The GATE Academy

Gone

"Open them..." Mizu said calmly. I shifted a bit, leaning back against my pillows. A stack of sealed letters sat in between Mizu and I. He sat across from me, cuddling the blanket the he had wrapped around his shoulders.

It had just been two days since we returned to GATE. Aria and Yin were settling in well. After telling Mizu everything about my past he suggested that I open the letters, so here we are.

The amount of relief I had after sharing everything with him almost seemed everlasting. I never liked to talk about it. My past was the chunk of my life that I tried to ignore, but it was never invisible like I wanted. These letters from my father didn't make it any better.

"Here I go.." I said, picking up the letter on top of the stack. "This is the earliest addressed one that I didn't throw out."

Mizu's azure gaze was locked onto my hands as they fiddled with the seal. I opened the envelope, seeing a folded white paper inside. I tossed the envelope to the side and unfolded the paper. This was from the beginning of the year.

I read it aloud. It was casual, and not as bad as I expected. If they got worse I wouldn't be surprised though. The following four letters were the same. The fourth mentioned my mother though.

"This one was written on my mother's birthday.." I said, looking up at my boyfriend.

"You said she passed, right?" Mizu asked, gently placing his hand on mine.

"Yes. She was killed in a battle." I said. Memories of my mother flowed through my mind. She was the only one that provided me with happy memories of my childhood.

"Are we going to continue?" Mizu asked, his hand still on mine.

"Yeah..might as well." I whispered. I picked up the next envelope. This one was dated a bit after new years. After opening it I read it. It made me confused and concerned. "My father is saying something about how he is interested in communicating with me..but that is all it says.."

Mizu looked at it as well, raising an eyebrow. "How long did you say it has been?"

"Five years.." I said with a sigh. My ears lowered a bit as I tucked the letter back into the envelope. "I need to continue reading. Perhaps he actually decided to explain himself in the last two."

Mizu nodded, handing me the next letter from the pile. This one was written almost right after that kidnapping incident. I unfolded it, reading it aloud.

"Dear Falen,
I wanted to write you to ask how you are doing. Did you have a good week in hell? I'm not sure if you realized, but I set that up. Consider it a pre-consequence. Remember I said I wanted to see you? I apologize for not being able to show up while you were with Ark. I'm a bit bothered by the fact that Ark was killed.

Until next time,
Fukai-Fuzen"

My eyes drifted from the letter to Mizu's face. "He was responsible for that.." I clenched the envelope in one hand and the letter in the other.

"Is it okay if I say that I don't like your father?" Mizu asked, a hint of anger in his tone.

"Of course. We're on the same page." I said tossing the paper to the side. I watched it slowly float to the floor of my dorm, averting my gaze from it to the last letter from him. "I guess I should read this one."

Mizu nodded, agreeing with me. He opened the envelope and pulled out the letter. "For you, love."

My fingers wrapped around the smooth, folded paper. All of this suspense and unexpected news gave me a headache. I sighed, unfolding the letter to read it.