Aomi didn't even notice that she had exorcised Vitoria herself by regaining control. She also didn't notice the bracelet fly off her wrist and disintegrate into the force of energy that Vitoria had released. All she saw was Eden struck by the powerful beam of light and his body thrown back. She could only watch as his body arced through the sky then came crashing down into a grove of trees.
"Eden!" She heard shouted out desperately but didn't realize that she had been the one to yell for him until she was up and running toward the trees to find him. Aomi ran as fast as she could despite feeling incredibly weak from not being in possession of her body. But she pushed herself to keep running stumbling along the way.
No thoughts raced through her mind except for a desperate, driving need to get into the forest to find Eden. As she entered the small wooded area, she looked around searching for him.
"Eden!" She called out as she plunged deeper amongst the trees.
"Aomi!"
She stopped trying to locate the direction the voice came from. Her heart stopped as she also realized it was not Eden who called out to her.
"He's over here," the voice added softly.
Aomi headed in the direction of Dark's voice. As she came upon a clearing she saw Eden lying on the ground with Dark kneeling next to him. Rushing over Aomi threw herself next to Eden taking his hand into her own.
"Eden, answer me," she commanded through hot tears that streamed down her face as she looked down onto his battered body. "Eden, I'm so sorry," she continued placing her hand along the side of his face. "Please, please open your eyes."
But there was no response.
"Eden!" Aomi sobbed laying her head on his chest. Then she felt a light squeeze on her hand from Eden. Looking up quickly she saw that his eyes were just slightly open. Overjoyed she leaned down and gently kissed him on the lips. Pulling away slowly she heard him whisper, "I love you."
Aomi smiled at him through her tears but did not have a chance to respond when his hand went limp in hers and she felt his last breath of air escape his lips against her cheek.
"No!" Aomi cried as she placed her other hand against the side of his face wanting to shake him awake but resisting the urge. "Eden!"
She fell back onto his chest crying uncontrollably. She felt Dark put his hand on her shoulder but she ignored him. She couldn't do anything but cry against Eden's lifeless form.
It wasn't long before Aomi realized something was different. She could feel an unusual vibration coming from beneath her. Pushing herself up she looked down upon Eden's still body. A strange glow emanated from within Eden. Aomi watched in shocked fascination as it grew brighter until it surrounded his entire body than slowly it began to fade. There was no change to Eden but turning to look at Dark to question him about the glow she unexpectantly found herself facing Rio.
"Rio," Aomi exclaimed putting her arms around him glad he was alright. Burrowing her head into his shoulder she sensed a change in him. Pulling away she looked him in the eye and asked, "What's wrong?"
"He's gone," he answered quietly not looking at her.
4 years later...
It was a beautiful cloudless day. Aomi sat on a blanket spread out on the lush green grass watching in silence as a small boy dug holes in a sand box excitedly chattering away to David. She smiled as she watched the pair but a deep sadness settled upon her heart. It was an all too familiar sadness and tears began to slowly spill.
"Aomi," Rio exclaimed worriedly. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Aomi said wiping the tears away. She had forgotten her brother and sister-in-law were sitting next to her. "I'll be back," she told them as she got up quickly and started to walk away.
Rio bent down to whisper something into his very pregnant wife's ear. She nodded in response and getting up himself he followed his sister.
"Aomi," Rio said as he caught up with her. "You can't be doing this all the time."
"I know," Aomi sighed as she wiped away more tears. Turning to face Rio she added, "It just hits me all of a sudden. I'm scared of what his future holds." She feared for her son possibly inheriting the spirit of Krad. She didn't want the same tortured life Eden had expressed in his journals for their son.
"Look, we don't know if Krad or Dark will ever return. They may not considering the way their spirits left us," Rio explained putting his arm around his sister. Aomi leaned her head on his shoulder as they continued walking.
"I wish I could think as positively as you. But you didn't see the way Krad smiled before he transformed. It was as if he knew something that we didn't." Aomi closed her eyes to clear the image from her mind. She still had nightmares about that night. Pulling her hands away in time to save David but in return for his life it had taken away her son's father. David, at those times, would take her in his arms and try to comfort her. Sometimes her cries would wake her son and she could hear the sound of her little boy's voice through the closed bedroom door asking if she was alright. What was meant as concern by the little boy turned into worry, then tears of his own when his mother continued crying. It would leave David exhausted in the morning after staying up late for several hours trying to calm mother and son.
"Your letting your fears control you," Rio urged knowing about the nightmares that continued to haunt her.
"You're right," Aomi agreed nodding but it still didn't ease the tension she had been feeling in her chest.
"You have a beautiful son and you're all he's got. You are his only link now to his father."
"But I barely knew Eden," Aomi whispered. It was a fact that she wished wasn't true. They had spent so little time together. It also didn't help matters that Eden's mother had declared after the birth of his son that she wanted nothing to do with the child.
"You need to be strong for him. One day he'll ask about his father and..."
"And tell him that it was my fault he was killed," Aomi interrupted harshly.
"It wasn't your fault Aomi," Rio replied sternly. "It was an accident. You need to stop blaming yourself for something that was beyond your control."
Aomi sighed knowing her brother was right. But the memories of that night four years ago seemed to want to continue haunting her. It made it hard to shake the guilt she felt.
"We should head back," Rio suggested when he sensed Aomi was tired of talking. Pulling her around they headed back to their family.
As they reached the blanket, Rio sat back down next to his wife. Aomi started to follow but an excited little boy came running as he called out to her.
"Mommy! Come help build tunnels with me and Daddy!" He said as he grabbed her hand and started tugging her to follow him back to the sandbox. Aomi smiled down at her son as she allowed him to lead the way.
"Look Daddy!" The boy declared proudly. "I brought Mommy to help."
"Good job Eden," David said smiling. "We needed an extra pair of hands."
Eden giggled and handed Aomi a shovel as she settled down in the sand between her son and husband. As she sat laughing and digging holes in the sand with her family she promised herself not to let her worries get the best of her. All that mattered was Eden's happiness and that meant having a mother and father who loved him and who would always be there for him. No matter what the future brought.
The End
Just want to send out a big "Thank you!" to all my reviewers and readers. A special "Thank You!" to those who took time to let me know what they thought about my story. The reviews were extremely helpful. I really enjoyed writing this story and from the reviews many of you really enjoyed reading it and that was my main goal.
