AN: This is a very short chapter, it's partly to tone down from the dark content I put in the last chapter. And also just to get a glimpse into the relationship that is developing between three people who are just thrown together because of a situation beyond their control. Thanks for the positive feedback, loving it!
"Oh nooo, I've just been swallowed!" Mika wailed, as she guided her small disk down the snakes and ladders board.
"You got swallowed by the big one" Henri laughed gleefully at Mika.
"Now I'm back to one" she wailed again making the little boy laugh even harder.
"I'm now ahead of you Mika!" Henri took the dice and began rolling it.
"You two are a noisy bunch" Marlene scolded coming into the sitting room carrying a tray of steaming mugs.
"Hot chocolate and marshmallows, danke oma" Henri said with excitement after Marlene had set the mugs down on the coffee table.
"Looks like a treat" Mika peered at the marshmallows floating on the creamy surface of the hot drink.
"So the two of you have decided to spend the whole day in your pyjamas?" Marlene cast them a disapproving look.
"Mika doesn't have a lot of clothes anymore oma, Raizo said her clothes got burnt in a fire" Henri explained, as if this would clear the matter. Mika and Marlene exchanged a quizzical glance.
"So we're saving Mika's clothes" Henri finished, so sure of himself. Mika laughed at this, in actual fact; she couldn't wait to try on the clothes Raizo had bought for her, but since she felt like a patient in recovery she didn't see the need to dress up.
For the past days that the three of them had been in countryside safe house, they had managed to bond. Mika was grateful for the elder woman's presence, Marlene not only fussed over her but she also proved to be good company. Henri's childish perception of the situation and everything around him proved to be humorous as well as uplifting. Seeing the world through a child's view felt a lot like a light breeze blowing in a lifeless place. Mika could see how Raizo had been drawn to Henri and opened up to him; it was that simple one dimensional view that seemed to make sense and that retained some of the innocence the world was losing.
It was moments like these that kept them sane and made them stop worrying about the imminent danger that was always looming ahead. They continued playing the game; then switched on to watching TV. Henri forced them all to watch SpongeBob, it was only after he fell asleep laying his head on Mika's lap, when the two women decided to watch a movie and have time to talk.
"How Raizo tolerates the ball of energy that is my grandson is beyond me, I always want to take a nap after dealing with Henri" Marlene complained.
"Hmm that's Raizo, how he tolerates anything is beyond all of us" Mika said fondly of her man.
"He's a good man, I can see you make each other happy" Marlene smiled at her, Mika blushed studying her cup.
"Three days, that's all it took for me to fall in love with him" she reminisced their short but fateful encounter fleeing from the Hanta Kirra led by Takeshi.
"It was sort of a convenience situation; he needed what I had to carry out his revenge plan, I needed him to stay alive"
"And somehow, you two fell in love" Marlene finished.
"Somewhere between me freeing him and him fighting for everyone in the interrogation basement, and us running away together, everything just happened."
"I don't know Marlene, I just felt like every moment of my life led to that, led to him."
"I think Raizo would say the same too, he used to have nightmares the first days and he said your name a lot" Marlene said with a note of reluctance.
"Did he?" Mika asked softly. Marlene nodded.
"It only made sense to me after he bought you home, that you're the person he dreamt about, he kept telling you to run. Mika, I don't think Raizo is capable of loving anyone like that, the way he loves you, you don't want to lose someone like him"
"I love him too Marlene, but sometimes I feel—he—he just overwhelms me, you know, whenever I'm with him I—just feel like my heart is on fire" Mika looked down at the carpet trying to find the exact words to explain to Marlene.
"Is that a bad thing to you?"
"Yes and no, it's just that I'm afraid of losing him, the three months we were apart, it wasn't that hard because we hadn't progressed anything but I still felt hollow. Now that we're together it's different"
"What are you really afraid of Mika?"
"He hasn't lived much of a life, he's still finding himself, what if he wakes up one day and just decides he wants more from this life, and somehow I'm not a part a part of that more" Mika voiced her concerns out loud.
"You should have seen his face after he heard that you had an accident, I think it looked a whole lot like I felt when I lost my husband, and then my son. He was broken, he reminded of the Raizo who first came living in my quarters. And that Mika, is saying a lot"
"Thanks Marlene, for the heads up" Mika smiled with affection.