A/N: Yeah, I found this mini story and liked it on facebook thinking it was sweet and didn't think much of it but I was sat listening to music on the bus and the song The Reason Is You by Hoobastank and I randomly came up with the idea for this story.
WARNING: my plan is to cause tears...The team was getting worried. Kuki hadn't been herself for over two weeks now. She was getting tired out very easily in missions, she'd also suffer with severe fatigue which would last for hours, even a few days after the mission.
They originally thought maybe Kuki had been a little less healthy than normal, but after watching her carefully, Abby revealed that Kuki's diet or exercise was no different than normal, other than she'd stop exercise sooner due to being so tired.
The past few days, the team mates also noticed swelling of Kuki's ankles, feet and torso. Something definitely wasn't right.
Luckily, her mother had also noticed odd goings on with her daughter and had taken Kuki to the doctors while the rest of sector V was at school.
When sector V met at the treehouse, Kuki was already sat on the couch.
"Numbuh 3!" Wally said as he walked in and sat down. "You're back from the doctors."
Kuki nodded. "Yeah."
"What did he say Numbuh 3?" Nigel asked, joining the team around the couch.
Kuki took a breath and then spoke. "He did a lot of tests on me, he listened to my lungs and heart and then took some of my blood to test it. Then I had this weird X-ray, he did lots of other things with weird machines...I was there all day."
"...and?" Abby asked.
Kuki took a deep breath. "He says that I've got cardiac myopathy."
"What's that?" Hoagie asked in confusion.
"It's...a heart disease. The doctor said that my heart's got bigger." Kuki explained.
Nigel cocked an eyebrow. "How do they cure it? Will it take long?"
Kuki looked up at her friends and bit her lip. "It's not."
The team gasped.
Hoagie was the first to talk. "You mean...?"
"Dr Hayley said that as it gets worse, my heart will get weaker and won't be able to pump blood around my body properly. They haven't found a way to cure it yet, other than transplant."
"So, have the transplant...won't it all be over then?" Wally asked curiously.
Kuki shrugged. "Well I'll be on meds for a really long time afterwards. But they can't find a doner yet."
The team was stunned into silence, nobody knew what to say...until the door swung open.
"Kuki baby." Ace beamed as he came in, he sat next to Kuki on the couch, forcing Wally to move aside.
Kuki's boyfriend of two months stared at her. "I missed you at school today kitten."
"I told you. I went to the doctors cause I haven't been feeling too w..." Kuki began.
Ace interrupted her. "Aw, you missed my awesome goal at lunch. I beat the guys totally..."
"Ace, I'm...I need to talk to you." Kuki started.
Ace stood up, holding his hand out to Kuki. "Okay, you want to go to the balcony?"
Kuki took his hand and slowly stood up, Ace put his arm around her shoulder and led her toward the balcony.
When they got to the balcony, Kuki leant of the barrier and stared out.
"Okay, what did you want to talk to me about?" Ace asked.
Kuki decided to come straight out with it.
"I've got a heart disease." She chocked. "It's not going to get better until I get a transplant."
Ace was silent for a while. "So, they can fix it?"
Kuki shrugged. "If they give me a transplant in time, otherwise...they give me eighteen months...I haven't even told my friends that."
She began to feel the cold. She put her hands on her arms and rubbed them slowly up and down, trying to warm herself up.
"I understand if you don't want to be with me any more...It'd just be wasting your time anyway." She moped.
"No, no kitten." Ace whispered coming behind her and kissing her neck softly. "I'm not leaving you just because you're ill."
He then sighed at Kuki's silence and glanced at his watch. Groaning at his curfew and having to leave his girlfriend at this moment. "I'd better go...I'll call you tomorrow."
With that he left.
Kuki stayed where she was and a tear streamed down her eye. "They're not going to find a doner."
She felt the warmth of a blanket being placed over her shoulders. She gave a small smile. "I was hoping that you wouldn't go so quickl..." She stopped when she realised that the person who gave her the blanket wasn't her boyfriend. But her blond haired best friend.
"Oh, hey." She smiled weakly.
"Ace told me about what would happen if you didn't get a transplant. Why didn't you tell us?" Wally asked.
"I was going to but then Ace came in...I guess I wanted to tell him first to see his reaction before I told you guys." Kuki shrugged.
Wally noticed her breathing getting laboured. "Come on, get inside." He told her softly."
She didn't argue, just stepped back and walked inside with him.
"What do you do about it now?" Wally asked.
Kuki shrugged. "I need to stick to a healthy diet, and...just wait for a phone call saying that they've got a doner."
"So how does the doner get by without a heart?" Wally asked as they walked towards their rooms.
Kuki sighed sadly. "That's just the thing, the doner's dead but have to donate their body...how many kids at fourteen donate their hearts?"
Wally sighed. Kuki was down, he had to cheer her up. "Hey, you'll find one...you're like the luckiest girls on the planet, everything always turns out for you."
Kuki gave a small smile as she reached her door. "I hope so...night Wally."
"Night." Wally replied.
Weeks went by and Kuki was becoming anxious, she had not yet received a phone call and though she didn't show it, she was getting more and more fearful.
Kuki was starting to worry that she couldn't be in the KND much longer due to her lack of ability to stay strong in missions, she was running out of breath too quickly and felt that she was bringing the team down.
Nigel insisted that she was still apart of her team, but she was becoming weaker than they all would have imagined, she stayed on the couch most of the time and would often opt out of missions to save breath and strength.
She was in her room brushing her teeth when Wally came and knocked on her doorway.
"Mmm mm!" Kuki shouted, her mouth full of frothy toothpaste.
"Huh?" Wally questioned.
Kuki spat out the froth and giggled. "I said come in!"
"Oh." Wally chuckled, he came in and sat on her bed, waiting for her to come in.
Kuki came through and beamed at him. She noticed a slight hint of sadness in his face. "Hey...are you okay?"
Wally smiled. "Yeah. Why wouldn't I be?"
Kuki smiled and sat down next to him. "You just seemed a little down."
"No." Wally shook his head.
"What did you want anyway?" Kuki asked.
Wally shrugged. "Just wanted to hang out."
Kuki beamed.
"Sooo, have you heard anything about a doner yet?" Wally asked.
Kuki shook her head. "No...*sigh*...I'm never going to find one."
Wally stared at her, she was beginning to fill up. He placed a hand on her shoulder and sighed sadly.
"Sure you will...it'll all work out Kuki, you'll see." He smiled kindly.
Kuki looked back at him and gave a weak smile. She rested her head on Wally's shoulder and glanced up at him. He locked eyes with her and slowly leant down to press his lips against hers. When their lips touched, Kuki immediately pulled away. Pushing Wally from her.
"Wally! I have a boyfriend!" She hissed.
Wally blinked. "Oh, him."
"I can't do that to Ace, he's done so much for me." Kuki whispered.
Wally scoffed. "That guys hardly been around since you told him you were ill."
"Yes he has!" Kuki snapped. "He's stayed with me though everything!"
Wally rolled his eyes. "But he doesn't seem to care."
"He does care!" Kuki yelled. "He cares way more than you do!"
"Kuki...I..." Wally tried to reason.
"Please Wally! Just get out!" Kuki sobbed.
Wally sighed sadly and walked out.
Kuki cried into her pillow. She soon cried herself to sleep.
Two days later Kuki was out with Ace when her mobile rang.
She answered it and after finishing on the phone she beamed happily and told Ace the news. Ace took her home and she went into the tree house to announce to her friends that...
"They've found a doner!" She exclaimed happily. "They've booked me in for this Sunday."
"That's great Numbuh 3!" Nigel beamed.
Abby nodded. "Yeah, we can be a full team again!"
Kuki sat down with her friends and enjoyed a fun and happy night of knowing that finally, she could be healthy again.
Sunday soon came by and Kuki packed her bag, ready for her operation.
She walked into Wally's room and knocked on the door. Wally was sat in the middle of his ring staring around his room blankly.
"Numbuh 4." She said quietly.
He turned to look at her.
"I wanted to say sorry for...well yelling at you the other day." Kuki told him.
Wally gave a small smile. "I forgot all about it, you were just upset."
Kuki put her bags in the doorway and walked up to Wally's ring.
"So, ready for your transplant?" Wally asked, staring at his wall.
Kuki stared up at him. "...Sure...why wouldn't I be...?"
Wally looked at her. Kuki sighed heavily. "...I'm scared Wally."
Wally turned around and placed a hand on her cheek.
"Hey, you'll be fine. You'll go to the hospital...have your operation...wake up and everyone will be waiting for you here at the tree house...then you'll be as healthy as you've ever been."
Kuki smiled at him. "Thanks Wally. I'll see you when I wake up."
Wally watched her walk out and sighed. "...yeah."
Kuki lay on the hospital bed.
"you're lucky to have a doner." The nurse said as she prepared. "A lot of children your age are waiting for heart doners, somebody up there's looking out for you."
Kuki gave a scared smile as she watched her.
"Okay, this won't be too scary, I'm just putting this mask on you and you'll fall asleep." The doctor explained to Kuki. "Just count to ten for me."
Kuki took a deep breath as the doctor put the mask on Kuki's face and switched on the gas.
"1...2...3...4...5..." That was the last Kuki remembered, everything went black.
Kuki woke up to see her parents smiling faces.
"Mom!" Kuki beamed.
Genki smiled. "How're you feeling sweetie?"
"I hurt a little." Kuki replied.
"The doctor said you would." Genki smiled. "You still look tired. Get some rest honey, you come come out of hospital when you get your strength back. The doctor said that will probably be around a week."
Kuki sat in the tree house, waiting for school to end so that she could meet her friends again.
The door creaked open and they all began to walk in. Kuki beamed.
"Numbuh 3!" Nigel exclaimed. "We didn't know that you were out today!"
Kuki smiled. "I wanted to surprise you guys."
She scanned her friends as they came in. Abby, Hoagie and Nigel crowded around her.
"Did Numbuh 4 get detention again?" Kuki giggled.
The team went quiet and exchanged confused and nervous glances.
Kuki frowned. "What?"
Abby sat down next to Kuki and took her hand. "Numbuh 5 thought he'd told you."
"What?" Kuki asked.
Nigel sat opposite her. "Did the hospital not say anything either?"
"What's going on guys?" Kuki asked, going wide eyed.
"Numbuh 3, Numbuh 4 signed himself up for a donation." Hoagie spat out.
Kuki's eyes widened. "A blood donation? Is that where he is?"
She asked, praying that this was what they were talking about, and not...
"Your heart donation." Abby finished.
Kuki shook her head. "...No, no he...he wouldn't have."
"We're sorry Numbuh 3, we thought you knew." Nigel told her.
Kuki shook her head. "Where is he now?"
In the pouring rain and dimness of dusk. They took her to Cleveland graveyard and showed her to a small gravestone in a shaded area under a tree. Kuki knelt down in front of it to read.
R.I.P
Wallabee Beatles
Your spirit will forever live in our hearts
Kuki bit her lip and started to sob, placing her hand to her chest. The rain came down harder, colder, heavier.
"Come on girl, let's get out of the rain." Abby said, shivering.
Kuki shook her head. "I'll catch you guys up."
"We can't leave you alone." Abby protested.
"Seriously, I just want to be alone for a minute, just give me five." Kuki replied.
Abby reluctantly nodded and walked off. "Don't stay in the cold too long girl."
Kuki took cover under the tree and rested her head on the top of Wally's tombstone.
"I can't believe you did this." She whispered. "You said I'd be fighting in the team again...it's not the team without you...Now you're just out in the rain...cold and wet"
"Kuki, I didn't know you were out of hospital." A voice said. Kuki looked up to see her boyfriend.
"Ace." She said, wiping her eyes and nose. "What're you doing here."
"Paying Numbuh 4 a visit before I go home." Ace replied. "What are you doing here at this time, you're soaked. Come on, you need to get into the warm."
Kuki shook her head. "I can't leave him alone."
Ace sighed sadly. "Kuki, if you stay out here you'll catch hypothermia. Please, I'll bring you to see him tomorrow if you wanted."
Kuki looked down at Wally's grave. She sniffed and stood up. Ace pulled off his coat and put it over her as he took her to the tree house.
"So, I guess I'll see you tomorrow." Ace said as they stood at the door.
Kuki said nothing, Ace leaned forward to kiss her but Kuki turned away.
"Ace, I'm sorry but I..." Kuki stuttered, not able to finish her sentence.
Ace sighed sadly. "It's okay, I understand. It's tough for you right now. We can just stick to being friends if you want. I knew it wouldn't last long anyway."
He gave a small chuckle to try and brighten the situation.
Kuki gave a small smile. "Thanks Ace."
"You know where I am if you need to talk." Ace said to her. Sympathetically putting a hand on her arm.
Kuki nodded. "Thank you. Bye."
"See ya Kuki." Ace smiled he turned and walked away.
Kuki walked in, past her friends on the couch and straight for her room.
She walked in and sat on her bed silently, noticing something on her pillow. It was a picture of Wally. From his holiday last year. Kuki smiled as she looked at it. She remembered Wally's mother proudly showing Kuki this picture and Wally blushing madly about it and scolding his mother in embarrassment. Kuki later insisted that it was her favourite of all of the snaps.
It was simply a picture of Wally on a sun lounger fast asleep on the beach, he had sun cream on his cheeks and was sucking his thumb. His skin was beginning to grow red from the exposure to the sun.
Kuki sighed sadly and threw the picture to the floor. She noticed marks on the back of the photo and picked it back up, realising that it was words, she read the back of the photo.
You always said that it was your favourite picture
and that you wanted to see it again
well I thought you'd want it to remember me by...
That's it now, you're healthy again so go out
and enjoy life, get married, have kids, make the most of it
You're probably wondering why I did it,
well writing this I can't really come up with any certain reason
it's just...you
I love you, I wish I'd have told you
But that's my reason for doing this
Man, I'm not good at this saying goodbye in a letter thing
I can't even do it in person
Anyway, I guess I'll always be with you in your heart
Actually...you'll always have my heart there but...
sorry, that wasn't funny
Anyway this actually is goodbye
I love you
Wally