So here we go, Day 3 for Taiora Week. Celebration. However, I wanted to attempt something completely different for this. Something more bittersweet if you will.

Celebrating Life

May 03, 2018

Taichi Kamiya was not in a good mood. He hadn't been in a good mood for the past ten days or so in fact. Not even for his birthday yesterday. God, he didn't even want to celebrate his birthday. It was the first thing he declared to his family when the deceased breathed his last. Some were not particularly pleased with this declaration initially. Some thought he was selfish, that he was doing the opposite of what Uncle Noriko would have wanted, but Tai didn't care. He wasn't in any mood for it. All he wanted to do was continue through his day and try to numb the pain. He was grateful that Sora honored his wishes to not do anything for his birthday.

Sometimes it felt like he was the only one who felt this pain in his heart that had been scored from the loss. It wasn't true, he knew. The pain of the loss had affected his family as well, even Sora who had known him for less time than the Kamiyas did. But it felt like ever since the celebration of life four days ago, they wanted to move on and forget about him.

Yesterday was a blur, it felt like he was underwater. Giving a neutral thanks to every birthday greeting from his co-workers. Eating his lunch which tasted nothing in his state. Being greeted by his parents, his in-laws, Hikari, Takeru, and Sora when he came home. There were a few birthday gifts and a birthday cake, spice-flavored. The celebration there was much more solemn than expected, to Tai's relief. The last thing he needed was for things to be propped up as happy when they weren't. Once they left, Tai and Sora, mostly Tai, gathered the trash and didn't say many words. Ultimately, they went to bed and drifted quietly to sleep...well until now when he was awake.

As he stirred awake, he felt a feeling of dread settle into his heart once more. This had been happening ever since the celebration of life. His eyes tried to adjust in the darkness of his room, making him realize it wasn't time to get up yet. He glanced at the digital clock, which in bold read 3:40. Definitely not time to get up.

He turned to face Sora's peaceful face, sleeping gently. A brief smile escaped his lips as he gently brushed a stray hair off her face. His eyes trailed down to the belly of Sora, bigger than ever. That was the only thing, aside from Sora, that kept him going these days. Any day, their child would come. A son, a daughter, he didn't care. As long as they were healthy.

Tai tried to go back to sleep again, not wanting to open his eyes until it was morning. But as he tried to adjust himself to a comfortable position, he realized that he couldn't. He didn't feel tired. Tai groaned to himself in slight frustration.

He gently got up, careful to not awake Sora. Tai slightly stretched a bit, ignoring the gnawing cold air that hit his unclothed body. He trudged slowly into the living room, trying to do anything that could make him fall asleep. He saw his cell phone lying on the couch. The brunet gently picked it up and began to look at his messages out of curiosity. Many of it were wishing him a happy birthday with little mention or thought of how he'd feel.

Tai scowled, tempted to throw his cellphone on the wall or tell everyone to fuck off. He appreciated the thoughts but it felt like they wanted him to forget his uncle. There was no mention of his uncle, not even a simple "I know this may not be the best time but happy birthday, if you need a moment to talk I'm here.". It was purely "I wish you a great birthday!", "Have an awesome birthday!", etc. It was like they wanted to forget him. He was about to furiously turn off the cellphone when he saw something on Kari's social media. Arching an eyebrow in fascination, he opened the page.

His eyes widened.

It was the video that they had shown in Noriko's celebration of life. The soft music that played in the videos drifted gently in the night air as the slideshow detailed the images from life to his final moments of life. Tai smiled, almost, as he saw an image of an older man and him, at age 12, relaxing on the boardwalk. That was months before his uncle got the fatal prognosis that would last for 18 years.

Tai could feel his eyes getting misty as the man in the photos became weaker and sicker as the years passed. He had seen how the ailment had taken hold of his body, how there were times he couldn't get out of bed. He and Sora did all that he could to make him comfortable in these final weeks before he went to the hospital for the final time.

"It's not going to be the same without you, uncle Noriko." Tai murmured, wiping his eyes before the tears could escape. His uncle living with Tai and Sora was a rather bittersweet experience for the past two years. It wasn't always easy but it was always worth it to see his smile and the three sharing a laugh over the world's insanity. That was Noriko.

Noriko did not want a funeral. He wanted his remains to be cremated immediately and for the service to be a celebration of life. He always took everything with stride. Tai remembered Noriko's celebration of life, a few days ago. It was a lovely service. The memories that had been shared during that event, and the slideshow. The red ribbons that had been given to each member in remembrance of what killed Noriko in the end.

"Tai?"

Tai turned around to face Sora, dressed in her bedrobe and looking in concern. "Hey, Sora." Tai said, and sheepishly grinned, "Sorry if I woke you up."

"Hey, it's okay. I just noticed you were out of bed and just wanted to know if you're okay."

"Truth? I'm kind of not. Just thinking about Uncle Noriko." Tai said, trying to keep a neutral tone.

Sora sat next to Tai and gently said, "Just remember that I'm here for you no matter what."

"It's just...I wish there was something that we could do to honor him...sometimes it feels like telling his story isn't enough."

Tai gazed at her pregnant belly and got an idea.

"Sora, I think there's a change of plans." Tai began and looked at Sora, a determined glint in his eye that Sora thought disappeared after Noriko died, "I know we decided on two names for the baby, one boy name and one girl name...but I-"

"Tai, what are you saying?" Sora asked curiously, as she gently held Tai's hand.

Tai gathered his courage and finally said, "Noriko. I want the baby's name to be Noriko, Sora. I know this sounds sudden and I'm so sorry but I want to name the baby after my uncle. My uncle was one of the greatest men who ever lived and he deserves to have his story told. And I feel one step to that is to name our child after him."

Sora began, "Tai-"

Tai continued, "And yes I know you're thinking, 'well what if we have a daughter instead of a son?'. Don't worry. Noriko is a unisex name so if we have a daughter, we can still name her Noriko." Tai stopped and noticed Sora's facial expression. He gulped, fearing that his rambling had lost Sora and she looked at him weird.

Instead, she gave a sad smile, "We can do that. We'll simply save the other names for other babies at a different time." Tai shot a similar sad smile back, bittersweet tears finally breaking out of their defenses.

May 20, 2018

Tai and Sora gently walked into the door, huge smiles in their faces. Sora held a pink bundle, with a cooing newborn in it. "Welcome home, Noriko…" Tai softly said, his grin huge with pride.

"This is something to truly celebrate…" Sora murmured, a soft smile on her face as the two saw that everyone was waiting for them, huge smiles on their faces for the new addition to the family.

So glad I was able to get this done once I finished the first chapter. Seems a bit unorthodox to have Celebration be focused more on death and lack there of, but I thought it'd make for a good comfort story in a way. And quick thing to note that these stories won't be in order.

Celebration of life is seen as an alternative to funerals.

The name Noriko can have multiple meanings and just like Tai said is unisex.

This is a direct prequel of sorts to day six of my first Taiora Week story.

I don't own the characters. Do enjoy it.