Father
It breaks his heart, just to know she's growing up, taking her steps to being a woman. It breaks her heart, because he doesn't know she is always his little baby girl. Teeny-Weensy Amuto. Father-Daughter Momnt, slight Father-Son Momnt.
Well, it's (6/15/11) when I started writing this, and I was listening to f***yeahsmoothbeats at tumblr. And I went all the way to a song that Joseph Vincent and Richard Marx sang, "Dance with My Father." Though I couldn't exactly hear all the lyrics, the title reached out to me.
And well... today... it's Father's day isn't it?
I wonder how much longer it is until life just drops you, how much more time I'll take for granted. How much more, will life give you before you have to walk away from life on Earth?
At the last minute, what will your words be? Who will you speak to?
If today was your last day, what would I say to you? That's what I think today.
Will you stay with me- us, Bean and I- long enough to watch each other be wed to someone? Long enough to see him receive his doctor's diploma? Long enough to see me graduate college? Enough to see whether I find my "true calling"?
-sigh- Will you stay long enough so we can leave with you?
I know. I act absolutely unacceptable, absolutely... stupid and unattractive. Yes, I know... but you don't understand... that's just me. I want to be different from your typical thoughts of a girl. I don't wanna be... a typical girl.
I'd be corrupt, wouldn't I? An ugly character inside could make the character outside, just as ugly.
But... still I wonder... will you be old enough to dance with me the night I wed? One last father-daughter dance... like we used to when I was just a wee-little thing.
You wonder don't you...? "Where has my little girl disappeared to?"
Tsugumu stood in a corner of the wedding's party room. Not sulking about his eldest daughter's marriage but... okay, well it was one of the main reasons, but also about how quickly she was maturing, in both intellect and responsibilities, and personality and attitude. She wasn't his baby (besides Ami) anymore.
If he could rewind back into the days... before high school, when she met that boy... before middle school, when she met that man*... before elementary... when she started to grow...different from every other girl... and much quicker...
Where did he go wrong back 11 or so years ago? All he did was love both his daughters.
Saddened, he continued to sit on the chair he'd been sitting on since thirty minutes ago while watching family and friends dance.
"Papa," one of his daughters called, and he knew exactly who it was.
Turning around, he met a smile of his pink haired daughter, and her groom. Her smile was soft; it wasn't too bright, or too dim. The groom (and certainly his son-in-law) gave the same smile, but it did not reach his eyes.
He forcibly smiled to them. "Yes, Amu and Ikuto?"
"Thank you, Mr. Hinamori, for allowing me to marry your eldest daughter," the boy (, man actually,) said, granting a larger smile.
Ikuto Tsukiyomi was Amu's groom. His features included midnight blue eyes and a color just as equal for his hair. His eyes was always... low, it was rarely ever high that showed a lot of emotion. (Well, that's what child abuse can do to you sometimes**, and can still haunt. It gave Ikuto a slightly sadistic personality as well. Children do learn from grownups.)
"No. You've just married my daughter. I'm your father-in-law now," Tsugumu said. "I'm glad to call you son."
'That was new,' he thought. Tsugumu was stupid at many points of Amu's and Ami's life, but he would never be rude... more or less, his... son.
"Thank you... father," Ikuto said, bowing slightly.
It was new to him as well, Tsugumu knew. His father abandoned him and his sister at a young age, and then their mother remarried to someone who she thought was the best person in the world beside their blood father. Their step-father didn't act like a father figure at all, more of... a bully, a heartless bastard.
Ooh! It angered Tsugumu as much as it did to Amu. Children, blood related or not (!), were supposed to be treated nicely and cared for! The hatred Tsugumu had for Ikuto (which was very little), could be multiplied by a million! Tsugumu mentally huffed in anger.
Well, thankfully the cold abusive man was behind bars, hopefully one day never released. (Oh, but it was so unfortunate for the man's grandchild, who he actually did care for.)
Ikuto looked at Amu as she stared at him. The two gave each other a quick peck at each others' lips. "Do what you should, Amu," Ikuto smiled, finally letting the smile grow wider.
"Excuse me," Ikuto said, bowing slightly again, and stalking towards a small group of people who congratulated him in glee.
Silence was offered to the two family members. Amu smiled wider than she did earlier, happy for thinking of a good idea. "Papa, will you dance with me?"
"Of course," Tsugumu smiled, letting a genuine one. "I can't deny a favor from the bride and my daughter."
Tsugumu took his daughter's hand. They stepped over to the dance floor, where a number of couples and people danced together. Seeing the bride and her father walking towards, they all gave the duo room to dance as they stepped into the center.
A soft song began to play in the background. It wouldn't be a proper dance/wedding party without music would it?
I know a girl
She puts the color inside of my world
But she's just like a maze
Where all of the walls are continually changed.
And I've done all I can
To stand on her steps with my heart in my hand
Now I'm starting to see
Maybe it's got nothing to do with me.
What a strange twist of events. A father's song for daughter, a father dancing with his daughter.
Fathers, be good to your daughters
Daughters will love like you do
Girls become lovers who turn into mothers
So mothers, be good to your daughters too
Mother… Their mother was gone, cast away by a rare disease. (Strange how it came up then when it normally begins in childhood.)
"Papa," Amu spoke up. "Isn't this a wonderful song?"
"Yes Amu," Tsugumu said. "but it's not as wonderful as having you and your sister in my life, and your mother's as well as much as it lasted."
There was a short silence as this went by.
Since the day she saw him walking away
Now she's left
cleaning up the mess he made.
Amu began to sing softly with the music, voice making a chord with the original artist, thinking up the next scenario of what to do next, stopping as soon as she finished the chorus.
"I think I've noticed something, Papa," Amu said. "You didn't really like the idea of my marriage, did you?"
Tsugumu shook his head in disagreement. "No Amu. I did approve it."
"I was just afraid," Tsugumu continued. "After your mother died, you've matured so quickly, nearly twice as much as you did in elementary."
"You're just so mature now," Tsugumu said. "You're not a little girl anymore. You're no longer my little girl."
"And you're a star," Tsugumu said. "A celebrity. I can no longer take care of you from the 'big bad wolves'."
"Papa, you're my father. I grew as a baby girl first, and you knew and loved me as one," Amu said.
"I'm always your baby girl," she stopped dancing, hugging Tsugumu. "You'll always be my Papa."
Tsugumu then hugged her tightly, silently. "I know, Amu. I know."
"Happy Father's Day, Papa," Amu whispered, words only caught by Tsugumu. "I love you."
Oh that's right... her wedding day was the exact same day as Father's day wasn't it? How convenient.
"Thank you, my little girl," Tsugumu pat her head softly. "I love you."
* Man as in the man who asked her to transfer to the Advanced Academy of Advanced Arts. Which she accepted in the last year of middle school. Ha ha.
** The step-father of Ikuto and Utau anyone? (Evil little asshole.)
Lastly, I will dedicate this to some of my bestest friends.
Even if you have a hundred friends, there's always a key few that runs the mile for you.
Sisters -
Karin
Ai - Cohn
Mizu - Tylor
Father -
Mai (Hah... Happy Father's Day?)
Mother -
Nikki
Ex-In-Law -
Leo
Our half-sister (Turns our Daddy cheated on Mommy. :D) -
Aichan (MY EMO BUNNY! :DDD)
Our Mexican Niece -
Kat
When you're just that close, it hurts to make a decision... hurts to just think about it and walk away.
"Us going to different schools is like being stripped of my own family. Though I only knew you guys for a few years, it feels like I knew you since forever." -Tylor
"Although I try to suppress the thought of not seeing you anymore, we all have to go our separate ways sooner or later... But the time we shared together seems so short." -Tylor
Thoughts shared, SISTER. Thoughts shared.
Why don't you readers try writing a friends tribute if you're graduating this summer? Or dedicate something to them?
Make them cry, make them happy... I don't care if they already know...
Just let them know you love them.. :\