Children of light

By youte

Risa Hino hated it.

Having to see her doctor a Saturday afternoon wasn't what angered her the most. Having to bring her four-year-old daughter with her was far more unpleasing. Of course, like always, Takashi was working, and it wasn't really the nanny's fault that she happened to be sick that day.

As she had to wait for her tests results, Risa decided to bring Rei to the cafeteria, in hope that the quiet little girl would feel more at ease there. The clinic intimidated her in such a way that the otherwise curious and smiling child hadn't said one word since they arrived there. Now the girl was clinging to her mother, her face hidden beneath Risa's chin.

Rei was her mother's pride. She was a really cute child, bright, well behaved, joyful. She loved to play and discover new things. That she could react in that way toward a new place could have surprised Risa, but it wasn't the case, for the woman had always known that her special baby wasn't like other little girls. Rei had a weird way to look at the world and to understand it. As if what she was seeing was different from what others did. There was something magic in her eyes, in her presence, and Risa could only hope that nobody would notice her strange aura.

"There, sweetie. We'll be fine here," she said softly in her child's ear.

Risa bought a coffee for herself and a piece of cake for Rei and went to sit in the dining room. There wasn't a lot of people there at that moment. She smiled at her child.

"If you keep frowning like that, you'll end up stuck with that face. And you won't have your cake."

Rei stared at her with that abominably cute worried look that made her look so much like her father, then she studied the piece of cake on the table.

"Can have?"

"Can you have it? Of course."

The little child smiled, caught the cake with her chubby hands to pull it to her and began to eat it slowly. She looked at the room in doing so, cautiously, and after a while she seemed to be more at ease and talked a little more, asking questions about the clinic. Once she had finished to eat it, she stood up and went to Risa. The woman smiled and took a napkin to wash her daughter's face.

"You have cake all over you, baby."

Not appreciating the treatment, Rei tried to escape her mother's hands with a frown.

"Mama! Leave me! Ew!"

Risa laughed and stopped.

"Do you want your toys?"

"No. Thanks. Go home?"

"In a little while, I promise."

"To play? You and me?" Rei asked, her big eyes shining with hope.

Risa couldn't say no to her at that moment.

"Yes, if you want."

Her baby offered her a big smile, her eyes alighted with glee for the first time that day. Then she turned around to look at the other people and the happenings of the cafeteria. Risa drank her coffee in silence, her fingers playing with her daughter's hair.

A couple came to settle at the table nearby. They were younger than Risa, and the man held against his chest a tiny girl that looked a tad younger than Rei. He sat down, visibly worried, the girl with the fragile air on his knees. His wife settle down beside him with their cups. She leaned toward them and caressed her child's dark hair with tenderness.

"You heard the doctor. Calm down, she's fine," she said softly to her husband. "It's just clumsiness. She takes after you."

Her teasing went in deaf ears. He kept rocking the girl and looking at her angelic face with somber eyes.

"I don't know. I find it strange. She's too old to fall down like that. And only at times…"

The young woman drank her coffee to keep from having to answer, and Risa understood that she too was worried but that she didn't want to show it. Their child opened her eyes finally, yawned, and immediately began to fidget.

"Daddy, down," she asked softly, rubbing her eyes.

The man smiled and shook his head.

"And the please, Mina?"

"Down, please!"

"Are you better?"

"Daddy!"

The mother smiled.

"Let her down. She can't hold still. It's a miracle that she was that calm during the tests."

He let her daughter leave his arms carefully. But the girl seemed well, so he let her go and sighed.

The child looked full of energy. She stared with wonder at all the things her eyes could see, sheer curiosity and wonder on her face. She giggled when she looked at two old men, like she could see something hidden to them all, she clapped when her eyes fell upon a boy without hair and his nurse, waved at him and laughed when he waved back with a smile. Then she tried to go to the other side of the room, where a lady was crying discreetly, a little frown on her cute innocent face.

"No, stay here," the mother asked, catching the child at the last second.

The girl looked at her before gazing back at the distraught woman.

"But…"

"You can't go to her. You don't know her."

"But she's all sad, mommy."

"I know. I know, but you can't."

"Why?"

"Because..." The mother struggled as her young child waited for her answer. "Because you can't help everyone."

The little girl looked ready to argue but finally kept silence. She stared a moment at a cleaning lady, maybe amused by her gesture. But her attention went again to the crying woman, and she began to run to her but her mom, without looking like it, must have had an eye on her for she caught her quickly by the wrist and frowned down at her.

"Minako, no."

The girl looked at her, annoyed, but an angelic smile suddenly graced her feature. Her mother wasn't impressed.

"Minako, you're staying here."

Risa smiled. That child certainly wasn't as calm as her Rei, that was for sure. She seemed to radiate with light and energy. Her puny look was deceiving, but she seemed like an adorable child… a tiring one, but adorable nevertheless. Her parents kept an eye on her at all time, even now that the girl was calmly looking at… Rei.

"Are you hungry, Mina?"

"No."

Rei was watching the little girl too, her eyes full of surprise and wonder, with that carefulness that she always felt for strangers. They looked at each other for a long while, fascinated by the other. The eyes of the other girl were studying Rei, gently, avidly.

The couple saw it too. They smiled at Risa, puzzled by the girls' behavior. The woman took Minako in her arms and her daughter kept looking at Rei. And suddenly, a big and happy grin appeared on her luminous face, and she laughed gleefully.

Risa smiled, too, for the emotions of this child were highly contagious. She seemed to be made of light, and that soft and warm gleam in her eyes was a little like what Risa could sometimes see in her daughter. Rei looked at the girl with confusion, a soft frown on her face, a little smile on her lips.

Rei had never reacted like that because of another child before now.

"Mrs Hino? Doctor Miyaki is waiting."

Risa nodded and stood up before taking Rei in her arms. She said quietly goodbye to the couple and smiled, amused to see their child wiggling in her mother's arms to follow them.

"No, Minako, you stay here."

"But, mommy!"

Risa left the cafeteria, the door closing behind her. She felt Rei softly sigh against her throat.

"You liked that little girl, Rei?"

"Did you see, mama?" she whispered. "She was shining."

In the cafeteria, Mrs Aino had successfully kept her daughter in her arms. She opened her mouth to say something to her, but Minako spoke first.

"Her sun was all warm," she said softly. "All warm, and full of light and magic."

She giggled, then sighed and rested her head on her mom, letting her rock her.

"You liked her?"

"Yes."

But Minako wouldn't see that girl again in years, and by then both of them would have forgotten that first encounter.

For ever.