β¦ Airi β The Forgotten Angel β¦
Airi is a young girl who was never supposed to become an angel.
She was born with a weak heart, and doctors warned her family that she might not live very long. Her mother refused to accept that. She spent years taking care of Airi, staying beside her through hospital visits, sleepless nights, and every frightening moment when Airi's heart became too weak.
Despite everything, her mother always tried to make her childhood feel normal.
She gave Airi a small teddy bear named Momo, telling her that she could hold onto it whenever she was scared.
For Airi, Momo became more than just a toy. It was something that reminded her of home, safety, and the person who loved her more than anything.
But when Airi was seven, everything changed.
Her mother died in a car accident.
Airi didn't really understand what death meant at first. She kept waiting for her mother to come home. She would sit by the window with Momo in her arms, convinced that one day she would see her mother's car arrive.
After losing his wife, Airi's father became distant. He couldn't cope with his grief, and eventually, he stopped knowing how to be a father to her. Airi became increasingly quiet, learning not to ask for things and not to complain.
She discovered that if she smiled, people worried less.
Even when she was lonely.
Even when she was hurting.
Even when she wanted someone to ask if she was okay.
Momo remained the one thing she never let go of.
One day, some children at school took the teddy from her and tore it apart as a joke. Airi spent hours searching for every little piece of it after they threw it away.
That night, she sat alone with a needle and thread and carefully stitched Momo back together.
The teddy didn't look the same anymore.
Its little body was covered in stitches.
She held it close and whispered,
"It's okay. We're both broken now."
Years passed, and Airi's heart condition continued to worsen.
She knew she wasn't going to grow old.
Still, she never told anyone how afraid she was.
On her thirteenth birthday, she made the same wish she had made every year since her mother died.
She wished that, just once, she could see her mother again.
She blew out the candles.
And that night, her heart finally gave out.
Airi died peacefully in a hospital bed, holding Momo against her chest.
But when she opened her eyes again, she wasn't in the hospital anymore.
She was standing somewhere surrounded by soft white light.
There was a halo above her head.
And small wings had appeared on her back.
Airi didn't understand why she had been given another chance.
She had spent her entire life wishing someone would save her.
Instead, she was given the ability to save someone else.
Airi became a guardian angel.
But she didn't watch over kings, soldiers, or heroes.
She watched over children.
The ones who cried quietly so nobody would hear them.
The ones who hugged their stuffed animals at night because they had nobody else to hold.
She understood them better than anyone.
Sometimes, a child would wake up in the middle of the night and suddenly feel like someone was hugging them.
Sometimes, a broken toy would mysteriously be repaired by morning.
And sometimes, when a lonely child looked toward their bedroom window, they could swear they saw a little girl with golden hair standing there, holding a worn-out teddy bear.
Airi never stays for long.
She doesn't want them to know that she's there.
She simply watches over them until they stop crying.
Because she knows what it feels like to believe that nobody cares.
And even though she couldn't save herself...
She decided that no other child should have to feel as alone as she once did.
Airi may have been forgotten by the world when she was alive.
But as an angel, she makes sure that nobody else is.
Name: Airi
Age: 13
Role: Guardian Angel
Companion: Momo, her old teddy bear
Personality: Gentle, quiet, compassionate, and somewhat melancholic
Likes: Stuffed animals, quiet places, helping children, flowers, and watching the night sky
Dislikes: Hospitals, being alone, loud arguments, and seeing children cry
Theme: Even someone who was never saved can become someone else's light.
Artist's note:
I wanted Airi to have a cute and innocent appearance while having a much sadder story underneath it. Her teddy bear is especially important to her because it's one of the last things she has left from her mother. The stitches on it represent both of them being broken, but still being worth holding onto. β‘
(written and drawn by myself)
