Last Wish
Professor Soichi Tomoe stared blankly up at the ceiling tiles that had
been like prison bars to him. Every day he felt more claustrophobic,
but it was more like it was himself getting smaller instead of the room.
He heard the door to his right open. He didn't bother to turn his head.
"Would you like anything for lunch, professor?" asked a nurse.
Tomoe did not answer.
"Well, all right then," she said, and closed the door again.
This time he did turn his head, but in the other direction. He sighed.
If he titled his head just right, he could make out his distorted
reflection in the IV bag. A clear liquid dripped from the bottom of the
bag into a tube hooked up to his left wrist.
Fate was not without a sense of irony, it seemed. Tomoe had always been
dependent on things to stay alive. Even before, when he had been
healthy, he had immersed himself in his work to the point where it was
his life. And he knew where that had led him. After the accident, he
depended on the alien creature inside his body to keep him alive. Now,
even days, weeks or hours away from death, the question of whether he
lived or died all revolved around that stupid-looking bag of chemicals.
"What did I do to deserve this?" he whispered bitterly to himself.
An indignant part of his mind told him, 'I don't deserve this. I *am* a
doctor!' But a more rational part knew this was exactly what he
deserved.
He had no idea if his current situation had anything to do with his
having been possessed a few years ago, or exposure to too many toxic
substances in his work, a gene passed down through his family, or just a
coincidence. But the fact was that the disease was eating away at him,
bit by bit, day by day. And as there was less of him to go around, it
became greedier every day.
Tomoe knew it was only fitting. He had lived like a monster; he should
die like one. Even before his body had been stolen from him, his misery
was his own doing, a long time coming.
He was a scientist, and he had broken the greatest code of ethics a
scientist has: to serve life. He had destroyed it instead. It was
because of his own recklessness and willingness to sacrifice life for
progress that had killed his wife, and almost killed himself and his
daughter, Hotaru. But the torments the two of them suffered after the
accident might even have been worse than death.
Tomoe was not a man of faith, nor was he a scholar on the religions of
the world. But he did know that nearly all of them believed in a life
after death for the souls of the good, and another for the souls of the
wicked. He was sure that, no matter which if any of them was right, his
wife was in Paradise right now, and someday his daughter would join her.
But he would forever rot in the depths of whatever hell there was for
people like himself.
"And the evil ones will welcome him with open arms, for he is their
brethren," Tomoe said to himself, remembering a religious verse he heard
somewhere.
If it wasn't for one thing, he would leave this place and fly to the
embrace of the evil ones. But that one thing kept him tied to mortal
world.
It had been more than a year since he had last seen Hotaru. At the time
she had been only a baby, reduced to that state by the same powers that
had enslaved the two of them. He did not know what his daughter looked
like today, but he was sure he would recognize her if he saw her.
That was Soichi Tomoe's last wish: to see his daughter one last time,
and to know that she was happy.
A woman with long, green hair had taken her. She had told him that
Hotaru had a great future, that she would see things no one else would
ever see. That she would be cared for in the way he could no longer
care for her. The woman had an aura of total honesty, and Tomoe had
believed her without hesitation.
Giving up his daughter for the second time had been the hardest thing he
had ever had to do, but he knew she would be better off without him,
somewhere she could grow up among those who needed her, and those who
loved her.
"My Hotaru...I would give anything to know you again before I die," he
said to the empty room.
Tomoe closed his eyes and cried softly.
But suddenly the room was no longer empty. He could feel a presence
there, but he had not heard the door open.
"Professor Tomoe..." said a deep, female voice.
Tomoe opened his eyes. Standing to the left side of his bed was the
same green-haired woman he had last seen two years ago.
"You," he said. "Why have you returned?"
"I felt I owed you something, having taken the only thing you value away
from you," said the stranger.
"Hotaru," he whispered. The green-haired woman nodded. "Well, you're
too late for me. I will be dead soon, and whatever you can give me now
won't mean very much then."
"You're wrong," she said. "What I offer to you...is what was taken from
you in the first place."
Now she had his attention. He tried to sit up, but could only raise his
head a few inches off the hospital pillow.
"I know what you are thinking," said the woman, "and no, Hotaru is not
here with me. But I can show her to you. I can show you more than you
can imagine."
Tomoe thought about this for a moment. Again, she seemed to be telling
the truth. He could read nothing in her voice or her face to suggest
she was lying. Slowly, he nodded.
She lowered her eyes and seemed to concentrate. Then she burst out,
"Pluto planet power, make up!"
Tomoe was blasted with light so intense he had to shield his eyes, and
when he looked again she was still there, but wearing some kind of fuku
and holding a long staff.
"Now just relax," she said. "This won't hurt, but it will feel a little
strange."
Tomoe watched as she held the end of her staff in front of him and began
moving it in a circle. The deep red jewel at the end of it began to
glow, and it seemed to be producing some kind of smoke. No, it was more
like a cloud of mist.
The cloud became larger, and started to flatten out like a TV screen.
As it drew closer to him, he almost felt like he was being drawn into
it. And that was when he began to see things.
He saw himself, as a younger man, the day he and his wife were married,
the day Hotaru was born, and the days of her childhood, which he spent
mostly in his lab, working on all sorts of horrible things. He saw the
accident that destroyed his family, and the creatures that had taken it
being destroyed.
And then, there she was: Hotaru. His Hotaru. She was older than he
remembered her being before the aliens had returned her to infancy, but
there was no question in his mind that it was his daughter.
Hotaru was growing up to be a beautiful young woman. He saw her alone,
with others, in the morning, at night, curled up in bed, and running for
joy.
He saw her wearing a fuku similar to the green-haired woman's, but it
was black and purple. She held a long pole arm with a blade at the end,
and was laying waste to a horde of horrible-looking creatures.
He saw her inside a great house, playing rough-and-tumble games with a
pair of older women, one with short, sandy-blond hair and the other with
serene, sea-green hair. Even as Tomoe watched, Hotaru tackled the blond
woman, and both went into convulsions of laughter.
He saw her at a concert recital, playing the violin. The tones from the
instrument were haunting and beautiful in the same note. As the last
note echoed throughout the auditorium, the audience rose from their
seats and cheered little Hotaru. At the front were a group of girls
applauding the loudest. One with a pair of blond meatballs on her head
began jumping up and down, and eventually fell into the seat in front of
her.
And then he saw an older Hotaru, graduating from university, driving her
first car, coming home to a family who loved her. And the mists of time
surrounding Tomoe accelerated again, and he was seeing the world a
thousand years in the future. And unless he was seriously mistaken,
that was his Hotaru there, standing like a queen among a city of crystal
and light.
"My little girl...she's stronger than I ever could have dreamed she
could be," he said. For as long as he could remember, Hotaru had always
been a weak and sickly child.
"She is an inspiration to us all," said the woman. "Hers is a heart
that is capable of so much pain, but so much love as well."
Tomoe was crying again, but this time they were tears of joy.
"Would you like to see where all her strength comes from?" said the
woman, obscured by the mist.
Tomoe nodded. He knew she couldn't see him, but she seemed to get his
response anyway.
The mists shifted again, and Tomoe saw young Hotaru again. He saw her
sitting in a park, her hat blown away by the wind. A little pink-haired
girl picked it up and handed it back to her. And that was when things
began to change.
He saw Hotaru and the other girl inside his house, talking to him. He
was possessed at the time, but he vaguely remembered meeting the other
girl.
He saw Hotaru and the pink-haired girl growing closer and closer. The
other girl mourned the most when Hotaru was turned into a baby, but
there was still a spark of hope...and it grew into a fire of passion.
He saw Hotaru as she was today, holding the pink-haired girl close in a
loving embrace.
Time passed, and they kissed.
Time passed, and they stood together in dresses of the purest white,
surrounded by celebrating people.
Time passed, and they were together at the heart of the city of crystal.
"My little girl...is in love?"
"Very much...and it is a love that will last for a thousand years..."
Tomoe felt as if a weight had been lifted from his heart, and as he
pressed his head back against his bed, the mist of time disappeared.
The green-haired woman stood there, watching him, a serene expression on
her face. "This is what you wanted to know?"
"Yes," he said. "My Hotaru...she's happy."
"Yes," said the woman. "She's happy."
"Then I can die happy too," Tomoe said.
The woman did not try to stop him as he reached out and pulled the IV
cord from his wrist. His breathing became slower and slower, until his
chest did not rise or fall anymore. The instruments that had been
reading his heartbeat began to buzz.
By the time the doctors and nurses arrived, he was already gone, and
there was no one else in his room.
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