Musouka reached out slowly.

“You take my hand, you’ll have to face your final trial,” She said quietly.

Musouka hesitated at that. “What do you mean?”

“You’re still trapped, Musouka. Only you can break that barrier of yours.”

Musouka stilled. “Could I...say goodbye to my family?”

She smiled. “They’re not real though.”

“But they feel like it.. Please?”

“Sure...” And she became Baku’s male form. He followed her and Musouka, as she walked toward the house, noted everything melting down.

She saw them ahead, those she had fashioned herself after. They looked over at her and were smiling, truly smiling, Usagi, Ami, Rei, Makoto, and Minako.

They were waving, calling out goodbye as Musouka entered the house she had called home. She watched the pictures turn to molten colors as she looked forward and entered the kitchen.

“Mom? Dad?” She spoke softly. The two figures looked up with smiles. “I’m going to get help now. Thank you... for being with me.”

“We would do anything for you, honey.” Helen smiled widely.

“We love you.. no matter who you are..” Ryuu added.

“I fashioned them too, didn’t I? That’s why we got along so well.”

“You instill so much emotions in your creations, they become not just a part of you, they become themselves,” Baku agreed.

She turned and walked back outside. The sun overhead was half melted and she opened her hand slowly, the ring glittered.

“This ring... this was what I always wanted.. to find love. It all became this, a ring. Of acceptance, love, and assurance that I would be somebody if to just that one person. But I don’t have to be to one person,” She held it close to her chest, smiling as she cried.

“Baku, let’s go home.”

She held out her hand as Baku smiled and took the offered, light shining through.

And as they disappeared, everything turned to white and what had long since been dreamt, faded back into memories of dreams.

She awoke in the darkness and for a moment felt fear. But she was aware suddenly of her heartbeat and held up her hands. She was glowing with warm, soothing light.

She looked around at the gray, old bars of the cage. She pressed against them, the cold seeping in through her. She gritted her teeth and curled her fingers around them tighter, ignoring the cold.

“NO! The world isn’t cold! It’s warm!”

She remembered her mother’s hand along her face. “Mama.. Papa! I’m coming home! I won’t run away anymore!” She pulled back and threw herself again and again against the bars.

She stared at it, the bars unforgiving. “No.. I won’t give up.. not this time, not ever again! I believe in the stories of heroes, of people who meant everything to the world!”

“They all started out as me, afraid and unsure of this world. I want to be free, just like them! I want to go home! I want to love my family! I want them to love me! I want be me again!”

She grasped two adjacent bars and began to pull them apart, sobbing as the cold climbed her limbs.

“I don’t need superpowers...I don’t need other heroes...I can be somebody if I want to be somebody! I WON’T GIVE UP ANYMORE!”

She heard it then, voices, familiar ones.

“We haven’t got much choice. The doctors aren’t exactly much help,” Her father spoke bitterly.

“I refuse to give up,” Her mother said evenly. Her hand came up and grasped her daughter’s hand. “She’s still here! I swear, I could see her, hear her in my dreams! We can’t give up!”

“I didn’t say I would,” He looked down upon her. Musouka could see them, their love and devotion in their eyes.

And as the bar gave in only a little, her hand slipped out. “Mama.. Dad, please, hold on to me!”

Her fingers stretched. She was breaking the bar with her other hand.

And as she pressed the more harder despite the cold, a warmth filtered through her. It was in her hand, spreading downward.

“Mama...” She smiled tearfully. “You never would give up... You always told me that to be strong, you had to be there for others...”

Her father had pulled onto her other hand, his eyes misted.

“Papa..” His warmth escalated in her other hand and the bar melted down in the fire of his love.

And she stepped out. The ghosts of her past, of her nightmares, appeared, reaching out to strike. But her hands reached out, the warmth turning to light and it blew away the creatures.

“I’m waking up!” She called out. “Wait for me!”

And as the two parents lay their head in defeat, as the doctor entered, something happened.

They couldn’t see it, the way she shined in back into her self. But her mother’s eyes widened as she felt a squeeze in her hand.

“Stacey? STACEY!” Her mother’s face nearly broke as she smiled and cried.

“Oh dear god! Thank you! Thank you!” Her father sobbed.

And she opened her eyes, the world blinding for just a moment. And for a single moment more, she saw Baku, watching her with a warm smile.

“Goodbye, Morpheus...” He whispered before fading into nothing.

And Stacey Helen awoke, after three long years of being in a coma.

The rehab was difficult, but she awoke each day with a smile and went to sleep with a smile. She felt happy, truly happy.

And as she took her first walks, she smiled as her mother offered her arm. “No need Mom. I’m strong enough by myself!”

But she stilled as she looked up at her mother. “But you know, I could still use a shoulder to hold onto.”

And her mother offered her shoulder and Stacey hugged her, her eyes misted. “You’re so warm, Mom... I forgot about how nice this was.”

And her mother smiled, as she petted her daughter’s shoulder. “Soon, you’ll be able to go home, how does that sound?”

“That sounds wonderful..” She said brightly. She saw her father ahead, holding a bouquet. “Daddy...”

“What?” He grinned. “For my two girls!” He grinned as he offered them.

And she held them in her hands, the scent wafting to her nose. “They’re so beautiful...everything.. is so wonderful again..”

She came home, months later. She looked up at the house and recognized it instantly. She laughed inwardly as she saw the same rooms, the same steps, of the same place she called home that was indeed really home.

She walked up the steps and saw her cousins, her aunt and uncle smiling. She saw neighbors all waiting for her to come to them.

And she pulled away from her parents, the crutches she should’ve needed falling. And she walked proudly back home, all the while smiling.

It took a long time for her to catch up to everything. Learning to do things over, to return back to school. Of course, several people tried to their old routine of picking on her. But she began to laugh at one of them.

“Yea, I guess it does look like a crescent moon shape,” She agreed laughing, rubbing at the wound. “The doctor says it’s nearly gone though and with surgery, it can be gone completely. But I don’t know, you really think I should keep it?”

And she grinned at the surrounding boys. One of them was angry for sure but the others were smiling, laughing with her. And finally, he broke into a smile. “You know, it does look kinda cool. Maybe you should keep it!” He laughed.

She walked quietly, out of the classroom. She smiled as the students ran past her. It’d been a good ten years since she awoke and she was just starting out in her teaching career.

She continued down, waving to some of the teachers. You could barely see it but she still bore that mark upon her forehead. She was older, wiser. She had a slight limb and sometimes, her memory tired and she forgot things.

She got outside, the sun beaming down at her. The end of the year, children were walking home.

And she went along with them. She found she loved walking. It helped her open her eyes to others, as she looked around at the trees and streets, the busy cars and people, the children laughing as they played games with each other.

And she smiled as she entered a building. It was fairly new and would someday soon be a library. She was heading to one room only.

She went in, the door creaking open as she spotted several children sitting patiently. A picture akin to a fairytale story was taped up and her book was positioned on a desk.

“So, let’s begin, shall we?” She smiled as she sat down. “My name is Stacey Helen. I wrote this shortly after I woke up from my coma. I think it’s a fun story! It’s got magic and friends and as always, a good lesson to go by so your parents would be very happy!” She winked at them as they giggled. “I read this last week. Do we remember what we were talking about?”

A little girl raised her hand. “About what it’s like to be you.”

“Exactly. Why do you think this is important?”

“Cause we wanna be rich and famous?” A little boy called out.

“A ha! Nice try, Brad but not quite. Let me tell you what I learned from this. This came to me in a dream. Do you know what a dream is?”

“The pictures we get when we fall asleep?” The little girl said timidly.

“Uh huh. And sometimes we get nightmares, huh?” Stacey smiled warmly. “But it’s all right to be scared sometimes because of these nightmares. What’s really important about dreams is that with dreams, we can make anything.”

“For example,” She grinned as she held up the book. “I dreamt this up!”

“So if I wanna be a astronaut, can I be that?” A little boy asked suddenly.

“You can be anything you want to be! My mama even said I could be Sailor Moon! Do you know who she is?”

“No...” Came the chorus and she grinned wider.

“Guess that was just in my time. Well, she was a superhero who beat up bad guys and saved the day! She was my inspiration, in fact.”

“So your mama said you could be Sailor Moon?!” A little girl blinked in surprise. “But we can’t be superheroes!”

“Not with magical powers, no. But we got something else in us,” She tapped her head. “We can dream. We create things every day. Cures, stories, hope, these are all from our dreams. Sometimes we won’t know what we dream but that’s because we’re not ready to let everyone see our dreams. But when you’re ready, when you want to show people your dreams, then you’ll realize, hey, I did something great without being a superhero, without being overly important.”

She noted the children and their faces of boredom. “Here, let me say it another way. If you want to be a astronaut, go for it! Go see the stars, learn about them, fly with them! And when you think you’re ready to show everyone your dreams of flying up in space, don’t listen to those that laugh, listen to those who tell you to go for it!”

“You can be a somebody any old day. You can pretend to be a hero, to be a warrior of truth and justice but to be to a special somebody, you have to look deep within you and find out what you dream about. Who here has a dream?”

Several hands shot up. “Go ahead, yell it out.”

“I wanna be a nurse!”

“I wanna see the ocean!”

“I want to learn how to dance!”

“I’d like to find Mr. Right!”

The girls all agreed on that one.

“I’d certainly like to see that dream!” Stacey laughed. “But see, we all have dreams but you know what we’d need to do? Believe in them. Make them into reality. Now, that probably means more school..”

“BOO!!”

“You’ll change your mind,” she pointed out.

“BOO!!”

“Or not..” She chuckled. “Or sometimes, all we have to do is reach out to others. It can be your family, your parents, you siblings. Even to friends. We are all dreamers in this world. Where would we be without it? We’d be like animals! We wouldn’t have all the great things we have today!”

She looked up and noted the time. “I’m sorry guys if I bored you! But I get so excited talking about dreams, it’s just a great subject for me. Next week, we’ll discuss more on your own dreams. How does that sound?”

“Yea!”

“Have a good day, guys!” She watched them pile up. “Remember, there’s a volunteer here for helping out with the library.”

She smiled as she held up her book, the picture of Morpheus looking at her. And the ring glittered on the page as she sighed and held it close to her.

“Excuse me, Miss?” A young man had stood up from the desk.

She smiled at him. “How could I be of assistance, sir?”

“I was reading your story, actually. A friend of mine got it for me, as a joke. Said I reminded him of that ...what’s its name? Baku?”

She blinked innocently as she studied him. “Hm... You do have the same eyes. If you dyed your hair pink...”

“Oh, no, no...” He grinned. “We won’t be doing anything LIKE that.”

“But ahem...” He coughed. “I was ...err, wondering if I could get your autograph. Rumor has it you have more books coming out and well, I thought I’d take this moment before you got totally famous.”

“What? Oh, I’m not going to be famous. I’d love more than anything to be a novelist...but there’s another more important dream out there for me.”

“Really? What?” He stood in front of her and she smiled at him.

“Simple. I want to teach. I want to show children that they can dream and they don’t have to be afraid to do so. I’ve made it my superpower, if you will..”

“Damn, I thought it might be about finding Mr. Right.” He grinned.

“Yea, well, that’d be nice too.” They began to walk out of the room. “Well, is that your dream?”

“Yea... it’d be nice...Oh, but I also kinda ..err... wanna... “

“Come on, spill it!”

“I’d like to be a farmer,” He scratched his nose. “I like farm animals, especially pigs.. I mean, they’re so great.”

“You should try a pot-bellied pig! They’re adorable!”

“I need a farm first,” He smiled.

“Well, what are you doing about it?”

“Oh, me? I’ve been saving a few years now and I’ve got the perfect place... but... well.. today’s so modern. I probably should stick with being a contractor.”

“Nonsense!” She whapped him along the shoulders. “Go for it! Buy it! If you need help, I’ll be glad to offer a hand!”

She pressed a card in his shirt pocket. “Just give me a ring, why don’t you? Oh... I didn’t get your name!”

“Drew... Drew Andrews.”

“Stacey Helen but you probably knew that,” She grinned. “Call me!”

“Wait!” He came up to her side. “Wait.. I, err, kind of wanted to apologize.”

“What?” She stopped.

“You don’t remember me, do you?”

It took a moment to remember that one boy who had tried his hardest to break her spirit. It had been before that accident. “Hey... you’re that eighth grader! I was, what, in...”

“Fourth grade. Yea... umm... I remembered you from the name only,” He reached out slowly. “After you left school for a while, I thought I made you disappear. That really made me change. All I could do was remember how mean I was to everyone and I decided to change...”

“Because... of me?”

“Yea...” He was actually blushing. “You... were really important for me...I never got to know you then. I was too stupid... But... I’d still like to, that is, if you’ll forgive me?”

“I forgave the world when I woke up from my coma,” She said with smile. “But you know, if you really wanna make it up to me, how about dinner?”

“That’d be great. My treat though,” And he offered his arm.

And for a moment, she imagined something. It’d someday be real, that’s for sure. And she walked down that altar, Drew smiling happily.

‘All I ever wanted to be was somebody. I thought I could be that in my dreams but I wasn’t living. I was trapped instead. But the world’s not as cold as I had thought. There are people who are mean, who are cruel but there are those, closer, who look upon me with love and hope. And I want to do the same. I won’t lock myself in like I wasn’t worthy of the world. Even if it’s as silly as being a superhero, I’ll tell myself, I tell everyone go for it. To dream is to be human. To make that dream makes you a somebody’
‘This time, I won’t just dream about life, I’ll make life my reality. After all, I’m the Dream Shaper...’