"Who... am I?" a small nostalgic voice asked.
Ah.
Despite not seeing who it was, Yuri recognizes that familiar voice.
It was the voice of someone she knew very well.
Realizing this, Yuri opened her mouth to speak but no words came out except for water bubbles.
Huh?
Suddenly losing the ability to breathe, she feels her lungs tighten.
"Urgh!"
In the rashness of the moment, she began to gasp for air but ended up gulping even more of the salty water, causing a surge of immense pain to ricochet down her throat and around her torso.
"Hngh!!"
She coughed and violently choked. Her breathes were awfully short and she felt as if she was thrashing inside an invisible prison.
Am I… drowning?
For a moment, she felt extremely frightened.
Is she... about to die?
Yuri held out her right hand as the other weakly grasped on her throat, clawing her flesh as cold water gushed down to fill her lungs.
Somebody…
Before she could entirely lose her vision, the icy water around her began to violently ripple at a sudden strong force.
Someone must have jumped into the water.
Help…
She tried to stretch her arms out as far as she could.
Please...
She opened her mouth to speak but only quiet gurgles came out as from afar, she could vaguely make out a slight glimpse of someone approaching her, their hands laid out in front of Yuri to grasp on.
But she was already losing the strength to live.
"Forget me and live on," a faint, distorted voice said as her savior grabbed onto her outstretched arm and pulled her into a tight embrace. Once their skins touch, the water around Yuri disappeared almost instantly. It was as if she was not just drowning a couple of seconds ago and the cold water just magically vanished. She could no longer feel any fear in her heart, only the subtle warmth and tingling pleasant feeling she felt inside the tight embrace.
"Please"
His voice was very earnest, pleading as if he was about to cry.
Ah... don't cry.
Yuri lifts her head up from being buried within the well-built chest of her savior. She crooked her head back to take a closer look but she still couldn't make out anything even when she started squinting pretty hard to see. For some reason, the area around them was pitch black. Since it was too dark for Yuri to see her savior's face, the only way she would be able to distinguish the mysterious man's features is to trace his features with her bare hands. Thus, without even thinking thoroughly, she mindlessly reached out her hand and touched the man's chest. She could not see the structure of his clothes but what she could make out from blindly patting her hand around is that his attire has a portion of his chest exposed. His skin was tough but also undeniably soft to the touch. There were no imperfections nor could any sort of remnants of a scar be felt on top of the flawless skin. However, there is also something metallic dangling from his neck down to his collar bones. It seems to be a necklace that has a smooth, tear dropped shaped pendant. Gently tracing up the man's throat, Yuri felt a slight bump. Suddenly, her heart started to pound in an unusual way.
I-It's just a man's throat...
Dismissing her apprehensions, she cautiously poked her palm upwards but when she was about to touch and caress his face, a strong hand captured her wrist but did not squeezed too tight as to inflict any uncomfortable feeling to Yuri.
"Ruyi"
Surprised by the sudden movement, Yuri immediately opened her mouth to speak, "I-I'm sorry, I-", she was about to apologize for touching the man without his permission but was cut off by the same voice that restricts her from knowing the identity of her savior.
"Wake up"
Huh?
Once the man has said his line, a bright white light appeared and consumed Yuri's whole being.
Beyond the horizon, past the far distance, as the morning sun rose and spilled its crimson, brilliant warm light across the vast green lands of Juno, a young woman is seen soundly sleeping inside a white-painted office room, her jet black hair running down her sides like a stream of running water. Her right arm placed on a grey computer desk, and her head peacefully placed on top of her right arm.
Stirring awake, the young woman's long upturned lashes fluttered upwards, seeming as if they were beautiful black wings, hiding what was beneath which turned out to be a pair of deep obsidian orbs that almost immediately squinted as soon as the sun's light from outside the office window reflected through her dark eyes.
A dream...?
Before she could even form a thought, tears surged down the corners of her eyes.
This happens a lot. Whenever she would wake up in the morning, for some reason, she would find herself in tears.
...And she can never remember what she was dreaming about...
"Ugh," the young woman grunted as she lifted her head up from the uncomfortable position she was previously in. The sudden move almost instantly made her arm go numb as soon as the weight from her head has been lifted. After a short while, both the dream and the tears that once filled her dark eyes have already evaporated.
"What time is it now…"
Rubbing her sleep away with the back of her right hand, Yuri looked at the clock at her computer screen, reacting, "5:00 AM?... I'm still kind of drowsy… But I guess it's a good thing since I woke up just in time."
She yawns before she stood up from the cheaply padded chair she continuously sat on last night up until in the early morning. However, she immediately plopped down again after something made a cracking sound, making her yelp in surprise at the sudden wave of excruciating pain from her back.
"Ah... That hurts…"
Suddenly teary-eyed, Yuri very slowly tried to uphold her limbs to stand up again. She then straightened her petite, compact frame making a soft "pop!" sound before she could finally sigh and wipe the tears of pain from the corner of her dark orbs.
"Success!"
Stretching her arms wide in the air, Yuri did some small stretches, extending her limbs as she heaved a sigh of relief.
"Stretching is the best remedy for backaches!"
After completing her warm-ups, Yuri finally plugged out the small silver flash-drive from one of her USB ports and dragged her warmed up body out of her office door, her face noticeably haggard and eyes still sunken due to lack of sleep.
Things will be different from now on...