September 11 - losing everything

         Kaley stared at Simon, standing beside her. She couldn't help but smile. Six years they had known peach other. Six years they were together. Today was the day he was going to do something "big." Yet, he refused to tell her.
"C'mon, please?" Kaley begged, resting her head on her boyfriend's shoulder. Simon laughed and wrapped his arm around her waist. Kaley's heart fluttered slightly, and she smiled, burying her face into his shoulder. Simon swayed slightly, his cheek resting on her hair slightly. She was happy. Actually happy.
Simon checked his watch and beamed slightly. Slowly, he pulled away and put his hands on Kaley's shoulders. She stared into his deep, cat-like eyes and smiled slightly. Simon just beamed, his face glowing, and kissed her on the forehead. She giggled softly, feeling like a teenager having her "first love." but, six years? That's amazing.
"I'll be back in, like, and hour. I heard they have some amazing pizza in New York," Simon smiled at her. Kaley laugh nervously and shrugged.
"Nothing compares to Boston. I hope you know that."
"Yeah, I know," he laughed, hugged her, and hurried into one of the buildings. Kaley stood there like an idiot, staring at the two towers. She had a horrible feeling for some reason, that something horrible was going to happen. She just grit her teeth and took a deep breath. Spinning on her heel, she walked to the ice cream parlor she saw earlier. Maybe they had cinnamon ice cream?

I was standing in front of the parlor when it all began.
The sound was horrible - a loud crash, people screaming, the cries for help. My ears stung from the sudden burst of panic. I jumped up from the chair, sending it backwards and looking around. What the hell? What happened?!
Rushing into the store, I saw the workers through their aprons off. The man who scooped my ice cream looked at me with panic.
"You're boyfriend's in the twin towers, right?!" he cried. My eyes widened. What?! What was happening?!
"Y-Yeah!! He's doing something for his photography or whatever, and-" he didn't wait for me to finish. His hand grabbed mine and he rushed forward. I jerked in the direction of the buildings, screaming at him to tell me what happened. My heart as pounding. My ears hurt, and so did my feet. All I wanted to do was fold into Simon's arms, where no one was screaming.
The man didn't care. He was busy on his cell phone, tears streaming down his face, screaming at the person on the other end. What-Was-Going-on?! I jerked my hand back and shot the man a look, turning my body to face him.
"WHAT'S YOUR PROBLEM?!" I screamed, trying to yell over the other panicking people. The man's jaw dropped and his phone fell.
"Oh, my god... What,... What a horrible accident...." he whispered.
"What?!" I cried, spinning on my heel.
Since then, I was changed forever.
A plane had crashed into the first tower. The tower Simon went into. My insides felt knotted, I was nauseous. I felt my knees quiver - but I would not fall. I would not back down. I HAD to figure out what was going on!
"Simon!" I screamed. I shoved through everyone, screaming his name. What was happening?! What was I doing?! I sounded pathetic! No time to care about that, I spat back to myself. I had to see Simon, dead or not. He had to be there. Where was he?!
People made way for me, seeing the tears streaming down my face and my panicking cries. I got close to the building which was falling apart. A mound of concrete lay before me. I didn't care about the glass and the bits of building falling from the sky. My boyfriend was there. He was in here - alive or not, I would find him. I screamed his name at the rubble, as though he would emerge and beam. I needed to see his smile. Simon had to be in there.
Then, the screams got louder, and another crash shattered my thoughts.
That's when people actually started to panic.
Mounds of glass and concrete fell at me. My heart seemed to stop. The mili-second it took to make the eternal ice dome was the longest period of my life. I was confused. I was scared. I was angry, and sad, and absolutely terrified. The fact that concrete was falling onto my head, and big, big chunks didn't help. At all.
I dropped to my knees. Something was seriously wrong. This wasn't an accident. Someone wasn't a dumb ass and flew into a huge building.
I couldn't help but stare up. Tears blurred my face, and I was gripping the ground so hard my fingers bled. People, and concrete, and plane bits, along with glass... Smoke and dirt and ash. That was all I saw in the sky. Bloody corpses fell from the buildings.
Suddenly, I felt seven again, watching person after person being murdered. My tears came faster and harder. I couldn't see. Curling into myself, I sobbed. I screamed Simon's name over and over. All I could hear were the screams of people, sirens, crashes, crumbling, falling, tears, yelling... I could hear it all. Layer after layer of ice went above my head. But it stuck. The screams and the panicking.... It was etched in there. Forever.
"S-Simon!" I cried, leaning against the dome. Staring up, my tears fell back. They landed on my bloodied fingers, the salt stinging the wounds. I didn't mind. It kept me in reality. Not that I wanted to be here - I wanted to be in Oregon. I didn't want to witness this. I wanted it all to be on the screen. All I wanted was to having Annie curled up beside me. To have everyone else in the house gathered around. For everything to be okay in the walls of the Country House. Where people helped others through things. Here, I was a stranger. There, I would have been hugged. Maybe I'd have a shoulder to cry on.
Instead, I had the cold ground below me, and the even colder reality above.
It seemed hours - though it was only ten minutes - until someone grabbed me and pulled me out. She was a complete stranger, but she had been standing there the whole time. The woman looked enough like a mom for me to throw my arms around her and cry. She smelled like laundry, whereas I smelled like blood and dirt. The woman, shocked, hugged me back. I cried on this stranger's shoulder for almost a half an hour. My heart felt ripped apart. He was gone. The sick reality was too true. He was gone, and I was here, crying on this woman.
I was led off with her back to the parlor. We had to shove past people until we got there. I fell to the ground inside of the shop, my knees getting blood on my floor. The woman knelt down beside me and hugged me.
"You obviously don't remember me..." she whispered. I could barely hear her over the panic.
When I looked up at her, it was all way too clear.
Satsu was kneeling beside me. Her hair was in a pixie cut, and she wore a green day shirt and jeans. She wasn't covered in anything. The person who had loved me like her own child all my life actually looked motherly in a weird kind of way.
My lower lip quivered and I buried my face into her shoulder.
"He's gone!" I cried. "I-I want to know why this always happens to us, Dammit! I WANT TO KNOW!" I was screaming while I cried. I screamed his name, and I screamed the name's of my friends. Screaming out to God and how much I loathed him. Satsu just hugged me, and the beat of her heart was warm.
And that was the moment I remembered I didn't have one.
I blacked out.

When I woke up, I was still in the parlor. My blood was already turning a dark purple. Someone hovered over me, their breath cool on my neck. My eyebrows twitched. Then, I began o continue my sobs.
"Hey, hey it's gonna be alright," the voice was soft and I was pulled into a hug. I opened my eyes, which were blurry, and stared at my companion.
"K-Kyodai....?" I croaked, new tears of relief streaming down my face.
"I'm gonna get you home... Anyway, someone special graduated..." he whispered, and the screams were gone.
I didn't dare look up. I didn't care. My face was buried in Kyodai's shirt, on his chest. I heard his heart beat, felt him breathe. It was calming, and it reminded me of my dad. I tightened my grip on him and took a shaky breath. Kyodai, surprisingly, returned the hug.
"Don't worry, she might be able to bring him back, and-"
No, I loved Simon, so, so much, but he didn't need to go through worse!
"No!" I cried, pulling back and staring at him. Kyodai's golden eyes were shocked, but went back almost immediately.
"Alright. I understand." I just hugged him and closed my eyes, wanting to block everything out. I didn't mind when he picked me up, or when he whispered something about how Simon was annoying, or when he called me slightly dramatic. All I cared about right now was that someone cared. The necklace of luck, the one he gave me, was around my neck. I wasn't injured... I guess it only worked for the individual.
He left me somewhere after "jumping," saying I should open my eyes whenever I felt comfortable. The room smelled like old books, chairs, and.... Snow? Cologne? Soap? Probably the weirdest five some.
I hesitated before opening my eyes, and almost burst into tears when I saw where I was.
Darth's library.
I took two, shaky steps forward when I stopped and turned my head. Yes. He did keep them. I felt my insides untangle and I felt like were made out of air. The two snow globes I made a little over six years ago where there. The didn't have dust on them like the other valuables on the shelf. Fresh fingerprints smeared the ice. My heart melted and I wanted to burst into tears all over again.
Instead, I looked around, my legs a little more solid. I shuffled about until I came across my book.
Two Princesses of Bamarre.
Oh. My. Freaking. God.
I almost screamed with joy and sobbed as I picked up the book. Recently used. Some of the pages more withered than they were when I told him to read it. Taking a few steps back, cradling the book, I fell into a dark red love seat. I stretched slightly, hugging the book and taking the smell of Darth in. Yes, this is what he smelled like.
Shutting my eyes, I let a couple tears fall.
And, despite everything, I was happy. I was crying of joy, and of high depression. What kept me from leaving that house again was knowing, if I were always here, everything would be fine.
So, I fell asleep, with a twisted smile on my face.