It was a late night for Taka. Generally he was in bed by midnight
and Miaka long before that, but tonight it was late and he was still up,
wandering the halls in the hospital.
Yes, it had been a classic 'Miaka'. Returning from a concert she had
dragged
him to, some rain over the two hours they had been gone - most people
would
have had the foresight to notice that the porch steps were wet before
running
up them in high heels, but not his Miaka. Foresight just wasn't her
style.
And so a late night drive to the Emergency ward was the next item on the
night's adgenda......
He sighed and continued walking, waiting for the doctor to be done
applying
a cast to his wife's broken ankle.
He found himself finally at the doorway to the washrooms near ICU.
It was a godawful drone of beeping monitors and whirring machines from
the
doors into the wing.
Deciding that the noise may be less he turned and walked into the
bathroom.
Indeed it was quieter, but the scenery was not inviting......
The first sight to greet Taka was that of a middle-aged man - doubled
over
above a sink in a work shirt and jeans. He looked very disturbed as he
stared
down into the bowl of the sink, trembling.
Taka blinked at the familiarity of the man. So much older and
fantastically
emotional but, he seemed like.....No. I couldn't be.
He stepped cautiously foreward and lay a gentle hand on the man's
shoudler.
"Are you alright.........?" he asked softly.
"No." the man replied, his voice hoarse, rougly dragging an already damp
sleeve across tear clouded eyes. His long greying, blonde hair was
brushed
hastily back from his face in a ponytail that was now falling loose and
he
trembled as he cried, each word seeming to tax his reserves.
Taka didn't move at the coldness in his voice, feeling underneath it the
deep pain of the statement.
"Is something wrong?" he asked softly.
"Everything...." the man whimpered in reply, breaking into miserable
tears.
Sighing Taka put one arm over the man's shoulder. "Take it easy." he
soothed.
"What's happened?"
The man choked out another sob. "I lost my wife tonight..." he cried
bitterly. "She's been sick so long...."
Taka swallowed the lump that came to his throat. He could barely imagine
what it would be to go through loosing Miaka. And obviously this man had
loved his wife very much.......
Pulling him away from the sink Taka leaned up against the edge of the
counter
beneath the mirror on one wall, beckoning the man to join him.
Still crying, the elder propped himself beside Taka and rubbed at his
eyes.
"I-I'm sorry. I'm Edio, Naran." he murmured, extending a shaking hand to
the
stranger in front of him.
"Sukinami, Taka." The younger replied, taking his trembling hand. "I'm
so
sorry about your wife. I didn't know."
Naran sighed, and looked into the mirror at his own tear stained face.
"Katie's been sick a long time. Don't be sorry. You didn't do
anything..."
"What was it?" Taka asked tentatively.
"Cancer. A tumour." he murmured, tears running down his face again. He
raised
an arm, but Taka handed him a handkerchief out of his pocket.
"Here now, don't do that. You'll ruin your shirt."
Sniffing back tears Naran took the cloth and ran it over his eyes,
wiping a
good deal of the wetness from his bloodshot blue eyes.
Taka shook his head. "She sounds like a good person."
Naran looked up. "I've barely told you about her." he pointed out.
"Well, she must have been good to you for so many tears." Taka replied,
smiling a little.
"She was with me for forty seven years." Naran whimpered. "I didn't
deserve
that much from her, I really didn't."
"Forty-seven years. She must have loved you." the younger man said.
"I know. And I always felt like I owed her more for that than a gave
her."
Taka frowned at that. "I don't understand."
"I couldn't give her everything." he replied softly. "I wanted to
promise
her the world and I just couldn't give it to her. I didn't have the
money or
the time to give her the things she loved."
"What could you give her?" Taka asked.
"We didn't live like kings, but we were alright, I suppose.
Middle-class."
he murmured, twisting the handkerchief in his hands. "We have a son and
and
daughter, three grandchildren."
Taka smiled. "I think anyone could be very happy with that. You really
think
what you could give her materially was more important than what you had
in
love? Or was she the materialistic type?"
Naran jumped. "Oh, god no!" he exclaimed, blinking away tears. "She told
me
once...." he choked. "....once that... ..the only thing she loved so
much...
...was her family...." The tears broke down his face again.
"Oh god.....Katie....."
Taka put a hand on his shoulder again, silent at his side as he began to
sob
into his hands.
Finally as the crying calmed he whimpered. "I want to be sick but a
haven't
eaten all day. My kids are just in pieces. I don't know what to
do......
Taka stroked his shoulder. "I wish I could tell you."
They stood there quietly for another long while, then Naran moved away.
Turning he looked at Taka, something half resembling peace on his face,
though his eyes were windows to a shattered soul.
"Thanks," he murmured, holding out the handkerchief.
"Keep it." Taka sighed. "I don't need it."
Smiling weakly Naran pushed it into his pocket. "I need to get back to
my
kids."
Taka watched from a few feet away as Naran headed back toward the
ICU doors. Before he could enter he was greeted with two younger people.
The girl, a blonde of about twenty, was crying hysterically and threw
her
arms around Naran's neck. The man behind her, with red brown hair,
simply
looked broken and wrapped his arms around both of them.
As all three of them headed back into the ICU Taka got a good look at
the
girl's face. He shook his head.
The spitting image of Soi.........
- Fin
------------------------------------------------------------
Another weird reincarnation fic - it's a follow through of a story I
have in
the works called 'Katie and Naran'.
It's sort of odd, I guess, but I hope you liked.
Taiitsu no Miko~*~
