I'll be Waiting for You.

"Mi-chan, I have to go."

I want to scream 'NO' at the top of my lungs. I want to throw myself in front her. Bar her way. However, I know her very well. As much as I know she cares for me, I know also that she will not be stopped. Instead, I screw up my courage, smile and try unsuccessfully to hold back my tears. "Have a safe flight. I'll be waiting for you."

Her power surges like a giant wave. I feel it wash over me, my skin tingling, my hair splayed out behind me. She looks back at me, one final glance, giving me her gentle, reassuring smile. She holds my gaze for a moment that seems to stretch into eternity. Then the moment breaks. She looks forward but I can still see her face clearly. Her smile has become fierce and wild. Her eyes sparkle with anticipation. I have known her my entire life. We have shared our feelings, our hopes, our dreams... but I have never seen this side of her before. She is a trapped wild thing yearning for freedom. Yearning for the skies.

There is a sudden metallic 'clank' as the clamps holding her Striker unit in place are released. And in that brief moment, she is gone. My eyes follow the path of her flight. Her arms spread to embrace the wind, a flurry of cherry blossoms in her wake.

Even as my heart is breaking, I can't help but smile. She looks so very... happy. A wild thing, returning to the skies long denied her.

I suddenly realize that this is the one part of herself couldn't tell me about.

She told me about her time with the 501st Airborne, her adventures, her discoveries, her fears, her triumphs... but she never talked about flying.

I could always tell when she was thinking about it, though. Days and skies of deep blue and cottony white would find her alone on her favorite hill, her eyes focused far away from here - a hint of tears, welling up but not allowed to spill over.

In every other way, she was the same Yoshika I had grown up with, the same Yoshika I loved with all my heart...but since she had returned from the war it felt like there was something, some part of her, that was always unsettled.

Her form is now fading in the distance and I can't help but think that now she is where she truly belongs.

Now she is free.

"Be safe Yoshika-chan. Be happy.
And please think of me occasionally,
as you will be in my thoughts."

"I'll be waiting for you."

"I'll always be waiting for you."

~ fin