She pulled up to her childhood home. She had no where else to go, this was the only place she could think that her mother would live. She hadn't been here since the incident and she had never planned to come back. But this wasn't the same house that she lived in eight years ago. The grass which was usually longer than their neighbours would like was neatly trimmed and the walls where white washed and the fence was freshly painted. She put her helmet down on her bike and looked at the house dazedly. This was her home. It may not look the same as it did years ago but the badly scrawled family portrait of her and her mother and Duran was still there on the garage door. Her mother had been so proud of her little Picasso that she took her for ice cream all the while pleading with her to confine her art to the sparkly pink note pad her mother had bought for her that day. The humming bird wind-chime her mother had gotten on her travels through China still hung outside though more weather worn than she remembered. But the biggest clue that her mother never moved house was laying at the front door.
Duran raised his muzzle, white with age, to look at her tiredly. The old dog struggled to his feet to come greet her once more. She slowly opened the gate to kneel down and reach out moving just as slowly as the ancient dog to pet him. Her mind told her that any sudden movements would make him disappear. He licked her hand tiredly and she jumped to hug him. She buried her face in the motley fur choking back her tears.
"Duran...oh, Duran," she sobbed hugging the ancient dog tighter. He sat down and allowed her to clutch at him seeming very regal in his old age.
"Natsuki!" Her mother appeared at the door glaring at her crossly "you better park your bike and get your butt in here, this dinner won't eat itself!"
She looked up still unwilling to release Duran. Her mother had gotten fatter as well as older. She had white streaks in her otherwise dark hair and when she smiled at her stunned daughter she looked exactly the same as she had when she was thirty three and even with the wrinkles on her face she was the most beautiful thing Natsuki's lonely mind had ever seen since her childhood was ripped from her.
"Mummy...?" she slowly stood up and Duran perhaps sensing her unwillingness to be alone ambled along beside her until she reached the step. She drew level with the other woman and reached out slowly to feel her face. Her mother looked confused but didn't move as the look on her daughters face was like a woman who just found a treasure she had been searching for all her life. She breathed in sharply as she touched real flesh, felt real breath ghost on her face and actual eyes blink confusedly at her. She couldn't believe it was real. She spent the entire night staring at her ceiling resisting the urge to get on her bike and come here because life was never this good to her. It couldn't be real, but it was because the woman she grabbed and hugged let out a small squeal and giggle when she buried her face in her neck and smelt just as she remembered as a child.
"Natsuki what happened?" she wrapped her arms around her little girl that was sobbing into her neck.
"Nothing absolutely nothing" she breathed wrapped up in the scent of roses "I'm fine now."
XxXx
Midori pranced around the room lighting candles as she went. She felt like a very naked fairy but didn't think that was a bad thing. She flounced around to some up beat tune that was playing on the radio until she caught sight of herself in the mirror. She was only wearing her red lacy underwear and loved how the frills looked against her body. She wondered if she should put on the garter belt that she had stashed in her closet but decided it would be over kill.
"Who's a sexy HiME Ranger?" she winked at her reflection and couldn't resist posing.
She looked dame fine for a seventeen plus year old. She turned her back so she could wiggle her bum which looked very inviting to her. It was December 18th the day that she had met Youko at a frat party six years ago. When she had found a girl buried under sweaty male bodies drinking three times her body weight while others passed out she knew that she had met her best friend. Never again did any students at the university of Tokyo stand a chance against her and Youko in a drinking contest. They had remained the undefeated champions up until their graduation. Since she and Youko were now more than BFF's, as they called themselves in bad engrish when drunk, she had decided to celebrate their anniversary differently this year. Usually to honour their first meeting they would crash a frat party and drink everyone under the table but this year they where going to have 'Hot Wild Monkey Sex' tm.
She scrunched her hair up and struck her best super model pose complete with pout. "I'm a sexy HiME Ranger, yes I am." That did give her an idea, she would have to ask Youko if she was into cosplay at all. She grinned and her reflection which grinned back more wickedly.
She dove on the bed and lay across it to reach the other side where she had left her bag containing her sexy scarlet teddy. Just as she grabbed the bag her eyes caught on the sight of her beat up duffel bag. She rolled over and landed neatly in a crouch. She pulled the duffel bag to her and flopped down on her bum. She could have sworn she put this thing away when she got back from Egypt. Inside was her photo album, she glanced at the clock, she had a few minutes for photo gazing.
The first photo made her smile as it was a picture of the whole HiME gang the first time they went out to a karaoke bar. The next few she flipped through absently; Mai hugging Natsuki, Mikoto hands under a blushing Mai's shirt, Shizuru and Reito sitting close together, Haruka mid rant while Yukino looked on adoringly, they weren't together at this point if she remembered correctly. That reminded her that she needed to update her album she had no pictures of her and Youko as a couple or any documentation of the changes in the other HiME's lives. She flipped to the back absently and her whole body froze.
A man with salt and pepper hair squinted at her from the frame. He was older than her and had a lot of wrinkles most of them premature but his eyes were a soft brown that always, she remembered fondly, sparkled with unending kindness and wisdom. His smile was natural as the photo was taken without his knowledge and the unguarded moment showed the genuine warmth of the man that she loved. His laughter lines seemed to be less pronounced and faded altogether as she continued to look at him. The Professor was a great man, she stared fixedly at the photo caressing the image longingly.
She was startled as the door slammed shut. She glanced at the clock and curse she couldn't believe she had spent fortify five minutes staring at the photo. She pulled the silk teddy over her head hurriedly and did a quick check of the room. Candles lit? Check. Silky Sexy underwear complete with mind blowing teddy? Check. Alcohol? she looked at the ice bucket, Check. She was going to buy champagne but decided to go with a few bottles of bear that they liked instead. No point in trying to be someone they weren't. Her romantic atmosphere seemed in order except for the bed. She had meant to scatter roses on the bed but forgot. She glanced quickly around the room and spotted the bunch of wild flowers that Youko had given her this morning. She seized them and shook them furiously over the bed beheading everyone of them and covering the sheets in assorted flower petals and a few leaves. She heard footsteps in the hall outside and decided the leaves added a bit of character to the bed. She stuffed the stems of the murdered flowers into her duffel bag along with her photo album and with a mighty kick sent it across the room to hide in a corner so as not to spoil her seduction with Youko's impossible neat freak attitude. She had barley enough time to jump on the bed and strike her sexist pose when the door opened.
"This is the worst day evvvvv..." Youko trailed off her eyes going impossibly wide and mouth continuing its last sound in pleasant surprise.
"Well I think I can make it a bit better," She arched her back thrusting her breast out proudly at the stunned doctor "don't you?" as Youko dropped her jacket in the doorway and eagerly hurried to the bed all thoughts of the Professor where shoved forcefully from her head as if by magic.
XxXx
Aoi snaked her arm through Chies as they walked down the street. It was cold enough that they could see their breath puff out slowly in front of them. They had just finished shopping for food and she was feeling the cold despite being wrapped up in her pink woolly hat, scarf and gloves. Chie was similarly dressed only her hat, scarf and gloves were a light gray with a blue trim. Chie smiled down at her when she felt her rest her head on her shoulder.
"Chie, what are you thinking?" she asked coyly thinking about how lovely the streets looked lit up with Christmas decorations and how romantic it would be to kiss beneath their light.
"Honestly?" she felt Aoi nod against her arm "I was thinking it would be nice if you carried the shopping bag the rest of the way home."
"Chie!" she slapped the grinning girl on the arm, "you can really ruin the mood, you know!"
"Ruin the mood? Aoi we're walking down the street there's no mood to ruin!" jeeze her girlfriend was randy. She wouldn't mind but she was only half joking about the shopping, it seemed Aoi had exclusive information that there would be a famine and she had to stock up on everything right now if not sooner.
"Chie of course there's a mood!" she tugged the other girl to a stop and turned to stand in front of her "look at the grey sky that's threatening to snow and the sparkling Christmas lights and the moon! Look how big and cheerful it is!" she tugged on Chie's jeans so that the other girl had no choice but to move until their pelvis's touched "and besides when I'm with Chie everything has a mood."
Despite herself and Aoi's unfortunate choice of words, she felt her cheeks redden "Aoi..." she tilted her head as the other girl leaned up on the tops of her toes so as to kiss her "I'm supposed to be the smooth talker" she said softly as Aoi drew closer.
"Then smooth talk me Chie..." and they were kissing softly Aoi's hands resting on Chies shoulders.
As magical as kissing Aoi was she felt the nagging a the back of her mind about how they shouldn't do this out in the street. Not only might Mr Senous or one of Aoi's brothers catch them but as the schools rumour mill she knew how easily it was to be spied on and she didn't want her and Aoi to become the subject to dissect at tomorrows lunch.
"Aoi not here," she pulled away from the other girl who was flushed and breathing heavily. She felt no small amount of pride at the fact it was her kissing that had left Aoi stunned disregarding the fact that Aoi had the same effect on her.
Aoi stared a little hurt at Chie's rejection "why not here Chie?" she sounded like a spoiled child that had just been told no for the first time.
" 'cus I want to be alone with you is all" She said and tried to start walking but was blocked by Aoi.
"You always just want to be alone with me!" Chie was shocked at the glare she was getting, she thought wanting to be alone with Aoi would be seen as a good thing "are you ashamed of me?"
"No! Of course not!" now she was really confused, she reached for the other girl who turned away.
"You must be because you never want to kiss me in front of others!" she turned away from Chies outstretched hands.
How did this fight happen so fast? she did the only thing she could think of to make Aoi happy. The heavy shopping bag clattered to the ground and as Aoi half turned to see what the sudden noise was Chie pushed her up against the nearby shop window and kissed her hard. She unzipped Aoi's coat and her hands slipped inside. She pushed away the nagging feeling of performing in front of an audience. She would do what ever it took to make Aoi feel happy again her annoying discomfort be damned. Tinned food of all varieties rolled around them unnoticed.
She set out to give the passers by a show to remember wile Aoi moaned encouragement. She couldn't help feeling sad though that so many people were witnessing something so wonderful that should have been private.
XxXx
Haruka stepped from the shower and wrapped a towel around his waste and then another around his head. The action was second nature to him so he did it without thinking but when he passed the mirror he caught sight of his head wrapped up in the towel like a girls he tossed it angrily to the floor where it lay upon the wet tiles.
He had been doing things like that for awhile now. He went shopping and bought purple eye shadow because he loved the colour, it wasn't until he got home that he realised what he had done. He stood hand hovering over the bin but for some reason he was unwilling to part with it disgusted with himself he stuffed it as far back in his underwear drawer as he could reach, determined to forget about it. He scowled at his room; it was a nice neat room filled with trophies and photos of his family and friends. The family photos were very stuffy and obviously posed and even though they were smiling in them it was obvious to passers by that the only person who enjoyed being there was the small blond boy in the middle his chest puffed out proudly with his mothers and fathers hand on each of his shoulders. It was one of the very few times he had seen both his mother and father outside of work. The rest of the pictures had Yukino in them somewhere whether she was jumping in mud with him or in a dignified position as part of the Student Council she was always there.
He turned from the photo's and ran his fingers through his wet hair. He had more styling products than he secretly thought appropriate for a man but couldn't help himself. He lathered his hair in anti frizz serum, heat protection and sleek 'n' shine to give him soft and lovely looking hair. He turned on his hair drier and got his soft brush out and set about trying to tame his unusually strong willed hair into something other than a blond frizzy afro.
Eventually he sat the hair dryer down and started to pat himself dry most of the water had already evaporated from his skin. He reached for the moisturizer and put it on his shaven legs. Another thing he always did as a reflex even though he told himself men were supposed to have hairy legs. It was just he would look at them after two weeks of not shaving and hated the sight so he shaved them for his own peace of mind and never wore shorts until there was at least some stubble so as not to be jeered at by his more hairier colleagues.
He paused to take a look at himself in the full length mirror. He straightened up and eyed his body. Sometimes especially late at night when he was drifting between conciseness and sleep he would start to think his body was wrong. It seemed as if he was wearing a suit two sizes two big and his small skeleton felt drowned in all the access muscles, hair and testosterone. A few times he had even startled himself from a half sleep as he hand absently fell on his chest and he was shocked not to find breasts there, which was ridiculous because men don't have breasts...or at least the skinny ones don't. Even now his hands drifted to his flat pectorals and he could vaguely imagine the size and weight in his mind. It was like a thought just out of his reach.
"Oi loverboy! your girlfriends just showed up!" Kenji's voice broke through his thoughts and he panicked to find cloths. He found his underwear first and hurriedly stuffed them on he searched his room to find something that was not dirty or embarrassing like his neon pink Hello Kitty T-shirt.
"Oh my," He whirled arms flailing to find Yukino in the doorway. They locked eyes for a moment before he saw hers slowly start to descend. He let out a squeal, a very manly one and reflectively covered his chest despite having nothing to hide.
"Yukino!" his tone implied for her to get out right now.
"Sorry Haru-kun!" she hurried slammed the door almost hitting her head as she bowed furiously in apology.
He stood covered in a full body blush. They had to have the worst luck when it came to walking into rooms. He heard giggling from the other side of the door which he took to mean that Yukino thought so too. He smiled unwillingly, well it was kind of funny. He went to his closet the place he should have run to first and pulled out black jeans and a gray shirt and put them on.
He opened the door to find Yukino also red faced standing with flowers. He smiled softly a second time and took them from her putting them on the desk beside his door. While he had no use for flowers always finding them impractical and useless because they die so quickly and don't actually do anything he was charmed in spite of himself.
"My Haruka what would the boys at the academy think if they found out you squealed like a girl?" Yukino said playfully extending her hand for Haruka to take.
"They would probably tease me terribly so that's why I'm going to have to ask you to keep quite Kakukawa-san" he smiled and took her hand outstretched hand closing his door behind him. This was were he felt right. Being with Yukino always made him feel as if he belonged.
"But I won't do it for free Suzushiro-san," she teased dragging him along the corridor "you'll have to make it worth it" she smiled a smile full of promises and he could only nod just glad to be with her.
XxXx
They stopped at the door still talking.
"Are you sure you have to turn in early?" Tate asked pleadingly.
"Yeah I told you that we wouldn't have time together after Takumi and Akira's victory bash" Mai placed her hand on Tates chest as he lent in to kiss her. If they started now he would want to be invited in and she wasn't doing that tonight.
"Victory bash," he scoffed "like baseball is a real sport" he rolled his eyes anything that wasn't kendo wasn't sport as far as he was concerned. "Though did you see how Akira mauled Takumi after that last pitch? Someone's in for a home run tonight." He leered forgetting momentarily to whom he was talking to.
"Yeah and its not you" she said frostily. She didn't mind her little brother having a girlfriend, well she did but that was besides the point, she just didn't want him to have a girlfriend that tried to rape him at every opportunity. He was a shy delicate boy with a good throwing arm not Arika's man whore.
Sensing he had just gotten himself out of Mai's good graces and spoiled any chance of scoring a home run for himself Tate put on his most charming irresistible smile "Maaai..." he drawled only for the door to slam in his face.
"Good night, Yuuichi" Mai called through the closed door and swore she heard whining. She didn't have time to contemplate the sound for long as she was tackled to the ground by the resident cat girl Mikoto.
"Mai's home!" Mikoto sat up but made no move to get of Mai "Mai's going to play with Mikoto, yeah?" she said hopefully.
"Yes Mai's going to play" she laughed as the younger girl danced on top of her. She had been neglecting the other girl since she and Tate had gotten engaged.
"Wooohoo!" Mikoto jumped up and launched herself on the bed the force of her impact making her bounce slightly. Mai smiled indulgently before sitting on the side of the bed and ruffling Mikoto's hair playfully. "You all set?" she asked and Mikoto nodded speedily.
"Uh huh, uh huh!" her whole body moved in the effort to show Mai that she was indeed ready to play.
"Ok then" she cupped the other girls cheek before kissing her deeply. "Take your shirt off" she whispered her voice husky.
Mikoto was eager to obey and nearly ripped her shirt in enthusiasm. She had to slow down, the last few times they did this she wasted all her energy in round one and had to lay limply in the second round while Mai caressed her because she was too tired to reciprocate. Her breasts bounced freely and she fell back against the pillows when Mai started to kiss them. She was going to last for more than the first round this time for sure as Mai had been coaching her.
XxXx
Tate walked dejectedly back to his room. He couldn't believe Mai was seriously about not letting him come in. He opened his door and was tackled by Shiho who seemed to have put up camp in his room.
"Your back!" she yelled her heart fluttering slightly as she crushed herself against Tate's broad chest.
"Yeah, yeah get of me" he pushed her to the side affectionately as he walked into his room "I'm going to take a shower," he lifted his towel and rolling it up bopped her on the back of the head "Don't be here when I get back!"
"Onee-chan!" she whined rubbing the place where he hit her. He paid no heed to her whingeing and closed his bathroom door behind him.
She stuck her tongue out at the closed door before going to gather her school books. She came across the bridal magazine and smiled she couldn't wait for the wedding it would be even better if it was her own. Her heart fluttered as she taught of Yuuichi in a tux standing beside her on the alter but that was silly because he was going to marry Mai who she loved and was stealing her onee-chan. She was startled at the jealousy that was clawing its way through her and shoved the magazine deep into her bag hoping to get rid of the unwanted feeling as well.
"Onee-chan I'm leaving!" she called but when she got no response she crept closer to the bathroom door. "Onee-chan...?" she called softly hearing the water running. Acting on impulse she quietly turned the handle and found the door unlocked. The bathroom was filled with steam so she could barley make anything out. Tate must have been in a hurry to get a shower because he didn't close the curtain. She stared at him hungrily, eyes taking in every inch of wet flesh but he had his back to the door so she could only see the muscles in his strong back rippling as his right hand pumped up and down furiously.
Was he...? Her eyes widened as she realised what he was doing she closed the door hurriedly trying not to make much noise. She ran from the room into the cold night air breathing heavily. Her body tingled all over from what she had just seen and while she tried to push the image of a wet Tate arm working furiously out of her head but it seemed to be burned into the back of her eye lids. She shuddered with something that wasn't disgust. She just wished she could have seen his face she bet it would have been beautiful. No! She pushed the thought out of her head thinking about Yuuichi that way was wrong he was Mai's boyfriend-fiancée not hers.
Though sometimes she really wished he was hers.
XxXx
"Nao why hasn't your father come to see me?"
She froze as she helped her mother back into bed. They had just had the best bad dinner in the hospital cafeteria, the food sucked but the company more than made up for it. Her and her mother had talked about everything and anything except that. The older woman had put of asking that question because she honestly didn't want to know. She sensed that something bad had happened and selfishly allowed herself to wallow in ignorance for as long as her conscience and curiously would allow her to.
"Am...he hasn't come because..." the same accident that left you in a coma left him face down in a pool of his own blood as he tried to run away. That he died with vomit on his shirt and pleading with the street gang to spare him and take his wife and kid. "...he died." She didn't explain the circumstances in which he died, it was her way of being kind. No one should have to be betrayed by the people they love. Though she wanted to, she wanted to tell her mother about the scum she married. How her bad taste had left her in a coma and her daughter begging for her life which turned out to be worthless anyway.
"Oh" her mother seemed to fold in on herself. She drew her knees up to her chest and stared at the far wall unseeing. Suspecting something bad had happened was different from knowing something bad had happened it seemed. She managed to remain dry eyed for two hours after the world changing revelation but Nao who sat in the hard plastic chair watching her avidly put that down to shock. It was only after big fat tears started to make their way down her mothers cheeks did she think the woman finally understood the cold truth she had lived with for so many years; They're gone and they wont come back. But she wasn't alone, her mother had her, they could be a family together. She got up slowly and sat beside her mother wrapping her arms around her as the heart broken woman sobbed loudly into her shoulder.
Her grip tightened on the other woman. She was holding her like a life line because with her she was no longer alone. She didn't want to be alone anymore.
XxXx
Natsuki was standing in her living room and she felt like a stranger in her own home. On the wall were pictures of her that she didn't remember being taken. Only a few items of furniture were the same as what she remembered and she was curious and frightened to see her own room.
"Natsuki," she walked into the kitchen where her mothers voice came from "are you sure your ok?"
"Yeah I'm fine" she smiled at the older woman, the woman her mother never got the chance to become. "Since when did you start eating tomatoes?" her mother hated the red fruit/vegetable with a passion matched only by their shared love of mayonnaises. She would never have put it in a sandwich.
"I've always ate tomato now sit down I made you a sandwich as well," She sat at the great oak table that dominated the kitchen "I thought that you maybe had a fight with Shizuru-chan and that's why you look so glum?" she looked up from studying her sandwich at her mothers questioning tone. She couldn't remember the last snack her mother had made her but she stared at the sandwich a bit affronted that the ham chicken and lettuce had no mayo.
"Here I know I'm not going to get an answer out of you till you get this," her mother took from a Tupperware box and sat it in front of her "made it just this morning for you." Her mother smiled pleased at herself.
"Is that...?" she stared at the box before opening it so the smell confirmed what the substance was before her mothers self satisfied nod. Home made mayonnaises her mother secret recipe. She felt as if she was going to start crying again at the sight. She put it on her sandwich reverently and it was just as she remembered "this is good, really good." her voice held all the sobs that she wouldn't allow across her face.
"Thank you. Now answer my question did you and Shizuru have a fight?" her mother stared at her intently before placing her elbows on the table and leaning across it willing her to answer.
She had forgotten about the STARE the stare that made you want to tell all your secrets too. Most mummies have this stare but her mother had over time seemed to have made hers into an art form. But her secrets now where a lot more than; Yes, she was the one that coloured all over the den room walls with a red crayon and no it wasn't Duran who she had blamed. How do you tell your mother who you've just recently been reunited with that you think your in love with your best female friend?
"Yeah we did have a fight," she avoided eye contact with her mother so as not to confess the whole truth to the STARE.
"So you're not talking then?"
"No, we're not" her gaze was sad because she wasn't thinking of this Shizuru who she ran out on but of her own that ran out on her "She left me..."
"Natsuki Kuga if there one thing I know about you in all the years I've been your mother," she flinched slightly at that because she hadn't been her mother very long "is that this is probably your fault!" she looked up slightly startled that her mother blamed her. She thought that mothers were supposed to always take their children's side in arguments.
"Don't give me that look! You're one of the most thick headed stubborn child that god put on this earth and for some reason Shizuru-chan has put up with you and people love you to bits," her eyes were soft when she gazed at her daughter because despite the gruff exterior she was also the most kind hearted shy person God put on this earth "but you've probably did something or said something that drove even the devote Shizuru-chan away or worse," she paused for effect to make sure her thick skulled daughter got the importance of these last words "...you didn't do or say anything to make her stay."
Her back was ridged but her face was slack at how fully her mother understood her and the situation that her inaction with Shizuru had left her. She was about to speak thought she didn't know what she was going to say when her mother's upraised hand cut her off.
"-No I know I should mind my own business," she dragged herself off the table with a slow agonising movement, her mother had gotten old, and turned her back on her to face the stove. "and you don't want any advice from your old mother..."
"No! that's ok, I would love some motherly advice," not only had she no idea what to do about Shizuru but she had never got the option for motherly advice before. She had wished for that so many times in her later years and even now she long to hear her mother speak. She just wanted her to kiss it and make it all better.
"Okay this is what you do," her mother whirled back to the table all pretence of old age suddenly and suspiciously gone. She had the irritating feeling that she had just been tricked while her mother smiled in a manner that was positively Shizuru-Esq. "You go to Shizuru and apologise, you don't take no for an answer," her mothers face was intent as she worked furiously to fix her problem "she may not be the same Shizuru as before but that's okay because you need her in one form or another anyway."
She was ready to protest that fact not liking to seem so needy of someone but her mother waved her complaint off airily something she wasn't used to as her reputation and intimidating demeanour demanded peoples respect. Everyone excepts her mothers it seemed, and damnmit she shouldn't be so please about that but couldn't help the bubble of happiness at the familiarity her mother was showing to her.
"Listen my Natsuki," she clasped her daughters hands tightly "it is very hard to be happy in this world so if you find something or someone that makes you so you should grab it and hold onto it because you might never get the chance again and the worst thing you can do it die with regrets," her mother was in danger of invading her personal space "now it seems to me that Shizuru-chan makes you smile in a way that no one else does, I've seen how you light up around her even though you hate the effect on you she has, so don't cast her out of your life so easily."
"But what if she wants to go?" her voice was quite in the thrall of her mothers speech.
"Give her a reason to stay," her answer was simple.
"What if she wants something I can't give?" that had always been the worst part of Shizuru loving her even now she wasn't sure if her feelings were genuine or just a way for her to fool herself so Shizuru didn't leave her.
"Would Shizuru-chan really ask for something like that?" her mothers face was kind as she watched her only daughter process the information. There were a serious of many twitches and eye darting but eventually her face froze as all the pieces fell into place; she had made her decision.
"You're right!" she launched herself straight up from the chair " I have to go find Shizuru!"
"That's my lil princess!" her mother cheered excitedly caught up in spite of her age and sense.
They both walked to the door. She turned at the door to face her mother and tried to think of something to say. This would be the last time she would talk to the woman. She decided that on the short trip to the door because despite how wonderful she was this woman wasn't her mother.
Her mother died in a car accident years ago. She never had the chance to grow this old or cut her hair into that particular short crop that this woman wore. But it was still nice to have her there for her to give her a taste of what it would have been like to grow up with someone you could run to for advice. Nice and extremely sad as well because now she knew what she was missing out on. She hugged the other woman tight and once again for the last time filled her senses with the smell of roses.
She half pulled away and stared into green eyes so much like her own. When she was younger she never allowed herself to think of what she would say to her mother if she ever got the chance, at the time it had hurt to much but now she wished she had because here was the golden opportunity she had been waiting on all her life and she had no idea of what to say. She wanted to say something deep and profound or at least memorable but nothing came to mind.
"I'm glad I was yours," so she said the simplest and stupidest thing that came to mind and she could have kicked herself.
"I'm glad you're mine as well," her mother smiled a heart breaking smile of love and affection that she would never see again.
She turned and walked away willing her tears to wait just a few moments until she was out of sight because she didn't want to alarm the other woman by bursting into tears. She stopped only once to say farewell to Duran the dog that never got a chance to reach this ancient age. Once again he sat regally looking at her with sad eyes that seemed to hide hidden wisdom. She got on her bike and told herself not to look back, but of course she did, because anyone that was riding out of heaven always took one glance back to fix it in their minds.
Her mother stood their at the door of their family house arm outstretched enthusiastically waving her off while Duran sat old and proud at her feet. That was all she ever wanted and she was giving it up so she could be with Shizuru, the real Shizuru not the one in love with Reito.
Her Shizuru.
XxXx
A/N some of you have been wondering why Haruka's sex was changed but if its not clear in this chapter I promise all will be clear by the end. Again if anything else is bothering you feel free to email me about it. Thanks to those that reviewed and supported this fic you encouragement has been very needed and welcomed!
