Cure Narrative 52: Made of Cotton and Love

Season: Mahoutsukai Precure

Character: Mofurun

Summary: From the start to the end, never changed. Never less, never more.

I could not move.

I did not understand anything around me.

It was a very white room with a lot of things with four legs and white fabric on them, they did not move either, but the people on them did. It all gave off a peaceful atmosphere.

Still I did not understand, where was I? Where is this old lady taking me? Why? And why could I not move? Who are all these people? I didn't understand!

But you held my paw.

Your paw was different from mine, paler, smaller, and had five branches. You were so small, almost smaller than me. But in this place where I knew nothing and felt nothing, your warmth was the first knowledge and feeling I received.

You let out a few sounds. I didn't know what they meant, but they warmed more than my paw, they warmed something deeper inside of me.

A second knowledge rushed to me. The knowledge that you were tiny, naive and defenceless, the knowledge that I was supposed to stay right next to you and watch over you and hold your paw forever and ever and ever so that you would grow up to become bigger, smarter and stronger.

As if by nature, I voiced an assurance to you, "It'll be okay, little one. It'll be okay."

Later, I learned that you were called 'Mirai', your paws were called 'hands' and the sounds you made were called 'laughter'.

I also learned that you did not — and would not — hear my voice.

Time passed, and soon your sounds formed words I could comprehend.

"Good morning, Mofurun!"

"Mofurun, I'm scared."

"Teehee, mama got angry at me, Mofurun."

"I'm off, Mofurun."

"I'm back, Mofurun!"

I replied to each one properly, although you didn't hear me, as if there was a constant boundary between our worlds. But because you'd talk to me regardless, I didn't mind.

"I love you, Mofurun!"

I may be made of cotton, but a heart can be made of whatever.

"I love you too-mofu."

And finally one day, like a miracle, Riko entered our lives. And magically, I was able to move, even though my insides were cotton. You were able to hear me, even though my mouth was cotton.

It was so, so, SO MUCH FUN! Every day, every hour, every minute. You talked to me more often, brought me with you all the time, I felt like I was finally living in the same world as you.

We went on adventures together. There were scary things and painful things, but there were also magic and wonders, and there were Riko and Ha-chan with us. I felt like a part of a family, a part of a kind of bond only among living things with abundant emotions.

But I was made of cotton. And I never forgot.

Ha-chan is putting up a brave front.

Riko is holding back tears.

Mirai... because you are holding me, I know you are trembling.

They all held the notion of being separated inside their hearts as they fought off Deusmast. They suppressed it, hid it, tried to erase it with the strength they needed to save the world, otherwise they would've lost.

But that's enough. The Precures' responsibility has been fulfilled. Right now, they only need to be Mirai, Riko and Ha-chan. Right now, we're only a family about to drift apart.

I understand. I know my voice will soon be unheard again, my movements will soon be restricted again, but that's why, this is my last chance.

"It'll be okay-mofu," someone has to say it, someone has to adhere that pretence again. And everyone has been so tough up till now, so it's my turn.

I grew up too, so I understand.

Can still be together? Will definitely meet again? I didn't genuinely believed in any of those empty promises. Ha-chan said she would try her best to bring the worlds back together again, but how much of a toll would that task put on her? How much time would it take? What if, by the time we all reunite, our memories have already faded into the vast vacuum of darkness?

But I'll still utter "It'll be okay". I said that when you were just a newborn. I said that when you were three and was afraid to go to kindergarten. I said that when you scrapped your knees falling down from your bicycle. I said that when you failed your first English test. I said that when you had a fight with your friends. I said it so many times even if you couldn't hear me but you always stopped crying in the end.

Yet you didn't stop crying even though you hear me this time.

Because just me isn't going to be enough anymore.

Once, you needed little more than me in your world. But since the day I tried to tell you "Look! There's a witch in the sky-mofu!", since the day your world collided with another, I was no longer the only one you could entrust your deepest emotions to.

I was pleased. For the first time, I saw that you were not tiny or naive or defenceless anymore. For the first time, I realised that your need for me had already diminished.

For that reason, if Riko and Ha-chan were to suddenly vanish from your life, me alone isn't going to fill that hole in your heart again.

And mine neither to be frank.

"I love you all-mofu!"

Once obtained, some things are hard to let go.

But... you see, Mirai, nothing has changed for me. I remember now — as my voice fades again and as my body is paralysed again — that it doesn't matter.

Because I was made of cotton and of love from the start.

But maybe things would've been better if I were made of only one of them.

End of Chapter 52

A/N: Yup sorry for not updating in six (seven yet?) weeks ;~; I got preoccupied another fandom, and then with my collab Precure fic with a friend (on quotev), and then yet another fandom, and then school exams ️T^T