Mother's Maxim
1100 Words
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“Enzo?” Aiko whispers. He turns to face her with a look that's colder than the night and even colder than he usually does. “Why- What are you-”
He walks toward her as she is petrified in confusion. Her eyes are widened and her jaw is trembling, refusing to believe that what she's seeing is happening. The doubt is gone when she feels his hand on her cheek.
In a voice as gentle as the evening breeze, he says, “My love-”
“What's the meaning of this?” she asks, frowning as she closes her eyes, holding his hand with both of her hands.
“I have to go.”
“Why all of a sudden?”
After swallowing, he says, “It's something I cannot tell you or anyone else.”
“You said you loved me and our son.” She starts to sob.
“I do and I know the words I say could not describe it. All I hope for is for you to trust me. I have to do this.”
“Is it more important than your son?” she asks. He just looks to the side, avoiding to answer that. Slowly, she shakes her head in disbelief. “I can't believe I trusted you. I thought you changed and you'd stay with us!” She tries to teleport away but he doesn't allow her by using Cessation and grabs both of her wrists. “Let go of me!”
“I'm sorry, but-”
“I was right all along! You'll never love me as you loved her!”
“What? No!” he insists and she's surprised that he raised his voice. It's rare for the stoic Enzo to act like this. Ice turning into piping hot steam. “I love you and our son!” he yells.
She looks at his eyes, trying to spot something in his soul that would tell her he's lying. But she can't. “But why?!” she cries. “Why are you doing this?”
“I can't tell you but just trust me!” He grabs her shoulders and pulls her closer. They embrace, and she cries on his shoulder. “As I've promised, we will have our daughter. Although, I can't promise that I will be there in the moment you give birth to her.”
“Just promise you'll be back to at least let her see your face. Let her see how great a man her father is.”
For a moment, he thinks about what his wife told him. He doesn't think that he's a great man. Even so, he swears, “I promise.”
The night is made for their love and is gone sooner than they expected. Aiko wished that it was forever. Then they kiss.
After saying goodbye, she returns home before dawn. When her hand is already on the door to push it open, she stops, thinking about how is she going to explain this to her son. She has his other sword in his hand and remembers what he said.
“Aiko, my love. I know that our children will be fine in your care. I know that no one else is capable of that but you. You're a great mother and they're blessed to have a mother like you. But you cannot stay here alone. You cannot raise our children here. Go back to our people and raise our children under their protection. Mila and her friends are your only ally. Always stay by their side no matter what. Give Dany this sword. This will be my gift for him and it certainly won't be the last. I will entrust this sword in his care because I will be back to take it. I love you three.”
Her face shows strength when she touches her belly. A new life is being conceived in her womb. She pushes the door open. It's as if this home that they made is saying its farewell to them. She remembers how everything came to be. How the poor door was made, how they scavenged their furniture, and how they eat at the family table for three. She sighs and walks to her sleeping son.
“Dany,” she says, waking him up. He groans and cries because he still wants to sleep. “We gotta go now.”
“I wanna sleep,” he whimpers.
“Your father wants to give this to you.”
He rubs his eyes as he sits on the bed. Then she places the sheathed sword on the bed in front of him. His drowsiness is gone like blown candle fire.
“Really?!!” he exclaims, grabbing and hugging it. “Where's Dad?” he asks.
“He's gonna be gone for a while, Dany.”
“What? Dad!!” he cries getting off of the bed and out of the house. Holding the sword, he desperately looks around for him. His tears are falling first thing in the morning. “Dad!” he screams.
“Dany!” his mother calls behind him. She embraces him from behind, saying, “Dad said to me that you have to take care of his sword because he will be back to see if it's fine. So, take care of it, okay?”
“Mom, where is... Dad? Wa... wanna say... goodbye.”
“Don't worry, he left you with a kiss.” It was a lie. His father left without doing that. She makes him look at her as she shows him how fine she is. This makes him feel that everything is alright. “Can you promise that you will take care of his sword?”
“I... I promise.” He sniffles. “Dad is gonna come back, right?”
“Yes, he will. He promised us.”
She embraces him to hide her face over his shoulder because it is hard hiding her emotions. At least, her son won't see how weak she is. A mother mustn't show weakness—she believes.
Another mother has grasped that maxim. Perhaps a little too well. Thousands of people murmur their prayers to her. They're praying for the Goddess of Metals, Silva. She erected a dome of steel, a mile across to protect them. Outside, she and the remainders of her army are stationed around it, looking out for rebels. The Martian land outside the dome is a battlefield with hundreds of craters and thousands of dead bodies belonging to her army and the enemy.
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- Writer
