Firefly || Mezo Shoji

Epilogue

3 Months Later

"Just a few more steps."

"Is this really necessary, Mezo?" I asked, blindly following what I hoped to be the last of his instructions. My eyes were still firmly squeezed shut.

"Yes, very much so," Mezo answered, a trace of mirth in his excited tone.

"I know how fond you are of surprises but does it always need to be done this way? I'm going to end up falling flat on my face one of these days!" My voice turned into a squeak at the last second as he guided me up and over a step in the path, the hand against my waist taking me by surprise.

"Do you trust me?"

"You know I do." Keeping an equal level of focus on my footing and his voice. Mezo's laugh was clear amongst the low hum of the city.

"Then you know I wouldn't ever let that happen." Another hand joined my body, gripping the other side of my waist.

I couldn't deny the growing anticipation, especially with how surprises had gone in the past when Mezo was involved. The exhilaration of where we were going was quickly turning me into a person with little patience.

The morning calls of birds fluttering above and the near-constant drone of engines slowly died down. The echoing of feet against hardwood replaced the sounds of the city. There was also a musty smell that hung heavy in the air. An aroma that only came with the passing of time and isolation.

"Can I look now?" I asked, that sliver of patience diminished. Rough skin brushed over the curve of my cheek.

"Yes, you can open your eyes now." I could tell he was smiling just from the way he spoke. There was that same excited anticipation in him that had grown in me the moment we left the apartment.

A large empty room, except for the scattered trash across the boarded floor, greeted me as I opened my eyes. A shimmering kaleidoscope of pinks, blues, purples and greens danced over the weathered wooden boards. With Mezo's hand in mine, I swivelled around, looking back in the direction of where I assumed we came from. Two windows, caked in dust and overrun by the webs of many spiders, were situated on either side of the open doorway. But, what gave life to the otherwise ordinary room was this circular window above. A round piece of stained glass made up entirely of hundreds of small beautiful iridescent shards. Each one gave off that eye-catching glimmer within the room as the sunlight passed through.

As my initial thought had primarily suggested, that dank aroma was no doubt a result of this building being abandoned. For how long? I couldn't even guess, but it had been a while since this place had been exposed to any kind of cleaning product—that much was abundantly clear.

Mezo watched me with a smile, face unmasked—it was just the two of us in here.

"What is this place?" I asked, confusion furrowing my brow.

"It's yours."

"What?" Tilting my head as the perplexity of the situation increased. "I don't understand-"

"This is your new studio," he clarified so simply.

Huh?

Shocked. That easily described what it was I was feeling at that precise moment. But finding the right choice of words to speak was suddenly a challenge. The look on my face must have said it all, because Mezo pulled me in, held my face against his palm and explained.

"For years now I have watched you work hard for this. I have seen you exhausted and drained from working every shift at the store. You put some of the best heroes to shame with your tenacity, this selfless determination to do this without any help or charity. But, I just couldn't stand to see you waste another moment."