MARRIED TO A KITSUNE

CHAPTER XXVII

It wasn't until Saturday night that Takao asked Honoree of the thing that's bothering her. He followed her to the honden where he saw her sits in front of Inari's statue again while holding a crystal ball resting on her lap. She was breathing deeply and fast as if it's an act of her lungs compensating from the pounding of her heart.

"Hono-chan..." Takao called out.

Honoree turns suddenly, her face grief stricken. "Ojii-san." It was tears flowing down her cheeks first, but the longer she holds his asking eyes, the more difficult it is to keep from sobbing. She broke into loud cries, catching her breath as she speaks. "I'm sorry Ojii-san, I slipped on that ring that I found here and I became his wife and they brought me to a place not from this world... and I... I"

Takao holds her tight as she continues to shed painful tears. It was the best she can do for her granddaughter suffering from a broken heart. "It's okay child," he whispered and continue patting her back softly.

"I... I fall in love with him Ojii-san." Honoree confesses. "And I fall hard... I don't know what to do. Each passing day, not seeing him... not seeing him, Ojii-san... it's, it's like I'm being stab repeatedly.. it's killing me. I don't... know how to stop it!"

"I know, believe me. I know." It was like Takao sees himself twelve years ago after his wife was taken away by a disease that crippled her. His situation is different from Honoree but the pain was almost the same. It's a heavy and eating-you-up kind of pain. Not in the imagination but in the soul.

Honoree had tried her best to remain unconcerned. That's what she did when her father left them in Strasbourg and when she first came to Japan. But the hurt she feels now is different from before. It's as if a part of her has been rip out and no matter what she do to patch the portion of her that's missing, it didn't feel like it did before.

"Hono-chan, do you remember the story I told you? When I was your age and I met a beautiful kitsune spirit in its human form? There's more to it that what I just told you." He wipes Honoree's cheek with the back of his hand and smiles at her gently. "I never included that she brought me to a world aside from this one saying it's a place behind Mount Haku but I've been to Mount Haku and there's no place like that behind it," he chuckles. "She informed me that time in that place is never like the time I have at home, so she ask me if I would like to spend a week with her. It was a week I will never forget, child. She cooked for me and brought me fine clothes. She told me stories from her adventures and I was mesmerized by her intelligence far more than her beauty. But at the end of the third day, I felt afraid. I fear that I might be so fascinated in that world that I may forget my wife, so I beg her to bring me back here, where I belong. She did and the sad part it I never see her again after that," he paused. "The day you brought that friend of yours here, I know he's not from this world. I know he brought you to that place too and I'm glad because I know you've been happy."

"I'm sorry I lied to you about it, Ojii-san."

"Child..." Takao continues. "Sometimes, love requires absence. I would never know that I love your grandmother so much until I found myself willing to give up such a wonderful place with an extraordinarily beautiful woman for her," he laughed. "Isn't it funny Hono-chan? The gods had created us with a hole in our hearts that only one person can fill out, and then when we finally found that person they will throw out these kinds of problems and reasons of why the two of you can't be together." Takao met Honoree's blue eyes and took a deep breath. "It's easy to love a person when you can see him every day. When he's there with you and you can hold him and see him smiling or getting angry and excited. The gods knew that, and I can't help but wonder how they look like while watching two hearts enduring one another's absence when it comes to that. Are they laughing perhaps? Or crying? Will the man remain strong and true to his beloved? Can the maiden wait his return even if takes a decade? It's only when they see that these two hearts couldn't be separated by distance will they grant them their blessing. Your grandmother was originally had difficulty bearing a child. For five years, we tried and failed. But it's only after I came back from another world and urge her to try again did it worked out. The gods may have seen that I love her so much and then grant us four children in which later on, they give you to me."