Holding Your Wrinkled Hand
A Shimako x Noriko oneshot
A/N: Hello. :3 The title pretty much says it all - no-nonsense Shimako x Noriko fluff. Not much else to tell, really. XD Thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoy it.
It is said there is nothing more touching than to see two elderly people together and holding hands.
The glances of shy but curious children still sends tingles up her creaking spine. Their giggles and shouting fill the playground with an almost alien cheer, one that the two old women left behind long ago upon entering Lillian Academy. Many decades on, and Shimako can count on one hand the number of occasions she and Noriko went to the parks around Tokyo, pushing each other on the swings or playfully revisiting kindergarten days on the see-saw. It wasn't an activity they indulged in. But she remembers them well, and there is nothing, not even the difficult times, that she looks back with regret on.
Hobbling beside her, clasping her arm, is perhaps the rarest kind of person these days - a life partner, a human being who literally shares with you most of their life... and yours theirs.
Yes, their maidenly Lillian gait might be reduced to a slow stroll punctuated by fifteen minute breaks. Yes, Noriko might look at her false teeth every night and wonder why hers went before Shimako's (what is your secret, Shimako-san!). And yes, maybe keeping her plain haircut throughout adulthood wasn't the best idea - frankly, its grey mop looked ridiculous now. But then again, Shimako hadn't changed her hairstyle either, and its wavy beauty looked... well, still stunning, really! It was as if it had simply evolved into a new style. No fair.
At least they both have rather wrinkled skin. On that, they are even. Noriko would pretend to be cross at Shimako - why did the older woman keep herself so much better than she? And in return, Shimako would laugh and shrug helplessly, begging Noriko to let her off as her former petite soeur tickled her wrathfully.
The quiet life of retirement might be boring to some, but to the former Gigantea sisters, it gives them time to enjoy the special moments of the everyday, where each minute together is as magical as the time they first saw each other under the falling blossoms of Lillian's sakura trees.
"This wasn't what I expected my sixties to be like, Shimako-san," mused Noriko, as they sat on a bench in the park, watching the slides and the children sliding down its hot blue surface. They wore matching, modest blouses of light green, humble and simple attire they have used for many years. They lived an honest life together, with little real ambition except to fulfil each other's joy. Their world had not been one of adventure. Their world had not been particularly big, not like Sei-sama's, and some people might look down on such insulated worlds. But these two wise grannies were well past the age of giving a toss about what anyone else thought of their life and love.
Shimako smiled, closing her eyes she she rested the side of her head against Noriko's. She had given up on trying to get Noriko to call her "Shimako" only. Old habits died hard. "What were your expectations?"
Noriko laughed. "No idea. But..." Her hand was already on Shimako's thin fingers, worn from years of housework and part-time jobs. She squeezed them affectionately. "If I had any expectations, they've been blown out of the water. I never imagined I could be this happy."
"You never minded our somewhat cramped apartment," said Shimako, her half-blind eyes shining with quicksilver. "It's not the most luxurious retirement home one could have hoped for. And we're a bit far away from everyone else... of course, it's not so easy to have a reunion in our shape anymore."
Noriko's broad smile remained. "You... gave up everything to your little brother, just to be with me. You could have inherited Honnoji Temple from Uncle Toudou. You could be living it up in pomp and pageantry. It was always an option for you. Yet you chose me. My boring, average self, and my cramped, cheap flats."
Shimako's crinkled eyes burned with love, and she didn't open her eyelids for fear her irises might leak a trickle of emotions. "My progress into a small, rumpled granny has been a journey of joy and satisfaction, thanks to you and your cheap flats."
"Oba-san!" shouted a voice from across the playground, and the two pensioners perked up in surprise. A mini-football had rolled over at their feet, and a boy and girl were waving. Noriko's lips curled in an eager grin.
"Leave it to me, kids," she groaned confidently, as frank and forthright as her high school days.
Shimako put a crinkled hand over her mouth to shield her helpless giggles, as refined and elegant as her high school days.
Noriko's plain black shoe stretched out for a few moments, and her jaw clenched in concentration as she tried to extend her leg further. But her weak body wouldn't allow it. Her expectant expression fell. "Noooooooooo," she groaned childishly, well aware the kids were watching her with baited breath -
"What are you doing?" came a mother's disapproving shout. "How rude! You don't demand something so unreasonable from our respected seniors!" The young woman in a yellow floral blouse (Noriko had forgotten the last time she wore one) stopped before the two seniors and bowed. "Forgive my ignorant and inconsiderate children, dear Madams," she apologized, before picking up the ball at their feet and hurrying off.
The two didn't speak for a while until Noriko let out a quiet "tch." "Somehow, I'm feeling like I was looked down upon," she croaked, making a fiery grimace with her thin, dry lips. "Underestimating me just because you're young and beautiful! I once captivated the heart of Rosa Gigantea herself, you know!" she cried, shaking a crinkled fist at the sky.
Shimako beamed. Same old Noriko. "You could barely bend your knee, let alone kick it. Leave it be."
When they've returned to their old, slightly worn apartment, Shimako prepares a watermelon to fight off the summer heat (it's also easy on Noriko's false teeth). She leaves the kitchen for their boxy lounge and sits down on their sofa, while Noriko gazes at the photos framed up on their small bookshelf. Aside from the couch, a coffee table, and a small television and DVD player across from them, the bookshelf is the only piece of furniture they have in the living room.
"You were so beautiful. You are so beautiful," murmured Noriko, gazing at the smiling teenage Shimako in the arms of Sei-sama. The soeurs' smiles are so confident and trusting. There is nothing that needs to be said between Sei and her bouton, because this photo is proof enough of how far they came together.
Shimako nods in reply, looking at the photo frame beside the first. It is one of her and Noriko, clasping their hands together before the statue of Maria-sama. Both photos were taken by Tsutako-chan, of course. But in this particular snapshot of the young Gigantea couple, it seems that they have everything to say to each other - it was proof of how far they wanted to go together. And here they are. Two elderly ladies, their lives breathed by the other.
"Noriko. You are my life. That's how important you are to me."
To her surprise, Noriko feels an almost inappropriate, girly blush creeping across her cheeks. "It always catches me off-guard how... young your compliments make me feel. I'm an old woman! It's embarrassing."
Shimako's laughter is a divine tinkle, a birdsong of adoring acceptance. "It's like we never aged!" She pats the couch, her wrinkled hand on the space beside her. "Come to me, Noriko. It's time for some watermelon."
"Sounds good. What's on telly, I wonder?"
The last we see of their two frail, white-haired forms are their smiles, those lips curled high up in laughter and contentment. They look almost ghostlike with their long silvery hair, resembling friendly spirits that have no earthly regrets whatsoever. The photo frames of Shimako and Sei...
And Noriko and Shimako...
They stand still on their bookshelf, mutely watching the two old ladies talking and eating and chuckling together.
Leaving their loving journey and happy ending to melt into the warmth of summer, just like the ice beside the fruit.
Someday, too... this invaluable time of their life which was lived as one...
Will join those bygone days in those photos...
In the nostalgic wonderland of Heaven's dreams.
THE END