Chapter 22: Giving

The plane ride back was relatively quiet.

Takabi kept mostly to himself, lost in his memories. At the very least, what he remembered. The promise he made to Nana, the first time he used his magic and the blank areas between then and now. His mind would often picture the boy's bloody and bruised face from the orphanage, and he felt a strong hollow feeling in his heart that made him grip his chest tightly.

"We'll be there in a day," Nana said. She was in a bathrobe, her hair wrapped up with a towel. "I thought you could use the extra day to straighten your head before facing that hellhole again."

He didn't respond to her. His back faced Nana, which made the girl slowly walk around in front of him, pulling up a loose chair and sitting on it, crossing her legs. "Hey, Takabi. You alright?"

"Yeah. Just thinking some things over."

"You've been doing that since we left. I figured you'd want to talk with me about it at least."

"Just… Look, there's just a lot of things my mind and heart are hung up on right now. I don't wanna say or do anything stupid that might put us in an awkward position." He finally looked up at her. "Sorry, I'm not trying to ignore you or anything."

"No, I get it." She said, looking around a bit. A couple minutes passed, and her lips rose in a smile, which became a giggle.

"What," He asked.

"I just thought back to when we were kids. I don't think you remember, but there was a time we went to the town pool. You kept fighting with Shine about who got to spend more time with me." She started laughing a bit harder. "She kicked your ass so bad we went home early and everyone was mad as hell."

She patted her finger against her knee. "You snuck out every night for the past week just to come see me. I thought it was so sweet of you."

"That sounds kinda stalkerish if you ask me," He admitted. "What did we do?"

"Just talk. Tell jokes and laugh. The usual kid stuff." She placed a closed hand over her heart. "Those memories. I cherish them a lot you know. It's honestly thanks to you that I'm still breathing today."

"Why did this just turn dark? What do you mean?"

"I mean, after what happened to you, I got really upset, as anyone would. Was diagnosed with depression and suicidal thoughts for a long while. My parents were worried sick and tried their hardest to separate me from our past. Didn't work out so well, as you can clearly tell. Seeing you again though, I've gotten a lot better." She cupped her mouth. "Sorry, I'm rambling."

"I really meant a lot to you. Didn't I?" Takabi couldn't stop the smile from growing on his face.

"You did. Still do, I told you that." She took a deep breath, biting her lip, before suddenly asking, "Did you ever… Ya know, sleep with anyone?"

The question caught him by surprise. He couldn't contain the laughter from coming up, and ended up falling over and holding his stomach as Nana's face flushed with embarrassment. When his laughter died down, he wiped a tear from his face and sat up, the redness on his face fading away. "Where did that come from?!"

"From the fact you dated another girl," She blurted out in hastiness. "How can I not think that? You were so hung up over your ex when we finally reunited. Then you told me you didn't remember me at all." She stood and began pacing around the plane, going back and forth between the bar and bed.

"Look, I can promise you I didn't do anything with anybody." He said. Nana looked at him, her face saying I don't believe that.

"Really," He said quickly. "I may have dated a couple girls, but none are exactly memorable. Hell, I think the only reason I was so hung up on Jewel was because she lives across the street from me, and her mom has been a mother to me since I moved into the neighborhood."

"Yeah, and I bet you think her mom is hot, too."

"Kinda hard not to," He muttered. "Either way, it doesn't matter. I don't think of them the way I do you." He slapped his mouth quickly.

Nana watched him closely, then her eyes fell on her robe.

"I didn't say that at all. Forget that even came up. Why is this a conversation right now at all?" Words frantically left his mouth, and he couldn't find anything proper to really say. "I'm gonna go jump out the plane." He said, standing and making a run for the door. Wind smacked him in the face and knocked him back on the bed, Nana standing at the foot, watching him with an unreadable expression.

He was scared, that much was obvious. "Nana, whatever you're thinking, don't do it."

She didn't speak. She simply crawled on the bed towards him, then over him as she undid the towel around her head and let her wet hair drop to her shoulders. "Shut up for a second. Just… Trust me, okay?"

"With what?! Cause it looks like you're about to gut me!" He shifted himself back until his head hit the headboard. Nana moved closer, eyes locked. Takabi felt a stronger fear rushing in his stomach. "Nana, you're not making my anxiety feel any better!"

The gap between them closed. Their lips touched, and something stirred in his mind. His brain burned severely, but it wasn't a painful feeling. Pieces of memories came rushing into his mind, more vividly than they had before.

The promise. The nights they spent together in secret, and all the fun times they had before he went and screwed it all up. It wasn't his memories he was looking at though, because some images came in that didn't involve him at all.

These were all Nana's.

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She stood in the barren land, dumbfounded.

The heat was unbearable, but not toxic to the point she had to leave like the humans. Her eyes raced around frantically as her parents called out to her. In her Father's grasp was a little black haired boy who looked just like Takabi. He had severe burns to his torso, and his body remained unmoving. His chest wasn��t rising, just frozen like a corpse's would be.

She wasn't worried about Kairas, even though she should have been. She was young, but she knew her job was to watch over and care for all the Yamishito kids. So why did her small heart ache so much at the thought of losing only Takabi? Why was it she couldn't bear living without that goofy, white haired brat?

Simple.

She loved him. So deeply, so truly, and she didn't know how to express that to him. Her feelings were beyond even her own understanding, which was evident from the fact that her bare feet continued to walk over the burnt over neighborhood, black clouds of heavy smoke rising high into the air. A bubble of air was around her head, to keep most of the soot from clogging her lungs.

"Takabi!" Her tiny voice would cry out.

It had been a couple days since the explosion occurred. The wasteland was still ripe with Divine Mana and toxic air. Her parents knew the chances of Takabi being alive were small, especially due to the fact that Kairas was in their arms and he wasn't alive himself. Shine was nowhere to be found, nor was Girston or Myra. Nana felt her heart drop more and more the longer she searched.

"Nana, he's not here! Come on, let us go," Her mother yelled at her, but the girl ignored her mom's pleas. She continued searching, her eyes frantically zipping from spot to spot, hoping to find the tiniest amount of white.

Her feet carried her towards the center explosion, until she dropped face first into the blazing soil. Her hands dug in, ignoring the heat, tears slowly streaming from her eyes. "You can't be gone.. I know you're alive!" She yelled, her voice echoing into the soot clouds and blackness that rose higher in the air.

"Takabi! Where are you!" Her words came out in full sobs, and she lost the strength and will to keep moving. If he wasn't at the center of the wasteland, he simply wasn't there, and as far as anyone knew, he was dead and there was just no body to recover.

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The memories flashed quickly. From Nana struggling to reconnect with her family, to her in the psychologist's office with bandages around her arms, legs and feet. Her eyes held no light, nothing positive, and her face was expressionless. There was a strong pain in her chest. A hole had formed, and her heart ached so badly she couldn't stand it.

The words I lost my best friend kept replying in her mind, even as the years passed. Even though Takabi didn't remember her, she never forgot him. She masked herself as time went on, but kept herself reserved. She didn't want to connect with anyone that wasn't him, and she made sure that's how it stayed.

Un ala was a chance for Nana to reconnect with people her age, despite her being an Angel. Her parents, currently in heaven and operating beyond the Golden Gates in extensive work, forced her to live as normal as she could. The only time she was allowed to use her powers was on business.

Nana's memory of their reunion was strong and clear as day.

She had just walked off the bus and spotted the white locks. She tried not to get her hopes up, but once she heard the voice she knew for sure. It was deeper, and he was obviously much taller than she remembered him, but no doubt in her mind it was him.

Even as he nearly face planted the stairs.

Even when he looked at her but had no recollection of anything before that point involving them.

Her heart is what made her pursue him.

Her feelings opened her eyes to bring him back into this life, knowing it would be painful. This life of magic, of magic and Angels and beyond. She wanted to let him live his life, but there was too much going on in the shadows, and he was the only one they could turn to. It would take time and training, but Nana knew he had the potential and power.

She broke their kiss, resting her forehead against his. Takabi kept his eyes closed and his expression calm. "You saw it all, huh? There's a lot going on, and we need you. Plus… You've seen how much I've dealt with without you. That's only the surface."

He cupped her face and kissed her again. While shorter, there was more passion than the first time. They separated, until Nana threw her arms around his neck and continued. Their breathing got heavier, body heat rising. Takabi's shirt melted away under his body heat, but Nana felt no different. He was inviting her, and she was more than happy to take the invitation. She quickly untied the robe around her body as his kisses moved towards her neck, and her small moans left her lips.

He paused a moment, looking up at her, "Are you sure about this? Isn't this a little fast?"

"I've waited years on the off chance that I would find you again. I'm more than ready."

He didn't wait, and took her invitation. There was still heavy doubt in his mind, but he would suppress, and focus only on Nana and her existence.