Title: Stay with you... Forever!
Anime/manga: Ghost Hunt
Pairing: Naru/Mai
Rating: T
Author: Ecyoj06
Author's note: I know it's valentines… but… oh well.. as a good philosopher once said… Good head never really linked good idea with the weather….
Disclaimer: I never owned ghost hunt… but I wish I could own someone like Noll or Lin
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Letting the cool breeze brushed his hair away from my face, he kept his eyes straight and unreadable. It's been long since he had managed to drop by this place. A place that one could call a perfect sanctuary. It's peacefulness, inviting and solemn aura radiated that it was hard to keep yourself in turmoil just by watching the braches of those trees sway in rhythm with the winds… but too bad, he wasn't benefitted by the said solemnity.
I'm so tired of being here
Suppressed by all my childish fears
And if you have to leave
I wish that you would just leave
'Cause your presence still lingers here
And it won't leave me alone
As he trailed the path towards the heart of this safe haven, he found himself reminiscing, looking back to those times he had felt like he was alive, to those times that he treasured and tried to erase at the same time.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
She was the light of his days, the answers to his every question, the air he needed to breathe and the driving force to keep him wanting to be alive. As idiotic she would ever be, he found her as the center of his life, his universe.
He could only smile as he found those words too mushy and idiotic for him, but nevertheless, as much as he hated to admit it… those were just one of the things that she had made of him. A love struck normal teenager.
He loved her. He loved all of her. Her smile, her laughter, her inquiring gaze, her frowns, her scowls… everything about her… even her tears when she cries… the tears he usually caused… the tears he loved to wipe away of her face… the tears he loved and never grown tired of kissing away.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
They had a shaky start. He was a conceited fool, she was dumb school girl. He was a perfect narcissist of a man; she was as modest as a mule. He was intellectual and logical, she was emotional and over bearing. He was cautious but daring, she was spontaneous but shy. He was afraid to let anybody near him, she was overwhelming with care and affection. He was the love of her life, she was his life.
You used to captivate me
By your resonating life
Now I'm bound by the life you've left behind
Your face it haunts
My once pleasant dreams
Your voice it chased away
All the sanity in me
Threading the same familiar graveled path, he saw the same painful sight… how hard things could it be for him… but still even though things turned out the way he never planned it to… he knew he would never changed any of them.
A smile ghosted on his face, that's another thing she made of his life, his once predictable life. She made it spontaneous like her… she made it unmanageable and incomprehensible. She made his life a puzzle for him to figure every waking day… and now, even though he had regained the reign over his life… he felt lost without the life she gave him. The life she built for them.
These wounds won't seem to heal
This pain is just too real
There's just too much that time cannot erase
She was his life and he made sure that it would be permanent. He could still remember how she looked when he dropped the news to her. She was just his assistant according to her. She was nothing but a silly girl who aimed too high for her to reach. A stupid girl that asked for the stars when she knew too clearly she could never have them. An idiot who dreamt of the moon when she knew too well that she could never flew there…. That's why when he hold her, looking at her tears stricken face, he could still remember how she looked dumbfounded when she stopped her blabbering by capturing her lips with his.
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
Things went well with them. When they had brought back his brother to England to rest, she's with him. He never really thought during the time that he had left to start his search… that time that he was on that same airport, feeling lost and desolated… that he would be back feeling more alive and complete.
Taking a look at her nervous yet fascinated face, he knew he would never let another day end without this girl beside her, that's why only God could tell how grateful he was when his parents looked at them and after the introductions, hold Mai in their arms making her feel and know that she was now not just his assistant, nor just a girlfriend but a part of their family.
A family… the word painfully repeated on his head. That's right, she was his family. His own family… and he bitterly smiled.
'How cruel fate could cheat you?' He thought as he stared down on his feet reading what the writings said. As he carefully examined every piece of it… a memory flashed through his mind.
FLASH BACK…
"Naru…" A very pregnant Mai said. "It would be alright."
"I don't want to leave you." He said as he hid his face on her neck.
She was sitting on that comfortable chair she loved so much as he kept his place by her side, stubbornly making Lin and Madoka waiting at the car. She was on her 35th week of pregnancy and he doesn't want to leave her alone.
"Don't be stubborn Oliver Davis." Mai told him as she playfully pet his hair. "As you can see, I couldn't go anywhere with this bump and a striker of a son on my belly."
"A soccer player on the making…" he whispered with a smile as he caressed her belly with a plea to his unborn son. "It won't take long, Mai."
"I know." She maturely said as he pecked her cheeks. "You be careful on the road, Naru."
He was already at the door to meet Lin and Madoka outside but a nagging feeling was telling him not to go. Mai had asked him not to comply on the organization's pleas to have him as a guest speaker on what of their symposiums. It was grand event and a very interesting subject to begin with and he couldn't help not let his disappointment be shown in his face making Mai relent and let him go.
It was what he wanted and yet there's something in him that's asking him not to go. One look at his humming wife at the foyer… a smile crept on his face before a promise wandered on his thoughts.
'I'll never leave you again after this one, Mai.' He said before closing the door behind him. 'I promise.'The event was a complete success. He had learned a lot of fascinating things. He had shared intellectual views with interesting people. He had felt a lot wiser and knowledgeable but then he never felt complete and satisfied.
He went out of the hall to the balcony where it was quieter and private. He pulled out his phone to call to his wife but then even before he could press the number on his speed dial… the phone rang. He answered as he had read that it was one number he couldn't recognize. His eyes widened as he listened but even before he could comprehend what's going on he found himself running as fast as he could with Lin and Madoka following behind him, clearly aware of what had happened, his phone long forgotten and broken on the floor at the balcony he was once in.
End of FLASH BACk
Feeling his eyes watered, he quickly placed two fingers on the bridge of his nose after he took of his glasses. He would never let them fall… not now, not after keeping them for 5 years. Inhaling the clean air, Naru closed his eyes as he continued to keep himself at bay even though those memories continued to haunt him.
FLASH BACK
"Where's my wife?" He demanded as even before he got close enough to his father who's sitting outside the room. "I want to see Mai right now!"
"Noll… calm down." He's father told him. "She's already at the OR. They would do everything they could."
"I want to see her now!" He repeated. "I have every right to see her now!"
"Noll…" Luella started to say but was cut off when the lights of the OR, signaling that there's an on going operation, turned off. Naru instantly left his father's side and hurriedly went to the OR to meet the doctor but even before the door open; piercing cry of a baby was heard making them smile. But the smile died away as the doctor went out the room and delivered them some news.
End of FLASHBACK
I've tried so hard to tell myself that you're gone
But though you're still with me
I've been alone all along
'Mai…' He called out, wishing she would smile at him after saying 'yes'.
Feeling the cold breeze went passed him, Naru looked up at the clear blue sky that she loved so much. Gracing the entire property with his attention, Naru noted how especially beautiful the autumn looked at this place, how sparkling the water at the nearby pond seemed to be and how pure and playful the wind blew. Everything about this place was special, not just because this is where she lies but because she chose this to be their sanctuary.
Kneeling before the cold stone, Noll let his hand brushed the face of it before letting out a sad smile escaped its confinement… who would have thought that his once perfect life would be stolen to him once again?
Who would have thought that a mere 5 hours of him being away from her would keep them apart forever?
Who would have thought, that once again, something was snatched away from him right under his nose?
And who would have thought that he would be able to live after that night? After the night she died?
And with that, he never got a chance at all… just the thought of how it all happened so quickly made him vulnerable, making his defense shattered, letting those pent up tears fell.
'Mai…'Noll said. 'I promised not let you go and leave me.'
When you cried I'd wipe away all of your tears
When you'd scream I'd fight away all of your fears
And I held your hand through all of these years
But you still have
All of me
As the sun far ahead started to descend, Naru stood up, his tears long dried up and his once firm face back into place. He was just about to leave when he heard a familiar sound behind him. He need not to turn to his back to know who it was as the one responsible came bouncing up to him with a black and white ball in hand.
"Papa." The little boy called out excitedly. "Papa."
He turned and smiled as he looked at the young boy running towards him. He had the same black hair and pale skin. He's speech and all his comprehensions were more advance than any other kid for his age and he's eyes were twinkling with knowledge and depth.
'Just like mine.' He thought proudly.
Just when the said boy was close to him, his smile grew as realization once again dawned on him, like how it did countless of times already. Even how much the kid's appearance replicate him… those sunny bright smile would always remind him of her… of his kid's mother.
"Seiji." Naru called out the name she gave him. "I'm back."
The boy leaped to his arms before burrowing his face to his neck, his ball long forgotten, before his smile widened when he heard him uttered…
"Welcome home…Otousan." The little boy said shyly to him… the same way how Mai would welcome him after being away.
Smiling more carefree, Naru kicked the ball with his feet, letting it fly high enough for his hand to be able to grab a hold of it before threading back to the house up on the hill with one ball on his hand and his son on his arm who's animatedly chatting about his days without him.
'Wait for me, Mai.' He said through his thoughts. 'I'll come for you, I promise.'
And as the autumn breeze flew passed him, his eyes got softer as he seemed to hear something through the winds.
'I'll stay with you, always…' a soft feminine voice said. 'Forever, Naru.'
Fin.
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Author's note: Not a very mushy and lovely story… but what can I do… the story played on my mind… and I know it's valentines and all… but heck … it's still a love story… only not the lovely dovey type though… but anyway… you had read it, you might have loved it, you might have hated it… but everyone's entitled with their own constructive opinions… so please do have one and let me be able to read it too…
Oh… before I forgot…
HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!