Fate Beckons
Chapter 16: Unmei
Disclaimers apply
Time passes again...
Misao stared at the exam booklet on the table. So soon...all too soon. It was hard to believe that 3 months had gone by so fast. 3 torturous months, knowing that Aoshi was just not simply a short bus or MRT ride away anymore--he was miles away, somewhere in the western United States.
They still kept contact, thank goodness for email and a few short phone calls. The last time they had spoken, he had told her that he was adjusting and it was getting busy ("But not too busy for my Mi-chan.") That was 2 weeks ago. He had also told her to work hard for her O' levels, so that she could join him in about 3 years. Teasingly, but with a note of seriousness.
She took a look around the room. It was a manifestation of silence. Some of her classmates' heads were bowed down in prayer; some were staring hard at the cover of the booklet, as if they would be able to see through it to the questions if they looked hard enough. Yet others were staring into blank space, or at the hands of the clock that seemed to move backwards. It was so quiet that even the sound of breathing could be heard. Someone clicked a pen again and again in impatience.
Misao looked at her watch again. 7.50 a.m. Still 10 minutes to go. To calm her nervous heart and comfort herself, she reminisced about the events that took place barely 3 months ago.
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August, Changi Airport.
Mr. Shinomori patted his son on the back. "Take care of yourself."
Mrs. Shinomori's eyes were red with tears. "Call back often...don't eat out too much, and keep warm when it's cold."
Aoshi smiled slightly. "Promise, Okaasan. I'll definitely come back, don't worry." He turned to Misao and his features, as always, mellowed. "You too, take care of yourselves..." He was talking to all of them present--his parents and the Makimachis, but his eyes were transfixed on only Misao. Taking her hand, he asked, "May I talk to you alone?"
She nodded, and they walked to a quiet corner, away from the busy flow of people outside Customs.
He looked into her eyes. She was fighting back tears, but was threatening to lose control. He smiled, and it became more difficult to hold back those tears. His eyes grew sad, as if he could feel what she was feeling.
Placing a hand on her cheek, Aoshi whispered, "I won't be leaving forever. I'll be back...I'll come back to you...we can still keep contact...I'll never forget you."
She wanted so much to reply, but all that came out were soft sobs. Her hand flew up to her mouth, trying to muffle them.
All of a sudden, Aoshi pulled her into his arms, holding her close as if he never wanted to let go. "It's okay if you cry out loud...you'll feel better that way. Just let it all out...I'm here."
She could not control it anymore, her body shuddering against his solid, comforting frame. "I don't know why, I just can't bear to let you go...although I know it won't be forever..." she wept. He held her closer to him.
"Shh...I understand." He let go of her, and she realised with shock that his eyes were a little red too--he actually looked like he was about to cry, for the first time in his life!
Reaching into his trouser pocket, he pulled out a small chain with a pendant. "I saw it in a roadside stall in Chinatown, and thought of you at once. I'm sorry, it's no fancy gift, but--"
Misao took it from his hand. There was a character carved into the silver surface--"Yun4" (in Chinese) or "Un"(Japanese). It means 'luck'.
"I want you to have luck in your exams, and everything you do. But that's not it, it's not the whole pendant." He smiled and took out the second half, holding it up for her to read. "Ming4. Inochi. It means life!" She exclaimed, looking up at Aoshi for an explanation.
"I might be getting into a dangerous job besides studying, but I thought this pendant would remind me that no matter what, I have to live, because I have to return to the person who hold the other half of the pendant. Put the two words together--what do you get?"
Realisation dawned on Misao. "Un--Mei. That means destiny and fate in Japanese!" (The kanji for inochi, or 'life', is read 'mei' in compounds.)
"It's fitting isn't it?" Aoshi smiled at her. "We were fated to be together...I feel it strongly, especially because of all those dreams we both had. When I first met you when we were little, I thought you seemed familiar, but it wasn't until this year when we came together again that I realised why. We loved each other in a past life but could not stay together...and so made a vow that in death and our lives after that, we would always find, and love each other. Fate helped us find each other again in this life, and we must thank her for that. I want you always to remember what 'Ummei' means to us. Whenever you miss me, think of that, because someday, the two halves will certainly come together again, then Fate will have completed her job."
Tears were still streaming down Misao's face, but she knew that his words were true. She stared at her pendant again, a smile breaking through the tears.
"When these two halves come together again, we'll be together forever..."
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Her school did not allow jewelry of any kind, but Misao still kept the chain with her, in her pocket in school, around her neck next to her heart other times. That day was so vivid, it was as if it had been just yesterday, but she realised with a sigh that 3 months had passed in the blink of an eye. At times, she had been lonely, waking up with nightmares of him leaving her forever, or of her past life, when he left her while she was asleep. But she would remember the pendant and Aoshi's words, and would feel better at once. The passionate goodbye kiss that they had shared after that was also still fresh on her lips.
"It's 8 o' clock. You may start now," the invigilator announced. The rustling of paper could be heard as students opened their booklets and took out their pens, ready to face any challenge.
Misao held the pendant to her heart and began to write furiously.
tbc...
A few more chapters to go...only a few, so please stay tuned. Comments please, I really would like to know how you readers find this story!
