Sometimes, love just isn't enough

Suguha

By Goa1aso

Running out the doors of the house with a "Onii-chan, I'm going to kendo practice!" she wondered why it was that the boy upstairs never, ever responded.

Perhaps she should try to gain his attention, to keep him away from his precious videogames and make him go outside and socialize more. (A word in that thought caused her to think of some imagery of an ugly, short man obsessed with a ring for some reason, perhaps she'd watched too many old movies…)

Her thoughts derailed by the random reference, she continued running to kendo practice, thinking of epic battles of swordplay, magic, and mythical beings.

-0-0-0-

-Life can strike at any time, turning the world upside down-

-0-0-0-

Her customary 'I'm home!' died in her throat when she saw the ambulance in front of her house. Instead, other words rose unbidden to her lips.

What? Who? How?

Questions swirling around her head remained unanswered as she entered the house. Upon seeing her mother, sitting at the dinner table, head held in hands, her stomach twisted with dread.

No.. no…. no! Not him!

But she already knew, deep down, that it could only be him. Logically, only three people lived in the house, but her heart denied it all the same.

Racing up the stairs, to the door of the room that she looked at often (for what reason, she knew but refused to acknowledge), she arrived on the scene of a pair of EMTs lifting the comatose boy from his bed, onto a stretcher, dull grey helmet and all.

'NerveGear'. Never before had she hated a word so much upon reading it, barely glimpsing the text written before he was carted back downstairs to the waiting ambulance, its lights continuously flashing through the doorway, as if mocking her.

She followed the workers numbly, doubting the reality of the situation. (Someone please, pinch me, I can't take much more…)

The gravity of the situation hit hard as the ambulance drove away in a blare of sirens, the broken-hearted girl finally breaking down and crying in her mother's arms.

-0-0-0-

-Sometimes, the end will seem so far away-

-0-0-0-

This wasn't how it was supposed to go, the girl mused as she sat by the hospital bed of the boy with a dull helmet attached to his head. He was supposed to get injured (minorly, of course!) and she would sit by his bed and take care of him every day until he got better and he would show his gratitude and.. and…

She couldn't even finish the thought, her face feeling as if it were on fire. She ignored her mom's comment, (Thinking about something deeply, Suguha?) choosing to continue her sigil over him. She knew that she loved him – and could freely admit that, now that her mother revealed that they were cousins ('Wait, really?' 'Yes, really' – was her reaction, along with no small amount of relief).

Her eyes roamed searchingly over his pale face, looking for any sign that he might be coming back from his unwitting self-imprisonment, frowning slightly as there was none, as there had not been for the past couple months. Her frown deepened, as she took ahold of his hand, feeling the overly prominent bones that were his knuckles.

Please, come back to us, to me.

And yet the boy continued his reinforced slumber (a fitting description; a dream turned nightmare, she supposed), oblivious to his family's pleas.

-0-0-0-

-Sometimes, the end can be seen-

-0-0-0-

Days turned into months, the seasons changed, and a year passed. The scene in the hospital room never changed, besides the progressive emaciation of the boy, and the noticeable lack of the mother on some days. However, the girl continued her daily visits, unwilling to give up the small hope that he'd be awake when she came.

She'd even tried to join his world, in a way, with a world of epic battles of swordplay, magic, and mythical beings. (Thank god it didn't use the NerveGear, she still hated that thing with a passion)

And finally, after two years, he woke up, giving her hope, but crushing her in the next second with his first, feeble words.

-0-0-0-

-But life just keeps taking and taking-

-0-0-0-

'Asuna? Asuna? I have to find her…'

Of course, she would help him find his girl. His happiness would make her happy, right?

But the small ache in her heart would never go away.

-0-0-0-

-Until finally, she realized that sometimes, love just isn't enough-

fin