Images flashed in my mind like an open projector and I hear voices…

 

 

Flash.

 

            I was five years old wearing me favorite purple dress in a summer day. I was standing in front of our huge house waiting for my mother and father. I can hear voices inside but I stayed where I was, mother always said not to interfere when people are talking. Then I heard my mother walking out of the front door.

 

            “Okasan, are we going now?” I asked excitedly, otosan promised to go to the theme park with us.

            “Hai but your father couldn’t come.” my mother said kneeling in front of me.

            “Naze?” I asked pouting. “Otosan promised.

            “I know Tehru but your father need to sort some problems right now. There will be other times he has never failed to make up with you, right?” she explained kindly.

            I felt a hand touched my arm and I looked up to my father. “Otosan, promise me you’ll come next time.”

            He smiled and it made him younger. “Yes I promise. Be a good girl okay? Take care of your mother.”

            “Hai.”

 

Flash.

 

            I was standing in front of an imposing arch that bears the sign ‘Sakura Garden’. I was alone. I ran away from school because there were kids bullying me and this is where my feet took me. I peeked inside and there were many people milling around the place. I felt a tap in the shoulder and I turned around immediately.

 

            “Why don’t you go inside?” smiled a man who wears a uniform of a security guard. “It’s free you know. You wouldn’t want to miss the flowers.”

            “You won’t put me back to school?” I asked warily.

            “No.” the man smiled.

           

            I nodded and went inside and the place blew me away. It was beautiful with so many different flowers that I have never seen before. I roam around the place and I completely forget about those people who bully me at school. I went deeper in the garden and found a well, I was so little that I couldn’t see inside it but it doesn’t matter. What capture my attention are the purple flowers that bloomed around it. I knelt and picked one, tucked it in my ear and continued to admire the flowers, sending warmth all around me.

 

            “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” asked a voice.

            I looked up to find a boy sitting up at the lowest branch of a tree near the well. His face is hidden in the tree’s shadows so I couldn’t see him well. “Yes they are. How long have you been there?”

            “Long enough.” he answered simply and jumped down from the tree.

 

            He was a handsome boy with bright eyes. He looked a year older than me and he wasn’t smiling but frowning at me.

           

            “Why are you alone?” he asked.

            “I’m not alone.” I replied nervously.

            He smiled a little. “You’re a bad liar.”

            “How can you be sure that I am alone?” I pouted at him.

            “I’ve been watching you for a while and you’re not with anyone.” he smiled a little more and I liked it.

            “I ran away from school.” I explained.

            “Naze?” he said walking towards me.

            I stood up. “Kids there bully me.”

            “You let them?” he frowned.

            “Okasan said not to fight with other people.” I said fixing my gaze on him and I can see my face reflecting on his eyes.

            “You should defend yourself.” he shrugged and then we heard voices.

            “She’s right here ma’am.” said the guard that I met earlier.

           

             I felt Toushiro move in front of me his hands outstretched as if protecting me. I saw my mother running towards me.

 

            “Okasan!” I exclaimed and Toushiro moved aside as my mother came forward to hug me.

            “Tehru-chan, we were so worried.” my mother sighed. “Don’t you ever do that again.”

            “Gomen nasai.” I mumbled in shame, sad that I have made her worry.

            "Your father is waiting for us outside.” she said and then she looked at the boy for the first time. “Hello.”

            “Hello, ma’am.” the boy answered back politely.

           “Are you a friend of my daughter?” my mother asked.

          I caught his eye and I wanted him to say yes. I must’ve conveyed it in my face because when the boy looked back at my mother he smiled and said. “Hai.”

 

Flash.

 

            Toushiro and I were hanging in the Sakura Garden once more. It has been three months since I met him and we promised to be good friends. When Toushiro and I have problems with school or at home we will throw coins in the well and wish for things to be better.

 

            “Toushiro-kun, do you think the purple flowers will never die?” I asked.

            “They will die eventually.” he answered honestly.

            My smile faded a little. “Why would they die?”

            “They will die because everything has their own endings.” Toushiro explained. “Okasan told me.”

            When I still looked sad Toushiro added, “There will be new ones to replace them though.”

            “Will they be as good as the first ones?” I asked hastily.

            “Depends on how you see them, I guess.” he shrugged.

 

            Toushiro rummaged something on his bag and handed me a box. I took it and opened it as slowly as possible. When the box finally opened, I gasped. Inside it was a beautiful necklace with a purple pendant of a marshmallow.

 

            “It’s beautiful!” I exclaimed looking at him.

            He laughed. “You’re so crazy when it comes to anything purple and you love marshmallows. I found that in a store near our house.”

            “I’ll keep this forever.” I beamed.

            “You better because I don’t think there’s a duplicate of that.” Toushiro smiled putting the necklace around my neck.

            I admired it more, “Toushiro-kun ureshii desu.”

 

 

Flash.

 

            “Tehru-chan, I need to go to America.” Toushiro said. We were eating under the shade of the tree.

            I dropped my food and looked at him, “Why?”

            “It’s just for three weeks.” he explained hastily.

            “You don’t want to be my friend anymore?” I said my lips trembling.

            “That’s not true.” Toushiro said shaking his head.

            “Then why are you going to America?” I asked my eyes b with tears.

            “We need to go there, my whole family. It’s a tradition. There will be a family reunion with our relatives who lived there.” he explained wiping tears off my face.

            “You’ll come back?” I hiccupped.

            “Of course I will.” he smiled and I nodded. “I will leave the day after tomorrow.”

            “Don’t forget about me.”

            “I won’t.” he said rumpling my hair. “Meet me here tomorrow so that I can see you before I leave.”

            “Okay.”

            “No matter what happens, I will never leave you.” Toushiro said. “Whatever happens I will always come back to this place and wait for you. I promise.”

 

 

Flash.

 

            “Tehru-chan, daijobu?” my mother asked.

            “Okasan, he’s leaving.” I cried.

            “He’ll be back. He promised you right?” her soft voice said soothing me

            “Who will I play with?” I whined.

            “Okasan is here.” my mother smiled

            “I will miss him.”  I said wiping my eyes.

            “I’m sure he will miss you too.” she said my hair. “How about you give him a gift so that he’ll remember you while he’s away?”

            I stopped crying and smiled. “You’ll help me pick a gift?”

            “Hai.”

 

Flash.

 

            I am in the car with my mother and we were headed in the Sakura Garden to meet Toushiro.

 

            “Okasan, do you think he would like this?” I asked waving a white cloth.

            “Of course, Tehru-chan.” my mother smiled.

 

            The night felt threatening to me. The air whipped on the car and beads of water fell from the sky, it was starting to rain.

 

            “Are we there yet?” I asked.

            “We’re almost there, honey.” my mother said. “Check your seatbelt.”

            “I’m tucked safely, okasan.” I smiled.

 

            The rain poured more heavily and I can hear the wind slamming in the car windows.

 

            “Tehru-chan, I think we should go back the rain is building.” my mother said worriedly..

            “But okasan, he will be gone tomorrow and he’s waiting for me.” I protested.

            “We’ll catch him in the airport tomorrow, dear.” my mother explained, trying to focus in front of her.

            I started crying, “I won’t see him again.”

            “Oh honey. That’s not true.” my mother said.

           

            We continued to drive and we were almost at the bridge now. The road is getting slippery and my mother made the mistake of turning the wheel. I felt the car lurch and there was a horrible screeching sound. I felt my mother’s arm around me before I heard a loud crash and everything dissolved into darkness.

 

 

            The pain in my head subsided slowly and I looked up to see my father still pacing back and forth.

 

            “I remember, now.” I said barely a whisper. “I remember everything.”

 

            My father stopped pacing and he looked at me horror struck like as if his worst nightmare is unfolding in front of his eyes.

 

            “Tehru…”

            “I don’t need you to tell me anymore…” I said in daze. “I remember now…everything you’ve kept from me.”

            My father’s face turned from shock to a scowl. “But it’s still too late…he’s leaving.”

            “No.” I said my voice surprisingly calm.

 

 

            And then I ran.

 

A/N:

 

   New update at last :)) gomen nasai if i'm not able to udate for so long...here it is. ENJOY~~!!

 

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