"I believe you don't know what you've got until you say goodbye"
~ Affirmation, Savage Garden
Faraway So Close
He moved as if he were not truly there, almost floating above the ground in a haze of unreality. And yet it was real, for the pain tore through him, his heart threatening to shatter from the anguish.
His mind was in turmoil; one thought chasing another in the fight for dominance. All would lose out to the memories of those last few days when he had still been with them. And now, only emptiness remained where his friend had once been.
"Still think you're the best blader around?"
The younger boy laughed, flicking his hair from his face in the practiced movement that radiated self-confidence. "I let you win that one."
"Oh really? And how about the one before that?"
"I didn't feel like blading, so I didn't try."
He went to reply, but a petite form moved between him and the younger teen, her smile amused as she looked from one to the other. "Do you two really need to go through this again? C'mon, let's just shake hands and head back for the village."
He smiled faintly. "Always the voice of reason, Mountain Cat."
"One of us has to be," she replied smoothly. "Come on, Lion, Monkey-boy."
As they moved back toward the village, frowned as he spotted the younger boy rubbing his temples, a small etching of pain on his face. "You okay, Monkey?"
His childhood friend smiled easily at him, an almost passiveness to his usual cocky nature. "Yeah. Just a bit of a headache, that's all."
"Been using your brain, have you?"
He expected a snide comment in return but it never came, the other simply shrugging his shoulders and looking ahead.
He should have realised something was wrong. The Monkey never backed down from a challenge, but he had been lost in thought, letting the moment slide to be buried amongst such other times. Monkey had been tired, or perhaps lost in his own little world. Those were the excuses he created for himself.
Excuses, for it was now too late.
The younger teen hardly spoke for the remainder of the day, and the following morning a paleness had crept onto his tanned skin. His movements were slow, the bounce to his step lost in a sleepless night of fitful tossing and turning.
Tiger had spotted it first, commenting on it to Bear who had cocked his head and frowned at his little buddy, questioning Monkey over his health. Monkey had patted his arm and smiled, but the twinkle to his eye had seemed dull.
"Stop worrying guys, I'm fine. Just coming down with something, that's all, so you'd better not get too close."
"You're just making excuses as to why you lost yesterday," he had said, crossing his arms over his chest. "You cannot bring yourself to admit you need to practice more."
"Aw c'mon, Lion," Monkey had shot back with a glare. "I practice all the time. If I practiced any more, then I'd never get my chores done."
"Speaking of which," Mountain Cat said joining them. "Your mother wants you to fetch some more water for her."
They watched him go, Tiger sighing heavily as Monkey disappeared around the corner. "I don't know, guys. Something's wrong, I know it."
Before any of them could reply, the terrified scream echoed off the walls of the village. They dashed forward to find a woman rushing toward her fallen son, lying facedown in the dirt, pain etched deeply onto his face, bringing forth the appearance of someone older then he: Monkey.
He clenched his fists as his hands trembled, continuing his walk. The panic, the fear, the urgency of it all at swept them away in a haze. He could still hear the shouts of the men, the chocked sobs of the women, the half whispered prayers sent upward toward the sky in which the sun had beaten down relentlessly.
Now there was no sun, the sky a choking grey that stretched on forever. The sun would shine no more.
"It's a stroke," the doctor had told the group gathered in the waiting room. "A bad one. We will need to operate-"
"Then do it!" The mother had cried. "Bring back my little boy!"
The doctor had hesitated. "The seriousness of his condition could mean that he will be permanently brain damaged. He may lose some or complete ability to speak and/or walk. He may become wheelchair bound for life-"
"Just do it!" She was sobbing now.
"We have travelled a long way," the elder, his grandfather, said leaning forward. "Do whatever you feel is necessary. The young one is important to us, a great warrior among our village."
The doctor had nodded gravelly, his eyes sweeping over them, taking in the four teens gathered to the side – Lion, Tiger, Mountain Cat, and Bear – a spark of recognition filling his grey eyes. "We will do our best."
The air was cold now, biting into the exposed skin of his arms, legs, chest. He ignored it, eyes lowered, caring not for his surroundings. He cared about little these days. Not since those words, those accursed words.
"I'm sorry… but I'm afraid we've lost him…"
He squeezed his eyes closed to the tears that threatened to spill down his face. He rarely cried. Warriors never cried. And he was a warrior. The elders had told him so.
He didn't want to be one anymore.
His legs no longer supported his weight as he slump to the ground, the wall preventing him from falling completely. Bear had turned and walked calmly from the room, Mountain Cat falling into Tiger's arms as the young man had leant heavily against the same wall that supported Lion.
Mountain Cat buried her face into Tiger's chest, voice a hoarse whisper. "He was only 14."
From outside, Bear's anguished scream rolled on forever…
He stopped as he found himself in the clearing, a faint wind whipping up off the still water of the lake, but he did not feel it. He stood, eyes on the protruding marker by the ancient tree, a tree they had all conquered together at an early age. Their laughter echoed like ghosts in his mind. Monkey's laughter…
Moving forward, the tears flowed freely as he knelt beside the marker, setting the single flower down on the recently disturbed earth, fingers reaching forward to trace the etchings on the stone that was so cold beneath his touch. Etchings that spelt out the name of the one he had loved like a brother.
"I miss you, Kev," Lee said softly, voice wavering. "I miss you."
Hope you liked it. This is a vignette (or one-shot), but in the future you may see a follow-up fic to this. Not anytime soon though.