Post by Deleted on Jun 9, 2013 17:21:55 GMT
Phone service to the island is iffy at best, consequently few people have phones of their own and Hajime has to call to the Post Office (hoping someone is there to answer) and then wait for one of the postmistress's children to ran and fetch NaNa.
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While he waits he ponders just what exactly he wants to say to the woman who raised him.
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Hajime?
NaNa's rich contralto voice flows through the phone line like a fine brandy.
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NaNa, good morning or rather I suppose good night
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*chuckle* You must apologize to Shinoa for waking her
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I will, I forgot about the time difference, NaNa.
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What's wrong Hajime?
NaNa's voice is sharp with fear
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Something terrible must have happened to make you so unusually forgetful of courtesies.
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No no, NaNa, I'm fine... I just
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He takes a deep breath
NaNa, why did you and NaKa take me in?
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Oh damnation! I knew that question would come up someday! I TOLD Hiroa!
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Hajime chuckles softly, NaNa is usually so dignified and ladylike most of the time but when her facade slips, it really slips!
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Hajime? Why now? What has happened?
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I never could hide anything from you
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You still can't. Now stop dithering and telly why you needed me bad enough to wake up half the village.
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Grinning at her sharp tongue in spite of the worry in her voice, Hajime tells his mother what Tamas guessed and what the spirit in his mirror confirmed to him.
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Tangaroa save us, Hiroa was right.... we hoped he was mistaken that night.
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About the spirit?
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Yes...
There's a long silence and Haji's eyes wander to the sun coming in through the blinds lighting up the branches of the fig tree.
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Hajime, my son, please believe I love you. I have loved you since you were born.
*pause*
That silly woman-
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My mo-mo
Haji stammers trying to say mother to the woman whom he considers his real mother. It's as if his very being rebels at calling the dead woman "Mother."
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Yes, *sigh* She refused to believe she was pregnant almost up until the day she dropped you in my hands because she was on a holy mission and God would not allow her to be distracted by earthly needs. His earthly needs were apparently not a concern of their God.
NaNa's voice is dry and a bit contemptuous but also tinged with sadness for the child that had given birth to her son.
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Poor child, she was too young to be so far away from her own mother and in spite of her best efforts to be an adult she still clung to me as a surrogate mother.
NaNa's voice trails off
The gods, they play cruel tricks on us sometimes.
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NaNa, she never guessed?
No, I always behaved as a proper woman and to her I was a mother substitute. And she was far too young to realize that not all things are as they appear.
*pause*
Oh Hajime, I held you the moment you entered this world. Your tiny hand clung to my shirt fiercely as if you already knew what was coming and were prepared to beat it.
NaNa's voice grows sharp again
I had to threaten that ridiculous child to make her nurse you. Where would we find formula on an island in the middle of the ocean?
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NaNa, the spirit?
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*sigh* Hiroa was afraid that there was another spirit in the house that night. He could feel him but not find him...it.
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Why didn't he tell me this before now?
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NaNa laughs
And what was your reaction to learning it on your own? Was there much damage?
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Hajime grins sheepishly
Well...
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I did try to fry it...that is until it pointed out that doing so would probably kill me too
He hides his blush behind a hand as if afraid that NaNa would see it.
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Nana laughs
Exactly.
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Hiroa knew that would be your reaction. Better for you to learn it on your own when your maturity would be equal to your power, he said.
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Haji laughs
That's almost a speech for NaKa! I was a handful to raise, I guess.
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Yes you were, but I never minded.
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I think Tangaroa or the Christian God sent those two here knowing that they wouldn't be good parents for a strong willed child like you. But that I was waiting and I would be..
NaNa goes suddenly silent
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The spirit told me that someone was asleep, at the wheel, as it were, and that my parent's should never have been allowed to marry much less have children. What I want to know is WHO that someone was. And who my parents really were....
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I don't like the sound of that... it sounds like things Hiroa knows more about, I will tell him for you.
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Thank you NaNa
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Hajime, I have some things that were in the house that night but weren't destroyed. They belonged to your parents and no one ever claimed them. I've kept them hidden because the spiritual energy attached to them scared me. Would you like me to send them to you?
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Yes please NaNa. I can send you some money.
Don't you worry about that!
NaNa's voice is sharp with affronted pride
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Thank you NaNa.
Haji's voice drops to a whisper
For everything
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There is a lull in the conversation and then naNa picks it up by relating the antics of the neighbor's boys and the two chat back and forth about, school, people they know, the weather.
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Haji hangs up, his thought all awhirl and as the phone drops to his lap he stares off into space.
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Hajime?
Khefri pauses at the doorway uncertain about interrupting his lover's thoughts.
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Is everything all right?
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Hajime looks up and smiles
Yes, little one, everything is all right. I think perhaps more so than ever before
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Khefri nods, he understands soul searching and being far away from the ones you love
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Hajime rises smoothly to his feet
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He crosses the room to stand in front of the smaller elf
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He takes Khefri's hand
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Let's go to the bedroom
His voice is barely more than a whisper
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Khefri shivers in pleasure at the soft erotic tone and nods