Chapter 4

A flower field under the moonlight

“Is this really...”

“The place we first met, yeah it is”

“It’s changed so much ”

“Has it really been so long?”- she said as she ran into the middle of the flower field.

“Yeah almost 9 years”

“Look at the cherry blossom tree, wow It’s so big...”

“Aamaile?”

“Auro come and look at this...”

“Huh?! What is it?”

“This is...”

“It must be...but how?”

“I would’ve guessed it would be covered by the tree roots and somehow”

“The place we fell asleep is still in tact”

The sky turned dark as the clouds loomed under the moon. They sat under the tree looking up at the sky as the stars slowly faded away behind the clouds. The nights’ cold breeze surrounded them as the sakura petals fell like snow around them. A soothing whistling could be heard from the forest.

“Ykno Auro I’ve always wondered, why were you playing at the flower field so late at night?”

“Oh, well I don’t really know myself, I got lost and ended up in the flower field”

“Back then you would always laugh at everything and yet now look at y...”

“Well back then things were very different from now...”

“Auro, Do you have a reason to smile?”

“What do you mean?”

“Is anything or anyone the reason for you to smile?”

“Oh well, I’m not sure anymore”

“Huh why’s that?”

“It’s just that well um...yo...never mind”

“Ok”

“What about you, do you have a reason to smile?”

“Ummm, well you I guess”

“M..me..?”

“Ye..Yeah...”

“Why would you say somethi...”

“Because no matter what you’ve always been there for me and well ykno...”

“Well didn’t I say it from the beginning, that's what friends are for, right? ”

“Well yeah I guess”

“Hehehe look at you, if you were going to say something like that and get all red you shouldn't've”

“But I wanted to be hon...”

“Well, I’ve always l...cared for you too hehehe”

“Ummm...Auro weird question how do y...”

“Wait, did you hear that?”

“What?... ”

“I thought I heard someone...”

“It might be the fore...”

“Well this is the only way he could have went”- A faint voice could be heard from a far

“Are you sure he wasn’t just in the bath-”- a female voice was cut off by the first voice -”Yes I’m sure of it”

“Well we shoul-”-Again the women was cut off-”We are not going back until we find him and I beat his ass in!”

“Well then if you wish”- The woman responded

“...i..t...”

“Auro are you ok…”

“It can't be...H..o...w”

“Auro we need to go, we can’t stay here”

“I can’t...Move”

“What?”

“My body it won’t respond and the pain in my chest grows more”

“Then what should we d-”

“Go I’ll stay they want me after all”

“Auro I can’t just leave you here, nobody knows what will happen if you stay”

“Just go Aamaile, leave me here”

“Auro I can’t and I won...”

“Just go already!!”

“Auro...I won’t”

She said as she grabbed his arm as tight as she could, as the voices grew closer and closer they could only imagine what would happen to them. But to her it didn’t matter she was with the person she most cared about. It was the same for him, he couldn’t understand why but with her by his side he didn’t care what could happen.

“Auro no matter what happens I want to be together with you until the end”

“So do I”

“Where the fuck is he”

“Maybe he’s not here, let’s just home for today and keep looking tomorrow”

“But if we do we’ll lose him”

“What good is it looking in a forest that goes on for miles”

“What other option is their to find that bastard”

“Well...I'm not s-”

“Exactly that's why we have to keep looking”

As the voices got louder and louder they got more and more anxious, it felt as if time was moving faster and faster.

“Auro...”

“That voice...is that you...”

“Do you really think we can survive if we stay here...”

“I’m not really sure...”

“I’ve always respected Aamailes decision but you’re your own person”

“It’s not like I can do anything, my body won’t even respond to me plus sh-”

“Well I respect both of your opinions, until we talk again, Auro”

“Wai-”

“Auro, I know I’m weak but we can try to get out off this situation”

“Aamaile there's no use”

“Auro”- She looked at him directly in his eyes, but all she could see was someone who had given up on everything, she couldn’t blame him…

“Aamaile”- Her sad eyes glowed in the starlight, he could see she didn’t want to give up but she had no other choice, he felt bad for everything…

“I guess this is where everything leads to huh..”

“I guess so”

“If only we had more time”

“Yeah...”

“Well at least we met each oth….”

They both said the same thing before they dozed off, as the night got colder and the sakura petals fell from the branches both of them began to feel tired. Was it the night mist or the soothing feeling they had of being together, they didn’t know themselves.

“Huh… where am I?”

“Auro, is it already morning?”

“Yeah I guess so...”

“But that didn’t feel like long...”

“Auro where are we...”

“What do you mean?”

“Look”- she said as she pointed towards where the forest was

“What in the...”

“How can this...Aamaile, Aamaile!!”

~*~

“Huh...why am I...”

“Aamaile where are we...”

“Ellie is that you?”

“What in the, yoo Aamaile where are we”

“Hehehehehe...So I see both you and Allie are still the same as always, hehe”

“Well...yeah...I guess”

“Aamaile… where is this place?”

“I’m not so sure myself...”

“Neither are we...What’s the last thing you remember?”

“Well just falling asleep next to auro”

“Idk Aamaile this seems really odd”

“Shit Auro, I need to go he must be dead worried about me”

“I’m so sorry, it’s my fault, I got to carried away and brought you here not considering the situation you were in, i'm really sorry”

“It’s fine Ellie really”...

~*~

“Au...Auro..?”

“Aamaile oh thank god your ok”

As he hugged her tight, her body let loose, she couldn't handle it anymore. Everything that happened was because of her, at least in her mind it was. She didn’t want Auro to let go, at least not yet. But she knew that eventually they had to let go, let go of…

“Auro”- She said as tears rolled down her face

“What...why are you crying?”

“Ca...Can you forgive me”

“What do you mean?”

“Can you forgive me for everything that I’ve made you go through?”

“I don’t really understand what you’re trying to say, Aamaile”- He said as a confused smile covered his face

“Auro...Don’t you get it, the hell you’ve lived through. It’s because of me, because of me you're stuck in a hell you can’t escape, because of me a small boy who only wanted to have fun met a girl stuck in a hell of her own, I’m the reason you...you live a life you hate!!”- She screeched in pain as she cried.

“Aamaile… How, How can you say something like that”

“Because I...I...I...”

“Did I ever say, I regretted meeting that girl?”- He said as a soft smile lit up his face

“Auro...it’s not fair, how can you say that? How can you always hide how you feel? How can you always make it look like nothings wrong? While I...I...”

“Most people have something they hate, something they regret or something...they...love”

“Au..Auro?”

“But I’m not one of those people… at least... not yet.”

“Auro are you...”

“Well then how are you feeling?”

“Fine I guess but what about y-”

“Well we should take some time to get back to full strength, I’m not sure where we are but this is definitely not japan”

“Aur-”

“Even now this place looks much more desolate than where we were”

“Au-”

“We need to b-”

“Auro could you please just stop talking and pay attention for a damn minute?”

“That voice... don’t tell me you’re...”

“Ahh sorry Aamaile I got carried away...”

“Allie...”

“Auro I wanted to talk to you but you were more distracted, that you wouldn't pay attention to me”

“So you're back to Aamaile huh...”

“Well yeah but...”

“Hehehe sometimes it scares me how fast you can switch personalities without me noticing...”

“About what I wanted to talk about...”

“Oh sorry I just get stuck rambling…sorry”

“It’s fine, I understand that feeling”

“Let me get comfortable first...”- He said as he laid down with his head on her lap -”There much better, hehehe”

“A..Au...Auro, why did you ju..just...”

“Heheheh, I just wanted to see how you would react… don’t worry if you want me to I’ll”

“No it’s fine you can stay like that”- she said as she stopped him from standing up

“So what is it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Well, I want to know why...”

“Why what?”

“Why… why you have to hide in that shell of yours”

The winds grew stronger and stronger, the branches of the cherry blossom tree which they sat under rustled in the breeze. The bright smile which covered Auros' face faded away as he sat up. He turned around and faced her directly. The sunlight from the setting sun shone directly in his eyes. The deep brown color of his eyes popped out with the light.

She was amazed she had never seen him like this. The dead look in his eyes was finally noticeable or at least it was the first time she had ever seen his eyes like that. Since she only had seen them with the little life they had left.

“Oh that...”- He said with a completely different voice than normal.

“Au...ro...”

“I guess you already know what I’ve been through in life”

“I guess...I do”

“You have already seen my scarred body”

“Y..e...Yes…”

“Well that's only half of it ”

“Re...Really”

“I lost the use of my left arm, I can barely move it at this point”- He said as he lifted up his left sleeve to uncover some of the deepest wounds on his body.

“Auro...How did you get those scars”

“They’re… Self-inflicted...”

“Auro...”

“I couldn’t take the pain anymore, I couldn’t find anything else so I used one of the sharp kitchen knives and well this is how things ended up. ”

“Even so auro they look superficial, how did they make your left arm incapacitated”

“I ended up…*gulp* cutting too deep and destroying the muscle tissue to the point that they couldn’t recover”

“Auro did you just...”

“I said what I said”

“Auro I didn’t know such a thing happened”

“That’s not the only thing...”

“...?”

“You asked me why I hide in a shell...well that is hard to explain”

“But I guess you already get the idea of why...”

“Yeah I kind of get it”

“Sorry that you had to see me like this”

“It’s fine auro I kind of forced you to this point… it’s my fault”

“Something else...”

“What is it?”

“Stop blaming yourself for everything, you're not to blame for anything, you are you and I’m me we are two different people being held slaves by their own chains. Understood”- Auro said as he grabbed her by her shoulder and brought her close

“Auro… I… I... I cant thank you enough Auro”

As auro let go of her shoulder and slowly the life returned to lonely dead eyes, he smiled and this time it was a genuine smile unlike the past. He looked up at her with tears running down his face. He was crying because he was happy.

As she saw him smile, she was overwhelmed with joy to the point that she hugged him. She didn’t even realize what she was doing, it was as if her body moved on it’s own. But to her it didn’t matter, the only thing important to her was in between her arms.

That’s when she realized that she didn’t want to let go of him or anything else, and yet. She knew that eventually she had to let go, let go of the past that tied her down, of the chains holding her down. Of the chains holding both of them back.