A/N: Technically, Hélène and this story idea are both mine. This takes place a week before the beginning of BBS. I imagined Ienzo to be 7, almost 8 years old. I realized that we don't know that much about Ienzo, so that's mainly why I wrote this. I kinda tried to throw Zexion's element in it, too. Enjoy. :)
Thanks: M. L. Ayala, my beta reader
~ "Sweetheart, it was all just a bad dream. Nothing of it was real, okay? ...I promise." ~
It was very late at night, or maybe it could be called very early in the morning. Little Ienzo was lying in his bed, tossing and turning all the time. This was because he didn't have a peaceful dream. In fact, he was trapped in a rather cruel nightmare. In his dream, he saw different flashes of haunting images and colors. It was making him feel more and more uncomfortable.
"Mommy!" little Ienzo suddenly cried fearfully, sitting up in his bed and wide awake.
He was drenched in his own sweat and his heart was beating rapidly against his chest. He was panting like he had run a marathon of a thousand miles, all because he had just had a really bad dream. It had involved his parents this time, and on a scale of one to ten, he had to admit that this one was worth at least a nine.
Fortunately, Ienzo didn't have to wait too long for a response, because shortly after his cry of help, someone opened his bedroom door and turned on the lights. Ienzo shut his eyes tightly against it, because it was bothering him, but he knew that his parents were here. That alone made him calm down a little. Before his could react on it, he was pulled into a warm hug.
"Sweetheart, what's wrong? You look as white as a sheet. Did you have a nightmare?" his mother whispered worried, kissing his head.
Ienzo didn't say anything, but hugged his mother tightly, obviously not planning to let go of her too soon. The woman didn't know what to do or say, since normally, her son acted more mature. In fact, he had never acted this...scared before.
Hélène, his mother, looked up at her husband, who merely shrugged, before entering the room as well. The man quietly took place to the other side of the bed, running a hand through his short and silky silver hair. The only thing that Ienzo had from his mother, were his light blue eyes, as opposed to his father's darker eyes.
"Sweetheart, it was all just a bad dream. Nothing of it was real, okay?" the woman whispered.
"...You promise?"
Ienzo's mother smiled. "I promise, my dear. You can forget about it."
Ienzo couldn't believe it just like that, though. Because, if it really was "just a dream," then why did he have this nagging feeling? As if something really bad was going to happen soon. And even if he ignored the negative feeling, he just couldn't forget the fact that some of his dreams sometimes came true.
"What did you dream about, anyway?" his father asked.
Ienzo shook his head. He didn't want to talk about it. Not now. Not ever.
"...It was horrible," was all he muttered, still not looking up.
Horrible, the only word that fitted the description here...
~ A few hours later ~
It was morning, and Ienzo had gotten up a few minutes ago. Now, he was busy with combing his hair. The nagging feeling hadn't disappeared. It had even kept him awake during the rest of the night. His parents just didn't understand, so he hadn't bothered to explain it to them. It would be a waste of his energy.
However, he had thought of a plan to keep them inside the house, where it was the safest...as long as they didn't do or touch anything dangerous or sharp. He just hoped it would work, because with parents like his, one couldn't be too sure.
When he had finished combing his hair, he walked downstairs for breakfast. As usual, his parents had finished eating already. His mom was doing the dishes, while his dad was reading the paper, called the Daily Radiance, while drinking a cup of coffee. Yuck, coffee. The strong and bitter smell of it filled the whole kitchen. If it already smelled this bad, then how bad would it actually taste? That was something Ienzo would rather not find out.
When Hélène heard the sound of feet, she turned around.
"Good morning, sleepyhead. Did you sleep well?" she asked, smiling at him.
Ienzo merely nodded, as he grabbed a plate and a glass to fill it with milk. It was his daily routine. He didn't want his mother to do it for him, because he thought he was old enough to do it himself. Ienzo knew that if he had told her the truth, it would've only ruined her good mood.
"Good," her mother said.
Ienzo eyed both his parents in silence, before asking them, "Are you going somewhere?"
He had no idea how he couldfeel (for a lack of a better word) those things, but somehow, he always knew when people were lying to him or hiding things for him. This was one of those cases. It seemed that his parents were surprised by this, too, because Ienzo saw how they quickly exchanged a glance, before looking at their only son.
"Yes, sweetheart. I guess you heard the phone call, then. There's some urgent meeting and we have to be there," his father replied.
Ienzo almost dropped his glass of milk out of pure shock. He had to stop them.
"On a Saturday? You've never worked on a Saturday before," Ienzo noted sharply.
His parents exchanged another glance, but this one was cautious. Ienzo narrowed his eyes.
"I'm really sorry, dear. You know what? Let's spend tomorrow all day together. We can go on a picnic and go stargazing in the night, okay?" his mother opted.
Ienzo didn't say anything for a short while. This was harder than he had thought.
"No, actually, it's not okay. You had already promised that we would do something togethertoday. Weren't you the ones who told me it's bad to break your promise?" the boy stated. "And now, you're the ones who don't keep your promise. Isn't that hypocrite?"
"Hypocrite? Where did he learn that word?" his father muttered.
Hélène shrugged, surprised. It wouldn't be the first time that their son surprised them with such a thing. Ienzo didn't tell them that he had searched for that word in the dictionary when he had heard how Even, his dad's best friend, had used that word several times.
"Ienzo, sweetheart, we're really sorry, but this is import-"
"More important than your son?" Ienzo asked, interrupting his mother.
"No, of course not! It will only take two hours, at the most. When we get back from the meeting, we can go have a picnic, okay?"
Just what he had expected, his parents didn't understand this at all. It was time for plan B. Ienzo had fervently hoped that it wouldn't have to go this far, but he had no choice.
"Mom, I don't want you to go, because...because something bad will happen to both of you if you go."
Dead silence was all there was left after that sentence. Nobody in the room knew what to do or to say to break this awkward silence.
"What do you mean?" Hélène finally dared to ask.
Here, Ienzo hesitated slightly. The chance was big that his parents wouldn't believe him. Now that he thought of it, it didn't really sound believable anymore. Not when everywhere you looked, there was light and happiness. Last night, however, things had been different...
"I dreamed it. Some kind of pillar falls out of the air and it hits the building you're in at that moment. There's chaos everywhere...and you two are the only ones who- who..." Here, his voice faltered.
Ienzo looked away, gulping.
"Sweetheart, I already told you it was just a dream. I can imagine that it scared you how realistic it looked, but that's all part of your imagination. You don't have to be afraid," Hélène spoke.
"Besides, I hope you realize that pillars can't randomly fall out of the air. I think you've been reading too many fantasy books, young man," his father said.
Ienzo made fists of his hands, but he knew that he had lost this argument. He had only one plan left, and if that one would fail...he didn't want to think about the consequences.
"Will you behave while we're at work?" Hélène asked, before pulling her son into a tight hug and kissing both his cheeks.
Ienzo nodded, still looking somewhat pale. His father ruffled his hair, affectionately, before leaving. Because of Ienzo's antics, they were being late.
"Good. We'll try to hurry up, okay? Bye."
Of course, Ienzo wasn't able to persuade his parents to stay home, not even when he started begging. He even hid the house key when they weren't paying attention, but since he had not thought of the reserve keys, it wasn't enough to keep them here. That was a miscalculation on his part.
They had called Even to come and baby-sit him, just in case he would start panicking again. Their worries weren't for nothing, because Ienzo felt so bad that he couldn't even concentrate on the book he was reading at the moment. He hadn't even finished the first chapter, while he normally was a quick reader.
He stole a glance at Even. He was reading a book, too. Two, platinum blond bangs were hanging in front of his face, while his light green eyes moved back and forth, as he read line after line. He was normally a sensible guy, but Ienzo had also seen him in a more chilly state. The man could get very scary if he wanted to.
Suddenly, the phone rang, interrupting the boy's train of thoughts. Even got up from the sofa to answer it.
"Even speaking," he said.
There was a short pause when someone on the other side of the line asked something.
"Yes, but they're-"
For some unknown reason, he didn't finish his sentence. Ienzo watched him closely and noticed that his facial expression changed into a serious one, which was followed by a look full of terror. This couldn't be a good sign...
"Okay... I understand. Bye."
The fact that the man's hand was shaking when he hung up the phone didn't go unnoticed by the boy. He was sure of one thing, something was terribly wrong.
"Ienzo," Even began. He took a deep breath several times, before finally continuing, "I'm afraid I have bad news for you. It's about your parents... They...uh, what I'm trying to say, is that...a gummiship was transporting two marble pillars over your parents' office. It was for some new building they were making. Unfortunately, one of them fell and hit that building and..."
As soon as Ienzo heard that his father had died by trying to save his mother, he became practically mute. That dream...the same things had happened in the nightmare he had last night. It had all been a prediction. And what his dad had done had all been for nothing, because his mother was in the hospital, too. Wait a second...
"Does that mean that Mom's still alive?" Ienzo asked.
"...Yes, but it's not sure for how long. Do you want to see her?"
Ienzo thought about it. This was probably the last time he would see her and he had no idea in what condition she was now. If she was in the hospital and the doctors weren't even sure if she would make it to the next day, then it sure was bad news.
He looked at his hands, wondering what he should do. He was still holding the book, but his knuckles had turned white from his hold on it.
Eventually, he nodded. "Yes."
"Okay. Then let's go."
Even didn't have to say that twice.
Ienzo hated the hospital for different reasons. One of them was that it just smelled like antibiotics, or something like that. It felt far too sterile here, too clean. Somehow, it smelled of bad news, too.
Even asked in what room Ienzo's mother was. After someone had helped them, they headed to the elevators. Ienzo couldn't remember much of it anymore, except that they suddenly stood in front of the chamber in which his mother was.
Ienzo gulped, suddenly feeling scared again. He didn't want to see his mother like this. She was probably in a terrible state. At the same time, though, he knew that he would regret it if he didn't see her now.
"I'll be waiting here outside for you. You can take your time," Even said softly.
Ienzo nodded and took a few deep breaths, before entering the room. If he had to describe the room in one word, he would say it looked boring. The walls of the room were all hauntingly white, just like everywhere else in this building. Only the curtains had a soft, yellow-ish color.
It was quiet in the room, safe for the soft beeping of the various hospital equipment, and someone who seemed to breathe with quite some difficulty. There were only three beds in the room, but two of them were empty. In the other one was...
"Mommy?" Ienzo said with a little voice.
He slowly approached the only occupied bed, hoping that she was awake...and not hurting. The pale and almost lifeless woman who was lying in the bed, slowly opened her eyes. Her eyes were bloodshot, but as soon as she recognized her beloved son, she managed to crack a small smile.
"Hey, sweetheart. I'm glad you're here."
Upon seeing his mother in this state, Ienzo couldn't help but feel horrible. Tears started to form in the back of his eyes. He blinked a couple of times, trying to make them go away.
"Mr. Even brought me here."
He whispered, because he didn't trust his voice, either.
"...You'll have to thank him for me whenever you get the chance, okay?" she said, sounding even weaker than she looked.
Ienzo nodded.
"O-okay. How do you feel?" he asked, realizing too late what a stupid question this was. Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Mommy, I don't want you to...to go. You can't just d-die yet. Please, I need you! I... I need you for s-so m-much!"
This was it, he realized, as he felt tears slowly roll over his cheeks. His mother tried to wipe his tears with her hands, but she didn't have much energy left to do so.
So eventually she gave up, and just took one of his small hands in hers.
She closed her eyes for a brief moment, before opening them and continuing, "Honey, please don't cry... These things...they just happen. We can't do anything about it, 'cause...it's fate and-"
"No, it's not! W-we can- we can fight against it. There's a solution t-to all problems, it's even said in books. Books d-don't lie, do they?" Ienzo interrupted his mother. "Besides, the doctors can make you better. They use magic!"
The woman briefly shook his head.
"Most books are mainly written for profit...and magic and technology...they don't mix... Ienzo, I need you to be strong...and don't forget that you're the best thing that happened to me, and... I want you to enjoy life and be happy... I want these last moments with you...to be happy. Okay, sweetie?"
Ienzo nodded, wiping his tears with his free hand.
"O-okay, mommy."
Hélène smiled. "That's my son. Honey, never give up... Everything has a happy end, and if it's not happy...then it's not 'the end' yet. And don't forget that I'll always be with you... I love you, sweetheart."
New tears were forming in Ienzo's eyes, but once again, he blinked furiously.
"I love you, too, mom."
She squeezed his hand. It wasn't too long after those words that she closed her eyes, for always. At the same time, the soft beeping of one of the machines turned in to a long PEEEEEEEEEEEEEP, and the woman lost the grip on her son's hand
"Mommy?" Ienzo whispered, but there was no response. "Mom? Mom!"
...
Eventually, Ienzo gave her one last hug and a kiss on her soft, and still warm cheeks, just like she always did to him.
~ Some weeks later ~
Ienzo didn't remember much of the following days, (but he was determined to always remember that one memory of his mother in the hospital). Everything seemed to happen in a rush of white and black colors, while he seemed to be in some kind of slumber.
He didn't remember much of the funeral, either, but he knew that Even had arranged it all. He had even arranged that the flowers were Hélène's favorite ones. All Ienzo could recall was that Even had to sign a heck of a lot of documents to become his guardian and let Ienzo live with him in the castle, along with Ansem the Wise's other apprentices.
The bad side of this was that some of the apprentices were a little too weird for his taste. The good thing about it, however, was that he learned a lot of cool stuff, plus, Ansem had a huge library full of interesting books in the castle.
Ienzo knew he had changed, not physically, but mentally. Somehow, he had become better at reading people. He knew exactly what they thought, and sometimes, he could almost swear he could even hearwhat they were thinking. But that had to be his imagination. He barely said a word to anyone anymore, especially when he was around strangers. Many people thought he had become like this because of his parents' accident.
Never give up... Everything has a happy end, and if it's not happy...then it's not 'the end' yet."
He would never forget that sentence, just like the fact that life was a case of losing, no matter what way you looked at it. In fact, you lost much more than you gained. In the end, all your beloved ones would die, and everything would be engulfed in Eternal Darkness, even the brightest Lights. That meant, that everything was born and lost in Darkness.
A/N: Hope you liked it. I have to admit, I've never written something heavy like this. I hope I did well enough, but I'm not too sure... Review and tell me what you think about it! Also, this is my 10th entry for Bookaholic711's Project PULL. :)