'Well… I guess I'm really going to do this…'
Garoro stood at a door with a familiar name written on a sign in the middle of it. He was in a residential area within a large hospital, mostly specialising in mental health. After going through a lot of admin, and dealing with many phone calls over several days, he was finally here. Only now that he was, he wasn't sure if he was ready.
The woman that lived in the room that he was stood outside of was very nearly ready to be discharged. Only a review and a bit of paper work stood in her way. What if his appearance brought about some sort of relapse?
He swallowed hard. He was going to do this. He wasn't going to quit now. His heart wouldn't allow it.
Lifting a crimson arm, he balled his hand into a fist and knocked on the door three times, and almost as soon as he had done it, he felt an overwhelming urge to run away, to pretend he'd never done it and tell himself it would be best if he never saw her again.
But he waited. Even when he heard a painfully familiar voice muttering in disbelief on the other side of the door, soft footsteps approaching, he waited, stoic as ever, even though he felt as though he was about to have a panic attack.
"That's odd… since when do I get visitors?" the voice behind the door said sarcastically "Fotete, if it's you again, I swear to god I'm gonna kick your ass"
Garoro frowned at the choice of words, before registering the slight whimsy present in her voice.
The door opened, and the woman stared, the scars on her face shifting slightly as her eyes widened significantly.
"Garoro" She said, in a peculiar way that almost sounded as if she expected him, even though the look on her face clearly stated the opposite.
"Hi, Takaka" he said, instantly regretting the awkward wording of his greeting. It wasn't really the appropriate thing to say, having not seen her for well over forty years.
The woman gave him an incredulous look, before absentmindedly pawing at the white bun of hair atop her head.
"Hold on a moment, I'm not really…" She said, not really sure how to end the sentence. She retreated into her room, and Garoro half expected her to stay there. She eventually came back out, however, with a familiar hat that hid her hair entirely.
"Um…"
She looked kind of nervous, which wasn't a characteristic he was used to.
"Can we take a seat somewhere?" he asked.
"I'm going to be a bit busy today. Nothing particularly, uh… confidential, so if you don't mind fusing about the place with me…" She said, the look of sheer confusion never leaving her face.
"That's fine too" He agreed.
The two of them left the dormitories, which didn't really take too long, as the purple frog's room was fairly near the entrance. As they made their way to one of the main buildings, Garoro realised that he had no idea what type of treatment Takaka had been receiving. As though she could read his mind, she started talking.
"I've been doing music therapy. It's surprisingly effective, and works for a lot of mental conditions" She stated as she opened the door for him.
"What does that entail?" Garoro asked.
"Learning to play instruments, singing, listening to others make music… that sort of stuff"
"Sounds fun"
"It is"
Just as their conversation ended, he heard some kind of indie music, increasing in volume as they got closer. Instead of entering the room the music was coming from, Takaka led him up some stairs, which came out onto some sort of viewing balcony, overlooking the surprisingly large room. The balcony was almost empty, only a few people, probably other residents, looking down at the 'band' with very contented faces. Takaka took a seat away from them, right at the front, leaning on the balcony with her arms folded. Garoro joined her, looking down curiously at the group of people producing the music below.
"The vocalist is called Kurere. I shared a dorm with her for a while. We got to watch each other sometimes" Takaka explained. Garoro turned to face her.
"So she's a friend?"
Takaka frowned thoughtfully, as if that idea had never occurred to her before.
"I… I suppose that's right, yes" she said, a hint of disbelief present in her voice.
They watched Kurere and her friends perform more music, most of them consistent to the indie paradigm, though some of the songs were fairly heavy, verging on metal.
"Garoro"
"Hm?"
"Why are you here?"
Despite the bluntness of the question, it sounded curious rather than accusatory. Garoro did not answer first, preferring to sort out his responses in his head first. This was going to be a delicate conversation, of course it was.
"I heard that you were getting better"
Takaka nodded absentmindedly.
"I didn't know you were ill" Garoro pointed out, causing the purple frog to do a double take.
"Did you think I was a monster?" She asked, not a hint of emotion present.
"At the time, yes. I thought that you'd somehow changed. I didn't know you had a dormant mental condition. You told me about your anger problems, but never the illness. Why?"
Takaka looked blankly back at her ex-husband for a long while.
"I… I don't know. Something stopped me. I guess I was afraid you'd leave me. Which sounds pretty stupid now, doesn't it?" She laughed dryly to herself, massaging her temples, feeling the onset of a head ache.
Garoro frowned at the response.
"Takaka if you'd have told me, I would have helped you"
The purple frog felt her eyes welling up, so stopped to focus on holding the tears back. Things could have been a lot different if she had just talked about it. She almost laughed at the irony – Garoro had always been the silent one, back at the start of their relationship.
"I feel guilty"
Takaka whipped her head up and glared daggers at him. How dare he blame himself for this? It was all her fault!
She took a deep breath. It seemed there would be a few kinks to work out before she actually got discharged.
Garoro seemed to notice her shaking a little, because he cautiously reached out and held onto her arm, almost as a form of stability. He stayed silent, letting her calm down.
"Garoro, you're an idiot, none of this was your fault"
The words came out harsh, but she knew he had understood her meaning.
"I wasn't ready to be a mother. I wasn't well. I could have told you, but I didn't. I could have gotten help before we decided to have children, but I didn't. I didn't do anything I should have done, and I deserve to be here, I deserve to be alone, I deserve to regret every-"
"If you stop self-deprecating, the conversation can move on"
Takaka nodded, glad of the interruption. The suppression of her anger had only made way for suppressed guilt, and the doctors said it wasn't good for her.
"Takaka, I came here as soon as I heard you were ill. I'm angry I wasn't told sooner, because I could have forgiven you sooner, and it could have been over sooner"
The scarred woman only stared at the man before her, glaring at the ground rather than looking her in the face. He was willing to forgive her straight away because she was ill? That was stupid.
"Of course, I'm still angry at the things you did. Garuru hasn't come out of his shell all that much since then; he's still quite and formal now. And Giroro's fear of sea cucumbers is crippling"
Takaka flinched at the mention of the second one, and for a terrifying moment, she thought she really was going to cry, and though a few stray tears welled up in her eyes, she held them in again, looking away from Garoro encase she let them fall.
"But… I think you've punished yourself enough for that"
Takaka looked up again, searching Garoro's eyes with her own.
"What are you getting at exactly?" She asked.
Garoro didn't want to answer her, even though it was the entire reason he came here. It was too sudden, anyway, what was he thinking?
Deciding to stay silent, Garoro looked over the balcony again; a different group of people playing a peculiar kind of music that could only be described as ambient metal providing a suitable distraction. Takaka said nothing opting to join him and watch the band play.
Half way through one of the songs, Garoro had decided to answer Takaka's question, though he still kept silent, instead slowly reaching over to his ex-wife and taking her hand in his. She only reacted with a sigh, but she tightened her own grip on his hand as a way of telling him to keep it there.
They stayed like that as several other patients came and went, playing a wide variety of music and just making the place feel like a kind of small festival, where people came to have a good time rather than come to terms with mental illness. Garoro eventually plucked up the courage to pull on the hand tightly gripped in his own, taking hold of Takaka in an almost protective hug. The woman was shocked, and consequently didn't really react. Garoro said nothing, and eventually they both relaxed into the embrace.
Takaka didn't make any music that day. Maybe some of the staff would be disappointed, but she didn't honestly care right then. Just being held by the man she still loved after all these years while many people played many kinds of beautiful music… she was the least angry she had been in years.
Of course, days don't last forever, and like every other patient, Takaka had a curfew. When the last of the patients left the room, Takaka stood up, helping Garoro up with her.
"It's late. I'll have to turn in soon"
Garoro nodded and followed her back the way they had come, taking her hand once he began to recognise the path. Takaka didn't bother to scold him. It didn't take them long to reach the dorms.
"It's probably best if you…"
"Don't go into the dorms with you? I understand"
The two of them stood for a long while, just looking at each other, not really knowing what to say, but not really wanting to part either.
Nervously, the woman leaned up towards Garoro and shyly planted a kiss on his cheek. She felt stupid for doing it, and it showed in her face, but she hoped Garoro had got the message.
"Erm… thanks for visiting me today. To tell you the truth, I honestly thought I'd never see you again"
He nodded at her, putting across a subtle message that he had thought the same. He hadn't really known what had actually compelled him to go there that day. Less than two weeks beforehand, he had heard talk of the woman he'd divorced for her sudden cruelty to the children actually being ill, and turning herself into a mental hospital, now soon to be discharged. He'd reacted on impulse, feeling the need to have things how they were before. He had no idea how much he'd really wanted that until the last minute… he hadn't even told Zarara, his closest friend who he had actually been trying to win over before he heard the news.
"Ah… and I… well… think I still love you… a little bit…"
Garoro only just caught the last bit, having spaced out in thought. He simply stared back at the embarrassed woman… no, not just a woman. Not even the woman he divorced. The woman he fallen for all those years ago. Lieutenant Takaka.
Without warning, he scooped her into his arms again, nearly lifting her off the ground. Takaka responded with a startled cry, but didn't try to wriggle away from him, instead letting him have his moment before she was freed again. She didn't have time to speak, however, as her lips were caught in a gentle, yet somehow desperate kiss.
Pulling away as if shocked by his own actions, Garoro looked away in embarrassment.
"S-sorry… I just got a bit nostalgic…" looking out of his peripheral vision, he saw the bewildered, almost glowing face of his ex-wife. "Eh… and I guess I might kind of still love you, too"
He smirked slightly as he saw her shake her head in response. He turned back to her.
"Don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to redeem yourself. Surely you don't believe this was my only visit?" He told her, as she shook her head again.
"Once I'm discharged, I'm checking you in. I don't understand why you're acting like what I've done is easily forgivable" She said, only half-jokingly.
"Trust me, I've done a lot of thinking on this…" in only two weeks, admittedly "… so, all that's left is… erm… observation"
"I think I'm going to have to turn in now" She hissed in embarrassment, surprisingly catching the accidental innuendo.
Garoro smirked but only replied with the nod of his head. Another awkward silence ensued before it was broken by Takaka giving Garoro a barely there kiss on the mouth.
"Goodnight, Garoro" She said quietly before returning into the residential building, leaving a confused, yet determined and almost pleased frog to stare at the doorway she retreated too.
"Goodnight, Sweetheart"
A/N
I don't know why, but these two randomly became my OTP for about two days, do NOT ask.
This was a little *sappy* something I wrote during the weekend I spent in Bath (the place, not the appliance XD) to go to my dear Nana's funeral, who died about two weeks ago, so it may seem a bit choppy in bits idk I just know that it's sappier than I'd liked and is really weird but vkdnbdmb YOLO.
(if you're curious about the appearance of Takaka, my design for Giroro's mother, pop down to my DA page (link on my author page thingy) and have a look for my 'Parents Sketches' pic. It contains all my (scribbled) ideas for the parents of both the Keroro and Garuru platoon, and the names I've given them (I have developed a few, but I'll find time to describe them some other time XD)
I'll end this authors note by adding that it isn't just music therapy that Takaka receives, it also includes art (which she's good at) and creative writing (which she is terrible at XD)