Mai uses her plié to come into relevé, her toes in grande pointe. She feels the sheen of sweat on her neck, even as she holds it high, trying to embody the grace of a swan.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4DXXXcp6FY
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNwGLHuAy4I
Her execution is perfect, her expression is perfect. She shows no outward signs of her toes screaming in pain, even as she feels the telltale wet warmth in her shoes.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAWTA54SjPL
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2h1SilFv0W
Her face remains serene.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡut2fQ71Wzj
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLrn2IzbPZY
A memory comes to her mind—Megumi-chan as a baby curled in Dad’s arms. She was born too early. She was sick. Her heart wasn’t strong enough. She wasn’t expected to live past a couple of years, even with all the 23rd century medical technology.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ1LEH4fHVk
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdbVQAKOvQF
Mai feels her expression falter and quickly snaps it back into place, coming into the present and leaving behind a past she can’t change. When she dances, she has utter control over every part of her body. It’s the only time her life feels like it’s truly her own.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCwjUUWN76N
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡub0Y1YYqjU
The audience is packed. Flashes burst from the auditorium before her life dramatically dying stars. Fourteen years and five auditions. All the sacrifices she’s made, and all the hours she’s put in. Mai didn’t go to prom or Homecoming or any other normal high school event. And it was all in preparation for today.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpsoVEzRvLj
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡk4uyAhNwkZ
This should have been her beginning.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrTx5XFP7SD
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMW1KexRjfa
*/*/*914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡefoQlLLz0T
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcVMYOwC5It
Megumi realizes she’s wrinkling the program between her fingers and quickly tries to smooth it out, running her finger along Mai’s name.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYTr0JmMjl4
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9Vqx0swFFV
She tries not to fidget, even though her mind wandered off at least an hour ago. She’s in Hawaii, hiking up the side of a volcano, the blackened lava rocks warm beneath her sneakers. The air is choked with steam and the odor of sulfur.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡg8L6WVd4oO
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5k2R3qFZhc
From there, she makes her way down a white beach sand. The soft, wed sand sinks under her feet. Warm and gentle waves lap across her skin, leaving behind patterns of salt and sand. She can feel the warmth of the sea breeze that makes the palm trees dance, and she can taste the tang of the air.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7LN4VJ2lNR
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkB6grMRSWN
Her guidebooks are at home, filled with annotations of everything she can’t leave Hawaii without seeing. Megumi wishes she brought one of them along, but immediately feels guilty. She should be watching Mai right now. Mai’s dream is ending because of Megumi.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxJRLCwFlYp
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSxfgcpes8Q
A sharp ache in her chest makes her flinch. She rubs at it surreptitiously at her chest. When she’s certain her parents are focused completely on Mai, she pulls a pill out of her pocket—hiding it in her palm—and slides it into her mouth.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYJxSFxLD8F
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTiYf2H3jrg
Mom’s gaze snaps to her immediately. She starts leaning in toward Megumi.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsv2JIjXf6m
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHY3KXjnarh
“I’m fine,” Megumi says, a little too sharply. She softens her voice. “Let’s just watch Mai, okay?”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBu3i0F3ll2
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8y6wTyouuJ
Her mom takes her hand but turns forward to watch the performance again.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6tDz8PRMLK
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDKjaKN5Ys6
Megumi watches too, keeping her eyes on her sister rather than on the other dancers. Although Megumi can’t even do the same hike twice, Mai is the type who can do the same step one thousand times over until she knows it perfectly, even if that means breaking her toes in the process.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmWoSPzzVr1
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx0zD1ssirt
Megumi knows the heart is just an organ, and she knows living heart donations are common in this century, but Megumi can’t help but wonder. She wonders if the piece of heart she’s being gifted will change her in any way or if she’ll still be one hundred percent Megumi.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe39Z0yoEjo
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGGEQQO8CrC
*/*/*914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvpXYypgAxh
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡKOMtGYvEb5
After the performance, Mai sits on a bench in the dressing room, staring at the ballet slippers encasing her feet. She can’t bring herself to take them off just yet. She wants to wait at least until the other dancers are gone.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrZyxFtkziK
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOxOfs12PFW
Once the last of the voices fades away, she begins to unlace her slippers slowly and ceremoniously, letting them fall off her feet—her feet that are so calloused and bruised and broken that it’s a wonder they’re each still in one piece. She cleans the blood off carefully, loving her mangled feet for persevering through the torture she’s subjected them to. They are her pride and her prize, proof of the work she’s done.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2abb42LWDl
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6zLGeM51YX
Her heart aches, the pain so real she wonders for a second if something might be wrong with her heart too. But, no. Her heart just knows it’s about to be broken—split in half and taken from her.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJeC3B5Q0st
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡT542nyAwnl
Mai isn’t upset about that. How can she be? Megumi-chan’s life is far more important than anything else.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyJv3raryvq
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡl4dUo3L67z
Still, she selfishly wishes a miracle would happen—Megumi-chan’s heart would magically heal or an even better donor match would drop out of the sky. But Mai knows she’s the best option. Their parents are too old. It can only be a sibling, and Mai and Megumi-chan match almost perfectly.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡw4pdi1Hqne
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqwVXDC3tve
She wonders what it might have been like to live in a time when living heart donations weren’t possible.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1ljDGkekHz
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ2p3BuaDZ
“There you are,” Laurel says, sitting on the bench beside her. “That was fantastic, Mai. I could really only see room for improvement in a couple of places.”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJEZSbveMU0
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhnUWQF0OZJ
Laurel goes on, and Mai lets her, barely hearing her words. Mai wants to say something about Laurel being the best dance coach ever, but thinks Laurel would find it weirdly sentimental. Mai hasn’t told anyone she won’t be able to dance anymore because she can’t let go of the selfish hope that something will save her and release her from this obligation.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡE9rmCtsnZ1
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL4PySL5wS2
And then she feels guilty for thinking of Megumi-chan as an obligation.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvhNOLgIpcT
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTBzrlMUNJO
When Laurel leaves, Mai pulls her knees to her chest until she feels turned inside out.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWvK1VziSep
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWVmwd0KojC
Her life until now has been a dream, and she’s being woken up.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8vx2YdTXL3
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3XkYWUhzAx
*/*/*914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡx8cKBTj5An
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ2u1Ti63fY
“Are you scared?” Megumi asks Mai.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPMtmqaqDUK
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkvO0AGsOtG
“No,” Mai says from the other bed. “Are you?”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiH7qiLsdPp
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNCn3S8QQu
“Of course not,” Megumi lies.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDjCfdQxT08
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡboIyf8ZzFR
She hears the steady beat of Mai’s heart monitor. Megumi’s own monitor beeps a little erratically as her weak heat tries to find a steady rhythm. She wonders what Mai is thinking right now—what she must be feeling.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡF4hYj6FnEy
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDoYOMHdnaO
“Half a heart isn’t enough to support an athletic lifestyle,” Dr. Aguerra said seriously when he proposed the surgery to the family. “Mai, no one can coerce or pressure you into making this decision. If you agree to do it, you’ll undergo a psych evaluation to make sure this is your choice and your choice alone.”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7znUerp4Ls
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXlwccGNO1Y
Megumi was so tired at the time she could barely keep her eyes open. She let them fall shut because she didn’t want to see Mai’s expression as Mai said yes.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAeD1h9z0hd
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYguSUKq5Rd
“I’ll do it,” Mai said. “I don’t need to think about it.”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnUyhztfuaH
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIf73vqncHR
When they were kids, the two of them would go on adventures. It’s something Mai outgrew quickly, but Megumi still hasn’t. They found a treehouse in the woods behind their house once. Seeing it was abandoned, they decided it was theirs. Megumi would go there and wait for Mai to come home from dance practice.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv2v7UklDBi
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTa4X44wDyM
She was there one day, waiting for Mai, when the rotting wood collapsed beneath her, pitching her out of the treehouse. Mai arrived just in time to catch Megumi, breaking her arm in the process. She didn’t complain about it once, even when it meant she couldn’t dance for three weeks.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVYWrKXI5YB
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPKbeSHcUaw
Megumi swallows the guilt and the fear that she’s being selfish.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡigoV2qv8aj
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvroPoLfkbO
Her weak heart manages to catch up to Mai’s heart—the one they’ll soon be sharing.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXskHT6a3Dj
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqhYOB5HPnr
*/*/*914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYDuOMWMMoM
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBi2RqHcPFH
Mai has a moment of panic before the anesthesia is administered. She doesn’t think she can’t do this. It’s a nightmare, spilling into her lungs and suffocating her. She can’t stop dancing. She doesn’t know how to be a full person if she isn’t a dancer.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡac64hTXvM1
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2maaAqWXMu
But then she looks at the black hair spilling over the side of the bed beside her. Megumi-chan is already under, maybe dream of everything she’ll do when she wakes up with a new heart. After all, half a functioning heart is better than a full non-functioning heart.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz7hoPFQUJC
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD0l9FTJWg6
Mai tries to take her sister’s hand, but she can’t reach it.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqYp10wv01b
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrERVyyrTjU
She closes her eyes and opens them a moment later. At least it feels like a moment later. The soreness in her chest says otherwise. She feels in pieces. Her mind is still foggy from the anesthesia but the mental capacity that is still working tries to make sense of the changes she has to make to her life now.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6WvYs1Kh5e
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGm1ewsC4Oh
Mai feels incomplete already, like she needs to undergo some sort of mental rehab to teach her to be a normal person without being a dancer. She is empty and devoid of purpose, wondering how people adapt to situations that turn their lives around completely.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡLav3lOgcVs
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwQjhcYAEm4
She supposes they do it out of necessity. Mai has made this choice, and although she doesn’t doubt it’s the right one, she has no idea how to come to terms with it.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmZ2l5SuNUZ
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPRRihnQlQT
*/*/*914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxFQ7xanZ8A
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡz3jzAkgugw
The light is too bright when Megumi wakes up. Her eyes mist over, and she has to blink out the tears and let them adjust before taking stock of her surroundings. Oxygen is being fed to her through a mask. Needles thread her arms so she can barely move without tugging at one or another. She lifts her hand to her chest, feeling the uneven skin under her hospital gown. She hears the beep of a heart rate monitor—but just one.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6LTa457CZv
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa5WpJyuwNO
Turning her head as much as she can, Megumi sees Mom right outside the open door. Mom’s face is buried in her hands, shoulders shaking.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAEmGVdD9OS
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsPqRBfNUT3
Megumi is a bit more alert, her blood going cold. Did something go wrong with Mai?914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WkjM8J1rh
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8GHLbU6jYE
But she turns her head to the other side, and her sister is on her bed—at Megumi’s side as always. Mai is flipping through magazine sand eating chocolate pudding, but she exclaims when she sees Megumi awake.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡK31DnU7jNG
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6gQ6mz5xBW
“Are you okay? How do you feel?”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡxGrbq0rVOC
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwHPQ7JHPyQ
Megumi motions tiredly to the oxygen mask on her face. She feels lightheaded and tired, but her new heart feels strong. Even having just half of it feels so much better than her old heart.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡizze1O9xaA
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVtMXiGYh2y
That’s when she realizes there are two heart monitors after all. It’s just that both of them are beeping perfectly in sync.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwNt72FtvYO
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1lSnJd3SsN
Dr. Aguerra comes in and checks on Megumi, finally taking off the oxygen mask.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQ8XYZlWnhu
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡGFIMGjQRXo
“We just need to run a few tests,” he says. “We’ll take Mai out first. You just wait here and relax until we come and get you.”914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ1Dn9zPhVHx
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡbrBBg5clmq
He turns on the TV and hands her the remote after helping her sit up. Megumi thought she just wanted to sleep, but once she’s seated, she feels more awake.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡD3BfPXU5fH
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjoy9M7MaBU
As they wheel Mai out, Megumi catches sight of her backpack on a chair in the corner of the room. The lace from Mai’s favorite ballet shoes hangs outside the zipper. Swallowing the ache, Megumi turns her gaze back to the TV. She isn’t really paying attention, though. She’s enjoying the feel of her new heart and thinking about everything she loves…and admittedly everything she hates too. To her relief, her new heart responds as it should. She’d still the same person.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡV9z4miUDQ9
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDqt6zNUKep
But then she stops on a channel showing a dance competition. Megumi, who couldn’t even watch her sister’s biggest performance without fidgeting, finds herself riveted by the strangers dancing onscreen. Her pulse quickens, and she lets the remote rest on her lap.914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkmBXWrZxH7
914Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZLpk83lX9d
For some reason she doesn’t quite understand, a tear squeezes out of her eye.8964 copyright protection910ＰＥＮＡＮＡSaDg1ZaUsr 維尼

3.145.167.178