100

Four Words

In the backyard of the Ayame residence, Akari's body was sticky with sweat and sore from her three hour mage training session with Dean. It was as if he was on a mission to subdue her and teach her a lesson. Although she barely succeeded through the hellish training. She still was lying on the ground, breathing heavily after 15 minutes. She didn't want to move a single muscle. She just stared at the sky, concentrating on her breathing.

The large man next to her, had found his seat next to her, and he blocked the sun from her eyes. His broad shoulders and back faced her, as her eyes kept falling to gaze upon them. She began to feel as if those shoulders and back looked warm and reliable.

For the longest time, no one spoke. The crying of the wind and the chirping of the birds were all they could hear. Akari wondered what Dean was thinking. Although he put her through hellish training and there were times that she suffered due to her inexperience and lack of concentration. She liked it. It meant that Dean didn't hold anything back from her. He treated her like an equal.

"What about me do you like so much that you asked my parents to marry me without even asking me?" Akari suddenly asked. She wanted to know what was in his thoughts and in his heart.

"Two years ago, what you said to me made me wake up and realize how much I've been living in my past. Instead to dealing with what happened, I pushed it to the side and buried it so I could forget about it." Dean told her. He suddenly laid down next to her and looked at Akari's face as if he was memorizing it. "You said 'life is too precious and too long to be despairing over what could have been and what never will be'. My thoughts of what I could have done to save Misah no longer haunted me. Even my thoughts of what my life would be with Misah if I was able to save her, stopped. All the doubts I had with myself and how I treat those around me changed the day you said those words to me."

Dean sighed loudly before laying on his back beside her.

"With your words of wisdom, I was able to stop letting her death cloud my judgements and control my life. For the longest time, I felt responsible for her death. I let it consume every part of my life. I guess, you can say that her death did exactly what she wanted from me."

"What was it? What did she want from you?"

"My attention." Dean told Akari. "Then I buried everything about her and my guilt towards her so I could stop thinking about it. And when I took you in as my apprentice, everything that I buried was brought back to light. And it struck me so fast that I wasn't ready to fully face the truth, which cause me to treat you unfairly. For that, I do apologize. It also made me realize, how special you are."

Dean turned his body to face Akari again. His hand came up to hold her hand.

"There's so much about you that I like. So much that words cannot properly describe how wonderful you are. I know my mistake that I made with you and how greatly I wronged you. But if you give me a chance, I'll spend the rest of my life showing you how precious you are to me."

Akari closed her eyes and thought for a long time. The only way for her to move on from her past is to keep on walking and looking forward. Dean had just opened himself up to her, it's only fair if she shared her past with him.

"If I do this." Akari began to say. "If we do this. Then you would need to know something about me."

Dean's eyes widen in excitement.

"What is it?" Dean asked softly. It was so soft that Akari almost didn't hear him say it.

"Do you believe in reincarnation?"