Hero
I OWN NOTHING!
Just letting you know this is a kinda long, sad one-shot. Toby and Zeo are visiting in this story.
"Darren….hurry!" The little girl pulled on her brother's arm. He chuckles and allows himself to be pulled along.
"Arden, what's the hurry?" Darren asks. The girl stops and looks at her brother.
"If we wait, we can't find him in time." Her eyes sparkle a little and she starts to pull him forward again.
"He'll be there, okay?" He watches her closely and then looks ahead of them. He excuses them a couple times and smiles at his sister's determination.
"Uhh!" Arden starts to collapse. Darren bends down and grabs her before she can hit the floor. She pants heavily and Darren suggests they go home or…
"NO!" She stands up with difficulty. "I'm going to find him." He watches as she struggles with walking and he picks her up. Giving her a piggy-back ride, he says.
"Let's go see what we find." She smiles and lays her head on his shoulder. They walk through the hotel lobby, looking.
"Hey, guys!" A voice says behind them. "Arden, Darren!" The two siblings turn and see their old friend, Toby.
"TOBY!" Arden shouts in Darren's ear.
"Way to make me deaf, sis." She responds by playfully kicking his sides.
"What are you guys doing here?" Toby asks.
"We're here to find somebody." Darren says.
"Oh, him!"
"Yeah. Do you know if he's here?" Darren mouths the question and Toby does the same with the answer.
"Yeah, I know where he is."
"What are you guys doing," Arden coughs. "You look like fish."
"I guess that's what it looks like to a nine-year old, huh?"
"YEAH!" Arden giggles as Toby makes another fishy face at her.
"Hey, Arden."
"Huh?"
"I have a friend I want you to meet."
"Will we have time, Darren? I still want to find…"
"We'll have time."
"Okay," Arden agrees. "Let's go meet your friend."
"Great." Toby turns around and leads the way.
"Hey Toby, where have you been?" Masamune asks.
"I meet a friend." He shuts the door behind him and comes in.
"Who?"
"You'll see. Tsubasa, can you come here?" Toby whispers in his ear and the eagle blader nods. Toby smiles and goes back to the door. He reenters with a teen boy whose giving a little girl a piggy back ride.
"Hi there." Kenta smiles and waves at the little girl. She returns it and slides off her brother's back.
"Come here, Arden." Toby takes her hand and leads her over to Tsubasa. The two share a smile.
"Hi." Arden glances back at her brother and nods.
"Arden, I want you to meet Tsubasa Otori." The little girl gasps and looks at Toby.
"Are you serious?!" She jumps up and down with excitement.
"It's nice to meet you, Arden." He crouches down to her height and shakes her hand. She shrieks a little after shaking his hand. She runs back to her brother.
"Darren, it's him! IT'S HIM!" She squeals and her brother prompts her to ask her question.
"Mr. Otori…" She coughs several times and Darren taps her back a couple times.
"Tsubasa." He corrects and she squeals again. She takes a quick breath in and asks her question.
"WILLYOUBATTLEWITHME?!" Tsubasa smiles and nods. Arden looks like she will faint. Darren catches her.
"Breathe little sis."
"I CAN'T! I'M TOO EXCITED!" She jumps into her brother's arms. "HE SAID YES!"
"We'll meet you at the stadium downstairs in about an hour, is that okay?"
"Yeah, I'll see you there, Arden."
"HE SAID MY NAME!" She squeaks as her brother takes her out.
"That's so sweet." Madoka notes.
"You don't know how happy you made her." Toby pats Tsubasa's shoulder.
"Why does she like Tsubasa so much?" Yu asks.
"See, Arden gets sick easier than most people. She has a very weak immune system. Her brother has gone all over the world, trying to get her help. They were in America for part of that time. It turned out that she and I were roomies. During that time, GanGan Galaxy had just finished its second match with Wild Fang. We were watching the matches on TV. When you went into the hospital, Arden was worried sick. She had really liked you. When you beat the dark power and were out of the hospital, Arden admired you. She said that because you could get better so could she."
"Really?" Gingka asks.
"Yeah, she admires Tsubasa. Before she left the hospital, we talked about it. She said she wanted to meet you and battle you. She even told me you told me you two had the same type of bey. That's why she liked you at first."
"So for her to get to meet and battle Tsubasa…" Masamune starts.
"Is her dream…" Toby finishes.
"Are you ready, Arden?" Tsubasa asks. She nods but coughs heavily.
"Arden," her brother makes her stop and put on a coat and hat. The autumn wind is strong and blows against everything.
"Alright! THREE!"
"TWO!"
"ONE!"
"LET IT RIP!"
Both Eagle beys are ripped and zip around the arena. Arden squeals a little. Tsubasa had talked with Darren before and promised to go easy on her.
"Still give her a small fight, will you?" Darren closes his eyes momentarily. "She knows that you won't use your full power; I told her beforehand that I was going to talk to you."
"I understand."
"This is so cool! Thank you for battling me!" Tsubasa and Arden share a smile.
"Toby told me about you and why you wanted to meet me."
"TOBY!" She looks over at him and then coughs again.
"It's alright. I thought it was sweet." The two beys clash.
"You know something?"
"What Arden?"
"I got to do it."
"Huh?"
"I got to meet you and got to battle and now, I'm happy. Thank you, Tsubasa." She smiles and then collapses.
"ARDEN!" the three boys are at her side in a moment. Darren shakes her gently.
"Call for an ambulance." Toby makes the call while Darren and Tsubasa try to wake Arden.
"They're coming." Toby says.
"Come on, little sis. Tsubasa's here. He wants to battle you more and…talk to you more…" Darren's eyes start to tear up.
"Arden…please wake up!" Tsubasa begs.
"Tsubasa…" Toby enters the room with a sober mood. The two meet eyes and the message is passed. Arden didn't make it. Tsubasa hangs his head.
"Arden…" Tsubasa closes his eyes and places his head in his hands.
"She never woke up. They said the sickness had taken over. No matter what she had been doing, it won't have mattered." Toby put a hand on his shoulder. "You made her happy. She got to meet you and have a battle. That was her dream."
"Yeah, I'm glad I got to meet her."
"Never forget?" Toby offers his hand. Tsubasa looks up and takes it.
"We'll never forget her."
The two boys pack their things. Off to China for a tournament and a visit with Wang Hu Zhong.
"Excuse me." A teen boy knocks on the door. Yu opens it and gives him a look.
"Don't I know you?"
"I need to speak to Tsubasa Otori, is he here?"
"Yeah, Tsubasa!" Yu yells and the eagle blader comes to the door.
"Yu, I'm not buying you more cookies. You don't…" he stops when he sees who it is.
"Hey,"
"Darren."
"I DO KNOW YOU!" Yu says but then leaves to continue packing.
"It's been a couple weeks." Darren tries to joke but it doesn't work.
"What's up?" Tsubasa asks and Darren pulls out a bey and a picture. "What are these for?"
"She would have wanted you to have them." Tsubasa opens the picture and it's a surprisingly well drawn picture of him and Arden. The bey was hers.
"I can't…"
"Please. For Arden."
"Alright, for Arden."
"Thank you." Darren nods and leaves. Tsubasa folds the picture and slides it and the bey in his pocket. Now Arden would always be with him.
Thanks for reading. This story came to me last night as I was heading to bed. I got up this morning and wrote it. I thought it was a sweet yet sad story idea.
Arden got to meet her hero and battle with him like she had wanted. But she was too sick. ='( Give me a second. *Pulls out tissue and wipes eyes* I promised myself I wouldn't cry.
Anyway, please review and tell me what you thought. Thanks for reading, and sorry if you cried. TTYL