Life is what you make of it, she told herself yet again as she trudged through the rain that was now turning to a light snow. If you lost the thing that mattered most to you, you found something to fill the gap, no matter how imperfectly, and went on. If nothing else, Umino gave good foot massages, and her feet ached after a whole day behind the jewelry counter at one of the city's most upscale department stores. Naru's mother had disapproved of Naru's decision to quit college two years ago in order to work full time to save money for her and Umino's eventual marriage; she had disapproved so strongly that it had become impossible for Naru to continue working at the OSA*P shop. In fact, Midori had flatly refused to give Naru full-time hours; Naru had had no choice but to quit and find a job at a department store. She still lived with her mother, but more out of a desire to save as much money as possible than because she wanted to be there. Umino wasn't working while he was pursuing his Ph.D. in entomology, so if they weren't to start out with nothing when they got married, it was up to Naru to provide something.

She entered the apartment building where Umino lived, grateful for shelter from the winter weather. She climbed the stairs to the third floor, started to knock on Umino's door, then paused. A faint sound of music and voices came through the door. Umino had some friends over; so much for that foot massage. Naru sighed, then knocked loudly.

The door opened. It wasn't Umino who stood there, but one of his friends from the department at the University. There were about a dozen people in the room, sitting on the floor or on Umino's futon. Empty beer bottles, snack bags, and take-out cartons were scattered around the studio apartment. Umino was sitting cross-legged on the floor on the other side of the room, a bottle of beer in one hand. Yuki, his research partner, a short, stocky girl with short, blunt-cut hair and heavy bangs, was sitting next to him, way too close for Naru's liking. Any closer and she would have been in his lap. Umino looked up, blushing, and everyone else let their conversations fade and stared at Naru.

"Um." Naru felt awkward at being the center of so much unwelcoming attention, "I've got errands to run, so I thought I'd just stop by and say "hi" on my way home. Gotta go."

"Bye," Umino said behind her as Naru backed out through the door without even leaving the container of shrimp, vegetables, and rice she had brought for him. She usually provided his dinner, since he seemed to forget to eat if she didn't remind him. Even though he preferred for her to cook for him, tonight she was so tired that she had just stopped for carry-out on her way home. Oh well, so much for that too, she thought. He could live on beer and fried crunchy things from cellophane bags if that was what he wanted.

* * * * * * * *

The next bus that would take her to the corner near her mother's place wasn't due for another twenty minutes. Sighing, Naru sat down on the bus stop bench, which, thankfully, was under a shelter, and pulled a now-cold container of shrimp stir-fry out of the plastic bag. She was too hungry to wait until she got home and could reheat it in the microwave. Darn Umino anyway, she thought, stabbing at a piece of wilted cabbage with the cheap throwaway chopsticks that came with the food. She could remember a time when she had had friends, and had gone to parties and had fun. But she and her best friend Usagi had drifted apart years ago, and she had left behind the friends she had made at the College of Nursing when she quit school. At the same time, Umino had found his social niche at the University and was now at the center of a large group of people that Naru had nothing in common with and who didn't seem to want her around. When they were alone, Umino was nice enough, but with his friends, he seemed almost embarrassed by her. As she had been by him, years ago, even after they started going together. After He died.

No one ever mentioned Him to Naru. Not her mother, not Usagi - not that she ever really talked to either of them any more. And there was absolutely no one in the world who knew the truth about Him and his death. There was no one she could talk to about Him, at least no one who would believe her. Naru didn't even let herself think His name; after eight years, the stab of pain was still too intense.

So she did her best to go on. That was her mantra; just keep moving, look forward, don't look back. She chewed unhappily on a cold, rubbery shrimp. In spite of everything she had given up and everything she was doing to prepare for their future together, she really wasn't sure she wanted to marry Umino. But it was better than being alone with the past.

"Osaka Naru."

Naru jumped at the woman's voice; though low and cultured, it had startled her. Where the bench had been empty next to her, a woman now sat. She was tall and slender, with a fall of sleek black hair with straight bangs. Her face was pale and beautiful, with huge, dark green eyes. She wore a severe but stylish black suit, the straight skirt ending several inches above her knees to reveal shapely legs, and black stiletto-heeled pumps.

"Um," Naru said, at a complete loss, "do I know you?" Immediately she winced at her own rudeness.

"Not yet," the woman said, her moderate intonation unchanged. "But I know who you are. Who you really are, Osaka Naru."

Naru looked down at herself, wondering if she had forgotten to take off her name badge before she left work. But her white work blouse was covered by her coat. Maybe the woman was a crazy customer who had memorized her name and was stalking her. "What do you mean, who I really am?"

"If you had any idea of who you are and what you can do, you wouldn't settle for this pale shadow of an existence for another moment."

That was a bit much. "I know things aren't great between me and my boyfriend right now, but they aren't bad and once we're married..." Naru trailed off. "Why should I explain myself to you? And anyway, how do you know anything about me?"

The woman smiled. "If you knew what could be yours, if only you would reach out for it and take it, the destiny that awaits you, everything you could do, everything you could have... Even Nephrite. He is part of it."

Naru froze. How could she possibly know? "Who are you?" she demanded, all manners pushed aside.

The woman reached into the breast pocket of her jacket and handed Naru a cream-colored business card. "When you're ready for the truth, come see us."

Naru glanced down at the card. "Crystal Sky Gallery, featuring the art of Yumeno Yumemi. Mikami Tetsiya, owner."

"But -" Naru said, turning back to the woman. No one was there.

A crazy customer, Naru thought. Someone who had seen her name on her badge at work, and followed her, and it wouldn't take a genius to figure out that Naru's life wasn't all that great right now. People whose lives didn't suck usually weren't eating cold takeout on a bus stop bench during a January snowstorm. But still... How had the woman known about Him?

Imagination. Naru shook her head. That was the danger of thinking about the past instead of the future; you started to imagine things, to grasp at faint straws of hope that simply couldn't exist. Still, she carefully slipped the business card into her coat pocket. The bus pulled up to the stop and she stuffed her leftovers along with Umino's untouched food into the trash can, eager to get home and out of the cold, lonely night.