Dein Weg ist Mein Weg

Chapter 26: The Rebirth

The world was bright and shining, drowning Maho in soft light as she opened her eyes. The air was warm and dry, and there wasn't exactly quiet, but it was close to it. The low burr of an AC unit, and muted chirping of birds from outside. At first she simply remained there, lying on what appeared to be a couch of some sort. Although somehow it seemed familiar to her, and after a few minutes she arose from it to investigate her surroundings.

She was standing in a room, a familiar room she had been in before. The furniture, the walls, the layout and adjoining hallways, she recognized it all. She was standing in the living room of her father's house, with every inch of the house bathed in a warm white light. It all made her feel warm and safe, despite not knowing how she got there. A small clinking sound from the direction of the kitchen drew her attention however, and she cautiously made her way through the house towards it.

Normally she wouldn't have even dared hope, but something about this place made both warmth and hope fill her body and mind as she rounded the corner, like she had done so many times before.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Maho," her father said with a warm smile, looking up from the steaming cup of coffee he had before him. "Welcome home."

"Dad?" she asked cautiously as she stepped into the kitchen, before leaping at her father. "Dad!" She hugged him tightly, refusing to let go, and he held her tight in return.

"Hi, Sweetheart," he said softly. "Something the matter?"

She nodded vigorously, which through the tight hug seemed more like aggressive nudging into her father's shoulder than anything else.

"Do you want to talk about it?"

She simultaneously nodded and shook her head. "I don't know..." she whispered.

"Aww, don't be like that honey..." he answered affectionately as he stroked her hair. "Why don't you sit down, and I'm sure we can make it all better. I've made cocoa."

She glanced over to the table through the hug, and could indeed see a steaming cup of warm cocoa sitting invitingly before the chair opposite her father. It did smell great, she could tell even from the other end of the table, but she couldn't bear herself to let go.

"I missed you... What if... what if I let go and you disappear again?"

"Oh, honey... I'm not going to go anywhere..."

"But what if you do? You said the same thing last time, and then... then..." She could feel herself start to cry, the tears disappearing into the shoulder of her father's shirt. "Then you were gone..."

Maho hugged even tighter, and her father answered in kind.

"Well, what if you don't let go then?"

She looked up with confusion in her tear-drowned eyes, sniffling as she did so.

He lightly grabbed her arm and moved it away, taking her hand in his and holding it tight. "See? Now we can talk, and you don't have to worry about me disappearing. I'm right here, and I always will be."

She hesitated for a moment, before nodding and releasing her grip on her father, but not his hand. As she sat down across the table from him, she brushed her sleeve against her eyes to clear her tears, and took a sip of the cocoa. It was every bit as delicious and warming as it had smelled.

"So," he asked her with a smile, "What's the matter, Sweetie?"

"I yelled at Koume... I told her to go away and that I didn't need her..."

"Why did you do that?" he asked. "I know you didn't mean it, and I think you do too."

"I... I don't know... I was just sad, and angry, and she punched me, and tried to force me to make a choice, and-"