Yoshi turned and nodded at Aki who patted his back. "We'll meet you there, Aki. Don't take too long," Yoshi advised.
"Yup," Aki acknowledged and watched him leave, closing the door behind him.
"Yoshi rarely shows his emotions, does he?" I wondered.
Aki turned and gave me a sad smile. "Yoshi was raised to express everything but his sadness. It's weird if you think about it, but it’s common for males to be taught to hide any perceived weakness. We can't cry or show that something makes us depressed. It's a stereotype that still lingers today even with how advanced we've gotten in other areas," Aki explained.
I gave him a sad smile and slid my arms around his waist, hugging him.
"I hope you know you never need to guard your emotions around me. You can be transparent and I'll never judge you," I declared.
He kissed my neck and held me tightly. "I know. I just can't wait for this chapter in our lives to be closed. I want all of the others to be able to move forward," Aki whispered.
We held each other close for a minute before pulling back to share a kiss.
"I'll see you in a bit. If I'm not here, I'll be upstairs. I'll bring my phone with me," I reassured him.
"I love you," he whispered the words.
I knew it was difficult for him to say and it made me smile with delight; I leaned up to kiss him deeply. He moaned into my mouth and it took everything in me to not fall back onto the bed behind me and savor his taste. But he had a duty to perform and he needed to be there for his team, and for the sake of Storm Yuna's legacy.
"I love you too. Make sure you make my father squirm in his seat," I encouraged.
"Oh trust me, we already planned to do that. Malachi has a whole plan worked out," Aki revealed, laughing at my stunned expression.
"Men. You guys are troublesome," I sighed, but did so with a smile.
"But you secretly love it," he retorted, winking at me and pulling out of the embrace. He petted Urufu and headed to the door. He was about to leave, but he paused, looking over his shoulder to stare at me as I sat back down to get to work on my sketches.
"Crim?" Aki spoke up.
I looked up at him, tilting my head in confusion. "Yes?"
His eyes lowered to the pocket watch dangling from my neck. He came back over and laid his hand on top of it.
I blinked as I felt the rush of magic wrap around me and then the pocket watch disappeared.
"Where did it go?" I asked, my voice a little higher than normal.
"It's still there. I just performed a spell to hide it. I noticed when we walked in that your father was eyeing it. I’d rather he thinks one of us has it, instead of you."
"Okay. If you say so," I replied.
He kissed my forehead and made for the door again. "We'll come back with good news," Aki reassured me.
I nodded with confidence and waved goodbye. He closed the door and Urufu moved over to lay her head on my lap.
I smirked and kissed the top of her head; she tilted her head and began licking my face. "You're gonna keep me company as we wait to see what happens?"
"Woof," she barked in agreement.
"Good," I replied, hoping her calm and reassuring presence would help ease my nerves. All I could do was pray to our ancestors for this to go in our favor.
Let this be a victory for Nokamato... and for Storm Yuna.
"Mom?" I whispered as I opened her bedroom door. I poked my head inside and noticed her sleeping figure on the bed. Her tails were wrapped around her and her hair was up in a ponytail. She twitched slightly, but didn't wake up at my call.
I frowned and closed the door gently. I didn't want to wake her up. I looked around the hall and sighed in defeat. Guess I'll go back to my room, or maybe I'll see where Uru went. I hope she's not eating any of the flowers.
I put my hand into my leather jacket pocket to grab my phone, but it was empty. I groaned. I'm so forgetful lately. Note to self. Make it a commitment to stop forgetting stuff, faint less, and take more time off.
The little vacation we’d taken had really done wonders for me, I felt rejuvenated. After my birthday, Haru suggested I take a full body exam to see what was wrong with me and why my health went up and down like a yo-yo.
I felt like Yoshi knew something he wasn’t telling me. Either they were worried I'd freak out and faint again, or maybe they wanted to wait to tell me until after things had calmed down.
I walked toward the stairs as a sharp pain radiated through my chest. I gasped and clenched my chest, squeezing my eyes shut. What’s going on?
Again and again, my chest pulsed painfully and I couldn't understand why it was happening.
I took a few calming breaths and my eyes looked around me to see if there was someone who was causing the pain, but I was alone.
I bit my lip and my eyes paused on an unfamiliar door. I hadn't been upstairs in my parents’ home for years and I'd only ever ventured into Mother's room.
But now, as my eyes lingered on the cream colored door, my body urged me to move forward. I began to make my way toward it and as I got closer, the agony lessened until I reached for the doorknob and the pain became a manageable ache within my chest.
I slowly opened it and snuck inside, closing the door behind me. The lights were still on in the room which told me someone must have been here recently because Father always encouraged us to turn the lights off to conserve energy.
I walked slowly into the large office room that felt all too familiar even though I’d never been there. My hands trembled as my eyes darted from right to left, pausing when my eyes went wide with a realization.
"Wait. Those were from Storm's memories," I whispered as I approached the three display cases like my life depended on it.
They hadn't changed at all from what she had seen; I approached the first one, noticing the bow and arrow in the display case. I moved to the second one, and the familiar staff sparkled in the light. Not even a speck of dust laid on the crystal orb in the center of the staff, but just like in the dream, these quickly lost my interest and I moved to the third display.
My heart stopped and my eyes widened. Without thinking, I was suddenly in front of the case. My body moved on its own accord in a desperate urge to retrieve what I knew without a doubt in my soul, was mine.
I couldn't figure out how I opened the display case, but one minute it was there, preventing me from reaching the twin swords, and in the next remnants of glass were scattered across the floor.
Did it matter that my hands bled and stained the carpet floor? No, it did not. Because the part of me that had been stolen away was finally mine.
My hands reached out and lifted the swords from their stands and I almost cried at the sudden wave of relief that flowed through my entire body like a drug.
I stared at the weapons and my eyes grew even wider when the engraved markings began to glow a bright pink. I gasped as magic burst up into the room, crashing into the other display cases and knocking things over; papers flew around me and the wind gathered at my feet.
I looked down to see an oversized magic circle beneath me. My eyes followed straight to see a smaller magic circle form in pink as two white lines shot from it in the beginnings of a triangle. My eyes followed the path of the pure white lines, and I realized it was creating a star. At each point appeared a magic circle in a different color. When I finished looking at all of them, I realized the image was the same as the front of the pocket watch that was still hidden, resting beneath my white shirt.
My hair swung wildly with the wind and force of magic. I glanced up to see a large, pink ball of energy in a shape of a Kitsune. Its tails stretched out like pink flames and took up a large section of the room. It stood in midair as if there was a platform beneath its large body.
Its head lowered and glowing pink eyes met mine. I was frozen in awe and tears formed in my eyes as I realized this majestic beauty was mine and mine alone.