Shinyaku…
It hurts.
It hurts so much, but I have to stay strong. He’ll come for me, so I have to hang on. Even as the illness ravishes my body and the pain blinds me to everything else, I still have to hang on. After all, he promised me…
Even now I still remember seeing him siting there, staring despondently at the river. He, too, had lost his family to the raging flood. And as I sat down beside him and started talking, I came to understand how deep his pain was; a pain so much deeper than my own.
A friendship had been formed that day; a friendship which had slowly become something more. I painfully turned my head to the side to look once more at the wreath I had been given. He had asked for my hand, but he had left before the answer was given. I had to hold on, he needed an answer.
I motioned repeatedly toward the wreath with my hand until one of my attendants understood. Picking up the wreath, she handed it to my eager hands. I could still smell a hint of wildflowers in the wreath as I gave my attendant a strained, though grateful, smile. He had promised me, and he would come.
Hours passed, but still I waited. My sheets had become clammy and uncomfortable, but I didn’t mind. He was coming for me, I knew it. He had never lied to me before; I firmly believed that he never would. The pain threatens to send me into the blackness of unconsciousness, but I hold on. Right now, all I want is to see his face, hear his voice, and feel his touch.
Suddenly he is there, standing in front of me. I can see him clearly now; his dark eyes, so kind and full of love, yet behind the surface lurked an unfathomable pain. A pain that I had hoped one day to heal.
I reach out my hand to touch him, whispering his name repeatedly. "She’s become delusional," one attendant muttered, but I didn’t care. He had finally come back to me…
No! I trembled as his face started to fade from view. I could feel myself slipping away even as I fought to hold on. He had to come! He promised me!! He promised me! I could feel myself slipping into the darkness I had fought so hard to avoid. Suppressing a mental sob, I feel my hand start to lower. He promised me…
Juan…
Author’s Notes ~ And just when I was getting into the swing of writing DF and OFAP, a small oneshot fic like this pops up! ^-^;;
It’s a bit short, and while I would like the fic to be longer, I don’t want to push things. I had to learn the hard way that pushing things only resulted in crappy writing that destroyed the entire fic. Besides, I have a feeling this’ll turn out to becoming another trilogy like ‘Sainokodomo’ (which I really don’t need). But when Mitsuu (my muse) gets going, Mitsuu really gets going.
I think the main reason this was written was the fact that I haven’t really seen any FY fics focusing on Shouka. I have, on the other hand, seen fics concerning Kourin, whom is only mentioned in the series. (Actually, I’ve seen more Kourin fics than even Mitsukake fics, but we all know the reason for that. ^.~)
You guys know the drill, standard disclaimers apply, blah blah blah. The only thing that’s mine in this fic is my overactive imagination, which I know nobody would claim – nobody smart, anyway.