Thank you all for following. I know it is a bit fragmented but that is somewhat on purpose. It has come to me in bits and pieces and the style adds a bit of its own atmosphere to writing. As far as what Genre this is... I am not sure. A Tsunami is a tragic no matter what I am not sure about the end of this though. Tell me what you think, anyway onward.
Ten hours into the flight, Lin and Noll had slept almost eight of them. The announcement when it came was spoken with such calmness it took a moment before the passengers could process the pilot's words. "Yesterday at approximately 2:46 JST a 9.0 magnitude earthquake occurred in the north-western Pacific Ocean approximately 72 km (45 mi) east of the Oshika Peninsula of Tōhoku, Japan, it lasted approximately six minutes. Following it, major tsunami that brought destruction along the Pacific coastline of Japan's northern islands. There was impact with three nuclear power plants in the Fukushima province although they are reporting are minimal damage. Sendai airport where we are scheduled to land at is unable to receive flights. We will be landing in Tokyo. News is still developing on this situation. You will be briefed more thoroughly after we land. Please stay calm and hold your questions until we land."
While taxiing to the terminal Lin dialed Matsuzaki-san.
"Yes?" an exhausted voice answered. "Hold that there," followed less clearly.
"Matsuzaki-san, we landed in Tokyo, what is the situation."
"Mai headed toward the worst area of this tsunami." There was a crackle on the phone. "No honey, don't touch that, here monk talk to them," the phone sounded like it changed hands.
"Hello?"
"Takigawa-san, what is the situation?" Lin asked.
"We are outside of Sendai, there is a 15-20 mile radius from where Mai could be, only impassable roads from here. We are helping people as we go. Matsuzaki-san's medical abilities and my…" his hesitation spoke louder than his words. "There is a lot of death."
"We will work our way to you." Lin stated not forcing the monk to explain further.
"Yasuhara is in your area, he is bringing help through his school, a large van of supplies, see if you can tag along."
"Ask if they have anything of Mai's with them." Noll stated.
The monk had overheard the question and replied. "No, we did not think we would need it, nor were we planning on your assistance."
"Have you seen this girl?"
Another head shook their denial. Yasuhara turned to the next person. "Have you seen her?" another head turned away. Everyone was searching. Each person examined the picture in hopes they could help someone's sorrow while they looked for their own. They in turn showed their own photos which seemed to blend and morph into the same one.
A sharp whistle cut the air, it tugged on Yasuhara and he turned toward where it had sounded, Lin's alert to either return to the base (car) or that they had more info. It was in the opposite direction of the car and Yasuhara's heart leaped in his chest with hope.
"Come, its Lin, they found something." He tapped Ayako on the shoulder as she asked another person about the photo and helped bandage.
"She still needs help," she nodded to a girl who clutched a woman's shirt with one hand and held the other close to her chest, the stained sleeve showed need for medical attention. "Come back and tell me what you find out."
"As soon as I can." Yasuhara agreed, heading toward Lin and Naru.
"Yes, I do remember this girl," a woman spoke softly. "I was waiting for the red light when she tapped on my window." The woman explained while Yasuhara approached. "She said I needed to go to higher ground. To leave the car for higher ground." she shook her head. "I told her I couldn't climb it with my legs. They are too weak. She pleaded with me and then this bicycle came up and rammed into her. The young man apologized, he was scared and wanted to find his wife but would help her. She asked him to take me to higher ground. Promising his wife would be there when he got there." She paused a finger caressing the image in the picture. "He somehow got me on the bike, he wanted to take her but she insisted she would make it herself. He took me away safely, and don't you know his wife was awaiting him there. I haven't seen her since."
"Where was this?" Naru asked.
"Not too sure, on Kawasa st, near Daichi."
"Was she hurt?"
"The bike hit her knee, but she said she was fine, she stood up on it."
"Thank you Chiyo-san."
"She is a sweet girl, I hope you find her soon."
Back with Ayako...
"Onee-san," a young girl cried as Ayako cleaned the cuts on her hand.
"Onee-san?" Ayako asked.
"You don't have any other sisters Mikoto." The mother stated while holding onto a smaller boy.
"But she said to call her that." The girl whined showing the picture to her mother, "She carried us to the building Oka-san."
"Was that her?" the mother looked again, "Yes. that girl, it was her." the mother nodded.
"Told you,"
"Hush now," the mother scolded the girl, "Yes, I'm sorry I didn't recognize her at first." The woman shook her head. "So many people, so many things. She helped us get onto the top of our car as the water came in, she held the girls so they wouldn't fall, and then helped get them onto a truck and into an apartment building." She rubbed her eyes absently. "It was the only one left standing when the water stilled."
"What happened after that?" Ayako asked patiently.
"She got the girls up and then the water started to pull back, she was stranded on the truck. She told us to keep moving higher, I didn't look back."
Ayako comforted the woman gently. Her own eyes watering against her will. "She will be happy to know you survived."
Back with the others...
Someone bumped Yasuhara in the back and he turned a small girl bowed her apology then scuttled away. While he watched her saw a small brunette moving away from him. Toward the picture boards. Yasuhara watched for a second before trailing after her, Her brown wavy hair bounced as she almost skipped to the boards. She halted in front of them as he struggled through the throng of people to catch up.
He reached out to the girls shoulder "Mai?" he asked, te girl turned and her hair bounced again to reveal green eyes looking up at him.
"Sorry, do I know you?" the unfamiliar voice asked.
Yasuhara backed up slightly, "I'm sorry, I thought you were..."
"I hope you find her." the girl spoke happily. "We just found my brother, we may have lost all our possessions but all my family is safe. Tomorrow will be better I am sure." she gave him a warm smile that reminded him of Mai.
when I close my eyes I see you
No matter where I am
I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines
I'm with your ghost again...
Hours later...
"We might have to face it." Yasuhara was the only one who spoke. They all sat exhausted around the car. "We might not be able to find her soon, there are thousands in the shelters all across japan right now. When she is able she will call one of us."
"I can't give up on Jou-chan so easily. She wouldn't give up on us." The monk stated fatigue showing heavily on his features. With so many deaths he had placed so many to rest, exorcised hundreds of recently departed his skin was pale and his soul overwhelmed.
"We have no leads, we should search the shelters." Matsuzaki-san stated. "If she survived that is where she will be.
Noll stood on the edge of the group he had helped search with Lin and the others for the last 8 hours getting no results. His hands were clenched into fists at his sides, if he listened he didn't acknowledge the others.
"There is one way we haven't tried." Lin spoke up.
"How?" John asked. His eyes were bleary with exhaustion but he to refused to give in to weakness. "We will try most anything."
Lin pulled the key from his pocket and examined it.
"Is that Mai's lucky key?" Ayako asked.
Naru turned and stared at Lin who nodded. Naru walked over and grabbed for the key. Lin closed his hand and pulled away from Noll.
"Are you sure?" Lin stared the boy in his eyes holding the key above his head where his height was to his advantage. "Are you ready if she is dead?" Noll flinched slightly but glared at his friend.
"I am prepared for the consequences."
"Then do it right, Sit and meditate for five minutes," Noll glared at him and grabbed for the key. "It will do Mai no good if you are not in control and synchronize too strongly and pass out before telling us where she is."
With a growl in his throat Naru stalked away and sat on the hood of a car half submerged in debris.
"Are you sure this is a smart idea?" the monk asked. "What will happen if he can't find her?"
Lin shook his head, "I worry more what happens if he does." He glanced toward the boy meditating. "He may lose it, either way. the profffesor will fire me for this but Noll..." he paused watching his ward. "If he does lose it, be prepared to run, you won't be able to help him."
The others looked on, remembering the one time they had seen his power. He caused the destruction of a minor god, a cave, and almost everyone within. It almost killed him, stopping his heart and breathing. They all nodded knowing their limitations against the magnitude of power.
"Lin," a Naru called. "Bring it over here, please."
Lin eyed each of the others before walking over to Naru.
"Standard procedure, Synchronize for ten seconds then disconnect. Assist after 12. We can go in longer phases once we know what we are dealing with." Lin heard the slight detachment in his voice but a glance at Noll's eyes told him he had less control then he would admit.
"Twelve seconds." Lin repeated calmly. Noll nodded meeting his eyes. Lin held out the key and placed it in Noll's open hand and began counting.
"Here, take him." The voice screamed from his lips. Her voice. In his hands he lifted up a small child maybe four years old with black hair. He could feel someone lifting him up out of his hands and he released his hold keeping his hands up to catch if the other hands slipped.
'Thank you,' a voice answered and as the boy was set on the floor next to a woman who looked related, mother Noll guessed, his heart burst with excitement. Without waiting he bent down and grabbed a smaller child that clung to his leg. He realized he was standing on a large piece of metal. His view turned as he lift the child up toward the waiting woman again. 'Can you reach?' her voice came through his lips again. She took a step forward and he felt the second child lifted from his hands. His foot found a shaky edge and wobbled weakly beneath him. The child lifted clear of him and he felt relief flood his body. The child was safe.
"Noll," a male voice called to him. He looked up to the apartment where the woman was and found a different face. Male, black hair covering half of it. "Noll," he felt a hard slap to the side of his face. He looked toward the man and his eyes began to focus.
"Lin," he spoke the name coming back to himself. He bent his head to his chest realizing his eyes were dripping he rubbed them with his coat sleeve to rid himself of them. He took an few long slow breaths before lifting his head again.
"She handed a child, two children to their mother." He stated.
"Where was she?" Lin prompted.
Naru closed his eyes to concentrate. He knew he should have paid attention to the surroundings not the children. "Metal beneath her feet. Apartment building to the east. Five story. She handed the kid onto the second." He concentrated further out, next to the apartment building, around the metal beneath their feet. "the building next door was collapsed, water had settled slightly, slowed. She stood…" he shook his head and concentrated again. "metal, box, ridges on the edge, tall as a second story."
"a semitrailer." A voice beyond him spoke.
He fit the description to the memory and nodded. "Semitrailer." He agreed not quite placing the voice or his own.
"You said the water slowed, which way was it going?"
Not opening his eyes he continued concentrating. "Past me, further in." he shook his head. "That is all I got, I didn't see anymore children on the truck. She might have gotten into the apartment building, he felt her hope and happiness lacing his own words but ignored it. "15 seconds." He stated opening his hand for the key.
"No, we can find this apartment building and ask after her." Lin stated his voice firm. Noll knew he had heard the taint in his voice and scowled at his guardian.
"We don't even know which town she was in, which apartment building it was, whether that building collapsed at the water moved out of the town. We need more." His voice hoarse and laced with anger and fear.
"You are in no condition for 15 more seconds." Lin stated coldly.
"I can handle this." Noll stated. Eyes glaring daggers at Lin.
"What pain did you feel? Was she hurt?"
"None she was hopeful, excited."
"Physical, not emotional."
Noll shook his head. "Nothing." He firmly stated.
"Nothing?" Lin leaned forward and pressed a hand onto Noll's knee making him hiss in pain. As Lin pulled his hand away and examined the blood. "None?" his voice laced with anger.
Noll leaned forward and examined the knee and the rest of his body. "When she stepped forward it felt weak, she struggled slightly for balance but lifted the child clear of the truck." He looked up to Lin. "It happened before not while I was there."
Lin nodded, he had seen it appear, as soon as he had connected with her, preexisting injury as long as she didn't harm it further Noll would heal without worry.
"Ten seconds, pull me at twelve, she should make it to the apartments by then." Noll stated. Emotion gone from his face, sobered through pain and acknowledgment. Lin pressed his lips to a thin line, he didn't like the idea, but it was the best they had. Lin placed the key into his outstretched hand and waited.
"Come on Jou-chan." The woman called. Naru looked up to the woman who stretched out her empty hands again for her. Mai could tell she was smaller then her, weaker. She reached up for the woman. Intent on grabbing the rail as soon as it was close enough. The woman pulled and he reached up gather strength but felt the grip weaken as she took it. his hand tightened to a vice as he reached for the rail with the other but she wasn't high enough as the grip slipped.
Beneath his feet a groan of metal. Movement threw her off balance. The last straw and the grip disappeared she fell back. Metal bent and pain shot threw his shoulders, but he felt a smile spread across his features.
"Take care of Mikado and Junko for me." Her voice hollered through the wind as he felt the world begin to move, it spun in her head and beyond her body, as the clouds rushed by he felt a jerk from the outside world but he held onto the truck and Mai. Above her a building shuddered under the pressure metal screeched as it bent a glance showed a Ferris wheel falling into the current not too far away. His vision faded black. And he released the hold.
"Noll," he heard the call seeming farther then it should. "Noll!" the holler next to his ear made him cringe.
"Lin," his voice croaked out the word.
"Noll if you ever refuse to release a hold again I will kill you myself." Lin's voice a ragged gasp in relief. He could feel the Sorcerers ire at him but couldn't bring himself to open his eyes.
"No green." He stated.
"Are you sure he's back, he isn't making any sense?" another male voice spoke Noll reached for the name came back with the occupation. Monk.
"Look at me." A female voice assaulted him, he felt her hands on his face a finger above his eyelid prompting him to open them. Reluctantly he complied. A bright light was shown in one then the other. He laid still during the prodding as she moved to touch his shoulders and neck. He concentrated on the memory, she fell back onto the truck, she lived, he felt pain from her toes to her head. He rechecked each section, before she passed out she was alive. Tired of the prodding and feeling the overwhelmed feeling fade he moved to sit.
"Don't you move around just yet." The female demanded, she pressed a hand against his shoulder to hold him down and he pushed it away forcing himself to sit.
"No green Lin." He repeated. "She missed the apartment. Her knee wouldn't hold her. She fell back onto the truck, painful but alive."
"You were looking for the green?" Lin's cool voice asked. Noll bent his head to his chest. Avoiding looking at any of them. The female hand grabbed his wrist and he shook her free.
"When someone dies, all visions from them change to green. Highlights and hues." He clarified. "She is still alive." He heard the grunt of acceptance from his assistant and relaxed slightly more. "She passed out as the tsunami started pulling back." He closed his eyes remembering back relaxing into the exhaustion he felt heavily settling on his shoulders. "Mikado and Junko." He mumbled.
"Stay awake with us Noll." Lin commanded placing a controlling hand on his shoulder. "What did you say."
"Mikado," his lips fought to form the words."Junko," he mumbled again.
"Who is Mikado and Junko?" the guardian prodded.
"The children Mai saved."
"How old are they?" another male voice. Monk, he reminded himself.
"two…" he concentrated. Sleep was what he wanted. "maybe four. Black hair, 30 lbs and maybe 35 very close." He sat up straighter then pushed himself to his feet. "I'm OK now." He stated placing one hand on the car to steady himself. The movement pushing back the exhaustion. "There was something, like a Ferris-wheel on top of a building."
"There is a Ferris-wheel on top of a store in Sendai, they have festival all year there." Bou-san spoke up.
"The building said…" he hesitated kicking himself for lack of Kanji comprehension. "Lin paper?" he asked. Lin handed him a pad and pen. "It looked like this." He drew the symbol.
"Yes, Tohino market square. Five miles south of here." The monk pointed.
"Noll won't be able to walk that far and you guys are not to good shape either." Lin stated.
"The coast is only half mile out, maybe we can find a boat?" Yasuhara pointed out. "Some reports said those on the water have survived the worst of the waves, they were pushed back out further but some have returned."
"Shounen run ahead and persuade them." the monk ordered. Once the boy was out of hearing the monk looked up to Lin. "We won't be any help for you out there." The monk nodded to Ayako and himself. "Staying here she can help the survivors, I will support where needed, there are still some spirits roaming around." He gave a shrug as though it didn't matter to him. Noll and Lin saw the sunken shadows around his eyes and the way his hands shook. "We will just hold you back. Kid bring Jou-chan back to us."
Noll watched him and nodded. Lin glanced between the two of them and to Noll. Taking care of two more exhausted bodies would not be helpful and he nodded also. "Noll." His voice calm but strong pulled him to him. Lin braced the man under his shoulder taking the weight off the right knee and letting him rest a little bit as they headed toward the shore.
And when I close my eyes I see you
No matter where I am
I can smell your perfume through these whispering pines
I'm with your ghost again
It's a shame about the weather
I know soon we'll be together
And I can't wait till then
I can't wait till then