Life-less Dolls

Chapter 5

          I don’t know how long I stood there staring at him, but it was long enough for him to look confused now. Sho’s puppet still held his wings in a circle around us and seemed to waiting for my next move or reaction. The air seemed cold even though Kankuro still had his arms wrapped around me from behind me.

          “Maiko? What are you staring at?”

          I was a bit breathless and I closed my eyes, turning my head to the ground, “I’m…waiting for something to happen…and you’re taken away…and I never see you again…” I was losing the will to keep my tears inside as I waited for the moment to come.

          Suddenly, I felt myself being whirled around and I heard Sho creak as he moved with me. A few tears slipped away as I knew this had to be the end of Kankuro and I being together.

          “Maiko! Look at me!” My eyes flashed open and met with his. They flashed with slight anger and it frightened me a little, “I’m not going anywhere. Nothing is going to take me away from you, do you understand?”

          I was shocked beyond words, though I had to force the sentence out, “W-What to you mean by that?”

          His hold on my arms tightened, “You aren’t ruled by the Zero Tails. It’s only the fear of what he’s done that rules you. It’s only a parasite, feeding off of your fear and insecurities. You’re his own life-less puppet and if you keep running away from everyone, you’ll end becoming completely life-less…”

          He paused, breaking his gaze from mine as he closed his eyes and looked to the ground. A minute or so passed before he pulled me into his embrace and held me close. My arms wrapped themselves around his neck as well, without thinking. Sho’s wings creaked again and moved to follow my arms, though it sounded different than it did before.

          “And…” Kankuro’s voice cracked, no longer sounding as threatening as it had a minute ago, “I can’t…I can’t let you do that to yourself…no…no, I REFUSE to let you run yourself into the ground.”

          “Why?” The question slipped out before I could stop it.

          “Can’t you tell by now, Maiko?” My heart sped up and my mind suddenly wandered to the kiss we shared only minutes ago. I prayed he couldn’t feel the constant loud throbbing of my heart nor the heat as it rushed to my cheeks. My mind ran over everything he could say next and even though I’d thought about him saying the exact words, they still shook me to the core, “I…I love you, Maiko”

          I didn’t know whether to cry or squeal in happiness, so I just stood there and pondered over the situation. The way he was holding me against him, the sound in his voice when he spoke just now, the look in his eyes…they all proved to me that he wasn’t lying and he meant every bit of it. I didn’t know what love was exactly, so I didn’t think I loved him at all…

…until now…I now realize I’ve loved him all along…

          Crack. The sudden sound drew my attention to the white bird puppet behind Kankuro and in front of me and my heart fell into my stomach when I saw a large crack forming in the back plate. Around it, a blackness spread, turning the once beautiful white and golden bird to the blackest of colors. The crack spread with the black and before I could utter a word, the whole thing shattered into millions of black glass pieces. Kankuro shielded me from harm as it burst, shards flying all around us. In the instant that it began, it was over. The sand around us was littered with the pieces and in the middle of it all, Sho’s soul floated. Unprotected, and vulnerable.

          Unable to speak, I pried myself out of Kankuro’s embrace and stumbled towards it. The thought of all the protection I’d given him all gone in a second, crashing to the ground when my guard was gone. The light was pale and soft, like it hadn’t seen sunlight in thousands of years. It throbbed like a beating heart, sounding to the rhythm of my foot stepping towards it. The light pulsed with each step I took closer to it and brightened with each pulse. As I came to stand in front of it, a voice echoed out to me, Maiko…

          I heard Kankuro call out to me, but…he seemed so far away now, though we had to only be a few feet away, right? I looked back to see nothing but a dark blackness. For a moment, I was frightened, until I turned back to the white light and saw Sho standing there, not in a puppet form, but his real one. A real bird that didn’t need any help to stand or move. He smiled down at me and I must admit that a smiling bird looks a little weird, “You have grown up very quickly, Maiko.”

          “Wait…you’re …Sho right? What happened to your puppet? Why is all this happening to me now?”

          “Easy, Maiko. It’s not what you think. My protection was destroyed because you’ve become the perfect warrior to wield the pureness of mine.”

          “What does that mean?” He suddenly raised his wings and screamed and his whole body turned into pure light. It morphed down into a square lantern. On the front was the word Sho and on the other side was my family crest of the bird that stood for Sho as we were his protectors. I reached out to it, slowly and hesitatingly at first, but when I grasped the handle at the top, I held it tightly, though it wasn’t half as heavy as I thought it would be.

          “You know how pain can destroy and how love can rebuild now. All you needed was to find your true love and now…

It is time…

      …and you are ready.”

          “Maiko! Maiko, can you hear me?” My eyes flashed open and met with Kankuro’s. He was knelt over me and I was laying on the ground on my back. Beside me across from Kankuro was Sho’s lantern.

          “Are you ok?” He asked, “You just blacked out after Sho disappeared.”

          I pulled myself up and leant back on my elbows, not responding but looking at the lantern. I knew what I had to do. I had to stand up to the Zero tails and defeat him once and for all.

          I finally looked over at Kankuro and smiled, like nothing had happened, “Oh, I’m sorry I worried you. Say…what would you think if I asked you if I could go out of the village for a little while?

          “Why?” He cocked an eyebrow at me, “You’re acting weird and aren’t you afraid of Zero coming after you?”

          “…no…”

          “What’s up with-?”

          Without another thought, I pulled the puppet out of my pocket that I kept with me at all times; Colossus. In a matter of thirty seconds, I pressed the button, making Colossus full size and took control of him, using chakra strings to lock Kankuro inside Colossus’s belly.

          “Maiko! What are you doing!?” He banged on the sides and cried out me.

          “I’m really sorry, Kankuro, but I can’t let you get hurt trying to keep me from facing the Zero tails. I’ll be back soon and P.S. I love you too!” With that, I turned, took up Sho’s lantern and started towards the entrance of the village hearing Kankuro still calling out.

          “Maiko, NO! Don’t leave me in here! I’m suppose to protect you!...Wait, did you say that you loved me!?”