"I want you to know, that you are your greatest work. Never let anyone tell you differently. The most orginal, amazing, and beautiful thing you can create is yourself. And the most precious gift you can bestow upon this world is your soul. All too often we take each other for granted. Don't. Always appreciate and love what is given to you. Becasue it can easily be taken away..." There was a silent pause, "Forgive me, I am tired and weak. You are my heart, love, and treasure. Remember you have the love of this world and from the world beyond. And know that... though I am not with you on the physical plain, we will forever be intertiwined in the sprititual. We are one and seperate..." Again the silence washed over, this time more foreboding than before. "There is so much I wish to give you, my love, my spirit, my strength, my heart and mind. But of all these gifts, the one I leave with you to cherish most is life itself." The silence came again, but did not end. Now begins the time to grieve and lament...
She was angelic, dressed in white. Her hair draped gracefully over one shoulder in long tresses of deep brown and streaks of wild auburn. Tinges of pink crossed her thin lips, as her gentle breath passed through them in shallow breathes. So frail and fragile, yet so perfect and deserving of admiration; She resembled a porcelian doll as she lay beneath the folds of blankets and comforters. Tired and worn from giving life, He had never seen her more beautiful.
"How do you feel?" He spoke in a hushed voice so not to disturb her to abruptly. A few strands of his darkened hair brushed across his brown face. Worry, joy, anxiety, utter happiness... all were evident on the young man's face.
She moaned faintly as her eyes slowly opened. Warm, smiling, grey eyes greeted her own. Though her eyes were no more then a shadow of their former selves. Not the same vibrant and energetic lavender they had once been. It seemed as though the life force within her had been extracted slowly.
"Where... where is she?" The words came out barely as a whisper.
"Ssh..." He rubbed his hands across her brow, pushing back a few wild strands from her bangs. She felt smooth, like she had always been. Her body felt warm under his touch, but despite her condition a look of ultimate peace remained on her face.
"She's right here, sweetheart. I made sure that they kept her by yourside until you woke up." He stared into her dreamy eyes before turning his gaze toward the tiny bassinet that sat by his dear wife's bedside.
His hands seemed so big and clumsy as he held the infant child. She was so perfect, so small. Her mother looked like a doll, but she was the size of one. He couldn't help staring into her flawless tiny face and admiring every feature. Every thing about her was a miracle, and to think he had a hand in bringing this most prefect creation into the world.
"She is amazing." He said as he handed the child over. Motherhood had suit the young lady well. She held her child tenderly, like only a mother could. She smiled gently into the sleeping face of her child. Realizing that each breath she took was just as amazing as the last.
Instinctively, she lightly brushed the faint patch of pale blue hair that grew on the infant's head. And smiled to herself as she noted their daughter's resemblence to her father. "Have you seen her eyes yet?" She asked not taking her eyes of her child.
"Nope, she's been asleep the entire time." He answered. Seeing his wife so blissful and happy, and his daughter so beautiful and innocent, was more than he could have asked for. Both adorened in white, like two celestial beings from a world far beyond any place anyone had ever seen. The moment was entirely picturesque.
At that moment, a pair of shining bright eyes opened and caught both parents attention. "Awake, I see." The young man quipped as he continue to observe the child. It felt like she had been given life a second time when her eyes opened. "We are so very blessed." Her mother held her closer, taking in every moment with her child.
Small yet alluring, young and bright, and a brilliant shade of lavender. Every word that came to mind seemed ill-fitted and not right in describing how gorgeous the little girl was.
"She has your magnificent eyes." He said breathlessly.
His wife smiled, though it was a weak and pitiful one. A sudden sensation of exhaustion passed over her, and the need to sleep had become overwhelming. "I feel so tired." She stated plainly as she settled back against the soft pillows and allowed herself to sink into the soft cushion of the bed.
A sudden panic toke over the young man, "What's wrong?" He asked nervously as he searched his wife's face. She had taken a paler shade so quickly. Her hair seemed to go limp and flat against her shoulder and chest.
"I want you to know," She called to him in her light, weakened voice. "That... that I love you so very much." The final words seemed rushed, as though it had taken all her strength to say them.
He wasn't sure when, but a surmounting fear over came him. His stern, grey eyes radiated with worry and love. His brow wrinkled as he stared fearfully and seriously into his wife's face. "You know that you are my heart and world. I love you more than anything, never forget that." He replied with a sudden rush of seriousness.
She smiled weakly once again, and then gazed down at her daughter. The tiny infant had already fallen alseep in her arms again. She also felt the urge to sleep, as her eyelids grew heavy with each passing moment.
"Honey, what's wrong? Why are you so tired? Should I get a doctor... or a nurse?" He was almost out of his seat before she had held him back to stop him. Confused and unsure, he hesitantly abided by her wishes, and sat back down in his seat.
"I'm fine," Her breathing had suddenly become more shallow, and this unnerved him. He had an uncanny ability for hiding his true feelings to a certain point. A trait they both shared, but when those he loved were in any peril, the ability had seem to fade.
"Really, I'm okay. Just... I don't want you to leave. Not yet, there something I want you to do first." Her eyes had become a lighter shade of lavender.
"For you anything. Just tell me." He took her hand in his own. Though she looked it, he had never realized how frail she truly was.
She grinned inwardly. She could just imagine the perplexed look on her husband's face when she would tell him her request. He would raise one eyebrow questioningly, and look at her as though she had lost her mind. His expressions were always so comical. "I want you" She began still short of breath, "To take down a dictation."
Living with someone and growing up with them makes that person so very predictable. As if on cue he had done exactly what she expected. "Have I've been demoted from husband to secretary or something?" He asked as he reached for a pen and notepad that had been sitting on a near by table.
"And you'll be the mail boy by tomorrow if you keep messing with me..." She joked.
"I feel the love." Her husband interjected sarcastically.
Weaker by every second, that was how she felt. She didn't even respond with a witty comeback like she had wanted. Instead she continued to concetrate on breathing, it had become an even harder task.
"Write down evrything I say." She instructed, coughing slightly.
"Okay," He made a mock face of extreme concentration, "Write... down evreything..." He began scribbling at the paper. She laughed, he always could get her to smile even when she tried her best to be serious.
"No, I'll be serious." He smiled childishly.
"Thank you... Now listen carfeully. I want to leave our Miracle with something..." She stated pushing herself in a more upright possesion.
"Leave... What do you mean?"
But she ignored the question, "I want you to know, that you are your greatest work..." Not fighting her, he wrote down every word.
Her bright violet eyes went wide as she read the note. The paper was worn out, slightly crumpled, and folded at two of the corners. Its yellow coloration gave evidence to its age. The hand writing was familiar, but slightly sloppy. She could tell he must have been writing fast.
Autumn had came beautifully that year. The trees were like gentle flames as the danced in the cold winds. Red, orange, and deep golden flakes filled the sky. Swirling and twirling around each other, it was as though the leaves were at a ball, and all danced with one another. Children ran past in school uniforms for the fall semester, light coats and hats to keep them warm. The sun hung low in the sky, and was of a bunrt orange hue. Burgundy and brown mixed into the spectacular display of nature. She was proud to be born in such a dramatic season of lush color and change.
She read and re-read every line of the note. A message from the past, it seemed almost supernatural.
"Happy 12th Birthday!" She remebered how her father made such a fuss.
"Otosan, arigatou, daisuki... but can I at least finish sleeping? It's..." She sat up to look at her bedroom clock, "twelve o' one in the morning. Must you do this every year?" She said groogly and pulled the blankets over her head.
Her father laughed, and playfully pulled her covers back and grabbed her out of bed. "Of course!" He said spinning her around, "I wouldn't be a dad if I didn't."
She gentle pulled away from her father, and tried desprately to make her way back to bed. But was pulled back once again, "Oh, Otosan... I'm sleepy." She whined rubbing her eyes.
"Okay, okay... I just want you to give you your present that's all." He said heading back towards their living room.
"And this couldn't wait until seven in the morning!" She shouted from the hallway.
"No!" He replied.
Moments later, he returned with a thin, rectangular, white box wrapped with a single iridescent purple ribbon. "Here you are..." He said with a fake british accent, bowing and then handing the box to her.
At first she was reluctant, her father and her had a relationship where goofing off and sarcasm was the main themes. They even liked to play a prank or two on each other, that is when her dad wasn't at work or working on a program of some kind.
"Go on, go on." He urged her.
She looked at the box skeptically, but then took it. It was light, she noticed. 'Some kind of jewelry.' She thought as she pulled at the tails of the ribbon.
"Is this from Obasan?" She asked not looking up, her grandmother always did like to go way out with extravegant presents. But he never answered. To her surprise all she found inside was a sigle sheet of paper. A note written by her father's hand. At first she had taken it as one of daddy's little jokes, but then took back that idea when she noticed the serious and hurt expression on her father's face.
"Otosan... what is it?" She asked worried. Had she not known better, she could have sworn that she saw tears swell in her fathers eyes. But she had never seen her father cry a day in her life, and so she brushed that idea aside.
"It's nothing... uh, I'll explain everything whenever you want, but first I'm going to leave you alone... to... let you read." He said pointing to the letter.
She nodded doubtfully as her father left her in her room. The dark haze of night seemed to grow as he left. Something told her that she was about to encounter an amazing moment, it all beginning with that one letter. But how she did not know. The ideas scared her and sparked her curiosity. The fear made her shiver with chills, but the curiosity made her exceedingly anxious.
"Written October 9th, 20-" She read aloud.
The sudden rush of winds, shook her from her memories of that earlier morning. A few strands of her blue hair brushed against her pink cheeks, and she pulled the long strands behind her ear. She was still so overwhelmed and so utterly amazed. She wasn't sure if she should have been sad or happy. 'It's almost like meeting her for the first time.' She thought to herself as she walked to school.
She wasn't sure why, but she had happened to stop, to take a glimpse at the lake in the park. For the first time she had actually taken a good look at herself. "The most original, amazing, and beautiful thing you can create is yourself." She whispered into her reflection. Her eyes were thin, almost cat-like, and she watched as her hair swayed in the blowing wind. It was a deep blue, long, and held in a french braid that would cascade down her back when the wind blowed or over her shoulder. But her eyes, she had almost forgotten, that no one on her father's side of the family had lavender eyes like her own. The only relative she could think of was her grandmother. Or maybe her mother.
Again she stared at the letter. How strange it truly was to receive something from the past. It was all so surreal. But it also felt like she had been teased. She had always wanted to know what her mother was like. Sure her family would tell her, but it was always the same.
"Beautiful... no gorgeous." Her grandmother would say.
"Fighsty, thing. She'd deck you in a hot second if you said something out of line. But then she grew out of that." She remember Akiyama-san, a friend of her father's, saying.
"Your mother, was... was..." Her father would say but could never quite find a word to fit her.
"My greatest joy is in your father and you. I love you now and forever." She read the last line with tears of sorrow and joy. No jewelry in the world, or anything else for that matter, could have compared to such a gift as this. A gift from beyond this world. And then she noticed that the letter was signed in a different handwriting.
The silence was haunting and yet fitting. Their daughter still lain in her mother's arms. He caressed her pale white cheek. She seemed to only be asleep. That was how he wanted to remeber her, as asleep. That way, he could pretend that he was waiting until she would wake, or else he could wait until he would get to sleep and lay by her side for all eternity.
He held thier small infant child closely. Her eyes mirroring her mothers looked affectionately at him. As if, even at her young and tender age, she could distinguish that he was her father.
"Lee-san... Lee Jenrya ?" Questioned the nurse as she stepped into the slient hospital room.
She reluctantly stepped further in, taking a clip board that sat on a table. She felt as though she had interrupted something sacred, and wanted to leave as quickly as possible. But she couldn't help but watch the scene. The young blue haired man sat at his wife's bedside, looking lovingly into her languid face.
"Lee... Ruki..." She read the name off the clipboard out of curiosity. "Child name:-" The nurse had realized that the line was still blank. "What is your daughter's name?" She asked breaking the silence.
Lee didn't answer right away, he was still to hurt to find words in that normally clear mind of his. But he did manage to look at the note he had just written a few moments ago, and that his wife signed. 'To My Miracle' read the signature, and that's when the thought had hit him.
He kissed his infant daughter on her forehead genltly.
"Miracle... Lee Miracle."
Author's Note: I know, I know... sad isn't it? But I am so proud it came out beautifully, didn't it? Do you like, I hope so? I certainly hope so. I know the big thing out is Ryo/Ruki pairing, but I couldn't help it. I stay true to my first instinct, and I liked Lee/Ruki since the beginning. But I did throw a mentioning of Ryo, did you catch it? LOL... I'll stop rambling. This saying is originally minf: You are your greatest masterpiece, be proud of that much. ~ IC-chan