Picking Up The Pieces

By: Angela Timchuk and Karen McVicker

(A.K.A. Makino & deDanaan)



1 Chapter One

Shattered

 

His fingers gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles were white. What was he doing here? What on earth possessed him? He straightened up finally and took a deep breath. "If I don't do this now, I don't think I ever will." He muttered to himself. He shouldered his way out of the car, slammed the door behind him without looking back, and crunched his way through the autumn leaves to the tall wrought iron gate. He paused for a second with his hand on the gate, debating whether or not to go through with it, before stepping into the graveyard beyond.

He walked down the rows, looking for the grave and finally found it. He set the flowers he'd brought on the ledge, next to the incense burner, and stood back solemnly gathering his thoughts as he read the name carved into the stone. "Where do I begin?" he wondered. He looked around to see if there was anyone else there and was relieved to see he was alone.

"You never knew me, but I know all about you." He addressed the stone. "You can't know how jealous I still am of you. That's why I'm here today, actually. I want to make peace with you and let you know what I have planned." As he spoke, he felt as if a weight was lifting from him. "I want to marry her. I want to protect and love her. I don't ever want to see her hurt again." He ran a hand through his hair as he searched for the words to say to this man who would always cast a shadow over his life--a thing he was still struggling to come to terms with. "I'd like to think I have your blessing, after all, we both want to see her happy, don't we?"

The stone was silent and he wasn't sure he had the blessing he wanted, but he had come and made his peace. After a silent prayer he turned and walked back along the path to the gate, his steps crisp from the sound of dead leaves being crushed underfoot.

**********

"I understand." Tsukasa hung up the handset. He stood in place for a moment, shocked to have heard Yuuki's voice after all these years, before slowly turning around and facing his comrades.

"M…Makino…." Rui, Soujirou and Akira turned as he uttered her name, they hadn't heard him mention that name a long time and looked up to see what was going on, all of them noting the colour had drained from his face.

"Tsukasa, what's wrong?" Akira yelled urgently.

"I have to go to her." his voice trembling, his head hanging.

"Why?" Rui questioned. "Why after all this time, what has happened?"

Tsukasa didn't answer their questions--instead, he grabbed his keys off the table and bolted for the door. The F3 followed in hot pursuit but their efforts didn't pay off. All they could hear was the Ferrari's engine revving and the squealing of tires fade as the sleek black car sped from the driveway and out of sight.

"What the hell was that about?" Akira grimaced.

"I don't know." Soujirou replied. "But I think we'd better find out and fast. And I know just who to call." Soujirou reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. He began hammering on the keypad and waited for a reply on the other end.

**********

A young woman stood alone in a small room, leaning against the large cold window. Tears were streaming from her burning red eyes as she whimpered like a lame animal. Another young woman entered the room, approached with a cup of steaming hot tea, and handed it to her friend.

"Tsukushi-chan, drink this."

As Makino Tsukushi reached for the tea she was surprised by loud ringing, and let go of the cup, watching helplessly as it fell from her hands to the floor spilling every last drop. Strangely though, the cup itself hadn't shattered, unlike her heart.

"Gomen ne, Tsukushi." Her friend reached down and grabbed the cup, "I'll bring you another and I'll be back to clean this up." Tsukushi starred blankly as her friend disappeared from the room. She turned around and embraced the window as if every fibre of her being needed its support.

"Shit! I forgot to switch it off." The young woman stepped into the corridor and through the exit door frowning as she saw the sign that clearly read, CELLULAR PHONE USE PROHIBITED IN HOSPITAL. Once outside she frantically searched for the source of the ringing and whipped a cell phone out from her purse.

"Moshi moshi."

"Yuuki?" The voice on the other end questioned.

"Nishikado-san, is that you?"

"Hai, sorry to bother you but Tsukasa just got a call about Makino and took off like a bat outta hell. What's happened?"

Yuuki fell silent for a few moments, as if lost in her own little world.

"Yuuki! Yuuki! Are you still there?"

"Ah…hai…gomen…I…It's just I'm a little surprised to hear your voice. It's been such a long time."

"Yuuki, what's going on? Please tell me."

"Gomen!" Yuuki snapped out of her dazed state and began to fill Soujirou in.

Tsukasa ran down corridor after corridor, plowing into nurses and orderlies as he did so, "Sumimasen" the only word he could muster. He continued his pace until he saw the door at the end of the hall. He slowed to a screeching halt as his shoes scuffed the floor with evidence of his speed. He leaned on the doorframe to catch his breath and to try to regain his composure. He couldn't just run in there after all this time, looking completely disheveled. He needed to be there for her. He needed--no, yearned-- to be her pillar of strength. Tsukasa reached for the door handle and entered the room, focusing in on a young woman. She stood at the window, leaning against as if she would drop without it there to hold her up. Her long brown hair hugged the small of her back. She was tall, shapely and slender. "Damn it, I'm in the wrong place."

With these words the young woman turned around, she recognized the voice but it couldn't be him. She tried to make out the silhouette that stood before her through clouded eyes.

"D...Doumyouji!?!"

Tsukasa was dumbstruck; he too, knew that voice. He loved that voice. It truly was Makino but she looked so completely different, sophisticated, and so beautiful. It had been a long time since he'd seen her and people tend to grow up, after all. She'd changed a lot in the last eight years, and even thought he'd been seeing her in his mind's-eye every day, the image had been her at seventeen, not twenty-five. She was Makino, yet she was a stranger too. Why had he listened to his mother and sent her home to Japan? It had been the last time he'd done anything his mother asked.

He studied her features, she had been crying, he could see the tears still glistening on her cheeks, her eyes were red and swollen. He had seen her like this before on more than one occasion. But this time he wasn't the cause of her pain. Her features changed, a furrow developed on her brow, a look of shock then took over.

"Doumyouji, What are you doing here?"

Before she could finish her question she felt herself being swept up in a tight embrace. It had been so long since she had felt his strong arms wrapped around her. It felt familiar and peculiar all at the same time. He was warm to the touch and she could feel his breath by her ear. She began to panic, why was he here now, after all this time? She tried to push away from him, but he only pulled her closer.

"Makino, I'm here, you know I'd never hurt you…..go ahead and let it out, let it all out." As he spoke these words she burrowed her face in his chest, she felt her feet fall away from her, and she felt his arms tighten around her, with one quick movement he swooped her up in his arms and carried her over to the sofa in the corner of the room. She nestled closer into him and he held her, stroking her hair, comforting her. She really needed him. No more words were spoken, just the sounds of her crying filled the room. He held her for what seemed a long time, until her sobs had become muted. He looked down at her face and realized she had cried herself to sleep. Her face wasn't serene though, he knew the weight of the world had just fallen on her.

He sat with her for quite a while, still holding her tightly, still stroking her hair, his face filled with thought. A noise came from the other side of the room. He looked up when he heard the door opening, then closing. Yuuki was standing there with a wet rag in one hand and a cup of tea in the other, along with Soujirou, Akira, and Rui.

"How is she holding up?" Rui questioned, a look of concern clearly written on his face.

"How do you think she's doing?" Tsukasa replied. "Her world's been shattered.  Her fiancé was just killed."