Sweet Burden

by K L Ogden

  “I think we deserve a chance to try.”

  She rubbed her hands together and relaxed back in the swing as she stared out into the forest. “Hitomi’s father was a lot like you Obi. Always thinking everything would work out. That ended up being his downfall.”

  “I don’t think everything is just going to work out. I know we have to make it work.” Obi leaned back against the railing. “I love Hitomi and I want to make it work with her.”

  “And are you so sure she wants the same?”

  Obi stared at her curiously. “Yes I am.” He did not like Regina trying to put doubt into his mind. “I promised Hitomi that I would never leave her again unless she sent me away. If she wants me to leave, I will honor that promise, but I will be with her until that day.”

  She didn’t tear her eyes away from the woods as she patted the seat next to her. “Please come and sit down.”

  He reluctantly moved over and sat down. He unfolded his arms and stared down at his hands. This was the first moment that he ever wished he had the power to read minds. Obi knew that Regina was trying to shield her daughter, but at same time that was also his role too. They sat there in silence for a few minutes until Regina finally spoke.

  “The first time I saw Hitomi’s father, I knew that I was destined to be with him. Although, I definitely didn’t want to admit it at the time. But once I discovered the real him, we fell in love very quickly. Sometimes I think it was too quickly.” He glanced up as she smiled out past the trees. “But he was a good man.” He nodded again not sure what she was trying to say to him. “It’s just very hard for me to see my daughter in the same situation. I don’t want to see Hitomi get hurt. She’s still young and has a very long lifetime ahead of her. Remember, I chose you to protect her, not break her heart. I know how it is to live with a broken heart and I don’t want the same thing for her.”

  Obi took a deep breath. “Everything will always be her choice.”

  “Just remember you said that,” she replied as she turned to him. “Obi, your love for Hitomi might prove to be your greatest strength or perhaps your greatest weakness. I guess we will have to wait and find out.” Regina gave him a pat on the leg and got up. “I’ll send Hitomi out.” She walked over to the door. “Oh, and you two will not be sharing the bed.” She went inside as Obi slightly grimaced.

  He rested his elbows on his knees and dropped his head into his hands. He let out a relieved breath that the conversation didn’t go nearly as bad as he thought it was going to. A few seconds after Regina went inside, Hitomi came hurrying out. Obi reached out to her and pulled her onto his lap wrapping his arms around her. She nestled her face against his neck.

  “I’m sorry about my mom,” she mumbled.

  “She’s just looking out for you because she loves you. Besides, the situation she walked in on wasn’t the greatest.” He tilted his head and kissed her forehead. “Maybe we should kind of lay low at least for today. I’ve got things I need to work on anyway and you can spend some time with your mom.”

  “Oh. Okay,” Hitomi replied with disappointment.

  “It will only be for a day.”

  Obi and Hitomi stayed out on the porch for a little while letting everyone else get situated in the cabin. Eventually Rediisu came outside and Obi went off with him to go work on some things. Obi tried to get more information as to what Hitomi’s mother would reveal the next night once it turned midnight, but Rediisu skirted around the questions. It left Obi feeling like Rediisu knew more than he was letting on. Obi eventually came to the conclusion that everyone knew at least a little bit about what was going on except he and Hitomi.

  Later that night, Obi lay on a makeshift bed by the fire as everyone fell asleep. Guri was sound asleep in the chair and Rediisu was lightly snoring on the couch. Liam was stretched out on the floor by the couch, while Hitomi and her mother shared the bed in the bedroom. He was warmed by the flames as he stared at the bedroom door. Even if it was only for a few nights, he missed having Hitomi next to him. He had become so used to her being there. He couldn’t relax without her beside him.

  He wondered if she was still awake when the bedroom door creaked open. Obi perked up expecting to see Hitomi’s head peek out, but instead saw her mother’s. He put his head back down and closed his eyes. He listened to her footsteps cross the room and she went out the front door. He opened his eyes and hopped up careful not to wake everyone else. As he started over to the front door, he moved past the bedroom when Hitomi poked her head out. It wasn’t easy to catch Obi off-guard, but she managed to startle him.

  She smiled as he jolted at her appearance. “What are you doing?” she whispered.

  “What are you doing?” he shot back quietly.

  “I was following my mom.”

  “Why aren’t you asleep?” he asked.

  “Why aren’t you asleep?” she smirked as she rested against the door frame.

  With that sly smile on her face, Obi was having a hard time resisting the urge to grab her and kiss her. “You obviously know why or you wouldn’t be smirking at me. Go back to sleep. I’m going to go see where she went.”

  “But I want to go.”

  “No, you stay here. I’ll be right back.”

  “But…”

  “Hitomi let me handle this. It’s late and incredibly dark in those woods. You’ll be safer here. I won’t be long.”

  She gave a loud huff. “Fine.” She crossed her arms across her chest as he turned her back towards the bedroom and nudged her in. He shut the door and went out onto the porch.

  He sniffed the air and started following Regina’s scent into the forest straight ahead. He kept a steady pace opting to follow her on the ground instead of the air and he was far enough behind her so he wouldn’t be easily heard or noticed. Obi had been following her for about ten minutes when her scent got a lot stronger. He realized she had stopped and he moved behind a tree scanning for her. He finally spotted the light from her flashlight and moved closer so that he could clearly see her.

  Obi crouched down and watched her. Regina glanced around like she was waiting for something or someone. It was only a few minutes when suddenly gold light appeared to the right. He squint his eyes briefly until the light dimmed and an illuminated figure stepped into view. Obi felt his jaw drop.

  He immediately realized that the illuminated figure was most likely the same man that had appeared to Hitomi. Regina sat down on a fallen tree and the man sat down next to her. Obi watched as the man took a hold of Regina’s hand. She turned and smiled at him.

  “I wasn’t sure you would be coming out here,” the man said.

  “Honestly, it wasn’t easy,” Regina replied.

  “I’m glad you did,” the man commented.

  Obi tried to shift himself to be able to hear better, but when he lifted his head he suddenly smelled Hitomi. He turned around looking for her immediately not concerned with her mother. He could tell that she was near, but he was unable to see her. He turned back around and watched them talking, but he was not hearing their words. His mind flooded with worry over Hitomi wandering in the woods alone.

  He mashed his lips together and quietly stood up leaving Hitomi’s mother with the golden man. Obi set off in the direction of Hitomi’s scent careful not to alert them to his presence. Moving off to his left, he followed her scent further and further away from the cabin. He realized that she was completely off course. His worry mounted as he began rushing through the trees.

  He knew he was nearing the edge of the barrier around the area and his heart started beating faster as he searched for her. If she crossed out of the barrier, she would be in danger. With that thought, Obi’s stomach turned into a tight knot and panic came over him. He moved faster his feet thundered against the ground.

  Her scent became stronger as he neared the sound of running water. Obi prayed that she didn’t cross the water. As he neared the stream they had been to the day before, he finally saw her. She was standing at the edge of the water whe
n he came up behind her and grabbed her arm. He pulled her backwards somewhat harshly.

  “What are you doing?” he inquired angrily.

  “Damn it Obi.” Hitomi spun around and yanked her arm from his grasp. “You scared me.”

  “You’re lucky it’s me. I told you to stay at the cabin. You could have been hurt,” he spit out as his chest still pounded with worry.

  “I’m completely fine.”

  “Completely fine? You were in the completely wrong direction. Are you trying to kill me?”

  She pursed her lips and folded her arms across her chest. “How would my walking in the woods kill you?”

  Grabbing her forearms, he gritted his teeth and his jaw tightened. “Do you not understand? I am trying to keep you safe and you’re running around in the woods alone. You have no idea where you’re at or how to get back. Damn it Hitomi, I am trying to protect you but I need your help. If I tell you to stay somewhere, you listen to me.”

  Her eyes narrowed. “And what gives you the right to order me around?” She shrugged out of his grasp and his hands dropped to his sides.

  Obi, still with his adrenaline pumping from worry, instantly became irritated. “It’s not about ordering you around. It’s about helping me out to keep you safe.”

  “Whatever.” Hitomi rolled her eyes. “Where’s my mom?”

  “It doesn’t matter. Let’s get back to the cabin.” Obi reached out for one of her wrists but she backed away from him.

  “Yes it does matter. Where is she?”

  “I lost her in the woods.”

  She took another step away from him and his heart sank. “You’re lying. You can track anyone. Why are you lying to me?”

  “Hitomi, let’s just go back to the cabin.” His request turned into a plea.

  “No. You’re keeping something from me. What did you see? Where did she go?”

  He peered around and stepped towards her. “We need to go. Stop acting like a child.”

  “Stop treating me like one!” she yelled. “You’re just like everyone else. I’m so tired of everyone keeping things from me. Tell me now.”

  Obi knew that telling her what he saw would just raise even more questions without anymore answers for her. How could he tell her that her mother was meeting the man she had been seeing? Even he wasn’t sure what to make of it. He moved closer to her. “I didn’t see anything.”

  “Liar!” She unfolded her arms and pushed against his chest. “Get away from me!”

  “Hitomi…” He grabbed her wrists firmly. “My priority is to keep you safe. You running around in the woods alone does not make me happy. Nothing can ever happen to you. Don’t you understand that? You were within inches of a barrier that keeps them out.”

  She stared up at him, her eyes wide but still angry. Hitomi didn’t say anything.

  “We’re going back to the cabin now.” Before she could protest, he scooped her up in his arms and spread his wings. He took off into the air holding her tightly. She kept her head turned away from him.

  They were quickly at the cabin and he quietly carried her inside. He took her into the bedroom and plopped her down on the bed. She avoided any eye contact with him as he knelt down in front of her and slipped off her boots. He slid them across the floor to the foot of the bed and looked up at her. She turned her head away.

  “Hitomi…”

  “I don’t want to hear it,” she interrupted.

  “Please Hitomi, I don’t want to fight with you.”

  “Then tell me what you saw.”

  Obi let out a sigh and stood up. He moved over and sat down on the bed next to her. He took her hand and weaved his fingers in between hers. “It’s just going to bring up more questions that probably won’t get answered until tomorrow night. I think you should let your mother explain everything at the right time.”

  He leaned over to kiss her, but she pulled away and took her hand from his. “I have to go to sleep. Please leave me alone,” she mumbled.

  Obi let out a sigh and stood up. He didn’t bother to say anything else as he left the room and shut the door. He kicked off his shoes and went back over by the fireplace. He lay back down by the fire and waited to hear the front door, but all he could think about was Hitomi being angry with him. Maybe he should have just told her, but he didn’t know what good it would do.

  It was a few hours before he heard the creaking of the front door. Hitomi’s mother crept inside and went into the bedroom. Obi lifted his head staring at the door. He let out a yawn as he thought about the golden man. Why was he appearing to Hitomi? And why was her mother meeting him?

  “Maybe you should go to sleep now,” Liam mumbled. Obi turned and looked at him. “You’re going to kill yourself with worry.”

  “Good thing I’m technically dead,” Obi replied.

  Liam smirked and rested his head back. Obi let out a deep breath and put his head back down. He closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep, but what he saw disturbed and confused him.

  Chapter 21

  Hitomi heard her mother come in after a few hours. Her weight shifted the mattress and Hitomi rolled over away from her. She wanted so badly to ask where her mother had been, but she knew that she wouldn’t get any answers. Even though she wanted to know where her mother had been, thoughts of Obi were overloading her mind. She was so angry and hurt because of him lying to her. He was who she trusted the most and now he was betraying her. She let out a small sigh and stared across the room in the darkness. Hitomi wasn’t sure she was going to be able to get any sleep.

  It was around noon when Hitomi climbed out of bed. Her mother had been up for a few hours but she couldn’t bring herself to face everyone. Finally she got up the courage and crawled out of bed. She grabbed some clothes and walked out of the room. When she stepped out, everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at her. Obi, Liam, and Rediisu were sitting around the coffee table talking, while Guri and her mother sat eating at the dining table. The room became quiet as everyone’s eyes locked on her. She glanced at all of their faces as Obi got up.

  “You’re finally up,” he commented as he started to move towards her.

  Her eyes focused on his for a brief moment and then she quickly moved past him and went into the bathroom.

  “Hitomi…” Obi started, but she cut his words off as she slammed the door. She piled her clothes on the counter and sat down on the edge of the bathtub. She stared at the door until there was a light knock. “Hitomi?” Obi said tentatively.

  “Just leave me alone,” she replied and turned on the bathtub faucet to drown out his voice. She took a long shower and dried off. After getting dressed, she pulled her hair into a ponytail and faced the door. She didn’t want to go out and face everyone again, but she couldn’t stay in the bathroom all day. Her hand rested on the door knob and she took a deep breath.

  Hitomi pulled the door back and walked out keeping her eyes on the ground. She felt everyone else watching her as she walked over to the coffee table and grabbed one of her books. She picked up a blanket from the back of the couch and walked out to the porch. After making herself comfortable on the swing, she opened the book and looked at the pages.

  The weather outside was violent. The sky was dark grey and the rain was pouring down. It beat against the roof and cascaded down creating a waterfall around her. The sky thundered and lit up with lightning. She closed her book and curled up tighter with the blanket as she looked out to the woods. It wasn’t long before she heard the clatter of the screen door. She glanced sideways seeing Obi moving towards her. She pulled the blanket up higher as he sat down next to her. She refused to say anything first.

  He let out a sigh and grabbed her legs resting them across his lap so he could move closer. “Hitomi, I can’t handle you being mad at me.”

  She ignored him and reopened the book pretending to read the pages.

  “Fine. Do you want me to tell you what I saw?”

  Hitomi shook her head. “It doesn’t even matter now. Just
give me some time to myself.”

  Obi grabbed her chin and made her look at him. “I want to make this right.”

  “You can’t. I don’t trust you anymore. You lied to me.” She pushed his hand away and turned from him.

  “Hitomi, I messed up. I should have told you. I just knew…”

  “No, you should have told me. Period,” she interrupted.

  “You’re right. I’m sorry.” He sighed and lowered her legs back down to the swing as he got up. “I hope you’ll forgive me.” Obi headed back inside leaving her alone with nothing but her thoughts.

  ****

  Obi walked inside and shut the door hard behind him. Everyone turned and looked at him, but he was only focused on Hitomi’s mother in the kitchen. He started over towards her.