Sweetness

Chapter 2

By Miko-chan

Standard Disclaimers Apply.

~~~~~~~

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

--"Iris" by the Goo goo dolls


Years can pass by so quickly...

All people knew that, as I do have learned it too. I had outgrown my childish views and my irregular tantrums. It grew together with the fact that it was not logical to be irritated when your older brother still prefers kiddie combo meal...

Throwing the jokes aside, I am already becoming to be a full grown woman.

You can see how my auburn locks seems to brush the caress of swift winds as the snow slowly melts, giving birth to the warmth of early spring. The adorned golden ornament still remained on its position, but my tresses was longer than it was before. Dark, navy sleeves of my uniform was comforting enough for me to glide in the afternoon glow of the horizon, the wind turning bitter every minute. I was strolling around the park with my head filled with the voices of lovers, hand in hand or in some intimate embraces, watching the fading light touch their faces. The eyes filled with the amber rays of the sun, reflecting the pliant rays and heart longing glances of their emotions

Could you feel the electricity flowing in this silly scenario? Yes, as they all say, love is in the air...And I think I have baked enough chocolates to satisfy the whole group in Tategami High....Tell me that I am ridiculous to believe in traditions. Yet, I think it was wonderful.

My lithe form was going towards the middle of a clearing, behind those towering trees. They were blocking any sign of people beyond that point. This was the deepest part of the park where in everyone would thought there would be spirits hanging in the air.

But I do know, who she is....

I have lived with her coldest moments, joined her in her little triumphs...her treasured smile. A very rare treasure for me. You knew that? She's my beloved friend...she listened when I cried about my heartbreaks. She tried to fill the loneliness when Okaasan finally left me to rest, even time seems to beckon her to leave me, wearing her down. She suffered.She loved. But she did not realize that she was capable of that...Because I understand her, even for a soul who never found the peace that she longed for. She was already called by the souls to sleep, however she saw me that I was vulnerable to even stand up to my own two feet. It happened so fast that Onii-chan and me were orphaned...So swift, that I never felt what hit me.

Remember that fateful Christmas day? When for the first time I heard Yukino-chan laugh?

My mom was from the groceries, knowing that my brother's friends would feast in our home all night. She brought everything from ice creams and syrups. Unwinding contentedly on the fact that Nii-chan would be with us, even temporarily. Could you describe happiness when you have back in your arms the one you have cared the most? I can't. Since.. like me, it fills the head and turns other senses to be blurry. Yukino-chan told me that the heart was placed under our mind so that we can be strong enough to withstand any storm to blow through our hearts. But at that time, Okaasan's mind sink to her chest and her heart flew straight to her head...

And in the night, a loud screeching of tires and muffled cry of help was heard....

"Okaa...san" Then came those unwelcomed tears. The ones I tried to bury with her memory. Yet the stronger I strive to keep them hidden in the back of my mind, they resurface with much force, drowning me in my grief and anguish that my small heart could hold.

"Daijoubu?" A soft voice resonated, its pliant sound contrasting the chill weather.

It soothed me as sudden as the light breeze brushed across my heated cheeks. She appeared swiftly again, being a spirit who drifts so freely yet kept her boundaries around the sanctuary of the woods. Her body, small and floating with such fluidity, gradually approached me with her unchanging facade. A stoic expression settled on her face. But one calculating look, she was worried. A slight crease in her brow added effect to the wavering light in her lavender eyes. I stopped he threatening tears to brim over my lids, radiating a glowing smile.

"Nandemonai." I replied. The emotion dissipated as swiftly it came.

She was not easily to be convinced. But she knows better than to push the subject. With a slight turning of her head, she inclined her sight towards the pinpricks of couples behind the bushy fences. "Tell me." It hinted curiosity . "Why do flocks of birds come to mate near my nest?" Now, it had a color of sarcasm. Nice metaphor, Yukino-chan.

"Today is Valentine's day" I answered with a giggling sound. "Its a tradition for lovers to go in a secret rendezvous and make out their mushiness in that place." The mirth I released affecting her lips to curve up slowly. "But really, " I tuned this seriously, to give emphasis to this fact. "This day is for love"

"Love?"

Pain.

"Yes. Love"

Sympathy.

It never failed to amaze me that even centuries has gone by, her life was almost completely untouched by the fast paces of the modern world. She was still oblivious to know about the new ways of an average human being, yet still survives in the terrible mess that humanity made. However, something also thumped hardly in my chest from the way her seclusion to the society had made her...cold. Melting away the sweetness of being alive, not merely existing, but being to live like no care in the world.

Does it hurt to tell that once, I was the perfect example of it?

Nobody could even heal the wounds inflicted upon your soul if grief has darkened your hopes. Despair lingers so strongly that you cannot seem to think straight. That was the same feeling I had when I was left behind by my mom...orphaned and a brother who strives so hard that you can't seem to do anything about it. I was dying.

But like a compassionate angel that she is, Yukino-chan saved me.

She did not use consoling words or extravagant gifts. Anything that a normal human could be fooled. Her only tools were the same emphasizing hand caressing my neck, telling a thousand words that a mouth can't say. She was there and that thing matters the most. I grasped the truth rapidly. How Yukino-chan died. Its not the body going numb, but how her essence ebbed away from her supposed to be soul-filled gaze.

That snowy night, when a soul lived and a soul left, burns in my memory.

"Love..." she trailed off. She was some kind of a deep contemplation about the matter of life and candies, judging her eyes closed to entertain the shower of thoughts.

"Do all occasions revolve on sweets?"

"Not quite." I told her sincerely. "But it is a way to show that you love the one whom you given to."

Silence pervaded. Then a fancy heart-shaped package was found under her feet, wrapped in red hues of ribbons and a large lily fastened to the ties. That's strange. I just noticed it. With an inquisitive look on the enigmatic parcel that pops out of nowhere...I saw...

On that memorable night, I still remember the comforting smile that Okaachan gave me when I held her warm palm against mine. Yukino-chan...Well...she was deeply moved. How ironic, that the moment all of the hindering walls were crumbled to build a new bridge with us, I was forced to create a barrier to shield myself from the world. I was scared to be slashed ruthlessly by this cruel world.

Then I saw my name imprinted on the neat rice paper, still wet with ink from the nicely sculptured calligraphy.


Hi guys! I totally missed the lot of you here. *sniff* I'm so happy to be back again! I was too preoccupied with my status at school and when the finals is nearing...my head goes down the gutter from the consuming deadlines! I gotta pass! I wanna go to college! And I'm scared!

Okay, forget that...

Happy Valentines and God Bless You!