36 Drabbles
32: A Happy Time
The little girl giggled, peeking out into the living room and seeing the green Christmas tree standing tall and proud in a corner of the room. Presents decorated with shiny wrapping paper littered the bottom of the tree, all tied up with different-coloured ribbons. The little girl stared almost longingly at them, her head arching up to see a woman in a rocking chair, knitting a red scarf with her tiny fingers, and a man lounging on the couch, the daily newspaper open as he read the sports news. The little girl giggled again, scrambling up on her chubby legs to rush in, a wide smile dancing on her face.
"…-ou-san! …a-san!" She shouted, the first parts of the words muted for some strange reason. The man and the woman both looked up from what they were doing, watching the young girl beeline for the presents under the tree. "Can I open them now? Please, please, please, please?" She exclaimed, grabbing the biggest one and hugging it with a toothy smile. The woman laughed, putting aside her knitting project and kneeling down to rest on the floor with the man.
"Of course." She said, her face for some reason unrecognizable because of the shadows her bangs made. The man on the other side of the little girl was the same, face darkened to hide his facial features. The little girl paid it no mind, enthusiastically ripping open the wrapping paper and ribbon to dig inside the box and bring out a white teddy bear with a red bowtie. She squealed, squeezing it tightly before she let go and turned to give the two adults big hugs. The man chuckled, smoothing the little girls stray bangs out of her face. She turned to look at the woman as well, who was also smiling before the man's voice turned her attention away.
"Are you happy, Sakuno-chan?"
She didn't remember what she said next.
Sakuno groaned, bringing her hand up to her eyes to rub them free of fatigue. Ryoma stood above her, smoothing her creased brow with a swipe of his hand. Karupin laid beside her on Ryoma's bed, meowing softly at the girl.
"Sakuno, you awake?" He asked, and Sakuno just nodded her head in response, vision not completely in focus. She yawned, bringing her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.
"Sorry, Ryoma." Sakuno muttered, slowly sitting up as to not give herself a headache. "I just fell asleep." Ryoma just shrugged, not really caring much. It was nice to watch his girlfriend sleep, because he could stare at her as much as he wanted, and she would never look away. Karupin enjoyed it because Sakuno was very warm, and she would cuddle up to the female human and nap alongside her. "Ah, what time is it?" She asked, wondering if it was about time for her to get home. Dinner would roll around soon, and Sakuno didn't want to impose. Ryoma looked at the digital clock with something of a pout gracing his lips.
"It's about eighteen o'clock (six pm)." He answered. Sakuno hummed a little in thought, before reaching for her jacket and slipping it on. Ryoma stood up, knowing that she wanted to go now and he would walk her home. They both exited Ryoma's room and made their way down the stairs, only to be ambushed by Echizen Nanjiroh, Rinko, and Nanako.
"Sakuno-chan~!" Nanjiroh exclaimed, pouncing forward to lock the young girl in a hug, only to be rudely intercepted by his only son. Rinko shuffled forward, giving Sakuno a quick hug to back away and let Nanako take her turn as well.
"Are you sure you don't want to stay for dinner?" Rinko asked, clad in her customary kimono. "The food is already laid out, so you're welcome to join us." Sakuno just shook her head, politely declining the offer and stating she needed to get home anyways. Rinko commanded Ryoma to walk her, if Sakuno hadn't refused and told him to stay here to eat, and that she had a few things she needed to take care of anyways. "Oh… well that's too bad, but please be careful on your way home." Rinko commented, and Sakuno promised she would.
Nanjiroh, who had finally gotten out of Ryoma's chokehold, shouted out of the door as Sakuno was just about to go down the stairs of the Echizen house.
"Come visit again soon, Sakuno-musume (daughter)!"
Sakuno turned around, smiling and nodding. When she turned back to head down the stairs, her smile fell.
"Musume…"
Ryuzaki Sumire was waiting at home for Sakuno to get back from Ryoma's house, having already cooked dinner because the young girl commented she wouldn't be able to. Sumire was hoping Sakuno would get back soon so they could have a nice dinner. She was getting a bit worried when the clock struck eighteen-thirty. It only took about ten minutes to walk from Ryoma's house to home, and Sakuno would've called if she was going to stay for dinner (and Sumire knew she wasn't, as the girl would think she was intruding).
When the clock hit eighteen-forty, Sumire picked up the phone and dialled the Echizen household.
The grave was recently cleaned, Sakuno noticed. That must've been her grandmother's doing, since Sakuno stopped visiting her parents grave since she was about four years old, an entire year after the accident. Even though it happened when she was so young, Sakuno could still remember many things about the tragic death of her parents. She remembered clutching a white teddy bear when her grandmother came over with tear-tracks on her cheeks. She remembered being dressed in black, and visiting a bleak, dark place and being told to stand in front of a perfectly rectangular stone to say her goodbyes. She remembered asking her grandmother where her parents were; when they were coming back. She remembered bawling her eyes out for days, screaming until her voice was hoarse when she realized they were never coming back.
She remembered visiting them for three-hundred-and-sixty-five-days, crying at their gravestone and choking on her sobs until her throat was sore and her eyes were red. She remembered never seeing a smile on her grandmother's face since her parent's death. Most of all, she remembered not being able to sleep one night, and quietly padding out into the living room to peek around the corner, much like she did during that one Christmas Day, and hearing her grandmother sobbing in front of a picture of her parents, asking for Sakuno's welfare and happiness, and hoped that "that young child will never have to shed another tear again, and that the rest of her life will always be filled with smiles and laughter and happiness."
She remembered heading back to her room, climbing into the covers and closing her eyes to pretending to sleep. She remembered feeling her grandmother's goodnight kiss, and the little drop of water that fell on her forehead. She remembered falling asleep and waking up the next morning, drying her overnight tears and padding down the stairs to the sight of breakfast, a big smile on her face and a cheery, "good morning obaa-san!" She remembered her grandmother's eyes widen until a small smile spread through her face and she greeted "good morning" as well. She remembered stopping the grave-visits that very day, surprising her grandmother. She remembered her grandmother's smile become increasingly wider with every morning Sakuno greeted her cheerily. She remembered that not thinking about her parents at all helped the hurt go away.
She remembered forgetting about them completely.
Until now.
"Are you happy, Sakuno-chan?"
She wasn't sad. Sure, she cried sometimes, but it was mostly out of frustration than anything. She smiled a lot, so much that sometimes when she was in her room at night, and about to go to bed, her mouth hurt from too much smiling. She also laughed, Tomoka's strangeness always able to spark a giggle, and the Junior Three's antics always made her laugh so hard her stomach hurt. And let's not forgot the senpai-tachi, and Ryoma and his father, Nanjiroh. They were the most hilarious of them all.
"Are you happy, Sakuno-chan?"
A shout drew her attention from the grave, and Sakuno turned to see Ryoma running towards her. Behind him stood the rest of the Echizen family. Nanjiroh, Rinko, and Nanako. Beside them was Ryuzaki Sumire, looking very relieved and very happy. Sakuno's eyes flickered to each of the Echizen's, noting with astonishment the relief and happiness evident in their eyes also. She saw Nanjiroh's hand wave at her, and his lips mouth, "Sakuno-musume." A little pang shot through her in an emotion she was unable to identify. Her eyes raked over all of them again, words popping spontaneously into her head.
Nanjiroh… "Otou-san."
Rinko… "Okaa-san."
Nanako… "Onee-san."
Sumire… "Obaa-san."
Ryoma…
The words stopped there, and Sakuno looked back to her parent's grave that glowed in the sunlight. The names dented into the stone caused a pang to ripple through her heart, this time in slight grief. She was surprised how easily she had come to accept their death. How easily she could now see the name, "Ryuzaki" titled down the centre of the stone grave. How easily the answer to the question that plagued her for almost her entire life came.
As Ryoma drew closer and closer, Sakuno looked away from the gravestone.
"Sakuno, are you okay?"
"Are you happy, Sakuno-chan?"
"Yes, I am."
"Yes, I am."
A/N Thirty-second drabble out! This one is a sweet combination of angst and acceptance.
My inspiration for this drabble was varied, but I finally decided to do a "best of both worlds" sort of thing. Did that come across properly? I can never tell, lol. I also wanted to give a reason as to where Sakuno's parents were, and since they're never mentioned in the anime, I figure they're probably dead, right? And since they're dead, obviously that means Sakuno has been carrying this grief with her through her entire life, so I wanted this to be a sort of letting go moment for it good? Bad?
Review for a custard tart!
Snowflake Flower