Chapter 3: Good Bye
Emptiness, dark… Is this what you feel when you're going to die?
Am I dying? She asked but words could not come out from her mouth.
Where am I? Why is it so dark? Her body was not responding, but she could still feel.
Softness; she was lying on a bed. She knew it.
I want to open my eyes
She couldn't
She wanted to cry. What was happening to her? What has happened to her?
Fear, confusion…
Tears trailed off her pale face, tears of solitude and sorrow.
Tears of hope
"Oh my God!…" In only a matter of seconds, a woman dashed out of the room.
"She was crying, she was crying…" She repeated to herself with joy while she was running to find the doctor. "It's a sign… please, Kaoru, wake up."
White, cleanliness, shut doors, silence, and a friend with hope disappearing through the hallway of the hospital.
She reacted… She had to save her, not let her die. She wouldn't allow it, not like this.
Tears. Misao let tears drop from her eyes. Just like her friend's, they carried hope.
"Wake up soon, wake up"
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"Tomoe… What are you saying? You wanted this…" His voice was broken; however, for some reason, he didn't feel that hurt. It was not like when she left.
"I-I know that, but it's just… To be honest, I wanted this but," she sighed, "after the accident, you're just not yourself. What happened to the Kenshin I knew? The one that was willing to leave anything to be with me?" But she was hiding something else inside her heart.
"I am sorry, Tomoe, I really am, but… it's my fault. I don't even know where is… Never mind" He was sorry, he hurt Tomoe too, but not as much as he had hurt her.
"It's the best Kenshin. You know? You love her more than you love me. I-I think you just liked me, that's all." She sounded calm. No anger.
"I…" He was out of words. It was true.
"And… I also wanted to say that… I know what you feel because I feel the same way" Now she hid her eyes from his gaze. "I think I just liked you for a while. I don't know. I just wanted to be with you… Now, now I am really in love…" She found the courage to look at him, "of someone else."
He understood, he wasn't hurt, not at all.
"I understand" He looked at her almost pitifully.
He had lost her because he wanted something new. He got lost in his selfishness. He had lost her because he didn't realize just how much she meant to him. He had lost her because he had underestimated her love, his love.
"I feel so bad because you're not with her anymore… Our mistake I suppose." She felt ashamed.
"Things just happen… we can't control them, not at all." He smiled slightly, but his eyes showed just pain and regret.
"I assume this is good bye?" She smiled at him too.
"I think so… Be happy with that person, and… if you really love him, never let him go. Don't make the same mistake I did." He bowed as a sign of respect.
"Thank you" She bowed back. This was it; finally it was done. She felt as if at last she didn't have to carry something heavy over her anymore. "And good bye… I hope she's ok. You'll find her."
"Thank you, too." He only hoped, "But I don't think I will." He had to move on, right? He couldn't mourn. Where she was, if she had woken up, if she was still alive.
He only hoped. He prayed the gods to let him see her again, just one more time, one more day. But the same questions came to his mind, where is she? He didn't know.
"I have to move on. I have to try… Someday I may find you, I hope." He murmured as the sun was setting down.
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"Hey Kenshin, are you sure you want to leave?" he rubbed his head; sometimes he just couldn't understand his friend.
"I am sure, to move on. If I stay here, I'll continue feeling sorry for myself. I'll continue mourning for her." Sano knew. It still hurt, after all this time, it still hurt.
"There has been more than a year, Sano, and I still can remember everything as if it was yesterday. All around me in this place reminds me of her, and I don't even know where she is or if she is still unconscious." He stopped packing for a while.
Still the same pain.
"Besides, you don't get an scholarship to one of the better universities everyday, ne?" Yeah, that too. He had studied a lot, put so much effort to pursue his dreams. Without her, it has been only his career, only that.
"Well, that's true. Man, you're so lucky." Sano's lips turned into a wide grin.
"Yeah… lucky." Kenshin began watching over the window. So lucky that I lost the one that really matters to me.
"Oi, Kenshin, you have to hurry up. To be that smart and forgetting to pack when your plane is leaving in three hours." Sano snapped his friend out of his thoughts.
Kenshin only blinked. True, the suitcase! He had to hurry up.
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"Have fun, Kenshin. See you soon" Sano patted his friend on his back.
"Thanks, Sano. You have been a great friend," He smiled at the crazy man he had in front of him, "and good luck with Megumi. I'm sure she pretty likes you too."
Sano blushed crimson red.
"Ok, ok, the plane will leave" Kenshin laughed at his friend's reaction. It was for sure that he was head over heels for that girl.
"Good bye!" Sano yelled as Kenshin was passing the security door
"Good bye!" And Kenshin disappeared through the crowd.
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"Wait up!" A blue eyed girl yelled from the end of the hall.
I'm always late
So he waited for her.
"Aoshi… I'm sorry," she tried to regain her breath, "I slept over" There was embarrassment on her face.
"Don't worry. The guy has to be the one waiting, ne?" He teased her.
"Aoshi!" She was red, very red.
"So, how was your break?" He asked as they began walking.
"It was ok. We had lots of fun. Who could imagine that going to Hokkaido would be entertaining?" Indeed, she had had a nice time.
"I'm glad."
"How was yours?" She glanced at him.
"It was fine. I went back to Holland to visit my mother; I missed her so much"
She giggled. Although he seemed to be like ice, he was actually warm and gentle. That's why she loved him so much.
"Thinking about?" He asked as he noticed her sudden silence. She was never silent, but he loved that. It was just a part of her.
"Nothing… Oh yeah, we're meeting at the tennis courts at 2 pm right?"
"Yes. Why?"
"Just to be sure. First day of classes and we have to begin training" She sighed.
Aoshi smiled at her annoyed face. He loved that.
"Ok, I have Math right now. Have to go… See you!" She turned left toward the Science building.
"Remember, at 2!" He yelled
"I know! I know!" He just shook his head.
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"Wow, I didn't know that it would be this hard." Kenshin sat on a bench. His first day and he already had tons of homework for the next day, and the next after, even for the next week!
He sat there looking how some guys were playing tennis. His next class was in the Humanities building, but that wasn't until an hour, and since the courts were on his way, he decided to sit and watch the games.
Suddenly he spotted a Sakura tree that was in one corner. It was really beautiful. And memories came back again.
How he met her for the first time under a Sakura tree. She was reading a book and he was playing soccer nearby. The ball had gone toward her although he was sure that he kicked it in other direction. He thought it was destiny that wanted them to meet each other.
She met him with a smile, a wonderful smile. It was not necessary to know her; she had just captured his heart. So they became friends, and then they became more than that. Five years together, sharing laughs, tears, everything. He was happy, she was too, but destiny decided that it was time to test them, to test him, and he failed.
He still missed her; he wanted to know about her. The last year had been just too painful for him, too much sorrow.
He moved on, he continued his life, but not because he wanted to forget about her or because he didn't love her. He still did. Everybody had kept him away from her; they had taken her away so he wouldn't be able to see her anymore.
"And she hates me…" He whispered sadly. Those words. They were left in his mind and heart wounding him deeply.
"I'll never see her again…" He sighed. "I have to let it go, let her go…" There was no sign that she would go back to him, that he would see her again, talk to her. After the accident he just wanted to say that he was sorry, that it was his fault, but he couldn't, he never could. He just needed one more day, one more damn day, and when he was about to make it, they just took her away.
He took off his necklace. One golden chain with a rectangular plaque; on it, it was printed in minuscule letters 'I'll be with you, always. I love you.' That was the gift she had given him for their last anniversary. Before everything...
He looked at the sky. It was clear, bright. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
"There you'll be, always… in my heart"
When I think back on these times,
And the dreams we left behind,
I'll be glad cause I was blessed to get,
To have you in my life,
When I look back on these days,
I look and see your face,
You were right there for me.
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky,
In my heart there'll always be a place for you,
For all my life,
I'll keep a part of you with me,
And everywhere I am there you'll be,
And everywhere I am there you'll be,
Well you showed me how it feels,
To feel the sky within my reach,
And I always will remember all,
The strength you gave to me,
Your love made me make it through,
Oh I owe so much to you,
You were right there for me.
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky,
In my heart there'll always be a place for you,
For all my life,
I'll keep a part of you with me,
And everywhere I am there you'll be,
Cause I always saw you in my light, my strength,
And I wanna thank you now for all the ways,
You were right there for me, you were right there for me
Always!!!
In my dreams I'll always see you soar above the sky,
In my heart there'll always be a place for you,
For all my life,
I'll keep a part of you with me,
And everywhere I am there you'll be,
And everywhere I am there you'll be,
There You'll Be
He had lost her; she wasn't there anymore, but she would always be there, in his heart, his mind, his soul.
Kenshin opened his eyes and glanced at the Sakura tree again…
His heart stopped.
He saw her…
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Yay! Everything going like I have planned, in that sense, the next chapter is the last one… well, if I can't finish it properly in one chappie, then there may be one more.
So, how was it? Too sappy? I am sappy, lol. Well, depressed is more like it. Too much work; writing is one of the things that can relax me.
As I said, since I'm too busy, I haven't checked the grammar or anything like that, so my apologies if there are mistakes, I'm sure there are some.
By the way, the song is 'There You'll Be' by Faith Hill… what can I say, beautiful and it fit pretty well, at least for what I wanted. :P
Ok, see you next time… and I'll remind you that there is a surprise after the end… *ponders*
Take care,
Vic ^-^