Kitten Pictures (KR Kiva, CFUD)

[estirose]

I got inspiration for this last night; in CFUD, Mio asked Taiga to get a quilt of her family’s when he was given a day to go to their world. I asked Taiga’s player if he wouldn’t mind me writing/posting about Taiga’s visit to the Suzukis, and since he didn’t….

Kitten Pictures
by Estirose
c 2010

Taiga rang the doorbell of the Suzukis’ house. After making sure D&P was in good hands, he’d promised Mio that he’d get her quilt for her, so he’d headed to the address she’d given him. He hoped that they’d give him her quilt; it wasn’t like these people knew him, after all.

The door opened, revealing a woman that would have been in her mid-thirties if she’d been human. “Can I help you?” she asked, a confused smile on her face, as if she wasn’t sure if he was someone to be talking to.

“I’m Nobori Taiga, I knew your daughter,” he said, feeling his stomach twisting. Would she let him in? She had no cause to.

“Oh! Yes! Please come in.” The woman’s expression brightened. Taiga pushed the gate open and closed it. When she smiled, she reminded him a lot of Mio.

Which was not surprising, if this was Mio’s mother. The woman led him inside, to her living room. “Would you like water? We owe you a lot for taking care of Mio and then… taking care of her grave.”

“It was no problem,” Taiga told her. “Mio was a good person.” He believed that, even if Mio didn’t. Though it felt weird to be referring to her in past tense when she was alive at Camp, and had been the one to ask him for her quilt. “I miss her terribly. We were married for so short a time….”

Half an hour, maybe. It pained him to know that all of that was his fault, that he should have seen Wataru for what he was and allowed Wataru and Mio to be happy together.

“She was your Queen; you were her King,” Suzuki-san said. “It was a surprise to see that she gained Queen’s position.” She paused. “Would you like something to drink, or eat, King?”

“Water is fine,” Taiga said. “I found her address in her belongings; I wanted a chance to meet you.”

“It’s no problem,” Suzuki-san said. She quickly fetched a glass of water from the nearby kitchen. “I’m sorry that I’m so low on Energy myself.”

“I worried terribly about Mio’s Energy levels myself,” Taiga told her warmly. “You had a wonderful daughter.”

“Thank you,” Suzuki-san said. “I’m pleased to meet you myself.” She paused, as if she wasn’t sure what to do next.

“Do you have pictures of her?” Taiga asked. “Growing up, I mean. She once told me what form she was before she became Queen; I’d like to see who she was, truly.”

Mio had told him that she had been a Cat Fangire; Taiga wanted to see her for who she had been, once, before Queen’s position had ruined her life.

Her mother beamed. “Yes, I’ll get a picture album for you.”

Taiga waited while she got it from wherever it was hidden. When she came back, he was smiling, to put her at ease. She sat down next to him, and he was struck again by her resemblance to his beautiful ex-wife. “He’s where she was born,” Mio’s mother told him, opening the album. “I chose to birth her in True Form, because I wanted her to be strong….”

“And she was,” Taiga assured her. Yes, Mio was shy, but she was a wonderful, strong person when she let herself be.

Mio’s mother beamed at him. “Here’s her as an infant. Isn’t she so cute?”

Taiga looked over at the curled up kitten in the cradle. Mio had been beautiful – cute. Her patterns were delicate, white and orange to go with the black of her body. Few forms were as beautiful as a Cat Fangire’s. “Yes, she is.”

Suzuki-san cheerfully went on, showing him pictures of Mio as she was growing up, from a baby to a little girl to an adult, in both forms. Taiga oohed and awwed, being glad that Mio had told him where her parents lived. Maybe they’d all be lucky and she’d come back; she could be Wataru’s wife and bring forth another generation of Kurenai-Suzukis.

“Thank you for showing me those pictures of her,” Taiga said, smiling. “I want to make a request of you; I hope it’s not too much.” He turned the full force of that smile on her, knowing that she wasn’t likely to say no.

“Anything I can provide,” Suzuki-san said, beaming back at her.

“When we were together,” Taiga said, “She told me about a quilt that had been in her family – made of furs and cloth. I… I wanted to ask for it, as she loved it so much, and I loved her so much….”

“Yes,” Suzuki-san said. “Her great-grandmother made it for my mother. Please wait here; I’ll get it for you.” She headed out of the room. Taiga sat there, glad he’d be able to take the precious gift back to his beloved ex-wife. And who knew, maybe she’d be able to return it someday! And if she couldn’t, he would hold onto it for her, to wrap a child in.

The wait seemed to take forever; but Taiga waited patiently. Suzuki-san had to find the quilt and probably wrap it. He sipped at his water slowly, gazing at the living room. Truly, his ex-wife had come from a refined family with good taste, based on the decorations he saw in their living room.

Suzuki-san seemed breathless when she returned. He didn’t blame her; the quilt was nicely wrapped. “This is the family quilt,” she said. “And… and I hope that you will not mind, but I’ve also got some duplicates of pictures in there. Because you loved her, too.”

“I’ll treasure them,” Taiga promised. “The Quilt will keep my heir warm someday; I think Mio would have wanted that….”

Mio’s mother nodded. “I know she would have. It’s so sad that it wasn’t her own….” She presented the wrapped quilt to Taiga, who took it gratefully.

“I’ll keep it in good shape,” Taiga told her. “I have to go away, on business now, but I’ll treasure it every day that I’m at home.” But he would make sure that Mio would enjoy it first. He’d keep the photos – well, some of them – for himself. The others, he’d give to Mio. He hoped that they included her kitten pictures.

Bowing at Suzuki-san, he left the house, ready to go back to Camp.

-end

Crossposted from Ramblings Yet Once More here.