Thanks for the Memories
Two people came to the beach with two completely different reason.
Homura twitched her nose. The air was salty.
What was she expecting? She was at a beach, far from home, far from anywhere she knows.
The waves crushed against the empty shore gently, pulling back grains of sands and leaving seashells for kids to collect the next morning. Homura looked up at the full moon, watching it silently as the beautiful light shone brightly in the sky but it wasn't bright enough to dim the shining stars in the dark vast universe.
Her grip on the sliding glass door loosened as she made her way towards the lone wooden beach chair on the balcony, her gaze never leaving the moon.
After an eternity, she gave up on this silent staring battle and closed her eyes. Only the waves echoed in her mind and she loved the peace more than anything else in the world. And she knew it was too early for her to say this when the strum of a guitar sounded in her ears and Homura flung open her eyes in an instant.
After a few random strums were done for warming up, a soothing and slow music was being played. Homura slowly leaned forward, the creaking of the bench was dismissed as Homura's ears were all focused of the music coming right on the right side of her balcony. She moved towards the side and glanced around for a moment. It was already night time, but it wasn't too late for her to complain about someone playing guitar anyway. It's not like she wanted to complain about it either anyway.
Her purple eyes moved about, but she couldn't find the source of the guitar being played. After a few more seconds, Homura detected that the music was coming directly below her. She headed to the middle of the balcony and bent forward. She tip-toed, but she couldn't see anything other than the railings and a bit of the floorboard on the balcony. Homura gave up after another attempt, finding it pointless for her to try being ridiculous when she wasn't really that curious about who was playing the guitar.
She rest her arms against the railings and closed her eyes, enjoying the soft and gentle strums of the guitar. There was no voice, no lyrics, nothing that Homura could think of to fit the music but she found it perfectly fine on its own for some odd reason. It was just strums after strums of the guitar strings that Homura never heard before but it kept her a little interested too.
Soon enough, Homura's eyes began to close with the soft melody playing in her hustling wind and the sound of the waves were long gone in an instant and all she could hear was the sound of the guitar being played.
Homura didn't know how long had passed when the music stopped abruptly. Her eyes widened out of curiosity and she peeked down again. Suddenly, everything was quiet that Homura thought there was something wrong with her ears, but it wasn't after a second later when the howling of the wind and the crushing of the waves came back, filling the silence Homura always wanted.
She wondered if the guitarist was going to play the next song.
Homura waited.
But there was nothing.
.
.
The knife scooped out a blob of strawberry jam on the plate and spread it across the hard white bread. Homura placed the knife back down and took a small bite of her breakfast before looking out at the sea through the restaurant's window.
"Here's your freshly made orange juice. Enjoy your meal."
Homura nodded in gratitude and took the tall glass, slurping the cold juice down her throat and she felt like she was in heaven. She smiled faintly at the freshness of her drink before putting it back down on the table, ready to enjoy her second bite of her bread.
Not long after Homura started on her sausage, a family came right into the restaurant and was guided by the waiter to the table right opposite Homura. The father was pushing a frail looking girl on the wheelchair while a boy was bouncing happily to his seats, following closely behind was his mother.
"I'll take this chair away for you."
"Thank you." The father smiled and the waiter bowed before leaving with the chair. The father pushed the wheelchair to the spot where the chair was suppose to be and patted on the girl's shoulder. "Comfortable with this position?"
"Yeap."
His smile never faltered as he went around to get his seat. Once he sat down beside his wife, their backs completely covered Homura's view of their daughter and son.
"We can see the beach from here! I want to go to the beach!"
"We'll go right after breakfast."
"Yay!"
Homura glanced away and back at the sausage that was stuck on her fork, deciding she should just continue her meal. Although she tried hard not to care, the flipping sound of the menu couldn't be ignored and only after a while, the family decided they wanted to have their breakfast as a buffet meal and the boy was already skipping towards the buffet tables, following quickly behind were his parents. The mother came back to the table again.
"I'll take your favorite scrambled eggs and tarts." The mother patted on her daughter's shoulder and kissed the girl's cheek after the girl grinned pleasantly back.
"Thank you."
After her mother left, her table was empty and seemed just as lonely as Homura's. They were directly opposite of each other and Homura didn't mind as her fork slid under her fried egg and being brought to her mouth. Unconsciously, she glanced up, to see the girl staring at her with a curious look. When their eyes met, the girl sheepishly looked away, her face flushed. Homura slowly pulled the fork out of her mouth and decided to let the matter pass because it was just a hassle to deal with it.
It had been a while yet the rest of her family member haven't came back to the table. Homura was nearly done with her meal, all left was a few bits of hash browns and the last piece of her favorite sausage. She was about to devour her lovely food when she could hear loud coughs coming right in front of her.
The girl was coughing terribly and it was so sudden that Homura didn't know how to react. She seemed to be looking around for something on the table while covering her mouth. Homura glanced down at her own napkins and then back at the girl again, not knowing if she should make a move. The coughing hadn't stopped until so long and a few other customers were looking at the girl's direction as well, but none bothered to help.
Putting down her utensils, Homura grabbed the napkin and the glass of plain water off the table and approached towards the opposite table.
"Take these paper napkins and water. Both of them are clean, I didn't use them."
She took the glass desperately first and began drinking in small gulps, a few seconds of pause before small sips again. Homura watched her the entire time until she finished a quarter of the glass water.
"I'm so sorry for being a bother." Her frail hands reached out for the napkins before she started her coughing fit again. "Thank you for your help." She said weakly, forcing a genuine smile on her lips.
"It's fine." Homura could just leave right then and go back to her meal, but she couldn't for some odd reason. She bit her lips, stopping her words from coming out from her mouth but it didn't work. "Are you alright?" She asked, her concerns going way over than necessary to a girl she barely met for ten minutes.
She shouldn't care and it wasn't her business to be asking if she was fine when obviously she wasn't at all, not when she was sitting in her wheelchair, looking all weak and tired. And although she looked weak, Homura never thought that she looked miserable in the slightest. In fact, her smile was just as bright as the moon she seen yesterday night.
The way her smile never changed reminded Homura of this girl's father. "Just a little coughing fit. I'll be okay, thank you for your concern."
Homura stared down at the girl and she knew she was never alright to begin with, but she kept her mouth shut and remained that way because she knew her comment was not necessary for anyone to hear, especially not this girl.
"Madoka, what happened?"
There weren't any napkins and water but this lady here have kindly gave me some." She lifted the napkin in her hand and showed her family.
"Thank you for helping out." The mother said. "Why don't you join us for breakfast?"
Homura had no idea how many "Thank you" she heard in just one morning. She shook her head. "I've eaten well and I'm leaving soon." Homura glanced at the last sausage she was actually saving for the last but she knew it was better to leave rather than to stay anyway.
"Maybe you can join us tomorrow if we see each other again." The mother smiled.
"Sure." Homura said, hoping she didn't sound exactly opposite of what she said.
When there was a short silence, Homura took the opportunity and made her way out of the restaurant after paying her bills.
.
.
The colorful beach ball flew from one side to another side as Homura stared at the ball amusingly for no apparent reason. Apparently, the way the ball was being thrown about was far more interesting in what she was suppose to do.
She stared down at the blank sheet of paper on her lap. Her legs were straightened on the warm sand, her back was nicely against the tall and big palm tree, the leaves big enough to leave a shade for Homura and the wind was helping Homura with the heat from the scorching sun. Kids were playing beach ball games, building sandcastles and even pranking their parents by covering them with sands. The sea was nearly as crowded with people swimming around and splashing each other for the sake of splashing.
Homura sighed as she threw her pen on her lap and it rolled down onto the sand. She stretched her arms and legs and sighed as her eyes lingered mindlessly at the people on the beach.
"Hello."
The voice caught her by surprise as Homura's neck snapped to her side and her eyes widened immediately when she watched the same girl on the wheelchair, making her way towards Homura as she used all her strengths to push her wheels forward. Homura wanted to stand up to help, but by the time Homura even gave that a thought, she had cleared the distance needed.
"Where's your family?" Homura couldn't help but ask.
"They are out for a swim." The girl pointed at the sea and Homura followed the direction of her tiny finger. There they were, at the shallow part of the sea, splashing water at each other as well.
Homura stared down at her swimming costume. "Why are you not joining them?"
"I can't." She afforded a smile before looking down at her costume. "I just wear it for fun."
Homura blinked and kept silent.
"I saw you under this beautiful shade so I decided to come and join you instead. You've picked a really nice place."
"This one was the best I can find."
"Indeed it was!"
Homura picked up the forgotten pen and twirled it between her fingers.
"What are you doing here with a pen and paper instead of having some fun?"
Homura glanced up before looking away. "I'm not here to have fun actually." She mumbled, just loud enough for the girl to hear.
"You came here alone right? You were eating alone too." The girl continued to ask questions. It wasn't like Homura hated it or anything, but she didn't know how to reply to someone who she barely knew. This girl sure is one of those over friendly type of people that love to meddle other people's business. It's not like Homura didn't know people that were just like this girl so she wasn't offended or anything.
She stared down at her paper once again. "Yeah. I came here alone."
Homura could sense the girl smiling right at her as she looked up. She was right. This time, however, the girl never looked away in embarrassment like she did in the restaurant. Instead, her lips were curling up and her cheeks were flushed with a healthy shade of pink. But Homura wasn't sure if that was really because she was healthy or was it because of the heat.
"Well I guess we can keep each other company." She said.
Homura continued staring but she decided to look away first. For the first time of her life, she couldn't resist the urge to meddle with someone's business when she disliked being a busybody the most. But this girl... all she ever did since the time she entered the restaurant was to give Homura millions of question marks thundering right above her head.
"Why did you come to the beach if you are just going to stay under the shades?"
Her pink eyes wandered away from Homura and it was cast over the vast beach that was filled with energized people with contagious smiles and heartfelt laughs. She remained silent for a moment and Homura wondered if she had asked the wrong question, and maybe too personal that it shouldn't have been touched upon at all.
"Actually-"
"Well," The girl cut in before Homura had the chance to dismiss her question. "I really wanted to come to this beach when I was young." She turned her head away from the beach and looked down at Homura. Homura returned her attention.
"This beach?" Homura blinked. "What's so special about this beach?" More questions were firing out of Homura's mouth before she even knew it.
"When I was young, this is the first beach my parents brought me to and it gives us many things to remember." Her eyes grew distant immediately but she came back to reality just as fast as well. "Although I couldn't play or have fun here, I've entrusted that duty to my brother. If my parents ever come here again, they wouldn't be reminded just of me but my brother too."
She began to cough, just as hard as she did in the restaurant.
Homura straightened her posture. "Hey, you alright?"
"I'm fine." The girl's brow creased but in just a single second, her face fell lax and brightened again. "Well! I guess I should-" Her cough came back even though Homura knew she was trying hard to pretend she was alright. "I should- I should go back to my room."
Homura stood up without hesitance. "Let me help you." She stuffed her paper and pen into her short's pocket and grabbed the handle of the wheelchair.
"I can manage." The girl said. "I shouldn't have bother you too. I'm sorry."
"Why are you apologizing? You didn't do anything wrong."
The girl looked up, her face flashed with surprise but she said nothing.
"What happened?"
Homura looked up to find the father shouting and running towards their direction. She slowly stepped away when the father bent forward and gazed deeply at her daughter, only the look of concern existed.
Her mother and brother quickly joined in and Homura was slowly slipping away.
"We should go back." The mother urged.
"Yeah." The father said. "It's not good for her to be in the sun for too long."
"I'm fine, really. Tatsuya, don't you want to play? Mom, Dad, you shouldn't bother with me."
"We can always play tomorrow. And I want to play with big sis too. So you should have a good rest so that you will become stronger and we can all play together tomorrow!"
Something inside Homura just broke. She shifted her gaze towards the two parents who were frozen in their spot, unable to react to their younger son's innocence. The girl, however, seemed nonchalant about everything as she pulled her brother towards her side. "You have grown so big and well, haven't you?"
"Of course!"
"Let's go." The mother said.
The father stood up and gave a nod of acknowledgement towards Homura as he pushed the girl away. She stopped her father and turned back, Homura blinked.
"Can I see you again tomorrow?" She said, her voice a little hoarse from all the coughing.
Without thinking, Homura agreed.
.
.
Homura waited for the guitar to be played again.
But there was none.
.
.
"Hello."
Homura glanced up and there the girl was again, making her way towards Homura. She stood up, pushing her paper and pen aside and helped the girl as she pushed the wheelchair to the spot where there was the biggest shade. The girl thanked her like the other millions of times and Homura sat back at her own spot again. She wasn't wearing swimming costume today. Instead, she wore a plain T-shirt and simple shorts, just like what Homura was wearing.
"Did you feel better?"
"Yeah."
Homura wasn't sure if that was the truth but didn't question her any further. She looked ahead and spotted the girl's family heading towards a small spot in the middle of the beach, with kid's bucket and shovel. Homura noticed that her parents glanced back a few times to check on their daughter, not that Homura could blame them for their worries either.
"Are you going to draw something?"
Homura stared hard at the blank piece of paper on her lap, her pen twirling between her fingers once again. "Actually, no. It's hard to convey a message by drawing anyway."
It seemed that her words had piqued the girl's interest. "What are you writing about?" She then gave a teasing chuckle. "A love letter?"
She gave an amused smirk back, just for the sake of returning an expression for the girl's teasing laugh. "I might be a little, just a little happy if I have the chance to call it a love letter."
The girl gave an awkward look. "Is it unrequited love?"
Homura shook her head. She let out a silent breath, her eyes fixated at the distant sea. She never had the courage to tell anyone about her worries, her pain or anything that people could take advantage of and use it against her. She never love showing her weakness to anybody but this girl was someone she respected, much more than herself. She used her weakness and make it as a strength for her to do something for her family instead of being all gloomy or negative about everything and Homura wondered if she could learn a thing or two from this girl right here.
Funny how this girl she just met gave her such a strong impact in her life. And for a moment, Homura wasn't sure if she was actually sane to agree and even keep to the promise about meeting her again today. But she came, and the girl came too.
Homura caressed the paper in her hand. It was time for her to understand why she was sitting right here, with a piece of paper and pen instead of enjoying herself under the sun. She never thought of telling this bottled and messed up feeling she had in her heart, but just one person who care, one person who bother to ask... Just a nudge and Homura felt the wall around her crumbled, so weak, so pointless to even have a wall built around her in the first place.
She held back the tears that was beginning to sting her eyes. Maybe she would let out this secret that she had been unknowingly keeping to herself to a stranger she barely knew for a day.
Noticing the silence was dragged for far to long, she cleared her throat. "I'm writing for a friend who had passed away."
Shock immediately filled the girl's eyes as she cupped her mouth with her hand. "I'm so sorry. I really sorry! I didn't mean to tease you like that."
"Why are you apologizing again?" Homura raised an eyebrow.
The girl looked away. "My words must have hurt you."
"Your words actually amused me."
She looked embarrassed and Homura have the small urge within her to laugh, but she didn't.
"Are you writing an eulogy for that person?"
"She died three years ago."
If Homura could describe the girl's face, it would be one giant question mark. When the girl gave no response, Homura took it that she wanted her to continue. She dully looked down at the paper before resting her head against the palm tree as she stared at the giant leaves moving along with the breeze. "My friend was drowned, right at this beach. I couldn't save her because I wasn't strong enough back then." Homura slightly fold the corner of the paper, twisting it to make it like the pointed end of the spear. "I wasn't strong enough to save us both."
"I came back here so I could tell her how sorry I really feel back then. But a sorry won't bring her back and apologizing wouldn't undo anything." Homura sighed as she lowered her gaze and back at the paper. "And... if I really put my feelings into words and wrote them all on this paper, does that mean it's over? Does that mean that I've forgiven myself and decided to forget about everything once I send this paper to her?"
"No."
Homura looked up. A pair of warm eyes were gazing right at her.
"Your friend must have known how much you struggled to save her." She felt the girl's hand on her shoulder. "She would never blame you for this."
It was another round of pointless and same comforting words she heard all over again. Kyoko was an orphan, so no one was around to blame Homura for the tragedy she had caused. Her own parents paid little attention to this matter and never bother to care either. Only some mutual friends comforted her, with these same and old usual words they used for comfort.
"It's alright."
"You've tried your best."
"She wouldn't blame you."
Homura didn't need to hear all these because she had used all of these excuses to tell herself so she didn't have to feel so guilty about it. And when those thoughts even flashed across her mind, she felt even worse.
The hand left her shoulders and Homura was snapped back to reality again. The girl stared at the distant sea. "How long has it been since you last went to sea?"
Homura blinked, not expecting to hear such question. It was easy to answer since she rarely go to any beach ever since that incident too and there shouldn't be any harm replying either. "I came once, last year. Just so I can write this for her death anniversary. But I couldn't. So I came back again this year." Homura thoughtfully looked at the beautiful and charming wave. It was only a year after Kyoko's death anniversary then she dared to come to the beach again. The sound of the waves haunted her several times and Homura thought she had made the worse decision to come here last year. But the paper and pen that stared right back at her made her stayed for several days, painfully, although Homura ended up writing nothing.
Grateful that the girl gave her some time to recollect herself to say the answer to her question, Homura let out a breath. "Although I come to the beach, I never go to the sea anymore."
The girl nodded in understanding before giving an apologetic look towards Homura. "Could you push me to the shore? Sor-" She paused before shaking her head. "Please."
Homura almost felt herself smiling. She stood up without a word, stuff the folded paper and and pen into her pocket and pushed her towards the shore. The girl directed Homura towards another direction, away from her own family and Homura quietly followed her instructions.
The wheel was rather hard to push, in Homura's opinion and she wondered how did this girl even push herself towards the palm tree on her own. The sand and rocks were making the ride bumpy for the girl too, but she gave no complains. Homura squinted her eyes and glanced up at the perfectly clear and blue sky, perfect for a day at the beach. But for some reason, Homura wished there were some clouds nearby when she noticed the burning sun shining down at the girl's pale skin. It made her wonder how long had it been since she was even out and under such heat. Homura abruptly stopped and the girl glanced back, giving a questioning look.
"Are you alright to even go to the shore?"
"I'll be fine, although I think I can last for around ten minutes probably."
Homura sighed inwardly. She began pushing again.
"Closer." The girl said when Homura stopped just a little bit before the sea.
Homura's grip tightened around the handle. "I don't think it's a good idea."
The girl looked back, a small smile on her pale look face. Homura blinked and she turned away, both of her hands on the side of her wheelchair as she struggled to stand.
"I really don't think it's a good idea." Homura rushed to her side and the girl still continue trying to stand. After she did, she grabbed onto Homua's arm and pulled her body towards Homura and away from the wheelchair.
"I think it's the best idea." She said.
Homura's brow furrowed. Tentatively, her hands reached towards the girl's grip around her arm and held it, firmly supporting the girl's weight on the soft sand. The girl smile gratefully.
The girl kick out her sandals and Homura knew it was coming.
"I don't want to." Homura muttered.
The girl squeezed Homura's hand and her eyes became like one of of the determined soldiers Homura seen in the movies. "Do you trust me?"
Homura would reply a no immediately without even thinking. But the way this girl trusted her own life, holding on so dearly onto Homura's arm because she trusted in her made Homura think twice of her own answer. Trust wasn't really the issue here and she had forgotten what it was like to ever trust anyone again too. Homura glanced down at her slippers and sighed.
But the reason why she ended up right on the shore, so close yet so far from the sea she dreaded was because she let out her secret she never knew she would speak of again. Was that a sign of trust?
By the time Homura could think through, her slippers were already kicked away without her realizing it.
The girl's eyes twinkled under the sun and she began to drag herself towards the sea. Homura followed, not wanting the girl to fall if she stop or let go, which was exactly why she didn't have the choice to even act as her own to begin with.
Once the cold water touched the tips of her toes, Homura shivered and she quickly stepped away, unintentionally pulling the girl back as they almost fell. But Homura was strong enough, strong enough now to prevent both of them from falling onto the soft sand.
"I'm sorry. I can't do this."
The girl's eyes softened. "You don't have to apologize."
Homura glanced up.
"Take a leap of faith." The girl continued. "You can't run away forever and I know that your friend wouldn't want that either. Your friend don't want you to forget her, but she don't want you to be reminded of the sadness whenever you stare out at the sea. It's hard to forget about the painful memories and how you failed to save her, but that couldn't be changed anymore. The only thing you can change now is the way you decide to face it."
"How..." Homura's throat tightened in an undesirable way. "How do you say all these as if you know her so well?"
"Because I'm going to die soon," The girl whispered and Homura felt like she just got punched in the face. The girl still continued staring at Homura, never looking away. "I don't want my family to be reminded of the sadness if they ever come back here again. I want them to continue to live on, even though I'm not with them anymore. No one likes to bring pain to their loved ones and I'm sure your friend didn't want you to feel that too." She started her first cough and Homura became on full alert but she shook her head.
"I don't want you to only be reminded of the sadness and your failure. I want you to remember your friend and the memories you had when you were in the sea."
Homura bit her lips.
"Let's try again, shall we?"
They took a step forward, and then another. Homura could feel the soft sand on her sole and with the next step, her sole could feel the cold waters touching her skin, prickling her entire body and sending shivers down her spine. The girl gave her a comfortable squeeze and Homura fully stepped down, her feet right in the water. And with the next step, both of her feet, along with the girl's, were submerged in the calm waves.
"My hair is wet now."
"Because we're in da water of course!"
Homura closed her eyes.
"Ya know, we should have invited Mami here. She would make cakes for picnic."
"You're the one that told me not to tell her because of the fight you had last week."
"..."
Splash
"How dare you!-"
"We're suppose to splash each other! We're in the sea, why can't you see the logic? Hhahahahha!"
Homura's lips began tugging on its own and by the time she opened her eyes and stare at the sea, she could feel herself smiling, literally. She turned to look at the girl, who was already staring right at her with a satisfied smile on her face.
"Do you feel better?"
"Yeah." Homura admitted. And for the first time in her life, she gave a second response.
"And... thank you."
.
.
Homura stared up at the dark sky on her balcony, a simple routine she always do since the first day she came here. The moon was right at the top of the sky, shining brightly like the mother of the the baby shining stars surrounded around her. Homura felt the rough texture in her hand and she stared down at the white and blank piece of paper.
She left the railings and walked towards the lone bench chair and slumped right on it.
After the girl's parents came rushing to find her all around the beach, they did manage to locate them since they were not really far from the spot they were suppose to meet. Homura felt a a pang of guilt spread across her chest when her parents wheeled her away, along with her brother following closely behind with a bucket filled with seashells. Just for her sake, that girl put her body under so much stress and even when she must have felt terrible to be under the sun and even standing when her legs could barely carry her weight, she still put up that smile that showed enough assurance to her family and even her.
Homura's attention went back to the paper in her hand again. Sitting upright in her position, she uncapped the pen for the first time and lay the paper on her lap.
Kyoko. She wrote.
The next word just couldn't come to her mind and the pen ink created a blotch on the paper right below the name. She went back and capped the pen again as she closed her eyes, leaning comfortably on the chair and letting the waves and the rustling of the trees to echo in her mind instead.
All of the sudden, the familiar strum of guitar began to sound again. The same few strums that seemed to be testing the tune of the guitar was enough to make Homura flung open her eyes and sat up straight again.
The strums were slow and gentle, just like the first time Homura heard and soon enough, she was back to that small trance she had when she heard of the music playing in her ears, so soothing, so comforting in a way that Homura never imagined some random music could do this to her before.
As the strumming continued, she went back and focused on the paper. The music was guiding her emotions to her mind and gathering the small bit of will and strength she needed to convey her feelings she wanted to say but didn't dare to in the first place.
Kyoko. The lone word was staring back right at her and she stared back. Once again, she uncapped her pen and began writing.
First of all, I'm sorry.
Second of all, I'm sorry.
Third of all
"Third of all." Homura whispered out loud.
Third of all, I miss you.
.
.
The next day, Homura was waiting under the same palm tree to meet that girl again, even when they didn't arrange any meeting in the first place, but Homura knew she would come, definitely.
Although an hour had passed since the usual time the girl would come, Homura never gave up on waiting as she continued to spend her own time watching other people playing around on the beach like usual. Her efforts weren't wasted when she heard the sound of wheels hitting against small rocks. Homura turned her head instantly.
"Hello." The girl greeted.
"Hey." Homura greeted back.
Her purple eyes fell on the large black case on her lap and she raised an eyebrow.
"It'a a guitar." The girl clarified for Homura. "I have a song I want to play for you."
Realization soon dawned over Homura as she blurted out the question. "Which floor are you staying at?"
"The third one." The girl answered.
Homura smirked. "So it's you that was playing the guitar at night."
The girl's cheek immediately tinted pink. "You lived right above me?"
"I suppose so."
"Did I disturb you with my pointless strumming?" The girl rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.
"You didn't." Homura replied. "It's nice anyway."
The girl began unzipping the case and took out the guitar, placing it on her lap. Homura helped to remove the case and set it safely between them as she scrutinized the girl carefully positioning the guitar on her lap.
"This guitar was part of the memory when I was young and at this beach." The girl touched the side of the guitar and stroked it, as if it was an animal. "My Dad played it while my Mom and I were building a sandcastle. It was... really memorable." She then looked back at Homura, a little sad if Homura had to say. "I want to play a song personally for you so I brought it out today but you actually heard it way before I even intended to play it for you."
"I don't mind hearing it again."
The girl beamed and she quickly fished out her guitar pick from her pocket, readying her fingers at the neck of the guitar. With the first strum, Homura knew it was definitely the same guitar she heard for the two nights.
Slowly, Homura closed her eyes, her head moving side to side along with the slow beat. The shouts, the laughter, the loud splashing of the waves were engulfed by each and every strum of the guitar. Homura didn't know how long had passed but once the strumming stopped, Homura opened her eyes in a second.
"It's really nice."
The girl giggled. "It's just a few strums I made up."
"I've never heard anything like this before, to be honest," Homura smiled. "And I like it."
"You're the first person who says it's nice." The girl chortled. She set the guitar down and Homura helped her to keep it in the black case again. They did it in silence and Homura could sense that the girl had something she wanted to say when she looked a little uneasy. Homura decided to pretend she didn't notice and waited for the girl to speak up on her own instead.
After a long silence, she finally spoke. "Anyway, I'm leaving tomorrow."
Homura glanced up. She wasn't exactly expecting this.
"It's my last wish to come here and the hospital granted five days for me." The girl continued. "I'm glad that I made this last wish," She smiled, showing her clean set of teeth to Homura. "Because I know that this beautiful sea will no longer bring you that much fear and sadness anymore."
For a moment, Homura didn't know what to say. "You..." Homura swallowed hard. "You won't die."
The girl looked up, her eyes wide in surprise.
"You won't die." Homura repeated.
The girl laughed, as if it was the funniest joke she ever heard. Homura begged to differ, her face plastered with a solemn expression.
"The treatments are failing and my days are numbered." She said, still smiling.
"Why are you giving up now?" Homura almost shouted, almost.
The girl was taken aback but she quickly regain back her composure in a blink. "I'm not giving up. It's just that... we humans are going to die one day, right?"
Homura glanced away. She no longer know what to say. Her pointless comfort wasn't going to help and she knew how it feels to hear all these words. She stopped and began to clear her mind. Today would be the last day they would spend together and she didn't want the ending to be like this. She turned back and look at the girl again,
"Until now, I never know your name." Homura said.
The girl chuckled softly. "Same goes for me. My name is Madoka. Kaname Madoka."
"I'm Homura. Akemi Homura."
Before they could continue, Madoka's family approached the two of them, properly attired. No buckets, no seashells, no swimming costume. There was nothing on them that showed Homura they were preparing to go to the beach.
"It takes about a few hours ride from here to the hospital." Madoka explained and Homura understood immediately. "We are leaving now."
Homura lowered her gaze before looking up again. "I see." Why do I feel like I'm disappointed?
"I enjoyed my stay here, I really do. And I'm thankful for meeting you." Madoka smiled, again and again, showing that strong smile that no one could ever take away from her.
I should... be the one saying that. "We'll see each other again, someday." Homura paused when she realized what had just left her mouth. She suddenly had the urge to slap herself right in the face for saying that. Someday, someday? When would that someday ever happen? Will that even happen? Homura could feel something stuck in her throat and for some reason, she couldn't correct her mistake or speak anymore.
"We will, won't we?" Madoka chirped.
"We have to go, Madoka." Her father urged as he turned to face Homura. "Take care."
Homura bowed.
She watched the family leaving and getting further and further away till she couldn't see them anymore. As she blinked, she realized it was the tears that gathered her eyes and making her eyesight blurry. When the tears flowed, she could see Madoka and her family again. They had stopped, for some reason and Homura squinted her eyes.
Madoka was waving back at her.
Homura quickly raised her arms and waved back.
Even from the distance, Homura could picture that same smile Madoka always gave all the time and it made her heart ached a little when she realized that she couldn't see that smile again and it would just be another memory.
Memory...
The Kaname family were back on track again, heading towards the hotel and disappearing after turning around the corner. Homura quickly wiped the tears away and closed her eyes.
"We'll see each other again, someday."
"We will, won't we?"
.
.
end
.
.
Once, there was a girl who told Homura not to be reminded of the sadness whenever she stares out at the sea.
But when the hustling wind and the crashing of the waves echoed in her ears, the gentle strum of the guitar followed closely as well.
And Homura wondered if she was even able to forget that pain that lingered in her chest, just like how the waters almost filled her lungs years ago when she watched the girl named Madoka leaving and never see her again
.
.
a/n:
i can't believe i write like 7k words.
If you all hate kyohomu then too bad okay because who is a better choice then kyoko so hiya hehe
i received my writing assignment back on thursday and i got a C hell yeah so i stare at my fingernails and began typing this shit.
I guess this 7k words can be also to celebrate my 77th story i guess wohoo. 777 so lucky yay
i have a new poll pls vote thanks