What We've Missed Without You

chapter 25

*sorry for mistakes*

Yui found herself surrounded by different colored roses, rain water droplets collecting on their soft petals and glittered underneath the pale pink moon's light. It was an uncanny feeling being around these roses again, after so many years of being away and yet they still looked beautiful as ever. Although, most of the red roses were replaced with velvet pink ones; but they were still beautiful nonetheless. Her shoes gently splashed in the puddles leftover from the constant rain as she strolled mindlessly in the garden; it's almost like she never left, that she was picking roses and trimming the thorns off to put into vases to decorate the manor. Her hand reached out to one of the velvet-pink roses, stopping when she realized the blood still beading from her finger.

She was jumping head-first into a pit of snakes.

Her heartbeat raced slowly, her other hand immediately going to her chest and clenching the fabric of her dress tightly. Yui closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing in hopes of calming her raging anxiety, slowly taking a deep breath in and out. Dr. Kurosawa recommended her to do this when she was starting to feel anxious, as a way to control it temporarily and to calm her mind. She didn't realize that she had ripped off the masquerade mask around her eyes and tossed it to the side during this process. As she slowly started to feel normal, she heard small footsteps run towards her. When Yui opened her eyes and looked over, she saw Hayato trying to run to her with a worried look on his face behind the mask. He yelled for her as he ran through puddles that collected in the cobblestone path, eventually reaching to his mother's side and clenching onto the powder pink skirt of her dress.

"M-Mama...Y-You ran off, s-so I followed you...A-Are you okay?" He huffed, his fair cheeks slowly starting to turn pink after trying to keep up with an adult woman on his short legs. The pale blonde woman only let out a smile, scooping her son into her arms and rested him on her hip as she looked him gently into his velvet-pink eyes. "I'm sorry, Mama just wanted to go outside for a moment...You ran all this way to me, you must be tired."

"N-No I'm not, I can still walk!" Hayato stuttered, not even attempting to hide his panting. She could feel his small heart hammering against his chest, the glow on his cheeks, and how tired he looked after running. She giggled, adjusting him on her hip before continuing to walk along the rows of rose hedges. She wasn't the type to yell at others, but she was stubborn when it came to the well-being of her kids. She took no arguments as she continued to carry the albino boy around the rose garden, pointing at some of the colorful flowers and asking him which color was his favorite. Ironically, he pointed towards the white roses surrounding the old tower, standing still and collecting dust for years to come. They stopped in front of the tower per Hayato's request to look at the white roses, his eyes sparkling as he observed the dainty white flowers and took in their light fragrance. Yui let out a small giggle and smiled, "Do you like these? Should we ask Obaa-chan to plant some in her garden?"

"They're pretty...But I like the white flowers in her garden already."

"You mean the Daises? Are Daises your favorite flower?"

"Mm-hm. I brought them in for you when you were in the hospital, then you got to go home the next day!" A large smile was on the young boy's face, making Yui coo at how adorable her son was. It was cute, the childish logic he came up with that daises helped her get better after her hospital stay. But it was also bitter sweet, making daises your favorite flower after seeing your mom come home after weeks of being in a hospital bed made a slight tear at her heart. How was she so blessed to have such loving children? God was too kind to her, blessing her with gifts after what had happened during most of her life. She continued to thank God everyday for allowing her children to live healthy and happy together, even on days like this, where her past would soon come to light. Silently, she prayed out to her lord for protection: Lord, I pray Your emotional, physical, and spiritual protection over my kids. Keep evil far from them, and help them to trust You as their refuge and strength. I pray You will guard their minds from harmful instruction, and grant them discernment to recognize truth. Amen.