x

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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCyHmroUj0p
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXZ3bWJey8H
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyaDd90wpsW
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhVEYhLJwJu
Her face remains serene.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgvp5tTaYFa
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuNIMk8ez9r
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrUqF06f5lR
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5HIeOoEeqK
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfDraoiGFoU
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8IPwlk0F5G
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡINjzXuGoEd
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡy2yfDyldCc
This should have been her beginning.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJydcsLxWrE
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEgxPvasVnO
*/*/*899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡit0X3AMfzY
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4KguwShI71
Megumi realizes she’s wrinkling the program between her fingers and quickly tries to smooth it out, running her finger along Mai’s name.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJ6EDGmBpzu
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMNydb56F9s
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVWpfKbd5Qn
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVN4lI6UJ7B
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZdpPFIGFaF
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡVliYLqMr4C
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjPQsFUzx9I
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡXbPc1QEt5l
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTSd2Ma0zUV
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡZjJz448JVG
Mom’s gaze snaps to her immediately. She starts leaning in toward Megumi.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8VAqtlRGcS
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyRXApva82H
“I’m fine,” Megumi says, a little too sharply. She softens her voice. “Let’s just watch Mai, okay?”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡsBk50rvlQF
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTCJNZO7OKC
Her mom takes her hand but turns forward to watch the performance again.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOoqsHPEEkn
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6FrvpkG5yL
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcu3a50aLy8
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnwO5I2cxm6
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡAq9TA1T6rF
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTS4VleFi6l
*/*/*899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡuoX0sjxPwi
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjqE9bvtnn9
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡWDrWFz8NN9
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ8v8FhIW3wC
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡaWTIjF71xA
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiW0EmYriXz
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNgM2fnQAwW
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgVBTXpQdqs
Mai isn’t upset about that. How can she be? Megumi-chan’s life is far more important than anything else.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡX4ZBSxsHdF
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡchnHDTK5tg
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQoSNhkhAZi
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTreZ1OBZ7m
She wonders what it might have been like to live in a time when living heart donations weren’t possible.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMuDesSGEjf
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡPDc6QRTd5T
“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.”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡhF08fPeQbB
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ19zG5MbqIQ
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡNAz1pY4gMy
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡpbw4MimRrA
And then she feels guilty for thinking of Megumi-chan as an obligation.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡN4UZXRrZPc
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgyMgZBg9I7
When Laurel leaves, Mai pulls her knees to her chest until she feels turned inside out.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv0jh9g7mF1
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdxSrThxmU4
Her life until now has been a dream, and she’s being woken up.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEB096U11u0
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJGrz239Dbn
*/*/*899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwJdFWrYZTz
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡksGoSLFlrP
“Are you scared?” Megumi asks Mai.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrPI1yXjYx8
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5C9ACEV5Qy
“No,” Mai says from the other bed. “Are you?”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡYRa4X43lKa
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡToy5Ph44si
“Of course not,” Megumi lies.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ0yZZ77bH4X
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5TWMZkY7r8
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡqf8mLZ2H54
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwjjRegsnD2
“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.”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡL8CWPfovHT
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHYp3wnsdtL
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ5FBwaW8e6O
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡwXUv7IJPMT
“I’ll do it,” Mai said. “I don’t need to think about it.”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡTjbjO63evB
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa1TJWwvFKJ
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡCXW8Y1eR2y
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡvivXfpcOiw
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ6prAqKFHf0
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡEZRHoOiDwU
Megumi swallows the guilt and the fear that she’s being selfish.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm1jQemQbZ9
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡFRw7OaS8bc
Her weak heart manages to catch up to Mai’s heart—the one they’ll soon be sharing.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡfB8VUS8XTb
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡv4QN0ovhXX
*/*/*899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡOEAvXzzaem
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡa947Af2dEE
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡylu7niszyt
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡmPtDnRJULd
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7PgdF2CUY6
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡY9V81dKOh7
Mai tries to take her sister’s hand, but she can’t reach it.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡiQxATLHH7M
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡMaDEcRPHVx
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡydvoPmuyBZ
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡysVm9uCgYB
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQESSp3acxA
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡymep7716wl
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡQlgMUm02QO
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡyvGkeC2mzp
*/*/*899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ9WmLv4ulgt
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡe4YM4JQB37
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡSjDkbXxAr3
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ7FJ5CDdQNI
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡcuZH0PDQg7
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡDkNF320alK
Megumi is a bit more alert, her blood going cold. Did something go wrong with Mai?899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡUp1tFIzyK3
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡBHg67DRyHT
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡrQ2Bs1gZub
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡojpKeCmAIi
“Are you okay? How do you feel?”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡm9z3GhYbU2
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHr9L5CuUb5
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡIwnspGtlRd
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡummvR9E9d7
That’s when she realizes there are two heart monitors after all. It’s just that both of them are beeping perfectly in sync.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlP5ZrHuMEK
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡdI7q9VAQuD
Dr. Aguerra comes in and checks on Megumi, finally taking off the oxygen mask.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡnh2w6QEoMd
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4epF0qMSa3
“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.”899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡlkqd1ZDqCT
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkq3yrPbLtL
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡjK5qvnbOP6
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ4p1rInql2W
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ2jHrQPjgbp
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡJYHNv6ZMLh
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.899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡgU4bN2h00U
899Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡal5rNjebQ3
For some reason she doesn’t quite understand, a tear squeezes out of her eye.8964 copyright protection895ＰＥＮＡＮＡBQMyjgY6Hm 維尼

18.226.163.178