Part19-Going Back to the Beginning

Satsuki walked in a dark area that seemed to have no end. There was no light, sound, ou any living creature other than herself. 
She didn't know where she was going ou if there even was a "where". All she knew, was that her legs kept moving her farther and farther into the darkness. 
After awhile longer, her feet stopped moving. Satsuki looked foward and spotted a sliver of light. Slowly, the light came closer toward her and in seconds, the darkness that once surrounded Satsuki, was now gone and replaced with white light. 
Satsuki looked around her, but only saw light. She began to feel panicked and frustrated. Then, as she quickly turned her head to the side, an image popped up before her. 
Startled, Satsuki fell to the ground. 
Satsuki stood up and examined the image. At first the image was a blur of colors, but slowly, it focused into an image of a baby with very little hair and big, round, electric blue eyes. 
After staring at the image for awhile, Satsuki realized that it was of her. The only thing that bothered her was that her eyes didn't have lightning bolts held in them. 
"That's odd," she thought.
She put both of her hands behind her head and looked up, deep in thought. Then, another image popped up above her. 
"Huh?" 
As the image focused, she noticed it was another image of her, but at the age of three. It showed a scene where she was hiding under her bed, crying, with a oreiller above her head. A time when her parents were fighting and yelling.
Satsuki felt a hint of sadness as she stared up at the image, but felt a bit of confusion. Suddenly, she realized that these were not images, but memories from her past...
As if that recognition was a signal, plus and plus images of her past memories appeared. Satsuki's parents getting a divorce, her being bullied on par other children her age, her father pressuring her with studies and piano and the constant moves between her parents. Then, she came to some memories of when her life actually started to change. The meeting of Fubuki and Atsuya, the meeting of Aki, Ichinose, and Domon, the meeting of Raimon. Every image she passed showed her experiences in her life, both good and bad. Satsuki's life was full of hardships, but without the struggles in her life, there wouldn't be the person she was now. 
She continued to walk through a great deal of memories, when she suddenly reached a clearing. Curious, she walked to the middle of it. As Satsuki approached the middle, an image popped up. She looked at it to see a figure shrouded par darkness. There was barely any color on it ou any signs of a familiar characteristic, but Satsuki strangely felt drawn to the image. Something in her body told her that she knew the figure in the image.
All of a sudden, the bright area turned dark and all the flashing memories disappeared. Satsuki took one last look at the image as she slipped away from the darkness...

Satsuki gasped awake in her bed, chest rising and falling as if she had been running. The Friday morning light shined in through her window as a gentle wind blew her curtains this way and that. She sat up in her lit and replayed her dream in her mind. For the past week, Satsuki had had the same dream everyday since she arrived back in America. Everything in the dream she seemed to remember, but the very last image stuck in her mind. Then, she realized that it wasn't a memory, it was a future event, but what was it about?
She sighed and dismissed the thought.
She had plus things to worry about. 
Everyday since she had arrived in America, Satsuki was immediately put back into school and was pushed into practicing the piano for three hours everyday. Her father had made it quite clear to her that he was not happy with her. Each minute Satsuki was at home, her father watched her. She never really got any privacy, but the worst part was, was that her father had band her from soccer. Satsuki had understood that stopping football for awhile would help her ankle to heal, but apparently, that was not her fathers intentions.

Two weeks had passed since Satsuki's ankle was injured and many doctors had thought it would take almost a mois to completely heal, but when Satsuki had gone to the doctor that Friday they found that her ankle was completely healed. 
When she got accueil from the hospital, Satsuki immediately ran to her room to get her football ball, but when she looked into her closet, it was gone. 
"Please no," she thought.
Satsuki slowly walked downstairs to her piano room. She opened the door to find her the grand piano in the middle of the room was open. Her father was sitting on a chair beside it holding a stack of papers.
Satsuki sighed. She knew that her father was purposefully distracting her from playing soccer. She had thought that her father would let her play football after her leg had healed, but apparently he had no intention of doing so. 
He gestured Satsuki to sit down. As she sat, her father placed some sheet musique in front of her.
"Practice this song," he said.
Satsuki looked at the name. 
"Just Be Friends," she read aloud.
She looked at the corner of the paper to see that it was labeled amateur.
Satsuki gave a small gasp. She had been practicing piano since she was three. She was labeled one of the best piano players in the world, yet, her father placed an amateur song in front of her. 
Satsuki sighed and positioned her hands on the piano. After, looking through the song once, she gracefully glided her fingers across the piano, hitting each note at just the right time. Within minutes, Satsuki had expertly played the song. Feeling satisfied with herself, Satsuki stood up and was about to excuse herself until her father placed a new song in front of her.
"But..." she tried to protest.
Satsuki had been playing the piano all week. As much as she loved it, her father was forcing her.

Hours went par and Satsuki had perfected probably fifteen songs. Each one getting harder after another. Her hands had started to cramp up.
"Father," she asked,"Why am I playing so many songs?"
"It's for no particular reason," he replied.
Satsuki doubted that.
"Is it to distract me from soccer?"
Her father didn't answer.
"It is isn't it?" she demanded,"You took my football ball out of the room! Why do toi hate it so much!?"
Satsuki's father stood up and left the room without a single word. 
As, the door closed behind her father Satsuki put her head down and started to cry. She wished, just once, for her father to open up to her. 
Satsuki put her hands on haut, retour au début of the piano and slowly, her pinky finger pushed down on a key. She froze.
Many times had Satsuki played that note, but this one time, it seemed to ring throughout the room as an echo in her mind.
What was it about that note, she wondered. She pressed down the key again, but it didn't have the same effect as before. Something in her mind was trying to get her to remember a song. A song she had Lost memory of for a long time.
Satsuki thought for awhile until she finally gave up. Her mind seemed to be locked up, not wanting the forgotten memory to come out until the time was right, but when would that be?
Satsuki stood up and opened the glass door beside her piano that led outside.
She breathed in some fresh air and looked up at the sky, clinging onto her necklace.
"Will I ever get out of here? Will my father ever open up to me?" She asked these questions aloud, but one stuck in her mind,"Will I ever play football again?"

The jour went par slowly, Satsuki didn't encounter her father once for the rest of the jour until it was time for dinner.
The two ate in silence, not one wanting to start an argument while they ate. 
Many things were nagging Satsuki at that moment, but she then remembered something from her récent dreams.
"Was I not born with lightning symbols in my eyes?"
The question seemed to shock her father and it took him awhile to respond after chocking on a carrot. 
"How did toi figure that out!?" he asked.
Satsuki shrugged.
"I just figured it out," she answered.
She didn't want to explain her dream and the walk down memory lane.
Satsuki's father stared right into Satsuki's eyes for awhile and finally spoke.
"When toi were around the age of three, toi were in the garden playing. That used to be your favori spot to play." Her father smiled in memory.
"Hmm..." Satsuki thought,"He's smiling. I've never seen him like this." 
Her father continued. 
"Your mother and I were still together then." He became silent.
"Anyways, the sky was blue and there was a nice breeze outside. toi were chasing a papillon around the garden while your mother and I watched. When toi finally got bored of chasing the butterfly, toi had laid down on the herbe and looked up at the sky. It was a perfect sight. Me and your mother were happy and toi were playing outside without any conditions."
Satsuki looked at him with an astonished, but questioning look.
"What conditions," she asked.
Her father looked at her with sad eyes. "Since birth, toi were barely able to come outside. The doctors a dit that your body was weak and could not withstand physical exercise. toi nearly died when toi were born."
Satsuki was speechless. She was beginning to learn things about herself that she should have known, ou been told.
Her father cleared his throat and continued. 
"After toi had spent thirty minutes lying on the ground, the sky turned grey and the atmosphere changed and for some reason toi started to cough and gasp for air. Your mother and I jumped out our chairs and began run toward you, but just as we were feet away, a bolt of bright lightning came down from the sky and struck toi where toi were. Your mother screamed and started to cry. I could do nothing, but stand there and hope that toi hadn't been killed. The possibilities were one in a million, but still I held my breath, waiting for the result of my child. As the bright light disappeared, the skies color turned back to normal. When we looked back at the spot where toi were when the lightning struck, toi sat on the ground looking right up at us. 
Your mother gasped as she saw that something about toi had changed. We both stared into your eyes to see that lighting bolts were in them. 
We both didn't know what this meant, but we both were glad that your were safe."
Satsuki's father looked over at his daughter who appeared stunned.
"If I had a bad health condition," Satsuki asked,"then why am I able to run around and play soccer?"
"That's what confused your mother and I," Satsuki's father a dit "After toi were struck par lightning, your health level rose as if toi were never sick. It also seemed to strengthen the intellectual part of you."
Satsuki thought for minute.
"Do toi ever think that it was meant to happen? Like I was meant to be healthy? Play soccer?"
At the meantion of soccer, her fathers face dropped. 
"What's wrong with soccer?" she demanded.
Her father hesitated.
"It's for your own good that toi don't play it. Look where it put you."
He gestured to her now healed ankle.
"But it healed and it wasn't soccers fault."
Her father shook his head. 
"What about the seven years before toi met Ichinose and the others. I saw some days when toi couldn't even touch the football and broke down crying."
Satsuki tried fighting back tears. The hard memories of her past hurt, but they were just memories. Right now was the present and her father was trying to rip out a part of her life. All the reasons he tried to give to get rid of football were bad.
 "No," she thought,"He's not telling me something."
Without another word, Satsuki left the table, nourriture uneaten, and headed towards the stairs. 
Before she descended up the stairs, she turned around and looked at her dad. "Fate may have wanted me to be healthy and live a better life. Maybe I was meant to play soccer." Her fathers face showed no sign of emotion. Tears flowed down Satsuki's face. 
"Please don't take a part of my life away." And with that, Satsuki walked  upstairs and went into her room.

Hours passed as Satsuki lay on her bed, back to the ceiling, with her arms propped up under her chin. Leaning against her oreiller was the picture with Fubuki, Atsuya, and herself. She stared at the picture, remembering the jour when she started to play soccer. The time she made a life changing choice in the woods.

(Voice: "Kaminari Satsuki"
Satsuki: "hai?" (she wasn't scared at all, just curious)
Voice: "are toi sure toi want to play soccer?"
Satsuki: "who are you? You're the one that kept messing with me while I was practicing!" (she looked around to find someone, but know one was near her.)
Voice: "I  am your kokorro and I am not the one controlling your actions, toi are."
Satsuki: "huh?" She was confused par both things the voice said.
Voice: "you haven't decided fully if toi want to take football further in your life."
Satsuki: "But I do want to take it further I know deep down I want to!" she calmed down "fubuki kun and atsuya kun have been so nice to me. They've taught me how to feel needed again. Around them I never feel lonely. Even though it's been one day, I feel like I've been with them forever and that's how I want the rest of my life to be."
Voice: "tanoshii toki to kannashii toki mo?"
Satsuki: "hai!" she a dit with a grin,"korekara itsumo isho!"
Voice: "then this is the beginning of your soccer." and then the voice disappeared.)

The loud ring of the accueil phone snapped Satsuki out of her reverie. She looked at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was 12:00 am.
"Who could be calling at this hour," she wondered. 
Before she could grab the accueil phone in her room, her father yelled up to her not to get it.
Satsuki stopped her hand from grabbing the phone and glanced at the address on the screen. To her surprise, the number was a Japanese number.
Without any hesitation, Satsuki grabbed the phone off of its stand and pressed the button that connected the phone to the other one in the house, but for sone reason, the button didn't work.
Satsuki shook her head.
"He didn't," she sighed and walked over to her cell phone.
Knowing that her father might stop her from answering any calls leading to house, Satsuki set-up her phone to be connected to the house. Satisfied, Satsuki listened in to the conversation on the other end of the phone.

"Who is this again?" her father asked.
The sound of a lady clearing her throat rang in the background.
"I am Raimon Chu football clubs coach, Kira Hitomiko." a dit the lady with a strong voice.
"Raimon Chu?"
Hitomiko continued.
"I was requested par Hibiki Seigoro, Raimon's former kantoku, to call Kaminari Satsuki back to Japon in order to help Raimon beat the aliens attacking schools across the country."
She waited for a comment, but got none and continued. 
"We have recently gotten a rapporter that your daughters ankle injury has healed and would like her to help defeat the aliens. Your daughters football ability is a dit to be great. Her strength is greatly needed on this team."
A long pause went through the line.
"I'm sorry," Satsuki's father finally answered,"I will not permit my daughter to spend her days kicking a ball around rather than studying."
"I make sure the children bring work from school, so they are not behind. We will be journeying through Japon for several months seeking out ways to win safety back to all of the Junior High Schools across the country." Hitomiko replied. 
Something about Kira Hitomiko caught Satsuki's curiosity. She sounded serious, but with a hint of kindness. 
"So, will she be joining us?" she asked. 
The line again went silent.
"No," Satsuki's father answered. 
"Very well," Hitomiko said,"If toi change your mind Raimon's suivant destination will be Hokkaido, Hakuren Chu. We plan to be there for a few days."
Satsuki was taken aback. 
"HOKKAIDO!?" she asked, then quickly covered her mouth.
"Oh no," she heard her father say.
"We hope toi reconsider," a dit Hitomiko,"Thank toi for your time. Oh, and Satsuki sans father? Please consider your daughters wants." and with that, Kira Hitomiko hung up the phone.
Satsuki sat on her lit with her mouth open, slowly pressing the end button on her phone. 
"Hokkaido," she said.
She thought of how long it had been since the last time she had gone. Eight? Nine years? Many memories left there, many to collect. Satsuki needed has to go, but she knew her father wouldn't let her. 
She sighed and looked at Fubuki and Atsuya's picture. Satsuki knew that it was about time she made decisions for herself and it was about time she saw her mother again.
Satsuki stood up, got her Raimon bag, and started to pack.

An heure later, Satsuki was dressed and packed to go to Hokkaido. The house was dark as she silently walked down the stairs. 
She felt bad for sneaking out of the house again, but she couldn't let her father control her life.
Satsuki walked through the foyer, towards the door. She reached out for the handle of the door when she felt something fall. Satsuki looked down to see a medium sized envelope that was filled with paper.
Satsuki squinted her eyes to see that it was marked to her from... Her father.
She looked at the contents plus closely to find that there were plane tickets and money. Satsuki slapped herself in the head. She had gotten so impatient that she had forgotten the tickets.
As she looked once plus on the envelope, a message was written on it.

"I don't want toi to continue playing football for reasons that toi have yet to find out, but I know that me telling toi not to play would do nothing. Please keep safe, Please! Know that I l’amour toi even though I seem to montrer that I don't care sometimes.
                                     Be safe,
                                    Your Father
P.S. Feel free to use all of the money."

Satsuki's eyes filled with tears as she wrote a note to her father.

"I promise to keep safe, arigato."
                                         Love,
                                        Satsuki

Satsuki called Hitomiko as she entered the airport. 
"I would like to rejoin Raimon," Satsuki a dit as Hitomiko answered the phone.
"Good," she answered,"We will arrive at Hakuren around the time toi arrive in Hokkaido. Call me again when toi land."
Satsuki hung up and breathed in. 
"So," she a dit aloud,"I am finally going back to where it all began."
Memories flew through her mind as she thought of what the suivant jour would bring, then entered the terminal.


How was part 19!? Hope everyone enjoyed!!!! Please, comment!!!