Thank you for reviewing the last chapter, even though I sort of rattled on in the beginning. I'm so glad that I have readers, thank you for letting me know your opinions. I hope this chapter also lives up to your expectations! I promise to put in all the usual people later on, but I will be getting there, I'm just setting it up first, p.s look for a cameo!
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne
* * *
"Mom?" Hitomi opened the door to the kitchen where her Mother was laying the table for dinner and sat down in her usual spot, the TV was still blaring so her brother and father wouldn't be able to hear a thing It was now or never.
"Yes Hitomi?" her mother smiled at her warmly
Hitomi felt uncomfortable, perhaps she ought to wait until later, but she had promised Yukari...but her mother looked so warm and loving that Hitomi couldn't bring her world down on her this soon...
"I have something I need to talk to you about" Hitomi began
"Oh?"
"Yes, it's quite...very important" Hitomi continued "But I don't want you to have the reaction I know you're going to have so I want you to sit down and not to talk until I've finished"
"But dinner is almo~"
"Please?"
Her mother hesitated and then, wiping her hair away from her eyes, shut all the doors and sat down opposite Hitomi.
Hitomi sighed, so this was it, she was going to tell someone else. This was a big step and she wasn't sure she could take it right now. But what else could she do? She was going to start showing soon and then who wouldn't know? Well, apart from them...and this was the sort of time when you needed a mother's protection and advice, if she didn't want to disown Hitomi on the spot.
"Mother, you know I'm not one to make stupid choices or do anything rash and awful, and this all happened recently and it's something that I didn't mean to happen, it just did"
Hitomi stopped and realised she didn't make sense then backed up slowly "I did something...and now I'm in trouble"
"Did you take drugs?" Hitomi's mother looked bewildered "Because if you've got a drug habit then you're to sort it out double quick"
"No, no, no, oh no!" Hitomi gasped, "I'm on track! Of course I wouldn't...no it's not that. Mom...I didn't mean this to happen but...I'm going to be having a baby..."
Silence.
Her mother let out a small giggle and then said narrowed her eyes and said slowly, and cautiously "What?"
Hitomi mumbled it again and kept her eyes lowered, tears almost spilling over.
Hitomi's mother stood up and looked around the room, looking for something to help her understand what her child had just said. Finding nothing she sat down again and faced her daughter.
"Hitomi, how did this happen?" she asked softly
Hitomi looked at her in disbelief.
Her mother raised her eyebrows once more and said "Hitomi Kanzaki stop playing around the point, you know exactly what I mean by 'how'"
Hitomi lowered her eyes again "I can't tell you, you wouldn't really believe me if I did, can we just leave out that detail and skip to the part where I'm pregnant and I get it out of me?"
"Hitomi I need to know who the father is and how it all happened, is it a boy from school? You shouldn't lie to protect him" her mother worried "He needs to take responsibility for this, what's he going to do?"
"He doesn't know"
"Is it that Amano boy? Who left for England?" her mother pressed "I mean you never did stop going on about him until the day he left, you didn't act on anything did you?"
"No, no of course not mom, I just can't tell yo~"
"Hitomi please! I can't support you until you tell me everything"
"But I can't tell you!"
"Tell you what?"
They both jumped and looked around to find her father and brother in the door, looking confused.
"Mamoru, leave the room please" Hitomi's mother ordered quietly
Mamoru stared, "What's going on?"
"Leave"
Her father ushered Mamoru out and shut the door to the kitchen "What's going on then, you look so serious"
"Hitomi's pregnant"
Silence returned to the room and then it was broken with a loud yell of surprise and then he began to banter at her with a speech of what-the-hell-did-you-think-you-were-doing and a dose of 'I'm going to kill the boy who did this to you!' thrown in.
They could hear Mamoru outside the door yelp in surprise but didn't pay any attention, he would have found out sooner or later anyway.
"Dad, please don't yell like that!" Hitomi cried
"Why not?" he answered "My only daughter has gone and had under age sex and even worse! She got PREGNANT WITH SOME LOUT'S CHILD!"
Hitomi stood up and yelled "HE IS NOT A LOUT!"
Her mother looked at them both standing off and said quietly "Please, sit down, both of you, we need to discuss this" with some more cajoling they both sat down and joined the table discussion
"Who's the father," her dad asked
"She won't say"
"Hitomi please tell us who the father is" he was trying to keep his temper "We need to let his parents know"
"He doesn't have any parents" she answered truthfully, "Please, don't get him involved"
Her dad looked about ready to burst while her mother just looked calmly at the table, deep in thought.
"Please Hitomi" her dad said again
"I can't"
"Just leave her," her Mother said quietly, "We can't make her tell us. Hitomi, how many months pregnant are you?"
"Four"
Her father stood up again, his hand to his forehead "Four? Lord, the sickness? It was morning sickness?"
"When did you find out you were pregnant?"
"Today" Hitomi replied, her eyes stung and her belly had butterflies "I figured it out today"
Her mother sighed "Well, I'm glad you came to us this soon, this means we can do something~"
Hitomi cut her off with "I'm not aborting it"
Her father turned to her, his forehead now crinkled with worry, "You can't possibly think you can look after it do you? You'll have to drop school and everything!"
"I can try!"
"We'll all have to help out" her mother looked ready to cry, she reached out and put Hitomi's hand in hers "I know you don't trust us enough to tell us who the father is but Hitomi, please believe me when I say that we'll help you through this" she eyed her husband "Even if it doesn't look like it now"
Hitomi's eyes filled and spilled over and she let herself be hugged and comforted by her mother as if she was five years old again, her father calmed and stroked her hand lovingly. For a moment all of them knew that this was going to happen, there would be a baby coming and that they'd all need to pitch in, they certainly weren't going to leave Hitomi stranded.
Family meant something, and as much as even her father didn't want to admit it, there was going to be a new member pretty soon.
Even Mamoru, outside eavesdropping, secretly vowed to do whatever he could for his sister.
* * * * * *
"Well if you can't stay...then let me tell you that..."
* * * * * *
Hitomi was tired the next morning, and even though she'd has so much time off school due to her morning sickness, her mother had relented under the light of new information and told her that she could have the day off.
Hitomi felt a little uncomfortable with the decision though, at four months she didn't really need special treatment and if this was going to happen then she'd fall even further behind in her school work than she had been already.
So, discontent to lie around not doing anything, she called Yukari early and asked her to collect the work for and bring it over later and yes, she assured her friend that she had told her parents and no, they hadn't disowned her, and yes, she was keeping the baby and yes, she was perfectly alright, just a little tired.
She could practically hear the relief of her friend down the phone line and smiled as she hung up.
Lying back, Hitomi closed her eyes and lay her hand on her stomach, she wondered whether the baby should be moving soon, and what it would feel like, a split second of worry over the fact that she was 15 vanished as she fell into slumber where she flew through Gaea and watched Van from afar...
...
...
...
"W-Whuh?" Hitomi pulled her head up to see that it was noon on the clock and that the doorbell was setting off a pounding headache
Pulling on her dressing gown Hitomi shook sleepiness away to stumble downstairs and open the door slowly to a bright and warm morning with a salesman grinning down at her.
"Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked
His face seemed pale and dim, Hitomi couldn't help but stare, it was like a mask, fixed into a strange smile that set off his jet-black hair. He wore a strange, cape style coat and a wide brimmed hat that shaded the pale skin of his face.
"C-can I help you?" Hitomi asked, rubbing her eyes
"Brilliant Industries Ma'am" he smiled a smile that gave Hitomi shivers and continued "Are you home alone?"
"What? Why?" Hitomi asked, suddenly suspicious
He pulled back and then laughed, a sound that made Hitomi more nervous, suddenly Hitomi found her stomach hurting again, as if something was pulling at it. She winced and grabbed it trying to will the pain to stop.
The salesman carried on laughing and then reached forward and grabbed Hitomi's wrist, as quick as a flash.
Hitomi yelled and tried to pull away, the pain in her stomach getting worse and worse, tears ran down her face as she was dragged outside the door.
"You seem to be afraid Miss Kanzaki," the man almost screeched in laughter "You don't need to be, we only want the child, but then it IS inside of you"
Hitomi stared at this figure holding her wrist and watched as began to disfigure, to waver and change into another form, like mist off a lake.
Hitomi didn't wait to see what it was, with a scream she twisted her wrist to loosen his grip and kicked out hard. Pushing him over and running back inside she slammed and locked the door, only hearing a strange laughter from outside...
...
...
...
"NO!" Hitomi shot up out of the covers of her bed and sat gasping on the floor, tangled in sheets and her pyjamas
She looked around the familiar room and the sighed. It had been a dream.
"But was it just a dream?" she looked around and caught sight of her wrist beneath the sleeve of her top
Burned into the flesh lightly was a handprint, and her stomach hurt.
"A vision" she said quietly and cradled her arm and her stomach, someone or some people were after, the vision was sent to her for a reason, they always were.
She began to cry, not only did she have to be pregnant but also now she and her child were in danger, why did these things always happen to her? And she was alone in this; her parents and Yukari said they would stand by her but not this, not against something like this, who would believe it? No one even knew that she'd gone to Gaea. So how would they even believe that someone people were after her.
It was like some crazy film that she'd been sucked into.
The burn stung but she ignored it, it seemed like every time these things showed, these shadow people or whatever they were, the baby seemed troubled. Was this the danger the cards had warned about? She had no doubt. Perhaps these things wanted the baby dead, after all, it did feel like she was miscarrying or something when they were near.
Twice now they'd come, in the last 24 hours, what was she going to do? She couldn't tell anyone and she couldn't even protect herself from them.
No one could protect her here...
Pulling herself into a praying position Hitomi closed her eyes and thought, hard. If they could see each other when they wanted to, would he be able to hear her as well? She really couldn't do this alone...
Hello?
Help me...
Please...
Can you hear me?...
Hitomi gave up; obviously it only worked when they were both thinking of each other. She wiped her eyes and stood up, no use crying Hitomi, she told herself, you're obviously on your own on this one so get on with it.
The first thing she did was to go into her brother's room and fetch the baseball bat.
Well, there was no reason to go unprepared.
* * * * * *
"She had to go, she was still just a girl"
* * * * * *
"Hitomi please, don't dawdle!"
Her mother had insisted on a hospital check up on Hitomi to see if it was going well, a scan and things were also on her agenda. If Hitomi hadn't know about it for four months...well...plenty could be going wrong, she reasoned.
They walked into the waiting room of the maternity section of the hospital and Hitomi immediately felt that this was a bad idea.
All of the women and couples in that room looked at her with a look that Hitomi could guess the meaning of. 'Oh my god what a slut'. It was written in their expressions and if it hadn't been for her mothers tight grip on her hand she would have run right out that second.
"Hitomi Kanzaki, please"
"Thank you, please take a seat, someone will be right out"
"Right, come on, Hitomi"
They placed themselves in the corner of the room away from prying eyes and Hitomi bit her lip, all the women hear for ultrasounds were in couples. She felt lonely, even though her mother was there she felt that she ought to be here in tens years from now with a man at her side.
Not her mother, this was all wrong.
They waited patiently but soon Hitomi began to fidget...
"Hitomi Kanzaki? The doctor will see you now"
They were led into one of the quiet rooms and were met with a female doctor, Ms. Kanno by the name tag and were asked to sit.
"I'm guessing it's you who's here to have her first ultra-sound?" she asked Hitomi, who nodded, "Well don't worry, I'm here to look after you, not to make judgements. I don't care how you got into this situation as long as you're both healthy and you're not in any kind of trouble, be it boys, drugs or gangs. Understand Miss Kanzaki?"
Hitomi stared, dumbstruck for a moment then nodded again.
She waited calmly as her mother and Kanno talked things over about insurance slips and such as well as help lines and advice centres for Hitomi to visit if she needed help. Once they'd talked everything over, Hitomi putting in a 'yes' or 'no' in places, Kanno said:
"All right let's take a look shall we?"
Hitomi sat still "What?"
Kanno smiled warmly "What else are we here for Hitomi? We're going to have a look at your baby. This way please, jump up on the bed"
Hitomi did as she was told and, under her mother's direction, exposed the right part of her stomach as Dr. Kanno set up the ultrasound and rubbed in the gel for the sensor to go over on.
"Ack, cold" Hitomi shivered as the other two women laughed
"I went through the same thing myself with you and your brother, so stop complaining" her mother mock-scolded
"Here we go, Hitomi" Kanno placed the sensors onto the gel on Hitomi's stomach and watched the screen for the picture to develop "There won't be THAT much to see yet but still, there'll be something to look at, here we go..."
An image came up on screen, black and white with a few blobs here and there, a small and perfect image in the centre, with a small beating heart and you could just make out it's head and body developing.
Hitomi breathed in deeply and reached out to touch the screen, it was inside her, it was hers...if only he was here to see...she breathed in the atmosphere of the room. It was moving to feel so close to something and know that you were the one helping it grow and come out to the world, that you were the one it needed.
Magic.
In later life that would how she would describe it, but now it was just strange and beautiful.
"Hmm, I think there's some dirt on the screen..."
Hitomi heard her mother go "W-what...is that normal?"
Hitomi came out of her trance of looking at the screen and looked around at the other two women, they looked stunned. Turning back to the screen Hitomi went to see what they were looking at.
Around the small beating bubble, white mist was formed and curled around the body of the tiny life form. They moved as the child moved and seemed as solid and the child itself.
Kanno seemed at a loss for words, her mother too. Hitomi stared and placed her hand on the screen, tears bubbling over once more and sobbed, she knew what they were...
Hitomi didn't know who said it first but she knew they had identified the mist...
"Wings"
* * *
Was that chapter ok for you guys? I promise I will bring in people soon! This is the build up! Woo! Anyway, did you recognise the cameo? And I guess you all have pretty good ideas of the father now, well, read and review! Till next time!
Disclaimer: I do not own Escaflowne
* * *
"Mom?" Hitomi opened the door to the kitchen where her Mother was laying the table for dinner and sat down in her usual spot, the TV was still blaring so her brother and father wouldn't be able to hear a thing It was now or never.
"Yes Hitomi?" her mother smiled at her warmly
Hitomi felt uncomfortable, perhaps she ought to wait until later, but she had promised Yukari...but her mother looked so warm and loving that Hitomi couldn't bring her world down on her this soon...
"I have something I need to talk to you about" Hitomi began
"Oh?"
"Yes, it's quite...very important" Hitomi continued "But I don't want you to have the reaction I know you're going to have so I want you to sit down and not to talk until I've finished"
"But dinner is almo~"
"Please?"
Her mother hesitated and then, wiping her hair away from her eyes, shut all the doors and sat down opposite Hitomi.
Hitomi sighed, so this was it, she was going to tell someone else. This was a big step and she wasn't sure she could take it right now. But what else could she do? She was going to start showing soon and then who wouldn't know? Well, apart from them...and this was the sort of time when you needed a mother's protection and advice, if she didn't want to disown Hitomi on the spot.
"Mother, you know I'm not one to make stupid choices or do anything rash and awful, and this all happened recently and it's something that I didn't mean to happen, it just did"
Hitomi stopped and realised she didn't make sense then backed up slowly "I did something...and now I'm in trouble"
"Did you take drugs?" Hitomi's mother looked bewildered "Because if you've got a drug habit then you're to sort it out double quick"
"No, no, no, oh no!" Hitomi gasped, "I'm on track! Of course I wouldn't...no it's not that. Mom...I didn't mean this to happen but...I'm going to be having a baby..."
Silence.
Her mother let out a small giggle and then said narrowed her eyes and said slowly, and cautiously "What?"
Hitomi mumbled it again and kept her eyes lowered, tears almost spilling over.
Hitomi's mother stood up and looked around the room, looking for something to help her understand what her child had just said. Finding nothing she sat down again and faced her daughter.
"Hitomi, how did this happen?" she asked softly
Hitomi looked at her in disbelief.
Her mother raised her eyebrows once more and said "Hitomi Kanzaki stop playing around the point, you know exactly what I mean by 'how'"
Hitomi lowered her eyes again "I can't tell you, you wouldn't really believe me if I did, can we just leave out that detail and skip to the part where I'm pregnant and I get it out of me?"
"Hitomi I need to know who the father is and how it all happened, is it a boy from school? You shouldn't lie to protect him" her mother worried "He needs to take responsibility for this, what's he going to do?"
"He doesn't know"
"Is it that Amano boy? Who left for England?" her mother pressed "I mean you never did stop going on about him until the day he left, you didn't act on anything did you?"
"No, no of course not mom, I just can't tell yo~"
"Hitomi please! I can't support you until you tell me everything"
"But I can't tell you!"
"Tell you what?"
They both jumped and looked around to find her father and brother in the door, looking confused.
"Mamoru, leave the room please" Hitomi's mother ordered quietly
Mamoru stared, "What's going on?"
"Leave"
Her father ushered Mamoru out and shut the door to the kitchen "What's going on then, you look so serious"
"Hitomi's pregnant"
Silence returned to the room and then it was broken with a loud yell of surprise and then he began to banter at her with a speech of what-the-hell-did-you-think-you-were-doing and a dose of 'I'm going to kill the boy who did this to you!' thrown in.
They could hear Mamoru outside the door yelp in surprise but didn't pay any attention, he would have found out sooner or later anyway.
"Dad, please don't yell like that!" Hitomi cried
"Why not?" he answered "My only daughter has gone and had under age sex and even worse! She got PREGNANT WITH SOME LOUT'S CHILD!"
Hitomi stood up and yelled "HE IS NOT A LOUT!"
Her mother looked at them both standing off and said quietly "Please, sit down, both of you, we need to discuss this" with some more cajoling they both sat down and joined the table discussion
"Who's the father," her dad asked
"She won't say"
"Hitomi please tell us who the father is" he was trying to keep his temper "We need to let his parents know"
"He doesn't have any parents" she answered truthfully, "Please, don't get him involved"
Her dad looked about ready to burst while her mother just looked calmly at the table, deep in thought.
"Please Hitomi" her dad said again
"I can't"
"Just leave her," her Mother said quietly, "We can't make her tell us. Hitomi, how many months pregnant are you?"
"Four"
Her father stood up again, his hand to his forehead "Four? Lord, the sickness? It was morning sickness?"
"When did you find out you were pregnant?"
"Today" Hitomi replied, her eyes stung and her belly had butterflies "I figured it out today"
Her mother sighed "Well, I'm glad you came to us this soon, this means we can do something~"
Hitomi cut her off with "I'm not aborting it"
Her father turned to her, his forehead now crinkled with worry, "You can't possibly think you can look after it do you? You'll have to drop school and everything!"
"I can try!"
"We'll all have to help out" her mother looked ready to cry, she reached out and put Hitomi's hand in hers "I know you don't trust us enough to tell us who the father is but Hitomi, please believe me when I say that we'll help you through this" she eyed her husband "Even if it doesn't look like it now"
Hitomi's eyes filled and spilled over and she let herself be hugged and comforted by her mother as if she was five years old again, her father calmed and stroked her hand lovingly. For a moment all of them knew that this was going to happen, there would be a baby coming and that they'd all need to pitch in, they certainly weren't going to leave Hitomi stranded.
Family meant something, and as much as even her father didn't want to admit it, there was going to be a new member pretty soon.
Even Mamoru, outside eavesdropping, secretly vowed to do whatever he could for his sister.
* * * * * *
"Well if you can't stay...then let me tell you that..."
* * * * * *
Hitomi was tired the next morning, and even though she'd has so much time off school due to her morning sickness, her mother had relented under the light of new information and told her that she could have the day off.
Hitomi felt a little uncomfortable with the decision though, at four months she didn't really need special treatment and if this was going to happen then she'd fall even further behind in her school work than she had been already.
So, discontent to lie around not doing anything, she called Yukari early and asked her to collect the work for and bring it over later and yes, she assured her friend that she had told her parents and no, they hadn't disowned her, and yes, she was keeping the baby and yes, she was perfectly alright, just a little tired.
She could practically hear the relief of her friend down the phone line and smiled as she hung up.
Lying back, Hitomi closed her eyes and lay her hand on her stomach, she wondered whether the baby should be moving soon, and what it would feel like, a split second of worry over the fact that she was 15 vanished as she fell into slumber where she flew through Gaea and watched Van from afar...
...
...
...
"W-Whuh?" Hitomi pulled her head up to see that it was noon on the clock and that the doorbell was setting off a pounding headache
Pulling on her dressing gown Hitomi shook sleepiness away to stumble downstairs and open the door slowly to a bright and warm morning with a salesman grinning down at her.
"Shouldn't you be in school?" he asked
His face seemed pale and dim, Hitomi couldn't help but stare, it was like a mask, fixed into a strange smile that set off his jet-black hair. He wore a strange, cape style coat and a wide brimmed hat that shaded the pale skin of his face.
"C-can I help you?" Hitomi asked, rubbing her eyes
"Brilliant Industries Ma'am" he smiled a smile that gave Hitomi shivers and continued "Are you home alone?"
"What? Why?" Hitomi asked, suddenly suspicious
He pulled back and then laughed, a sound that made Hitomi more nervous, suddenly Hitomi found her stomach hurting again, as if something was pulling at it. She winced and grabbed it trying to will the pain to stop.
The salesman carried on laughing and then reached forward and grabbed Hitomi's wrist, as quick as a flash.
Hitomi yelled and tried to pull away, the pain in her stomach getting worse and worse, tears ran down her face as she was dragged outside the door.
"You seem to be afraid Miss Kanzaki," the man almost screeched in laughter "You don't need to be, we only want the child, but then it IS inside of you"
Hitomi stared at this figure holding her wrist and watched as began to disfigure, to waver and change into another form, like mist off a lake.
Hitomi didn't wait to see what it was, with a scream she twisted her wrist to loosen his grip and kicked out hard. Pushing him over and running back inside she slammed and locked the door, only hearing a strange laughter from outside...
...
...
...
"NO!" Hitomi shot up out of the covers of her bed and sat gasping on the floor, tangled in sheets and her pyjamas
She looked around the familiar room and the sighed. It had been a dream.
"But was it just a dream?" she looked around and caught sight of her wrist beneath the sleeve of her top
Burned into the flesh lightly was a handprint, and her stomach hurt.
"A vision" she said quietly and cradled her arm and her stomach, someone or some people were after, the vision was sent to her for a reason, they always were.
She began to cry, not only did she have to be pregnant but also now she and her child were in danger, why did these things always happen to her? And she was alone in this; her parents and Yukari said they would stand by her but not this, not against something like this, who would believe it? No one even knew that she'd gone to Gaea. So how would they even believe that someone people were after her.
It was like some crazy film that she'd been sucked into.
The burn stung but she ignored it, it seemed like every time these things showed, these shadow people or whatever they were, the baby seemed troubled. Was this the danger the cards had warned about? She had no doubt. Perhaps these things wanted the baby dead, after all, it did feel like she was miscarrying or something when they were near.
Twice now they'd come, in the last 24 hours, what was she going to do? She couldn't tell anyone and she couldn't even protect herself from them.
No one could protect her here...
Pulling herself into a praying position Hitomi closed her eyes and thought, hard. If they could see each other when they wanted to, would he be able to hear her as well? She really couldn't do this alone...
Hello?
Help me...
Please...
Can you hear me?...
Hitomi gave up; obviously it only worked when they were both thinking of each other. She wiped her eyes and stood up, no use crying Hitomi, she told herself, you're obviously on your own on this one so get on with it.
The first thing she did was to go into her brother's room and fetch the baseball bat.
Well, there was no reason to go unprepared.
* * * * * *
"She had to go, she was still just a girl"
* * * * * *
"Hitomi please, don't dawdle!"
Her mother had insisted on a hospital check up on Hitomi to see if it was going well, a scan and things were also on her agenda. If Hitomi hadn't know about it for four months...well...plenty could be going wrong, she reasoned.
They walked into the waiting room of the maternity section of the hospital and Hitomi immediately felt that this was a bad idea.
All of the women and couples in that room looked at her with a look that Hitomi could guess the meaning of. 'Oh my god what a slut'. It was written in their expressions and if it hadn't been for her mothers tight grip on her hand she would have run right out that second.
"Hitomi Kanzaki, please"
"Thank you, please take a seat, someone will be right out"
"Right, come on, Hitomi"
They placed themselves in the corner of the room away from prying eyes and Hitomi bit her lip, all the women hear for ultrasounds were in couples. She felt lonely, even though her mother was there she felt that she ought to be here in tens years from now with a man at her side.
Not her mother, this was all wrong.
They waited patiently but soon Hitomi began to fidget...
"Hitomi Kanzaki? The doctor will see you now"
They were led into one of the quiet rooms and were met with a female doctor, Ms. Kanno by the name tag and were asked to sit.
"I'm guessing it's you who's here to have her first ultra-sound?" she asked Hitomi, who nodded, "Well don't worry, I'm here to look after you, not to make judgements. I don't care how you got into this situation as long as you're both healthy and you're not in any kind of trouble, be it boys, drugs or gangs. Understand Miss Kanzaki?"
Hitomi stared, dumbstruck for a moment then nodded again.
She waited calmly as her mother and Kanno talked things over about insurance slips and such as well as help lines and advice centres for Hitomi to visit if she needed help. Once they'd talked everything over, Hitomi putting in a 'yes' or 'no' in places, Kanno said:
"All right let's take a look shall we?"
Hitomi sat still "What?"
Kanno smiled warmly "What else are we here for Hitomi? We're going to have a look at your baby. This way please, jump up on the bed"
Hitomi did as she was told and, under her mother's direction, exposed the right part of her stomach as Dr. Kanno set up the ultrasound and rubbed in the gel for the sensor to go over on.
"Ack, cold" Hitomi shivered as the other two women laughed
"I went through the same thing myself with you and your brother, so stop complaining" her mother mock-scolded
"Here we go, Hitomi" Kanno placed the sensors onto the gel on Hitomi's stomach and watched the screen for the picture to develop "There won't be THAT much to see yet but still, there'll be something to look at, here we go..."
An image came up on screen, black and white with a few blobs here and there, a small and perfect image in the centre, with a small beating heart and you could just make out it's head and body developing.
Hitomi breathed in deeply and reached out to touch the screen, it was inside her, it was hers...if only he was here to see...she breathed in the atmosphere of the room. It was moving to feel so close to something and know that you were the one helping it grow and come out to the world, that you were the one it needed.
Magic.
In later life that would how she would describe it, but now it was just strange and beautiful.
"Hmm, I think there's some dirt on the screen..."
Hitomi heard her mother go "W-what...is that normal?"
Hitomi came out of her trance of looking at the screen and looked around at the other two women, they looked stunned. Turning back to the screen Hitomi went to see what they were looking at.
Around the small beating bubble, white mist was formed and curled around the body of the tiny life form. They moved as the child moved and seemed as solid and the child itself.
Kanno seemed at a loss for words, her mother too. Hitomi stared and placed her hand on the screen, tears bubbling over once more and sobbed, she knew what they were...
Hitomi didn't know who said it first but she knew they had identified the mist...
"Wings"
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Was that chapter ok for you guys? I promise I will bring in people soon! This is the build up! Woo! Anyway, did you recognise the cameo? And I guess you all have pretty good ideas of the father now, well, read and review! Till next time!