For the next few days, I take care of Dark as if he's still awake. I give him the nedicine, give him water when I sense his throat is irritated, and sing to him. There must be some conscious part of him left. After all, Dark isn't stupid. He's still Astral. He must have had some kind of plan to keep some of himself, hence the defiant glare.
I sit in front of the fireplace with Dark's head on my lap, my hands stroking his hair and forehead. I'm not going to leave this time. I'll only get out to eat, answer the door, feed the kittens, or go to the restroom. Other than that, I'll keep myself here.
I sing to him "Kagome, Kagome" softly while I meditate. I find that it helps very much. Dark's elf-like ears twitch whenever I reach the high notes. That's how I know he's still there. After all, a person without a soul wouldn't react at all to anything.
I'm at the last verse when someone knocks at the door. I finish the song before going just to finish up. I would feel bad if I stopped right at the middle. When I'm done, I set Dark down carefully and rush to the door.
"Hello?" I call, opening it cautiously and sensing who it might be. "Who is it?"
Yuma looks through the crack in the door and smiles. "Hey, Cat!" he calls cheerfully.
I sigh in relief and open the door wider. I keep Astral's warning in mind, though. I don't want to let my guard down.
"Hey," I say. "How are you?"
"I'm good," Yuma answers. "Me and Astral have just been worried about you. Something seems to be troubling you. Did something happen?"
"No, it's nothing," I reassure him, acting like nothing is wrong. "There isn't anything wrong."
"Are you sure? I can tell that something's wrong."
I inhale deeply. "Yuma, if there was something wrong, you wouldn't need to know about it. But there isn't anything wrong, okay?"
Yuma looks dubious. He shrugs. "Okay. I'll take your word on this." He turns to leave.
I sigh and go eat. After I eat, I put out food for the kittens. All the while, I'm anxious to get back to Dark. It's unnerving to leave him while he's defenseless.
I finish eating and go back to Dark's room. To my great relief, he's still there. I breathe a sigh of relief.
I go to the fire and add more wood to the fire. I use the poker to make sure that the fire catches, looking behind me occasionally to check on Dark.
Still sleeping.
Still empty.
YOU ARE READING
Forgiving Light
FanfictionAstral learns more and more about his past, and he eventually learns Black Mist's secret. Black Mist has been imprisoned for years, making his evil grow to where it is now. That power came with a price, though, and he never mentally matured. Black M...
