Chapter 35------Goodbye
-Slam! - Copellia slapped the cheque against the counter, causing the clerk to jerk in her chair. "Give me that!" Tyson came from behind her and made a swipe for the cheque but ended up missing. "Give it!" Tyson's hand grasped the air for the next three tries. "May I remind you two that this is a public place?" The clerk's voice was stern and sharp and the both of them stopped their childish behaviour. "I'd like to pay for – HEY!" The bluenette plucked the paper out of her hand, "We'd like to pay for BOTH –shoots a look at Copellia- Mai and Riya's medical bills please."
The clerk wrinkled her nose in distaste but took the cheque anyway and began processing it. By this time, the whole group had gathered at the counter, "So, huh huh, what rooms are Mai huh and Riya in?" Max slung an arm over the counter as he caught his breath. The lady did a bit of typing on the keyboard before giving them their answer, "Ward 82. It's up on the 6th floor. HEY! NO RUNNING!" She called after them, but like all youths these days, they didn't listen.
-Ward 82-
The door creaked open and they emerged into a dimly lit room. It smelt overpoweringly of sterilised plastic and in the background, soft beeping could be heard. "They're asleep." Hilary whispered as she drew back the curtains around Mai's bed while Mit-chan did Riya's. "Or still unconscious…ow!" Tyson scowled at Rei who gave him a don't-say-stupid-things look. The figure on the bed neither moved nor flinched; she just laid there, her small breaths fogging up the oxygen mask whenever she exhaled. Her friends could do nothing but hope that she would wake up soon; they had things to tell her. Good things, things that would make everything better, if only she would wake up…
Over on the other end, Copellia brushed a stray lock of hair out of Riya's face and sank into a nearby chair, her eyes focused on the rising and falling red line which ran across the small monitor. 'Riya…'
"He'll be fine, right?" Mit-chan had addressed the question to Copellia but an unfamiliar voice came from behind her, "They just need their rest. It's nothing serious." A Chinese man with shaggy black hair appeared from behind the curtains, "I'm Dr Lee. You people must be their relatives?" He pointed a pen at the group. "No, we're close friends of theirs. Their family is uhhh— over seas, yeah." Dr Lee nodded, "I see. And about their condition, there's nothing to worry about, it's just over-exhaustion. They shouldn't tire themselves out too much, it's really not good for them, they could get anaemia." The others nodded their heads in silence.
They spent the next few minutes discussing details about their friends' condition, the duration of their stay and the hospital bill. Finally, the doctor had to dash for another check-up and the teenagers were left to themselves. "We should go. There's not much use in waiting, I don't think they'll be up any time soon…" Drex agreed with his little sister on that. "Hey, wait," Tyson stopped them at the door, "I wanna do something first."
The boy came back 30 minutes later holding a big basket of flowers; a purple card was tucked snugly in the middle of the floral arrangement. "There.–places basket on bedside table- That way she'll know who won when she wakes up." "Are you that excited to tell her?" "Of course!" Hilary shook her head but smiled, "C'mon. Let's go celebrate your victory." And she took his hand in hers…
-Fast forward, really fast forward-
-Dream-
She stood in front of a huge boulder. Her fingers lightly traced the inscriptions carved on the dusty surface and finally stopped at four small holes. She took them out and placed them piece by piece; when all was done, she stepped back as light started to glowed from the jewels and spread throughout the rock, creating a network of lines and patterns.
She mouthed something and the light erupted from behind the rock, glowing… burning… till all was white…
-End of dream-
Fingers twitched in the still room and slowly, Mai opened her eyes to a greyish-blue room. She rubbed her crusty eyes (you know? When you wake up and you have a bit of umm…people call it the sandman's dust? Yeah, those 'sand' in your eyes) and sat up, 'Hospital again huh? That's when she noticed someone lying on the bed next to her. 'Riya!' She stretched her hand, her fingers outspread to the maximum; but she still couldn't reach him. Frustrated, she pulled the wires off her and swung her legs over the bed.
The girl stared down at him, her ash-brown hair collapsed over her shoulders. "Hey… you awake?" She gently shook his hand, it felt heavy and limp. She sighed and pulled up a chair next to his bed, not once letting go of his hand. Her eyes fell on his face; she saw the double eye-lids she had never noticed before, the slight tinge of red in his hair, the way the moonbeams lit up the right-side of his countenance while the other was shrouded in shadows. 'Light and Dark…' Something in her memory clicked and pictures of what happened flashed in her mind: the battle, Eden, the two bit-beasts, the fight, Copellia crying, Riya lying on the ground…
"This is all stupid Eden's fault!" She whispered harshly. But she knew blaming Eden was no use, it was not as if he cared what they had to say; and there was no physical form of him that she could vent her anger out on… it'd just be like scolding thin air.
Her fingers traced the outline of his hand, "This wouldn't have happened if I didn't fight so hard… and you didn't turn into Eden…and we didn't have to resurrect him…sorry." She checked to see if there was a reaction but none came. She bent one arm on the sheets and laid her head on top; the other hand had its fingers tapping on Riya's hand, as though playing a song on the piano.
"Hey…ever wondered why we have to resurrect Eden? …Why we couldn't just be normal teenagers? With a family and friends? And just having to worry about school or what to wear? Do you miss those times?"
"Ano toki (at that time)…all I ever wanted was for us to be happy; you, me, Copellia, Mit-chan and Drex. We'd grow up together then board in the same house… It'd be fun wouldn't it? Then we'd keep a cat and oh! I forgot; you don't like cats…"
"But now… everything's changed. You have your destiny… and I have mine," She reached for is hand and pulled it to her cheek, "But for once… just for once I wish we didn't have to go through all this…" A single tear rolled down her cheek and melted on the back of Riya's hand. And like magic, his fingers began to flex. Mai shot her head up, "Riya!" The boy was starting to wake up!
"I don't want to wake up to a sad face," His reached up and wiped a tear away with his thumb, "Dakara, naite dame yo (so don't cry)" He gave her a warm smile as he held his hand to her cheek. His smile… it made the world seem like a better place…made her feel comfortable again… With that smile, she knew everything was going to be all right.
He draped an arm around her, "It'll all get better, I promise." 'Riya…' And as she lay there by his side, she hoped and prayed that what he said would come true…because 'What about Eden...?'
-Morning-
The gang froze in their tracks at the sight that greeted them. Some thought it was sweet, others blushed and the rest just wanted to get out of the room… "Maybe we should leave them alone…they seem pretty uhh— comfortable." Max edged nearer to the door but Mit-chan caught hold of his shirt. "You're staying! Besides, they're awake." She nodded her head in Mai and Riya's direction.
KAI'S POV
I walked through the doors and I just stopped breathing. There they were… with her head lying on his shoulder and his arm around her. All of a sudden I felt sick… I wanted to get out of here but I was determined to rebel against my feelings, to show that I wasn't fazed by this. I pretended I didn't care. I HAD to not care…
So I diverted my gaze else where. I spotted the flowers; the card was still there…she hadn't read it yet. "Guys?" I heard Mai's voice. She lifted her head off the bed and rubbed her eyes. He too had woken up…
END OF KAI'S POV
"Did you read the card?"
"What card?" Tyson threw the card across the bed and she caught it. She raised an eyebrow, 'they all look excited for some reason, like they're gonna burst any time soon…' She flipped open the cad and read it, her eyes grew wide with shock. "YOU WON? –Bladebreakers nod their head frantically- OH MY GAWD YOU WON! AHAHAH! –runs to hug Hilary- Who fought the third battle?" Mai's eyes were sparkling with delight. "Ty—" But before Hilary could finished Mai had leapt onto the boy. "YOU WON! THANK YOU SOO SOO MUCH! I LOVE YOU!" She hugged the boy so tightly he could barely breathe. Tyson was grinning from ear to ear, he was enjoying this. Kai, Riya and Hilary on the other hand, were all giving them death glares. "Okay lil' miss Clingy, time to get back into bed." Copellia pulled her off Tyson and pushed her down onto the comfy mattress.
"So where's the trophy?" She looked like a puppy wagging its tail. "We haven't gotten it yet, we came straight here after the battle so we missed the award ceremony." The girl let out a small "Ohh…" Riya didn't look too happy about the news, he didn't look angry either. "Don't worry; we'll get the next one." Mit-chan adjusted his pillow, "Maybe she'll even join us." He looked away… 'I hope so… at least do it so we can be together…"
"Get your stuff, we're checking out." Drex walked into the room holding a release form. "Huh? So soon?" Mai and Riya looked at him with confused faces. "You guys have been out for two days; don't tell me you seriously wanna stay longer in a place like this?" "That long huh…" The brunette picked up the pen and started filling in the form. His pen hovered over the part where they asked about status and he looked over at Mai, she looked up at him and smiled. 'But…' He glanced back down at the paper;
Status: single, married, divorced, widowed
And circled the first option…
-Fast forward, back at hotel-
"No you eat it!"
"No you!"
"You!"
"Fine! I'll eat it…" Mit-chan picked up her fork and stabbed at the raisin. She popped it in her mouth, reluctantly chewed and swallowed quickly. She grabbed her glass and washed it down with orange juice. "Yuck!" She spat. "She absolutely hates raisins." Drex explained to the group, "Then why'd she still eat it?" "'Cos I don't like to waste food…" She replied bluntly as she carried on with her chocolate cake. The rest sweat-dropped…
"Done? Okay, let's go." Everyone got out of their chair. Mai gulped down the last of her lemonade and proceeded to follow the group when someone held her back, "Can we talk?" The girl nodded her head…
Riya led her out of the restaurant and took the elevator up to the last storey. They arrived at a roof top garden. "Cool, I didn't know there was such a place." Mai scanned her surroundings; it was like a miniature park, there were lots of hydrangea bushes and a lovely fountain was placed in the middle of the entire area. Mai followed Riya to the edge of the garden and sat down on one of the benches which had a good view of the city.
"Wow…I can see the ocean from up here!" Mai gazed out at the tiny lights floating on the water and the multi-coloured ones lining the coast. "Yeah, it's great isn't it?"
RIYA'S POV
"So what did you wanna talk about?" Her expression told me that she didn't have a clue where this was going.
Sigh… you can be so daft sometimes…
"So is it a yes or a no?" I looked at her with a serious expression, I really wanted to know. "Are you coming with us?"
Her face stayed blank for a moment and then her gaze started to fall as she remembered that day. "…Only if you promise not to use Eden's powers to destroy humans."
Tsk! Did we have to bring up this topic again? "Mai, they tried to kill us! They tried to kill YOU!" "People change Riya! And it seems you have too… the Riya I knew wouldn't think of doing such a thing…" She got off her seat and stood with her back facing me.
"What about you huh? What're you gonna do once you've resurrected Eden?" She took some time to respond, "I didn't want to… At first it was just to free him before the archaeologists did… but now… it's to stop you."
What! Why? I wanted to ask but she turned around and faced me, from her eyes, I could tell she was hurting. "I wanna believe that this is all Eden's fault…that he's making you think this way…because I know you'd never do such a thing. I believe you'd never do such a thing… 'Coz I love you so much that I could never hate you. I could never ever hate you…"
I pulled her into my arms and hugged her like there was no tomorrow, not wanting this moment slip away. No, I didn't want her to ever slip away. "Even if Eden is responsible, I can't promise you that. But at least be with me? Please? I've only just found you…I don't' ever want to lose you again…"
I felt her body move away. No! Don't go! Please! She looked at me with those eyes… with those hopeless eyes… "I can't, I'm sorry… but if my place on this earth is to stop you then so be it…"
! I felt crushed. She didn't want us to be together? "BUT WHY? We could work things out!" She shook her head, "I really want to be with you, really I do. But sometimes what you can do and what you want to do are two different things. I want to be with you…but I also know that I can't stop you when the time comes."
So that's why huh? "Fine… I understand…" But I didn't understand! I didn't WANT to understand! Why did we have to be on opposite sides? Why did Eden have to ruin our lives? Why couldn't we be together?
She gave me a meek smile then all of a sudden, I felt her soft lips press onto mine. It was so gentle, so tender, as though she was scared of breaking me. She pulled back a little and whispered, "We'll never let Eden come between us, till we meet when everything's over… Promise me this?" "I promise…" She gave me one last kiss which lasted a little while longer than the first and finally pulled back.
I watched as she walked away, through the doors and into the elevator… the warmth of the kiss still lingering on my lips…
END OF POV
Sigh, my reviews are getting lesser and lesser... you guys must be tired of reading such a long story huh? Well not to worry, the next chapter is the last chapter!
Oh! but do not fret my dear readers 'cos I'll be writing another story. It'll be the second season of Blue Eyes! New adventures, new battles and new loves! So look forward to it ok? Please review!