Twinkle's Story: Chapter 17

*Hi, readers. Guess what? There's no bloody violence in this chapter! So you don't have to worry about that. Yay! :)*
*Ugh! I haven't posted a new chapter in SOO long. I really want to make lots more chapters before school starts. Busy schedule. Ugh! >.<*
*Contains some*
 If you want to ship Duke and Twinkle (Y'know combine the 2 names, or whatever), it's 'Dukle'. Tehe. Meep. :3
*Well... Enjoy! ^.^*
*Sorry guys. There's no 'Duke's view' in this chapter. Don't worry. There'll be both views in the next chapter. Stay tuned! ^o^*

TWINKLE

A week has passed since that tragic day. The day when I went to heaven. The day when I supposedly died. I giggle to myself as I remember Duke's reaction when he saw me sitting in the hospital bed right after I exited the light, heaven. He was the first one to notice that I'm not dead. Honestly, the thought that I was dead before; my spirit, my soul being the only part of me still alive, terrifies me. It sends shivers down my spine. But what terrifies me even more is that Duke was the first one to notice me. Why didn't my parents? I remember what happened that day perfectly. But then again. How could I possibly ever forget it?:

All of their heads were down. It looked like they were mourning me. I guess Duke never lost hope; faith. I bet he could never believe that I was dead. I also heard aggravated muttering between sniffs of my father's voice. "Duke, will you quit it? Twinkle is now dead. Dead. Do you expect her to be revived, or something? Be real!" My parents then whispered to each other. Like it's the most urgent news they've heard in their lives. I just rolled my eyes, tired from smiling for a few minutes without anyone noticing that I'm not dead.

 And what Duke replied back was shocking news to me. "No, sir. I don't care if your her parents, her neighbors, or criminals for all I care. I don't care about who you are. 'Cause I'll never lose my faith in Twinkle- even if you two have lost that faith. You've let it go, but I'll never. I'll never, ever let go of that tiny glimpse of hope. Not even in a million, billion years. Because I know she's not dead. Because my entire life depends on me holding on to that tiny glimpse of hope. And even when I do actually die, I still won't ever let go of that tiny glimpse of hope. Not even when our world is in complete destruction. Because you know what? I'm the eternal flame that will never die out. I'll never let that tiny glimpse of hope die out, either. I am fire. And I could just as easily make you realize that." Duke then held his paws out a certain way, claws outstretched. Dark orange flames shot out from each tip of his claws. It looked completely dangerous. Like he could set the room on fire, if he wanted to. I cocked my head to the side as I sat there on the hospital bed. They still hadn't noticed me yet. But it's a strange type of danger. Like it's dangerous and protective at the same time. And as I stared at the tiny flames originating from Duke's claws, another thought came to me. Does this mean we also have powers? I haven't shot out any ice from my claws yet. Do I even get powers? What if only Duke does? What if mine's something totally different? Tons more 'what if' questions bubble in my head. Even today. As I stared into the tiny flames, seeing the embers, something else came to mind. The flames are dangerous, yet they are beautiful. And Duke is just the same. He then finally turned his head towards the hospital bed. He then walked closer to the hospital bed. Right in front of me.

I think I saw his face before he could even make sense of what was before him. Me. I giggle at the thought. His paws were leaning on his cheeks, his claws still shooting out fire. Duke must've been crying his heart out, or something because behind the fire was water. Water from his own tears. It looked epic, alright. I then raised a paw sheepishly, and waved. "Hi, Duke." I remember saying softly. I think I wanted to say something else, but Duke cut me off. Why did I suddenly sound all nervous and embarrassed? I lowered my waving paw again. The fire stopped shooting out of his claws. He rubbed his wet eyes, and then blinked a few times. He then stared intensely into my eyes. My lively eyes. It made me nervous for some unexplained reason, so I cleared my throat. Then Duke said, "Whoa... whoa. So I was right all along. Twinkle's not dead. Haha! And you thought I was wrong!" He looked at my parents, then back at me. For that brief moment when he wasn't looking at me, I felt like I lost something. I smiled, suddenly a bit shy. He continued talking to me. "Oh my Zios, I'm actually right! You are still living- somehow." Duke glances back towards my parents, then back at me again.  When I realized they weren't looking in this direction as well, I turned back to looking at Duke. He looked at my feet that were hanging off the side of the hospital bed where I was sitting all the way to the tips of my ears. I expected Duke to then apologize for that argument we had on the Tall Tower's roof all those weeks ago. But he didn't.

Instead, he lowered his voice. So much that I didn't think my parents could overhear him. And he spoke in a serious yet calm voice. "Twinkle.." I gave him a questioning look and asked, "Yeah?" He took a deep breath and said, "Twinkle, did you hear what I said to you before?" I asked, "What? When?" He continued, "A few minutes ago... Wait never mind. You were dead then. My bad." Confused, I said, "If you're referring to you never losing hope of me possibly being alive, which I am, then yes. And yes, Duke. I also saw the fire that shot out of your claws..." He interrupts me. "No. Not that. You did hear that, didn't you?" I nodded my head. "I'm talking about what I said before that. Anything?" I shook my head, not knowing what Duke was talking about. "Well, okay then. Long story short, I said that I'm sorry for everything I did to you that was bad," So he did apologize. But wait, there was more than one bad thing? Huh? ,"and... and.... Hey, remember what I said to you that first night we, uh.. started going out? To the umm... Tall Tower's roof? I told you, 'I don't care if you die tomorrow, as long as I love you today'. Well, I've realized something. All this time being separated from you has made me realize that I was wrong when I said that. So does the fact that you actually did die. Because I do care if you're gone, dead, basically anything. And I admit, I didn't really make you 'live your life'. Haha, spending nights on a tall building's roof sure is the life. Haha." He suddenly paused, like he was expecting me to say something. "What? Oh, right. Yeah, I remember. That night, even though it was raining, was amazing. Like magical, mystical rain." I giggled, a bit embarrassed. Duke smiled. "Ha. Look at that. I thought the same way."

 Duke softened his voice even more, so it's barely more than a whisper. He then moved even closer to where I was sitting on the hospital bed. We're then even more eye-level to each other. Duke still standing up; me still sitting down. I then saw a bright fire burning in his eyes, making his eyes an orange-brown color. Like the color amber, but more intense. An intense color- if that's even possible. Or maybe it was just the moment that made it intense. Duke whispered, "Twinkle, do you want to know the last thing I said to you before? That last sentence?" Silence followed. Duke broke the silence. "Well, do you?" The heat of the moment made me go silent. I stammered, a few awkward seconds later, "Umm... uh.... Sure. What... What did you say?" Duke didn't say a single word after that. Well, regarding my question.  I just blankly stared back at him. I gave him another questioning look. When I blinked open my eyes again, I noticed that he moved somewhere else. It didn't take long for me to realize where he went. I didn't even turn my head around at the sound of the voice. In my ear, I hear his voice. He then says the last sentence. "I love you...." I then felt something from my lower ear going slowly down to my jawbone. It didn't take long for me to realize what it was, either. Claws, still warm from the fire that shot out of them, heated the fur on my cheek even more. So it wasn't me just blushing that made my face feel warm. Then, something else on my cheek. I felt Duke's breath on my cheek as I heard him finish the sentence. ".... Twinkle."

So what else happened over this week? Well, a few doctors helped my body. Heal, or something. Whatever. The most important part was that afterwards, the doctors told me that my body isn't as fragile anymore. Like I don't have that 'higher chance of dying' anymore. From what Dr. Fox told me when I was in the other hospital. I bet it's just because I actually did die. Even if it was for under five minutes. And based on what I've seen in heaven, which means I'm dead if I'm there, and from what Duke said throughout the week, it sure did feel like it was way over five minutes. When I told Duke that he said, "Five minutes? Really? You sure, Twinkle?" I nodded my head, a small smile on my face. "Then you've got to be kidding me! I swear, it felt like you were dead for at least half an hour. Wow." I then agreed with him on that. And they also told me I'm not required to wear these clothes anymore. They still allow me to, which makes me feel relieved. I don't want to get rid of these yet. Not just yet.

And then there's yesterday. We were hanging out in the therapy room where Duke's been sleeping these past nights. I have no idea why he wants to sleep over at a strange hospital so badly, though. He doesn't have any mental issues in his head, last time I checked. I shrug. Maybe he's staying over because he can't stand going all the way to almost the other side of fox territory, and coming back here every day. Or maybe it's because he can't go back. Going back means going back home. Home, and now Sparkle's house, means Duke's mother. And if he wants to stay alive, he knows better than to go back. I conclude that it's probably that reason why he's staying here. In the therapy room, we were sitting in the chairs there.

Then, Duke put a paw in one of his pockets. He took out the same phone he used to call 9-1-1. He touched the screen of his phone; a bright light turned on. Before he could exit out of the screen, I read what it said on the screen. "New Message: Finny: K. Call me tomorrow? Or I could call you tomorrow? Cya." Duke sighed as he realized I read it. I give him a look. "Uh, Duke, who's this 'Finny' person?" He quickly swiped his paw across the screen before answering me. "No. Oh my gosh, no. Not like that. Finny is a friend of mine. And he won't stop spamming me." Duke looks at his phone again. Now it says in the same screen as before, "New Message: Finny: Oh ya. With Twinkle. Nice bro. ;)". Duke exits out of it, but it's too late. I already read that message, too. He keeps on pressing the "Lock/Unlock" button repeatedly. "Gah! You stupid phone! No service connection on Wednesday, and today you work!? Uh... I guess that's good. But now you start working again!? Really!? Oh come on!" I couldn't keep myself from laughing at Duke's frustration with his phone. I guess Duke thinks the sender of those messages can somehow hear him. Because he then complained, "Ugh! Stop being such a dumb phone! I don't want to call you, message you, or any other forms of communication, Finny. And you've got to reply about that when she's literally right next to me!? Dang it, Finny! Ugh!" I looked at Duke who was raging over his phone. "Umm... Duke... You okay there? Uh...." Duke blushed. "Uh... of course I am! Why wouldn't I be, Miss Twinkle?" I gave him a look again. "Stop calling me that. It's just Twinkle!" Duke sighed again. "Finny is his nickname. You know Infinity from the class with Miss Fox? Well, all his close friends call him Finny. And I'm one if them. He was the first one to welcome me to this part of fox territory, so.." I nodded. I remember Infinity. He's another more well-known guy in the class. But he's nice and cool- as well as a natural-born comedian. Just like my Dukey.

"So uh... Twinkle..." Duke stammered. I perked an ear up. "I'm at the screen that says "New Contacts". Oh Zios, why didn't I do this before? Ugh! So anyways, would you like to umm...." I finished his thoughts. "Share phone numbers? Yeah. I guess that would be quite useful. And yes. I do have a phone. I just don't use it much. 'Cause your like my first friend that isn't like related to me. I mean boyfriend. Uh..." Duke laughed. "It's okay. I understand. So what is it?" I then took my own phone out. We then exchanged phone numbers. Then, we smiled.

So what am I doing now? I'm finally relaxing from all the craziness these past days. I'm still in the hospital room; Duke in the therapy room. I hear something and I check my phone. I shield my eyes from the bright light of the screen. I read it and it says, "New Message: Duke: Good nite, Twinkle. Luv ya. To our world on fire!" I type up a new message that says, "Yep. To our world on fire!" Then, I touch the "Send" icon. I don't feel like adding this to the message as well, so I say it out loud. But only to myself though. "Love you too, Duke."