friends always complaining that she compared every cute guy she saw to him?
With a sigh, Lita picked up the phone and dialed the number written on the Post-It.
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Freddy, Freddy, Freddy... the bane of my existence, honestly. I don't know if I was in love with him. I mean, I barely knew him and I was so young... but what I felt, I felt strongly. He broke my heart, and here I was stupid enough to let him possibly do it again. Why did I call him that day? Why did I agree to have lunch with him?
Gods, Lita Kino, you are an idiot! A true, honest-to-Kami-sama idiot! But he was so cute! Even during that brief phone conversation, even through the recording on my answering machine, the way he said my name sent shivers up my spine. Isn't everyone allowed to be a fool on occasion?
Since this whole thing with Serena began, I haven't been able to think about anything clearly. I laugh at something, and feel guilty about it... who am I to laugh when Serena is dying? I cry over a movie, and feel guilty about that, too... why should I be wasting my tears over something silly and fictional? And why should I be wasting my time going to meet Freddy when I should be looking for a way to help my best friend?!?
I suppose I shouldn't be too angry about it, though. I mean, if it hadn't been for my own stupidity, I never would have met Neil. And Neil is so much more kawaii than Freddy could ever be! Too bad he hated my guts... we hated each other's guts.
*******************************
"Freddy?" she questioned, although she knew it was. She would recognize him anywhere, truth be told.
He turned around, a smile lighting up his handsome features. "Lita! Wow, you look great! How long's it been?"
She shrugged slightly. "A year, maybe?" Two years, three months and fifteen days, but she sure as hell wasn't going to let him know she'd been counting!
He smiled again and suddenly she felt vaguely sick to her stomach. This had been a mistake, an incredibly stupid mistake. "Hey, look, I'm real sorry about how I acted when we knew each other before. I was a real jerk, ya know?"
Lita answered his smile with one of her own. "It's ok. Things happen."
"You're probably wondering why I called you after all this time, ne? Well, you're friends with that girl who works at Sendai Hill Temple, aren't you? What's her name, Raye?"
She frowned, but nodded. "Yeah, Raye's one of my best friends. Why?"
His grin was sly. "Do you think you could introduce us? She's so damn hot! I was up there the other day with my sister -- she wanted to get a charm or something -- and I nearly fell over when she looked at me."
Lita's green eyes widened in shock. "You want me to introduce you to Raye?!" she repeated blankly.
"Yeah! Come on, be a pal!"
She took a step back from him. "I'm not your pal, Freddy. You haven't said word one to me in the two years since you broke my heart, and now suddenly you call to ask me to introduce you to someone?!"
"Hey, chill! It's not that big a deal. I know you don't mind, Lita."
"But I do mind! You hurt me, and I thought when you called maybe it was to... to apologize or something. I mean, I know it's been ages, but I thought maybe you'd come to your senses!"
"Wait a minute... you thought... you thought this was a date, didn't you? I told you before, Lita, I don't like you that way. You're just too... too masculine or something."
"Masculine?" she asked, incredulous and angry. "I'll show you masculine!" Pulling her arm back, she sent her fist flying into that smug smile on his face. He hit the ground and Lita towered over him. "Raye has a boyfriend, Freddy, someone she loves very much. Besides, she wouldn't go out with a jerk like you anyway. Don't ever call me again, all right?" With that, she turned and made her angry way through the park.
How dare he?!? What an ass! How could he do something like this?! Finding a fairly secluded area, she began picking up rocks and throwing them at the trees with all her might. "Damn him! Damn him, damn him, damn him! And damn me for being so stupid!" One particular big rock went flying into a bush, and Lita was startled to hear it make an exclamation of pain... and a crash that sounded suspiciously like breaking glass.
"Kuso!" the bush seemed to cry. "What the hell are you doing throwing rocks around in here?" A man stood up from his place behind the shrub rubbing his shoulder angrily.
"What are you doing spying on me?!" she challenged.
"I wasn't spying! I was looking for a good place to put my telescope! There's a meteor shower tonight and I intend to watch it."
"You should have told me you were here!"
"You shouldn't have been throwing things!"
"You shouldn't have been spying!"
"I told you--"
"I know. Meteor shower. Where's your telescope?"
"You broke it, baka! That was a two-thousand dollar telescope, and you and your stupid rocks shattered it!"
"How the hell can you find a place for a telescope while hiding in a bush?! And who are you calling idiot, idiot?"
He looked as though he wanted to strangle her. "You called yourself stupid not five minutes ago. I was just going by your word!"
Now it was Lita who wanted to strangle him. "Look, Mr...?
"Forrester. Neil Forrester."
"Mr. Forrester, I'm sorry about your little telescope. I didn't mean to break it, but if you had only told me you were here, I wouldn't have bothered you."
"You were too busy cussing and throwing!"
"Oh, and you were what, afraid?!" she taunted.
He had the height advantage by almost a foot, and he decided to use it, leaning close to her in what was meant to be a frightening manner. "You don't scare me, little girl, not even when you're armed with rocks."
Her spine stiffened and emerald eyes narrowed to slits. "Don't call me 'little girl'," she hissed.
He laughed derisively. "Nai, I guess someone as tall as you are couldn't exactly be called 'little'!"
It was decidedly the wrong thing to say. "I should have aimed that rock at your big, stupid head! Why don't you go away and leave me alone, Neil Forrester? I didn't ask you to be hiding in that bush, or playing with your stupid telescope, or looking out for stupid meteor showers!"
"I was here first!" he defended.
"Fine. Then I'll leave!" He grabbed her roughly by the arm as she turned to go, and a hint of panic flashed in her eyes. "Let me go!" she cried, trying to twist free. He only held on tighter.
"Relax, little girl, I just want your number so I can call you about replacing the telescope," he said with another mocking little laugh.
"Why should I replace it!?"
"You broke it."
"You... damn it! Fine!" Jerking her arm from his grasp, she reached into her bag and emerged with pen and paper. "Here! Happy now?" she demanded, handing the information over.
"You're lucky I don't file charges," he replied.
"You're lucky to be alive. Good-bye, Forrester-san, and I hope to never see you again!"
"Yeah, well, the feeling's mutual!" he called after her, reaching up to rub at his sore arm.
It wasn't until she was halfway home that it struck Lita how gorgeous he was. Long, thick, wavy auburn hair... eyes like sapphires... tall... broad shoulders... "But a big zero in the personality department. I sure know how to find 'em, ne?" she muttered to herself.
-----------
"I'm sorry, sir, but I just don't think we can fix this. The lens was specially ground--"
"I know that," Neil Forrester snapped to the store clerk impatiently. "That's why I brought it here. Are you saying I'm going to have to buy a new one?"
"I'm afraid so, sir."
"Fine. Thank you for your help," he said, his voice heavily laced with sarcasm. Storming from the shop, Neil slammed the door angrily behind him. That stupid girl! It wasn't the money he cared about, it was the telescope itself. It was his design and he'd had it custom built for this particular shower. Now he'd have to use one of his older ones, and that defeated the whole purpose.
She was certainly spirited, though, he found himself grudgingly admitting. There was a moment when he thought she might full-out attack him. He could have dealt with her easily, of course, but still... that takes guts.
Pretty, too, an annoying little voice in the back of his head muttered. Pretty? That catamount!?! She was too much of a damn annoyance to be pretty. But... she did have fairly nice eyes, green as emeralds... and such thick brown hair that he found himself imagining, rather against his will, what it looked like spilling around her head and over the surface of the pillow as she slept.
He shook his head angrily. No way. She was bad news, trouble with a capital "T". He knew better than to even think about getting involved with a girl like that. What kind of idiot stands in the park and throws rocks, anyway?
Her words haunted him: "Damn him! And damn me for being so stupid!" Some guy pissed her off, so she took it out on Neil's poor telescope... not to mention his arm, which was sure to be sporting a huge bruise by the next day. Anger surged in him again. Well, she... what was her name again? He checked
the paper. Lita Kino. Nice enough name, too bad she isn't a nicer girl. Anyway, she was certainly going to be the one to pay for the new telescope, not him!

"He was so rude! He's even making me pay for him another stupid telescope. Can you believe that?! I mean, he was the one hiding in the bushes!" Lita cried angrily to her friends. They were all crammed around a table at the Crown Cafe sharing ice cream sundaes and french fries.
"Well, Lita... you probably shouldn't have been throwing rocks," Amy Anderson said cautiously.
"I checked to make sure no one was around! Excuse me for not having x-ray vision: I couldn't see through the bush."
"Why did you agree to meet with Freddy anyway? He was such a jerk to you before... did you think he'd be any different?" Mina Aino asked.
Lita shrugged. "I don't know. It was stupid, ne? But this is bad even for him."
"I can't believe he wanted you to introduce him to me! What a jerk. Why didn't he just come introduce himself?" Raye Hino demanded.
"He was scared of you, firefly," Jay Dalinger said with a grin. "It took me nearly two weeks to get up the nerve to talk to you."
The dark-haired girl stuck her tongue out at him and pulled the sundae closer with a glare. "Yeah, and then you almost blew it."
"So what does this guy look like?" Mina said excitedly. "Is he kawaii?"
"He's a jerk, Mina! He's rude and loud and mean..."
"All that doesn't matter to Mina," Malachy Levinworth said. "I mean, she's with me, isn't she?"
"Hmmmmph," Lita grumped, "there's hardly a comparison. You're a prince compared to this guy! Hell, anyone is a prince compared to Neil Forrester!"
Mal frowned. "I don't really take that as a compliment, Lita."
She ignored him and just sat staring at the door, mouth agape. "Oh Gods that's him!" she whispered. Sure enough: Neil Forrester was standing at the door of the small restaurant looking for an empty table.
"Nani!?" Mina cried, peering over her shoulder.
"Don't look! Mina! Oh Gods, I don't want him to see me."
Darien Chiba, Serena's boyfriend, laughed, a sound they hadn't heard from him in a long time. "Don't worry, Lita, we'll protect you!"
"Ooooh," the blond said, "he is kawaii!"
"He is not, Mina! Oh kuso, here he comes!"
Raye looked like she was about to bust from holding in her laughter. "Lita, he's just a guy! Come on, he can't be that bad."
"Well, well, if it isn't Little Miss Rock Toss," Neil said, coming up to their table.
Lita shot him her most lethal glare. "Well, well, if it isn't Little Mr. Peeping Tom! How's the arm?" she said, her voice dripping with sweetness.
"Great, actually. I don't mind having a bruise the size of a small potato."
"Come a little closer," she said in the same tone as before, "and I'll give you several more."
"Are these your friends? Don't tell me they enjoy bludgeoning innocent star-gazers, too."
"Hey, she said it was an accident. Why don't you just lighten up?" Raye said, beginning to get as angry as Lita.
"Can't fight your own battles, Kino-san?" he taunted.
She jumped up, sending her chair flying. "I've had about as much as I can take of you, Neil Forrester! You want a fight? Fine!"
"Whoa, Lita! Come on," Malachy said, grabbing her arm, "relax. He's just trying to goad you."
Mina retrieved her chair and Lita sat back down in a huff. Neil just laughed. "I'll see you around, little girl," he called over his shoulder as he sailed out the door.
"See?!?" the brunette demanded, shoving a stray lock of hair behind her ear. "He's such an ass! Gods, what I wouldn't give to send a Thunder Dragon right down his stupid throat... or, better yet, right up his--"
"Lita!" Amy cried before she could finish the thought.
"I think he likes you," Mina said with a grin.
Lita nearly exploded. "Mina, you airhead! Weren't you listening? He insults me every chance he gets!"
"Did you notice he didn't buy anything?" Amy said. "He just came in, talked to you, then left."
"Yep, I definitely think he likes you. I mean, look how mean Darien was to Serena before they got together."
"But I didn't like her. Luckily I changed my mind," he said with a sad smile.
She placed a comforting hand on his shoulder and turned back to the other girl. "Well then maybe Neil will change his mind, too! And I bet you'll start to like him just as much, Lita."
"Never! The second I pay him for that stupid telescope, I'm never speaking to him again! There's no way I could fall for a guy like that."
"You fell for Freddy," Raye pointed out.
Lita gave her a go-to-Hell look but otherwise ignored the comment. "I'm sorry, Mina, but you're wrong about this. Neil Forrester is a no-good, rude, stuck-up jerk. I'm not stupid like I used to be, and there's no way in Hell I'd ever fall for him!"
Famous last words.
End I