As the Seasons Change

Chapter 1

"Hey, got a sec? I'm looking for ruins. Specifically a door."

"A door, just like he said."

"Impossible! There's no way!"

"You need to close this door, right?"

"Gates open in lonely places where no human hearts remain. And from those Gates... disaster comes."

"Suzume! Hi there! You're in the way. Goodbye."

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Where are you going? No! No! No! No! Ugh! Souta! Wait!"

"It's not safe for you to tag along."

"Maybe you should be worrying more about yourself."

"People will die. A whole lot of them."

"Souta! Wait!"

"Alright then, I need you to lock the door! You were right. I can't do it!"

"As I feared. Souta failed, didn't he? That much at least should frighten you."

"A world without Souta terrifies me."

"I could never forget. I promise, I'll come save you."

"I return them to you!"

"I'll see you."

XXXXXX

"Wake up Suzume!" Whispered a somewhat familiar voice into Marinette's ear. "You'd better hurry! The Warm is gonna fall and the Earth will break."

Bluebell eyes snapped open and came face to face with bright yellow ones. Marinette gasped sharply and looked up toward the sky. And yup! Sure enough, the Warm was coming. And it was coming fast!

The pigtailed bluenette cursed under her breath and turned back to face the small white cat who was now sitting in her lap.

"But I'm not the Closer. I only did it back then cause Souta-san got turned into a chair. But now I don't see him anywhere! What are we going to do Daijin?"

The little cat looks thoughtful for a moment before an idea hits him and his eyes light up like a Christmas tree.

"ah-ha! I've got a great idea Sumie-chan!" Daijin exclaimed with a wide grin splitting across his tiny face as he looked up into the eyes of Suzume's reincarnation.

Marinette's eyes narrowed slightly and she gave the small feline a suspicious look. "Oh I see. And what kind of crazy supernatural game do you want me to play this time?" She crossed her arms and tilted her head slightly to the side with a anxious look passing over her face as she spoke.

Daijin paused for a moment, his eyes becoming slitted as he tried to gage what the young dark-haired teenager was thinking. But she just gave him a blank stare in response.

A few more seconds oassed by before the little white cat spoke up once again, flicking his tail and jumping on the girl's shoulders as he did so.

"You can close the door instead Suzume! You've done it before! So why not take up the mental of a Closer once more and stop the Warm from escaping!"

Marinette's eyes lowered to the floor and the young 14-year-old sighed softly to herself. She shakes her head from side to side, her pigtails whipping the sides of her face as does so.

"I could do it again, but I... I-I don't know if I can." The French-Asian girl groans loudly and puts her head in her hands. "But I guess it's up to me since Souta-san isn't here."

Daijin face brightened and he gave the dark-haired girl a bright smile. "Now that's the spirit Suzume!" He cried out in glee.

"Uh Nettie? What exactly are we doing?" Came Juleka's sift voice from behind the shorter girl. Marinette gave a startled yelp and nearly fell backs over her feet as she stood up and turned herself around to face the taller girl.

"We're going to go and close some doors." Was the only answer Juleka received in response. "The Warm can't get out or disaster will come upon the world."

XXXXXX

"But I'm still so confused, what exactly is a 'Closer?'" Juleka had asked the white cat perched on her girlfriend's shoulder. "What do they do? And why the hell does Nettie have to be the one to close the door?"

Marinette sighed heavily and fiddled nervously with the pendant hanging around her neck. How could she explain this to her girlfriend without sounding like a fucking lunatic who feels like crap after eaten too much candy! Oh God, she's already loosing it! Just her damn luck!

The pigtailed bluenette sighed for like the twentieth time that day as she tried to come up with a somewhat believable story to tell Juleka.

Taking one last deep breath to calm her frazzled nerves, the dark-haired French-Asian 14-year-old superheroine gathered up her courage and began to speak.

"Here's go nothing." Marinette whispered quietly to herself before lifting her gaze from her shoes and up into concerned ruby eyes. "It's kind of a long story Jules and I don't think we have the time right now." Her girlfriend gave her a puzzled look, frowning slightly and raising a questioning eyebrow at the shorter girl.

"Nettie, what do you-" Juleka started to say but was cut off by her girlfriend's horrified gasp and Daijin's frantic yowling. "What the hell is going on?" She cried as a large gust of wind blew her backwards a few feet.