Forever With You

By morning, the cyclone had gathered strength into a category three, and the winds were howling through the trees. Anyone in the castle town who hadn’t moved to safety within the castle walls and the shelters designed for such weather, were hunkered down in their homes. Citizens on the other side of the island were protected by the mountains, but prepared their homes for the possibility of taking in temporary guests. As was typical and done with ease.

This was how Nekoma handled storms of this magnitude. Within the castle, guests and staff withdrew to a sub-level shelter of sorts which was designed with the utmost safety in mind. Because there were no exterior windows, special air vents brought in fresh air, and generators ensured that if the island lost power outside, they’d have enough to withstand the storm, if carefully used. Water storage tanks provided clean water, but it was limited so guests had a rationed amount per day. Nekoma also chose to keep its old landlines in service and working flawlessly for situations like these. They could only hope the wifi signal held up.

With Aiko in her sling, wrapped snuggly against her back, Hitoka devoted herself to helping everyone else first. With the help of her crew, they gathered the kids’ things together so that they were ready for their parents when they arrived. The older children, bless them, did their best to help with the younger. All of them had experienced bad weather, but several had never experienced it away from home. Thank goodness it wasn’t long before parents came to collect their children.

With little time to spare, she finally managed to get everything together for herself and her daughter. They were the last ones, from the nursery at least, to head down to the castle shelter. Unwrapping the sling, she placed Aiko in her pram, and grabbed the handle of the wagon. She was about to leave the smaller nursery when her baby started screaming. And it wasn’t her usual happy baby screaming, either. She was red-faced and distressed, and Hitoka was at a loss.

She picked up her baby and tried to soothe her with little success. She checked her nappy (clean), and looked for anything that might have scratched or pinched her child, but came up empty. Unsure what had caused it, Hitoka was nearly in tears herself. It didn’t help matters that until she figured out what was making her daughter scream and cry louder the further they moved away from the nursery, she was stuck. And it sounded like things were getting worse outside.

“Shhh, baby,” she soothed gently, though her voice shook. “We need to go. We can come back as soon as the storm passes, okay? Shhh, baby, shhh…”

This was awful. She jostled Aiko gently, rubbed her back, and tried to at least hum the lullaby for her. Nothing worked. Little hands stretched out, back toward the nursery door. So, whatever it was Aiko wanted was in there. But… they had to go. Now that the cyclone was close, it was moving faster than she thought. The wind was howling almost as loud as her baby. Big, fat, raindrops pelted the windows. Small bits of debris joined the rain, and she could swear it sounded like hail fell, too. Lightning flashed, thunder boomed loudly overhead, scaring both herself and her baby.

The castle was built to withstand the strongest storms, and it had for generations. Long before Prince Kuroo’s family became the rulers of Nekoma. Surely, they’d be okay while she tried to figure out why Aiko was inconsolable? Leaving the wagon where it was, she settled her hysterical child in the pram, and wheeled it back into the nursery.

~*~

Downstairs, it was a controlled sort of chaos as the nobility gathered in the common room, while Tetsu and Kei directed them to their temporary suites. Eita, not having much to do but watch, and having already moved into his suite, decided to help out. And he ordered his advisors and guards to do the same. It wasn’t as quick as he thought it’d go, but when it was all over, everyone was ensconced in their rooms for the duration of the storm.

Servants and other staff had smaller rooms down another hallway, but everyone was safe and sound. It was only while the cook and kitchen staff were laying out a light dinner, consisting mainly of veggie and fruit platters, sandwich bread and everything you could possibly put on a single sandwich, and a variety of chilled drinks, that Eita realized someone was missing. Two someones, in fact. And, it seemed he wasn’t the only one to notice.

“Tetsu, where’s Yacchan?” Kei called from their suite. “The boys are getting restless, and are asking for her.”
“Didn’t she come down with the others?” he asked, looking over at the few nannies that were in the common room with their charges.
“She was supposed to, your highness,” one of them answered him. “She told us she’d be right along. She just had to get her own stuff together before coming down.”
“Thank you,” Tetsu said, running a hand through his hair. “She’s probably still up there.”
“But it’s not like her to take so long,” Kei came out of the room with the boys, both of whom had watery expressions. He handed Haru over to Tetsu, and bent to pick up Yuki. “You know she’s very efficient. Something’s keeping her up there.”
“What could possibly keep her from coming down, though?” Tetsu asked.

Eita was already on the move. He’d go get Hitoka and bring her and Aiko down safely. Piece of cake. But, he was stopped when someone else tried to block his way.

“Taichi, what…?”
“Sorry. You need to hear this,” his friend said. “Your highness, I have news!” Taichi called from his place. Both Tetsu and Kei turned their attention to him, and the former nodded for him to continue. “The last weather report stated that the cyclone is now a category four. It's still several miles out from making landfall, but it’s moving fast.”
“Damn,” Tetsu swore as others made their way out to listen.
“What else did the report say,” Kei asked urgently.
“It’s huge,” Taichi answered carefully. “It’s big enough to swallow up most of Nekoma. They say it could make category five before landfall,” he finished with a hushed voice.
“It’s been years since we’ve had one that big,” Kei reminded his husband. Then he turned back to Taichi. “Anything else?”
“Not much. They don’t expect it to hover over us for very long, but we’ll definitely be down here for a day or two,” he reported dutifully.
“Did they say when landfall would be?”
“At least within the next hour or two, but that could change with the way it’s moving.”
“Too fast,” Eita muttered. Then, he moved past Taichi and headed for the stairs. “I’m going to get Yacchan and Aiko. I’ll be back shortly.”

He left before anyone could protest. As soon as he hit the first landing, he was startled to see his two guards behind him.

“You see to the lady and her child,” Toshi said as he came up beside him. “We’ll gather her things and take them back down.”
“Thank you, but…”
“Don’t argue, sir,” Reon interrupted. “We’ll also be there to make sure everyone gets back to the shelter unharmed.”
“Thank you,” he said again. “Let’s go get my lady, shall we?”
He didn’t see the two of them share a smile at him calling the nanny his lady.

Up another flight of stairs to the ground floor, and it was literal chaos. Debris from the storm had blown in and several of the large floor-to-ceiling windows had shattered. This left the castle’s grand entrance hall open to the elements, and they were all getting soaked and pelted with small bits of debris being blown in from the wind. Shit. He wasn’t wearing the right shoes for trekking across broken glass. But he had to. There were two Very Important people upstairs, and he needed to get to them. Somehow.

“Is there another way?” Toshi yelled over the noise.
“Not directly. The only other way will take much longer,” Eita replied. “We don’t have that much time.”
“Considering the damage here, I’d rather work with this than discover our way blocked by a blown in tree somewhere else,” Reon added.
“Okay, so what do we do?” Eita asked. “We can’t stay here!”
The moment he said that, the wind blew in another window behind them, and shattered glass flew everywhere. “Everyone okay?!”
“Fine,” Reon replied.
Toshi hissed, and removed a piece of glass from his upper arm. “It was small. I’ll be okay.”
“We’ll take care of that in the nursery.”
Toshi moved to stand in front of Eita, his back facing him.
“A piggyback ride?”
“You have a better idea? Your shoes won’t make it across the glass.”
“Right,” he sighed, laughed at himself and the immediate situation, sacrificed his dignity and jumped onto Toshi’s back. “One word of this to anyone, and I’ll demote you.”
“Noted, your grace.”
“We’ll take the long way back.”
“Right.”

Reon moved ahead and cleared the way of branches for Toshi, and they eventually made it to the grand staircase. Eita was on his feet again and running up the stairs, with his men right behind him. He raced along the hallway, and up another flight of stairs to the next floor. The closer he came to the nursery, the more he heard Aiko screaming. All manner of thoughts ran through his mind: was Hitoka hurt? Was Aiko? He couldn’t tell if Hitoka was crying, either. Was she knocked out? Was she…?

His heart squeezed, and he had to slow down so he could breathe and think straight. She might not be making noise right now, so maybe she’s trying to calm her daughter. He knew she’d do anything to keep her baby safe, so she’s probably hiding in the safest place in the nursery: the washroom. Spotting her wagon in the hallway, he directed his men to take it downstairs. Reon took the handle and started around the corner, taking the long way so he could clear anything out of the way if needed. Toshi stayed with him.

“Hitoka?” He called her name as soon as he opened the door to the nursery. Aiko’s screaming grew louder. “Hitoka!”
“Eita! I’m here!”

He made a bee-line for the washroom, passing the pram on the way. Opening the door, he found Hitoka as red-faced as her daughter, watery-eyed, and looking both distressed and relieved. Eita went in and knelt down in front of them.

“What’s wrong? Is she hurt? Are you? Why is she screaming?”
“I’m fine. She’s not hurt, but she won’t stop crying, and I-I don’t know w-why.”
The tears she’d been holding back finally fell. Eita reached up to wipe them away.
“We're all worried about you.”
“I’m sorry, but she was crying so much, and she hasn’t stopped.”
“Okay. Well, the bad news is, we have to get out of here now. The storm is going to get worse before it makes landfall.”
“But, she's screaming…”
“I know, and I’m sorry, but it’s not safe here. The main hall is already a wreck. We need to leave.”
“Pardon me,” a deeper voice said from the doorway. “Is there anything specific I can look for?”
“Oh! Ushijima. No, not anything I can think of immediately,” Hitoka said thoughtfully as Eita helped her to stand. She walked slowly out of the washroom and toward the pram. “I was in a bit of a hurry to get our stuff together…” and she paused. “Wait. Is her stuffy in there?”
“Her stuffy?” Ushijima asked.
“Yeah. An old, rather care-worn teddy bear. It used to be mine, but I gave it to her. Is it in her pram?”
Ushijima gently pawed through the contents of the pram. “It’s not in here,” he pronounced.
“It’ll be in our room, then.” She looked up at him and smiled, though it fell the moment she caught sight of his bleeding arm. “I’ll get the first-aid kit.”
“I’m fine, ma’am,” he protested, but she was already on the move, crying baby and all.
“I’ll get her stuffy,” Eita went without a second thought.
The light was still on in her room, so he searched through the bed sheets, and came up empty there. Then, he searched the floor around the bed.
“I’m not seeing it,” he called. “Not on the bed or the floor.”
“She may have thrown it. It’s her favorite game to play with the boys.”
“Got it.”
On his hands and knees, he looked under the bed, the bedside tables, and finally under her dresser. He almost gave up, but a tiny glint caught his eye, and he reached for it.
“Found it!” he called again, getting up off the floor and bringing the stuffy out to Hitoka and Aiko.
The moment the little girl realized he had her favorite toy, she started calming down. Eita grinned and let her take it from him, and she hugged her bear to her chest, and snuggled closer to her mother, who had just finished wrapping a bandage around Toshi’s arm, with a little help from the guard.
“Come on, angel,” he said quietly to Hitoka. “We need to go.”
“Okay.”