Chapter 41 Our Promise [OLD]
[Gundam Nova]
March 9th, Metalica’s restricted zone. I.J.C. 200
Teet! Teet! Teet!
The sound of the alarm pulls me awake, I slowly brink toward the ceiling, it is dark. Slowly getting up, I turned to look around and saw Both Hanya and Odis sleeping soundly, but…where was Klara?
Taking my phone I looked at the time, It was 5:21 in the morning in Earth Standard Time. Weird…why did I set my alarm at 5 am?
“I’m…thirsty…” My voice was hoarse, it was probably because they didn’t have a humidifier here. That's why the air here is dry, which isn’t good for my throat. I got up from my bed and opened the door, the outside was silent and dark, so I turned on my flashlight on my phone.
Walking through the hallway, I heard a faint snoring from the kid's bedroom, the grown children got a separate room. When I arrived in the living room I saw that the kitchen was lit up. When I walked over, I saw Klara was sitting alone, a glass of water, and seemed to be thinking about something.
“Klara? Are you thirsty too?” My voice seems to make her come back to reality. She looks at me, then turns back to the glass of water in front of her.
“Nothing, I was just thinking about the past…that’s all.” Her words made me stop in my tracks, she was thinking about the past, with such a sad expression too. It was…because I asked her. It’s my fault, isn’t it?
I sit down next to her and swallow my saliva a bit to give my dry throat a bit of water, though it is not really that much, but for this occasion, It will do. Klara seemed surprised at my action, she was moving away slowly but I grabbed her hand.
“I told you about my Mother and my life before, right?”
“Yeah? I mean, we talked about it before.”
“Right…My story, compared to you, seems very insignificant, isn’t it?”
“W-What?! Are you an idiot?! No one trauma is insignificant! You and I have different circumstances.” Klara suddenly raised her voice, but it was not so loud that it would wake up others.
“Yoha…there is a difference between me and you. I…have people by my side, People that I search for, and people that come for me. They would protect me and I would protect them…” I let go of her hand, but she suddenly grabbed me.
“I go to Elysium Because I want a good job so that I could take them off this colony and go live on Earth or any other place. I want money so that they would live in peace…but you Yoha…you are different from me.” her hand tightened, as her eyes looked into mine. Her fierce Amethyst eyes were looking directly at me and not anything else.
I want her to stop, I don't want to hear her next word. I don't want to hear it.
“Yoha…you…are alone. You live only for your own goal, a goal that deep down you feel conflict about, or at least that is what I think. You never live your life, you just live someone else's life.”
“That's not true-”
“Then why? Why is it that you always pretend?” she cut me off before I could finish. “Yoha…you are…torturing yourself, you making yourself into a prisoner, jailing yourself by using your Mother as an excuse.”
“Then what do I do? My whole life…is with her. Without her, I don’t know what to do. Everything I did was to impress her, I know I should be more mature, I know it is just a little setback, I know I should grow up but! A part of me, a part of me refuses to let go…I…without her…I feel…incomplete.”
“Then look at me.” Klara’s hand moves to my face, forcing it to look up into her eyes, “I’m here…Sylvia is here. You are not alone, You may feel alone in that Mansion but I trust that even in there, there are people that are worried about you. And if…if there really is no one then.”
Her hand wraps around my neck, pulling me in closer before I even know it. “I will be there for you, we are friends, right? It's what a friend is for, isn’t it? So, don’t worry, be yourself, I promise you, that I will stay with you until you don’t need me.” Her embrace feels warm, the soft breathing of her, her slow beating heart. Everything feels comfortable.
It was…too comfortable, I don’t know how to respond, I…want to embrace this warmth but I’m scared. If I give in, will I lose myself? If I…don’t give in, will I lose this feeling forever?
My hesitation was apparent to her, as the strength behind her embrace was getting stronger, pulling me even closer to her.
“If you still hesitate then, I will just force you. Yoha, I won’t let you be alone, We are friends, I like you. I want you to be happy too. So, I will stay with you. No matter what.”
“Why? We barely know each other-”
“So what? Why do you try to act so edgy anyway? I don’t care if we just know each other, I like you and I want you to be happy, there is no need to think too much about it. Yoha, You have been shackling yourself to the past without looking to the future, I know that you love coding, Yohai is the proof, I know that you love Mobile suit, that G-alpha is also the proof, only a person who is passionate about those thing will go full length to make them.”
Yohai…and G-Alpha…
“You have talent, no you have many talents, you are one of the most talented people I ever met, a genius. You are good at piloting, coding, language, and everything else. But you never get to use those talents because you have a self-obligation, an obligation that you force yourself on. But you don’t have to do that anymore, or at least, you don’t have to do it alone anymore.”
I don’t have…to be alone?
“Will…you really…don’t leave me alone?” I asked her, my hand rose slowly, it was shaking. I was shaking.
“That’s right. I won’t abandon you.” My hand warped around her waist. But It didn’t touch anything.
“You really won’t…abandon me?”
“Yeah, I won’t.” A simple answer, but it is enough. My arm warped around her waist, I let my full weight sink in, forgetting about the reason why I came here in the first place.
“Please…Don’t leave me alone, not anymore…” I feel my eyes slowly burn, as I let my face sink further into her chest, “I…Don’t want to be alone anymore.” tears slowly come out, as I feel the warmth of Klara's slow embrace.
“Yeah, Don’t worry. I won’t be going anywhere soon, I’m strong, y’know?” Yeah, she's strong. She won’t go away, I won’t let her.
“Promise me, Promise me that you won’t leave me, or abandon me.” I got up, wiped away the tear I had on my face, and took out my pinky finger. My other hand is holding hers.
“What with you? Pinky promises like a kid," Klara Said jokingly, "Well, I will indulge you just this time.” She holds her pinky out and intertwines with mine.
“From this moment onward, you promise that you won’t leave me?” I ask her.
“Yes, I won’t leave you.” She answers.
“Then, with us as the witness, I promise that I won’t leave you or abandon you,” I said, looking straight into her eyes.
“I also promise that I won’t leave or abandon you either,” Klara responded to my words, looking into my eyes and smiling warmly.
“With this, our promise is complete…whoever breaks this…will have to swallow needles,” I said this, copying one of the promise lines I read in the story when I was a kid, the one Mama read to me that one time.
“Really? Man, kinda hardcore isn’t it? Swallowing Needles?” She laughed a bit at the ridiculousness of my words.
“It's just a saying, you don’t have to swallow anything. I just want to…try and be a normal kid.” I said which earned a laugh from her.
“Yeah, keep trying harder, maybe one day you will laugh like me!” She said while laughing heartily. We continued to stay together in the kitchen, talking and laughing about the story of each child, and how she would deal with them when they threw a tantrum.
Time passed by fast and before I knew it, a sudden footstep drew my attention away. I turn my back, seeing Ms.Claire appear with her Nun uniform already on. It was quite weird that she made a noise, my time here showed that she was silent, just like Hemston, but unlike him, she was unrefined, or at least, she was rusted.
“My my, you two were already awake? Well, since you are awake anyway, why don’t you help me with Meal preparation?” Ms.Claire asked, and before I could say yes, Klara pulled a fast one on me.
“Okay! Come on, Show me that Kitchen skill of yours” She pulled me up, and smiled brightly at me. A warm smile that seems to brighten up my day.
“My chef skill is...no I’m not that good of a cook but I will try my best.” For the first time, I drop the formality that has been weighing me, Klara’s eyes show surprise but are soon overcome with happiness.
“Yeah, Don’t worry! Mother Claire's Cooking will make anything delicious!”