Moving On...

"I Thought you moved on!" Aaron's voice was ringing through my head. 'Moved on? Since when had he moved on? He never told me he was over his father's death...Than again, we barely talked about his father. Mostly we would stay away from the subject and make the conversations on a lighter note, and if we did stray into that topic we would just sit silently and think, comforting the other if we cried. Maybe I should have asked him about his father, maybe I should have talked to him more about it...'

"Maiya! It's time for breakfast!"

I followed Angel's call into the kitchen, to find that the same ruteen was taking place. My mother was humming while making pudding(sausage in Ireland) and my brother was sitting in a chair, drinking water and waiting for mam to finish. Suddenly I was aware of the happiness around me. 'Since when had my mother started humming?' I thought, 'Since when had my brother been relaxed and not stressed? How long has this been happening?'

I stood frozen in the doorway. Was I the only one that hadn't gotten over it? No, no i couldn't be alone...

"Maiya, is somthing wrong?" asked mam. I stared at her, tears forming in my eyes. I was alone.. I ran out of the door and out onto the feild, but I didn't get very far before someone called for me.

"Maiya, stop! What's wrong?" asked Angel desperatly. I turned to look at him but it was hard to see through tears.

"How...how did you get over it?" I asked tragically, "How could you get over it?"

"Maiya..." He walked up to me and for the first time in two years, my brother hugged me. "I knew I should have talked to you sooner..."

"Please, just tell me how to make it go away," I pleaded him.

Angel held me tighter, "You just have to remember that he never left. He's always with us Maiya, watching over us; watching over you."

"It's not the same..."

"You're right, it's not, but the least you can do for his spirit is to move on and stop crying. Dad never liked to see people cry, especially you and me."

I nodded my head and pulled away, wiping off my tears. He was right, dad never liked to see anyone cry. Angel smiled at me, "There now, I'm not asking you to forget him Maiya. I'm asking you to stop being sad about it, and sorry for yourself. Dad wouldn't want it, and truthfully, I don't either."

I smiled. It was a little awkward to smile than, but suddenly, smiling had felt so right...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

A few days later, when I was riding my bicycle to school, I realized how happy I was. I had finally excepted the fact that my father hadn't left me after all. The only thing that seemed to be wrong in my life was the fact that Aaron and I still weren't talking to each other. I knew what I had to do, but this time, I didn't want to do it. I'm stubborn and I hate to admit that I did somthing wrong, but I guess that it just had to be done.

That same day after school I went to Aaron's house. When I asked Alison where he was, she looked at me as though wondering if she should trust me. I felt uncomfortable under her accusing gaze but she eventually called for him to come meet me outside.

"What is it?" he asked irritably.

I winced at his anger, but I knew that I deserved it. "I'm sorry," I said to him quietly.

He smiled playfully, "Say that again?"

I rolled my eyes, "I'm sorry!"

"Ah, it's good to hear that every once and a while," Aaron stated, smiling at me proudly. "And I forgive you...Oh! I have something to show you!"

He grabbed my hand and lead me once again into my backyard. Why was he leading me to the tree? Had he really not forgiven me after all? Aaron must have sensed my unease.

"It's alright," he assured me, "It's not as bad as you think." And when we arrived I saw that it really wasn't as horrible as I had imagined. It was wonderful! Aaron explained it to me as I stared at the tree in awe. "You burnt off the broken branches so that new ones could grow. They even have flowers starting to grow on the old healthy branches."

I laughed. I had realized that along with my gaining happiness the tree was blooming flowers. Aaron picked a flower from the tree and handed it to me shyly. I blushed, "Thank you, Aaron, for everything." Than I did somthing, that never before had I ever gotten the courage to do. I leaned toward him and kissed him on the cheek.

I smiled as his face turned red. Than he looked back at me and announced that we should be doing our homework. He gently took my hand in his, and together we walked back to his house in perfect bliss.

Looking back on that last moment now brings tears to my eyes, for Aaron moved away only a year after that. His mother had moved to Ireland to get away from the memories, but once she was ready to go back no one had a say in it. The day he left he told me that I would always be in his heart, and even though that may not be true, I know he'll always be in mine.