Unsuspected
By
Marie Darkholme
Chapter Eight – Goodbye!
"Are you done, honey?" the auburn haired voice's echoed in the empty bathroom.
"Not yet, mommy." The girl replied, her voice sounding rather annoyed. There was definitely something strange going on. She didn't know why her mother had just packed everything and headed there. And now she was rushing her in the bathroom.
Sora looked to her watch, watching the bigger pointer heading towards four o'clock. She was nervous. Even if she tried hard to keep it from showing, it was almost impossible to hide it. Her voice was accelerated and shaky, she moved way too fast for her own daughter to keep up and she was constantly looking behind, fearing someone would be after her.
Looking at her reflection in the woman's bathroom, she convinced herself that she was doing the right thing, that there was nothing else that she could do except running away from everything and everyone she knew. Of course she wasn't going to a completely new place; still… she closed her eyes and splashed some water on her face.
Ai slowly walked from the small cubicle, straightening her petit skirt. She popped to her mother's side and quickly washed her hands. Sora smiled at her beautiful daughter and had the only confirmation she needed: she would do anything for her daughter, cross the biggest ocean, break contact from the world, forget everything and everyone she knew for her, if that was the only way to stay by her side. The small girl straightened her hair in front of the mirror and smiled at her mother.
"Let's go?" the auburn haired asked, stretching her hand. The youngster took her with a small nod.
They crossed the always busy hallways that led to the check-in counter. The woman was quick to confirm all details about their voyage. They put their suitcases on the rolling carpet and Ai watched amused as they slid through a small opening with black curtains and disappeared. She wondered if it wasn't possible that they would loose their suitcases in such a big place. The lady on the counter with the pretty hat smiled at her.
"Don't worry, your things will go to the same plane as you are." She assured her.
Sora looked once again to the watch on her wrist. Half past four. There was still so much time; over half an hour… she tried to calm herself. Mimi would only see she was missing after trying to pick Ai at half past five, so that gave her enough time to escape without troubles. She sighed. It was all Taichi's fault…
Someone honked behind him and Taichi felt like to come out of the small red coupe and smash the man's head. Couldn't he see that no one was going anywhere? Wherever they turned there was always traffic and to make things worst, an accident had blocked the entire highway. It looked like a large thing by what he could hear in the radio; about seven vehicles had collided due to the rain that had started falling harder than ever. Also, the smog that blocked their view should have contributed to such a mess.
He rested his head against the seat and tried to calm himself. Mimi had left at four and it was now half past four. Check in had to be made an hour and half before boarding, so that left a plane for after five, minimum. Therefore, he still had a clean hour to get to the airport and catch Sora before she would make the biggest mistake in her life. And even if she got into that plane and…he tried to avoid the worst scenario, but if she would take the plane before he could get there, he would follow her and search for her through the entire country if necessary. It would be difficult for her to hide from him.
Some kilometres ahead, the affluence of ambulances made the closest drivers realize the seriousness of the accident. Some of them inhaled exasperated, trying to find a way to outline the accident. But it was an impossible task; they were stuck in front of a blocked highway. Unless someone would clear the road quickly, they had no way to run to.
Ai balanced her legs over the high chair of the cafeteria. In her hand she had an ice-cream. An exception, Sora had clearly explained. "Ice-creams are not to eat in the winter, but because it's hot in here and…well, it's kind of a special day, I'm letting you have it." Before this, the little brown haired choose the ice-cream and was now watching as people walked from one side to the other, people with all different appearances, clothes and suitcases.
There was this old fat lady, with long blond hair tied up on the top of her head in a bun, which was dragging a huge trolley. The woman wore a long dress and was covered in necklaces and rings on her fingers. Ai made a disgusted face as the lady passed by her, her forehead sweating from the effort of pushing the trolley.
Once in a while, young women with blue navy hats and high wheels shoes would pass and greet each other. They had the symbol of the American Airlines plastered on their neat uniforms.
The girl watched as a business man, with a small case sat by her side and quickly engulfed a coffee before almost running out. He had a black suit. Strangely to her, the image that came to her innocent mind was the image of a guest they had had at dinner some days ago. She had fancied him at first sight. He seemed nice and sympathetic. Of course, that being mom's friend he had to be nice. Mommy only took nice friends to her house.
She licked another portion of ice-cream. It suddenly felt like an huge thing to eat and she regretted asking for it. Now she would have to eat it. Fortunately the part left was the most delicious, so she shouldn't have many problems eating it.
Sora drank a sip of her coffee. Looking at her unquiet daughter she was already regretting buying her the ice-cream. She looked into her wrist again. The time seemed to have slow down. She looked at the people around her. Life seemed so simple while all of them where sitting there, chatting…she sighed. There was no turning back now. If she had had any opportunity to ever turn back, it had been when she had known she was pregnant. Now it was simply too late.
Life is simple in fact. People are the ones who complicate it. Like a Portuguese poet once said, it hurts to think and it can only bring unhappiness. Sora reflected over the theme. It was a fact the rationalizing things had mostly brought her problems, especially when she tried to rationalize her feelings. Maybe if she had thought less and acted more she wouldn't be in that airport right now…she would be at her house, with her lovely daughter in one arm, and her loving husband on the other. But life could never get that simple for her now…she had to face it: she had fucked up…
Taichi sighed. As far as he knew, he had driven two metres in the last half an hour and he was getting out of time. It had been a while…quite a while since he had last been in the city, but he knew he would never make it in time if they kept moving so slow. Nevertheless, there wasn't much he could do. He could only hope that the police and firemen would clear the streets pretty soon or start running like hell, leaving Mimi's car abandoned in the middle of the highway.
He rejected the second and kept with the first, begging that they would hurry. He turned on the radio, trying to quite himself. However, the music that turned up, only brought him more sadness and the feeling of helpless while the woman he loved ran away and he was stuck in the middle of traffic. The lyrics echoed through his mind…
Lost in the darkness, hoping for a sign.
Instead there is only silence,
Can't you hear my screams?
Never stop hoping,
Need to know where you are,
But one thing is for sure,
You're always in my heart.
I'll find you somewhere.
I'll keep on trying until my dying day.
I just need to know whatever has happened,
The truth will free my soul.
Lost in the darkness, try to find your way home.
I want to embrace you and never let you go.
Almost hope you're in Heaven, so no one can hurt your soul
Living in agony cause I just do not know
Where you are…
The auburn haired listened to the music playing on the radio, echoing through the cafeteria. She suppressed her sadness. She had known where he was all the time. He had always been in her heart, even when she tried to rip it apart, he had remained there. He was never lost. Taichi was always in her thoughts, in her actions, in her love.
She paid for her coffee and Ai's ice-cream. The little brown haired followed her mother, thinking once again she shouldn't have had that ice-cream. She could feel it around in her tummy while she walked.
The number and name of the flight appeared on the boarding list, and Sora started her way through the long corridors that led to their airplane's boarding room, crossing the check points where Ai would find amusing how she had to put everything she carried on the rolling carpet, then passing through a doorframe that would sometimes beep when she forgot to put her watch on the bandage.
He had driven a few more metres, but mostly, he was still in the same place, and in the watch displayed on the screen of the car, he could see the time rushing by.
Cursing his damn luck, he opened the door, exited the car and slammed the door shut. It was heard a beep as he closed the doors and started running trough the traffic. Behind him, he could hear some drivers honking and complaining that he had left his car stopped in the middle of the driveway, but at the moment, he couldn't care less. He wasn't sure how long it would take him to get to the airport on foot, but he wasn't planning on giving up.
The last gym practises were doing some effect on him. Still, after running for fifteen minutes without a stop his breath was starting to fail him. The cold air blocked his airways, freezing his nose and throat. The air coming into his lungs was no longer warmed up and he was starting to feel slightly dizzy from the lack of oxygen. Nevertheless, he kept running.
The loud sounds of the ambulances made him realise he was getting closer to the source of the problem. It was indeed a great accident, involving several cars. Now he was sure he had made the right choice leaving the car behind. As far as he knew, he could have been stuck there for the next two hours.
He crossed the accident place, catching the attention of some paramedics and policemen, while he half walked half run, completely running out of breath through the scene. Once he was on the other side, the road was as clear as a Summer sky. He reached for his cell.
"Hello!" he called out. "I would like a cab to meet me as fast as possible avoiding the highway." He quickly gave the name of the street he was on.
Seven minutes later, a cab made a lousy turn and stopped inches from his feet. In other time, he would have refused to travel with the individual but he didn't have time to waste and so, he quickly climbed into the taxi. "To the airport." He told the man driving.
The driver was a black man with a funny hair and big mouth. It was impossible for Taichi to keep the man quiet as he just kept on and on about all the issues he could think off. First he talked about politics and how he wished Bush had lost the elections; then he went on how the Chicago Bulls simply weren't the same without Michael "Air" Jordan; from the weather to environment and, noticing his passenger was Asian, to what he really thought about Japan. The atomic bomb on Nagasaki and Hiroshima really weren't the events that led to the end of the war, he explained.
"The war was already over. The atomic bombs were just the way of this…this Occident people trying to make a stand. We're bigger and have more guns than you do. And they call us savage. But tell me, how is like to live in Japan? I'm from Africa, an immigrant, ya know?..."
Taichi simply ignored the man. Fortunately, the African was a supreme knower of the streets and avoided every line he found, choosing shortcuts and doing dangerous maneuvers at high speed. For two or three times, Taichi wondered if was ever going to arrive alive to the airport.
Twenty minutes later, the brown haired was running through the airport rotating doors. He quickly checked the flights list. There was only a plane, directly to Paris…and it was boarding, which meant that it would soon departure, taking his Sora away with it.
Knowing he wouldn't go pass the check points without a ticket, he quickly brought a ticket in a nearby counter to a flight to somewhere in Europe, boarding some rooms away from the New York/Paris flight. He made the check-in, rushing the girl on the counter. The girl eyed him annoyed as she handed his ticked back to him, but the brown haired didn't even see, nor did he care. All he knew was that Sora's flight was ready to departure.
The long corridors that led to the boarding rooms had never in his entire life seemed so big as then. He tried to keep his pace steady and quick, but his vision was blurting, his throat hurting him, due to the difference in temperatures from the outside and the inside. He eventually had to stop, deciding that it was best to get there seconds later than not to get there at all.
He finally reached the final corridors, the numbers of the boarding rooms filling his eyes, spreading in front of him. For his unhappiness, Sora's boarding room was almost the last one, which meant that was at the end of the corridor. Taking in the last strengths he had, he run down the corridor.
Exhausted, he leaned against the door to the room and opened it.
Empty.
No, it couldn't be empty. He hadn't heard…but of course, he had been so engulfed into getting to the room that he had completely lost track with reality. Of course he hadn't heard the last call being made. He slowly walked into the room, watching the empty place, where an airplane had been just seconds earlier through the window. He sighed as he covered his face with his hands. He had been late…like always. He silently cursed the damn driver who had caused the accident. He should burn in hell for that.
A part of him tried to calm him down; telling him it was okay, that he could always go the Paris. It would be difficult for a famous stylist like Sora go unnoticed in Paris. But the other part told him that once again he had lost her. Of course he could go to Paris, but when he finally finds her, who knows, maybe she has met some French and gotten married. He was still surprised at how she could have stayed single. The only reply that occur him was the fact that she was still in love with him.
He sank his face in his arms.
"I'm sorry mommy…" a little girl's voice cried. "I really had to go."
Taichi heard the footsteps slow down as they got nearer. The door opened, but he didn't look up.
"Oh…we've lost it, mommy. I'm so sorry…I promise I won't eat more ice-scream in the winter."
Taichi heard the footsteps stopping and then a pair of feet touching the ground. Then little steps running towards him. He raised his head and watched as a little brown haired girl walked passed him and glued her small hands to the window.
"Look, mommy, there it goes our plane." She said with a hint of sadness. But there was no reply.
Sora put a hand over her mouth. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She was incapable of reacting in any way. She could see Taichi standing, a bright in his eyes as he walked towards her. He stopped.
"Ai…honey…" her voice trembled. The girl turned and seeing the man she had been thinking about earlier, her face light up in joy.
"Hello, mister." She extended her small hand to him. Taichi stooped down to her level and shook her hand.
"Hello Ai." He said with a smile. The girl seemed very happy with his presence and he contained himself, trying not to take her in his arms and caress her, feel the daughter he knew to be his.
"I didn't know you were going on the plane too, mommy's friend. But you lost it too." She spoke, her voice, excited with the events. "But mommy says it's okay because we can get another one in two couples of hours."
"Ai, honey, go see the planes, leaving. See how many you can count, okay?" Sora interrupted, gaining her voice back. Ai quickly walked to the window.
"One…" she exclaimed happily as a plane rose in the air.
"I…you..what…?" her confused words where interrupted as Taichi pushed her towards him and kissed her. Sora pulled away.
"You can't do that." she complained, her voice sounding more sad than hurt. He smiled, taking her hands on his.
"I'm not married anymore, Sora." He told her. The girl couldn't hide a blink in her eyes. Still, there were many things…
He interrupted her. "I don't want to think about anything else except the fact that I love you." He whispered. "I love, and I want to stay with you." Her lips moved but he gave her no time to say a word. "I love you and Ai, both. I know she's my daughter, you can't hide it from me anymore."
"But…everything…aren't you angry? Aren't you going to take her away from me?" Sora asked; her voice shaking as she watched her small treasure by the window.
"Four…"
"Why would I, if I want both her and her mother. I won't content with one." He smiled. For the first time, Sora smiled as well, and a tear escaped her eyes. There were things she wanted to say, to explain…so many things…but at that moment, there were no words that she could say.
Their kiss was different from that night, she could tell. It was still tender and soft, but this time it was also passionate. She accepted and retributed, feeling Taichi's warm embrace closing around her.
Yes, things had changed…but they had changed so many times. For the first time in her life, Sora realised that change wasn't always bad, didn't always meant suffering and sadness. Changes could be good. This was certainly a good change. Life is a rolling wheel that sometimes happens to beat on a rock, tripping and turning around. But that doesn't mean the turn was bad. It's just a different way to keep living.
They opened their eyes to find a six years old girl staring wide eyed at them. She put her hands over her waist.
"Mommy, you lied to me." She said slightly annoyed. "You said this friend wasn't a boyfriend."
The two lovers smiled, stooping down to her side.
"No, technically I didn't lie, because he's only my boyfriend starting now." Sora smiled. The little girl raised an eyebrow.
"Hello, mommy's boyfriend." She greeted with a distrusted smile. Taichi couldn't hold himself any longer and took her in his arms. The girl was surprised, but as if a child could distinguish his progenitors, she hugged back, feeling that she would have someone to call daddy from now on. And she smiled, happy to have a family at last.
Well, this is the end folks. It wasn't the ending I was expecting, but well, it turned out like this. I know you wnated more romance, but how much romance can I get in a boarding room at an airport. Hope you've enjoyed nevertheless. So just tell me something.
By the way. I've found an editor...well, actually he found me. Thanks Musashibf, I'll send a chapter right away.
Thanks to all reviewers.
Anubis24 - my chapters tend to be sad, but I hope you've enjoyed the end. I feel like I could have done better.
Sonicmixfr - you can bet I'll write more, I just don't know when...ehehe. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.
DarkMetalAngel of Destruction - thanks a lot for the website. Pretty cool. Now you have the family together. Happy? I hope so, because I don't feel like to die just yet.