By now, Kiki has long since adjusted to living in a big city and to a more modern life.
She hasn't adjusted to the reality of war, however. She doesn't think she ever will. Even her hometown has been affected by the war, not just the city she lives in and calls hom. When Kiki gets the phone call from her mother saying her father had been drafted, she curls up on her bed over the bakery and cries.
Kiki still lives with Osono and Fukuo, running her delivery business, though a few years back, she branched out into potions as well. Potions that have suddenly become popular and in high demand. The worst cases are the wives and girlfriends who come to her, all but begging for a potion to ease their pain. After the first few dozen, Kiki stops crying when they tell her the stories of how their solider died.
Because, in the darkest parts of her heart, she knows it could be her father or Tombo who's next on the casualty list.
Somehow, the government hears of Tombo's work in aviation. He is asked to be the first in a battalion of fighter pilots and he is over the moon at the chance. The danger is simply a blip on the radar for him.
"When I come back, Kiki, we'll get married! I'll have enough money, we can buy a little place, and finally settle down. You can run your delivery service out of it. It'll be great!" Tombo beams at her with so much love in his eyes, Kiki tears up and kisses him then.
But as he kisses her goodbye and waves from aboard the train that will take him far, far away for training and ultimately to the battlefield, Kiki feels a chill run up her spine, like the icy fingers of death, and she knows.
When the letter comes, delivered by a somber and apologetic military man, Kiki isn't surprised. Her expression never changes as he hands over the letter and a small box. Inside, he tells her, are all the personal items they found in Tombo's room. Since he was shot down over the sea, there isn't much at all left of the bright young man Kiki loved. He salutes her as he leaves, though Kiki does not see.
From inside the box, she pulls the last picture of the two of them together, taken the night before he left for war. Tombo has his arm wrapped around her waist, a dopey, tender grin on his face, knowing that he'll be back soon and marry the girl he loves. Kiki herself is smiling joyfully and Jiji is perched on her shoulder. Kiki can almost hear Tombo saying how excited he is to finally fly, just like her and just like he'd always dreamed.
She holds Jiji tight that night and still the tears won't come.
And the next day, Kiki gets up and carries on exactly as she had before.
For what else could a woman hollowed by grief do?
A/N: I just finished Kiki's Delivery Service for the first time in years and it's just...so sweet. So innocent. So pure.
So of course I have to ruin it with angst and tragedy.