Disclaimer: Konomi Takeshi owns Prince of Tennis.
Fukuda stopped in her tracks while passing by Yoko's room one night. A couple of maids were behind her, as they had just finished cleaning duty for that day. They, too, stopped walking.
One of them asked, "What's the matter, Fukuda-san? Did you forget anything?"
She hushed them down and gestured them to listen.
They heard the playing of a flute, one note at a time. They exchanged glances, which turned to knowing smiles.
Their dearest Lady Yoko was finally moving on with her life.
It had been such an emotional day when she received her mother's belongings. She excused herself after thanking her father, and went straight to her room.
She went in front of the mirror and put on the white hat. It was a bit worn out and large for her, but as long as it is her mother's, it would always be special.
She looked at her reflection. The white hat made her pale skin seem a few shades healthier, and the contrasting color made her hair look pitch black. And then, for a moment, what she saw was not her face anymore, but her mother's.
She smiled and removed the hat.
She then sat on her desk, and picked up the flute. She had seen people playing it – some on live concerts, some on television – but she had never played one before. She was never too keen about music. Of course, she learned a bit about it in school, but that was that. Theory is always way different than practice.
But at that moment, none of it mattered. It was only she and the flute, and everything came naturally. Her fingers positioned themselves on the holes: left index finger, left middle finger, and left ring finger, and then right index finger, right middle finger, right ring finger, and finally right pinky.
She then put her lips on the hole, closed her eyes, and blew gently. It was a low C. She then lifted her pinky, and blew again. This time it was a D. She continued lifting and blowing, until she finally finished the do-re-mi.
She felt glad with what she had done, and continued to explore with the instrument.
She practiced playing the do-re-mi over and over, until she memorized it. She then began to widow simple melodies.
The first one was a nursery rhyme, Mary had a little lamb. She sang the song quietly, and after sometime, her fingers were already doing their work.
E. D. C. D. E. E. E. Mary had a little lamb
D. D. D. E. G. G. Little lamb, little lamb
E. D. C. D. E. E. E. Mary had a little lamb
E. D. D. E. D. C. Its fleece was white as snow.
She repeated it until she finally retired for the night, smiling in her sleep.
For the succeeding days, she widowed more nursery rhymes. One time, while she was playing Row, row, row, your boat, she saw the seashell in her desk and suddenly remembered the familiar melody playing in her head since that day on the church.
She stopped playing and put the seashell near her ear. She heard the sounds of the waves, and after a while, she heard the melody. She listened carefully to the notes, and began playing as soon as the music finished.
The first note echoed, and Yoko felt sure of her playing. It's almost as if someone was guiding her fingers in playing this beautiful music. She poured her feelings into the piece, and she was teary-eyed before she knew it. She finished the melody and allowed her tears to fall freely on her cheeks.
Playing it allowed her to release emotions she kept to herself, and finally hearing it with her ears helped her to understand herself better. The melody was her inner voice, talking to her as she played it.
She practiced playing it for days, each time gauging her feelings. She faced the truth: she greatly misses her mother. One day, she would play the piece for her, she vowed. One day.
"It feels great to be in the ocean again after such a long time, ne, Kunimitsu?"
"Ah."
"How's ojou-san?" The older Tezuka asked, referring to Yoko. He was ordered to rest for a few more days, but he insisted that he felt worse imprisoned inside the house doing nothing.
"She only came once, the week after you last saw her."
"Oh, I see. Looks like she has finally given up."
The two Tezukas fell silent after that, as they had always been while they were fishing. After an hour, they heard a musical instrument playing. They turned to the source of sound, and saw Yoko standing by the shore. She was wearing the white hat, matched with a black dress. Her eyes were closed; she was too immersed in her own playing, lost in her own world.
Tezuka was pretty sure she was playing a classical flute piece, but he could not tell which one is it. He knew only a handful, as he was always busy with tennis, academics, and student council duties. He had very little time for recreational activities, which was actually spent in fishing.
"That's quite a sad piece she is playing," Kunikazu commented as he resumed fishing.
Tezuka silently agreed as he turned to his fishing pole.
Okaa-san, can you hear me playing? I don't know what this piece is called, and I don't know when I heard it. It just came to me one day, and I decided to play it for you now using your flute. I just started learning a while back. Do you like–
The wind blew the hat away, stopping Yoko from playing out of pure shock and panic. She dropped the silver flute on the sand and rushed towards the water.
The Tezukas turned to the shore, wondering why the music suddenly stopped. They saw Yoko already on the water, as if she was chasing something. Their eyes followed where she was heading, and they saw the hat floating on the water a few meters away from the dock they were fishing at.
"Kunimitsu, go get the hat. I'll handle the girl. "
Tezuka nodded and dived on the water.
Kunikazu ran back to the shore to prevent Yoko from going any further. The tide was high, and the water already reached her waist. He knew she could not swim, and it would be a big problem if the waves would carry her away. He was not in perfect health to swim, so it would be up to Tezuka to save her.
He was about to shout a warning at her when he reached hearing distance, but that was not necessary. She had already stopped walking.
Yoko froze as soon as she saw Tezuka's face as he swam back to the shore, the hat in his left hand. But instead of the hat, she saw her six year-old self. She trembled as memories of that incident flooded her mind.
Her knees suddenly felt weak, and she was about to collapse when Kunikazu finally reached her and held her by the shoulder, guiding her back to the shore. She knew nothing of it; all she could see was the silhouette of a kid saving her from drowning, a silhouette slowly turning into a six year-old Tezuka.
Tezuka reached the shore after sometime, panting a bit. He heard his grandfather asking the girl if she's okay as he walked towards them, but it seemed she had been unresponsive. Her eyes were fixed onto him. She seemed to be in a daze, but as he neared her, her eyes slowly regained focus.
"There's your hat, ojou–"
Both Tezukas were shocked as Yoko suddenly threw herself onto the bespectacled boy, hugging him tightly.
"Thank you. Thank you so much," she muttered, and then she slowly pulled away and stared into his eyes. She was in tears, but she was smiling warmly at him.
I finally found you.
A/N: It looks like a lot of you were rooting for Ootori. It's time for Tezuka to step into the limelight! Before I forget, thank you so much to all those who added I Won't Give Up to their list of favorites/story alerts. I really appreciate it, but I would love to hear from you. Please tell me how you find the story so far by leaving a review. It would really be a big help in my writing, and a big boost in my confidence. Again, thank you very much!