And the breakthrough continues...

Chapter 7: Massive Breakthrough

As the day goes on, Musaki and Manny quickly went from strangers to being friends...all in one day and that maybe there seems to be an emotional breakthrough coming in, which was something that wasn't expected, but Musaki glad it happened anyway because it feels as if he can relate to this person that lost two parents and understand what the impact of the situation feels like.

When they made their way back to the village, they headed back to Oak Sung's house and both of them were just opening up to each other about losses and how to cope with it. Even though Manny started to open up a little bit, he was still shaken by the tragic loss of his parents and he still didn't understand why it had to happen. Musaki could sense that Manny was still not understanding how it has come to this and he puts his paw on his shoulder for comfort and Musaki told him, "How did you find out they were dead?"

Manny lets out a deep, sorrowful sigh and he was filled with a mixed bag of emotions and a lot of grief inside of him that brought out some deep emotional pain that's been weighed heavily uopn him and it was like nothing would be able to nurse it nor would it make it all go away really quickly. He then looked at Musaki and told him, "They were still sick by this River Fever and I was supposed to head to the Valley of Peace to get it that day and...I wanted to check on them to see if they were okay. I tried to wake them up, but for some reason...they didn't even move. I checked their hearts, hoping to hear a heartbeat but it was silent. I felt the same way as my parents were...numb. I started screaming for help and I was just panicking because I didn't believe that they were gone. Finally, when one person heard me scream, they could see it was a serious situation and they brought me outside. I didn't even want to separate from them and I just lost it. Lost it completely. I was...denying the fact that they were dead. I didn't even want to believe it, but when that wolf Toboe saw it, most of the villagers brought them out and when I saw their hands stuck out, I..."

Manny took a minute to keep his composure as he didn't want to just break down, but as soon as the image came out of his head, he burst out crying. Musaki blinked his eyes and realized that it was the most disturbing thing he had ever witnessed in his life. Manny covered his eyes trying to avoid the tears from falling down on his face but Musaki saw one fall down on his face anyway. Manny then continued on, with a broken voice, "How do I live with this? If I could've done something to prevent this from happening...they'd still be here. And instead, they just left me behind."

Musaki knew that this person was so torn over this tragedy like his heart has been ripped from his chest and couldn't be brought back in. He got closer to Manny and just gave him a huge hug while Manny deeply cried on his shoulders. Musaki lets out a heavy sigh and he said, "It's really hard to know why it always happens for so many reasons we never really know...but someone once told me that it's all a part of life."

"How did you cope with the fact that your parents were dead?" asked Manny.

Musaki lets out a huge sigh and figured that this question was deeply emotional for him to answer because he's felt his share of dealing with a tragic moment, but it left him scarred at the age of three. He answered, "I didn't. I was completely depressed and it saddened me a lot through my childhood. I didn't even want to believe that they were dead and hoped that they'd still be okay. There's not a day that goes by when I don't think of them. But as I got older, someone told me that death always happens to people and we may not know how or even why it happened, but only to know that it's not our fault."

Manny lets out a few choked sobs and a sniffle and said, "But I feel so responsible for this tragedy."

"Don't be. What makes you say that?" asked Musaki.

Manny took a deep breath and replied, "When I was growing up, my parents didn't seem to love each other the way they used to anymore. We used to be a happy family until they split up...and then I was in the middle of who shares custody with me when I got older. They'd fight all the time and it would turn totally ugly."

Musaki widened his eyes to hear that the custody battle turned very ugly and that was something is grandfather totally left out and never expected to hear something like this and he asked, "How bad was it?"

"Worse. Arguements came by, they just spread lies about each other and it would get really, really violent. They always said that they didn't want me to see them like this, but I did and I really didn't like it. I just wished that it was all a nightmare and that it would go away, but I was wedged in the middle of their divorce. I didn't even do anything bad to them, but it didn't stop the arguing and the horrible things they said to each other. There were so many times that I just buried my head in a pillow and just cry myself to sleep at night." Manny added.

Musaki couldn't imagine seeing something like this if he was on Manny's position and it really shocked him to the core over something like this and he had no experiences in what divorce was like, but he could tell the effect that it had on Manny. Then, Musaki asked, "When you found out that they had a fatal disease, how did you react?"

"I was petrified. The fact that they have River Fever makes me really scared of losing both of my parents. I still loved them regardless and I wanted to do whatever I can to keep them alive so we can be happy again. But it was unsuccessful."

Musaki saw the look on Manny's face; a huge amount of guilt around him and it was like he could've done something to keep this from happening and Musaki could hear Manny blaming himself for whatever happened and Musaki couldn't do anything but give out another hug to his half-cousin and he said, "There was nothing you could've done. All of that stuff...it was never your fault to begin with. It just...happens."

Manny lets out a small whimper and buried his face with his hands and Musaki could see that he would want some alone time and he then said, "Things happen for a reason and...we may not know why, but that's the way life goes. The only thing we can do is just try our best to deal with it and hope that somehow...we'll be okay in the end."

Musaki pats him on the shoulder as he got up and left the room, leaving Manny to let it all out. He took one more glance at him as he laid his head against the wall and lets out one lone tear on his eye, thinking to himself, 'I'm so sorry that everything happened to you.'

Emotional support between Manny and Musaki, huh? Stick around for there's more!