It had been six years since Himeno meet the Leafe knights. Himeno was now 22, grown and facing the world in all terrifying glory. After the princess of darkness had been defeated the group had drifted apart, each finding their place in the world. Himeno was going to college for a martial arts degree and teaching part time as a martial arts teacher living on her own in a house between the school and her work.
Life had gone back to the same ol' boring same ol' it had been before her adventure had started. She saw her knights from time to time on the streets but even she couldn't deny that life went on whether you liked it or not, but the heart never forgot. Six years later she still couldn't get a certain wind knight out of her head or her heart. He had stolen her heart and hadn't given it back yet.
She was leaning against the counter in her baggy training uniform waiting for her first class of the day when none other than Hayate walked through the door, the bell dragging her out of her thoughts to stare at his perfect face. It took Himeno a minute to realize she was really seeing him and not her dream Hayate. She used the heel of her hand to rub away the ache in her heart.
"Hello Himeno." His smile was still as gorgeous and heart breaking as it had been when she was 16.
"Hiya." she said as enthusiastically as she was able. "It's been a long time Hayate." He smiled into her rich eyes. He'd forgotten the way his name had, had a ring to it when she said it. But his heart hadn't seemed to forget her at all and he was starting to remember why.
In Hayate's opinion Himeno had changed in many ways, she was a few inches taller, her hair had gotten a little longer, now hanging around her face touching the tips of her shoulders and she had defiantly filled out, but she still couldn't keep the emotions out of her eyes. He had been wondering for sometime if he would still see the same thing in her eyes that he had seen six years ago and could do nothing about.
It was still there, right where he wanted it. The love that he could find in no one else. He had tormented himself with the idea of her finding another and moving on. He had hoped for it, for she would be happy and he wanted nothing else but for her to find happiness but part of him had always wanted her to find it with him. But if that had been the case, if she'd found someone, he'd had to see for himself. But as it was he could see she wasn't with anyone now. Her smile still took his breath away like it always did.
"The guys are having a movie night tonight. None of us have work tomorrow so we thought we should just hang out, catch up, and chill. Someone sent me to see if you would want to join us." He didn't say that he had been the one to mention her and wasn't sure if he was happy to see disappointment in her eyes or not.
"I don't have work tomorrow either so if you want to pick me up after work, at seven, I'd love to go." Excitement played in the deep brown polls. He had seen those eyes in his dream forever it seemed. At that moment several small children screamed through the door and she turned her attention to them pulling that glorious hair back and wrapping it in a tight bun.
"I'll hang around." He wasn't sure if she heard him because she was guiding the kids into a large heavily padded room. Hayate sat against a wall and watched her guide the children through stretches and warm ups. She was good with kids, her smile was warm and her words were always encouraging. Her rules were set and firmly kept but were reasonable. She knew how to get them excited, how to help them encourage each other, and rewarded them with knowledge. An elderly master stood in the doorway unseen.
"Ok!" She clapped her hands standing up and everyone gave her their full attention. "I told you all late time you were here that we were going to have a guest do you remember?" The answer was a loud YES! From all the kids, "Well he's here. And he's going to help us learn how to defend ourselves against bad guys." She got a laugh from that. One little girl cutely said,
"Is our guest the cute man sitting in the corner?" Himeno's laughter bubbled out and she shook her head, "That wasn't my plan but if he wants to he can help after Sensei Miatsu shows us what we need to know." The girl pouted but was distracted when the master came into the room and Himeno put her fist in her hand and bowed low to him in respect, the children mimicked this move. The master wasn't as good with children as Himeno was but she helped. The little girl that had asked about Hayate came over after Sensei Miatsu had released them to practice and asked if he would help her.
The little girl had her small hands wrapped around his big hand and was bouncing begging please. He smiled and rolled his eyes, "Why not." Yay! She screamed and ran with him into the middle. Hayate got down on his knees to be fair and only blocked allowing her to learn better what she'd been shown.
The class was an hour long and was very amusing. Sensei Miatsu used Himeno to demonstrate and at the very end for five minutes they did a sparring match which Himeno lost with pride and she was grinning and said to the children, "You learn something new everyday." and they were all in awe that she could hold her own for most of the spar against the master. "Now what's the number one rule in martial arts?"
"Only use it to defend yourself." They chanted and then class was over.
She had several more classes that went much the same way but as the children got older she got better at sparing with the master and when she was teaching the teenagers stayed on her feet the entire match. It was her last class and she was cleaning up. Sensei Miatsu and Himeno exchanged bows and he praised her on being his quickest student and that he would see her Monday at school. A half an hour later she walked toward Hayate in a faded pair of genes and a tank top with her hair unbound and he felt his heart give a little trip and wasn't sure how to handle it without bring up old hurts in the process.