Ah, thank you for all of the reviews, everyone! Hehe, I didn't expect to get so many! Anyhow, this is the first major event in Temari's life. The second will be coming soon, entitled 'Time'. I know that these chapters are short and all, but it will help me get them out sooner and easier, and there will be more of them. It's just easier. I am sorry if it inconveniences you, though.
My Final Fairytale
Chapter 2: Heartless
The night my mother died, I was in bed sleeping soundly – at least to the naked eye. But my breathing was irregular, apparent to any ninja. Hehe, good thing only servants came to check on me. My eyes closed, my mind open, I heard the screams. The sheet music to my mother's new song – she was teaching me to play the piano – was in her room. I wanted it, to try it out, because I couldn't sleep. Or so I said, as I tiptoed down the hall to see the commotion.
I hadn't seen my mother in days. She was my precious treasure, my most important person. We shared everything with each other. She taught me to fight, gave me my first fan, and the fan that I would use for the rest of my life. My mom taught me to read, to write, to love, and to hold tightly to what is dear to me. That is what she did that night. She held tightly to that squealing little wrinkled thing, covered in blood. Her blood.
I watched on as my mother's breaths became shorter, more ragged. The baby cried louder; my new little brother. I began to cry with happiness. I couldn't wait to play with him. I'd love him as much as I did Kankuro, my father, and of course my mother. My mother was crying too. I could see her happiness, but I could also see her pain.
She was horrified, but I couldn't understand why.
It hardly ever rained in Sunagakure, it being a desert and all, but lighting flashed outside, and the sky broke open with a roar so loud it shook the earth. The baby cried, and I cried. My dearest mother cried…and my heartless father laughed.
(&)
The next day I awoke to the sound of rain. Somehow I was able to get back to my room, despite what had happened. Flashes of last night's incidents swam through my head, and I scrunched the bloodstained sheets of paper ever closer to me, the only comfort I was offered that morning.
My eyes widened as I abruptly jumped out of bed and raced down the hallways, tears building in my eyes. I threw open the door to my parents' bedroom. Everything was clean, the bed was made up nicely, the curtains drawn to block out the pounding of the rain.
They could not block the pounding of my heart as I ran back the way I came, rushing into the kitchen only to find my uncle there, with Kankuro. They were eating breakfast; pancakes, bacon, eggs…did they not care about her? Didn't they care?! Didn't they know?!
I screamed at them. "Where is she?! Where's mom?!" My uncle looked at me in a funny sort of way, while Kankuro sat munching on his delicious, crispy bacon. I didn't like it cooked that way. And I didn't like scrambled eggs, or regular old circle pancakes. I liked my bacon straight and slightly crunchy, my eggs sunny side up with a bit of toast, and I like teddy bear pancakes. The way mom made breakfast. I let a little sob escape me as I sunk to the floor, holding the crumpled papers to my tiny, three-year-old body. "I want my mommy."
(&)
Since then I have never been the sort of girl to cry. Sometimes, rarely, I choke on dry sobs of horror. These twist my body into frantic convulsions for the remainder of each long, heartless night. The shadows under my eyes are growing, and the fear in my heart has spread to every corner of my body. I dread the hours of darkness, for I know of the terrors awaiting me in my restless sleep. I have never been more afraid. Although I want to ask, to reach out my shaking hand and satisfy my desperate need, I can't seem to say those three lonely words. I need help, I whisper. But there is no one to hear me, and there never will be.
That's why I'm telling you this story.