ICARUS - Hawks x Reader

SEVENTY TWO: Reunion

You're so alike...

I had told her a lot, but still only a fraction of our tale. Of course, I skipped over certain details of how we met, but she at least knew he had saved me and cared for me, and how he had trained me to be a hero, even if it had only lasted for a fleeting moment.

"Mama, talk to him. I bet he's missed your voice." That hurt, but not in an awful way. Having to blink away tears, I cleared my throat, inching closer to both Suzume and the memorial. What was I supposed to say? I'm sorry that I hadn't visited in years? I'm sorry I moved on because I couldn't do it alone?

"H..hey, Keigo..." A pathetic start, but that was what my brain came up with on the spot. "Isn't she b..beautiful..? Just like you in almost every way...Sometimes it's almost like you never left..."

But you did...I know you had no choice...but I still have trouble accepting that sometimes...

"Tokoyami...He grew up to be an amazing hero, just like you said he would...Almost everything is just like you said it would be...I wish you could see it..." My voice broke as Suzume climbed into my lap, a worried look upon her face as she started trying to smear away the tears that had begun to fall.

"Are you okay..?" Reaching up to take her small hands in mine, I nodded, trying to smile through the heartbreak.
"Y..yeah, starshine. Sorry, just getting a bit emotional..." Up there, before the stones and before the sun, I felt exposed. More than I ever had been before. It sure felt like a final goodbye.

"You mean sad? I don't think he'd like you being sad..." She sniffled a little, and I curled my arms around her form, my hand tangling in her blonde locks.
"It's good to be sad sometimes..." I sighed, trying to keep my broken pieces glued together. I had done such a good job up until now.

Suzume rubbed her eyes and pulled back, pivoting in my lap and waving to Natsuo.
"Why aren't you saying hi too? Come say hi. Please, da..." She paused for a moment, glancing to me for an answer. I could only nod. "...Please, daddy?"

Slightly taken aback, Natsuo paused for a moment before approaching us, crouching down and gnawing on the inside of his cheek.
"Uh...Hey, Hawks...I know we never properly met...but...I um..." He must have felt so awkward, but at the same time, this was a good thing. It was for our daughter, after all. "I want you to know that I'm taking care of your girls. I'll always take care of them. Y..You have nothing to worry about..."

We sat there for the longest time, speaking to the stone, and explaining more to Suzume. Serious things, like hero work and the homeless refuge, and silly, happy things, like the time Hawks had been scared out of his wits by a raccoon at the old cabin in the woods, which had long since been abandoned.

She soaked everything in deep, which is why I chose to save the bad things for when she was old enough to understand them. One day, I'd tell her all, but today I just wanted her to get to know the father she could have had.

"I think...I wanna be a hero, just like him..." Suzume murmured, carefully holding and striking the lone feather in her hands. My throat wanted to close, and I wanted to refuse then and there, but how could I? As much as she was my daughter, she was his, too. It was in her blood, pumping through her veins. If that was what she chose further down the road, then I'd have no choice but to support her.

"He'd be proud of you, starshine..." I smiled softly, a bittersweet curve to my lips. "You're the spitting image of him. Not just in looks, but in spirit, too..." Natsuo covered my hand with his, staying silent, but letting him know he was there. That he was proud of me for opening up about it all. It had been such a long time, but I was finally starting to feel like I could cope.