Preface
My name is Artukei. I run an anime website that hosts interviews with famous fictional characters. I've met a lot of stars in my days, but my dream has always been to meet Aisha Clan-clan. I absolutely adore her: her fun-loving personality, her courage, her tenacity, her silvery hair, those sapphire eyes, and those cute little cat ears. And now finally, my dream has become a reality. Today I was scheduled for an interview with the anime heroine. But she showed up at my house with a different idea in mind. I don't know how it happened. Maybe some wires got crossed. Maybe the e-mails were too vague. But whatever the reason, I'm not complaining. I have a DATE with Miss Aisha Clan-clan!
To Tame a Ctarl
I stepped out my front door wearing navy jeans, a black polo shirt, and my brown corduroy jacket. I took in a deep breath of the late afternoon air trying to calm myself down. My body was quivering with excitement. "Good or bad," I thought, "this will be a night to remember." Just as I finished my inner-monologue, a soft hand quickly snatched mine. My heart almost stopped. One: I was still a little jittery. Two: I knew who it was. Aisha was standing next to me ready for a night on the town. She was wearing a one-piece, sleeveless, champaign colored evening dress that stopped just above her knees. Her hair she kept down and unbraided. I always wondered what that would look like. "We going or not?" she asked. I was too busy drowning in her beauty, but I quickly snapped back to reality. "Let's do it," I calmly said, hiding my nervousness very well.
As we got into my car, my hand reached for the stereo out of habit. But I quickly realized that I had no idea what kind of music Aisha liked. So without missing a beat, I went for my failsafe and chose the classical station. As I backed out of the driveway and onto the road, I tried to make conversation. "So, what've you been up to lately?"
"Oh, just exploring the galaxy with Gene and the others. Actually, right before I answered your e-mail, we had caught this bounty. The guy was wanted on six planets for smuggling." Bounty hunting: how could I respond to that, much less relate to it? I couldn't. We had absolutely no common ground that I could think of. She was a space explorer/part-time bounty hunter; I was a musician/part-time webmaster. She graduated from a military academy; I graduated from a Christian high school. And to top it all off, we were of different species. I was starting to think that this was a bad idea.
It was only three minutes, but when there's nothing but dead air between you and you date for that long, it feels like forever. Even though we were listening to So-and-so's Symphony in G, it was still dead air. I couldn't take it anymore. I had to break this tension. I had to say something! But Aisha beat me to the punch. "Do you mind if I change the station?" she asked. "No, go ahead," I said. "What kind of music do you like?"
"I don't suppose you pick up any stations from Ctarl-ctarl on earth, do you?"
"Nope. We mostly get rock, rap, pop, and the occasional jazz." She was already playing with the dial. "I heard some earth music a while ago that I liked. Have you ever heard of Dave Matthews?" I was shocked and at the same time relieved. "The Dave Matthews Band?" I exclaimed. "Yeah! Who hasn't?" Luckily, I still had my "Under the Table and Dreaming" CD in my changer. I quickly turned it on and pretty soon we both started singing along with "Ants Marching." As we listened, I learned that Aisha had heard all kinds of earth music: Aerosmith, Blink 182, Nirvana, Eminem, Linkin Park, Jessica Simpson, Evanescence, Matchbox 20, and even some Beethoven. "What about Billy Joel or Elton John?" I asked. "A little," she said. "I've been listening to them a lot for inspiration, as a fellow pianist and songwriter," I said. "Oh," she exclaimed as a look of intrigue flashed in her eyes.
We finally arrived at our dinner destination: Kanpai of Tokyo. I thought it would be the perfect place since Aisha's already familiar with Asian cuisine. Even though she probably doesn't have a picky palate, I thought it would be better than experimenting with an Olive Garden or Steak and Shake. Also, I knew Aisha loved seafood, and I still had yet to try sushi. The host greeted us as we walked through the doors. "Good evening. Table for two?"
"Yes. Actually, we have a reservation under 'Artukei'," I said. The host quickly leafed through his book. "Yes. Right this way, please."
After we placed an order for a sushi appetizer, we continued to query each other about our interests. Thanks to our conversation in the car, I was beginning to feel a little more at ease around Aisha. And I think she was feeling the same about me. We talked about likes and dislikes, foods, sports, and some more about music. "What about movies?" I asked. Like a reflex, she responded with a small "nya", but then a look came over her like she was going into a flashback. "I love movies," she said, "but it's been ages since I've seen one. I've probably got some serious catching up to do." I was at a loss. I talk about movies with my friends all the time. But here was someone who hasn't seen a movie probably since she was a kid. Realizing this, I started to laugh. Aisha gave me a cold look. "What's so funny?" she asked. "No offense," I protested, "but you're the first person I've met who's never seen The Matrix, Spider-man, or Lord of the Rings." Her ears immediately perked up. "Nya? They made that into a movie?"
"Yeah; three, actually. They won a combined total of seventeen Oscars. We should watch it sometime…that is, if I earn a second date."
"We'll see," she said with a smirk. I did not like that look.
After our sushi had come and gone, I…what? Oh, you wanna know how the sushi was? It was excellent; I loved it. What? What more do you want? This is a romance story, not Food Network. You wanna read about food, grab a cookbook or a menu. But that's not what this story is about. Now, where was I?
After our sushi had come and gone, I had a terrifying thought. Seeing that empty plate made me remember something terrible: my date was a bottomless pit! I knew how much Aisha could eat. I'd heard she devoured an entire fridge in one sitting. "By the end of tonight, this girl's going to be licking out the inside of my wallet. Oh man! What do I do?" The only thing I could do was hope she wasn't very hungry. That and pray for the safety of my bank account.
When we received our entrées, I prepared for the worst. I expected Aisha to dive in teeth and claws first and just start gorging herself like an animal. But to my surprise, she actually remembered her manners. She was sitting up straight, using the utensils properly, taking more manageable bites, and using a napkin. I don't know whether it was the tension or if she was just being polite. I don't know! She was acting so demure and refined that for a minute it was like dining with a princess. Not that that was a bad thing. No ma'am, not at all. "Ah. A princess." Then she caught me staring at her. "What now?" she said. She sounded slightly annoyed, so I nonchalantly tried to sweet talk her. "I was just admiring how beautiful you look in this light."
"Heh! Flattery will get you nowhere, boy." She scoffed at my comment, but she was a terrible liar. I made her blush a little.
As the meal progressed, the tension between us started to dwindle and Aisha really started opening up to me. She told me stories about the Ctarl-ctarl empire, her school days, and of course her adventures on the Outlaw Star. I had heard most of them before, but it was interesting to hear them from someone who witnessed them first hand. Right after she got done telling me about her fight with Iraga, she paused for a minute and then said something rather out of character. "But you probably already know a lot about me, Artukei. What about you? Tell me about yourself." Yes! This was good. This is a classic sign that your date is interested in you. Trying not to be overbearing, I practically gave her my life story. I told her about our family's cross-country move, how I used to work as an actor, about my music, and without sounding like a bible salesman about my relationship with God. "So you're really a professional musician?"
"Yeah. The website is just something I do in my spare time. Mostly I work on my music. But my last good inspiration streak was about a month ago."
"How many albums have you recorded?"
"Oh, I'm actually working on my first album right now."
"Really?"
"Yeah. (Sort of.)"
"Wow!" What was I doing? I was an idiot if I thought I could keep this up. I had to tell Aisha and myself the truth. "Aisha." I took a deep breath. "I'm an aspiring musician, I'm not pro. I do write my own songs and music, that part is true. My real job...I…" She looked at me a little suspiciously. "I…I work at a Blockbuster." There, I said it. My ugly truth was finally out. Aisha just stared at me, not knowing what to say. My eyes fell down on my chopsticks and stayed there. I felt like such a loser; so unworthy. "Why would you lie to me like that?" she asked. "Were you trying to impress me or something?"
"More like trying to impress myself."
"Nya?"
"I'm a nobody. I'm just a college drop out working for minimum wage with nothing but his dreams to drag him out of bed in the afternoon. You, on the other hand: Imperial Ambassador, graduate with honors. It's like you're a princess and I'm a peasant. I just thought you deserved better." After baring my soul, I could just feel her glaring at me from across the table. I knew this was a bad idea. Then, I couldn't believe my ears. I looked up. Aisha was laughing! "Princess?" she said. "No. I'm as much a peasant as you. Imperial Ambassador? That was years ago. And so what if you've got a crummy job? Join the club! I've definitely had my fair share. You may think we're worlds apart, Artukei, but we're not." For the first time, I felt like saying "nya". What gave? Was Aisha comforting me…sort of? Then her voice quieted down and she smiled at me like a mother to a child. "You've got dreams. That's good. Never let go of that, Artukei." What was this? I didn't need her pity! Then again, I didn't know Aisha could do pity. I didn't know what to say except… "You can call me Justin."
So far, I had heard Aisha say many things I never would have expected. But what she said next was the mother of them all. "I'm full." The red flag in my mind went up and my eyes darted all over the table looking for a stack of plates at least three feet high. But it was just the two; mine and hers. I couldn't believe it, so I asked an innocent question. "You sure you don't have room for dessert?"
"Maybe later. Right now I'm stuffed." I would have put on the most confused look imaginable if I wasn't on a date. Then I realized something. Aisha only gorges herself after she's used her beast strength. Apparently when she's not fighting she has the metabolism of an average human. My bank account was saved!
As we exited the restaurant, the veil of early evening was upon us. Aisha took a deep breath and stretched her arms. "I'm ready to have some fun now! What's next on tonight's list of events?" To be honest, I hadn't made any plans past dinner. Since the date was sort of short notice, I thought I'd start with Kanpai and see where things went from there. "Well, what would you like to do?" I asked. Aisha thought for a second. "Hmm. Are there any arcades in this town?"
"I wish. Arcades are getting rarer and rarer these days."
"Then where's the nearest dance club?" This was going to be harder than I thought. I grabbed the back of my neck and inhaled through my teeth. "I don't think there are any around here. This town doesn't have much of a night-life." Flustered, she plopped herself down on the curb. "Well then, what's there to do around here?" Suddenly, I had an idea. "(It's cheesy, but it just might work.) If it's dancing the lady wants…" I started walking to my car, Aisha followed. I unlocked it, rolled down all the windows, and popped in my Daft Punk CD. I started tapping my foot to the beat of "One More Time". Aisha stepped back. "You have got to be kidding me."
"Come on. You said you wanted to dance."
"Yeah, but not here."
"Whatsamatter? You scared?"
"I'M NOT SCARED OF ANYTHING. But this is…"
"Then dance with me." I took my jacket off and started laying down my best moves, which actually weren't that good. But I kept smiling all the time. If she saw how much fun I was having, maybe she'd join in. It's called psychology. For the first minute or two, she just stood back and watched with an overall look of indifference. I kept coaxing her. "Come on! I'm having all the fun without you." I started singing along with the music. "One more time! Celebrate and dance so free! Music's got me feeling so free!" A slow smile crept across Aisha's face and she started inching towards me. Just as I was finishing up the bridge, she was standing next to me and smiling eagerly. I stopped, I extended my hand, and we finished the last few minutes together.
We danced in the parking lot for several minutes. By this point, all the tension that started out the evening and lingered throughout dinner was gone. As we came into one of the more slower tracks, I gently took Aisha's hand and pulled her close to me. "Nya? What are you…" she started. But as I put my arm around her, she fell silent. I was unsure about this move, because I knew Aisha was the kind of girl who'd rip your arm off if you got too close. But instead, she put her arms around me and looked at me tranquilly. Her smile was warm and her eyes were deep and glossy; the kind of eyes that normally make my knees weak. She pulled herself towards me and rested her head on my shoulder. I caught a whiff of her perfume. It was intoxicating; like wild flowers with a subtle hint of vanilla. The lyrics of the song started to come in.
"I might not be the right one
It might not be the right time
But there's something about us I've got to do
Some kind of secret I will share with you
I need you more than anything in my life
I want you more than anything in my life
I'll miss you more than anyone in my life
I love you more than anyone in my life"
For a girl who needed no help defending herself, Aisha held on to me like she was afraid. And even though she smiled through the entire dance, I couldn't help but sense a feeling of sadness from her.
After dancing, we worked up quite an appetite. So we walked to an ice-cream parlor just a few blocks down. As I debated over the flavors, Aisha pulled me aside. "Justin, what's that guy doing?" She pointed at an attendant "smushing" candy into a customer's ice-cream. "Oh, he's just stirring toppings into the ice-cream." Aisha's eyes grew twice their size, which is pretty big for an anime character. Apparently she'd never heard of "smushing" before. "Is that what you're getting?" she asked. "Yeah, probably," I said. She started hopping excitedly like an eight year old. "Me too. I wanna do that too," she said. "What topping do you think you'll get?" I asked. She was silent for a second, then asked, "Do they have tuna?" If I'm lying, I'm dying. That look I mentioned earlier; the most confused look imaginable? Put it on without hesitation and gave it to Aisha. She looked at me and tried to hold back her laughter. She pulled a joke on me! Her first of the night, to be exact. Immediately, I started laughing too.
As we walked back, we continued to share jokes with each other. That one crack Aisha made at the ice-cream shop sent me into a frenzy of routines. I was quoting everything from Monty Python, to Space Ghost, to Red VS Blue. All the while I had Aisha roaring. "I discovered that the reason it had been sitting on it's perch in the first place was that it had been NAILED there," I said in my best British accent. I lowered my voice a little for the next character. "Well of course he had to be nailed there. Otherwise he'd muscle up to those bars and VOOM!!" I thrust my hand forward miming an object taking off at super-sonic speed. I went back into my other voice. "Look mate. This parrot wouldn't 'voom' if you put 4,000 volts through it!" Aisha burst out laughing. "Stop! My gut's gonna split!" she yelled. I had her laughing so hard that she had to prop herself up against the walls of the buildings. She staggered for a minute or two until she made it to a bench and collapsed in a state of hilarity. "So, Ctarls do have a weakness," I thought. I sat down beside her until she calmed down and had a chance to catch her breath.
After Aisha had gotten the laughs out of her system, I noticed that we had stopped just across from the local park. I remembered that one side of the park overlooked the river and from that spot you could get a spectacular view of the stars. "There's something I've always wanted to do for Aisha, and that would be the perfect place to do it," I thought. I proposed to Aisha that we take a quick walk through before finally heading back. She nodded and we were off. After passing by and marveling at the fountains, the hedge sculptures, and the rose gardens, we made it to the river. "This place is beautiful," Aisha remarked. "You haven't seen the best part," I said. "Look up." She turned her head to the sky and her face immediately lit up. The stars shone brilliantly and were reflected perfectly in her sapphire eyes. "In space or on the earth, they're still just as beautiful," she said softly. A beautiful sky, a beautiful lady, and the murmur of the rushing river only heightened my sense of nirvana. This was a possibly the best night of my life.
We both stood there for a minute silently looking at the stars like little kids watching fireworks. It was time; time to enact my plan. I slowly and softly...began to sing to Aisha.
"It's a little bit funny this feeling inside
I'm not one of those who can easily hide
I don't have much money, but, boy, if I did
I'd buy a big house where we both could live." Aisha slowly turned her head towards me looking slightly puzzled.
"If I was a sculptor, but then again, no
Or a man who makes potions in a traveling show
I know it's not much but it's the best I can do
My gift is my song..." I turned to Aisha and looked deep into her eyes. "And this one's for you." I sang for her Elton John's "Your Song." All the while, I never took my eyes away from hers. And even though the words weren't mine, I meant every one of them.
"Well you can tell everybody this is your song
It may be quite simple but now that it's done
Hope you don't mind
I hope you don't mind that I put down in words
How wonderful life is now you're in the world." When I had finished, I stood there for a second. I had rehearsed this in my head several times, but I never knew how it would end. "I've always wanted to sing that for you," I said, "from the first time I saw you." Aisha's eyes started to moisten. "That was beautiful. Thank you," she said. Her voice was quiet; just above a whisper. "Not just for that song. I want to thank you so much for all you've done for me tonight." I bashfully turned away. Luckily the light was dim and she couldn't see me blushing. That one line would have been enough for me and I was about to say the same, but Aisha kept going. "I can't remember the last time I was this happy. It's like... it's like I'm a kid again. This is the best date I've ever..." She stopped then quickly looked away. I wasn't sure, but I thought I saw a tear slide down her cheek. "Aisha?" I whispered. "At the academy," she continued, "I was so occupied with my studies, I never really had time for guys. This is, to be honest,... my first date." My eyes grew the size of beachballs. "All my life," she said, "I always felt like there was something missing. And tonight, I... when we danced, you held me so caringly; so lovingly. No-one had ever touched me like that before." Aisha now turned and looked into my eyes. Tears were streaming down her face, yet she never made a sniff or a whimper. "You're kind, considerate, wonderfully talented, and you made me laugh harder than anyone I've ever met. You said you were a nobody. Not to me. Tonight, you're the most important person in my life. You showed me love." She couldn't hold herself back any longer. She flung her arms around me, almost knocking me back. Then I felt her tears fall like rain on my right shoulder. I embraced her in return like a father to a prodigal daughter. My fingers gently combed her long soft hair as I stroked her back to try and calm her down.
THE END