"Let's do that again!" Naki exclaimed as they walked back in through the sliding doors.
"Let's not," Himari rolled her eyes dropping all the bags of goods at their feet before walking to her reception desk.
"You two had fun?" Sarah walked up to them.
"Yes, thank you, Sarah," they bowed with big grins on their faces.
"Good, Himari will start training you for work," she told them with a strict nod.
"Work? Oh yes! Then we'll get money and be able to buy all the ice cream we want, Taki this is awesome!" Naki of course jumped around in excitement.
"Sure," Taki rolled her eyes, then followed after Sarah who was waking away.
"Uh great-uh Sarah," she suddenly got shy, although Sarah's face was kind she couldn't help but be intimidated.
"I just wanted uh- I was just wondering if you could please get me a phone? I would just like a way to talk to grandmother," she shyly asked looking down at her feet.
She felt bad for lying, although she wasn't lying, she did want to talk to grandmother, just… and a certain someone too.
"Why of course dear, why didn't I think of that sooner, don't be afraid to ask for anything okay?" Sarah patted her head, "I'll send Himari to get you both phones, but if you want to talk to Rita in the meantime, there's a landline in both your apartments, you can just dial her from there."
"Thank you so much," she bowed.
"No worries, I'll be in my office if you need me," she said as she walked to the elevator.
"Grandmother!" Taki practically yelled into the landline at hearing her grandmother's voice.
"Oh dear, lower your voice! Are you trying to burst my eardrums child?"
"Sorry," she giggled sheepishly, "I miss you."
"I know, I miss you too, both of you."
"A-are you okay? I h-had a dream, please don't leave the stove on grandmother, p-please don't-"
"Taki, I'm perfectly fine," she tried to calm her down, although for the past few days, she had been having the most gut-wrenching uneasy feeling, something was coming for her and she knew she had no way of preventing it, and she also knew her granddaughter knew.
"Grandmother please be safe, I can't lose you, we can't lose you," Taki was on the brink of crying.
"Whatever-" grandmother sighed, "whatever happens, whatever comes I will be ready for it. I've lived long enough and done all I've ever wanted to do in this life, but having the honor of raising you and your brother is my proudest achievement."
"Grandmother not yet please, there's still so much to live for, we can't do this without you," Taki broke down in tears.
"Oh but yes you can, I have complete faith in you too, I have done my part and fulfilled my destiny in raising you heavily blessed children and if it's my time to be erased from your story, so be it," Taki could feel the smile in grandmother's voice, "my only wish is that you sleep Taki, you can't run away from who you are, your dreams are not a curse and not out to haunt you, they just tell you the future and you just have to prepare for it. There's so much more you're capable Taki, you just have to embrace who you are and stop running away, no matter what, I will always be here to support you and Naki, even if it's from the far land of the dead."
"Don't say that please, you're still here with us and you will remain here with us!" Taki sobbed, her apartment suddenly turned cold, and that feeling to the throw up came back again.
"Your mother was beautiful, she looked just like you and even though I only knew her for those few moments under the dock, you have her sweet nurturing yet bold personality, she told me to always tell you both that she loved you so much, and back then I was scared. I was scared of taking on the role of a mother to two kids whose mother I had witnessed die, but now I love you both so much that I can't possibly imagine how my life would have turned out if I had ignored the cries of your brother and proceeded to board that boat instead."
"Why are you telling me all this?" Taki shook her head, something was lurking in the air, she could feel it and she hated it.
"You and Naki should continue to take care of each other, learn from one another and grow together, I love you both so much," a sob escaped from grandmother's mouth.
"We love you too, just please take the next bus to the city, I'm sure we can figure out a way to-"
"It doesn't work that way sweetheart, you know better than anyone, there's no way of changing the future."
"But maybe if we just try-please grandmother-try please, don't-don't give up so soon," Taki cried clutching the landline tighter, wishing more than anything she could teleport to where she was so she could be with her.
"I'm not giving up Taki, I'm accepting my fate, this is how it was written for me, this is how it will be," she told her granddaughter.
"Please."
"Be strong for me dear child- oh! Oh, dear!"
"Grandmother? Grandmother, what is it? Wha-what's wrong!?"
"Oh no! The stove is on!"
And with that, she heard the phone drop on grandmother's end and the sound of her feet hurrying away from it.
"Grandmother! Grandmother, please talk to me!" She fell to her knees, screaming as tears poured out of her eyes.
Just then, Naki burst in through the door, finding her sister on the floor crying into the landline.
"Taki what is it? Did you see things again?"
"Grandmother! Get out of there please!" She cried as she heard the horrendous sound of her grandmother's distant cries, "please!"
"Taki talk to me! What is happening!? Where's grandmother!?" Naki shook her by the shoulders, not getting a response from her, he snatched the telephone and brought it to his ear but in a few seconds dropped it as if it stung.
"No!" Tears dropped from his eyes, "not now, please."
Taki curled up into a ball on the floor as she continued to cry her lungs out.
Naki got to his feet and ran out to find his great-aunt.
He soon found her in her office reading through some tenants' files.
"Naki, how are you?" she smiled looking at him from below her eyeglasses.
"Quick, send the police or the firefighters or anyone to grandmother, she's-she's in trouble! She needs help immediately! She's crying!"
"Whoa calm, tell me what's the matter and we'll take it from there, okay?" Sarah stood up and walked around her table to rub his shoulders in trouble.
"There's no time for that! Please, she's dying!" Naki choked out not being able to hold in his cries.
Seeing the desperation in his voice and eyes, Sarah quickly walked over to her landline and dialed the authorities, she looked up at Naki as it rang, "Rita lives quite far from here, it will take the authorities a bit too long to get to her on time," her eyebrows furrowed, if something was really wrong with her sister, she will not know what to do as Rita was her last remaining blood-related family, her heart thumped in her chest as she thought of the worst.
"Ugh fine, I'll just go to her myself!" Naki growled as his eyes glowed a golden hue with white rings around the pupils, which Sarah missed as she was too busy informing the authorities who had finally answered the phone.
Naki stomped out of the office and flew down the flight of stairs, zooming past Himari who was on her way up to give them their new phones.
"Uh?" she stood confused staring at the dust the man left behind.