Author's Note: Sorry again for the wait. Been pretty busy deciding what I was gonna to do next. In this chapter a year has gone by. Just incase anyone gets confuzzled. Anyway, I do not own Kingdom Hearts or any of its characters, just Mie and her parents.
I looked into the blazing fire, trying to gather my thoughts. I scrunched up in my blanket to keep warm. I then looked into the blank face of Father who was sitting on a log across from me. He stared into the bright orange flames that seemed to be dancing to the rhythm of the cool night breeze and the sound of peoples' distant voices. All the while, his eyes never looked up to face me, or any other shadow that came to pass.
It had been a year since the stranger named Sephiroth came to our village and threatened to kill Father. The image of him was still burned in my mind as if it had happened the night before. So many questions went through my head that night. Questions that I did and didn't want answered. I couldn't explain it. I always thought of Father as a strong, noble warrior. A hero. I didn't know what to think of him if he wasn't. I mean, what was so bad about Mother and Father's secret anyway? Was it so bad that they couldn't tell me? That's what I worried about.
"What are you thinking about Mierie?" Father said suddenly. I was shaken out of my thoughts and instantly looked at his face. He was still staring at the fire, not even looking up. I wasn't surprised. He rarely made eye contact with anyone anymore. "Nothing really…" I sighed, looking down at my feet. It made me sad to see Father like this. Ever since he went to that castle a few days after Sephiroth arrived, he hasn't been the same. It was as if he saw something so horrible, he lost all sense of emotion. Sometimes I wondered if he even noticed how much his quietness and absence affected us. Sometimes Mother cried at nights when he wasn't here with us. He was usually out walking along the path we used to take after dinner. Sometimes I missed those walks.
"That's unusual…You usually always have a question to ask." Father still didn't look at me, but I could sense he wanted to get into a conversation. Something he rarely did anymore. "I remember when you were very little, and always questioned about the outside world and why we did certain things…I greatly admired your inquisitiveness." He then stared down at the ground. "Something I never truly possessed as a child…"
This made me wake up from my thoughts. Father never talked about his past. Even at the age of eight, Father's childhood had been a mystery to me. "Why not?" I cocked my head to one side, something I usually did when we used to have these conversations. He then chuckled softly. As if he knew what I was doing even though he wasn't looking at me.
"Well, I wasn't one to question I suppose…" He threw a piece of wood into the fire, once again locking his gaze on it. "I suppose all the small things didn't matter to me… They sort of confused me." I started to have mixed feelings about Father now. He was showing another side of himself I had never witnessed before. It was as if he was opening up what had been concealed all this time.
" Well once again, I wasn't one to question." He then leaned forward, coming closer to the fire. "I was too shy to ask any questions…" He smiled to himself, as if memories were slowly, but surely coming back to him. "Unlike you Mierie, I never imagined what could possibly be beyond our own world, even our own existence. I suppose this place seems like a prison to you. You find all ways out blocked, and the only thing you can do is dream…"
I didn't know what to say. It was as if I was talking to a different person, not my father I thought I knew. " It's just confusing." I said, staring out to the side. "When I think I figured out something, it turns out to be completely different…" I didn't know how to say this to him. We never talked about anything like this. " Things may seem confusing now Mie, but if you give it time and patience, everything will soon make sense…"
He then looked at me for the first time in ages. It seemed as though he was just looking through me, not at me. He still seemed to be lost in his own thoughts. " It may require great effort, and some sacrifices, but you will soon find your way through all of this confusion and darkness…You will find a light to guide you, Mierie. He then grunted as he got up and stretched. I still sat down, trying to process everything he had said. I didn't completely understand, but I learned to trust what Father said. I knew that he couldn't possibly be making this up.
"It's getting late Mie, what do you say we call it a night?" Father then lifted me up and smiled, just like old times. I nodded and then wrapped the blanket even tighter around me, noticing how cold it was. "Dad?" I said, finally having the courage to speak. "Did you ever find your light?" This was a question I've been wanting to ask him. This question has been in the back of my mind for ages until now. Father looked down at me, and we stared at each other for the longest time. "I have not Mierie." He finally said, sounding a little sad. "I thought that my past journeys as a warrior would help me find it…But they had failed me…Like everything else." I looked away from him. I didn't want to get caught up in his emotions. They surrounded him like a barrier and I didn't want to feel the sorrow he was feeling.
"Enough of this." He turned away, staring out in the distance. "Off to bed with you. It's been a long night…" I gave him another nod and then turned around slowly, feeling his hand on my shoulder. "Don't forget this night Mierie, what we talked about…" I then closed my eyes and sighed. "I won't…" I ran toward the direction of our hut, leaving Father to stand alone in the night's darkness.
I woke the next morning feeling queasy. All the thoughts and emotions from the previous night got to me. Father has revealed a completely other side of himself and opened his thoughts to me. That was something I thought would never happen in at least a thousand years. Why did he want to share his thoughts and feelings with me now? He had eight years to do so. Why now? I was thinking that all throughout last night. Could he possibly be trying to tell me something?
I yawned and slipped out of bed. I walked toward my bedroom window, opening the curtains to let the rays of the morning sun through. I drowsily looked out the window, expecting to see the usual pathways and floating glaciers of our village. My eyes instantly widened as I realized this sight was not normal. Nothing would soon be normal after this day passed. Out in the distance, instead of seeing the empty horizon, I saw a great space-like ship blocking the usual sights of the usual mornings.
I ran out my bedroom door screaming all the way. "Mom! Dad! A spaceship! A spaceship!" I wish I could have kept on running, for nothing was going to prepare me for what I saw next. Mother was on the floor, cupping her face in her hands. She was crying…I just stared at her with my big, aqua eyes until common sense kicked in and I knelt down beside her. "Mom, what's wrong?" I tried to console her, but her tears just fell down one after another. "Mom!" I put a comforting arm around her and tried to listen to what she was saying through sobs. "He…he…left!" I didn't know whom she was talking about, until I looked around. There was no one in the hut…just the two of us… I then immediately shot out the open door, leaving Mother to sit on the floor, practically drowning in her own tears.
I ran. I didn't know where, I just wanted to run. It couldn't be. He wouldn't…Why? I ran as far as my little legs would carry me. The wind blew through my braids with each passing step. Why would he do this? It isn't him! I ran to the edge of our village, our world. The ship was now in plain sight, docked on the largest glacier in the distance. I looked around frantically, until I saw a familiar figure, hopping from glacier to glacier.
"DAD!" I screamed as I hopped onto a glacier below me, and worked my way down. "DAD!" I followed close behind, screaming bloody murder all the way. I tried to hold back tears, but I was confused. Why was he acting this way? What affected me most was that he didn't turn around. He acted as if I wasn't even there. Like my screaming was just the wind.
He was near the ship, opening its doors to let himself in. Wherever he was going, I wanted him to take me too. I didn't want to live in this prison alone. I jumped onto the last glacier, where the ship was docked, and just stared at him. He turned around and stared back at me. His eyes seemed sorrowful and almost wet. I looked back at him with my huge eyes, not realizing that I was crying.
"I…I'm sorry Mie…" He then looked away, but not fast enough to conceal the tear that fell down his cheek. I was just left there to stare, to see him turn around and go inside the ship. I was just left there to stare tear stained as I watched him depart from this world forever. Not even one goodbye or a hug and a kiss. As the ship lifted off the ground, I was just left there to stand alone in all the confusion and secrets that surrounded me ever since I was born.
These secrets left wounds in me. Wounds that would affect my life and future. But this particular wound, a wound Father left after his sudden departure, affected the only thing that could hurt me most. My Heart. And I felt that this particular wound would never heal.
