Mizuki Sayeko had never been fond of the whole 'soulmates' concept, not when her past warned her of the side-effects of falling too deep into the lucid, hypnotising trap. With piercing gazes, a stone-cold heart, would her soulmates ever get through...
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THE WIND BRUSHED THROUGH the world; the blue of the sky fell over the earth like silk, the flowers curled in on themselves, protecting their fragile petals from the cold. The clouds glowed roses and gold, set alight by the sun's warming embrace, yet it did nothing to push away the icy serenade. Dainty, white snowflakes descended upon the world, each unique in their design — just like the humans decorating the planet.
Kneeling on the ground, Mizuki stared at the stone in front of her, eyes absorbing the engravings written in her neat, eloquent mother tongue.
Kaiyo Sayeko.
a loving mother, daughter, and sister.
may her soul rest in peace.
A warm light bathed the stone, reflecting the bonny rays. This is the way of death, so it had been said. It always speaks of life. The name Kaiyo meant forgiveness, of Japanese origin. Fitting, really. Kaiyo could only ever ask her daughter for forgiveness. Leaving her in a world plagued by evil and corruption was the one thing she hoped would never happen. Yet it did. And Kaiyo could do nothing to stop it. Her time on earth had ended. Heaven beckoned her, asking her to return and become one of its many inhabitants.
"You know," Mizuki started, her voice as gentle as the cool breeze brushing past them, "she's always been by my side."
Her kids, all five of them, shifted, staring at their mother in confusion. Her soulmates, standing behind her, understood.
They always have.
"The way I write, the way I touch the keys on the piano, my habit of drumming my fingers across my knuckles, my tastes, the order that I eat, the way that I speak...Oka-san has been in every little gesture of mine."
Hollow, golden hands covered Mizuki's palms, laid gently in her lap, trembling. From sadness? From the cold? Her family didn't know.
A warmth blossomed in her chest.
An ache.
A sad smile spread along Mizuki's lips. She opened them, the honest truth slipping through, "We're...Oka-san and I have always been connected."
Tears rolled down her cheeks, emotions finally streaking down her face. They tumbled to the ground, droplets among melting snowflakes.
"Ne, do you think she would've been proud of me?"
Her soulmates smiled sadly, understanding flowing through their bond. Akaashi removed his hand from around Bokuto's arm, stepping forward and gently kneeling beside Mizuki. Gunmetal eyes trained onto the stone, one he had only seen twice in his life. Once when Mizuki wanted to introduce her mother to her soulmates, years before they had children. And now, twice.
Akaashi wrapped an arm around her, urging her to lean on them.
She did.
"I think she is."
Amid the gently bowing branches, amid the shivering, pastel kind of flowers, a sense of serenity came to the cemetery. Sobs broke through Mizuki's lips, as if her soul bled an ocean through her eyes. Memories filled her body as much as blood and bones.
A tug on Kuroo's sleeve had him looking down, spotting his daughter staring up at him with big lilac eyes, inherited from the woman he loved.
"Papa, why is mama crying?" asked the youngest, Megumi.
Kuroo placed a hand on her head.
"Mama misses her mother," he replied.
Koji, from under Bokuto's arm, tilted his head. "Why doesn't she go see her then?"
"Oba-san's in heaven," said the eldest twin, Haruto.
"Heaven?"
The youngest twin, Hiroto, nodded. "It's where all the angels go."
Hearing their words, Mizuki cried harder, grasping Akaashi's shirt. There must be something strangely sacred in salt. It is in our tears and in the sea. It stings the eyes, yet offers comfort unattainable elsewhere.
When Mizuki first met her soulmates, she didn't know how she'd first fall for their laughs and later for their sense of humour; how eventually, they'd start skipping sleep just to listen to each other breathe; how they'd get to know one another so well it would take just a shared look to read their mind; how their bear hugs (Bokuto's especially) would become the best remedy for her sadness.
When she first met them, she didn't know how lucky she'd just become.
You see, Mizuki was so tired of being the girl with the sword...The Ice Queen, the one to save them all. Just for once, she didn't want to fight. She wanted to be fought for.
Was it asking for too much?
She was very young when she was cracked open. Some things you should let go of. Others you shouldn't. Views differ as to which. Mizuki kept hold of everything, just in case.
Luckily for her, her saviours came in the form of four people she loved to the ends of the world. They came and shedded light into her dark life, melting away the frozen fortress around her heart, filling the aching gaps with love, going as far as to overfill them.
Ask them, "why her?" and they would reply, "why anyone else when she exists?"
They had found her.
She had found them.
I'm so proud of you, Mizuki, rang an airy, ethereal voice through the air, faded lilac eyes watching the family of ten crowd around her grave. You have such a beautiful family.
Her lips curled upwards, fond, maternal.
Live a long life for me, and then, we shall meet again.
And so, with that, we end the story of of the Ice Queen. Mizuki Sayeko, the girl whose frozen fortress melted away with the gentle, tender touches of her soulmates.
With them by her side, all the sad and painful things subsided.
