Chapter 9: Aftermath
Princess Sango
After Ai's little episode of emotions, Ai sat down and looked up at her mother, who was fixing breakfast. Ran smiled as she looked at her mom, with a small peak of interest. "So mom, what happened, when you knew me, were we even friends?"
Ran looked back, "Yes, you could say we were some type of friends, but you like Shinichi too. Oh, I was so jealous, but now you like Genta, right?"
Ai blinked, "I liked Dad?"
Shinichi came in at that moment and hugged his daughter, "Yes, you did love me, not as much as Ran, but all the same you did."
Ai smiled, "I do like Genta now, and dad just isn't my type…no offence mom, dad."
Shinichi laughed and ran a hand through his unruly hair, "None taken Ai-chan, because now you like someone totally different, and that's okay."
Ai smiled up at her dad, happy to feel safe and wanted. Ai looked down at her arm, "Did you see this though, when I was me?"
Shinichi leaned down and saw the words etched into what he believed to be her beautiful complexion. Shinichi shook his head and gently traced the words, "How did they get there, unless you…?"
Ai shook her head, hair flying everywhere but then answered, "This was the old me, I had a adhesive on my arm during the days I was with you, it stuck with my skin cells."
Shinichi nodded, "Looks like the work of Dr. Agasa, wow was he good at concealing things."
"Wait he made the adhesive?"
"Most likely, yes. Dr. Agasa loved to make gadgets and helpful items to use. You probably asked him, but never really thought much about it afterward," Shinichi answered, not bothering to explain or hypothesize further.
Ai nodded, pulling her arm away and saw Heiji and Conan enter the room together and chatting. Heiji saw Ai and smiled, running up into her lap and hugging her, "I was so afraid when I didn't see you in the room!"
Ai smiled down at Heiji, "I'm here, really, I won't leave you. Heiji-kun, please calm yourself down with this paranoia. Guess who I saw last night, by the way."
Heiji asked her eagerly, "Who?"
"Your parents, both of them, Heiji waited for Kazuha. They both looked so happy but sad, because they wouldn't see you grow up," Ai answered softly, as if he would burst out into tears. Heiji sighed and nodded, but stayed in her lap all the same.
"So…how was Heiji-san doing?" Shinichi asked.
"Oh, he was doing fine dad, he seemed like himself, the Uncle Heiji I knew before he died. I missed that, and it felt great to see him again." Ai smiled while thinking about how happy Kazuha and Heiji both looked to be put back together again, but how sad they were for there son, who will live forever traumatized by the thought of everyone he's known as parents are dead, he only had Ai to depend on now, that and Genta, but Ai more so.
Conan sat down at the kitchen table, "So did you get everything sorted out dad?"
"What do you mean?" asked Shinichi, trying to figure out what his son was trying to talk about.
"Did you get Kazuha's possessions sorted out yet?" Conan asked him, slowly.
"Oh, I haven't gotten to that yet," Shinichi answered.
Conan nodded, "So I guess you won't go to the theme park with me."
Ai looked at her brother, to Heiji and piped up, "I'll take you, and we can even take Genta along."
Heiji's eyes lit up, "The amusement park, that sounds like so much fun! Can I go to mom, please?"
Ai's eyes sparkled at his happiness, "Sure you can Heiji-kun, and it wouldn't be the same without you!"
Heiji smiled, "I'm going to go wake dad!"
Everyone stared at Ai, his or her own eyes asking questions but Ai just shrugged it off and watched her mom make breakfast. A lot of disturbing thoughts ran through her mind too, like what was she supposed to remember, what did she want to forget, did she want to forget again, to become a innocent little girl, who thought the only harmless thing is a criminal that she barely knew? No, she didn't want that, she wanted to be loved, remember everything, good and bad, and live her life, as if it was normal.
Closing her eyes, Ai pictured a perfect world, the world she had put herself into by taking to drugs. Then Ai pictured everything that had happened to her former self, the crooks world, and figured, nothing could get this bad, not to her again.
TBC…
