I wanted to take a break from National Novel Writing Month. In two days, I have 7,117 words, so I think I deserve a break, don't you? XD

I wanted to write something for Kuki and Wally that was more angst-y, again. I guess later I'll pick a more cheery, happy, humorous piece, but for now, I just wanted to write something with more feeling.

Eh, not my best piece ever. But y'know.

I hope you all are having a wonderful week!

Disclaimer: I don't owwwnnn.

Love, Sadie

--

A sigh on the other end of the line. "Bye, then."

"Yeah. Bye."

There was no feeling in his fingers as he put the phone down. It was as though all of his emotions had been sucked out of him, leaving a void there that was currently floating inside of him. There was nothing there but emptiness, like his organs had been replaced with air. No beating heart. No pumping veins. No churning stomach.

Just emptiness.

Part of him wondered why he had said so little when the phone had been pressed to his ear. There was so much to say, so many words left to speak, but they were gone, now. Sucked away, just like the rest of him. The frustration that she had felt because of his silence was nothing compared to the feeling that he had, the vacuum that was inside of him.

He could see her now, sitting next to the window on the airplane and gazing out at the slowly shrinking city as the plane lifted off. She would watch the cars get smaller and smaller, and count the minutes before the houses looked like tiny dots. She would laugh when they went into a cloud, and then gasp in amazement when they burst above the blanket of clouds to the open, open sky.

He didn't know why, in his imagination, she was happy about leaving. She just was.

They would welcome her, the citizens of her new home. They would teach her their customs and their ways, as though she was one of them, and she would open up to them. And soon, she would forget about the little Australian boy back in the United States. She wouldn't remember the years that they spent together, laughing and swimming upstream through the river of life. She would forget the ice cream cones on lazy Saturday afternoons, and the picnics where they stretched out on the grass and watched the sky slowly darken.

"We're leaving today, Wally."

"But. . . why?"

"Dad's eager to get there."

And he would never forget her, or the way that she spilled light into his life when he felt the dimmest. There would always be the faint memory of her smile, the one that was so wide that her face appeared close to bursting. Never would he forget the way that she sometimes simply held him close, putting her face into his chest and just holding him there silently.

"We're going to be there at the airport in an hour. Will you be there?"

". . . I don't know."

How could she ask this of him?

Why would she ask him to be there, to be there to watch her walk away from him? How could she ask him to tear his heart of his chest and stomp on it, a million times, until it was left with a feeble heartbeat, only enough to keep him barely breathing? How could he agree?

Numbly, he stood, and turned toward the door. His feet moved automatically, and then he was in the car, and then there was the road, and he registered none of it. The radio crooned words that he didn't listen to, and then there was the airport, that place of the deepest kind of evil. And then he was walking, and the time between his room and the airport seemed like mere seconds.

And then she was there, bustling around with her family, trying to get ready to go. And there was Hoagie, with a sad smile, a lame joke, and a pat on her back. And there was Abby, trying so hard to be strong, but with silent tears streaming down her cheeks as she embraced the girl for a long, long time. And there was Nigel, with a few words of wisdom for her, but his eyes were sad, and he turned away when he was done.

And there was Kuki, looking around helplessly to see if her best friend had made it. Her eyes light up slightly when she saw him, only to shatter into fragments when she saw his expression.

"How could you do this to me?!" His sorrow had turned into anger; a whip that he wielded in an attempt to protect himself, protect his heart. Bitter, angry tears threatened to pour out of the corners of his eyes, ones that would scald his skin on the way down with their poisoning wet kisses.

Her expression,

it crumpled.

"Wally, I-"

"Why would I want to be here to watch you leave?!" Hands curled into fists, he knew he was hurting her, but he wanted her to hurt, hurt like he was. He wanted her to rip right down the middle, to feel every single drop of pain that was intoxicating his veins.

"Dude, why are you being so mean?!" Hoagie moved between Kuki and Wally, his face in Wally's with a demanding, furious expression. "What's gotten into you?" Abby's lips had twisted into a snarl, and her hand wove its way around Kuki's shoulder, trying to support the slowly crumbling girl.

With white-hot anger bubbling up inside him, Wally resisted the urge to shove Hoagie out of the way. "I love her!"

Everyone went quiet.

Except Wally. "All of these years, thinking she loved me, too, but we never said anything, because it was sweeter just to be with each other! But apparently I lied to myself! Because she's leaving me now, and asking me to just watch her walk out of my life!"

Kuki burst out into tears, while her parents stood by, watching uncomfortably. They were murmuring to each other in hushed tones, regarding their daughter with wary concern. She was trying so hard to speak, but it was coming out in choked sobs, almost unintelligible.

Finally, she chose the easiest answer. "I-I love you, too. You were always right."

And that was enough. Wally broke out into tears, too, although he tried to hide his under his mop of long hair.

And then Kuki was running to him, and he caught her in his arms, holding her tightly like she had always done to him before. She was trembling, and he realized how much he would miss his bright, beautiful, dancing Asian love. He didn't want to let her go, refused to let her go, but reluctantly, he dropped his arms and let her step back toward her parents.

"Bye," she whispered, like she had done on the phone. Voice breaking, eyes downcast, she looked as though she would break if handled too roughly.

"Bye," Wally responded, looking away. He didn't need to say anything else, because she understood. Watching her walk away, he felt as though she was taking a fragment of him with her, and he turned to walk back to his car, eyes on the pavement.

There was nothing more to say.