Born of the Abyss 1.2
1
Tsukuyomi manifested high above, on a beam, amidst a storm of crows that split and soon disappeared.
The stadium was full of people, of noise, and she remained in the darkness, the light from the spotlights drawing all attention to the stage.
No one would notice her.
And even if they did, she could disappear from their sight, making them believe it had been nothing more than a trick their eyes had played on them.
But they wouldn't.
Even the moon seemed like a spotlight illuminating her tonight.
Of course, she was talking about Sarina Tendouji.
It felt right to see her on stage. Some might say that if it weren't for her illness, Sarina would have abandoned the dream of being an idol, like one of the many dreams any child discards. Tsukuyomi didn't agree, however. And she didn't say it because she had special information as a goddess.
She simply believed that she would have kept dreaming of that brightly, without giving up, that it had nothing to do with the fact that she had only had Ai and Gorou Amamiya.
That it was, simply, a part of her.
Like a matter of Destiny.
The act was nearing its end, but she didn't care. Tsukuyomi had heard enough through Hikaru's phone, and she wasn't really here to watch her performance.
Not even to help her make a decision, for that matter.
Deep down, she knew she had already made a decision. Tsukuyomi sighed, stood up from the beam, and disappeared again.
No one noticed her presence or her disappearance.
Leaving behind a single crow feather, slowly floating towards the stage.
She had to hurry. After all, Gorou's life was quickly slipping away.
2
The fluttering of many crows' wings, a cold wind blowing, piercing him cleanly, making him shiver from head to toe. But he was no longer afraid. His life was about to fade, but now everything would be alright.
"You've come back. Please. Please, help me." Aqua pleaded in a barely audible voice, as loud as was physically possible for him.
Tsukuyomi crouched beside him, not minding the pool of blood that was growing larger. The contrast between her skin, as pale as moonlight, and the savage red of his fresh blood created a stark contrast.
Gently, she brushed the hair from his eyes, sticky with sweat and seawater.
For a moment, Aqua thought she was going to kiss his forehead.
"Or haven't you come to save me?" Aqua trembled. He was cold. He was very cold, and everything was so dark already. "Are you here to accompany me to the other side?"
Tsukuyomi remained silent for long moments, simply stroking his hair.
"No. I'm going to break the rules for you. For her, above all." She placed one of her hands on the wound in his stomach. The pain was like being stabbed with a red-hot iron, but that wasn't anything bad. It actually woke up his cold and numb body, more dead than alive, sending a sensation everywhere. It didn't matter what the sensation was. "These are words that Sarina should tell you, but I'm not sure if she'll realize how stupid you are. And since you're going to cost me my life, I think I have the right to be selfish and have you stay there listening like a good boy."
Aqua's eyes widened.
"What... are you talking about?"
"I've already told you." Although they were talking about her own life, Tsukuyomi rolled her eyes as if he were nothing more than a petulant child who didn't know how to listen to his elders, focusing on unimportant things. "I'm going to break the rules and pay the price for it. A life for another. It's a fair deal. Don't think about that, you just listen."
Aqua swallowed.
Anyway, he didn't have much strength left to speak. And he wanted to live. He wanted to live, even if it was at the expense of others. Even if it was tremendously selfish. The most selfish thing of all was the guilt that was eating away at him. He was going to accept her sacrifice without thinking twice, so what right did he have to feel guilty?
"Sarina doesn't love you just because you were the only person by her side. Because she didn't have better options. You should know that by now. She herself told you that if she had gotten out of that bed, she would have persistently followed you anyway, not looking at boys her own age."
"Yes, but she..."
"Give me a break, Gorou. She dreamed of seeing you again someday and being the perfect woman for you for almost two decades. At least have the decency to respect her feelings."
It was the last thing he should be focusing on in this situation, but Aqua felt irritated and his face contorted, making a grimace.
She had no right to talk to him like that.
He was willing to give everything for her, today he had demonstrated it, for better or worse. Of course he respected
(I'm happy you're alive!)
her feelings.
More than that, he...
"Even if she hadn't ended up in the hospital," Tsukuyomi continued, "she would have loved you from the bottom of her heart if she had had the chance to meet you. Her illness did nothing more than accelerate things. I'm sure that one way or another you would have found each other."
"Do you say that as a goddess?"
"Does it matter? What's important is that I'm right and you know it. Deep down you know it. That responding to her feelings... is not taking advantage of a vulnerable girl, and that thought is one of the only two things holding you back. If it were such a trivial love, Sarina would have forgotten about you at some point in the last almost two decades."
"I... don't think... it would be taking advantage, but..."
Tsukuyomi fixed her eyes on him, sharp as daggers.
"Enough. What are you so afraid of? I'm going to die soon. It doesn't matter if you tell me the truth."
Aqua fell silent.
"You're right." And what's the other reason?
Aqua closed his eyes.
In a situation like this, it would be dangerous, but he could feel his wound closing. Even the pain was fading. As he returned to life, Tsukuyomi was losing hers. He couldn't forget that fact.
"I'm not the doctor she loves. I'm bitter. Angry. I can't make her happy. I can't make anyone happy."
Tsukuyomi sighed. Aqua opened his eyes again in time to see her bring her free hand to her head.
"I've always thought of you as mischievous and cute children, but you're crossing the line. You know perfectly well that she doesn't care. She told you herself. There are too many things I'd like to scold you for, but I have very little time." The girl coughed several times forcefully, she fell forward, if she hadn't supported herself on him with her other hand too, she would have fallen. "Gorou. I beg you, stop the nonsense. I'm really going to die. That means you can forget about divine guidance and blessings. You're going to be alone, on your own. Be honest with yourself for once. She's been honest with you since you met. You owe her at least that much."
Yes. Yes, of course. Now that he had come out of the water, he wouldn't allow things to continue as they had until now.
"What else, what else? There are so many things I'd like to say and so little time. Ah, yes. You think you couldn't do anything for Sarina, but you breathed life into her, stupid. Don't take it away now. Protect her for me."
She was weakening. Dying slowly before his eyes, and he could do nothing. Because it was his fault.
"I'm sorry."
He couldn't believe he had the nerve to say that when he was the one killing her. As if taking pity on him, the girl gave him a beautiful smile that reminded him of the courage Sarina had shown even as her death approached ever faster.
"Don't say unnecessary things. I've been thinking about this for a while, I've come to accept it."
"Still, I'm sorry. I really am sorry."
"Me too." The girl sighed deeply. "I would have liked to watch you a little longer. At least until that wedding the little one is so eager to celebrate."
She bowed her head.
"Take care of her, okay? Promise me."
"I promise you."
Tsukuyomi removed her hand.
Aqua glanced down. The wound had closed. He already knew it, he had been able to feel it, but he needed to check it with his own eyes even though it wasn't even the strangest thing he had experienced in his life.
A flock of crows came for that girl, engulfing her form. A horrible spectacle. It was especially eerie because the animals made no sound at all. The curtain of crows was so dense that he couldn't see what happened to her, which he should probably be grateful for.
When the curtain opened, there was no trace of the little girl left.
And soon the crows vanished too without a trace, melting into the darkness of the night, as if they had never been more than an optical illusion.
Aqua remained lying on the ground for a while, looking at the light. He felt his chest heavy, as if the pressure of the water hadn't left him. As if he hadn't come out
(I'M NOT DEAD!)
of that watery tomb.
He got up slowly, very carefully, as if he was afraid that everything would start hurting again.
But he was already healed, completely snatched from the clutches of death. He had forced Kamiki to stab him, they had thrown themselves into the sea from the top of the hill, probably breaking a rib or two at the very least with the impact.
But there was no trace of that left, except for the blood staining his clothes.
Well, if he was talking about miracles, the fact that he had managed to climb back to the top of the hill after all that was the first miracle.
He was only here, alive, safe, through the effort and sacrifice of a person with a great heart. He couldn't forget that.
And for Sarina, of course.
That song, written by Ai...
Yes. Tsukuyomi, Sarina, and Ai. The three of them had dragged him out of the darkness and into the light. He would never forget that.
Aqua brought a hand to his heart, clutching the fabric of his jacket. He could feel the weight of his life. Of the precious thing he had been about to carelessly discard.
Now...
He had a long way to go, and he probably wouldn't make it in time to see the concert, but it didn't matter. He didn't want to see any concert. He wanted to hold Ruby in his arms. He wanted to feel her. He wanted to tell her the things he should have told her a long time ago.
A cold wind blew.
Aqua hugged himself. He was soaked in blood, not just water, and the blood burned as if it were on fire, but it wasn't enough to protect him from this cold.
He imagined that what he was feeling wasn't just physical. It was also the cold of death that he had managed to escape by the skin of his teeth.
But that couldn't explain why he was starting to hear strange sounds.
Sounds
(like earth falling)
like something being dragged, like something falling.
Where could those sounds be coming from?
At this time of night. He was the only living person in this remote place. The village, Takachiho, was hours away.
It didn't have to be a person, but... What else could it be? What kind of animal would make those sounds? Neither an animal nor a person. There couldn't be anyone out there
(climbing the cliff)
as if lying in wait, at this time of night.
It was nothing more than a trick played by his mind. Everything was over now.
BUT
He should approach the source of the noises and take a look. Then his heart would calm down.
BUT WHAT IF
It was normal to feel afraid.
He had suffered a horrible experience. He had been at death's door. It was normal to resist believing that everything had ended so easily, even though it hadn't been easy at all.
BUT WHAT IF IT'S NOT LIKE THAT?
A shadow separated from the darkness of the night, staggering forward. Of course, it was Hikaru. The truth he had been desperately trying to deny since he started hearing that noise. He didn't know what kind of perverse miracle had saved him, but he had not only survived the fall and the cold embrace of the sea, but had also managed to climb up the hill.
To the very top.
(to me, he's coming for me)
Aqua gritted his teeth. He took
(I'm scared)
a step back, his legs were shaking, but to what extent it was due to fear he couldn't say, as they had been shaking even before. Tsukuyomi
(it's all my fault)
had made sure he recovered physically from the experience, but mental recovery was never so simple.
However, Hikaru Kamiki was intact. He had his hair stuck to his forehead with blood and sweat. He must have hit his head on a rock, but what was that compared to what they had been through? It couldn't have been too hard a blow if he had kept the strength to climb the hill.
On his face was an inhuman rage. And in his hands, a knife.
The knife? Did he recover it down there? Did he have time to escape and get a weapon? He's not human, is he? He's not...
Enough! Of course he's human!
He's as human as I am. As fragile, as afraid of dying.
He must have carried a knife on him too, that's all.
"I must have hurt myself more than I thought," Hikaru said slowly, clutching his head with his free hand, squeezing. "It's so dark that... it almost seems like you don't have a wound."
Hikaru laughed. His laughter, his whole being, was like a poisonous flower. It might look the same as any other on the outside. Harmless. But inside lurked a bottomless malice. Clutching that knife with the intention of killing him, he almost sounded like an innocent child as he laughed. A pure being.
"Anyway, come here. Come play with your father, Aqua. It's time we make up for lost time."
Aqua turned around and ran towards the forest. He breathed deeply, trying to regain his composure. He couldn't fail. He couldn't even allow himself to stumble. The goddess who had been watching over their destinies was no longer anywhere to be found.
Therefore, if he did something stupid, he would pay for it. He would die miserably. There would be no regeneration or another reincarnation. He would die like any other of Hikaru's victims, just another name on the list.
Would he die?
(I'm not dead!)
He couldn't die now. A goddess had sacrificed her life for an insignificant human like him. How could he die just a few minutes later? That was absurd, impossible! But everything was possible.
It was no longer a question of what should happen. Anything could happen. If destiny was the guide of the gods, then Aqua Hoshino had no destiny. His life and death didn't have to have any greater meaning.
He really could die here, gutted by his own father, without achieving anything. Without protecting anything. Useless until the end.
Aqua disappeared among the trees, sinking into darkness. The cold night wind blew, shaking the branches. The shadows of the leaves seemed like the fingers of some unknown creature trying to reach him. He knew Hikaru couldn't be far.
Even with that blow to the head, he couldn't be far away. He could hear him running. He heard... something like glass shattering.
He only realized what it was because Ruby's voice disappeared.
The phone.
He could have called for help, but...
No. If he had gone for the phone, Hikaru would have killed him. His heart was racing a mile a minute. His best chance was in the forest, with countless ways to hide, to surprise him, to escape if he found himself cornered.
It was clear what he had to do. To hell with the original plan. He had to snatch the knife from him, kill him with his bare hands, deliver him to the embrace of the sea and hope that would be enough. That the body would never be found. That the rumors would soon disappear.
That the investigation would never get anywhere.
It wasn't ideal, but he no longer had any other option.
"Aqua!" Hikaru shouted, beside himself. "I'm right here. Haven't you been dreaming most of your life about killing me? Well, come and get me! Don't hide... in the shadows... like a rat!"
No. Not yet. I have to wait for my chance.
He's just trying to provoke me. He thinks I'm a damn brat, so it's natural.
Aqua took a deep breath and kept running.
The forest. The night illuminated by the full moon in the village of Takachiho. It was as if everything was returning to where it had started. It was as if everything was returning to where it had started. The only difference was that while that night he had entered the forest chasing a madman, now the madman was chasing him.
And that I won't die, he thought, gritting his teeth. I can't die here.
Hikaru was getting closer. He was getting closer and closer, it was almost as if he knew where he was and was just pretending not to know, playing with him. No, no, nonsense. He hadn't had time to see his hiding place. He had to breathe calmly. He had to control his breathing so as not to reveal his position. But the beating of his heart seemed to be the loudest sound in this damn forest, where not even the singing of birds could be heard.
A forest as silent as a tomb.
(I'm not dead!)
So dark
(as down there)
The knife was plunged into the trunk of the tree behind which he was hiding. His heart leapt into his throat. No, not yet. He shouldn't have found me so soon. Can't I have even a few moments without feeling afraid?
"Come out at once!"
What?
Oh. He hadn't been found. A coincidence. Just a damn coincidence. Aqua put a hand over his mouth, holding his breath, pressing himself more against the trunk so he wouldn't see him.
Hoping he wouldn't see him.
He could only hope he wouldn't see him.
Hope to have time for a surprise attack, his only chance. Like when he threw him over the cliff. Hikaru was an adult and Aqua didn't exactly go to the gym.
Maybe he should have, but he hadn't imagined things would be like this even when he had only wished for revenge. He had imagined doing justice. Violent and sudden, falling like the hammer of the gods. Not this desperate hunt in the labyrinth of the night's darkness.
"You know, son? You're right. I'm nothing but a liar. An instigator. So you'll know what it means that this is the first time in my life I want to kill someone with my own hands. I want to pay you back for every second of fear while I was sinking. I want to look into your eyes and see how they change knowing you're going to die. Not even to feel her close. For you. Because I want to destroy you."
Feel her?
He hadn't specified, but there was no reason to doubt either. He was talking about Ai, naturally. It was the only thing he cared about. Although while saying he was doing it for Ai, he only cared about himself.
Like you with Ruby, a malicious inner voice whispered, sounding suspiciously like his old voice. He remembered that strange dream, when he forgot most dreams that weren't nightmares as soon as he woke up or even before. I won't let a playboy like you touch her while your stars are still black.
I may be a playboy, but I'm nothing like that man.
I made a mistake, but I came here just to protect her. And I will. I will.
Ruby, give me strength.
Aqua seized his opportunity. It was now or never. He lunged at Hikaru, discarding his fear, and trying to knock him to the ground. But the tackle did nothing more than make him stagger forward, click his tongue in irritation, as he turned towards him with the knife blade gleaming under the moonlight.
"There you are!"
Hikaru ran towards him, wielding the knife. Without technique, but with a lot of enthusiasm. He wasn't a fighter, he wasn't a killer who killed with his own hands, but he had stopped caring. He just wanted to destroy him.
Aqua raised his arms in a cross to protect his head. He felt
(I'm scared)
the knife tear through the sleeves of his jacket and shirt, reaching the skin. He felt his blood escaping again, mixing with the water that froze his skin. The pain, fear, and sensation of fresh blood on his skin had the opposite effect to what one might expect. They sent sensations throughout his numbed body, awakening it.
He staggered backward.
(I'm scared)
Hikaru tried to stab him in the neck and he barely dodged it, falling to the ground. The knife buried itself in the trunk again, but Aqua couldn't take advantage of that moment of weakness. Or rather, he didn't know how to do it.
That monster pulled it out easily and returned to the attack while he simply tried to get to his feet.
He should have thrown himself at his legs, trying to knock him down.
It was so easy to say that in hindsight, and so difficult to think clearly when your life was at stake.
I'M SO SCARED
But fear isn't bad. Fear was what got me out of my destined watery grave.
The fear of losing. That's what gave me strength.
That's what made me brave.
Without fear, I would have simply closed my eyes and let myself die, believing I had finished my job. That I had done my part.
So there was nothing wrong with feeling afraid. Fear was what made us human.
"Aren't you even going to try to counterattack? Did you lose all courage now that you're not the one holding the weapon, my son?"
Fear could also turn them into monsters. Hikaru had already been one, so maybe that's why when he made him feel afraid of dying, of the miserable end of drowning at the bottom of the sea, this is what had come out of the waters. Something like a wounded animal. Crazier than ever.
Aqua wasn't a fighter either, but he gave it his all. He delivered a kick to Hikaru's chest, and he heard how Hikaru's lungs suddenly emptied of air, how he complained, curling up on himself. The blow and the strength Aqua could muster weren't much, even though he was healed. The wound on the head. It was obvious, but it must be affecting his sense of balance.
That was his advantage.
He had no other way to defeat an adult man with a knife.
His knife was at the bottom of the sea and he had no other weapon on him. How stupid. How stupid he had been. He should have at least brought a taser, even though he hadn't expected to have to fight at all. Just as a plan B, just in case. It wouldn't have killed Hikaru, but it surely would have made it much easier to finish the job with his own hands.
"Bastard. You should never have been born. Neither you nor your sister."
The knife came to take his life and Aqua did the only thing he could, as stupid as it was. Setting aside his fear, he stepped forward... and grabbed the blade with both hands.
The steel quickly sank into his flesh. Fresh blood ran down the blade, sinuous, bright and unreal like a scarlet flower.
It was stupid, but also the only thing he could have done. He hadn't had time to dodge, so this had been the only way to live. He had to live at all costs!
"Do you think you have the right to kill me? That you understand Ai's pain better than I do? Neither of us has ever had anything. No family, no place we could call home. The only thing we were blessed with was beauty and we made our way to the top anyway. What do you know about that? About the abuse Ai suffered? About how even her own father directed his lust towards her? You're nothing but an ignorant brat."
Aqua gritted his teeth.
"My name is Gorou Amamiya!"
Hikaru's eyes widened. He remembered, then? He knew nothing about Sarina, but did he remember the name of the doctor whose death he had caused by whipping Ryosuke like a dog against Ai? If he hadn't come out by chance. If he hadn't seen him. If he hadn't killed me, scaring him and Nino, Ai would have died that same night.
Probably before her children were born. Before we were born.
"My mother died at birth, I never knew my father. I don't even know his name."
"What are you talking about? Have you completely lost your mind?"
"I ended up with my grandparents. They didn't hate me, they didn't blame me, but we never came to love each other either. Always at a distance. I never had more than a vague idea of what love is, no matter how many women I took to bed. Not until I met Sarina."
Hikaru's expression changed.
For the worse, naturally. As if he were mocking him.
He couldn't understand it. He had never expected him to.
"You're crazy."
Aqua snorted. Precisely the most appropriate one to say something like that, huh?
"Think what you want, but I won't let you lay a hand on my woman."
All this time, naturally, he had been trying to push the knife away to give himself time. Just a second. Just enough to try to tackle him once. Hikaru's legs were shaking and not only, or even mostly, because of his kick. He wasn't that steady. He could knock him down.
That is, he could have knocked him down.
But he didn't have time to push the knife away.
The blade that had been sinking into his palms made him lose strength and mobility in his hands before that could happen.
And therefore, his blood-soaked hands simply fell to the ground.
His breathing was also like that of a wild animal.
Only one of them could leave this forest of death.
3
Kamiki lunged forward, roaring. His son had lost strength in his hands. And with the knife having cut him so deeply, he wouldn't be able to grab it again. He couldn't repeat that stupidity. Aqua had hoped it would save his life, but it had only prolonged it by a few seconds.
A silver light cut through the darkness, but nothing more. Aqua scurried away like a rat and disappeared once again among the trees, the darkness, and the whisper of leaves stirred by a cold wind. Fucking bastard. He had come close.
Hikaru gathered strength to launch into pursuit. Instead, he lost his balance and almost ended up on the ground. Only grabbing onto one of the many trees saved him.
His breathing was becoming heavier.
Leaning his back against the trunk, he brought the hand not holding the knife to his head. It must be because of the wound on his forehead. It didn't threaten his life, or at least he didn't think so, but his strength was escaping him faster and faster. He had the feeling that soon he wouldn't be able to stand.
That was the only thing that had allowed that damn bastard to escape, the weakness that was devouring him from within. He had been lucky enough to survive the fall, but not to avoid hitting his head on a rock. It was almost funny.
Hikaru took a deep breath.
There was nothing to worry about. All he had to do was murder his son before his strength ran out. He didn't know what to think about the whole situation and the crazy things he had said to him earlier, but he didn't need to. He just had to focus on his main objective.
Once Aqua, Gorou, or whatever he wanted to call himself died, Ruby would be finished. That little bastard could say whatever he wanted, but Ruby wouldn't know how to continue without him. He wasn't talking about suicide. She might kill herself, she might not, but in any case, she would lose her light.
First her mother, then her brother, both murdered by her father.
She would never shine as before.
Hikaru had suffered great ups and downs, but if he just killed that pup, he could still ensure that the daughter didn't outshine her own mother. Condemning her to oblivion. To darkness
(like down there!)
Hikaru grimaced.
He staggered forward, running as fast and as firmly as he could.
"I'll find you and kill you, no matter where you hide. I'll gut you. With my own hands, I won't even use the knife."
It should be simple. The only thing he had to watch out for was a surprise attack, from behind, knocking him down. But even if he managed to knock him down, what would he do afterwards with his hands in that state? Strangling him was out of the question, that's for sure.
Would those mangled hands even have the strength necessary to grasp the knife and come for his neck?
Hikaru supposed he would find out.
"Come on, my son."
Father and son played together in the field under the moonlight for the first time in their lives. The search felt very long to him. An eternity was an instant and an instant was an eternity. He had completely lost his sense of time and everything else apart from his impulse to kill. At the end of that instantaneous eternity, it was his son who found him once again.
Throwing him to the ground, getting on top of him. Bringing his hands to his neck.
He squeezed with a strength he shouldn't have had.
His eyes were bulging out of their sockets. There was rage there. There was fear, but not for himself. He hated how similar they were.
He had stayed away from him his whole life, but somehow he had ended up twisted and a perfect example of being his son.
Hikaru smiled.
Well, he had shaped "this" with Ryosuke's hands.
He tried to stab his son in the same place as Ai. However, Aqua defended himself with an arm. So what? First the hands, then an arm.
Hikaru pushed the knife deeper. The grip on his neck loosened, then disappeared completely. Aqua staggered backward. Fleeing again. Fleeing with his tail between his legs.
That was all he could do. Run, delay the inevitable.
Hikaru laughed again, though none of this was fucking funny, because he was on the verge of hysteria, no, no, he was completely hysterical. Out of his mind. Had he ever been in it?
Murky. Murky darkness everywhere.
He couldn't breathe properly.
He couldn't do anything properly, but this yes. At least this.
How long had it been since this started?
How much time did he have left? Of consciousness, which was the same as his life even though he didn't have a lethal wound. As soon as he lost consciousness, he could consider himself dead. It was so dark.
In a way that he couldn't blame just on the night and the lack of stars.
So dark.
As if he were drowning down there again.
So dark.
He didn't want to be here, but he didn't want to be anywhere else either. He had nowhere to go. He was self-aware enough to know that even if there was something beyond this, he was destined for a very different place than where Ai would have gone.
However...
Hikaru tightened his grip on the knife with hands that trembled from weakness and rage.
I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you. I'll kill you.
Even if it's the last thing I do, I'll kill you.
I don't want anything else. Neither fame nor fortune, let the crows take it all. I have to kill you!
That's how it would be. Third time's the charm, they say, and on the third try his little bastard's luck ran out.
In other words, Kamiki found him before he was in a position to launch a surprise attack. That was all.
Triumphant, Kamiki raised the knife once more, one last time, to fulfill his destiny.
But the knife never reached its destination.
Not because of anything the brat did. By his own hand. By his own will, Kamiki stopped at the last moment.
THUMP
H-he couldn't...
He couldn't breathe.
THUMP
His eyes were bulging out of their sockets and suddenly his hands were slippery with sweat.
It couldn't be true, but she was right there...
THUMP
"Ai?"
"Hello, Hikaru-kun."
As if she had never gone anywhere, she greeted him with the voice of days past.
The wind ceased, as if the world was holding its breath, waiting to see what would happen.