-A Tribute to Friendship Lost-
The airport hummed and buzzed with the sounds and activity of the crowd of commuters, but two did not join in the hustle or the conversations. They just stood silently staring at each other; nether yielding, neither closing the distance for a final hug...Neither attempting to break the wall of ice that had come between them. Not far behind either of the teenage boys was a group of friends (one there to catch a flight, the other there for moral support), each waiting for one of the two. However, none of them spoke, no one dared to interrupt--they knew it wasn't their place.
"So..." the taller of the two began, but he stopped short at the awkwardness.
The other picked up on this, and, out of habit that he had yet to get over, spared him the embarrassment by finishing the sentence for him. "I suppose this is it," he said quietly.
"Yeah." Despite his low volume and the surrounding noise, his voice carried to the other's ears easily. After all, it was once the only voice he ever listened to.
Nearby, their mothers conversed.
"Ryo...There's no other way, is there?"
"No, Penni, there isn't. They can't reconcile; nothing works. The only thing left is to get them apart."
"You're prepared to give up on everything you and Lea have built up for yourselves here?"
"Of course. Wouldn't you do the same for your son? Besides, Lea's getting the itch to travel again. He was going to wait until Haru was eighteen, but...Well, now he figures 'the sooner the better'."
"...If you say so..."
"..."
The intercom announced that the plane would be departing in five minutes, so the two of them, once the best of friends, gave each other a quick hug. Then Ryo picked up her suitcase and ran to catch her flight, shouting to her son as she passed.
"Haru-kun, hurry it up or you'll miss the plane!"
He nodded in acknowledgment to her, then turned back to his ex-best-friend, slinging his backpack over his shoulder.
"I guess that's my cue. I gotta get goin'."
The ex-best-friend swallowed the lump in his throat so he could speak. "Right..."
Haru looked like he wanted to say something, but turned on his heel and walked off instead. He was soon with his group of (new) friends, older teens and young adults who had decided they wanted to see the world with him and who didn't have parents to tell them 'no'. They conversed among themselves for a moment, then they all began to board the plane.
The one left behind was almost overcome with emotion, but a calm and gentle hand on his shoulder allowed him to regain control over himself.
"C'mon, Rei..." the owner of the hand quietly urged from behind him.
Rei looked over his shoulder at the group of people who had taken time out of their lives to come here with him. These were the ones who had either remained neutral during or come along after "the blowout", as their neighbors called it. There was also the very few who had supported him from the beginning, the ones who were there for (or, perhaps, had even been a factor of) "the blowout". He wanted to much to join them and get out of here, to begin his new, Haru-less life. And yet...
He turned back towards the plane, seeing the one person he once would've died for on the steps leading into/onto it. Any moment now, he'd be gone...Probably forever.
"Wait!" Rei called out.
As those sparkling emerald eyes turned on him one last time, Rei forgot the speech he had planned to say--how he didn't blame him, how it was really all his own fault, that he was still free to call any time he wanted, how much he'd be missed--so he had to settle for two little words instead. "...Farewell, Haru."
Haru smirked (Oh, Gods, how he had once loved that smirk) and said "...Goodbye, Rei."
Everything seemed to go in slow motion as Haru turned and boarded the plane. He felt the hands tugging on him and the voices calling his name, but he couldn't react. His vision suddenly blurred, but he immediately reached up and wiped his eyes on his long sleeve. He'd shed his tears for Haru, for himself, and for their friendship, and he refused to shed more.
He finally let his friends and family drag him out of the airport. Just as they were about to climb into Penni's old and rusted VW Bus, he heard a jet engine roar as the plane took off. He couldn't stop himself from looking up at it and watching it vanish into the distant blue horizon.
The lost words, the unanswered questions [Where did we go wrong? What should I have done to avoid this? Was this even avoidable, or was it fate?] died and stuck in his throat. He could only conjure one thought, a lame repetition of his last words to the one who had, once upon a time, been his entire life.
Farewell, Haru.
-Fin
