Dedication to You
Chapter 8
Resolve
Note: Hello everyone, I have some bad news to share with you. Unfortunately, I am ending this story this chapter. I just came to the truth that with my current situation and with all the stories I have going at once, I can't give my all to both. So this is one story that I have to cut short. However, with that being said, once most of my stories come to an end, I'll lessen my load and actually be able to concentrate on that one story more. I hope I don't lose any of you because of this because I still want to write. I just don't have a lot of time to do so anymore. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy the chapter.
Eli's change of behavior really started to affect her everyday life. As her vision started to blur even more, she found herself stumbling around and wondering what things were what. Whenever this happened, Umi was always there to help her, but she refused her help. She just walked away in silence, doing her best to hide the tears from Umi. This didn't sit well with Umi.
Umi quickly noticed that Eli wasn't going into the studio anymore. The only time she left the house on Wednesdays and she was gone for a long time. Once school got out for the semester, she decided to investigate. When Eli left for the day, Umi followed her about a minute or two after her. Immediately, Umi knew something was off because Eli simply had a hard time leaving the apartment and finding her path to her destination. During the trip, Umi did her best to stay hidden from her while making her trip easier. Eventually, they finally made it to their destination and that's when Umi found that she was visiting an ophthalmologist.
Eli stayed at the office for quite some time so Umi decided to head to a place to eat and stay out of sight. After her appointment was done, Eli walked out of the office with shades on. The signs were obvious to Umi. She waited until Eli left the area to head to the office and confront the staff. She stormed into the building and immediately caught the attention of everyone there. The doctor quickly ran into the main reception where a steamy Umi was waiting. She asked him if he was the doctor and he replied with a "yes." That's when Umi demanded to be told what was happening and he followed her orders to the letter.
…
After some time, things returned to normal. The doctor's office was calm and quiet. Meanwhile, Umi was sitting silently in her chair processing all of the information that was given to her. It was hard for her to think about because this was a pretty big deal.
"So Ayase-san didn't tell you anything?"
"No. She's been acting strange lately and every time I asked her if there was something wrong, she just shunned my away. I didn't want things to last like this so I decided to find out for myself and it lead me here."
"Well, now that you're aware of the situation… Please help Ayase-san get through this ordeal. Blindness is probably one of the roughest things to endure. If she has someone next to her, it'll make things a lot easier for her."
"Okay. I will. Thank you for putting up with me."
"No, it's fine. Thank you for not getting too violent."
"Haha, sorry about that."
The two of them shook hands and went their separate ways.
…
When Umi got home, Eli was already back. She was sitting in darkness, all alone on the couch. Umi couldn't help but enter the situation cautiously. She kept her distance and examined Eli's behavior. Nothing was out of the ordinary. Eli just wasn't responding to anything Umi was doing around her.
"So… how was your day?"
"I don't want to talk about it."
Umi immediately bit her lip. This was he behavior she was telling the doctor about. This constant shunning was not going to hold up in Umi's book so she decided to change her tact.
"I think you do need to talk about it."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"What it means is that you need to stop hiding whatever it is that you're hiding from me."
"I'm not hiding anything from you."
"Eli, I know you better than anyone. I know when you're hiding something and you're not doing a very good job of hiding it. Now… tell me what's wrong?"
"Nothing!" Her voice grew sharper as she turned her head. At the same time, Umi closed in on her making sure that she wouldn't escape her grasp.
"There is something. Now tell me!"
"No!" She tried running away, but Umi immediately grabbed her by the wrist. "Let me go!"
"Not until you tell me what's going on."
"It doesn't concern you," she struggled to say.
"It does. I'm your girlfriend."
"Shut up!"
"That's it!" At that moment, Umi pulled as hard as she could until Eli fell backwards towards her. Umi grabbed her by the back so she didn't hit the ground hard, pinned her by the arms and legs, and stared at her with everything she had. "Tell me what's wrong!"
Suddenly, Eli started to tear up. She immediately shut her eyes to prevent the tears from escaping, but it was no use. The rolled off the side of her face as she couldn't hold it in anymore.
"Why?!" She screamed in agony as Umi let go of her wrists. "I didn't want any of this! I didn't want you to know because you didn't need to know. You already have too much to worry about with school so I thought it was unfair of me to throw this on you as well."
"Eli… I know. You don't need to hide it anymore."
"What are you talking about?"
"I followed you. I know I shouldn't have, but I followed you today. I went to see the doctor and he told me everything. Why would you think that this was something I didn't need to know about? This is even more important than my school."
"Don't be ridiculous."
"I'm not being ridiculous. If someone I love needs my help, I have to help them. It's not because I have to; it's because I want to."
Eli covered her eyes with her arms and gently pushed Umi off of her. Mustering the strength she had, she wiped the tears from her eyes and sat back up.
"I think we should break up."
Her words were like daggers. They cut deep and true, but Umi couldn't believe that they were even being spoken.
"You don't mean that."
Eli slowly stood up and walked to her room, struggling to find her way.
"It's obvious now that I don't deserve you," she said softly as she locked the door behind her.
All Umi could do was sit in the middle of the room in shock.
Was this my fault? Is it because I found out? Would this have gone differently if I didn't know about it? Why would she not want me to know about this? I could help her get through this. She needs me… Doesn't she?
…
The next day, Umi decided to leave the apartment to think things through. Of course, the only thing that she was really thinking about were those last words Eli spoke to her.
I think we should break up.
To her, that felt more of like an escape than an actual answer. Even with that confrontation last night, Eli still wasn't acting like her true self. There was still something bothering her and Umi wanted to be there for her to help. Her train of thought forced her to roam the city all day until she found herself standing at the entrance of Eli's photo studio. That's when an idea popped into her head. She quickly ran into the building and looked for Eli's manager and photographer.
…
The day turned to sunset when Umi and the photographer returned to the apartment. Umi peeked into the apartment and saw Eli had her headphones on so she quickly unlocked the door and brought him in with her. He quickly set up his things and started to take some pictures. This was definitely harder than they thought because she still had the ability to see so getting a direct face shot of her would be almost impossible. It wasn't until the photographer had Eli lined up with the window and a stunning sunset when he was able to get what they were looking for. After that, he packed up his things and made his way out of the apartment.
"So how long do you think it'll be until that releases?"
"Since my manager knows about what we're doing, it shouldn't be longer than a week. Don't worry. I'll make sure that you guys get the first copy."
"Okay. Thank you so much.
"Oh, thank you. It was so nice to see Ayase-san again. Have a nice day."
"You too."
Once he left, Umi silently walked into the apartment and stayed at the front door. She was too afraid to come in any further. She simply watched Eli to see if she was acting any differently from yesterday. She remained quiet occasionally wiping tears from her face. That's when Umi knew that it was still too soon to return so she grabbed her things and left. When the door shut, Eli removed her headphones and turned her head to see someone walking away from the window.
"Umi?"
…
A few days passed and the magazine was finally released. Umi was the first to get it and she immediately looked through the entire thing. Right from the start, the cover was something else. It was a portrait of Eli's face. One side was colored and had a smile. The other side was black and white, blurry, and had no smile. All that was on the front were the words, "What is beauty?" the middle binding of the magazine was devoted to Eli. It had all sorts of things about her that she knew her fans would love to read about. However, there wasn't any time for that. She held onto the magazine tightly and sprinted to her apartment. When she got there, she was so caught up in the moment that she totally forgot that she had a key. She knocked and knocked until Eli finally answered the door. She cracked it open ever so slightly which was a little strange to Umi.
"Yes?"
"Eli, it's me."
"Oh… I thought you had a key," she said as she closed the door.
This behavior was even strange than before, but Umi didn't let that get in the way of her goal. She opened the door and entered the apartment. Right as she walked in, she saw what had happened. Everything was everywhere. Cups were all over the ground, things weren't in the right place, and Eli had a walking stick. That's when she knew what had happened.
"You've been gone for quite a while."
"Yeah… I, uh… I was busy." She watched Eli traverse the apartment and she knew that her vision was pretty much gone. "But Eli…"
"Things sure have changed."
She couldn't let this go on anymore.
"Eli, your studio published its own magazine and you made the cover."
"You know that that stuff is useless to me now."
"It's fine. I'll describe everything for you. You even have the middle binding all to yourself and look what they wrote about you."
"I have no interest," she said as she stood up and walked to the bedroom.
"No, please. Just…"
She closed the door behind her without letting Umi finish her train of thought. All Umi could do was stand there in sadness. It took her a second to finally walk over to the door and open the magazine.
"What is beauty? Many people see it as the ones who shine in the light and are admired by everyone. They see beauty as being perfect, but is that really what beauty is? Can we really say that beauty is these things? I don't believe that. I've undergone a traumatizing incident where I realized what true beauty is. Beauty is strength. Beauty is courage in the face of complete darkness and despair. Giving a smile that doesn't show fake emotions, but rather… A promise that things are good and will be good in the future. It's an interesting thing to think about: Beauty. But after what I've seen, nothing is more beautiful than Ayase Eli. She is nothing short of beauty in its purest form."
There was silence as Umi took a deep breath and waited for some kind of response from the other side of the door.
"W-Who wrote that?"
"I did. I talked to your manager and he set this whole thing up. This entire magazine is devoted to you. I even managed to get your photographer to come here and take a few photos of you. I hope that's okay with you. It's probably not since I didn't ask for your permission, but…"
"What was the picture?"
"It was when you were sitting on the couch hugging your legs. You were lined up with a beautiful sunset and that's the one he decided to use."
Eli suddenly started to cry.
"Eli…"
"I'm so scared."
"You don't have to be. I'm right here with you."
"I'm already starting to forget what a sunset looks like. I don't want to forget that sight. I don't… I don't want to forget what you look like."
"You won't forget because I will always be right next to you. I won't ever leave you and I won't ever forsake what we have. I love you."
There was more silence.
"Can you remind me what a sunset looks like?"
"I… Open the door and I'll do my best."
The door slowly cracked open and Umi saw Eli sitting on the ground in tears. She slowly crawled to her and hugged her as warmly as she could.
"This is what a sunset is. Do you feel it?"
Eli remained quiet until she finally mustered the strength to wrap her arms around Umi.
"Mmm… It's warm."
The End
