Disclaimer: (Yay i remembered this time!) This is painful to admit...buhh i do not own akina/akako! i finallys own someone...
Recap: (im sorii i forgot to put in a recap for the previous chappie..) Tasuki then remembered. The memories from before cam rushing back. Everything was suddenly so clear. The promise…how could he have forgotten?
Chapter four: Promises of the past
He remembered that day just like yesterday. He had woken up really early that morning to go and meet Akina. He was fourteen back then and Akina was twelve. Akina had told him to go to the river. The usual place where they play.
That's it, I'ma tell her today…
When he arrived, Akina was already waiting there. When she heard him approach, she looked up and smiled at him. Tasuki recalled her sweet smile. She looked so happy back then. So innocent and carefree. What happened?
Then, as he recalled, he broke the news to her.
"Akina! Guess what?" he remembered saying, "I'm gunna go, run away!"
She looked at him in disbelief. She looked hope-broken.
"Run away…?"
"Yup! Then my sisters won't be able to pick on me anymore! I'll be a real man!"
"Are you going to come back?" she asked, tears welling up in her eyes, "I'll miss you…"
"Yup, I'll come back soon...," He said.
"I really like you…"
Tasuki remembered the sincerity in her eyes. they sparkled and shoe when the tears shed from her eyes. Tasuki hugged her quickly and wiped her face dry.
"I like you too! When I come back, I marry you! Promise!"
Tasuki had meant it. It really felt like it came straight from the heart. She had been the first girl, ever, to treat him like the person he is. She made him feel special...needed in a way.
And with that he ran off, leaving Akina standing there smiling and crying at the same time.
Tasuki felt his cheeks become hot. Their childhood promise. He broke it. When he became a part of the Mt Leikaku bandits, he just couldn't remember and had no opportunity to come back and visit her. Time had just gone by so quickly.
"You never came back!" Akina cried in between sobs, as she began to hit Tasuki with her fists. Tasuki held her suddenly and Akina's body fell limp.
She couldn't hide the fact that she still loved him. Hoping time would stop for them; Tasuki held her within his chest and shared her warmth. It seemed like forever.
Slowly, Akina parted from Tasuki.
"You left me and never came back. I was forced to…." Akina began, "I had to marry someone else."
She looked away from him. She couldn't bear to think of the past again. Tasuki had caused her so much grief.
"I didn't want to, I told my family I had to wait for you. But…they said you won't come back…" Akina continued, more calmly now, like telling a story she once knew, "I ran away, and I was…taken by the other bandits in the next village; the Mt Akua bandits. They … treated me like a servant…but in return they taught me things I never knew. They told me that, even as a girl, I could take my vengeance…on you. They showed me how to use a sword, how to fight, how to fend for myself. I was stronger; my hope of killing you became my strength. It was the only thing I had left. Why did you not come back?"
Tasuki looked at her, wiping away a tear that had found its way down his cheeks. Mt Akua bandits...he heard that name before. They were the same bandits that he encountered when he first left home. They were the ones who had stripped hi of his clohes and possessions.
"I was a Suzaku no seichi, I was needed…" he answered, the only excuse he could grasp at, "I just…I couldn't…"
He knew no reason was good enough for all the things Akina had gone through. He looked up at the darkened sky. Several stars had come out to light up the night.
Akina was kneeling, hugging her knees tightly. Once again in Tasuki's eyes, he could see the little innocent Akako from before. She looked so lost, like a puppy that had been thrown out in the streets.
He began to reach out to hug Akina again but froze.
Shadows were lurking and spying on them behind the trees.
As Tasuki called out to them, the shadows leapt out and grabbed Akina.
Ahaha...there we go...chapter four
Sorries for he cliffy...
Hugs and kisses fo those who have been following my story and reviewed. LOVE YOU!
