Wingless Bird

Somber

Birds chirping in the distance was the natural alarm clock with no snooze button. Soft, delicate eyes opened to an unfamiliar room. The young girl slowly peeled herself off of the comfortable bed as she looked around. It was a pretty plain room. White bed sheets, soft sky-blue walls with a wardrobe, tv and a bible verse on the wall. A curtain separated the room into two parts.

She looked out the window and saw she could see tops of some buildings.

"A hospital?" she said still a little cloudy from just waking up. A heart monitor beeped next to her as an IV replenished her fluids.

She touched her head, remembering meeting Hawks last night but not remembering how she got here. I'm still tired. Maybe I should just close my eyes for a little while longer.

She closed her eyes again, drifting back to sleep. Hawks sat on a seat in front of the room in the hallway. Hearing her confused voice caught his attention. He entered the room, just moments too late. He walked to the bed and brought the covers and sheets over her shoulders.

He walked out to the hallway and sighed. Maybe I could have waited to tell her that her mom was sick. I'm about completing missions, catching villains, and being a top hero. I will admit, I'm not great with kids. I really might have messed things up with her already. The news seemed to break her. Damn it... I broke the news too early.

He grips his head at his own frustration. He walked towards the elevator and goes two floors down. Room 718. He walks in to a bald, sick woman. She turns to him and smiles, "Good morning, Songbird."

"Good morning," he took a seat next to her bed.

"How is she?" Ryder looked worried.

He just nods and sighs, "She's tired. It looks like she went through a lot."

Ryder looks down to her shaking and weakened hands, "I really appreciate you helping her. I owe-"

"No, you don't owe me anything," Hawks looked stern, "This is me repaying everything you have done for me when I was a child."

She laughs weakly, "Aww, look at my little hero, all grown up."

"Do you want to see her before your treatment?" Hawks asked, "I can push you in the wheelchair."

"Yeah," Ryder smiled, "that would be perfect."

The short, somber trip was silent. Hospitals always felt so gloomy, dark, grey, lifeless. But today just felt sad. As the two went up the elevator and down the hall. Each step felt heavier and heavier for Ryder and Hawks. This would be the first time that Ryder has seen her daughter in years, and the first time her daughter has seen her mother in person.

As they turned into the hospital room, Ryder held her breath. As she was pushed passed the curtains and could see her daughter sleeping, a gasp fell out of her mouth.

"Oh, Hawks," she said so weakly. Ryder was on the verge of sobbing, "Look how beautiful she is."

Ryder's hand reached to touch the young girl's hair, "She's been blessed with the prettiest red hair. It looks like a torched flame."

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It was almost shocking how much the young girl looked like her mother; Hawks even realized it when he first saw the young girl. Last night when the girl collapsed, Hawks flew her to the hospital. She was covered, head to toe in dirt. Her hair was dusted in a layer of clay and was so knotted. When he carried her, it was quite apparent she was underweighted. No wonder why she collapsed, she probably hasn't had a proper meal since she ran away. He couldn't help but notice the marks across her face. She had freckles that sprinkled her skin but there were scars too. A scar stretched from her left cheek and over her nose. There was a slit cut from her right eyebrow. When they arrived at the hospital the doctors and nurses urged for an examination before cleaning her up.

Hawks mouth opened when the doctors showed the x-rays. They pointed out 3 broken ribs that were already healed. There was a chip of bone missing from her left cheek bone. But the doctors pointed out the odd color of the x-rays. Her bones glowed like green glowsticks. The doctors said it might have something to do with her quirk, but they would need to run some tests in a lab. They reassured Hawks that the girl would live.

"I mean she already made it this far," one of the doctors said, "She's already proven she's a tough cookie. I'm confident that she'll pull through.

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Hawks watched Ryder gently stroke her daughter's cheek, "My baby girl, Akari." A smile spread across Ryder's face. Tears of joy flowed down her cheeks. Akari's eyes slowly opened again. Revealing unique golden eyes, so bright that it seemed they casted warm beams of light. They blinked away the tired clouds and studied the atmosphere. Akari stared at Ryder for just a moment before she started to cry as well, "Mom?"

They embraced each other in a tight hug as they giggled between sobs. Ryder outstretched her arm towards Hawks, "Oh, get over her you big goof."

Hawks shrugged his shoulders, "I didn't want to ruin the moment," he stated before joining the hug.

Hawks, Ryder, and Akari spent the next couple hours just talking. The conversation was vast, catching up on all of the time they had missed together. Akari insisted that Ryder and Hawks talked about their lives as heroes and what each other was like when they used to spend their days together like a teacher and student, or even mom and son.

"Tell me how you met Hawks," Akari asked, just excited to finally get to hear the story. She already knew it but was only able to read about it in letters sent years ago.

Ryder was a pro-hero stationed in this very city of Fukuoka. She met Hawks when he was just around 5 years old when he was walking home from school by himself. She approached him, absolutely mesmerized by his wings.

The concrete below her feet rolled, letting her ride it like a surfer on a wave. Hawks chimed into the story saying that seeing her move like that blew his mind. He never saw a quirk like that before and was caught by surprise.

"Hey kid," Ryder called out to him as she approached the kid, "You got wings don't you, why don't you fly?"

Hawks was shy but whispered, "I'll get in trouble. I'm not supposed to use my wings."

"Not supposed to use your wings? Who is saying this? They must not understand the world we live in," Ryder smacked her forehead, "I think that those who can fly. Should fly."

After that day, Ryder started helping Hawks learn his ability and learn to fly on his own. They met every day after Hawks got out of school and Ryder was on patrol by the school. Ryder commented that she thought that Hawks was fast, even as a child. His speed of learning and flying impressed her.

Akari pulled out the old photo and asked, "is that why you were in your hero costume in the photo?"

Ryder giggled, "Yeah, I was still on the clock."

They all laughed. But Ryder's laugh turned to a cough. And it felt like the cough never ended. She kept coughing. Hawks got up, "Akari, stay here. It's time for your mom to get some medicine. I'll be back soon."

And with that Hawks wheeled Ryder out of the room. Akari could hear her mom's coughing fade as she was pushed down the hall and up the elevator.