Misao slowly opened her eyes to find Kaoru asleep on the opposite couch. She rubbed her eyes sleepily, yawning as a figure entered the waiting room. Misao covered her mouth, yawning again.
"Misao."
The teenager opened her eyes fully, staring blankly as Megumi shook her arm slightly. "Hmmm?"
"Misao, wake up," Megumi called out.
"Doc?" Misao muttered. "What?"
"Aoshi's awake," Megumi announced.
The teenager bolted upright. "What?!"
"The desk nurse told me he's woken up twice during the night..."
"What?" Misao jumped up and smoothed her hair back. Without even waiting, she hurried into ICU, giving the nurses a small smile as she quickly, but quietly made her way to his bed.
He still looked weak. Misao swallowed. One couldn't even tell he had been awake, judging by the sight of him. Was Dr. Takani wrong? There's no way he could have woken up...twice...no less. Misao sighed, sinking into the chair beside his bed.
"Aoshi..."
With trembling fingers, her hand grasped his, squeezing tightly, before she buried her face in her arms. Maybe it was too soon to expect too much. She swallowed fiercely.
And just the slightest pressure increased on her fingers. Her eyes flew open and her head snapped up.
"Aoshi?" she whispered.
As if in response, his eyelids fluttered open to reveal deep, weary blue-gray eyes. They rested on her for several moments.
"Aoshi...can you hear me?"
His fingers tightened over hers in response.
"Aoshi!" Misao cried out in delight. "You're alive! You're alive!" She hugged his arm, afraid to hug anything else for fear of injuring him. "I thought I had lost you! I thought..." Her voice cracked as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Her eyes widened as his eyes drifted close.
“Aoshi?” she pressed. He couldn’t be…
“He must be very tired,” a man spoke up.
Misao looked up, seeing a man wearing green scrubs and a lab coat.
He smiled at her. “You must be Misao. I’m Dr. Nielson.”
“Yes. How…?” Misao blinked. “Dr. Takani. Where is she, anyway?”
“She went back to her office, but she’ll be back.” Dr. Nielson pulled up a chair beside her.
“Oh.” Misao looked at Aoshi again and wiped her eyes. “How…How is he…?”
“This would be his third time waking up, which is a very good sign,” the doctor began. “He’s still very weak, but after a couple of days’ rest, he’ll be able to stay awake for longer periods of time.”
Misao blinked. “So…he’s not going to…” She didn’t even want to think about…
A warm smile crossed the doctor’s lips. “I think he’s going to be fine. We’ll keep him here for another twenty-four hours and then we’ll move him to another floor…”
November 1, 2002
Well, this is my first time starting one of these things. I’ve never had e-diaries before.
I went back to school not too long ago. Aoshi’s doing much better. He’s still sore, he says, but he doesn’t need to be monitored anymore. Now he’s on a regular patient floor, he’s out of ICU.
Just after he was moved out of ICU, Aoshi had SO many visitors. His crew came to visit, Himura and his wife came to visit, and Dr. Takani came to visit.
I take the bus from school to Pearl Harbor every day. I’m staying with the Himuras until Aoshi is released from the hospital. Kaoru drops me off at school and after school I go to the hospital. I usually tell Aoshi about what’s happening in school. I never did before, but I need something to talk to him about. And it’s not school-school stuff, more like the people at school. Sometimes he takes naps. When he does, I usually do my homework. Then around seven, Himura picks me up and I go back to their house.
I was really scared when I first came to the hospital. Even though it’s been two weeks since he’s woken up…and I know he’s going to be okay…that was probably the scariest thing that had ever happened to me. I never realized how much I relied on Aoshi before. Even when he would go away to work, I always thought he’d come back. This time he almost didn’t.
Aoshi and I haven’t really talked about what happened the time I ran off. I’m just so glad he’s back, I don’t want to ruin it. But at the same time, I know it’s there, waiting to come out. Aoshi has a thing about resolving situations. I’m surprised he hasn’t brought it up. I’m too scared to. But maybe it’s okay not to say anything for right now.
-Misao Makimachi
Aoshi pushed his tray aside and changed the TV channel. He had been in the hospital for literally two and half weeks. He was really getting restless. Hospital food, staying indoors…he could only tolerate it for so long.
Misao would be visiting soon. She visited every day. He appreciated the company. It told him that she cared. He frowned, turning the TV off.
Considering they had last seen each other in anger prior to his mission, he thought back to their conversation. Misao had been very upset. He hadn’t wanted to leave for work. But he was torn between duty and family. He had hoped that Misao would be supportive.
Misao was growing up too fast. And she needed guidance. He really wasn’t around often enough to provide that. But intuitively, he knew that she needed more than that. She really did need a father, someone she could trust and turn to, someone who would support her emotionally and financially.
So it really came down to one thing. What kind of father did he want to be? Did he want to celebrate Misao’s successes and support her when she felt as if the world was closing around her? Or did he just want to provide financial security and insure a stable future?
When his previous crew had drowned, he had been devastated. He didn’t want anything like that to happen again. Somewhere down the line, he had the crazy idea that if he told Misao what he thought was best for her, he could secure her future. As if…he could control what happened in life. He could have prevented what had happened on the Liberty…if he had worked faster, worked earlier.
But he couldn’t control life. He couldn’t control Misao. She would live as she saw fit. All he could do was be there for her if she needed him. And he wanted to be the one she came to whenever she needed help. He didn’t want her to disappear from his life, even if she moved away to college and got married after graduation.
He sighed, staring at the ceiling. He didn’t want to be the type of parent Misao would never contact once she left the house. So a few things would have to change…
Several days later, Aoshi had been taking his afternoon nap when he woke to find Misao absorbed in her math homework. After a few moments, he slowly sat up. He didn’t want to disturb her, but he did need to discuss something with her.
“Misao, we need to talk…”
“What is it? Are you okay?” Misao immediately got up from the desk by the hospital window and moved to Aoshi’s bedside.
He looked down at his lap for several moments before raising his eyes to hers. “When you left that night…”
Misao swallowed, bowing her head. They had never really talked about it. Maybe it was because a fragile peace had formed between them due to the events. But if they were going to have a relationship, they needed to lay everything out in the open.
“You had every right to be angry,” he continued. His voice lowered. “Maybe it would have been best if things had been different…if Okina had taken care of you instead. I…” he trailed off and glanced away. “You deserve a better guardian who-”
“What I said was stupid,” Misao exclaimed. “I was angry, but that didn’t excuse it. I didn’t mean any of what I said. I-”
“You were right,” Aoshi cut in quietly. “Which is why I want to start over…”
Her jaw dropped. “You’re…you’re not sending me away?”
“No.” He looked at her incredulously. "Why would I-?"
Impulsively, she lunged forward, wrapping her arms around his neck, burying her face in his neck and shoulder. Her action set off a wave of pain through him, but instead of saying so, his arm slowly reached up to return the hug. He was instantly reminded of the several occasions during her childhood when he had to comfort her when she was upset. Then he knew.
He would always be grateful to her parents, to her grandfather, to Okina, for giving him the gift of fatherhood. There was no better experience. Even if she wasn’t his by blood, she was his daughter, she always would be. And he would spend the rest of his life assuring her of that. He closed his eyes, his hold tightening around her.
“I thought you wanted to send me away,” Misao declared, her voice muffled against his shoulder.
“I didn’t mean to imply that,” Aoshi murmured against her hair. “I’m sorry, Misao…”
“For what?” she sniffed, pulling away slightly.
“For not being a good parent…”
Her eyes rounded. “But…I’m not on the street, selling drugs. I don’t have kids running around and I’m doing okay in school…That…That’s something, right?” Then her voice wavered, “When…you said that you considered me your daughter, did you really…?”
“I meant it,” he said quietly.
Misao turned away. “I never knew that you…you…felt that way…You've never really said much...”
He looked away. “It's...difficult. For me. But...that doesn’t mean I love you any less...”
Her eyes widened. “You…You love me?”
“I always have,” Aoshi admitted. Then he swallowed. “My work…is very important to me. But...I never wanted you to feel that it was more important than you…”
“Aoshi…” She hugged him again, tears of relief streaming down her cheeks. "I love you, too."
He closed his eyes, gently stroking her short hair with one hand. A lump of emotion welled in his chest, the feeling so strong, he took a breath to calm himself. They were going to be okay…
“Excuse me.”
The family looked up to see a tall man standing in the doorway, dressed in a khaki uniform. An unlit cigarette was clamped between his teeth, his amber eyes focused on them.
The two watched as Commander Saitou made his way to stand by the other side of the bed.
“Shinomori. It’s good to see you’re recovering,” he indicated.
“No thanks to you,” Misao interjected.
At her comment, the commander shrugged. “Oops.”
Misao gaped while Aoshi’s eyes narrowed a fraction.
“ ‘Oops’?” Misao echoed, jumping to her feet. “Oops?! He nearly gets killed, and that’s all you can say?! You sick, sick bastard! How can you sell out people like that?! You’d probably do that to your own fami-”
“Watch it, weasel-girl,” the commander interjected.
“Weasel? Why you-!”
“Why are you here?” Aoshi cut in, obviously not pleased with his visitor.
“And why do you have a cigarette in a hospital?” Misao added. It was the strangest thing for her to see an unlit cigarette.
The commander shot her a look. “No smoking allowed.”
“You just feel this need to have nicotine that close to you?” she asked.
“Shinomori, tell your daughter to shut the hell up so we can talk business,” Saitou ordered in a bored tone.
“What?!”
“Business about what?” Aoshi pressed.
“Anderson,” Saitou spoke up. “With his help, the FBI and Interpol were able to track Dex down.”
“Who’s Dex?” Misao couldn’t help but ask.
Saitou shot her a look.
“I was just asking,” Misao retorted.
“I’ll just pretend that you’re not here,” Saitou commented mildly.
Misao grit her teeth.
“That way, you can tell the details later,” Saitou directed the comment to Aoshi, while Misao blinked, looking back and forth. “Anyway…I have an offer. One of the men in my unit is leaving for California in a few months. In January, the Navy is deploying two fleets from the West Coast. Both fleets will be passing this way, so the unit needs someone to insure that the fleet and its weaponry are up to standards. It’s a regular job, eight to six, occasional weekend days traded for weekdays…and not as active as what you were doing before, but the importance is just the same.”
Aoshi glanced at Misao, who looked back at him curiously.
He spoke slowly, “If I were to say yes…how long would this take to process?”
“You’re on medical leave for how long?” Saitou asked.
“Two…three months, depending,” Aoshi answered.
Saitou nodded. “When you get back, you can start.”
Aoshi looked at Misao before turning to the senior officer. “Then I’ll start in January.”
The man arched his brows. “You don’t need any time to think about it? It’s a big decision…” Saitou continued. “This is an offer, not an order.”
“It sounds like a good opportunity. It will give me more time with my family.” Aoshi glanced at Misao who beamed at him.
“All right, then. In about a month, give me a call so we can catch up on it,” Saitou headed towards the door. “Or I’ll call you…”
“Thank you, Commander,” Misao spoke up.
Pause. “You’re welcome.”
Misao turned to her guardian again after the other man left. “So you’re really sure about this? Quitting the whole James Bond Naval Intelligence stuff…”
Amusement filtered through his blue-gray eyes. “Yes…I think I’m done with the James Bond stuff.”
“But you’re so good at it!” Misao exclaimed. Her eyes saddened. “I know how much you love your job. Are you really quitting because of me?”
He settled back and said wryly, “A wise woman told me that duty to my country and my daughter’s happiness are not exactly separated from the other. I’m not quitting entirely. I’d like to help out as much as I can, so I plan to stay in the Navy for another twelve years…”
“That’s good to hear,” a gruff voice entered the hospital room.
Misao jumped up, smiling. “Jiya!”
Aoshi nodded in acknowledgement to his former guardian. “Okina.”
The old man was dressed in a loud red and green Hawaiian shirt and dark green shorts. Brown sandals clopped against the floor as he made his way towards the bed, embracing the teenager.
“How are you, Misao?”
“You made it!” she exclaimed.
“I came here as soon as I could.”
“It took you two weeks?” Aoshi murmured.
The old man grinned, turning towards his former ward. “Revolutionists we had to watch. Are you mad I’m late?”
Aoshi shook his head. “You look…festive. Isn’t it early for Christmas?”
Okina cuffed his chin. “You look run over.” Then his brown eyes glanced at Misao then back. “Everything all right?”
He understood. “Yes…” Aoshi nodded once, a slight smile turning his lips. “Everything’s all right…”
“Good.” Okina sighed. “So how is this hospital treating you?”
“Very well,” Aoshi admitted. “The doctor says I’m recovering faster than he expected. I should be out within the next week or two…”
“How sad. If the lobby was any indication, Pearl Harbor has some beautiful nurses…” Okina lamented.
“Jiya!” Misao scolded.
Shaking his head, Aoshi had the feeling that the old man would never change. Then again, he wasn’t sure if he really wanted him to…
“I see you’ve had visitors…” Okina gestured to the balloons of a jet airplane, a flower, and a happy face in one corner.
“Himura’s wife,” Aoshi explained. “She thought it would add life to the room…”
“Ah.” He remembered briefly meeting them some time ago. Okina paused to examine a vase full of lilies, irises, carnations, and peach roses. “This isn’t from Himura, is it?”
“No…that’s from Dr. Takani,” Aoshi answered.
Okina arched a brow. “Are you getting tired of the stale smell of the room?”
“I’m getting tired of staying in the hospital period,” he answered frankly.
Knock, knock.
The three looked up to see a dark-haired nurse enter. She smiled at them. “Hello. I’m here to give Lt. Commander Shinomori his bath…”
Misao and Aoshi both shot Okina warning looks.
The nurse blinked. “Is this…a bad time?”
Okina gave her a charming smile. “Not at all, ma’am. Let’s go, Misao…”
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