Destiny [Ai Mikaze x Reader] [FATE BOOK TWO]

Chapter 15 - Some Mistakes Can Be Fixed

"I-It feels weird..."
"I know. But you can do it."
"Mmmhhmmm..."
I bit my lips, staring down at my knees. Or, at least, my knee, and my fake knee. It already felt weird to have this thing attached to me after long months of having one leg - and now here I was, sitting here, supposed to be learning to walk again.
"Come on." Ai hummed softly, grabbing my hands and pulling me up from the bed. My legs immediately started wobbling like jelly. I yelped, but Ai was holding me.
"It's okay." he smiled. "I've got you. Now, one step after another, okay?"
"... O-Okay." I nodded a bit, slowly getting my legs to stand straight.
"Alright... Here we go. Left foot, right foot. Okay? Left foot." he instructed, as I slowly put my left, real foot forward and took one step.
"Good job. Right foot."
Now came my fake, wobbly leg - even though it was shaking, I managed to take one small step with it.
"See? You've got this." 
I let out a slight laugh, as Ai's soft words were already giving me so much courage. I smiled up at him, as he gently squeezed my hands and led me forward. One step after another step, I realized I was walking.
"Good. Ready to let go?"
"W-What?? No, no, don't you dare, I will fall..." I jabbered.
"[F/N]. I have two robotic legs, and I can walk with them just fine on my own, as you may have noticed." he sweatdropped.
"B-But that's different..." I pouted. He sighed, taking my face between his hands.
"... I believe in you," he said softly, smiling at me.
"..." I slowly let out the breath I didn't know I was holding, and nodded. Ai took my hands again and started leading me.
Then, after a few steps, he let me go.
"Keep going." he nodded at me. My legs were wobbling a bit, but I took a deep breath, and tried my best to keep walking.
"... A-Ai-kun, I'm... I'm doing it!!" I snapped. "I'm walking! See, see?? I'm walking-- gaah!" I yelped as my legs wobbled again and I almost fell. Ai quickly caught me, and chuckled.
"You are doing a really good job." he smiled as he held me. "You'll get to it."
"T-Thanks." I smiled a bit, patting on his chest. "You are really good at making me fall for you."
"..." he blushed and suddenly let go of me, letting me fall to the ground.
"... Ow...! I didn't mean that literally...!"
"S-Sorry!!" he snapped. "That was a dumb reaction... Are you okay...?"
"Yep... I love you along with your dumb reactions, Ai-kun." I pat his head.
"... Stop treating me like a kid." he huffed while helping me stand up.
"Stop acting like a kid, then."
"I'm not acting like a kid!" he crossed his arms, making me giggle.
"Sure, you're not."
He groaned before his phone started ringing. He blinked, then helped me sit down so he can get his phone.
"Hello?... Eh? Now? Why?... Is it important? We're quite... Sigh. Alright. We'll be there soon."
With that, he hung up.
"Uhm... Who was that?"
"The professor. We have to go to the lab, now... Can you walk, or should I get the wheelchair?"
"... Uhm... I-I can walk."
"Are you sure...?"
"Yeah! It's... fine. I can walk just fine already!" I smiled, hopping up from my bed and taking a few steps - almost falling on my face.
"[F/N], please. You're not in the condition to leave the building without a wheelchair yet." he sighed while supporting me back to the bed.
"Stay here while I get your wheelchair."
"I-I don't need a wheelchair! Crutches are fine..." I huffed.
"... Alright. I suppose that can work, too." he muttered, quickly grabbing the crutches that were beside my bed. "Here."
"Thanks..." I mumbled, slowly standing up and placing the crutches under my armpits. "We can go now."
"Alright."

__________

"Ahh, you two, come in, come in. Ah, let me help you with those." The Professor said as he invited us in, helping me to one of the chairs in the messy room.
"Professor... you could really tidy up this room once in a while." Ai mumbled with a sigh.
"Haha, speak for yourself! Now that you don't live here, everything's always a mess. You are really great at taking care of things around you, Ai."
"I'm not sure if I should take that as a compliment..."
I giggled at Ai's face expression. "Take it easy, Ai-kun, the Professor is only being nice. Anyway... you seem to be in a good mood, Professor."
"I'm glad you say that! I actually am in a very great mood, thank you for noticing."
"... I'm not sure I like it when he is in a very good mood." Ai mumbled quietly. "It usually means some crazy idea."
I giggled at his blunt comment, which the Professor seemed to overhear.
"Ai." he looked at the cyanette seriously. "What happened may make me happy, but I'm not sure you will like it so, knowing you."
"We're starting off great..." he grumbled.
"Woah. Where did you get that sass?"
As the Professor's gaze turned to me, I smiled awkwardly with a shrug.
"... anyway. I'm going to get to the point now." he said seriously. "Aine!"
.... what?
The door that said emergency exit opened. Slow, dry steps could be heard, as a boy appeared in the doorway, gently closing the door after himself. His cyan hair was a little bit of a mess, as he looked at the three of us blankly with his blue eyes. He was wearing a hospital gown, and he was really pale. He tilted his head at us. His face, which looked exactly like Ai's, made a confused expression.
"He can't talk yet." was the first thing the Professor noted, as the boy kept staring at Ai. "Ai... meet Aine. The person who inspired you."
"... what?" Ai stared back at his look-alike with a confused and angered expression. "What is he doing awake...??"
To that, Aine looked down sadly.
"Ai... please have some manners. He's been through a lot." the Professor muttered quietly. "To answer your question, the positive progress you've made over the last month made him have hope in the world again."
"... u-uhm...?" I mumbled, as Aine was now staring at me. From a blunt look, he widened his eyes a bit, as he pointed at me, as if wanting to say something.
"... yes, Aine, she is the girl you saw in your visions." the Professor nodded with a chuckle.
To that, the boy smiled widely, then he waved to me just like a kid would.
"... I'm a bit confused." I slowly muttered while waving back to him.
"Well... Ai's main purpose beside being the perfect idol was to wake Aine up. Their brains were connected - Aine saw and felt everything that Ai did."
"... w... what!?" Ai suddenly snapped. "He - you did what?? He can't just - you can't just...! My emotions are my own ones! Why is he feeling them!?"
"It was to make him have hope again, Ai... Please be nice."
"Be nice... I thought you cared about my progression. But no - all of it was for Aine! You only care about Aine. You even gave him my memories, my emotions, my private life...! Well, there you go, he is awake! Are you happy!? You might as well shut me down then!"
I looked at Ai with disbelief. It was so unlike him to just have an outburst like that, but he looked truly angry. I could understand. Looking at Aine, he was looking in front of himself, like found guilty for a crime he didn't do.
"Ai... you are not getting what-"
"Of course I don't get it. I'm just a dumb robot, right? An object. How could I even begin to understand selfish purposes?" he jabbered on and on.
"Ai, please-"
"You could have saved me from that virus if you wanted to, right!? You were just worried about Aine's safety too much! What if the connection breaks? What if he dies? You didn't care about the fact that I'll shut down, I know that. That almost costed me [F/N]'s life...!"
"Ai...!" I grabbed his hand tightly. "Calm down! Take a deep breath. The Professor cares for you, I know that."
"But-!"
"Ai." I said seriously, looking deeply in his eyes. "Trust me. Okay?"
"..."
He sighed, slowly nodding and looking away.
"... Professor... go on."
"Thank you." he cleared his throat. "Ai... you are misunderstanding me. I never wanted to shut you down. I created you long before Aine got in a coma."
He looked up, looking confused.
"It's true that you were only a small software then. Just a really simple program. I would've never thought you would become such a high-class android... No, correction. Human."
He had a nostalgic smile on his face.
"Such a small, simple software... and then Aine happened." he continued. "Yes, your main purpose was getting him back. But... I had something more in my mind when I built you."
Ai blinked in silence as the Professor went on.
"I thought... I want to create something... magnificent. Something unique. Something like no other. Something I can grow and teach. Something I can be proud of. And so you were born... Haha, I felt just like a father. You were so new to everything. You were asking me about things nonstop. Why is the sky blue? Why do you wear glasses? Why do I look older than I am? It's something I will never forget." he chuckled quietly. "You didn't have a name back then. Your name's story is interesting. You know, your name means a lot of things besides Artificial Intelligence."
"Really...?"
"Yeah! You know, Ai also means love. I knew that you were going to learn it someday, but that's not why I named you that. You know... when you were small, I used to really love going out to the beach and just watch the sunrises. At very early in the morning... sunrises would be the deepest, most beautiful blue by the ocean. The ocean breeze, always whispering in my ear... it reminded me of you."
"Of... me?" he muttered.
"Yes! It was something so unique, like no other. I truly felt the connection. And so... your name officially became Ai Mikaze. You liked the name. That was the first time I saw you express a tiny bit of happiness. Although you couldn't realize, notice or study the feeling. You were too small for that."
Ai now grew silent, looking in front of himself.
"And so... I watched you grow. Day by day. And look where we are now!" he laughed. "You are arguing with me. You have your own points. You are furious. You have your own needs and you care about your and your loved ones' safety. That... makes me really proud, Ai.... I'm so, so proud of where you are now."
More silence. I couldn't help but smile at the two. This was the first time I felt a father-son connection between them... it was really heart-warming.
"... I'm sorry, Professor." Ai ended up whispering quietly.
"Don't mind! You should do that more often. Seeing you becoming more and more human only makes me happy."
"... Professor, can I ask for a favor?"
"Hm? A favor? That's rare..." he chuckled. "What is it?"
"Can I hug you?"
"..." I probably saw the Professor shocked for the first time ever, as Ai quickly slipped his arms around his waist and buried his face into his chest.
".... ahaha... sure, son." the Professor chuckled, petting his back.
"Aww... that's adorable!" I sang quietly. Looking at Aine, he had the hugest smile on his face.
Ai flashed me a glare from between the Professor's arms, making me giggle.
After all the horrible parenting stories...
This father and son hug is probably the best thing I'm going to see in a while.