The Lost Uzumaki (Kakashi x OC)

Chapter Thirty-three: The Memory

CW: Suicide

Meilani's bare feet patted lightly against the cool amber tiles, the scattered flecks of gold sparkling under the large oil lanterns that decorated the sides of the rose-colored walls. Dark, wooden pillars supported the tall arched ceiling. Mei admired the overgrown flowerbeds that covered both sides of the occasional windows. Shades of purples, pinks and blues glowed ethereally against the vines that wrapped around the window borders. Some vines even touched the floor near the center of the hall.
Her eyes scanned the pearl white doors that were between the pillars, each with a small plate that had a general description of the memory. She traveled up a few flights of sea green stairs until she saw the halls change to a lighter, childish pink. She stood in front of a sickly grey door with splintering wood, and took another breath. At the exhale, she stepped in.
Meilani watched the 6 year old version of herself enter the grounds from the forests. Small teal curls bounced around as her little legs ran towards home humming a made-up song. Adult Meilani frowned as the young girl approached the front door with a tilted head. Little Mei lifted her long blue skirt to just above her ankles as she climbed over the steps and kicked her sandals off.
"Mommy? I brought floooowerrrs!"
Mei stepped inside the house and gulped at the darkened room. The fireplace was snuffed out, their glowing embers fading. At the back of the house, there was a small thud. Little Mei moved past the kitchen and down the brown hall, towards her parents room. As she grew nearer, the scent of rusting iron made her nose twitch. The flowers in her arms hit the floor with a tiny thud at the doorframe.
Meilani's fist tightened at the blood-curdling scream little Mei's lungs released.
"Momma, why?! I don't understand,"
Meilani forced herself to look away from the scene and search around the room. She had to move fast, before Little Mei passes out. Her hands dashed around her mother's vanity and in the nightstand beside the bed. She heard her mother's hushed croaks behind her. The same words Meilani heard for years, as often as the amount of breaths she's taken.
"Do not let, the shadows of the night... Blind you from seeing your own radiance."

Meilani stuck her hand out and paused the memory. Her hand shook as it resisted against her, the walls turning to smoke took longer than usual. Little Mei was frozen in time, mid-scream and eyes half-shifted. Her fingers swirled counter-clockwise while she turned her wrist, and the scene reversed to when little Mei dropped the flowers. It was a difficult move, but if she concentrated enough chakra into the memory, she can expand the environment enough to reveal things she didn't notice at all in the experience. A skill that took her years to master. Even now, parts of the memory were dark until her chakra flow increased.

She forced herself to look at the blood pooling down her mother's body, and noticed a floorboard tilted upwards. Mei choked out a sob as her mother's body collapsed onto her back. She cringed away from her glassy, vacant stare watching the corner of the room, and reversed the scene a bit further.
Little Mei was down the hall, the walls of the room were half smoke. The other half was struggling to stay composed, parts of it peeling and crackling ash floating upon dark wood with a glowing outline. The corner on the left side of the door was made up entirely of black smoke, she never remembered what was in that corner. For all she knew, it was her brain trying to block out the traumatic event.
Mei's mother stood in place with the blade in her shaking hand. Mei swayed for a moment as her stomach churned, but she adjusted her stance and exhaled. Her fingers curled in towards her palm and she knelt beside the floorboard. Her free hand pulled it up and she saw a black tin box stuffed with letters. On top, a crumpled letter with a portion stuck between the boards. Mei turned her hand right just slightly for more control of the memory, and paused it once more. On the bottom of the page there was an insignia; A filled in circle with a thin line surrounding it, and under it two swords crossed at the center, pointing downwards. Shoulders tight, and lips trembling, she read the contents of the letter.