Melon
Disclaimer: I do not own any of these characters.
Author's notes: This is a one-shot inspired by a piece of fan art that was viewed. I hope you enjoy it! I apologize beforehand if there are any grammatical or spelling mistakes. I wrote this a bit quickly XD
It took him a moment of hesitation in order to find the kitchen again; however, when Macau did enter the kitchen, he couldn't resist the smile that was forming on his lips at the sight of little Hong Kong reaching for the large melon on the counter. The boy was three-quarters the size of the counter while the melon was pushed back, away from the edge, just out of his reach. It seemed as if the younger port city had not given in to bringing over a stool or a chair to help him acquire the right height. Macau had forgotten how stubborn his brother could be…The Macanese man continued to stand there, just watching, mind registering the sight a while more.
"Do you need any help?" the older city finally asked lightly as he walked over a bit slowly, forcing down the chuckle that was about the bubble up from the back of his throat.
"Got…it…" Hong Kong denied, his voice strained as he continued to stretch for the melon.
"Are you sure? You are only repeating the same actions to reach the same outcome even though you know that these same actions will never help you reach said outcome," he pointed out as he went to lean against the counter, golden eyes looking down at the boy.
"You sound like Teacher…" Hong complained, though he finally did stop with a huff.
"Besides, if you were to get the melon, you need me to cut it," Macau also pointed out, finally allowing himself to chuckle as he straightened up. He then pulled the melon closer, his right hand reaching out to grab a knife from the knife block. However, he paused when he felt nothing. After realizing it was on the left side, not the right, Macau quickly recovered and grabbed the large knife from there. He then proceeded to cut a decent sized slice for his little brother, who was watching the process intently from where he stood. Brown eyes studied Macau's hand movements, entertained and curious how the knife cut through the hard fruit so easily. Eventually, the older city placed the knife down in favor of handing the slice of fruit to his brother.
"There you go. Now what do you say?" Macau asked warmly.
"M̀hgòi!" Hong Kong thanked him happily as he accepted the fruit. He went to take a big bite out of the juicy melon slice, only to stop when he noticed that Macau was about to put the melon away. "Aren't you going to eat a slice too?"
"Hmm? Oh, I don't think so. I am not so hungry at the moment," Macau dismissed.
"But…but I don't want to be the only one eating melon! Please?" Hong Kong whined a little, looking up at his brother with wide eyes.
Macau's golden ones met his as the older city froze for a moment, the smile fading into a frown. He stared down at him, seeming to be debating within himself. Finally, Macau sighed before smiling again. "I suppose a little fruit hasn't hurt anyone," Macau gave in, picking up the knife once more to cut his own slice.
"Yay!" Hong Kong cheered happily, waiting for Macau to finish making his own slice. Once the older brother placed the knife down to pick up his slice, Hong started to tug on Macau's changshan. "Come on, let's go sit outside! It's really nice out!"
"Alright, alright. There's no need to be pushy," he scolded lightly, his voice a bit playful. Macau proceeded to follow the young boy out, though pausing as he saw the boy run off one way. He stared for a moment, the frown adorning his lips once more as Hong went to open a door, revealing lush grass and clear blue sky. Hong stopped to look back at Macau, confused.
"Aren't you coming?" the boy asked.
"I am, I apologize. I am just a little off today," Macau quickly responded, the smile appearing again as the older city quickly followed the young boy outside. On the porch, Hong sat down at the edge before proceeding to eat the sweet fruit, the juice dripping down the rind a little from the bite. Chen chuckled as he joined his brother, sitting next to him.
"You're making a mess of yourself," Macau teased before biting into his melon slice, essentially doing the same thing to himself.
"You're making a mess too!" the boy giggled before looking up at the clouds. He then pointed up to the sky and asked, "Do you see anything?"
"I see…clouds," Macau answered, taking another bite.
"And?"
"Sky."
"You know what I mean!"
"The sun?" Macau chuckled, pointing to the glowing orb that was setting towards the east.
"Shapes! What shapes do you see!" Hong exclaimed in exasperation, looking a little upset.
"Calm down, I was only teasing you," Macau told him, reaching a hand out to ruffle the young boy's hair. He looked at him, taking in the sight of his little brother before his eyes shifted towards the sky again. His hand went to adjust his glasses, only to find the metal frames missing. His hand dropped to his lap slowly as he studied the clouds, which were suddenly starting to become dark as more were rolling in.
"I believe I see a tortoise lumbering along," Macau told him.
"Tortoises aren't interesting!" Hong complained, setting the rest of his melon slice down to cross his arms in a pout.
"They can be, actually. Have you ever seen a tortoise run or hiss?" the older brother inquired.
"See something else!"
"Alright, alright," Macau agreed, staring up at the sky, only to see… He blinked once. Twice. Three times. He stared at what he saw, confusion rolling through his mind. Until, finally, everything came together. It made sense. A sad smile graced the city's lips before looking back down at Hong. "You should go inside. It's about to rain."
"But you didn't tell me what you see!"
"I will tell you later, I promise. Okay?"
Hong gave him a look at that. However, the young port city finally nodded in agreement before getting up to hurry back inside. Meanwhile, Macau stayed where he was, staring at the dark sky as the rain started to drip down. Slowly, he stood up, choosing to stand beneath the rain while his gaze towards the clouds refused to waver. He could feel the cool drops of water rolling down his cheeks, joining hot tears.
"I love you, Hong. And I'm very proud of you. Please never forget that," he whispered quietly.
An adult Hong Kong stared at the ground, the tears rolling down his drips before falling to the disturbed ground. Taiwan stood by his side, an arm wrapped around her brother's shoulder to comfort him as she cried herself.
"It happened so suddenly," Hong cried, his voice cracking from a dry voice.
"We couldn't have known this would happen," Taiwan said softly, turning to Hong to try to get a look at his face.
"It's my fault. If…If I hadn't become so important…"
"It's not your fault, Hong. It's no one's fault. We didn't know, and he was really good at hiding it from us. You…you read his letter. He's proud of you, Hong. Of what you've become. Of what we've all become. And you know better than anyone that he wouldn't want you thinking like this."
"You're…you're right Wan…" Hong agreed after a moment, wiping away the tears from his eyes.
"Now come, the gathering is about to start without us. We can come back later with more flowers. Maybe some of those egg tarts…and some melon. He always liked that," she continued to suggest.
"Okay."
And, with that, Taiwan was able to lead Hong Kong away from Macau's grave.