Disclaimer: From Far Away and all characters represented here are (c) Hikawa Kyoko.
The time they had spent on the road for the last two days had been awful. They were traveling alone and they hadn't seen a town in days. Noriko hated it. She felt useless and irate. She knew from experience how fast Izark could travel. Maybe she was slowing him down? Thoughts like these bombarded her. As they walked they didn't talk, save for the occasional 'Watch your step' from her handsome companion. She hated it and wanted conversation but didn't know what to say.
Izark had noticed her odd behavior. How could he not, with her snapping at him for merely offering her his hand when crossing a small stream? She had knocked it away, stunning him and leapt over herself. It wasn't only this that was convincing him something was up. She was usually meek and kind, but when she had tried to strike up the conversation he was eager for, Noriko ended up angering herself and turned her face away, refusing to talk to him further.
"Leave it! I can do it!"
"I'm fine! Just leave me alone!"
"Oh, for heaven's sake!"
It confused him and he couldn't help thinking he did something to upset the girl. Usually she was kind and considerate trying her best to be of use. But now… well, she was the complete opposite.
For the third time that day she got up and stomped away, standing at a distance and staring at nothing.
Izark finally got up. He walked to her and put his hand on her shoulder. "Noriko." He hesitated before speaking again. "What's wrong?"
She glared at him. "Nothing's wrong!"
"Yes, there is," he insisted, "and I want you to tell me what."
Angry, Noriko pushed his hand off and then covered her face in her hands. "Just… leave me alone. It's embarrassing."
This bewildered him even more. He considered backing off but decided against it. She and him were practically two peas of a pod - they shared everything together, stories of their lives and their problems. If she had a problem, he wanted to help her, even if she considered it embarrassing. He again put his hand on her shoulder, pulled her around to face him and asked her yet again. "What's wrong?"
Noriko raised her head, looked at him with an expression that made him realize she was fighting back tears, and told him. "I'm having my period."
He didn't immediately realize what she meant. It was like his mind completely and utterly died for a moment. It wasn't the answer the powerful warrior had been expecting. But then it all the pieces clicked together in his mind: her violent mood swings, the clutching of her abdomen, that little drop of blood he caught on her sleeve. She was still looking at him, as if she was forcing herself to, waiting for a reaction. When none came, she sighed. "Ever since I came to this world," she began to explain, "My… cycle has been thrown off. I don't exactly know why, maybe the moon is closer or something. A woman's cycle is affected by the moon and its phases. Well, ever since I came here I've been going longer periods of time without having any blood flow…" She wringed her dress in her hands and paused to breath before continuing. "But when they do come around it's a lot worse and it hurts more than usual."
He still didn't know how to react. The whole time he listened to her explain, Izark was mentally beating himself – he shouldn't have pushed it! He should have just let her be! She can take care of herself, look what kind of position you're in now! He continued to try and think of something to say. Noriko took his extended silence as a sign that more explanation was needed. She again inhaled deeply. "Whenever it comes around, Izark…" She pressed her hands to her abdomen. "I get these pains around here. They're perfectly normal, but they hurt like crazy here and tend to put me in a really, really, really bad mood. So… I'm sorry I was so rude to you before. I shouldn't have been like that."
Izark was finally able to speak again. "It's… okay…" he squeaked.
They both paused.
Silence…
Then laughter.
Noriko doubled over, clutching her stomach and laughing so hard tears sprung to her eyes. She tried to look at him but every time she did she giggled harder and had to bend down again... "Oh… Oh Izark, I'm so sorry, but… your face…!"
It was then that all worries Izark had were washed away. He smiled, if not hesitantly. She really was okay, and as usual he was worrying too much. He was glad to see her laughing like this again. "Noriko, just… don't… do that again. If you have any problems, talk to me about them. Okay?"
The island girl was finally able to raise her head and flashed that smile that made his knees feel weak. "Thanks for having concerns about me, Izark. Again, I'm sorry, but I'm glad we talked about this. I feel much better."
And he did too.
Dec 16th, 2009 For author notes about 'Curiosity', please see my forums via my profile.