Hey there, my fellow writers and readers. I hope you're doing really awesome. Well, here's a new Full House oneshot I cooked up one day. It's called "Shape of My Heart", and it's about Michelle and Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys. Hope you like reading it as much as I did with writing it, too. :)
Disclaimer: Genius Jeff Franklin owns Full House. I own the fanfics I cook up from time to time.
Shape of My Heart
11-year-old Michelle Tanner was sitting at her bedroom window looking out at the night sky. For as far back as she could remember, looking out at the night sky was something that held some kind of specialness for her.
She didn't know exactly when she had begun her routine of looking out the window at the sky when nighttime came. Maybe it had began when she was 4 and ¾ and switched rooms with her older sister, 21-year-old Donna Jo "D.J." Tanner (then 15) so D.J. could have some privacy, and also so that her other sister, 16-year-old Stephanie (then 9 ½), could have a roommate.
But there was one thing that Michelle did know — from her perspective, stargazing definitely had to be pretty cool. And why wouldn't it be?
Michelle yawned and then headed off to her bed, where she promptly fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow...
She was looking out the window at the stars in the sky, thinking that they looked kind of similar to the diamonds on a necklace that a woman would wear around her neck.
Glisten. Sparkle. Gleam. Whatever the word was, Michelle knew that it fit the description of such a thing very perfectly.
"Hola, Michelle. Cómo estás?" said a very familiar voice.
Michelle smiled as she turned around. It was Howie Dorough of the Backstreet Boys, and he was smiling at her as he bent to her level. His eyes — which were the color of dark chocolate — seemed to be holding a vast number of secrets. What they were, Michelle didn't know. Maybe they were something new, original, unique (or possibly a combination of all three of those).
"I'm fine, Howie — thanks," Michelle grinned, which Howie gave her in return while flashing the thumbs-up sign as well. "However, I was wondering something..."
"Really?" Howie queried, his dark eyes sparkling. "What is it, Michelle?"
Michelle paused for a few moments to think over her answer. "I would like to learn some Spanish — the language I hear you speaking sometimes."
Upon hearing those words, Howie's smile widened a little. Never — not even once — did he get a request from someone in how to learn to speak the Spanish language... well, except for his fellow band member Kevin Richardson, that is.
"So that is what you want, huh, Michelle?" he replied. When she nodded, he added, "Well, since you very nicely asked — and so politely, my dear chica — then that is what you shall get, for I definitely feel I should oblige your request. And I will."
Michelle couldn't help but lower her eyes and smile a little, and then looked back up at Howie. His eyes still locked on hers, he took her hand in his and kissed the ends of her fingers. From her perspective, he was definitely being a gentleman right there. With that, as soon as he let go of her hand, Michelle took his hand in hers and turned it so the back was facing her, raised it to her own lips and placed her own kiss on the ends of his fingers — her way of returning the favor.
"Muchos gracias... many thanks, Michelle," Howie purred.
"You're welcome, Howie," she replied.
Howie smiled, pleased with her manners, and why not?
With that, he then snapped his fingers. Instantly, soft Spanish music — with a guitar, castanets and drums — began playing.
"A little Spanish music," he said, noticing Michelle's puzzled expression, and then added with a wink, "just to set... the mood, if you will, for the language you want to study, as well as help you get a feel for it musically."
"Wow," said Michelle as Howie gently squeezed her hand in his. "It kind of makes me feel like... like dancing..." A frown replaced her smile a little. "What's that one dance called — you know, the one that is usually for two people, and is the basis of that familiar saying which I can't seem to recall sometimes?"
Howie instantly knew what she was trying to say. "The tango?"
Michelle's face lit up as her eyes sparkled. "Yeah! That's right — the tango."
Howie grinned. "It takes two to tango, kiddo. And believe me, I should know. I speak from experience."
Blinking in surprise, Michelle thought over his words, and then nodded, smiling. "Wow — never thought I'd hear you say that. But I think that sounds really awesome."
Howie nodded. "Indeed, it is, Michelle — indeed, it is."
And with that, he proceeded to teach Michelle how to speak some of the Spanish language — beginning with words she knew very well, such as "yes", "no", and "cool".
"And here's how to say 'Sounds good to me' in Spanish — it's 'Suena bien para mí'," said Howie. Michelle repeated the phrase slowly, in order to get a grasp on it, with Howie nodding encouragingly at her. When she was finally able to say it at her own pace — not too fast, and not too slow — Howie gave her a thumbs-up and grinned.
"Good for you, Michelle," he grinned. "Or, 'Bueno para ti', as they say in Spanish."
Michelle smiled. "Thanks, Howie — or, 'Gracias'."
Michelle slowly opened her eyes, and smiled as she realized it was Saturday. Then, the dream she had came back to her a little at a time. She wasn't sure how it happened, but there was one thing she did know — learning to speak a second language would definitely come in handy for her someday.
And with that, she made a mental note to ask D.J. about what it was like for her to try learning the Spanish language back when she was the same age Michelle was. After all, D.J. probably had experience with that — especially when it came to how it started off easy, but eventually became harder and harder to learn along the way. And Michelle felt that, whatever mistakes D.J. had made, she could learn from them.
Just so you know, I got the idea of Michelle having a desire to learn speaking Spanish from the season 2 episode El Problema Grande de D.J. — where D.J. had gotten a D in Spanish on her report card (whereas her best friend Kimmy Gibbler had gotten a C). D.J. felt her getting a D in Spanish was because her teacher, Senorita Linda Mosley, didn't like her. However, when Danny talked with Senorita Mosley, he found out the real reason for D.J.'s D in Spanish; she had stopped trying when the work became harder and harder for her to do. Luckily, Danny later assured D.J. that he would be proud of her for practicing as hard as she could — even if she studied as hard as she could, but still couldn't get an A in Spanish.
Nice feedback is, as usual, very much appreciated, of course. :)