Talking To The Moon

author:anonymous





Tiffany kneeled in front of the television, her brows furrowed and palms on her knees. Watching the live coverage of the disaster unfold in front of her eyes, her lip trembled and the tears threatened to fall once again.

The newscaster was giving the latest breaking news; reports of the worst case of Tsunami ever to hit Japan. Geologists from the United States had reported that it was the world’s 7th largest Tsunami to have ever occurred, and the earthquake preceding it had caused a bigger catastrophe.

“Tokyo Electric Power has confirmed with the press that the Fukushima Daiichi power plant’s 3rd reactor has lost its cooling functions, which has led to a high possibility of a partial meltdown similar to the plant’s 1st reactor. The 1st reactor, which blew the roof off the outer building on Saturday, had released small amounts of radiation into the air. Authorities are now testing the people living around the area for signs of radiation poisoning, but results have shown that no one has been poisoned as of yet.”

Enough.

Clenching her fists, she wiped the fallen tears off her cheeks and stood up with shaky knees. Taking one last look at the towering waves crashing into houses, uprooting trees, sweeping cars away, leaving millions homeless, Tiffany made up her mind. She was going to go, with or without consent.

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“I’m going.”

Taeyeon released Tiffany’s face from between her hands and she moved back a little to look at Tiffany. She had just returned from work, and it hadn’t been an easy day. Stock markets around the world were being disrupted due to the sudden plunge in Japan’s economy, and share holders in South Korea had been calling all day to check on the conditions.

Placing another kiss on Tiffany’s cheek, she loosened the first button on her blouse and joined Tiffany on the couch. Tiffany had been unusually silent today, and she hadn’t gone to the door to welcome Taeyeon home from work like she always did. Instead, when Taeyeon had opened the door today, she had seen an extremely worried and tensed Tiffany, sitting on the couch deep in thought.

“Going where?”

Tiffany lifted her knees up to her chest and hugged them tightly, resting her chin on the tops of her knee cap.

“Japan.”

“What?” Taeyeon asked, thinking she’d heard wrongly.

“I’m going to Japan, Taeyeon. To help.”

Taeyeon sighed, musing her hair like she always did when she was frustrated and didn’t know what to say. Tiffany had first brought up the topic of wanting to go to Japan to help when the first report of the earthquake had struck. Of course, Taeyeon had vehemently refused and almost ended up screaming at Tiffany not to go. In the end, the quarrel had ended with Taeyeon leaving the house in a stinking mood, slamming the door behind her as she left. Tiffany had dissolved into tears the moment the door closed and had spent the whole night worrying, wondering where Taeyeon had gone, and when she would return.

“Look, Tiffa-“

“I’m going Taeyeon. And… I’d appreciate it if you could give me your support. But if you’re not…. I’m still going.”

Taeyeon dropped her hands onto her lap, but changed her mind midway and punched the headrest of the sofa instead. Tiffany flinched away, but remained seated on the sofa, waiting for Taeyeon to speak.

“I…..” Taeyeon started, but stopped as the rest of the sentence got caught in .

“God damn it, bloody hell…… I…. Shi… Tiffany, you know I’m not good with expressing my feelings right?” Taeyeon asked quietly.

Nodding slowly, Tiffany cautiously moved a little closer towards Taeyeon. Watching Tiffany shift closer, Taeyeon reached forward and took her hands between her own, rubbing them slowly and closing her eyes as her hands ran over soft, silky smooth skin.

“Tiffan- Tiffany, do you know why I’m so against you going to Japan?”

“Yes.” She mumbled.

“Why?”

“Because you’re worried.”

“About?”

“Me.”

“What about you?”

“Worried that something will happen to me.”

“So why do you still want to go?”

“I…. They’re suffering, Taeyeon. There are people out there, in Japan, suffering because of the earthquake. And the only thing I do every day, is wake up, sit around, wasting my time away, waiting for you to come back again. This…. This isn’t right Taeyeon. I feel so useless, not doing anything and knowing that there’s tens of thousands of people out there struggling to make it through to the next day, not knowing if they’re going to be alive by the end of the hour.”

Taeyeon let out another frustrated groan and dropped Tiffany’s hands from her hold. Staying in silence for the next few minutes, Taeyeon finally responded by slowly picking up Tiffany’s hands once again and placing a kiss on each hand.

“The-There’s other ways to help Tiffany, you.. you don’t need to go there you know. We can just donate, how about that huh? It’ll help them a lot too.”

Tiffany shook her head, staring at Taeyeon pleadingly as Taeyeon started to cry. Lifting a hand to wipe the tear drop off Taeyeon’s porcelain cheek, Tiffany couldn’t help but cry too as she came to realize how much Taeyeon cared for her. She had almost never, seen Taeyeon cry.

“It’s not the same Taeyeon, I want to go, and I will go.”

“Tiffany, I know you care about them, but people are fighting to leave Japan honey, it’s insane to want to go to a place so treacherous now.”

Tiffany ignored Taeyeon’s pleas, keeping her lips clamped together tightly and looking at Taeyeon with the same, pained expression. The couple sat on the sofa, in complete silence as they stared each other down, hoping and wishing that the other would finally cave in. However, Tiffany’s determination was rock solid, and after a long pause, Taeyeon finally spoke up.

“Yo-You really want to go?”

“Yes.”

“There’s nothing I can do or say to make you stay?”

“You could come with me.”

“You know I can’t baby, I have to work.” Taeyeon smiled sadly.

“Then no.”

“If…. If I- I let you go, can you promise me one thing?”

Tiffany shifted closer, their knees touching and Taeyeon’s hands around Tiffany’s cheeks.

“Promise me Tiffany, that If I let you go, you’re safety will be your first priority? Promise me, please. I don’t care what it is alright, a….a paper cut, or even a scratch you get or something. The moment, anything, anything at all, happens to you, you’re taking the first god damned flight back home, right here. And I mean it okay baby? I mean every single word I’m saying right now. You let anything happen to you, and I swear, I’ll… I’ll…. God, I’ll kill myself! I don’t care how much it takes to get you back here in one piece, if the only way to get out of the place is through a helicopter, you’re getting on it. Even if it’s a stupid fishing boat, you’re still getting on it. I want, no, scratch that. I NEED you to leave the moment anything happens. Can you promise me that dear?”

Tiffany smiled, a heartbreakingly beautiful smile at Taeyeon and kissed her gently on her lips.

“I love you Taeyeon.”

Tearing her face free from Tiffany’s hands, Taeyeon stood up and furiously kicked out at the coffee table, sending glass and metal skidding into the far corner of the living room. As the coffee table toppled and shattered glass flew across the room, Tiffany screamed out in shock and she lurched forward, trying to pull Taeyeon back.

“Taeyeon! Are you crazy! Stop hurting yourself!” Tiffany squealed desperately.

“For God’s sakes, just bloody promise me!” Taeyeon yelled, aiming another kick at a particularly large shard of glass.

Watching in terror as the base of Taeyeon’s foot came into contact with the sharp edge, and the taut skin split open to reveal a long, deep cut which oozed blood, Tiffany screamed again as the blood started dripping onto the carpet.

“Taeyeon!”

“Promise me!”

“Alright! I promise! I promise I’ll come back if anything happens!”

Taeyeon finally flopped back down on the sofa, her face pale and sweaty.

“Good.”

Tiffany was crying hysterically, panicking as the bleeding refused to stop and the carpet continued to be spotted red by drops of blood. Getting up and running to the cupboard in the kitchen, Tiffany yanked the first-aid kit out and stumbled back to the living room, still sobbing.

“It’s fine, the bleeding will stop.” Taeyeon mumbled quietly.


“Are you out of your mind Taeng? Why do you always have to hurt yourself!” Tiffany cried.

Taeyeon plucked a small shard of glass out from the open wound and placed it onto her palm quietly, after which she used a tissue paper to mop up some of the mess.

“I love you Tiffany. Loving you is painful.”

Tiffany sniffed, wiping her nose as she looked up at Taeyeon.

“What?” She mumbled.

“I love you.”

“I love you too TaeTae, but you don’t have to do all that to show me you love me.”

“It’s….. It’s just that my temper gets the better of me sometimes. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s not your fault. Her-Here, I’ll clean it up for you.”

Tiffany gently picked up Taeyeon’s foot and placed it in her lap, trying to inspect the severity of the wound without further agitating it. After deciding that it wasn’t as bad as it looked, Tiffany pried open the first-aid kit and set to work, cleaning Taeyeon’s foot up.

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Taeyeon was pushing the trolley, Tiffany hanging onto her arm. Wheeling the trolley towards the last gate, Taeyeon came to a stop quietly as she waited for Tiffany to check her bags in. She had gone on a shopping craze a few days ago, buying all sorts of waterproof clothing that she thought would come in handy. Of course, Taeyeon had tried to control her, but her attempts to do so were useless whenever Tiffany smiled or pouted cutely.

When Tiffany had received her boarding pass, she slipped it into her pocket and turned around, looping her arm through Taeyeon’s again. Taeyeon had not uttered a single word the whole day, choosing instead to remain in complete silence. Tiffany knew that the reason why she was sulking was because she was leaving, and although she was eager to leave, she didn’t want to abuse the trust that Taeyeon had placed in her.

“TaeTae, it’s getting a little late.”

“Mmm.”

Taking Tiffany’s canvas haversack from her, Taeyeon swung it over her small shoulders and picked up Tiffany’s hand in hers, slipping them both into her jacket pocket. Slowly making their way towards the departure gates, Taeyeon’s pace slowed as she got closer and she eventually drew to a stop a few meters away.

“Um…. I guess you um, have to go now.”

Tiffany gazed at Taeyeon sadly, watching the shorter girl pout. Giggling a little, she pulled Taeyeon in for a tight hug, refusing to let go even after they were starting to garner weird stares.

“I’ll be back really soon, you won’t even know I’ve been gone.”

Hearing a soft whine coming from Taeyeon, Tiffany laughed again, just to hide the sadness from Taeyeon. She didn’t want to have to lie to Taeyeon, but she had no intentions of coming back before everything in Japan was back to normal. Her conscience was biting at her guilt, but she forced it back, telling herself that Taeyeon was a big girl and was strong enough to handle it.

“I’ll be back soon, It’s fine Taengoo.”

Taeyeon whined again, burrowing her head into Tiffany’s shoulder. Her short, brown hair was tickling Tiffany’s chin, and her hardly shown, vulnerable side was so adorable to Tiffany.

“Don’t be like this TaeTae, I know you’re strong enough for this. I’ll call everyday if I can, will that make you feel better?”

“Maybe.” Taeyeon mumbled.

“Alright, then I’ll call everyday if I can. You have the number of the person in charge of the Red Cross team in Japan right?”

“Yes. Who is she anyway…. I can’t even pronounce her name properly. It’s like… Je-Jeshi…Jeshika.”

“It’s Jessica. She sounded pretty sweet on the phone. And besides Taeyeon, there’s less for you to worry. She’s led plenty of food and water relief missions in dozens of countries; she knows what she’s doing TaeTae. I’ll be with good company, so don’t worry too much okay? I don’t want to come back and find a wrinkly little Taengoo.” Tiffany joked.

Cracking a small smile, Taeyeon pulled out her phone from her back pocket and pressed the contacts list to check for the numbers that Tiffany had given to her in case of an emergency. When she had double checked all the details, she changed her phone to camera mode and tugged on Tiffany’s arm.

“Photo.”

Laughing at Taeyeon’s sudden