Chapter Text
In a house that is composed of 2 children and their parents. A man with brown hair plants sunflower seeds in the backyard with a soft smile on his face.
After planting, he gets up and hears his children giggling and running around the house, followed by the scolding of their mother who seems to be chasing them.
The man chuckled lightly and enters the house and closed the door behind him. "Ena! Hurry!" a ginger haired boy exclaims waiting for his older sister to catch up to him. "Ah!" Ena trips, "Akito, help!" she screamed and giggled.
The woman chasing them pretends to slow down from running with a mischievous grin on her face. Akito helps his sister up and runs away again.
Giggles fill the house and the man watches with a soft smile on his face. "Seems like you're having fun," he says as he helps his wife catch the children.
A year passes by and the siblings are seated by the sunflower that started to grow but not yet fully bloomed. Akito smiles excitedly, his gaze fixated on the flower, "I can't wait to see the sunflowers fully bloomed,"
Ena nods, "Same here! And I bet they'd look really pretty!" they continue to stare at the sunflowers admiringly, waiting for it to grow...
The sun shines down on the sunflowers in the garden, it truly is a beautiful household...
When Akito turns 12 and Ena being 13, the ginger boy holds his mother's hand tightly, eyes begging her to not leave them. Ena behind his younger brother, her face turned away with a pained expression.
"Please... Don't go," Akito sobbed as he hugged his mother tightly who returned the action, fighting back the tears. "I'm sorry... I promise to return, okay? I will come back..." his mother says shakily.
A car stops by their house and beeps, their mother looks at Ena with an apologetic smile, "Take care of your brother for me, will you?" the older sibling's eyes were glassy, she finally looks at their mother and gives her a small, sad smile and nods.
Their father holds Akito in place but careful not to hurt him as their precious mother slowly turned her back on them and walked into the car. Akito screamed, wailed, begging his mother to stay.
"Akito...That's enough... It's going to be okay..." Ena walks to her younger brother, hugging him tightly so he wouldn't run after the car, as she fights back the tears, she cannot and will not cry... She's the older sister and needs to set an example to her brother.
Their father gives them a hug, whispering words that would soothe his children. Ena finally let the tears fall from her eyes and Akito continues to wail for their mom to come back.
Maybe if he screamed louder, she'd come back... Maybe if he continues to call for her she'd turn back and return... But no matter how many times he screamed, she did not turn back.
The sunflower hasn't fully grown yet... But the color was sad...
Akito's 15 and Ena's 16...
...
It's a rainy day and Ena returns from school, thinking of how she'd tell Akito about her test results, "Hm~ hm~ I can't wait for Akito to know about the results~!"
She sees a familiar figure and she huffed in annoyance, "Why the hell is he under the rain?! He'll get sick!" she mumbled and she rushed over to her younger brother.
But the closer she got, Ena notices something... Wrong... Very wrong... She sees him holding a red paper... Red f*cking paper... Her eyes widen in realization...
Akito clutches the paper close to his chest and before Ena even noticed, he collapses onto the ground. Her eyes go wide in horror, she drops the umbrella and it lands onto the wet ground.
The rain hitting her body but she doesn't care because her brother just collapsed. She bends beside his collapsed body, she holds him tight, "Akito! Wake up!"
He didn't wake up... He's still passed out probably because of the shock. Ena pushes her tears away for now and brings her younger brother inside.
Their father has heard of the news and locked himself inside his room, didn't even bother comforting his children... Ena wouldn't blame him... She runs her hand through Akito's hair as the younger cried hard.
"Please! Ena! Don't leave me!" Akito cried so hard, hugging Ena's waist tightly. He hiccuped and screamed, begging his older sister to stay. He just lost his mother and he definitely cannot lose his older sister because of this stupid war...
Akito couldn't imagine his future without her, he cannot imagine a life without his older sister, he doesn't want to live or go on if Ena won't be there with him.
They promised... They made a promise to see the sunflowers fully bloomed together and it should happen, they need to see the sunflowers together.
"Ena please! I can't live in a future without you!" he screamed, hugging his older sister like his life depended on it. "So please just stay with me! Stay!" his older sister bites her lower lip as she rubs her younger brother's back.
Ena cups Akito's cheeks with both her hands, his eyes were red due to the crying and the tears can't stop falling. "Akito... I understand... But this is for our future..." Ena smiles softly, the tears flowing from her eyes.
She doesn't want to go... She doesn't want to leave her precious brother... But she doesn't have a choice... If she won't do this, then who would? Who would protect him?
"I don't need protection, Ena! I just... I just need you with me! That's all I want from you!" Akito screamed holding his sisters hand tightly and not wanting to let go.
"Akito-" her sentence us cut off by Akito's screaming of agony and loneliness. Ena's lips quivered, "I... I too want to stay with you... Okay? I want to,"
"Then stay!"
"Akito, I can't! Even if I wanted to, I can't!" This is for you! she didn't add. "Why?! Why can't you stay?!" he argued back, he was utterly confused and angry.
He needs Ena to stay.
Ena needs to go for Akito's sake.
"I don't understand!"
"I'm doing this for you! Okay?! Even if I'd scream at everyone, I can't stay! I need to go for both our future!" Ena yelled back but not too loud, rather it was a soft yell.
It breaks her heart, to know that she has to leave him in the future... But there's nothing she can do, this is a decision she's made and will follow her mother's footsteps.
She notice Akito not responding but sobbing his eyes out. She cups his cheeks again and puts his and her forehead pressed together. She closes her eyes with a soft smile, "I know what I'm doing... Trust me,"
One day, Ena wakes up due to the sound of someone coughing. She quickly gets up from her futon and rushes to her father's room in panic, "Dad?!"
She gasped when she sees her father coughing out blood. Ena grabs a cloth and rushes to his side, wiping the blood off his mouth after he coughed.
"Ena... Did I disturb you?" he chuckled, patting her head lightly. Ena bites her lower lip, "Don't laugh! U-Um... I'll get a doctor!" she yelled and rushes off to get a doctor.
Their father sighed and coughed out blood again... This time Akito enters his room anxiously, "Dad? Do you need water?" he holds him a cup of warm water.
The older man tries holding the cup, but his hands were too weak, so Akito helps him drink it. "Thank you," the man gave him a small and weak smile. Fear stirs Akito's heart.
After taking medications for months... He passed away... The siblings sat beside his dead body, Ena holding Akito's hand tightly. First... Their mother... Now their dad?
Isn't the world too cruel on them?
"Ena... Please... I'm so done with this... Please don't go..." his voice shook greatly as he continued to hug her tightly but the tears didn't fall.
He doesn't want to be alone... He's scared... He wants to be with his sister until the day he dies... But the gods won't even grant that simple wish of his.
"Akito... No matter what happens, I love you... And you know that, right?" Ena's voice shook as well, playing with Akito's messy ginger hair. This once again... Breaks him into a million pieces.
He breaks into a broken cry. The gods are so cruel on his family... They've been cursed for who knows why... And Akito really doesn't understand what they did wrong to deserve this.
Akito's 17 and Ena's 18...
Ena already packed her clothes for her trip... She puts everything that she needs into her luggage and makes sure that nothing is left behind. "Akito, I'll be right back!" Ena exclaims before heading out.
Akito enters his older sisters room and stares at Ena's military veteran clothes. He inhales shakily and hugs the uniform with his eyes closed. He sees his mother's smile... A beautiful and loving smile... Then his older sister's smile... The smile that looks just like their mother's.
"I love you, Akito," both Ena and his mother's voice said and he opens his eyes and realizes he's crying... Again... He falls to the ground, holding Ena's uniform tight and close.
"Don't go..." he choked out as he tightens his hold around the clothing.
Meanwhile, Ena who was at the garden stands by the sunflowers that are not yet even fully bloomed but are tall and close to blooming. She holds a large leaf and puts her forehead close to it.
"I'm sorry... I can't see you bloom into a beautiful sunflower..." she whispers shakily and a tear slides from her eye.
"Watch Akito for me... Okay?"
On the day of departure, the train whistles, meaning that it's time for Ena to board the train. She steps into the train without looking back and not even having any second thoughts of going back home.
Akito grabs her coat, making Ena look at him with a confused expression. Her eyes widen, her precious younger brother looking at her with pleading eyes as the tears gathered at the corner of his eyes.
"Don't go...!"
His voice was so soft... That it broke Ena's heart, he clearly was traumatized and doesn't want to be left alone in this cruel world. The older sibling holds his hand and lightly squeezes it, "Don't hold onto me... Always grab onto tomorrow... Where there is always hope,"
Akito keeps his grip onto her coat. Ena places a hand onto the ginger haired teen's cheek, then smiles softly and lovingly, "Akito... Please don't cry. At least at the very end, send me off with the flowers of smile,"
She carefully removes Akito's hand and kisses his forehead. "Goodbye," she smiles softly as the younger's hand fell to his side, watching Ena enter again.
The door of the train closes and the tears continues to fall from Akito's eyes, staring at the train leaving. "Don't die, please... Don't leave me alone," he thought. He covers his eyes with his palms as his knees fell to the ground, "I won't give you a gift of parting regrets, so please just stay here..."
It starts pouring, the sky gray and dull. It felt like the sky was crying with him... Because Akito knew... That Ena won't be back... And never will again.
After a few months, the sunflowers bloom into a beautiful color of yellow. Akito picks them from the soil, 3 sunflowers... He prays with a smile on his face, "Let us be reborn as siblings again... Ena,"
<Modern Era>
Two children look at the sunflowers planted in the garden, their innocent eyes shimmering in admiration. They've never seen flowers this gorgeous.
The sun making it seem like the flowers are shining and would brighten up anyone who'd look at them. The little girl holds her brother's hand, "So pretty~!" she sang and the shorter one nods with a wide smile.
"Ena! Akito! Time for you to get in!"
The girl with short brown hair, brown wide eyes and pale skin and the boy with ginger hair, narrow olive green eyes and sandy skin turns their gaze.
"Coming!" they run.
"Ena... Akito..." says a voice softly, the two children halt for a bit and turn their back to see no one. They exchange glances and Ena grins, "The last one inside the house is a loser,"
"Hey! No fair!" Akito whines running after his older sister.
Meanwhile, two teenagers stood by the sunflowers, both with the same physical appearance, watch the kids with a smile. "Let's go, Akito," says the girl... Ena... as she grabs Akito's hand gently.
Akito nods with a smile and both turn to face the flowers, then slowly fade into nothingness.