Happy Mother's Day everyone! Get something nice for your mothers and show them how much you care. As for me, I present to you a one-shot for it which is fairly simple and it's between Ai-chan and her son, Hayate.
You have all met Hayate before in 'Still the One' and he was fairly young in that so in this, he is 11 years old and a little bit older than before. This will be mostly in his POV to keep it in line with the fact that this is for Mother's Day. Thank you so much to NeoMiniTails for betareading this for me.
Drowning. Falling. He could feel the pressure crushing his chest, and it felt as if he was running out of air. He thrashed about, trying to swim, trying to reach up to the surface. He didn't want to die but he didn't know if he could hold on any longer. Please… someone help me.
"Hayate," A soft voice spoke and he could feel himself being shaken. Wait, being shaken? He realized he was back in bed and the ocean was fading away as if it had never been there. He opened his ocean blue eyes to see his mother staring back at him, lavender eyes filled with concern.
"Mom," Hayate shivered a little, curling up into her lap as she sat down on the bed. He knew he wasn't five-years-old anymore but the comfort she he felt from the warmth of his mother's lap nearly made him sob in relief as a few tears prickled down his cheeks.
"Hayate," Ai soothed, brushing her gentle fingers through his hair. "It's okay, sweetie. It was just a nightmare. You're ok." She kissed his forehead.
"I-I felt I was drowning again, Mom," Hayate said softly, voice choked up. "It's the same dream I always have. Why? Why do I keep seeing that? I can't even go near the water because of that dream." His mother's arms wrapped around him and he shifted in closer. The tenderness of his mother was reassuring; he could feel his heartbeat begin to calm down as the tension in his body eased.
"There are some people in the world, sweetie," Ai said, her voice kind like shed always been but somehow, a little dull. "That truly don't deserve children. You were just a baby when your father rescued you from them. But your mother," Her own voice choked up and she hugged her son even tighter, stronger; her embrace felt she was saying that she would cut down anything that would come in her way to harm her little boy. "She had come to the beach, she was going to…" She trailed off but Hayate could tell what she didn't say. He had always known that he was adopted, but his parents had never told him much about what his birth parents were like – he had always assumed it was because they didn't know much about them either. But now… he knew it was just because they were trying to protect him.
"Why?" Hayate whispered, wanting to understand. He thought of the possible reasons why they didn't want him, why they would try and kill him in one of the most painful ways possible.
"Because they didn't deserve you," Ai stopped crying and Hayate turned to look at his mother. Her expression was firm as she said this, despite the still dried tear tracks upon her cheeks. "Sweetheart, you're our blessing, our gift. Your father and I, we'd be incomplete without you." She poked Hayate's nose gently. "The heavens sent you down to us as our blessing."
Hayate felt the doubts ease from his mind at his mother's words. As far as he was concerned, these were his parents. His family. The ones he wanted to make proud with everything he did. He wrapped his own arms around his mother, resting his head against her stomach. "I love you, Mom."
Ai smiled softly. "I love you too, baby." She kissed his forehead. "Always."