You Get Me

Chapter 15

The broken words tumbled out of her mouth as she whispered the song her and Yue had always sung together. "F-from the m-moment I w-wake up. B-before I p-put on my m-make-up...I s-say a l-little p-prayer for y-you..." She was trying to tell herself it was all right. But it wasn't. Her mind wandered from thought to thought. She was doing this for her family, her friends, out of love. Her life was one thing, theirs was another. The safety of her friends before her. Kina lifted her chin up a bit and whispered, "Even if death should separate us, the truth of every glorious day I spent with you, Yue, will never disappear."

~~

The rope that's wrapped around me

Is cutting through my skin

And the doubts that have surrounded me

Are finding their way in

I keep it close to me

Like a holy man prays

In my desperate hour

It's better that way

~~

He was so lost and confused, "I don't understand, I just don't understand. Somewhere along the line a wall was constructed between Kina and I. Why won't she just tell me what's going on? Doesn't she trust me? I'm her husband for God's sake! She should trust me the most. Haven't we been there for each other all the time? What is so different now? She's been keeping me in the dark for so long with that thing about her father then this. How many more secrets Kina? How many more lies?" Yue thought out loud.

~*~

Nuriko sighed as he shuffled through the aisles of food, "Kina, why must I stay silent always? I'm glad you told me what's going on but it won't make a difference if I can't tell anyone either. You should have spoken with Yue. You're in real danger, even if you are worried about us you can't put yourself on the line. We need you too much. It hurts to see you like this. I know you might not be able to forgive me but I have to tell somebody, whether it Yue or Hotohori or Shiva. Somebody soon or else I'll never be able to live with myself."

~~

So I'll come by and see you again

I'll be such a very good friend

Have mercy on my soul

I will never let you know

Where my mind has been

~~

The hand was almost there. The figure was closing in on her. Somehow though, strangely, she felt...at peace. Her mind shuffled through memories of her and Yue and her heart filled with grief and regret of her recent actions.

--

"I refuse to let you destroy me, I've got too much to live for!" Kina planted her feet firmly into the ground as the flames around them blazed on the house frame.

"Live for? Like what, little girl? Don't you see what Yue did when you got into one fight?" Mina mocked while a smirk played across her face.

"He may have hurt my feelings but it'll get over it. It will make me stronger and I know Yue and I will both learn from our mistakes. We won't lock up our feelings inside ourselves. We'll talk with each other and work things out together. As a husband and wife should. Have hope."

--

"What has happened to the words I had said then? We won't lock our feelings up? Isn't this exactly what we've done? We haven't talked to each other or worked things out." Kina thought to herself.

~~

Angels never came down

There's no one here they want to hang around

But if they knew

If they knew you at all

Then one by one the angels

Angels would fall

~~

How can you talk so casually about it?" Yue walked around her to face her, although she continued to avoid eye contact. "Everyone was worried about you. When I thought you were gone, I--Kina, did it ever occur to you that someone might care about you?"

"Do you have any clue what I've been through?" Kina snapped at him.

"How am I supposed to know if you don't tell me? What happened between you and Mina inside that burning house?" Yue turned to Kina.

"Do you really care that much?"

Kina and Yue were face to face, trying to stare each other down. Kina breathed in deeply and admitted her defeat. "I owe you my life, now," she said, "Wait a moment," Kina covered a cough. Yue realized she was breathing heavily, just from their walk down the hill. She shivered in each gust of wind.

"You still haven't recovered from the fire and smoke," Yue said. Kina shook her head.

"I'm fine," she said. "I just need a little rest, that's all."

Yue put his hands on her shoulders. "You're shivering," he noted.

"I'm fine," Kina insisted, trying to shake him away. "Don't worry about me."

"What's wrong? I just...care about you."

Kina looked aside. "Why?" she asked.

"I just do." Yue leaned down to gently kiss her forehead "I'm not going...." Yue replied. "...I'm not going to leave you alone."

Kina blinked up at him, her breath shaky from crying. "I...I wish..." The words came out sounding thin and choked, as if she were struggling just to speak. She let herself fall against him again, and the end of her sentence came out as barely even a whisper. "...I could stay...with you..."

"You can..." He whispered tenderly.

~~

I've crept into your temple

I have slept upon your pew

I've dreamed of the divinity

Inside and out of you

I want it more than truth

I can taste it on my breath

I would give my life just for a little death

~~

He was her angel; he had saved her so many times. They had been through so much together, but where were they now? Why was she so alone? What had happened that had torn them apart so quickly?

~~

Angels never came down

There's no one here they want to hang around

But if they knew

If they knew you at all

Then one by one the angels

Angels would fall

~~

Yue pulled out the letter Michael had left for him so many months ago. The words where etched in his mind yet he still read the out loud.

"Kina is a good person, she'll be sad when she finds out the truth. So do me a favor, will you Yue? Be there for her, be gentle to her, and comfort her because she'll need you. For all her pretense, she's really very soft inside. Fragile. It seems like everything in her life sets her up for disappointment, and I'm afraid I'll just add to that same list. It amazes me how much the human heart can handle. Such a delicate thing, and strong but breakable. I hope to see you all in the future and then perhaps we can all be friends again, without lies, or secrets or masks"

Masks. Kina had been wearing a mask since she began high school again. A hateful, scared, and broken mask. And he couldn't get her to take it off. His own wife was hiding from him and he couldn't even touch her face or hold her to comfort her.

~~

So I'll come by and see you again

I'll be just a very good friend

I will not look upon your face

I will not touch upon your grace

Your ecclesiastic skin

Angels never came down

There's no one here they want to hang around

But if they knew

If they knew you at all

Then one by one the angels

Angels would fall

~~

"You're right, we both need to be more honest with each other."

"Then can I ask you a question? Is it strange that we're together? I mean, since you are a bishonen?" She asked him.

"No. No, it's not. Even if the whole world says it's strange, it's not." He brushed back a stray hair and tucked it safely behind her ear. "I love you, Kina." He whispered the words to her tenderly as if they would break if he spoke them too loud. Yue can't stop weeping because he loved her more perfectly than he has ever loved anybody before. He would exchange his life for hers, take his beating heart from his chest to save her, if she needed to be saved. There is the road and the grass and the sky and the sun that has risen and that day that has been made just for them. He holds her now and he loves her now and forever.

Forever. Where had forever led them?

~~

I'll come by and see you again

I'll have to be a very good friend

If I whisper they will know

I'll just turn around and go

You will never know my sin

~~

"Yue, what do you think is happiness?" Kina turned and questioned the bishonen.

"I'm not really sure about that one but I think it's when the sky is blue." He nodded.

"So if the sky is blue, we're happy?" Kina giggled.

"It's the smiles on everybody's faces, it's the blue sky and the green forest. It's when you stop and take a deep breath and think 'It's great to be alive'."

"So if you're alive, you're happy." Kina smirked.

"Something like that." Yue scratched the back of his head as he chuckled.

"I think you're right, I just thought it's great to be alive and I feel so happy inside!" Kina latched herself onto his arm as they both sighed with content.

--

"Yue is the one who taught me that blue skies meant happiness. He is the one who taught me that the sound of the streams, the sound the wind makes, the flowers with no names and everybody's smiles meant happiness. He taught me to be alive..." But she was brought back to reality as a cold hand grasped her shoulder, the nails digging into her skin.

~~

Angels never came down

There's no one here they want to hang around

But if they knew

If they knew you at all

Then one by one the angels

Angels would fall