A/N: This is my apology one-shot that I created. I'm sorry for not being on for so long!
Gokudera: You should be sorry
Mukuro: Now Heaven, this better be good or I'll torture you. ^^ yes?
Heaven: I'm sorry! It's not my fault! Please! I don't even own KHR!
HIbari: You'd better not
Heaven: HEY! What's that supposed to mean?
Fuuta: It means the story should start ^^
~Seriously how the hell do you do page breaks?~
A woman took a deep breath. It was her wedding day. Usually, the bride would be marrying the love of her life, but this woman was marrying her childhood friend. You might be thinking, 'Oh, the beautiful story of how childhood friends fell in love and will live happily ever after.' No, this woman was in an arranged marriage with her friend. Well, they were never really friends, more like acquaintances. He was a nice man. She was sure that they would be good friends, but they would never fall in love. For the groom had his own lover. He loved the other woman, his woman. The bride liked the girl. The bride felt that the girl was a lovely woman. She had taken the engagement well. She seemed to understand that the bride ad groom didn't have much of a choice. THe bride liked her, even though she was the mistress of her soon-to-be-husband. The bride knew that he had a life before he proposed to her (on his father's orders). He was a good boy, unlike her ex-boyfriend. The beast of a man threw a fit and went into a blind rage. The bastard left her the minute he found out about the engagement. She had been wounded, why couldn't he see that she didn't have a choice.
The bride gave a humorless chuckle as she remembered the day. Moments later a bridesmaid walked in and announced that it was time for her to walk down the aisle.
The bride was a beautiful woman. She wore a Renaissance ball gown, for a wedding dress, and jewels adorned her hair. She gingerly picked up the flowers and walked out. She closed her eyes and sighed, she put the veil over her face a took her father's arm. The entire crowd held their breath when they saw the beauty of the bride. No words could describe the woman. She made her way down the aisle and took her place at the altar. he guests sat down as the groom took the bride's hands, and so the wedding ceremony started.
~hey look, I'm a page break~
Three months had passed since the wedding. She looked at the packet in her hands again. She was two weeks pregnant. She wasn't sure whether she should be happy or not. Finally, she would have a child, but she didn't know how Dino would react. She knew that he needed an heir, but would he love the child, or would he hate the child?
'Well,' she bitterly thought 'at least I'll be there for my child.'
She let out a sigh as she looked out the window. The woman looked so sad, so full of despair. She didn't know what to do. She was confused. She shook her head in attempts to clear it. Unfortunately it didn't work. She sank into a nearby chair as she continued to look out the window.
'What now?'
~Yet another page break~
The woman decked herself in a cocktail dress and put her heels on. This was her 'armor'. It showed her wealth and power. She checked herself one last time and snuck out of the window. She was ready to eliminate the enemy.
A guard lead her into a private room. She walked into the room, and took in her surroundings. This place was well armed, but not good enough. Her old lover appeared behind her. He buried his nose into the crook of her neck, "You came." She stiffened, "Yes, I did."
Before the man could react, the woman spun around and stabbed him. His eyes widened in horror as he realized what had happened. He sank to the floor as she retreated. Alarms were blaring as guards came running. The woman had to right tooth and nail to try to get her way out. She lost all common sense as she hacked, slashed and shot her way though. When she reached the front door, she suddenly came back to reality. THe woman looked around. Although she had succeeded in killing everybody she did not come out unscathed.
She felt her head spin as she noticed the lack of blood in her system. She fell to the ground as she felt her wounds open further. The woman writhed in pain as she dragged herself forward. A shadow blocked her view. I'm finished, she thought, it's over. Despite her fear of looking up, she did. She saw her friend towering over her as the friend put a hand on her hip. The woman's friend frowned as she opened her mouth to speak, "What the hell were you thinking?" The woman shrugged, "Sorry."
The woman could feel her eyes closing. THe other girl bent down and helped the injured woman to her feet. "Let's go," she said. The woman felt her eyes close as the girl helped the woman onto a helicopter. The helicopter was silent and fast as the distance between the ruined house and the woman grew.
The girl tended to the woman's injuries as the helicopter continued to fly. By the time the woman started to regain her conciseness . She felt herself on something soft. She slowly opened her eyes and took in her surroundings. Her wounds had been cleaned and bandaged. The girl waked in and said, "You're in my house." The woman gave a low chuckle, "What would I do without you, Aiko?" the girl, called Aiko, sat down and took out a first aid kit, "I'm going to change your bandages so bear with me." The woman only nodded in response. Aiko couldn't help but notice the pain in the woman's eyes as she worked. It wasn't only physical pain; it held emotional pain as well.
After a long silence the girl spoke up, "You're giving them up, aren't you?" Even though she worded it like that, she knew it wasn't a question. The woman couldn't help but cry, "I loved them." Aiko hugged the woman, "You poor child." The woman only cried harder. At that moment, Aiko's younger sister, Ai, walked in, "Speak no further, we understand." The woman felt eternally grateful to the girls. She knew that they were there for her. The three females stayed there comforting each other as time passed. After a while, Ai spoke, "Are you sure? Are you really going to do that?" The woman nodded, "I'll miss them so much." The two girls hugged the woman to calm her down. That night, the three females fell asleep hugging (and in the woman's case, crying).
The next day passed by like she was in a trance. She stumbled around like a dementor had just visited her. The woman vaguely remembered Aiko and Ai coaxing her to eat, but she just couldn't come back to reality. It was too hard. She suddenly thought of suicide. Would anyone cry for her? Would anyone miss her? She didn't know, and she didn't want to know. The woman was often lost in her own mind. She knew that she had to come back to reality, but it was too hard. She preferred the fantasy in her mind. The fantasy of a perfect life with a loving family. Unfortunately, her dream was not reality. Another week passed the same way. The woman wasn't sure when it happened, but she was suddenly underweight. She felt like she had been drained of energy and she felt like she had been kicked in the stomach.A sudden realization dawned on her, she hadn't eaten the entire week. Suddenly, the lack of food and energy caught up to her as she collapsed.
The woman woke up a few days later, on a hospital bed. She felt weak, and when she looked in the mirror she noticed that she no longer looked like herself. Her face was gaunt and pale. Her cheeks sunk in and her sharp jawline had diminished to a weak shape. Almost like she could no longer hold herself up. Her thoughts wondered to Dino. How was he doing? Was he happy? How were the kids? Ah, the kids. She had almost forgotten about them.. she missed them so much. Her entire family, but she knew she had to give them up. It was for the best...
During this time period, Dino had sent multiple search parties for his wife. He knew it was hopeless but he didn't want to lose hope. He might not have loved her in a romantic sense but he loved her like a brother would love his sister. He cared for her, to some extent. He wondered if he would ever see her again. She still had to tach after the children right? A that moment, one of her closest bodyguards came up to him.
"She wanted you to have this. I was asked to give it to her in case anything ever happened to her. Well, you can read it."
Dino stood there, shocked. Read? What? His voice shook as he asked, "H-how do you know? Where is her body?" The guard hung his head, "I'm sorry for your loss, sir, but there is no body. We found an excessive amount of blood. It was tested and confirmed as... hers."
Dino couldn't speak, he only opened the letter 'might as well read it':
To my dearest Dino,
If you are reading this then I am most likely gone. Do not fret, my dear, I have spoken with your former lover, Bianca. She is a sweet girl. She has agreed to look after out children and take my place as your wife, if anything ever happened. As I am no longer by your side, I wish for you to ask the girl to marry you.
Take care of our children. I know that it is a bit late to tell you, but I just wanted to say. . . I love you.
Take care~
That was it. She didn't sign it or put any evidence that she was the one who wrote it, but he vaguely remembered her neat handwriting. For some reason, he felt the need to accept her love. She took her time to handwrite a letter to him. He wanted to show his gratitude to her. She set him free of the arranged marriage. He was allowed to marry his beloved Bianca. He never blamed his wife for the marriage, but he couldn't help but feel slightly hostile toward her. He felt guilty for treating her that way, but he couldn't help but to keep a certain distance from her. It was too bad that he couldn't learn to return her feelings. He was pretty sure that he would have learned to love her. Key words: would have. Now she was probably dead and he had lost his chance. It was too late.
"How long do you think she'll last like this?" Aiko whispered to her sister as they watched their guest dying away from the inside. "Not long if she continues like this," Ai shook her head with her sympathetic eyes never leaving the pathetic woman.
"I think her time is almost up."
"Should we invite him to the funeral?"
"Yes. She would have liked him there You don't think she'll recover?"
"Not a chance. The fighting spirit has left her eyes. . . She's already defeated."
~meanwhile~
"You may now kiss the bride!" Dino smiled charmingly as he swooped up Bianca, his new wife in his arms. His two children cheered for they had long forgotten anything about their real mother. As Dino carried his wife to the honeymoon car, he was reminded of another scene. The woman he had previously been married to flashed before him as deja vu washed over. That day her eyes had been content; not flushed with happiness or regret, but satisfaction that her purpose had been fulfilled. Bout old memories should be kept locked up. Dino looked at the beautiful Bianca and his lips curled into a small, resigned smile. Time to make new memories.
~page break time!~
"Did you hear? Dino remarried his old sweetheart." Ai muttered darkly. "we should have told her!"
"We should have," Aiko agreed, "But we couldn't. She would have passed sooner if we did. Her purpose would have been completed. There would have been nothing to keep her here on earth."
"it hurts to see her like this," Aiko gritted her teeth.
"But it's the best we can do."
". . .It's the only thing we can do."
The woman sucked in a shaky breath. Her disheveled, worn out form lay sprawled out in a wheelchair as Aiko pushed her along the park trail. "Are you happy that you're finally out of that stuffy hospital?" The woman merely sighed and shrunk further into her seat. "it's nice weather today. So sunny!" Aiko commented, in hopes of bringing words out of her friend's mouth. The woman dully stared at the mocking sun with indifferent eyes. ". . .Too bright." She muttered darkly. Just at that moment, a young boy accidentally ran into her wheelchair after chasing a stray ball. "I'm so sorry miss!" The child bowed profusely, but the woman eyed the child with interest. The sun highlighted the dark chestnut locks of his hair and his watery blue eyes stared at her in concern. This was her child! She was sure of it! How bittersweet that her own child couldn't recognize his mother. But it was better this way. She smiled faintly, the first read smile she experienced in years. "It's fine, young man! My, what nice manners you have!" Her son blushed and shook his head modestly. What a good son he had become. "Are you sure you're ok miss?" He still eyed her worriedly. She nodded her head, "And take this. I don't have any use for it any more. Please take care of it." She took off her prized turtle pin her ex-husband had gifted her. The boy admired it with marveled, sparkly eyes until he let out a cheerful beam of happiness. "Thank you so much miss!" He bowed to her numerous times until his father called him over. The boy proudly showed Dino his pin and pointed at the woman as an explanation. Dino looked at the woman with scrutinizing eyes which made her heart beat faster in her cold chest. He nodded curtly with a polite smile and she waved back in response. Dino turned back to ruffle his son's hair, then wrap a possessive arm around Bianca's waist before landing a soft kiss on her cheek. The family walked off together with the woman's eyes trailing after them longing. "Your son is extremely handsome," Aiko finally complimented. The woman simply nodded with a dreamy smile and glazed-over eyes.
"He is."
"Are you proud?"
"Yes, but that's not the only thing I feel. . ." She took in a deep breath, "I feel jealousy for the love that Bianca received but I was shunned from. I feel disappointment that my own husband wasn't able to recognize me, though I admit I'm not at the best point of my life right now." The woman paused as the last feeling choked in her throat.
"And?" Aiko softly nudged her friend on.
The woman paused for a moment before replying, "I feel free. Content. Satisfied. Finished. But what makes me the happiest is that I've never felt more emotions in a long time since this moment."
Aiko grimly smiled and pushed her wheelchair to the white prison, the hospital. "You've been through a lot. Let's go home."
The woman gripped Aiko's hand tightly. Thank you, Aiko. And thank your sister too. I would not have been able to live on without your help." Aiko glanced at her dying friend and tightened her grip on the hand. "You've done so much for us, so it was the least we could do. And plus you always wanted to move on, haven't you? We were just selfish friends who held you back." The woman wisely grinned. :But I'm glad that you held me back for this moment. It makes up for everything."
"What did that woman tell you, son?" Dino questioned his child after they got home. "She just smiled at me a lot, told me I have nice manners, and gave me this turtle pin!" Dino inspected the pin carefully and widened his eyes in shock. He had given the same pin to his late wife at the beginning of their marriage. It was supposed to keep her safe since his career wasn't the most safe job out there. But his ex-wife went missing so long ago! He gripped the pin more tightly with narrowed eyes. Did that woman have something to do with his ex-wife's death?
"3:12 P.M." The sun shone brightly through the transparent curtains into the patient's room. "Friday, June 10 20-" Ai declared as she stared out the window bitterly. "It's too sunny and cheerful," she scorned. Aiko calmly covered the woman's tranquil face with a white sheet. ". . . and may her soul rest in peace under God's loving mercy. Amen." Aiko stared at her sister with a calm, determined look. "She was smiling until the end. Meeting her son was the perfect way to give her a fairy-tale ending." Ai stared at her sister. "People don't die in fairy tales Aiko. This is the mafia world," Ai retorted darkly. "But at least she's not suffering any more. Even the sun is shining because it took a tortured soul into heaven." Ai shook her head in disagreement but didn't speak up. "I'm going to make the preparations." Ai drawled as she quickly shuffled out of the room. "Just make sure that he appears at the funeral. And Ai?" Ai stopped momentarily at the doorway. "Don't be afraid to cry. It's terrible that we lost such a brave soul."
Dino strolled around the park as he quizzically at his surroundings for a particular woman. The fact that the familiar woman who had give his son the pin he had given his dead wife. Perhaps the woman had a connection to his missing wife. Perhaps the woman was his wife. But then again, that frail, sick kill woman was beaten and sore from her ordeals. But then she would recognize her husband and call him out, right? Tell him eh should have believed in her, shout at him for moving on without her? Right? From the park, he stumbled onto an unfamiliar, dark path. Stopping finally at a cemetery gate where he caught a glimpse of only two people attending a funeral. How sad, that only tow people would appear at the deceased's funeral. Surely, the dead deserve more respect than that? Checking his watch, he saw that he had time to spare, so he would show some respect to the dead. Silently, he slid into step beside the other two. But when he glanced at the name of the tomb stone, he saw his dead wife's name. "B-B-But how?" Dino muttered, confounded. "Your wife was an admirable woman. She fought on until the end and led the life of a true wife of a strong mafia leader such as yourself." The older woman spoke calmly. The younger one moodily spoke up, "She realized that she had no virtue of life, no purpose. Her husband didn't truly love her, she wasn't aware of what she was doing with her life and so she left. She fought off her husband's enemies and was heavily injured. She could never get out of her depression until the day before her death." Dino stared blankly at the tombstone with a startled expression. To think that his wife suffered though so much while he was off with another woman leading a 'happy' life. His knees buckled under him and he kneeled in front of the grave. His heart cried out in pain that he had never truly experienced genuinely before, even when he assumed his wife dead before. Now this funeral gave him the chance to fully come into grips with himself. The first of soon to be many tears slipped down his smooth cheek and onto the tombstone. What was this heavy feeling, like he had the breath kicked out of him and his lungs had caved in on themselves? One word that had been choked up in his throat for far too long finally escaped his lips, "Why?" So many thoughts whirled through his head for him to fully comprehend, but one phrase gained dominance out of the buzzing background: too late. He could have saved her in time if only he had looked for her hard enough. But he hadn't cared, not then. He could have done so many things that would have saved her life. So why hadn't he? ANother tear, another revelation. He gripped the tombstone and kneeled in front of it with his head bowed as a servant would beseech forgiveness from the master. It took him this long to realize, how pathetically pitiful. Dino had cared for her, he truly did but he did not realize it at the time. Instead, he had buried any affectionate feelings deep in his heart, under lock and key. But now they came bursting out to overwhelm his senses. Why had he realized so late when his feelings would never be returned?
