Whoohoo! Second story!! This one's also about Akira/Takumi, but it's what may have happened if Takumi had died.

Oh, and let's assumed that he died at 18, making Akira around 19 when she had her child and around 22 maybe when she and her daughter are in the graveyard.

I hope i didn't give too much away right there!

Disclaimer: I do not own Mai-HiME, Akira or Takumi, or the song this story is based on. I do own Sorako (Akira's daughter in this story), though.

This story is based off of the song "Love Lives On" by Mallary Hope, I don't own this song. The lyrics to the song are in italics in this story.

Enjoy!

Love Lives On:

(Based on the song by Mallary Hope)

I reach for you this moment,

Woke up with empty arms.

Akira squinted her eyes closed the second after they had opened. She had a new greeting this morning, a greeting from the blinding sun rather then her loved Takumi. She usually awoke with a light smile on her face with her arms wrapped around the frail body of her boyfriend.

But when she went to kiss him awake this morning, the brunette boy wasn't present.

Once again, it's sinking in,

How far away you are.

"Oh," Akira thought to herself, glumly. Then, rolling onto her side, she said, "That's why."

An hour had passed and the kunoichi then decided that it was best to emerge from her bed now. It was no use staying beneath the sheets, anyway, there was no other body there to keep her warm.

I still pour two cups of coffee,

And tell you all about my dreams.

Akira shuffled her feet over to the kitchen. Opening the top cupboard, she grabbed two coffee mugs. The black-haired girl smiled at them in her hands. She remembered painting them with Takumi only a few short months ago. Takumi had chosen to paint cute white bunnies on his while the ninja drew a frog on hers.

She loved his girly side.

Akira took the few short steps over to the espresso machine. Grasping the handle in her hand, she dumped its contents into the two painted mugs now placed on the counter.

"Oops," she said aloud, dumping the coffee from the bunny cup into the sink. "I can't believe I did that again."

This kitchen's way too quiet,

You should still be here with me.

It didn't feel like a weekend morning without hearing Takumi's usual morning perky voice fill the apartment. Instead, that voice echoed through the young woman's head. It kept repeating itself, over and over and over again, tumbling through her mind.

Toying with her heart.

And even though I cry like crazy,

Even though it hurts so bad,

I'm thankful for the time God gave me,

Even though we couldn't make it last.

I'm learning how to live without you

Even though I don't want to.

And even with you gone

Love lives on.

Akira slipped her body into one of the kitchen chairs. She sat there tensely, not fully knowing what to do. The brown-eyed girl absent-mindedly stirred her hot beverage, deep in her thoughts, having nothing else to listen to but the slow ticking of the chime clock.

She briefly recalled when the two of them had purchased the antique.

The small woman felt her head get heavy, and then it seemed like a bomb went off in her brain. All of a sudden, the kunoichi placed her forehead upon the wooden table, and sobbed.

The river of tears wouldn't stop. No matter how much Akira try to force the liquid to deplete, it wouldn't.

"Weak, yet again," she thought.

I still call your mom on Sundays

Yeah, it's good to hear her voice.

She always tells me that same story

About her stubborn little boy.

Soon after Akira's small breakdown, the telephone started ringing. Akira debated whether or not to answer it, she knew that she would sound very hoarse at the moment. She didn't want anyone to know that she'd been crying.

At the last ring, Akira dived to answer the phone. "Hello?" she mumbled, almost incoherently.

"Akira, it's Mai," said the voice on the other end, Takumi's sister. Akira was envious of the red head, she sounded so composed and calm.

Why couldn't she relax?

"Oh," Akira replied. "Mai, what's up?"

The kunoichi could hear Mai shrug on the phone. "Nothing really, I just wanted to talk. Are you okay? You sound upset."

Akira was generally surprised that Mai had noticed. The two weren't exactly close, the only other time they had talked to each other was when Takumi was there too.

"I'm just…" the younger woman felt her voice shudder and the tears start to pour out of her sockets again, "remembering."

"Oh, Akira, don't cry!" Mai demanded, concerned. "If you're remembering my brother, you should be smiling. I don't ever recall you frowning around him."

Mai only heard sniffles from Akira's end.

Mai smiled as she remembered one incident quite clearly. "Remember Thanksgiving last year? How Takumi was making all of those pies?"

Akira managed a weak smile at this memory. "Yeah," she said. "He was bustling around the kitchen so much that he didn't notice when that ridiculous apron caught fire." Akira and Mai giggled at Takumi's cluelessness. When their laughter had ceased, Akira started talking again. "I… kept that frilly apron…." She said.

And I kept your favorite t-shirt,

You know, the one I used to hate.

Ain't it funny how, it's the one thing now

I just can't throw away?

"I thought you hated that thing," Mai chuckled.

"Yeah, I used to," Akira stated. "But right now… I can't throw it away… it's actually on my bed right now, like a blanket," the young lady unwillingly admitted.

The raven-haired girl recalls waking up numerous times at night, back when she stilled lived with Takumi. She would shiver, for it was very cold, and Takumi would eventually notice. Once he did, he'd get up and search for extra covers. He wouldn't be able to find any, and return to the bed with his pink, lacey apron.

He'd then proceed to drape it over Akira's shoulders. "Don't want you to catch a cold," he'd say. Then, he'd hug the kunoichi close to him as they slept.

Akira missed those moments dearly. After his death, Akira had begun to permanently keep the object under her pillow, and hugged it at night when she felt lonely.

Presently, the raindrops fell from her brown eyes again.

And even though I cry like crazy,

Even though it hurts so bad,

I'm thankful for the time God gave me,

Even though we couldn't make it last.

I'm learning how to live without you

Even though I don't want to.

And even with you gone

Love lives on.

"I…" Akira started sobbing into the phone in her hand, "have to… go. B-bye, M-Mai". Without waiting for a reply, Akira hit the end button.

Silence filled the dorm again.

2 months later

Akira felt herself wobble as she rose from her bed. She felt extremely dizzy and had a sick feeling in her stomach.

She rushed over to the bathroom and barfed into the toilet. "What's wrong with me?" the young woman thought to herself. Standing up and flushing the toilet, Akira walked over to her calendar. On the chart, she saw a red dot five days before today. "I'm… late…." She whispered aloud. Panic now within her, Akira grabbed her wallet and ran out the room to the drugstore.

She returned, a few minutes later, with a package in her hands. Walking into the bathroom, Akira proceeded with the test.

Positive.

A few years later

She comes with me on your birthday,

Little flowers in her hand.

It was his birthday today. The day that Akira had come to celebrate more then any other… until he left.

Taking hold of her daughter's hand, Akira stepped into the graveyard. "Remember, Sorako," Akira said to the little girl, "You need to be respectful."

The brunette girl with the purple eyes nodded. "Yes, Mother!" she said cheerfully, gazing up at the taller woman with light in her eyes.

She's always known that something's missing,

But too young to understand.

"But what are we here for, Mommy?"

Akira, still holding onto her little girl's hand, took slow, even steps through the cemetery. "We're here for your father's birthday," she replied, sadly.

"Who was Father?" the girl whose head barely reached her mother's knees asked innocently.

Sorako's mother sighed. "Takumi Tokiha," she answered.

And some day she's gonna ask me

What kind of man you were.

"Yeah," said Sorako, "but who was he?"

The kunoichi's mind paused for a minute, though her feet did not. The mother and daughter walked on until they reached the grey tombstone that read "Takumi Tokiha". The mother made a gesture towards her daughter, and the little girl placed her bouquet of flowers next to the grave. "Hi, Daddy," the little girl said.

I'll tell her all the ways I loved you

And tell her that I see you in her.

"You're father," Akira started to say, placing her own bouquet on the ground, "was very polite. He loved to cook and he had a slightly feminine side," Akira cracked a smile at that comment. "He loved me more then anything, and I reciprocated those feelings to him." Akira swallowed hard and forced herself not to cry. She looked down at her daughter, who, in turn, gleamed back up at her with wide eyes and a smile that showed all of her baby teeth.

Akira grinned lovingly back at her daughter. "Sorako," she said, kneeling down to the young girl's level. "I see so much of him in you."

"You mean he's in me?"

The young mother chuckled. "Not in a literal sense," she stated. "But you look so much like him. Purple eyes, brown hair, cheerful attitude and smile…" Akira shook her head lightly, as if telling herself to avoid tears. "I love you so much, you know that right?"

Sorako nodded. "I love you too, Mommy. And I love Daddy too."

And even though I cry like crazy,

Even though it hurts so bad,

I'm thankful for what God gave me,

And she's the perfect way to make it last.

I'm learning how to live without you

Baby, I don't want to.

But even with you gone

Love lives on.

The duo walked out of the cemetery a half hour later, having said everything they wanted to say to Takumi. "Let's go home, Sorako," Akira said to her small friend and daughter.

Sorako obliged, and held her mother's hand as they retreated from the graveyard.

I reach for you this moment,

Woke up with empty arms….

"Takumi," Akira spoke to him, in her head. "You've given me so much; courage, strength, and even a daughter…. In return, I'll teach her everything she needs to know. I'll take care of her for you."

So, what did you all think? Like? Dislikes? Comments/reviews/critiques are much appreciated!