YouRiko One-Shots

Going Home

When I call your name every night in my prayers, do you hear me?

How is it at home? I can't seem to remember it very well after so long. I guess the place isn't very important, it's more of the person who resides there.

Like I've said in many of my letters before, I promise I'll see you again. No force can hold me back from you.

But the question is, will you be there when I reach your shorelines?

-You

It was a small note, something that could be easy to stuff into the bottle as You stood at the edge of the sand.

The waves crashed against the shoreline, filling her ears with its constant noise. Her sunburned shoulders begged to be in the shade once more as her hat could only cover so much, but she had too many things to do. There was no time for breaks.

As she tucked the note in comfortably, she pushed in the cork, straining her thumbs to fit it in tight enough to avoid leaks.

Placing the bottle in the water, You turned her back towards it. It would take the water a while to pick it up from the shorelines, it would best if she got back to work rather than waiting around for it.

A captain couldn't ride a broken boat after all.

----

Of course I hear you, it's the only thing that keeps my heart beating when my hands fail to touch you every night.

Though everything here is beautiful at home, you're still all I wish to see.

Please hurry, I fear I'm forgetting you as they days go by.

-Riko

Riko played with the pen against her lips as she had rewritten her letter for a third time. You's words were always so meaningful, she just wanted to match them.

Placing the paper in her lap, the young girl looked towards the water as the stars shined against its surface. She sat by her own shorelines when she wrote to You. It helped soothe her mind after such grueling days of working.

With a glance towards the sky's, Riko searched for one thing. One painfully bright star always stood out from the ongoing galaxy above her.

Perhaps You saw it every night as well?

Rolling the paper, Riko slid it into the bottle. She was sure to leave the back of her notes empty and to drop her pen in as well. You's first note had come to her barely readable, with dirt as her writing utensil and ripped piece of cloth for paper.

From that moment on, Riko made sure You always had a way to write back to her again. And with each note being written on the back of her own, it was almost as if they were kids again, passing notes in class as they tried a multitude of ways to get their thoughts to one another.

Though she didn't know how the sea did it, Riko was always happy that her message was delivered each time. It was almost as if she wasn't very far from her.

----

I understand your worries, my love, but don't fret. I'll be there before you know it. My tasks here are nearly done, when I return I'll be sure to never leave your side again.

I'm sorry I didn't listen to you that night, I underestimated the sea and paid my price.

Could you ever forgive me?

-You

It was a question You had wanted to ask since she received her first callback letter, though she wasn't sure when the time was right. Now, when she was soon to challenge the great sea once more, she had to know she would be coming home to someone who still held her close to their heart.