Heyoh Noodles! So I figured that this story needed one last chapter to really wrap things up! Now this originally intended to have seven chapters to represent a whole week and 7 being symbolic of the end (I don't know where I read that) but I always had a different ending planned but it felt right to end it last chapter. However, after a while I felt that nothing was truly explained. I always had an explanation planned out but here it is. The bonus chapter to Dream Island!
One single year has passed since everything had occurred with Tsuna and Kyoko. It has been one eventful year since they were stranded on an island by themselves. They had to fend for themselves while working out through their own emotions. They would soon come to understand that island was a representation of Kyoko's dreams and mind that took form. Creating a world of dreams that was set on repeat until Kyoko was truly set free from it which was done by Tsuna. Now Kyoko lives a much more free life as a college student and wife to Tsuna. A huge weight was taken off her shoulders as she was able to have Tsuna and everyone else help her in her life. And in return Kyoko showered Tsuna in love and aided him as much as she could. Of course they both had to come together to take care of their special child that was born almost three months ago, Keiko Sawada. It was hard at first as it is all for any parent taking care of a new life. Kyoko now had to balance college and a baby while Tsuna his mafia duties and the child as well. However, Tsuna was determined to keep his promise and his family and friends would continuously help them get through. And now things were finally calming down and looing up as Kyoko spent time with Nana, Tsuna's mother.
Kyoko and Nana sat at the kitchen table talking with Keiko in a stroller next to them. Nana was talking to Kyoko about numerous things as Tsuna had left with Iemitsu somewhere…guy talk apparently. Tsuna didn't exactly warm up to his father quite yet but Kyoko encouraged him to do so and he did it for her as she wished to spend time with Tsuna's mother. Nana was a wonderful and kind woman who has given Kyoko a lot of advice on mothering which she was quite adept at with all the children that hang around her. Also much to Kyoko's surprise Nana shared a lot of the same interests as Kyoko. She too was very surprisingly interested in traveling and transportation. Kyoko was shocked to hear someone with the same hobby as her. They found common ground quite quickly and went on talking together until she mentioned the specialness of today.
"Ah," she said as she looked to a calendar on the wall with reminiscence in her eyes, "It's that day again. It's been another year now and now they both have forgotten today."
She looked quite solemn and Kyoko looked at the calendar too. Call it a woman's intuition but she guessed what day she was talking about. "Is it you and Mr. Sawada's anniversary today?" Kyoko asked Nana. She looked at her with surprise that she guessed correctly then smiled and nodded.
"Ah yes! Today is the day me and Iemitsu were married. It was such a wonderful day for the both of us. Back then I was a lot younger and much more beautiful than I am now," she said softly.
Kyoko shook her head and said, "Oh no! You're a gorgeous woman! I feel quite jealous of how good you still look."
Nana laughed, "Oh Kyoko! You're too kind! But when I think about it, you and I are a lot alike. I used to have long hair just like yours when I was younger and worked as a waitress. That was around the time I met Iemitsu. We were so deeply in love then as you and my boy are now. But I wonder if we would ever get to that point if it wasn't for the island!"
"Oh you're right! The island helped us deeply too…SAY WHAT?" Kyoko shouted when she realized what Nana had just said. Nana kept a smile on her face and looked at Kyoko.
"Oh? Ah that's right! I completely forgot to ask you about your experience on the island when you two came back. With you two being so busy all the time it completely slipped my mind! Oh geeze, clumsy me!" Nana said with a laugh as Kyoko stared at her still in utter disbelief.
"Wait, hold up, you know about the island? You and Iemitsu have been there before? How did you know we went there? Oh my gosh, not more confusion! I JUST got out of therapy for all that mess! You ever try explaining to someone that you got knocked up on an imaginary island?" Kyoko said with her hands over her head as her painful memories came pouring in from therapy.
"Why yes! Where do you think Tsuna was conceived?" Nana said still smiling. Kyoko just stared at her blankly.
"What…" Kyoko said.
"Oh never mind that! Perhaps it was just a joke is all! But nonetheless I suppose I should explain somethings to you. Or at least tell you what I know. I should begin by saying that yes, years ago me and Iemitsu went to that island just as you and Tsuna did. I would assume that the same thing that happened to you happened to us as well. The island took shape in the form of your own mind right?" Nana said to Kyoko.
"Y-yes…it did! Though…we don't know how or why it did that…or even how we got there in the first place. We tried going back with Tsuna's friends but the island was long gone. It's as if it never even existed in the first place…." Kyoko said.
"Well…because perhaps it never really did," Nana said which made Kyoko stop. She thought about this for a moment but couldn't even begin to understand that. Never existed? That couldn't be!
"But if it never existed…I mean…we ate…we breathed…we drank…and we…" Kyoko slowly gazed to Keiko. The small child that strongly resembled her with its small strands of brown hair, brown eyes, and small body. It was undeniable that this baby was real…and what they did was real. "We…uhh…did things…that surely feltreal!" Kyoko shouted.
Nana smiled innocently, "Well of course! What happens to you physically is completely real! Like how you had sex with my boy who impregnated you without hesitation! Joyous time wasn't it? The romantic setting of the beach? Being able to really let yourself go in the breeze as you let everything hang loose…"
"Oh my gosh! Ms. Sawada! That's a little bit much! Not in front of Keiko!" Kyoko said flustered with her face red as she covered her child's ears.
"Oh you're quite fun to tease! I apologize," she said with a giggle. "Let me continue, I should have said that the island did exist and it didn't at the same time. Or to be clearer, it was as real as your mind allowed it to be."
"As real…as my mind wanted it to be?" Kyoko said as she began to think about it.
"Indeed, at first the island was a complete mystery to you. You had no idea about it or what was on it. In fact if say you were asleep and Tsuna had ventured out into the forest. He probably would have walked into nothingness as there would have been nothing there," Nana said to Kyoko who gaped at this.
"S-seriously? Nothing there? But there was a whole lot to that island!" Kyoko exclaimed.
"Well that's because you wanted it to be there Kyoko. That island was a representation of your own mind. It expanded and revealed itself as each day you found out more about your own self. Did you not realize that each day there you overcame something that was holding you down and learned something? Each day bore a new lesson and overcoming this lesson expanded your understanding of the island consequently the island itself. But also you could feel it was becoming one with your dreams. Your dreams to escape society and be with Tsuna. You felt it didn't you? That you were a part of the island at times? One with it?" Nana asked Kyoko who nodded her head.
"Yeah…I did. Going into the ocean felt so natural…everything felt…like it was all right you know? And each day…talking with Tsuna…and being with him…I began to throw away the things I was worrying about and tried to run away from everything. Because I thought that would be how I would reach my dreams and be happy…but no. That island shows you one path to freedom…but it really wasn't. Tsuna showed me that…I couldn't run from reality. A dream is just a dream and eventually everyone has to wake up from them," Kyoko said.
"But sometimes it's the reality that needs to dream," Nana said to Kyoko who listened carefully, "There must be a balance between the two. And ultimately that is what decided your freedom from the island. The true path to one's dreams is one that carries with it reality. Tell me, Tsuna was the one who must have been concerned with returning here wasn't it? While you were attached to the island right?"
"Yeah…" Kyoko responded lowly.
"Think about it like this then. Namimori and society was reality. That island was a dream. You now carry the memories of that island as a dream within you as you live your life here in reality. You have found balance Kyoko. And that dream of the island…people who have been there all carry a piece of it within them. And I can see within you…I saw it within you when I first saw you come back. It was shining brightly within you…a blue rose. You see within me too don't you? If you look closely enough you will see it," Nana said as she placed a hand over her heart. Kyoko then peered deeply where her hand was and a moment later a blue light shined brightly to Kyoko.
"Woah! I can't believe this…! So…then what's the deal with the island then? Why did it connect itself to you and I? It could've done that with your husband or Tsuna couldn't it?" Kyoko asked Nana who thought about this for a moment then looked back at her.
"Hmm…I am not entirely sure. Iemitsu was the one who helped me piece everything together. Luckily, his organization that he works for has a lot of information on things! How convenient that his construction company has such useful assets to it right?" Nana said smiling as Kyoko looked at her as if she was crazy.
"Wait…are you talking about the mafia? You don't know that your husband and Tsuna are in the…"
"Anyway," Nana cut Kyoko off and continued speaking, "Apparently that island has a legend behind it. Stories of shipwrecked sailors appearing to them and leading them to their dreams. But…most of these people never made it out from this island alive…" Nana said lowly.
"A…alive? They didn't make it…? But…why?" Kyoko asked.
"Because…they could not find balance. You see… in order to find balance one must have both dreams and reality. Some people are unable to find the balance before the dream reaches the end of four cycles. And if they fail…they become one of the trees of the island. Forced to lose their minds, bodies, and souls as they change into trees that connect to the new visitor's mind each time one arrives on the island. You heard them didn't you? The whispers of the trees…?" Nana asked Kyoko as she leaned in. Kyoko remembered that accursed whispering well and occasionally still hears it herself. Tsuna as well.
Nana spoke again, "You see…to us we may simply call it 'DreamIsland' because of its connection to dreams. But…in the stories it was called the Siren's Island for two reasons. One, its connection to women. It only connects itself to females for some reason. Apparently long ago there was, well this well sound ridiculous, but there was a woman who was married to a mafia member! Can you believe that? A woman married to someone in the mafia?"
Kyoko just stared blankly at Nana again who smiled back at her. Nana doesn't realize how awkward it is when they are bothmarried to people in the mafia. "Haha…yeah…crazy…but go on?" Kyoko said trying to move away from this awkward moment.
"Well this woman was married to a member of the mafia. In fact it was apparently the world's strongest mafia at the time…the name…I forgot the name of it but it meant clams in Italian or something I believe. Either way, they both fell deeply in love but they couldn't be together. The lives they lived were simply far too dangerous. So they tried to run away from the mafia and elope to a deserted island! However, the man had to stay behind to ensure the woman's safety and she went alone to the island first. She waited for six days…and the man never showed up. She felt betrayed and alone. Her dreams crushed by the man she loved as she tried her hardest to escape the world that only tried to hold her back. So on the seventh day…she went out to the sea…and well…you could probably guess what she did…you and I have both considered that option when our lives have grown too heavy and we felt it was the only way out at times…" Nana said sadly. Kyoko looked down as well as they both knew what was being talked about without ever actually being said.
"Yeah…I know. So…after she did that…I'm guessing her spirit or something stayed behind. And…judging by the name…she became like a siren in those legends? Sirens that attracted male sailors to sharp rocks with a song…?" Kyoko said.
"Very good, it is like you said. She became the Siren that perhaps is still deep within the island and is what gives it its power. However, she doesn't lure men. She specifically lures women who are love with a man to the island. The island then connects to that woman's mind and aims to fulfill their dreams…to give them escape from reality…and are there forever. But…when the man wishes to take the woman back to reality…the island will tear and the dream reset…apparently in an attempt to correct any errors it had in trying to keep them both here…is what I thought. But seeing how we came out…it could have been trying to help us. I can't say for sure…but the woman who died there…she could not live her dreams so she tries to grant others their dreams. Either by choosing confinement in the island or freedom in reality," Nana said to Kyoko.
"Wow…I can't believe it. But then…can't any woman be called to the island? Or any couple…?" Kyoko asked.
"Well…I am not sure about that. Some say the island can only be found by one who is a part of that mafia her husband belonged to. They are the key to revealing the island as the woman waited so eagerly for her husband…perhaps she would only allow that mafia entrance thinking he may return. But that surely can't be it since Tsuna and Iemitsu both aren't descendants of mafia I think!" Nana said with a laugh. She was truly making this an awkward experience for Kyoko. Though…she strangely felt her denseness was very familiar. But what? Who was as dense as Nana? Kyoko couldn't think who it was as she poked herselfon the head thinking.
"Hmm, well I guess that explains a lot. But that's one heck of a story and coincidence. I'm guessing somehow you and your husband were called there too?" Kyoko said.
"Indeed, we were on a boat trip and we were called there too. At the time I bore very similar worries to the one you mentioned. Honestly, it was almost as if events repeated itself with me and Iemitsu to you and Tsuna," Nana said as she looked at the calendar. "It was on this day we went to the island and it was on this day you and Tsuna went to the island too!"
"Hmm…ah! We were married on this day as well!" Kyoko said in exclamation and now Nana looked at her in shock.
"Now that surely is a coincidence! What are the odds indeed? Perhaps there's something special about women such as ourselves," Nana said before she and Kyoko began to laugh. Then Nana stopped along with Kyoko who stared at each other for a moment.
"Then that means…" Kyoko said.
"That both of them…" Nana said back.
Then at the same time said, "THEY BOTH FORGOT OUR ANNIVERSARY!?" It was at that moment as coincidence seems to run in this family that Tsuna and Iemitsu came back through the door. Tsuna looking beat up along with Iemitsu as they had got into a fist fight!
"Heh…you throw a good punch now son! Very good indeed!" Iemitsu said to Tsuna.
"Shut…up…" Tsuna said back before they both saw the two angry women…and angry child looking at them! They had the aura of fiery demons standing behind them as they glared them both down.
"SO….ENJOY YOURSELVES?" They spoke in terrifying harmony with Keiko babbling incomprehensible words. Probably was saying the same thing honestly if that's even possible.
"…Son," Iemitsu said to Tsuna calmly.
"Yes…?" Tsuna said back.
"Remember my son…in times like this there are only certain thing to do!" Iemitsu said with a hand on Tsuna's shoulder and looked actually reliable for once.
"Yeah?" Tsuna said.
"RUN!" Iemitsu yelled before he stormed out through the door with Nana chasing after him with a frying pan. Tsuna tried to run too but Kyoko had caught him quickly while holding Keiko in her hand as they both glared at him.
"HOW DARE YOU FORGET OUR ANNIVERSARY!" Kyoko shouted at Tsuna.
"W-wah! I'm sorry! But you didn't even say anything either!" Tsuna said back.
"Because…I FORGOT!" Kyoko shouted.
"WHAT! THEN YOU CAN'T BLAME ME FOR FORGETTING WHEN YOU FORGOT!"
"OH YES THE HELL I CAN! IT'S YOUR JOB TO REMEMBER ABOVE MINE! SO YOU WILL GET PUNISHED FOR FORGETTING!" Kyoko said angrily.
"T-that's not fair!" Tsuna said trembling.
"Life isn't fair! Should've thought that through before you knocked me up!" Kyoko said coldly.
"WHY DOES IT KEEP GOING BACK TO THAT?" Tsuna said before he simply gave up and let Kyoko have her way. No point in arguing with a girl like Kyoko anyway. However, all he did simply was kiss Kyoko suddenly and stopped her from going on a rant. Sure enough she slowly gave in as she was held by Tsuna who made her love drunk off his kiss.
"I'm sorry Kyoko. I won't ever forget again. I promise," Tsuna said with a smile. Kyoko blushed and gave in as she couldn't stay mad. She did forget too.
"Yeah…I'm sorry I yelled at you. I promise as well. Besides…I did hear quite the story from your mom…you probably won't believe me…" Kyoko said.
"That my parents went to the island? My dad told me that today, I couldn't believe it myself! The world works in a weird way…my parents…then us. But…we don't have to worry about the island. It never calls people back twice. Once you find balance you will never be called back or see it again. So you and I can focus on our lives Kyoko," Tsuna said as he held her close. Kyoko smiled and rested her head on Tsuna and she smiled back at him.
"Yeah…all the nightmares are behind us now since we have each other…and we have promises to keep…" Kyoko said.
"Lives to live…a child to take care of…and each other as well…" Tsuna said.
"And dreams to fulfill…just as the island helped us do…" They both said as they kissed once more lovingly with smiles on their faces. The island for good reasons or bad…has helped these two find their dreams. It's a sad tale though…the story of the Siren who never had her own dream fulfilled…but in the end seeks to help other women…find their own dreams…but if they fail then they become trees. A hero…or a villain…the Siren of the island sleeps eternally…
BONUS CHAPTER END
The Story Continues in the next Island Story with a new female protagonist! Who do you want it to be in the KHR universe? A new heroine, hero, theme, and island awaits!
