Mom

The air around Noe stills and the bodies surrounding him fall away. White ringing swallows Vivian's figure as her hair slashes through the scene in her legged sprint to catch up to the Prime Minister. Split-ends matt her head. Vivian's forlorn heel swings dastardly in her hand. Muscle contortions and disbelief paint Noe's face all colors of tumbling shock.

"It's okay. Breathe," rubbing his back, Daniel soothes Noe.

Noe's attention lugs upon Daniel. "There's no way you can see my face from behind me. Can... can you sense my emotions too?"

Suddenly, the world explodes into a mayhem of bodies colliding, voices chanting, and firecrackers lit.

"Come on. We have to catch up to her." Daniel takes Noe's hand and leads him down the route Vivian took. The crowd had the same idea and tried to follow the Prime Minister but Feng Mian manages to hold them back.

Staring at Daniel, Noe comfortably walks as the man is in a full sprint ahead. Noe snaps out of it and pulls Daniel into his arms. The world blurs as Noe runs as fast as a bullet, catching up to Vivian in seconds.

His mother has turned to taking pictures as the Prime Minister and her crew enters a helicopter and lift off the ground. Panting, she wipes the beads of sweat from her face.

She dusts herself off and rises from the ground. Looking down into her camera, she sighs when the pictures she has captured fail to reach her standard.

"Mother," Noe calls her.

"Keep quiet," she responds.

Noe complies and waits for her to turn around. Daniel worms out of Noe's arms when she does not, shivering at the loss of heat, before gently tapping the woman on her faded suit-shoulder.

Frustration takes over; as she pivots, her remaining heel snaps, falling from its base beneath her foot.

"What is-" her breath hitches in her throat. "Noe?" her eyes see through Daniel and gape at Noe's towering form. "It can't be you, right?" Her camera clatters to the floor.

"Mom," Noe steps forward.

"I-It can't be you." Clutching at her head and further displaying her hair, Vivian whispers, "This is just another hallucination." She srunches her eyes closed.

"Mom, it's no-"

"HAGHHH!" Vivian screams, a cry drowned by the chaos of the crowd. Noe's neck stands on edge and he shivers feverishly.

Knocking at her temples with her fists, Vivian collapses.

Daniel catches her before she hits the ground. Taking her wrist, Daniel checks her pulse, "She fainted from shock but should recover soon. Let's get her somewhere safe."

"I'll taker her," Rosalind appears from behind them. Without hesitation, she takes Vivian into her arms and begins stalking back to Daniel's apartment.

"Rosalind..." Feng Mian trails behind her, hand covering her mouth in sympathy.

"Don't you dare pity me." Rosalind casts a side-eye back at Feng Mian, "You know nothing."

In his hyperaware state, Noe's eyes zero in on the myriads of posters pasted across the street and hanging in stores.

MURDER MADE LEGAL. IS KAMIYAMA INSANE?! READ MORE HERE.

POPULATION AT AN ALL TIME HIGH WHILE WESTVILLE CITY CONGESTION AT AN ALL TIME LOW. FIND OUT WHY.

TIRED OF BEING UGLY? USE MAKE-UP TO HIDE YOUR BLEMISHES.

LIFE IS HARD. IF YOU FEEL LIKE YOU CAN'T GO ON, GIVE UP. WE CAN HELP YOU DO IT.

SCHOOL FEES TO RISE BY 300% IN 2080.

THE TRUTH BEHIND THE DEATH OF 'CHOI' IN 'KAMIYAMA AND CHOI'.

The disturbing letters disappear as the group reaches Daniel's apartment complex.

"Put her in my room," Daniel instructs as they flurry into the living room. Vivians arms swing as Rosalind walks.

Rushing into the bathroom, Daniel emerges with a loose, white, cotton robe that resembles a hospital gown in his hand.

Feng Mian takes the robe, a jug of water is in her other hand, and follows Rosalind into Daniel's room, shutting the door behind them.

"I don't feel good," Noe clutches his stomach as he sits down.

"You're worried. Don't worry, it's completely normal," Daniel sits beside him, sinking into the thick, green couch. Unconsciously, he takes a deep breath in. "It smells nice," he sighs in content.

"That's my scent," Noe tells him.

Clearing his throat, Daniel sits up and asks, "Does your mother have a history of other medical conditions?"

"Aside from being overstressed, she was always healthy. We ate mostly fruits and vegetables and ran together every morning and evening because running was one of the only things I enjoyed doing. Even when I wouldn't respond to her, she would always speak and have chamomile tea with me at night - she said that it fought against bad dreams. Our walls were packed with black and white portraits I had done. Every room had art supplies for me. Sometimes, when I couldn't sleep for days on end, she would stay awake with me and tell me stories about... I can't remember, I never used to pay attention long enough to get the storyline. I just remember that her voice sometimes helped me fall asleep. Most of all, when she was angry at me or frustrated because of something I'd done, she'd never raise her voice - she'd just smile and tell me I did well. Now, all I do is cause her stress still." Noe curls into himself, "I'm not even half of the person she is."

Daniel holds Noe close to him and lets him fly through the valley of emotions he is feeling. Only after he has felt can he begin to heal.

Half an hour passes by before Daniel finally speaks, "Your mother loves you very much. I know you feel as if you've let her down, and that's why you didn't go and see her, but you are so far from the truth. I have no doubt that you are the brightest moment of her life. When you went missing, she never stopped looking for you for a moment. You gave her fuel to keep going even when everyone else told her to stop. A love that powerful knows nothing of disappointment. For what it's worth, in my eyes, you look like plenty already."

Noe inhales a long-awaited breath.

The door slides open.

Peeling themselves away from each other, Noe looks toward Rosalind.

"She wants to see you," Rosalind tiredly tells Noe before trudging into her own room.

Feng Mian's whispers waft out the open door as Noe stands. She is trying to convince Vivian to drink some water. Stepping into the door frame, Noe stands there for a moment.

At the sound of his footsteps, Vivian sits up to guage him.

The lights are on, gently caressing the fear in Noe's black gaze.

"Is this real?" she extends a trembling hand to him. Her white, cotton gown softly brushes her movements.

"Mom." Noe stalks over to her and engulfs her in his arms. "It's me. It's really me."

"Oh, my boy. Where have you been?" tears well in Vivian's eyes as she pulls him away to look into his eyes and check the number of fingers he has, smiling when she reaches ten. "My baby."

Reaching up, Noe's chunky form engulfs her again as the two share the relief of reconciliation. Her arms, gripping him tightly, slowly loosen until they drift down to her sides.

"Mom?" Noe views the limpness of her face and limbs. "Mom?!" he shouts.

"It's okay. She has just fallen asleep. She must have been exhausted," Daniel tells him, having rushed to his side at the first sign that fatigue was consuming her. "You can stay here with her. Feng Mian, let's," he gestures to the door.

"Thank you," Noe speaks. Sitting beside her, Vivian's hand is between his two, but Noe is alone with his thoughts.

For six hours, he remains deathly still.

In the warmth of Daniel's apartment, Vivian begins to stir. "Noe?" she calls without having opened her eyes. Helping her sit up, Noe hands her a glass of water and she gladly accepts. Finally unzipping here eyelids, Noe's concerned face floods her vision.

Vivian places her hand on his cheek and says, "My baby isn't this cold. Is something the matter?" She swipes a loose tear from his cheek.

"I know how to control it now," he tells her.

"Is that where you went? To find out about what you are?"

Noe nods.

"Have you been eating well? You've grown so big. I thought I'd never get to see you grow into the man you are," she coughs and Noe helps her take another sip of water.

Vivian gently caresses his hair and Noe nestles into her lap.

"I'm sorry for worrying you, Mom."

"Oh, my baby. You never need to apologize to me," she smiles. "I think I always used to tell you this story when you were younger but I'll be more truthful now. After I had finished university, there was nowhere for me to go. The economy had no jobs open yet my family was pressuring me to find a place to work. To them, my whole life had been leading up to the moment I found employment but there was nothing to tether me to the world when I failed to live up their expectations.

"For six months, I had been planning how to leave the world in a way that my loved ones would not be too affected when I left. But, when I was climbing the stairs to get to the bridge between my life and death, I couldn't walk anymore. Something told me to sit down, and I did. To call an ambulance, and I did. To raise the miracle baby in my belly, and I did. I think the being, devil or not, who gave you to me wanted me to live so badly that they blessed me with the most precious present ever. They gifted me you.

"Hearing that I was with child and there was no father to be seen, and without believing my story, my religious parents left me a piece of their fortune, enough to make sure you and I could live a comfortable life, before removing me from the family registry. With no job and no other family to speak of, when you were born, your happiness became the sole reason I existed.

"It was tough, really tough, but it never truly felt hard because it was you, my child. When you were six, the government began an intiative where every person over the age of eight would be tested for physical and mental ability. Although Autism rarely affects intelligence, I knew they would strip you of your privileges because all that mattered was reducing the city's population. To make sure your doctor wouldn't make a report when I didn't send you for the test, I stopped your treatment the following year.

"You have to understand that you are my world. So, when I heard you disappeared from Sympathy Boarding School, I completely believed this could not have been by any other hand than the Prime Minister's - the person who made sure you could not get into any other school but that demented boarding house. Piecing together every last piece of information I could find, I ended up a reporter. At a time when there was no hope left in my life, you came along. You are my everything, Noe, and I would do anything to protect you; even send you away."

Noe's teardrops evaporate before they have a chance to drench Vivian's gown. Vivian continues to caress Noe's hair and her child falls asleep to another story - this time, the story of a mother and her miracle child going on an adventure to the unknown.