Ennis was not used to strong emotions. Whatever she did, she did it in her own manner: quietly, with a touch of her usual melancholy. So when Ennis was presented with real feeling, something she couldn't fully put into words, she did the natural thing.
[-]
"Miria! The doorbell!"
"Isaac, whatever could it be?!"
"I'm not sure, Miria m'dear." Suddenly Isaac gasped. "I know! It's the police!"
Miria shrieked. "Oh, no! Police have rules! They might want to arrest us!"
"Of course not, Miria, don't be ridiculous! The police are very nice people. And haven't we done enough good deeds to make up for all our robberies?"
"Your right Isaac, we've made up for them! All eighty-nine of them!"
"... Good god, eighty nine robberies? We'll be arrested for sure!"
"Isaac, we have to escape! But how? The neighbors will see if we go out the back door!"
"Then we'll just have to use the front door!"
"Where the police are? Good idea!"
"Brilliant, Miria, simply brilliant! Let us make our escape at once!"
…
"Oh, hi Ennis. Are you running from the police as well?"
Ennis blinked. This was not what she had been expecting.
"No. At least I'm pretty sure I'm not. Am I?"
Isaac sighed in relief. "Well, if Ennis is here, the police won't dare arrest us. We're safe, Maria."
"Isaac, I'm so glad!"
"Yes Miria! Come, come now, Ennis. We would be bad hosts to leave you standing on our front door , wouldn't we!"
"Yes, Ennis, come come at once!"
Ennis was swept away on the current of Isaac and Miria, until she found herself sitting on their sofa.
"Well, Ennis, why have you come?" Isaac asked, a hand on his chin. "Perhaps... love advice?"
Miria squealed. "Oh boy, Ennis has fallen in love! Tell us all about your amazing romance!"
"Yes, tell us at once!"
Ennis looked down at her lap.
"It's not really... love advice. It's just something that has come to my attention. It's Firo.
"I cant explain it, but for some reason he has been affecting my thoughts. When I'm near him, I feel happier than I normally do. I find myself smiling more than average around him. I also tend to observe him in a strange way. Its hard to explain, but I notice things about him that I never notice if its somebody else. Like how soft his hair is. And what a strange shade his eyes are. I like the way his mouth curves when he smiles.
"I can't get him out of my head. Even when he's far away, he stays on the edge of my thoughts."
Ennis took a deep breath and looked up.
"Isaac, Miria, I believe someone may be drugging me with an unknown substance, and that is making me feel differently about Firo. It's the only explanation for this... abnormality."
There was silence. For a single moment, suspended in time, there was absolute silence.
"Oh Ennis!" Miria and Isaac hugged her tightly, tears streaming down their faces. "How could anyone ever want to poison you?! How tragic! How horribly horrible!"
Ennis looked at them with vague amazement.
"Th- thanks, guys. It means a lot to me."
Suddenly, Miria and Isaac snapped to attention.
"I've got it!" Miria cried. "To catch the sneaky poisoner, you are going to-"
Miria looked at Isaac, and they both nodded firmly.
"Yes! This plan is perfect!" They chorused.
"Oh Miria, you are so correct! This plan is beautiful, simply beautiful!"
"Yes, Isaac, I know! It's marvelous, isn't it!"
"Oh Miria, you amaze me with your brilliance!"
Ennis looked bemused. "What are you talking about? What is your idea?"
Miria and Isaac turned to her, both beaming.
"You're going to-"
Wait for it. Wait for iiiiit...
"THROW FIRO A BIRTHDAY PARTY!"
[-]
"Ah shit, not again!" Berga Gandor gazed miserably at the perfect hand on the table. Sadly, it was not his.
"So, Berga, how many times is it now? Thirty? Thirty-one?" Luck smirked.
"Lay off, Luck. You've only won twenty-nine times so far." Kieth turned to Berga, a wry smile gracing his thin lips. "Or maybe it was thirty times. Berga should know."
Berga glared at him, but when Kieth just sighed and turned away, he glared at Luck.
"This isn't over, Luck. I can still crush you!"
Luck tsked and poured himself some whiskey.
"Accept it, Berga. Not today."
Berga groaned and slumped down in his chair.
"Fine, have it your way. I fold."
The the three brothers sat in silence, the ticks of the old clock seeming to grow louder... and louder...and louder...
"Christ, I'm bored! Claire was supposed to be here two hours ago. That little shit is always late!"
"Now, now Berga, is that anyway to talk about your favorite assassin?"
Berga whipped his head up to glare at their new companion.
"Claire! You are late! I mean it, LATE, moron. What took you so goddamn long?!"
"Well, I ran into this lovely lady." Vino stepped aside to show Ennis, who had followed him in. "She told me she has a very important question for us."
Berga calmed down slightly upon seeing Ennis. She had the strange ability to do that, like she was a walking neutralizer.
She smiled at the three brothers before her, and stepped forward.
"This is very important, so please, answer me as well as you can." There was a tension filled pause, and every muscle in the brothers bodies tensed slightly.
"Can you tell me... When is Firo's birthday?"
Four men slumped in disappointment.
Luck sighed. "Oh sure, we all know this one. Firo's birthday is February 4th."
Berga nodded. "Yeah, it's- Wait, no it's not! Firo's birthday is February 18th!"
Kieth snorted derisively. "It's the 21st. Everyone knows that, dumbasses."
Vino looked at them all with a bemused smile. "Christ, it's like you don't even know the guy. It's the 9th. This is my world, I can't be wrong."
All three of the Gandor bosses glared at Vino with fiery contempt.
"Vino, leave you godly crap out of this!"
"It's the 4th.."
"Shaddap, Luck! It's the 18th!"
"21st, men. It's the 21st."
"The ninth, I'm telling you."
The conversation spiraled downwards from there.
Ennis looked sadly at the chaos one simple question had caused. She sighed.
"Isaac and Miria never said it would be this hard... Okay. I have an idea." Her soft voice carried like a gunshot across the room. "I'll add all your different dates together, and then find the average. How's that?"
There was a short, stupefied silence.
"Fine." Luck said the magic word, and everything relaxed. He and Kieth stopped glaring at each other. Berga let Vino out of a headlock. All was well. "So, what day did you come up with?"
"I will be throwing the party on Friday, February 13th."
[-]
"Wow!" Isaac cried, his eyes huge. "This is amazing, Ennis, simply amazing!"
"Simply amazing!" Miria echoed.
Ennis blushed slightly.
"I've never been to a birthday party before, so I wasn't sure what to do. Vino and the Gandors did most of the work."
And they had done a spectacular job. The club had been cleaned, polished, and decorated with the most expensive and almost gaudy decorations. A giant banner hung from the chandelier, reading 'HAPPY 17th BIRTHDAY FIRO'. There were figurative mountains of food, and alcohol flowed freely. Both the Cammorra and Gandor families were there in all their entirety, as well as a few close associates. It was spectacular.
Ennis gazed out over the crowds of people. Everything was perfect... Except one thing. Where was Firo?
Suddenly the door burst open. The newspaper boy they had hired to keep watch yelled, "He's here! He's here!" The heavy buzz of conversation filling the room was cut short, and everyone looked expectantly at the heavy double doors. If Ennis strained her ears, she could hear soft footsteps on the other side, slowly getting louder and louder. There was a pause, and then a slow creak as the doors swung open to reveal an incredibly surprised Firo.
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"
Every person in the room surged forward, clumping around him. Firo laughed, letting himself get pulled into the crowd of well-wishers. Ennis could just see the top of his hat, bobbing in the sea of people. However, she herself did not step forward. She wasn't entirely sure why, but an intense feeling of nervousness overwhelmed her. She could only stand, gazing ahead, as people chattered and swirled around her.
Ennis was beginning to worry that she would be stuck like that forever when Isaac and Miria suddenly appeared by her side.
"Ennis, why are you standing all alone?" Miria asked. "Don't you want to talk to Firo?"
"Y-...yes, yes I really do. I want to talk to him, I just... can't"
"Why ever not, dear Ennis?" Isaac cried dramatically. "Surely you wish to speak with the birthday boy himself!"
"Yes, Ennis! You threw this party just for him, right?" Miria cried.
"Well yes, I did, I mean-" Ennis paused. "What about the poisoner? Didn't we throw this party to catch him?"
Isaac and Miria froze.
"Eh heh. What poisoner?" they chorused.
Ennis sighed. They really didn't remember?
"Nevermind."
"Look, Firo is coming this way!" Miria grinned.
"Why yes, yes he is!" Isaac shouted. "Shall we be off now, Miria?"
"Why yes Isaac let us go AH HA HA HA HA HA HA!" Miria seized Isaac's arm and they marched stiffly away.
"Hey, Ennis!"
Ennis turned to see Firo maneuvering through the crowd towards her.
"Oh, hello Firo." Ennis felt a blush creep up her cheeks for no reason at all. Whatever she was being drugged with, it was strange stuff.
Firo opened his mouth to speak, and then suddenly paused. "Ah- wow. You look really nice."
Ennis looked down at the simple, form fitting black dress Miria had convinced her to wear.
"Do I?" She had never really understood the method of judging appearance.
"You bet!" Firo smiled broadly. "I'm surprised no one's proposed yet. Speaking of propositions, you wanna dance? I really love this song." Firo held out a gentlemanly hand.
"I would love to." Ennis placed her hand in his, and allowed herself to be led onto the floor. She had been practicing dancing specifically for this party, at the insistence of Isaac.
"Happy birthday," Ennis said softly as they waltzed around the room.
"Well..." Firo scratched the back of his neck. "My birthday is in August. And I'm turning nineteen this year, not seventeen." Then he grinned. "Vino and the Gandors sure know me well, huh? But this is a pretty swell party, no doubt about it. I think everyone was itching for a big event like this. Lets 'em relax, y'know?"
"Yes, it does," Ennis agreed. And it really did- people were definitely... relaxing. As in, getting really drunk and dancing on the tables. It was a great party.
Ennis looked happily over her work. "I'm happy you like the party. Miria and Isaac told me to do it."
Firo grinned, and Ennis felt her eyes being drawn to the cute way his mouth quirked up. "Those two are pretty incredible, huh? And- wait... you threw this party?!" Firo's eyes widened in shock. "Claire told me it was his idea!"
Ennis almost laughed at his expression of shock.
"Well, he and Luck did most of the work. I just gave them the idea. Actually..." Ennis leaned forward. "I have something important to tell you." She took Firo's hand and led him to a small balcony hanging over the street.
She took a deep breath and turned.
"Firo, I believe... I believe I am being poisoned." Ennis looked shyly away, waiting for the questions.
She did not expect Firo to suddenly grip her arms and look intensely into her eyes. She blushed.
"Ennis, who is poisoning you? I swear to God I'll beat the crap outta em, okay?" Firo was looking at her with wide, concerned eyes, his expression deadly serious. She couldn't look away.
"I don't know," she said, never breaking eye contact. "But I know I am being poisoned. I know, because..." She found it hard to breathe. Why was his so difficult for her? It made no sense. "I know because I keep feeling strange. I keep noticing a… certain person... strangely. I can't get him out of my head and I blush whenever I look at him and..." She trailed off. Firo was laughing. Laughing. Umm...
"That's not poison, Ennis," he managed between soft snickers. "That's called falling in love." He grinned. "You need some practice with emotions, don'tcha." His wide grin softened somewhat, and Ennis thought she saw it take a sad tinge, though she may have been wrong. "So, who's the lucky guy?" He asked softly.
Ennis looked up at his earnest face and heard herself say the magic word.
"You."
Firo's eyes widened in shock, his breathe catching.
"Waitaminute... me?"
Ennis nodded. She honestly didn't know how he would react, but she hoped he would be okay with it. She wasn't sure how most people would react to her (apparently) falling in love with them.
Of course, that was when Firo kissed her. Her eyes flew open. Firo was so close, his lips on her lips, his eyes closed... and she felt her own eyes sliding shut.
The kiss lasted for what seemed like forever until finally they broke apart, eyes shining.
That was when the cheering started.
Ennis and Firo were carried away by the cheering crowd, but they were linked by intertwined fingers, neither even thinking about letting go.
From the edge of the room, Miria and Isaac looked on.
"Well, Miria, I think our work here is done."
Miria smiled. "Yep. She finally found him." Miria rested her head on Isaacs shoulder. "Isaac," she said softly, "we are the best advice givers of all time."
"Couldn't agree more, Miria m'dear."
They both looked at each other and grinned.
{Fin}
A/N: It's at times like this when I am reminded of how much of a romantic sop I am. Ah well, I'll live.
To my legions of fans (cough- people who took a passing interest in this story- cough): thank you. Seriously, thank you. This is my first ever story, and, it's just, I mean... lemme get some tissues. I got somethin in my eye.