sunday_reveries prompts for 4/19-4/25 [quote #3]
3. "I stood still, vision blurring, and in that moment, I heard my heart break. It was a small, clean sound, like the snapping of a flower's stem." - Diana Gabaldon
"Mrs. Nakamura, there has been a problem at one of your storage facilities." The call came in the middle of the afternoon, the use of her married name like a sharp to her heart as it had been about sixty years since Hiro disappeared. People still used the last name for her, they still saw her as his wife and that suited her fine but it still ached every time she heard it. Most people knew to just call her Claire but some people had it drilled into them that you just didn't use the first name of some people. Especially the ones that you worked for and signed your paycheque.
"What do you mean?" She frowned a little bit, tapping a finger against the key of her laptop as she scrolled through some images that Hana, one of her granddaughters, had sent her of her honeymoon. It hurt that Hiro didn't know that their youngest had found a good man in the end and that she had gotten married. It had been a beautiful ceremony after all.
"Someone gained access and took some stuff. We need you to come down and take a look around so that you can confirm the list that we have made of the stuff that went missing." The young man, whose name escaped her now, reported.
Claire wasn't sure that she even wanted to go, she didn't want to look at the things that she had put into storage with Hiro because she was sure that if she did, she would start crying. She was half tempted to call one of her children to handle it but she couldn't since this was something that she would have to handle on her own. "Fine, I will be by in an hour."
When she got to the storage place, she was shown directly to her container, waiting patiently with her hands folded in front of her as she waited for the two men to open it up for her. She had confused them of course as they had been expecting to see an older woman instead of Claire who had darker hair now but there was no hiding that she still looked like she was in her early twenties. She hid her features behind dark glasses and a hat, hoping they would just think that she had surgeries to help keep her looking so young. It wasn't that big of a stretch as people did it all the time, so she used that to her advantage.
Stepping into the container, she looked around as she couldn't see there was anything missing at first but as she started to move towards the back, she could see them. They were little things, things that could almost be missed if someone didn't know what they were looking for. As she started to put together what was missing, her heart twisted inside of her chest, cracking a little as it sent blinding pain throughout her body. She felt like she was going to be sick, a foreign feeling for her but it was still there in the pit of her stomach as she curled a hand around the edge of a shelf that bore other little figures and special things that they had decided to put away when they sold some property.
"Mrs. Nakamura?" One man moved to her side, fearing that she would pass out and so he placed a hand against her back to help her stay upright if that were the case.
"I don't want this reported." Claire looked at him sideways, shaking her head a little bit.
"But Mrs. Nakamura...." He started, a frown crossing his weathered features.
"No." She made her voice a little sharper this time, "I don't want this reported, throw away the list and lock this place back up." She whirled away from him, her heels clicking against the container floor as she walked out with brisk strides. Leaving tiny shards of her heart behind her.
"Claire, it's possible he's trapped in time." Peter tried to tell her later, a hand on her back as he moved it in slow circles to try and calm her down.
"Oh, but he can come out long enough to take some stuff from one of our containers?" Her green eyes, aching with fury and pain, sparkled up at him as she looked at him incredulously. "He couldn't come and tell his wife that he was alive?"
"Maybe he can't control where he goes or when." Bee tried to reason with her but Claire could see the little flicker of doubt that she was trying to hide.
"I don't know. I don't even care." Claire pushed out of her chair as she stalked away from them, her heels gone and so her movements were silent as she stepped out onto the balcony. She had never been very rational when she was angry and right now, she was furious but she didn't know exactly at what.
Maybe it was Hiro's ability and the fact that maybe it was messing with him at the moment. His ability was supposed to workfor them, not against them. It was supposed to let them stay together for longer, not tear them apart sooner. She curled her fingers around the railing as she looked down, studying the street that roared with life just stories below.
"If you are thinking about jumping, I'm going to kick your ass." Bee murmured softly, coming to her side with a stern look and a half smile to gentle it.
"Please don't?" Claire wasn't going to deny that she had half a second or maybe a full one where she considered pitching herself right over the railing to fall to her temporary death below. But it would cause a mess and not just from the impact her body would make on the pavement. She ducked her head a little then, her hair shifting forward to shield her features as she tried to breathe.
"Claire, he loves you." It was different to hear present tense when it came to Hiro and his actions. Claire had never really given up hope that he was alive somewhere but it had been hard to hold onto with everyone speculating that he was dead, especially when Molly's ability couldn't trace him anywhere.
"I hate not knowing." Claire bit her lip hard enough that she almost tasted blood. "I hate not knowing where he is or his mind frame, or how he feels. How do we really know that he couldn't come back all this time?" She looked at her friend then, her eyes shimmering with tears that wanted to fall. "I hate not knowing if he is in danger or not."
"We don't even know that it was him in the container."
"I know it was him." Claire nodded, "The stuff that he took, only Hiro would take those things and he's the only other one that can get into it. I mean, without an ability but he's the only one besides myself who knows about it. Kaito knew..." But her son was dead. "He took the Nakamura daisho, some pictures and some money." She sighed softly because the thought of Hiro taking the daisho worried her.
He had taken pictures but he hadn't come back to see her.
"Claire, I'm...I'm so sorry." Bee wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her close as she laid her cheek against the top of her friend's head. She didn't know what to say anymore though she now had a strong urge to kick Hiro's ass if she ever saw him again.
"Me too." Claire murmured as she felt the pain in the center of her chest spread, the little cracks becoming fractures as her heart twisted further beyond recognition. The moment that it broke, she felt cold as it rushed over her and sank into her soul. She pressed her lips together as she almost heard it and she felt like crying all over again but the tears never came.
They were frozen just like the rest of her.
WC: 1345 without quote
[borrowed youngerpetrelli and deep_red_bells with lots of love]
"Mrs. Nakamura, there has been a problem at one of your storage facilities." The call came in the middle of the afternoon, the use of her married name like a sharp to her heart as it had been about sixty years since Hiro disappeared. People still used the last name for her, they still saw her as his wife and that suited her fine but it still ached every time she heard it. Most people knew to just call her Claire but some people had it drilled into them that you just didn't use the first name of some people. Especially the ones that you worked for and signed your paycheque.
"What do you mean?" She frowned a little bit, tapping a finger against the key of her laptop as she scrolled through some images that Hana, one of her granddaughters, had sent her of her honeymoon. It hurt that Hiro didn't know that their youngest had found a good man in the end and that she had gotten married. It had been a beautiful ceremony after all.
"Someone gained access and took some stuff. We need you to come down and take a look around so that you can confirm the list that we have made of the stuff that went missing." The young man, whose name escaped her now, reported.
Claire wasn't sure that she even wanted to go, she didn't want to look at the things that she had put into storage with Hiro because she was sure that if she did, she would start crying. She was half tempted to call one of her children to handle it but she couldn't since this was something that she would have to handle on her own. "Fine, I will be by in an hour."
When she got to the storage place, she was shown directly to her container, waiting patiently with her hands folded in front of her as she waited for the two men to open it up for her. She had confused them of course as they had been expecting to see an older woman instead of Claire who had darker hair now but there was no hiding that she still looked like she was in her early twenties. She hid her features behind dark glasses and a hat, hoping they would just think that she had surgeries to help keep her looking so young. It wasn't that big of a stretch as people did it all the time, so she used that to her advantage.
Stepping into the container, she looked around as she couldn't see there was anything missing at first but as she started to move towards the back, she could see them. They were little things, things that could almost be missed if someone didn't know what they were looking for. As she started to put together what was missing, her heart twisted inside of her chest, cracking a little as it sent blinding pain throughout her body. She felt like she was going to be sick, a foreign feeling for her but it was still there in the pit of her stomach as she curled a hand around the edge of a shelf that bore other little figures and special things that they had decided to put away when they sold some property.
"Mrs. Nakamura?" One man moved to her side, fearing that she would pass out and so he placed a hand against her back to help her stay upright if that were the case.
"I don't want this reported." Claire looked at him sideways, shaking her head a little bit.
"But Mrs. Nakamura...." He started, a frown crossing his weathered features.
"No." She made her voice a little sharper this time, "I don't want this reported, throw away the list and lock this place back up." She whirled away from him, her heels clicking against the container floor as she walked out with brisk strides. Leaving tiny shards of her heart behind her.
"Claire, it's possible he's trapped in time." Peter tried to tell her later, a hand on her back as he moved it in slow circles to try and calm her down.
"Oh, but he can come out long enough to take some stuff from one of our containers?" Her green eyes, aching with fury and pain, sparkled up at him as she looked at him incredulously. "He couldn't come and tell his wife that he was alive?"
"Maybe he can't control where he goes or when." Bee tried to reason with her but Claire could see the little flicker of doubt that she was trying to hide.
"I don't know. I don't even care." Claire pushed out of her chair as she stalked away from them, her heels gone and so her movements were silent as she stepped out onto the balcony. She had never been very rational when she was angry and right now, she was furious but she didn't know exactly at what.
Maybe it was Hiro's ability and the fact that maybe it was messing with him at the moment. His ability was supposed to workfor them, not against them. It was supposed to let them stay together for longer, not tear them apart sooner. She curled her fingers around the railing as she looked down, studying the street that roared with life just stories below.
"If you are thinking about jumping, I'm going to kick your ass." Bee murmured softly, coming to her side with a stern look and a half smile to gentle it.
"Please don't?" Claire wasn't going to deny that she had half a second or maybe a full one where she considered pitching herself right over the railing to fall to her temporary death below. But it would cause a mess and not just from the impact her body would make on the pavement. She ducked her head a little then, her hair shifting forward to shield her features as she tried to breathe.
"Claire, he loves you." It was different to hear present tense when it came to Hiro and his actions. Claire had never really given up hope that he was alive somewhere but it had been hard to hold onto with everyone speculating that he was dead, especially when Molly's ability couldn't trace him anywhere.
"I hate not knowing." Claire bit her lip hard enough that she almost tasted blood. "I hate not knowing where he is or his mind frame, or how he feels. How do we really know that he couldn't come back all this time?" She looked at her friend then, her eyes shimmering with tears that wanted to fall. "I hate not knowing if he is in danger or not."
"We don't even know that it was him in the container."
"I know it was him." Claire nodded, "The stuff that he took, only Hiro would take those things and he's the only other one that can get into it. I mean, without an ability but he's the only one besides myself who knows about it. Kaito knew..." But her son was dead. "He took the Nakamura daisho, some pictures and some money." She sighed softly because the thought of Hiro taking the daisho worried her.
He had taken pictures but he hadn't come back to see her.
"Claire, I'm...I'm so sorry." Bee wrapped an arm around her shoulders, tugging her close as she laid her cheek against the top of her friend's head. She didn't know what to say anymore though she now had a strong urge to kick Hiro's ass if she ever saw him again.
"Me too." Claire murmured as she felt the pain in the center of her chest spread, the little cracks becoming fractures as her heart twisted further beyond recognition. The moment that it broke, she felt cold as it rushed over her and sank into her soul. She pressed her lips together as she almost heard it and she felt like crying all over again but the tears never came.
They were frozen just like the rest of her.
WC: 1345 without quote
[borrowed youngerpetrelli and deep_red_bells with lots of love]