"M-Mom?" A fraction of hesitation hid deep within Aqua's voice, as he finally found his tongue again. His legs threatened to give out underneath him, but he fought to remain upright, fearing that if he were to look away for even a second, the dream would come to an end and he would have to return to the dreadful living room he had just miraculously escaped from.
"You've grown soooo big!" Ai's voice was filled with ecstasy as she got up from her chair, pushing it back, while almost accidentally knocking it over, before gracefully walking around the table. Her yellow dress and purple hair swayed behind her, only stopping when she did too, right in front of Aqua.
Back when they last met, she would've needed to kneel down to look into his eyes. Now, 15 years later, she needed to stand all the way on her tippy toes to even get a glimpse of his eyes.
Aqua didn't move. "I-Is this real?" he stammered out as he looked back into his mother's eyes, which looked so much like Ruby's but so unlike his own. Since, unbeknownst to him, his eyes had changed. It was rather a process than a distinct event, but his once beautiful and colorful iris looked like it had been bleached out.
"To me it is," Ai responded while her goofy smile still spread from ear to ear.
"Mom, I-" Aqua's fight against gravity was long and hard, yet he lost it. All the emotions that poured into his very soul were too much for his tendons. With a loud thud, he fell to his knees, wrapping his arms around Ai's hips while looking up at her body. His expression was more desperate than ever before, clinging to her with all his strength. "Mom." Quiet, uncontrollable sobs ripped through his body as he pressed his face into Ai's stomach.
"There there," Ai said with a quiet voice as she placed her hands on the back of his skull, gently caressing through his oily hair while massaging his head. "You have always been a Momma's boy."
"Don't cry, I don't want to see my baby cry… Give me your smile," Ai exclaimed while gently pulling his face away from her stomach, cupping his cheeks with her hands, and guiding his gaze slowly up.
"Momma, I'm sowwy," Aqua brought out in between his ragged breaths and loud sobs, "I should've been there for you."
Ai slowly shook her head while using the hem of her dress to carefully dry the tears out of Aqua's eyes. "No, I should've been there for the two of you… It was my duty as a mother to protect you."
"If my hands had just been a bit bigger back then, I could've saved you…" Aqua said while he tried to look away from her, her smile just shining far too bright for him.
"But they weren't, so stop blaming yourself for what happened," Ai replied while trying to pull him back onto his feet. "God, you're heavy. Back then, I was able to easily hold you and your sister, no effort at all. Now I can't even lift one of you up anymore."
"Come on, get up," Ai said while tugging on the sleeve of his wet shirt.
Aqua slowly raised back onto his feet without saying another word, his head still hanging low, looking at the ground right before him. Suddenly, Ai pressed her forehead against his collarbone, making his cheeks flush red.
Ai stood completely still, listening to the quiet sound of his heart pulsating within his chest in quick, yet rhythmic, intervals. It made her own heart flutter with joy; she wanted to stand like this for all of eternity, probably, yet she knew she couldn't.
"I've missed you so much, Aqua," she mumbled before looking right up at him, a sheepish grin stretching over her cheeks.
"You know?" She turned her back to Aqua, strolling towards the big couch standing in the middle of the room. "The place you go after dying isn't bad. It's actually lots of fun… At first it wasn't; my love for you and your sister was too big and overshadowed everything else… Oh, by the way, I can say it now, without any problems whatsoever." She turned back to look at Aqua again. "Love, love, love. I… Love… You… No lies needed anymore."
She plummeted down on the couch and petted the spot next to her, her hand gently gliding over the fabric. "Come and sit with me."
Aqua hurriedly stepped over and sat down next to Ai, his body a bit stiff as his clothes soaked the cushions beneath him. Ai just shook her head, her smile not wavering even one bit, while petting her thighs. "Come on, lie down."
Aqua hesitantly listened to her command and lay down, placing his head in her lap. He shifted around a bit, trying to find the right spot, before he came to a rest. He could feel Ai's warm hands glide through his greasy hair once more.
Aqua's body was filled with the relaxing sensation of her fingernails scratching along his head, leaving a trail of pleasure in their wake. For a long while, the only sound that filled the room was gentle rustling, then Aqua spoke, "Mom, am I dead?"
Ai waited for a long time before she spoke, searching for the right words. "No… This place is not the afterlife. It's a temporary world between the two realms. This is the only place where the dead and the living can interact. It's a place outside of time and space, the lake of memories."
"I don't know much more than you about this place, but I think from what I've heard that this is sort of the home of this Susanoo deity, and he is nice enough to let us stay for a while," Ai adds.
"That means I have to leave you again eventually… " Aqua murmured with a heavy heart.
"You will have to go back to your world… And I will have to go back to mine." Ai replied with a hint of melancholy and longing in her voice.
"Well, I could-" Aqua began, but was promptly interrupted by Ai.
"You won't kill yourself… I won't allow it." Ai firmly said. Aqua had never before seen that side of her. Maybe this side didn't even exist 15 years ago, at all. "Promise it to me."
"I promise…" Aqua replied, not fully convinced he could really keep it.
"Good boy, you know, your business on earth isn't finished yet. I want you to live your life to the fullest, and then once you're old and frail, then you can come to me…" Ai said, "Sadly, I don't think that it will be the same…"
"What do you mean?" Aqua asked with a hint of confusion in his voice.
"Your friend, you know who I mean, the one with the blue hair… She has a piece of paper in her hand-" Ai suddenly erupted into quiet sobs that sent a chill down Aqua's spine. "I'm sorry, this is too sad for me…"
"Mom," Aqua worriedly said while lifting himself off her lap, looking at her. "Please, tell me what's sad."
"I can't… You will have to find it out yourself." Ai rubbed her arms over her eyes, wiping away the tears. "If you're just half as amazing and strong as I believe you'll have the strength to do what's necessary… I know it."
Aqua looked at her for another moment, the confusion visible on his entire face. Then he just lay back down on her lap, letting her continue with her head scratches. Her warm thighs pressing against the side of his head made him feel safer as well as more complete than anything else did in the last 15 years, maybe ever.
Minutes passed by in which neither of them spoke. Both were just silently enjoying the other's presence while the only sound filling up the room was the gentle rustling of Aqua's hair once more.
Then Ai broke through the silence, "You wanna tell me what you and Ruby have been up to?"
"Ruby became an idol, just like you. She spends every hour of her life chasing after her dream… She probably won't make it before she turns 20, but eventually she will perform in the dome, I'm sure of it…" Aqua made a small pause, collecting his mind before continuing, "As for me… I would rather not, I spent every second of my life for the past 15 years for you… In the end, I still failed you."
"You haven't failed me one bit… On the contrary, even, I am the proudest I have ever been. I don't know the full story, but from what I've been told, you've always been keeping an eye out for the people you hold dear… I wasn't able to spend much time with you, and I probably wasn't the best mom either… But I don't know why I shouldn't be proud of the man you've grown up to be."
Aqua stayed silent for a while, her words coursing through his head over and over again. "Thanks, Mom," he murmured, almost shy suddenly.
"I will always be there for you and your sister," Ai said before quickly lowering her head and placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.
The moment her lips made contact with his cold skin was also the moment something else happened, something amazing, unheard of. His eyes, Shura, void of his will to live and ready for the taking, turned back to their original shade of blue as his soul was flooded with more love than he had ever felt before.
Aqua just wanted to respond when the doorbell rang; it sent waves through the entire apartment. Alerted, Aqua raised his head and looked around the room.
"Don't worry," Ai said with a calming voice, "I have invited someone. Could you go and open the door for me? You know, last time I went to get it didn't end well."
Aqua smiled a faint smile as he stood up from the couch and began his march to the front door, looking back over his shoulder every other second to make sure that Ai was really still there. She just smiled with an unwavering smile at him, reaching from one side of her face all the way to the other.
When Aqua finally reached the front door and was just about to open it, he hesitated. This could be the end of it. I don't want to open this door. His hands rested on the knob, his fingers fidgeting with it as he tried to get a glimpse through the tinted glass of the door. But it was no use; all he could see was a dark shadow that was about as tall as he was.
He breathed once, then he quickly pulled down and back, opening the door far and wide.