"Please don't leave me.."
"Please don't go..." Natsumi's voice slowly regressed into a silent sob, hidden behind a shower of sweat and excessive breaths. "I'll do anything...I won't ask for Papa anymore. I'll stop complaining about Ren's crying. I..." Natsumi's mouth quivered as if it had been tased "I..."
"I just want us to keep on being a family..." Natsumi rose out of the tub as if blessed with a newfound strength. She grabbed a hold of Irene's arm and gripped onto her wishing to never let go, knowing full well if she did Irene would disappear like a leaf in the wind.
"Natsumi please..." Irene begged feeling her arms burn with the contact of Natsumi's skin. The heat coming off of Natsumi's body was tremendous and made every drop of water that fell from her body feel scalding hot. "You need to get back in the tub, you're sick."
Ignoring her current bewildered condition Natsumi forced herself onto Irene like a child, fighting back with weak shoves and delirious arguments. "Nooooo! It's so hot. So hot...I think imma melt Mama."
"Natsumi..." Irene once again tried to edge herself away but Natsumi's grip on her arm only grew tighter. "Please don't leave me...please don't..." Natsumi repeated. It was a bit odd for Irene to see Natsumi like this considering Natsumi always had a tough air around her. She usually was confident and stern, and the single bit of doubt that may cross her mind never was strong enough to crack her face. However now that face had completely melted showing the broken child underneath. Natsumi's tears fused with her already soaked hair causing her long bangs to stick to her face. "W-what have I done to make you hate me so much?"
"H-hate you?" Irene stuttered wearing a face as brittle as glass "Why would I hate you? Natsumi I-"
"Then why do you keep on trying to leave me?!" Natsumi suddenly shouted creating small ripples in the boiling hot water.
"Natsumi..."
Natsumi gripped Irene's shirt and dug her face into her chest soaking it in her tears. "At a moment's notice you leave...you always leave!" Irene felt Natsumi tremble against her chest, shivering as if she had been walking bare in the winter mountains. "You always promised you'd stay...then leave right after. Sometimes not even saying goodbye or telling me why!"
Irene fell silent biting onto her tongue with all her might. She didn't have an answer for Natsumi, and even if she did she wasn't sure she'd have the strength to tell her.
"Is it cause I look like him?" Irene's eyes alarmed "Is it cause I look like Papa?" Natsumi raised her head and stared right into Irene's face fading into her bright blue eyes "I know you and Papa didn't get along. I know you and Papa didn't love each other, so I can imagine you probably couldn't stand the sight of him. But...I really did hope you'd stay at least for my sake..."
"But I suppose you couldn't stand looking at me as well."
"That's not true, no one would be sick of seeing their own child!" Irene finally burst out, now allowing her words to overflow like a surging tide. Irene lowered her hand tightening her grip on Natsumi's wrist as if promising never to let go. "I'm very sorry about what happened...I am sorry that you felt alone for so long, and I'm sorry that you had to see the things that you did. But you don't have to worry about that anymore..."
"Cause I am here...and I'll be here as long as you'll let me."
Natsumi and Irene shared a long stare, a stare so long it felt like it had lasted an eternity. Slowly like a prowling cat Natsumi dragged her steaming body out of the tub. The look in her eyes had changed, abandoning its usual stubbornness for something far more docile.
"Do you mean that?" Natsumi's words were as soft as snow.
"Of course I do." Irene's words were as sturdy as iron "I made a promise didn't I? I don't intend on breaking it." Irene sounded a bit more determined than usual, but the confidence brought forth a warm smile on Natsumi's face. Her usual annoyed scowl, and brash grins were nowhere to be seen. Rather the smile she crafted was as pure as snow and allowed her womanly beauty to flourish in a way it normally hadn't. "Then I really hope you end up living up to that promise..."
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Dreams (Dropped)
ActionWithin a world full of heroes, there are some that grow up to become remarkable people and have their names etched in history, and there are also some who live and become long forgotten. In this story we will follow the life of a young boy who has t...
