Slight Recap:
That night, Yuki couldn’t go to sleep. A statement her mom made kept on echoing in her head. “The doctors say they can't fix her eyes…can't fix her eyes, it’s hopeless…hopeless…hopeless…” Yuki fell asleep after shedding a few tears.
Meanwhile, in the kitchen table, Yuki’s mother and father were searching frantically for the artist that Yuki admired. After flipping through three phone books, they found that Leanna Komiru, revered artist lived in their neighborhood. They jotted down her phone number and decided to call her the next day.
Hopeless....
After school, Yuki sat in her mom’s car waiting to be driven home. “Mom, we’re not going home are we?” she asked. Her mom gasped and asked, “How did you know?” “Simple,” explained Yuki, “We should’ve made a right turn a few minutes ago…where are we going?” “You’ll see…” said Yuki’s mom.
They pulled up into the driveway of Leanna Komiru. Yuki’s mom rang the doorbell. A young woman opened the door and exclaimed, “Oh, you must be Mina!! Come right in, Ms. Komiru is waiting for you.” Yuki halted. “Wait, Ms. Komiru? Oh my gosh! That means that…we’re in her house!!” she thought. She eagerly followed her mom’s echoing footsteps.
They entered a huge family room and sitting in a large sofa was a lady in her early twenties. She walked up to Yuki’s mom and shook her hand. “Pleased to meet you,” said the woman, “I’m Leanna Komiru. And this must be Yuki!” Yuki hastily nodded her head. “Oh I wish I could see her!!” she thought.
“Yuki, I heard about your situation. And I’m here for you,” she turned to Yuki’s mom, “Mrs. Wakamiya—“ “Oh please, call me Mina” “—okay, Mina, I’m going to help Yuki paint again.” Yuki’s mom’s face lit up. “Thank you, but I’m afraid we’re terribly poor, and we can’t pay you that much—“ “Nonsense, all I want is to see one of Yuki’s paintings. I have seen her drawings and paintings and I KNOW that she has a great potential.” Yuki could almost die of shock. “No way! The Leanna Komiru says that I have potential?” she internally pondered, “This has got to be a mistake. Yeah, I’m dreaming. I’m going to wake up in a few hours and find out I’m still blind and nothing has happened.”
Yuki faked a smile and stretched out her hand. “Hi there.” She murmured. “You don’t seem so happy to see-I mean meet- me.” Leanna said, “I heard from your mother that you love my art. It’s great, but I think I want to see what you can draw.” She set a paper and pencil onto a table. Leanna took Yuki’s hand and handed her a pencil. “The paper is in front of you. I want you to draw what you want to draw. Pretend I’m not here.” She explained. Yuki took the pencil and set in onto the paper. She began to draw what she liked best—angels.
When she had finished, Yuki handed Leanna the paper. Leanna gasped. “This picture is so detailed!” she cried out. Indeed it was; the wings were shaded in heavily, but still maintained their delicate, feathery exterior, the stature of the angel was perfect. But what caught Leanna’s eye was the background. Yuki had manipulated her pencil into many auras architecturally arching over the angel. The picture seemed to leap up and slap Leanna in the face. “Why didn’t you see this talent before?” they seemed to scream to her. “W-wow, Yuki, you have a great talent. I’ll see you every Thursday for lessons.” Said Leanna, “Believe me, you don’t need eyes to know what you were painting, just take your drawing right now. It’s perfect. A normal person closing her eyes couldn’t draw any of the lines connected right.”-She placed a hand on Yuki’s shoulder- “I believe that you can do many things. All you need is a little push. Mina, Yuki, see you next week.”
The next few sessions were not productive. Yuki seemed to have mini-radars in her head telling her that a paintbrush was near her and she would recoil. For weeks, Yuki refused to even touch a paintbrush. Finally, Leanna had to resort to the last attempt.
“Bring Yuki, her dad, her best friend, and you.” She had instructed Yuki’s mom, “I need everyone to give Yuki the sense of home.” So, this Thursday, Yuki’s mom, dad, Roze, and herself were seated in their car driving to Leanna’s home.
When they arrived, they discovered that Leanna had already set out the paintbrushes and paints. “Yuki, everyone who cares about you is here. They want you to be happy, to have your soul back. When you gave up on painting, you gave up half your soul. Now, the only ones that believe you can revive that fraction of the soul stand behind you. Show them; show them that you can do what no other painter can do.” Said Leanna.
Yuki shakily touched the paintbrush. A sudden jolt went up her spine. “Ms. Komiru! Yuki’s…Yuki’s painting again!” exclaimed Roze. “Go Yuki, paint out your heart.” Murmured Leanna Komiru, “Show us what you see.” She handed Yuki a paintbrush. Yuki began to paint.
And paint.
And paint.
And paint.
