Innocence

Royal Capital, May 24th, 1921…

"Congratulations Mr. Isaac, it's a baby boy!" A nurse comes out of the emergency room to inform Isaac about the safe delivery of his first child.

"REALLY? CAN I MEET THEM?" Isaac screams enthusiastically.

"In a bit sir. Would you mind talking in a calmer tone? It is a hospital after all!" The nurse advises Isaac to lower his volume down.

"Oh yeah. Sorry…" Isaac apologizes with an awkward and sweaty expression on his face.

"Awkward as ever haha! It turned out fine just like I said! You worry a little too much Isaac. She went through so many years of war in her teenage years of all things yet she smiled all the way through like a strong girl. Now she can be a normal girl like she always wanted to. I still remember how she would talk about wanting a child with you at some point too. Although, I couldn't imagine passing up my daughter to anyone. But anyways, I knew my daughter would pull through!" The King pokes fun at Isaac for being a worrywart.

"Well, it is my first child after all… I've been doing so many preparations like buying suitable toys, preparing its room, etc…" Isaac replies to the King with a warm and calmer expression on his face with a sigh of relief.

"Haha, what about the child's name?" The King asks, to which Isaac only has a blank expression on his face.

"I knew something like this would happen. Don't worry, I came up with names beforehand. If it were a girl, I was thinking we could name her Heidi like my late grandmother. Now that it is revealed to be a boy, I was thinking we should name him Thomas like my old sensei from when I used to be a kid. How about that?" The King continues.

"I like that. Thanks sensei. Can't believe you've still got my back even though our days of training together have long ended." Isaac gives his words of appreciation.

"It's fine! And you can call me dad too ya know! I've been raising you like I would raise a son since you were a child. Now that you're married to my daughter, it makes all the more sense. Or better yet, you can call me bro since master and student technically end up becoming friends as the student grows up haha!" The King replies while patting Isaac's back strongly.

"I'll just stick to calling you my father or sensei… The age gap between us is too much to call you bro sensei…" Isaac replies with a bombastic side eye which makes the King sit at a corner with a depressed expression.

Just then came running M1ke, who was carrying a gift box in his hand.

"Yo! Sup sensei! Sup big bro! I've got a present for the little baby!" M1ke replies while being all sweaty.

"That's oddly considerate of you… I bet Mari gave you the idea didn't she?" The King and Isaac reply to M1ke simultaneously with a sarcastic expression.

"Ahaha… You guys got me! Anyways wanna know what's inside?!" M1ke exclaims.

"Sure…" The King and Isaac reply simultaneously again with a skeptical look in their eyes.

"It got a bunch of instant noodle cups, some latest edition comics I found at the store and some video games!" M1ke replies to the King and Isaac about the contents in the box.

Having expected disappointment beforehand, the King just facepalms while Isaac hits M1ke on the head and continues, "M1CHAEL! HE IS A KID! WHAT IS HE GONNA DO WITH ALL THIS??", to which, M1ke, with a nonchalant expression replies, "I dunno… Have fun?", which makes Isaac facepalm as well.

After about an hour, M1ke had to leave for duty again but asked Isaac to give his regards to Erina and her newborn child while the King fell asleep while waiting. It was finally time for Isaac to enter the room and reunite with his wife Erina after a whole week of being monitored.

"Can I come in…?" Isaac peeks through the door just slightly to get a look at Erina's face as she holds their baby in her hands.

"Of course! Come in! Look! It's a baby boy!" Erina replies with a big smile on her face.

"Haha, I got a cute bear plushie for our son!" Isaac replies back as he enters the room.

"Cute!!" Erina replies to Isaac again while pulling Isaac down by his collar towards herself and then holding the baby slightly upwards so it can see its father.

"It's your dad!" Erina continues while giving the child to Isaac so he can hold it as well.

"So cute…" Isaac starts tearing up upon holding his first child.

"Have you thought of a name?" Erina asks Isaac with a smile.

"Well, our baby's gramps got him covered! From here on out, our son will be called Thomas!" Isaac exclaims but the high volume of his tone of voice makes the baby cry.

"That's a nice name! Come baby Tommy! Dad's hands are too dirty for you to stay any longer in hehe!" Erina speaks up while taking baby Tommy back into her hands which immediately makes Tommy stop crying.

"Hey my hands aren't dirty! You're so damn childish!" Isaac replies with a pout.

"Heh, Tommy loves mama more!" Erina replies with a devilish grin on her face while looking back at Isaac.

Erina then pulls down Isaac by the collar again, gives him a short kiss on the lip and continues, "Thank you for being such a great husband… I really look forward to our lives as parents…"

Seeing the emotional look and smile on Erina's face, Isaac retains his calm expression back, lightly hugs both Erina and Tommy and replies with, "I look forward to it too…"

One year later…

"This rating can't be real… The binding energy potential in him exceeds that of a captain class soldier… Quite a special son I've got haha…" Isaac talks to himself with a sweaty expression and a smile while looking at Tommy playing with a ball.

Just then, Erina takes the plug out of Isaac's computer with an angry stare which startles Isaac into asking her, "What's up with the annoyed expression darling…?"

"You know exactly why I look annoyed! You hit our little Tommy with a syringe to check his energy readings didn't you? What if it caused him pain from the sting!? He's just a little child! Let me tell you this, don't even think about taking our son to the frontlines! I want him safe and sound and away from any war… Look what the last war did to us… I don't want our child to suffer the same way…

I always wished to be a normal girl… Just playing around with my dolls… Singing music… Sitting in a garden full of flowers and butterflies… Having fun with you, my lover… Making friends… Doing stupid things… And eventually marrying you and becoming a mother… Now that we have this normal life… Why twist things back to those memories of war that didn't let us live that normal life before… Why steal the normal childhood we dreamt of from our own son…? I just want him to grow strong but in peace… Not the frontlines…

I want him to be happy… I want him to feel loved... I want him to eat well. sleep well, study well and be healthy... I want him to smile all the time… Play with boys his age… Impress some girls… Do the same stupid things I wished to do… We can't steal that from him…" Erina replies while tearing up in sadness.

Upon seeing Erina cry, Tommy smiles and stands on his two feet and starts walking towards Erina to give his ball to her. On seeing Tommy take his first steps to console her, Erina starts smiling again, lifts Tommy into her arms, gives him a kiss on his forehead and continues, "You took your first steps because you saw mommy sad? So cute! My son is a gentleman! Unlike his father!"

After saying that, Erina looks back at Isaac, sticks her tongue out, pulls her lower eyelid down with a finger to taunt him and leaves. Isaac is left sweaty after that and heads out for some fresh air. On his way, he comes across M1ke who just says, "Sup!", to which, Isaac replies, "I'm not in the mood to talk right now M1ke…"

"Oh come on, don't be like that! Did something happen? You can tell me!" M1ke continues after seeing Isaac so sad.

"It's nothing…" Isaac replies back.

"You're usually smiling, even if awkwardly, of course something is going on if you're sad in times of peace! Tell me what's up! What are we bros for?" M1ke continues to nag Isaac into speaking up.

"Fine… It's just that I feel like I'm not good enough of a father… Today I was just checking up on how much binding energy potential Tommy has. Turned out it was higher than a captain class soldier while still being an infant… I got so excited about having another soldier that we forgot it is a time of peace… No child has to suffer on the frontlines anymore… I can't decide our kid's future into something so miserable when I was a child on the frontlines myself… And Erina scolded me for it… Rightfully so too… I wonder if I will ever be a good dad…" Isaac explains his situation to M1ke.

"Women… I will never understand them… It's not like big sis knows what Tommy wants to do yet either! If he chooses to be strong enough to protect himself and his family, she can't stop him, nor can you! Besides, that's just a toddler! He wouldn't know what's ahead until he is told about it! In times of desperation, those who don't adjust-" M1ke replies but gets interrupted by Isaac who continues, "Yes I know. Those who don't adjust are the first to die… But it is not the case anymore. We worked so hard for this peace so that children of today won't have to see what we did. That's it M1ke. Don't forget that."

Upon hearing Isaac out, M1ke remembers flashes of the past in an instant, frowns and replies, "You're right… But it still doesn't mean that you can't improve… All of us had to work to get where we are now… I think you'll figure this parenting gig out too big bro!"

"Honestly… Thanks M1ke… I couldn't ask for a better lil bro than you. I'll be the best dad ever!" Isaac gets fired up upon hearing M1ke's support for him.

"That's the spirit!" M1ke cheers Isaac on with pom-poms seemingly showing up out of nowhere.

From a distance, Mari just awkwardly smiles at how hard M1ke tries to cheer everyone on.

Two years after the birth of Tommy…

"He's here!" Isaac exclaims.

Erina comes rushing there and gets a sigh of relief when she sees Tommy just sleeping in the shed all along after she had been looking for him for hours. She lifts the sleepy Tommy up and starts heading home with Isaac.

"Sounds like you went through a lot today… Sorry I wasn't home!" Isaac speaks up to Erina.

"It's fine. Your work is important too. I didn't think kids were this mischievous… He almost jumped off the first floor to catch a butterfly today… Then he almost fell off the stairs he made out of boxes… Trying to catch him every time has started to make my back hurt…" Erina explains her troubles of the day.

"Reminds me of you honestly from what the King has told me about you haha…" Isaac replies with an awkward smile.

"No way! I was only catching birds and butterflies on the ground and happened to fall and hurt my knee sometimes! I fear heights! So I never jumped off a literal high place! He has got that part from you! Always jumping from high places whenever there is danger!" Erina replies back to Isaac with an annoyed expression.

"Whatever you say…" Isaac replies realizing it is not worth debating her at this hour of the night.

Three and a half years after the birth of Tommy…

"Look Tommy! It's your baby brother Oliver!" Erina shows her second child and Tommy's younger brother Oli to him.

"Woah! Can I hold him!" Tommy replies.

"Of course sweetie! Hold him gently!" Erina replies with a smile and tries helping Tommy hold Oli.

"Woah, he is so small!" Tommy continues, to which Erina replies, "Haha, you were very small as a baby Tommy!", to which, Tommy replies, "No way!", in disbelief.

After a few minutes, Tommy almost drops Oli but Erina catches him and falls flat onto the ground.

"Be more careful sweetie! Babies are really delicate!" Erina replies in a calm tone instead of scolding Tommy.

"Sorry…" Tommy replies, to which, she just replies back with, "It's fine! Be more careful with babies though!"

While trying to get up, Erina realizes her knee was sprained so Tommy immediately gets a medicinal spray out of the box nearby, sprays it onto her knee, ties his own handkerchief around it and says, "Pain will now go away thanks to the power of the hero! HAH!!"

Upon seeing Tommy's cute and caring attitude, Erina kisses Tommy on the forehead, gives him a pat on the head and replies, "My little hero!"

A few years later…

"I don't wanna be away from mommy!" Tommy screams and cries as the kindergarten teachers struggle to pull him back inside the school.

"Isey!! Can't we take our little Tommy back home!? He's clearly not ready to be away from us yet!!" Erina exclaims to Isaac with tears in her eyes upon seeing Tommy be sad on his first day to school.

"Leave him be! He'll learn to enjoy the place and make new friends! Every kid cries on his first day!" Isaac replies with an annoyed expression while pulling Erina out of the school area.

After Tommy's day of school was over, Erina rushed into Tommy's school to get Tommy back home immediately but couldn't resist smiling upon seeing Tommy have fun in the playground with his first new friend Stefan.

Stefan's mother then greets Erina and asks, "Is that charming young boy your son? He looks exactly like you! His silver hair and blue eyes like yours are so pretty."

"Haha, he gets everything from me, yeah. Thinking before acting runs in our blood… Our second son on the other hand, while he also has silver hair, his eyes are gold and his looks are more like his father's. He'll probably be very smart when he grows hehe!" Erina replies.

"Haha, cute! That kid next to him is mine. Seems like they get along well. Wanna meet up this weekend for a chat while they play?" Stefan's mom continues, to which, Erina enthusiastically replies with a "Yes!"

A year later…

"Ouch…" Tommy squeals after falling down while running and starts tearing up a bit while trying to stand.

"Are you okay Tommy!?" Erina exclaims while rushing to Tommy's aid.

"I'm fine! I have to keep practicing to win the sports meet at school!" Tommy replies back with a determined expression on his face.

"It is good to practice Tommy but it isn't good to overdo it!" Erina exclaims while patching up Tommy's knee and helping him stand up.

"But I will get a shiny trophy if I win!" Tommy continues to reply.

"I think you should just enjoy participating and making friends there. That's the charm of such events Tommy! It isn't always about winning! Mommy would be proud of her little Tommy anyway! And besides, if you get injured practicing like this before the event, you wouldn't be able to run on the day you've been practicing so hard for!" Erina explains.

Upon hearing Erina's explanation, Tommy nods and replies, "I'll make a lot of fast friends hehe!", to which Erina just smiles while lifting Tommy back home.

A few weeks later…

"And in the lead is Tommy! On no! He fell down! Two of his competitors are ahead of him now! Woah he is getting up! He is faster than ever! AND HE WON!" The announcer speaks out to the crowd the situation and the outcome of the sports event.

Tommy stood smiling as he got awarded the first place trophy for winning all events at first place as well as his medal for the marathon.

While Isaac is taking pictures, Oli and Erina rush towards Tommy and hug him.

"So cool big bwo!" Little Oli cheers his brother.

"I'm so proud!" Erina exclaims with tears in her eyes.

A few years later…

"But mom! That dog would've torn Oli's ball!" An injured Tommy replies but gets slapped by Erina only to be followed by an immediate hug as Erina, with tears in her eyes, exclaims, "Who cares about a stupid ball?! I can buy you both hundreds of those! You could've died fighting that dog Tommy! It was wild and it was twice your size! What would mommy do if she lost you? You should pick your battles more carefully Tommy! I get it you didn't want Oli sad but you could've called an adult!"

Upon seeing his mother cry, Tommy tears up and replies, "But I can't just stand there if it were Oli in danger though right…? It would be shameless of me to run away if he were in danger… To Oli, the ball was no less than a friend… He even drew a face on it… If it is his friend, it is my friend too… A hero cannot run if lives are on the line!"

On seeing Tommy's resolve, Erina, in her head, was really impressed but didn't show it. She simply pulls Tommy's ear and exclaims, "Yeah a hero has to save lives! But that is a ball! Not a human! No TV for you for a week!"

Tommy starts crying about the punishment while Erina just sighs and continues, "I'll take the punishment back if next time, you choose your battles carefully! No hero ever indulges in battle in such straightforward ways! Sometimes, more than strength, you gotta be smart!"

Tommy gets stars of inspiration in his eyes, hugs Erina and replies, "I'll never do it again mom… I'll be a smart hero…", to which, Erina's expression on her face gets calmer, she hugs Tommy back, pats him on the head and continues, "Now that's my good son. Now that my little boy has learned his lesson, I will make his favorite food!"

Tommy cheers up again and screams, "Yay!", while Erina smiles and heads to the kitchen.

Another year later…

"Head to sleep now you two! And don't watch that horror movie! You'd get nightmares!" Erina says to Oli and Tommy as she clears the dinner table.

"Yes mama!" The two reply as they head to bed.

As soon as everyone had slept, Tommy and Oli sneaked out with a devilish grin to watch the horror movie. Just like Erina had warned them, they were so scared that they couldn't sleep.

Just then, they hear footsteps and run to Erina's room. Following them was a strange dark figure thinking to himself, "Ahaha, the two royal family children… They will fetch a good ransom…"

Just then, his shoulder was grabbed by Erina with a scary expression on her face which could even be seen from the dark as she hit the kidnapper's gut with her knee.

The kidnapper then exclaims silently, "What is a frail woman gonna do to me!? I am a skilled assassin as well!. Once I land a blow on you, your cells would lose their connective force and you'll be a pile of blood thanks to my technique you royal slut!"

"Are you done yapping? Have you not heard of my feats in the war? I am who they called the 'Vicious Firefly'. Too bad someone who is less than a villain of the week like you wouldn't get to remember this while being alive more than a few moments after I am done talking." Erina explains to the assassin the grave danger he was in as her eyes glow with blue and blue flames surround her fists.

"I'll make this quick and soundproof… Radioactive Atom Disruption…" Erina continues as she punches the assassin at what seemed like the speed of light itself and causes him to burst into blue sparkling dots and disappear.

"With that handled, I should head to the boys. They must be scared…" Erina thinks to herself with a worried expression and rushes into her room.

Upon her entering the room, for a moment, Tommy and Oli get scared but as soon as she switches the lights on, the two get a sigh of relief as Erina lifts the two of them gently, puts them onto the bed and says, "I knew you two would sneak out and watch that film. Don't worry. Mommy has got you two covered from any sort of danger. Now don't either of you dare to disobey me again or I will ground both of you for a month!"

Tommy and Oli gulp, nod and fall asleep.

9 years after Tommy's birth…

"Who's that cute girl you were talking to over there?" Erina asks Tommy while picking him up from school.

"That's Yoko. I met her recently. She had no friends so I thought I would play with her." Tommy replies.

"Aww, my cute little gentleman! So! Do you want her to be your girlfriend?" Erina asks Tommy with a devilish grin.

"It's nothing like that!" Tommy exclaims and pouts.

"Haha, oh well! I was gonna help you impress her! But if you're not into her, then what's the point?" Erina teases Tommy with this reply.

"Wait! Tell me!" Tommy exclaims again.

"But you're not into her! Why bother?" Erina continues teasing her son.

"No fair! Fine, I will do it myself! Who needs your help!" Tommy continues.

"He's growing up fast… In no time, he'll have a girlfriend… Then Oli too… Then they'd both pass college and marry those girlfriends… And then I would have cute little grandchildren… I can only imagine how cute Tommy and that girl Yoko's children would look…" Erina starts daydreaming a little too far into the future.

Royal Capital, May 24th, 1931… The day of the castle fire…

"How long do I have to keep my eyes closed mom!" Tommy exclaims while Erina has her hands on his eyes while helping him walk.

"Just a little bit more!" Erina exclaims as she takes Tommy into a dark room.

As soon as the lights are on, she takes her hands off of Tommy's eyes as everyone screams, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY TOMMY!!"

Tommy gets a huge smile on his face and hugs his parents for organizing a whole party for him. Many royal family members were present there. Music was playing, tons of food was present, Isaac and M1ke were chatting with their war buddies, Erina was talking to her old friends and the friends she made with the mothers of the children Tommy was friends with. Tommy was just playing with his friends.

Everything was going really well until the ground started shaking, the lights went out and soon a castle wide fire followed…

Knights ran into the party hall and started evacuating everyone alongside M1ke and Isaac. Above all chaos in the castle, on top of the tallest tower stood Sina in a black cloak.

Isaac, who had just come out of the building, stares at Sina in shock and rage as he screams, "HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!? WAS RUINING MY CHILDHOOD NOT ENOUGH THAT YOU'RE AFTER MY KIDS TOO!? IT DOES NOT MATTER! I WILL MAKE SURE YOU DIE PROPERLY THIS TIME!!"

"Oh don't be so rude! I was just bringing your child some… Fireworks Isaac!" Sina replies emotionlessly as ever.

Shattering the ground in a fit of rage, Isaac transforms into pure electricity and zips to have a duel of swords with Sina into the sky. The duel heads into the forest after which, neither of them were found ever again…

While the knights were still busy evacuating the palace, Tommy was also helping them but the smoke and fire had suddenly spiked up even more. As Tommy was helping a cat get out of the fire, he couldn't notice a giant pillar about to fall right on his head.

Having noticed Tommy still wasn't out but Oli at least was, Erina recklessly rushed into the burning castle paying no heed to any of the burns her skin was contracting at the time. She screamed Tommy's name through the hallways to look for him until she found him and saw he was about to get hit by a pillar.

Without even wasting a single second, Erina ran into Tommy's direction and pushed him away from being hit by the pillar. The pillar ends up hitting and breaking her back which makes it difficult for her to move.

Tommy screams and tries to help his mother get up but she pushes Tommy ahead again only to get the lower half of her body crushed by the fallen ceiling from above.

"I'm sorry Tommy… I wanted to see you and Oli grow up being happy and healthy… I wanted to be there for you both at your worst and best times of your lives… I thought 'So what if I couldn't be a normal girl or daughter… I would still be a great mother…' but even that wasn't something I could have… I wanted you to have the childhood I couldn't… I wanted to protect you from the dangers I went through… I wanted to see you go through with becoming a great hero and marry that Yoko girl… I wanted to see my grandchildren with my own eyes…

I wanted to see my boys be silly and keep smiling… I guess I just couldn't accept that our peaceful little bubble of happiness together would break like this… I am sorry to you too Isaac… I couldn't be there to keep our promise of me being there for you until the end of our lives… I still remember how we first met and how you saved me at the bridge… How we grew up together… How we were there for each other at the worst of times… How you always saved me… How we made it through the war…

It was like yesterday when I was in my dad's lap… Like yesterday when me and Isaac had our first kiss… Like yesterday when we got married… Like yesterday my little boys were sleeping in my arms… How did you both grow so fast… How did it all come to an end so fast… In these final moments… I wish I could live a little… longer…" All of Erina's memories flash into her mind in her final moments as her body continued to get crushed by the weight of the ceiling and her breathing was continuously stopping from all the smoke.

"Tommy… Mama is sorry she cannot be there to see you grow… But promise me… You'll grow into a strong, fine and brave young man… Be the hero you always wanted to be for mama… Never give up on your dreams no matter what anyone says to you… I will always believe in you… Be alive for me… I love you…" Erina spoke her last words by using the last of her strength to speak to and embrace Tommy for one last time before going completely cold and inanimate, ready to shake hands with death itself.

Even surrounded with heat, Tommy could tell how cold his mother's embrace had gotten upon her death. Unable to accept it, Tommy let out a loud and long scream that said, "NOOOOOOO!!!!"

His body started to autonomously emit tons of dark binding energy which extinguished the fire and smoke around him and burst into the sky. Having seen such an enormous burst of binding energy, the knights at the castle rushed to the location to find Erina dead and Tommy unconscious and still breathing, with the location being the only widespread area of the castle that was no longer affected by the fire.

A random moment of time in the ten years Tommy knew his mother…

"But isn't piano for girls!? A hero like me can't play something like that!!" Tommy exclaims to Erina who is pulling him towards the grand piano while also exclaiming, "You wouldn't know until you try! A hero can have a hobby too ya know! It isn't about being a girl or a boy!"

After having pushed Tommy into the room, Erina locks the door but Tommy starts crying about missing an episode of his favorite TV show. Erina just sighs and starts playing the piano after numerous attempts to stop Tommy from crying.

Upon hearing how elegantly Erina was playing the piano, Tommy was mesmerized by the tune and how pretty his mom looked while playing the piano. As soon as she was done, she asked Tommy how it was, to which, with hype, he replied, "I loved it! I wanna learn piano!"

The next few days, Erina sat alongside Tommy and helped him hand-to-hand to learn how to play it. She seemed really proud and happy with how happy Tommy was when playing it and how fast he learned it. Within a few years, Tommy was already playing it like an expert at the school talent event and won.

Upon finishing his tune, the crowd cheered on loudly while Erina hugged her son for such an amazing display with tears in her eyes.

Playing the piano was one of the many habits Tommy took from Erina that he continued daily… As his young hands from when he was eight played the piano, we finally return to eleven year old Tommy's master class recital of Beethoven's 'Moonlight Sonata' alone in the music room of the school.

From the door, Yoko was peeking at how awesome it was to see Tommy play the piano. As soon as Tommy had finished, Yoko entered the room clapping and saying, "I never knew you could play the piano so well."

Tommy looks back at Yoko with a gentle smile and replies, "Yeah… My mom used to give me piano lessons by force but at some point I really started to enjoy it… It's one of the last marks she left on me…"

As Tommy continued speaking, his face looked slightly depressed, on seeing that, Yoko simply sat next to him with her head on Tommy's shoulder and her arms wrapped around his waist as she continued, "She really taught you well… I wish I could see more of the mother who shaped such a charming boy like you… But you're not alone… I'll always cheer you on… Ya know… I never knew my parents… And you lost yours a year ago… I get how it feels…"

Tommy was shocked to hear what Yoko said and pats her on the head.

"I didn't know that… I'm sorry… I can't tell how it feels to have no parents to begin with… But I can tell you've been strong too all this time… I can't fill their gap… But I promise you… I'll try my best to not let you feel lonely…" Tommy continues.

"Me too… I love you…" Yoko replies back with tears in her eyes after hearing Tommy's words of reaffirmation.

Tommy then notices Yoko's broken arm and out of guilt from the incident where he unknowingly pushed her hard onto a wall recklessly a few days ago, he frowns and says, "But I put you in danger… I hurt you… I don't think I deserve your love after all that… Wouldn't it be best if you were with someone who can actually protect you…?"

Yoko then continues, "It is in the past Tommy. The situation was really… Different… If you hadn't stepped up, I would probably not be alive… So I am grateful to you for that and the numerous other times you saved me… Whatever it was, we'll get through that memory together… One or two rash things don't mean you should give up…"

The next period's bell then rings and Yoko says it is time for her class so she has to leave but before that, she gives Tommy a kiss on his cheek.

Tommy simply kept sitting there thinking to himself, "One year ago… I couldn't save mom… So I vowed I would protect Yoko with all I have… But I put her in danger… I know she doesn't feel bad… But I can never forgive myself for it… It was all because of that guy who killed Petra… And that Sina guy who was why mom died… It is because of criminals like them that innocent people like Yoko, Mom and Petra get hurt or die… What did my mom ever do to deserve this… Mom… She took so much care of me… She never let me hurt… She loved me and Oli more than anyone or anything... She was there for me every time I was scared or about to lose it… She was innocent and beautiful… Her smile… She lost her life to save me... I cannot allow any more of this…"

As Tommy recalls the good and innocent memories of the times he was with his close and loving mother, his eyes get filled with rage and his teeth start gritting again. His fists start clenching harder than ever, while his body starts shaking in agony.

"I will make sure… You suffer… Sina… You took such innocent lives who deserved nothing but the best from the world… YOU WILL WISH YOU WERE NEVER BORN!!!" Tommy's thoughts rush in a fit of rage as he walks out of the school with a look determined to extinguish Sina once and for all.

To be continued in Chapter - 17...