Letting Go

By Arra Jade

Prologue

"Kazuya…" a soft voice whispered.

Hatanaka Kazuya peered into the darkness around him, the voice seeming to come from all around him. He adjusted his glasses and squinted out at his surroundings.

"Who's there?" he whispered

"Why did you betray me, Otto? Why don't you remember?" a hauntingly familiar figure stepped out of the darkness. Her long brown hair swirled around her in an unfelt breeze and her gray tear filled eyes gazed at him from her too pale face.

"Midori?" He stood shocked. Here stood his wife, his dead wife. But why was she so sad?

"Why have you betrayed me, Kazuya? You promised you would always love me…so why did you turn to her?" Guilt and shame washed over him with her words. He had promised to love her forever, and he did. But…

"You died… I mourned for you night and day for years. The only reason I didn't fallow you in death was our son," he choked back a sob at the remembered pain, if he hadn't had Shuichi to take care of… "But I was so lonely and Shiori understood what I had been through. I didn't go out and look for someone else, it just happened. I had to move on, I couldn't spend the rest of my life waiting to die just so I would meet you again."

Midori narrowed her eyes and clenched both her hands into fists. Her eyes turned to cold steel as her mood swung from betrayed to enrage. "You will regret casting me aside Kazuya. I will make sure of it!"

She dissolved back into darkness. But Kazuya could feel her accusing gaze long after she had faded from view.

He bolted upright gasping for breath and covered in cold sweet. It was that same nightmare again. He had been remarried for over a year already, so why had the nightmares started only recently? If he was feeling guilty why hadn't he had them sooner?

"Kazuya? What's wrong?" He turned and looked at his wife. Shiori was so kind and so thoughtful, even when only half awake.

"Nothing dear, go back to sleep." He lay back down with a sigh and slept, without incident, until morning.