Oh Yeah? Well, Here’s Your Perfect

[TAMIKO]

"What the hell are you doing?" Lord Sadako asked his brother who was starting at Tamiko while spewing the things that could either turn out so well for them or very terrible for them. It was so unexpected but then they had waited for this for so long.

"She was not a wallflower, and I wouldn't have minded if she was. Her heart won me over the first time and years later, I can only ever think of that beautiful smile. Your mother was happiness materialized. There was never an evil bone in her body. 

"She was good, maybe too good for this world because of what happened to her. But she was the best thing that Kawai had seen in the longest time. She was perfect, someone everyone wanted to interact with. 

"Power never meant shit to her, because she believed that we were a community. A community that could learn to live in love and blend in. My Liana was the queen of hearts, the best of all creation. 

"She was so kind-hearted that even the worst of the worst criminals in Kawai loved her. The devil bowed before her because she was that pure. Even the moon knows that she deserved to be loved. And we loved my Lili so much. I loved her. 

"So much, with everything I had and didn't have. She introduced me to a world that I never thrived in. She was the only reason I woke early to work, because I wanted to come back to her. She made me want to be a good person. 

"She made my life the best of them all. I was the luckiest person with my Liana. It was not hard to love her though, because she was what humanity represented. Some even said she was the light to my darkness, but if we're being honest, my Lili was the light to everyone in Kawai. 

"She listened. She loved. She cherished, and she was selfless up until the end. Y'know when she was pregnant, she made me sing, something that I never did. She made me learn songs with the other Lycans, and forced me into a band because she wanted our child to know happiness from his father.

"Lili always knew what to do and when to do it. She wanted our child to have a normal life, to be free like the kids in Kawai did. Lili made Kawai a place where people wanted to be. 

"The factions knew how cruel I was, but they knew that with Lili home, they could come over and experience Kawai. It's just unfortunate that I lost her. I should have protected her better, I should have been there for her, but I failed. 

"Losing her was the greatest failure in my life. Maybe that was the first time that darkness really came over Kawai. But I knew and know your mother well, Hinata. I knew her better than anyone ever did. 

"I could go on all day and talk to you about your mother, tell you about what a beauty Queen Liana Hinata was and I wouldn't ever get tired of it. My Liana was everything," King Zaffuto said, so lost in the beauty of the only woman who ever found a way into his heart, the one who made him feel like he was worth every effort out there. 

Queen Liana made him feel like he was not just a king, but a man who could be adored, someone who was worthy of all the love in the world. She was the light in his life and when she died, everything took a turn for the worse.

"She must have been a beautiful woman… your erasthai," Tamiko said after a long silence. He had always read the books about his mother and hearing it all from the lips of his father, the man who had known her best, made Tamiko's heart swell with pride and joy.

He may not have known his mother but whatever he had heard over the years was proof enough that she was someone the world would fight for regardless of what happened along the way.

"Hinata…"

"So, what you're trying to say here and now, is that you're my father?" Tamiko asked for the invoice. Denial was something that he despised and despite knowing the king was his father all this time, he was feeling a lot of things from the admission.

"I am," the king confirmed.

"Kosta, you come with me," Lord Sadako said and before the chief could get up, Tamiko stopped them.

"There's no need to leave us here. You all already knew he was my father and didn't care to push him, right? Anyway, as I was saying, your highness. Your little confession was heartwarming, but it doesn't change the fact that I belong in Grealor," Tamiko insisted.

Lord Sadako didn't understand the sudden change. He had been there when Tamiko hoped to know if he had a father or a mother, he had heard the kid be so hopeful that today it was surprising them.

"What do you mean, Tamiko? You always wanted a family, and you got one. Your father loves you. He has missed you the entire time. He cares for you and you know it too. What could be the problem, kid?" Lord Sadako asked earnestly and Tamiko scoffed defeatedly.

"You think I didn't know that he was my father when I first came to Kawai? You think that encounter with you was just by chance? You think I didn't know that my father was the big bad king and that my mother was the great queen of hearts? Unbelievable.

"I had nothing. I lived in Grealor, suffering at the hands of the powerful because I couldn't come home. I went through all kinds of shit and still managed to figure out who my parents were... With no resources whatsoever.

"I was the lowest of the low in Grealor… Hell, I still am. I am the outcast that is meant to please everyone, and one who never gets to say no because Grealor will always need its favorite overworked slave. 

"I did my homework and found out a lot about myself and my parents. I had nothing and no help with the search, and yet I beat you all to it. I figured something that you all should have. You, the great and mighty king, couldn't even figure out where your son was. 

"With all the resources in Kawai? Everyone talks about how advanced Kawai is and how perfect the Kawai trackers are, and yet for twenty-five whole years… twenty-five… None of you could find me. None of you. I was in pain and suffering daily because no one could come and save me. 

"Everyone knows how the great mighty king was affected when he lost his heir and his erasthai, but no one thinks of the boy who had to suffer when daddy dearest was barely miles away, right? Anyway, don't worry yourself. 

"I am going to leave Kawai and if you try to stop me, I'll spend the rest of my life hating you, your highness. And you will never see me again. Excuse me, I have to prepare for my exit, unless you want me gone now," Tamiko said defiantly, letting the trio see his anger for the very first time since they knew him. 

It was scary as shit, and the worst part of all of this was that he was right. 

They had failed him.