Hello! I'm back! Yes, it did take quite a long time to get this finished….and this is only the second chapter…::sweatdrop::…for anyone who might be keeping track of the story: I'm soooooo sorry this took so long! I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as I can…anyways…r/r, please! I'll love you forever! ^-^!!
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The wind gently caressed the woman's pale face, also pulling loose a few strands of dark auburn hair. Using her shapely, slender fingers, the woman pushed the loose strands into place thoughtlessly as she stared into the dim night sky, wondering. How long had it been since she had been here last? It had to have been more than two seasons—she hadn't been there since the first day of fall the year before. Such a long time, it seemed…Since she had last seen his face…
It had been nearly thirteen years, the woman remembered, her throat suddenly becoming tight with the threat of an oncoming flood of tears. No, she wouldn't—she couldn't cry. He wouldn't have wanted her to do that; his death would be no loss, he had always said, for he knew it was bound to happen sooner or later. His death would be no loss, for he had left the woman a daughter to pass on the love she had felt for him to the new child.
She recalled the name he had given her: after the sky he had loved and longed for so much, he had named the small girl Sora. The woman wondered of her daughter realized the significance this name possessed. The sky had meant so much to him, it was his life and his passion; she wondered if her orange-haired offspring realized this. She knew nothing of her father, the woman knew. She was so young when the man had passed away; it had had no real affect on the infant, who had just recently grown into a young woman. This young woman is what the auburn-haired woman lived for, now. Her husband and love was gone forever; she had to keep her promise to him to pass on her love to her daughter—their daughter…
The soft wind that had been going abruptly changed into a roaring howl, nearly knocking the dark-haired woman off her feet. It was telling her to go home, to where she belonged with her daughter. She sighed and nodded her head in agreement with the pleading wind. A graveyard at one o' clock in the morning was no place to be…she had to let him go…
Placing a final rose upon the grave of her husband, the woman turned to the gates and left, not even looking back once. She had to stop mourning over the past—her daughter was what was important now. Only Sora was important…
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Sora was startled awake by the sound of her alarm clock—a sound that, first thing on a Sunday morning, could set your teeth on edge and make your ears ring. This, however, is what the orange-haired girl had woken up to every Sunday morning for nearly five years, so she was somewhat used to it. Today was the day she would help her mother with the flower shop.
Slipping tiredly from the warmth of her bed and covers, the girl sauntered groggily to her closet and opened it. Quickly deciding what she wanted to wear—a light pink skirt with a plain white shirt—Sora effortlessly slipped them over her head, deciding that a shower could wait until she got home. Working in the shop always got her messy, so what was the point of washing before hand? This had been her theory for as long as she could remember, and she giggled to herself at the thought of it. Fall always brought her back so many memories she'd thought she'd lost a long time ago, and she couldn't seem to figure out why…
Pulling a gray sweater over her head, the girl's hand suddenly brushed against something hard and cold…and she blushed. It was the necklace that Yamato had given her the night before. She tucked the necklace back into her shirt where she was sure her mother would not be able to see it, and she quietly walked through the hallway to the kitchen, where the delicious smells of breakfast met her nostrils.
Her mother leaned over the stove, diligently preparing what Sora guessed was going to be an amazing breakfast. She seemed to take no notice as her daughter entered the room, and only turned around when she was addressed directly by her. She mumbled a good morning, barely audible, and continued to stir away at the food she had in the pan. There was a moment's silence when suddenly Sora recalled the night before when she had come home to a mother who wasn't there.
"Momma," she said cautiously, as her mother continued to cook. "Mom, where were you last night?"
The dark-haired woman stopped stirring for only a second, but then took up again, pretending not to have heard her daughter. Of course, she had every right to know where she had gone, but this didn't mean that the woman would tell her. It didn't matter to this girl, even if she was her daughter. It was for her own good that she didn't know.
The orange-haired girl opened her mouth to try again, when suddenly a sound met her ears. Someone was knocking on their door.
Knowing that her mother was most likely not going to see who the visitor was, Sora heaved a long sigh and slouched toward the entryway. Who could possibly be at their apartment at nine o'clock in the morning?
Sora's question was answered as she swung the door open to reveal a somewhat awkward-looking Yamato. In his hands, she observed, he fingered a pink scarf—her pink scarf. She quickly recalled the other day asking the blond boy to put her scarf in his pockets for her; her own pockets weren't big enough. A moment of silence came between the two.
"Hi, Yamato," Sora greeted politely, "Is there something… you needed?"
Yamato looked down at the wool scarf sheepishly and held it out to her, indicating that she was to take it from him. "You forgot this yesterday." He stated simply, his cheeks going slightly pink. As she took the scarf from him, her face went red also, for she could feel her fingers touch his, slightly, as she pulled it gently from his grasp. Another silence followed, neither of the two knowing exactly what to say having suddenly lost all their manners.
"Sora, who is it?" Mrs. Takenouchi's clear voice could suddenly be heard from inside the tiny apartment. Sora looked inside curiously, wondering why her mother had suddenly decided to speak only now. Still, she turned to her blond friend and offered him a smile.
"Yamato," she said quietly, "Would you like to come inside?" He looked at her questioningly, glancing cautiously into the apartment. The girl giggled.
"Don't worry, Yamato!" she said brightly, "My mother won't mind. Besides, I'm sure she'd love to meet you—she always loves to meet my friends."
Having only been slightly reassured, the boy followed her into the cramped apartment, realizing instantly that it was almost identical to his own. She closed the door behind them and told the boy to stay in the entryway while she talked with her mother. He nodded in response as she walked nimbly through a doorway to where, Yamato guessed, was the kitchen. He took his time waiting for her to return to observe every bit of the small room his eyes could reach. Pictures were scattered almost endlessly about the walls, nearly all but a few featuring only Sora and her mother.
"Yamato," Sora's head suddenly appeared from the doorway, and she signaled for him to enter. He gave yet another nod and followed. Immediately as he entered the kitchen, delicious smells entered his nostrils, delighting and tempting him. He closed his eyes instinctively, blocking out every one of his senses but smell, just so he could savor every last bit of flavor. When he heard laughter, his eyes sprung open and he could feel his cheeks go pink. In front of him stood Sora's mother, who, to his amazement, looked nothing like her daughter. Her dark, auburn hair was pulled tightly into a traditional bun, and her deep brown eyes sparkled excitedly.
"So," she said, her smile revealing rows of shiny white teeth, "You must be Sora's friend."
Yamato stood almost dumbfounded for a moment—he had never have even imagined such a beautiful woman to be Sora's mother. He nodded slightly after recognizing the woman's comment to be a question, and his orange-haired friend cocked her head at him curiously as her mother continued to smile.
"Breakfast is almost ready," the woman said after a short silence, "Would you care to join us, Yamato?" The blond boy stood in silence, looking stupidly at his friend for assistance. The girl merely shook her head and grinned, grasping her mother's arm in her own.
"He'd love to join us, Mom," she said and led the woman to a seat at the table, then proceeded to serve up the finished food. The dark-haired woman smiled at her child's actions and motioned to Yamato to take a seat. He did so, though slower than he usually would have done. In the presence of the woman, every day actions seemed to take far more thought than would have usually been necessary. Sora giggled inwardly as she watched her friend, knowing what had come over him would last only momentarily. She knew that her mother had that sort of effect on all people, not just men, and it always made the girl laugh to watch their reactions.
They sat through breakfast silently, only speaking when it was necessary. In fact, the only time anyone seemed to speak was when Sora brought up the subject of the flower shop, and how much work she and her mother would have to do that day. At his friend's words, the blond boy automatically volunteered to help them, not knowing exactly why. A feeling in his brain told him that he was doing it just to be closer to the orange-haired girl, but he ignored it.
And so, after having eaten and cleaned up their breakfasts, the three left for the flower shop, each intent on the bright day ahead of them.
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Sora had to leave the shop early that day, complaining that she was feeling ill.
Immediately Yamato became concerned; becoming sick was certainly not something Sora Takenouchi was known for. Before the orange-haired girl's mother could say anything, he offered to take her home, and she relented. Someone had to watch the shop, and Yamato was certainly not qualified to do so.
The dark-haired woman had taken an almost instant liking to the blond boy and was sure that her daughter would be safe in his care. This did not stop her from worrying, however, for she realized, like Yamato had, that getting sick was not something her daughter did often, if ever. And in this season…
She shook her head of any negative thoughts and turned to face her daughter and her friend as they left the tiny shop for home. The dark-haired woman suddenly realized how tightly Yamato's arm was around her daughter; it seemed more like a protective gesture than a natural one to hold her up. In fact, the look he wore on his face seemed to say something—she didn't know what.
Shaking her head once more, the woman turned back to her work—watering flowers. She only looked back once to glance at her daughter through the window, who was now talking gently with her blue-eyed friend.
"Yamato," Sora murmured, breathing in sharply, "I'm really fine enough to walk on my own—you should go back and help my mother." Her friend turned to her, an amused grin crossing his face that did not hide the concern in his eyes.
"You're just saying that 'cause you think you're being weak," he responded, his grip on her shoulder loosening only slightly. "I told you're mother that I would take care of you until we got to your home. Can you deal with it until then?"
Sora nodded weakly and chose to stare at the sidewalk rather than bring up another conversation. She was just so tired…I was fine this morning…she told herself, unable to pinpoint the cause of her weakness. She continued to think it through, until even that began to take more effort than was necessary. Her mind became clouded with nothingness; all she could focus on was keeping her legs moving, and that was becoming harder with every step. It was as if her energy was being drained from her by something far more powerful than she was. She would have liked to be scared, but she was just too weak to even think about it…
Yamato caught her as her legs folded under her.
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-The girl's laughter filled the air as he lifted her above his head. Her father, the man she had loved ever since she could remember. He was so kind and loving—how could anyone not adore him as she did? Of course, there were those few that thought—and claimed—that he was strange, but she didn't care. It didn't matter; at least not tonight. Tonight was the first day of Autumn.
Setting the orange-haired girl down on the moist grass, he turned his head toward the night sky and sat down beside the young girl. He nodded his head toward certain stars, and the girl pointed her fingers to them, memorizing them. They were her friends, she knew. At such a young age, she had already discovered that she could communicate with them, however poorly she spoke at the age of two. This never occurred to her as not being normal, for no one would ever know. Why share this with other people when she could have them all to herself?
The girl giggled and turned to look at her father—but quickly discovered that it was not her father that looked back at her. Instead, her mother's deep brown eyes met hers as she enveloped the girl in a tight hug. Wondering to herself, the girl stood still as she felt a kind of wetness at the back of her neck—tears. Her mother's tears…but, what reason had she to cry? They had been so happy just a second ago; what could have happened to suddenly change that?
The girl looked around and felt as if she had been slapped in the face with the sudden realization that she was no longer outside with her father. Instead, she was inside with her mother, who had been overcome with grief at her own discovery.
"I'm so sorry…" the woman sobbed, tears pouring down her pale cheeks. And at that moment, it became clear to the girl…she would never see her father again. She clung tightly to her mother as tears clouded her vision, and everything faded.
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Sora woke with a start, gasping for air, her face wet with tears. She hurriedly wiped her face with the back of her hand, using the other to punch the wall. Hard.
"No!" She whispered hoarsely, not wanting to wake her mother incase she might be sleeping. "The dream again…" she pounded her fists furiously on her bed, anger seeping into her. "Why can't the past just leave me alone?!"
Without her noticing, hot tears had begun streaming gently down her cheeks. She continued to pound on her bed furiously, not caring about how much noise she was making. All she knew was that she had to make it go away. The feelings that she had whenever she had that dream—she couldn't let it continue. And at that particular moment, being angry seemed like the only solution.
"Sora! Sora, what's wrong?"
The orange-haired girl could feel someone's grip on her shoulder. Her anger stopped almost as suddenly as it had started. She left her hands to hang limply at her sides as tears continued to stream down her face. She curled her face into her knees so whoever had spoken would not be able to see her in her moment of weakness. She was just so ashamed of herself after acting like such a child—it was just a stupid dream, after all! How could she have let it get to her like that?
The hand touched her shoulder again, urging her to lift her head. She took a few moments to do so, wondering if she should comply. Yamato's azure blue eyes met her brown ones as she lifted her head and she gasped. She would have liked to just run then and there, had she not been feeling so weak…
"Sora," Yamato murmured, sounding far calmer than he had ten seconds ago. "Please, just tell me what's wrong."
The girl could feel her body shiver at the sound of his calm voice—it almost soothed her into talking. But, no, he would not understand. Her tears increased as she continued to stare into his pleading eyes; his eyes held so much concern—for her.
Unable to withstand her sorrow anymore, the orange-haired girl threw her arms around the blond boy's neck and began to cry uncontrollably.
Yamato nearly jumped up with surprise, but reminded himself that doing something like that would not be kind. Here in front of him was a friend in need of his comfort—he had to stay with her. Unable to think of a better way to comfort his friend, he wrapped his arms around her and rocked back and forth, as if he were cradling an infant.
"Sh…It's okay…" He whispered softly, stroking the girl's bright orange hair. As he did this, the girl became more at ease, and her tears lessened. Noticing this, the boy took it as an opportunity to speak to her more seriously. Closing his eyes, he took in a deep breath. This caught Sora's attention and she lifted her head off his shoulder, slightly, to listen to him.
"Sora," he began, but abruptly found himself unable to speak. He had caught her gaze—the action had rendered him speechless. They sparkled, over-bright with her salty tears. As he stared further into the girl's brown eyes, he became aware of just how much sadness was in them and, for some reason he could not explain, he felt suddenly like vomiting. His stomach twisted in knots as he attempted to avert his gaze from her pleading, sorrowful eyes, but found that he could not. He became lost in that brown abyss filled with sadness. He would have done anything to take that away…deep inside himself, he knew that he was in love with this girl, and would have loved to have simply kissed all her tears away, telling her how much he loved her…and then everything would be better…
Ignoring his own feelings and emotions at that moment, he concentrated on the girl in front of him. He brought the orange-haired girl closer to himself in a warm embrace. "Sora, I don't know what's wrong," he whispered, his voice becoming too tight with emotion to do otherwise, "But, please don't be sad anymore. You don't know how much it hurts me to see you like this."
Sora had heard hardly anything her friend had said. She was already becoming tired again. Being in his arms had given her so much warmth and comfort, she hadn't the slightest clue as to why she was still crying. Immediately after hearing most of his request, she ceased her crying and held tighter to him.
"I won't cry anymore, Yamato," she responded tiredly, forcing back a yawn. She was so warm and comfortable, she would have given anything just to stay in his arms like she was forever, feeling safe…and almost loved. She closed her eyes again, almost able to feel the smile that had appeared on her friend's face…Almost unexpectedly, she fell asleep again, loosening her grip on Yamato's jacket. This surprised the blond boy only for a moment before he set her gently down onto her bed, pulling the covers over her sleeping form.
He hesitated for a moment before kissing her forehead and stroking her hair one last time. In her sleep, the girl smiled and rolled onto her side, and something fell out of her shirt that had obviously been tucked in on purpose. The boy grinned to himself as he recognized the object to be the necklace he had given her only the day before. With this on his mind, he left the room.
A very worried-looking Mrs. Takenouchi greeted him as he exited the girl's room, whispering to him softly.
"She's sleeping fine, Mrs. Takenouchi." Yamato lied, not wanting to increase the woman's anxiety. At his reply, the woman's lips parted slightly into a small smile of relief, although her brows were still furrowed deeply with concern. She knew his answer had been a lie to reassure her—the tearstains on his shoulder were an obvious give away that something had occurred while he had been checking on her daughter.
Smiling reassuringly, the woman led him out of the tiny apartment, thanking him for everything he had done that day and the help he had given them so willingly. Waving to him as she shut the door, she sighed deeply, letting out all the stress she had received during the day. He would be back tomorrow, the woman was sure of it. Yamato loved her daughter with all of his heart, the woman knew it better than either of them did.
He would be back tomorrow.
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So……..how was that? ……Sorry, I know it really sucked. Bleh. I'd already had this finished about a week ago, but my dummassed brother deleted it. Then I had to go and retype everything so…gomen. Sorry it turned out completely rushed…just with band and all…yeah…so, tell me watcha think by using that little box down there. Go on, it's not too hard! Tell me how much I suck, why don't you?……Oh, sorry. I don't mean to be so negative all the time, it's just habit…damn, I'm bored now…I gotta go start on the next chapter….oh, btw, should I add some of the other characters somehow, or is the story going fine the way it is? I could really use some advice, I'm kind of…in a slump. So, yeah…BYE! =^o^=